Digimon: A Seraphic Tale
by Julia Lucrezia Hanazono
Summary: The Digital World has been wiped out and there is nothing left...or so they thought. Little do they know that after it's destruction, several Digimon have traveled to Earth to find human partners to help them! Human chars are OC, most Digimon aren't.
1. A Light In The Darkness

Author's Note: HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO everybody! It's me, Firechick, and I have officially returned! I'm sure some of you (especially those who know me for my Super Robot Monkey Team fan fics) are wondering why I've returned after so long. Well, thanks to watching Japanese episodes of Digimon Tamers on Hulu, I've suddenly developed a strong muse for an original Digimon fan fic. So, I've decided to give in and write it out! I'm still working on my stories on FictionPress (I will also be posting them on my livejournal account in case anyone is interested). I guess it's time for me to stop my babbling and present to you all the very first chapter of Digimon: A Seraphic Tale! Read and review nicely! NO FLAMES! Happy reading!

EPISODE 1: A Light In The Darkness

(dream)

Oh, the million points of light.  
>Oh, the many lights in the sky.<br>Oh, how they light the night sky.  
>Oh, they are called stars.<p>

They shine and illuminate each other,  
>As if they're affirming each other's existence.<br>But one star shines purely and brilliantly.  
>That star is you.<p>

You are the star that makes me heart sing.  
>You are the star that lights my world.<br>You are the star that lights my world of darkness and despair.  
>You are at peace, and make me feel harmony.<br>Your mercy gave me freedom and faith.  
>Your grace and strength nurtured my determination,<br>In a world that needs justice.  
>You make me worthy of giving forgiveness.<br>Your acknowledge my prudence and help me.

The star that shines the brightest gives me hope and liberty.  
>You are my hope, my harmony, my eternally shining star.<p>

_It was this song that woke her up._

_The girl very slowly opened her eyes upon hearing this strange yet beautiful, gentle song. As she sat herself up and looked around, she realized that this place was not familiar to her. This strange, unknown place was lined and circled with small flowers in a multitude of multifarious colors. Pink, white, blue, purple, yellow, orange, etc. The leaves on all the tall trees were a soft creamy white instead of green or autumn colors like red, orange, yellow, or bronze. The sky above her was a perfect mixture of creamy white, cerulean blue, rosy pearl pink, lavendar violet, and a soft mango orange. Even though this place was quite unfamiliar to her, she already began to love it,_ _especially since the place felt very sacred and holy, brimming with these beautiful flowers and trees, gentle breezes, and lots of life. She saw some glowing lights in the trees. She didn't know what they were, but she certainly liked looking at them. They were shaped like eggs,_ _but these were bigger than the eggs you would normally find at a food store. These egg-shaped lights were the size of a beautifully crafted French doll made in the 19th century._

_Not only that, this place certainly had a nice aroma emitting from all the flowers. The air smelled very soothing and sweet, like the scent of fresh roses, warm bread straight from the oven, honey, and that smell that only appears after rain fell. She lavished in it all, but it was the song that woke her up that seemed to catch her attention the most. She decided to walk around and find who's singing it. She could tell that lots of voices were singing it, not just one. As she walked and walked, the song became more lucid and clear. Soon, she began to catch sight of small silhouettes. As she ambled closer, the silhouettes became bigger and bigger and bigger the more she walked into their vicinity. Soon, she saw strange creatures in a circle surrounding a young child with many pure white wings. They were all singing happily,_ _joyously, and merrily._

_She attempted to walk closer, but the child with wings caught sight of her. At first, she felt a little shy upon being caught by the strange but soft-looking winged child. But as they gazed upon each other, she began to shed her feelings of tension and small fear. The song continued, and it soothed her a great deal. The winged child, who seemed to bear strange purple markings on his or her face and body, offered its hand to the girl, as if he or she were inviting her to come with it. Obviously the girl could not decipher it's gender. She couldn't tell if the child was a boy or a girl. She couldn't see it's face. But she felt warm and tender as she was in it's presence. She walked closer to it and finally decided to take it's hand._

_In a split second, everything faded into white._

(end dream)

Her emerald green eyes slowly peeled open again, catching sight of the small golden sunbeams coming through the blinds on the other side of her bed room. Her very short, dark brown hair was a little shaggy upon waking up, but it's natural to wake up with one's hair turning a tad messy. She looked at her blue and white clock and it read 7:07 AM. As she rubbed her eyes and made them adjust to their surroundings, she looked around and saw everything. The pink paint on her walls, the two windows (one across from her bed and one next to her on her left), her stuffed animals on the floor (she always kept them on her bed whenever she made it), her white dresser full of clothes, her small figures, her toys, her old white night stand, her pink and purple blanket, her books and DVDs on the green book shelf, and her small bronze treasure box. She stretched herself out and got out of bed.

This girl of eleven years old surely knew how to start her day. First, she took off her light pink pajamas and decided to put on a pair of blue jean capris, a sleeveless red shirt with orange, white, and yellow stripes on it, white sneakers, and a pair of yellow and purple socks. She combed her dark brown hair and walked into the dining room, which is next to the kitchen, where her mother is making breakfast right now.

"Good morning, Mom," the girl said in a soft, sweet voice.

"Hello, Yun," The mother said to her daughter, Yun.

"Where's Ayaka-Neechan? She at school already?" Yun asked innocently.

"Yep. She darted off like a cheetah. Breakfast will be ready in a minute, sweetie," The mother replied. She didn't sound happy at all, Yun's mother. She sounded a trifle irritated by something. Yun knew that tone of voice well. But she said nothing more.

Yun ate her breakfast (consisting of buttered toast and banana slices), brushed her teeth, packed her school books and notebooks into her purple and blue rolling book bag, put some books, mechanical pencils, erasers, a calculator, and her planning agenda into her crimson red purse, and packed her lunch into her light purple lunch box. After a while, her mom drove her to Fushimi Middle School. She dropped her off and drove away. Yun darted onto the black top, hoping to see her friends amongst all the children running around enjoying themselves.

She noticed one girl of about 11 with semi-long blonde hair tied in a ponytail with a purple ribbon and violet eyes. She happened to wear a white top with violet flowers on it, light blue jean shorts, brown shoes, and white socks. Yun spotted her immediately.

"Minako-chan!" Yun cried out as she ran to the girl, Minako, who looked somewhat dejected but forced a smile upon seeing Yun.

"Good morning, Yun..." Minako murmured in a low voice.

"Um, so...how've you been?" Yun asked.

"Actually, I...I'm feeling a little under the weather," Minako replied in a whisper. Then, Yun's expression changed. She went from happy and joyous to solemn.

"Sorry for mentioning this, but I...I heard about what happened to your little brother. I'm sorry," Yun told her softly while putting a hand on her shoulder, trying to reassure her. But Minako gently took it off.

"I know. It's alright. Also, I don't think I'm in the mood for hanging out today," Minako told her.

"Alright then. Feel better, okay Mina-chan? You have my condolences," Yun told her as Minako decided to leave.

Well, she couldn't hang out with Minako. She could always find someone else to hang out with today. She looked around and saw a boy about 12 with short brown hair, lighter than her own, hazel green eyes, and creamy white skin like her own. He wore an orange shirt, long brown jean shorts (still shorter than her capris), black and yellow sneakers, and white socks. Yun recognized him immediately.

"Kosuke-kun!" She called out to the boy, Kosuke, who turned to face her.

"Good morning, Yun," He said in a low voice.

"How've you been?" Yun asked sweetly.

"I...I've been better. Sorry, but I'm not in the mood for hanging out today. I've got a lot going on," Kosuke replied. Yun felt a little crestfallen, but she kept a small smile.

"Okay. That's fine. But if you ever want someone to talk to, you're more than welcome to talk to me. if you want, of course," Yun told him. Kosuke simply walked away. Yun decided to walk away too. She found the steel bleachers and sat on them.

_'Hmmm...it seems Minako and Kosuke are still kinda sad. Of course they've got a lot going on in their lives. I'm sure it's not their fault,_ _but they've changed so much. I wish they'd let me help them a little,'_ Yun ruminated as she sat on some steel bleachers. She was about to pull out a book to read until someone called out to her.

"Yun-chan!"

A pretty and tall girl, with long flowing navy blue hair and dark green eyes waved to her and ran to her with a joyous smile on her face. She wore a short-sleeved white shirt underneath a small dark brown vest, beige jean shorts, black shoes, white socks, and a small silver necklace in the form of a cross around her neck. Yun beamed as she saw the blue haired girl approach her and greet her so cheerfully and merrily.

"Good morning, Otoya-chan!" Yun said as Otoya kneeled in front of her.

"How are you?" Otoya asked.

"I'm fine, though a little down. I wanted to hang out with Mina-chan and Kosuke-kun today, but it seems they're not in the mood. I know it's not their fault since they're going through so much, but I wish they'd let me help them out a bit," Yun told her.

"I'm sure they mean well. They'll probably come around soon enough. Time heals all wounds, as they say! By the way, is it true that you're gonna enter the school's End Drug and Substance Abuse contest this month?" Otoya explained happily.

"Yep! I am!" Yun replied with a smile.

"Wow! That's great! I hope you win! You're so good at drawing. I can only do stick figures, and they won't accept funny-looking stick figures at all!" Otoya beamed.

"Your passion is more toward helping animals," Yun said.

"I want to be a vet when I grow up!" Otoya proclaimed as she sat next to Yun.

"But your dad runs the church, doesn't he? Won't he be upset if you don't run it after he dies?" Yun asked, feeling a little worried.

"Nah. We already talked about it and he's totally fine with it. He knows that everybody has their passions, or, as he says, _"What lies in people's hearts puts them on different paths in life, and the path they choose is their choice to make."_ He doesn't mind my being a vet," Otoya explained. Her father runs the church in town and is quite religious, though not to a great extreme.

Soon, the bell rings and everyone goes into the school building. The school day went by ordinarily enough, with Yun dutifully taking notes, studying, and listening to the teacher's words. Yun always was, and always will be, a diligent student. She knew for a fact that indolence and laziness in school would never get her anywhere in life. Even though she herself did not particularly like school, she knew she had to go through it and learn things in order to get somewhere in life.

After the first half of school, Yun and some of her friends got together for lunch. Minako and Kosuke were nearby, but they weren't in a talking mood, so Yun decided to leave them alone. She didn't want to intrude into their space. So she got together with Otoya, two other girls and one other boy. One girl is around 12 and has straight jet black hair with her bangs dyed bright red. Her sharp eyes shone brightly in a light brown color. She wore a short-sleeved black shirt, black jeans, brown boots, and a silver bracelet on her right wrist. The other girl and boy were twins. They were both 11, they both have light blonde hair (through the girl's is long and tied into a braided pig tail), green eyes, and sunny dispositions. The girl is wearing a sleeveless light green shirt, a long white skirt, orange shoes, white socks, and a light blue bandana around her neck. The boy wore a sleeveless navy blue shirt, beige jean shorts, big white sneakers, and sagging white socks. He has some freckles going across his nose.

"So, Rena-chan and Riku-chan, how've you both been?" Yun asked sweetly. The girl with the braid is Rena and the boy with the freckles is Riku.

"We've been swell!" Both of them piped up in unison, which Otoya and Yun found quite impressive.

"I think I'm starting to get the hang of the new dance lessons that Aoki-sensei is teaching us! We're going to dance to Ravel(1)'s Mother Goose Suite in our next recital. Plus Dad gave me a new pair of dancing shoes!" Rena exclaimed happily as she took a bite of her ham sandwich.

"You're always going on and on about dancing. So girly! Anyway, I managed to get a new video game! It's so cool! I've already beaten the first two levels!" Riku exclaimed happily as he threw a piece of strawberry candy into his mouth. Rena eyed him angrily.

"You shouldn't brag so much, Riku! And don't call my dancing girly! Boys dance too! In fact..." Rena argued. Soon, she and her twin brother began a little sibling squabble.

Yun couldn't help but laugh at the two of them, though they certainly didn't notice. She had only known them for a year, but she liked being with them. Rena is a pretty and pleasant enough girl, though quite absent minded and over-fond of dancing. Riku is nice too, despite having ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and being a little impulsive and hyper, but he was still the same happy and cheerful person. It was like he was a boy version of his own sister.

As Yun was about to eat an octopus treat, a peanut butter cup was presented to her. She turned and saw her friend with the red streaked bangs and somewhat moody-looking expression on her face.

"Want this?" She asked in a low voice. It wasn't full of malice, that was for sure.

Yun smiled and took the brown candy.

"Thank you, Melody-chan!" Yun exclaimed as she ate the soft, chocolate and peanut buttery candy that her friend Melody gave to her. Melody smiled just a little bit, and she hadn't smiled in a very long time, especially not in front of people she disliked, and there was a myriad of people she disliked, even hated to an extent. Nobody understood why someone who always looked so sour, someone who dressed like a punk or a goth or someone who got angry at people a lot for no good reason would be friends with someone as warm and gentle and innocent as Yun. She knew this well, and she even heard people gossiping about it.

"I just don't get it! Why is Wakamiya friends with that punk?"

"Last week, she got mad at me because she thought I copied off of her homework. Why would I copy off of her?"

"She's always angry at everybody. I wish she'd quit being so annoying!"

"Just look at those two together! Looking so high and mighty! That Shimotsuki girl must think she's too good for us!"

Shimotsuki Melody and Wakamiya Yun were very different, in terms of both personality and disposition, yet they have been very good friends since their early childhood. They always stuck together like glue, and nobody knew why. Otoya, Rena, Riku, Minako, and Kosuke didn't mind them being together. If they were friends with Yun, they were friends with Melody too, and they certainly got to know the two quite well thanks to their very unlikely friendship.

Melody decided to strike up a conversation.

"Yun. I read that book you told me about last week. Y'know, _Anne of Green Gables_(2)," Melody said in a low voice. But this sentence was enough to make Yun squeal with sheer delight and joy.

"Uwaah! You read it! You really read it! What do you think?" Yun squealed, not knowing she had irritated a student a little further up the table. After she got quiet, she ate the rest of her octopus treats.

"I like it. It's good," Melody said softly.

"See? I told you you'd like it! I've seen the anime lots of times, and I still love it! Of course, my all-time favorite will always be Dog of Flanders(3). Of course, you've seen that. I just absolutely love stories about characters going through hardship and seeing the world's true beauty and-" Yun was about to delve into a very long monologue about the things she liked and loved, something her friends tolerated and were interested in very likely. Yun is normally a timid person, but if one got to know her, they'd discover that she's quite the little chatterbox when it comes to things she loves. But she didn't get to ramble.

"AAHHH!"

A tray full of cafeteria food was flipped and thrown at her. Only a spec of mustard from a half-eaten hamburger got onto her face, while the rest of it mixed with the last of her lunch, which certainly distressed her. Melody, Minako, Otoya, and Kosuke were the first to stand up in response. Another boy, the one who threw the tray, stood up looking very incensed. He was a somewhat plump boy, with spiky dirty brown hair and dark brown eyes and a face full of blemishes and pimple remains. He wore a very big football jersey, sagging blue jean shorts, sagging white socks, and huge black and lime green basketball sneakers that are way too big for him.

"Just shut up already, you no good piece of TRASH!" The boy yelled loudly and angrily in a raspy voice. Everyone was stunned, even Yun. Melody was the first to hop into action as she slammed her hands on the table.

"The only pieces of trash around here are you and Shimizu! Quit pickin' on her, Nemoto!" Melody screamed back at him, but he wasn't giving up.

"Why would someone like you wanna be friends with this...this...freak of nature?" The boy yelled.

"Yeah! You tell'em, Nenji!" One boy cheered from the sidelines.

"You're the freak of nature!" Melody yelled back.

"Yeah! Stop being mean to Yun-chan!" Otoya backed her up.

"You shouldn't throw food in here! Look at the mess you just made!" Rena yelled as Yun proceeded to wipe the piece of mustard off of her cheek.

"Pheh! You all think you're sooooo cool! You're all a bunch of rats!"

"You're a bigger rat! You're fat and smell like soggy tacos and look like a bag of-" Riku retaliated loudly and bluntly, but Rena put a hand on his mouth to prevent him from saying anymore. But it seems Melody did it for him.

"-skunk puke!"

Right then, an all-out brawl ensued between Melody and Nenji. Everyone tried to break them up, but the two just weren't giving up. Not only that, Nenji proceeded to pull Yun's hair and throw his empty tray at her, which made Yun cry a little and made Melody even more choleric and incensed than ever. A teacher finally broke them up.

"You two! Come with me right now!" The female teacher yelped as she grabbed them both by their arms and dragged them away. But as she did so, Melody turned to Yun, did the Y sign with her hand, and waved it three times before she left.

"Umm...what does that mean again?" Minako asked shyly as she and Otoya helped Yun get up.

"It's her way of saying _"Don't worry. It'll be alright."_ It's been like that since we were little," Yun said. But even after they helped her get back to the table, people were already starting to gossip.

"I wish he just spilled food on her head. That would've been awesome to see! Her looking like she just came out of the dumpster!" One girl with light brown pigtails and pink earrings said in a scornful and maligned manner.

"Oooh! You're so bad, Seiko-chan!"

"Nice one, Shimizu!"

The other person Melody mentioned, Shimizu Seiko, was also known for picking on Yun. In fact, Yun had always been bullied by them. She didn't know why. She hadn't done anything to them to deserve what she did, but she knew that they were bad from the very beginning. Even so, nobody did anything to help her except her friends, and they couldn't do much to help her as those two were EXTREMELY persistent when it came to picking on her. They never stopped, no matter what anybody did, which confused everyone, including Yun, who was the most hurt by their incessant bullying. They were the two reasons Yun hated school. Soon, lunch ended and everyone went to recess.

Yun spent most of her recess with her friends, including Minako and Kosuke who, after that unpleasant scene, decided to spend their time with her. After recess ended, classes resumed, but Yun was still having a hard time. Nenji and Seiko were in many of her classes and those two were willing to do almost anything to make Yun's school life miserable. Nenji got back from the principal's office during 6th period, Yun's English class, and as she was going to turn her paper in he stabbed her in the arm with a newly sharpened lead pencil. Of course, Yun told the teacher about it and he got punished again, but it didn't seem to work. Not only that, Seiko loudly made snide remarks about everything regarding Yun: her clothes, her hair, her love of books, anime, and manga, etc. Of course, some of Yun's friends shushed them and made attempts to comfort Yun and stand up to the two. But by the end of the day, Yun was feeling very dejected.

Her mother obviously noticed this as she came to pick her up. Yun poured everything out like a big jug of water being poured into a big glass cup. Her mother was appalled.

"I can't believe this! Doesn't that Nemoto kid ever give up? I swear, if he doesn't stop treating you the way he does I'm going to file a police report! This has been going on for FAR too long!" Her mother screamed angrily, which scared Yun and forced her to cover her ears.

"Oh! I'm sorry dear," Her mother said softly as soon as she realized her yelling frightened her daughter.

"It's alright. Melody stood up for me, even though she got in trouble for it. So did Otoya-chan and Rena-chan," Yun told her softly, though a little sadly.

"I don't exactly approve of Melody-chan's methods, but they're all such nice kids. You're at least lucky to have such nice friends like them. But I mean to tell you, what is this world coming to?" Her mother said reassuringly, trying not to let her seething anger get the best of her. Yun was already feeling quite sad, but she kept her feelings inside. She wanted to wait until she was alone so she could let her feelings out so that way she wouldn't anger anyone or startle them.

But she snapped once they got home.

As Yun and her mother were arriving at their house, they saw a woman standing in the drive way. A scrawny, bony looking woman with wavy and curly dirty brown hair and dark blue eyes. She was absolutely overcome with anger, so much that her eyes looked bloodshot. Right as Yun and her mother got out of the car, the woman ran up to Yun and...POW! She slapped Yun square in the face! So hard it made her fall to the ground!

"You wicked, wicked girl! You must love making my precious boy look like the bad guy, don't you? I get complaints from the school every single day because of you trying to pin everything on him!" The woman screeched angrily. Yun was beyond shocked now, and her mother has just about had it. She pushed the other woman away in a fit of anger.

"How dare you slap my daughter? She hasn't done anything wrong! It's your son who keeps terrorizing her! Don't you see?" Yun's mother screamed back.

"Stop trying to pin everything on my boy! As far as I'm concerned you obviously didn't discipline your kid correctly! It's no wonder my Nenji's having a hard time in school!" The woman, who is apparently Nenji's mother, screamed.

"YOU DON'T DISCIPLINE YOUR OWN KID PROPERLY YOU WITCH! Yun, go inside, NOW!" Yun's mother yelled at Nenji's mother, then advised Yun to go inside the house.

Yun sure did not hesitate. She dashed into the house, threw her things on the living room floor, ran to her room, shut the door, and finally cried. She could feel huge tears streaming down her stinging cheeks. She fell to her knees in both humiliation and total abject. But even in her room she could hear her mother and Nenji's mother screaming at each other. This was another problem. Even though Nenji always bullied her, his parents always thought she was the one bullying him. This was because Nenji had a way of manipulating his own parents into believing everything he said. She couldn't understand what she had done to deserve all of this.

"Get off my lawn right now or I'm calling the police!" She heard her mother yell loud enough for even Yun to hear her. But then again, Yun is quite sensitive to loud noise so she could pretty much hear anything. Yun's sobbing became quite loud, and she buried her head into her arms and her bed.

"Why? Why? What did I ever do...that was so bad?" Yun wailed as she let all of her feelings of dejection, abject, and helplessness out of her broken heart. She wished she wasn't so cowardly and sensitive, but she never was very good at standing up for her self and having people see other people's real intentions. After a good 15 minutes she could feel her chest hurting, so she decided to stop crying. She left a big spot on her bed, but she didn't care. It's her bed, so she could do whatever she wanted with it. She saw her stuffed animals and pillows lying on the floor.

But something was strange.

Yun noticed something very odd. As she looked closer, she saw that she had something extra lying inside her pile of stuffed animals. She pulled it out. She couldn't believe what she was seeing before her eyes. A rather large light pink egg with pale green streaks and spots all over it. Most notable of all, it felt very warm.

"What's this doing here?" She asked herself as she felt the strange egg. Considering how hard and warm it felt, she was sure that this egg was real, and that her mind wasn't playing tricks on her. Even so, for some strange reason, her chest began to feel warm and fluttery. She looked down at the egg with soft eyes and she very gently cradled it in her arms.

_'I'm sure this egg is real. But I wonder what's inside of it? I don't know what's inside, but whatever it is, it's making me feel warm and fuzzy inside, and I really need to feel this way right now,'_ Yun thought as she lovingly cradled the egg in her arms. The egg seemed to make her feel at ease, mollifying her and healing her internal and emotional pain. She didn't know why, but she seemed to be loving it.

Then, all of a sudden, it wiggled!

"Wha? What?"

After that, it glowed! A bright, cream-colored, radiant light enveloped the egg, shining brightly and brilliantly! It glowed so much that Yun had to cover her eyes. The glow seemed to envelop the entire room!

_SHING!_

Soon, the glow finally faded and Yun had the courage to open her eyes again. To her surprise, the egg wasn't there anymore, but she became more surprised by what it left behind!

Two small creatures were sleeping right in front of her. Both shaped like circles, both with one tail, and both with horns on their heads. The one that's a very pale yellow color has one horn on it's head while the chocolate brown one has three horns on it's head. She could not believe what just happened. But she knew what she saw, and knew for a fact that her mind wasn't playing tricks on her. But even with this strange revelation, she still very slowly and gently cradled the two creatures in her arms. They were very small, the size of both her palms, and felt very soft, like fur on a newborn kitten, and most certainly...

"They're so cute!" She murmured to herself quietly and softly, hoping to not scare them or awaken them suddenly. Right when she laid eyes on these small round things, Yun fell in love. It was love at first sight. These cute little sleeping monsters already seemed to steal her broken heart and heal it with their very presence.

Then it happened! They both opened their eyes! Their eyes are black and beady, but they looked up at Yun, straight into her eyes, with a new sense of wonder and curiosity. Yun normally never liked making eye contact with people, but right when she gazed into their wondrous eyes she felt as if these small creatures were the answer to her greatest wish. It looked as if she were a mother who had just given birth to her first children, and Yun loved every moment of it. She smiled at them.

"Hello. My name's Wakamiya Julia, but my friends call me Yun. It's...nice to meet you," Yun told them in a soft, dulcet, gentle voice so she wouldn't scare them. But the two dango-shaped animals smiled at her brightly and lovingly. It seemed they were quite interested in hearing what she had to say, even though they didn't look as if they would understand any of it.

"I...I don't know what your names are, but I'm so glad you've come to be my friends."

Yun could feel herself bonding with these dango-shaped animals completely and without any hint of shyness, hesitation, or fear.

In fact, for the next two hours she sat in her room with them, talked with them, played with them, taught them everything she knew, read books to them, everything. That was all she did. She spent all those two hours with the strange animals. She loved them, and they seemed to love her back. Yun loved everything about them. The way they looked, the cute sounds they made, the way they bounced around, the way they observed everything around them and absorbed it all, everything seemed to click with them. Plus, they seemed to love her too. They loved to hear the sound of her talking, which to them was like hearing very beautiful music.

But the crowning moment came when the brown one noticed the red mark on her face.

"What's wrong, little one?" Yun asked when she saw the little brown one acting up a bit. The brown one hopped on her shoulder and pointed, with its tail, to the mark on her face.

"Oh? This? Someone hit me right here. It doesn't hurt anymore, but-" Yun tried to say more, but was interrupted because of the little brown monster...blowing bubbles on it. Right as the rainbowy bubbles hit her cheek, the mark totally disappeared into thin air! It returned to being soft and tender, and the little brown one rubbed herself against it lovingly. This small, simple, tender act of kindness touched Yun's heart so much it brought her to tears.

"Oh, little one...thank you so much. You really are a sweetie. I wish I knew your name," Yun said as she caressed it. She made sure to love the pale green one too. But she knew she couldn't stay with them all the time.

"Yun! Dinner's ready!" Her mother called out.

"Coming mom!" Yun called back, then turned to the creatures. She gently placed them on her bed.

"I'll be downstairs for a little bit. Stay here and don't leave, okay? Be good while I'm gone. I'll be back, I promise," Yun told them softly and sweetly. The two dango-shaped animals nodded as if they understood and Yun decided to leave them in there. She felt a little bad about doing so, but she knew she had to for if they were to get out, her family might be startled.

Fortunately for Yun, her favorite dinner was being served: her mother's special pinwheel noodles!

_'I'm definitely going to give some to them!'_ Yun thought as she chowed down HARD on the chicken and corn and pinwheel noodles. To her, these things were like tasting heaven itself. It didn't take long for her to finish, and she got another plate just for them, but she didn't tell her mom and sister that. Another fortunate thing was that she didn't have any homework today so she could easily return to the little animals without difficulty.

But it was when she returned that she stumbled upon something shocking, leaving her frozen in her tracks.

The little dango-shaped animals got bigger! Changed shape and color, even! Instead of being shaped like dango, they now looked like very large sour patch kids with heads and little floppy ears. Instead of pale yellow and chocolate brown, they turned pale green and light pink, just like the colors of the egg. At first, Yun was quite surprised. But after a short while, she returned to herself. She was still happy with the fact that they patiently but eagerly awaited her return. Plus they hadn't gotten TOTALLY big. They were still the size of both her palms put together.

"I'm back! And I brought something really yummy!" She crooned sweetly, in a sweet tone normally used to talk to a kindergarten aged girl. She set the plate on her bed, sat on the bed, and proceeded to give the blobs a feeding. She did give them crackers to eat once, but she knew it wasn't enought to keep them full, healthy, or satisfied. Thankfully enough, the blobs took VERY kindly to the chicken, corn, and pinwheel noodles, just like she did when her mom first made them. Yun watched them happily as they finished their hearty meal and flopped onto the bed feeling very satisfied. Yun chuckled sweetly at them, which made the pink one stand back up and look at her.

"I do wish I could do more for you. I'm nothing but a helpless girl who can't do anything right, and even when I try to do it right like people say I always get yelled at. I seem to be trapped in a whirlwind of eternal disaster and despair. Well, not everything in my life is bad! I have my family, some of my friends, my books and games and anime, and now I have you two!" Yun told them with a smile. She didn't want to let herself be overcome by her sadness from earlier, and felt grateful for having these two blob monsters take her mind off of it. She loved them and wanted to do more for them.

And love them she did. And her efforts paid off with aplomb.

"Yun!"

It came straight out of the pink blob's mouth. Yun gasped when she heard her own name come out from the pink blob in the cutest, sweetest, gentlest voice she had ever heard. It sounded like a little bell with a rich, sonorous chime. Of course, it sounded more like a little 5 year old girl.

"Yun! Yun!"

The blob talked again and again, repeating her name with a smile. Yun's heart became lighter and warmer as her feelings for these two blobs were finally being returned. She smiled at them. The pale green blob awoke with a start.

"That's right. I'm Yun," Yun replied softly.

The pink blob hopped and hopped.

"Kokomon!" The pink blob squeaked again and did a little back flip.

"Is that your name? Kokomon?" Yun asked.

"Kokomon...love...Yun!" The pink blob, finally known as Kokomon, squeaked again, trying to hop toward Yun's face as if she were trying to give her a kiss.

"I love you too, Kokomon!" Yun said to sweet little Kokomon.

"Kokomon love Yun!" She said again. This time...

"Gum-Gummymon!" The pale green blob spoke this time! Gummymon, the pale green blob, sounds like a little four year old boy. Yun laughed joyously upon hearing them squeak their first words.

"Gummymon love Yun!" Gummymon said, following Kokomon's lead.

"Hello Kokomon and Gummymon. I'm Yun. Let's be friends, shall we?" Yun said to them. Kokomon and Gummymon hopped around joysously.

"Friend! Friend!" They both yelped in unison, making Yun laugh even more.

In response to their first words, Yun decided to spend the rest of the day with them. With each word and sentence she said, it seemed that Kokomon and Gummymon were catching on quite quickly. By the time night fell, the both of them could speak in simple compound sentences. Yun loved the sounds of their voices and how they tried to copy some of the big words she said (which she learned from her books) and how they tried to read her books. She spent some time teaching them the alphabet and how to read. They learned it quite quickly and efficiently, which surprised Yun. But she didn't mind. She felt happy with being able to raise two little blobs and not get yelled at or pushed away for her kind efforts. She felt appreciated and loved, which made her happiest.

Then another strange thing happened. As Kokomon and Gummymon were sound asleep in her bed, Yun was just about to go to sleep with them when she saw something glowing behind her pillow. She pulled out a small, egg-shaped white light. After a few seconds, it stopped glowing and it became a strange egg-shaped device with a small screen on it, some pink and green buttons, and a pink and green strap coming from the top of it. She wanted to tinker with it, but it was almost 9:00 and she didn't want to stay up late.

_'I could always look at it tomorrow after school,'_ Yun thought as she put it on her night stand, covered herself in her blankets, cradled the sleeping blobs in her arms, and finally fell asleep.

Like last night, Yun had the dream again. But unlike last night, she awoke to a small banging sound on her window.

She looked at the clock and it read 6:21 AM. She looked at the window next to her and saw Gummymon ramming his head against the glass. This made Yun gasp as she ran over to him and pulled him off.

"Gummymon! What are you doing? Don't bang against the window like that! You'll wake everyone up!" Yun scolded him quietly so she wouldn't wake anyone up. Well, Kokomon woke up, but it was because of what Gummymon was doing earlier. Gummymon looked very worried.

"Out there! Out there!" He yelped. Yun looked out the window and saw nothing but her backyard, the big tree, the old picnic table, and the pine bush.

"I don't see anything, Gummymon," Yun said. But Gummymon was becoming persistent.

"Open! Open!" He yelped again. Although reluctant to do so, Yun opened the window anyway.

Right as she pushed it up, Gummymon hopped out the window and darted out the back gate in a flash.

"Gummymon! Come back!" Yun yelled loud enough for Gummymon to hear her. Kokomon approached her with a worried look on her face and with the egg-shaped device on her head.

"Goodness gracious! And on a school day too! Ugh. I guess I better go after him," Yun groaned as she decided to go after him. She put on a purple robe and her shoes, pulled out a small blue flashlight, very slowly walked out the back door, into the backyard, and out the back gate. She looked and looked, shining her flashlight in wherever direction she wanted to check, but no sign of Gummymon. Yun had never gone out the back gate before, in the early hours of the morning no less! She never even went outside further than the back or front yard at all! She wasn't one to go out much, but she needed to find Gummymon before anyone else could.

When she got to the woods, Kokomon gasped.

"Over there!" She yelped and pointed north. Yun didn't want to go into the woods, but she wanted to bring Gummymon back safely so she went in anyway.

Much to her relief, she found Gummymon, standing in the middle of a small clearing.

Much to her shock though, he was standing in front of something very ugly looking and very dangerous.

This strange creature obviously looked like a goblin, with mossy green skin, glowing red eyes, a striking red mohawk on it's head, a brown vest, belt, and loin cloth and, what scared Yun the most, a big wooden club with nails on it in it's hand. And Gummymon was standing right in front of it with an angry look on his face.

_'I've got to get Gummymon out of there! If that thing catches him-!'_ Yun thought as she finally sprung into action.

"Kokomon. Stay here, alright? I'm gonna get Gummymon out of there," Yun told Kokomon as she placed her behind a tree and ran toward the unsuspecting Gummymon. The strange, ugly creature roared and proceeded to attack.

"Gobli strike!" It yelled in a raspy voice as it attempted to throw it's club at Gummymon. Thankfully, Yun scooped him up just in time and took him to safety. She put him behind the same tree she put Kokomon.

Then, a small blue light appeared from the device and it floated about an inch from the screen. It showed the image of the creature, along with some text. Yun read it.

"Goblimon. A Virus type. Rookie level. Evil Digimon. It's attacks are Gobli Strike and Gobli Bomb." She read.

This is when she realized it.

"EH? This is a Digimon! So Gummymon and Kokomon are...and this thing is a...digivice?" Yun yelped. But she didn't have time to ruminate any more because the mossy green monster, Goblimon, ran to attack her again!

"Gobli strike!" It roared. Yun grabbed the two blobs and quickly ran from it's attack.

_'I can't leave this alone! I have to do something other than run! Oh! I know!'_ Yun thought as Goblimon kept following her with his club. She put Kokomon and Gummymon down, grabbed a thick tree branch, and approached the red eyed Goblimon.

"I've watched a lot of anime with characters sword fighting these days. Let's see if I picked up on any of it!" Yun exclaimed as she charged at Goblimon with the branch.

"YUN!" Both Kokomon and Gummymon yelled as Goblimon's club and Yun's tree branch collided with one another. Yun struggled to keep the mossy green goblin from even getting near her new blobby friends. She was never very strong physically, but something inside her stirred her to keep on defending her friends. She wanted to protect Kokomon and Gummymon, even if it would cost her her life!

"Don't ever come near my friends, you ugly beast!" Yun yelled as she tried to push Goblimon back.

"Gobli strike!" It yelled as it managed to push Yun away. But she wasn't going to give up. She ran toward it with the tree branch yet again, this time successfully managing to poke it in the forehead enough to make it stumble backward a few steps. But she knew this wasn't over. Even though she knew this, she had no idea what Goblimon had in store next! A second after she pushed it away, a big red flaming ball of fire floated over it's hand.

"Gobli bomb!" It roared as it threw the ball of fire at Yun. The ball of fire was too big and may very well be too strong for Yun's tree branch to handle. And Yun knew very well that grass was impeccably weak against fire. Plus it came so fast she couldn't run away fast enough. It was going to hit her.

"Bubblebeam!"

Before the firey ball hit her, a myriad of rainbowy shaded bubbles sprayed out from both Kokomon and Gummymon's mouths and managed to successfully turn the ball of fire into steam. Kokomon and Gummymon saved her. They stared at the rampant Goblimon with courageous looks in their eyes.

"Kokomon! Gummymon! Stay back!" Yun pleaded.

"No! We'll fight!" Gummymon yelped.

"We'll protect you, Yun!" Kokomon backed him up.

Yun couldn't understand. Goblimon is exactly her size while Kokomon and Gummymon are no bigger than one of her stuffed animals. There was no possible way these tiny, plushy, delicate little blobs could defeat a mossy green goblin with a wooden club and a red mohawk on it's head! Yun needed to protect them, but now it seems the blobs want to protect her!

This is when the strangest thing happened.

"Oh my God! Yun?"

Yun turned around and saw...lo and behold, Minako, Melody, and Kosuke!

"Wha? Mina-chan? Melody-chan? Kosuke-kun? What are you three doing here?" Yun yelped.

"We were just about to ask you the same thing!" Kosuke replied loudly.

But what Yun noticed were the creatures sitting in front of them. The one in front of Minako is a green cat's head with pointed ears, big violet eyes, and a little tail with blue stripes on it. The one in front of Melody is a pink radish with blue leaves and blue eyes. The one in front of Kosuke is a tiny, white, toothy animal with two wiggly antennae. But before she could ask her friends about them, Goblimon attacked again.

"Gobli bomb!" It threw more balls of fire at them, which they all managed to evade.

"This isn't the time for questions!" Minako cried out.

"Yeah! No questions! Fight ugly Digimon!" The green cat's head exclaimed in a funny voice.

Melody stood in front of Goblimon by a few feet with the radish by her side.

"Hey you! Your mohawk makes you look even uglier, even with your green skin! It looks like my mother's puke!" Melody yelled mercilessly, trying to ger Goblimon's attention. And she sure got it. Big time.

"Gobli strike!" It attempted to pummel her, but Melody jumped away, grabbed onto it's hair, and attempted to pull on it.

"Bubblebeam!" The pink radish blew bubbles into the Goblimon's eyes, making him roar in pain.

As Melody and her Digimon (well, whatever the green cat head called it anyway) were distracting it, Minako and Kosuke attempted to help Yun.

"Are you okay?" Minako asked kindly.

"Yes. Thanks. But Kokomon and Gummymon! I have to protect them!" Yun said as Minako helped her out, but she was concerned about Kokomon and Gummymon, who are apparently watching as Melody and the pink radish are trying to teach it a lesson in pain.

"So it seems we all have Digimon here," Kosuke whispered.

"Lots of them! Yeah!" The little white toothy creature backed him up. But right as he said that, Goblimon managed to pry Melody off of his head and throw her at the trio.

"Ow! Melody-chan! Are you...alright?" Yun yelped as Melody fell on her.

"Sorry about that. And I'm fine...whoa!" Melody said as the angry Goblimon, it's eyes glowing redder and brighter than ever, towered over the quartet and prepared to finish them off.

"GOBLI BOMB!" It roared.

The quartet were trapped...or so they thought.

"NOOOOO!"

All five of the small Digimon screamed passionately as they stood in front of the raging Goblimon. Then, Yun's digivice glowed with a light dyed in a rainbow hue. And apparently so did the digivices of Melody, Minako, and Kosuke! Supposing they even had digivices! But Yun couldn't ask them about it, for everything was happening all at once. The lights from their digivices shot from the sky, then back onto the small Digimon, leaving even Goblimon awestruck.

Gummymon glowed pale green. Kokomon glowed light pink. The green cat head glowed violet. The pink radish glowed red, and the little white toothy creature glowed mango oranges. The lights enveloped the small creatures, and then they grew bigger!

"Kokomon, digivolve to..."

The pink light surrounding Kokomon finally dissipated, and out came a brown rabbit with long floppy ears with pink stripes on its ears, pink paws and feet, a pink collar, and striking emerald green eyes.

"...Lopmon!"

"Gummymon, digivolve to..."

The pale green light surrounding Gummymon disappeared as well, and out came a pale yellow rabbit with long floppy ears with pale green stripes on them, pale green paws and feet, a pale green collar, and navy blue eyes like opals.

"...Terriermon!"

"Nyaromon, digivolve to..."

The violet purple light surrounding the green cat head, now Nyaromon (though not so much anymore), disappeared and out came a very cute pale yellow puppy with big lavendar eyes, rosy cheeks, and a golden collar around it's neck.

"...Salamon!"

"Tokomon, digivolve to..."

The mango orange light that had enveloped the white toothy Digimon, now Tokomon, faded and out came a small and cute guinea pig like thing, with the upper half of it's body orange and the bottom half white, with brown eyes and orange bat-like wings for ears.

"...Patamon!"

"Yokomon, digivolve to..."

The rose red light that had enveloped the pink radish, now Yokomon, faded and out came a fluffy pink bird with a red beak, red claws, a gold ring around one of it's yellow talons, a curly pink antenna with blue stripes on it, blue streaks on it's head, and violet eyes.

"...Biyomon!"

All the small Digimon digivolved and now they've become bigger, though they're still half the height of the kids and Goblimon. They still had the courageous look in their eyes. The children couldn't believe what they just witnessed. Even Goblimon was surprised. But something else seemed to catch Yun's attention.

On Goblimon's arm, the one holding the club, is a black hexagon with a strange black symbol on it resembling a human skull and some stripes surrounding it. This gave Yun an idea.

"Everyone! Look! See that black hexagon on it's arm? I think that's why he's going crazy! We should destroy it!" Yun exclaimed as she pointed out the black thing on it's arm.

"Alright then! Let's do it! Everyone, attack!" Melody commanded. It was the pink bird, Biyomon, who attacked first.

"Feather strike!"

Small pink feathers turned into razor sharp arrows and ambushed Goblimon, one of which got lodged into it's arm, right into the black hexagon. But it didn't destroy it just yet.

"Boom Bubble!"

Patamon inhaled a great ball of air, turned round like a ball, and shot out a big air bubble which landed right into Goblimon's face. It didn't hit the hexagon, but to Kosuke it was alright. But even though they attacked, Goblimon wasn't giving up. And it charged straight toward tiny Salamon.

"OH NO! Salamon!" Minako yelled, wanting to jump in and save the little puppy, but Melody held her back.

Oblivious to Minako's worry, Salamon was actually waiting for Goblimon to get close.

"Holy..."

"Gobli strike!"

"...ROAAAAAAAAAR!"

A HUGE and VERY LOUD roar came straight out from Salamon's mouth, causing Goblimon to stumble in pain and everyone else to cover their ears. Big things do come in small packages after all. And Salamon's Holy Roar attack is certainly a big thing coming from such a tiny little puppy Digimon.

Salamon's Holy Roar was apparently so strong that it knocked the club right out of Goblimon's hand.

This gave Terriermon and Lopmon their chance to attack.

"Freezing Snow!"

"Blazing Fire!"

A big ball of ice shot out from Lopmon's mouth. A big sphere of fire shot out from Terriermon's mouth. Both of which hit Goblimon's arm and finally made the black hexagon dissipate into the air. Goblimon's eyes finally stopped glowing red and returned to being black and white.

"Wow! Did you all see that! We did it!" Yun cheered as she hugged Melody and rejoiced joyously. The Digimon quickly returned to their sides.

Then, Goblimon awoke with a start, looking around the clearing.

"Wha? Huh? What? Wha...what in the world am I doing here?" Goblimon asked in his raspy voice.

Everyone saw he looked confused. It was Yun who approached him.

"Ummm...excuse me, but...are you okay?" Yun asked sweetly.

"Whoa! I-I'm in the human world! No way! How could this be! I've gotta get back!" Goblimon confusedly looked around and then saw Yun's kind face looking down at him. Seeing the damage he'd done, with the holes and some tree branches being knocked down, he immediately became ridden with guilt and regret.

"I-I-I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to cause all this ruckus! I beseech your forgiveness, human! I'm not supposed to be here anyway! I'll humbly return to my own world!" Goblimon bowed and apologized in front of Yun. But she didn't get mad at him. In fact, she kneeled in front of him and stroke his mohawk, causing him to look up at her green eyes.

"It's alright. I think that black hexagon on your arm caused you to make this racket. But I forgive you. I don't know what you've gone through, but I don't think you're a bad Digimon. I'm sure you have your reasons for doing what you did," Yun told him softly. Goblimon blushed.

"Oh, no, it's...I should get back to my world now. Thanks for stopping me from doing something I might've regretted even more!" Goblimon said as he stood up, snapped his fingers, made a ripply blue hole in the ground, and hopped into it. Yun felt happy seeing that Goblimon turned back to normal.

"Yun!" Terriermon and Lopmon were running toward her. Yun opened her arms in a welcoming fashion and allowed the two floppy eared rabbits to leap on her and embrace her.

"Terriermon! Lopmon! You two were absolutely wonderful! I love you little ones!" Yun exclaimed joyously as she hugged her two new floppy eared friends.

"So...exactly what were you doing here in the first place, Yun?" Minako asked.

"I was going to ask all of you that. But I think maybe we can explain things after school. Can we?" Yun said.

"I think it's a good idea. We'll meet in the gazebo at the park first thing tomorrow after school," Kosuke said.

"That sounds great," Melody said.

Soon, the four kids (and five Digimon) finally decided to go back home and get ready for the rest of the day.

Author's Note: Yay! I finished my first chapter! I hope you all enjoyed it, because there's going to be more to come! Look forward to it! By the way, my birthday's coming up. I'll be 18 years old! Plus I'll officially be a college freshman in the fall. Yay! I have to go now. I'm gonna read some manga! Read and review nicely please! NO FLAMES! Happy reading!

Footnotes:

1. Maurice Ravel was a French composer who was famous for his fairy tale fantasy-themed musical compositions.

2. Anne of Green Gables was a novel written by Lucy Maud Montgomery in 1908. It's one of the most popular Canadian children's novels ever.

Digimon is (c) to Akiyoshi Hongo and Toei Animation. I down't own any of the Digimon, though I do own all the human characters, and I might make some of my own fan made Digimon later in the future.


	2. What The Lights Brought To Us

Author's Note: Hey everyone! I got bored so I felt like working on another chapter of this. My birthday is this Saturday! Yay! I wonder what presents I'll get. Earlier today, my mom and I went blueberry picking. It was my first time, but I didn't even get half the bucket full while she got practically 85 percent of it full. Boo! Well, it was my first time after all, so I guess it'd be natural for me to screw up a bit. I better stop talking now. I present to you all chapter 2 of Digimon: A Seraphic Tale!

EPISODE 2: What The Lights Brought To Us

After the very strange yet very exciting battle with Goblimon earlier this morning, Yun and her friends (both human and Digimon) became wide awake as a result. It also made Yun realize something: her new friends, Lopmon and Terriermon, are Digimon. She knew about Digimon through fiction and TV, but she had no idea that they turned out to be real! Supposing they were nothing but fictional cartoon characters! But she knew well that what she was seeing and feeling in front of her was real. She touched her new floppy earred friends. She felt them, she communicated with them, and best of all, she raised them. All of that was enough to convince her that these cute bunny Digimon were as real as reality itself, even if she didn't particularly like reality, especially with having to deal with Nenji and his possibly over-indulgent mother.

When she got home, she was relieved to see that nobody was awake...well, except for maybe her older sister, Ayaka, who simply thought she was in the basement playing on the computer. That was what Yun normally did whenever she woke up early in the morning, and it was so normal that Ayaka probably didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, which was good for Yun. She snuck back inside through the back door, the way she came out earlier, and locked it tight. Thankfully, her parents were still sleeping. She slowly tip-toed and ambled her way back to her room, cradling Terriermon and Lopmon in both of her arms. When she got inside and closed the door, she fell to her knees in pure relief.

"Whew! Now THAT was a close one!" Yun exclaimed.

"Yeah! It sure was!" Terriermon exclaimed. Now he sounded more like a 8-year-old boy than a 4-year-old one. As Yun caught her breath, she noticed Lopmon looking at her with worry in her green eyes.

"Yun? Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?" Lopmon asked. She still had her sweet, gentle voice, albeit turning a little bit older and somewhat more polite and proper-sounding. Yun smiled at Lopmon's concern.

"I'm fine! Thanks for worrying. You're so sweet," Yun said sweetly as she rubbed Lopmon's head with her hand while trying to avoid her small horns. Although they were small, they still looked sharp and could easily cut herself if she carelessly rubbed against them, so she was scrupulous to avoid them.

"You're welcome. It would be a great tragedy if you were to be seriously hurt. Oh! It seems I forgot to introduce myself! How very rude of me. Hello, Yun. My name is Lopmon, and I am a rookie level, data attribute, animal Digimon. I'm very pleased to make your acquaintance," Lopmon introduced herself in a very polite and suave manner, which seemed to both surprise and please Yun nicely. Lopmon bowed when she reached her last sentence.

"Oh, it's nice to meet you, too!" Yun said.

Then Terriermon hopped in between the two.

"Let's not forget me! I'm Terriermon! Nice to meet'cha!" Terriermon exclaimed cutely, which made Yun laugh, but irked Lopmon somewhat.

"Terriermon. You shouldn't butt into someone else's conversation. It's very rude," Lopmon told him softly but sternly.

"Awww! But I wanted to introduce myself, too!" He whimpered back, feeling a little discouraged.

"You should wait until I'm done," She said to him.

"You guys are cute!" Yun said as she watched the two floppy earred Digimon siblings argue amongst each other, which stopped them from doing any more of it.

"Thank you," Lopmon said politely again. Terriermon hopped into Yun's arms.

"Hey Yun-chan! Let's play!" Terriermon begged.

"I-I'd love to play, Terriermon, but I can't right now. I have to get ready for school," Yun told him.

"School? What's that?" He asked, confused.

"It's a place where you go to learn things and be with others. I don't like it there, but I have to go. It's the law."

"You're not gonna stay forever, are you?"

"Of course not, silly! See the clock on my night stand? Right now it reads 7:04 AM. School starts at 8:20 AM, but my mom and I leave the house at around 8:05 so she can drive me and so I can get there on time. It ends at 3:00, though with Mom driving me I normally get home at around 3:10. See this little hand, here? Once it reaches the three, I'll be back home."

"Oh! I see! Then, can I come?"

"Uhh...I'd love to bring you, but it wouldn't be a good idea."

"Why not?"

"Well, we kids aren't supposed to bring stuffed animals to school. It's a rule. Plus, I'm already the center of unwanted attention enough as it is. Not because of you! No way!"

Lopmon hopped into Yun's arms.

"We Digimon are a rare sight to normal humans. They may think us strange, and we might cause an uproar. They're not used to seeing stuffed animals talking and walking," She explained.

"I guess you're right," Terriermon murmured despondently.

"She is right. Also, there are some people there who don't really like me. I wouldn't want to cause any more trouble than I've already done," Yun said.

"What? You? Cause trouble? How can that be? Yun, with your kindness and tender heart and wonderful knowledge, you could never be capable of causing trouble! You don't seem to be the type! I don't believe it at all!" Lopmon edicted.

Yun was touched by Lopmon's kind words.

"Nobody's ever said that to me before. Anyway, today's gonna be a little different from now on," Yun said.

"How so?"

"Remember my friends? Now that they have Digimon like me, we might have a little meeting after school to talk about you guys. I can't really bring you to school, but once school ends and I come home, I'll have Dad take me to the park since he's off work today. But you two are going to have to stay here in this room until then. I wouldn't want to scare them or have you guys cause an uproar. Not that I think you would, but even inside school or outside people aren't used to seeing stuffed animals talk and walk and stuff. Know what I mean?"

"Awww! That sounds boring!" Terriermon exclaimed.

"But she is right, Terriermon. We cannot draw any unwanted attention to ourselves," Lopmon told him.

"What are we gonna do for 8 hours?" Terriermon asked.

"I have lots of books you can read and games you can play. I don't think you'll have much trouble handling them as long as you keep them in good condition. I don't like having my books torns or my games broken," Yun explained.

"We will be very careful, Yun. We promise," Lopmon said.

"But what about food?" Terriermon asked again.

"Do Digimon eat?" Yun asked.

"Yes, we do. For some Digimon, it is not necessary. But most of us have to eat to keep up our strength or else we wouldn't able to protect ourselves or do anything during the day," Lopmon explained calmly.

"That's true for us humans, too. Anyway, I have lots of stuff you can eat. Some of it is junk food and some of it's healthy food," Yun said.

"Ah, I see. So even humans have to have a healthy diet in order to live a full life," Lopmon said.

"Is that surprising?"

"No."

"Okay then,"

Yun then put the two rabbits down on the floor and kneeled in front of them (though she was sitting as she was holding them).

"Now, I have to get myself ready for today. I'll come back and pick you guys up and I'll have Dad take me to the park today. Will you two promise to be good and keep yourselves hidden from my family?" Yun told them softly and gently but sternly.

"Yes. We will," Lopmon said.

"Okay. I'll do it," Terriermon said, albeit very reluctant to stay cooped up in one place for a whole 8 hours. Yun smiled.

"Good! I know you guys wouldn't like being cooped up for a long time, but like I said, nobody expects to see stuffed animals talking and walking. It'd cause a big stink," Yun said to them.

Yun decided to prepare herself for a new school day. In truth, she did feel bad about having to leave her newfound friends here at home alone (Well, with her parents not looking or knowing, of course) for a whole 8 hours, but she knew very well about what would happen if something were to go wrong, and she wanted to avoid those consequences and repercussions at all costs. She couldn't bear to think about what would happen if her sister were to see them, or the people she hated most (like Nenji and Seiko). It made her heart ache. Not only that, she was never really fond of school and would much rather spend her days with Terriermon or Lopmon, but she knew fantasy couldn't keep her away from reality forever. She learned this the hard way.

And so, Yun said goodbye to her floppy earred friends and took off for school, hoping they wouldn't be spotted. Throughout the day, Yun and her small circle of friends (consisting of the people who knew about Digimon and their existence) talked about what they would do after school. Yun suggested that since they didn't bring their Digimon to school today (their teachers would obviously find out about them if they weren't careful), they would run back home to pick them up, meet up at the gazebo in the park, and get their Digimon acquainted with each other while have some questions answered about their existence, why they arrived on Earth, and what they were doing here. Everyone agreed. They made sure to keep this a secret from people, especially those who would want to thwart their plans and expose them to the world. Good thing Seiko was absent today due to a cold (Kosuke overheard one of her girlfriends saying so).

But even though Yun was back on talking terms with Minako and Kosuke, and the fact that she got to be with Otoya and the twins again, her day was still rather unpleasant, as Nenji kept shouting ribald things about everyone and at everyone (including her) and kept causing all kinds of trouble for the teacher and the other students. As she looked down at her papers and kept her ears covered with her hands, Yun thanked her lucky stars that she made the decision to leave Lopmon and Terriermon at home. It turned out to be a good choice after all. She would never want to get them acquanted with anyone like Nemoto Nenji or Shimizu Seiko. Who knows what kind of trouble would erupt if they were to meet face to face?

Fortunately, this did not happen. The day came and passed, and Yun came home from school with her Dad. Lopmon and Terriermon were happy that she came back, and Yun was happy that they behaved and that nobody noticed them. _'Thank goodness!'_ She thought to herself. Yun then took the two floppy earred animals and the egg-shaped digivice out of the room with her and decided to take the plunge.

"Hey Dad? I forgot to mention, my friends said they're going to the park today and that they want me to come," She said to him.

"Oh? Is that so? How come you didn't tell me in the car?" He asked.

"I needed to pick these up," Yun told him. Lopmon and Terriermon remained silent and pretended to be dolls.

"Are those stuffed animals? How cute! Where'd you get those?" Her dad asked.

"Melody-chan gave them to me. She came by a few days ago and snuck them into my room through my window. You know how sneaky she can be sometimes," Yun explained. She felt bad about lying, but she knew she had to in order to protect her new friends. Her dad chuckled.

"She IS sneaky, indeed! But that was nice of her! Alright then, I'll take you to the park. Take your phone with you in case trouble comes up or if you want to be picked up," her dad told her.

"Yay! Thanks, Dad!" Yun thanked him lovingly and ran to get her cell phone.

Everything went as planned without difficulty, and Yun's dad took her to the park, dropped her off, and drove away. Yun ran to the gazebo where she ran into Melody and Minako, with their respective Digimon, Biyomon and Salamon. It appears Kosuke had not arrived yet.

"Melody-chan! Mina-chan! You're here!" Yun said.

"Why wouldn't we be?" Melody said.

"Wow! Your Digimon are cute, Yun-chan!" Minako said. Yun put Terriermon and Lopmon down.

"They sure are! Introduce yourselves now," Yun told Minako then her floppy eared friends.

"Hello. My name is Lopmon. I'm very pleased to make your acquaintance," Lopmon said very politely and bowed before them.

"I'm Terriermon!" Terriermon said with a smile.

"Terriermon, Lopmon, these two girls here are my best friends, Shimotsuki Melody and Omori Minako," She explained. Then she turned to the two girls. "Mina-chan and Melody-chan, these are my Digimon, Terriermon and Lopmon!"

"Hello, you two," Minako said politely.

"Hi," Melody said gruffly.

It seemed someone else wanted to strike up a conversation.

"Wan wan! Hello! I'm Salamon! Pleased to meet you!" Minako's Digimon, the cute, rosy cheeked, pale yellow puppy, Salamon, piped in cutely.

"Awww! You're so cute!" Yun said.

"And I'm Biyomon! As you can see, I'm Melody's Digimon. Pleased to meet you," Biyomon said in a lady-like but somewhat vain manner. Yun seemed to interpret her as the slightly vain and spoiled type from the way Biyomon crossed her arms (or clawed wings in this case) and stood in an erect and dignified stance, with her red beak raised and her blue eyes shimmering. Yun felt safe and secure knowing that her friends coincidentally got Digimon. After a short while though, Kosuke finally arrived.

"Heeeeey!"

He literally ran up to the girls with his Digimon, Patamon, flying slowly behind him.

"What took you so long?" Melody asked a little gruffly.

"Sorry. Mom was being difficult, and...it seems we've got..." Kosuke blurted out as he stood trying to catch his breath. But the last thing he said left everyone shocked. "We've got...co-company."

"What? Company?" Yun asked.

And the so-called company came.

"WHAT? They have Digimon too?"

"Whoa! Is there, like, a sudden outbreak of Digimon for some reason?"

"SO COOL!"

The voices came straight from Otoya, Rena, and Riku. And wouldn't you know it, all three of them had Digimon too!

_"EEEEEEEHHHH?"_

Practically everyone (except Melody and Kosuke) screamed loudly upon the revelation and now only had Melody, Minako, and Kosuke had received Digimon, but Otoya, Rena, and Riku too!

As they regained their composure, Yun took a good look at their Digimon. The one standing faithfully by Otoya's side is a dog, pale yellow like Salamon, but bigger, with teeth, pink ears and a pink curly tail, gold claws, pink stripes under it's eyes, and a white belly. The one by Rena's side is a very light lavendar-colored rabbit with two sets of floppy ears; one set drooping downward, the other set standing up, both tipped and striped with blue violet streaks. It also had a big curly antenna, also tipped blue violet with a yellow crescent moon under it, violet eyes, crescent moon markings on it's hands and chest, a pink scarf-like thing around it's body, and a silver crescent moon brooch on it. The one by Riku's side is a furry, red, funny-looking beast with golden eyes, black gloves on its wrists, a strange helmet thing with a flame on it on it's forehead, a big fluff of orange fur under it's chin, and a twitching flame on it's tail. Riku was the first to start freaking out.

"Woooow! This is soooo awesome!" He ran toward Biyomon and suddenly hoisted her up in the air.

"Digimon by the motherload! Cooooool!" Riku yelled happily.

But Biyomon did NOT look happy. In fact, when she got hoisted in the air like that, she became choleric. She pecked Riku in the head. HARD. He finally let go.

"Ugh! How dare you pick me up in such a sudden and vulgar manner? How very impertinent of you!" Biyomon scolded angrily, leaving Riku with some marks on his forehead. But he didn't seem to be fazed by it. But his firey Digimon friend seemed to be so.

"Hey! Don't go around peckin' my friend, you bird! He's awesome! And so am I!" The furry red Digimon retorted.

"Would someone as "awesome" as you and him really be so rude and impertinent as to treat me with such vulgarity?" Biyomon asked sternly.

"Now now! Please don't fight!" Yun pleaded. Minako pulled Biyomon away while Rena did the same with the furry red Digimon.

"Ehehehehe. Oh! This is my awesome little buddy Coronamon!" Riku exclaimed as Rena returned his furry red Digimon friend, Coronamon, back to him.

"I'm Coronamon! I'm on FIRE!" Coronamon exclaimed happily, raising it's paw.

"Let's...talk more in the gazebo, shall we?" Yun said as she decided to escort everyone inside. But before Melody and Biyomon did so, Melody gently rubbed Biyomon's head.

"Nice one," She whispered.

"Thanks! I don't like it when someone approaches me so suddenly and treats me with such vulgarity," Biyomon whispered back.

"No kidding. I'd do the exact same thing with anyone who messes with me at all," Melody said. Now she and Biyomon walked into the gazebo.

Now everyone was gathered, sitting in a circle with their Digimon by their sides, ready to start the meeting.

"Okay! Let's start with introductions! Hello, my name is Wakamiya Yun!" Yun began.

"My name is Lopmon. I am very pleased to make your acquaintance."

"I'm Terriermon!"

"I'm Omori Minako, but please feel free to call me Mina."

"Wan! Hello! I'm Salamon!"

"...Shimotsuki Melody."

"And I'm her distinguished Digimon friend, Biyomon!"

"Jounouchi Otoya, daughter of Jounouchi Oujiro, pastor of the neighborhood church!"

"And I'm Labramon."

"The name's Hanemoto Kosuke."

"Hello! I'm Patamon! Nice to meet'cha!"

"I'm known as Nobara Rena."

"My name is Lunamon. It's very nice to meet you all."

"Nobara Riku!"

"The awesome, blazing Coronamon, at your service!"

That sure wrapped things up nicely.

"Now that we are all acquainted with one another, let's tell stories about how we met our Digimon! Mina-chan? Would you like to go first?" Yun began again.

"I'd be glad to. It all started yesterday..." Minako said as Salamon happily sat in her lap, enjoying Minako's petting.

(flashback)

_Like she said, it started yesterday, when she began walking home from school. She had always walked to and from school, and continued to do so to this very day. On that day, she remembered that her mother said that she had been planting periwinkles and white lilacs and that they were finally starting to bloom. Minako loved flowers, but periwinkles and white lilacs were her very favorite flowers. When she arrived at her pale yellow house, she decided to go through the side gate that leades to the backyard, where her mother's garden patch is. All the flowers were in bloom, including the purple periwinkles and the white lilacs._

_And there it was! A rather large, pale yellow egg with darker yellow stars all over it, sitting in the garden patch, right next to the white lilacs! Minako was confused. She had no idea where it had come from, nor of it's origins. But even so, she decided to gently remove it from her favorite flowers and take it into her room. Her parents were in the living room watching TV, so she came inside through the back door,_ _which had started to become rather common for them since Minako was very interested in seeing the flowers bloom. She closed the door to her room and put the star covered egg on her bed. She began to stare at it quite intently. Something about it seemed to click with her, and she just couldn't help but be curious about the egg. Then, in a flash, it started to wiggle! After that, it glowed in a bright white light. It was so bright Minako had to close her eyes._

_When the glow faded and Minako opened her eyes, she was both shocked and very delighted with what she saw. A very small, very cute, very round, pure white creature with two little round ears, big black eyes, and perfectly rosy cheeks, just like her mother's pink morning glories in the garden. Minako had fallen in love, and it seemed the little white bear head seemed to fall in love with her too._

_"You're so cute!" Minako said as she gently poked the little white thing with her finger._

_Soon, the two were doing everything together. At one point, Minako even decided to take it out into the garden, to show it it's birthplace._ _The little white bear head seemed to love smelling the flowers and looking at them._

_"Minako! Can you help me with this please?" Minako's mother called out from the kitchen._

_"Okay! I'll be right there!" Minako replied back. She then turned to the little white bear head._

_"Now stay here and don't move. Okay? I'll be back in a sec," Minako told it in a whisper, then left to help her mother._

_The little white bear head didn't seem to mind, as it sat comfortably in between the purple periwinkles and the white lilacs and slept in them. But when Minako came back, she saw that the little bear head changed._

_"WHAT? Wha...what happened to you?" She yelped, but she covered her mouth once she realized she yelled. She could have startled her parents._

_But what startled her was the little white bear head's drastic transformation. It turned into a green cat head with ears, violet eyes, a big mouth, and a little tail with blue stripes on it. Minako approached it cautiously and kneeled._

_"Umm...hello? You still remember me, little one?" Minako asked shyly._

_She never expected to get a verbal response. But she did._

_"Mina! Mina!" The little cat head yelped in a funny sounding voice, which at first shocked Minako. But after a short while, she regained her composure and decided to play with it more._

_"Yes. I'm Mina. What's your name?" Minako said._

_"Nyaaa. Nyaromon," The little green cat head, Nyaromon, replied._

_"So I see. Nice to meet you," Minako said to it._

_They played some more and then they went to bed, but not before a digivice appeared in front of Minako. Unlike Yun's being pink and light green, Minako's was pure violet purple, just like her periwinkles. She didn't really mind, since purple and white are her favorite colors._ _But the next morning, Nyaromon was acting up, saying things like, "Digimon out there! Must find!" So, Minako and Nyaromon went into the woods._

(end flashback)

"...and then we ran into you and all that stuff with Goblimon happened," Minako explained, showing her purple egg-shaped digivice to everyone.

"What? The two of you found your eggs and digivices yesterday?" Kosuke asked. By _'the two of you'_ he meant Yun and Minako.

"Yeah!" Yun said.

"I did too!" Kosuke said.

"What! So did I!" Otoya said.

"Me too," Melody backed her up.

"Us too!" Rena and Riku exclaimed in unison.

This shocked everyone, including Yun.

"WHAT? Now THIS is one scary coincidence! We all found our Digimon and digivices on the same day at the exact same times!" Yun exclaimed.

"My, my! This is a very interesting coincidence, indeed!" Lopmon backed her up.

"Sounds kinda creepy to me," Otoya said.

"Anyway...now onto my story. I found my egg under my computer. When I picked it up, it hatched into Nyokimon. After a while, it digivolved into Yokomon. We bonded a bit, but then she sensed a Digimon's presence in the woods. End of story," Melody explained quietly but rather sharply.

"I'm glad it was Melody who found me. I certainly wouldn't want to have a human partner so wicked and so careless as this freckled boy here!" Biyomon retorted rather selfishly.

"Hey!" Riku cried out.

"Now onto my story!" Otoya interrupted, hoping that Riku and Biyomon wouldn't get into a brouhaha.

(flashback)

_Around the same time as the others, Otoya ran into her home happily without a care in the world._

_"I'm home!" Otoya exclaimed. Her dad, the well known pastor of the neighborhood church, and her mom were both sitting in the dining room._

_"Welcome back, dear," Oujiro said pleasingly._

_"How did the choir's practice go?" Otoya asked as she grabbed a carton of chocolate milk and began pouring it into a plastic cup. The Jounouchis only used glass cups and tableware for special occasions._

_"Very well, thank you. I'll bet by the next gathering they'll be a big hit," Oujiro said._

_"Wow! I can't wait to hear them sing!" Otoya said as she put the carton away._

_"You should get started on your homework, Otoya," Her mom said._

_"Okay! I'll be in my room," Otoya said as she drank a bit of chocolate milk and ambled upstairs to go to her room._

_This was when she found the egg lying on her bed. A large pale yellow egg with two magenta colored spots on the sides. Like the others, it wiggled and glowed, but it hatched into a pale yellow dango-shaped creature with two magenta colored, dog-like ears and a thing of hair on it's forehead. Otoya loved anything that was cute, so she took to it immediately._

_"Awwww! How cute! It looks like a puppy!" Otoya squealed as she caressed the little dango-shaped puppy lovingly._

_Soon, the little puppy grew longer and even grew a curly tail and legs. It even started talking!_

_"O-O-Oto-Otoya..." It was the first thing it said, and it startled Otoya as she was doing her homework, but she soon became used to it trying to learn new words._

_But unlike the others though, it didn't sense any Digimon nearby. Otoya's family didn't live near the woods, so they didn't fight the Goblimon. But the next day, Otoya left for school and the little puppy became worried._

_Right as Otoya, Riku, Rena, and Kosuke left school, Otoya saw Labramon sitting quietly in front of the school entrance, waiting for her._

_"Whaaaaaa? Wha-what are you doing at my school?" Otoya yelped, which made Rena, Riku, and Kosuke all shocked._

_"I was worried about you, Otoya," Labramon said._

(end flashback)

"Good thing nobody took it the wrong way!" Otoya said.

"Okay. Now onto mine," Kosuke piped in.

(flashback)

_Kosuke developed a habit of going inside his house through the side window, which lead to his room. He didn't want to go into the living room anymore. He didn't like seeing the same things there, smelling the same smells, and having his stomach feel wrung out every time he went in there every single day._

_But when he got into his room, he saw a large, white egg with orange stripes on it laying next to his bed. He slowly approached it when it suddenly wiggled and glowed. After the glow faded, he saw that the egg left behind a very tiny, very cute, and very soft and slimy marshmallow-shaped creature with a round head, a mouth, and a pair of beady black eyes. Kosuke softened at the sight of the small creature,_ _and laid on his bed so he can look at it at eye level._

_"Now where did you come from, little guy?" Kosuke asked._

_The marshmallow shaped animal didn't answer._

_"Guess you can't talk yet, eh? Small world out there, isn't it?" Kosuke said as he patted the marshmallow-shaped creature on the head. It felt soft and smily, but he liked the feel of it._

_He and the small creature spent the entire day together. But dinner time came around and Kosuke decided to make dinner for himself and for the marshmallow-shaped creature. He prepared some pre-prepared spaghetti and meatballs in the microwave and took it to his room...only to find the marshmallow-shaped animal transformed into a white toothy thing with two wiggly antennae and small feet._

_"Hello!" It said in a high voice, which shocked Kosuke even more. Seeing the shock on his face, the white toothy animal became a little crestfallen._

_"Oh. Did I scare you? I'm sorry," It said again. Kosuke finally got over his shock, ambled toward the little thing, and stroke it's head and antennae._

_"You didn't scare me, little guy. What's your name?" He told him softly._

_"I'm Tokomon," The white toothy animal, Tokomon, said at last._

_"So you're a Digimon, then? Interesting," Kosuke said._

_"How do you know I'm a Digimon?" Tokomon asked._

_"I just know," Kosuke replied._

_"Wanna be friends?"_

_"Sure."_

(end flashback)

"...the end!" Kosuke said with a clap of his hands and a flap of Patamon's orange wings.

"I really like Kosuke! Is he cool or what?" Patamon said.

"He sure is!" Yun said.

"I get to tell our story!" Rena exclaimed, raising her hand.

"No! I'm telling it!" Riku argued.

"No! I am!"

"I am!"

"You'll leave out the best parts!"

"No I won't! I have ADHD! I pay attention to details nobody else does!"

"WILL YOU TWO QUIT SQUABBLING?" Melody, Biyomon, Kosuke, and Patamon exclaimed angrily, which scared the two siblings.

"Alright," They sighed, then began. "We find eggs in our rooms. They hatch. They digivolve. Later, they digivolve again. The end!"

And that was the shortest story of them all.

"That was fast," Terriermon said.

"I'm with ya on that!" Coronamon told him. They high fived each other.

"So...do you all have your digivices?" Yun asked.

"Yep!" Otoya said, then gestured everyone to show their digivices.

Yun presented hers first. Hers is light pink and pale green. Minako's is violet purple. Melody's is crimson red. Kosuke's is a mango orange color. Otoya's is cerulean blue, like the ocean on a cool summer day. Rena's is light lavendar, and Riku's is a shimmering goldenrod.

"Now...onto questioning the Digimon!" Yun said.

Right on cue, all the Digimon gathered to the center of the gazebo, waiting for the humans to ask their questions.

"So, what do you want to ask first?" Lunamon asked politely.

"I'll ask the first question. How did you all get to our world? And on the same day no less?" Yun asked.

The Digimon looked at each other and ruminated. Then, minutes passed. Yun could tell by their faces that they didn't seem like they had even the faintest clue to how they got to the human world.

"I'm sorry, but I cannot remember anything before meeting you, Yun. It's all a blur," Lopmon replied sadly.

"Yeah. Me neither," Salamon backed her up.

"All we remember is that we came from the Digital World," Labramon told them.

"What's the Digital World again?" Rena asked, feeling confused.

"The Digital World is where we come from. We are born and live in a world that was created by your world's communication network," Patamon explained calmly.

"Digimon is short for Digital Monster!" Biyomon piped in.

"We kinda knew that already," Kosuke retorted a little gruffly.

"Hmph! Humans are so impudent," Biyomon said.

"What was that?" Riku cried out angrily, thinking the insult was directed at him.

But the children didn't get the time to ask more questions. Why? Because a loud roaring sound nearby prevented them from doing so!

"What was that?" Minako yelped.

"Look! Over there!" Yun pointed to a secluded part of the park, where something large and green began running rampant.

And large and green it was, indeed! To Yun, it looked like a much larger, more vicious version of Goblimon, only with horns on it's head, a large open mouth with fangs, horns on it's body, white hair on it's head, a bone club in it's hand, and glowing red eyes.

A light appeared on Minako's digivice, showing the image and name of the rampant Digimon, who was too busy knocking down trees with it's bone club.

"Ogremon. A champion level. It's a virus type ogre Digimon. It's special attacks are Bone Club and Overlord Fist!" Minako said.

But something else caught Yun's attention.

"Look! On it's arm! A black hexagon!" Yun said.

She was right. A black hexagon with stripes and a skull shape lay on it's arm, the one holding the club. Just like Goblimon.

"Yeah! We should destroy it!" Kosuke said.

"What does the black hexagon do?" Otoya asked.

"I don't know, but from what I can see it makes the Digimon go crazy. It's best to destroy it as soon as possible!" Yun explained calmly, trying very desperately to hide her fear.

"That thing needs a make-over," Biyomon snorted gruffly.

"Pheh! That ugly thing! We can take it down easy! Ya ready, Coronamon?" Riku exclaimed rather proudly.

"Yeah! Let's do it!" Coronamon said as the two of them charged toward Ogremon. But Rena and Lunamon pulled Riku back.

"Riku! Don't go after it so recklessly! You could get killed!" Rena scolded harshly.

"That's right. Ogremon are extremely dangerous," Lunamon told him in a particularly clear, pretty voice.

"Boom Bubble!" Patamon shot a huge ball of air at Ogremon, successfully hitting the hexagon. But it wasn't enough to make it go away. Fortunately enough, the Ogremon seemed to be so preoccupied with it's task of knocking down trees that it didn't even notice, let alone feel, Patamon's attack.

"Wow! He's worse than you!" Melody told Yun.

"Awww, come on!" Yun replied. As Melody pointed out, Yun often had a habit of being preoccupied with a task she really liked while totally forgetting and ignoring everything else around her. Completely. And that's not even an exaggeration. But the Digimon proceeded to attack it anyway, except for Salamon who decided to stay by Minako's side. It wasn't out of fear of the ugly green thing.

"Salamon? You're not gonna fight?" Minako asked.

"Nope! If I attacked it with my Holy Roar, I might draw it's attention, and I don't wanna do that. Especially not since it doesn't seem to notice Patamon's attack. It'd be best if we didn't use any LOUD attacks," Salamon explained.

"You've got a point," Minako said. She also noticed that Labramon remained by Otoya's side for the exact same reason.

"Be careful!" Yun advised.

"Blazing fire!" Terriermon shot a sphere of fire at Ogremon's arm, successfully hitting the hexagon, but it still wasn't enough to make it disappear.

"Feather strike!" Biyomon shot sharp pink feathers at Ogremon's arm, one of them hitting the mark.

"Tear Shot!" a ripply ball of water shot out from Lunamon's curly antenna and hit the hexagon with aplomb.

"Corona Flame!" a blazing sphere of fire shot out from Coronamon's forehead and hit the hexagon.

"Freezing Snow!" Lopmon blew out a blizzard of powdery snow, freezing Ogremon's entire arm.

This was what finally got it's attention.

It roared upon feeling the intense cold ice on it's arm and upon not being able to freely move it. It finally turned around and saw the small Digimon with it's evil, glowing red eyes.

"Oh no! It's found us!" Lunamon squeaked.

"Not to worry! The hexagon should come off soon!" Patamon exclaimed reassuringly, though he wasn't too sure himself. Especially since Ogremon started charging after them.

"Bone Club!" It screeched as it approached the small group of Digimon.

This is when Salamon and Labramon decided to fight.

"Holy Roar!" Salamon's LOUD attack, which frightened everyone as much as it did Ogremon, made the bone club come out of it's hand. Labramon took the opportunity and leaped on it's arm. It's fangs glowed in a faint rainbow light.

"Holy Bite!" Labramon sunk it's teeth deep into Ogremon's arm, causing him to screech in pain. This made the hexagon on it's arm finally dissipate into the air. Right then and there, Labramon leaped off and returned to Otoya's side, and apparently so did everyone else.

The red glow in Ogremon's eyes finally faded, and he looked around the area in a confused daze.

"Huh? Wha? Where am I? This ain't the Digital World!" Ogremon said in a deep voice, then saw the trees he knocked down.

"Oh no! Did...did I do this? Oh merciful heavens, I did! I did!" Ogremon wailed.

"Ummm...excuse me?" Yun caught it's attention, and instead of attacking her, he dropped to his knees.

"Awwww! I'm so sorry! I truly truly am! I have no idea what came over me! First my buddy Goblimon and now me! How could we be so dumb! I didn't mean to cause all this destruction!" Ogremon importuned sadly. But Yun wasn't angry at him.

"It's alright. It wasn't your fault. And did you say you know the Goblimon?" Yun told him.

"Yep! He's my best buddy!" Ogremon replied.

"Umm...do you know where you got the black hexagon from? That was what made you go crazy," Yun told him again.

"Indeed it did. To be honest, I dunno how I got it. All I know was that I was just mindin' my own business when suddenly this big black thing came up to me in one fell swoop. I dun remember nothin' after that. Sorry!" Ogremon explained.

"I wonder what it could be?" Rena said.

"It sounds scary!" Otoya said.

"Well, whatever it is, make sure it doesn't control you again, okay? I think you should go back to your world now. I'm sure your Digimon friends might be worried about you," Yun told Ogremon as he opened a little white hole in the ground with the snap of his fingers.

"Indeed they will be. Thanks a lot for stoppin' me! I really owe ya a big one! Gotta bounce!" Ogremon exclaimed with a wave as he leaped into the white hole and disappeared.

"Now that was awesome," Kosuke murmured.

"That was quite dangerous, wasn't it, Otoya-chan?" Labramon asked.

"It sure was!" Otoya replied to both her faithful Digimon and Kosuke.

An idea sprung into Yun's head like an overpowered pogo stick.

"Uwaaaah! I thought of something really cool!" Yun exclaimed.

"What may it be, Yun?" Lopmon asked.

"Yeah! Tell us!" Terriermon said.

"I wanna know!" Salamon piped in.

"Me too!" Otoya exclaimed.

Yun proudly pointed her index finger high into the sky, with her arm extended and face smiling brightly.

"We are the Digimon Brigade!"

"GEH?"

With Yun's sudden fiat, everyone's mouths dropped to the floor in utter confusion and shock.

"Digimon..." Minako murmured.

"...Brigade?" Melody whispered.

"Yes! The Digimon Brigade!" Yun exclaimed.

"Why?" Kosuke asked.

"Just think! Just like in the TV shows and comic books we read about Digimon, we have been given Digimon for some kind of divine purpose! How do you explain us all being given Digimon at the exact same day and time? Something must be happening in the Digital World! In regards to the name, I think we should have our own group name, don't you think? It wouldn't be a fantastic and adventurous journey without a good name, wouldn't it?" Yun explained rather joyously and enthusiastically, but upon seeing the weirded out looks on everyones faces, she turned a little red. "Uhhh...if you don't like the name, that's fine. Anyone got other ideas?"

Everyone looked at each other and ruminated amongst themselves silently.

It was Riku who tool the plunge.

"COOL! I love the name Digimon Brigade!"

"Come to think of it, it DOES have a nice ring to it," Minako said.

"Yeah. I can't think of anything better, so..." Kosuke said.

"It's good," Melody said.

"Wan! I love it!" Salamon piped in cutely.

"I think it sounds cool!" Rena said.

"Me too!" Lunamon backed her up.

Yun's face lit up with joy.

"Alright! Henceforth, we shall be known as the Digimon Brigade!"

"YEAH!" Everyone cheered with their fists in the air.

"Now, there's one important rule that EVERYONE has to follow! Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, should know that you have Digimon! It'd cause a huge stink! We have to swear to keep them secret and guard them with our lives!"

"Yeah!" Everyone replied.

"Good! This first Digimon Brigade meeting is adjourned!" Yun edicted, clasping her hands together like she's some court judge. Rena looked at her watch.

"Oh dear! It's almost time for dinner! We have to run! Come on, Lunamon!" Rena said as she dashed away from the park.

"Yes, Rena-san!" Lunamon exclaimed quickly as she followed Rena.

"Heh. I gotta go too. Bye! Coronamon!" Riku said goodbye to everyone and proceeded to follow his sister.

"Riku! Wait for meeeee!" Coronamon pleaded as he tried to keep up with Riku.

Soon, everyone else left.

"Bye-bye! I'll see you all later!" Patamon cheered happily as she followed Kosuke away. Basically Yun, Minako, Lopmon, Terriermon, and Salamon were the only ones at the park now.

...or so they thought.

Minako turned to the torn down trees with a curious look on her face.

"What's wrong, Mina-chan?" Yun asked.

"I thought I heard someone laughing," Minako replied.

Then, the long ears of Terriermon, Lopmon, and Salamon stood straight up.

"There's a Digimon nearby!" Lopmon exclaimed.

"What! So soon after the other one!" Minako yelled.

"No worries. This is a small one. Wan!" Salamon replied calmly but sweetly.

"Let's go see!" Terriermon said.

The five decided to find the Digimon. It wasn't that hard to find it, since the laughing was relatively close by. What they saw surprised them.

They found a little girl and a small pink winged Digimon playing happily in the park. And the two just caught sight of them!

Author's Note: Yay! I finished chapter 2! Do you like it so far? I'm liking how it's going so far. My dad and I are going to visit my sister up north today. She's living on her own so we're gonna have lunch with her. So I gotta go. I gotta get my stuff together. I hope you enjoyed chapter 2! There's more to come! Look forward to it!

Just so you all know, you can find the better version of this chapter (and my other stories) on my LiveJournal, JoyousMenma93(at)livejournal(dot)com.


	3. People and Digimon

Author's Note: Hi everyone! Guess what? Tomorrow's my birthday! I can't wait! I certainly hope it'll be a better birthday than last year's. Last year's was awful. But this year I'm turning 18! Goodbye childhood, hello adulthood. I don't want to make that dire transition, but it's part of life, I suppose. I can't ignore it and I can't change it. I wonder what presents I'll get? Well, I better stop babbling and work on chapter 3 of Digimon: A Seraphic Tale!

EPISODE 3: People and Digimon

Yun, Minako, Lopmon, Salamon, and Terriermon were frozen in place as they locked eyes with the young girl and the tiny pink fairy. The little girl looked to be no more than 7 or 8 years old. She has very short, very boyish looking black hair and brown eyes, matching her very tan skin. She looked as if she had basked underneath the sun's golden effulgence for a very, very long time. She wore nothing but a sleeveless light beige shirt, dark blue jean shorts, white socks, and purple shoes. Above her is the fairy small pink fairy, with a gold collar, a red heart on it's chest, green eyes, and sproingy looking hands, antennae, and a tail. They were all so surprised, nobody said a word. A very awkward pause consumed them.

Thankfully, it was broken by a rather sweet voice.

"Hello!" said the small pink fairy.

Yun finally couldn't contain herself.

"Soooo cute!" Yun exclaimed as she took the funny little fairy into her hand. Hand because the fairy is no bigger than Yun's palm. The pink fairy did not seem to mind.

"Yu-Yun!" Minako pulled Yun away and released the pink fairy, who returned to the little girl's side.

"W-We're so sorry for bumping into you like this! We-" Minako said as she got Yun to calm down a bit.

But the little girl didn't seem to mind them being there. In fact, she cocked her head a few times as she gazed upon them. She looked more curious and interested than annoyed and irritated. She approached Lopmon, Terriermon, and Salamon and observed them very closely.

"You have Digimon too? That's so cool!" The little girl said in a voice just as sweet as the fairy's, if not sounding a bit more taciturn and timid.

Lopmon stood before the little girl in a polite posture.

"Hello there. We're sorry to disturb you and your friend. My name is Lopmon. It's very nice to meet you," Lopmon said very politely as she bowed before the little girl. Yun, seeing Lopmon's impeccable introduction and display of politeness, decided to follow suit.

"I'm Yun. Wakamiya Yun," She said a little shyly.

"I'm Omori Minako, but call me Mina," Minako said.

"I'm Terriermon!" Terriermon exclaimed with a smile.

"And I'm Salamon! Your Digimon's cute!" Salamon said sweetly.

"Oh, no. I'm not cute at all! Oh! I'm MarineAngemon! Nice to meet you all!" The tiny pink fairy, MarineAngemon, piped in sweetly.

"My name's Yukino Aria," The little girl, Aria, told them in her small voice.

But just the mentioning of Aria's name seem to make Yun awestruck.

"Aria? Aria! Your name's Aria! Like the anime, _Aria_(1)! I love that anime!" Yun exclaimed, feeling quite excited and exuberant.

"Yeah. Strange, right?" Aria asked.

"Oh! No no no! Not at all! I think Aria's a wonderful name! It's not strange at all! I've heard my share of strange names! And I love that anime!" Yun told her a little timidly.

"Let's sit down, shall we?" Minako said as she saw an untouched bench near the torn down trees.

"Hey Mina-chan! Can we play with MarineAngemon, please?" Salamon asked.

"You can play," Aria replied.

"Yay! Let's play!" Salamon yelped excitedly as she decided to chase MarineAngemon around.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Terriermon followed them.

"Perhaps I will engage in play too," Lopmon whispered as she decided to join them.

Aria, Yun, and Minako sat on the bench as they watched the small Digimon happily jump around and run and play amongst each other. They looked as though they were having a great deal of fun. Yun couldn't help but smile as she saw her new friends playing. But she did notice that Aria kept looking down at her folded hands with a sort of dejected look on her face.

"What's wrong?" Yun asked.

"Wha? Oh...nothing," Aria replied softly and a little timidly.

"Umm...I'm not trying to be rude or anything, but wouldn't it be best for you to go home? I mean, there was a bad Digimon here that caused a lot of damage, and I think the police might make this place off limits once they see what's been done," Yun explained with concern in her voice.

"But...I don't wanna go home. Papa and my big sister are very angry," Aria replied.

"Are they fighting?"

"Yes."

"So you came here to get away from them?"

"Yes. Until they stop."

"I know how you feel. I wouldn't like being stuck with people who are fighting and yelling at each other. I don't like it when people yell or fight. It hurts my ears."

"Me too."

"Why'd you come to the park?"

"Mama took me and big sister here a lot. It's our favorite place."

"That must be wonderful! So where's your mother now?"

Upon seeing the girl's face become more dejected, Yun realized that she had asked a rather rude and inappropriate question. She wished she hadn't asked the question.

"Oh! I'm sorry! If you don't want to tell me, that's fine. It's none of my-" Yun tried to not give the girl the wrong idea or irritate her in any way, but it seemed Aria responded anyway.

"She's...in heaven," she murmured sadly.

"I-I'm sorry..." Yun said.

Yun noticed that the girl's face developed a somewhat pinched look to them, like she's holding back tears or trying to hide anger.

"She's...she's _gone_! She's gone and she's never coming back! She'll never come back, even if I wish and pray and beg!" Aria exclaimed rather loudly.

"O-O-Okay. I...get it..." Yun told her as she held her hands up.

"Sorry. Papa's always yelling that at me. I don't...wanna be reminded of that anymore. I know Mama's gone forever. He doesn't have to tell me that every single time I talk about her."

"You love your mom, don't you?"

"Yes. She was nice and warm and gentle. She never got angry at me or big sister. She was always nice and smily. She always made me happy whenever I had a bad day at school or when kids were being mean. But now she's gone. Now MarineAngemon's here and...she makes me happy."

"I'm glad. About you and MarineAngemon, I mean. She's certainly cute!"

"Thank you."

"When and how did you find her?"

"Well..." Aria decided to tell the story of how she met MarineAngemon. "I remember it was around yesterday, I think it was. Big sister and I didn't go to their wedding. I was in my backyard playing on my swing when I found her. She was all hurt and beat up like some animal had tried to eat her. Big sister and I took good care of her. She got better and now we're friends, but I gotta keep her a secret from Papa and his new wife. Big sister's the only one who knows. And now you know too!"

"That's true. What's your new mother like?" Yun asked.

"I dunno. Papa married her yesterday. Papa says she's my stepmother. She doesn't look like Cinderella's evil stepmother, but I don't know what she's like yet. I'm afraid she's not like my real Mama. I didn't see her today either. I heard Papa say she got a job and has to work during the day," Aria explained calmly.

This time, Minako decided to jump into the conversation.

"Well, it is only the first day, so I don't think you should think of her as a bad person just yet. Try and get to know her a little better. Who knows? Maybe she'll be a nice person. You never know until you try," Minako explained calmly.

Aria looked down and ruminated for a bit, then looked up and smiled sweetly.

"Okay. I'll talk with my new step-mama and see what she's like," Aria replied.

"Heeeey Aria-chan! Lookit meeee!" MarineAngemon called out.

The three girls looked up and saw MarineAngemon on top of Salamon's head, and Salamon on top of Terriermon's head. Lopmon was standing by and watching, though with a very worried expression on her face.

"Lookie! We're a Digimon tower!" Terriermon exclaimed as he tried to balance Salamon and MarineAngemon.

"Please be careful, Terriermon! You wouldn't want to get hurt, would you?" Lopmon advised, trying to be by their side in case they were to suddenly topple and fall all over the place.

"Don't worry so much, Lopmon! We're just fine!" Terriermon replied happily. The three girls laughed at them, but Yun suddenly remembered something important.

"Oh! Aria-chan...do you have something like this?" Yun asked as she pulled out her Digivice from her pocket. Aria examined it closely and gasped a little.

"Yeah! I have one! But mine's pink. And it's at home. Sorry," Aria replied.

"It's alright. But I don't really get why mine's-" Yun was about to wonder why her digivice is two different colors when suddenly...

"WHAT? OH MY GOD!" Minako screamed very loudly, so much that her echoing voice made Terriermon, Salamon, and MarineAngemon topple and fall onto the grass! Lopmon caught MarineAngemon, but Salamon and Terriermon fell down. Thankfully they weren't hurt, so it was all good. But Minako's scream certainly scared Aria and Yun. Yun had to cover her ears.

"Mina-chan! Why did you just-" Yun was about to ask, but Minako pulled her closer toward her purple digivice.

It was showing information about MarineAngemon.

"Look at this!" Minako showed Yun the glowing orb of light that showed MarineAngemon's information. One part of it left Yun shocked to the bone.

"She's a **_MEGA_** level?" She yelped.

"Yeah! Mega's the highest digivolution stage! And the strongest too!" Minako yelped. Aria heard all of it, and so did MarineAngemon, who happily returned to Yun's side.

_'If MarineAngemon's a mega level...then what's a little girl like Aria-chan doing with such a strong Digimon by her side?'_ Yun asked herself, still feeling very surprised. She turned toward the confused little girl.

"Aria-chan...did you find MarineAngemon as she is now, or as an egg?" Yun asked.

"The way she is now," Aria replied.

"We found our Digimon as Digi-eggs," Yun told her.

"Really? I wonder why MarineAngemon didn't come to me as an egg? And I thought eggs came from chickens!" Aria said.

"To be perfectly honest, I don't remember what happened to me or what made me come to Earth...but I do remember that I'm cursed!" The little pink fairy exclaimed.

"Huh? Cursed? How so?" Minako asked.

"Well...uhh...I don't remember how I got the curse, but I can't seem to turn into a rookie level or into my baby form. Even if I use up all my powers. As much as I like my form now, it takes a REALLY long while for me to regain all my energy and strength after I get into a big battle with another Digimon...or something like that," MarineAngemon explained.

"I didn't know Digimon could get cursed," Minako said.

"Me neither." Yun said. But before they could start thinking and ruminating, Yun felt a soft hand wrap around her own hand. It was Aria's, and Aria is looking up at her with bright eyes and a smile on her face.

"I...I like you, Yun-chan! Can we be friends?" Aria asked gently and sweetly.

Yun felt her chest go warm. And all the Digimon were watching them eagerly. She had never, not once in her whole entire life, had someone as young as Aria ask to be her friend. Yun always had an aversion toward very young children, especially babies and kids who cried a lot. But then again, anyone at any age never really bothered to ask to be her friend,and for a very long time at that! Yun was always a shy and socially awkward girl, and continued to be so now. She never really was any good at making friends. Even when new kids arrived she could never get the courage to talk to them. Aria seemed like the last person who would ever attempt, or even think, to offer her friendship to Yun. But hearing about her story and seeing the brightness in her eyes, shining like stars, she smiled and kneeled in front of the little girl.

"Of course we can be friends. In fact, how about I make you a member of the Digimon Brigade?" Yun replied.

"Really? Aria-chan be part of the Digimon Brigade?" Minako asked a little worriedly.

"Yeah!"

"But isn't she a little young? She don't want to drag her into any danger!"

"I think it's a great idea!" Salamon piped up.

"Me too! Plus MarineAngemon has to be REALLY strong!" Terriermon backed her up.

"While I do think they still have a lot to learn, I think it would be just lovely to have them join the Digimon Brigade as friends. Don't you think so, Yun?" Lopmon said kindly.

"I do too!" She then turned to Aria. "I don't think we'll have you fight big and scary Digimon just yet since you're still rather young and inexperienced. Inexperienced means you don't know much about something or haven't done something a whole lot yet. But you can learn! And I think we'll be great friends!"

"Really? Okay! I'll be in the Digimon Brigade! Thanks, Yun-chan and Mina-chan!" Aria said with a courageous face.

"Great!...wait! Where do you go to school?"

"Katsura Elementary School."

"Really! That's where me and Mina-chan went when we were little, right Mina-chan?" Yun exclaimed happily.

"Yes, we did," Minako said.

"Starting today, my friends and I are going to hold meetings here after school to talk about Digimon and other things. Is that okay with you, Aria-chan?" Yun explained calmly and lucidly so Aria could understand.

"Yep!"

"Good!"

"Ummm...I think I'll go home now. Thanks for listening to me and being my friends. I promise I'll play with you later," Aria said as she decided to leave the park. MarineAngemon followed her.

"See you later, Aria-chan and MarineAngemon!" Yun said.

"Be careful on your way home!" Minako advised. Aria and MarineAngemon waved back at them and finally left.

Minako and Yun decided to leave the park too. Yun called her father and asked her to pick him up. Minako decided to walk home. Yun, Lopmon, and Terriermon finally came home. Yun hid them before anyone could notice. Yun ate her dinner, did her homework, and went back into her room to be with her floppy earred friends.

"Now this was a fun day!" Yun said as she flopped onto the bed with her floppy earred friends.

"It suuuuuure was!" Terriermon exclaimed happily.

"How dangerous it would've been if Ogremon turned out to be more powerful than he already was. We could've easily been killed and converted into data!" Lopmon said.

"Well, now that that's done and over with, what do you two wanna do?" Yun asked.

"Let's see...I would very much like to get a closer look at those flowers in the backyard," Lopmon said with a smile.

"My mom planted those. How about I show you tomorrow? I'm usually home by myself from around 6:00 to 8:40 PM since my parents both work so it'll be perfect!" Yun replied. The two of them smiled at each other happily.

It was during this small conversation that Terriermon just so happened to approach Yun's book shelf and notice a rather large book that stood out among the rest of them. He managed to pull it out of the shelf with his long, floppy ears, but it still felt rather heavy. He looked at the book intently, seeing the cover featuring a somber, dirty, poorly dressed, forlorn looking little girl standing in a puddle with a broom two feet taller than even her! Terriermon mostly had trouble reading, and pronouncing, the title. After a short while, Yun noticed him looking at the book with a confused face.

"Oh! I don't think you should read that right now. It's kinda big...and might be a little too somber for your tastes," Yun advised as she crawled next to him. Lopmon sat on the bed by herself.

"What does somber mean?" Lopmon asked curiously.

"Somber means gloomy and sad and depressing and serious," Yun replied.

"Wow! This book is HUGE! And it looks kinda _'somber'_ as you say it," Terriermon remarked, making air quotes around somber with his floppy ears. Yun couldn't help but chuckle at this gesture, seeing how it was done with his floppy ears, not with his small fingers.

"And how do you pronounce this? Less...miserable? Lays...mie-zer-a-" Terriermon attempted to pronounce the confusing title, but Yun helped him out.

"Lay mi-zer-ahb. _Les Miserables_. It's French for _"the miserable ones"_ or _"the poor ones"_. It sounds funny, I know," Yun said.

"How can something that means miserable and poor be funny?" Lopmon asked.

"I don't know!" Yun replied.

"So...what's this about?" Terriermon said. Around here, Lopmon stood by her side with a curious look.

Yun stood up in an erect stance, with her arms akimbo and legs straight as a floorboard.

"I'm GLAD you asked! The story of Les Miserables is actually quite a complex and awe-inspiring one, dating back to over 200 years ago! When it was first written, I mean. The story has five parts in general!"

The two floppy earred Digimon were unaware of the fact that they were going to be consumed by the tidal wave that is Yun's rambling about the things she loves with a passion.

"The first part is simple enough. A man named Jean Valjean gets released from prison after 19 years! It was supposed to be 5 years because he stole some bread. Why people got sentenced to 5 years for stealing bread, I don't know, but that was how it was like in the book because times were very harsh and cruel. Anyway, his sentence increased because he kept trying to escape from prison. He gets released and tries to look for a job and make money, but nobody accepts him because he's an ex-convict and they don't like ex-convicts. Then a kind church bishop named Myriel takes him into his home and gives him food and shelter for a while. This is where kindness is given to him for the first time in a very long time, as the prison was NOT kind to him. Not at all! But Monsieur Valjean repays him rather cruelly...by taking his expensive silver candles! He still had a cold heart then. But the police find him and try to arrest him. This is my favorite part! Myriel lies to the police by telling them that he gave the silver to him as a gift. I think he lied because he knew that Monsieur Valjean went through hard times and was desperate to get a little piece of happiness to ease his pain, even though bishops weren't supposed to condone wrongdoings. But he did it out of kindness, and allowed Valjean to be free. It's this kind act that inspires Valjean to change his life for the better and become a kind person, just like Myriel. I think the moral for this part of the book is that a small act of kindness can go a long way, no matter how small or insignificant it sounds, and that kindness is NEVER wasted. Sometimes one small act of kindness and charity can really impact a person, especially those who haven't experienced kindness. The second part is where he starts his own black glass factory. It's a place where they make glass out of various things. He's even the mayor of the town! But what he doesn't know is that the glass factory fires a woman named Fantine who's trying to raise money for her daughter, who she had to leave with some innkeepers, so she can buy her own house and start a new life with her. Fantine's fired because the workers found out she has a kid, and it wasn't legal to have a kid while working around then. I didn't quite understand that law myself. But what she doesn't know that the innkeepers, the Thenardiers, are cruel, wicked, and cold-hearted people who treat the little girl very badly! They made her into a slave! They make her clean the floors, carry heavy pails of coal, everything! Her name is Cosette. Fantine doesn't know this however. That she's being abused, I mean."

Terriermon and Lopmon found themselves very absorbed by Yun's abridged version of the famous tale and couldn't help but be curious and interested in regards to what happened next. Yun mostly told them because she assumed that they probably wouldn't like reading such a huge book, which to Terriermon would be full of boring words and things he didn't understand. But even though the two floppy eared Digimon were curious and interested and starry-eyed and entranced by Yun's take on the tale, they were also confused at the same time.

"So basically this Fantine woman had to leave her kid with evil innkeepers and didn't know it? Didn't she have a cell phone or an e-mail? She could talk to Cosette that way!" Terriermon inquired.

"Back in those days, cell phones and e-mails didn't exist back then! Nobody created them yet! The story begins in the year 1815, and they didn't have awesome and high-rez technology back then. It was hard to pretty much do just about anything back then! Nobody had computers or washing machines or phones or e-mails or anything!" Yun explained lucidly.

"Wow. I'll bet it must have been REALLY hard," Terriermon said.

But Lopmon wasn't feeling dejected at all. In fact, she kept gazing at Yun with a smile as bright as a sunflower and with eyes as bright as dew on the grass on a beautiful summer morning.

"Yun! Please tell me more! I want to know if Cosette is saved from the wicked innkeepers!" Lopmon inquired very merrily. Yun cradled her into her arms.

"The rest of the story is in the book, but it's rather depressing and disheartening. Plus I don't think you two have gotten the hang of reading just yet. How about I start you off on something small and happy and easy to read," Yun said. Terriermon clutched onto her leg and looked up at her.

"Sounds great!" Terriermon said. Yun decided to walk up to her giant book shelf as she put the big book back.

"Let's see...how about...Oh! Here's a nice one!" Yun said as she put Les Miserables back and pulled out _Pollyanna_(2). Terriermon could see the book's red title, even though he was so far from the top of the book shelf.

"Pollyanna? That's a funny sounding name," Terriermon said.

"Lots of kids have funny sounding names. It depends on the country you're living in. We live in Japan right now, and to people who live in America or Spain our names would sound funny to them, and theirs sound funny to us. Anyway, I think you two will love Pollyanna! It's about a little girl who spends most of her life trying to help people and find things in life to be happy about, even in hard times. But not to worry. It's not somber and depressing like Les Miserables is," Yun said as she put her floppy earred friends back onto the bed and handed Lopmon the book.

"Humans are very interesting. They can write books and paint pictures and make music too. Just like us Digimon!" Lopmon said as she opened the book.

"Do you have those things in your world too?" Yun asked.

"I believe so, as far as I remember. I don't remember much about the Digital World, but I remember doing a lot of things just like this...and that I love stories with characters going through hardship and achieving happiness in the end," Lopmon said as she approached the first page.

"Oh! Just like me!" Yun said.

"Really? How neat!" Lopmon exclaimed.

"Hey! Can I see?" Terriermon peered over Lopmon's ear, wanting to read a little bit of the book also.

Yun, Lopmon, and Terriermon happily played together all through the evening.

But what were the other kids doing with their Digimon?

Well firstly, Minako returned home with Salamon by her side, which both of her parents noticed.

"Minako? Why is there a dog following you?" Minako's mother asked.

"Mother, father...can I keep this dog?" Minako asked back.

This left her parents shocked.

"What! You want a dog?" Both of them asked in unison.

"Yes. I found this little one wandering around, and I gave her some food. But then she started following me. I don't think she'll like being left out on the streets. She wants a home. Mother, father...can I take care of her?" Minako tried to persuade them politely, but it seemed the two of them were still rather doubtful.

"Well, I don't really see why not, but you ARE going to take care of it, right?" Minako's mother asked.

"Of course I will!" Minako replied.

Minako's father smiled.

"I think we should let her keep the dog, honey," Minako's father told his wife, who nodded rather reluctantly in response.

"Alright, Mina-chan. We'll let you keep the dog," Minako's father said.

"Hooray!" Minako jumped into the air. Salamon leaped into Minako's arms. "Thank you both! I'll be sure to take good care of Salamon!"

"What? You gave her a name already?" Minako's mother asked again.

"Yep! Salamon!" Minako said as she ran to her room with Salamon by her side.

Salamon was quite awestruck by Minako's room.

Minako's wallpaper is a very light lavendar color with smaller darker purple flower patterns on it. Her bedspread is light purple and embroidered with violets, along with having a white pillow and a purple one. Minako's desk and dresser are white, the rug beneath them is beige and cobalt blue, Minako's two bookshelves are full of books. On Minako's desk is a little yellow lamp with pink flowers on the shade, along with little toy figures surrounding it. On Minako's bed are some stuffed animals.

"Wow! Your room is so neat, Mina-chan!" Salamon exclaimed cutely as she hopped onto the bed and sat on it. Minako pulled a book out from the shelf.

"I'm glad you like it. But I should probably tell you...when my parents are around, you've got to be silent and be like a real dog, okay? I don't want to cause them any trouble," Minako told her as she sat on the bed with Salamon with the book in her hand.

"Okay! I promise I'll be super duper careful! Wan!" Salamon said as she decided to rub against Minako's leg. Minako pet her gently on the pale yellow head of her new puppy-like Digimon friend.

"Why are so many of your things purple?" Salamon asked.

"Purple's my favorite color," Minako replied.

"You're hardcore!"

"I know. I've been told that a lot."

"But that's okay! I like it the way it is. It looks so peaceful and flowery."

"My room's my special place. It's where I'm at peace."

"I see! I wouldn't like really loud places either. Wan!"

"Me too. In fact, my friend Yun absolutely hates loud places and noises."

"Like what?"

"Motorcycles, people yelling and screaming, loud rap music, children and babies crying, all that stuff. But that's because her ears are hypersensitive."

"How do you know?"

"We've been friends for a very long time."

"Ohhhh! How wonderful! But...today you didn't look as though you were in a very talky-talky mood. Wan! Why is that?"

Minako looked down at her book.

"Well...there's been a lot going on in my life in the past month or so, and...it's kinda drained out my interest in being with my friends. That and a lot of other things."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"Not right now."

Salamon felt a little sad upon being rejected, but she decided that she didn't want to pry anymore.

"Wan! Okay. I'll stop talking about it. But if you ever wanna talk to someone I'm here for you! After all, I'm your Digimon friend, aren't I? That's what Digimon friends are for!" Salamon said sweetly.

Minako picked her little puppy friend up and held her close.

"Thank you, Salamon. You're really sweet," Minako said. After a short while, she decided to let Salamon go.

"If you want, you can look around the house," Minako told her.

"Yay! Wan! Thank you! I'll be careful not to do anything weird!" Salamon said and happily darted out of Minako's room, leaving Minako alone in her room with her book.

Salamon went exploring. She walked into every single room and quietly inspected and gazed at everything around her with wonder and curiosity in her big violet eyes. Salamon didn't remember much about her life in the Digital World, but she did remember that she was always the curious type who is always looking for adventure and for something new to see. She was careful not to talk and to knock anything over, especially not her parents' things. As much as she liked a little exploring and adventure, she knew for a fact that even in this world there are rules to be followed, and that there would be great repercussions if something were to go wrong. After a while, she decided to stop in the living room and look at the beautiful forsythias sitting in a baby blue vase on a little mahogany table next to the couch. She sniffed them lovingly.

"Wow! These smell nice! I wonder if there are more flowers? Mina-chan says there's a garden patch in her backyard. Maybe I'll look there next. Wan," Salamon whispered softly but happily so she wouldn't catch the attention of Minako's parents, who were ironically enough in the kitchen right now. Salamon could see Minako's dad from where she was.

"Tatsuha...do you really think this is a good idea? Letting Minako keep a pet?" Minako's mother asked. Minako's father, Tatsuha, turned to his wife with a straight but optimistic look on his face.

"Yes. I do. In fact, I think it might be a good thing for her," Tatsuha told her.

"How so?"

"Well...I think that little puppy there might help Minako get over...y'know."

"Oh...I see."

"Of course she'd want a little something to fill the void, wouldn't she? And besides, do you remember the work she did at the pet shop once? She's shown she's very good at taking care of animals. I don't think a little puppy would cause much harm. Plus, with all the stuff she's been through, she's gonna need some healing."

"That's true. She has changed a lot since he...okay, the dog can stay."

"Thanks a bunch, Minagi. I'll make dinner tonight so you can have a break."

"Thanks, Tatsuha."

They had no idea that Salamon had listened to their conversation. Unknowingly, of course. Salamon didn't mean to eavesdrop, but they wouldn't suspect a thing since they would think she's nothing but a normal puppy. But their conversation made Salamon's curiosity and thirst for knowledge a little stronger than before.

"What does Mina-chan need to get over?" Salamon asked herself as she wandered into the kitchen.

As that was happening, Kosuke and Patamon got inside their house through the window, which seemed to pique Patamon's curiosity.

"Why are we going in through the window?" Patamon asked innocently as he followed Kosuke into his room.

"I don't like going into the living room anymore. It's depressing to see the same things there and smell the same smells. It's so dismal in there," Kosuke replied as he got out his books and decided to do his homework.

Patamon looked very closely at Kosuke's room. The walls are perfectly neat and clean, with pale orange paint the color of the sunset, and everything else was perfectly neat and clean as well. The brown dresser looked very classy with it's drawers and all of Kosuke's neatly folded and arranged clothes inside of them. Kosuke's shoes sat next to his bed, which is short and covered with nothing but a dark orange bedspread and pillows. Kosuke sat at a big light brown desk which has a small lamp, a shiny black laptop, some school books and notebooks on the small shelves, and some picture frames. Most of the picture frames contained pictures of him and his parents together, only Kosuke was small...and happy. Now, Kosuke is tall and prudent, but his expression looked rather somnolent as if he were in a constant quandary. He focused solely on his homework at the moment, and nothing else.

Out of pure curiosity, and out of consideration on Kosuke's part, Patamon decided to trot out of Kosuke's bedroom and see what was so bad about the living room. He walked quietly down the hall and turned right upon reaching a bend in the hall. This was where his nostrils, supposing he even had nostrils at all, were brutally assaulted by the horrid, dreadful smell of rum and cigarette smoke. The sight he saw in front of him made him see why Kosuke hated going inside his house through there.

Burying it's head in a very small table, sitting in the middle of the tiny living room, is a woman. She has very short but very shaggy and tangled light brown hair that looked as if it hadn't been washed or done in months. Ends and curls stuck up and out like a VERY sore thumb, indeed. The woman wore nothing but a worn and tattered light blue bath robe with a few small dirty spots here and there. Patamon couldn't see her face because it was buried in her arms. Surrounding the woman were totally empty, maroon alcohol bottles with gold and jade green labels on them. Only one bottle was half empty, and it was right in front of the woman's hand, along with an ash tray literally FULL of used cigarettes and one that's being lit right now. Not only that, the little table she's laying on is in front of a big TV, and the TV is off! The couches and the windows looked perfectly clean, but other than that, the living room looked absolutely dismal to Patamon.

But even so, Patamon couldn't help but want to get the woman's attention. Not because he wanted to draw attention to himself and have people who are afraid of Digimon come after him, but because he was curious to know if she was alive or breathing with the way she's laying on the little table like a dead person who did too much drugs. Patamon didn't know much about alcohol or cigarettes as far as he knew, but upon seeing the woman dormant in the living room with bottles and an ash tray surrounding her, it was certainly easy for him to see that these things were NOT good at all. Nonetheless, he decided to sit on the table in front of the woman, who, much to Patamon's relief, is only sleeping. He could see her nose and back rising and falling slowly.

"I wonder if she's sad?" Patamon asked himself very quietly, in nothing short of a tiny whisper, so he wouldn't wake her up. But what struck him the most is that he recognized the woman. She's the one in the picture Kosuke has on his desk, the one with Kosuke as a small boy smiling happily while being held up in the air by this woman, his mother. But the mother in the picture looked very happy, joyful, and jubliant. Now she's laying dormantly and abjectly on a little table surrounded by empty bottles of rum.

Another thought ran through Patamon's head:

_'Where's the father?'_

"Talking to her's like talking to a wall," It was Kosuke who pulled Patamon out of his reverie.

"Oh. You're finished already?" Patamon asked.

"Yep. Better to get homework done and over with than to leave it hanging and get a bad grade. I have some games in my desk if you want to play them. I wouldn't recommend playing them in here though," Kosuke told him solemnly.

"Wanna play with me?" Patamon asked.

"Not right now. I've gotta work on dinner. Later, okay?" Kosuke replied.

"You cook?"

"I'm not all that good, but it's better than nothing. Mom's too busy wallowing in her own self-pity to care about her own kid, let alone make dinner or cook at all, so I've gotta do everything around the house."

"Oh. I'm sorry," Patamon murmured, looking very dejected and feeling quite bad for Kosuke. Kosuke approached him with a somewhat sad smile and gently stroke Patamon's orange head.

"It's not your fault. Stuff's been going on in my life and I've gotta make the best of it. After dinner I'll play with you, okay? I'll make us something good to eat tonight," Kosuke told him encouragingly as he went into the kitchen, threw on an old apron and got out some kitchen tools and recipes. Patamon watched quietly with curiosity and wonder as he watched Kosuke prepare fumble over what to make for dinner. He felt sorry for Kosuke.

_'Poor Kosuke-kun! His friends must be able to play around and have fun all the time while he has to cook meals and maybe even clean the house like a parent does. I bet he must really want to be like them. I wonder if there's anything I can do to help?'_ Patamon thought sadly, his eyes shaking a bit.

He didn't know it then, but a flickering flame of light was being cultivated in his heart, born from a seed of courage.

While Kosuke was making dinner, Melody and Biyomon had just gone into their house and into Melody's room. Biyomon was quite surprised by Melody's room. The walls were white, but they were practically covered with rock and roll posters featuring famous musicians playing guitars on stages at rock concerts, most of which were black. Melody's bed spread is red, orange, and black, with a brown guitar and a black guitar case lying on it and in front of the pillows. Melody's desk had nothing but a big white computer on it, not a laptop like Kosuke's, along with some schoolbooks, notebooks, picture frames, and folders containing music sheets and manuscripts. Next to Melody's bed are tall black boots, a big black dresser, and a set of bongo drums.

Despite how badly the walls were being consumed by the myriad of posters, Biyomon was seriously loving Melody's room.

"Wow! This is great!" Biyomon exclaimed.

"Isn't it? I'm glad you like it," Melody said as she put some stuff down on her desk and in front of the computer.

"I must confess, Melody-san, I'm glad that you're my partner. It would be soooo dreadful if I was paired up with that naughty and wicked boy with the freckles! What was his name again?" Biyomon declared rather vainly. Melody couldn't help but chuckle.

"He has his faults, true. But he's also Yun's friend and he knows when to be kind and restrained. I have to respect that since we've been best friends since childhood, me and Yun," Melody explained softly in a low voice. Biyomon sat on the bed and looked at Melody's guitar.

"Your friend Yun is quite the nice girl. Kind and gentle enough, but I'm afraid not very bright," Biyomon said.

"Believe me, you haven't seen ANYTHING of her yet. Hey! Do you like music?" Melody declared as she sat next to her large, pink feathered bird friend and got her guitar out.

"Music? Yes, I do. I haven't decided what kind yet."

"Wanna hear me play a few tunes?"

"Sure."

"I can sing if you want. I write songs."

"Really? You do? I want to listen!"

Melody took out her guitar and a small red and black guitar pick, began playing it, and looked up at the ceiling with her eyes closed and sang.

_'Is there anything you want to protect?'_  
><em>She asks as she approaches her knight.<em>  
><em>The tender tears streaming down her cheeks,<em>  
><em>Show how weak her kind and gentle heart is.<em>  
><em>Those tiny hands cannot hold onto such vast dreams.<em>  
><em>Perhaps joyous and jubilant dreams of happiness and concord,<em>  
><em>Can surely surpass the cold, hard-feeling reality.<em>  
><em>'It is you who I want to protect!' He declares,<em>  
><em>His blade shining under the golden sunbeams,<em>  
><em>Like a warm light in the cold darkness.<em>  
><em>The angel's white wings spread far and wide,<em>  
><em>The small white feathers scatter over their heads,<em>  
><em>The sky's the limit, and happiness,<em>  
><em>Is meant to be cherished, not taken advantage of.<em>  
><em>'I wonder if we can be happy together?' She asks,<em>  
><em>Her heart filling with warmth,<em>  
><em>From the happy memories they made together.<em>

With a single flick of the guitar strings and a rather strange Beatles-esque pose, she finished part of her song. Biyomon, impressed beyond her feather-brained vanity, clapped and flapped for her partner.

"Amazing! Glorious! Wonderful! I loved it! The song is just beautiful!" Biyomon exclaimed as Melody put down her guitar.

"Thank you," Melody replied in English. "I love playing my guitar and writing songs. My dream is to become a great guitar player, great enough to play in the Carnegie Hall! Many famous musicians play there, and it goes way back in history. Of course, I'm not all that good just yet. There's still a lot I have to learn. I have some of my favorite songs on my iPod. They're sung by other people, but wanna have a listen?" Melody asked with a smile as she pulled out her green iPod.

"Sure! I'd love to!" Biyomon said as she and Melody listened to music all day.

No one knows what the future holds for these Digimon and their partners, but one thing's for sure: a very exciting and wonderful adventure is within their vicinity.

Author's Note: Hi everyone! I finally finished chapter 3! I'm officially 18 now! My birthday party was awesome! I invited all my friends and we had cake and hamburgers and watched anime together and had a super duper fun time! Finally, for the first time in my life a birthday party went awesomely and didn't get ruined by people's changing plans! I better go now. See ya in the next chapter! Bye-bee!

Footnotes:

1. Yun is referring to the anime Aria, which in turn is based on a manga by Kozue Amano. It is very popular and has three animated seasons.

2. Pollyanna is a book written by Eleanor T. Porter.


	4. A Flower Growing From The Soil

Author's Note: Hello everyone! I am soooooooo happy right now! Guess what? My aunt got me Phoenix Wright -Ace Attorney- Trials and Tribulations! She mailed it to me yesterday and I'm already 1/4 through the 2nd case! It's soooooooo fun! It kinda got me out of my Pokemon Black and White phase, but I'll still play those! By the way, sorry I haven't updated Requiem of the Hummingbird and Oria of Araceli for a looooong while (especially the latter). I'm still gathering ideas for the former, but I seem to be drained of motivation for the latter. I REALLY need to get it together! Anyway, enough babbling! I present to you all...Digimon: A Seraphic Tale chapter 4!

EPISODE 4: A Flower Growing From The Soil

The children had only been in two Digimon battles over the past few days, but they knew one thing for sure: that their lives were NEVER going to be the same, ever again. Nonetheless, they all seemed to be enjoying being with their new Digimon friends, and so did the Digimon. The day had went by peacefully without much trouble, though the authorities learned of the destruction in the park. It was on the news. Fortunately, they dismissed it as a small earthquake. Nobody suspected anyone of anything. Yun found this piece of speculation to be quite credible as she knew for a fact that Ogremon's stamping often made her feel as if the ground were actually shaking. It's a big relief that nobody found the Digimon, especially their partners.

Now, Yun, Lopmon, and Terriermon are happily playing and frolicking in the back yard. It's nice and big, with soft green grass (with a few dandelions and weeds here and there), a garden that her mother planted, and even a little table, chairs, and an umbrella on the deck. There had once been a big oak tree in the middle of it, but it was cut down and replaced with a smaller tree, which was growing very big indeed. The smaller tree had become quite the spot of attraction for hummingbirds since a feeder and special home made hummingbird food had been put there (made by Yun's mother). There were a few trash cans next to the back gate, which is open, but they had been empty because the trash collectors had come by and already taken it. But still, further in the back was a tree much bigger than the other one, thick with bumpy bark and puffy green leaves. The back yard had officially become Lopmon and Terriermon's favorite place to play, aside from Yun's room.

Terriermon was loving the privilege to play outside for the first time. He had developed an aversion to being cooped up in Yun's room every day. He knew for a fact that Yun wanted to protect him and his sister, for very good reasons at that, but still, being energetic, lively, and child-like the way he is, he's one of those Digimon who would rather run around and play outside than be cooped up in the house all day. Yun expected as much. She too felt bad for keeping her little friends confined to the house, since they wouldn't like it, but she didn't want to draw any attention to herself or to them, or even have them be taken away by authorities. She was determined to NEVER let that happen, and was even willing to guard them with her life. Her Digimon friends knew her intentions quite well and understood her reasons for doing so. But now, right as Yun's mother left for work (now it's about 6:34 PM and still light out), Yun found a window of opportunity. This was the time to finally let Terriermon and Lopmon go out and frolick and play. And they were loving it.

Lopmon is quietly looking at the garden. She was entranced and awestruck by the many flowers that Yun's mother had planted and the flowers that are blooming right now. She couldn't believe how big and dense the bush of orange tiger lilies is. There were so many leaves and flowers that someone as small as her could easily use it as a hiding place. Next to them, clinging to the wooden fence, were the thick vines of morning glories. Currently they're not in bloom, but Lopmon remembered seeing them quite well, in a variety of colors. Rosy pink, sky blue, pearl purple, deep violet, and light indigo. She immediately decided that they were going to be her favorite flowers. She also took note of the tall sunflowers and their striking yellow petals and myriad of leaves on their stems, the small white daisies and their delicate presence, the purple violets, the begonias in sunset orange, sunrise yellow, and salmon pink, and mauve and rosy pink tulips. They were so light in color that they seemed to match Lopmon's ears, stripes, paws, and collar. And she liked the smell of the flowers in the garden too. This was going to be her special, halcyon place.

Yun couldn't help but smile as she sat on the steps of the back deck and watched her floppy earred friends play. Lopmon sat in front of the garden while Terriermon ran around and frolicked and laughed as happily and merrily as if he were given the best gift in the entire world.

"Hey Yun! Look at me! I can stand on my hands! Look!" Terriermon cried out jauntily as he decided to do a little hand stand. Yun laughed.

"Nice! You're doing a great job!" Yun exclaimed. Terriermon successfully stood upside down on his paws for about a minute and then _PLOP!_ he fell down on the ground. But then he helped himself up and wiped some grass off of his face.

"Whoopsie daisy!" Terriermon said. Then he approached the big tree, the one that's big and thick with bark and leaves, and decided to climb it.

"Don't go up too high, please!" Yun advised calmly.

"I won't!" Terriermon replied.

"There are bugs on it too!"

"I know!"

Terriermon finally found a thick branch and decided to stand on it. He was awed by how small everything had gotten.

"Wow! Look how high I am! Hey look! I see Lopmon! She looks so tiny!" Terriermon said as he held his paw up to his forehead sailor style and gazed at Lopmon from his branch. Lopmon did not seem to hear him. Terriermon did not seem to mind this, as he decided to go down the tree.

Yun got off the steps and approached Lopmon, who is reading a book. Pollyanna it was.

"You enjoying it, Lopmon?" Yun asked softly. Lopmon, hearing her partner's sweet voice, turned around with a smile on her face.

"I love it! I truly do! But I also love the anime for it too, if we can watch more of that soon. But Yun, I notice that the beginning of the anime is not in the book anywhere," Lopmon told her with a big smile plastered all over her face, but cocked her head slightly at her last sentence. "Why is that so?"

"Well, I don't really know, but I think the makers of the anime wanted to show people what Pollyanna's life was like before she was sent to her Aunt Polly, and in a lot of detail, so that way the watchers won't ask questions about it," Yun replied.

"One thing that confuses me is that Pollyanna started being glad about everything because of crutches. What are crutches?" Lopmon asked.

"They're these wooden or metal things that people use to get around when they can't use their legs. For example, if someone's leg is broken and they can't walk for about a month or so, they have to use crutches. Like this!" Yun explained as she demonstrated how a person would use crutches. "But just so you don't get the wrong idea, if someone's leg is broken, it doesn't mean their entire leg breaks into a million pieces. The bones inside it could break if you hurt it really hard. They heal, but they don't do it really quickly."

"But why in the world would crutches be a reason to be glad about everything? That makes no sense at all!" Lopmon said.

"I know, right? I don't get it either!" Yun replied. The two of them laughed. Then Lopmon clutched one of her fists.

"Tell me, Yun. Is there an anime for Les Miserables? I would like to see it, if you please," Lopmon said.

"Oh! I have the DVDs for it! We can watch it now if you want! Don't worry, it's less depressing than the novel but it's still sad at some parts. You sure you want to see it?" Yun explained.

"Yes! I do!"

"Okay then," She turned to Terriermon, who came down from the tree and is looking at the pine bush.

"Terriermon! Lopmon and I are gonna watch an anime. You wanna come?" Yun asked.

"No thanks! I'm gonna stay here and play!" Terriermon replied.

"Alright. But don't go out the back gate, or at all for that matter, okay?"

"Don't worry! I won't!"

"I'll leave the back door unlocked!"

With a happy sigh, Yun and Lopmon decided to go inside while Terriermon continued to cherish and rellish the freedom of just being in the backyard, surrounded by nature. While he spent the next half hour playing in the back yard or sitting on the desk gazing at the beautiful scenery, Yun and Lopmon watched the first episode of the _Les Miserables_(1) anime. Once the first episode ended, Lopmon was absolutely stunned and a little outraged.

"I simply cannot believe this! Why in the world are people like Thenardier so wicked and vulgar to innocents like Cosette! This is just absolutely and excrutiatingly intolerable!" Lopmon exclaimed, clutching her rosy light pink paws in light anger. Yun looked down at her while clutching her.

"I'm mad about it too. But that was how it was back then. But you have to remember it's just a story, just like Pollyanna and Anne of Green Gables and all the books I read and the anime I watch. They're all fiction," Yun explained calmly.

"Yes, that is true, but even so! Why doesn't anyone help poor Cosette! She did nothing to deserve this!" Lopmon yelped again.

"I don't know. Either people were too scared to do so or didn't think anything of it or just didn't care. But not to worry, her bad treatment doesn't last forever!" Yun said with a solemn face at first, but then a smile came upon her face.

"Good! I'd love to see Cosette taken away from those wicked innkeepers. I don't remember much about my past, but if there's one thing I loathe with a passion, it's wicked, vulgar people who abuse and bully innocent and kind-hearted people for greedy, selfish, cruel, heedless, and vainglorious purposes!" Lopmon declared courageously and without shame, not that she needed to be ashamed, but the flame in her pretty green eyes burned brightly, and Yun could see it very well. Yun, feeling her chest flutter warmly, hugged Lopmon even more.

"I do too. And I love you for that," Yun murmured.

"I'm sure not everything in this world is bad and somber and sorrowful. Like Pollyanna said, we always have to find things to be happy and glad about."

"That's right! I'm glad you remembered that! And yes, there are happy things in this world just like how there are sad things. Oh! How would you feel if there were no pretty morning glories to look at?"

"Oh! That would be most dreadful, indeed! It would be a tragedy if such cute, beautiful little blessed flowers like them were not to exist in this world!"

"Yes! I agree. And morning glories are one of my favorite flowers! Not only that, I wouldn't be happy if I didn't have my anime and manga and books and video games, either! They make me especially happy!"

"I'm sure they do. You always talk about your favorites."

"Do you mind?"

"Oh, no! Of course not! If talking about your favorite things makes you happy, then I have no right to stop you from being happy."

"I agree with you. Of course, not many people I know think me being happy is a good thing."

"Huh? Why is that?" This is where Lopmon became rather concerned, cocking her head to one side in slight confusion.

"Well, this may be a little hard to hear, but some people allow others to be happy while others are willing to do anything in their power to make another person miserable! It's sad, but it's true. Unfortunately, I'm an example of that. Lots of kids at my school don't like me."

"What? Don't like you? How so?"

"To be honest, I don't really know. I know for a fact that this kid named Nemoto Nenji hates me because I caught him holding matches on school grounds!"

"What are matches?"

"They're these tiny sticks that you can flick on something and make them catch fire. And if you're not careful with them, they're VERY dangerous! I thought he was going to set the school on fire! Wanna know what I did? I told a teacher! And she confiscated them and she got him suspended for two whole weeks! This was three years ago."

"WHAT? How horrible! But...what does suspended mean?"

"It means you're not allowed to come to school for a certain amount of time, but at the same time you're stuck in your house not allowed to do anything but what your parents tell you."

"Then he was right to be suspended!"

"I agree. But...he kinda found out I told on him and he's been on my tail ever since."

"On your tail? You don't have a tail!"

"It's an expression. It means he won't leave me alone. Any chance he gets he'll call me names or throw things at me or attack me. He'll hit me and push me and kick me and all that stuff."

"Even more horrible! He uses violence to get back at you for something he brought on himself! Dreadful it is! Absolutely dreadful!"

"I agree. Buuuuut he gets in trouble so much that the teachers these days just don't care anymore. It ticks me off because he's constantly giving me a hard time every single day, and my parents are ticked off as well. Not only that, other people are starting to follow him, like this girl named Shimizu Seiko. About a year ago, I caught her stealing a teacher's nail polish and told that very same teacher. She got two detentions."

"What's a detention?"

"It means you have to stay after school for a while as punishment for doing something bad. But she found me out and has been on my tail too. She's always making up lies about me and telling every person she knows and making them believe them."

"Hmph! This is outrageous!"

"I know, right?"

The two of them sighed.

"How in the world did I get to talking about bad stuff?" Yun asked herself.

"What kind of world do we live in where kindness, civility and philanthropy mean absolutely nothing anymore?" Lopmon asked herself.

"I know, right? It's horrible, isn't it?"

"Yep!"

"Now...let's move on to a more happier subject, shall we?"

"Yes. And I know one subject that definitely makes ME happy."

"What is it?"

Yun never expected this response.

_"You."_

This left Yun frozen silent. But Lopmon smiled brightly and continued talking.

"Yun...I'm truly very happy I met you and became your friend. You make me happy, and apparently I make you happy considering all the stuff you're going through. You raised me from baby level to rookie level, you play with me, you teach me lots of things I don't know about, you're kind and gentle to me, you know what's right, and best of all you try your best to stay on the path of goodness and harmony. You're sweet and warm and gentle and harmonious...I'm happy that you're my partner instead of another human. I couldn't have asked for anything better. I know I've only known you for just a couple of measly days, but just a couple of measly days was good enough for me to get to know who you really are. Terriermon too. He knows just as well as I do how kind and nice you are. Maybe...this is the reason I came to your world. To meet you."

Yun was just absolutely flabbergasted. Nobody has ever said such kind, munificent, and magnanimous words about her. Sure she had friends, but they either had too much going on to consider being with her right now, or because they were just getting to know her and didn't consider her to be special just yet. Most of the time, whenever Yun would hear people talk about her, they always gibed about her in a maligned, malicious manner. Yun became quite used to hearing bad things about her, and it really hurt her self-esteem and confidence. She sure didn't expect anyone other than her parents to say such things. She expected even less to hear them from a little floppy earred bunny whom she thought only existed in anime and games! Even so, just as the memories of raising this little bunny was real, her words were real, and they almost brought Yun to tears. Yun took the innocuous Lopmon into her arms, held her close, and shed some tears.

"Yun? Why are you...?" Lopmon asked in a whisper.

"Thank you, Lopmon...for being my friend. And you're right. You DO make me happy, and I'm truly grateful," Yun said.

Lopmon felt her chest flutter warmly as she was being hugged by this human, who seemed to feel a lot of despair and yearning for someone to listen to her and understand her and accept her. Lopmon smiled and put her tiny paw on Yun's chest. After a short while, they released each other with smiles on their faces.

Just as they were about to mollify themselves of sudden melodramatic moments, Terriermon stormed into the living room.

"Yun! Lopmon!" Terriermon exclaimed.

"What's wrong, Terriermon?" Both of them asked in unison.

Terriermon smiled and winked sweetly. "Guess who's out back? Follow me!" Terriermon told them and beckoned them to follow him out into the back yard. So they did.

Someone was standing in front of the back gate. Who was it? No one but Nobara Rena and her Digimon friend, Lunamon!

"Rena-chan!" Yun exclaimed as she caught sight of her friend.

Rena's blonde hair was tied in a long braided pig tail that went down her left shoulder and tied with a light blue ribbon. She has green eyes just like Yun, pale skin, and a graceful air about her. She wore a short-sleeved white shirt over an orange vest, a long white skirt, a big pale green hat with a yellow flower on it, black shoes, and white socks. On her shoulder is a black pocket book with pink cherry blossoms on it. Walking faithfully beside her is Lunamon, who hid behind her as Terriermon brought Yun and Lopmon out.

"Hey! Yun-chan!" Rena exclaimed in a nice voice.

"What are you doing here?" Yun asked.

"I thought it'd be a nice time to take Lunamon here out for a walk in the fresh air," Rena explained sweetly.

"Good evening, Yun-san. It's very nice to see you today," Lunamon told her in a pretty, elegant voice.

"You too, Lunamon!" Yun replied with a smile.

"Forgive her. She's kinda shy," Rena said.

"Oooh! Just like me!" Yun said while clasping her hands. The two of them laughed.

"So this is your house, eh? Nice!" Rena said.

"Now you know where I live! You're more than welcome to come over any time! Not right now though since Mom and Dad are both at work, and I'm not allowed to have people over when I'm alone. But I'll secretly make an exception this time," Yun explained.

"Really? I didn't know that," Lopmon said.

"Sorry I forgot to tell you," Yun told her.

"Hey Lunamon! Come play with us!" Terriermon exclaimed as he extended his pale green paw to Lunamon, but she continued to hide behind Rena.

"N-No thank you. I'm perfectly fine where I am right now," Lunamon replied.

"Whaaaaat? How boring!" Terriermon declared in dismay. Yun kneeled in front of him.

"Terriermon. You shouldn't say things like that out loud. Besides, I'm sure Lunamon will get used to you later on. It'd be best not to force her. As you can see, she's shy. Kinda like how I normally am," Yun told him calmly.

"But I'm inviting her to play? That's nice, isn't it?" Terriermon asked, confused.

"Yes. It is, and I'm happy that you're willing to make friends with others. But it's not nice to say "Awww! How boring!" in front of them and out loud. It makes them feel a little uncomfortable. You have good intentions, I know, but some people need time to get to know you and get used to your presence before choosing to like you or not. Let's give it some time, shall we?" Yun explained. Rena and Lunamon were both watching them with wide, curious eyes.

"It's quite true, indeed!" Lopmon backed her up. Terriermon became a little dejected.

"Alright," Terriermon said, his head drooping down a bit. Yun smiled and rubbed his head.

"Don't worry! Maybe some time later I'll invite Mina-chan or Aria-chan or Riku-kun to come over so you can play with them! Their Digimon are quite the lively and energetic ones!" Yun told him reassuringly. Terriermon smiled again.

"Really? I love playing with Salamon and Coronamon!" Terriermon replied.

"That'll be something to look forward to!" Yun said.

"Wow. I'm impressed, Yun-chan," Rena said.

"Oh? Really?"

"Yeah. You were totally calm and collected the whole time. You didn't scold or get angry or anything. You talked about the positives as well as the negatives. You'd be a great teacher some day," Rena explained with a smile, but her last sentence made Yun quite antsy.

"WHAT? N-N-N-N-NO! Absolutely not! I am NOT gonna be a teacher! No no no no no! Little kids hate my existence! And I can't stand their loud crying and screaming!" Yun whimpered as she waved her arms in front of Rena in confusion. Lopmon hopped onto her head.

"Now now, Yun. Please, calm thyself," Lopmon told her softly.

An unlikely voice permeated Yun's scatterbrained episode.

"Ummm...Yun-san? Would...you like to see something cool?" The soft voice came from Lunamon of all people (or, in this case, Digimon). Yun finally quieted down. All four of them became curious as to what Lunamon decided to offer.

"Sure! I'd love to! What is it?" Yun replied with a smile.

"Yes! Do tell!" Rena said.

"Won't you show us?" Lopmon asked.

"Lemme see!" Terriermon said with his paws out.

Lunamon backed up a few steps.

"Here goes!" She exclaimed. She suddenly began spinning in a circle.

"Lop-Ear Ripple!" She began spinning and spinning and spinning until her ears looked like the wings of a spinning helicopter. Then she began to glow a mauve purple color. And out of nowhere, a large, colorful spray of rainbow-hued bubbles appeared from her spinning ears, aimlessly floating all around them. Everyone became awestruck as the beautiful, round bubbles surrounded them. Then, all the small bubbles turned into one big one, and it enveloped all four of them.

"WOW! This is awesome! We're inside a giant bubble!" Yun exclaimed, feeling very joyous and surprised by Lunamon's reveal.

"Amazing!" Rena said.

"Do you like it? It's one of my best attacks. Don't worry, I'm not attacking you right now," Lunamon said politely.

"I love it! You should do this more often!" Yun declared happily. Lunamon blushed.

"Oh...th-thank you. I should probably let you go know," Lunamon said as she decided to poke the giant bubble with her finger and POP! it went. Yun, Lopmon, Terriermon, and Rena were set free.

"That was very beautiful. I love bubbles!" Lopmon said with a smile.

"Me too!" Terriermon and Yun both said in unison.

"We should probably be going now. My parents might get worried...and Riku might start acting up again," Rena said.

"Okay! You should come over again some time, now that you've seen my house!" Yun told her.

"I most certainly will! Bye!" Rena said.

"Goodbye, Yun-san, Lopmon, and Terriermon!" Lunamon said as she and Rena walked away. Lopmon, Terriermon, and Yun stayed behind to watch the two of them walk away. Once they were out of sight, Yun looked down at her floppy earred friends.

"So...what do you wanna do now?" Yun asked sweetly.

"Can I play some of your video games?" Terriermon asked.

"Sure!" Yun replied.

"I will finish reading Pollyanna. I want to see what happens next," Lopmon said lucidly.

"I figured you'd want to," Yun said as they walked back into the house.

The only problem was that Terriermon didn't get to play video games, Lopmon didn't get to finish Yun's book, and Yun didn't get to play with her floppy earred friends. Why? Because right as they walked into the house, the phone rang.

_Ring ring ring ring riiiiiiing_

"Oh! The phone! I'll get it!" Yun said as she ran to the phone in the kitchen, pushed a button, and picked it up.

"Hello?" Yun asked.

_"Yun! Is that you?"_ Yun couldn't believe the voice she was hearing on the other line.

"Rena-chan? Why are you-" Yun could barely process the fact that Rena, whom she had JUST talked to outside a few seconds ago, was calling her right now, and it didn't help that Rena was sounding quite frantic.

_"There's a Digimon running wild!"_

"Digimon? Where?"

_"The clearing in the woods! Where you and your friends fought that Goblimon!"_

"H-How did you know about that?"

_"Mina-chan told me! But come on! Get here, and fast!"_

"Al-alright. I-I'll get there. Please be patient, okay? Bye!" Yun quickly hung up the phone.

She couldn't believe what was happening. Rena's calling her and a Digimon is running rampant. But there's just one problem: Yun's home all by herself, and she was told not to leave the house, or to leave the doors unlocked, or to leave the windows open. What if a burglar were to break in while Yun went out? It also didn't help that Yun barely left the house for anything and was accustomed to following rules. The only time she ever went out by herself at all was when she first met her Digimon friends and fought against Goblimon. She never did have the courage to ever go out on her own, and that one time was the only time. But a Digimon is running rampant in that same area. What if it were to come here? Yun looked at the clock. To her relief, it read 6:54 PM, and her father normally didn't come home until around 8:40 PM.

_'It's still almost 7. Perhaps if I go quickly, we can defeat the Digimon by then!'_ Yun thought. She couldn't put it aside anymore. She closed all the windows in the living room. She locked them tight. She closed and locked the ones in her room, the bathroom, her parents' room, and the kitchen. Terriermon noticed she left the TV on.

"Why are you leaving the TV on?" Terriermon asked curiously.

"Mom says that if the TV's on, it'll make people think someone's home. I don't really think it's true, but who knows?" Yun replied. She never really believed that what her mom said would work. She had seen lots of TV shows where burglars attack people even when they were home. But she couldn't turn into a worrywart now. She locked the front door, turned on the outside light, grabbed the keys to the back door, went out, and locked it. But not before having her digivice and a flashlight on hand. She was sure to need those.

"Alright! Now that everything's locked up properly, let's roll!" Yun edicted as she, Terriermon, and Lopmon dashed out of the back yard and into the woods. She found Rena and Lunamon.

"Yun-san! Thank goodness you've come!" Lunamon said with worry.

"Where's the wild Digimon?" Yun asked.

"Right there!" Rena pointed to the spot.

At first, Yun couldn't see it because it was slowly getting dark, but she could see a large black mass in the shape of a small dinosaur with glowing red eyes chewing on the bark of a tree, one which hadn't been struck down by Goblimon a few days ago. As Yun saw closer, she saw it has a large head, large teeth, silver claws and talons, and a small tail. Rena looked up it's information on the digivice.

"BlackAgumon. It's a rookie level, virus attribute, reptile Digimon. It's special attacks are Black Spitfire and Pepper Breath," Rena said as the light of her light purple egg-shaped digivice finally dissipated. Yun turned on her flashlight and shined it's light at it, drawing it's attention. The rogue BlackAgumon growled upon catching sight of the two, but Yun wasn't afraid.

"It's eyes are glowing red, so there has to be a black hexagon on it somewhere," Yun said.

"But that thing is black itself! How can we find something like that on something that's just as black as a black hexagon itself?" Rena asked.

"It's on there somewhere! Let's find it! Everyone, attack!" Yun commanded proudly.

The BlackAgumon roared.

"Black Spitfire!" A ominous black ball of fire spat out from the dinosaur's mouth and charged at the three Digimon. The three of them quickly dodged it. Terriermon leaped behind it.

"Terrier Tornado!" Terriermon spun itself around until it turned into a tiny tornado. He successfully managed to pound BlackAgumon in the back. But the red glow in it's eyes didn't go away. The hexagon wasn't on it's face.

"Freezing Snow!" Lopmon exhaled a sky blue powder of glittery snow from it's mouth and managed to freeze BlackAgumon's front side. But after a short while, BlackAgumon broke free and continued to attack. The black hexagon isn't on it's back or it's arms or legs. Where could it be?

"Pepper Breath!" It shot a black and orange flame from it's mouth, which headed toward Lunamon, who was cowering with fear.

"Lunamon! Look out!" Yun exclaimed as she scooped the frightened Lunamon into her arms and saved her from the ball of fire. Thankfully both of them weren't hurt.

"You okay?"

"Yes. Thank you very much, Yun-san. You are a kind, noble person."

"Let's save the compliments for later! We gotta defeat that disgusting thing!" Rena said as she helped the two of them up.

"I will fight this time," Lunamon said as she approached the BlackAgumon with a courageous look in her eyes. The rogue BlackAgumon caught sight of her with it's ominous glowing red eyes.

"Pepper Breath!"

"Tear Shot!"

A big glob of water shot out from Lunamon's antenna and managed to turn the ball of fire into nothing but steam that dissipated into the air.

"Lop-Ear Ripple!" Lunamon did what Terriermon did earlier and spun around so much that Lunamon herself seemed to turn into a tornado. An array of bubbles shot out from her ears, surrounding the wicked dinosaur child. Then, the bubble engulfed BlackAgumon and trapped him inside.

"Yes! We caught him!" Rena exclaimed.

But it was going to get worse.

BlackAgumon suddenly became enveloped within a disorderly looking black light. It grew bigger and bigger, big enough to destroy Lunamon's giant bubble. It left everyone frozen. BlackAgumon had digivoled! Now it looked like a very big black dinosaur with big teeth, a green mane, silver claws, brown gauntlets, and a hard white chest. Everyone's eyes grew big with shock and fear. But Rena remained calm enough to look up the new Digimon's information on her digivice.

"DarkTyrannomon. He's a champion level, virus type dinosaur Digimon. It's special attacks are Fire Blast and Iron Tail."

"Aren't those Pokemon attacks?"

"This is no time to be thinking about Pokemon!"

"I know that!"

"He's attacking!" Lopmon declared loudly as DarkTyrannomon shot out a big black flame.

"Fire Blast!"

"Blazing Fire!"

"Freezing Snow!"

"Tear Shot!"

Lopmon, Lunamon, and Terriermon, small as they were and weak as their attacks are, valiantly shot their signature attacks at DarkTyrannomon's flame to protect Yun and Rena. It didn't do much, but they weren't hurt. DarkTyrannomon proceeded to raise it's legs up and begin stomping on everything.

That's when it hit Yun.

"On it's foot!" Yun exclaimed.

"What?" Rena asked.

"The black hexagon! It's on it's left foot! I can see it!"

"How are we gonna get it off?"

"I don't know! Attack it! That's what!"

Lopmon and Terriermon and Lunamon, upon hearing Yun's possibly credible deduction, decided to try and see if it's there. Lopmon and Terriermon jumped on DarkTyrannomon's back while Lunamon tried to find a suitable area where she can look up at the big black ferocious and volatile dinosaur's feet and check for a black hexagon...and it wasn't going well.

"Man! This thing's too excited!" Terriermon said.

"If only I had my mom's sleeping pills I could jump up there and drug him if I had to!" Rena said.

Right as she said that, DarkTyrannomon threw the floppy earred Digimon off of him and successfully managed to hit Lunamon with it's tail, throwing her into a tree and knocking her out.

"Lunamon!" Rena ran off into her direction.

"Rena-chan! You can't!" Yun cried out as she caught both of her floppy earred friends.

"You two okay?" Yun asked with worry.

"Yes. We're fine. Thank you," Lopmon said.

"But Lunamon! She's-" Terriermon said as DarkTyrannomon looked down at Rena and Lunamon with his evil glowing red eyes and proceeded to step on them.

Rena finally saw the hexagon. But it was coming so fast she didn't have time to get away.

'I have to run! But I'm trapped!' thought Rena as she thought it was the end.

That's when Lunamon began to glow.

Both her digivice and Lunamon were enveloped by a warm, lavendar colored light. Lunamon floated into the air, fully conscious. She was glowing so bright even DarkTyrannomon had to close it's eyes.

"Lunamon, digivolve to..."

Lunamon became bigger and the lavendar glow finally dissipated. Now she became Rena's height. She grew a new set of ears, has a silver mask on her face, became thinner, has a pair of black boxing gloves with yellow crescent moons on them, a pink cloth on one side of her mask, violet claws on her feet, yellow markings on the bottom half of her body, and a very interesting-looking purple bodice on her chest with two tentacles coming out on both sides and a stickup on her back.

"...Lekismon!"

Lunamon had digivolved, and left everyone frozen in their tracks. Lunamon, now Lekismon, held DarkTyrannomon's foot up with her hand so he wouldn't step on Rena, who was too surprised to move, but did so after a few seconds.

_'Woooow. She's beautiful and full of true grace,'_ Rena thought to herself as she gazed upon Lekismon's beauty. But DarkTyrannomon roared angrily and ferociously as he tried to step on her. Thankfully, Lekismon had a trick up her sleeve...or in this case, moon glove.

"Moon Night Bomb!" A bubble of water appeared on one of her moon gloves and she punched DarkTyrannomon on the foot, square on the black hexagon target, and successfully made him fall on his back. But it wasn't enough to make the hexagon go away. Thankfully, Lekismon wasn't done just yet. As fast as a cheetah she leaped from the ground and proceeded to kick DarkTyrannomon in the chest.

"Moon Night Kick!" She dug her foot into him so much that he practically became paralyzed.

"You can do it, Lekismon! You're awesome!" Yun cheered while jumping up and down with her fists in the air.

"Yeah! Knock him dead!" Rena cried out.

Lekismon's ears pointed upward as if she were giving them a gesture of gratitude.

"Moon Night Bomb!" Lekismon fired a bubble of water at DarkTyrannomon's face. This time, the bubble made him fall asleep, with his large clawed feet staring up at the trees. She quietly ambled toward his foot, pulled out a light blue, arrow shaped thing and aimed it at the hexagon.

"Tear Arrow!" She threw it at DarkTyrannomon's foot, and the black hexagon finally disappeared. Once that was done, DarkTyrannomon was enveloped by a cream colored light, and he became smaller. He de-digivolved. But what was strange was that DarkTyrannomon didn't turn back into BlackAgumon, but instead became a regular Agumon with orange skin and green eyes. Yun, Rena, and Lekismon helped him up.

Agumon finally awoke, and saw everyone around him.

"Unngh. Where...where am I? What happened to me?" Agumon asked in a confused but low voice.

"A dark force took control of you and brought you here," Lekismon told him in a soft, kind, lady-like voice as she set him up and backed away a little bit. She stood next to Yun. They seemed to be exactly the same height if you minus her tall ears and stickups on her back.

"Oh! I remember! I was minding my own business when something knocked me out. I was unconscious, but I could feel something pulling me up by the leg...and then something burning my sole. But now that I see all this...I remember the damage I caused. I'm so sorry!" Agumon explained, feeling very dejected.

"It's not your fault! You were being controled by some kind of evil entity," Lopmon told him with a reassuring smile.

"You're right. Thank you all for saving me," Agumon said.

"Actually, it was Lekismon who got that black hexagon off of your foot!" Rena said as she looked to Lekismon. Lekismon struck a pose in which she bowed and curled her arm under herself.

"The darkness has been penetrated and you have come back to your senses, young Agumon," Lekismon told him kindly and politely. Yun walked up to the orange dinosaur.

"Is it true you know how to get to the Digital World on your own?" Yun asked curiously.

"Yes. We can," Agumon replied.

"Can you show us how?" Yun asked again.

"Sure! All I do is think of the Digital World in my head and snap my fingers," Agumon said as he demonstrated this by closing his eyes and snapping his claws. A flat portal of light appeared in front of everyone, though they all made sure to step away from it.

"I'm no good at snapping my fingers," Yun said.

"I should probably get going now. Thanks very much for saving me and for stopping me from hurting people," Agumon said.

"You're welcome! Try to be careful from now on!" Terriermon told him with a smile.

"I will! Goodbye!" Agumon said as he leaped into the portal and disappeared. Lekismon reverted back to Lunamon and went to Rena's side.

"I'm tired..." Lunamon said quietly as Rena scooped her into her arms.

"I'm sure you are. Yun, thanks for your help today," Rena told her.

"B-But I didn't do anything," Yun said, feeling a little awkward.

"Didn't do anything? Yun, you figured out where the black hexagon was and you saved Lunamon before she could turn into DarkTyrannomon's breakfast!" Rena told her sharply.

"Yes. For that I am truly grateful. I think I will like you very well. The next time we meet, I will surely play with you and your friends here," Lunamon told her sweetly. Yun blushed.

"Oh no...really, I didn't-" Yun didn't want to take any credit, but Terriermon leaped on her shoulder.

"Yun! Don't be so shy!" Terriermon told her.

"I think it's time we head back home," Lopmon said.

"You're right. I'll be in trouble if Dad doesn't see me in the house. Bye, Rena-chan and Lunamon!" Yun said as she waved goodbye to Rena and Lunamon and quickly dashed back home as quickly as Lekismon when she attacked DarkTyrannomon.

Rena and Lunamon decided to head home as well. Their house is actually straight up the street from where the woods is, only Yun lived on the street heading into it while Rena's is a little further up the street and on the left. After about 10 minutes of walking, Rena and Lunamon arrived at their white house. Rena could see both of her parents in the back yard so she managed to sneak in without being caught by anyone in particular...except Riku and Coronamon.

"Renaaaaaa! Where'd you go?" Riku asked.

"I took Lunamon out for a walk. Oh, and we fought a Digimon," Rena told him sharply.

"EEEEHHHH? You fought a Digimon?" Riku and Coronamon both screamed in unison.

"No fair! I wanna fight a wild Digimon!" Riku whined.

"Me too!" Coronamon whined.

"Quit your bellyaching! Riku, didn't mom tell you to clean your room? If you don't, you're not gonna be able to make it to the next Digimon Brigade meeting, y'know?" Rena told him sternly.

"Yeah, I know. I'll get to it. But cleaning is soooooo boring!" Riku complained.

"I can help you out!" Coronamon told him.

"You will? Awwww! Coronamon, you're the best!" Riku beamed with joy and hugged his fiery friend as they walked into Riku's room. Rena sighed and went into her own room.

Unlike Riku, Rena is one who always keeps things organized and takes joy in doing so. Rena's room is nice and tidy, with white walls, a white dresser with all her clothes in it, a silver and blue boom box next to her bed, a computer on her desk, some notebooks and school books, a light purple bed covering and pillows, and a poster with a picture of a woman in a white dance outfit dancing under a blue spotlight. The poster seemed to pick Lunamon's interest.

"Rena. Who is the human in this picture?" Lunamon asked innocently as she pointed to the poster. Rena beamed with joy once she saw the poster and Lunamon's sudden interest in it.

"That's Tamara Karsavina(2). She was a famous Russian ballerina. A ballerina is someone who dances to beautiful classical music. She was the first ballerina to dance the _Le Corsaire pas de deux_ and co-founded the Royal Academy of Dance! She was beautiful and emitted true grace. She's dead now, but her legacy lives on, and I want to be just like her! I love dancing, as you can see, because it really shows how graceful you can be when you're having fun doing it," Rena explained joyously, admiring the woman in the poster.

"Is that all?" Lunamon asked.

"No. Karsavina-san became famous mainly because she was living in a time where women were mostly forced to stay in the house and be slaves and eternal housewives to their husbands and where money was very short. She pursued her career courageously and gracefully and she achieved her dreams! She's truly an inspiration!" Rena explained again.

"Is that why I see you doing those dance routines and playing music in the basement when nobody's home? And why you go to lessons after school?" Lunamon asked again.

"Yep!" Rena replied. Lunamon knew about the dance school because Rena told her about it the day she digivolved from her in-training form. Lunamon wasn't there to see it because Rena had to keep her at home. "I don't do it in front of my family because either Riku will say my dancing is stupid or Dad might say I have more important things to focus on like a better career than dancing. But I love dancing! It lets me move freely! I've been taking lessons for years now! Since I was little! But now...see, I'm doing this new routine, but it requires two people to do it, and nobody's willing to practice with me."

Lunamon couldn't help but notice how Rena lit up brightly when she talked about dancing. The way her eyes would shine, the way her hands would move, the way her cheeks became rosy red, and the way her groans sounded very joy inducing. Rena became dejected when she reached the last sentence, but Lunamon herself lit up.

"How about...I practice with you?"

This made Rena gasped.

"What? You...help me? But...you've never danced, have you?" Rena asked.

"Well, I confess that I've never danced, but the way you talk about how wonderful it is...now it seems I want to learn more about it! Plus, you're my partner, Rena-san, and partners must stick together and help each other. Plus I believe I'm going to like you very well. So, would you please allow me to practice the routine with you?" Lunamon explained with a sweet smile on her face.

Rena couldn't believe what she was hearing. Lunamon offering to help her with something she herself does not know. But even so, Rena smiled and held her little Digimon up into the air.

"Yes! I'd love for you to practice with me!" Rena exclaimed happily as she held her Digimon friend in her arms.

They danced happily into the night.

Author's Note: Yay! I'm finished chapter 4! And yes, there's a very good reason why I made Rena's Digimon digivolve first instead of Yun. By the way, happy 4th of July! I'm seeing a lot of good anime this summer and I can't wait to watch them all! I have go to now. I have stuff I need to do. See you all later! Bye-bee!

Footnotes:

1. Victor Hugo's famous book, Les Miserables, has been adapted into an anime in 2007 called Les Miserables Shoujo Cosette. Unfortunately it is underappreciated and nobody sees the awesomeness it truly is.

2. Tamara Karsavina is a famous ballerina who danced the Le Corsaire pas de deux and co-founded the Royal Academy of Dance.


	5. A Miracle And The Light

Author's Note: Hello everyone! It's me, Firechick! Ugh, it's gonna be sooooooo hot tomorrow! 102 degrees! My God! I'm soooooooo sick and tired of this heat wave! I wish it'd be nice and cool, like spring and autumn! They're my favorite seasons! Well, my college orientation is on Wednesday and I'm gonna be super duper nervous! I've never been to an orientation before! What am I gonna do? Anyway, in terms of anime I finally finished watching Petite Princess Yucie! I'm 10 episodes away from finishing Digimon Tamers (the inspiration for this fan fic) and I just started on an old anime called Binbou Shimai Monogatari. It's so sweet so far. Plus it's only 10 episodes long so I can finish it before the end of the month! Well, I better stop my babbling and get on to business. I present to you all...chapter 5 of Digimon: A Seraphic Tale!

EPISODE 5: A Miracle And The Light

Yun had the dream again. The dream where she was in the place with cream-colored trees, egg-shaped lights, colors of multifarious colors, and the boy surrounded by small creatures singing a song. Nothing about the dream had changed one bit, except...it somehow became just a trifle clearer than the other times she dreamt it before. Somehow, the boy with the many wings singing looked a bit more lucid. Yun could see he has beautiful pale brown hair in a strange style, and strange, purple tattoos on the left side of his body. But that was all she could decipher. Nonetheless, she could still smell the scent of honey in the air, feel the warmth, holiness, and tenderness of the area, and hear the beautiful song mollifying her and putting her in a state of relaxation and bliss.

Unfortunately, it was not to last, as Yun had to wake up for her final school day of the week. Tomorrow was the weekend, and she had been looking forward to it for quite some time. It was when she could do whatever she wanted, when she wanted, without hindrance or difficulty or delay at all. As Yun woke up, with Terriermon and Lopmon lying on both sides of her, she rubbed her eyes trying to wake herself up. She saw that the clock on her night stand read 6:22 AM.

"I had...the dream again," Yun murmured to herself quietly and softly. After she said that, she felt something stirring on her left side. It was Lopmon, waking up.

"A dream? What was the dream?" Lopmon asked softly as she awakened. And apparently Terriermon seemed to be curious as well, as he woke up right after she did.

"Dream? What dream?" Terriermon asked, feeling a little weary and rubbing his eyes.

"Oh! I don't think I've told you. The night before you came to my house, I had this lovely dream. I've had it all week. I dreamt that I woke up in this beautiful place. I don't know the name of it, but it was the loveliest, holiest, tenderest, wonderfulest, most peaceful, most carefree, and the most beautiful place in all the world! Blossoming from the ground were lots of flowers. Flowers, flowers, flowers! In very many colors, like pink and blue and white and yellow! The trees are tall and filled with cream colored leaves that look like vanilla and little egg-shaped lights. I don't know if they were lanterns or not, but they were beautiful. Wafting through the air are the smells of honey, freshly baked bread straight from the oven, fresh cut roses, and that scent that appears after it rains. I saw some monsters which I think were Digimon dancing in a circle around a young boy with blonde hair, purple tattoos and many white wings like an angel's wings and they were all singing a very wonderful song!" Yun rambled joyously, while trying to be quiet. Although Lopmon and Terriermon had awakened from their dormant state, they were awake and attentive enough to listen to Yun's story. And quite curious they were, indeed! They were absorbed and entranced by Yun's descriptions and the somewhat dramatic flair in her voice as she spoke of the dream. Lopmon smiled.

"That must have been a wonderful dream!" Lopmon said with her tiny, rosy pink paws clasped together.

"Can you sing the song for us?" Terriermon asked, tugging on her sleeveless white and periwinkle blue pajama shirt. Yun's cheeks became pink and rosy, almost like Lopmon's paws and collar.

"I...I don't know. I don't like singing in front of people," Yun replied, feeling a little shy.

"Come on! It's okay! Sing it? Please?" Terriermon importuned cutely with a smile on his face. Lopmon was not having it.

"Terriermon. You shouldn't force her to do something she doesn't want to. If she doesn't want to sing, then she doesn't have to. You wouldn't like it if I made you do something you didn't want to, would you?" Lopmon told him sternly in a soft but disapproving tone of voice.

"But I wanna hear the song!" Terriermon whined a bit. Yun laughed at their cute little sibling squabble.

"Alright. I'll make an exception. I'll sing," Yun told them with a smile. Lopmon felt a little crestfallen upon seeing Yun give in to Terriermon's demand, but there wasn't much she could do now but listen to Yun sing.

And listen they both did.

"_Oh, the million points of light._  
><em>Oh, the many lights in the sky.<em>  
><em>Oh, how they light the night sky.<em>  
><em>Oh, they are called stars.<em>

_They shine and illuminate each other,_  
><em>As if they're affirming each other's existence.<em>  
><em>But one star shines purely and brilliantly.<em>  
><em>That star is you.<em>

_You are the star that makes me heart sing._  
><em>You are the star that lights my world.<em>  
><em>You are the star that lights my world of darkness and despair.<em>  
><em>You are at peace, and make me feel harmony.<em>  
><em>Your mercy gave me freedom and faith.<em>  
><em>Your grace and strength<em>-"

Lopmon and Terriermon were absorbed. Totally absorbed by the song. Not just because of how beautiful and inspiring and encouraging it sounded and not because of the lyrics. It was because Yun was singing it in a very sweet voice. As Yun sang, she seemed to not care about Lopmon and Terriermon listening to her. She was never fond of drawing attention to herself, and she unknowingly did this very frequently and she did not like it at all. Doing her favorite things in front of people, especially those she disliked with a passion, was what she absolutely hated the most. She preferred doing her favorite things, like drawing and reading and talking about anime and manga, by herself or in front of her friends. Thankfully, Lopmon and Terriermon became great friends to her and she was loving it. Yun had intended to sing the entire song to her cute, floppy earred friends. Unfortunately, she was not able to do so.

_BANG! BANG! BANG!_

A loud, pounding noise on Yun's bedroom door stopped Yun from singing any further. She, Lopmon, and Terriermon all gasped with shock and fear as the banging noise made it's way on the door. Yun hugged both of them and looked at the door.

"Shut your giant pie-hole already, you freakin' annoying little brat!"

A loud, grating, choleric voice permeated the halcyon atmosphere that is Yun's room through the other side of the door. Another female, very likely older than Yun, was on the other side.

"Ayaka! Stop yelling! You'll wake your sister up!" Yun's mother said, also on the other side.

"She's already up! Didn't you hear her awful singing just now?"

"How long are you going to keep this up? I know you feel awful about your bad grades, and that's fine, but-"

"Well, I'm sorry I'm not that little brat in there who thinks she's better than me!"

"AYAKA!"

With the stomping of feet and a loud slam of the door, Yun and her floppy earred friends were rendered totally silent with fear and shock. After a short while, Terriermon gathered the mettle to be the first to speak.

"Umm...who was that?" Terriermon asked softly, with a touch of fear in his small voice. Yun sighed.

"That's...my big sister, Ayaka," Yun replied.

Lopmon was mad.

"I'm outraged! She had the audacity to call you annoying, a brat, and dismiss your singing as awful! What unnecessary animosity!" Lopmon declared.

"I know. She's been like that for quite a while. Nobody knows why. Not even my parents, though I did find out her grades in school are pretty bad," Yun told her. Lopmon turned and looked Yun straight in the eye with a kind of courage burning in her eyes like a flame in a campfire.

"Perhaps whatever she's been through has not been her intention, but calling people names and judging them so harshly is not acceptable in my book! Yun, you're not annoying or a brat, and your singing isn't awful! You're kind and gentle and warm-hearted and you don't consider yourself better than others and you never brag about anything in a cruel and maligned way! I simply do not see why she should treat you with such merciless cruelty!" Lopmon edicted very lucidly, without hesitation.

"I agree. Though we sisters kind of do that. Kinda like how you and Terriermon tend to squabble from time to time," Yun told her with a trifle doubt in her voice.

"Yes, that is true, but I don't treat Terriermon harshly or call him horrible names or point out his flaws straight to his face! I try to be as patient and kind as possible, without nagging all the time!" Lopmon explained.

"That's one thing I love about ya, Lopmon!" Terriermon told her.

"I should probably get ready," Yun said as she got up from her bed.

"Whaaaaat? You're gonna go to school again?" Terriermon asked, feeling worried about her.

"Yes. I don't like to, but thankfully today's the last school day of this week. Tomorrow I'll get to play with you for the entire weekend! Just wait until I get back, okay? I know it's hard, but good things come to those who wait!" Yun told him reassuringly as she got herself dressed. She put on a short-sleeved white shirt, a sleeveless red vest with a hood, blue capris, her white and maroon sneakers and a pair of socks with pink, purple, and blue circles all over them. She ran into the kitchen and saw her mom making breakfast and her dad reading the newspaper.

"Morning!" She said.

"Good morning, sweetheart," Yun's dad said in a nice voice. Yun's mom sighed as she gave Yun a plate with buttered toast on it.

"Yun...I suppose you heard Ayaka yelling just now?" Yun's mom asked.

"Yeah. I did. Sorry," Yun replied as she took her plate, grabbed a knife, and proceeded to grab a banana.

"It's not your fault, sweetie. I just don't know what's making her yell at people all the time! It's really making me mad!" Yun's mother said in a slightly irritated voice.

"Hey Hisako. Did you call that tutor?" Yun's dad asked as he saw Yun cutting up the banana pieces.

"Yes I did, Teruki. She said she's free on Tuesday and to come to the library at around 5:00 PM. I plan to tell Ayaka about it when she gets home...if she doesn't yell at me, of course," Hisako said to her husband, Teruki, as Yun ran to her room.

She split her breakfast among her floppy earred friends. They seemed to like the very soft and lightly buttered toast and the banana pieces. Yun wanted them to eat healthy so they could get through the day, even though they had to be confined to her room all the time. She felt bad about it, but what else could she do that could make sure they didn't get spotted by her family? She opened the window that's near her bed.

"Why are you opening the window?" Terriermon asked after he swallowed a piece of banana.

"It's so you two can have some fresh air or so you can leap down into the backyard and play when Mom and Dad aren't home. I don't recommend going out now, but if you do, you can hide in the tiger lily bush under this window or next to the little tree with the hummingbird feeder. Their bushes are very dense so you can easily hide in them without difficulty," Yun explained as she got her stuff together.

"Alright. I'll be leaving now. You two be good while I'm gone!" Yun told them.

"Have a nice day at school. We shall patiently await your return!" Lopmon said with a smile.

"Bye-bye!" Terriermon said, saying farewell with a more simplistic approach. Yun smiled and left for school, her least favorite place.

Well, school isn't EXACTLY her least favorite place, but it was becoming close to winning the award for Yun's Most Hated Place In The World. The only things that topped it were places that were extremely loud or overun by vulgar and wicked people, like rap concerts. They were especially loud, and Yun couldn't possibly handle a loud concert with loud booming music, one-second long flashings of multi-colored lights, screaming fans, and her most hated genre of music: rap. Thankfully, upon stepping foot on the hard blacktop, she saw her favorite group of friends huddled together. She approached them with a smile, and they all welcomed her, even Minako and Kosuke, who hadn't been in the mood for talking with her before.

But Yun realized someone was missing.

"Where's Mel-chan?" Yun asked, becoming cognizant of the fact that Melody is not among her favorite group of friends.

"She's probably sick. There's been some kind of virus going around lately," Kosuke told her.

"I know! My mom's been puking and having stomach aches since yesterday," Rena said in a worried voice.

"I wouldn't worry too much about it. It's probably just a regular stomach virus. Symptoms normally include vomiting and diarrhea. As long as you get lots of rest, you'll be better before the weekend comes," Minako explained calmly in a nice voice. She's the smart one of the group. Much smarter than Yun, who normally gets good grades in school (except for math, which she hates). Of course, Minako didn't refer to anyone in particular regarding her explanation.

"Whee! I NEVER get sick! I haven't gotten sick since I was two!" Riku exclaimed with his right hand raised up in the air.

"That's because all you ever do is run around and make trouble every day!" Rena retorted sharply.

"I dare you to say that again!" Riku retorted back at her.

"Well, Rikkun is always physically active so I don't think germs have the time to get inside his system," Otoya said.

"That's a nice way of putting it!" Riku said.

"So...are we gonna have a Digimon Brigade meeting over the weekend?" Yun asked.

"I'm not doing anything so I wouldn't mind having one," Kosuke said.

"Me neither," Minako said.

"Would Sunday be good?" Yun asked.

"Yeah! Sure!" Riku said.

"That's cool with me!" Kosuke said.

"Fine with me!" Minako said.

"Alright! So the next Digimon Brigade meeting will be held this Sunday!" Yun said.

Yun wanted to talk with everyone more, but the bell rang so they couldn't. Everyone had to go to their homerooms and get through the entire school day. The weekend is tomorrow, so everyone was looking forward to it...and becoming rather impatient about it's arrival. But Yun got through the morning just fine...until 4th period, that is.

It was math class for Yun, Otoya, and Riku, and the teacher, Mrs. Takahashi, was going over the formulas for shapes.

"Alright! Who can tell me the area of a circle?" Mrs. Takahashi asked loudly.

Nobody responded. It was silent.

"Anyone?"

No response again.

"Oh, come on, people! We've been going over these all week!"

Yun didn't like the sound of her yelling so she covered her ears. To be truthful, she did know the formulas of the shapes. She had studied them all the time. She just wasn't sure if she could match the right formulas to the right shapes, even though she studied really hard. She didn't want to draw attention to herself by getting the answer wrong (like she always does in math class), so she remained silent, even though the silence was really irritating Mrs. Takahashi.

"Hmph! Looks like I'll have to pick," Mrs. Takahashi said as she looked around the room. She saw Seiko blowing her painted finger nails with a proud look on her face. "Shimizu!"

"Wha!" Seiko yelped as she heard Mrs. Takahashi's voice and saw that she was looking right at her with an irritated look on her face.

"Care to tell me the area of a circle?" Mrs. Takahashi said sternly.

"Uhh...I think it's..." Seiko was becoming nervous. This little girl cared more about her appearance and physical beauty and popularity than about studying and reading books all the time. But now she was cornered and there was nothing she could do. "I think it's... 2 pi r?"

Most of the class laughed. Yun didn't.

"No! That's the circumference! Really, Shimizu! You need to take your eyes off of your finger nails and put them in the books! Your grades are bad enough already!" Mrs. Takahashi yelled. Seiko slumped back into her seat, feeling very humiliated and abject.

"Yes, Takahashi-sensei..." Seiko murmured.

Yun finally got her mettle together and took the plunge. She raised her left hand high into the air. Mrs. Takahashi noticed it.

"Wakamiya? Do you know the area of a circle?" She asked.

"It's...pi r squared," Yun said. Her hands were shaking, her head was throbbing, and she looked as though she might let out a cry at any moment. Thankfully enough, Mrs. Takahashi smiled.

"That's right! Good job!" Mrs. Takahashi said with a smile. Yun breathed a huge sigh of relief as she sat down on her desk and looked at her notes. Mrs. Takahashi pulled out a big pile of papers from a bin next to her desk.

"Let's see if you all can complete this worksheet before the end of the period. You're free to use your notes. If you don't finish it in class, it'll be for homework over the weekend, and you surely don't want that, now do you?" Mrs. Takahashi explained as she passed out the papers to every student in the classroom. Once she was done, she returned to her desk.

Yun immediately began working on her worksheet while looking at her notes. Her notes are extremely detailed with a few spots here and there because of her angrily crossing out mistakes with her pencil, but she felt happy that she managed to put the right shapes with the right formulas. Plus, she had been studying all week (even Lopmon and Terriermon knew this). This worksheet was going to be a piece of cake! But she knew better than to be cocky and a tad over-confident. She never did like feeling confident because whenever she did feel confident about something the results she got were not what she wanted. Currently, she kepts her eyes solely on her notes and the workseet, nothing else. She focused and focused with all her might, at least hoping that completing this worksheet will bring her grade up.

After a while, she finally finished. She looked at the clock and surprisingly enough, it read 11:34 AM, and 4th period doesn't end until 11:56 AM! Surprised she was, as she is the first to finish. She got out from her desk, gave her worksheet to Mrs. Takahashi and proceeded to walk back to her desk and read one of her mangas, _Ouran High School Host Club_(1). It was right when she passed Nenji's desk that she saw a big black and white sneaker come toward her in a swift manner.

As quickly as she saw it, she quickly hopped away from it. She somehow managed to avoid tripping over it. Feeling relieved, though she absolutely refused to show it with her face, she made it to her desk unscathed and proceeded to read her manga.

Unfortunately, tripping Yun and making her fall flat on her face onto the floor wasn't what Nenji wanted at all. When he saw Yun successfully avoid what he really wanted to do, he became absolutely choleric, his blemished face beet red with rancor and anger. He dashed out of his seat, ran toward Yun, and attempted to kick her! THIS was what he really wanted.

"Kyah!"

He landed a foot on her stomach.

"OWW!"

Yun yelped loudly, feeling the hard, merciless blow on her abdomen. Otoya and Riku, appalled by this cold-hearted act of violence, rushed in to drag the volatile Nenji away from the innocuous Yun, who is struggling to breathe. The entire class was consumed by shocked "Oohs" and "Ahhs" upon seeing Nenji's bold and violent deed. Nenji struggled and tried to break from Otoya and Riku's clutches, but the two certainly were not going to let him go, and so was Mrs. Takahashi, who is just as appalled as the rest of the class.

"Nemoto! What was that for? Why did you do that?" Mrs. Takahashi yelled as she approached Yun and tried to help her breathe.

"You a big fat retard! Quit thinkin' yer so smart and bein' a little miss goody-two-shoes! Yous white trash! You oughta die already!" Nenji yelled as he tried to break free from Otoya and Riku's grasp.

"Nemoto Nenji! That is IT! I've had just about enough of you! You're coming with me to the principal's office right NOW! And I'm calling your mother!" Mrs. Takahashi yelled angrily, her teeth gritting together like the fangs of a hungry wolf, as she grabbed Nenji by the arm and attempted to drag him to the principal's office. Riku and Otoya were quite reluctant to let him go, but they had to.

And that was a mistake.

As soon as Nenji was free, he literally punched Mrs. Takahashi straight in the stomach, causing her to lose her ability to breath.

"Shut up, ya old hag!"

"Oh my God! Takahashi-sensei!" Some female students who witnessed this awful act ran to Mrs. Takahashi's aid. Otoya and Riku proceeded to grab him again as he tried to run toward Yun and give her a beating.

"You hit a teacher! You're awful, Nemoto!" Otoya exclaimed.

"Yeah! Nobody beats up my friend under my watch!" Riku yelled, loudly and right next to Nenji's ear in an attempt to scare him a little. But Nenji was NOT having it. Not only that, Yun was trying to get away.

Finally, he broke from their clutches and proceeded to grab Yun's hair.

"AGH! MY HAIR!" Yun yelped.

"Retard! Retard! Quit thinkin' yer so perfect just because you finished before all the rest of us!" Nenji mocked in a voice full of rancor and with an incensed expression.

"I don't think I'm smarter than anybody! I just happened to finish my worksheet! That's all! Is that really so wrong to you!"

"That's what I hate about ya the worst! You need to know yer place, yo! Retard! Baby! Stupid! Freak of nature! Human trash!"

Otoya and Riku pushed him off of Yun. Otoya tended to Yun while Riku and Nenji got themselves caught in a full on brouhaha, which was thankfully broken up by another teacher who came because a student went out of the classroom and brought him here. Riku and Nenji were taken to the principal's office, Otoya took Yun and Mrs. Takahashi to the nurse, and the teacher who broke up the fight decided to watch over the classroom.

Behind the scenes, Seiko was watching the whole thing with a wicked expression on her face.

_'What a loser! She totally deserved all that! My friends are so gonna wanna hear about this!'_ Seiko thought to herself silently as she went back to polishing her fingernails with hot pink paint.

Meanwhile, as the epic schoolroom fracas of the century erupted in Yun's classroom, at home, Terriermon and Lopmon remained in Yun's room, oblivious to what was going on. Lopmon is sitting on Yun's bed, happily reading one of Yun's books, _The Birds' Christmas Carol_(2), while Terriermon is looking up at the opened window with a rather impatient look on his face. A lot of things were going through his little mind. He was becoming very very tired of being cooped up in Yun's room all the time. Sure, he liked Yun's halcyon and quiet room with lots of books and stuffed animals and toys and pretty things, but he's one of those lively and carefree Digimon who just love being outside just as much as they like being inside at times, and he sure wasn't liking being inside right now. For a whole 8 hours at that! Yes, he knew the consequences would be perilous if he were to be caught outside by humans who didn't understand Digimon or simply did not like them, and he understood very well that Yun's intentions are good. He understood that with utmost certainty. Unfortunately, looking up at that open window seemed to make him snap a little inside.

"Urgh! I'm so sick and tired of being cooped up for a whole 8 hours! I'm a goin' outside!" Terriermon edicted as he decided to climb up to the window and leap out from it. Lopmon immediately heard him and grabbed his long left ear and dropped him to the floor.

"No, Terriermon! You mustn't! Yun's parents will find out that we talk and walk and all those things! You know what will happen!" Lopmon told him sternly.

"I know, Lopmon! I know Yun's keeping us in her room all the time for good reasons, and I know she feels bad about it too, and I don't mind! But sometimes I just wanna get out and be free once in a while! There's only so much you can tolerate at one time!" Terriermon retaliated.

"You do remember earlier when Yun's older sister was yelling, right? We certainly don't want our identities to be discovered by someone like her! The repercussions could be absolutely dreadful! She slammed the door so hard even we could hear it, and we're on the other side of the house!" Lopmon explained.

"I honestly don't care if I do get caught by her! She needs to be taught a lesson anyway! And I just wanna go outside and play around! I'll be careful! If I see Yun's parents or sister, I can just hide in the tiger lily bushes! Their leaves are really dense, as Yun says!" Little Terriermon replied back as he hopped up to the window and was about to jump out of it...but something stopped him from doing so.

Down below him was another tiger lily bush, but about 6 feet from his left was Teruki, working on what appears to be a go-kart with a happy smile on his face.

"I wonder what he's working on," Terriermon said in a very soft whisper, so Teruki would not hear him. Thankfully he didn't and continued to work on the shiny red and white go-kart with a black 59 painted on the front.

"If memory serves me right, Yun says it's a go-kart. Her father loves go-kart racing," Lopmon explained softly as she followed Terriermon and stood quietly next to him on the windowsill.

Terriermon watched with awe the spirited and energetic Wakamiya Teruki working on his beloved race car. A lean looking man he is, with short black hair and eyes as light as blue as the sky at mid-day. His eyes looked as if they actually had stars in them. He's wearing nothing but a short-sleeved grey shirt with a picture of a red, white, and orange race car on it along with brown khaki shorts, lighter brown shoes, tall white socks, and a beige hat with a napkin-like covering on the back, which covered his neck. It's probably there to protect him from the sun's rays. Terriermon watched as Teruki adjusted the black rubber wheels on his go-kart, put various parts together like a puzzle, and put it in the red trailer. After he finished, he wiped the sweat off his forehead with his arm.

"Well, that's done and over with! Now I can finally-" Teruki said with a spec of pleasure and joy in his rich voice, but he was not given the opportunity to complete his sentence because he saw his wife Hisako running toward him with a very shocked and appalled look plastered all over her face.

"TERUKIIIIIII!"

Hisako's loud voice made Teruki gasp.

"Wha-What is it, Hisako?" Teruki asked.

"The school just called! Nemoto went wild and attacked Yun in class!"

The sudden ill tidings brought to him not only made Teruki appalled beyond his control, but Terriermon and Lopmon as well.

_"WHAAAAAAAAAAT?"_

Teruki and Terriermon both screamed their lungs out in unison. But it seemed Terriermon outshouted Teruki because his voice is so high, and it caught their attention. Both Teruki and Hisako turned to look at the two floppy eared stuffed animals standing on the windowsill.

Surprised, Terriermon slipped and was about to fall.

"Terriermon!" Lopmon jumped in and grabbed Terriermon's right ear and tried to pull him up, but he's too heavy. Sadly for the both of them, they both fell off the window and PLOP! into the tiger lily bush. It broke their fall, so they weren't hurt.

"Ugh! That was stupid!" Terriermon exclaimed, not knowing that Hisako and Teruki were looking right down at him and Lopmon with shocked, curious, and confused faces...until it was too late.

The two floppy eared rabbits finally realized that the worst happened.

"OH NOOOOOO!" Both of them yelled, fearing the repercussions that were to follow.

Oddly enough, Hisako seemed to shift her focus away from the two floppy earred rabbits and focused more on Teruki.

"I'm gonna run to the school and get Yun out of there!" Hisako said as she literally dashed back into the house, leaving Teruki alone with Terriermon and Lopmon.

"Wait! Come back!" All three of them yelled, with Teruki shocked with the fact that they could talk.

Hisako literally put her shoes on, grabbed her car keys, got in the car, and drove away all in less than a minute. Well, it takes about five minutes to get to the school by car if one were to really step on the gas, and Hisako had absolutely no problem with getting there. Once she got in, she immediately set for the nurse's office. In a flash, she arrived and saw a crying Yun, a surprised Otoya, a very ticked off Riku, an alert and attentive Mrs. Takahashi, and the young female nurse with the maroon braids and rectangle-shaped glasses. Yun sat on a chair and cried into her hands while Otoya sat next to her and rubbed her back.

"YUN!"

"MOM!"

Yun and her mother embraced each other, and Yun cried wildly and passionately into her mother's chest. After a good cry, Yun finally became calm. Hisako turned to Otoya and Riku.

"Can anyone tell me what happened?" Yun's mother asked in a quiet but very stern voice.

It was Riku who took the epic plunge.

"Oh, you flipping bet I'll tell ya the whole story of what happened in that classroom! All we were doing is some work in math class! I only got half my sheet done, and a lot of my answers were probably wrong even though I tried to take as good notes as possible, but Yun finished her worksheet 20 minutes before class ended. She took her sheet and gave it to Takahashi-sensei here and was gonna get back to her desk. That Nemoto brat tried to kick her before she got to her desk, but she avoided it and got there safely. Then he exploded like the volcano on Mt. Vesuvius and kicked Yun straight in the stomach!" Here, Hisako gasped with horror. "Otoya and I stopped him from doing anymore damage, but he kept saying stuff like _"yous always thinkin' yer so smart and so much better than us!"_ and _"you're so retarded!"_ and _"you're white trash!"_ and _"you oughta die already!"_ Takahashi-sensei tried to take him to the office, but he punched her right in the gut! He punched her so hard even she couldn't breathe! We held him back again and Yun tried to escape the classroom. There was noise and yellin' and everything! I think she wanted to get away from the noise, but then he started pulling her hair and calling her names again! I couldn't take it anymore and gave him a good fistful of my special flaming fist attack! I swear, I wanted to turn that kid into my mom's roasted chicken meat with Corona-"

Riku wasn't able to finish his story because Otoya quickly put a hand over his mouth upon hearing that he was going to mention Coronamon, and revealing a Digimon's existence was against the rules of the Digimon Brigade.

"The whole thing was a big, awful mess, Wakamiya-san! The whole entire brouhaha!" Otoya finished the story with her own little ending to the tale. Yun was sniveling and whimpering throughout the entire thing.

"Terriermon...Lopmon..." Yun murmured softly and sadly, but Hisako and Otoya seemed to hear it.

"Who are Terriermon and Lopmon?" Hisako asked, having the strange feeling that she might actually know who they are, but she needed a little confirmation first. That thought was interrupted by Mrs. Takahashi who stood up.

"Wakamiya-san...I am so terribly sorry that this happened. I had no idea something like this was going to happen," Mrs. Takahashi said in a rueful tone.

"It's not your fault. Lots of unexpected stuff happens," Hisako told her kindly.

"Yes, but it's my job to make sure the kids get a decent education and learn in a peaceful environment. That's what schools are for! To give kids an education! I do know one thing for sure...I'm not going to stand by any longer! I am going to call that boy's mother and give her my own little fistful! I don't care if she keeps threatening to sue the school, and I say screw this school's reputation! Bullying is absolutely NOT tolerated under my watchful eye, and I refuse to stand by and let it happen anymore! That woman needs to take that boy's durned behavior problems seriously!" Mrs. Takahashi edicted proudly and with great courage. Yun was impressed. She sure didn't expect a teacher of all people to care about her problems and make an attempt to help them. None of the teachers she had in the past would bother helping her at all, only with schoolwork. Hisako turned to her wound up daughter.

"Yun...we're gonna go home now, okay?" Hisako told her.

But the response she got was absolutely nothing she ever expected. Not even Otoya, Riku, Mrs. Takahashi, or even the nurse, saw it coming.

"...No."

"No?"

"I'll...stay."

"WHAAAAAAT?" All five of them shouted in unison.

"You're out of your mind, Yun-chan! Nemoto's gonna beat you up again and Shimizu's gonna make nasty rumors about you! Do you seriously want to trud through the rest of an already horrid school day?" Otoya asked.

"Yeah! No way would I want to stay in a place I hated to be! Absolutely not!" Riku exclaimed.

"I agree. You should go home for now," The nurse said.

"I second the notion," Mrs. Takahashi said.

"I'm staying. I'll get through the rest of the school day!" Yun edicted lucidly, without one trace of her voice quivering. Her mother was absolutely shocked.

"Are you sure?" Hisako asked.

"Yes. I am."

"I really don't think this is a good idea, Yun!"

"Today I get my English test back. I really need to know what I got on it because I studied really, really hard! Please, Mom? Can I stay at school?"

Hisako couldn't believe what she was hearing. Normally Yun would immediately decide on going home whenever she either got sick or was just having a really, really horrid day, like she's having now. But staying at school even after she got repeatedly attacked by her worst enemy? Hisako had a very hard time believing what her daughter was saying. But once Yun had an idea in her head, she would never let it go, even if someone were to give her a million bucks. Yun is quite the stubborn one. Hisako sighed.

"Alright. I'll let you stay until three. But if you're gonna stay, then I will too!" Hisako replied.

"But...won't you get in trouble?" Yun asked.

"I can always get an observer's sticker from the main office," Hisako replied.

"Yeah. You can do that," Otoya said.

"That's pretty plausible," Mrs. Takahashi said.

But Riku was absolutely flabbergasted!

"No way! Yun, you're seriously letting your mom stay with you throughout the entire school day? If my parents were to watch me throughout the entire school day I'd be super duper embarrassed, partly because they'd criticize me before the teachers would and partly because they always make me look bad in front of the others, and the others would laugh at me too! And besides, Shimizu likes to hide her snooty mean girl side whenever parents are around!" Riku explained.

"Seiko's never met my mother. She'll just think she's some observer or something," Yun said.

"That's true," Otoya said.

"I think it's about time we returned to class, shall we?" Mrs. Takahashi said as she stood up.

"Be careful now," The braided nurse advised with a worried tone in her voice.

So Hisako got an observer's sticker from the office without difficulty. The bell rang right when Mrs. Takahashi entered the door so everyone went to lunch. Yun, Otoya, and Riku made sure to get their things before they left. Hisako noticed that Melody isn't here at school today. So, Yun, Otoya, and Riku met up with Rena, Kosuke, and Minako and told them everything. They were absolutely appalled.

"WHAT! ARE YOU SERIOUS?" All three of them yelped in unison.

"Unfortunately, yes. You should've seen Nemoto's face. He was beet red! He looked like he was about to explode like Mt. Vesuvius!" Otoya told them.

Kosuke clenched his fist and gritted his teeth.

"Why that fat pig...! I oughta give him my own fistful!" Kosuke exclaimed.

"I wish Melody-chan were here. She'd give him the best fistful anyone could ever give! She's good at that! She's taking karate lessons, isn't she?" Rena said as she took a bite of her fruit gummies.

"Yeah, she is. But she's sick at home right now. I would've loved to see her beat Nemoto into a bloody pulp!" Riku exclaimed.

"Rikkun. It's not nice to wish for pain on other people," Minako told him calmly and sternly while eating a piece of fried eggs.

"I don't care!" Riku replied back.

Hisako couldn't help but smile at the fact that Yun's friends truly do care for her, even if what they say sounds rather painful. After lunch ended, recess began and the kids played outside. Hisako followed. Kosuke sat next to Yun on a bench in front of the fence while Rena, Minako, and Otoya stood next to them. Rena was the first to speak.

"Hey Yun-chan! Lunamon's been asking about you. She wants to see you again," Rena told her with a smile.

"Really? She does?" Yun asked.

"Yep!" Rena replied.

"Same with Salamon. You know how she's always looking for adventure," Minako told her.

"I wish you guys can come over to my house one of these days," Yun told them with a somewhat dejected look on her face.

"I sure wouldn't mind going to your house. Sometimes I get so sick and tired of being at home. I worry about Patamon all the time, leaving him at home," Kosuke said.

"You know...the week after next, I'm off work, so maybe you all can come over around then," Hisako said. She didn't hear the bits about the Digimon.

Yun's face immediately beamed with joy.

"Really, Mom? Yay! Yippee! Thanks, Mom! You're the best!" Yun exclaimed joyously as she hugged her mother.

Soon, Yun and her friends chattered away happily, immediately making plans for the week after next. Hisako smiled brightly, feeling relieved and happy that her youngest daughter has finally recovered from such a terrible day, even though at the same time, she felt a little doubtful herself because of what she discovered. She was afraid to tell Yun outright because she was afraid Yun would take it the wrong way. Hisako felt it best if she saved it for when she got home, and she was determined to let Yun explain everything.

Unfortunately, her thoughts were interrupted when she heard Seiko and her friends, who are ironically enough standing 5 feet away from her, talking and gossiping amongst themselves.

"WHAT! Are you serious? No way!" Two girls exclaimed with shocked faces.

"Oh yeah! You all should've seen it! It was so totally cool!" Seiko exclaimed while flinging one of her light brown curled pigtails out of her face and her dark brown eyes shining wickedly.

"You're right! I would've recorded it and put it on YouTube or something!" The girl with black hair tied in a ponytail with an orange scrunchie exclaimed ruefully.

"I swear it'd get so many comments overnight it'd be unbelievable!" The girl with very short, curly blonde hair and a pretty ruby red bracelet on her right wrist exclaimed happily.

"Totally! That Wakamiya brat really needs to know her place! She, like, totally deserved that kick in the stomach! She always thinks she's so much smarter than us, turning in her worksheet with that proud look all over her dirty little face! It makes me sick! I'll bet she thinks she's too good for us! And I'll never forgive her for ratting me out that year! My special nail polish got taken away because of her! I'll get my revenge soon enough!" Seiko explained in a malicious and malinged tone, gibing at Yun all the way.

Eavesdropping is wrong. Hisako knew this very well, but it wasn't her fault she heard the entire conversation. Seiko and her clique spoke in really loud voices so she could easily hear them. She was absolutely appalled. Shimizu Seiko, wanting to record a video of Yun's pain and suffering and post on a video sharing website for all to see and comment for her own personal self-satisfaction and to satisfy her long burning grudge! Hisako absolutely could not stand for this! Making sure she didn't blow up in a paroxysm of anger, she stood up and walked toward the giggling clique with a very stern look on her face. Seiko and her clique looked up once they felt her presence above them.

"Wha...what's up?" Seiko asked.

"You know, you girls shouldn't be whispering and gossiping amongst yourselves like that. It doesn't make a good impression," Hisako told them very sternly in a low voice.

"What's it to you?" Seiko retorted, annoyed by her domineering presence.

"Gossiping makes people think you're talking bad about someone, and it's not nice to talk bad about someone you don't know. I knew better than to judge people so harshly. And besides, don't you have better things to talk about? Like boys or clothes or fashion or nail polish or all those things?" Hisako told them in an even lower, much more wicked voice.

The girl with the very short and curly blonde hair gave in.

"H-H-H-Hey, girls! Speaking of boys, my cousin has a boyfriend and he's super duper hot!"

Hisako decided she had enough and walked away.

Apparently Yun and everyone else saw the whole thing.

"Wow! You were so awesome back there, Wakamiya-san!" Otoya rejoiced in her bravery.

"I agree! It takes epic guts to do that!" Riku exclaimed.

"Amazing!" Minako said.

"You're awesome, Mom!" Yun said.

"I should do that next time I see kids picking on someone," Kosuke said.

Finally, after a long and grueling final half of the school day, the final bell rang and it was finally over. Hisako and Yun got into the car and slowly drove away. Yun felt happy that school ended and the weekend is finally here. But she was unprepared for what was going to happen once she got home. Yun and Hisako didn't even get to the porch when they saw a very choleric and incensed Ayaka, red in the face with absolute anger, standing on the porch.

And Yun was horrified by what Ayaka was holding in both of her hands. She gasped. HARD.

_"YUUUUUUUUUUN!"_

Ayaka stomped toward Yun and Hisako, red as a boiler about to explode.

"Ayaka! Don't scream like that! Yun's had a bad day today!" Hisako tried to mollify her, but nothing worked.

"YOU OWE US AN EXPLANATION FOR **_THESE_**!"

Ayaka hoisted Terriermon and Lopmon up to her face and clutched them by the ears. Tightly. So tight that it was actually hurting them.

It all came to Yun now.

Her family found out her secret.

Both Terriermon and Lopmon were looking very dejected and abject.

"I'm so sorry, Yun. We were found out," Terriermon murmured softly but sadly.

Yun, upon seeing the horrible sight of a helpless Terriermon and Lopmon held up in the air by their ears with such carelessness, finally snapped in a paroxysm of anger.

"LET THEM GO!" Yun screamed as she leaped toward Ayaka and literally confiscated Terriermon and Lopmon from her. She got them out of her clutches and held onto them tightly.

"Don't ever hold them like that ever again!" Yun yelled.

"Did you really think you were gonna get away with this! Keeping a bunch of filthy beasts in your room and keeping us in the dark about it! You're such an annoying little pot hog!" Ayaka yelled.

This angered Terriermon.

"Hey! Don't call Yun a pot hog!" Terriermon yelled back with aplomb.

"Alright! That's enough! Let's go inside!" Hisako broke up the yelling brouhaha and escorted them all inside. Ayaka absolutely wanted no part of the family's upcoming discussion about Terriermon and Lopmon.

"You're getting rid of those beasts _**TONIGHT**_, you spoiled brat!" Ayaka screamed angrily, without one spec of mercy or sympathy in her voice.

"They never even did anything to you!" Yun yelled back. Ayaka slammed the door to her room and stayed in there.

Teruki is sitting at the dining room table with a calm look on his face, and Hisako sat next to him. Yun sat on the other side, clutching Terriermon and Lopmon tightly, but not to a point where it'd hurt them, like Ayaka did earlier. Yun felt utterly helpless now. Now her whole family knows about her Digimon. She couldn't do anything but face the music. She was going to lose them forever. Tears were starting to build up in the back of her eyes, ready to spill out at any moment. Terriermon and Lopmon could feel her insecurity and fear.

Teruki spoke first.

"Yun? Are you alright? I heard you had a bad day at school," Teruki said.

"Yes. I did. Nemoto..." Yun replied softly.

"I know. Ummm...sorry if this is a bit awkward. Your little friends here...we found them under your window in the tiger lily bush. They're quite cute!" Teruki told her with a smile.

"Huh? Really? Uhh..." Yun didn't know what to say.

"Yun? Would you like to explain how you got them? We won't get mad. We promise," Hisako told her gently.

Yun was surprised. Now she was given an unlikely opportunity. She decided to go for it.

"Alright. I'll explain. But on one condition. Let me say it all. Don't interrupt me or get mad at anything I say. It's the truth. Please?"

"We promise," They both said in unison.

Yun poured out the tale of her encounter with Terriermon and Lopmon.

"It was...earlier in the week that I found them. Mom, remember when you were fighting with Nemoto's mom on the front yard and told me to go to my room? That's where I found them as an egg. It was in my stuffed animals. I have no idea where it came from or how it got there, and I still don't know. Later, it hatched into two little Digimon, Conomon and Zerimon (she knew their names beforehand because she watched Digimon all the time and looked it up on the internet. But she didn't call them by their names when they hatched because she thought it'd be too much for their little minds to handle, so she ignored the pieces of knowledge). I...I was so happy. I could tell someone about my problems without them getting angry at me or interrupting me or brushing me off or telling me to shut up and stop complaining. I spent all my time with them and I wanted to teach them everything I knew, and I did. Then they digivolved into Kokomon and Gummymon. They started talking to me. My efforts paid off, and I was so happy when they called me by my name with such joy and happiness. It wasn't until the next morning that they became Terriermon and Lopmon, the way they are right now. They digivolved because they wanted to protect me from a Goblimon that was attacking me and going wild. I was so happy. I've been through a lot of horrid stuff in the past month, and I thought it would never end. I thought nobody would want to listen to me. Sure I could've talked to my friends about it, but everyone's got a lot going on in their lives. Mina-chan's brother died, Kosuke-kun's mom is a hardcore alcoholic, Rena-chan's being picked on by kids in her dance studio, Riku tends to make things worse, not that he means it, Otoya-chan helps her father with the church, and Melody-chan was sick today. I kinda felt like everyone was drifting away from me. But then Lopmon and Terriermon came! My all-time favorite Digimon, coming alive! At first I didn't believe it myself. A fictional monster series becoming real. But I felt them, I fed them, I touched them, and I raised them from baby level to rookie level, and so I believed they're real. And they certainly are real since you can hear them talking and see them walking and stuff. I was so happy to finally have someone who's willing to listen to me kindly and understand me!"

Hisako and Teruki remained silent throughout the whole thing. They absorbed and silently listened to Yun's story. They could see the pure honesty and agony in Yun's majestic green eyes. They could tell she was going to break like glass any minute now.

Hisako decided to speak.

"Yun...you know we've told you time and time again you're more than welcome to talk to us about anything," Hisako said softly.

"You say that, but every time I do you always yell or say things like _"Shut up!"_ or _"I have no time for this!"_ or _"Nobody ever helps me out around here!"_ or _"Quit complaining!"_ Plus you never let me finish whatever I have to say! You make it sound like anything I do or say to you makes you ticked off! That's why I say I'm misunderstood, because you always misunderstand me or mis-interpret practically anything I say! And you always think it's something bad when I don't mean it to be! I'm sick and tired of it! Plus, I try to talk to Ayaka but she keeps yelling at me and blaming me for everything that goes on. I know you guys have your own problems to deal with that's none of my affair, and I know that Ayaka's anger problems are taking a toll on you, and I get that! I know you guys have a lot on your plate, so I kept my mouth shut so you guys wouldn't have so much to worry about or get ticked off about! I don't mean to put any extraneous pressure on you both! I know I should put others before myself, and I do that, but...sometimes even I want a little someone to listen to me and cheer me up once in a while, and I haven't gotten that since I started school last month! Nemoto keeps getting more and more violent with me, Shimizu keeps making up bad rumors about me, and my friends all have unexpected problems that they have to deal with on their own. I just want a friend who understands me and listens to me, and I'm very happy that Lopmon and Terriermon are here! If you don't like them, that's fine. I never expected you to like them, but...please! More than anything...don't make me get rid of them! They're just small Digimon! I'll take super duper good care of them! I'm sorry I didn't tell you about them before. I was afraid you'd think they're filthy beasts like Ayaka does and tell me to get rid of them. Please don't make me get rid of them. We've bonded too much already! They'd be sad too! And they're not bad! They're very sweet little darlings here. They're the sweetest little things in the whole wide world, and I love them very much. They make me happier than anything."

Yun could feel the small tears streaming from her eyes, trickling down her cheeks, and falling on Terriermon and Lopmon's heads. Teruki and Hisako were both rendered silent. They had no idea Yun kept these two a secret from them. But if there's one thing they knew for sure, it's the fact that Yun was absolutely right about everything. Hisako decided to speak in regards to that.

"You're right. We have been a little too selfish lately. We know you consider others' feelings before your own, and that's wonderful. We know you've been feeling alone lately, yet we haven't been very good role models, have we? We're sorry, dear. We all have days where nothing goes right and we just want someone to listen to us and comfort us when we're sad and want to let our pain out," Hisako explained kindly and softly.

"Aren't you...mad? That I kept them a secret?" Yun asked in a murmur.

"No. Not at all. We know your intentions were good. We know you're not the type who'd keep a secret for some malicious reason. You're just not the type. But I do wish you'd have told us earlier. We wouldn't have had any problem with it," Hisako explained.

"Y-Y-Yes you would've! Don't lie!" Yun exclaimed loudly.

"Yun. Calm down. Hisako says we wouldn't have had a problem with it because we figured they'd made you happy from the beginning. We didn't want to ruin that. We know how tough times have been for you, and it's alright. It's not your fault at all," Teruki explained kindly.

Yun couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Plus, you've got to admit..." She extended her arm out and gently poked Terriermon in the cheek with her finger. "They're soooo cute! They remind me of the dolls I had when I was your age! So adorable!"

Terriermon blushed and pushed Hisako's finger away. "No way! Stop! You're embarrassing me!"

Hisako chuckled.

"Yun...it's okay. You can keep them," Teruki said.

Yun's eyes widened. Big time.

"I...I can keep them? This...this can't be true! I must be dreaming!"

"No, dear. You're not dreaming. And don't you dare slap yourself in the face or bang your head against the wall to confirm it. We've had enough of that."

Yun exploded. Not in a paroxysm of anger, but a paroxysm of absolute bliss and joy.

"_YAAAAAAAY!_ Thanks sooooo much, Mom and Dad! I'm so sorry I caused all this trouble! I promise I'll take good care of them! I promise, cross my heart and hope to die!" Yun squeezed her parents and her two floppy eared friends hard. After a little bit, she let them go. Lopmon crawled out of Yun's arms and walked on the table.

"I believe it's time for me to introduce myself. Good evening, Hisako-san and Teruki-san. I am Lopmon. I am a rookie level, data attribute, animal Digimon. It's very nice to meet you, and thank you for giving me the opportunity to remain by Yun's side. I am truly grateful. She is certainly a kind and wonderful person. You've raised her well," Lopmon introduced herself in her clear, pretty voice, which seemed to sweep Hisako and Teruki off their feet.

"It's nice to meet you too, Lopmon, and thanks for the compliment," Hisako said as she extended her finger out for Lopmon to gently shake with her paws.

"You're welcome," Lopmon replied and shook Hisako's finger. Terriermon leaped on Teruki's head.

"Hi! I'm Terriermon! I saw you work on that big racing thingy!" Terriermon exclaimed happily.

"Oh? You mean my go-kart? I see! And it's nice to meet you, little guy!" Teruki replied sweetly.

Yun was absolutely nothing but happy. On the outside and on the inside. She could feel a huge pile of bricks being lifted off of her, she was that happy and deep deep DEEP into a state of absolute bliss and joy. Never could she have believed that her parents would actually approve of letting Lopmon and Terriermon stay with them, but they did! They did and so much more. They listened to Yun. They thought about her story. They didn't interrupt her or get mad at her. Yun felt as light as a feather, joyously floating aimlessly in the sky without a care in the entire world, just being happy to be alive.

But there was one person who saw this as nothing but the biggest calamity that had ever hit her...and it was morbidly blatant who that was.

_"WHAAAAAAAAAAAT? YOU FREAKING **CANNOT** BE SERIOUS!"_

It was Ayaka. Yun covered her ears immediately. She had come out.

"Weren't you working on your homework, dear?" Teruki asked, confused by her sudden presence.

"I come out here because I need to find my science binder and this is what I see! You freaking imbeciles allowing these filthy beasts to live under our roof!" Ayaka yelled.

"Hey! We don't call names in this house! And besides, I think it'd be lovely to have these little darlings here. They say the more the merrier, right?" Hisako replied strictly but kindly. But this made Ayaka all the more angrier.

"This is exactly why I hate you all! You're always taking her side!"

"No we don't! We try to offer you all the help we can with your schoolwork but you push us away!"

Ayaka turned to a frightened Yun and Lopmon.

"Happy now! You're always getting all the attention! Everybody takes your side! You really are nothing but a spoiled brat with no social life and a freaking retard!" Ayaka screamed her lungs out.

But what she got was unexpected.

"HEY!" Terriermon leaped off of Teruki's head and..._SLAP!_ He flung his ear at Ayaka's face, slapping her. He fell on the table afterward.

"Don't ever call Yun a brat and a retard! That's not nice! I oughta teach you a lesson!" Terriermon retaliated courageously and proudly, protecting Yun like she's his princess and he's the knight in shining armor. Ayaka scoffed at him.

"Hmph! I've got better things to do than deal with two imbeciles, a retard, and two little beasts who need rabies shots!" Ayaka yelled as she stomped back to her room, slammed the door, and stayed there.

"Now that was just uncalled for. On both sides, I mean," Lopmon said.

"I agree," Yun said.

Thankfully, the atmosphere returned to being cheery and halcyon, even though Yun had to mildly scold Terriermon for whacking Ayaka with his ear like that. Yun was just absolutely overjoyed. She gets to keep her new floppy eared friends! She felt eternally grateful to God for granting her wish. Another thing she felt happy about is the fact that from now own she won't have to keep them locked up in her room for 8 hours every day. She had felt bad about that for a long time, even though her intentions were good. Plus she figured there'd be a time when her secret would be sought out, but not this soon! Even so, she was happy that her parents didn't mind, even though even she thought it strange that they'd allow her to keep walking and talking animals that they'd never seen before. Perhaps it was because they knew her well enough to understand that she doesn't do things to cause anyone trouble. Yun finished her homework, ate dinner (Terriermon and Lopmon were invited to the table), and played with her floppy earred friends openly. And she felt no regret at all. Hisako and Teruki were happy seeing their youngest daughter have fun, even though the circumstances seemed quite odd to them. They paid no heed to the strangeness of the situation. Yun was sure that her weekend was going to be absolutely awesome!

But she had no idea what was going to happen in the morning.

At night, she had the dream again. But unlike before, she was awoken by Terriermon.

"Yun. Yun! Wake up!" She heard his sweet voice in her ear. She finally got up and rubbed her eyes.

"Whuh...what is it?" Yun asked in a weary murmur. Once she regained her sight, she was surprised to see Terriermon with a worried look on his face.

"There's a Digimon out there. I can feel it," He pointed to the window.

"Out where?"

"In the woods. Where the Goblimon was at!"

Not only that, her egg-shaped Digivice was glowing a bit as well. Knowing what these two signs meant (Terriermon sensing a presence and her digivice glowing), she knew this was unavoidable. She looked at her clock and it read 6:04 AM. Lopmon woke up as well.

"Urgh...I was having such a nice dream..." Lopmon murmured wearily, trying to wake herself up.

"Alright! You two stay put. Let me get myself ready first, then we'll find the Digimon and see if it has a black hexagon on it so we can destroy it and send it back to the Digital World," Yun told them. Terriermon nodded. Although Lopmon just woke up, she had heard the entire conversation. She also nodded, knowing this unavoidable situation coming up.

Yun threw on a short sleeved white robe over her white and blue pajamas, put on her shoes, grabbed her digivice, and her tiny flashlight. She was going to need all of these. She looked in the other rooms to make sure everyone was asleep. Thankfully they are. She grabbed Terriermon and Lopmon, very slowly unlocked the back door and walked out (she took the keys with her) onto the deck, through the back gate, and into the same entrance to the woods as before. She recognized this area from the time Terriermon, as Gummymon, went after the rogue Goblimon. But Yun could feel that...something was different from before.

She turned her flashlight on and ambled through the woods. She could see the clearing, but something was odd about it. She could feel it in her skin.

"It's up ahead!" Lopmon exclaimed.

It wasn't until they finally arrived that they saw what was wrong. And it left Yun frozen with fear.

Spider webs. Big, thick, white spider webs covered the entire clearing! The trees, the bark, everything! These aren't the tiny, mostly invisible spider webs you see in the corners of houses or gardens. These are HUGE white spider webs covering literally everything. It was so bright you could almost be blinded by their sheer, unrelenting whiteness.

Yun made the huge mistake of looking up at one particular tree.

Right when she laid her eyes on it, she instantaneously let out the loudest, most bloodcurtling scream she ever let out.

Right above her was the biggest, furriest, ugliest, and most petrifying spider she had ever seen in her entire life. Just looking at this ugly beast made her feel like tarantulas were walking down every single inch of her body, and she didn't like it. This tarantula like beast was about 20 times the size of a normal tarantula, about 20 feet bigger than Yun in terms of length and width. It has a yellow helmet with two horns similar to those of a bull on both sides, with nine glowing red eyes, sharp fangs on it's mouth, orange spiky hair on the back of it's head, six furry legs with red claws on each one, and a white skull imprinted on it's thorax. Stripes and chains of different colors were wrapped around it's legs, and black stripes were on it's horns. A very sharp, possibly poisonous red tail protruded from it's back.

Yun was absolutely horrified beyond any fear she had ever felt before.

Both her floppy earred friends saw this. Lopmon ran to her aid while Terriermon proceeded to attack it.

"Poison thread!" The wild spider digimon shot a string from it's mouth.

"Blazing Fire!" Terriermon shot a big ball of orange fire at it, successfully reducing the thread to nothing.

"Yun! What's wrong! Are you alright!" Lopmon shook Yun, but to no avail.

"Sp-Sp-Sp-Sp-Sp-Sp-Spider...! Huge...ugly...spider...!" Yun was so petrified and overcome with fear that she couldn't even move from her spot. Her digivice fell out of her robe pocket, and a light showing the Digimon's information showed up. Yun saw this and picked it up.

"Do-Do-Do-Dokukukukuku...kugumon...cha-cha-champion level...virus attribubububububute...attacks are...p-p-p-p-poison thread...and poison c-c-c-c-c-c-cobweb..." Yun was so petrified she couldn't even talk right. Lopmon interpreted it.

"Dokugumon. Champion level. Virus attribute. Attacks are poison thread and poison cobweb," Lopmon said, then looked up at Yun. "Yun...are you afraid of spiders?"

"YES! YES I AM!" Yun screamed in a piercing voice that seemed to catch Dokugumon's attention.

"Poison thread!"

"Terrier Tornado!" Little Terriermon destroyed the thread that was aiming for Yun with aplomb. Lopmon took Yun to a nearby tree, out of Dokugumon's sight.

"Yun. Stay here. We'll fight it for you. If we see a black hexagon, we'll let you know!" Lopmon told her reassuringly and decided to go fight the ugly oversized tarantula.

"B-But Lopmon! Wait! It's too strong for the both of you!" Yun tried to call them back in her petrified voice, but they didn't listen.

"Poison thread!"

"Freezing Snow!"

Lopmon froze Dokugumon's thread. Then she snapped a good piece of it off, and threw it right at Dokugumon's face. It managed to strike right in the eye above all it's other eyes, and it made Dokugumon scream in an absolutely horrid voice that made chills race down all of their spines.

"Ugh! This guy's one ugly bug! I wish I could squish him!" Terriermon said.

"Terriermon! Whatever you do, don't EVER let it go near Yun! She's morbidly scared of spiders!" Lopmon told him.

"You got it! Let's take this bug down!" Terriermon exclaimed. Both of them proceeded to attack.

"Blazing Fire!"

"Freezing Snow!"

"Poison Thread!"

Dokugumon, Lopmon, and Terriermon engaged in battle, and all Yun did was watch from the sidelines...and she wasn't liking it.

_'How could I be so stupid? My dearest friends are in danger and yet I let my rabid fear of spiders get the better of me! And I can't just run away! Friends can't abandon each other!'_ Yun thought as she watched them fight. Soon, she saw Dokugumon shoot out a thread and it successfully got Terriermon stuck to a tree!

"Terriermon!" Both Yun and Lopmon yelled in unison. Terriermon struggled to get out of the web.

"I-I-I'm okay!" He replied, flashing the peace sign with his free paw.

That did it for Yun. _'I'm not gonna stand by anymore! I'm gonna help them!'_ Yun exclaimed as she finally got out from the tree and walked toward the overgrown tarantula, who was eyeing Lopmon. HARD.

"My attacks don't seem to work anymore. He's just too strong!" Lopmon exclaimed.

"HEEEEEEY!"

Dokugumon turned around and saw Yun right behind it waving her arms in the air. Lopmon and Terriermon were absolutely stunned.

"Yun! Get out of there! You must hurry!" Lopmon shouted, but Yun didn't listen.

"Hey you! Giant overgrown tarantula who's all hopped up on steroids! You look like Frankenstein's brain after it got fried by a radioactive torpedo shot at you by the Soviets in 1971!" Yun yelled loud enough for even Dokugumon to hear. Lopmon and Terriermon had absolutely no idea what she was talking about, but Dokugumon turned around and started walking toward her. Whenever Dokugumon took a step, Yun took a step back. Lopmon freed Terriermon.

"She's using herself as a decoy!" Lopmon said.

"We gotta help her! That's a dead end!" Terriermon shouted, pointing to the set of trees behind Yun being so close together that she would not be able to escape. Yun didn't know this.

"Come and get me, you rabid steroid junkie!" It wasn't until Yun felt the trees behind her that she realized she couldn't escape.

"Spider web!" Dokugumon shot a thread at her and she became wrapped up in spider web.

"Agh!" Yun was all tied up...except for her left arm sticking out a little bit, which gave her an opportunity.

"I could use this to get out!" Yun proceeded to rip off the spider web with her left hand. She managed to take off enough for her right hand to be free. She didn't like how soft and slimy the web felt, but this was no time to be overcome by fear. Unfortunately, she saw Dokugumon's face right in front of hers, and the fear finally kicked back in.

Dokugumon then stood itself up, revealing it's abdomen.

That's when she saw it. The black hexagon. On it's abdomen.

"Poison Cobweb!"

Yun, feeling angry at herself for not being able to free herself quickly enough, braced for impact. She didn't feel it. But once she opened her eyes, she was horrified to see that...Lopmon took the hit! Somehow she got caught in the web on a tree, but somehow slipped off because the threads looked too thin. Yun could see all the scratches on her tiny body.

"Lopmon!" Yun finally freed her legs and ran to scoop the limp little Lopmon in her arms.

"Hey! Leave them alone, you beast!" Terriermon tried to attack, but Dokugumon rammed it's head at him, throwing him into a web on the top of a tree on the other side of the clearing. Yun was just ticked off. She clutched her helpless friend with her arms. With eyes full of anger and tears, she made full on eye contact with the beast.

"I HATE YOU! You're ugly and full of ugly hairs and meaner than a rabid dog! Your red hair makes you look like a hillbilly who lost his teeth and your fangs look like baby teeth! Nobody hurts my dearest friends! NOBODY! Not even an ugly overgrown tarantula who's hopped up on steroids like the junkie you are!" Yun yelled as loud as her voice could do. She wanted to go get Terriermon and save him, but she was unable to. Partly because he's in a web on top of a tree (she can't climb) and partly because her left leg is falling asleep and in pain. Lopmon looked up at Yun with her green eyes.

"Yun...please...run away. We'll...handle it from here. Go on! You must hurry!" Lopmon told her, trying to raise her paw to Yun's tear stained cheek.

"NO! No way am I leaving you and Terriermon behind! Friends never abandon each other! They help each other and succor each other in times of tragedy and crisis! I'm not going to let you and Terriermon become spider breakfast! No! Absolutely not! We're in this together! That's what friends are for!" Yun screamed as she hugged Lopmon even closer. She wished she could hug Terriermon this way, but she couldn't. Lopmon was shocked and impressed at the same time. Yun is terrified of spiders, yet she used herself as a decoy so Terriermon and Lopmon could have a break and to protect them. Lopmon was so impressed by her partner's relentless courage that she actually understood why Yun did those things. Yun loved Lopmon and Terriermon. Possibly more than anything else in the world. She remembered all the things she told her parents. What struck Lopmon the most was when Yun said, "They're the sweetest little things in the whole wide world, and I love them very much. They make me very happy." Lopmon, warmed by the tenderness of those words, fell asleep in Yun's arms, right when Dokugumon is finally about to close in on them. Yun and Lopmon couldn't escape. It was over...that is, until Yun's digivice began to glow.

A rosy light pink light enveloped Yun's digivice, shot out from it, and hit Lopmon. Soon, it got so bright that even Dokugumon had to take a few steps backward. Yun saw it too, but it was too bright for her to handle. Lopmon floated into the air, consumed by the rosy light pink light. Even Terriermon woke up because of the light.

"Lopmon, digivolve to..."

Lopmon became bigger and bigger, and then the light finally dissipated. Out came a totally new Digimon! Yun, Terriermon, and even Dokugumon were surprised and rendered speechless. A very tall rabbit like Digimon, a little taller than Yun by two feet, appeared. Her face is purple like lilacs, with a white mouth and the tips of her ears are white. She wore a large and puffy yellow jump suit with a light blue bandana wrapped around her neck, red orange gloves, sharp silver metal gauntlets on her gloves, and black Chinese slippers.

"...Turuiemon!"

Yun finally stood up, but she was still awestruck by Lopmon's digivolving.

"Turuiemon...you look awesome..." Yun murmured with a smile as she saw the awesomeness that is Turuiemon.

"Poison Thread!"

Turuiemon quickly grabbed Yun and leaped out of Dokugumon's way. Yun was impressed by how fast and agile Turuiemon is. She was reminded of Rena and Lekismon. Turuiemon hopped to the tree were Terriermon is trapped, used her gauntlets to free him, and very gently put him in Yun's arms.

"Here you go, little one," Turuiemon said in a lower, much more polite and lady-like voice than before. She sounded very grown up. Terriermon saw Turuiemon and was impressed.

"Wow! You look awesome!" Terriermon exclaimed.

But Yun remembered something she needed to tell her friend.

"Turuiemon...the hexagon is on Dokugumon's abdomen," She told her.

"Thanks for telling me! I'll take care of it! Just stay put!" Turuiemon exclaimed as she hopped away.

"Hey! I wanna fight too!" Terriermon exclaimed as he leaped out of Yun's arms, much to her surprise, and ran after Turuiemon. Dokugumon finally caught sight of them.

"Poison thread!"

"Gauntlet Claw!"

Right when she jumped in the air, Dokugumon tried to attack her with his thread, but she successfully cut it with her gauntlets and hit him square in the face. She then proceeded to lift him up and throw him. Now he lay on his back, with his feet facing upward. Now they could get the hexagon.

"Ninja Fist!"

"Blazing Fire!"

Both Turuiemon and Terriermon attacked it at the same time. Their combined attacks made the hexagon disappear. Dokugumon's red eyes turned lime green, and somehow a digital portal appeared right under him, causing him to be swallowed by it. The cobwebs surrounding the clearing disappeared right along with it. Yun caught Terriermon right as he was about to collapse.

"Are you alright, little guy?" Yun asked softly.

"Yep! I'm alright!" Terriermon said. Yun looked up at Turuiemon who looked down at her with a rather stern look on her face.

"Yun...I laud you for your belief in me. But you should not have used yourself as a decoy like that. You could've been killed!" Turuiemon said sternly.

"I know. I'm sorry. But even in the face of fear, friends have to stick together no matter what! I didn't want to abandon you two!" Yun explained, feeling a little guilty. But Turuiemon rubbed Yun's head with her finger.

"You really are a true friend, Yun. I'm happy you're my partner. You're right. True friends stick together and help each other," Turuiemon said with a smile.

"I'm happy too! I love being with Yun! She's awesome!" Terriermon exclaimed.

"Oh, no no! I'm not awesome at all! You both were awesome!" Yun said.

"How about we get back home. I think some of us want to sleep in for another two hours," Turuiemon said.

"Yeah. Let's go home. But thank God! I don't ever want to be confronted by a giant overgrown tarantula ever again!" Yun exclaimed.

"By the way...what are steroids? And who are the Soviets?" Turuiemon asked.

"And who's Frankenstein? And what's a junkie?" Terriermon asked.

"I'll...tell you all later," Yun said, feeling very awkward because of the strange line of questioning.

Right when they entered through the back gate, Turuiemon digivolved back into Lopmon. And right when they walked into Yun's room, all three of them plopped into bed and fell asleep, happy to be home.

And Yun had the dream again.

Author's Note: YAY! I finished chapter 5! Wow! This has to be my longest chapter for this story yet! I'm glad I got the whole thing planned out though. And don't worry, I'm gonna shed some spotlight on Yun's friends soon! Please be patient! It's a good thing I have the next few chapters planned out! I better go now. I have anime I have to watch. I'll see you all later! Bye-bee!

Footnotes:

1. Ouran High School Host Club is a popular manga by Bisco Hatori. An anime was made for it in the spring of 2006.

2. The Birds' Christmas Carol is a book written by Kate Douglass Wiggin.


	6. Birds of a Feather Flock Together

Author's Note: Hey everyone! How are you all today? Ugh! This week is supposed to be EXTREMELY hot and humid and horrid! Especially on Friday where it's supposed to be 100 degrees! Noooooo! I don't want horribly hot and humid weather! I like it nice and cool! But at least there's one thing I'm looking forward to: Otakon! I can't wait to go! I do feel bad we didn't get to pre-register so we wouldn't have to pay such painstakingly high admission fees, but it's better to make due with what we can do. I can't wait to do whatever I want! I better remind my dad to bring his camera. Well, time to present chapter 6 of Digimon: A Seraphic Tale!

EPISODE 6: Birds of a Feather Flock Together

The weekend is finally here and everyone gets to spend it at their own discretion. And what a particularly nice weekend in May it is, nice and sunny and not a cloud in the sky could be seen! However, two people in particular decided to begin their weekend with a song...well, one person and a funny looking bird the size of a 6 year old child.

_"'Is there anything you want to protect?'_  
><em>She asks as she approaches her knight.<em>  
><em>The tender tears streaming down her cheeks,<em>  
><em>Show how weak her kind and gentle heart is.<em>  
><em>Those tiny hands cannot hold onto such vast dreams.<em>  
><em>Perhaps joyous and jubilant dreams of happiness and concord,<em>  
><em>Can surely surpass the cold, hard-feeling reality.<em>  
><em>'It is you who I want to protect!' He declares,<em>  
><em>His blade shining under the golden sunbeams,<em>  
><em>Like a warm light in the cold darkness.<em>  
><em>The angel's white wings spread far and wide,<em>  
><em>The small white feathers scatter over their heads,<em>  
><em>The sky's the limit, and happiness,<em>  
><em>Is meant to be cherished, not taken advantage of.<em>  
><em>'I wonder if we can be happy together?' She asks,<em>  
><em>Her heart filling with warmth,<em>  
><em>From the happy memories they made together."<em>

Melody Shimotsuki and her feathered Digimon partner, Biyomon, were performing a duet. Melody joyously and merrily plucked the strings on her guitar and danced in a funny Beatles-esque dance and sang, and Biyomon's wings pounded on the small bongos. She danced and sang along with her partner, her pretty voice coming from her red beak. With a final pluck of the string and beat of the bongo, they finally finished and struck a pose. Melody sighed and put her guitar on the foot of her bed.

"That turned out better than I expected!" Melody said as she walked to her computer desk and pulled something out from the small shelf next to it. Biyomon was just absolutely starry-eyed.

"Oh! I still cannot get enough of this song! How wonderful and heroic it sounds!" Biyomon said with wonder as she put her winged claws together and looked up at the ceiling with starry eyes clouded with wonder.

"Heroic was what I was aiming for. Catch!" Melody told her and threw a small box at her. Biyomon successfully caught it in between her wings and looked at it. The box read "Strawberry Pocky!" Biyomon was quite confused.

"What's pocky?" Biyomon asked as she saw Melody chew on a little yellow stick covered with a pink miasma (as Biyomon put it).

"It's a candy. Try one! They're good!" Melody said as she sat back on her bed in a strange pose and proceeded to eat the rest of her pocky stick. Biyomon pulled one out and snapped part of it off with her beak. Once she got a taste of it, her face beamed with joy.

"Woooow! It's so good!" Biyomon exclaimed.

"Isn't it?" Melody said. After Biyomon finished the rest of her pocky stick, she walked in front of the mirror hanging on the wall next to Melody's computer desk and began prepping herself up.

"I'm so glad you have a mirror, Melody. Sometimes dancing or singing can make your feathers terribly messy. You don't have feathers so you wouldn't know, but I wouldn't like going out with messy feathers!" Biyomon said as she brushed herself with her wings.

"You need a brush? I have one if you wanna use it," Melody said as she threw a soft bristled brush at Biyomon, who successfully caught it again.

"Thank you!" Biyomon said as she began brushing herself with the brush. She was already loving how soft and not prickly the brush is, so it was perfect for her. But then she noticed something odd.

"Melody...forgive me if I'm being rather rude, but why is it that you don't like to make yourself look pretty?" Biyomon asked.

"I'm not interested in being pretty," Melody replied sharply.

"But wouldn't you like being called pretty? I bet people would like you if you styled your hair differently or wore a little make up."

"People wouldn't like me even if I prepped myself up like some super model. And besides, make up and false compliments aren't my style. I like to do my own thing and be myself, without having people tell me what to do or what to wear or what to say or anything. I don't care how people view me. If they don't like how I look then that's their problem. If they don't like me at all, fine with me! But anyone who messes with me is mincemeat! Unlike some people I know who complain about their appearance every single day or angst about how life sucks for them, I like to live it up. Enjoy life with what I have and do whatever I want, without worry or angst or unnecessary trouble! I like to live my life without having expectations put on me. Being told what to do is not me. I don't want to impress people. Know what I mean?"

Biyomon was quite surprised. Melody's the type of girl who does her own thing without worrying about what others say about her behind her back or how other people think of her. Those things don't seem to phase her. Here she is, sitting on the foot of her bed enjoying a pocky stick with such a calm and relaxed but somewhat still indifferent looking expression on her face and enjoying every minute of it. She doesn't want to wear make up or pretty things or prep herself up or do anything to impress other people. Meeting people who want to put expectations on her is the last thing she'd want. Melody just goes with the flow. No complaining, no angsting, no claiming that life sucks, nothing like that at all. Biyomon was another story entirely. She absolutely hates getting dirty and loves grooming herself and making herself look pretty, presentable, and fashionable, even though all she did was stay in Melody's room all the time when her parents were here. She knew Melody's intentions were good and she understood this very well, but she still didn't like being cooped up all the time. She wouldn't like it at all if someone called her ugly or disgusting or gross. She did know that humans didn't know the true existence of Digimon, but she feared being called names like that greatly. Melody, however, just simply doesn't care what people say about her. This impressed Biyomon.

_'Melody...you really are a great person. You don't care about what anybody thinks and just do your own thing. Nothing seems to phase you._ _Maybe I should try to follow your example,'_ Biyomon thought as she gazed upon her relaxed and unperturbed partner with her cerulean blue eyes.

"Okay then. That's perfectly fine. Sorry I said those things if it was rude," Biyomon said.

"Yeah, it was rude. But it's alright," Melody replied sharply.

Now _THIS_ shocked Biyomon the most. Now she knows of another word to describe Melody: blunt. Very very blunt. Totally unrestrained with what she says, possibly even toward friends and family.

Trying to regain her composure, something seemed to catch her attention. Next to Melody's computer is a picture frame containing a photo of some kids. Three little girls and one little boy. One has slightly black hair in a funny boyish style and light brown eyes, wearing a short sleeved red and white striped shirt with dark blue sleeves, beige shorts, white socks, and brown shoes. The girl next to her has slightly longer dark brown hair and pretty green eyes like emeralds, wearing a sleeveless cream colored shirt with a ribbon on the chest part and frills on the cuffs, blue shorts with flower embroidery on the cuffs, light pink socks, and black and white shoes. She's smiling. The third girl has blonde hair tied in two wiggly pigtails going down her shoulders with pink bead accessories, violet eyes, and is wearing a short sleeved white shirt with a picture of a pink butterfly on it, a red violet skirt, white socks, and pink shoes. The boy has messy brown hair, hazel green eyes, and is wearing a blue shirt, black shorts, orange and green sneakers, and white socks. He's smiling and flashing the peace sign. All of them looked to be around 7 or 8 years old. But something about them seemed to be familiar to her. She just couldn't put her finger on what it was. She decided to ask Melody.

"Melody? Do you know who these kids are?" Biyomon asked as she showed the picture to her.

"In my picture?" Melody asked.

"Yes! They sort of look like Yun-san and Minako-san and Kosuke-san," Biyomon said.

"That's because they ARE Yun, Minako, and Kosuke," Melody replied. Biyomon was shocked.

"What? But...but they're so little! They couldn't be them!" Biyomon exclaimed.

"Don't get your feathers in a knot. This was taken when we were little. We were all seven years old back then. Wanna know something even more shocking? This girl here with the black hair and sort of confused stare..." Melody pointed to her. "That's me."

Now Biyomon was surprised.

"THIS is you? But you don't have red bangs!" Biyomon yelped.

"I didn't dye my hair yet," Melody replied.

"If these are really you guys when you were little, then...awwww! You're all soooo cute!" Biyomon said as she gazed upon the picture, now in a happy and dreamy manner.

"Aren't you a funny one."

"Oh! If this girl here is Yun, then...I hope you don't mind me asking, but I noticed through our small Digimon Brigade meeting that you seem to get along better with her than you do the other kids. Why is that?" Biyomon asked softly and politely so she wouldn't irritate Melody or make her mad. Melody just simply stood up from the bed, took the picture, and gazed upon it softly with her light brown eyes.

"Yun...is the first friend I ever made. And I'm the first friend she's ever made too. We're totally different, yet we still stick together like glue even now. It all began long ago, about a week after school started..." Melody said as she humbly and quietly ambled on the road called memory lane and went back in time.

(flashback)

_Trapped among a sea of children playing and running around happily on the black top during recess, a young Melody did nothing but sit on a bench and manipulate some string with her hands and fingers. Cat's Cradle it was called. Her hair was short and jet black, styled in a rather boyish looking style, but she didn't mind. She wore nothing but a sleeveless light green shirt, beige khaki shorts, black socks and white shoes. It's supposed to be really cold today, but apparently this girl didn't care. She didn't even bring a jacket with her. She moved her slender little legs up and down as she shaped the string in between her fingers over and over again. She focused solely on the string and absolutely nothing else._

_That is, until a loud, piercing cry suddenly made her lose her focus._

_She got off the bench and began looking around for the source of the loud cry. There were so many kids she couldn't quite tell where it was coming from since the noise level was high. Thankfully enough, a second cry helped her find the source._

_"Weave me awone!"_

_The sound took her to a circle of kids surrounding another girl. Particularly one with short dark brown hair (longer than Melody's) and wearing a pair of blue overalls over a cream colored sweater. Some kids were hitting her and pushing her. She tried to get away, but nobody would let her._

_"Give it up, you big baby! Admit it! You stole them!" One boy yelled angrily._

_"Yeah! You took 'em! Now give 'em back!" Another boy yelled._

_"Thief! Dirty little thief!" Another boy yelled again._

_The girl in the overalls is crying._

_"I...I didn't...take anyfin...weave me awone!" The girl wailed and wailed, trying to wriggle her way out of the malicious and mean-spirited circle, but one boy hit her and pushed her to the ground._

_"Shut up! Give 'em back NOW!" The first boy screamed._

_Appalled by what was happening to her, Melody finally decided she couldn't just stand around and watch anymore. Clenching her fists and standing tall and erect and in a dignified pose, she humbly marched toward the boys._

_"Hey! You leave her alone!" Melody edicted LOUDLY and strongly, loud enough for her to get the boys' attention. She stared at them with a courageous and merciless look in her brown eyes._

_"Who are you?" The first boy asked._

_"You shouldn't pick on other people! It's wrong! Takatsuki-sensei said so!" Melody told them sternly and lucidly._

_"She stole my Digimon cards! We're just tryin' to make her admit it!" The first boy replied._

_"Yeah! She's a sneaky little thief!" The second boy pointed at her mercilessly._

_"She did it! We know it!" The third boy said. But Melody wasn't buying it. Not one bit._

_"Oh REALLY? HOW do you know she stole them?" Melody asked._

_This made the boys step back a bit._

_"Huh? What do...you mean, how-?" The first boy tried to ask, but Melody stood before him once more, this time she walked closer to him._ _Their noses practically rubbed against each other._

_"Did you SEE her do it? Did she TELL you she took them? Did someone TELL you that they SAW her steal them? How do you know she really stole them without proof? Proof is the key! And look, she doesn't look like the type to do anything like that!" Melody told them bluntly and totally straight out. The boy she was standing in front of was getting mad. In a paroxysm of anger, he pushed Melody._

_"Get out of my face, stupid!" The boy exclaimed angrily as he pushed Melody. Thankfully, this was the worst thing he could've done._

_"Takashi!"_

_A young woman saw the unlawful deed and stood before the boy, Takashi, with an angry face. Melody got up and ran toward Yun._

_"Don't you know that it's wrong to bully other kids and push them? I thought you knew better!" The lady explained very sternly with her arms crossed._

_"I ain't pickin' on anyone! That little baby over there stole my Digimon cards and she won't admit it!" Takashi yelled back._

_"By Digimon cards, do you mean...these?" The lady asked as she pulled a deck of Digimon cards from her left jean pocket. Takashi's face beamed with joy._

_"Wow! Those are them! Where'd ya find them?" Takashi asked._

_"I saw Kouta take them from your bag. I thought about giving them back to you..." The lady said as Takashi attempted to take the deck of cards from her hand, but right as she saw what he wanted to do she swiftly raised her hand up so he wouldn't reach them. "BUT! Now that I saw you do what you've done, you won't be getting them back until school ends!"_

_"WHAT? That's no fair, Takatsuki-sensei!" Takashi whined._

_"Now, you and your friends go inside and stay with Nakano-sensei until recess ends!" Miss Takatsuki told them strictly as she pointed to the door that led back into the school building._

_"But-"_

_"NOW!"_

_Sad and crestfallen with humiliation and guilt, Takashi and his friends went inside the school building. Melody was surprised with how well Miss Takatsuki handled the situation. But one thing hadn't stopped at all: Yun's crying. Upon seeing this, Melody and Miss Takatsuki ran to her aid._

_"Yun-chan? Yun-chan? Can you hear me? There there. Don't cry, dear," Miss Takatsuki crooned softly, trying to mollify the crying girl, Yun,_ _but she wasn't stopping. Another thing Melody noticed was that she kept her hands on her ears and rocked back and forth like she was pretending to be a rocking chair. This confused her._

_"Oh dear. I should go get Asami-sensei. Melody-chan? Stay with her, okay?" Miss Takatsuki said and decided to run back into the school building and get someone who knew how to handle Yun when she had these moments._

_Melody didn't know what to do. She wanted to go back to the bench and play with her cat's cradle, but her legs wouldn't move. She didn't want to just leave Yun sitting in the middle of the black top crying and wailing like that the whole time. What if another group of kids decided to bully her? But she also didn't like seeing people cry. Not just because it made her sad, but because it annoyed her. She wanted her to stop crying, but what could she do. All she did was finger the string in her hands._

_The string. This gave her an idea._

_Melody played around with her cat's cradle a bit and kneeled before Yun._

_"Yun-chan. Yun-chan! Wanna see something cool? Look!" Melody told her. Surprisingly enough, upon hearing Melody's voice, Yun's crying finally lessened into a whimper as she saw Melody manipulate the string with her fingers._

_"Look at this! Isn't it cool?" Melody told her as she showed the whimpering Yun the string forming a diamond, a square, and a few other shapes. This seemed to catch Yun's interest very much._

_"What that?" Yun asked._

_"It's called cat's cradle," Melody told her._

_She expected a response, but nothing like this._

_"That not a cat! Not a cwadle, either! That string!" Yun edicted._

_"Yes, it's string. But if I make it into shapes like this, it's called cat's cradle," Melody told her._

_"No! No no no! Not a cat! Not a cwadle! String! String string string!" Yun exclaimed again. This made Melody quite flabbergasted. How could she think cat's cradle is a real cat or a cradle?_

'I guess she doesn't get that it's the name of this activity,'_ Melody thought, speculating that this is the only reason why Yun exclaimed the way she did. Maybe she's never done cat's cradle before or seen it before, or is used to seeing real cats and real cradles where babies are kept in. As Melody was lost in her thoughts, Yun finally stopped crying. Now she seemed to be interested in Melody herself._

_"What your name?" Yun asked innocently._

_"Melody. Shimotsuki Melody. You're Yun, right?" Melody replied._

_"Yeff! Wakamiyun!" Yun edicted with a smile for the first time._

_"Your last name's Wakami?" Melody asked._

_"Actually, it's Wakamiya Yun," The voice came from Miss Takatsuki, who brought Miss Asami with her. Though now it seemed the situation is finally under control._

_"Why does she say Wakamiyun?" Melody asked._

_"Her speech isn't exactly perfect, so she can't say a lot of words right just yet, not even her own name. She'll get it soon. Good job,_ _today, Melody-chan! Not only did you stand up to the boys, you cheered her up!" Miss Takatsuki told her with a smile. Yun didn't seem to understand or comprehend what they were talking about. Melody blushed._

_"I...I just don't like when kids are being mean, that's all," Melody said._

_"Yun-chan? Were those boys being mean to you?" Miss Takatsuki asked softly._

_"Yeff! Mean boys! Mean boys! Mean mean mean!" Yun exclaimed and jumped up and down to emphasize her feelings._

_"Okay then. Let's go inside, shall we?" Miss Asami extended her hand out to Yun, but she stuck to Melody instead._

_"No! Me stay with Mewodi!" Yun yelled as she clung to Melody like she was a leech._

_This surprised Melody. She sure didn't expect someone like Yun to actually want to stay with her, or let alone have anything to do with her at all! She blushed and her face became rosy red. Miss Takatsuki smiled._

_"Melody-chan? I think Yun-chan wants to be your friend!" Miss Takatsuki told her with a smile._

_"You...you think so?" Melody asked._

_"What's a fwend?" Yun asked. This surprised Melody even more._

'Poor girl. Surrounded by so many kids and you don't know what a friend is?'_ Melody thought to herself. But she didn't tell Yun that. Instead she decided to explain. "A friend...is someone who's not a part of your family, but who loves you, plays with you, and tells you secrets."_

_"Right! Very good, Melody!" Miss Asami said._

_"Yun-chan? Ask Melody if you can be friends with her," Miss Takatsuki told her._

_"How I do that?" Yun asked._

_"Say 'Melody, can we be friends please?' Like that!" Miss Takatsuki advised slowly and lucidly so Yun could understand. Yun got off of Melody and stepped back a bit, giving her some space._

_"Mewodi. Can we be...fwends?" Yun asked._

_Melody didn't quite know what to do. But then again, she couldn't help but be charmed by this girl's dark chocolate brown hair, striking emerald eyes, chubby rosy cheeks, sweet smile, and totally innocent demeanor. What could go wrong? Melody smiled at her._

_"Sure. Why not?" Melody said._

_Soon, the two girls played together until the end of recess, and they were both loving it._

(end flashback)

"...and that's about it," Melody concluded her story with the last bite of another pocky stick.

"Wow! How perfectly lovely! Friendship is such a wonderful thing, isn't it? It's hard to believe you two have stuck together all this time!" Biyomon exclaimed happily.

"Well...not exactly."

"What do you mean?"

"When I turned nine, some stuff happened and we got separated. We didn't fight or anything. No, we never fight. Some stuff was happening in my life and I didn't see her again until 6 months ago."

"Oh. I see. But now you two are back together and are rekindling your friendship! The bonds of friendship are wonderful, indeed!"

"Yeah. Hey. Wanna go to the park and hang out for a while? It's still morning."

"Sure!"

Melody hopped out of the window of her room with Biyomon trailing behind her, and they both dashed to the park. It took them about a few short minutes to get there since Melody lives closer to it than Yun does, so they got there without difficulty. Biyomon was especially happy with being able to fly and go outside for once. They finally got there and were happy to see that it was totally empty. The trees that the Ogremon knocked down before had been cleared off, which is why the authorities closed the park down until today. But even though it's open to the public now, it's still not a very well known park, and not very many people go there. Whether it was because there's a pond in the woods next to it (which there is) or because the swings or the spinning wheel were starting to get rusty and old, nobody knows and nobody bothered to tell Melody. But she didn't care. She was just happy to be here, though she didn't show it with her face. Biyomon surely did though. She flew to a tree branch and sat on it like a normal bird.

"Wow! What a great view! Everything looks smaller!" Biyomon exclaimed happily as she gazed at everything from her tree branch.

"That's because of how high you are from the ground. If you're in a high or low place, your perspective and field of vision either expands or lessens," Melody explained calmly.

"You're right! How very smart of you!" Biyomon replied happily.

"Actually, I just learned about that in science class yesterday."

"That doesn't matter. You're still very smart!"

"Actually, Omori Minako's the smart one."

"Minako? Isn't she Salamon's partner?"

"Yes. The blonde one with purple eyes."

"Oh! Now I know who you mean!"

"You like her?"

"I don't know. She looks nice and pretty enough, but she looks kinda sad from when I saw her."

"There's a good reason for that. Her little brother died."

"Died? Shouldn't he turn into a Digiegg and come back?"

"No. Unlike you Digimon, we humans aren't data. And once we die, we can't come back no matter what."

Biyomon became crestfallen. "Oh. I see...how sad."

"It is. Minako's been pretty depressed about it. Not that I blame her, of course. But she's Yun's friend too. Do me a favor and don't tell anyone I told you this, alright?"

"Okay! I promise! I'll do anything for my partner!"

"How do you like the other kids?"

"They're nice, I suppose. Unfortunately, I honestly DO NOT like that freckled boy named Nobara Riku. He's so impulsive and vulgar! He actually had the audacity to hoist me into the air in such a sudden and inappropriate manner! And to treat me like I'm some fashionable toy that just came out! How impudent he is!"

"Riku can be hyper. He has ADHD."

"ADHD? What's that?"

"Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. It means he can't control himself and says stuff he wants without thought of consequence and is really hyper."

"Is that so? Well, I certainly don't want to be in his presence, thank you very much! I would much rather be with you, someone who's very sensitive to others' feelings, yet cool and very distinguished from others!"

"You think so? Most people I know call me a punk or a goth, not that I care. And if you think Riku's vulgar, you'd absolutely hate these kids named Nenji and Seiko!"

"Who?"

"Nemoto Nenji and Shimizu Seiko. They're the stupidest and snottiest and cruelest kids in my school! Nemoto's a boy, and he's always wearing big sports jerseys and his pants always sag to the point where his undies are shown! He's always bullying and picking on Yun for his own self-satisfaction!"

"Ewwww! How utterly gross! I would not like to see someone else's underwear!"

"Exactly! But he doesn't care. All he likes to do is make Yun miserable! Plus there's this girl Shimizu. She's kinda like you when it comes to beauty. She's always doing stuff like putting on make up or polishing her nails or looking at her little compact mirror. She's really popular. But unlike you, she's snotty and cruel and doesn't give a rat's hat about anyone but herself, and she's also always picking on Yun. She's convinced that people can only succeed in life by being thin, attractive, snobby, great at everything, and rich."

"Now THAT's just stupid! I may care too much about my appearance, but even I know better than to think it'll get you somewhere in life!"

"Tell that to Shimizu. She won't listen. She doesn't listen to anyone but herself."

"I'd like to peck her skull!"

"Please do!"

"Well, I am thankful that I have you as my partner. As you said before, you don't care about what anyone else thinks of you. You don't like being told what to do or what to say or anything like that. You like to live it up and enjoy yourself while still being true to yourself. I like that in a human!"

Melody couldn't help but blush upon hearing Biyomon's kind, though slightly vain, words. Nobody has ever called her distinguished before. She always did try to distinguish herself from other people, both physically and socially. She never cared about how other people thought of her or perceived her. That was their problem. Yet...nobody seemed to acknowledge her as her own person. Nobody except Yun, of course...and now, it seems Biyomon is acknowledging her as a person as well. But at the same time, Melody could see something in Biyomon that she just would not want to tell her.

_'Biyomon kinda reminds me of that girl Amy from...what was that book again? Little Women? Yeah, that's the one! And what were the words Yun used to describe her again? Oh yeah! Vain and worldly. Biyomon's kinda vain and worldly, but not the Shimizu style vain and worldly. Love of God, I don't think I could tolerate a Digimon version of Shimizu!'_ Melody thought.

She wanted to talk with Biyomon more, but something that literally dashed out from the rustling bushes surprised her enough to stop her from doing so. This something, or rather, someone, turned out to be a little girl of seven years old. The girl has very short black hair in a boyish style and chocolate brown eyes, darker than Melody's. She is wearing a long, sleeveless white dress with a dark blue sailor collar and a lavendar bandana wrapped underneath it, along with black shoes and white socks. There are leaves in the girl's hair. Melody ran to her with a slightly worried look on her face.

"You alright?" Melody asked. The girl looked up at her with fear in her eyes.

"Umm...I'm sorry to bother you, but...please help me!" The girl replied, her voice shaking with fear. A second later, Melody learned of the reason for her being scared.

"There she is! Get her!"

Three boys appeared from the bush. The little girl quickly hid behind Melody, hoping she would protect her from the rogue trio of boys. She could see it reappearing before her. The very day she met Yun. It was so ironic. She talked about it with Biyomon just a few minutes ago. Now she is reliving that fateful memory again.

"Hey you! Outta the way! This girl's a thief!" The first boy exclaimed.

"I didn't steal anything! Honest!" The girl yelled.

"Liar liar pants on fire!" The second boy taunted mercilessly with a wicked smile on his face.

It was inevitable. Melody could NOT ignore this situation, even if she was reliving that fateful memory of her very first encounter with Yun. She decided to stay. But this time, she decided to stand up to them with a vastly different approach.

"What do you rascals think you're doing?" Melody asked in a VERY low voice.

"Goin' after her, of course! She stole my Bakugan top!" The first boy exclaimed.

"You don't know that! I don't even like Bakugan!" The girl replied.

"Shut up, you thief!" The first boy retaliated.

"Yeah! Thief!" The second boy said.

"Let's arrest her like the police men do on TV!" The third boy said.

But they couldn't get past Melody. No they couldn't. Why? Because Melody continued to look down at them with her arms crossed and with a VERY VERY VERY scary and intimidating look on her face. An expression that seemed to emit a very dark and evil aura. Even the boys could feel the eeriness and scariness of Melody's expression.

"You DO have proof that this girl stole your Bakugan toy, don't you?" Melody asked.

This question alone made them all scream.

"Gyaaaaaaaah! _RUN AWAAAAAAAY!_" All three boys scurried away like scared cats being chased by a rabid dog.

Melody was left alone with the girl, who finally let go of her and smiled at her very sweetly.

"Umm...thank you for saving me," The girl said in a sweet voice. Melody couldn't help but smile, kneel to her level, and rub the leaves out of her head with her hand.

"You're welcome. But how'd you get caught up in that mess?" Melody asked.

"Well...I heard them say their Bakugan toy was stolen in school, but I didn't really say anything because I needed to focus on my work. All I wanted to do is play in the park this morning. I don't know why, but they were there and they started chasing me," The girl explained.

"Now why would a bunch of boys wake up early and go to the park at this hour?" Melody asked.

"I wanna know that too," The girl said.

"But more importantly, why are you at the park at this hour? Shouldn't you be at home?" Melody asked. The girl looked down at her shoes and looked a little shy and reluctant to explain.

"Well, um...you see, uh-" Thankfully, she didn't have time to explain.

"Aria-chaaaaaaan!"

Out from the bushes popped out a very tiny pink fairy! It surprised both Melody, Aria, and Biyomon! Especially Biyomon because the fairy's appearance made her fall out of the tree and down onto the grass! Biyomon was NOT happy.

"Nooo! Now I'm covered in leaves and grass!" Biyomon whined.

"Is that...a Digimon?" Melody asked, referring to the pink fairy who appeared by Aria's side who is shocked right now.

"Oh no! I picked the wrong time to come, didn't I?" The pink fairy exclaimed, shocked by this turn of events.

But the little girl, Aria, was actually smiling.

"Wow! You have a Digimon too? That's so cool!" Aria exclaimed as she saw Biyomon. She walked toward her, pulled the leaves and grass out of her, and smoothed her feathers out.

"There! All better!" Aria said as she finished her grooming. Biyomon stood up, looking very impressed. They're both the same height.

"Th-Thanks very much, little girl," Biyomon said.

Soon, the two girls and two Digimon found a bench and decided to sit on it.

"Hello! I'm Yukino Aria, and this is my Digimon, MarineAngemon!" Aria introduced herself and her pink fairy friend, MarineAngemon.

"Good morning! It's nice to meet you!" MarineAngemon said in a sweet voice.

"N-Nice to meet you too..." Melody said in a rather forced voice. To be honest, she was quite surprised. _'This little pipsqueak has a Mega level Digimon? How in the world can this be? I oughta tell Yun about this!'_ Melody thought. "I-I'm Shimotsuki Melody."

"Now we're friends!" Aria said innocently.

"Yes. Yes we are..." Melody replied.

"Oh! I don't know if I should tell you, but I have two other friends who have Digimon! They're your age!"

"Who are they?"

"Yun-chan and Mina-chan?"

"What Digimon do they have?"

"Yun-chan has Lopmon and Terriermon. Mina-chan has Salamon."

Melody's shock was beginning to overcome her. One surprise after another in one morning! First the reliving of the memory she relished, then the discovery of this girl and her Digimon, and now she claims to already know Yun and Minako? What a great blizzard of surprises! But after she got over her surprise, she regained her composure and smiled at the girl upon discovering these revelations.

"Aria. Those girls you met, Yun and Minako...they're my friends too."

"Really? That's great! Yun-chan made me part of the Digimon Brigade! Oh! Now that you mention it, hang on just a sec!"

Aria expressed her joy upon knowing that Melody is friends with Yun and Minako, who she had met the day Ogremon attacked (which she did not know about). She rummaged through her dress pocket and pulled out a pen and a piece of paper. She wrote on the bench so she could write neatly. After she finished writing, she gave the paper to Melody. Melody took it and read it. It read _'89 Kin Avenue. 7XX-9XXX'_

"It's my home address and my phone number. I couldn't give it to Yun last I saw her so...can you give it to her for me? I need to know when the next Digimon Brigade meeting will be," Aria told her. Melody smiled and rubbed Aria's head with her hand.

"I'll do it, Aria," Melody said.

"So your Digimon's a Biyomon? She's pretty!" Aria said.

"Yeah! Pretty!" MarineAngemon backed her up. Biyomon was touched by their compliments.

"Why, thank you so very much! I did make sure to make myself look very presentable today, even though I had leaves and grass on me just a few minutes ago!" Biyomon replied, feeling grateful for their compliments and showed it by ruffling her tail feathers.

"So your Digimon's MarineAngemon. Aren't you a little young to have a partner so strong?" Melody asked.

"No. It's fine. Besides, MarineAngemon's cursed for some reason. She can't go to her rookie form no matter what," Aria said.

"Is that so?" Melody said.

"It's sad, but it's true. Ever since I came here, I can't seem to revert back to my rookie form. If I go into battle, I use up a LOT of my energy, and it takes a really really long time for me to get it back. It'd be easier if I could change back, but I can't," MarineAngemon explained.

"That doesn't sound good, does it?"

"No! It doesn't!"

"Biyomon? Can you digivolve yet?" Aria asked.

"No. I can't just yet. But I will soon! I guarantee it!" Biyomon replied.

"I wonder if the others got to digivolve?" Melody asked herself.

They wanted to continue their happy conversation amongst each other. But they couldn't. This time, it wasn't because some kids were bullying and picking on another kid. This time, it was because a loud _KA-KAW!_ sound echoed in the air. A loud and piercing howl that sounded like a dying chicken being roasted in the oven.

_SQUAWK! SQUAWK! KA-KAW! KA-KAW!_

The sound was so raspy and piercing that Aria has to cover her ears.

"Wow! Who's losing their voice?" Biyomon exclaimed.

"I think it's coming from the construction site!" Melody said.

"Is it a Digimon? If it is, I wanna fight it with you!" Aria cried out.

"Sure! Fine with me! Come on!" Melody commanded proudly. She, Biyomon, Aria, and MarineAngemon ran from the park and headed for the construction site.

The construction site was a little further away from Melody's house than the park is, and not as easily accessible. There wasn't much there except for lots of dirt, metal bars and beams, wooden bars and beams, titanium panels, and unattended forklifts and cranes. Nobody really went there much anymore, but some workers still appeared here and there, and it was locked behind a metal fence and a sign that says _'DO NOT ENTER!'_ in bold black letters. But it had become a popular spot for people who wanted to get away for a while without being noticed, and people have found all sorts of ways to get in. Melody, Biyomon, Aria, and MarineAngemon got in by jumping the fence (or in Biyomon and MarineAngemon's case, flying over the fence). Melody helped Aria get over it without difficulty, and it was made easier by the fact that some panels sitting in front of the fence helped Melody have a further reach. Now, they were inside. The city is planning to build a new high school here, and it's supposed to be finish by the time the 6th graders (the grade Melody is in) graduate from Fushimi Middle School. But there was no school here. Nothing but construction material...and a giant chicken.

This isn't some little chicken that caws and lays eggs and runs away from everything all the time. It's not even a normal chicken! This thing is HUGE. Twice Melody's size even! A giant chicken with white fur and tail feathers with red at the tips, a black mohawk, a big yellow beak with actual sharp teeth underneath, big salmon colored feet, and glowing red eyes. For Melody, glowing red eyes and rabid screaming usually meant a black hexagon somewhere on it's body.

"What IS that thing?" Aria exclaimed loudly as she clutched MarineAngemon.

"That thing is soooo ugly! It needs a good makeover!" Biyomon said. Melody pulled out her red digivice and the Digimon's information.

"Kokatorimon. A champion level bird Digimon. It's signature attacks are feather sword and stun flame shot," Melody red the info displayed on the light her digivice is emitting. Then she put her digivice away.

"SQUAWK! SQUAWK!" Kokatorimon squawked and roared like a rooster, spreading white feathers everywhere.

"Looks like we should cook this thing for dinner tonight! Come on, Biyomon! Let's barbecue this chicken!" Melody exclaimed as she jumped the fence and went after it.

"You got it!" Biyomon followed.

"We-We'll go too! Wait for us!" Aria exclaimed.

"Yeah! We'll fight with you!" MarineAngemon followed suit.

Melody put herself in front of the rogue Kokatorimon, who finally noticed her.

"Hey you! Your meat's gonna be on my plate for dinner tonight! Bok bok! Bok bok! Bigawk!" Melody taunted it and made mocking chicken sound effects. Soon, Biyomon flew in between them.

"Spiral Flame!" Biyomon shot out a multi-colored spiral of fire and hit Kokatorimon in the face with it. Unfortunately, it didn't do much damage.

"Feather Sword!" Kokatorimon turned it's feathers into blades and proceeded to attack them. Thankfully Melody and Biyomon dodged the attack with aplomb. Melody caught sight of Aria and MarineAngemon.

"Aria! You need to find a black hexagon on it's body! That's why it's going beserk!" Melody told her from afar.

"A black hexagon?" Aria asked.

"Yeah! It's black and has a skull on it! It's somewhere on it's body! Let me know if you find it so we can destroy it and return this chicken back to normal. Got me?" Melody told her.

"Okay! I'll find it! MarineAngemon!" Aria responded with a smile, then let MarineAngemon attack it.

"Spray of Hearts!" MarineAngemon floated in front of the rabid chicken and spit out glowing pink heart shaped bubbles at Kokatorimon's face. It made it teeter a bit as if it were dizzy.

"Spiral Flame!" Biyomon shot her spiral of fire at it again, assisting MarineAngemon. Melody stood up.

"Alright! Let's see if these karate lessons finally pay off for once!" Melody said as she got herself to stand up.

"Feather Sword!" Kokatorimon proceeded to attack Melody.

"Melody! Watch out!" Biyomon, Aria, and MarineAngemon all cried out. Thankfully enough, Melody swiftly spun around in a cyclone-like spiral and landed a strong kick on one of Kokatorimon's wings. This made it's wings spread out far and wide.

This is where Aria spotted it.

"Melody! I see it! It's under it's right wing! It's armpit!" Aria said.

"That's a nice place to hide an evil device," Melody said.

"Spiral Flame!"

"Spray of Hearts!"

MarineAngemon and Biyomon persist in distracting and attacking the giant rogue chicken. It knocked over a few wooden bars and beams, but they were out of Melody and Aria's way so no collateral damage happened. Unfortunately, the giant squawking piece of poultry finally shook off all of their attacks.

"Stun Flame Shot!" Kokatorimon shot red light beams out from it's eyes. Thankfully enough, Biyomon and MarineAngemon successfully managed to dodge the attack and get out of the way.

"That thing's too strong, even for me!" MarineAngemon said as she returned to Aria's side.

"If any of us are hit by Stun Flame Shot, we'll get turned into stone statues!" Melody said.

"How do you know?" Aria asked.

"I saw the show! What else?" Melody yelled back angrily.

"Stun Flame Shot!" Kokatorimon shot an eye beam at one of the construction beams on top of an unfinished building. It hit the mark, and the construction beam was falling. Right above Aria's head. And it was falling closer and closer. Aria couldn't move. It all happened so fast she had a hard time processing the fact that construction beam is falling and could hit her or even kill her! She couldn't get away.

"ARIA!" Biyomon screamed in a high voice as she zipped through the sky and pushed Aria and MarineAngemon out of the way. The metal construction beam fell to the ground, and the ground shook. Thankfully, Aria, Biyomon, and MarineAngemon are safe. But there was one other problem they needed to deal with.

"Feather Sword!" Kokatorimon turned it's wings into blades and rammed them into the three of them, knocking them against the fence. All three of them were covered in scratches. Aria yelped in pain as her hand rammed against a sharp thing sticking out of the metal fence, cutting her tender hand and causing fresh blood to appear from it.

"Oh no!" Melody yelped as she saw the three small creatures get thrown against the hard metal fence. Now she was absolutely choleric and incensed. She looked up at the chicken, squawking and roaring in it's raspy voice, with anger in her light brown eyes and a new flame of courage exploded in the depths of her heart.

"HEY YOU! Giant piece of poultry! You think you're gonna have us for dinner, aren't ya? Well, think again!" Melody screamed angrily as she charged at the giant piece of poultry. She leaped on it's wing, which was spread out, climbed it, and landed a punch on Kokatorimon's hard beak. It made her hand shake a bit, but she honestly didn't care. She knew that karate moves done on a giant chicken twice her size wouldn't be enough to defeat, but she honestly didn't care one bit. She wanted to cook this thing and eat it for dinner, even if it meant risking her life.

"I'm gonna roast you in my oven!" Melody yelled as she landed a few more punches and kicks in the face. Kokatorimon squawked and cocked away in pain. As she fought with the giant chicken, Aria, MarineAngemon, and Biyomon struggled to get themselves up.

"Are you all...okay?" Aria asked quietly.

"Y-Yeah. We're fine!" MarineAngemon piped in.

"B-But Melody! Where is she?" Biyomon struggled to get herself up. But once she looked up at the giant white feathered beast, she gasped with horror when she saw something flailing around on it's beak.

"MELODY! Get down from there!" Biyomon yelled. But Melody wasn't listening.

"We...we should...help her!" Aria exclaimed.

"I'll do it! I'll fly up there and fight with her! She's my partner and it's my duty to help her!" Biyomon spread her small arms out and flapped them. Soon, she was floating higher and higher into the air.

"Biyomon! Come back! You're too hurt to fly!" Aria tried to get her to come back, but for Biyomon there was no turning back.

Unfortunately, Kokatorimon flailed and flailed and finally threw Melody off of it's beak, making her fly against the fence and fall to the ground in the same way it threw the other three. Melody got herself up again, this time it was more difficult, and she gasped once she saw Biyomon flying toward it.

"Biyomon! NOOOO!" She knew Biyomon wouldn't stand even a millimeter of a chance against a giant rabid piece of poultry twice her size.

But she was soon to be proven wrong...once her digivice began to glow.

A red light shot out from her digivice, which fell out from her pocket, and the crimson red beam hit Biyomon, enveloping her in it's light. The light became so bright, everyone, even Kokatorimon, had to close their eyes because it was so bright and piercing and brilliant. But everyone could tell what was happening.

"Biyomon...she's digivolving!" Melody exclaimed.

"She's gonna digivolve!" Aria and MarineAngemon both exclaimed in perfect unison.

And they were right.

"Biyomon, digivolve to..."

The crimson red light enveloping Biyomon expanded. It got bigger and bigger and bigger until it was about the same size as Kokatorimon itself! The light finally dissipated and out came a very large bird. A bird that looked as if it had become one with blazing vermilion red flames that engulfed it, but that was what it normally looked like. The bird has large fangs, two fiery antennae, eagle-like talons, and a striking presence.

"...Birdramon!"

Not only that, her voice got much lower as if she hit puberty, but that mostly occured with boys. Melody, Aria, MarineAngemon, and even Kokatorimon were amazed by this flaming phoenix's presence. Melody was absolutely thrilled by Biyomon's digivolution.

"Yeah! Go Birdramon! Roast this lump of poultry!" Melody screamed in a rejoicing manner and voice, and it seemed Birdramon was VERY motivated by Melody's support.

Birdramon flew past Kokatorimon about a dozen times in an attempt to both distract it and throw it off guard and to get it to broaden it's wings so it can expose the hexagon under it's right wing. It worked masterfully. Kokatorimon stumbled and nearly tripped at one point. But Birdramon was right on the ball and managed to force it into broadening it's wings.

"Feather Sword!"

Right at that very moment, Birdramon found the perfect opportunity to attack.

"Meteor Wing!"

Birdramon flapped her blazing vermilion wings only once and a barrage of flaming meteors popped out from it's wings, descended upon the raging white feathered chicken Kokatorimon, and exploded right when they hit it. The explosions were so powerful that they managed to both destroy the hexagon under it's right wing and open a digital portal that pulled Kokatorimon into it, sending it back to the digital world. Everything finally ended at last. Melody ran to Aria and MarineAngemon and helped them up. But one thing's for sure: all three of them were impressed by Birdramon's epic and fiery performance. Birdramon finally descended before them and put her wings away.

"Woooow! You were seriously awesome out there, Birdramon!" Melody exclaimed.

"Yeah! The way you tried to throw it off guard with your high speed flying...that was superb!" MarineAngemon rejoiced happily in Aria's arms.

"You were so beautiful!" Aria chimed sweetly.

"I'm just happy...that you all are alright," Birdramon replied in a very low yet lady-like voice.

"So...what do we do now?" Aria asked.

"I think it's time we head back home and finish up the rest of our weekend, shall we? Birdramon! Care to fly us home?" Melody said to Aria and then to Birdramon.

"I'd be happy to take you two home," Birdramon said. Melody and Aria climbed onto Birdramon's back. Her flaming wings, oddly enough, didn't scorch them or leave 3rd degree burns on their clothes or bodies. But they didn't bother to ask why.

Birdramon flapped it's wings and ascended into the air. Melody, Aria, and MarineAngemon were amazed and awestruck by how high they were in the sky. Everything below them was so small and tiny, like they could see the entire world. But they loved how it felt the most. Feeling the sun's warmth and effulgence on their heads, the wind caressing their faces and carrying their hair and pushing their clothes back, and the feeling of being free and alive made them happiest. Now THIS is a nice way to start off a weekend! A weekend in the morning sky! Plus it seemed all the clouds disappeared when Birdramon soared pleasantly and quietly through the skies.

"Actually, Birdramon...can we go to Yun's house first?" Melody asked.

"Of course, Melody," Birdramon replied politely as she decided to head for Yun's house.

And speaking of Yun...

"Wheeeeeeeee!"

Little Terriermon is just having way too much fun this early in the morning, doing absolutely nothing but run around the house and look at basically everything his little eyes caught sight of. To him, this was way better than being cooped up in Yun's room all the time. Lopmon and Yun sat at the dining room table and ate their breakfast, which consisted of sliced banana pieces and strawberry yogurt, though their choice of drinks were different. Lopmon had orange juice while Yun had water. Terriermon already had his breakfast and now he's bursting with energy and totally happy. However, he's being quiet so he doesn't wake up Hisako and Teruki and Ayaka. Terriermon already didn't like Ayaka so he was especially careful to not wake her up. As he explored and wandered around happily and joyously, looking at every nook and cranny of the house he could find, Yun and Lopmon watched more of the Les Miserables anime together (and of course, Lopmon is enraged by Thenardier's cruelty and malice toward innocent little Cosette). Lopmon lay comfortably on Yun's lap, warmly embraced by Yun's white and skinny arms, happy to be with her magnanimous partner, which was blatant because of the sweet little smile on her little chocolate brown face. Yun was just happy to be able to spend the entire day with her floppy eared friends without a care in the world. Lopmon looked up at Yun with her small, round, emerald eyes.

"Yun? I was wondering...in this world, is it true that we Digimon are nothing but fictional creatures in TV and toys?" Lopmon asked softly and innocently.

"Yeah, it's been true until now. And to be perfectly honest, I've always wanted to be a character in a story, like in a Digimon show or a Pokemon show or somewhere in all of my favorite anime. I always wanted you and Terriermon to be my partners, but I also knew in the back of my head that it was never going to come true...but now look! My wish came true!" Yun replied happily.

"Is that so? How very intriguing," Lopmon said.

"Does it bother you?" Yun asked.

"No. Not at all. I was just curious," Lopmon replied.

"Lopmon? Maybe later we can draw together. Would you like that?"

"Yes. I would very much like that. What will you draw?"

"See, my school's holding a contest called End Drug And Substance Abuse, and whoever submits the best drawing that's successfully manages to get the message across wins a bunch of prizes!"

"Like what?"

"Some books by one of my favorite new authors, Takakage Eriko, a small art set, and a CD!"

"That sounds wonderful!"

"I plan on working on it later today. Maybe you can work on it with me."

"Oh! I would love to!"

"Can I join in?" Terriermon exclaimed as he hopped onto Yun's lap. Lopmon didn't mind. Yun smiled at her energetic and lively little friend.

"Of course! Come here, little guy! Group hug!" Yun pulled Terriermon next to Lopmon and gently squeezed them close to her heart. The two of them were loving this embrace immensely. After a while, she let them go.

"Yun? Do you have any good books for me to read? I finished Pollyanna," Lopmon asked.

"Got any cool video games I can play?" Terriermon asked with his arms crossed.

"Sure I do! Follow me!" Yun told them and they followed her diligently. Yun looked around her room for the books first, and pulled one out and gave it to Lopmon.

"You'll like this one. _Before Green Gables_(1). It's a nice story. There's an anime for this too!" Yun told her as she gave her the book. Lopmon smiled.

"I'll have to watch it later. Thank you," Lopmon said as she took the book. Yun found a video game for Terriermon to play, put in her silver Nintendo DS, and gave it to Terriermon.

"You can play Super Mario Brothers today, Terriermon," Yun told him as she gave him the game. Terriermon beamed with joy.

"Yaaay! Mario! Thank you!" Terriermon said.

But Yun didn't get to play around, Lopmon didn't get to read the book, and Terriermon didn't get to play the game. Why? Because a knocking sound could be heard on her window. Yun opened the window and...lo and behold, there are Melody and Aria!

"Whoa! Melody-chan! Aria-chan!" Yun exclaimed. Lopmon and Terriermon followed her.

"Hi, Yun," Melody said.

"Good morning, Yun-chan!" Aria and MarineAngemon both said in unison.

"What are you doing here? And how'd you find where I live? And how did you two meet?" Yun asked. Melody and Aria moved away for a bit, and Yun caught sight of Birdramon. She was shocked.

"Wooooow! Birdramon! She's dazzlingly awesome!" All three of them (Yun, Terriermon, and Lopmon) exclaimed in unison and feeling very awestruck.

"I met Aria here as Biyomon and I were taking a stroll. Some kids were pickin' on her so I stepped in and saved her," Melody explained.

"Did your Digimon digivolve yet?" Aria asked.

"Yep! Yesterday Lopmon did. Into Turuiemon," Yun told her.

"Sweet!" Aria replied.

"Also, I wanna give this to you," Melody said as she gave Yun the paper. Yun opened it and saw that it read _'89 Kin Avenue. 7XX-9XXX'_

"It's my home address and phone number. It's so you can come over my house to play or tell me when the next Digimon Brigade meeting is," Aria explained.

"Actually...the next Digimon Brigade meeting is tomorrow at noon," Lopmon told her.

"Oh? Really? Okay! Thanks!" Aria said.

"Thanks to you, Aria-chan!" Yun said.

"Hey! Stick around and play with us!" Terriermon said happily.

"We'd like to, but we can't. Maybe tomorrow during the meeting we can play," Melody said.

"Hmmm. Okay! That's fine!" Terriermon said.

"Well! We gotta bounce! See ya later, Yun!" Melody said as she, Aria, and MarineAngemon hopped back onto Birdramon and flew into the sky.

"Now that was awesome!" Terriermon said.

"Yes. Biyomon has digivolved. What a dazzling sight!" Lopmon said.

Soon, they went back inside and all three of them happily played together.

As for Melody, as she rode on Birdramon's back, she can't help but remember a fond memory she had when she was little. A boy taller than her hoisted her up in the air and spun around.

_"You're flying! You're flying!"_

_"Yay! I'm flying!"_

_'Big Brother...'_ thought Melody as she flew on Birdramon's back.

Author's Note: Hey everyone. I finished chapter 6. I'm sorry! I'm seriously upset right now! Why? Because Borders stores all over the country are closing down forever, INCLUDING the one in my town! Noooooooo! How am I going to get my manga now? OTHER than online? What book stores OTHER than Barnes and Noble sell manga? I can't believe this! This is an outrage! I'm so ticked off! How could something like this happen to wonderful Borders! I don't have a Barnes and Noble in my area, and the nearest one is 25 miles from where I live! I gotta go now. I've gotta let off some steam. Bye!

Footnotes:

1. Before Green Gables is a book by Budge Wilson. It's the written pre-quel to Lucy Maud Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables and it chronicles a much detailed look into the main character's life, which Montgomery didn't write much about.


	7. Like A Moth To A Flame

Author's Note: Konnichiwa minna-san! I ran out of anime to watch (and there are some I want to watch, but my parents are here so I'm gonna have to wait until they leave the house, which thankfully they will today) so I felt like updating my Digimon story a bit. Man! I'm still ticked off with the fact that Borders stores all over the country are gonna close! How am I gonna buy books now? I don't have a Paypal or a credit card so I can't order online (plus I can't keep doing it forever), and I have sooooo many manga to buy that come out this month! Man! Oh well. Enough ranting. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you all chapter 7 of Digimon: A Seraphic Tale!

EPISODE 7: Like a Moth To a Flame

On that very same sunny Saturday morning, right around the time Birdramon sent Kokatorimon back into the Digital World, another person and Digimon were enjoying themselves very immensely. Nobara Riku and Coronamon spent most of the morning playing video games in the living room. And they were enjoying it very much. Riku wore nothing but a pale green and dark green plaid skater shirt with buttons and pockets and a pair of bright red shorts. Currently he's barefoot and his red, furry, funny-looking friend Coronamon sat next to him. Both of them are playing Space Raiders, a new PS2 game that came out.

_BOOM! BOOM!_ went the laser as it attacked an enemy airship.

"Hah! Take that, General Hancock!" Riku exclaimed.

"No way! I'm taking down Hancock!" Coronamon retorted.

"No! I am!"

"I am!"

_BOOM! BOOM! SCREECH!_

After defeating a few more levels and finally taking down General Hancock, GAME OVER appeared on the screen. Coronamon threw his controller on the floor and jumped with joy while Riku sat there with his jaw to the floor. Literally.

"YAAAAAY! Who's the awesomest Digimon in all the world? Coronamon, that's who!" Coronamon cried out happily and joyously as he jumped up and down around the room while Riku's left totally awestruck. After a while he finally got up.

"I taught you how to play this game two days ago yet you beat it way before I do? You cheated somehow! I know it!" Riku yelled.

"No way! I didn't cheat! I dun even know HOW to cheat!" Coronamon retaliated with his arms crossed and flaming tail wagging behind him. Riku finally calmed down a bit.

"Oh yeah. That's right. You're a Digimon," Riku muttered. But Coronamon heard it.

"Hey! It ain't JUST because I'm a Digimon!" Coronamon yelled.

They were about to argue some more, but something stopped them mercilessly.

"Would you two keep it down?"

It's Riku's older twin sister, Nobara Rena, and her Digimon, Lunamon. Unlike Riku who is messy and has unkempt hair and clothes (one of the buttons on his shirt is done in a rather cursory way) right now, Rena is perfectly neat and tidy with her semi-long blonde hair tied neatly into a braided pigtail with a lavendar purple ribbon going down her left shoulder. Today she is wearing a cream-colored shirt under an indigo blue short sleeved shirt with a lavendar purple bow around the collar matching the one in her hair, beige khaki shorts, black shoes and tall white socks. Lunamon dutifully and shyly stood by Rena's side. She does not look happy seeing Riku and Coronamon bouncing off the walls this early in the morning.

"Mom and Dad are still sleeping! Do you WANT them to find out about our Digimon?" Rena yelped discouragingly at her younger twin brother.

"This furry little hamster beat General Hancock way before I did! And I taught him how to play just two days ago!" Riku pointed at his red Digimon discontentedly, completely missing the question Rena's asking him, which irked her greatly.

"So what?" Coronamon yelped.

"The game's not important! You two need to quiet yourselves down! Riku, you don't want Mom and Dad to find out about our Digimon, do you? If they find them, they'll make us get rid of them no matter what! You know how paranoid they can get when it comes to this stuff!" Rena cried out.

"Calm down, sis! I don't want them to find them either! Especially not MY little friend here! He's the best thing that ever happened to me! No way would I let Mom and Dad take him away from me!" Riku replied sharply.

"Okay then. But at least keep the noise level down, would you? I don't want Mom and Dad thinking there's a robber in the house trying to steal all our jewelry. And besides, isn't it about time you took your meds?" Rena told him sternly like a very strict school teacher lecturing an unruly and naughty student.

Riku's ears perked up once Rena openly and non-hesitantly uttered the word _'meds.'_ He knew what it meant, and now he began to look perturbed. Out of all the things he hated the most, he is the most openly averse toward taking his meds. He absolutely hated taking them, yet he has to in order to keep a calm persona throughout the day without causing trouble.

"N-N-No! I'll be fine without those for one day!" Riku exclaimed.

"No you won't! You know that you have to take these every day! The doctor said so! Who knows what trouble you'll get yourself or other people into the next time you go without these? I don't want Mom and Dad to yell at you for every little thing again!" Rena told him in a stringent manner and voice. Rena knew for a fact that if Riku got off of his meds ONCE, he would unwittingly get himself caught in all kinds of wild transgressions, especially considering how intractable he is when he's focused on something too much. It was bad enough Riku had a pretty set in stone record for those particular transgressions, and it's only made worse by the fact that Rena's mom and dad don't trust Riku with just about anything, whether he's on his meds or not. Rena didn't like this at all, but she knew Riku would get careless and she didn't want him to be blamed even more.

"Riku. Please. Just take these," Rena told him. Lunamon hid behind her, not wanting to be caught in the middle of this little sibling squabble.

"Hey Coronamon! Wanna go out to the park and hang out?" Riku asked as he threw on his white socks and shoes and grabbed his gold digivice in a flash.

Coronamon jumped with joy. "Yay! Let's go!"

Both Riku and Coronamon very quickly dashed out of the door, right before Rena and Lunamon could get a decent hold of them.

"Wait! Riku! Come back!" Rena yelled as she watched Riku and Coronamon run out into town. She knew chasing him down wouldn't exactly do any good either, especially in a public place full of people. Lunamon looked up at her partner with worry.

"What are you going to do now, Rena-san?" Lunamon asked politely and softly as to not irritate Rena any further. But an idea popped into her head like a baby chick that just hatched from it's egg. She looked down at Lunamon with a smile.

"Why don't we go after them?" Rena told her. Lunamon wondered what she meant when she said that. But Rena, instead of chasing him down rapidly, she decided to go for a very different approach. A very secretive approach.

But while Rena and Lunamon were left at home by themselves, Riku and Coronamon finally got to the park. To their ecstasy and joy, the park is totally empty. The trees that Ogremon knocked down have been cleared off, and it had been closed until today because of it. Riku knew this and was ticked off about it. But now it's open! The old, rusty rides are open too, like the slide, the swings, and the old spinning wheel. This was his time to prove to Rena that he can do just fine for a day without taking his medication. He looked at Coronamon with a bright smile on his face.

"So, what do you want to do today, Coronamon?" Riku asked.

At first, the furry red beast was a little mystified by Riku's striking presence. His choppy, unkempt blonde bangs hung over his green eyes that shone like morning dew basking under the sun. But Coronamon could see something in his eyes. What was it again? Curiosity, joy, and liberty. Coronamon liked this, and decided to answer.

"What's that big long thing over there?" Coronamon asked, pointing to the silver slide and the red ladder that was attached to it.

"That's the slide! Wanna go on it?" Riku told him in an oddly enough very calm and informative manner. Coronamon jumped for joy yet again.

"Yes! I do! Yay!" Coronamon exclaimed.

Riku and Coronamon jauntily dashed for the slide and decided to play on it. Even though some parts of the slide are very old and rusty, Riku didn't care. The areas were very small so he didn't feel much of a thing. Riku slid down the old metal slide first, showing it to his furry red friend. Coronamon followed suit, and Riku was very surprised with how well he caught on. And so quickly, at that! Soon, the two jaunty little rascals were happily sliding down the old metal slide every minute they could, and they were enjoying it immensely. These two energetic little moppets were simply bursting with morning energy and didn't feel like taking a break, even for one minute. One thing Riku knew for sure was that he can easily forgo the medication when it came to sliding down the metal slide.

Coronamon knew something himself: that he's absolutely happy to have Riku for a partner. Ever since he met him as a tiny little thing that hatched from a DigiEgg, he knew Riku was the one for him. With that hyper, sunny, energetic and amiable personality of his, Coronamon knew he couldn't find another partner like him anywhere. But sadly enough, Coronamon did understand something else. Something that both confused him and broke his heart: that Riku is horribly misunderstood and other people push him away a lot. He saw this when he witnessed Riku importuning his mom to let him buy a new game he's been saving money for after he managed to get a C+ on an English test, but his mom said no the entire time. Not only that, he overheard Riku's parents talking. Coronamon heard his dad say that they should put him on a stronger medication and take him out of the school because he's tired of getting complaints from the teachers regarding his energetic and somewhat unacceptable behavior. Coronamon silently scoffed at them and remembered how Riku raised him and brought him up to his rookie level now. He didn't want those happy memories to be tarnished by cruel words.

Soon, Riku and Coronamon grew tired of the slide.

"So! What do you wanna do next?" Riku asked.

"What's that round spinny thing over there?" Coronamon pointed to the yellow spinning wheel a little ways away from the slide.

"That's the carousel! It's so much fun!" Riku took Coronamon by his hand and invited him to the spinning wheel in a congenial manner. He hoisted Coronamon up and put him in the middle of the wheel.

"All you have to do is stay there! I'm gonna spin it around! Let me know if you want to go faster, okay?" Riku explained.

"Okay! Go for it!" Coronamon exclaimed as he sat comfortably in between two yellow bends. Riku put a hand on the handle on the side and began running.

Coronamon could see it moving. He could see the scenery around him going right past him. Soon, the scenery looked more and more blurry and pixelated-looking like it was getting thinner and weirder. Riku gradually picked up the pace.

"You want it faster?" Riku asked.

"Yeah! Faster!" Coronamon cheered.

Riku ran faster and faster, resulting in the carousel going faster and faster as well. Coronamon was starting to get dizzy, but he wouldn't let that stop him from having an abundance of fun. Right now he's having a lot of it. He clung to one of the yellow bends to keep himself from falling off of the carousel. Soon, the scenery around him was going by so fast he could barely tell one thing from the other. He couldn't even let go of the bend he was clutching to so desperately. Coronamon was having a blast!

After a while, Riku finally stopped to catch his breath. Coronamon finally let go of the bend and lay on the wheel. He was so dizzy and his head was throbbing like he's having a headache.

"Whoa! That...was...so...AWESOME!" Coronamon yelped loudly as he suddenly hopped back onto the carousel. But he landed on the pole that all the yellow bends connected to.

"You're right! That was fun!" Riku exclaimed happily.

"We should do that again sometime! Not now, I mean! Later!" Coronamon said.

"Yeah. Too much spinning for one day. Hehehehe..." Riku said. Then he noticed Coronamon standing firmly and jauntily on the yellow pole that all the bends connected to. A little idea sparked in his head like a campfire.

"Hey Coronamon! Can I get on there?" Riku asked.

"Sure! Come on up, partner!" Coronamon gestured him to come up as he got off of the pole. Riku stood upright and straight as his feet planted themselves on the pole. He spread his arms out far and wide, and he felt on top of the world. And he felt like shouting it to let everyone know of his existence.

"_GOOD MORNING, PEOPLE OF THE WORLD!_ I am Nobara Riku, standing on top of the world!" Riku edicted loudly as he made a few redundant and ridiculous poses to make himself look like a hero of justice.

"Yay! And I'm Coronamon, Riku's noble and faithful sidekick!" Coronamon edicted just as loudly as Riku did. Thankfully, nobody heard him so he was fine.

If one were to exclude the fact that he just lost his balance and is about to fall.

"Whoa-whoa-whoa! I-I'm gonna fall flat on my face!" Riku exclaimed as he struggled and flailed in a desperate attempt to regain his balance. But nothing was working. Coronamon was getting worried.

"Uhh...uhh...Whaddo I do?" Coronamon asked himself with trepidation.

But Riku's foot finally gave up. It slipped, and the both of them braced for impact.

When Riku came to, he was surprised he actually lived. Not only that, he totally missed all the yellow bends. If he hit his head one one of those things, he would crack his skull and die from too much bleeding! Thank goodness he missed them. He exhaled a great big sigh of relief. But he could feel something soft and furry below him. He found red hair on his shirt. When he looked down, he gasped to find Coronamon right below him.

"Co-Coronamon! Are you okay? You're not hurt, are you? If I did hurt you, I'm so sorry!" Riku wailed as he realized Coronamon was under him. But Coronamon opened his lucid, sharp golden eyes and looked up at Riku with a smile.

"Don't worry! It's all good!" Coronamon said. Riku, seeing Coronamon's bright eyes and sweet but roguish smile, smiled himself and let out a nervous chuckle.

"I'm glad. If I hurt you, I'd think what my parents say about me are right!" Riku said as he helped himself and Coronamon up and out of the carousel.

"What do you mean, Riku?" Coronamon asked curiously.

"Remember when Rena said that I tend to cause trouble for myself and others whenever I start getting all hyper and going without my meds? She's kinda right. I don't like it, but whenever I want to do something I end up getting a bit reckless and impulsive. I don't mean to drag people into my schemes. They're just kinda there and I don't see them until it's too late. Plus I don't mean to cause trouble. But something bad always happens whenever I wanna do something or something ticks me off. I kinda got thrashed real good because I tried to deal with some kid Nenji cuz' he was picking on my good friend Yun. All I was trying to do was protect her! Nobody messes with my friends! What he was doing to her was wrong! But Mom and Dad didn't believe me. They won't let me get that new video game I've been saving up for. I kinda get the feeling they're starting to like Rena more than me because of my ADHD," Riku explained, looking a little dejected and perturbed.

"What's ADHD?" Coronamon asked.

"Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. It means I don't listen to people and get real hyper a lot. Believe me, I don't like it just as much as my family doesn't like it. And I don't mean to make trouble for other people or get myself in bad situations! But it seems I'm a big magnet for them, and everyone's mad at me because of them. My own parents don't even trust me with anything anymore. They won't even let me run a simple errand like going to Wawa to get a meatball sub anymore! I know where Wawa is! It's on Mayoi Avenue, and that's the most populated street there is! The park is on this street! I can get there and back in 10 minutes! Well, I guess most of it's my fault for all the stuff I cause. Not only that, anyone I know seems to think anything I do is bad! This one time, I saw a kid trying to shoplift from a store. I saw him do it, no doubt! I went over to him and snatched it from him and told him straight to his face _'Shoplifting is wrong! You should know better, kid!'_ But alas, people thought I was the one doing the shoplifting! Can you believe it? I told them everything but nobody but Rena believed me! What did I ever do to deserve that? I don't like criminals, especially those who are heartless and stupid. But a security guard threatened to put me in juvie! I told him he's supposed to be going after the other kid, but even he didn't believe me! It's like I'm little Mr. Kid Who Does Everything Wrong No Matter What! Come on! It also doesn't help that my grades in school are kinda bad. I've been studying real hard, but school work doesn't really suit me, does it?" Riku explained again.

Coronamon's suspicions were right. Riku IS misunderstood, not only with words but with actions as well. He was especially appalled upon hearing about the shoplifting incident. Riku caught a shoplifting kid and stopped him from doing a wrongful deed. Riku should've been exalted and praised joyously! But having to be accused of being one when you're stopping one? Being threatened to be put in juvie (To Coronamon, whatever that is) and having nobody believe you did a good deed in trying to stop the kid? Absolutely awful! Coronamon's curious little mind simply could not comprehend why someone who tried to stop a shoplifer from stealing would be the one actually mistaken for one and then have nobody believe them while the real criminal runs scott free. What is this world coming to?

"That's awful!" Coronamon exclaimed.

"Exactly! I'm just as ticked off about it as you are. You probably don't have stuff like that in the Digital World, but who knows? Anyway, now onto a happier subject! Wanna play on the swing?" Riku exclaimed again, this time he decided he was tired of telling his tale of woe and changed the subject to something happier. He pointed to the swings and Coronamon caught sight of them.

"I'd love to! Let's go!" Coronamon yelped.

The two of them dashed for the swings. Riku got on the one with the blue seat, and Coronamon got on the one with the red seat and the sort of rustier chains. They swung back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, happy to feel like they're about to go into the sky. They liked the gentle breeze caressing their faces and pushing their hair back, and Coronamon has a LOT of hair. He wouldn't be able to feel much of it. But they were both immensely enjoying the time they're spending together. After a while, they decided to get off the swing.

"That was fun!" Riku exclaimed as he stretched himself out a bit.

"Yeah! It sure was!" Coronamon said.

"Wanna grab a bite to eat? I happen to have a few bucks on me right now," Riku said as he pulled out two dollars from his pocket. Rena didn't see it, but he secretly put those two dollars in his pocket because he was planning on getting himself something to eat if he were to go with his parents to run small errands like this. This happened to be a great opportunity to try and do something without his meds.

"Sure! I am getting a little hungry," Coronamon said.

"Alrighty then! You might have to stay here for a bit because I don't want you getting caught by other people. Can you do that for me?"

"Okay. I'll hide."

"Good! I'll be back in a flaaaaaaaash!" And with that, Riku dashed from the park and headed for Wawa, which is strangely enough about 10 feet from where the park is, further to the right of it. Coronamon decided to hide in the bushes and see if Riku will come back.

Riku went through the door. He saw a few people in Wawa this morning, but he wasn't focused on them right now. Right when he walked three feet into the store, he quickly saw two hash browns near the counter. But before he grabbed them, he read the sign that said _'CAUTION! HOT! TOUCH TOP OF BAG!'_ Like the sign said, he very slowly grabbed the two small bags by the top and put them on the register. The lady asked for 130 yen, Riku have her two dollars and he got 30 cents back in dimes. He got his hash browns, which were put in a bag so to minimize the hotness of the contents. Easy as that. He thanked the lady and was about to leave, but something stopped him.

"Huh? Rikkun?"

He turned around and lo and behold! Right there behind him are Yun, Terriermon, Lopmon, and Yun's mom!

"Yun!"

"Rikkun!"

The two of them high fived each other happily as a greeting. Today, Yun is wearing a puffy sleeved white shirt with many pale indigo circles on it, dark olive green jean shorts, her white sneakers, and red socks. Terriermon and Lopmon are in a little bookbag Yun is wearing on her back.

"What are you doing here, Rikkun?" Yun asked with a smile.

"Eh, I was just in the neighborhood and felt like takin' a little morning stroll with Coronamon!" Riku said. The two of them didn't notice Yun's mom at the counter putting stuff on it for the lady to check out.

"Coronamon's with you?"

"He's at the park. Hey! Now that you're here, do you wanna come hang out with us?"

Yun's face beamed. "Sure! I'd love to! But I gotta ask Mom real quick."

"Here, Yun. Your treat for today," Hisako said when she handed her three hash browns. One for her, one for Lopmon, and one for Terriermon.

"Thanks! Hey, Mom? Do you mind if Rikkun and I hung out at the park for a while? It's right across the street," Yun asked politely.

"Well, I don't see why not. But be sure to look both ways before you cross the street. Alright?" Hisako replied with a smile.

"Yay! Don't worry! We will!" Yun exclaimed happily as she took Riku by the hand and ran out of the store.

Before they crossed the street, they made sure to look both ways to see if there are any cars coming. Only two passed by at the same time, but they crossed without difficulty. Once they got to the park, Terriermon hopped out of the bag.

"Yaaaay! It's Riku!" Terriermon said as he leaped onto Riku's head with a smile.

"Hey, Terriermon! How's it going?" Riku asked.

"Good! I get to be outside with you! Yay!" Terriermon replied.

Lopmon decided to come out as well.

"Good morning, Riku. It's nice to see you today," Lopmon said very politely.

"Back at ya, Lopmon!" Riku flashed the peace sign at her. Lopmon blushed.

"We should go sit," Yun advised.

They found a bench and sat on it. Coronamon saw them sit on the bench and leaped out of the bushes like the little prankster he is. Lopmon was surprised, but Terriermon beamed joyously at the sight of him.

"Yaaaay! Coronamon!" Terriermon cried out.

"Wheeee! Terriermon!" Coronamon cried out.

They high fived each other. Riku gave Coronamon his hash brown. Yun gave Lopmon and Terriermon their hash browns too. They munched on them and enjoyed them immensely. Crunchy on the outside, soft and somewhat sticky on the inside, and warm on all sides, they relished the taste and were full and satisfied when they finished.

"That hit the spot!" Terriermon said.

"Yeah! That was awesome!" Coronamon said.

"It was very good. Thank you, Yun," Lopmon said to Yun politely.

"You're welcome!" Yun said. Terriermon and Lopmon decided to play with Coronamon, leaving Yun and Riku alone at the bench.

"So, Rikkun...how've you been?" Yun asked.

"Great! But get this! Coronamon beat me at Space Raiders this morning! He defeated General Hancock way before I did, and I only taught him how to play two days ago!" Riku replied.

"Ouch. That must be rough."

"It was! But it's alright. I've gotten over it. I'm sure I'll beat him at Space Raiders next time!"

"Good luck!"

"So! How've you been?"

"Fine. Oh! Just so you know, tomorrow's gonna be the next Digimon Brigade meeting."

"Good! Thanks for telling me! I'll tell Rena when I get home."

"She's at home?"

"Yep! I'm going out all by myself! Awesome, isn't it?"

"I don't really leave the house much so I don't really go out into town."

"You serious? Man! I'm gonna have you get out more! And don't worry, I know where your house is! You invited me and Rena a few times!"

"You remember that?"

"Sure do! You wiped out all my Pokemon before I could land one attack on you!"

"Sorry..."

"Eh, it's okay! Games are games! So! How have Terriermon and Lopmon been? They look pretty good."

"They have been. Unfortunately...my mom, dad, and my sister kinda found out that they're real."

"No way! You're kidding, right?"

"I wish I was, but I'm not. Thankfully Mom and Dad are cool with it, and they're letting me keep them! I was so afraid they would get mad and think they're monsters about to eat us. The bad thing about it is that my big sister knows about them too, and she absolutely hates them. Well then again, she hates me and practically anything I do in front of her, even when it's not directed at her!"

"I know what you mean! My parents are kinda like that. Ever since that shoplifting incident my parents don't trust me when it comes to just about anything! I was just telling Coronamon this story earlier."

"The one where you tried to stop a kid from shoplifting but got accused of being the shoplifter?"

"That's the one! Good guess! Anyway, my parents are so uptight about me running around town by myself they won't even let me run a simple errand!"

"But your parents don't call you bad names or yell at you every three seconds about every little thing and tell you to die like my big sister does."

It's around here that Terriermon and Lopmon hopped on Yun's lap and decided to join the conversation.

"What's a shoplifter?" Terriermon asked curiously.

"A shoplifter is someone who steals from little stores like Wawa," Yun explained.

"Isn't that the same as robbery?" Lopmon asked, confused.

"Well, yes, but there's a difference. Shoplifters just go into the store, put something in their pocket and try to leave without getting caught or drawing attention to themselves. Robbers just break into a store or home by force and steal whatever big or small thing they want and run out," Yun explained.

"Ohhhh. I see! I get it now. But nevertheless, shoplifting and robbery are both crimes, and crimes should not be committed!" Lopmon replied.

"Good! Glad to see you're on the good side!" Yun said as she hugged her little floppy eared friends.

"You three seem to get along pretty good," Riku said.

"Yep! I love these little moppets with all my heart! They're the best thing that ever happened to me! No way would I give them up for anything in the world!" Yun replied.

It's around here that Coronamon leaps onto Riku's lap and sits comfortably on it.

"Riku's MY best friend!" Coronamon exclaims. Yun laughs.

"I'm sure you two get along just fine," Yun said with a smile.

"Sometimes people and Digimon who share common personality traits or interests are more likely to become platonically intimate with one another," Lopmon explained.

"Huh? Speak Digimon, will ya?" Terriermon said with a confused look.

"They're friends because they're a lot alike," Lopmon simplified her explanation, though Yun understood the first one just fine.

"Oh! Okay then," Terriermon said.

"Of course we're best friends!" Riku exclaimed as he and Coronamon got off of the bench and stood up straight, erect and dignified.

"In fact...!" Coronamon said as he leaped onto Riku's shoulders. Now Coronamon stood up, only his feet were firmly planted on Riku's shoulders. Riku and Coronamon's arms were spread out, far and wide.

"We're the best tag team anyone could offer! The super speedy and up-to-date Nobara Riku, and the blazing on fire Coronamon, at your service!" The two of them said in unison with perfect synchronicity. Yun laughed, Lopmon clapped, while Terriermon looked at them with curious eyes. Coronamon then leaped off of Riku's shoulders and back onto the ground he went.

"You guys are like a superhero and his sidekick," Yun said.

"Kinda like Wolverine?" Riku asked.

"Yeah.

"Good! Because I like Wolverine the best!"

"Who's Wolverine?" All three Digimon asked in unison, also with perfect synchronicity.

"Wolverine's a super hero," Yun replied.

Yun and Riku wanted to go on, telling Lopmon, Terriermon, and Coronamon more about the famous comic book super hero, Wolverine. But they couldn't. Mostly because cries and screams from the distance stopped them from doing so.

"Eeeeek! What is that thing?"

"Someone call pest control!"

"A monster! Everyone, run! Quick!"

People, few as there were, began screaming and running away from town. Lopmon and Terriermon's ears perked up while Coronamon prepped his fists.

"It's a Digimon!" Lopmon cried out.

"A Digimon?" Yun and Riku exclaimed, also in unison and in perfect synchronicity for a third time.

"Yeah! And it's coming this way!" Terriermon exclaimed.

"Look out!" Coronamon yelled.

_ZOOM! WHOOSH!_

"Eeek!" Yun yelped as she ducked for cover. Something swept past them with great speed and agility. Leaves were blown past them because of the creature's speed. As Yun and Riku got up, they saw a Digimon flying above the trees in the park. Since it's so bright out this morning, they were able to get a good look at it...and they did not like what they saw.

A large Digimon, a little taller than Yun and Riku, that looks like a giant bug with it's yellow and dark green scaly skin, big buggy glowing red eyes, brown moth wings, a shrub of brown hair on the back of it's head, sharp teeth, brown leaf-shaped antennae, and a shiny silver gun taking the place of it's tail. Riku pulled his digivice out and the Digimon's information.

"Mothmon. This guy's an armor level and a data attribute. Whoa! He's got FOUR attacks! Multiple Blaster, Gauss Powder, Poison Dust, and Energy Drain!" Riku explained.

"_FOUR_ attacks?" Yun yelped.

"This ain't good! Well, no point in complaining now! Coronamon, get ready!" Riku exclaimed.

"Yes, sir!" Coronamon prepped himself for battle.

"Alright! We'll do this together! Terriermon and Lopmon! Let's fight this thing!" Yun cried out, gathering her mettle and mentally preparing herself for a battle.

It was Coronamon who landed the first attack.

"Corona Flame!" Coronamon concentrated on the flaming ball on it's forehead and shot a flaming sphere at Mothmon. Unfortunately, Mothmon successfully dodged the attack and flew all over the place, it's wings flying very very fast like that of a hummingbird.

"Blazing Fire!" Terriermon did the same and exhaled a fiery sphere at Mothmon. But it dodged that too.

"Freezing Snow!" Lopmon shot a blizzard of snowy powder at it. But even that didn't do anything, let alone slow it down. Mothmon is just flying too fast.

"Durn! It's too fast!" Riku said.

"Our first priority is to find a black hexagon on it's body and destroy it. But this thing just refuses to stand still!" Yun exclaimed. But right when she said that, Mothmon stopped in the sky and launched an attack.

"Multiple Blaster!" An array of bullets shot out from Mothmon's tail gun, heading straight for Terriermon and Coronamon.

"Terrier Tornado!"

"Coroknuckle!"

Terriermon spun itself around like a twister and Coronamon threw a myriad of punches at the bullets, stopping them from hitting them. That turned out to be a nice defensive response. But it didn't stop Mothmon from preparing to launch another attack...and it didn't involve shooting bullets at them either.

"Poison Dust!" Mothmon didn't fly anywhere, but his wings flapped extremely fast. Hummingbird speed. Not only that, a strange cloud of violet purple dust scattered and floated aimlessly toward them.

"Everyone! Cover your mouths! Don't suck in the poison dust!" Yun cried out. Upon hearing her order, everyone covered their mouths and closed their eyes. Yun did the same. Once the poison dust finally dissipated into the air, Coronamon ran toward a tree, climbed it, and arrived at the top of it.

"Coronamon! What are you doing?" Yun asked.

"I'm gonna distract it!" Coronamon replied. He shot out a flame, grabbed it with his hands, and hoisted it up in the air for Mothmon to see, though it wasn't seeing it right now. Yun and Riku could see how bright the flame is, even from below.

That was when Yun realized it.

"Riku! I think I get what he's doing!" Yun exclaimed.

"What do you mean?" Riku asked.

"You know how moths really love light for some reason? Like how they always like to hang around street lights when it's dark? I think Coronamon's trying to draw Mothmon toward it so he can land a decent attack!" Yun said.

"Wow! I think you're right! That's amazing! But we better help him out!" Riku replied with a smile.

"Indeed we should!" Yun said.

Mothmon finally caught sight of Coronamon and his ball of fire and, naturally by pure instinct, charged at the little furry red beast. Once Mothmon got close enough...

"Corona Flame!"

Coronamon shoved the flame into Mothmon's face, causing it to screech wildly. Plus, Coronamon hopped onto Mothmon's back. Mothmon could feel the little red beast on his back and flew in all directions, wanting to get him off. Struggle and flail around in the sky it did, but Coronamon refused to give up. He knew there's a black hexagon somewhere on it's body, and he decided it was his duty to find it and destroy it. Coronamon clutched onto Mothmon's back, refusing to get thrown off, while looking carefully for the black hexagon.

After a few seconds, he finally found it. On Mothmon's left wing. But Coronamon, being stuck where he is now, couldn't reach it. Even with both of his attacks. If he were to slowly slide over there and make a false move, he would slip and get thrown off, and the damage wouldn't be good. Thankfully enough, Mothmon's attention diverted toward something else.

"HEEEEY! Giant moth! Look!" Yun and Riku yelled in unison as they waved thin tree branches with flames at the tips of them in front of Mothmon.

Torches. Burning torches.

Click. It did it. Mothmon descended toward them.

"Now we run and you attack!" Yun exclaimed. She and Riku ran while Terriermon and Lopmon attacked.

"Blazing Fire!"

"Freezing Snow!"

Both attacks successfully managed to hit Mothmon in the face and his right wing, weakening him enough for Coronamon to get off of it's back without difficulty. Lopmon used her attack to put the torches out and they threw the branches away.

"Coronamon! You alright, little dude?" Riku asked.

"Yep! I'm just fine! By the way, I found the black hexagon! It's on the back of it's left wing! I saw it while I was riding it!" Coronamon explained.

"Good! Now we have a better idea of-" Yun didn't get to finish that sentence, because Mothmon grabbed Coronamon with lightning speed and kept him locked inside one of it's hands.

"Energy Drain!" A green light surrounded Coronamon, and he yelped in pain. His energy was being sucked by the giant ugly moth and he could not get out of it's grip no matter how hard he tried. He was trapped.

"Coronamon! You let him go, you moth!" Riku screamed angrily.

"Gauss Powder!" Mothmon flapped it's wings again, but this time a strange cloud of crimson red dust flew over the duo of kids. They covered their eyes and mouths. So did Terriermon and Lopmon. But Yun could feel her skin burning, and she didn't like that feeling.

"My...my skin! It burns!" Yun yelped.

"I know! Mine is too!" Riku yelled. Thankfully, Mothmon's super fast flying made the powder go away faster and the burning sensations in their skin dissipate, but Riku wasn't going to give up. He saw the unconscious Coronamon lying in Mothmon's hand, dormant and drained of all his energy. But Mothmon was looking down at it with a hungry face.

"Energy Drain!" Mothmon proceeded to take the last of Coronamon's energy.

But Riku has finally had enough.

_"CORONAMOOOOOON! DON'T LET THAT THING EAT YOUUUUUUUUUU!"_

It's this powerful, echoing, desperate yell that made both Coronamon and Riku's gold digivice glow.

Coronamon wasn't enveloped by a green light that signaled it's energy being drained from his body. He was enveloped by a light the color of the blazing sun and it's golden effulgence, shining it's faint beams on the furry red Digimon as it glowed. Mothmon was so blinded by this light that he finally let go of Coronamon, who is still glowing...and growing bigger in size as he fell.

"Coronamon, digivolve to..."

Everyone watched with awe as the golden, sun-colored light enveloping Coronamon grew bigger and bigger. Finally, the golden light dissipated and out came a great red lion with a neck full of fluffy, sun-colored hair, black devices and bracelets emitting flames on it's forehead, back legs, ankles, and tail, which a great blazing flame at the tip. Protruding from the beautiful lion's fluff of sun colored hair are two orange wings. Small but capable of flight.

"...Firamon!"

Firamon descended onto the ground with grace and dexterity while Mothmon remained in flight. Riku was so awestruck and shocked by his partner Digimon's awesome transformation that he could not help but break out smiling like a dork.

"Wooooow! Oh my God! You look AWESOOOOME!" Riku screamed, enough for Yun to cover her ears, but she knew he meant well. Firamon turned to face Riku.

"I underwent this transformation because of your unrelenting and persistent belief in me. Now, join me as I purify the evil within Mothmon! Hop on my back, my friend!" Firamon commanded in a kind but deep voice.

"Oh you bet I will!" Riku dashed toward Firamon and hopped on his back. Firamon finally flapped his small wings, ascended into the sky, and went chasing after Mothmon, who is desperately trying to run away, leaving Yun, Terriermon, and Lopmon behind.

"Wow! Firamon is so cool! I wanna fight with him!" Terriermon said as he was about to run after them. But Lopmon pulled him away.

"No. You mustn't, Terriermon," Lopmon told him softly with a smile.

"Huh? Why not?"

"This is their fight, not ours. We have no right to interfere. This is Riku and Coronamon's time to shine. Let's let them handle the situation."

"She's right. They're probably enjoying themselves by doing this," Yun said. Terriermon finally relented.

"You're right. Okay. I'll stay," Terriermon said, feeling a little disappointed. Lopmon rubbed his head with her rosy pink paw.

"Please, don't look so sad, Terriermon. Your time of digivolution will come soon. I know it. Now is just not the time. Perhaps fate has something in store for you," Lopmon told him gently.

As for Riku and Firamon, they chased after the frightened Mothmon, not letting it fly out of their sight. Riku was loving this even more than being on the slide, the carousel, or the swing put together. Now that Coronamon digivolved, this was his time to soar in terms of showing how he is in battle.

"Firamon! Hit 'em on it's left wing!" Riku commanded.

"You got it, my friend!" Firamon replied as he prepared for an attack. Finally, Mothmon is beginning to grow tired. It can't seem to fly any faster. This gave Firamon the chance to attack it and keep it from flying anymore.

"Fira Claw!" Firamon's front feet became enveloped by blazing vermilion red flames shaped like his claws. He charged at Mothmon and successfully scratched it's left wing hard enough for it to actually rip. But it wasn't enough to destroy the hexagon. Thankfully enough, it was enough to make it incapable of flying. Mothmon proceeded to descend to the ground. But Firamon wasn't done yet.

"Fira Bomb!" A bright yellow sphere of fire shot out from Firamon's forehead and hit Mothmon's left wing before it even hit the ground. But what they didn't know was that parts of the sphere of fire got onto two tall trees. Real good. They didn't notice this.

The raven black hexagon finally dissipated, a digital portal opened in the ground, and Mothmon fell into it, sending it straight back into the Digital World. Firamon descended back to the ground, Riku hopped off of his back, and Yun and Terriermon approached them with smiles on their faces.

"You two were awesome out there!" Yun exclaimed.

"Yeah! You taught that yucky Mothmon a good lesson!" Terriermon cheered. Riku flashed a big toothy smile.

"I sure did! Me and Firamon, together! And speaking of Firamon...MAN you look so cool like that! I wish Rena were here to see this!" Riku yelled happily as he hugged Firamon.

"All you did was give me instructions on how to defeat Mothmon. We wore it down enough so it would be incapable of further flight. Perhaps you are smarter than you look, Riku. I'm glad you're my human partner. You have a heart full of a sense of justice," Firamon told him kindly in his deep voice. About a second later, he glowed again. This time, he de-digivolved back into the happy, curious, and energetic little Coronamon that everyone knows and loves.

"Rikuuuu!" Coronamon leaped into Riku's arms.

"Buddy!" Riku exclaimed.

"That was awesome! Way better than Space Raiders!"

"Hey! Don't go insulting my favorite game!"

Yun and Terriermon smiled as the two energetic and jaunty little ones embraced each other.

Unfortunately, it wasn't over. A new problem arised.

"Yun! Riku!" Lopmon ran out in front of Yun and Riku, panting and with a very worried look on her face. Yun scooped Lopmon into her arms and embraced her.

"What's wrong, Lopmon? Why are you in such a rush?" Yun asked.

"We...we...we have a big problem! Come look!" Lopmon told them and directed them to the forest near the park. They were horrified by what they saw.

Two really big trees were on fire!

The flames only managed to engulf the bottom halves of them, but even this was too much for two young kids to put out on their own, especially with very little access to water! If that wasn't enough, the flames were climbing the tree very rapidly.

"Oh no! Did we do this when we unleashed Fira Bomb?" Riku yelped.

"We did! We diiiiid!" Coronamon yelped.

"We've gotta put this fire out! But how?" Yun yelped with fear.

Once Riku got a hold of himself and regained his composure, a sudden flame of courage erupted in his heart, stimulating him into action.

"Yun! I have an idea! There's a pond nearby! It has lots of water! We can use that to put out the flames!" Riku told her.

"But we don't have anything to carry it with!" Yun exclaimed.

"Yes we do! Look!" Terriermon said as he presented the white Wawa bag to Yun. It was too small, but it was better than nothing.

"But this won't be enough to put them out!" Yun said.

"It's better than nothing, right? Come on! You and I will go get water! Coronamon, Terriermon, and Lopmon! Do you best to try and stop the fire from progressing as much as possible! And DO NOT use fire attacks! That'll make it worse!" Riku told everyone with a sense of courage and, oddly enough, authority in his voice. He and Yun scrambled to the pond, which thankfully has lots of water in it and is close by, put the bag in the water, slugged it back to the trees, and poured it onto the bottom of one of the trees. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to put the flame out.

They did it again and again and again, constantly moving from the pond to the trees, desperately trying to put the flames out. But nothing worked. Yun felt really bad. She wished she had her cell phone so she could call the fire department and have them put out the flames. They can do it better than she, Riku, and the small Digimon could do by themselves. But then again, what if they suspect her and Riku of being the ones who caused the fire? After hearing about Riku's story, she didn't want him to be accused of committing another crime, especially since he could be potentially put into juvie if he was caught again (not that he really committed any crimes. He's just always at the wrong place at the wrong time). But what else could she do? The flames were slowly reaching the top of the trees, but Riku wasn't going to give in.

"No! We can't give up! We're not giving up!" Riku said as he and Yun proceeded to get more water, even though this whole thing was futile.

...or was it?

"Moon Night Bomb!"

Three very large spheres of lucid water spilled from the sky and successfully landed on the trees, putting out most of the flames! Yun and Riku were awestruck, and the three Digimon stepped back. Riku and Yun recognized that voice. They turned around and...lo and behold, Rena and Lekismon arrived on the scene!

"Sis! Lekismon! Great timing! Help us out, will ya? We're having a bit of trouble putting the flames out!" Riku told them.

"Sure! No problem! You two better step back unless you wanna be soaked to the bone!" Rena commanded sharply. Yun and Riku did as told and they backed away from the burning trees.

"Lekismon! Another one please!"

"Moon Night Bomb!"

With a few more spheres of water splashing over the trees, the flames on the trees were finally extinguished and put out at last, though the bark on the trees turned charcoal black and a lot of the leaves got incinerated. Thankfully, nobody was hurt. Riku and Yun hugged Rena and Lekismon once the task was done.

"Siiiiis! Thanks soooooo much!" Riku exclaimed as he embraced his sister.

"We couldn't have done it without you!" Yun exclaimed as she hugged Lekismon.

"If you two hadn't come, the entire forest could've been enveloped by flames, and animals would've died. For that, we are grateful," Lopmon told the two of them with a bow.

"You're soooo cool!" Terriermon exclaimed.

But the response Riku got...was nothing he ever expected.

_POW!_

"Owwwww!"

He got a good whack on the head from Rena, who is now looking at him with a very stern and stringent look on her face. Coronamon hid behind Riku.

"See? Now do you see why you can't go out without taking your meds? Stuff like this happens! The whole forest could've caught fire!" Rena exclaimed sternly and strictly.

"But it was an accident! Plus Yun and I actually tried to put it out!" Riku retaliated.

"Yes, I saw that, and I'm proud of you for making an attempt. I'm not blaming you for this or anything like that. I know you didn't mean for this fire to happen. But even so, you're too impulsive and reckless and careless most of the time! This is why you keep getting into trouble! You always do the wrong thing in the wrong place at the wrong time! I don't want you to end up getting arrested and thrown into juvie! Do you see what happens if you get too careless now? I don't want you getting into more trouble than you already have!" Rena explained very strictly and sternly. Riku felt humiliated by her presence and her merciless scolding. But he knew there was nothing he could do to escape it, even with Yun and Coronamon by his side. He sighed.

"Yes. You're right. I'm sorry," Riku muttered ruefully. He kicked himself for thinking he could prove to Rena that he could go without his meds for a day and go out into town. Now he saw first hand what could happen if he wasn't careful. Unbeknownst to him though, Yun looked at Rena with a straight face.

"Rena-chan...I know Rikkun did some careless things, and I agree with what you said to him, but you have to admit, think of what would happen if Mothmon were allowed to run free and wreak havoc. Much worse things would've happened besides the fire. Riku and Coronamon worked very hard to stop Mothmon from causing trouble. Also, you should put some of the blame on me too. I should've noticed the fire earlier. I would've been able to put it out before it got out of hand. But I didn't see it in time, so I think you should scold me for being careless too," Yun told her lucidly and with a straight face. Rena knew that Yun prefered being on both sides and helping to resolve issues instead of cause them, but she was surprised by what she said to her. Rena was going to focus too much on what Riku did wrong instead of focus on what Riku did both wrong and right. In the back of her mind, Yun was right. Riku did act a little careless, but he did stop Mothmon from causing much more damage. Plus he actually attempted to put out the fire. He realized his mistake and resolved to fix it, even though it didn't go so well. He understood the repercussions. This was what Rena had been looking for all along in her little brother. Rena sighed and smiled.

"You're right. Thanks for keeping an eye on him, Yun," Rena said as she rubbed Yun's hair with her hand. "And Riku...although you were rather careless today, you've definitely improved the last time you got yourself in a bad situation. You need a little bit more improvement, but I think we can work on that. Plus, you did a great job of running into Wawa and out without difficulty," Rena explained. Riku smiled and hugged her.

"Yay! Thanks, sis! I knew you'd understand! And yeah, I'm sorry for being stupid. I seem to cause myself trouble a LOT, even when I don't mean to, and I usually never mean to cause trouble! But don't worry. I'll be sure to do better next time, even if I have to stake my life on it!...wait! How did you know I went into Wawa?" Riku exclaimed happily but then realized that Rena just said she saw him go into Wawa. How did she know that? Rena crossed her arms.

"Simple! I followed you and spied on you the entire time!" Rena edicted without hesitation.

_"WHAAAAAAAAT?"_ Riku and Coronamon yelped in unison and in perfect synchronicity for a fourth time.

"Rena-san was very worried about you. She wanted to make sure you didn't get lost or unknowingly cause more trouble, so she followed you," Lekismon explained politely.

"Awwwww! I can't believe this! My attempt to prove that I can be independent without my meds is ruined!" Riku wailed with his hands on his face.

"Calm down, little bro. There's always next time. Well, I guess we'd better be going now! Our parents are gonna freak if they find us gone. Bye, Yun-chan! See you tomorrow!" Rena said as she took Riku by the arm and pulled him away. Around this time, Lekismon de-digivolved back into Lunamon and faithfully and silently followed them, but not before bowing to Yun in gratitude. Yun watched as the two twins walked away. She ran back to her mother with Terriermon and Lopmon by her side.

Although Rena and Riku successfully got back home safely, their welcoming committee wasn't so...welcoming. Not warm and happy, especially. Standing before them are their parents, both with their arms crossed and, worst of all, very strict looks on their faces.

"Rena! Riku! Where have you two been?" The mother asked loudly.

"We've been worried sick about you this past half hour!" The father edicted.

"We were just taking a little stroll through town for a bit. We didn't mean to-" Rena was about to explain, but their mom cut them off.

"Riku! You went out on your own without taking your meds, didn't you?" The mother yelled.

Somehow, Riku didn't feel the need to lie. He decided to confess, even though it meant he'd be yelled at again. "Yes, I did. I'm sorry," He murmured softly. Unfortunately, this didn't soften his parents.

"We're very disappointed in you, Riku! You know for a fact that you're not capable of-" The father exclaimed angrily. But oddly enough, possibly in retaliation for being cut off earlier, Rena cut him off with a straight look on her face.

"Actually, he IS capable, Dad," Rena told him sharply.

"What?" Both parents yelped.

"The truth is, we were practicing running small errands. We went to Wawa. You should've seen Riku. He went into the store, paid for a hash brown, and walked out. All in a matter of seconds. Without delay or difficulty. And without causing an uproar at that," Rena explained very lucidly and harshly. Riku was surprised, but his parents were not phased by this.

"Impossible! You can't even go to Wawa without-"

"But he did. He went to Wawa and got what he wanted without trouble. I watched him the entire time. I'm proud of him. You should be too. Y'know, my health teacher says that yelling at people every day regarding stuff they can't do won't help them improve. The best way to teach someone to do something right is to practice with them. Encourage them with what they can do, and help them with what they can't until they get it right. See? We kinda ate our hash browns already so I don't have proof. Sorry!" Rena explained. She was on a roll, and Riku was even more surprised. Even their parents were left speechless.

"Sorry we made you worry. We'll leave a note next time. Plus we came back, didn't we? Come on, Riku. Let's get you on your meds now," Rena told her parents, then took Riku into the kitchen.

Riku, strangely enough, didn't object this time, even though he still hated the taste of those medications. But he endured it and swallowed them without complaint. Then he and Rena went into Riku's room, where Coronamon and Lunamon were waiting for them. They had come in through the window.

"Maybe from now on, they'll let us go out a bit more!" Rena said.

"I wouldn't mind doing a little going out," Lunamon exclaimed with a smile.

Riku and Coronamon smiled at each other and embraced each other, happy they did do something right for once (which was defeat Mothmon).

As for Yun, she went back home and played with her floppy eared friends through the rest of the day. After dinner though, she and her mom had to run some errands. Not the small ones like Riku did earlier. They had to go to the clothes store to find some new summer clothes for Yun and to the office of an ophthalmologist to receive Hisako's new pair of glasses. Her other ones broke. Throughout these errands, Yun had Terriermon and Lopmon with her. Thankfully, they didn't draw much attention and they kept silent whenever people were around so everything was just fine.

Yun had absolutely no idea what was going to happen when she was heading home.

Hisako drove in front of Wawa and parked.

"I'm gonna get a meatball sub for dad. Do you three want anything?" Hisako asked. Yun and Lopmon said no.

"Can I have reeses pieces please?" Terriermon asked.

"Sure. Stay here. I'll be right back," Hisako said as she left the car and walked into the store. They were parked right in front of the store, and all the store's outside lights are on, even the fronts lights on a lot of people's cars were on. They were sure to get in trouble for leaving them on. Yun looked down at Terriermon.

"I didn't know you liked the reeses pieces," Yun said to him.

"I've been loving them since you gave me a few of them earlier this week!" Terriermon replied sweetly.

"I'm glad you like them! But I still like the original reeses peanut butter cups. They're my favorite candy!" Yun told him.

"Hey Lopmon. Do you have a favorite candy?" Terriermon asked.

"Well, I don't like to eat too much of it since it's unhealthy, but if I had to name a favorite, mine would be those Lindor truffles that Hisako-san likes so much. She gave one this morning and I loved it," Lopmon replied.

"Me too!" Yun exclaimed.

The three of them laughed heartily until Yun looked up and saw something in the distance. There were no cars on her right, so she could see what it was. A black silhouette, almost darker than the night itself was approaching the store. The more she focused her gaze on it, the more she could see that the silhouette was more limping than walking. She kept her gaze locked on the small silhouette. As the silhouette got closer to the store, the lights began to shine on it and finally shed light (literally) on who, or what, the silhouette really is.

To Yun's utter surprise, the silhouette is nothing more than a young boy! A boy about her own age, with very short and very pale blonde hair arranged in a rather unusual style with parts of it sticking up like a hot of hair jell had been applied to it. He also has very light and pale blue eyes, like the cloudless morning sky. What struck Yun as odd is that the boy is wearing absolutely nothing but a flimsy and somewhat torn up white gown. But that wasn't the only thing that was strange and peculiar. On the boy's wrists and ankles are thick, gold bracelets and anklets. They sure didn't look like anything Yun had seen in a store once. But the oddest thing of all were the tattoos. The boy has purple tattoos on the left side of his face and all over his left arm in strange shapes and patterns very unfamiliar to Yun. But what caught Yun's attention the most was the fact that the boy is limping, grimacing with pain, totally barefoot, and worst of all...

Clinging to his right shoulder. It's bleeding.

Not wanting to sit by anymore, Yun burst out of the car.

"I've gotta help him!" Yun exclaimed as she dashed out and left the car door open.

"Wait! Yun! You can't go out!" Lopmon tried to call her back, but Yun didn't listen.

Right when Yun approached the boy, his tired legs finally gave out and he nearly fell head first onto the solid concrete that is the sidewalk. Thankfully, Yun managed to catch him. The boy looked very tired and pained. She could also see small scratches and bruises on his frail body.

"Hey! You! Are you alright? Wake up! Speak to me!" Yun begged him to wake up, but he didn't. Lopmon and Terriermon ran up to the two.

"What's wrong with him?" Lopmon asked.

"Yeah! What happened to him?" Terriermon asked.

"I think he's been beaten up!" Yun exclaimed. Right then, Hisako spotted her.

"Yun? What are you doing outside..." Hisako was about to scold Yun, but she gasped upon seeing the injured boy. "Oh dear! What in the world happened to him?"

"Mom! He needs to be taken to a hospital! He's bleeding! We can't leave him here!" Yun explained with worry in her eyes. Hisako rummaged through her pocket book and pulled out her cell phone.

"I'll call an ambulance. But stay here and don't move!" Hisako told them as she punched the numbers in her phone and called 911. But Yun was adamant about getting the boy to wake up. She wouldn't let him out of her sight.

"Don't die on us yet! Wake up! Speak to me! Say something, kid!" Yun cried out, importuning the boy into waking up.

Finally, his eyes opened and he gazed up at Yun with an odd look on his face. Yun sighed with relief. The boy's alive.

_'Thank goodness! He's alive! But he'll die if he doesn't get help soon!'_ Yun thought.

"Hello," Yun didn't want to just sit there and do nothing while this boy lay in her arms bleeding and possibly near death. But she didn't quite know what to do. Neither did Terriermon and Lopmon. She decided to try and engage in conversation with him. She hoped this would keep him awake. She knew this wasn't a time to be shy and afraid, even though on the inside her insides are doing backflips and she's shaking with fear. But what she got in response...almost threw her off guard.

"Wh-Who...are...you?" The boy asked in a low, pained, and somewhat harsh voice. Yun could tell he hadn't hit puberty just yet, but he's in pain so it's only natural for his voice to sound a little croaky and harsh.

"Me?"

"Please...tell me...thy name..." The boy asked again. She was surprised that the boy asked for her name. But seeing the pain in his pale blue eyes, she couldn't refuse.

"Yu-Yun. Wakamiya...Yun," She muttered. To her surprise again, the boy actually smiled.

"Yun...what a...beautiful...name...ugh!" The boy croaked out until suddenly he gasped and lost the rest of his energy. His eyes closed and his head lay motionless in Yun's hand.

"Hey! Don't die on me yet! Wake up! Come on! Wake up! Wake up, kid!" Yun begged and begged for him to wake up.

The ambulance arrived and they took the boy to the hospital. But Yun, being wracked with worry as she was, couldn't help but want to see if the boy is alive. She convinced Hisako to take her to the hospital.

She had absolutely no idea that this encounter was going to alter her destiny. In the bizarrest of ways.

Author's Note: Yay! I'm finished chapter 7! I hope you guys liked it. Man! I'm still ticked off! One, I don't have any anime to watch. Two, Borders is closing down. Three, IT'S HOOOOOOT! Man! When will this heat wave end? Friday's supposed to be worse! I'm so sick and tired of it! Give me autumn already! Well, I better go now. I better read all the new books I got. I'll see you all in the next chapter! Look forward to it! Bye-bee!


	8. The Boy Whose Name Means Light

Author's Note: Hey everyone. It's me, Firechick again. I don't really have much to say here...except Makoto Shinkai's newest work, Children Who Chase Lost Voices From Deep Below, is gonna be screened at Otakon! I am soooooooooo happy because I really want to see this. It looks plain awesome and beautiful. I hope it's screened on Saturday because that's the day I'm going to Otakon. If it doesn't, then BOO! I wanna see this movie! Well, enough of my babbling. Ladies and gentlemen, I present chapter 8 of Digimon: A Seraphic Tale! Enjoy!

EPISODE 8: The Boy Whose Name Means Light

Night fell. The sky was as black and dark as the inside of a very deep cave that lead to the bottom of the ocean. But that didn't stop Yun from persuading her mom into driving her to the hospital where the boy was taken. They checked in at the front desk, sat on some chairs in the waiting room, and waited. Thankfully there weren't a whole lot of people in the waiting room, especially no screaming kids or crying babies, which was good for Yun because she hated those things. She kept Lopmon and Terriermon locked in her arms, though they didn't seem to mind. Throughout the entire time she sat in the waiting room, not once did she cease to think about the boy. The boy with his blonde hair, pale blue eyes, flimsy white gown, gold bracelets and anklets, and his purple tattoos. She knew for a fact that she had never seen him before. Especially not in school, that's for sure. She kept thinking a lot of things about him. Who is he? Why is he here? Why did he ask for Yun's name? What happened to him? Where did he come from? Is he going to be alright?

Why did he look so..._familiar_?

This is what's bothering Yun the most. Even though she had never seen the boy before, he still looked very oddly and strongly familiar to her, as if she had seen him before. But where? That was the question. She looked up at the clock on the wall and it read 8:36 PM. It was past 8:00, the time when she normally takes a bath. She always goes to bed by 9:00 PM, but there were exceptions whenever she was out running errands with her parents at around those times. But she would never stay up past 9:00 intentionally even if someone offered her a million bucks in cash and let her do whatever she wanted with it. But Yun didn't focus on her tardiness or her desires. All her mind focused on was the boy. Lopmon looked up at her, and so did Hisako.

"Yun? What's wrong? You look very dejected," Lopmon told her with a spec of worry in her sweet voice.

"The boy...is he going to be alright? I couldn't do much to help him..." Yun muttered. Hisako put a hand in her hair and gently stroke it.

"I'm sure he'll be fine, and on the contrary you did great. You stopped to help him when nobody else would, and you got me to call for an ambulance right away. You stayed by his side. Small things like than can really save a person's life," Hisako told her reassuringly with a smile.

"But I couldn't do anything to heal his wounds! I wanted to help him more!" Yun exclaimed.

"Yes, that is true. But we had no idea something like this was going to happen, so how would you know what to do?" Hisako explained. Yun felt a bit crestfallen.

"Yes. You're right," Yun muttered.

"If I was in that situation, I'd be kinda scared but I'd do whatever I could to help them because just leaving people somewhere to die is wrong!" Terriermon said.

"I agree. You did just fine with what you did do, Yun. I'm sure he'll be fine," Lopmon said with a smile.

"I guess. But who knows?" Yun replied.

About a few minutes later, a man dressed in a white lab coat approached Yun and Hisako with a straight look on his face.

"You're the Wakamiyas, right? The people who saw the blonde boy?" The doctor asked.

"Yes. We are. What's happened to him? Is he going to be alright?" Yun replied back, but couldn't help but ask out of pure worry. Right when she finished, the doctor flashed a pretty confident smile.

"I have good news for the both of you. Thanks to your efforts we managed to save him. If you hadn't called us, the boy would surely have died!" The doctor explained. Yun, Hisako, Lopmon, and Terriermon all gasped with joy and pure relief.

"Yay! He's safe! Thank goodness!" Yun exclaimed.

"See, Yun? He's safe because you helped him!" Hisako told her.

"Tell me...are you related to this boy in any way?" The doctor asked.

"No. This is the first time we've ever seen him," Hisako replied.

"We checked every nook and cranny of him, but we didn't find any trace of identification on him. No wallet, no school ID, nothing. He's unconscious right now. But something about him is bothering me. You can come and visit if you want," The doctor explained.

"Yes. Thank you, doctor," Hisako said as she and Yun followed the doctor into the recovery room.

The room wasn't much. Just a room full of white walls, a bed, and a few doctor stuff on a counter as far as Yun knew, though she already knew this because she watches a lot of medical shows when nobody's looking. There he was, sleeping and laying comfortably in the hospital bed, with his torn up white gown removed and replaced with a clean white and blue hospital gown. Yun could very slightly see the bandages wrapped around his shoulder upon looking at his collar bone. But what stuck out were his tattoos. All purple tattoos, one on his face, ones all over his left arm, and one on his left hand. She also saw that the bracelets and possibly the anklets haven't been taken off. But even so, the boy looked very peaceful and content in dreamland. Yun couldn't help but smile at his handsome, beautiful sleeping face, even though some parts of his face had band aids on them. Very slowly and gently, she put her hand on his, the one with the purple tattoo on it.

"I'm glad you're alright," Yun whispered very gently and softly so she wouldn't wake him up. Fortunately he didn't. She released his small, tender hand and pulled hers back when the doctor came in.

"If you don't mind, we plan on keeping him overnight for observation," The doctor said.

"Yes. That's fine," Hisako told him.

"Let's wait until tomorrow morning. If he wakes up, I'll ask him some questions and see what I can find. Then we'll decide what to do with him," The doctor said and left the room, leaving Hisako and Yun and the sleeping boy in there. But something inside Yun seemed to be stirring. Something she never felt before.

"Mom...I...I know this sounds crazy, but...I...I want to stay here. Overnight," Yun muttered lucid enough for her mom to hear. Hisako, Lopmon, and Terriermon gasped.

"Overnight? Are you serious, Yun?" Hisako yelped.

"Don't you usually prefer sleeping in your own bed in your own pajamas peacefully?" Lopmon asked.

"Yeah! And what about your bath?" Terriermon asked.

"Well, yes, but...this boy here...I'm the only person he's made contact with since we found him, and...I don't think he'll be all that comfortable surrounded by people he's not familiar with. I know this sounds really weird, but...I don't think I want to leave his side. He did ask for my name and he didn't flail or struggle when I held him. Perhaps maybe he'll be more comfortable with having questions asked if I was around. If you won't allow it, that's fine, but...I wonder how he'd feel...if I wasn't there?" Yun explained.

Hisako was surprised. Terriermon and Lopmon were surprised. Yun had never done something like this before. Yun always prefered taking a bath by 8:00 PM and going to bed by 9:00 PM and not really caring about what happened during that time. Not that Yun's selfish, which she normally isn't. She's just too used to her routine. But now she's actually sacrificing it for the sake of someone else. Hisako couldn't help but admit she had a good point. Plus, Hisako felt proud. Proud of her daughter for putting others before herself, which she normally does but not like this. Then again, there was never a dire circumstance in which she could do something like this. Hisako smiled and kneeled next to Yun.

"Alright. We'll stay. I'll call Teruki and let him know. He might get worried. Do you mind if I tell him the whole story?" Hisako told her.

Yun became happy. She could stay with the boy and get acquainted with him so he'll be a bit more comfortable in sharing information. "Sure. I don't mind. Go ahead."

"Thank you, Yun. You're really something special," Hisako said as she pulled her phone out and began punching in the numbers. Terriermon and Lopmon hopped onto the bed.

"Wow, Yun! I always knew you were a kind and selfless person, but I never thought you would display such audacity! Very commendable! I laud you for your unrelenting kindness!" Lopmon exclaimed happily.

"Me neither. But I guess it's because I'm worried about him," Yun told her.

"You're awesome, Yun! You're willing to do anything to help someone. But I wouldn't like it if I didn't sleep somewhere quiet and peaceful and comfortable!" Terriermon exclaimed.

"Terriermon! Don't say that!" Lopmon scolded.

"Awww, come on!" Terriermon whined a bit.

Yun chuckled at their squabbling, but she couldn't help but feel a little mystified by the boy's presence. Still, even among Hisako's calling Teruki and the squabble going on between her floppy eared friends, he still kept that serene and peaceful face when sleeping. Yun began to wonder what kind of a person he is. Later, she and her floppy eared friends fell asleep by his bed.

Finally, night passed and morning came. The morning sky turned a mixture of light and dark blue, as if the day was waging a war with night trying to bring down it's castle in order to rule it's part of the kingdom. A silly interpretation, yes. But it was getting brighter and brighter. Faint, golden sunbeams permeated the glass window and bestowed themselves upon the sleeping children and Digimon. Yun was the first to wake up, as she always is. She rubbed her green eyes with her hands. Once she got herself up, she couldn't help but question the brevity of the night. Yes, the night felt very short to her. But the boy still looked as innocuous and serene and tender as ever, still having that peaceful face. Yun smiled a bit.

"Good morning," Yun whispered very quietly.

"Good morning..." whispered Lopmon wearily as she got up. Yun was surprised that she just woke up.

"Lopmon..."

"Is he up yet?"

"No. Maybe he will be soon."

"Morning..." Terriermon murmured, his face looking quite weary. Yun and Lopmon chuckled a bit.

"You're not used to sleeping on the foot of a hospital bed, are you, Terriermon?" Yun said.

"Fuuuu...I'm huuungryyyy..." Terriermon murmured again. Yun gently scooped Terriermon up and cradled him into her arms.

"Don't worry. We'll get breakfast soon. I promise," Yun whispered.

"How's he doin'?" Terriermon croaked again.

"He's not awake yet. But maybe-" Yun told him, but was suddenly interrupted by Lopmon.

"Yun! Look!"

Yun turned to look at the boy and...she couldn't believe what she was seeing. The boy's pale blue eyes finally re-opened! Yun, Lopmon, and Terriermon gasped happily upon seeing this. The boy himself looked a bit surprised seeing Yun and those fluffy bunnies next to him. He then looked around the room, not leaving his position. His pale blue eyes, light and blue as the sky, fixated themselves on just about everything in the room. The walls, the ceiling, his bed, Yun, Terriermon, Lopmon, his hands, etc. Then he finally focused his gaze on Yun. He didn't look very surprised upon seeing her face. But Yun is another story entirely. Although she's happy and jubilant with the fact that the boy is alive and well, now that he's looking at her she couldn't help but feel scared inside. She didn't know what to say to him, what do to, how he would react if she were to say or do something, or if he would even remember the fact that he asked for her name when she found him in her arms, injured and possibly near death.

_'Oh no! He's looking right at me! Whaddo I do? Calm down, Yun. Calm yourself. It's okay. It's alright. Just say good morning to him. That's a nice way to start a conversation! Now, say good morning!'_ Yun told herself in the confines of her brain. Once she got a hold of herself, she exhaled a sigh and smiled a bit at the boy.

"Umm...good morning," Yun said gently so she wouldn't scare him. Thankfully it didn't. He didn't really move much at all. All he did was gaze at Yun with a somewhat faraway look in his sky blue eyes.

"Good...morning," The boy said in a somewhat low feminine voice. He doesn't sound pained anymore, and Yun could tell that he hadn't quite hit puberty just yet. Yun didn't know what to say after that. Though oddly enough, the boy did.

"Where...am I?"

"You're in the hospital. The doctors patched up the wound on your shoulder, so you'll be fine. I don't recommend messing with it though."

The next thing he said left Yun flabbergasted.

"Yun..."

"Eh?"

He smiled. "That's thy name...isn't it? Wakamiya Yun," His voice sounded higher and a trifle more pleased. Yun smiled herself.

"You remember! Thank goodness! Well, actually, my real name is Julia, but my friends and family like to call me Yun," Yun explained with a smile, trying to be as kind and bright as possible so she wouldn't make him uncomfortable. Thankfully, he didn't look all that uncomfortable like she expected. In fact, he actually looked quite pleased with the way he's smiling right now.

"That name...it means _"another world,"_ doesn't it?" The boy asked.

"What?" Yun yelped. "Y-Yes! It does! How did you know that? Oh! I'm sorry, I..." Yun exclaimed loudly with surprise at first, but thought her sudden surprised reaction scared him, so she became crestfallen. The boy, however, did not seem phased by this.

"Thou must not worry. I am fine," The boy replied kindly.

But it wasn't his reaction that confused her and Terriermon and Lopmon greatly. What confused her was the way he talked. No child she knew ever talked in such a funny, adult, and EXTREMELY old-fashioned manner. She found it a topic of discussion.

"I...I don't mean to be rude or anything, but...why do you talk like that, referring to yourself as _"ware_(1)_"_ and using words like _"nari_(1)_"_ and those things?" Yun asked, confused. The boy looked at his hand and ruminated.

"I...I don't...know," The boy replied.

"Oh! Ummm...speaking of names, what's yours?" Yun asked. She knew that if she asked this question it'd probably make him feel a little uncomfortable, but what's a better time than now? And besides, she didn't know what to call him, and she didn't want to just call him boy or nameless or those things.

The boy looked down at his hands and pondered and ruminated, his pale sky blue eyes gazing upon his small, tender hands. He became very quiet and pensive. He didn't move from his spot. Yun cocked her head a bit.

"Ummm...you don't have to tell me right now if you don't want to. It's fine. Just take your time," Yun told him reassuringly.

"No. I...I wish to reveal my name to thee," The boy replied. He held his right hand up, about a foot and a half away from his face, as if looking at his body would make him remember.

After a while, something came to him.

"I am...Lu-Luce..."

"Your name's Luce? Isn't that a girl's name?"

"Not my whole name. There's something after it."

Whether he meant his last name or a final syllable in his name she didn't know, but it was likely that it was probably the latter. A few more minutes passed. The boy's mind remained blank. Upon realizing this, he suddenly started to tremble lightly. His eyes became bigger, his breathing a bit more labored, and his hand shook. Yun found this very troubling.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?" Yun asked with worry. There was no way she could ignore this.

"I...I...I...!" The boy tried to croak out his sentence, but he couldn't. His trembling increased, his hand shaking increased, he stopped breathing heavily, but something else stuck out like a sore thumb, and Yun could see it clear as day.

Tears. Big, round tears squirming out of his pale blue eyes.

The boy put his fists in front of his eyes and fell apart.

"I CAN'T REMEMBER!" He screamed sadly and angrily at the same time. Yun was shocked.

"Wha? Why are you-" Yun tried to calm him down, but it seemed the boy wasn't done. He tried to keep himself from wailing loudly so he wouldn't attact unwanted attention.

"I cannot believe this! I'm alive and here in this place, yet I can't even remember my own name! How utterly pathetic of me!" The boy cried out. Yun, not understanding why he would cry over not remembering his own name, pulled his fists from his face and stared into his tear stained face with a tender look in her green eyes.

"Calm down. It's okay. There's no need to cry about it. It happens to a lot of people. You probably have amnesia and lost some of your memories. It's alright," Yun explained gently and kindly. The boy, touched by Yun's dulcet voice and kindly words, finally stopped and decided to wipe the tears off of his face.

"Yes. It appears I overexaggerated. I'm sorry," The boy said.

"It's okay! Oh! I have an idea! Would you mind if I gave you a temporary name?" Yun exclaimed with a smile. This left the boy confused and speechless for a second.

"Thou? Bestow a name upon me?" The boy asked in his old-fashioned talk again. Yun seemed to understand what he said.

"Yep! I don't want to have to call you boy or nameless or all those things. It'd sound kinda bad. Someone has to call you something. Is that okay?" Yun explained. The boy, feeling a bit warmed and peaceful by her presence, smiled at last.

"You have a point. Alright. Bestow upon me a suitable name, if you please," The boy told her.

"Alright! Hmmm...let's see..." Yun crossed her arms and began pondering and ruminating, becoming almost as pensive as the boy was just seconds ago. "Since part of your name is Luce, and it's an Italian name, let's see if there are any boys' names that come to mind. Lucio? No. Luzio? No, that has a Z, not a C. Luciano? Nah. Too Godly...Oh! I know!"

Yun pointed her index finger at the boy.

"Lucero!"

Terriermon, Lopmon, and the boy all cocked their heads to one side in confusion.

"Lucero?" All three of them said in unison?

"Yep! Luce is the Italian word for light, and another Italian name that means light is Chiaro, though that's a very old name. Since you kinda talk old-fashioned, I thought I'd combine those names together. Luce plus Chiaro minus the Chia equals Lucero. Plus it sounds more noble and prince-like. Know that I mean?" Yun explained. Lucero smiled brightly, like a newly blossoming sunflower in a barren land.

"How very interesting! A very suitable temporary name for me. Yes! Lucero it is! I thank thee, Yun, for giving me a name I can love," The boy, finally known as Lucero, exclaimed happily.

Succumbing to pure compulsion, Terriermon leaped out of Yun's arms and in front of Lucero, surprising him and everyone else.

"Hi! I'm Terriermon!" Terriermon exclaimed, raising his paw up and high, making his presence known to the confused Lucero. But after a few seconds, Lucero couldn't help but smile at the bunny. In fact, he tenderly extended his hand out and lifted up Terriermon's right ear. He laughed a bit.

"Long, floppy ears," Lucero muttered cutely as he began playing with Terriermon's ear with his slender fingers. Terriermon's cheeks turned rosy red upon realizing he's being played with by this strange boy. But he smiled too.

"Heeheehee...glad ya like 'em!" Terriermon murmured sweetly.

Seeing that Lucero is not frightened by Terriermon's presence, Lopmon got the mettle to show herself to him as well.

"Good morning, Lucero. I am Lopmon. It's nice to meet you, and I apologize for these odd circumctances that you've been put in," Lopmon told him very politely. Strangely enough, she felt her left ear get lifted up.

"More long, floppy ears," Lucero muttered again. He's being gentle with the two of them so they did not mind, and neither did Yun.

_'Even though he talks Shakespeare, he's still a little kid inside. Come to think of it, he's pretty cute like that,'_ Yun thought as she watched Lucero happily play with her floppy eared friends. They seemed to be putting him at ease, and this reassured Yun greatly. Right when she thought that, Hisako suddenly came in. Right away she noticed Lucero awake.

"Oh! What a surprise. You're awake. Umm...good morning," Hisako said, feeling a little awed by Lucero's presence.

"Hi Mom!" Yun said. Hisako finally smiled.

"I see you two are getting alone great, aren't you?" Hisako said.

"I sure didn't expect this, but yes we are. Mom, this is Lucero!" Yun explained.

"So, Lucero's your name, huh?" Hisako said.

"Well, not really. He says he can't remember his name other than it begins with Luce, so I gave him my own temporary name. He likes it!" Yun explained again.

"Is that so?" Hisako said.

"A thousand salutations to you," Lucero said to her. Even Hisako was taken aback by Lucero's strange speech. A second after that, the doctor came into the room.

"Oh? This is a nice surprise. Sorry, I kinda overheard some of that by accident," The doctor said.

"It's okay. Lucero, this man here is the nice doctor who took care of you and took care of your injury. Don't worry. He won't bite," Yun told him.

So, the doctor decided to gently interrogate Lucero by asking him some basic questions. What was his name? Where did he come from? Does he remember his family? Where does he live? Unfortunately, Lucero couldn't remember anything. No memory of his true name, his birthplace, his family, friends, nationality, absolutely nothing. The doctor dismissed it as amnesia, like Yun speculated.

"I don't see any signs of any head injuries so I speculate that his amnesia might be a symptom of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or caused by some kind of mental or psychological trauma. I wish I had a better idea of what might be wrong with him, but I don't. But based on how he is right now, he seems well enough to leave. But seeing as though he has no memory of his family or where he's from, we have no idea where to put him," The doctor explained.

Yun clutched onto Terriermon and Lopmon, feeling a little crestfallen. She had forgotten about that. She knows that kids who are orphans or have been taken away from their homes have often been put into orphanages or foster care. Sometimes they take good care of them and sometimes they don't, and Yun especially did not want the latter to happen to sweet, innocent little Lucero. She wouldn't want him to be put into the care of strangers, strangers he potentially would show an aversion toward for that matter. But then again, she knew she wouldn't be able to put him in her own house. She managed to do that with Terriermon and Lopmon, but that's because they're Digimon. Digimon normally don't have biological families and are merely packets of data, though Yun never thought to view them as such. It also didn't help that her sister has a very strong aversion and animosity toward anything Yun did or anyone who decided to live with them (then again, Ayaka didn't like anything Yun said or did at all for that matter). Yun could never be able to have Lucero live with her and the family, especially in this economy.

Could she?

Right when that thought went through her head, her father and sister came into the room. Teruki dressed nicely today, in his white work shirt, long brown pants and black shoes. Ayaka had her hair up in a ponytail and wore nothing but a bright pink tank top, very short pale blue shorts, a short-sleeved white sweater, and black shoes with moderately high heels. She didn't look to happy.

"So this is the boy you told me about, Hisako. Now look how handsome he is!" Teruki exclaimed with a smile. Lucero blushed a bit upon hearing those words.

"You drove all the way out here for this? JUST to visit some Amurican brat we don't even know?" Ayaka exclaimed in a maligned voice, which angered Yun.

"Hey! Don't call him a brat! And he's not an American! He doesn't know what he is really," Yun retaliated proudly.

Hisako told him everything, including what the doctor said about what to do with him since he doesn't remember his family. Teruki rubbed his chin with his hand.

"Hmmm...I see what you mean," Teruki said. Ayaka sat on a chair and played with her little cell phone.

"I thought maybe I'd tell you everything so we can discuss what we can do," Hisako told him.

"Alright. That's fine. How about we talk about this in private," Teruki said and lead his wife out of the recovery room. Yun, Lucero, Lopmon, Terriermon, and Ayaka were left alone in the room. Terriermon looked up at Yun as he lay in her arms.

"Yuuuun...I'm hungryyyy..." Terriermon muttered.

"Not to worry. We'll have breakfast soon, I promise. I'm getting a little hungry too. But as they say, good things come to those who wait," Yun told him reassuringly with a smile. Right when she said that, something was thrown at her and fell into Terriermon's paws. Terriermon saw that it's a Rice Krispies bar.

"There's your breakfast," The voice came from Ayaka, who is nonchalantly playing games on her cell phone.

"Yay! Thanks!" Terriermon exclaimed.

"Isn't it yours?" Yun asked.

"Floppy ears number one can have it. I just forgot I had it and didn't feel like eating it," Ayaka explained in a sharp tone. But sharp as it was, Yun smiled.

"Thanks, Oneechan," Yun whispered, but Ayaka just kept focusing on her game.

"You're not gonna have something?" Ayaka asked.

"Nah. I'll wait til I get home. I'll grab a banana and some yogurt," Yun replied as she watched Terriermon happily munch on his Rice Krispies bar. Lopmon and Lucero were too busy playing with each other. Yun didn't mind, and Terriermon didn't mind either. He's just happy with being with his human partner and with finally having breakfast after so many growls coming from his tiny stomach. After about 15 minutes, Hisako and Teruki came into the room with smiles on their faces.

"Girls? We've been talking, and...I know this may sound strange, but starting today, this boy here, Lucero, will be living with us," Teruki said.

Ayaka dropped her phone. Lucero dropped Lopmon, though she's still on the bed so she's okay. Yun's hands dropped to her sides. Their jaws all fell to the floor.

"WHAAAAT?" All three kids yelled in perfect unison, though with different moods. Ayaka with absolute dismay, Yun with absolute joy, and Lucero with absolute confusion. Lucero was the first to speak.

"By what reason doth make thee decide to take me into thy home?" Lucero exclaimed, with confusion in his pale blue eyes.

Right when he spoke, everyone was rendered silent and they got strange looks on their faces.

_"Whuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut?"_ Hisako, Teruki, and Ayaka muttered.

"He-He wants to know why you're taking him in," Yun explained.

"YOU **_CANNOT_** BE SERIOUS!" Ayaka screamed angrily, making Yun and Lucero cover both of their ears.

"Now now. Please, calm down and let us explain. See, Yun and Hisako are the ones who saved this young boy's life, and as you can see he and Yun have bonded quite nicely. I think this'll be a nice opportunity for him to repay Yun for her noble attempt," Teruki explained.

"How so?" Yun asked. Teruki winked sweetly.

"That's a secret!" Teruki said. Yun felt a little cheated, but she's extremely happy that the unexpected happened. She leaped onto Lucero.

"Yaaaaay! Isn't that great, Lucero? You get to live with us!" Yun exclaimed as she hugged him.

"I live with thee?" Lucero asked.

"Well, at least until you've gotten your memory back, my boy. Plus...hehehehehe...to tell the truth, I've always wanted a son! Don't get me wrong, I love my two girls with all my heart!" Teruki replied.

"But where will Lucero sleep? And what about clothes?"

"We still have the guest room nobody uses, and we'll take care of all that," Teruki explained. Yun was just so happy she couldn't help but squeal like a fangirl. Lucero felt happy too. Terriermon and Lopmon were happy.

But only one person among the family is NOT happy.

"THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS! You let this little brat here keep those filthy animals and now you're letting her keep some Amurican brat we don't even know?" Ayaka screamed angrily as she stomped in front of her parents. Her breath actually went up Teruki's nostrils. Yun, Lucero, Lopmon, and Terriermon all covered their ears.

"It's not for forever, Ayaka. It'll only be until he gets his memory back. It'll probably take a while, but-" Teruki tried to explain, but Ayaka is just too red in the face and choleric to be reasoned with.

"THIS IS EXACTLY WHY I HATE THE BOTH OF YOU! YOU'RE ALWAYS TAKING HER SIDE AND NOT MINE! What did I do to deserve this?" Ayaka exclaimed.

"Hey! That's enough! We're not-" Hisako tried to calm her down, but Ayaka is just not having it. Somehow, Lucero got the mettle to speak.

"Why art thou mad?"

Ayaka immediately turned around and pointed to him angrily.

"YOU! You're not part of this family, you anorexic Shakespeare talkin' Amurican brat! Stay out of our life!" Ayaka screamed.

"He didn't do anything!" Yun exclaimed.

"AND YOU! Quit talkin' like you're the center of attention around here! You always think you can get everything you want just because you're Mom and Dad's favorite! You'll always be nothing but a self-centered, spoiled little brat! Quit acting like you're so great, you retard!"

"Ayaka! We don't favor her over you! You know that!" Hisako exclaimed.

"YES YOU DO! Don't deny it! You know what? Just forget it! You never want to hear my opinions on anything anyhow! I'm driving myself home! I'm taking your car, Dad!" Ayaka screamed and stomped out of the living room. And that was that. Everyone was rendered silent. Lucero got out of the bed.

"Perhaps...this is not a good idea. My being here will only make Ayaka's anger grow stronger. I will find my own way. I thank thee for saving my life," Lucero said as he stood up and proceeded to walk out of the room. But Hisako stopped him.

"Why? Why doth thou stop me? Won't I be a burden?" Lucero asked. Hisako kneeled before him.

"Lucero...I don't want you living on the streets. I don't think you'll be able to survive in this world all alone. And besides, I saw you and Yun getting along great. I think having you around will be beneficial for both Yun and Ayaka," Hisako explained. But Lucero still wasn't losing his concern for the family.

"But...thou saw her anger. I'm not of thy family. I cannot-" Lucero tried to explain, but Hisako put a finger over his mouth.

"Yes, she has been angry. But she's been like that for a long time. There's a good reason why she's like that, and it's NOT because of you or Yun or anything. Unfortunately, we're not able to help her with what she's going through and it makes me sad. But...I want to prove to her that not everyone in the world is against her. I think you might be able to help her realize that. Also...Yun likes you a lot. I think you might be a very good influence on Yun."

"In what way?"

"You'll see, sweetheart."

Soon, they checked out and drove back home. Hisako took Teruki (since his car got taken by Ayaka), Yun, Lopmon, Terriermon, and Lucero back home. Terriermon hopped around merrily, happy to be home. They all made themselves a decent breakfast (which Terriermon and Lucero were especially happy about, Lucero because he never had breakfast before and was happy to have a full stomach) and settled back into their house. A few hours passed, and everyone's been working on having Lucero settle in. Teruki laid out a futon he saved in the guest room's closet, Hisako removed some extraneous items from there, and Yun, Lopmon, and Terriermon kept Lucero occupied. Before they arrived home, they stopped at a small store and got some decent clothes for Lucero. Right now he's wearing an orange T-shirt and blue jean shorts. Yun could see the tattoos on his left arm and leg, but she chose not to talk about them.

"So they're Digimon?" Lucero asked.

"Yep! They're my little cuties!" Yun exclaimed as she hugged her little floppy eared friends.

"And thou ist from the Digital World?"

"Yep, we are!" Terriermon and Lopmon exclaimed in unison.

"Why doth thou come here?"

"We don't know," Lopmon said. "But we like it here nonetheless. I think you'll like it here in this house too."

Lucero smiled a bit.

Right as they were about to further engage in conversation, the phone rang.

_Ring ring ring ring_

The sound was so sudden that it made Lucero jump with surprise.

"Wha-What was that?" Lucero exclaimed.

"Sorry! It's the phone. I'll get it!" Yun told him and ran for the phone.

"Hello?"

_"Yun-chan! It's me, Otoya!"_

"Oh, hi Otoya-chan! What's up?"

_"The Digimon Brigade meeting, that's what! I'm at the park right now!"_

"Oh! The Digimon Brigade meeting? That's right! Awwww! Sorry, I ended up forgetting, even though I set it up. So much went on last night!"

_"Well, it's okay. Not to worry. You still have time. I'm the only one here right now."_

"Are the others there yet?"

_"Not yet. They'll probably be here soon though."_

"Thanks for reminding me. I really am stupid, aren't I?"

_"Of course not! Everybody forgets stuff! It happens to all of us."_

"Alright. I'll be there in a bit! I promise! Bye!"

Yun hung up the phone and ran in front of Terriermon, Lopmon, and Lucero, all of whom are looking at her with confused faces.

"Why art thou in such a hurry, Yun?" Lucero asked.

"Lucero! Wanna go somewhere with me?" Yun said.

"Uhh...sure," Lucero said. That's when Lopmon's ears rose into the air.

"Oh! Our Digimon Brigade meeting is today, isn't it? We should get going!" Lopmon exclaimed.

Yun told her parents that she and Lucero are going to the park for a bit. They held no objection toward Yun's request and let her go, much to Yun's shock and joy. She took Lucero by the hand and led him outside of the house. Terriermon and Lopmon followed from behind. As they walked, Lucero gazed at the scenery around him, absorbing everything with his large pale blue eyes. The trees, the houses, the birds flying and singing in the sky like the songstresses they are, the small squirrels running around and climbing trees, kids playing, cars and bikes and motorcycles going by, everything. Everything looked so new to him, but he slowly grew to like the things he saw. After a while, they finally arrived at the park. Otoya and her Digimon, Labramon, were sitting on a bench.

"Otoya-chan! Labramon!" Yun exclaimed as she approached them.

"So, you've arrived!" Labramon said in a somewhat nerdy boy voice.

"Glad you're here!" Otoya said. Then she noticed Lucero.

"Yun-chan? Who's this?" Otoya asked, confused.

"Oh! I'll introduce you two! This is my new friend, Lucero. He's the reason why so much went on last night. Mom and I found him near death in front of Wawa last night and we stayed by his side in the hospital. He's living with us now. And don't worry, he found out about the Digimon but he's cool with it! Lucero, this is my friend Jounouchi Otoya-chan," Yun explained kindly.

"Nice...to meet thee," Lucero said.

"Hm? What's with the Shakespeare talk?" Otoya asked.

"No one knows. Not even him," Yun replied.

"Do you have a Digimon?" Labramon asked.

"I...I do not," Lucero replied.

"EH? Why is he referring to himself with _"ware"_ instead of _"boku_(1)_"_ or _"ore_(1)_"_?" Otoya asked.

"No one knows," Yun replied again.

Soon, everyone else arrived. Minako, Kosuke, Melody, Rena, Riku, and even little Aria arrived! Right when she laid eyes on Yun, Aria dashed toward her with the sweetest and happiest of smiles on her face.

"Yuuuuuun-chaaaan!" Aria exclaimed as she leaped onto Yun and squeezed her.

"Aria-chan! You came!" Yun cried out as she hugged her friend.

"Yun? Who are they?" Melody asked, pointing to both Aria and Lucero.

"Oh! Everyone, this is Yukino Aria-chan! I met her earlier this week, and she has a Digimon too! She's a part of the Digimon Brigade now!" Yun explained.

"H-Hi..." Aria muttered a little shyly.

"Hiya! I'm MarineAngemon!" Aria's partner, MarineAngemon, said.

"And this boy here is Lucero. He's my new friend! Yeah, he knows about the Digimon, but he's cool with it! Don't worry!" Yun explained again.

"H-Hi..." Lucero muttered shyly, much more so than Aria.

"Yun-chaaaaan! Wan!" Little Salamon hopped in front of Yun and happily rubbed against her feet.

"Salamon!"

"I've missed you, wan!" Salamon exclaimed in a cute voice. Yun smiled, but oddly enough, it was Lucero whom she managed to charm with her sweet appearance and cute voice. Lucero kneeled before her and very gently picked her up and cradled her in his arms with a dorky smile all over his face. Salamon saw this, but she felt no fear. She could sense that Lucero has no intention of harming her. In reaction to his, she rubbed her head against him.

"Hello! Wan!" Salamon said.

"Puppy..." Lucero muttered as he caressed Salamon without a care in the world.

"God, he reminds me of you when we were little," Kosuke said.

"I know, right?" Yun said.

But the meeting had to get started. Yun managed to get Lucero and Aria acquainted with everyone first. Thankfully they got some good reception and a warm welcome, though they both felt a little shy. Yun decided to have Lucero play with the Digimon so he can get better acquainted with them. He became quite popular with them. Once he began playing with them, Yun started the meeting.

"Now! Let's begin, shall we? So...how've you all been?" Yun said.

"Fine," Kosuke said.

"Anyway, now onto business! Does anyone else happen to find it strange that whenever we fight bad Digimon they ALWAYS have some kind of black hexagon symbol on them?" Yun explained.

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing," Melody said.

"Do ya think maybe someone's behind all this?" Riku asked.

"Well, I certainly don't believe this is all one giant coincidence, so I speculate that someone IS putting those dark symbols on the Digimon and making them run havoc," Minako explained as she started punching keys into her laptop.

"What do those things look like again? I forgot," Otoya said. Minako turned her laptop around to show everyone the hexagon.

It's deep black. Black as the raven's wing, and looking very ominous too. In the middle of it is a black skull with white tilted half circles for eyes. It doesn't have a mouth. At the corners of the inside parts of the hexagon are black crescents whose tips are pointing to the other corners. In between those crescents are diamonds.

"Ugh! It looks like those things you see in that one horror movie!" Rena exclaimed.

"Yes. I haven't battled many Digimon lately, but from what I can gather, any Digimon who has this symbol implanted on their bodies has glowing red eyes and displays psychotic and destructive behavior, and that they can be destroyed with basic Digimon attacks, though it takes a few times for it to totally disappear," Minako explained.

"Wow! You're on fire today, Mina-chan! I'm impressed. That's EXACTLY what I wanted to say!" Yun exclaimed, praising Minako's explanation and research.

"So in short, someone's making the Digimon go wild and we ought to find out who it is and teach him or her a lesson or two!" Yun edicted.

"Yay! An evil enemy we can fight! Yahoo!" Riku cheered and got up from the gazebo seat.

"Riku! Calm down! Don't get too fired up just yet," Rena told him.

"Awww! Now you're throwing water on my bliss!" Riku groaned sadly.

"By the way...raise your hand if your Digimon has digivolved in the past week or so!" Yun explained and raised her hand.

Rena, Riku, and Melody raised their hands. Everyone else didn't. Kosuke looked rather perturbed by this.

"Well, if yours haven't yet, that's okay! It'll happen soon! Well, that concludes today's meeting!" Yun clasped her hands together as she made her fiat. Minako looked confused.

"What? That's it?" Minako asked.

"We still have a ton of time left," Otoya said.

"I kinda wanted to talk about the hexagons only this weekend. But we can still hang out or play with the Digimon if you want!" Yun said.

"She has a point," Riku said.

"Okay! We'll stay for a bit longer!" Otoya said.

So, Yun got to hang out with her friends and the Digimon. Kosuke sat in the gazebo by himself. The Digimon are quite lively and energetic today, especially Salamon, Terriermon, Coronamon, and Patamon. Salamon kept exploring and looking at everything with a sparking curiosity in her lavendar violet eyes, big and bright. Minako often had a hard time keeping up with the spritely and lively little pup, but she enjoyed being with her little friend nonetheless. Lopmon taught Lucero how to make little flower wreaths, put some on their heads, and laughed cutely and heartily. Yun smiled at this. Otoya played frisbee with Labramon, who's very much enjoying it. Riku and Coronamon are basically running all over the place. Rena and Lunamon danced together. All of a sudden, Yun found herself with Patamon.

"You okay, Yun?" Patamon asked in a sweet little boy voice.

"I'm fine," Yun replied. She couldn't help but notice how big and bright Patamon's chocolate brown eyes are. The little orange winged animal hopped onto Yun's shoulder with a curious look on his face.

"You've been friends with Kosuke since childhood, right?" Patamon asked.

"Yep! But lately we haven't interacted much. Not that it's his fault, just...y'know what I mean. How did you know?" Yun replied.

"Kosuke told me. And it's alright. You don't look like a mean person so I get what you mean.

"Do you like Kosuke?"

"Of course I do! I love having him as my partner. He's calm and collected and always does what he can to help people and get by in life. I do kinda wish I could do more for him. I wish I could digivolve..."

Yun stroke Patamon's wing gently with a sympathetic smile.

"Don't worry. I'm sure you'll digivolve soon. Your time will come."

"Yeah. You're probably right. Kosuke's alone, so wanna come see him with me? Maybe we can talk together."

"Sure!"

Patamon and Yun walked to the gazebo where Kosuke continued to sit by himself. They saw that he's writing in a little blue notebook, the size of his hand, and writing with a pen with black ink.

"Hi Kosuke!" Patamon exclaimed.

"Hi Patamon. Hi Yun," Kosuke replied quietly.

"How've you been?" Patamon asked.

"Fine," Kosuke replied again.

"What'cha writin'?" Yun asked. Patamon came closer to Kosuke so he could see what he's writing.

"A haiku. Wanna see?"

"Sure!"

Kosuke showed Yun and Patamon his finished haiku.

**Heaven**

_Take me to heaven,_  
><em>O kind angel with white wings,<em>  
><em>So I can be free!<em>

Patamon and Yun were stunned.

"Wow! That's beautiful!" Patamon said.

"Yeah! You're great at writing poems!" Yun exclaimed.

"Thank you," Kosuke said.

"But Kosuke said it's a haiku," Patamon said, confused.

"Yes, but a haiku is a type of poem," Yun explained.

"Oh! I get it now. Thanks!" Patamon said.

Yun decided to leave Patamon and Kosuke alone since they suddenly started palavering amongst themselves, Patamon happily and Kosuke rather apathetically, but she found it better than nothing. Then Yun found Labramon sitting in front of her. He looked quite striking with his cream colored fur, his magenta ears and tail, his gold claws, and his casual dog like posture.

"Hello," Labramon said politely.

"Hi," Yun replied.

"You're Otoya's friend, right?"

"Yes."

"Come sit with me."

"Sure."

"Otoya...talks about you a lot."

"Really? I didn't know that."

"Is that so? I suppose you don't hear compliments from people your age very often, now do you?"

"Not very, but it's alright. You're quite the polite little dog, aren't you?"

"We Labramon are always faithful to our partners, no matter who it is, and I don't mean that in a master and slave like way either."

"I can see why. Are you happy to be Otoya's partner?"

"Yes, I am. She's a nice girl. Friendly, clever, and optimistic."

"Good. She really is nice. She's certainly helped me in the past year I've known her. You're lucky to be with Otoya. You would absolutely hate having people like Nenji or Seiko as your partner."

"Are they bad people?"

"Yes, they are. They're constantly picking on me!"

"I certainly don't see why. I don't see any reason for them to pick on someone as nice as you. Of course, humans are weak creatures. They succumb easily to emotions that run wild as they see fit. But not all. I don't believe all humans are truly bad. I never have."

"That's good to know. Labramon...take care of Otoya-chan, will you?"

"I will do anything in my power to help her to thank her for bringing me up, even if I have to put my life at stake."

"Yun-chan! Labramon! Come hang with us!" Otoya exclaimed and called the two of them over.

Everyone played and played until it was time for everyone to go. Everyone got to know their Digimon better thanks to this meeting. Yun's dad picked her and Lucero up. They went to a clothes store to find some clothes for Lucero. They thought it was going to be hard, but it turned out to be a lot easier than they expected. Lucero certainly isn't one whose forte is fashion, but he immediately knew that he would NOT want to dress like a gangster and have chains sticking out from his pants. Also surprisingly good enough, boys' clothes were on sale today. Teruki got some good deals and they left the store with their hands full of bags. They got shirts, shorts, pants, and some pajamas for Lucero. He sort of felt a bit awkward, having these kind people do all these things for him, but he accepted them anyway since he's growing to like being with them. Soon, Lucero's room is finally ready and he settled in without difficulty. There isn't much except for a futon and a closet. But Lucero found that he liked it this way. When night fell, everyone fell asleep. Lucero in his new room, Yun, Terriermon, and Lopmon together in their own room. The weekend had ended, and for Yun, this was one of the quickest and most eventful weekends she ever had. She and her floppy eared friends felt tired with it all, but they had fun.

At around 6:29 AM in the morning, Lucero woke up first. Normally it's Yun who gets up earlier than the rest of the family (if one were to exclude Ayaka who only does it to get ready for school). Ayaka had already left for the bus stop down the sidewalk, so Lucero was left all alone. He wore nothing but a sleeveless white T-shirt and a pair of soft black shorts. His gold bracelets and anklets were still on him, and so were his tattoos. He has tattoos practically all over the left side of his body. He found it rather strange that the house is so quiet and halcyon, but he found this a good opportunity to do some exploring. He looked around the house, taking in every single aspect of the house. The dining room with it's table and chairs and place mats, the living room and it's TV and couches and dark blue rug, the kitchen and it's counters, cupboards, refrigerator, and everything in them, and the basement and it's TV, couches, odds and ends, and what caught the innocuous and innocent boy's curiosity the most, the white table literally FULL of art supplies. A plastic box full of old crayons, three boxes of used colored pencils, the voluminous amount of drawings stacked up on the table, the unused paper on a chair that's yet to be used, etc. Lucero looked at the drawing that's currently sitting in front of him. It's a colored pencil drawing of Terriermon, Lopmon, and their de-digivolved forms. It didn't look finished just yet, but Kokomon and Gummymon were colored in their respective colors: light pink and pale green. Lucero couldn't help but take note of how detailed and cute they looked in that drawing. He wanted to look at the other drawings carefully stacked up on the other side of the round white table, but considering how scrupulously they were stacked, he didn't want to mess up the pile, so he ambled back upstairs. He wasn't scared of the basement at all. To him, it looked like the kind of place he'd like to hang out whenever he pleased. Yun is probably using it for just that purpose. There are two other rooms in the basement, the computer room and the storage room where the sub pump is, but Lucero didn't go in those rooms at all.

Back in the kitchen he went. Once he quietly closed the door behind him, he noticed something thin and black coming from the cupboard that's on top of the counter that separates the dining room and the kitchen. He very quietly tip toed in front of it and gently opened the door. The thin black thing is actually a strap of leather attached to an old, worn down video camera. Small, but it was big enough to be carried like a stuffed animal with both hands. Lucero put the strap back into the cupboard, but one of his thick gold bracelets knocked something over. He picked it up. It's a small, palm-sized, greyish cassette tape. Much to his surprise, there's something written on it. It read _'Early Intervention, Session 31, 1/8/03'_ written in black ink. Next to the big pile of other cassette tapes is an even bigger black VHS tape. He gently took the big tape and, remembering that there's a DVD/VCR player in the living room, took both of them and went there. He pulled the bottom part of the big tape, gently slid the cassette tape inside, turned on the TV, turned the volume down with the remote so he wouldn't disturb the others who are sleeping, adjusted the settings, and very gently slid the tape into the VCR slot. How he managed to know all of this and do this, nobody knows. Not even the boy himself. Lucero sat in the middle of the living room, about six feet from the TV so he wouldn't stare deep into it and so his eyes won't hurt, and watched the footage play.

It looked shaky at first, but then it turned into a moving picture featuring a young girl in a room full of toys and a young lady with a ponytail. Lucero could see the white numbers at the corner of the screen. They're the same as the date on the tape. 1/8/03. January 8th, 2003. Soon, sounds began to be heard from the TV.

_"Okay...go!"_ Much to his surprise, that voice came from Teruki. The little girl and the lady sat at a little round table with three fruits on it. An apple, a banana, and an orange. The lady held a picture of an apple in front of the girl's face.

_"Yun-chan? Show me the apple, please,"_ The lady said in a kindly voice. Lucero was shocked. This little 2 and a half year old girl in the video is Yun? At first he couldn't believe it, but after getting a closer look at her brown hair and green eyes, he became convinced that it was her. Little Yun stared at the table and the things on it for about a minute. Then she picked out the apple and showed it to the lady.

_"Right! Good job, Yun-chan!"_ The lady rejoiced with a smile, which made Yun happy.

_"Whee!"_ Yun exclaimed cutely and happily.

Lucero became absolutely entranced by the video. The more he saw footage of Yun playing in the little room with the lady and doing simple tasks, the more and more he noticed that something about this small version of Yun was just vastly different from the Yun who saved him from death two nights ago. The answer became lucid once he heard Yun's quiet singing. Not the Yun from the video.

"Oh, the million points of light.  
>Oh, the many lights in the sky.<br>Oh, how they light the night sky.  
>Oh, they are called stars.<p>

They shine and illuminate each other,  
>As if they're affirming each other's-"<p>

Yun, draped in her pink pajamas, stopped singing when she saw Lucero sitting in the living room absorbed into the TV.

"Lu-Lu-Lu-Lucero! Wha-What are you...?" Yun tried to ask why he was up so early when she noticed the video playing. Now, the video showed a toddler Yun playing a puzzle game with her mom. Even Yun became curious.

"Is that...me? From when I was little?" Yun asked. As if she wasn't shocked enough, she began to hear the sound of sniveling. And it came straight from Lucero.

Lucero's watching the screen...with tears pouring from his eyes!

"It's different..." Lucero muttered, lucid enough for even Yun to hear it.

"What's different?" Yun asked.

"Thy smile...in here, thou is happy! Happy to be surrounded by kind people who love thee and care about thee! The purest smile I've ever seen! But now...thy smile is different! Thy smile now is more hardened than free!" Lucero exclaimed with a dejected look on his face. Yun was becoming even more confused.

"Ummm...exactly what do you-" Yun was about to ask him what he meant, but Lucero averted his gaze from the TV and now locked eyes onto Yun. He stood up and approached Yun with his hands in the air.

"I shall recover thy smile and see to it's return!" Lucero edicted as he approached Yun with a tearless look on his face and proceeded to...

Pinch her cheeks.

"Whuh? Whuh?" Yun was confused, but Lucero stretched her cheeks out and apparently was not giving up. He ended up doing it so hard that Yun fell to her knees.

"Whut are yuh doin' Lushewo? Git offa meh!" Yun tried to push the ambitious little boy off of her, but he wasn't going to be giving up. But then he stopped and got a good look at Yun's face as he stretched her tender cheeks out. He finally let them go and sat on his knees in front of Yun. But after that...he suddenly let out a laugh.

"Thou hast a funny face!" Lucero exclaimed through his laughter, but Yun was all the more confused.

"Ummm...I don't mean to be rude or anything, but...what do you mean when you say my smile is more hardened now than free?" Yun asked with a confused look.

"In the screen, playing with the lady and thy parents, thou is happy. Happy, innocent, carefree, and without a care in the world! Free of all restraints and sadness and tears! That is the smile I yearn to see on everyone's faces, including thee!" Lucero explained, moving his arms and hands around like he's acting out a Shakespeare play to match his old-fashioned dialogue.

"If you put it that way...considering the date on the video I was around 2 and a half then, and I don't think I really knew about hardship or sadness way back then," Yun told him.

"Hardship, yes. I can see it now. As time passed, thy smile became hardened by the wickedness of others. They refused to accept thy presence and smile, and made life hard for thee. Thou wishes to be as happy as thou were back then, no? But thou cannot because of the wicked ones!" Lucero explained again.

Yun was absolutely flabbergasted. It was true that she had experienced hardship in her life a lot lately. Not just because of the volatile and knave Nemoto Nenji and the catty and gossipy Shimizu Seiko, but because of other things going on in her life. Yun often felt as though anything she learned and did meant absolutely nothing to other people. She had been taught by others how to say simple things to people, like thank you or sorry or please give me and to do things like share and play with others. But when the occasions came, their responses were NOT what Yun ever expected at all. She was taught that being good brought good things to her, but when she put them to use, the people who responded either yelled at her or pushed her away. It was like that even with her own family and she often felt cheated. But even so, she is happy to have Lopmon and Terriermon in her life because they didn't treat her that way at all. Lucero too, even though they only knew each other for about two measly nights. But even so, how could this boy have known that so easily? Did he read her mind with his wild imagination and speculation? Or perhaps he isn't who he really claims to be? It's around here that she saw Terriermon and Lopmon walk into the living room.

"Oh! Here you two are! I had wondered where you had gone!" Lopmon exclaimed. But it seemed Yun didn't hear her.

"Good morning, Yun and Lucero!" Terriermon exclaimed with a smile, but it seemed they didn't hear him either.

"Oh! Speaking of purity, that song thou hast sang just now? What is the name of it?" Lucero asked. He sung the first two stanzas of the song in front of her.

"You heard me?" Yun asked.

"Yes! I heard thee!" Lucero said.

"Oh! That song? It's the song from Yun's dream!" Terriermon said.

"Dream? What dream?" Lucero asked.

"Yun's been having the same dream lately. Where she's in this beautiful place and she sees some people singing a song," Terriermon explained.

"It is true," Lopmon backed him up. Lucero's pale blue eyes widened.

"That dream...I hast had it too!" Lucero edicted with a smile.

"What? You have?" All three of them (Yun, Lopmon, and Terriermon) exclaimed in perfect unison.

"The song...I know it well," Lucero said. After that, he sang the song.

"Oh, the million points of light.  
>Oh, the many lights in the sky.<br>Oh, how they light the night sky.  
>Oh, they are called stars.<p>

They shine and illuminate each other,  
>As if they're affirming each other's existence.<br>But one star shines purely and brilliantly.  
>That star is you."<p>

He only sang the first half of the song, but because Yun remembered the lyrics so well his rememberance of the song is pretty accurate, and she held no objection toward his claim. But there was one thing Yun knew for sure: Lucero doesn't exactly have the best singing voice. Especially when singing in a low pitch. His voice, while still young, sounds a bit harsh sounding. Whether it was because of puberty or a possible symptom of vocal chord paralysis she did not know. Even so, Lopmon and Terriermon clapped for him.

"Yes! Those are the exact lyrics!" Lopmon exclaimed with a smile.

"But your voice...isn't all that good," Terriermon said. Upon hearing this, Lopmon smacked Terriermon in the head with her paw.

"Hey! What was that for?" Terriermon yelled with pain.

"How dare you say something like that in front of Lucero? You hurt his feelings! People don't like hearing that they're not good at something! It makes them feel sad and worthless!" Lopmon scolded in a stringent tone, which made Terriermon feel a little small.

"Okay! I'm sorry! I won't say it again!" Terriermon wailed. Yun and Lucero couldn't help but laugh.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Yes. I am. Art thou enjoying thyself?"

"I am!...Lucero, remembering lost memories can take a long time. Are you sure you're going to be okay with this?"

"Yun...I shall wait for them to come at my own pace. Also...we have only known each other for two nights, and thou art an eccentric girl, but...I feel that I will like thee real well!"

And thus began the addition of a brand new member of the Wakamiya family...but they had no idea what was about to come.

Author's Note: Hey everyone! My God it is sooooooooo HOT! I wish it'd cool off already! Thankfully it won't be so bad next weekend. That's Otakon weekend! Hooray! And yes, Makoto Shinkai's newest movie, Hoshi no Ou Kodomo (Children Who Chase Lost Voices From Deep Below), is gonna screen on Saturday at 10:00 AM! Yay! My dad and I are gonna get there real early so I can see it! I better go now. I'll see you all in the next chapter! Bye-bee!

Footnotes:

1. Lucero talks in a very biblish dialect similar to how Lopmon talks in the Japanese version of Digimon Tamers. Lucero refers to himself as "ware", which is a very old form of "I", instead of using "boku", the normal masculine self-reference term, "ore" the very boastful masculine self-reference term, or even "watashi" the neutral gender self-reference term. He also ends some of his sentences with "nari" or "yue", which are also biblish talk. The other characters think he talks like characters in Shakespeare's works, like MacBeth or Hamlet, since they haven't been exposed to biblish dialect in their generation.


	9. Dog Eat Dog

Author's Note: Hey everyone! How are you all doing? I got back from Otakon yesterday and I had a blast! The best part? I got to see the special US screening of Makoto Shinkai's Hoshi wo Ou Kodomo!...and it was just spectacular and awesome and beautiful! I loved it! I can't wait to own it on DVD when it gets licensed! Plus I'm gonna go to the get-together with my friends next Sunday! I can't wait for that either! I guess I better stop babbling and start working on the new chapter of this. Everyone, I present to you all Digimon: A Seraphic Tale chapter nine! Oh! In case you guys get confused, this chapter begins on the same morning as the end of chapter eight.

EPISODE 9: Dog Eat Dog (or Cat)

Omori Minako sat on the deck in her backyard on a fine, breezy and halcyon morning, looking at the garden from afar and holding her rectangle-shaped cell phone up into the air. In truth, she's trying to take a picture of the garden with all of it's white lilacs and frail periwinkles and tiny violets and lively buttercups. She stood on the porch since she often got the best view of the garden patch from there and tried to angle her cell phone camera in JUST the right way so she can get a nice picture of the whole thing. Salamon is running around, exploring and looking at everything her violet eyes laid their curious and bright-eyed gaze on. Finally...

_Click!_

The camera flashed and a good picture of the garden finally formed on her cell phone. She ran to the patio table, uploaded the picture onto a web page through her cell phone, re-accessed it on her laptop, and saved it in a folder entitled _'Mina's Pictures'_ in the top left corner of her desktop, which is decorated with a very colorful and pretty wallpaper featuring a winged unicorn galloping among fluffy white clouds and underneath a beautiful arching rainbow in all of it's myriad colors. It's silver mane looked as if a gentle breeze was caressing it and making the ends of it's hair fly freely without a care in the world. Minako's semi-long blonde ponytail bounced around whenever she ran around or skipped along merrily, with the lavendar colored ribbon giving it a nice sense of style and flair, though Minako was never really the type who cared about fashion. She just simply liked putting her hair up with that particular ribbon. Today she looked particularly nice in a new choice of raiment. Today she is wearing a sleeveless light purple top with three small flowers sewn on the bottom part along with a long sleeved light green hoodie with a zipper, light blue jean shorts, and a dark purple choker with a silver peace sign on it. She is also wearing white shoes and purple socks. Her purple digivice is right next to her laptop.

Her pictures have uploaded successfully. She puts them in her folder and saves them. A second later, she notices Salamon hopping around and happily sniffing the flowers in the garden. Minako noticed her little tail wagging sweetly, her little cheeks becoming a cute rosy pink color, her little paws gently touching the grass, her little floppy ears swinging back and forth, and her little black nose sniffing the scent of the flowers. Minako found this a nice photo opportunity. She got her cell phone out again, stood on the porch, and tried to angle her phone so she could get Salamon and the flowers she's happily sniffing. She got her perfect angle and...

_Click!_

"Wan!"

Not only did Minako get her nice picture, the sound of the click and flash was enough to frighten Salamon a bit. She looked at Minako who is looking at the picture on her phone.

"Mina-chan! What was that sound just now?" Salamon asked, sounding rather startled. Minako noticed this.

"Oh! Did I frighten you, Salamon? I'm sorry! I took a picture of you with my phone. Wanna see?" Minako replied with her phone in hand.

"Didn't you say phones are used for talking to people?"

"Yes, but new technology has allowed them to do other things as well, like take pictures, send computer messages and record videos! Here, I took a picture of you just now. See?" Minako explained while searching her phone for the picture she took of Salamon. She found it and showed it to the little cream colored puppy.

Salamon was quite surprised, seeing herself in a little square sniffing the white lilacs happily and without a care in the world. She found herself quite happy seeing it.

"Wow! That's me!"

Minako smiled.

"I just had to take a picture of you with those flowers," Minako said.

Then, a good idea popped into Salamon's head like a baby chick hatching from it's egg.

"Wan! Wan! Mina-chan! Take another picture of me! Please?" Salamon importuned sweetly while hopping up and down like an excited little kindergarten girl wanting a snack after doing a task correctly. Minako simply couldn't refuse those rosy cheeks and puppy dog eyes.

"Alright. Stand right here if you will. Don't move," Minako said as she placed Salamon onto a part of the grass, hoping to get a nice picture out of her from that spot. Thankfully it wasn't hard for her to find the right angle because Salamon looked fine standing perfectly straight with her sweet smile. Then, out of the blue...

_Click!_

Minako got her picture.

"Did you get it?"

"I did! Look!"

Salamon saw the picture of herself.

"Ohhh! You did it! Nice! Wan!" Salamon squealed happily and rubbed herself against Minako's legs. Minako decided to pet her.

"You're such a sweet little thing," Minako muttered as she rubbed her hand against the adorable puppy's soft head of cream colored fur. Then she went back to the patio table and uploaded the pictures onto her laptop. Salamon noticed this and leaped onto the table.

"What'cha doing?" Salamon asked curiously and innocently.

"Saving the pictures I took," Minako replied.

"Why?"

"Because I like them. This folder is where I save the pictures I took just for having memories to remember. I'm definitely keeping the ones I took of you."

"Good!"

"See this folder here? The one that says 'Pictures To Edit'? This folder is for the pictures I take just to use for experimenting with."

"What do you mean experiment?"

"Edit them. Mess with them a bit. Crop them on Photoshop."

"What's Photoshop?"

"It's a program that lets you edit your pictures and do whatever you want with them. Sometimes add stuff to them or delete stuff."

"You're not gonna mess with the pictures you took of me, are you?"

"Of course not, silly little pup, you!" Minako teasingly rubbed Salamon's ear and head with her hand to scoff at her inane question. But then she noticed the sun glaring on her screen.

"Aww, no. The sun's in the way. Let's go inside, shall we?"

"Sure! Wan!"

Minako and Salamon left the back yard and ran to Minako's room. Salamon felt happy returning to this peaceful, halcyon place with it's lovely purple wallpaper, soft bed spread, and Minako's perfectly organized book shelf and desks. But there's one area little Salamon realized she hadn't explored just yet: underneath her bed.

Out of pure curiosity and on a complete impulse, she decided to sneak in there. She managed to fit just fine so she didn't get stuck. Much to her surprise though, there's practically nothing underneath her bed!...except for one thing. Salamon krept closer to it to get a closer look. In front of her is a small stuffed animal in the form of a white puppy with long, floppy light brown ears, a big black nose, pink paws, and a yellow ribbon wrapped around it's neck. Salamon sniffed it and noticed that the scent on this little stuffed animal is very different from Minako's scent, which she had become very used to. But nonetheless, she liked the little dog plushie and decided to drag it out from under Minako's bed. She leaped up onto the bed and put the stuffed animal down. Minako had turned around on her spinning chair and noticed Salamon playing with the doll.

"Salamon?" Minako asked.

"Mina-chan? Is this yours? It's really cute!" Salamon exclaimed as she presented the little puppy doll to Minako. Upon seeing it, Minako at first looked a bit uneasy. But after seeing Salamon's innocent face, she forced a smile.

"It used to be, but you can keep it if you want," Minako told her.

"But it's yours, isn't it?"

"No. Not really. I just had it under my bed is all."

"Oh. Okay! Don't worry. I promise I won't rip it up or tear it apart."

Minako smiled at Salamon's sincerity and innocence and went back to packing her books into her black and purple book bag. Yes, even her book bag is purple. She looked down into her bag with a somewhat uneasy look, unbeknownst to Salamon who is happily playing with the dog plushie.

_'That doll...used to be Kiyoshi's,'_ Minako thought to herself as she packed the last of her books into her book bag. Then a voice pulled her out of her reverie.

"Minako! It's time to go! Are you ready yet?"

"Coming mother!" Minako yelled back. This caught Salamon's attention.

"You're going to school again?" Salamon asked.

"Yes. Another long school week," Minako groaned a bit. Today's Monday, so of course a long school was waiting for her and many other kids.

"I wish you didn't have to go. I love playing with you," Salamon told her with a somewhat worried and sad face. Seeing this, Minako put her hand on the little pup and stroke her fur.

"I don't want to go either, but I have to. It's the law. And don't worry, I'll be back. Then we can play for the rest of the day. Now you be good while I'm gone, okay little one?"

"Okay. I promise I'll be good. Wan!"

"That's better. See ya!"

Minako flung her school bag over her back and dashed out for the car, which her mom is driving. It took her to school. Soon, Minako was dropped off at school and her mom Minagi returned. Salamon began to feel a little lonely upon seeing Minako leave, but she knew for a fact that she'd definitely come back. She found the dog plushie after all, so today's the day to play with it.

Salamon, with her violet eyes bright with wonder and curiosity, took the little dog plushie and quietly ambled into the living room. She settled onto the big couch with the plushie next to her and the big window above her as she watched Minako's mother come through the door. Minagi saw Salamon on the couch and thought nothing of it, but she did notice the little puppy plushie with it's long floppy light brown ears, the big black nose and the pink paws. She didn't say anything, so she just walked by. Salamon, seeing her walk by, couldn't help but note how pretty she is with her long blonde curls trailing down to her back, not one of them out of place, her porcelain white skin, and her deep green eyes, like a very deep and vast rain forests. Salamon knew about rain forests because she watched Minako do a project on rain forests and listened to her talk about them. Minagi didn't put her hair up like Minako did, but Salamon didn't really mind one bit. She figured Minagi looked just fine the way she is. But she did notice that Minagi always wore a black and white work suit with maroon stockings and black high heels. Salamon leaped off of the couch and ambled into the dining room, where she saw not just Minagi reading the paper, but Minako's father, Tatsuha, making himself breakfast.

Tatsuha was the person Salamon was the most curious about. A young, lively and spirited man he looks to be, with short light brown hair and violet eyes just like Minako's, only his are smaller. But they definitely have a cheerful and friendly spark in them, like Minako's had a few times. He wore nothing but a short-sleeved pale blue shirt, beige khaki shorts, tall white socks, and light brown shoes that almost seemed to resemble Indian moccasins, with the weird yellow string bows and everything. He's humming a happy little tune to himself while flipping a metal spatula and making pancakes, which, to Salamon, smelled really good. Oh, how she yearned for the pancakes! But she couldn't eat them in front of them because they believe Salamon is a real dog and real dogs can't eat pancakes. Salamon knew this well, and she did not want to cause an uproar by suddenly announcing she's a Digimon, or else the repercussions would be perilous. She kept silent and had to be on a diet consisting of dog food until Minako got back. She didn't hate the dog food, but she didn't find it to her liking either. But she did find Tatsuha to her liking. With his happy demeanor and spirited personality, she couldn't help but want to be around him. On impulse, she rubbed herself against his legs.

"Whoa! Oh, hello there little one! How are you today?" Tatsuha exclaimed. Salamon said nothing. She simply sat down and wagged her tail. Tatsuha, charmed by this, kneeled down and petted her with his big hand.

"Gosh, you're such a cute little thing. No wonder Mina-chan likes you!" Tatsuha said as he stroke the adorable little pup. Then he finished his pancakes, put some maple syrup and berries on them, took them to the dining table, and proceeded to eat. And enjoy it he sure did! How Salamon yearned for those pancakes! Minagi looked up from her newspaper at Tatsuha.

"Tatsuha...do you remember that little doll we got for Kiyoshi two years ago?" Minagi asked in a low and somewhat worried voice. Tatsuha noticed this and swallowed a bite of his pancake.

"Yeah. The little white puppy with the brown ears and the pink paws? I remember that! He sure loved it. Carried it around everywhere he went, he did! It was adorable!" Tatsuha replied.

Now this piqued Salamon's curiosity.

_'Kiyoshi? Who's Kiyoshi?'_ she thought. She knew it was wrong to eavesdrop on their conversation, but she just happened to be there.

"Minako's had it. Did you know that?" Minagi told him.

"No. I didn't. I thought it was in his room the whole time," Tatsuha said.

"You know...Minako hasn't gone in there since he...y'know," Minagi told him again.

"I saw. She doesn't even look at the door, even when she comes home from school. And it's down at the end of the hall! I wonder if she knows that her pretty hair brush is still in there? She hasn't asked where it is and kept on using my old ratty one. Seriously, I need to get rid of that thing!" Tatsuha explained. Minagi put the paper back down on the dining room table.

"Do you think maybe she's trying to force herself to move on? To forget Kiyoshi?"

"Well, kids have different ways of coping with grief. And in regards to forgetting Kiyoshi, nah. I don't think she'd forget about him even for a second. Do you remember how freaked out she was when he went into that big ice cream bowl one time? That sure was pretty funny!"

"Yes. They were close. But not when it happened. Not only that...I can tell she's only keeping up a bold front to make us not worry about her. But I'm still worried that she might-"

"Now Minagi. Don't you dare start thinkin' about that stuff! I hid all the knives, all the over the counter meds, all the razor blades, all the bleaches, and all the weights somewhere safe. Even if she starts thinking about it, she'll never be able to attempt it. I made sure of that! Plus there's no way she'd think about doin' it at school where people will know about it. Minagi...I don't want you to worry. I think Mina-chan understands that we're worried about her and that she needs to move on. I don't want to force her or to give her a hard time about it. Besides, let's be positive! That's the Omori family's motto, isn't it? We just have to believe in our little girl!"

Minagi smiled a bit.

"Yes. You're right, Tatsuha. Sorry I'm such a worrywart."

"Nah. It's alright. After the stuff that happened it's pretty natural to get all worried and scared about what'll happen next."

"But one question...how are you able to endure all of this? Aren't you sad that he-"

"I sure am, dear. I sure miss my boy. But being all sad and depressed and angsty about it isn't going to bring him back. I learned that the hard way long ago. Plus I don't think he'd want me to spend the rest of my life sad and angry at everyone. I should probably tell Mina-chan that when the time's right."

Now Salamon became more and more curious. Questions were running through her head like speeding jellyfish. Who's Kiyoshi? What happened to him? That little stuffed puppy belongs to him? Where is he? Why doesn't Minako go into his room? And what did Minako do that got her parents so frightened and taking such drastic measures to keep her away from those products he mentioned? Is she actually very very sad inside? She couldn't help but wonder. But another place became a topic of exploration: Kiyoshi's room.

She knew that room well. It has a deep mahogany door with a rusty gold knob on it and a small, childish sign that read 'Kiyoshi's Room' on it in dogs and elephants. Salamon did remember Minako telling her not to go in there for reasons Salamon didn't know. Now she was determined to see and find out why. She very slowly krept up to the door. Thankfully, the golden knob was at a height Salamon could reach so she could turn it, even though she doesn't have fingers.

_'Maybe this will help me find out who Kiyoshi is. Mina-chan...forgive me. I promise I won't touch anything or break anything important in there. Well, here goes nothing!'_ Salamon thought to herself solemnly as she finally turned the knob. The door creaked open just a crack. She pushed it further open with her head, and was surprised upon walking in.

Kiyoshi's room is totally not like anything Salamon had ever expected. The walls are a bright pale blue, like the sky, with little animal pictures on them. There were elephants, dogs, giraffes, and panda bears. They all looked very cute and cuddly. And speaking of cute and cuddly animals, the room was full of plushies. Of all shapes and sizes. There are even plushies in a tiny white bed with a starry sky themed bed spread with the planets and the moon and everything. The floor has a beige carpet on it. There's a small brown dresser full of little boy's clothes. On top of the dresser are DVDs of shows like Sesame Street and Blue's Clues and Umizoomi. Salamon couldn't help but walk deeper inside. She also noticed something else on the dresser.

A small, framed picture featuring Minako, Minagi, Tatsuha, and a very small boy. The boy looked to be about two or three years old with a head of beautiful light brown curls dangling all over the place, coupled with deep green eyes like the eyes Minagi has, and the same rosy cheeks as Salamon. The little boy had his tiny tender hands out and was smiling very happily. The boy is being carried by Tatsuha in the picture, and next to Tatsuha is a very happy and lively-looking Minako, with her signature purple ribbon and choker, wearing a light pink shirt under a dark pink sweater with a hood, cloud blue jeans, and brown boots. All four of them are smiling. Salamon also noticed very small writing on the bottom left corner of the picture. Even though the writing was small, she could make it out easily. It read, _'Minako, Kiyoshi, Tatsuha, and Minagi. February 4, 2011'_ in small black kanji. Salamon knows who Minako and Minagi and Tatsuha are...so could the little boy be Kiyoshi? Salamon smiled.

"Well, whoever Kiyoshi is, he's cute! But from the way Minagi-san and Tatsuha-san were talking about him, it sounded pretty sad. I'll ask Mina-chan about it when the time's right. I don't want to suddenly make her mad or anything," Salamon said to herself as she gazed at the picture once more. Then she saw something else. A small purple glittery hair brush with a flower on it.

"Is this Mina-chan's brush? I'll put it on her bed," Salamon said as she took the brush off the dresser.

"Alrighty! Enough exploring for one day! Time to go back. Wan!" Salamon exclaimed as she dutifully left the room, closed the door as tightly as she could, and left.

As curious and innocent little Salamon was doing her exploring, Minako was at school. Right now it's lunch, and she is within her little group of friends eating her lunch. She listened to her friends talk, though Rena was the one striking up the most conversation.

"Hey! Is anyone going to see part 2 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows when it comes out? I sure am!" Rena asked.

"Oh! I want to! And I'm taking my big brother with me! I wanna see how they handle the final fight!" Otoya exclaimed happily.

"Eh. Harry Potter's fine. But I prefer the Percy Jackson series," Kosuke said.

"Me too. I personally think Harry Potter's a bit overrated for my tastes. But if you all like it, then that's okay!" Yun told them.

"Everyone has their tastes, I suppose," Rena said. Minako finished drinking her chocolate milk and decided to start a conversation of her own.

"Yun? How's that boy doing? The one named Lucero," Minako asked politely.

"Lucero? Oh! Mom says she's gonna try and get him to begin school tomorrow. We still haven't heard back from the principal yet," Yun replied.

"I wouldn't mind giving him some information about the school," Minako said.

"Oh, I bet you'll love teaching him about it. You're the smartest girl in the 6th grade! Maybe even in the whole school!" Yun rejoiced happily.

"I don't like to brag."

"I know you don't, and I know you don't mean it in a bad way so it's fine. By the way, how've you been doing lately, Mina-chan? Feeling any better?" Yun asked. Yun had remembered the day she first met her Digimon, mostly the part where she wanted to talk with Minako but she had rejected her. Minako remembered it well herself. She put her chin on her hand.

"A little bit. Sorry if we haven't been able to hang out by ourselves," Minako said.

"Oh! I get what you mean. Sorry if I asked a weird question. I know you have a lot going on in your life and I don't want to pressure you into doing anything you don't want to, so it's perfectly fine! You need a little space once in a while, right?" Yun exclaimed.

"Yes. Yes we do. Umm...I'm not doing anything this Friday, so maybe...if you don't mind, we can hang out then? I can invite you over to my house and we can do some girl stuff together," Minako explained. Yun's eyes beamed with joy.

"I'd love to! But I'd have to talk to my parents about it first. I'll let you know later, okay?" Yun replied happily. Minako smiled. To tell the truth, Minako hadn't really been able to hang out with JUST Yun in a very long time.

_'It's been a while since I hung out with just Yun. She's probably feeling lonely. So much has been going on in my life. Maybe this'll be a nice change of pace,'_ thought Minako as she finished the rest of her lunch. And her school day.

Around 3:00 PM, Salamon decided to go out into the backyard and play around. She made sure not to go into the garden patch. She didn't want to trample on the pretty flowers her mother worked so hard to plant. She got up on the fence and watched everything from on top of it.

"Ohh! There are lots of houses here! I wouldn't mind going out exploring for a bit and seeing where everything is! I could play with the other Digimon too. Wan!" Salamon exclaimed happily as her bright violet eyes took in all the halcyon scenery.

But unexpectedly, all of a sudden...

_WHOOSH!_

"Waaan!"

Something zipped past Salamon so quickly and with such violent force that Salamon nearly fell off the fence. She hung on tight and got herself back up.

"Whoa! What was that?" She yelped. She could practically see a dust cloud dissipating into the air.

Then it came back again. Twice! _WHOOSH! ZIP!_ Something was running at full speed, but Salamon couldn't quite make it out.

However, she did feel a presence. But she didn't have time to let it sink in because the thing doing all the running is suddenly standing right in front of her.

Well, below her, at least. And it wasn't even looking at her. It was rummaging through a trash can. Salamon watched from atop the fence as the strange creature ripped through the trash can and began looking through it. _'Awful, smelly thing!'_ Salamon thought. The thing rummaging through the trash can is bigger and wider than Salamon. Big and yellow, with a white D on it's chest, funny-looking dark blue ears, a dark blue tail, and a VERY goofy-looking face. Salamon couldn't believe her eyes.

_'It's a Digimon!'_ She thought. But what she saw on it's back shocked her the most.

A black hexagon with a skull on it! A lucid and blatant harbinger of evil! She knew she could not ignore this at all. The funny looking Digimon, whose eyes glowed red like the siren on an ambulance, ran away with the speed of Yosemite Sam. But Salamon could tell where it was going. Minako saw her on the fence and was confused. She had just arrived home from school.

"Salamon? What are you doing up there? Get down or you'll hurt yourself!" Minako commanded. But Salamon knew she couldn't leave the Digimon be.

"Mina-chan! I just saw a Digimon!" She yelped.

"A Digimon?"

"Yep! It had a black hexagon on it too!"

"A black hexagon? That's not good!"

"Right? We gotta stop it from causing trouble!"

"Hang on! Let me get my digivice!"

Minako ran back to her room, dropped her school stuff, grabbed her digivice and ran back out. Salamon decided to try and smell the Digimon's scent so she could track it down easier. Even though the funny-looking Digimon ran REALLY fast, it sure wasn't going to be hard finding it. As Minako and Salamon got into town, they could hear people screaming.

"Ugh! What IS that ugly thing?"

"Hey you! Get outta my store, you mutt!"

"Someone call animal control! This thing's rabid!"

"Ooh! Doggy!"

"No! Don't touch it!"

"It's definitely been all over the place. I can smell it everywhere!" Salamon exclaimed.

"I know! But it sounds like this one has really good agility and running abilities. How are we going to find it?" Minako said, feeling a little worried. Then she heard a voice.

"Mina-chan?"

Lo and behold, it's Otoya with Labramon by her side. Otoya's wearing a long sleeved maroon sweater, blue jeans, and black and white sneakers. Labramon remained by her side the entire time.

"Otoya-chan! Did you hear? A Digimon's running loose!" Minako told her.

"I saw it! Labramon can smell it too! Let's find it together!" Otoya replied.

"Otoya! I smell it! It's at the park!" Labramon exclaimed as he prepared to dash away.

"The park?" Minako said.

"Jeez! It seems like Digimon just LOVE that place! Come on! We can't waste any time!" Otoya exclaimed.

They dashed for the park and finally managed to find it, but they were frightened by how seemingly innocent but ferocious it looked with it's cartoony appearance but blazing glowing red eyes. And glowing red eyes usually meant a black hexagon on it.

"Mina-chan! That's it! Right there! That's the Digimon I saw!" Salamon exclaimed. Minako pulled out her digivice and got it's information.

"Doggymon. He's a champion level data attribute Digimon. His attacks are Mega Chomp, Jesting Howl, and Quick Shot," Minako explained and then put her digivice on her shorts.

"Ewwwww! That thing's slobbering all over the place!" Otoya yelped, disgusted with the fact that the Digimon, Doggymon (as if it wasn't morbidly obvious), is drooling all over the place...and very sloppily too. Even Salamon and Labramon, being dogs themselves, were very grossed out and disgusted by it's repulsive behavior and odor.

"Do dogs normally eat from trash cans?" Salamon asked.

"Ugh. I'm certainly grateful that I'm not one of them," Labramon said.

But something else was going through Minako's mind, and she was sure to blurt it out.

"Does anyone else feel like we're about to start a dog fighting tournament?" Minako asked.

"Dog fighting?" Otoya asked.

"Think about it. If people see us, two young girls, putting two dogs against another one in a life or death battle, they'll think we're dog fighting. You can actually get arrested for doing it!" Minako explained.

"WHAT? I don't want that happening! I don't like dog fighting either!" Otoya yelled.

Strangely enough, Doggymon suddenly zipped deep into the woods like a speeding race car on steroids. Minako, Salamon, Otoya, and Labramon were left speechless.

"I...think he got your point," Otoya said.

"No time! He could still cause trouble! Let's go and stop him!" Labramon demanded. All four of them went into the woods and relocated Doggymon, who was...doing his business in front of a big tree. It caught sight of the two girls and dogs.

"Now you're cornered! Surrender at once!" Labramon commanded.

But it seems Doggymon wasn't phazed by Labramon's threat. Not one bit.

"Mega Chomp!" Doggymon opened it's mouth WIDE, showing off it's sharp fangs and proceeding to attack Labramon. Thankfully, Labramon leaped out of the way. And so did Minako and Otoya.

"Echoing Bark!" Labramon barked LOUDLY, sending echoes all throughout the forest. But it didn't work on Doggymon. Salamon decided to jump in and help.

"Holy Roar!" Salamon roared just as loudly, hoping to intimidate Doggymon. But he wasn't intimidated. He wasn't even phazed by any of their attacks.

All of a sudden, Doggymon's scrawny arms stretched out REALLY far. Then it leaped into the air and threw some red spheres at them.

"Quick Shot!" Doggymon's red spheres were heading right toward them.

"Look out!" Labramon exclaimed. He, Minako, Salamon, and Otoya evaded the bombs, which were exploding all around them, and were trying to land an attack on Doggymon, which wasn't working. Now Doggymon stood at the top of a big tree and continued to throw bombs at them.

"Quick Shot!" Red bombs exploded all over, and it was getting loud too. Minako was beginning to have trouble getting away.

"I-I can't let that thing get us! That hexagon needs to be destroyed! But he's so fast and agile I can barely calculate his speed and agility! Jeez!" Minako muttered to herself. Then, she tripped over a giant root and got her foot caught in it.

"Oh no!" She tried to get herself out, but the root is very thick and thorny. But right when she looked up, she saw a red bomb falling right toward her. She thought it was over for her.

But then a high-pitched, screeching howl pushed the bomb away from her. It came right out of Salamon's mouth.

"Mina-chan! You okay?" Salamon asked as she bit the root and managed to get Minako out.

"Yeah. Thanks, Salamon. You're the best!" Minako said as she stood up.

"That thing's really fast and tricky!" Salamon said as she saw Doggymon jump back onto the ground.

"I know, right? If only I could decipher his movements and find a pattern," Minako said. But nobody was prepared for Doggymon's next attack.

"Jesting Howl!"

Doggymon opened his mouth wide and a very high, screeching howl came right out of it. It was so loud and piercing that it even scared Salamon and Labramon into covering their own ears. Everyone's ears are ringing, even though they were covered, and their brains are shaking.

"Ahhh! So loud!" Otoya yelled.

"Hey Otoya-chan!"

"Yeah?"

"I've gotta admit, I'm glad it was you I ran into and not Yun!"

"Why?"

"No way would she be able to tolerate this noise! She'd hate this!"

"Oh, I get what you mean! But now's not the time to be talking! We gotta destroy that hexagon on it's back!"

"Yeah! I just wish it wasn't so fast!"

Doggymon's howling finally stopped, but Otoya and Minako fell to their knees, still very intimidated by Doggymon's attack just now. Their fragile ears continued to ring, and this gave Doggymon the perfect opportunity to attack.

"Mega Chomp!" Doggymon ran toward the two girls with his drool infested fangs ready to dig into their skin. Minako and Otoya closed their eyes and braced for impact.

"NOOO!" A high pitched voice permeated the air in the forest. Then..._CHOMP!_

Minako got the mettle to look up and check if she survived. She did. But what she saw...left her frozen with fear.

_"SALAMOOOON!"_

Salamon lay in between the two sets of teeth, covered in bite marks. Doggymon, not finding her very appetizing, threw her against a tree.

"Wan!"

"Salamon!" Minako ran to her little pup while Labramon became absolutely choleric.

"You monster! How could you be so cruel? I'll make you pay!" Labramon screeched as he and Doggymon went into a dog eat dog rumble. Otoya didn't like the sight but what else could she do. Minako very gently cradled her little friend into her arms. Salamon's violet eyes gazed up into Minako's, whose eyes were starting to become blurred by tears.

"Mina-chan...you okay?" Salamon croaked.

"Salamon! Why did you save me? Why?" Minako yelled in a very worried tone, fearing for Salamon's life. She was oblivious to the fact that Labramon and Doggymon were going all out, with fangs and bombs everywhere. Unbeknownst to everyone, she had a different reason for asking why Salamon saved her, but the little injured pup didn't seem to notice.

"Because...you're my friend...and friends help each other," Salamon whimpered. Salamon then finally closed her eyes. Minako couldn't believe what was happening.

"Salamon! No! Don't leave on me yet! I don't want to lose you! Just like how I lost-!" Minako tried to importune for Salamon to reawaken, but suddenly Doggymon became bored with fighting Labramon and decided to go after her. Otoya and Labramon both saw this and were stricken with fear.

"Mina-chan! Get out of the way! Doggymon's coming after you!" Otoya waved her arms to warn Minako, but she (Minako) saw it too late.

"Run! Run, Minako!" Labramon howled.

Minako laid eyes on Doggymon, who is dashing right toward her, and she was frozen. That's when her digivice, and Salamon, began to glow.

A violet purple light, just like the violets in her mother's garden patch, appeared from her digivice and enveloped Salamon, caressing her, lifting the little pup into the air, and enveloping her. Minako, Labramon, Otoya, and even Doggymon were entranced by the beautiful purple light. It didn't change size, but it sure was getting brighter.

Though she had only seen it once, she knew what it was already.

"Salamon! She's...digivolving!" Minako exclaimed.

"Salamon, digivolve to..."

After a few minutes, the light finally dissipated and Salamon digivolved. Out from the light appeared a small, white cat. To Minako, she looked like a small Egyptian kitten wearing a pair of yellow and red striped gloves with black claws protruding from them. At the tips of her long white and pink ears are purple three-tipped notches, and her long thin tail has purple stripes and a small gold ring at the end of it. Much to Minako's joy, she still has her purple eyes.

"...Gatomon!"

Upon laying eyes on Gatomon, Labramon gasped. Nobody noticed. Otoya looked up Gatomon's information.

"Gatomon, a champion level vaccine type Digimon. Her attacks are Lightning Paw, Cat's Eye Hypnosis, and Cat Kick," Otoya said.

Minako was just starry eyed.

"She's soooooo cute!" Minako muttered to herself, and Gatomon didn't hear. She just stood on top of a tree branch, away from Doggymon.

"Well, it looks like it's time for a little rumble! Come and get me, you drooling mutt! Nyan!" Gatomon snarled sweetly as she watched the yellow dog from above. Doggymon stretched his arms out to catch her, but Gatomon quickly leaped on another tree branch. And another, and another, and another. Doggymon couldn't keep up with her.

"Nyan!" Gatomon winked at Doggymon cutely, like some fashion model. "Looks like you've been awestruck by my beauty! Sorry, but you're way outta my league! Nyan!"

"Quick Shot!" Doggymon, angered by Gatomon's snide but cutely executed comment, threw his red bombs at her. Thankfully, Gatomon managed to evade them with just as much speed as Doggymon. Right when Doggymon had trouble finding where she is, she appeared from behind.

"Cat Kick!" Her back paws laid a hit on Doggymon's back, but not enough to destroy the black hexagon. Red with anger, Doggymon tried to speed away from the woods...but Gatomon locked her eyes on him.

"Cat's Eye Hypnosis!" Gatomon's eyes glew an ominous purple color, suddenly preventing Doggymon from being able to move. Otoya was impressed.

"Wow! She stopped Doggymon from moving! Way to go, kitten!" Otoya exclaimed as she gave Gatomon a thumbs up, which Gatomon gave back to her in gratitude. Now, she put her front paw into a fist and it glowed light blue, sparking with lightning. She leaped up from behind a paralyzed Doggymon and proceeded to lay down the final blow.

"Lightning Paw!" Gatomon's electrified paw hit the target, both electrocuting Doggymon and destroying the black hexagon. Sparks flew all around, and Gatomon finally backed away. After the hexagon got destroyed, the red glow in Doggymon's eyes finally disappeared and he came to, looking around and feeling very confused.

"Heeeeey! Wait a minute! This ain't the Digital World! Ruff!" He exclaimed in a funny-sounding voice. He howled worriedly.

"Ruuuuuuuff! I gotta get outta here! Ruff!" He snapped his fingers and a digital portal appeared in front of him. He leaped into it. "Gotta boooooounce! Ruff ruff ruff!"

And that was the end of the epic dog fight (or dog vs cat fight).

Gatomon turned toward Minako, who was very impressed by the whole brouhaha. Gatomon let out a forced laugh.

"Hehe. Sorry if I kinda startled you back there, Mina-chan. You alright?" Gatomon asked in her usual sweet voice. Apparently the super model front was just a facade to trick Doggymon into becoming choleric enough to attack. Minako couldn't help but smile.

"Yes. I'm alright. But don't scare me like that ever again! You could've been killed!" Minako scolded her mildly for her stunt that resulted in her getting caught in Doggymon's fangs earlier.

"Actually, while we Digimon do get defeated in fights, we don't really get killed. We get turned into DigiEggs and our lives start anew! Did you know that?" Gatomon explained.

"I do, but still! I could've lost you! I don't want to lose you like how I lost-" Minako was about to say it again, but the second opportunity was stolen from her.

Oddly enough, by Labramon.

"Ummm...Labramon? Why are you all vicious?" Otoya asked, creeping up to Minako with a scared and frightened look on her face.

Minako saw why. All of a sudden, Labramon looked VERY vicious. He wasn't like this before. He's growling and snarling, his teeth are showing, and he looks VERY choleric. How could this be so? The kind, quiet and faithful Labramon who was always polite and considerate is now this growling German shepard-esque dog preparing to attack? Minako couldn't understand at first...but then she realized it.

He's laying eyes on Gatomon.

_"RAWR!"_

Labramon pounced toward her.

"Look out!"

Minako grabbed Gatomon and got out of the way. Otoya ran toward Labramon and grabbed him by the tail.

"Labramon! What are you doing? Stop it right now!" Otoya tried to make him stop acting like a vicious dog, but he wasn't listening.

"Otoya! He's growling at Gatomon! Dogs don't like cats! Remember?" Minako explained.

"Oh yeah!" Otoya replied as she tried to control him. Minako looked at Gatomon with a look that seemed to say, "Please de-digivolve!" Gatomon got the message and de-digivolved back into little Salamon. Labramon finally shed his vicious behavior and returned back to his original kind and faithful self.

"Hm? What...what just happened?" Labramon asked.

"We'd like to ask you that," Otoya said.

Then it hit him.

"Oh. Now I remember," His head drooped downward. Salamon, feeling a little worried, walked toward him.

"You acted all vicious and angry when I digivolved into Gatomon. Why is that?" Salamon asked kindly.

"It's natural instinct. Dogs normally don't like cats, and it applies to Digimon too. I guess for Labramon, Gatomon are their natural enemies," Minako explained.

"Yes. It's true. I suppose I need to work on controling my instincts if you were to digivolve again. I'm terribly sorry, Salamon," Labramon said, feeling very guilty and rueful about what just happened. But Salamon simply smiled and rubbed herself against him.

"It's okay! It's just instinct, isn't it? I think we can fix it somehow! Don't worry! We're still best buds!" Salamon exclaimed happily as she gave Labramon a nose kiss. Labramon couldn't help but smile and blush.

"Awwww! I smell puppy love!" Otoya said. Minako looked at the time on her cell phone.

"Oh dear! Look how late it is! Mom must be making dinner now! We better go! Otoya-chan, thanks for helping me! I'll see you at school tomorrow!" Minako exclaimed as she looked at the time on her phone.

"Okay! Bye, Mina-chan! Have a nice day!" Otoya waved her hand at her and left with Labramon walking faithfully by her side.

Minako and Salamon returned home safely, and the first thing Salamon did as she went through the door: fall asleep on the big couch, snuggling right up to Kiyoshi's puppy plushie. She was tired but happy.

Author's Note: Yes! I finished chapter nine! Chapter ten's gonna be a real exciting one so look forward to it! Sorry. I don't really have much to say here today. I'm sure I will the next time I work on another chapter of this. I better go now. I'll see you all in the next chapter! Bye-bee!


	10. A Wicked Witchmon

Author's Note: Hello everyone! It's me, Firechick! Not really much happened this week. Mom and I got a new patio table for our backyard deck since the other one...kicked the bucket in a wind storm. HARD. But oh well. It was getting kinda old anyway. But I still have my doubts about getting a glass one. My mom is such a sourpuss! She's always thinking I'm trying to start something whenever I open my mouth! I wish she'd hear me out! Man! Also, I got to go to dinner! It was fun! Well, I better stop blabbing and work on this exciting new chapter of Digimon: A Seraphic Tale!

EPISODE 10: A Wicked Witchmon

Yesterday, when the children were at school and around the time Minako and Otoya were fighting Doggymon, Yun's mother, Hisako, talked to the principal on the phone, asking if Lucero can be admitted into Fushimi Middle School despite their lack of information on him. At first, she was told that they'll look into it. But when Yun came home, Hisako was happy to tell her and Lucero that starting tomorrow morning, Lucero will be going to school. Yun leaped onto Lucero with joy.

"Hooray! Isn't this great, Lucero? You get to come to school with me!" Yun exclaimed as she hugged the confused but elated blonde boy with his myriad strange purple tattoos.

"Ummm...what is school?" Lucero asked.

"It's a place you go to in order to learn things!" Yun explained.

"What shall I learn there?" Lucero asked again.

"English, math, history, social studies, all that stuff," Yun explained. Lopmon and Terriermon watched the whole conversation.

"Awwww! Lucero's gonna go to school too? Boo! Now I'll have nobody to play with!" Terriermon exclaimed with his arms crossed.

"You always have me. Plus, Hisako-san and Teruki-san will be here," Lopmon explained to him patiently and kindly.

"But they work some days!" Terriermon retorted.

"Yes, that's true, but it doesn't mean they work all the time," Lopmon told him again with a patient smile on her face.

After rejoicing over Lucero's admittance into Fushimi Middle School, Yun went into the basement while Lopmon played with Lucero some more. Terriermon did go into the basement once, but he never really felt the need to play there for some reason, though he did notice that Yun went down there a LOT. Curious, he decided to amble down the stairs with his long ears trailing behind him and find Yun. Thankfully, he saw Yun at the little round white table full of art supplies, crayons, colored pencils, and drawings. Terriermon noticed that Yun's working on a particularly big drawing. He leaped onto Yun's shoulder.

"Yun? What'cha doin'?" Terriermon asked innocently.

"Hi Terriermon! I'm working on my entry for the school's contest!" Yun replied.

"Contest? What contest?" Terriermon asked again.

"Our school's holding a contest called End Drug and Substance Abuse so they can help a charity that specializes in preventing kids from doing drugs and ruining their lives. We have to draw a poster that's both creative and influential. It has to be good at getting it's message across. The person whose drawing wins first place gets their poster sold to the charity and the winner gets some cool prizes!" Yun explained as she colored in part of her poster.

"What prizes?" Terriermon asked.

"Third placers win a lunch box and a new school notebook. Second placers win a bicycle helmet, a set of MP3 player head phones, and a DVD of The Dark Knight. First placers get a stack of books written by Takakage Eriko, an art set, and a CD!" Yun explained again.

"Sounds cool!"

"I know, right? I really want to get the books, so I'm working really hard on my poster! Wanna see? Lopmon helped me a bit on it yesterday," Yun told him.

Terriermon looked at the poster intently. It's tall and white with pictures drawn and colored on it. The pictures are put into six boxes with arrows pointing to the boxes on the right, with X's on the left boxes, and O's on the right boxes. The big red and yellow blocky writing on the top says _'DRUGS RUIN YOUR LIFE!'_ The colored text underneath the first two boxes read _'Don't smoke pot! Eat hot pot!'_ featuring colored pictures of a person smoking a cigar and a group of kids eating food together in one bowl. The colored text underneath the second boxes read _'Smoking blackens your lungs! Stick your tongue out at them!'_ Featuring colored pictures of a man's lungs turning black and a little kid blowing a raspberry. The text underneath the final set of boxes reads _'Alcohol makes you lose your mind! The best way through life is to be kind!'_ Showing pictures of someone drinking alcohol and a kid being nice to a kid who tripped. Underneath all of the pictures are big uncolored text that reads _'Put a stop to drug abuse! Living is more important than losing and dying!'_ Terriermon was impressed.

After a while, Yun decided to take a break from her poster and return upstairs. She and her family had dinner, which consisted of chicken, rice, green beans (which Yun hated), and corn. Lopmon and Terriermon talked all throughout dinner and everyone (except Ayaka) were enjoying having them around. Because their paws are so small, Lopmon and Terriermon used their long ears to hold their eating utensils with and did not have much of a problem with it. Lucero sat next to Yun and is enjoying just being next to her. But he did feel rather nervous. He's going to school soon. Somehow Hisako managed to get him a book bag and pull out some notebooks that had been laying around in the closet for some time now, but that wasn't what he was worried about. He was worried about how he was going to handle school. Would the teachers be nice or mean? Would the teacher expect him to know stuff he didn't? Would he make a good impression? Would the kids like him? All kinds of jumbled up thoughts are going through his head and he didn't want to tell Yun or the family about it. He didn't want to burden them, though he seemed to know that his very presence is certainly bothering Ayaka (not that it was his fault to begin with). After dinner, Yun worked on her homework and took about an hour and a half to finish. She had some trouble, but hopefully the careful notes she took would be able to help, though in the back of her mind Yun still had her doubts. Once she finished, Yun took a bath, played with Terriermon, Lopmon, and Lucero for a while, blow dryed her hair, brushed her teeth, watched some anime with her floppy eared friends and Lucero, and went to bed.

Tuesday had arrived, and so did Lucero's first day of school. Lucero put on a short-sleeved light green shirt underneath a big, thick pair of blue overalls with partially rolled up pant legs, small white socks (he had some trouble getting them through his golden anklets. Worse yet, he had trouble getting his bracelets and anklets off at all!), and a pair of brown shoes. Yun was surprised.

"Ooooh! Lucero, that looks cute on you!" Yun exclaimed.

"Thou thinkist so?" Lucero asked.

"Yes! I wholeheartedly agree!" Lopmon told him.

"You look great!" Terriermon said happily.

Lucero's cheeks turned rosy upon hearing the compliments. After that, he ate breakfast, brushed his hair and teeth, put his notebooks into his new black school bag, put some lunch into Yun's old blue lunch box that she normally doesn't use anymore, and went into the car with Yun. After about a few minutes, they arrived and said goodbye to Hisako as she drove off.

"Lucero, welcome to Fushimi Middle School!" Yun said as she showed Lucero the outside exterior of the school.

Lucero was awestruck by the large brick building. Deep red bricks, while looking a little rusty, gave the school a very sophisticated air. He saw the set of stairs leading to the entrance (or main office). He saw all the children running around happily or talking amongst their friends. Then, Yun suddenly gasped.

"Oh! That reminds me! Mom said we gotta get your schedule! Come with me!" Yun said as she took Lucero by the hand, walked him up the stairs, and into the main office, where a lady secretary stood behind her desk. She saw Yun and Lucero arrive in front of her.

"Oh? Are you Lucero?" The lady asked. Lucero became a little timid.

"Y-Yes, I am," Lucero replied rather shyly. The secretary handed him a folded piece of paper.

"Here's your schedule. I hope you enjoy your time here," The secretary said as she handed him the paper and returned to her work.

"Thank you! We appreciate it!" Yun said as she took Lucero by the hand and walked him out. Once they got to the bottom of the stairs, Lucero opened up his schedule and looked at it. Yun took a peek at it and was shocked.

"WHAAAAAAT? YOU HAVE ALL OF MY CLASSES!" Yun screamed loudly, frightening Lucero a bit.

"Why doth thou scream so?" Lucero asked.

"My schedule is exactly the same as yours! We have all the same classes! Can you believe it? This is awesome! We get to go to our classes together! Yippee!" Yun exclaimed happily as she hugged Lucero again. He felt happy upon hearing that he shares all of Yun's classes. He could turn to her if he needs help with how to get there and if he needs help with schoolwork or homework, though he's been told Minako's the smart one in this school. Maybe school won't be so bad after all.

But he began hearing things that started to bother him.

"Hey. Who's that blonde kid over there?"

"Whoa! He's so handsome!"

"What's with all those tattoos? He's pretty hardcore!"

"Overalls? Who wears overalls these days? He a hillbilly or somethin'?"

"Why is Wakamiya fawning over him like he's her baby? He's way outta her league!"

"I agree. He should know better than to hang out with someone as retarded as her!"

Not only does he hear people talking about him and his strange tattoos (which he did not know about or remember anything about), but of Yun as well! And in a malicious and maligned manner, no less! He couldn't believe what he was hearing. One girl called Yun a retard! He had his doubts about school before, but all this gossip pushed him further into a quandary. But he kept his cool and said nothing. He stayed by Yun's side and participated in her social activities with her friends. They had just happened to run into everyone. Kosuke was the first to speak.

"So you're finally here at school, eh? Welcome aboard!" Kosuke exclaimed as he shook Lucero's hand.

"I'm quite honored to be here," Lucero said.

"Eh. The school isn't really honorable considering how ignorant and self-centered the teachers here are," Kosuke said rather bluntly, which Lucero didn't quite understand.

"Kosuke-kun! Not ALL the teachers are ignorant and self-centered! Takahashi-sensei totally man-handled Nemoto when he was picking on Yun last week!" Otoya retorted loudly so she could get the point across.

"Yeah! I saw the whole thing too!" Riku backed her up with a straight-forward statement, but Kosuke wasn't very convinced.

"But not very well. He's still walkin' around doing whatever he pleases!" Kosuke retorted sharply.

"Now now. Let's not go there, please," Yun tried to calm him down, which he did a trifle. But Lucero was still quite oblivious to the whole conversation they had and didn't quite understand what they were talking about, though he said nothing. As Lucero was watching the kids talk amongst themselves, he was suddenly approached by Melody, who is looking at him with a rather solemn and stern look in her light brown eyes and with her arms crossed firmly.

"Lucero. I'm sure you're probably coming in here thinking it's gonna be a nice place. But let me tell you this as a warning: sometimes school isn't exactly the best place in the world. Especially for those who are cowards and spineless imbeciles. I don't think you're any of those, but just so you know, there are two kids in the 6th grade who are willing to do anything to make people they hate miserable. Nemoto Nenji and Shimizu Seiko. They're the worst people the 6th grade has to offer. I suggest you stay away from them or end up paying the price. Yun's already having to deal with them and I feel real bad for her. She didn't do anything to deserve what they're doing to her, yet she has to deal with them every day! You should be careful, kid," She told him sharply and sternly.

Lucero let the words sink into his heart. In truth, he didn't really think that school was going to be all fun and rainbows, though he was mostly thinking about himself. But after hearing Melody's small hint about what Yun could potentially be going through, his doubts amassed and became voluminous. But he refused to let those doubts win over his conscience, but at the same time he couldn't scoff at Melody's warning either. He laid eyes on her with the same stern look she has right now.

"I thank thee for giving me a warning. Thou art a kind person. I must confess, I myself did not think school would be a nice place, and I do not expect it to be so. I suppose thou truly cares about Yun, am I right?" Lucero replied in a low, solemn voice. Melody couldn't help but crack a smile.

"Yes. I'd do just about anything for Yun. She's the best thing that ever happened to me, though fate hasn't really been all that kind to her. You don't seem too bad yourself, not that I thought you were bad, but you never know what's gonna happen," Melody told him.

Then, the bell rang and school began. Yun happily took Lucero by the hand and led him to the classroom. Homeroom had just begun. The homeroom teacher, Kamogawa-sensei, stood before the entire classroom full of children, which, thankfully, all of her friends shared as well. A pretty woman Kamogawa is, with long jet black hair, black as the raven's wing, tied in a neatly arranged odango style bun with striking blue eyes like the ocean and porcelain white skin that seemed to resemble snow. She dressed up quite modestly, wearing nothing but a white shirt with red and green watercolor-esque flowers painted it along with dark blue jean pants and white sneakers. Around her neck is a pretty amethyst necklace that shined in a violet light when underneath the faint sunbeams. Everybody (except Lucero) knew her well for her possible multiple personalities (she can switch from being sweet and kind to merciless and scary within a millisecond, especially toward naughty and unruly children who loved to disobey her and break the rules), her beauty, and the fact that even at her young age she's already married to a nice man. Mrs. Kamohawa raised both of her hands up to mollify the children.

"Everyone! May I have your undivided attention please? I have a very important and exciting announcement to make!" Mrs. Kamogawa announced lucidly for all the children to hear. The children quieted down and Mrs. Kamogawa smiled brightly like she was a newly blossoming sunflower in a barren land.

"I'm sure a lot of you don't know, but starting today we have a brand new student joining our class from this point on. Dear? Please come inside," Mrs. Kamogawa edicted kindly and gestured Lucero to appear in the classroom. He came in through the door rather shyly, and immediately everyone laid eyes on him, both out of curiosity and wonder.

"Come over here, if you please," Mrs. Kamogawa gestured him to stand in front of the class. Lucero was extremely reluctant to appear before this class, but he saw many of his familiar faces, including Yun's, which inspired him to take the plunge and present himself to everyone with a bold face.

As for the class, they stared and watched with awe and wonder as this strange boy appeared before him. Everything about him struck most of the class as odd. His sky blue eyes, his snow white skin, his blue overalls, his thick gold bracelets and anklets, his golden locks of hair, and, most blatantly, his peculiar purple tattoos. The tattoos became a popular topic of gossip among the children (or anyone that didn't include Yun and her friends). Why would a kid his age have tattoos? And all over the left side of his body, no less! Where did he get them? How did he get them? Do they symbolize something, or is he just plain hardcore? The boys cocked their heads in confusion, thinking the boy to be both strange and girly-looking. They surely weren't used to such pretty looking boys. The girls, on the other hand, had their hearts stolen by this handsome, beautiful blonde boy, and boy were they going to grab his heart soo enough. But all Lucero did was stand there in front of the class bravely.

"Care to introduce yourself?" Mrs. Kamogawa asked.

"Y-Yes. Ummm...g-good morning, everyone. I-I-I'm...Lucero Giampiero D'Orio. I'm...happy to meet you all," Lucero spat out. For once he did not use his usual old-fashioned dialect. Last night, Yun told him beforehand not to use it when introducing himself because she knew it would cause an uproar and make him into a target for bullies, and Lucero saw first hand that his dialect was very rare in this day and age. Also, it was Yun who came up with his false name.

"As you all can see, Lucero here is a foreign exchange student from Italy-" Mrs. Kamogawa wanted to explain more about Lucero before she began homeroom, but right when she reached the part about his coming from Italy, instantaneous pandemonium broke out.

_"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"_

Practically all the female voices in the classroom screamed in high pitched squealy fangirl voices. Soon, all the females in the classroom (except the ones who were already acquainted with Lucero) crowded all around him like overexcited fans wanting to see Elvis at his concerts. A second later, the boys began crowding around him, but more out of curiosity than admiration.

"Are you seriously from Italy? I'm so jealous! I wanna go there!"

"Have you gone to Sicily? I hear it's beautiful!"

"What about Florence? That's the city of art in Italy!"

"What kind of food do they eat there?"

"Are their restaurants fabulous?"

"Say _'Good morning!'_ in Italian!"

"Why didn't you introduce yourself in Italian?"

"Come on! Tell us! Pleeeeease?"

Lucero, shocked by this sudden crowd, was beginning to become overwhelmed by all the screaming and the tightness of the space. Mrs. Kamogawa and Yun, from a distance, saw this. Not wanting to let him be smothered by the overactive crowd, they jumped in and tried to push the happy and excited children away.

"Everyone! Calm down! Give the kid some space, will you? He just came here! Nobody wants to suddenly be surrounded by screaming fans on their first day, right? You should know better!" Yun edicted loudly for all to hear.

"Yes. I agree. This is his first time here, children. Give him some time to get used to all of you before you start asking him questions," Mrs. Kamogawa explained kindly.

From afar, Melody flashed a praise worthy thumbs up at Yun, silently lauding her for her bravery. But someone else didn't quite think Yun's bravery was worthy of praise at all.

"Quit being such a little busybody, Wakamiya!"

Unfortunately, the snooty voice came from Seiko of all people. Behind her are her two friends. Seiko approached Yun with her arms crossed and a very disappointed look on her face.

"Who do you think you are, his bodyguard or something?" Seiko asked sharply.

"No! I'm not. We just happen to be friends, that's all! Is that wrong?" Yun retorted back. The other two girls just chuckled among themselves wickedly, and even Lucero could see that what was going to happen is not going to be pretty.

"You? This kid's friend? Ha! That's the best joke I've ever heard! Listen here, Wakamiya! This boy just so happens to be a foreign exchange student from Italy, probably from a rich and high class family with all kinds of unlimited privileges to do whatever he pleases! And what are you? Oh, I don't know, nothing but a stupid little retard who does nothing but dream and laze around all day like a pig laying in the mud?" Seiko explained in a very vicious and wicked manner. Lucero gasped. The girls in Seiko's clique gasped. Everyone else was shocked into silence.

"Oooooh!" The girls in Seiko's clique exclaimed.

"Yeah! Yous white trash, dog!" Nenji yelled out mercilessly.

"Shimizu! Stop this right now! I don't-" Mrs. Kamogawa tried to scold her for harassing Yun like that, but Seiko didn't let her finish.

"Hmph! Now tell me, Wakamiya. Why would a noble and high class kid like him want to hang out with someone as lowly and worthless as you?" Seiko exclaimed.

"You don't know that! You didn't give him time to explain himself!" Yun exclaimed back.

"Here this kid is, gracing us with his dazzling presence, and yet you're fawning over him like he's your baby! Obviously you have yet to see the cold, hard truth! You should know by now he's way outta your league! Do you honestly think a super duper cool kid like this would even want to-" Seiko wanted to break Yun's heart and hurt her feelings mercilessly just a bit more, but she was cut off.

By a very unlikely person.

"Silence thyself!"

Lucero, finally having enough, stood in between Yun and Seiko. He started Seiko in the eyes, with the strictest and most indifferent and most solemn look that ever appeared in his eyes before. His look was so striking that Seiko even took a few steps back a bit. And the purple tattoo under his left eye didn't add to it either.

"I suppose thou is Shimizu Seiko?"

She nodded. She had never heard someone her age talk like that. Using _"ware"_ as a self-reference term? _'Is that how Italians talk in Japanese?'_ she thought.

"Must thou truly believe that I am not worthy of Yun's friendship? Quite the contrary, really. Our families happen to have a very strong ancestral connection and my parents just so happened to leave me in the Wakamiyas' care. In addition, Yun saved me from death and for that I am most grateful. I owe this girl my very life. Doth thou not believe that is worthy of friendship and praise? If thou cannot accept what is and stop thinking of thyself superior to the weak, and to whom thou must hate, than thou ist nothing but a knave. And a very vain and wicked little girl. For what reason doth influence thee to antagonise Yun so at thy discretion? Is that the answer to thy problems? Picking on the weak? Do you honestly and truly think thyself superior?"

Lucero didn't stutter. He didn't tremble. He didn't suddenly break down into a paroxysm of tears. He didn't run away. He didn't even show any hint of sympathy or mercy in his own monologue of flowery words. All he did was stand in front of a very freaked out and confused Seiko with that look on his face and recited that entire old-fashioned monologue as right in front of her face. Seiko was just absolutely and positively flabbergasted. Not only was this handsome blonde boy siding with Yun of all people despite his beautiful physical appearance and infinite privileges (which she obviously knew absolutely nothing about...not that she even knew him, of course), he's talking in a dialect that she had never even heard of before or even knew existed! She never heard this language or dialect before, but from what she could decipher and the way he used it, it's blatant that he's standing up for Yun and against Seiko. His monologue was dagger sharp. He showed no mercy. Her legs felt like they were turning into jelly. Everyone watched with awe, hoping to see more. Seiko felt like she was about to fall to the floor in humiliation. But Nenji, who arrived on the scene looking very choleric and cocky, snapped her out of it.

"Ey yo! What's with 'dat gushy and flowery talk? Yous think yer so cool, eh? I'd like to see you thrash me, yo! Yous got better stuff to do than hang around 'dis piece of white trash!" Nenji exclaimed in a very ribald and poorly constructed statement.

But Lucero said nothing. He just stared with that solemn look on his face. Now Nenji was starting to become quite perturbed.

"Wha...what'cha lookin' at me like that for?" Nenji yelled angrily.

Lucero said nothing again. This time, Mrs. Kamogawa finally decided to intervene.

"Children? Friendship isn't about social class or physical appearance. And Shimizu, you should know by now that in this school we don't call names or discriminate against people for being who they are. I want you to go to the principal's office and stay there until the bell rings," Mrs. Kamogawa told Seiko in a soft but venomously stringent voice. Seiko was NOT happy.

"B-But Kamogawa-sensei! That Wakamiya brat shouldn't-"

"NOW!"

Seiko tried to argue back, but Kamogawa-sensei was serious. Now her (Kamogawa-sensei's) face totally changed from sweet and motherly to scary and even evil. Seiko, shocked by this transformation and turn of events, finally relented and left the room, but not before muttering something under her breath.

"Why does this always happen to me? I shouldn't have to deal with all this! I'm Shimizu Seiko, the most popular girl in the 6th grade, and that Wakamiya girl's nothing but a retard and a low-life brat!"

Then Mrs. Kamogawa laid eyes on Nenji.

"That goes for you too, Nemoto! Go with Shimizu to the principal's office!" Mrs. Kamogawa edicted.

"But sensei! Why you takin' that retard's side? She's white trash, yo!" Nenji retaliated angrily, incensed by Mrs. Kamogawa's attitude, but it only made Mrs. Kamogawa look all the more frightening and intimidating.

"I don't EVER want to hear that come out of your mouth ever again, young man! March! NOW!" She yelled. Nenji, shocked by this turn of events, finally relented and stomped off angrily. Now that the brouhaha finally dissipated, Lucero smiled at Yun.

"Well? What did thou think of my performance?" He asked innocently with a smile.

"You were awesome, Lucero!" Yun exclaimed.

"I'd like to see you do that again!" Kosuke said.

"Yeah! Cool!" Riku cried out.

But even though Lucero won this first 'war of the words' contest, everyone else was flabbergasted with the way Lucero talked. Who refers to himself as "ware" and ends his sentences with "nari" and "yue" and "beshi" in this day and age? But nonetheless, the class seemed to welcome him warmly. Even Mrs. Kamogawa, who was quite charmed by the boy's presence.

"Alright everyone! Back to your seats!" Mrs. Kamogawa edicted with a smile.

Lucero suddenly found himself popular. But that wasn't what he was thinking right now. Even though he lost his memory (and felt appallingly guilty about having to lie to the whole class about his upbringing, if he even had an upbringing or even a biological family for that matter), he clearly and very strongly remembered one thing he absolutely hated the most: people who pick on others and think of themselves superior to them and those who brag and boast about their successes. He sure saw Seiko and Nenji as those people, and Melody was right about them not being very nice. Lucero made a silent oath in which he will never brag or boast or broach, especially about things that he can do better than everyone else. He didn't want to make people feel bad.

But despite his sudden and newfound popularity, getting through the school day was becoming quite difficult. For starters, people in all classes kept asking questions that he just simply couldn't answer. Yun and her friends stepped in to help him, but they scoffed at them for bothering to defend him. Upon seeing this, Lucero discovered that Yun and her friends aren't exactly the popular type, but they knew that they didn't care for popularity. He never saw the school before, so sometimes he was a little late getting to class, even with Yun's help, which resulted in small and mild scoldings from the teachers, but nothing big. Of course it'd be natural to be late for at least one class without advanced knowledge of the school. Lucero again felt guilty about not knowing much about the interior of the school, not that it was his fault. Nobody really told him. Yun felt a little guilty too.

Even so, Lucero felt happy about one thing: that Yun is by his side the entire day. In fact, he felt happy just from being with Yun at all. Especially since she saved him from death when nobody else would. He felt happy being with her. He lit up upon seeing her. He seemed to like everything about her. Her short dark brown hair like chocolate, her emerald green eyes, her snow white skin, her honest and childlike heart, her kind and gentle demeanor, her kind and appreciative way of talking to people (mostly those she likes), her vast knowledge (which he did not know was surpassed by Minako's intelligence), everything. If she had not been there for him, then Lucero would surely have had a much tougher time adjusting to school. He sat next to Yun in lunch, talked with her, and ate lunch with her. Yes, Yun was what Lucero loved best about school, though he had to deal with her at home too, not that he minded. He didn't really think anything was going to go wrong.

However, problems erupted when gym class arrived. (Note: Both boys and girls have to wear gym shorts in this universe. The girls will NOT wear those underwear-esque gym shorts you see in most anime! I don't know who approved of those, but I just don't like them at all!)

Firstly, Lucero did NOT like the smell of the boys' locker room. The horrid odor assaulted his frail little nostrils. To him it smelled like rotten cheese that had been left out in the open for months. Part of it was because most of the boys barely cleaned themselves proper. Kosuke wasn't one of them, thankfully, but Riku was another story. Quite the messy type he is, with his clothes thrown into his locker like rag towels. How could he treat his clothes in such a cursory and decadent manner? Not only that, when Lucero tried to change his clothes, people immediately approached him and asked questions about his tattoos. He could not answer them. Kosuke and Riku defended him and let him change in the bathroom. But that was only the beginning. Lucero was quite surprised to see two teachers teaching physical education. A woman, Niiyama-sensei, and a man, Kadota-sensei. Both of them wore sports clothes suitable for physical education. But that wasn't the problem. As Lucero was quietly participating in the exercises performed in the beginning of class, Kadota-sensei approached him with an irritated look on his face. A gruff looking man he is, with dark hair and leftover hair on his chin after he shaved, and a lot of it on his big, bulky arms.

"Come with me, boy," Mr. Kadota said as he took Lucero by the hand and escorted him into the boys' locker room. It didn't smell as bad as before, but there was still a small odor lingering in the air. But that wasn't why he was forced inside.

"Listen to me, kid. You can't be goin' around wearin' jewelry in gym class. Yer gonna have to take 'em off," Mr. Kadota told him, pointing to Lucero's thick, golden bracelets and anklets. He looked down at them with a confused look.

"Do I...have to?" He asked quietly, which for some reason seemed to irritate Mr. Kadota even more.

"Of course, boy! Now get to it!" Mr. Kadota yelled angrily, which intimidated Lucero.

"I-I'm sorry! I'll...get to it..." Lucero muttered again. He didn't understand why asking a question would make Mr. Kadota angry. He just wanted some clarification, that's all. Despite his reluctance, Lucero attempted to pull his bracelets and anklets off. But...that was the big problem. He couldn't pull them off. They wouldn't come off. Lucero pushed and pushed and pulled and pulled them countless times, but they refused to budge. Now this left Mr. Kadota perturbed real good.

"Quit stallin' boy!"

"I'm not stalling thee! They won't come off!"

"Oh, is that your excuse? Here, lemme at 'em!" Mr. Kadota yelled as he grabbed Lucero's arm and attempted to push the big bracelet off of him.

Lucero couldn't understand at all. Why is Mr. Kadota treating him like he's some bad kid who's been doing lots of bad things for the longest time? Lucero is not the type to display effrontery or commit transgressions. Lucero himself hated those things...but why? Why does Mr. Kadota seem to feel that way about him when he's only seen him for a few measly minutes? He doesn't look like a totally nefarious person, but why? Lucero had a very hard time comprehending this. But he did comprehend one thing: no matter what Mr. Kadota did, the bracelets and the anklets just wouldn't come off.

"Urgh! Stay here, boy. I'm gettin' Niiyama-sensei. I don't wanna see you escapin'!" Mr. Kadota yelled in a stringent voice as he left Lucero in the boys' locker room to get Miss Niiyama. Soon, the kids were beginning to see that something was up. Mr. Kadota brought Miss Niiyama in there and had her try to remove the bracelets and anklets. But like the preceding attempts, nothing worked. She sighed.

"Wow. These things are tough as nails," Miss Niiyama said.

"Did you put some kind of super glue on these things?" Mr. Kadota yelled, which scared Lucero.

"I-I didn't! I...I don't know what super glue is!" Lucero replied, sounding frightened.

"Quit makin' excuses, you brat!" Mr. Kadota yelled again, which angered Niiyama.

"Kadota! That's enough! Quit treating him like he's Nemoto!" Miss Niiyama yelled lucidly for the both of them to hear. She continued to examine the bracelets and anklets.

"Hmmm...upon closer inspection, they appear to be floating by themselves. I don't think this is the work of super glue at all..." Miss Niiyama muttered. Then she decided to look at Lucero. "Lucero-kun...do you know where and how you got these?"

Lucero closed his eyes and ruminated for a bit, then shook his head. "I do not. I don't remember a thing."

"That's strange. Lucero-kun...jewelry's not allowed in gym class. It's easily lost and it can break easily," Miss Niiyama told him kindly.

"Ummm...I thank thee for telling me, and I appreciate it...but I swear to thee I have no idea where I got these or how to take them off," Lucero told her politely, but apparently Mr. Kadota didn't buy it.

"Hah! That's the biggest lie I ever heard!" Mr. Kadota exclaimed, which irked Niiyama again.

"Kadota! Can it!" Niiyama exclaimed, then sighed. "What can we do?"

"Ummm...can I still participate in physical education with the others? I promise I won't hurt anyone. Truly, I won't," Lucero told Miss Niiyama politely again. After a short while, Miss Niiyama sighed and stood up.

"Well, it looks like there isn't much we can do about these bracelets, so I suppose we can let you back into class," Miss Niiyama said, which made Lucero smile.

"Oh! Oh! I am most grateful to thee! But...truly, I wasn't intending to cause trouble. Not at all," Lucero exclaimed happily.

"You're already trouble! Those tattoos of yours scream delinquent!" Mr. Kadota yelled again.

"I don't remember where I got these tattoos!"

"You liar!"

"KADOTA! Shut up already! Grrr...what am I going to do with you? Off you go, Lucero. We'll be there in a second," Miss Niiyama yelled at Mr. Kadota for his blatant and unnecesarry vehement hostility toward Lucero and gently told Lucero to return to class, to which he dutifully and happily obliged. Yun was the first to approach him.

"I suppose it was about your gold rings, wasn't it? I could hear Kadota-sensei yelling," Yun asked in a worried voice.

"Worry not, Yun. I am perfectly fine...though Kadota-sensei is quite easily angered, isn't he?" Lucero replied.

"Yeah. I seriously don't like him. He's always yelling and screaming about stuff that isn't even bad. I wish he'd do a 180 already!" Melody scoffed bluntly, which made Yun laugh a bit.

Thankfully enough, the final hours of the day went perfectly fine, and Lucero got through the rest of them without difficulty at all. He managed to survive the very first day of school, and he felt proud of it. Finally, he met with the kids after school.

"Lucero! I'm so glad you got through the first day okay!" Yun exclaimed happily as she took Lucero's hands and shook them like an excited little girl.

"Yes. I survived," Lucero said.

"Hey, anyone up for a random Digimon Brigade meeting right now?" Kosuke asked. Yun's face immediately lit up.

"Sure! At the usual spot!" Yun said.

In a snap, everyone went home, got their Digimon, and ran off to the park. The Digimon are apparently very happy to see each other. Yun made sure to contact Aria so she could come too, and she did.

"Yuuun-chaaaan!" Aria exclaimed as she hugged Yun happily like a child who has been reunited with her mother.

"Yaaaay! Coronamon!" Terriermon exclaimed as he hugged Coronamon.

"Yaaaay! Terriermon!" Coronamon exclained as he hugged Terriermon.

Labramon, Lopmon, Lunamon, Salamon, and MarineAngemon decided to play together, Terriermon and Coronamon played together, and Biyomon decided she wasn't in the mood for rough physical activity today. Yun and the others sat in the gazebo.

"So...what should we discuss today?" Yun asked. Minako raised her hand and presented her laptop.

"I'm not sure if you know, but Otoya and I fought a Doggymon with a hexagon on it yesterday. And yes, Salamon digivolved. Anyways, from what I've seen, I think that black hexagon not only controls the Digimon, but it also increases their power. I'm not quite sure at what level, but their attacks are pretty powerful when they're under the hexagon's control. Plus, lately it's been getting harder and harder to find the hexagons on their bodies," Minako explained.

"I agree. They're so small and hard to track down sometimes," Yun said.

"Especially if they're on a Digimon whose skin is black! Like that BlackAgumon we fought!" Rena exclaimed.

"You fought a BlackAgumon?" Kosuke asked.

"Yep! That's how Lunamon digivolved," Rena replied.

"Black hexagon?" Aria asked.

"Remember that thing on the Kokatorimon that made it's eyes glow red and go crazy? That's what controls it. It's kinda like it's brainwashing it," Melody explained.

"Oh! I know what brainwashing means so now I get it! So it's a bad hexagon?" Aria replied.

"Yep! It sure is, Aria-chan, and I don't think it's some big random coincidence that these Digimon got them. I think we should investigate and find out who or what's behind all the rampant Digimon!" Yun explained.

"But what if the culprit's in the Digital World?" Otoya asked.

"Yeah. How will we get there?" Melody asked.

It's here that Labramon decided to join in on the conversation.

"I don't quite remember much, but I remember that sometimes the mystical veil that divides the Digital World and the human world disappears randomly at times. It makes it easier for both Digimon to get to the human world, and the humans to get to the Digital World. To get to the real world, all a Digimon has to do is snap it's fingers and imagine the place in their head," Labramon explained. This made Yun realize something.

"Yeah! All the Digimon we fought went back to the Digital World when they came to!" Yun said.

"You're right!" Riku exclaimed.

"I wonder how we can go to the Digital World? I'd love to see it!" Aria exclaimed with her hands clasped together.

"Sadly, it's true. Nobody knows what means humans can use to go to the Digital World. I also remember that in our world, humans are just a legend that Digimon can choose to believe or not. Kind of like how you humans believe in angels or mystical deities that inhabit shrines," Labramon said.

"I told him about it earlier," Otoya said to Kosuke.

"But not all humans believe in God or deities. My dad's an atheist," Kosuke said.

"What's an atheist?" Aria asked Yun.

"It's someone who doesn't believe that God or angels or ghostly beings are real," Yun explained lucidly.

"Ohhhh. I get it. My papa always says that stuff is _'nonsense'_ or _'poppycock'_ and I don't like it," Aria replied. That's when MarineAngemon joined the conversation by hopping onto Aria's head.

"We have angels in the Digital World!" MarineAngemon edicted with a sweet smile.

"You're an angel in a way," Aria told her. MarineAngemon giggled cutely.

"Yes, but I'm not like the big angels. I don't remember much about how I got here, but I do remember there's a very strong angel Digimon named GuardiAngemon. His wings are made of metal and they're all shiny and silver. I remember he's one of the guardians of the very core of the Digital World," MarineAngemon explained with a smile.

"Never heard of him," Melody piped in.

"Okay how did we go from talking about the hexagon to the Digital World's angels?" Kosuke asked.

Everyone else went "eh?" in response. But after a while, they regained their composure.

"Okay! Now our mission is to find the person or thing that's putting all the hexagons on the Digimon and to find a way to get into the Digital World! This meeting is done for today!" Yun exclaimed. This made Lucero confused.

"Thy meeting is complete already? But we only spent a few measly minutes here!" Lucero said.

"Nobody said a meeting has to go on for hours and hours! Besides, we can play with the Digimon this way!" Yun said. It's here that Terriermon leapt on Yun's shoulder happily.

"Yeppers! Time to play with Yun!" Terriermon said as he hopped on Yun's shoulder. Yun laughed and stroke Terriermon's head with her finger.

"See? We can't leave our precious Digimon all by their lonesomes, now can we?" Yun said.

So, the meeting was adjourned and everyone spent the rest of the day playing. Riku and Kosuke ran around with Coronamon, Salamon, and Patamon happily. Yun, Terriermon, Lopmon, Lucero, Lunamon, Otoya, and Labramon sat down, read books together, and made little flower wreath together merrily. Rena and Melody decided to do Biyomon's hair, and she is very much loving the job they're doing. On a whim, little Terriermon decided to talk to Yun.

"Yuuun! What's gonna be for dinner?" Terriermon asked sweetly as he hopped into Yun's arms.

"I don't know. I'll have to ask Mom when we get home," Yun replied.

"I hope we have egg rolls! They're soooo good!"

"Aren't they? Well, I think egg rolls are more of a snack."

"Who cares? I love 'em!"

"Me too!"

"Oh! Yun. Do you do anything other than read books and draw?"

"Well, I write stories on my dad's computer and play around on there. I watch anime and read manga too. But that's pretty much it."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I don't really go out much. Partly because I get lost easily and I'm afraid someone might jump out or kidnap me."

"You don't have to worry about that anymore! Because now you've got your friends Terriermon and Lopmon to protect you! And I like protectin' you because you're my best friend!"

Yun almost teared up at Terriermon's cocky but sweet words and gently caressed him. She nudged her nose against his little yellow forehead.

"You're my best friend too! Lopmon too. I love you, little guy!"

"Hey! That tickles!" Terriermon couldn't help but love being held and caressed by Yun like this. It's no wonder he loved being with Yun. She loved him. He wouldn't ask for anyone better.

Soon, playtime was over and everyone decided to go home...that is, until Kosuke just so happened to pass by the electronic store.

"Hey Kosuke! We should hang out with them more often! I love playing with Salamon! She's nice!" Patamon exclaimed childishly.

"Yeah...if I had the time for it," Kosuke muttered in response.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Mom's unemployed, I'm often stuck in the house because of her, and I need to look for a job so we can pay the landlord. That and get some food and pay the bills."

"Aren't you a little young to get a job?"

"Technically yes, but Mom's too lazy to get one of her own so I'm gonna do whatever it takes to earn some dough. I don't wanna live like a street beggar."

"Someone who lives on the streets?"

"Yep."

"Awww. That happens? How sad!"

"Sad but true, indeed."

Right when he said that, he passed by the electronics store. On the front window are some TVs that are showing the news. Probably for advertising reasons, but right now the news isn't advertising anything, nor is the store. The lady on the news stood in front of a burning building as she talked about what's happening.

"I'm right here in front of the Cesare Casino parking lot where a mysterious explosion just took place on the 6th floor! Thankfully nobody was hurt and everyone evacuated the building safe and sound. Nobody knows what caused the explosion, some authorities say it might be a potential terrorist attack, but eyewitnesses say they saw a person dressed in black and red clothing fleeing the scene. This camera footage proves it," The newslady said.

Something made Kosuke look at the TVs, and right when the TV showed footage of the red figure fleeing the parking lot, Kosuke saw it. The TV footage paused and there it was. The red figure is FLYING! Not fleeing, flying! Plus he could see some traces of black and yellow on the figure, and one thing's for certain: it didn't look human. Even Patamon saw this.

"Is that what I think it is?" Patamon asked.

"There's no doubt about it, Patamon! We've gotta tell the others pronto!" Kosuke exclaimed.

He called everyone on his phone and told everyone about what he saw on the news. Yun was especially appalled by what she heard. Mostly about the parking lot in which the explosion took place.

"WHAT? That's where my mom parks when she's at work!" Yun exclaimed. Lopmon and Terriermon could see the worry in her eyes.

"We cannot ignore this! I sense it's a Digimon's doing!" Lopmon edicted.

"Well what are we standing around for! Let's go there and check it out!" Terriermon said.

"But the question is...how can we get there?" Yun asked herself.

"I'll take care of that! Leave it to me, people!" Biyomon exclaimed. That's right! She could digivolve into Birdramon and fly everyone there!

Once the group re-gathered in the park, Biyomon quickly digivolved into Birdramon. Everyone hopped on her back and she took to the skies. It didn't take long for the kids to arrive at the city where the casino is. It's only 17 miles from their town by car. Yun knew this because she and her mom drove there to meet with Teruki about a million times. She knew this way visually and by heart as of now. They finally got to the casino parking lot and snuck in. Thankfully they managed to get in without the police seeing them. Yun felt a little bad sneaking by the police, but considering that this could very well be a Digimon's doing, she knew the repercussions would be even more perilous if it were allowed to wreak havoc. She couldn't risk being caught now. Kosuke remembered that the explosion took place on the 6th floor. Yun knew how to get there, so she led the way. But once she and the others finally got there.

_BOOM!_

"Agh!"

Another explosion occurred. It wasn't as big as the one featured on the news, but it was loud enough to make Yun cover her ears. She always was sensitive to loud noises and she continued to be so. But what they heard afterward was shocking.

"Aaaaagh! Fiddlesticks! I messed up again!"

A voice that sounded like a very snooty and spoiled 16 year old girl permeated the walls of the packed parking lot. Right when it was heard, Lopmon and Lunamon's ears all rose into the air.

"It's a Digimon!" Lunamon exclaimed.

"Yes! Yes it is, indeed!" Lopmon backed her up.

"Let's go after it!" Terriermon edicted.

"Right! Everyone, march!" Yun exclaimed.

Everyone followed her lead and once they got into the parking lot floor, which has windows, they found the Digimon and they were quite surprised with what they found. The Digimon looks like a humanoid 16-year-old girl with short blonde hair and pale blue eyes. She wore a crimson red gown with black belt straps around her waist, a thick black cape, a funny-looking red witch's hat with a ghostly black cat flying around it. Her red gloves are extremely HUGE with big clawed fingers, she wore black witches shoes, and she sat on a big, crooked yellow broom.

"Awww! I thought it was a Digimon! My master's going to be so angry with me! But no matter! I'll find some Digimon soon enough!" The female Digimon exclaimed in a strange voice. Melody got out her Digivice and looked up it's information.

"Witchmon, a champion level data attribute Digimon. Her special attacks are Baluluna Gale and Aqua Pressure," Melody muttered.

But Biyomon was just absolutely disgusted by Witchmon's appearance.

"Ugh! What a disgusting, despicable Digimon she is! That red outfit totally kills her figure!" Biyomon exclaimed loudly.

Now THIS caught Witchmon's attention. She locked her eyes on the Digimon Brigade and they gasped.

"She found us!" Aria exclaimed.

Incensed, Witchmon floated toward the children.

"What's this I hear? Exactly WHO was it that called me disgusting and despicable just now?" Witchmon asked in a rather slick voice. But Biyomon wasn't phased at all, and neither was Melody or Kosuke.

"I did! That raiment doesn't flatter your body at all, witch!" Biyomon exclaimed sharply.

"How would you know? You don't even wear clothes," Melody told her bluntly.

"So?" Biyomon exclaimed. Witchmon floated upward, but not high enough to where she'd hit her head on the ceiling.

"How utterly vulgar of you! I think this costume is very becoming of me! Hmph! I suppose it's natural since you've been domesticated by these humanoid creatures! But then again, I didn't think you creatures existed until now! And just when I was having fun putting those Dark Emblems on my subjects! It's no wonder they keep disappearing when I put one on them!" Witchmon exclaimed angrily. Otoya knew what she meant because Labramon said earlier that to the Digimon, humans are just legends and myths. But something else caught their ears.

"Dark Emblems? Are they shaped like hexagons with skulls and stripes on them?" Yun asked.

"Yes. How do you know?...Oh! Could it be? **_YOU_** are the ones who keep sending the Digimon back to my world? Goodness gracious! No wonder my master's plans keep getting messed up! Hmph! I might as well teach you loonys a lesson! How about a fight with me?" Witchmon exclaimed, basically confessing that she's the one who's putting the hexagons on the Digimon and making them go crazy.

"Who's your master?" Riku asked.

"Is that any of your business? If you fight little ol' me, maybe I'll tell you! Heeheehee!" Witchmon replied sickeningly sweetly, ending with a rather creepy and cackling laugh, like that of the wicked witch from The Wizard of Oz. Everyone got their digivices out.

"It's on!" Everyone exclaimed...well, almost everyone.

Lopmon digivolved to Turuiemon, Salamon to Gatomon, Lunamon to Lekismon, and Coronamon to Firamon. Labramon and Patamon couldn't digivolve yet, and MarineAngemon is already at her highest level, though not at her full power, but they all decided to fight with the champion levels anyway. Biyomon, however, was ticked off.

"Melody! Why don't you let me digivolve?" Biyomon whined.

"It's because you fly, and because this parking lot's ceiling is so low, you won't be able to fly around freely and fight as well as you normally do," Melody replied.

"Oh. I see. Well, I suppose this is a small trial, but I'll go in and fight anyway! Yaaaah!" Biyomon exclaimed as she decided to join the fight.

Lekismon is the first to attack.

"Moon Night Bomb!" Her watery spheres attempted to soak Witchmon to the bone, but with great speed she quickly dodged it.

"Oh-la-la! Not a very wise move, I might say! Kihihihihi!" Witchmon exclaimed with a cackling laugh as she flew around the parking lot on her broom. The Digimon got ticked off and were now even more determined to bring her to justice.

"Ninja Kick!"

"Blazing Fire!"

"Fira Bomb!"

"Feather Strike!"

"Echoing Bark!"

"Holy Wing!"

"Spray of Hearts!"

Turuiemon tried to kick Witchmon, but she dodged it. Terriermon threw a fiery sphere at her, but she just deflected it with her broom, as she did with MarineAngemon's attack as well. Patamon, Biyomon, and Labramon all tried to slow her down with their own attacks, but Witchmon smacked all three of them with her broom, and had a good time of it. Firamon shot his firey bombs at Witchmon, but she had something planned for him and Lekismon.

"Aqua Pressure!" Witchmon pointed her finger into the air and a huge wave of water swept over Firamon and Lekismon. Although they fell out of one of the windows, Firamon managed to catch Lekismon and get back onto the floor. The kids climbed on top of some cars to escape getting soaked to the bone.

"Man! This witch is strong!" Kosuke exclaimed as he scooped an injured Patamon into his arms.

"Yeah! And she's not even an ultimate level!" Patamon backed him up.

"I'm scared..." Aria muttered to herself as she clung to Yun.

"Well, we can't give up just yet! I say we keep fighting!" Yun exclaimed.

"I agree! We cannot let Witchmon get away with what she's done!" Turuiemon backed her up wholeheartedly and proceeded to attack Witchmon again.

"Gauntlet Claw!"

"Baluluna Gale!"

Turuiemon tried to attack the slick and slippery Witchmon with her gauntlets, but Witchmon, with her trusty broom, spiraled a huge tornado like gust of wind, which pushed Turuiemon against two cars, breaking both windshields.

"Turuiemon!" Yun and Terriermon ran to Turuiemon's aid and helped her up.

"Are you alright?" Yun asked worriedly.

"You sure took a good hit!" Terriermon exclaimed. Turuiemon helped herself up.

"I-I'm fine. Thank you," Turuiemon replied softly.

But something seemed to hit Firamon.

"Wait a minute! Has anyone seen Gatomon?" Firamon asked. Lekismon's ears rose into the air.

"Oh! You're right! Where in the world IS she?" Lekismon exclaimed.

Unbeknownst to everyone, Gatomon is crawling underneath two cars, out of Witchmon's sight, and hoping to catch a good sight of her. The only problem is that Witchmon keeps flying around crazily.

"Yeeheehee! You'll NEVER catch little ol' meeeeee!" Witchmon said as she kept flying around the parking lot like an out of control airplane, only she actually IS in control. A second later, she caught sight of Gatomon, and Gatomon caught sight of her, which gave Gatomon an opportunity.

"Cat's Eye Hypnosis!"

But one problem: Witchmon beat her to the attack.

"Baluluna Gale!"

"Nyaaaaan!"

Witchmon shot out a big blast of wind at Gatomon, exposing her and throwing her against the wall. This horrified Minako.

"Gatomon!" Minako yelled as she ran to Gatomon and scooped her into her arms.

"Gatomon! Speak to me!" Minako gave Gatomon a pleading look, to which Gatomon responded.

"Sorry, Mina-chan. I hoped to paralyze her with my Cat's Eye Hypnosis while she wasn't looking, but I guess my attempt failed. Nyan..." Gatomon croaked tiredly.

"It's okay. You were great nonetheless. Such a smart little kitten you are! We'll get her somehow!" Minako praised Gatomon for her failed attempt, but at least she tried. Meanwhile, Turuiemon, Lekismon, and Firamon were having a hard time. They used every attack they could, but Witchmon dodged or destroyed every one of them.

"Grrr! This wicked witch is annoying!" Firamon exclaimed angrily.

"I agree! She even outruns my own agility! How in the world can we defeat her?" Lekismon backed him up. Even the kids were worried.

"Lekismon! Don't give up now! Try and tire her out a bit!" Rena cheered.

"Yeah! Maybe take away Witchmon's broom or somethin'!" Riku shouted.

"That's it! Her broom! Lekismon, Turuiemon, let's try and take Witchmon's broom away! Perhaps it's the source of her power!" Firamon shouted courageously. Lekismon and Turuiemon nodded eagerly.

"A great idea, Firamon!" Lekismon said.

"Alright! Let's fight on!" Turuiemon cried out with a smile.

"Go Digimon! You can do it! We believe in you!" Yun cried out happily, cheering the three champion level Digimon on.

"Fira Claw!"

"Tear Arrow!"

"Ninja Kick!"

Firamon attacked with it's front fore-legs engulfed by flames. Lekismon shot pale blue arrows from the stick-ups on her back. Turuiemon tried to kick again. Sadly enough, Witchmon successfully evaded them all.

"Doesn't this thing ever take a break?" Lekismon exclaimed angrily.

"NOOOOPE! I'm telling you, you'll NEVER catch little ol' meeee! Yeeheehee!" Witchmon taunted them by flying around. But at one point, she rested for a bit on the ground.

That's when it happened. But Witchmon didn't know it until she started flying around again.

Yun screamed.

"What? What is it, Yun?" Otoya exclaimed.

"Look!" Yun pointed to Witchmon's broom. But Witchmon didn't see it.

"Hmph! You're all a bunch of weaklings! I should've expected no less! Alrighty then! Time to-huh?" Witchmon attempted to attack them as she flew through the air again, but she suddenly felt a force pulling on her left glove. She couldn't move it. She turned around and gasped.

There, clinging to both her broom and left arm courageously, is Lucero!

"Ack! Get off of me, child!" Witchmon screamed like a girl who broke a nail. But Lucero sure didn't look as though he were even thinking about conceding defeat. He clung onto both the broom and her arm tightly.

"Thou must leave with haste! Surrender now, knave!" Lucero cried out angrily.

"No! I'm not a knave! Get off of me!" Witchmon whined incessantly as she flew around even more crazily in an attempt to throw Lucero off of her. Now this provided an opportunity for attack, and it was the rookies, MarineAngemon, and Gatomon who took it.

"Holy Blaze!" Biyomon engulfed herself in a rainbow flame and threw herself at Witchmon.

"Holy Bite!" Labramon bit into the arm that Lucero is clinging to, causing Witchmon to yelp in pain.

"Holy Wing!" Patamon left a fresh scratch on Witchmon's clothes and face with his glowing ear wings.

"Lightning Paw!" Gatomon's paw made sparks fly as she punched Witchmon in the gut, causing her to be incapable of breathing for a second.

"Spray of Hearts!" MarineAngemon spit out a few heart shaped bubbles at Witchmon...but they didn't reach her. Because Witchmon has finally had enough.

"Aqua Pressure!"

A huge waterfall rained down on both her, Lucero, and the other Digimon, causing Lucero and the other Digimon to finally let go of the broom. Lekismon caught him and the rookies just in the nick of time, but Firamon was pushed against a car, causing him to destroy it which in turn caused Yun to cover her ears.

"This is insane!" Yun yelled out.

"This is ludicrous! How could Witchmon have survived all that?" Melody cried out angrily.

"Awwww! Now my feathers are soaked!" Biyomon whined similar to how Witchmon did earlier.

"Persistent, aren't you? I'm not going to let you get away with assaulting me like that!" Witchmon exclaimed. As she spoke, Turuiemon made an attempt to attack. Witchmon saw this and, having used up most of her power, struggled to make a split-second decision as to how to avoid or block Turuiemon's attack.

That's when she laid eyes on Terriermon.

In a split second, she grabbed him by the ears.

"TERRIERMON!" Yun screamed as she watched her little friend be held in front of Turuiemon.

"Eat this, rabbit!" Witchmon exclaimed.

But Turuiemon saw it too late.

"Oh no!"

"Let me go, Witchmon!" Terriermon yelled.

"NOOOO!" Yun ran after them, totally overcome with worry. That's when...her digivice glew again. This stopped Turuiemon from attacking and Witchmon from being able to hold him. Terriermon became engulfed by a pale emerald green light. Everyone watched as the light surrounding Terriermon rose into the air with awe and wonder. Yun and Witchmon both stopped in their tracks.

"What's happening?" Aria asked.

"Terriermon's digivolving! What else?" Kosuke retorted rather angrily, which was uncalled for but Aria didn't seem to mind.

"Terriermon, digivolve to..."

The light surrounding Terriermon got bigger and bigger until it became the size of Turuiemon. The pale green light dissipated and out came a totally different Digimon! His head (the parts above his mouth) and ears are pale green while the tips of his ears and the rest of his body are light yellow. In between his beady opal blue eyes is a dark gold diamond on his forehead and two Indian war paint stripes on both of his cheeks of the same dark gold color. A black belt strap is wrapped around his body, his feet are bigger, and his hands are now shiny silver guns.

"...Gargomon!"

Gargomon, now the exact same size as Turuiemon, stood in between Yun and Witchmon courageously.

But something about Gargomon didn't look right. Yun, and the others saw it. It was the color of his gun hands, the Indian war paint, and his belt strap.

"Why are his gun hands silver? Shouldn't they be black? And why is his face paint gold when they should be red? And shouldn't his belt strap be brown instead of black?" Yun asked herself, but Gargomon didn't hear it.

"Something's up, I know it!" Melody exclaimed.

But Gargomon didn't hear a thing. He was just too pumped up.

"Hey you! Witchmon! Time for a good thrashing!" Gargomon exclaimed as he proceeded to attack and got his hand guns ready.

"Gargo Laser!" A myriad of glowing white bullets shot out from his gun hands like the ones used on machine guns. Witchmon was only hit by two of them, but she somehow managed to evade him, which shocked the children.

"How can this be? Witchmon shouldst be weakened! This shan't happen! Not at all!" Lucero exclaimed, in shock that Witchmon dodged Gargomon's attack.

"Why isn't Witchmon giving up?" Labramon exclaimed.

Nonetheless, Gargomon continued to pursue Witchmon. Seeing his example, Turuiemon, Lekismon, and Firamon decided to follow him.

"Bunny Pummel!" Gargomon attempted to bash Witchmon on the head with his hand guns only...but she evaded them.

"Tear Arrow!"

"Fira Claw!"

Lekismon and Firamon tried to help him out by attacking Witchmon with their own attacks, but even that didn't work as Witchmon kept on evading each and every one of them! Yun was just ticked off.

_'I can't believe this! Witchmon's only a champion level just like the others yet she keeps evading all of their attacks and outmatching us! Man! Even though Terriermon digivolved, she's still stronger than us! How are we gonna-'_ She thought when she suddenly tripped and fell. Her digivice bounced out and rolled for a bit. But what it did afterward surprised Yun. A long light engulfed in a rainbow hue appeared from Yun's digivice and formed a rainbow-colored rope of light that hung out from it. She picked it up...and flicked the rope for a bit. Although she didn't understand why it happened, she did come to realize what it could be used for. That's what gave her an idea.

"I got it!" Yun exclaimed. As the four champion level Digimon (excluding Gatomon, who is still recovering) fought Witchmon, all of them, including Witchmon, were so pre-occupied with the battle they didn't see Yun approaching them.

"Yun! What are you doing? Get out of there!" Minako exclaimed, but Yun didn't listen. The champion level Digimon didn't hear her, not even Witchmon.

"Kyahahaha! Even though you digivolved, I still outrun you all by a-" Witchmon wanted to tease them a bit more...that is, until she felt a strange tug on her leg. She looked down and gasped when she saw a rainbowy light wrapped around one of her legs.

"AAAACK!" She yelped. Yun used her digivice as a lasso and caught Witchmon by the foot. Despite the fact that Witchmon is flying, Yun's feet remained firmly on the ground as she tugged on Witchmon's leg with all her might.

"Everyone! Our digivices can be used as ropes and lassos!" Yun exclaimed.

"Wow! That's awesome!" Riku exclaimed.

"This isn't the time to be excited! We gotta help her out!" Rena interrupted.

"Yeah! Let's do it!" Melody yelled out.

Everyone got off of the car, got their digivices, and tried to approach Witchmon. Yun had a plan and she wanted to put it to use. Since her digivice can be used as a lasso, who's to say the others' couldn't be used as such either? Perhaps everyone can use their digivices to keep Witchmon from flying all over the place, that way all the Digimon could attack her and give her some justice.

Unfortunately, Yun wasn't able to even begin her plan. Witchmon got ticked off.

"You're not getting me THAT easily, human!" Witchmon exclaimed as she flew up into the sky, carrying Yun with her. After a few swings, Yun's digivice lasso finally faded and Yun was thrown against the wall like a rag doll...well, technically Turuiemon saved her in the nick of time. Witchmon, in a fit of anger, broke a car with her broom, which frightened Yun into covering her ears and leaving everyone (except the Digimon) frozen in their tracks. But Witchmon was having problems of her own.

_'I can't keep this up forever! I've already used up all my power on that last Aqua Pressure. Awwww! What am I going to-Oh! I know! Why did I not think of that before? Silly little me!'_ Witchmon thought as she flew all over the parking lot floor. She looked down at her hand and gazed upon a black hexagon shaped stone with a skull on it. She clenched it in her hands and started flying toward Gargomon, who decided to attack.

"Take this! Gargo Laser!" Gargomon tried to attack her with his bullets, but like always she dodged them all. However, for once she is actually intending to get close to him.

Right when she got close enough to Gargomon, she quickly pressed her hand, the one with the black hexagon stone on it, onto Gargomon's chest, leaving Gargomon quite dazed. In a split second, Witchmon got out of his way and flew toward the window. Melody and Otoya all saw this.

"She's getting away!" Otoya screamned as she and Melody went after Witchmon.

"Come back here!" Melody yelled.

"Sorry! I've had enough of messing with you all today. 'Til next time! Ciao! Kihihihihihi!" Witchmon winked and flew away from the parking lot floor...and the town. Melody and Otoya were appalled.

"NOOOO! She got away!" Melody screamed. She punched her fist onto the solid concrete floor. She didn't care if it hurt. Witchmon got away and they couldn't even land one attack on her. But there was another problem they had to deal with.

"Otoya! Melody! We've got a problem! Gargomon's gone beserk!" Labramon exclaimed with fear in his eyes.

What they saw appalled them. Gargomon's eyes are glowing in a bloody crimson red light, and he's shooting bullets from his gun hands all over the place, breaking all the cars on the floor! It also didn't help that Yun is standing in front of one of the elevators with her hands on her ears, violently trembling and practically consumed by fear. And they all saw what's making Gargomon go beserk.

"The Dark Emblem! Witchmon put that on him! I saw her do it!" Aria exclaimed.

"Well, let's stop him!" MarineAngemon cried out.

All the champion and rookie level Digimon, seeing Gargomon go crazy, decided to try and calm him down and get the Dark Emblem off of him.

"Boom Bubble!"

"Spray of Hearts!"

"Feather Strike!"

"Echoing Bark!"

"Fira Bomb!"

"Moon Night Kick!"

"Ninja Kick!"

Unfortunately, Gargomon kept on shooting bullets and destroying cars all around him, repeling all of their attacks.

"No way! We should've been able to get him better than we could Witchmon! How is this happening?" Patamon exclaimed.

"I have no idea, but I think that Dark Emblem increases his power!" Biyomon piped in.

All of a sudden, Gargomon suddenly stops attacking and catches sight of Yun, trembling with fear and covering her ears. Yun became even more scared when Gargomon...

Aimed his gun hand at her.

Yun walked backward, but Gargomon kept walking toward her. Soon, Yun found herself against the wall, unable to escape.

However, what she didn't know, was that all kinds of thoughts were going through Gargomon's mind, and they certainly weren't controlled by the Dark Emblem.

_'No! No no no no! What am I doing? I can't hurt Yun! She's my friend! My best friend! I'd never hurt her! Why isn't my body listening to me? I don't wanna hurt Yun! Get off of me, you Dark Emblem!'_ Gargomon kept screaming in his mind to not hurt Yun, but his body was disobeying him because of the Dark Emblem. He walked closer and closer while Yun, completely consumed by fear, was unable to escape...or was she?

"Lightning Paw!"

"Stay away from my friend, you beast!"

Unexpectedly, Melody and Gatomon rammed into Gargomon so hard that he fell against the elevator doors. Melody clung to his long ears and scratched his face, which made him yelp in pain. Gatomon laid an awesome hit on Gargomon's chest, but it wasn't enough to make the Dark Emblem disappear.

"Think you can hurt my friend, huh? Well time for your just desserts!" Melody exclaimed.

"I've had just about enough! Cat Kick!" Gatomon yelled as she laid a kick on Gargomon. Yun finally fell to her knees. Lucero and Aria ran to her aid, but she couldn't move. Turuiemon, however, wasn't going to let anything stop her.

"Gargomon...forgive me. Gauntlet Claw!" Turuiemon muttered to herself, then screamed as she pressed her gauntlet into Gargomon's chest, finally making the Dark Emblem disappear. The red glow in Gargomon's eyes dissipated, he closed his eyes, and fell to his knees.

"Yay! We did it!" Patamon cried out.

"They stopped Gargomon from destroying everything! Hooray!" MarineAngemon yelled as she and Patamon held hands and danced a victory dance. However, not everyone was happy. Especially not about destroying the Dark Emblem on Gargomon's chest. In fact, Kosuke, looking totally and completely choleric and incensed, stomped up to Melody and..._WHAP!_ Slapped her square in the face! Everyone gasped.

"Kosuke! Why did you do that?" Patamon cried out.

"YOU! This is your fault! Witchmon got away because of you! If you hadn't been so slow and lazy we would've been able to get Witchmon! You let her escape!" Kosuke screamed angrily, which in turn angered Melody.

"Because of ME? Are you kidding me, Kosuke? Witchmon outsmarted and outran all of us yet you seriously expected it to be easy to catch her and destroy her? And that I LET HER ESCAPE?" Melody screamed.

"You should've been able to predict her movements and attack her when she was weakest, yet you didn't do a thing!"

"Look who's talking! You barely did anything yourself, Hanemoto! Your own Digimon can't even digivolve yet!"

"You didn't make your own Digimon digivolve!"

"That's because Birdramon can't fly freely in this type on environment, blockhead!"

"She was big enough to keep Witchmon from flying out the window, goth girl!"

"But she's weak against water, dipstick! And quit yelling! You know Yun doesn't like it when people yell and scream like a psycho-maniac!"

"Do you care more about Yun than Witchmon?"

"I'd do anything for Yun, unlike you!"

An intense brouhaha broke out between the two, and everyone was not liking it.

"Kosuke! Melody! Stop fighting! It's not good to fight!" Patamon cried out.

"Yes! That's right! Witchmon outsmarted all of us, so there's no need to blame each other!" Biyomon backed him up. Surprisingly, Riku decided to break them up.

"They're both right! Witchmon's stronger than any of the other Digimon we've fought before, and she doesn't even have a Dark Emblem on her! Sure she got away, but fighting about it isn't going to solve anything!" Riku explained calmly, but Kosuke and Melody didn't listen to him. Instead, they looked at him with angry looks on their faces.

"Oh-ho-ho you're one to talk! All you did was cheer and scream like a guy on crack while Firamon nearly set the place on fire!" Kosuke yelled angrily, which angered Riku.

"HEY! Firamon tried his hardest to beat Witchmon! She outsmarted us! What else could we have done? She evaded all of our attacks like it was nothing! And don't go blaming Firamon for everything around here!" Riku yelled back.

"The both of you LET Witchmon escape! Now she's gonna be putting Dark Emblems on every Digimon she sees!" Kosuke exclaimed.

"Well, sorry we weren't able to stop her, Mr. I have an alcoholic for a mother who does nothing but wallow in her self pity all day for the rest of her life!" Melody screamed, which made Kosuke snap. Soon, Melody and Kosuke were throwing fists and kicks at one another, scaring not only the kids but the Digimon as well.

"Kosuke! Get off of her NOW!" Otoya yelled as she tried to pry Kosuke off with Patamon and Biyomon's help. Minako and Rena helped too while the Digimon, Yun, Lucero, and Aria were all left frozen in their tracks. But Kosuke, Melody, and Riku were all persistent and kept on yelling and screaming and fighting. It went on for a good 5 minutes.

And 5 minutes was just about enough for one person. He snapped.

_"SILEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENCE!"_

Of all the people to suddenly scream loud enough to echo through the solid concrete walls of the parking lot, it was Lucero who snapped. That scream came straight from his mouth. His echoing scream permeated everyone's ears, causing everyone to fall silent before the wrath of a now absolutely incensed Lucero. Lucero has had just about enough of this brouhaha.

"You're all disgraces! So what if Witchmon escaped? Our lives would've been in great danger if Gargomon had not been stopped! If that had not happened, then nobody else would be capable of stopping Witchmon! Just like Riku-dono said, it is true that we have failed to capture Witchmon and bring her to justice, but this does NOT mean that it'll be the last time we see her! And fighting about it like a gaggle of kids throwing the temper tantrums of the century is NOT going to solve anything, you thick-headed gits! Can you not see that Yun is about to start bawling at any minute? Stop this meaningless fighting at once! There's always next time! And we can improve on our teamwork too!"

Lucero was on a roll. He showed absolutely no mercy when it came to reprimanded Kosuke, Melody, and Riku for their childish animosity towards each other. Everyone was silent and frozen in their tracks. Not because of Lucero yelling at them, but because for once he actually used normal, modern dialect instead of the usual Shakespeare talk they grew used to. Perhaps he talks modern when he's angry. But one person, or in this case Digimon, regained his consciousness and looked around the destroyed parking lot floor, looking quite dazed.

"Huuuuh? Wha...what happened? Did Witchmon get destroyed?" Gargomon muttered as he tried to regain his composure, which Aria noticed.

"Well...let's at least be happy he's back to normal," Aria muttered.

"Yes. I agree," Otoya replied softly.

But that silence and brief moment of peace was broken when a certain someone exploded into an epic paroxysm of wailing, bawling, and crying.

_"BWAAAAAAAH!"_

It was Yun.

Her loud, piercing voice broke everyone, even the Digimon, out of their trances. Turuiemon was the first to react.

"Yun!" She, Melody, and Otoya ran straight toward the crying girl who sat on her knees, trying to mollify her. But nothing worked. Gargomon, while still a little dazed, noticed this.

"Yu-Yun! Oh no! I've gotta-" Gargomon tried to approach her, but what came out of Yun's mouth stopped him.

_"TERRIERMOOOON!"_

Gargomon froze in his tracks, shocked and frightened. Images and specters were going through his mind. Attacked by Witchmon. A Dark Emblem on his chest. Destroying cars and wind shields upon laying eyes on them. Worst of all, putting an already scared to death Yun in a corner by threatening to shoot her with one of his gun hands. Everything came to him, even a terrifying realization that hit him like a mighty blow. Yun's bawling because of him. Gargomon's heart shattered into a million pieces. He could see his eyes get blurred by oncoming tears.

Gargomon made Yun snap. He made Yun cry. He scared her so much he made her fright reach it's peak.

But even so, why was Yun calling out his name?

"Terriermon! Terriermon! Where is he? Where is he? I want Terriermoooooon!" Yun wailed and wailed as the kids tried to calm her down, but she didn't. This made Gargomon take a few steps back.

"Gargomon? What are you standing around for? She needs you!" Lekismon scolded rather harshly, but Gargomon began to tremble.

"I...I...I made Yun...cry...!" Gargomon looked like he himself was about to explode into waterworks. Turuiemon could see the look of sadness in Gargomon's navy blue eyes and felt just as dejected as him, mostly upon seeing him realize what he'd done and mostly upon watching Yun wail and shake her hands and moan and rock back and forth like a helpless child. Turuiemon walked over to the still wailing Yun and carried her in her arms.

"I believe it's best that we go home," Turuiemon muttered softly, to which everyone nodded.

All the Digimon de-digivolved back into their rookie forms except for Turuiemon while Biyomon digivolved into Birdramon so she could take everyone home. Yun cried and cried all throughout the ride. Terriermon, who oddly enough is clinging to Birdramon's foot instead of being on Birdramon's back with the kids, could hear it as clear as day. His eyes shook. His ears were carried by the wind. But all of this was not enough to heal the insanely huge hole of guilt that had been formed in his heart.

_'I can't believe this! I tried to hurt my best friend and made her cry! I'm so stupid! Why couldn't I stop myself? I...I can't be Yun's best friend...best friends don't make each other cry...'_ Terriermon thought dejectedly as he clung to Birdramon's leg like a leech.

But unbeknownst to all of them, Witchmon remained on the roof of the parking lot, watching them fly away.

Author's Note: Wow! This has to be the longest chapter of this story yet! I'm really happy with how it came out! By the way, I met with my friends at the buffet. I had a great time! It was awesome! But I wish my mom would stop pestering me with questions such as "did you leave before them?" or "Who picked (insert name here) up?" or all that stuff! Seriously! All I wanted to do is have fun yet she asks me all these questions! Now she's got me both annoyed and worried. I better go now. I'll see you all later! Bye-bee!


	11. Terriermon's Sorrow

Author's Note: Konnichiwa minna-san! Ish me, Firechick! My friend get-together yesterday was awesome! My friends and I went to a buffet called Sharon Zeungs and ate lunch there. We talked about a lot of stuff! We even took a picture there too! Man, I am sooooo gonna miss my friend Alex! She's the first female friend I made in high school! Well, she has her path set so I can't complain. Besides, we'll always keep in contact through our phones and facebook. But still, parting is such sweet sorrow! Well, enough of my childish angsting and onwards to Digimon: A Seraphic Tale chapter 11!

EPISODE 11: Terriermon's Sorrow

When the group dropped Yun off to her house, still wailing and crying like a helpless child, night fell. Yun basically ran into her room and clutched Lopmon and Terriermon tightly as she cried away all of her frustrations. Lopmon didn't mind, but Terriermon silently did. He felt absolutely rueful and guilty about the whole incident. How could he have succumbed to Witchmon and her Dark Emblems so easily? And worse yet, it gave him the audacity to actually threaten to hurt sweet and magnanimous Yun, who did absolutely nothing to deserve all the fright she had to endure! Terriermon blamed himself for Yun's fright reaching it's peak, but one thing he couldn't understand is that even though he scared her to death, she still clings to him and treats him like he's her best friend. He couldn't understand. Why would she forgive him so easily? His little heart was just too wracked with guilt to even comprehend Yun's unrelenting kindness.

After a whole hour of crying, Yun finally stopped and left the room to take a bath, leaving Lopmon and Terriermon in her room alone together. But Terriermon did notice something else about Yun that certainly differentiated her from everyone else. Sometimes, when she was anxious or frightened, she rocked back and forth like a rocking chair. Other times she would flap her hands up and down as if she were covered with garbage that had been in the sewers for months and was trying to get it off in a paroxysm of frustration and disgust. Other times she would just moan without having any reason to, though these moments were quite rare. Terriermon simply dismissed them as Yun being in her own little happy dream world trapped in the clutches of her whimsical fantasies. But even so, he continued to blame himself for what happened. He laid on the bed aimlessly looking up at the plain ceiling with a dejected look on his face. Poor little Terriermon looked as if he were going to cry, which is very out of character for the sweet, lively, and energetic little moppet he usually is. Even observant little Lopmon noticed Terriermon's depression, even though she read another chapter of Before Green Gables (and a particularly sad one at that). She hopped onto the bed and quietly approached Terriermon.

"What's wrong? Are you alright?" Lopmon asked softly in her pretty voice.

"No," Terriermon replied weakly. "I'm a wreck!"

"Are you upset about earlier, when Witchmon took control of you with the Dark Emblem?"

"It's not just that! Worse than that! I threatened to attack Yun and made her cry! I'm so stupid! Digimon partners don't do that to their human friends, do they?"

"Terriermon. Don't blame yourself so. How could you have known Witchmon was going to control you? You weren't able to regain control of your mind and body. It happens. And besides, Witchmon outsmarted all of us, so we all failed."

"Yes, but still! I made Yun cry and I hate myself for it, and yet she still treats me like I'm her baby! Why? That's what I don't get! Why is she still cuddling me when she should be angry with me?"

"Perhaps she knows it wasn't your intention to attempt to hurt her. She knows that you were under the Dark Emblems control. She doesn't blame you for what happened."

"Well she should! And I'll bet saying sorry to her won't help, either!"

This made Lopmon feel dejected, and it wasn't because she reached the chapter where Bertha, Anne Shirley's mother, died from the typhoid fever at last.

"Terriermon..." Lopmon could do nothing but stroke his ear with her tiny pink paw. After a while, Yun came into the room in...high spirits?

"Terriermon! Lopmon! We forgot about dinner! Come on! Mom's just ordered a pizza! You'll love it!" Yun exclaimed with a bright smile on her face. This made Terriermon even more confused. But nonetheless, he joined Yun, Lopmon, and Lucero for a cheese pizza. He liked the pizza and relished the gooey and sticky taste, but it wasn't enough to fill the guilt-sized hole in his heart. He didn't even bother to eat the crust (Yun never eats the crust). Unbeknownst to him though, Hisako noticed that Terriermon is looking depressed, which is unusual because he's usually very happy and lively. Soon, after Yun blow dried her hair and brushed her teeth, she and the others went to bed.

The next morning, Yun awakened in high spirits and was about to leave for school with Lucero by her side when she saw Terriermon and Lopmon sitting on the couch with Teruki and watching the news.

"We'll be at school now. You two be good while I'm gone! See ya!" Yun said happily as she skipped out the door with Lucero and Hisako by her side. Lopmon waved at her while Terriermon remained silent in his gloom. He even remained so when Hisako came home. Even Teruki noticed Terriermon's odd behavior.

"Terriermon? Are you alright?" He asked kindly.

Terriermon said nothing and just simply walked away. "Bathroom."

So he did his private business and, on a complete whim, decided to go out onto the back deck. He sat on a corner of the railing next to a trough full of little red flowers, looking at the tree and the red hummingbird feeder hanging off of one of the branches. He saw two little hummingbirds happily eat and flit around with their invisible flying wings. Terriermon wished he could go back to being as lively and happy and energetic as the little hummingbirds. But how could he when he threatened to attack Yun and ended up making her cry. A small tear slid down his eye. He felt it's warmth and wiped it off. It sure wasn't like him to cry, but he couldn't help but shed a few tears.

He couldn't understand. Why attack Yun? Why did it have to be him who had to have Witchmon's Dark Emblem branded on him? Why attack the very person who raised him, brought him up, treated him kindly, played with him, and stayed by his side when Digimon attacked? Why attempt to attack the sweetest, kindest, gentlest, most innocent, and most warm-hearted person that ever received the blessing of having him and Lopmon as Digimon? His whimpers turned to sobs. He then thought about the strange habits Yun displayed, such as rocking back and forth and shaking her hands and spinning around in a circle whenever she pleased. He pushed away more tears staining his face, but not before he finally saw Hisako walking up behind him.

"You're sad, aren't you?" Hisako asked in a kind, polite voice.

"I-I-I'm sorry, I...I just..." Terriermon tried to hide his sadness and despair, but Hisako could see it as clear as day. She put a hand on his head.

"Care to tell me what happened?" She asked.

Although feeling very reluctant, he decided to tell her everything.

"An evil Digimon named Witchmon...attacked the parking lot you park in when you go to work. We went there to stop her, but she was so strong. She kept outsmarting everyone, even me. I digivolved, but somehow she put this Dark Emblem on me, and I went beserk. I even held Yun at gunpoint! I know, horrible isn't it? But I didn't want that to happen! I tried to stop myself, but...I...when I came to, Yun was screaming and bawling and covering her ears. I...I threatened to hurt your precious daughter and made her cry! I'm so stupid!" It broke Terriermon's little heart when he remembered Yun's piercing cries from that night. He couldn't stand hearing how loud and dejected they sounded. Hisako listened intently and attentively. When Terriermon finished and attempted to cry again, Hisako put her hand on his head and stroke it again.

"Thank you for telling me, sweetie. Don't blame yourself. I'm sure you were trying your hardest to defeat Witchmon," Hisako said.

"Yes, but...she got away, and I scared Yun to death! My best friend! How could I be so cruel? And worse than that, she acts like nothing happened. She went to school all happy like it's all fun and rainbows! She shouldn't forgive me!" Terriermon exclaimed sadly.

"Terriermon, can I ask you something?"

"Yes?"

"Did you..._want_ to hurt Yun?"

This question angered Terriermon so much that he stood up and clenched his tiny green fists.

"Of course not! I would never want to hurt my precious friend and your precious daughter! Witchmon put that Dark Emblem on me and it was controling me! I wasn't myself! I tried to stop myself, but I couldn't!" Terriermon screamed vehemently, to which Hisako smiled.

"I believe that's how Yun sees it. She knows that you would never hurt her in any way, and that this so-called Dark Emblem is the cause of your rather...rough behavior last night. Perhaps she knows it wasn't the real you," Hisako explained. Terriermon finally calmed down and sat back down on the railing.

"But...I don't get it. Even though I was controlled, I still scared her to death," Terriermon said.

"Is that all?"

"What do you mean?"

"Let me ask you. Was Yun covering her ears last night?"

"Yeah!"

"Were there any loud noises, like people yelling or glass breaking or cars being destroyed?"

"Yeah!"

"And did she ever rock back and forth or shake her hands?"

"Ummm...no, but she did when we came back."

Hisako smiled a bit at Terriermon, who was confused by this strange line of questioning. But upon closer inspection, Terriermon seemed to understand that these questions are leading up to something, and Hisako took the plunge and decided to tell him.

"Terriermon, dear. There's more to it than you unknowingly scaring her. There's more to Yun than you really know. I don't believe she's told you yet, has she?"

He shook his head.

"Okay. What I'm going to tell you is a little long and possibly boring, but I feel it'll help you understand why Yun's the way she is with her little habits. But I want to ask a final question, if you don't mind," Hisako said.

Terriermon nodded and prepared himself.

And Hisako finally let it out.

"Do you know what autism is?"

Terriermon did a little turtle neck jerk and cocked his head to one side in pure confusion, awed by the strange new word that came out from Hisako's mouth.

"No. I don't. What is that?" He asked, confused.

"I suppose you don't have stuff like this in the Digital World, do you?" She asked.

Terriermon shook his head. But before she could continue, she heard a small boom by the back door. She turned to see a curious Lopmon coming out onto the backyard.

"Oh! I-I'm terribly sorry. I didn't mean to eavesdrop," Lopmon said, but Hisako did not seem to mind.

"It's alright. In fact, why don't you join our conversation? I want to tell you more about it too," Hisako said as she politely offered her hand out to Lopmon. Lopmon quietly hopped onto the railing and sat next to Terriermon, hoping to hear about Hisako's explanation.

"So what were you saying about this...awte...?" Terriermon asked.

"Autism," Hisako repeated. "It's a brain disorder. It affects the way Yun perceives the world, particularly with how she feels, sees, and experiences things and the way her brain processes new information," Hisako explained.

"Disorder? Is it an illness? Or a disease? Is it contagious?" Lopmon asked curiously.

"Oh no no. It's not a disease and you can't catch it. You have to be born with it. See, Yun's brain is wired differently from other's. She processes new information and learns things differently from others. She has difficulty with acting in ways that other people perceive as _"normal."_ For her, it's hard to talk to people, look at people in the eye, and as you've noticed by now, she displays some rather odd characteristics like rocking back and forth or shaking her hands," Hisako explained lucidly and slowly so Terriermon and Lopmon can absorb the new information being given to them.

"Is that why she's sensitive to loud noise?" Lopmon asked.

"Yes. She hates a lot of noises like explosions, glass breaking, loud rap music, people screaming and yelling, crying babies, gunshots, all those things," Hisako said.

Then it hit Terriermon. Last night there was a lot of glass breaking, explosions, and people yelling. The glass breaking because the cars and their wind shields were being destroyed. The explosions being caused by Witchmon. The yelling because of Melody and Kosuke getting into a catfight over Witchmon (which he didn't notice until later). All of those things made fear amass on to Yun and cause her to cover her ears and not be able to move. So that's why!

"Her disability is the reason why she has trouble making friends and adapting to sudden big changes in her life. Most kids nowadays don't really understand why she's the way she is and think it's the same as being retarded, which I don't think is true," Hisako said.

This made Terriermon stand up.

"I don't think it's true either! Sure Yun is a little strange, but I don't mind! Nobody's the same! Nobody's perfect! In fact, I would never want to change one thing about Yun! I love how sweet and kind she is, even though I don't deserve to be loved by her since I made her cry last night. I love her way of thinking, her big words, her books, her games, everything! She's NOT retarded at all, and whoever says otherwise is gonna have to deal with me!" Terriermon edicted loudly. Even though is little heart is still consumed by guilt over what he unknowingly did last night, he still loved Yun and would never change one thing about her.

"Yes. I agree. I'm happy to have Yun as my partner. She's the best thing that ever happened to us. You raised her well, Hisako-san," Lopmon backed him up gently. Hisako couldn't help but smile and put a hand on her chest.

"Thank you, little ones. I'm so glad you think that way," Hisako said politely. Then she stroke Terriermon's head with her finger and looked into his little opal eyes.

"Terriermon. Another reason I told you all of this is because I want you to know that what happened last night isn't your fault at all. Yun was just scared because of everything that was going on around her. Would YOU like it if you were trapped in a place full of really loud noises?"

"No."

"Of course not. She wouldn't like that either. Her fright just reached it's peak, that's all. Also...on the contrary you've actually been a very good influence on Yun."

"Really?"

"Yes. Yun talks about you and Lopmon almost every day. She spends all of her time with you two. She's starting to smile more and become a bit more social, and whenever she's sad she goes to you and Lopmon for comfort. Plus she doesn't put herself down as much anymore. Terriermon, Yun loves you and Lopmon very much, and I don't think being threatened will change one thing about her feelings for you. Her being autistic doesn't change one thing about how she feels about you."

"Autistic? You just said she has autism!"

"Yes. That's the term used to refer to people who have autism. Autistic."

"Oh. I get it now."

"And besides, I think she'd be very sad if she saw you blaming yourself for what happened. She holds you and Lopmon in very high regard, and I'm happy because you two make her happy. And Yun hasn't been happy since starting school last month."

"Because of those mean kids Nenji and Seiko?"

"She told you? Oh. Yes, half of it's because of them, and it makes me mad that they still continue to pick on her. But the point is, little Terriermon...don't blame yourself for what happened. It's all done and over with. I'm sure Yun won't hate you. And besides, you're much too cute to be hated!" At that last sentence, Hisako teasingly and cutely poked Terriermon in the stomach and made him laugh.

"Hey! Quit it!"

Lopmon laughed heartily.

"Now, are you two hungry? Would you like breakfast?" Hisako asked.

"I wouldn't mind having some toast!" Terriermon exclaimed.

"Will you be so kind as to show me how to make breakfast?" Lopmon asked politely.

"I don't see why not, so of course!" Hisako scooped up the little rabbits into her arms and walked back into the house.

Terriermon sat around and ruminated. Perhaps it wasn't entirely his fault after all. Now that he knows that Yun is _'autistic'_ and hates loud noises, is not good at making friends or adapting to change, prefers being in her own little world (this he figured out on his own), and processes information differently, some of the guilt that consumed his heart faded away. But not all of it. Even though he's more informed on what Yun is like and what she does in her life, it still doesn't change the fact that he boldly threatened Yun and only contributed to her fear reaching it's peak. Yes, he also blamed the Dark Emblem for it too, but Terriermon still believed that he too is part of the cause. How is he going to face Yun? He couldn't help but wonder.

As for Yun herself, she is in homeroom quietly and happily reading one of her mangas, _Twin Spica_(1). After all the crying and sleeping she did last night, Yun began to feel a lot better. However, in the back of her mind she did remember Terriermon's strange behavior. Why did he suddenly become quiet and want to avoid her? Is he blaming himself for what happened? Yun couldn't help but wonder. But nonetheless she no longer feels frightened and scared. As she continued to read her manga, Lucero sat next to her.

"Yun? Art thou alright?" He asked gently.

"I'm fine!" Yun replied with a smile. Lucero, a little doubtful, cocked his head a bit.

"Art thou still scared because of last night?"

"Not anymore. Wailing my fear out and sleeping sure helped, and you being here helps too! So I'm steadily getting better!"

Yun said it with such a sweet smile that Lucero couldn't help but blush a bit. Although he felt a trifle worried, he could see that Yun is beginning to bounce back with aplomb. He smiled.

"Doth thou want to play with Lopmon and Terriermon when we arrive home?"

"Yep! Why wouldn't I? They're the best things that ever happened to me! They're my little cuties!"

"Thou must truly love Terriermon and Lopmon."

"I do! And I like you too!"

Lucero blushed again. But before he could say anything, Kosuke, Otoya, and Melody just so happened to arrive from behind.

"Hey Yun-chan. You alright?" Otoya asked.

"I'm feeling a lot better now," Yun replied.

"Yun...we're sorry that everything went wrong last night and that we behaved a little childishly afterward," Kosuke said, though grimacing a bit because Melody is strongly pinching his arm. Yun saw this.

"It's okay! It happens. I know it won't be the last time we see Witchmon, that's for sure! In fact, how about we have a Digimon Brigade meeting next week to discuss what happened so we can improve our teamwork and plan ahead?" Yun explained.

"That'd be a wonderful idea," Melody said.

"I wholeheartedly agree!" Lucero exclaimed.

"Then it's settled! Oh! Mel-chan? You can stop pinching Kosuke-kun's arm now," Yun told them. But Melody was still a little ticked off because of the way Kosuke treated her last night with his insinuation, blaming her for Witchmon's escape.

"I refuse to let him off easy for what he did to me," Melody sneered.

"Now now. Witchmon outsmarted all of us so it was easy for her to escape. Let's not blame anyone anymore, shall we? And besides, we can always catch her next time. And if we fail that time, another chance will present itself!" Yun explained.

Melody, feeling a little softened by Yun's words, finally relented and let go of Kosuke's arm. He rubbed it with his hand.

"That really hurt!" Kosuke yelped.

"Yeah, well, deal with it! They say a little pain comes with any good fortune!" Melody retaliated loudly.

"Well, I suppose another part of why Witchmon escaped is because the rest of our Digimon didn't digivolve. I should probably work on helping Labramon with that. Oh! Yun! That lasso thing you did with you digivice was sooo cool! How did you do that?" Otoya explained.

"Oh! That? Well...to be honest I don't exactly know how I managed to make it turn into a lasso or rope. But it sure was cool! And one of the reasons why I tried to approach Witchmon with it was because I thought maybe it would stimulate the other kids' digivices into turning into lassos so we could stop Witchmon from escaping. But my valiant attempt failed. I suppose I should practice lassoing when I get home. It'll be a great way to let off steam," Yun explained. Otoya smiled and put a hand on her shoulder.

"You were awesome there nonetheless. And like you said, we can always improve and get better at it the next time we see Witchmon!" Otoya said with a smile, which in turn made Yun smile.

"I wouldn't recommend doing it again alone if I were you," Melody piped in.

"Yeah. You're right. Sorry," Yun replied.

"By the way, has anyone seen Mina-chan?" Otoya asked.

"Not me. Do you think she got that stomach virus and had to stay home?" Kosuke replied.

"Who knows," Melody said.

But before anyone could talk again, someone else suddenly got Yun's attention.

"Ummm...Wakamiya-san?"

Yun turned around and saw a girl behind her. She has very long light brown hair and matching light brown eyes that looked like caramell. She is wearing a hot pink shirt, a yellow bandana on her head, black jean shorts, and brown flip flops.

"Oh! Hi! Ummm...you're Harima Shione-san, right?" Yun asked.

"Yep! Sorry to bother you, but I was wondering...you're good at English, right?" The girl, Shione, asked rather timidly.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Well, I'm almost finished with my English homework, but I'm having trouble with some parts of it. My parents couldn't help because they're busy, so would you mind?"

Yun cocked her head a bit in confusion, but hearing the sincerity in the girl's voice made her smile.

"Okay! I'll help you!"

Shione beamed.

"Oh, thank you so much!" Shione exclaimed happily. So Yun and Shione sat at some desks and Yun helped her with her English homework. Rena and Riku just so happened to appear before the trio when it happened.

"Harima-san's nice," Rena said.

"You think so?" Kosuke asked.

"Yeah. I don't see why Yun-chan can't make friends with her," Rena said. She didn't mean it as a mean or caustic comment. Rena has known the girl Shione for a couple years, though mostly as classmates, not friends, but who's to say they can't be friends?

"Shimizu's always asking her to be part of her clique, and that I can't stand one bit," Melody said.

"Well, she has rejected every single one of Seiko's offers, so why not?" Riku retorted kindly.

"That girl seems rather nice enough. Perhaps this will take Yun's mind off of last night," Lucero said softly.

Thankfully, the rest of the school day came and went without incident. When lunch and recess arrived, Yun finally felt mollified. She felt as if a giant brick full of fear and worry got lifted off of her. Talking with her friends certainly helped. In 7th period, Shione thanked Yun exuberantly because the teacher gave Shione an A for doing her homework correctly (with Yun's help, of course, which she admitted). Yun's lunch tasted especially good today for reasons she did not know (and she packed her own lunch every single day, even to this day). Perhaps the tea was nice, cold and sweet, or the bread on her peanut butter sandwich was nice and fresh. She had no idea. She managed to answer some problems right during math class, which made her very worthy of encomium (though Yun didn't think so herself) from the teacher. Best of all, Nenji is absent because of the same stomach virus that (supposedly) got Minako (technically nobody knew. Rena decided that she'd go and visit after school and deliver some of her mom's freshly baked cookies in case she is sick) and Seiko spent the entire day talking about the new American child singer, Greyson Chance and fangirling and going on and on about how cute and hot he is and how she'll marry him when she's older. Yun preferred fangirling over books and anime over singers and idols. But nonetheless, the greatness of this day helped Yun unwind and shed all the fear that amassed her last night. One thing's for sure. Yun couldn't wait to tell Lopmon and Terriermon all about her wonderful day. She had no idea that Kosuke, Melody, and Otoya were planning something for her. She was blissfully and innocently oblivious to what they were planning. No, it's nothing bad. Lucero didn't notice either, but his day was going just as great as Yun's is, and they relished the happiness of it all together.

Back at home, just before it was time to pick Yun and Lucero up from school, Hisako is out in the garden watering her flowers. Lopmon, who is wearing a little doll sized straw hat with a pink ribbon and two artificial flowers on it, joyfully assisted her in digging some small holes and patting down the dirt when they put a pot of flowers in the ground. Terriermon watched from the back gate. Lopmon couldn't see it from the backyard, but she knew it was there. A small red tree sitting in the front yard blooming deep red. Lopmon found herself liking the tree's colors because they were intense and exaggerated. Like Terriermon at times, and Yun when she goes into one of her rambly lectures.

"Hisako-san?"

"Hm?"

"I notice there's a little red tree in the front yard. Do you know what it is?" Lopmon asked in her pretty voice. Hisako smiled.

"That's called a crape myrtle," Hisako replied sweetly.

"Crape myrtle?"

"Yes. Aren't they just pretty with their deep red blossoms? My mother planted one in our front yard when I was a girl, so I thought I'd plant one myself!"

"Did your mother plant trees and flowers all the time?"

"Yes she did. She loved gardening. That's how I know all the flower and tree names. Because of her. Well, she actually wanted to be a school teacher. She loved history and seeing the world."

"How wonderful! She must have had lots of fun seeing the world and it's beauty!" Lopmon exclaimed with rosy cheeks, almost as red as the crape myrtle tree itself, and a sweet smile. But Hisako drooped her head down a bit, which little Lopmon noticed.

"Oh? What's wrong? Did I say something bad?" Lopmon asked quietly, fearing that she might have unknowingly said the wrong thing. Hisako looked at little Lopmon, smiled a bit, and returned to patting the dirt firmly into the ground.

"No, you didn't. See, my mother wanted to be a school teacher and travel around the world. But she couldn't," Hisako replied.

"Why ever not?"

"See, back in my day, wives were expected to stay in the house and be fully attentive to the house, their husbands' and their children's needs. Cooking, cleaning, housekeeping, they had to do all those things and not complain about it one bit. Sometimes if they disobeyed, their reputation would be shattered. Women who had a husband and family weren't allowed to do things like work or travel or those things," Hisako explained. Lopmon became a little crestfallen.

"Oh. I'm sorry," Lopmon said. Hisako took off her glove and put her hand on Lopmon's hat.

"It's okay. Times have changed since then. Now women are just as strong and independent as men are! They're dominating the admissions into universities! Can you believe it? If my mother were alive today, she'd leap on a boat and travel all over the place," Hisako said with a smile just as sweet as the crape myrtles.

"Your mother is dead?"

"Yes."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"It's alright, little one. You didn't know."

"Um...this may be rude of me to say, but in our world, we Digimon don't really die. If we're killed by a fellow Digimon, our data gets re-configured and we turn into digieggs."

"Lucky."

"I suppose it's not like that in the human world, is it?"

"Well, life is short and sometimes we have to keep on truckin'! That's what I say!" Hisako said, feeling a little enthusiastic when she took a look at the time on her watch. "Oh! It's almost time to pick up Yun and Lucero! I'll be right back, Lopmon dear."

"I'll look after the flowers for you!" Lopmon edicted as she watched Hisako put her gardening essentials into a little box and left to pick up Yun. Lopmon could hear the rattling of the keys even from the backyard. Lopmon put the rest of the dirt into the hole that Hisako dredged earlier since there was still some space. Perhaps gardening can be a nice little diversion. Lopmon couldn't help but sit and admire the flowers painting the little garden with their bright, multifarious colors. After a minute or two, she quietly ambled back into the house so she can greet Yun and Lucero.

So, Yun and Lucero came home feeling happy and propitiated. Lopmon could see that it was blatant that sleeping, reading her books, and the school day in general definitely alleviated Yun's pain. Once she embraced her human partner joyously, she could tell that her presence mollified Yun and made her heart feel warm and soft. Yun felt happy to cuddle her favorite floppy eared friend. But one thing did cross her mind.

"Where's Terriermon?" She asked.

"Last I saw him he was in the backyard," Hisako replied.

"Perhaps it is best we leave him be. I'm sure he's enjoying himself," Lopmon told Yun softly. She didn't say this in a maligned manner. She knew for a fact that Terriermon is still feeling guilty about unknowingly threatening Yun last night, even though the situation had been ameliorated. He probably still didn't want to see Yun in fear that she may not forgive him. That or he probably wanted time to wind his thoughts together in peace. She had Terriermon's best interests at heart. But Yun smiled.

"You're probably right. He's one of those types who loves running around freely, don't you think?" Yun said.

"Perhaps," Lopmon replied.

Yun took little Lopmon to her room and they played together. About 15 minutes later, Hisako heard a knock on the door. She answered it and was surprised to see Melody, Kosuke, Aria, and Otoya on the front porch (and their Digimon, which Hisako intentionally paid no heed to).

"Oh! Hello everyone! What brings you here?" Hisako asked.

"We feel kinda bad about what happened last night, so we decided to drop by for a visit," Kosuke said.

"I brought some leftover cookies. I know how much Yun likes these," Melody said as she showed Hisako the bag.

"May we come in? Or is this a bad time?" Otoya asked.

"Oh! Please, please come in!" Hisako gestured everyone to come inside. Aria stormed in first.

"Yun-chaaaan!" Aria exclaimed as she ran for Yun and leaped on her when she finally laid eyes on her.

"A-A-Aria-chan!" Yun exclaimed as she saw this little girl and her pink fairy Digimon leap on her, but what she saw after that surprised her. "Kosuke-kun! Mel-chan! Otoya-chan! What are you all doing here?"

All three of them sat down on the floor. The Digimon did too. Patamon leaped onto Yun's head.

"We were all worried about you because of what happened last night. I suppose what happened kinda scared you real good, didn't it?" Patamon explained softly.

"Yes. We felt really bad that we couldn't ameliorate the situation to your benefit. Of course, how could we when a Digimon is running loose and going on a rampage? But even so, it's our duty to make sure you're alright," Labramon explained in a very suave and articulate manner.

"I agree. I was worried too, though I must confess your high-pitched crying left me irritated," Biyomon said with her arms crossed, which irked Patamon, Otoya, Lopmon, and Labramon.

"Biyomon! You shouldn't say things like that in front of people!" Lopmon fiercely reproved Biyomon for her slightly caustic comment.

"Yeah! It hurts their feelings!" Patamon backed her up.

"Yeah! Don't be mean to Yun! She's been through a lot last night! Don't add to her pain!" Aria exclaimed fiercely, which is strange considering she's usually merciful and only seven years old.

"But it's true!" Biyomon tried to retaliate, but Patamon was on a roll.

"How would you like it if someone told you to your face that your very presence cramps their style?" Patamon exclaimed.

"Now why would you think that of me?"

"I don't. I'm just asking. Now answer the question!"

"I wouldn't like it at all!"

"Exactly. The same goes with what you just said to Yun. Now say you're sorry!"

"Yes. Please do. It's very rude to make snide comments like that to people's faces," Labramon said.

"I agree," Even Melody was a tad irked by Biyomon's comment. Finally, Biyomon relented and drooped her head and beak down.

"I'm sorry..." Biyomon muttered. Yun stroke Biyomon's pink hair with her hand.

"It's okay. Besides, I'm used to people saying mean things about me," Yun said. This made Melody mad to the point of standing up.

"Yun! You've got to be kidding me! Are you saying you're condoning bullying? That you're giving up on trying to get back at Nemoto and Shimizu for what they're doing to you all these years?" Melody yelped angrily.

"Well, no, but..." Yun let the sentence wither away.

"If it were me, I'd never get used to people talkin' bad about me to my face!" Melody slumped back onto the floor and made a face. Aria and MarineAngemon turned to look at Biyomon.

"It's okay. We forgive you!" Aria said.

"Yeah. I don't think you're a bad Digimon. But you should think before you say stuff like that later on. Okay?" MarineAngemon said sweetly. She wasn't trying to insult Biyomon. MarineAngemon was just trying to offer some helpful advice, to which Biyomon finally relented.

"Alright. I'll do better next time," Biyomon whispered.

"That's a good girl! Now let's play!" MarineAngemon said. So the group of kids and Digimon hung out together. Lucero watched from afar, but he noticed something odd. He dubiously walked away.

Meanwhile, Terriermon sat in the backyard by the gate when suddenly his long ears rose into the air.

"A Digimon is nearby!" He said. He walked out the back gate and felt the presence from the woods. The very same woods where Yun and her friends fought Goblimon and DarkTyrannomon.

"Digimon must love that place," He said as he decided to amble into the woods and see what kind of Digimon is lurking around.

Thankfully enough, Terriermon could tell that whatever kind of Digimon it is, it didn't feel threatening. Terriermon didn't feel any malice or hatred or evil from the presence, so it was safe to say that whatever Digimon he'll encounter, it very likely won't be dangerous. But who knows? Despite this, Terriermon decided to keep his guard up. Who knows what kind of a Digimon will be lurking around in those woods. Would it be a small rookie level Digimon? Perhaps similar to himself or Goblimon? Or is it a champion level, like Witchmon or DarkTyrannomon or even Dokugumon. Terriermon shook his head. He didn't want to think about the Dokugumon incident. He especially didn't want to think about the big ugly spider or Yun's blatant fear during that time. Or maybe...the Digimon is simply an in-training level? How about a baby level? Small Digimon at those levels are usually harmless. Perhaps even friendly. But Terriermon didn't want to take any chances. Just go in there and see what it is. If it's dangerous, fight it. If it's harmless, leave it be. If it's friendly, maybe start a conversation with it and get acquainted with it. If it's too powerful to take down on his own, get help. This possibility seemed the most likely. After a short while of looking and observing, he finally found the Digimon in the clearning.

And what a beautiful and majestic Digimon it is! A tall, dignified, and dazzling Digimon standing in the clearing, looking at trees and their green leaves. It resembled an elk, but this thing sure is no elk! It's fur is white, with baby blue stripes all over it's body. It has thick, tough, powerful-looking blue antlers with lighter blue markings and stripes on them. They sure looked strong. Perhaps even strong enough to knock down a tree! The tall, majestic creature has red eyes, not the glowing red eyes seen on a Digimon with a Dark Emblem, blue markings underneath them, a little black nose, fluffy blue hair going down it's neck, blue hooves, small brown belts wrapped around it's legs right above it's hooves, a swishy tail, and small tufts of white hair resembling feathers sticking out of it's back. Terriermon was enthralled by this Digimon's striking and beautiful mien. Of course, he remained tentative about it's intentions until he noticed it moving around in a rather confused fashion. He was scrupulous to stay out of it's sight until he deemed it safe, but his little opaline eyes were locked onto the giant white elk, trapped by it's beauty. After a few minutes of watching, Terriermon decided that this giant Digimon means no harm and comes in peace. But he did notice something else. The Digimon paced around in a circle, looking very lost.

"Oh dear, oh dear. This isn't my homeland at all. Where in the wild blue yonder am I?" The giant white elk with the blue antlers spoke in a slightly timid but gentle voice similar to that of an adult man who hasn't quite reached adulthood mentally just yet. Terriermon didn't move one bit. After a short while, the giant white elk caught sight of Terriermon. Terriermon prepared himself for a potential fight, but was surprised to see the giant elk smile and beam joyfully.

"What joy! A fellow Digimon!" The giant elk Digimon exclaimed happily as he ambled toward little Terriermon. Seeing how small he is, the elk Digimon walked very slowly toward him so he wouldn't scare him. Thankfully, Terriermon didn't feel scared at all. His gut confirmed that this elk Digimon means no harm.

"Excuse me, little one. I don't mean to bother you, but would you mind telling me where the Chloros Forest is? It seems I lost my way," The giant elk Digimon asked very politely. Terriermon cocked his little head to one side a bit, ruminating about his question. Chloros Forest? What kind of place is that? Is it in the Digital World? He certainly didn't know of any places named that in the human world. And this giant white elk seems to think he's still in the Digital World. Terriermon didn't want to burst his bubble, but he felt he had to spill the truth.

"Ummm...sorry if this sounds hard to believe, but this isn't the Digital World," Terriermon told him. The giant white elk cocked his own head to one side.

"It's not?"

"Nope. This is the human world."

The giant white elk gasped and backed away a few steps.

"The human world? How can this be?" The white elk Digimon yelped, looking like he's about to panic. But after taking a breath, he pacified himself and kept himself from going on a stampede. "Then again, come to think of it...no wonder this place looks more sophisticated than the Digital World! I must be dreaming! Me, in the human world! To think all this time I thought humans were nothing but legends and myths! How very interesting!"

Terriermon was a little confused, but he could see very well that this Digimon didn't look ferocious or volatile, so he decided to loosen up a bit. Then the Digimon looked down at him.

"Oh! I'm sorry. I'm afraid I didn't introduce myself. I'm Moosemon, an armor level Data attribute Digimon," The majestic white elk Digimon, now Moosemon, said. But the mere mention of his name made Terriermon confused.

"Moosemon? You look more like a deer than a moose!" Terriermon exclaimed.

"How do you know that?"

"My human partner showed me a picture of a deer and a moose in one of her books. Moose are really big and furry and have really big faces and big antlers. You're kinda smaller than that, and you have a normal-sized face, no offense."

"None taken. I have been told that a lot so I'm used to it by now."

"I'm Terriermon, by the way. Nice to meet'cha!"

"Ah, a fellow nature spirit, huh? How lovely!"

"Nature spirit?"

"Yes. I'm one of the most notable of them. They say I bring hope to a land wracked with despair...though I honestly think I'm not entirely capable of such."

"I don't think that's true."

"Care to sit down and engage in conversation with me?"

"Sure!"

Moosemon lay down on the grass and Terriermon hopped on his head. He was scrupulous to avoid his antlers. They were very hard, thick, and, most of all, sharp. Terriermon sure didn't want to get his eyes poked out by one of those pointy antlers.

"So, Terriermon...tell me about your human partner. It's a she, right?" Moosemon asked kindly.

"Yep. She's very nice and kind and gentle, though she's shy too. She's one of the best things that ever happened to me! I love having her for a partner! She plays with me, teaches me things, reads to me, lets me play her games, watches anime with me, and makes sure I don't do anything stupid in a good way (as in the way she treats him as she's telling him about his occasional mischief)."

"She must be a wonderful human."

"She is! But not many other people see that. Other kids her age don't really like her. Some kids even bully her. I've never met the bullies, but if I do I wanna give them a good thrashing! Yun's too sweet and kind to deserve such awful treatment!"

"Yun's her name? Ah! It means _'another world'_, doesn't it?"

"Well, her real name's Julia, but everyone calls her Yun."

"Julia...that means _'one who lives in harmony'_ in Ancient Digicode. What a lovely name. But is what you're saying true? About the bullies?"

"I don't really know for sure, but she says it is."

"How cruel! Why would humans want to hurt one another? I just don't get it!"

"Me neither. She's also different from the other kids. Her mom says she has something called autism. It means her brain is wired differently than others."

"Autism? That's a funny-sounding word."

"Yeah, it is. But I don't mind. No matter what, it doesn't change the fact that Yun's a wonderful person, and I love her very much! She loves me too! But..." This is where Terriermon becomes dejected. "To be honest, I don't think...I'm fit to be her partner anymore."

"Why ever not?"

"See, last night, everything went wrong. I digivolved into Gargomon and tried to stop a Digimon named Witchmon from causing trouble, but she put this thing called a Dark Emblem on me. It made me go crazy. I destroyed cars and went beserk. I tried to control myself and stop myself, but my body wasn't listening to me. Worst of all, I even threatened to hurt Yun, who was already scared to death."

"Witchmon. I've heard of her. Quite a naughty thing, she is."

"I know, right? Turuiemon got the Dark Emblem off of me and got me back to normal, but I made Yun cry. Hard. Really hard. That's when I remembered everything. I scared Yun to death and made her cry! Well, her mom says all the noise and yelling and explosions kinda already made her scared, but I made her fright reach it's peak! No Digimon should ever do that to their human partners! Especially if they've been so kind to them...and I ruined it!"

"But you were under the Dark Emblem's control, weren't you? I'm sure you weren't able to stop yourself from doing such things."

"I was, but it doesn't change the fact that I made Yun cry! I don't ever...want to hear and see her crying ever again!" Terriermon again remembered the howls and wails that came from Yun's mouth. He didn't want to hear that ever again.

"I don't believe it was your fault. Don't blame yourself. It was just a freak thing. How could you have known Witchmon was going to put the Dark Emblem on you? It's not like you can see into the future or anything, and there are Digimon who can do that."

"I wish I was one of them! If I had been more careful...and if I wasn't so vulnerable, none of it would've happened!"

"Blaming yourself won't solve anything. I learned that the hard way."

"Really?"

"Yes. I have a friend named Bullmon. He's very short-tempered and easily angered, but he and I get along very well. He relies on me a lot because I'm able to calm him down before he causes a stampede. We sometimes have spars in which we ram our horns into each other so we can test our strength. Unfortunately, I went a bit too far and I poked him in the eye once. You should've heard him scream. Thankfully it didn't make his eye come out. That would've been gross. But I was so sad, kind of like how you are now. I was so afraid and sad, I didn't think he'd want to be friends with me anymore. I blamed myself for a long time. But then he got into a fight with some other beast Digimon and I overheard him say that I'm the only best friend he'll ever have. I was so surprised. Even after I nearly made him lose his sight, he still forgave me, yet I ignored him because I was too much of a coward to approach him. My heart burned with courage after I heard him say those kind words, and I stood up to the beast Digimon and scared them away. I felt awkward, but he exalted me. Despite what happened, Bullmon still believed in me and held me in high regard. I couldn't understand, but he simply said everyone makes mistakes, and it's a part of growing up, though we Digimon live on forever. After we make a mistake, we strive to fix them, get stronger, and shatter any weakness in ourselves. He understood that I had no intention of hurting him, so he forgave me."

"Wow..." Terriermon was impressed by Moosemon's story.

"The point is, little Terriermon, I'm sure Yun still loves you. From what you told me, I don't feel she is one to hold a grudge. Perhaps she knows you well enough to know that you had no intention of hurting her."

"But it doesn't change the fact that I DID try to hurt her!"

"Yes, and you failed to do so, which is great. Instead of letting it make you go crazy, you should strive to improve yourself and protect Yun with more gusto than ever."

Terriermon fell silent. He had to admit it. Moosemon is right. All Terriermon did is avoid Yun and blame himself all day, and it didn't get him anywhere or help him with anything. His dearth of self-confidence regarding the incident really made him dejected all day, even though Yun understands and doesn't blame him at all, which confused him. He then remembered about the stuff Yun goes through every day. Her sister yells at her every day for no reason, those two kids Nenji and Seiko harass her and bully her every day just to get back at her over silly reasons, her disability makes her stand out in the wrong ways, lots of loud noises pound on her ears and make them ring every day, and she's desperate for someone for whom she can confide all her secrecies and sadness. Then he realized it. Yun forgives him because she's desperate. Desperate for a friend. Desperate for a special someone who won't push her away or interrupt her when she's talking or bully her or tell her to shut up and die or beat her up. Terriermon knew that Yun wasn't desperate in a bad way. Everyone feels lonely at one point, and he knew very well that Yun felt very lonely, despite the fact that she has human friends who do care for her (in not-so-subtle ways, of course). And besides, if there is anyone to blame for this incident...

It would be Witchmon.

Yes! _SHE's_ the one who put the Dark Emblem on him. She's the one who practically outran and outsmarted everyone. She's the reason Yun had to go through the horror of even hearing those loud noises. She's the one who made more cars explode and more glass break than anything. She's the reason Yun was so scared. True, Terriermon did fail at defeating her, but she outsmarted everyone, so he wasn't entirely to blame nor was everyone else either. It was understandable, really, that Witchmon managed to be stronger than everyone despite just being a single champion level. And Terriermon, more than anything, wanted to get back at her for forcing him to do things he didn't want to do, including make Yun cry! Yes! Terriermon would unleash his pain on Witchmon, the very cause of it all! He stood up on Moosemon's head.

"You're absolutely right, Moosemon. I'll go back home and reconcile with Yun. She's my friend and friends don't avoid each other," Terriermon said, his voice full of determination, as he leaped off of Moosemon's head. He stood up and looked down at the little floppy eared Digimon with pride in his eyes. He was proud of Terriermon.

"I'm glad. I laud you for your showing yourself clemency and forgiving yourself. Perhaps Yun will forgive you," Moosemon said.

And just as Terriermon was about to leave, someone else got to him before he got to the house! It was Lucero!

"Terriermon! I've found thee!"

Lucero, wearing his overalls, a white short-sleeved shirt, and sandals, found the clearing in the woods, along with Terriermon and Moosemon.

"Lucero! What are you doing here?" Terriermon asked as Lucero approached him.

"Looking for thee, of course! Thou has had me and Yun worried! I came to look for thee myself. Now come back to the house. Yun is asking about thee and...WHOA! Who is that?" Lucero at first reproved Terriermon for his disappearance but became frozen with fear as he laid eyes on Moosemon.

"What's wrong?" Moosemon asked.

"Don't worry, Lucero! This is Moosemon! He's not dangerous!" Terriermon explained, managing to mollify Lucero and make his fear dissipate.

"So he is why thou hast stayed in the woods?" Lucero asked.

"Yep!" Terriermon said.

But before they could talk more, a very loud rustling sound permeated the silent air in the woods. Leaves scattered all over the place, and something red was struggling and flailing around in the trees.

"Kyaaaa! Now my hair's all ruined! And I worked so hard with making sure it-Huh?" A very familiar and snotty voice permeated the air, which made Terriermon choleric.

Out from the tree came Witchmon!

She caught sight of Lucero, Terriermon, and Moosemon once she got out of the tree.

"Hey! I know you! You're that funny looking midget from before!" Witchmon exclaimed. Terriermon is gritting his teeth at her, looking absolutely incensed.

"_WITCHMOOOON!_ You made me scare Yun to death!" Terriermon screamed.

"That's not my problem!" Witchmon retorted in a sassy tone, which fueled the flame that is Terriermon's anger even more.

"OF COURSE IT'S YOUR PROBLEM, YOU PROMISCUOUS WITCH! I'm gonna get you for what you made me do whether you like it or not!" Terriermon screamed angrily. He jumped on a tree, got to the top, and attempted to attack Witchmon.

"Blazing fire!"

"I am NOT promiscuous, you little midget! Baluluna Gale!" Witchmon retorted back as she deflected Terriermon's sphere of fire with a ghastly gust of wind that came from her broom, sending him flying into Lucero's arms.

"Art thou alright?" Lucero asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine. But I'm not giving up just yet!" Terriermon exclaimed as he leaped out of Lucero's arms.

"But Terriermon! Thou cannot fight like this! Witchmon is very strong! Stronger than thou!"

"I don't care! I'll make her pay for what she made me do to Yun!"

But Witchmon wasn't convinced.

"Baluluna Gale!"

The tornado of wind she blasted from her broom is so strong, it knocked over some trees and even made Lucero get caught in one of the rigid stumps. The pointed edges left a deep, fresh wound on Lucero's left ankle. Terriermon was successfully caught by Moosemon who bit into one of his ears.

"Thanks Moosemon!"

"Don't mention it. Perhaps I shall help out! Hanging Twister!" Moosemon spun his horns around and made his own little windy tornado which, unfortunately, got eliminated by Witchmon's own attack.

"I've had just about enough of this! I'm branding you with another Dark Emblem!" Witchmon got the crystal in her hand and swooped downward, descending before Terriermon and attempting to brand him once again with the Dark Emblem. Terriermon braced himself because Witchmon was coming down too fast for him to escape. Once he got the courage to open his eyes, strangely enough he didn't get branded. But he was appalled upon seeing who was.

Moosemon jumped in the way and took the brand, both saving Terriermon and succumbing to the Dark Emblem's control.

"Moosemon!" Both Terriermon and Lucero screamed as Moosemon fell to the ground with a Dark Emblem on his neck.

"Hmph! Perhaps this will keep you occupied. I'm finished wasting my time with you. Ciao! Kihihihihi!" Witchmon, having decided that she's had enough, flew away yet again. Like before, she left behind big trouble.

Moosemon reawoke and stood up, but his eyes are glowing a bloody red color and he roared like a lion. His roar echoed throughout the woods. Lucero was scared, but Terriermon wasn't.

"Lucero! Go and get help!"

"But Terriermon! Thou cannot fight him alone!"

"I can and I will! Now go!"

"Moosemon will-"

"I SAID _GO_! Can't you hear me?"

Lucero, realizing that arguing with Terriermon is futile, decided to run back to the house and get help despite his wounded leg.

And the kids at the house aren't even aware that a brawl is going on. The kids had left about a few minutes ago, and Hisako, Yun, and Lopmon are in the backyard, sitting on the deck, and enjoying themselves.

"Yun? I have a question."

"Yes, Lopmon?"

"Do your friends visit you when you were sick or scared often?"

"Yep! They've been doing it since the 3rd grade!"

"Wow. That must be wonderful."

"Yun's friends are good people," Hisako said.

"They sure are," Lopmon said.

"And speaking of friends...Mom, have you seen Lucero?" Yun asked.

"Come to think of it, last I saw him he was in the hallway watching you and your friends have fun," Hisako replied.

"I wonder why he didn't join us?" Yun asked herself.

"Perhaps he wanted to give you some space," Lopmon said.

They had no idea that the very person they are talking about is arriving this very moment.

"Yuuun! Yuuuun!"

Yun and Lopmon leaped to their feet and saw Lucero running into the backyard.

"Whoa! Speak of the devil!" Yun exclaimed. She ran toward the tired out Lucero, who tripped and safely fell into Yun's arms when he finally reached her. Lopmon and Hisako approached him also.

"Lucero! What's wrong? And what happened to your leg?" Yun asked, noticing the bad wound on his foot (and his missing sandal). Lucero looked up at Yun...looking like he's about to cry.

"Yun! A Digimon's running loose! In the clearing!"

"The one in the woods?"

"Yeah! Witchmon put a Dark Emblem on it and now it's going nuts! Terriermon's back there fighting it!"

This made Yun gasp with fear. "EH?"

"I tried to get him to come with me since he can't fight that thing alone, but he wouldn't listen to me!"

Terriermon? Going up against a Digimon all on his own? Yun couldn't believe it. But seeing as though this is a situation she couldn't ignore, she decided to take action.

"Alright. Stay here with Mom while Lopmon and I go fight the Digimon," Yun told him with a straight face and handed him to Hisako. She grabbed her digivice and darted off, leaving a speechless Hisako and an injured Lucero behind.

They arrived at the clearing, but the sight scared Yun.

"Terrier Tornado!"

"Horn Blade!"

Terriermon and Moosemon are going all out with their attacks, with Terriermon taking the most hits.

"Terriermon!" Yun screamed, which got Terriermon's attention.

"Yun!" He yelped back, and a second after that he was whacked by one of Moosemon's antlers. Thankfully the pointy parts didn't stab him. Yun ran toward the flying Terriermon and successfully caught him. Yun gazed upon him with nothing but worry.

"Terriermon! Wake up! Speak to me!" Yun exclaimed, but he didn't respond. She was relieved to find that he's still breathing. Not wanting to let him be attacked anymore, she laid him in front of a tree and got her digivice out. Oddly enough, the digivice made the lit-up lasso come out!

"Good! Lopmon! When I catch this Digimon with my digivice lasso, that's when you attack! Got it?"

"Got it!"

Moosemon proceeded to attack.

"Horn Blade!"

Yun flicked her lasso at it, successfully catching it by the neck.

"Now!"

"Freezing Snow!"

Lopmon's miniature blizzard attack managed to freeze Moosemon's hooves to the ground and freeze the part of his neck in which the Dark Emblem is located. Unfortunately, Moosemon roared and flailed enough to make Yun's lasso dissipate and break out of Lopmon's ice. It's here that Yun sees Terriermon waking up and struggling to stand up.

"I...I will...defeat him..." Terriermon muttered as he struggled to get himself up. Yun, seeing her frail and injured little friend, ran to him.

"Terriermon! Stay down and rest! We'll handle it!" Yun told him.

"NO! This is my fight! I'll take him down!"

"Not in your condition!"

"I don't care! This'll make up for what I did to you last night, Yun! I promised myself that I'd never ever make you cry ever again!"

It hit Yun. Right there. Terriermon's fighting so hard against Moosemon because he's blamed himself for what happened last night. She never thought he'd take it so hard. But she could see it. An inextinguishable burning flame of courage flickering in both his blue opaline eyes and his heart. She didn't care that Moosemon is making a lot of noise and going crazy. She cared about Terriermon. Touched by his courage, she embraced him.

"Terriermon...if you're gonna fight him, then I'll help you out. After all, we're partners...aren't we? Partners fight hardship together!" Yun muttered.

"Yes...they do," Terriermon replied.

"Now let's defeat this thing!"

"Let's do it!"

In a flash, Terriermon digivolved into Gargomon. Lopmon, compelled to help her brother, decided to fight with him. Again, Yun successfully caught Moosemon with her digivice lasso, managing to keep him in place. Gargomon and Lopmon attacked.

"Gargo Laser!"

"Freezing Snow!"

Both attacks hit, but it wasn't enough to make the Dark Emblem go away. Lopmon looked at Gargomon with a smile.

"Gargomon...why don't I let you take the last shot?"

Gargomon nodded.

"Bunny Pummel!" Gargomon punched Moosemon in the neck, destroying the Dark Emblem and rendering him unconscious on the ground. Yun squealed with joy and leaped onto Gargomon.

"Yay! Gargomon! We did it! We did it!" Yun hopped up and down while hugging Gargomon. But she stopped when she felt him trembling. She looked up and was surprised to see Gargomon looking down at her with tear-filled eyes.

"Gargomon...?"

Gargomon finally took the plunge.

"Yun...about last night. I...I'm real sorry. I truly am. I...I was controled by the Dark Emblem. Witchmon put it on me. I...I would never hurt you intentionally! I didn't mean to make you cry!" Gargomon choked in between his tears. Yun, seeing his sincere and dejected eyes, smiled at him.

"It's okay. I knew from the beginning that it couldn't be the real you. And besides, I was mostly scared because of the noise going on. You know, the explosions and the glass breaking and the yelling," Yun said.

"But...but I threatened you! And I made you cry!" Gargomon said.

"Yes, you threatened me, but that was because you were under the Dark Emblem's control. And I only cried because I was scared and wanted to let all my frustration out!"

"Is that all?"

"Yeah! Would YOU like it if you were trapped in a place full of loud noises you hated?"

"Nope. I wouldn't like it at all."

"Exactly! And I forgive you!"

Gargomon, touched by Yun's clemency and kindness, hugged Yun for a bit and then de-digivolved back into Terriermon. Yun proceeded to scoop the little floppy eared Digimon in her arms and rub her face against his, making him laugh.

"Besides, no matter what you'll always be my little friend!...and my little cutie pie too!" Yun said sweetly as she very gently tickled Terriermon in the abdomen, causing him to laugh.

"Hey! Quit it! That tickles!" Terriermon exclaimed in laughter. Soon all three of them (Yun, Terriermon, and Lopmon) were on their knees laughing it up. This is what Terriermon loved best about Yun. Seeing her smile. It was basically the harbinger of Yun's kindness and genuine innocence.

"So everyone's happy now!" Lopmon said.

"Yep!" Yun said.

That's when Terriermon noticed something.

"Look!" Terriermon pointed to Moosemon.

Moosemon is waking up! He got himself on his feet and looked at the trio with a sympathetic look on your face.

"So...this is Yun you were telling me about?" Moosemon asked, which made Yun confused.

"Terriermon...you know him?"

"Yep! We met just before he got attacked. We talked a lot too. This is Moosemon!"

"What a beautiful Digimon he is!" Lopmon exclaimed with a smile, which made Moosemon blush.

"Oh no, I'm not beautiful at all. And it's an honor to meet you, Yun," Moosemon said.

"Same here," Yun said.

"Perhaps the human world isn't a bad place."

"Were you planning on going back to the Digital World?"

"At first I was...but now after seeing you and your Digimon getting along so wonderfully, I believe I'll stick around."

"Why?"

"I believe there's a human out there who wants a partner Digimon, and I happen to be that Digimon who wants a human partner. I think I will learn more about humans if I were to have a partner. Now that I know humans are real, I want to know what it's like to have a partner."

Yun smiled at the beautiful white and blue deer Digimon.

"I'm sure you'll find a partner someday. But I prefer going after someone who'll actually like Digimon."

"Yes. I'm sure there are humans who don't like Digimon, and I respect that. I suppose I should be going. Goodbye!" Moosemon said. Then he left, leaving Yun, Lopmon, and Terriermon behind.

"So...who's up for chocolate cake?"

"I am!" Both Terriermon and Lopmon exclaimed happily and ran back into the house to have a little snack.

But unbeknownst to them, Witchmon is still at large...and is now sitting on top of a house accompanied by another Digimon. A very ugly looking Digimon at that, in which it resembles a giant cockroach with big buck teeth and skulls on parts of it's body.

"Aaaagh! I swear, these humans are more trouble than we thought, Roachmon! They're the reason why my Dark Emblems don't last long on the Digimon I catch lately!" Witchmon whined like a bratty little girl. The ugly roach Digimon, Roachmon, sat next to her.

"It sure does explain why the Digimon we git disappear after we put them Dark Emblems on 'em! And I sure din' think humans existed! Now I'm 'a convinced they do! Our Master's gonna be spittin' mad if he found out about 'dis!" Roachmon explained in a very poorly constructed and non-articulate statement.

"But our master doesn't believe in humans so he won't believe us!"

"Not as long as we got some solid proof! But for now, you's a focus on puttin' those Dark Emblems on Digimon while I find some durn good evidence that'll convince Master to believe that humans are real! That or maybe come up with some kinda plan to get rid of those pesky meddlin' kids!"

"You got it! You may look incompetent but you really are smart inside!" Witchmon flew away when she said that statement, which made Roachmon very choleric.

"HEY! I ain't no incompetent! Yous a come back here NOW, Witchmon!" Roachmon yelled angrily.

It seems there's a bigger force behind these Dark Emblems after all.

Author's Note: Hey everyone! I finally finished chapter 11! The next chapter will be fun! But I'm gonna try and work on some of my original stories on FictionPress. I haven't worked on them in some time, and I feel they need my undivided attention. But don't worry! I'll work on this story! I promise! I better go now. I'll see you all later! Bye-bee!

Footnotes:

1. Twin Spica is a manga made by Kou Yaginuma. An anime for it was made in 2003 and a live-action TV show was made in 2009.


	12. Wings of Light, Heaven's Disciple

Author's Note: Hey everyone! It's me, Firechick. I'm so happy! Why? Because my family and I are going to the zoo tomorrow! Yay! I wanna see lots of cool animals! I hope they have turtles there. I love turtles! Anyway, I'm also happy because one of my favorite new anime, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, is both licensed and getting an English dub! Hooray! Aniplex better cast Hynden Walch as Madoka or Kari Wahlgren as Kyube (using her Nova from Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go voice) or some butts will be kicked! Now enough of my fangirl babbling! Heeeeere's Digimon: A Seraphic Tale, chapter 12!

EPISODE 12: Wings of Light, Heaven's Disciple

Although Yun had only known her two cute little floppy eared friends for about a week or two or so, she could tell right away: her life is never going to be the same anymore. Especially now that a wicked Witchmon is on the loose, putting Dark Emblems on whatever Digimon she lays eyes on and, possibly, doing something for her so-called master. This bothered Yun somewhat. Who is Witchmon's master? Are there even more powerful forces behind what's been happening lately? Nevertheless, Yun didn't like what Witchmon was doing and decided that the Digimon Brigade will teach her a lesson. She'll tell it to the rest of the members at the next meeting.

For now, Yun is simply enjoying playing with her cute little floppy eared friends, Terriermon and Lopmon, and her new mysterious amnesiac friend, Lucero, with his Shakespearian dialect and all. She loved their presences. Terriermon, with his lively, cheerful, and vivacious personality, Lopmon and her kind, polite and gentle little persona, and Lucero and his timid and somewhat taciturn demeanor and old-fashioned dialect. She had never had friends like these little ones before, but now that they've arrived, they surely made her one of the happiest little girls in town. Yun knew for a fact that once she laid eyes on them, she would never be lonely anymore.

Loneliness had been one of Yun's biggest problems before Terriermon, Lopmon, and Lucero arrived. Yun was never a social butterfly and she had trouble making friends. Sure, she has friends like Minako, Melody, Kosuke, and all of them, but she had known them her whole life and sometimes people need their space once in a while. Yun understood and accepted this with great respect, but still. It was hard. Plus they had problems that they needed to deal with. Minako's little brother died, Kosuke's mother is an alcoholic who lays around the house, Yun and Melody separated for a while (they didn't get into a fight. Circumstances which Yun didn't know about made Melody move away), Otoya has to help her dad run the church, Riku has ADHD and has to deal with a myriad of disappointing looks from people on a daily basis, Rena has to deal with catty gossipers in her dance school, and Aria's mother died and her father remarried. It also didn't help that her own older sister, Ayaka, is very moody and is always yelling at people, including Yun, for no good reason. She probably has problems of her own that she needs to deal with.

Yun loved her friends and family dearly, but knew that sometimes friends came and went and that sometimes members of her own family have problems they have to deal with on their own. But even Yun had problems she needed to deal with, such as her growing loneliness and the mean bullies Nemoto Nenji and Shimizu Seiko and their friends. She deals with them on a daily basis and not much can be done about them. Yun also has to deal with Ayaka and her anger problems. And sisters are supposed to love each other, even in hard times, with a few little squabbles here and there. But there hadn't been one piece of squabble or tenderness between them. The only things that ever came out of Ayaka's mouth when it came to Yun were mean names and _"Go die already!"_ And Yun hated it. Yun's loneliness grew and grew. Not only that, the rift between her classmates and herself grew bigger and bigger, especially since they started to form cliques. Especially Seiko's clique that mostly consisted of pretty little girls who liked fashion and cute boys. Yun always regarded herself as an unattractive looking person. She had grown used to people telling her mean things about how short and bland her hair is, her white skin, her striking green eyes, her plump legs, and the small birth marks on her body (most notably one of her left wrist). Yun had always admired beautiful things-not the things Seiko and her clique found beautiful-but still, it was hard. It made her feel more than ever as though she didn't belong. Anywhere. It also didn't help that nobody would listen to her or comfort her when needed. Sure her friends helped her at times, but there wasn't much they could do. And Yun had to deal with some nasty teachers as a young child in the past, so she lost faith in some of them (except Takahashi-sensei).

But then fate decided to smile on her one day, giving her Terriermon and Lopmon and, later, Lucero. Yun had never believed that her favorite fictional animals from a mere TV show would actually come to life. The happiest moment of Yun's life, it was indeed! Ever since Yun knew how to express herself, she had wanted to make up her own stories. Stories from her own fantasies. Her own creations. And when times were even sadder for her, she longed to tell the history of her own life. But how could she do that when there was nobody to tell them to? Most people she knew already knew about her past, and she didn't want her stories to get out into the open for fear that Nenji and Seiko might spread them in the school and harass Yun even more. Then these two little floppy eared animals and the mysterious blonde tattooed boy appeared before her eyes. Yun was so happy. She could tell them about whatever came into her mind. In return, they happened to be very interested in whatever came out of Yun's mouth. It was like a miracle had happened. The greatest one of all (for Yun, that is). Yun could talk to them all the time and play with them and listen to them when they had something to say. They'd never interrupt her when she talked or tell her to shut up or call her mean names. Yun would ramble on and on, and they'd hear everything with eager ears.

Now, it's a Thursday and Yun had just gotten back from school 15 minutes ago. She sat on the couch in the living room and is reading a book. Lopmon noticed and hopped next to Yun so she could see.

"Yun? What's that you're reading?" Lopmon asked gently.

"It's Night on the Galactic Railroad by Miyazawa Kenji," Yun replied.

"Can I see?"

"Sure!"

Lopmon happily plopped onto Yun's lap and read the book with her, gazing in awe at the pretty watercolor illustrations and at the book's articulate rhetoric. They were interrupted when they saw Terriermon trying to stand on his hands.

"Terriermon? What are you doing?" Yun asked.

"I'm trying to do a cartwheel!" Terriermon replied as he plopped to the ground.

"Looks more like you're doing a hand stand."

"I guess I'm not very good at it yet, am I?"

"They say practice makes perfect. And you have to stand normally before you do a cartwheel."

Terriermon rubbed the back of his head and laughed. "Heeheehee. I see. Thanks, Yun!"

Yun and Lopmon chuckled back. Terriermon then notice Yun's choice of raiment.

"That's a pretty sweater you're wearing," Terriermon pointed out. Today Yun is wearing a cream colored sweater with pink diamonds on the chest part and long blue jeans. It had gotten very chilly, even though it had been warm for the past two weeks or so.

"Thanks," Yun replied.

"I like it too," Lopmon said as she laid herself against Yun. Yun hugged her little Lopmon with a smile. But before they could spend another moment of peace together, Lucero came into the living room. He wore a long-sleeved grey sweater with a myriad of white dots on it resembling snowflakes, and long beige pants. Like Yun, he is barefoot, and his golden rings stick out like a sore thumb. This time, he looks rather worried.

"Yun? Hath thou seen my green English notebook?" Lucero asked.

"It's right there under the TV," Yun pointed under the flat screen and Lucero's pale blue eyes beamed when he saw the small green notebook.

"Oh, joy! I hath found it at last! I thank thee, Yun! I was so worried that I had left it at school, but now I see it's not the case!" Lucero exclaimed happily. Then Hisako came into the living room.

"Yun? You don't mind if I watch the news in here, do you?" Hisako asked.

"No. It's fine. I'm only in here playing with these guys anyhow," Yun explained.

"Yeah! We're just playing!" Terriermon exclaimed happily. Hisako laughed.

"I see. That's fine. Oh! Would you little ones like anything to drink? We have water, milk, iced tea, and orange juice-"

"Orange juice please! I'll pour it myself! I'm getting a little thirsty," Terriermon happily trotted into the kitchen and proceeded to get himself a cup of orange juice. Hisako followed him inside.

"Perhaps I will treat myself to come milk," Lopmon said as she followed him inside.

"You want anything?" Yun asked Lucero. He shook his head and sat down with Yun.

Hisako helped Terriermon and Lopmon pour their drinks into small plastic cups she bought recently. She didn't want to let them handle big glass cups since their hands are so small and possibly clumsy with really big things. She helped them hold the cartons in a certain way and, once their glasses are filled, they went back into the living room to watch the news with Hisako. Lucero sat next to Yun and noticed her love for books.

"Thou must really love books," Lucero said.

"Yeah. I do. But I'm kinda picky about the ones I like. My mom likes romance novels, namely by this English author named Jodi Picoult. And I don't like any works by Shakespeare or any of those old authors from the REALLY ancient times. Like 500 or a thousand years ago. Their dialogue is sooooo hard to understand!" Yun replied.

"Is that so?"

"Yes."

"Your friends often say I talk in Shakespeare talk. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, I do. Mostly because you don't talk in really big and hard to understand sentences. Besides, I can probably tell what you mean when you use thy or thee or thou in certain ways. I kinda got it by now."

"Why is it that thou must say _'you'_ and not _'thou'_?"

"I don't really know. That's kinda how it is in this day and age. Why? You curious about changing the way you talk?"

"No. I don't quite understand how it works. I don't understand anything that boy Nemoto says, though."

"Good. I don't want you talking the way he does, all street kid-like. Sorry if that sounds rude, but that's how he talks and I don't like it. In fact, I don't mind if you keep talking the way you do now. I like it. It sounds more proper and civilized than the way some of the kids in school talk."

This made Lucero smile. Then Yun stood up.

"I should probably finish up my project. Entries are due at the end of the month!" Yun said as she decided to leave her friends in the living room and work on her project a bit more.

She spent 10 minutes working on her project, drawing new pictures, and coloring in some pictures she had forgotten to tend to once before. It was almost finished, and Yun is very much liking how it's turning out. She decided she was done for today and went up the stairs. But as she arrived in the kitchen, Hisako approached her.

"Yun? One of your friends is here," Hisako said.

"Really? Who is it?" Yun asked.

"Come see," Hisako gestured her to follow her to the front door. Yun followed her like she asked. When she got to the front door, she was surprised to see Kosuke standing on the porch.

Hanemoto Kosuke of all people! He stood on the porch, wearing an olive green sweater underneath a thick dark blue jacket, black jean pants, and brown shoes. Patamon is quietly snug underneath the jacket, held up by Kosuke's left arm.

"Kosuke-kun! Hi! Ummm...what are you doing here?" Yun asked.

"Can I come in?" Kosuke asked in a low voice.

"Sure. Come inside. You must be cold! I'll make some hot chocolate for you," Hisako said.

"Can I have some soup while you're at it?" Kosuke asked again.

"What kind of soup? Chicken noodle? Tomato?"

"Anything's fine."

Kosuke sat on the big couch, removed his coat, and placed Patamon on his lap. He didn't look too happy. On the other hand, Terriermon and Lopmon were happy to see him and Patamon.

"Kosuke! Patamon!"

"Terriermon! Lopmon! Hi!" Patamon exclaimed. Terriermon and Lopmon hopped onto the couch and sat on both sides of Kosuke, Terriermon on his (Kosuke's) right and Lopmon on his left. Yun sat next to him. Lucero just happened to walk in and looked confused.

"Kosuke? Why art thou here? Shouldst thou not be at home?" Lucero asked. Kosuke's face looked a little pain when Lucero said it.

"It's not a home. Not anymore, it isn't..." Kosuke muttered.

"What's wrong?" Yun asked innocently. Kosuke seemed reluctant to answer, but Patamon did it for him.

"Kosuke's mom is acting all weird and drunk again," Patamon said.

"How so?"

"Well, she drank a whole bottle and she keeps walking around the room all wiggly and funny-looking! She smells really bad too! And she talked to Kosuke kinda funny!"

"Yes. She kept acting like she was some prostitute," Kosuke muttered.

"What's a prostitute?" Terriermon asked innocently. Yun looked a little irked.

"That's...something you don't wanna know. You wouldn't like it," Yun told him.

"It's bad enough I have to deal with her sitting around the house not doing anything but lay on the living room floor and angst every day, but when she's like that, it's even worse. I don't want to be around her when she's like that. She'll start having delusions and start calling me by my dad's name," Kosuke explained. He sure didn't sound happy. Not one bit.

"Sorry if this is rude, but your dad left, right?" Yun asked.

"Yeah. Half a year ago. He's a big dope. Abandoning us when we needed him most. I actually used to like him, but now I wish he'd be thrown in jail for adultery! Yeah! That's what he did. He left us for some trashy woman who looks like she ate too much MacDonald's food!" Kosuke exclaimed loudly.

In a way, it scared Patamon a little bit, hearing Kosuke raise his voice like that. But Patamon HAD been curious about Kosuke's dad and what happened to him. Now his questions were answered. _'So that's what happened! Poor Kosuke! He must be really sad, not being able to have a normal family. Now I really wanna help him!'_ Patamon thought in his head. Yun smiled.

"Well, look on the bright side! You have me and the rest of the Digimon Brigade, and now you have Patamon!" Yun said. Kosuke looked down at Patamon, who, in turn, smiled back at him and gazed into Kosuke's hazel eyes with his own brown ones.

"That's right! No way am I ever going to leave your side, Kosuke! We're friends til the end!" Patamon said with a smile. Kosuke smiled just a little bit and held Patamon close.

"Yes. That's true," Kosuke muttered.

"If all your mother does is lay around, how do you get money for food and bills?" Lopmon asked curiously.

"I don't. That's the problem. Mom didn't sign up for welfare and I'm too young to get a job. I really want to get one so I can pay our rent! The landlord's tough on us, and I'm sick and tired of living like a poor person. I have enough clothes, that's for sure, so no worries about that," Kosuke explained. Then he turned to Yun and looked her in the eyes.

"Yun. Do you mind if I stay here for a while? At least until Mom gets an into an epic hangover? It usually takes a few hours for her to calm down, so I won't spend the night," Kosuke said. He didn't realize that Hisako had just come into the room with a surprised look on her face. Kosuke noticed this and felt guilty about mentioning it.

"Oh! I-I'm sorry! It sounds stupid, I know. If you don't want to, that's fine! I'll just-" Kosuke tried to explain so Hisako won't get the idea, but Hisako simply smiled and put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's fine, Kosuke-kun. You can stay here until around eight or so. I know how hard it is for you and I wish I could help you more. You've been such a great friend to Yun all these years. Perhaps this is a way for us to pay you back for the nice things you've done. By the way, the soup's ready if you want some. The hot chocolate too," Hisako explained in a nice voice. Kosuke smiled.

"Thanks, Wakamiya-san. You're the best," Kosuke replied.

"Hey Kosuke. Do you mind if we shared the soup?" Patamon asked.

"Sure," Kosuke said as they got off the couch and headed for the dining room table.

Hisako warmed up a nice bowl of chicken noodle soup, complete with warm, soft, and fresh spiral noodles, chicken, carrots, and onions. Kosuke gave Patamon a spoon so they could both share the soup. Hisako also cooked up some hot chocolate in a mug. After Kosuke got a few bites of his soup, he decided to slurp some hot chocolate while Patamon got his own share of the soup.

"Mmmmm! The noodles and carrots are sooooo good!" Patamon exclaimed as Kosuke drank his hot chocolate.

"Kosuke-kun? How is it that you're able to drink hot chocolate without being sensitive to it's hotness?" Yun asked. Kosuke put his mug down.

"For me, any food that's given to me, whether it's hot or cold, is good enough in my book. Especially since I barely have much in the house. Why? You not fond of hot chocolate?" Kosuke asked.

"Well..." Yun blushed. "I did attempt to try it once, but it was too hot and I ended up spilling some on my jacket. Yeah, it was stupid, I know..."

"Is it because you've never had hot chocolate before then? I can probably see why you wouldn't take it too good," Patamon said as he took a bite of a piece of chicken.

"Do you have a microwave at home?" Terriermon asked.

"Yes, and an oven," Kosuke replied.

"Kosuke cooks meals in the house!" Patamon said.

"Really? I never knew!" Yun exclaimed.

"Well, I'm not very good at it, but it's better than nothing," Kosuke said after he took another sip of hot chocolate. Patamon then looked up at Kosuke.

"Kosuke? Yun's mom said you did a lot for Yun? Are you two really good friends?" Patamon asked innocently, with his brown eyes big and warm, just like the hot chocolate.

"Yep. We're childhood friends, little guy," Kosuke replied.

"How'd you two become friends?" Patamon asked.

"Oh! I'd love to hear the story too!" Lopmon said.

"Yeah! Tell us, Kosuke!" Terriermon said.

"Now now! He needs to unwind! Don't pressure him!" Yun said. Kosuke laughed a bit.

"It's alright. I've kinda unwound by now, so I'm good. Anyway..." Kosuke said as he decided to recount the story of how he met Yun.

(flashback)

_A young, 7 year old Kosuke is sitting on the black top playing with Digimon cards. He's wearing a short-sleeved orange shirt with two pale yellow squares on it, blue shorts, red socks, and black and white sneakers. He's smiling and looking at all the cards he's collected._

_"Yes! I finally got Agumon! Awesome!" He exclaimed happily as he pulled out a card with a small orange dinosaur on it. He didn't notice that a certain someone happened to be watching him from afar who finally decided to approach him._

_"Agumon!"_

_Kosuke stood up abruptly upon hearing the high voice, and saw little Yun standing next to him. She's wearing a sleeveless light pink shirt with two yellow stars on the bottom of it, light blue jean shorts, yellow socks, and white sneakers. Kosuke was a little surprised. Yun did nothing but point to the card Kosuke is holding._

_"Dat's Agumon! Dat's a Digimon!" Yun exclaimed. Kosuke, seeing what she meant, smiled a bit._

_"You like Digimon too?" Kosuke asked with a smile. Yun nodded._

_"I wuv Digimon! An' Pokemon! An' Dog of Fwanders!" Yun cried out._

_"Cool!" Kosuke said._

_"Can I see yer cards?"_

_"Sure. Don't drop 'em. Okay?"_

_Kosuke handed Yun the cards and she looked at them with her striking emerald eyes. She kept smiling as she looked at them. Once she was finished, she handed them back to Kosuke. But then she took a plunge that stunned even Kosuke._

_"Wanna be fwends?" Yun asked innocently._

_Kosuke was flabbergasted. No girl he met has ever had the mettle to ask to be his friend, let alone approach him. Kosuke merely assumed that girls thought boys were violent and rough. Kids often think thoughts like that. But something about Yun seemed different about Kosuke. She didn't look like the type of girl who was one of the cool and popular types, or the tomboyish types. For one thing, Kosuke could see very well that Yun's simply just innocent and childlike, even more so than he is. And she liked Digimon and Pokemon! What could be wrong with being friends with a girl who likes those things? What could go wrong? He smiled._

_"Sure! I'd love to be friends with you!" Kosuke said._

_"I'm...Yun! Wakamiyun!" Yun exclaimed._

_"The name's Hanemoto Kosuke!" Kosuke said. The two of them smiled, Yun sweetly and Kosuke boyishly. Then he saw two other girls approaching them._

_"Yun-chan!"_

_"Yun!"_

_Two girls. One has blonde hair tied into little curly pig tails going down her shoulders and violet eyes. She's wearing a short-sleeved purple shirt with a blue and malachite glittery butterfly on it, a white skirt, and purple kids' shoes. The other girl has black hair cut in a short and boyish style, light brown eyes, and is wearing a sleeveless red shirt, olive green jean shorts, white socks, and black shoes._

_"Yun! We've looked everywhere for you!" The black-haired girl said. The blonde girl looked worried._

_"Why didn't you play with us?" The blonde girl asked. Yun simply smiled and pointed to Kosuke._

_"I made new fwend!" Yun exclaimed._

_"Hm? They're your friends?" Kosuke asked Yun, but the two other girls answered for him._

_"Yep! Yun's our friend! If you want, you can be friends with us too!" The black haired girl said._

_"You like Digimon and Pokemon too?" Kosuke asked._

_"Yep!" The blonde haired girl said. Kosuke gave a thumbs up._

_"Cool! I'm Hanemoto Kosuke!"_

_"Shimotsuki Melody."_

_"My name's Omori Minako, but you can call me Mina-chan. And Yun-chan is Wakamiya Yun."_

_"I thought it was Wakamiyun."_

_"She can't say her own name right. But that's okay!" Melody exclaimed with her arms akimbo. But Minako looked rather worried._

_"It's not okay to Asami-sensei," Minako said._

_"Asami-sensei?" Kosuke asked._

_"Yes. She follows Yun around during classes. She's mean!" Minako said._

_"I know, right? She keeps yelling and being mean to Yun!" Melody said._

_"I thought only kids could be mean."_

_"Adults can be mean too!"_

_"Have you told Takatsuki-sensei about it?"_

_"Yeah. But nobody listens."_

_Yun was oblivious to the conversation. But she did grab Kosuke's arm with a smile._

_"Wet's pway! Wet's pway!" Yun exclaimed._

_"Wha?" Kosuke asked._

_"She wants us to play together," Melody said._

_"Well why don't we?" Minako asked._

_"Sure! Hey! Wanna pretend we're Digimon and have a pretend battle?" Kosuke replied._

_"I be Wopmon!" Yun exclaimed and jumped around._

_"And I'll be Agumon! Roar! I'm a dinosaur!" Kosuke roared._

_So the four children spent the rest of recess pretending they were Digimon and playing pretend Digimon battle._

(end flashback)

"...the end!" Kosuke said as he took the final sip of his hot chocolate.

"Awww! How perfectly sweet! It's amazing how simply a friendship can be cultivated, especially when it comes to small things like that," Lopmon said with a smile, clasping her little paws together like she's watching a very beautiful romantic movie in theaters.

"You guys became friends by pretending to be Digimon?" Patamon asked.

"Yeah. We were only kids, and we didn't know that our favorite cartoon characters are just drawings on paper. You guys too...well, until a week ago that is," Yun explained.

"That's cool!" Terriermon exclaimed happily.

"Hey Patamon. You want anything to drink? We have milk, iced tea, orange juice-" Yun explained, but Patamon cut her off by raising his little paw.

"Milk please!"

Yun poured some milk into another small plastic cup and gave it to Patamon, who gulped it down happily.

"That hit the spot!"

"Hey Patamon! Wanna play with us?" Terriermon asked.

"Sure! I'd love to!" Patamon said.

"Since it's cold out, we can play in Yun's room. Do you mind, Yun and Kosuke?" Lopmon asked Yun and Kosuke.

"Not at all. Just make sure not to knock anything over," Yun told them. Overjoyed, Lopmon, Terriermon, and Patamon stormed into Yun's room and played to their heart's content. Kosuke proceeded to finish the rest of his soup. Lucero happened to arrive in the dining room.

"Where are the Digimon?" Lucero asked.

"In my room," Yun replied.

Yun then noticed that Kosuke returned to having his somewhat sad and solemn look on his face.

"What's wrong?" Yun asked kindly.

"Yes. Why art thou sad?" Lucero asked kindly.

Kosuke looked at Yun.

"To be honest...the Digital World kinda picked a sucky time for me to get a Digimon," Kosuke explained.

Right then, Yun realized what it was. "Oh! I get it. You're worried about Patamon because of your situation? There isn't much food in your house, right?"

"Yeah. I'm afraid I won't be able to properly provide for him, and since I'm his partner, he needs me. Mom doesn't even bother to get a job, and I'm too young to get one. We can barely provide for ourselves. Don't get me wrong. I love Patamon very much, and he likes me too, but I'm scared that if something were to go terribly wrong, I won't be able to help him," Kosuke explained.

Yun knew very well what her friend is going through. He used to have a perfectly normal and plentiful life until his dad left, his mom lost her job, lost all of their money, and turned to drinking alcohol to drain away her sorrow. Considering how bad the economy is, it wouldn't be surprising if she just lost her job. But Kosuke's situation was worse than simply losing a job. Yun didn't know what it was like to be impoverished and didn't know how to help him, but she does know that Kosuke's her friend, and friends help each other no matter what, even if they don't know how to help. But Yun remembered something she forgot to ask.

"Kosuke-kun? I was wondering...do you have other family members? You know, grandparents, aunts, or uncles?"

"I have one aunt and uncle, but they live far away. They send us money for bills a lot, but I feel bad about having to rely on them a lot. I really want to get a job. I don't care what it is so long as the pay is good."

"I'm surprised your mom didn't send you to live with them. I don't mean it in a bad way or anything!"

"So that way I can still live my normal life without worrying about anything? I get what you mean, and I'm not mad. But for some strange reason, Mom doesn't want me out of her sight. She doesn't let me go anywhere but school and she won't let anyone get a hold of me, not even my aunt and uncle. Stupid, isn't it?"

"Perhaps thy mother is afraid of losing you, the only family she has?" Lucero asked.

"Could be. But she cares more about herself than she does anyone else. Always thinking about nothing but herself and what she goes through every day. She won't budge even if I talk to her. If she did care about me, then she'd send me to my aunt and uncle so I could have a better life, but nooooo! She HAS to keep me in that rancid house like I'm some prisoner and she's the head of the jail! Pheh!" Kosuke replied bitterly.

"But she lets thee go to school, does she not?"

"That's pretty much all. But then again, she spends so much time sleeping in the living room she doesn't notice me leaving or coming back into the house."

"Thou shouldst not worry, Kosuke. We shall always be by thy side, for if thou wouldst go through the dark cloud alone, thou might become lost," Lucero said. This made Kosuke both confused and flabbergasted.

"What? Speak modern dialect in this century, will you?" Kosuke yelped, but Lucero was unfazed.

"He's saying that no matter what happens, we're always here for you if you need us. Sorry if that sounds a little cheesy, but it's true. I'm sure your mom has her reasons for acting the way she is, and I don't approve of her leaving you alone like that one bit. But I don't think you should give up. Lots of kids who come from poor families manage to achieve success later in their life, so you shouldn't let go of that hope," Yun explained kindly as she put a hand on Kosuke's shoulder. Lucero too.

"Yeah, that's coming from the girl who gave up on telling people about Nemoto and Shimizu bullying her," Kosuke retorted. This made Yun mad.

"That's a different story entirely!" Yun yelled. Kosuke chuckled a bit.

"Sorry. That was rude. But...thanks," Kosuke whispered. Yun did feel grateful for Kosuke's kindness, but she hated being reminded that she herself is rather sensitive and cowardly when it comes to Nenji and Seiko. Lucero stood next to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Yun. Thou must calm thyself, or thou might become consumed by the ugly monster that is anger," Lucero said in even more Shakespeare-esque talk. Yun took a breath.

"Yeah. Sorry," Yun muttered.

"It's okay," Kosuke said as he finished the last of his soup. "Man! That seriously hit the spot!"

"It's great, isn't it?" Yun asked.

"I hadn't had soup like this since a few months ago," Kosuke said. "So I hear you're entering the End Drug and Substance Abuse contest in school. Care to show me your project?"

Yun beamed happily. "Sure! Lucero, wanna come?"

"I shall accompany thee with a smile!"

"Then come see!"

Yun happily took Lucero and Kosuke down to the basement. What Kosuke didn't know is that a small blue notebook fell out of Kosuke's pocket and fell on the dining room floor. None of them noticed. About a few minutes later, Patamon flew into the dining room laughing and with Terriermon following him.

"Hey! Come back here! That's cheating!" Terriermon exclaimed as Patamon landed on the dining room table.

"You can't catch me!" Patamon teased good-heartedly until he looked down and saw Kosuke's blue notebook on the floor. He flew down and picked it up. Terriermon saw this as an opportunity to tag Patamon. He laid a paw on his wing.

"Tag! You're it!" Terriermon exclaimed. But Patamon is no longer motivated to play tag. In fact, his brown eyes locked their gaze onto the small blue notebook. Terriermon and Lopmon, who just arrived from behind, both saw it.

"What's that?" Lopmon asked.

"This is Kosuke's poem book. He carries it around with him everywhere he goes," Patamon explained.

"What's a poem?" Terriermon asked.

"A poem is a form of literature that uses words and their qualities to sound artistic and eloquent in nature and in different ways as well," Lopmon explained, looking like a literature teacher herself.

"I've seen some of Kosuke's poems. Wanna read it with me?" Patamon asked.

"Sure!" Terriermon said.

"But isn't it wrong to look at someone's things?" Lopmon asked.

"Kosuke lets me look at it, so it's alright!" Patamon said as he flew into the living room with Terriermon and Lopmon walking behind him. All three of them sat on the floor in the living room. Patamon opened the first page and locked eyes onto one particular poem.

**Wings and Chains**

_To this place I am bound by chains,_  
><em>Every day I go through great pain.<em>

_I can't take anything with a grain of salt,_  
><em>Everything I know has come to a halt.<em>

_More than anything, I wish to be free,_  
><em>But I know it is never to be.<em>

_God, please give me wings on my back,_  
><em>So I can leave this horrid shack.<em>

_Let me fly in the sky,_  
><em>So the end will never be nigh.<em>

_But my jailer keeps me here,_  
><em>And tells me I'm nothing but a smear.<em>

_I wish to break away,_  
><em>So I can be lead astray.<em>

_I wish to experience love and lore,_  
><em>I wish to finally fly away forevermore.<em>

"Kosuke writes stuff like this?" Terriermon asked.

"Yep, though I've only read a select few," Patamon said.

"May I see that for a minute?" Lopmon asked. Patamon handed her the book. Lopmon took a deep, good look at all the poems Kosuke wrote, all the way to the final 10 pages which are all blank.

"Oh my! These poems all have the exact same themes and subject matter!" Lopmon exclaimed.

"What do you mean?" Terriermon asked, confused.

"Almost all of these poems talk about wanting to fly and be free and about being trapped by chains that restrict your freedom. I wonder...is this how Kosuke sees himself?" Lopmon said. Right when she said that, Kosuke, Lucero, and Yun arrived in the living room. All three of the little Digimon gasped.

"Oh! Sorry, Kosuke! You dropped your poem book and I just-" Patamon wanted to explain, even though he turned afraid. Afraid that Kosuke might be very angry with him. But oddly enough, Kosuke gently took the book from him and smiled at him.

"It's okay, Patamon. I'm not mad. Poems are meant to be seen and read by people," Kosuke whispered.

"How long have you been writing poems?" Yun asked.

"Since I was nine," Kosuke replied.

"Don't boys normally like sports and games?" Lucero asked.

"Yes, we do. But not ALL boys are like that. Not me, of course," Kosuke replied. Patamon hopped onto Kosuke's shoulder.

"Kosuke's not mean and nasty and rough like that kid Nenji. Oh! Kosuke told me about him and how he's always pickin' on people. I don't think he's very nice!" Patamon exclaimed.

"Nemoto's not a nice person at all, and I suggest you don't get involved with him. Who knows what would happen if he found real Digimon running around. He'd tell everyone about it!" Yun exclaimed.

"No way am I letting him know of Patamon's existence...or continue ruining your school life, Yun," Kosuke said.

"What a kind, noble friend thou art!" Lucero exclaimed with a smile.

"Can I see your book?" Yun asked kindly.

"Sure. Knock yourself out," Kosuke handed her the book.

Yun read through all of Kosuke's poems. Once she finished, she handed it back to him.

"They're wonderful! You're a great poet!" Yun gave Kosuke some encomium for his poems. Kosuke blushed a bit.

"Oh, I'm not all that good-" Kosuke was going to scoff at Yun's claim, but was interrupted...by someone he never expected, let alone knew that particular someone is even in the house.

"MOOOOOM! Where the heck is the hole puncher?" A very loud, piercing, incensed voice permeated the entire house, even though it came from the other side of it.

"Yun was using it earlier, Ayaka. It's in the basement," Hisako replied from the kitchen.

Stomping and very loud and contemptuous grunting were both blatant harbingers that Ayaka is VERY angry. Soon, she came back up and stomped into the living room. She stared at Yun with a very choleric expression, her eyes filled with nothing but hate.

"You just _LOVE_ ruining my life, don't you, you retarded little brat?" Ayaka screamed angrily, which angered Kosuke.

"Hey! Don't call Yun a brat or retarded! So what if she used the hole puncher? It's just an object!" Kosuke retored.

"Oh, that's coming from the kid who lives in a shack with a trashy mother who does nothing but lie around the house and drink every day! Get out of this house already, you hobo! We already have too much weird as heck freeloaders taking up all the little space we've got!" Ayaka screamed again.

"He's not staying here! It's only until his mom calms down!" Yun yelled.

"Shut up, you brat! You always get your way so quit complaining!"

"I am NOT complaining! I'm just telling you that-"

"I've got no time for this! I'm going to Shunji's!"

Ayaka stomped out of the house. But the yelling didn't stop there.

_"GET OFF OF THE FRONT PORCH, YOU FLEA-INFESTED MUTTS!"_

"Wan!"

"Arf!"

Kosuke, Yun, Lucero, Patamon, Lopmon, and Terriermon were all scared spitless by Ayaka's yelling. But...flea-infested mutts? Something shot into Yun's head like a comet, right when she heard the high-pitched sweet voiced "Wan!" and the nerdy sounding bark. She opened the front door and saw Salamon and Labramon on the front porch, scared.

"Salamon! Labramon!" Yun exclaimed as everyone came out with her.

"Yun-chan!" Salamon yelped as she leaped into Yun's arms.

"Is...she in a bad mood?" Labramon asked, sounding a trifle frightened.

"She's ALWAYS in a bad mood! And I don't like it!" Terriermon said with his arms akimbo.

"Wow. I never knew," Patamon said. Salamon looked up at Yun with frightened violet eyes.

"Yun-chan! We're sorry to come here so suddenly, but you've got to come to the train tracks now! Wan!"

"Is there a Digimon running loose?"

"Yeah! A Devimon to be more specific! Wan!"

"What? A Devimon?" Kosuke exclaimed.

"Yeah! And he's REALLY powerful! Melody-chan, Mina-chan, Otoya-chan, Rena-chan and Riku-kun are there now fighting it, but he's too strong! Worst of all, he doesn't have a Dark Emblem! You've gotta come and help!" Salamon importuned sadly. Yun hugged the frightened little puppy.

"Don't worry. Thanks for letting us know. We'll go and help you out," Yun crooned sweetly.

"Kosuke! You brought your digivice, right?" Patamon asked. Kosuke pulled his vermilion digivice out in a flash.

"I always come prepared!" Kosuke exclaimed. Yun already had hers on her person.

"Come! I'll lead you to them!" Labramon went ahead, and everyone else followed. But not before the kids grabbed their coats.

It's very cold outside, but this didn't bother the children at all. Yun knew where the train tracks were. She and her mom drove over them lots of times. They're by the station, which is about 20 feet from the park on Yun's left. She had never gone this far before. Perhaps fighting Digimon would be a nice way to get her out of the house. But this isn't the time to be thinking about leaving the house more often. A Digimon is loose, and possibly wreaking havoc and destroying things, and it's the Digimon Brigade's duty to take it down!

Once they arrived at the train tracks, they managed to find Melody, Minako, Otoya, Birdramon, Rena, Lekismon, Riku, and Firamon...along with a very tall (quite possibly 12'6' in height, if such a height was possible at all), very big, very dark, and extremely scary and frightening Digimon. This gigantic demon has entirely black skin (though his mouth is perfectly white), long black horns pointing upward like a goat's, demonic bloody red eyes, a white spot on his forehead, perfectly formed chest abs, an orange bat tattoo on his abs, belts on his very long and skinny arms, left leg, and waist, an orange bat mark on his left foot (if you could call it a foot), grey skull tattoos on both of his shoulders, and very long, black bat wings with a myriad of holes in them like he had been repeatedly attacked by a stronger Digimon. One with a beak, probably. He also has brown belt straps on both of his arms.

"Stay back, Devimon! You're not coming any further!" Lekismon exclaimed as she readied her moon gloves.

"That's right, you heartless demon! There are innocents here, and if you dare lay a finger on them we will show no mercy!" Firamon yelled.

"Oh calm down, you infidels! I didn't come here to hurt any humans! To be honest, I never knew you low-lifes existed until now. You're not as holy and awe-inspiring as I imagined anyway. How come you're not the size of my master, who's 100 feet tall? Wow! Talk about unsightly and worst of all weak and scrawny! Lawful heart!" Devimon exclaimed in a deep and demonic voice. His last few comments angered both Melody and Riku.

"Hey! Are you saying you expected us to look all Godly and muscular?" Melody yelled.

"Talk about high expectations! You're a real nut, you know that?" Riku yelled as he jumped around like a protestor in a flash mob.

"Shut up, runt! I came here by accident! My master sent me to find some Digimon and use the Dark Emblems to convert them into followers. He's very intent on having legions of Digimon serve him, whether it's naturally or by force! Buuuuut somehow that spoiled brat Witchmon threw me into some portal and now I'm here! She's always claiming she's more powerful than me, though I'm more threatening than her! But then again, this world is very interesting. I wouldn't mind doing a little exploring!" Devimon explained. He sighed in a tired way when he mentioned Witchmon.

"Wow. Witchmon really must be a clone of Lindsey Lohan or something. Always making people do her bidding like a little princess and order them around. And I thought Devimon were supposed to be an evil king who doesn't take orders from anyone. What a dope!" Rena muttered to herself, very flabbergasted by what she just heard. In her mind, Devimon is supposed to be a totally evil deity who was all powerful and didn't take orders from anyone. The evil deity part she got right, but why would someone as evil and dignified as Devimon follow orders from a spoiled princess like Witchmon? And how could Witchmon be stronger than him?

"By _'exploring'_ you really mean destroying everything you lay your eyes on! Do you really expect us to believe that load of dog turd?" Birdramon asked.

"If you really want me to, I will! Hand of Death!" Devimon roared as a huge sphere of ominous black energy formed in his big clawed hand and he threw it at Birdramon.

"Meteor Wing!"

"Moon Night Bomb!"

Birdramon made firey meteors come out of her wings so she could deflect the attack. Lekismon helped out by sending out her own balls of water, both of which worked. Otoya and Minako both saw Yun, Lucero, Kosuke, and their Digimon and were overjoyed. Salamon ran to Minako.

"Oh thank God you're here! This guy's a real nut job!" Otoya exclaimed.

"So we saw," Yun said.

"Quite the unholy thing, he is," Lopmon said.

"Yeah! No wonder he's evil!" Patamon exclaimed.

"I was the one who sent Salamon and Labramon to get you. Do you think you can lend a hand?" Minako asked with Salamon in her arms. Yun smiled and made her hand form a fist.

"Friends never abandon each other! Of course we'll help!" Yun exclaimed.

"Let's beat this demonic creature from the netherworld!" Kosuke exclaimed.

Lopmon digivolved to Turuiemon, Terriermon to Gargomon, and Salamon to Gatomon. All three of them proceeded to attack.

"Gauntlet Claw!"

"Gargo Laser!"

"Lightning Paw!"

All three Digimon charged away. Unfortunately, Devimon flew away from them and their attacks failed.

"Grr! How can we get him in the air?" Yun exclaimed. Then Minako suddenly beamed.

"I have an idea! Yun! Our digivices can be used as lassos, right? Devimon can't go around flying in the air forever. He'll have to descend to the ground and take a short break before he can fly again. Right at that moment, we use on lassos on him. While we're doing it, Gatomon can use her Cat's Eye Hypnosis to paralyze him, and that'll give us an opportunity to land an attack on him and defeat him!" Minako explained with a smile. Gatomon listened in on it too.

"That's a great idea!" Yun exclaimed.

"A very smart move indeed!" Gatomon said.

"But how do we distract him?" Patamon asked.

They didn't know this, but right when Patamon said that, Devimon happened to catch sight of Lucero from the air. The very sight of Lucero made him both confused and appalled.

"_WHAAAAAAAAT?_ How...how can this beeeeee?" Devimon screamed angrily. In a snap, he decided to descend as he extended his claw so he could grab Lucero. Right then and there...

"Firamon! Let me off here!"

"You got it!"

From above, Riku leaped off of Firamon as a long white light appeared on his digivice, resembling a sword. He descended onto Devimon's back and shoved the sword-like light onto Devimon's back. Devimon roared in pain as the blow dredged into his back. Yun found this to be a great opportunity.

"Everyone! Get your digivice lassos out! Tie him down!" Yun yelled.

Everyone heard her, got their digivice lassos out, and threw them onto Devimon, hoping to conduct Yun's plans and see it to fruition. Sadly enough, Devimon shrugged off the pain and flew into the air, taking everyone else with him.

"Petty attacks like that will never stop me!" Devimon yelled as he flew into the air, flapped his wings very hard, and managed to send the kids flying back onto the ground. The champion level Digimon were ticked off.

"Don't ever throw Melody around like she's a rag doll, you ugly monster! Meteor Wing!"

"You think you're so tough? Well think again!" Gatomon said as she leaped onto Firamon's head.

"Your evil presence is not welcome in the human world! Go back to the Digital World at once! Fira Claw!"

"Anyone who dares to make Rena come off as ungraceful will feel my wrath! Moon Night Bomb!"

"Stupid, much? Gargo Laser!"

Practically all the champion level Digimon proceeded to attack Devimon with their signature attacks. Unfortunately, Devimon both evaded and deflected all of their attacks, sending them flying. Turuiemon is the only one who proceeded to catch most of the kids and break their falls.

"Thanks Turuiemon!" Yun said as she was put down, along with Kosuke and Riku.

"Not a problem," Turuiemon said. She leaped onto a big tree and decided to help out the other champion levels. But something was on Kosuke's mind.

"Riku. Question! What was that thing you did with your digivice just a few seconds ago?" Kosuke asked.

"Yeah! That was cool!" Patamon said.

"Please! Tell us!" Lucero said. Riku smiled.

"Sorry if this is a bit of a sucky time to tell ya, but I was messing around with my digivice out of boredom the other day, and look!" Riku explained as he pulled out his digivice, and the blade-like light appeared from it. "I made it into a sword! I thought about how cool it'd be if I could use it to fight Digimon on my own, and all of a sudden it happened! It's so cool! You should try it too!"

Yun and Kosuke looked down at their digivices, ruminated for a bit, and looked at each other.

"Let's try it out right now!"

Everyone held their digivices in their hands, turned them into glowing swords, and had the champion levels assist them in fighting Devimon. The children and the Digimon fought hard with all their might. Even though Devimon kept avoiding and deflecting all of their attacks, they didn't give up. With many more attacks and glowing digiswords hitting Devimon, he was getting madder and madder.

"You humans are so persistent! Get out of my way! Razor Wing!" Devimon screamed angrily as he used his wings to create a huge, powerful, and ominous gust of wind that blew away all the champion levels, so much that they were reverted back to their rookie forms. All of them bounced onto the grass. Labramon, Lucero, and Patamon became very worried.

"I suppose it's only natural that Devimon is too powerful to handle. Only a holy Digimon can defeat him," Labramon said.

"If only I had a Digimon and a digivice...I'd be able to help!" Lucero said.

But Patamon had other worries entirely.

_'Kosuke and the other kids and Digimon are fighting so hard! And I can't even digivolve! Why can't I digivolve? I need to help Kosuke and protect him! I'm sick and tired of not being able to do anything!'_ Patamon thought as worry and fear wracked his little mind. He didn't even notice until it was too late that Devimon, with his long claw extended, flew angrily toward someone nobody expected him to target.

Lucero.

"YOU SHOULD BE _DEEEEAAAAD_!"

Patamon, seeing this, finally decided he couldn't take it anymore.

"Lucero!"

He flew in between Lucero and Devimon's claw. Devimon's claw caught him instead of Lucero. Patamon found himself trapped inside the darkness that is Devimon's hand. Everyone witnessed Patamon's brave, chivalrous and valiant deed. But they weren't happy with it. Especially not one person.

_"PATAMOOON!"_

It was Kosuke. Totally incensed with anger, Kosuke ran to Devimon's arm and leaped on it in a flash.

"Kosuke-kun! What are you doing? Get out of there!" Yun exclaimed.

"Yeah! He's too powerful for you!" Terriermon yelled.

"Come back down right now! Wan!" Salamon barked.

"Kosuke-kun! Get off of him!" Minako yelled.

"Are you serious, Kosuke?" Otoya screamed.

Kosuke clutched onto Devimon's arm, not caring about the fact that Devimon is spitting mad.

"Let go of him!" Kosuke screamed.

"Hmph! So what if I caught a little weakling! No matter! But get off of me, you bag of flesh and raw meat!" Devimon yelled and waved his long arm around.

Despite how much he was being thrown around, Kosuke didn't let go. Not one finger came off of Devimon's arm. He held on tight with all his might. He wanted to get Patamon out of his arm. He wanted to set Patamon free, no matter what. Very slowly but firmly, he climbed up to Devimon's hand and laid his own hand on one of Devimon's fingers. He climbed again and wrapped both of his arms around Devimon's finger. He then pulled on it. He pulled and pulled. He didn't care if the wind was violently brushing against his face. He didn't care if his insides were doing epic backflips. He wanted nothing more than to free Patamon from Devimon's corrupt clutches. He finally managed to pull Devimon's finger enough to reveal Patamon's face. Patamon looked up and saw Kosuke desperately holding the finger up.

"Kosuke!" Patamon yelled with a smile. He then proceeded to pull himself out of Devimon's hand. After a short while, he finally got out.

"Patamon! Go back to the group! You'll be safe!" Kosuke yelled.

"But what about you?"

"I'll get down somehow! Don't worry about me!"

But how could little Patamon NOT worry about Kosuke, his human partner? Kosuke just saved Patamon, even though his life is in danger. The little winged Digimon was now worried about Kosuke now that Devimon's anger has reached it's peak.

"Off with you, human!" He screamed as he did the most unthinkable thing possible.

He threw Kosuke into the air. HARD. Straight up into the sky.

_"KOSUKEEEEEE!"_ Patamon screamed loudly, but Kosuke could barely hear. He felt himself rising into the air and then falling. He opened his hazel green eyes and saw the evening sky, draped with nothing but blue, even though it's past four right now. Kosuke felt as if he were rising into heaven itself.

_'The sky...it's so beautiful. Is this what it's like...to be free?'_ Kosuke thought. Then he closed his eyes. He didn't open them. He was preparing for his fall. Toward death. He didn't even notice his digivice, and Patamon, glowing in a bright mango orange color.

Patamon became enveloped by a warm mango orange light. Everyone saw this. Even Devimon, who was intimidated by the sight, saw it. And he was NOT happy.

"What? What is this?" Devimon screamed.

"It's Patamon! He's digivolving!" Rena exclaimed.

"How wonderful!" Labramon said.

"Patamon, digivolve to..."

The orange light enveloping Patamon became bigger and bigger until it finally dissipated. Very oddly enough, Patamon didn't look like a little winged guinea pig anymore. He had turned...human. Well, he has six pure white wings, a silver helmet that covers his eyes, white abs with some silver spots on them, a light blue cloth wrapped around his waist supported by a black belt, a gold shoulder pad on his left shoulder, and long, shimmering, flowing silver hair catching the sunbeams from the setting sun.

"...Angemon!"

All of a sudden, Kosuke felt himself fall onto something. And it didn't hurt. Wanting to see if he had died, he finally opened his eyes. He saw Angemon, looking down at him sympathetically and kindly (though his covered eyes didn't show it). Kosuke saw himself wrapped in Angemon's strong, caring white arms. Angemon's smile said it all.

"Kosuke. I'm glad I saved you in time. Now we're even. But don't put yourself in danger for me again. If I were to lose you, I don't think I could live with myself," Angemon said in a male adult voice. Totally unlike the sweet and adorable Patamon who was always friendly and childish.

Kosuke was smitten by this pure Digimon's sublime and divine presence. He looked like one of God's heavenly disciples himself, with his divine presence and holy aura. But something else seemed to strike Kosuke as odd. He already knew of Angemon's existence in the TV series, yet the Angemon holding him in his arms right now...looked very different from the ones on TV. He felt like he just HAD to point it out.

"Why is your hair silver? Shouldn't it be orange? And why is your loin cloth light blue instead of just blue?" Kosuke asked.

Angemon blushed. Hard.

"Must you really call it a loin cloth?" He asked back.

Everyone watched with awe. Rena couldn't help but throw a little tantrum.

"Awwww! Why must Kosuke's Digimon be super duper hot and handsome?" Rena exclaimed.

"Isn't this not a good time to be talking about who has the best Digimon, sis?" Riku yelled, confused by Rena's odd behavior. Angemon remained in the sky and Kosuke got onto his shoulder.

"Angemon, I have an idea. Let's both attack him together," Kosuke told him with a straight yet courageous face.

"I agree. But how can we do that?" Angemon replied.

"Put your holy powers into my digivice. I want to see what happens. Then once I lay my own attack on him, you can finish him off."

"Heaven is always on the side of those who use their powers for good instead of evil. Now let's do it!"

Kosuke got his digivice blade out, and a pure white light eminated from Angemon's hand. The light shot out from it and onto Kosuke's digivice blade. The light enveloped the digivice for a few seconds and then dissipated. Now it looked like a real sword, with a handle and a pretty design and everything. The handles resembled Angemon's six wings with an orange gem in the middle of them. Kosuke liked how it looked.

"Awesome!" Kosuke said.

But Devimon was not happy with this new twist.

"Do you really think your holiness will stop me? Think again, infidels!" Devimon proceeded to attack with another Hand of Death. But Angemon threw Kosuke at Devimon, right above his outstretched arm, and Kosuke charged at him.

"Take this, you corrupt creature from the netherworld!" Kosuke yelled as his new and improved digivice blade dredged into Devimon's forehead, making him roar in pain. Not only that, all the digivice lassos from the other Digimon Brigade members wrapped around his legs. All of them wanted to help out.

"We thought you could use some help!" Yun exclaimed as she struggled to keep her digivice lasso stuck onto Devimon. Kosuke leaped off of Devimon and made way for Angemon to attack.

"Now, Angemon!"

Angemon caught Kosuke with his left hand. His right hand is glowing in an orange and white light. He rose his fist into the air and...

"Hand of Fate!"

Aimed it at Devimon, and a white light shot out from it, permeating Devimon and his evil. The intense amount of holy energy pained the evil and corrupt creature. Light and darkness were never exactly totally compatible, so this was natural. As Devimon was about to fade, he looked at Angemon.

"No...it can't be...he's alive..."

"Who is alive? Care to elaborate?"

"He...should be dead! My master...all of us...destroyed him!"

Devimon turned to look at a frightened and frozen in place Lucero.

"Lu...Luce-"

But before he could say Lucero's name, or the name he assumed 'should be dead', Devimon finally faded. The holy energy finally consumed him and his data flew back to the Digital World through a small portal in the sky. Then it dissipated. Everyone watched with awe.

"Wow! That was so awesome!" Otoya exclaimed.

"Yes! Devimon's evil has been eliminated!" Labramon said.

"We did it! We did it!" Riku exclaimed as he and Coronamon danced around.

"We can use our digivices as swords!" Melody said.

"How awesome is that?" Rena exclaimed.

"Eeeek! Devimon was soooo scary!" Lunamon exclaimed.

Angemon set Kosuke back down to the ground with a smile. Kosuke looked up at him.

"Thanks a lot, partner," Kosuke muttered.

"It's a partner's duty to protect their kind. Your chivalrous deed and your yearning for freedom helped me digivolve, and for that...I guess you could say we're even," Angemon explained kindly, like the holy and noble-hearted Digimon he is.

Even though everyone rejoiced in Devimon's defeat, something still left Yun rather perturbed. Lopmon and Salamon noticed it.

"What's wrong, Yun?" Lopmon asked.

"Yun-chan! Why aren't you happy? Devimon's defeated! Wan!" Salamon said.

"That's the problem. We managed to defeat Devimon so easily, but...we couldn't defeat Witchmon. That bothers me. Devimon's supposed to be even more powerful and corrupt than Witchmon, but how is it that we were able to defeat Devimon easier than we did Witchmon? Not only that, Devimon targeted Lucero. He acted as if he KNEW who Lucero was!" Yun explained.

"I always thought it was because most of us weren't able to digivolve yet. Wan!" Salamon said.

"Yes. That is a problem. What's more, even Devimon mentioned a master and yet we don't know that master's name. I speculate that there may be more Digimon serving this master," Lopmon explained.

"I was thinking the exact same thing. Perhaps there's more to the Dark Emblems than meets the eye," Angemon said.

"But hey! Look on the bright side! We managed to defeat Devimon and Patamon digivolved! We'll defeat Witchmon somehow!" Kosuke said happily and enthusiastically.

"Yeah! We will! We just need to get better and stronger, that's all," Yun backed him up.

"So...what do we do now?" Melody asked.

"Anyone wanna go for a day of flying?" Biyomon asked.

Everyone agreed to the idea. Biyomon digivolved into Birdramon and most of the kids got on her back. Yun, Kosuke, Terriermon, and Lopmon settled themselves into Angemon's arm. And the two winged Digimon flew all over town.

The kids were awestruck. The town looked so small and scrawny from so high up. They felt the gentle breeze blowing their hair out and caressing their faces. They saw the ever-changing scenery happening above and below them. The eternally blue sky looked very vast, open, and wide. It looked as if it continued on forever, which it did. Kosuke is the one silently admiring and loving everything the most. He felt as if he were really flying. He wasn't afraid at all. He didn't feel trapped. He didn't feel bound by chains. He didn't feel any burdens or a lingering sense of responsibility like he often did. His face lit up when he saw the vast blue sky presenting itself before him. The striking and beautiful sight almost moved him to tears. But he held them back. He did, however, go into a pensive state.

_'The sky...it's so beautiful. Is this what it's like to be free? Free of everything? To feel heaven through the tips of your fingers? This is what I should be doing. Flying. Being free. Free from everything. But I can't. I'm bound and trapped by the chains that Mom put on me, and I don't think I can get them off. I wish...I wish I could go back to those days. The happy days. When my family was whole...complete...normal. And happy.'_

Kosuke remembered when his family was hole. His dad, mom, and himself. His dad before he left. His mom before she became an alcoholic (as Yun and the others knew her best). The happy memories they spent together as a family. The picnics. The amusement parks. The thrills. The joy. Everything. Kosuke yearned for those days to come back. But he knew he couldn't get them back no matter what.

He did get two things today: Patamon's digivolution, and inspiration for a new poem.

Author's Note: Yay! I finished chapter 12! I'll work on chapter 13 soon. It takes place on the same day as this chapter. Be prepared because a new Digimon Brigade member is going to be introduced! And you're not going to believe who it'll be! It'll be a big shocker! Well, I better get going. I have to work on some things. I'll see you all later! Bye-bee!


	13. Boyfriend Blues

Author's Note: Konnichiwa minna-san! Hi everyone! Yeah, I was bored so I felt like updating this again. For some STRANGE reason, LiveJournal keeps being difficult! It makes unnecessary spaces in my paragraphs and it won't let me save changes to various entries! In short, I can't post my reviews or stories on there! I can make short little entries, but that's about it. I REALLY want to fill an entire month's worth of entries in there, but my attempts keep getting foiled! I refuse to let this attempt get foiled by the evils of internet breakdowns! No sir! Also sadly enough, I only have three weeks of summer left. Noooooo! I want it to continue! I don't wanna go to college yet! Well, I better stop angsting and get to this. Here's Digimon: A Seraphic Tale, chapter thirteen!

EPISODE 13: Boyfriend Blues

Angemon and Birdramon flew through the skies, embracing the vastness of the evening sky, riding the halcyon winds, and not having a single care in the world...other than the fact that they have kids on them, of course. As for the kids, they were all enjoying this ride immensely. The only time they flew like this was two days ago, when they first battled Witchmon (Why Witchmon is supposedly more powerful than Devimon still lingers in Yun's mind) in the next town, where Hisako works. But nonetheless, they were enjoying this ride through the sky and having a good time of it.

However, Yun wasn't just enjoying being in the sky with two champion level Digimon. She is in a pensive state, and thoughts were lingering around in her mind like evil preying monsters. Thoughts about Devimon, Witchmon, and the master they keep talking about. Yun kept on ruminating. Questions were arising in her head. Why was defeating Devimon so facile? Why is Witchmon supposedly stronger than Devimon, who's supposed to be sickeningly stronger and more corrupt than her? Who is this master they keep talking about? Is Witchmon putting Dark Emblems on Digimon just so they can become their master's servants? Is the Digital World in imminent danger? But one question stood out like a sore thumb that got hit by a hammer.

Why did Devimon attack Lucero and claim to actually know him?

Devimon's evil words echoed in Yun's head.

_"YOU SHOULD BE DEEEEAAAAAD!"_

_"Lu-Luce-"_

No. She couldn't believe it. Lucero's human, and only human. No way could he and Devimon have known each other. It must be some other person or Digimon whose name began with Luce. But she didn't know who that could be. Despite her amassing thoughts, she kept it together and decided to talk about this at the next scheduled Digimon Brigade meeting. She remembered that next week Hisako is off work, so she could invite her friends over to her house whenever she wanted. It was going to be wonderful. It wouldn't be JUST a Digimon Brigade meeting. It would be a nice little friend get-together. Yun had never been able to invite this many friends to her house before, so she was totally set on this idea. Lopmon looked up at her.

"Yun?"

"Ah! Wha?"

"Is something wrong?"

"No. I was just thinking about some things. That's all."

Lopmon cocked her head to one side. "It's about Devimon, isn't it?"

Yun sighed and conceded defeat. "Yes. I just don't get it."

"Me neither. If it's about how we were able to defeat Devimon and not Witchmon, I speculate it's because most of us didn't digivolve and Angemon's holy powers eliminate all traces of evil much easier. Perhaps next time we see Witchmon, it will be easier for us to defeat her," Lopmon explained kindly. Yun smiled and stroked her little brown head.

"You're probably right," Yun said.

"I'm hungry!" Terriermon suddenly exclaimed, which scared both Yun and Lucero. Afterward, Yun chuckled a bit.

"You're just dying to grab dinner, aren't you?" Yun asked.

"I sure am! I want some food! All the fighting sure made me hungry!" Terriermon cried out with a smile.

"Don't worry. We'll be home soon. Then you can eat whatever's on the table!" Yun told him. Kosuke, hearing this by accident, drooped his head downward a bit.

"I wish I could eat whatever's on the table whenever I please," Kosuke muttered. Yun heard it and immediately felt guilty.

"Oh! No! I-I wasn't saying that to be mean or anything, Kosuke-kun! Really!" Yun pleaded and Kosuke smiled a bit.

"It's okay. I'm not mad. Quit worrying so much, Yun. It's cool," Kosuke replied. All of a sudden, Angemon stopped and dropped Yun, Lopmon, Terriermon, and Lucero off onto the front yard.

"This is your stop," Angemon said.

"Thanks for helping us! Have a nice evening!" Yun said.

"We will!" Kosuke said as he waved goodbye and left with Angemon carrying him. Birdramon left too. As Yun turned to look at Lucero, she noticed Lucero looked rather dazed and somewhat confused.

"Lucero?"

"Ah! Uhh..."

"You're spacing out. I can tell."

Lucero blushed a bit. "I...I guess I am."

Yun gently took him by the hand and led him inside the house. She noticed a black Mercedes Benz on the street, but she didn't think much of it. Probably someone who knew the neighbors who parked in front of the house because their cars took up too much space. Sometimes this happened a lot.

But when Yun got inside...she yelped.

_"EEEEHHHHH?"_

There's a boy sitting in the living room! Acting like it's his house! Watching TV! MTV to be precise (which Yun hated). The boy is of 16-17 years of age, with very short jet black hair which looked rather shaggy, and blue eyes like the ocean and sky. Sometimes they really did look as if they had stars in them. The boy's long, slender legs stuck out from the big couch, along with his arms. He wore a long sleeved white shirt underneath a beige sweater vest, deep blue pants, and big white and blue sneakers. Right when he laid eyes on Yun and Lucero, he literally hopped out of the couch like he was Willy Wonka. He stood before Yun with a big, bright smile on his face.

"Oh ho ho! Would you look at that! If it isn't my girlfriend's dear little sister, Wakamiya Yun-chan!" The boy exclaimed in a suave but rich teenage boy voice as he hopped in front of Yun and greeted her happily. Despite this, Yun and Lucero were still shocked beyond their little minds.

"A-A-A-A-Anjo-san..."

"Aw, come on! Don't be so formal! Feel free to call me Shunji-kun! You are Ayaka-chan's sister after all!" The boy, Anjo Shunji, exclaimed happily.

"Ummm...what are you doing here...?" Yun asked in a low, confused voice.

"I just happened to be in the neighborhood and felt like visiting! By the way, have you seen Ayaka-chan by any chance?" Shunji explained.

"Last I checked she said she was going to your place," Yun replied, not very pleased with Shunji's appearance in her house.

"Is she? Well, I better text her because I don't want her going all the way up north...Oh! What's this?" Shunji pulled out his black cell phone and attempted to text Ayaka, but soon noticed Lucero and immediately beamed with joy.

"Wow! Aren't you smoking hot! Are you Yun-chan's boyfriend?" Shunji asked.

Lucero opened his mouth wide with shock, and Yun screamed and pulled him away.

"He is NOT my boyfriend! Quit getting stupid ideas, Anjo!"

"Shunji!"

"Whatever!"

"Uh...?" Now Lucero was just blown away by this strange turn of events. Yun was just ticked off.

"Do you just LOVE coming into people's houses without knocking or getting permission? You nearly had me thinking you were a robber!" Yun reproved in a stringent manner. But apparently Shunji is totally unfazed by Yun's dismay.

"It's my girlfriend's house!"

"SO? Don't you think you should be running back home before Ayaka walks in and gets the wrong idea?"

It seemed Shunji wasn't hearing a word she said, because he quickly grabbed Terriermon and began inspecting him.

"Oooh! Are these stuffed animals? They're so cute! Definitely your thing!" Shunji said with a smile as he hoisted Terriermon into the air, which further irritated Yun. She grabbed him and attempted to shove him out.

"Go on a date with Ayaka or something before she walks in and thinks you're cheating on her with me!" Yun exclaimed. But an unlikely voice responded to that.

"Yun! Don't push Shunji-kun out like that! It's rude!" It was Hisako who said it.

"It's even MORE rude to just barge into the house without permission!" Yun retorted.

"He knocked and I let him in," Hisako retorted back.

Shocked into silence, Yun looked up at Shunji with an even more choleric look.

"Why did you never say so? Oh wait! I know! You were too busy acting like an egocentric prince!" Yun muttered with her teeth grinding against each other, to which Shunji simply did not care about. He continued to smile. He very gently pushed Yun off of him.

"I would've said so to calm you down, but I guess I WAS acting a little self-centered. Thanks for letting me know! Now to text Ayaka and let her know I'm at her house! Yippee!" Shunji happily skipped off into the dining room like a little child, leaving Yun, Terriermon, Lopmon, and Lucero, all alone and totally blown out of their minds in the living room.

It was Terriermon who took the mighty plunge.

"Who's that?"

"My...sister's...insane...boyfriend..." Yun replied.

"What's a boyfriend?" Terriermon asked.

"A boy who goes on dates with a girl in a romantic fashion," Yun replied. Hisako came into the living room again.

"Where's Kosuke-kun?" Hisako asked.

"He went home already," Yun replied.

"Aww. I wanted to prepare a bag of food for him. Well, I can always make one and drop it off at his house later," Hisako said as she went back into the kitchen. "Oh! Dinner will be ready in a few minutes, dears!"

"Oh goodie," Yun muttered in a not-so-pleased tone of voice.

Dinner came and went, but it seemed to drag on for a long time for Yun. Partly because Shunji sat next to her and partly because Terriermon and Lopmon are under the table. Yun took care to quietly slip some food under the table for them, but it didn't feel right. She did not like Shunji. It wasn't because he was Ayaka's boyfriend. In fact, she loved this. Plus Shunji is practically-no, absolutely-the ONLY person in this entire world (or universe) whom Ayaka didn't scream or yell at on a regular basis every three seconds. They could go on dates and do whatever they wanted, and Yun didn't care one bit about what they did. But what annoyed Yun is the fact that Shunji is acting like her house is his house and acts all flirty and over-friendly toward everyone, including Yun! Yun didn't like the way he approached her a few minutes ago when she walked in. Another thing she hated was the moments when she was alone with Shunji. Whenever Ayaka would walk in, she would gently shoo Shunji away and then scream at Yun like a ferocious animal, accusing her of making a move on him or influencing him in some way.

Now WHY in all the world would Yun EVER want to make a move on Shunji of all people? Shunji was never her type of man to begin with. And influence? No. Yun was never good at influencing people to do anything. Yun had convinced herself of this. She couldn't influence someone to clean their room even if she wanted to. Plus, Yun didn't have any plans regarding getting a boyfriend. Not one. Ever. Not in her whole entire life. She even convinced herself she would never get married or have children. Yun couldn't handle babies. Noisy, bratty children with their incessant crying especially. Yun wanted no part of Shunji. Not even a little piece of him. Just as she was about to finish the rest of her dinner, Ayaka suddenly arrived...with, of all things, a smile on her face.

"Shun-kun! I got your text! You should've told me earlier you were coming to my house!" Ayaka exclaimed in a sickeningly sweet voice as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Well, sorry for being a lazy bum, dear Ayaka-chan!" Shunji replied sarcastically.

"You're not a lazy bum, dear! Everyone forgets!" Ayaka pecked his cheek and gave him a kiss. Yun looked away, disgusted.

Ayaka got dinner for herself as Yun finished hers. After that, Yun went into the living room and did her homework. English, science, and distribution properties were much better than the stuff going on between Ayaka and Shunji. Secretly, Terriermon and Lopmon sneaked out from under the table (while being careful to not let Shunji or Ayaka notice them) and went to Yun's side. Lucero finished his dinner and joined Yun. They both did their homework. Perhaps this is a little homework date, without the mushy romantic stuff going on between Shunji and Ayaka. Lucero didn't know what went on between them, and held no desire to know, but they sure were sweet on each other.

Lucero finished his homework within 20 minutes, but stayed to help Yun with stuff she didn't get. It took her an hour and a half to finish, even with Lucero's help. But he didn't mind. He just wanted to be with Yun, not with the two teenaged lovebirds. Unfortunately their ears could not block out a conversation Shunji and Ayaka had in the dining room, clear as day.

"So what's the deal, Shun-kun? You said something about moving into the area?"

"Yep! My dear sweet princess Ayaka-chan! I have wonderful news! I moved into my grandparents' house yesterday! I'm only about a quarter mile away from here!"

"That's great! I wish you could've told me earlier so I wouldn't have to take a cab!"

"Yeah. I wish I did too. But I was just so excited! I wanted to visit you and tell you face to face! Sorry for being such a bum."

"You're not a bum!"

"Anyway, my parents are going through some issues right now, so they sent me to live with gran and gramps! I'm pretty much spoiled in their house, not that my parents care, of course. But I don't mind. In fact, I love it! I'll get to spend more time with you!"

Yun scoffed at them silently in disgust. Ayaka smiled brightly.

"Awesome! Now I don't have to live through these days being totally miserable about everything!"

"Those girls still givin' you a hard time?"

"YES! And it's not just them! The teachers are too! They keep saying stuff like _'Why can't you be more like so-and-so who always studies hard and gets help whenever she needs it?'_ and _'You should spend less time prancing around with you boyfriend and more time for your work'_ and _'Your grades are so low I can't imagine how your parents must feel! What a disgrace!'_ It's so stupid!"

"I know, right? But really, I don't like how the teachers treat ya, but I really think you should study harder. You wanna get a dance teacher's degree, don't you?"

"Yes. I do. But nobody's willing to help me. That's the problem. I can't find anyone who's willing to help me get my grades up. Mom and Dad are no help because they didn't learn this stuff in their day, and my little sister's not in my grade so she's no help at all."

"How about we work on some stuff tonight?"

"Sure!"

"I'll settle myself in your room. Alright? I'll wait for you! Yeehee!"

Happily and childishly, Shunji skipped into Ayaka's room. Ayaka put her plate away. Hisako sat in the living room to watch the news. Yun, Lucero, Terriermon, and Lopmon did so too, but for different reasons. Yun didn't know it, but Ayaka is right in front of her, staring down at her with a cold, choleric face and with her arms crossed. She extended one of them.

"Give them to me," She said.

Yun, Hisako, and Lucero became confused.

"Give what to you?"

"The beasts!"

"Terriermon and Lopmon?"

"Who else do you think I mean, retard? Give them to me!"

Immediately, Yun knew what Ayaka planned to do with them. She hugged them tight.

"No."

"I said give them to me!"

"No!"

"I don't want Shun-kun getting any strange ideas with those beasts in here!"

"He doesn't know! Besides, he already thinks they're dolls so it's okay! Quit worrying!"

"NO! It's NOT okay, you brat!"

"Ayaka! Stop!" Hisako ran and held her back.

"You made a move on him, didn't you?"

"NO I DIDN'T! Stop asking me that! I don't even like him, nor am I interested in getting a boyfriend at all!"

"That's a lie! You're trying to make Shun-kun cheat on me, aren't you? Ruining my life must be the best thing you've ever done!"

"Ayaka! That's enough! Go to your room and study with Shunji-kun. There's no need to antagonize Yun about every little thing that happens!" Hisako scolded strictly.

"Fine! I'll go be with Shun-kun! Stay away from him, you brat! If you ever turn him against me, I'll wring your neck!" She yelled angrily.

"I don't even know HOW to do that!" Yun yelled back. And Ayaka walked away, leaving a frightened Lucero, a scared Yun, an irritated Hisako, and two confused floppy eared Digimon alone in the living room.

"Goodness! She actually thinks you're trying to turn Shunji-kun against her! I can't believe this! What in the world am I going to do with her? Seriously, what makes her think all these bad thoughts?" Hisako muttered.

Then, as if a miracle had presented itself before Yun, there came a knock on the door. Yun answered it in light speed.

It was Otoya and Labramon.

"Hi Yun-chan! Wanna go for a walk with me?" Otoya asked.

"SURE I WILL! Get me outta this house! _PLEASE!_" Yun wailed, startling Otoya a bit.

But Yun couldn't leave just yet. She had to get her coat, shoes, socks, cell phone, and digivice. Lucero too. But Yun couldn't wait to get out. When Shunji and Ayaka were around, the house was not the safest place she could be right now. Otoya, seeing the fear on Yun's face, said nothing. Instead, she smiled and took Yun and Lucero to the park.

They sat on a bench. It was cold, but Yun didn't care one bit. She was just happy to be away from Ayaka, Shunji, and all the strange, teenage romance mushyness that came with it...and away from Ayaka's incessant and over-the-top yelling. She looked up at the evening sky. It looked very beautiful and exquisite with it's heterogeneous mixtures of pearl lavendar, mango orange, vermilion red, deep blue, and some tiny little specs of golden yellow. The beauty of it all helped to sooth and mollify Yun's aching heart a trifle. Something else did too. She didn't know it, but Labramon rubbed himself against Yun's face and even licked her a bit. Upon feeling this, Yun smiled at the funny-looking, magenta eared dog, with his caring indigo eyes and perfectly round magenta-colored tail.

"You look upset, Yun-san. Is something the matter?" Labramon asked politely.

"Yeah. You look as though something really killed your day today," Otoya said.

"You're right. My day was killed. Ayaka's boyfriend came to the house...and Ayaka keeps yelling at me. She keeps thinking I'm plotting to turn her boyfriend against her or make him cheat on her for me or something. Why in the world would I do that? I don't know where the heck she gets all these ideas from, but I don't like it at all! And besides, Anjo's not my type! I don't want a boyfriend! Ever! Especially not one who's a bit too flirty and over-friendly!" Yun explained. Labramon sat himself on Yun's lap, which Yun liked. Terriermon and Lopmon lay on top of him, which he didn't mind either.

"I didn't know your sister was so uptight. And I thought my dad was uptight!" Otoya said.

"And moody, too! She keeps yelling at everything and everyone, including me, over the smallest little things! She's such a drama queen! I just don't get it, and neither do my parents! It's bad enough when she's in the house, but when Anjo's with her, it gets worse. I'm sure he doesn't mean to make Ayaka get all uptight when he's around me and my family. I'm sure he's nice in his own way and doesn't mean for Ayaka to get all these messed up thoughts, but still! I wish she'd stop yelling and blaming me for everything that goes on in her life! And not only that, she wanted me to hand Terriermon and Lopmon over to her. I think she wanted to throw them out so Anjo wouldn't see them or believe they're real. She already knows they're Digimon, which I did not intend for her to find out, so I guess she'd probably think Anjo would believe they're real too. But he already knows about them and assumed they were dolls. He even called them cute, so I didn't see any reason to worry," Yun explained again.

Now Yun felt guilty. Guilty for even telling Otoya about this. Yun wasn't doing it to whine or be selfish or anything. Yun is certainly one who doesn't like keeping her feelings inside. She just wanted to get them out. Get them out so they wouldn't amass onto her heart so much. Yun stroked Labramon's fur gently, liking the feeling of it. Labramon seemed to like it too, as he kept his eyes closed throughout the whole spheal. At first, Otoya was surprised by Yun telling her this, but she smiled and put a hand on Yun's shoulder, even though Yun's shoulder is covered by her jacket.

"It'll be alright. My situation isn't as bad as yours, but I kinda know how you feel. See, I walked home from school today with a boy from 7th grade. Narumi Akira. He's really cool, and I like him. But my dad's kinda uptight about romance as well. Not like your sister, but to a small degree. Plus my next door neighbor Enishi-san saw the two of us walking together. I wish he'd mind his own beeswax! He told Dad all about it, and I had to go through a major lecture about _'the proper behavior of a young lady'_ and all that preachy stuff! So what if I like a boy? I didn't do anything wrong! Sometimes being a preacher's kid is tough," Otoya said.

"It's true. I saw the whole lecture myself, and I don't really think it was right of him to lecture her either, though he probably has his reasons. Maybe it's a religious thing," Labramon said. Yun couldn't help but chuckle a bit.

"That must hurt."

"It sure did!"

"Well, whoever this Narumi-san is, I hope everything goes well for you two. And sorry for telling you all of this. You probably don't like hearing me whine and stuff."

"No! You're not whining at all. And I'm happy you told me. That's what friends are for! They tell each other stuff and console each other! There's nothing wrong with that. Plus all you're trying to do is get it all out so it doesn't ruin your day. I totally get what you mean!"

"I agree. Thou never whines. Thou doesn't complain about everything every single day. That I know from experience!" Lucero said, backing her up.

"Yep! Yun doesn't go _'Oh! My life is over!'_ or _'Oh! I'm sooo angsty!'_ or _'Oh! Everything's stupid! Wah wah wah!'_ all the time!" Terriermon piped in, which made everyone laugh. The laugh certainly helped Yun as her chest no longer felt heavy or saggy.

"You sound funny, Terriermon!"

"Thank you!"

"Thy impression of Ayaka-san is very convincing!" Lucero exclaimed with a laugh.

All three kids and three Digimon had a good laugh, then finally calmed down. Then Yun remembered something and looked at Otoya's green eyes.

"Otoya-chan. I've been meaning to ask...what were you doing outside?" Yun asked.

"I kinda thought I'd take Labramon out for a walk. Then I found your house and decided to visit. I guess I ended up being an answer to a prayer, huh?" Otoya explained kindly.

"Oh, you sure were!" Yun said.

"Yes! Thou art the very answer to our prayers, indeed!" Lucero backed her up. Otoya laughed again.

"Wow. Nobody's really told me that before," Otoya said.

"Really?"

"Yeah. In my other town, kids my age often tell me that me being a preacher's kid was one of the unluckiest things around. They thought I wasn't normal or anything like them."

"How so?"

"Well, they thought a preacher's kid did nothing but help her preacher father, participate in sermons, help in Sunday schools, read the Bible, everything. I have no idea where they got those crazy thoughts, but it made me feel kinda lonely. Nobody really wanted to play with me. My teachers often say that no matter what, everyone's the same no matter the circumstances, but they didn't take it to heart. So what if my dad is a preacher? It doesn't mean I'm not a kid just like them. I guess that's one of the reasons we moved here. I'm glad I met you and the others, Yun-chan. Labramon, too!"

Yun was surprised. She never knew that Otoya herself had friend problems when she was a child. To her, Otoya is still just another girl, just like any other normal person. Wearing normal clothes (like how she's wearing her dark green jacket over a purple sweater and a long black plaid skirt going down to her ankles right now), doing normal things, learning normal lessons, everything. Why in the world would people think a preacher's child doesn't get any of those opportunities? Why in the world would people think a preacher's kid is the odd one out? Yun's autistic mind couldn't wrap around that strange idea. It couldn't comprehend it. Yun also knew very well that Otoya is quite the out-going and optimistic sort, never being beaten down by people's mean words or various other hardships. Yun liked that about her. She did not see why being a preacher's kid is so bad. But she knew one thing for sure: that Otoya is her friend and nothing else.

"Those kids are wrong! A preacher is just another occupation! There's nothing wrong with that! And it doesn't make you any different from anyone else!" Yun exclaimed.

"Yes. I agree. People who work for God are just as the same as other people who have other jobs," Lopmon said.

"That's stupid! Who would think a preacher's kid is different from them? Whoever came up with that idea needs to be taught a lesson!" Little Terriermon piped in.

"Perhaps they refused to learn that simple lesson and take it seriously. Even though everyone has different circumstances, everyone's the same. It doesn't matter who they are or what they are. They're all human beings," Labramon said.

"Doth thou truly believe what they say? Thou shan't believe it! Not at all!" Lucero exclaimed.

Otoya was touched. Nobody had ever told her these things before. Especially not in her old home town. Back there, once she saw the extent in which those kids' thoughts about her being a preacher's kid went, she lost all faith in them. She gave up on making friends. But meeting Yun and Labramon and all the others seemed to restore her faith in friendship. It also taught her that everyone's NOT the same. Everyone is different. She took it to heart really hard. She stroke Labramon's tail with her finger.

"Thanks for holding me in such high regard," Otoya said.

"You're welcome," Yun replied.

"Hey Yun-chan. I've also been meaning to ask...is it true you never leave the house on your own?" Otoya asked curiously.

"I did twice. And both those times I fought Digimon. Other than that, no. I never leave the house," Yun replied.

"Is that why you don't walk to school either?" Otoya asked again.

"Yeah. I'm afraid that I might get lost or some stalker guy might pop out of the bushes and kidnap me or do things that...I really don't want to mention," Yun explained. Otoya stood up.

"So you're planning on spending the rest of your life cooped up in the house?"

"Well...uhhh..."

"I have an idea! How about every once in a while we walk around town together to get you used to everything around you! How does that sound? It'll give us more time to bond with each other and our Digimon!"

"Sounds great. But...what will we do if-"

"My mom taught me a lot about this kind of stuff. See this little device on my jacket sleeve here?" Otoya showed Yun the small silver device with a black square button on her coat sleeve. "This is called an I-Safe. If someone confronts me and tries to kidnap me, I press the black button and it makes a siren sound, which makes the kidnapper think the police are coming and run off. How cool is that? Plus it'll grab other people's attention too."

"Sounds great."

Lopmon, Lucero, Terriermon, and Labramon looked at the square device on Otoya's sleeve.

"How very interesting!" Lopmon said.

"Cool!" Terriermon said.

"I had no idea devices like these existed," Lucero said.

"I've seen TV commericals for them lots of times," Labramon said.

"So what do you say, Yun-chan? It'll be fun! We can start when it gets a little warmer," Otoya said.

Yun looked up at the evening sky, in which the yellow specs finally dissipated, then back at Otoya and smiled.

"Sure! I'd love to hang out with you! But I can't do it tomorrow though. Mina-chan and I have plans," Yun replied sweetly. But Otoya didn't seem to mind at all.

"It's okay! I already knew about them because Mina-chan kinda told me about them in school today. Yay! It'll be so much fun! I guarantee it! Plus this'll help you figure out your way around town! I've walked around lots of times. I'm more of an outdoors person so it'll really help you a lot!" Otoya exclaimed happily as she clasped onto Yun's cold hands and shook them a few times. Yun didn't realize how soft Otoya's hands are. But it seemed Otoya saw the other way around.

"Oooh! Yun-chan! Your hands are soft!" Otoya cried out as she stroke Yun's tender palms.

"I...get told that a lot," Yun replied. Out of curiosity, Lopmon and Terriermon stroke them too with their own little paws.

"Indeed! Well then again, I knew they were soft and tender from the beginning," Lopmon explained.

"They feel like my ears!" Terriermon said.

Labramon remained silent in their happy banter. He just lay on Yun's lap without a care in the world. But before he could relish the rest of the happy nap time he had left, a strange, ominous feeling raced through his veins and woke him up very abruptly. His long, curly tail stood up, and he hopped onto the grass. Terriermon and Lopmon's long ears both rose into the air and they hopped off of the bench too.

"What's wrong?" Lucero asked.

"There's a Digimon! One with a Dark Emblem! I can feel it!" Labramon edicted.

"Another Digimon?" Otoya exclaimed. They already had to deal with Devimon earlier today. How could another Digimon appear? But Yun didn't bother to sit around and ruminate.

"Let's go find it!" Yun said.

Otoya nodded. The three kids decided to follow the three Digimon. But Yun began to notice something. As they ran, the scenery suddenly became familiar to her. She felt the urge to ask.

"Is this Digimon...at the train station?" Yun asked.

"I believe so!" Lopmon replied.

'Okay. Why is it that Digimon LOVE to appear in certain places? First the clearing in the woods near my house and now the station? Jeez!' Yun thought.

But when they arrived, the three Digimon suddenly stopped and pushed the three kids behind a tree.

"Wha? Hey! What are you-?" Otoya tried to ask, but they were so intent on getting them to hide behind the tree that they didn't hear. Once they got behind it, the three Digimon shushed them.

"Shhh!"

"What is it?" Otoya asked. Lopmon secretly pointed to what was in front of the station.

A very big, lemon yellow radish-like creature with long vines for hands, five streaks of red hair with light blue tips, red stripes on it's head, glowing red eyes, and a Dark Emblem on the bottom of it's belly. But that wasn't all that Lopmon and the others saw. Once Yun caught sight of what they saw, she nearly screamed, but Lucero quickly put both of his hands over her mouth, even though she continued to squeal very loudly.

Standing in front of the big yellow creature is another Digimon and...**_Shunji!_** Shunji, of all people, having a Digimon and fighting another one? Everyone was shocked. The Digimon that's standing in front of Shunji is a small dragon half his size with pale green skin, a creamy white belly, sharp claws, red Y shaped horns on the back of it's head, sharp teeth, little red dragon wings, and reddish orange eyes. In Shunji's hand is a green digivice, exactly the same kind as the others. Shunji stood behind the small dragon Digimon with a courageous look in his eyes and a confident stance.

"Now Dracomon! Barbecue this thing!" Shunji commanded. The Digimon, Dracomon, flew toward it to attack.

"Yes sir!" Dracomon replied back in a rather strange, raspy voice. The giant yellow Digimon attacked as well.

"Stink Jet!"

"Dragon Ember!"

A blizzard of yellow gas came out from the yellow Digimon's mouth, and a stream of orange fire poured out from Dracomon's mouth. Both attacks collided and repeled each other. Yun took the time to look up both Digimon's information on her Digivice.

"Okay. So the yellow Digimon is Vegiemon. He's a champion level, virus attribute, vegitation Digimon. His attacks are Stink Jet and Compost Bomber. The little dragon is Dracomon. He's a rookie level, data attribute, dragon Digimon. His attacks are Baby Breath and Tail Smash," Yun read the information displayed on her digivice, then put it away.

"Yun-chan? Is that your sister's boyfriend?" Otoya asked.

"Anjo Shunji. Yeah," Yun replied.

"Wow. He actually looks pretty cool out there!"

"He...does."

Yun was shocked beyond anything she had ever felt before. She herself having Digimon is one thing. But her own sister's boyfriend, the laid back, lazy, flirtatious, over-friendly, and overly suave high school junior, of all people getting a Digimon? How in the world did it come to this? She watched as Vegiemon and Dracomon exchanged attacks and duked it out like the monsters they are. So many questions were running through Yun's mind like the Grand Canyon Rapids. Why would Shunji of all people get a Digimon? How did he handle it? Has he fought other Digimon with him? Worst of all, how was he able to hide it from Ayaka? Yun knew full well-no, absolutely well-that Ayaka would NOT like this. In fact, she could almost see, feel, and hear Ayaka screaming like a rabid animal at the top of her lungs if she were ever to see this little dragon standing before her boyfriend.

But Yun also saw something else. As Vegiemon and Dracomon were fighting each other (Dracomon successfully managed to bite one of Vegimon's vines, causing him to roar in pain), Yun saw something else. Shunji is NOT acting like the laid-back and flamboyant boyfriend she saw back at home. Now he's acting like a very dignified and composed captain of some military army, looking totally calm, cool, composed, and confident. The look in Shunji's blue eyes showed no hesitation or fear whatsoever. How in the world did Yun not see this side of him? Why did she not like him before? She began to feel guilty about her distaste for him and his rather odd and peculiar and overly-affectionate behavior. But even so, it didn't look like anyone was winning this fight. Even Dracomon knew this as he looked at Shunji.

"Shunji! This thing's nuts! What are we gonna do?" Dracomon asked. Shunji clutched his green digivice.

"We can't give up! Not yet! We can't let this thing go into town! Continue fighting, Dracomon! No matter what, this thing must be contained! I won't let it off the hook!" Shunji edicted proudly and confidently, which seemed to motivate Dracomon to continue fighting this deformed yellow vegetable.

"Stink Jet!"

"Dragon Ember!"

Again, the attacks collided, and the kids watched from the sidelines. Unfortunately, as the stink jet faded, Vegimon flew into the air and attempted to jump Shunji. But Dracomon saw it coming, and he grabbed one of Vegimon's vines with his claws, spun him around for a bit, and made him fly into the building. The kids gasped when they saw this brave and chivalrous deed. Dracomon ran to Shunji.

"You alright?" Dracomon asked in a worried voice.

"Yes. I'm fine. Thank you, little buddy. You're awesome! But it's not over yet!" Shunji told his little dragon friend. But he saw Vegiemon prying himself out of the building and preparing himself for another attack.

"Compost Bomber!" He leaped into the air and shot a myriad of pink, ice cream-like blobs at them. Dracomon acted quickly and used another Dragon Ember to blow them away. But one of the vines caught Shunji! Vegimon leaped upward and wrapped Shunji in both of it's vines.

"Shunji!" Dracomon yelled.

"Oh no!" The kids and Digimon exclaimed quietly. Unfortunately, a now helpless Shunji is trapped in the clutches of Vegiemon's thin but strong and merciless vines. Dracomon ran over to him.

"Let him go, you ugly beast!" Dracomon dug his claws into Vegiemon's vines and tried to pry them off of Shunji, but Vegiemon, seeing this noble and valiant attempt, decided to turn the tables on him. He threw Shunji at Dracomon, causing the both of them to fly into a tree. Both of them were injured. Shunji got himself up first and helped Dracomon get back on his feet.

"You alright, Dracomon?" Shunji asked in a kind but worried voice. Dracomon laid his orangeish eyes on his worried partner.

"I'm fine. Thanks for worryin' about me," Dracomon said. Unfortunately, both of them were both cornered and injured. Vegiemon stood before them and prepared to launch another attack.

"It's no good! I can't use my Dragon Ember anymore! I ran out of juice! We can't give up now!" Dracomon wailed.

"That's right! We can't give up! We've got to defeat this thing!" Shunji said. Both of them held no fear, even though the situation seemed very futile to them.

Finally, Vegimon launched his attack.

"Compost Bomber!"

Little pink swirlies flew toward Shunji and Dracomon. They didn't know what was to come after this.

But they surely didn't expect this.

"Lopmon! Go now!"

"Freezing Snow!"

A blizzard of ice permeated the pink swirlies and froze them, causing them to turn into nothing but swirly ice sculptures. Shunji, Dracomon, and even Vegiemon were surprised.

"Echoing Bark!"

A loud bark rang in Vegiemon's ears, causing it to roar in pain. Not wanting to stand by and let the worst happen to Shunji and Dracomon anymore, Yun, Otoya, and Lucero finally caved and decided to appear in between them. Shunji's eyes widened, his mouth fell open, and the sight before him left him flabbergasted.

"Wha! Yu-Yun-chan? Wha...what are you doing here?" Shunji managed to croak out, sounding very confused. Yun turned around with her arms crossed.

"We were going to ask you that!" Yun exclaimed.

"Yun-chan! Let's defeat this thing!" Otoya told her.

"Yeah! Let's! Lopmon! Terriermon! Labramon! Give him your best!" Yun edicted. All three Digimon stormed in on Vegiemon.

"Freezing Snow!"

"Blazing Fire!"

"Echoing Bark!"

Lopmon, Labramon, and Terriermon all ambushed Vegiemon with their attacks, managing to land some good hits on him. This gave them enough time to let Shunji and Dracomon regain their composure. Yun saw that Shunji has a green digivice in his hand. Shunji smiled at the kids impishly.

"So...you have Digimon too, eh? I sure didn't expect this!" Shunji said.

"Me neither! You were pretty cool out there. I hope you can keep that up all the time," Yun told him.

"You're asking for the impossible, kid!" Shunji retorted back sheepishly.

"Since you two are injured, I suggest you let us handle this!" Otoya told him. Shunji and Dracomon looked at each other for a bit, then back at the kids.

"Alright. Show me what you've got!" Shunji told them.

Yun got her digisword out and Otoya got out her digilasso. Yes, they gave them names. Otoya proceeded to use her lasso to round up Vegiemon before he could lay an attack. Yun charged at it with her digisword and prepared for an attack. Unfortunately, she didn't get to do so.

"Stink Jet!"

A gaseous yellow substance poured from it's mouth and Yun quickly ran away from it. She felt bad for being so cowardly, but there was no way a digisword could ward off an attack like that. Especially if it smells like dog poop times ten! The Digimon all attacked Vegiemon at once, but their attacks were all warded off in an instant.

"Oh no! How can this be? It worked before!" Labramon exclaimed.

"Like we said! This thing's tough as nails! You're really gonna have to hit it home if you wanna beat him!" Dracomon told them.

"Thanks for the advanced warning, bub!" Otoya exclaimed sarcastically, not happy with hearing that comment. But she didn't notice Vegiemon grabbed onto her leg with both of it's vines...and biting into it with it's teeth.

Otoya yelped in pain, which got Labramon's attention.

"Otoya!" Labramon leaped onto Vegiemon and forced it to let go of her, which he did...but not very gently. He threw Otoya against the same tree they hid behind, leaving Otoya injured and in pain. Nonetheless, Labramon and Vegiemon duked it out real good. Labramon did NOT look happy. In fact, he kept scratching and scratching at Vegiemon, non-stop.

"How dare you hurt my partner that way? I'll show you no mercy!" Labramon howled vehemently as he scratched Vegiemon relentlessly. But he then noticed Dracomon walking toward Otoya.

"You okay?" Dracomon asked, sounding worried.

"Ye-Yeah. Think you can help me up?" Otoya replied.

"No prob!" Dracomon said as he attempted to help Otoya get back to her free. Unfortunately, Vegiemon found this to be a great opportunity and hopped toward Otoya.

"Stink Jet!"

Dracomon and Otoya both braced themselves for an attack. But Dracomon and Otoya both didn't feel anything. After a few seconds, they slowly but fearfully opened their eyes. But what Otoya saw made her gasp.

Labramon is injured, lying on the ground, and unconscious. And smelling really bad. But Otoya paid no attention to this.

_"Labramoooon!"_ Otoya ran to her unconscious dog friend in tears. Seeing this terrible scene, Yun, Shunji, and Terriermon decided to act.

"You're dead!" Shunji yelled as he grabbed onto Vegiemon, not caring about the fact that Vegiemon's vines are still active.

"You'll pay for that with this!" Yun exclaimed as she tried to attack Vegiemon with her digisword, but one of Vegiemon's vines coiled around it. Yun, not caring for this, continued to try and push the sword into him anyway, which wasn't working.

"Terrier Tornado!" Terriermon landed a hit on Vegiemon's face, allowing Yun to land her digisword in it. Unfortunately, it didn't hit his lower abdomen, where the hexagon is.

Otoya watched the entire scene with awe. Nobody in her whole entire life cared about her to this extent before. As she caressed the unconscious and injured Labramon in her arms, she watched as Shunji, Yun, Terriermon, Lopmon, and even Lucero joined in to fight Vegiemon and make him pay for what he did to Labramon. Otoya knew she found change in her new life, but she never expected anything like this. Her friends putting their lives on the line for her sake! Nobody ever did this for her. Earlier, she had been telling Yun about how nobody cared about her because they expected her to be nothing but a preacher's kid who did whatever her father asked her to, totally not acknowledging the fact that she's just the same as everyone else. Just a normal kid. Their words echoed in her mind again.

_"Sorry, but you can't play with us. Preacher's kids aren't allowed!"_

_"Go away, preacher's kid! We don't want you here!"_

_"Shouldn't you be at church, listening to your dad pray?"_

_"Be a good little girl and read the Bible!"_

_"As a preacher's kid, you're supposed to do whatever your dad says!"_

_"I don't want a preacher's kid in my clique!"_

_"Go back to church already!"_

Long ago, she lost faith because of what everyone told her. But now...it was different. The new friends she made, human and Digimon, put their lives on the line for her and are still doing so. Otoya couldn't help but be moved to tears. She remembered the very first day she met Labramon as a tiny little puppy head that hatched from an egg. Not only did Otoya find Labramon's baby form to be cute, she found it to be a great opportunity. An opportunity to teach Labramon everything she knew, including what was right and wrong. She took the time to teach him that no matter what, everyone's both different in terms of circumstances, and the same in what they are. Human. Otoya didn't care that her new friend turned out to be a Digimon with mystical powers. She was so happy to have Labramon by her side. And speaking of Labramon, he finally regained consciousness and Otoya saw this.

"Labramon! Oh, thank God you're still alive!" Otoya embraced her injured dog friend.

"Otoya...I'm so glad...I made it in time," Labramon muttered.

"Labramon...tell me. Why did you save me?" Otoya asked. She wasn't going to believe what came out of Labramon's mouth.

"I saved you...because...you're my partner. My only partner. It's my duty to protect my partner, no matter what. Nobody can ever take your place. I...would never ask for someone different," Labramon muttered. Otoya closed her eyes and hugged him again.

"Oh, Labramon...I'm so happy," Otoya muttered.

"Otoya...let me ask you...why didn't you question my existence?" Labramon asked.

Now Labramon here isn't going to believe what came out of Otoya's mouth. The two looked at each other, even though Yun, Shunji, Lucero, and the Digimon are now struggling with trying to control the rogue Vegiemon.

"He's breaking away!" Yun yelled.

"Dracomon! Sick 'em!" Shunji told him.

"Get over here!" Dracomon leaped onto Vegiemon to subdue him. But it didn't work.

"It's because...I..." Otoya stopped for a minute, then finally finished it as the both of them closed their eyes.

"...Believed in you."

Right then, Otoya's digivice began to glow and Vegiemon finally broke away from the group's clutches, even though he became awestruck by the cerulean blue light enveloping Labramon. Otoya had to back away despite her leg injury, but she didn't care. She was so shocked that her partner, Labramon, is finally digivolving!

"Labramon, digivolve to..."

The light that's blue as the ocean enveloped Labramon, and it grew bigger and bigger and bigger...until out came not Labramon, but a very very different creature! This Digimon looked like a cross between a lion, a dog, and one of those ancient deities that are said to protect parts of Japan. He is VERY big, bigger than even Vegiemon or Shunji put together! He has lavendar purple claws, a solid shining gold horn, a golden lion's mane, a gold bushy tail, and gold, cloud-like paws. He also has creamy white fur, indigo eyes, sharp lion's teeth, bushy yellow eye brows that curled at the tips, and two purple stripes under both his eyes.

"...Seasarmon!"

The beautiful, dazzling, and awe-inspiring dog-lion hybrid Digimon, Seasarmon, appeared between a shocked Vegiemon and an overjoyed Otoya. The large creature seemed to shine underneath the sunset, with the sunbeams being reflected off of his shining gold mane and horn. His long, curly tail swished around, catching the gentle breeze and the sun's rays without difficulty. Otoya was so awestruck she didn't move. Neither did Vegiemon or the others. Seasarmon then turned to look at Otoya. To the average human, Seasarmon appeared ferocious or even volatile. But to Otoya, he didn't look one bit ferocious. In fact, with the way Otoya's green eyes sparkled and with the way her smile glowed just like Seasarmon's holy presence, she seemed to feel that Seasarmon is the most beautiful thing in the whole wide world. Perhaps Seasarmon is God's gift to her.

"Otoya. Your unrelenting faith in me has helped me digivolve, and with that I thank you," Seasarmon said in a deep, pure, rich voice. To Otoya, he almost sounded like her preacher father. She remained silent. But Vegiemon didn't.

"Compost Bomber!"

Pink swirlies appeared again, but Seasarmon didn't even turn to look. Instead, with his horn basking in the sunbeams, it glowed and small yellow rays of light appeared around him, forming arrows.

"Tee Dia!"

The arrows of light, with the speed of light (get it?), ripped through the pink swirlies like it was nothing, and one of the lit up arrows hit the Dark Emblem on Vegiemon's stomach! Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to destroy it. Even so, it seemed Seasarmon knew this, and turned to face the angry Vegiemon.

"You who has the audacity to attack my partner without mercy...if you wish to show none, then I too will show none! It is time to rid the evil that is within you! Sekkantou!" Seasarmon's front paw glowed, and he punched Vegiemon straight in the abdomen, forcing the Dark Emblem to shatter into a million pieces, and a Digital hole to open. Vegiemon disappeared into the hole, unconscious, and returned to the Digital World. Shunji noticed Otoya's injured leg.

"Otoya-chan! Are you alright?" Shunji asked as he pulled a pile of white gauze from his sweater vest.

"Yes. I'm fine. Thank you," Otoya said as Shunji gently and diligently wrapped the gauze around her leg. Yun, Lopmon, Terriermon, Lucero, and Seasarmon watched. Yun smiled.

'Perhaps...Shunji is a genuinely nice person after all,' Yun thought as she hugged little Lopmon. Lucero hugged little Terriermon, who then noticed Dracomon approaching them.

"Hello! I'm Dracomon! It's nice to meet you!" Dracomon introduced himself and extended one of his clawed hands out to Terriermon. Terriermon, seeing this as a kind and friendly gesture, smiled and shook one of his fingers.

"The name's Terriermon! You were awesome out there!" Terriermon replied happily. Shunji then approached Yun as he put Otoya on Seasarmon's back.

"Hm! Well well well!" He said as he crossed his arms. "I sure never expected you to have a Digimon, Yun-chan!"

"Same to you! But...I have to admit, you two were cool out there," Yun said. Shunji laughed impishly and rubbed the back of his head.

"You really think so? But we weren't able to defeat Vegiemon!" Shunji said.

"So? You never gave up! And speaking of defeating Vegiemon...you were awesome too, Seasarmon! Plus you're beautiful too!" Yun gave the three of them (Shunji, Dracomon, and Seasarmon) encomium for their valiant efforts to keep Vegiemon at bay.

"I may have defeated Vegiemon, but it is Otoya who helped me digivolve. Her unrelenting faith in me has brought me to this form, and I am honored to receive it," Seasarmon said. Otoya got off of his back, and let him de-digivolve back into Labramon, who is still a tad injured.

"Well, I've gotta say...you two were pretty cool yourselves! And to be honest, I knew those little rabbits were Digimon from the beginning! I just didn't know how to ask you about it," Shunji said with a sheepish smile.

"It's alright," Yun said. Then she and Lopmon noticed Dracomon looking at them innocently.

"Hello! I'm Dracomon! It's nice to meet you!" Dracomon said and got his clawed hand out again, to which Yun gently shook his finger with a smile.

"I'm Wakamiya Yun! And this is Lopmon! Nice to meet you too," Dracomon said with a smile.

"We're pleased to make your acquaintance, Dracomon and Shunji-san," Lopmon said to the two of them. But Yun had another thought she felt she had to bring up.

"By the way...since you have a Digimon...how the heck were you able to hide it from Ayaka?" Yun asked.

"Well, you see-" Shunji was about to explain, but he and the others gasped with shock and horror before he could even manage a work.

And this is a true case of speak of the devil.

_"AAAAAHHHHH! WHAT THE FREAK IS THAT THING?"_

There was Ayaka, standing five feet away from the group, consumed by nothing but fear and anger. Dracomon got the courage to approach her, much to everyone's dismay and horror.

"Hello! I'm Dracomon! It's-" Dracomon wanted to kindly greet Ayaka. Unfortunately...all he got was screaming and repeated beatings from Ayaka, who is whacking him with a fallen tree branch.

"DIE YOU FREAKIN' UGLY MONSTER! DIE DIE DIE DIE _DIIIIIEEEEEE_!" Ayaka screamed and screamed as she beat Dracomon, who, becoming choleric, caught the tree branch, pulled it from Ayaka's hands, and threw it to the side.

"Hey! All I'm trying to do is say hi and get acquainted with you! Is that really so wrong to you? That's not a very nice way to react to someone saying hi," Dracomon said, sounding very dignified even after he has a few splinters on his head.

"YOU CAN TALK TOO! Oh my _GOD_! Disgusting!" Ayaka whined. This time, Shunji came between them...with a smile.

"Ayaka-chan! Don't be so mean! Dracomon here's my little buddy! My awesome little Digimon!" Shunji said as he wrapped both his arms around Ayaka and Dracomon.

Upon hearing the word Digimon, Ayaka got herself out of Shunji's grasp, gritted her teeth, walked over to Yun and..._POW!_ She slapped Yun straight across the face! Everyone gasped with horror.

"_YOU!_ THIS IS _**YOUR**_ FAULT! YOU DRAGGED HIM INTO THIS, DIDN'T YOU?" Ayaka screamed as she continued to hit Yun, who tried desperately to defend herself against her repeated blows.

"I didn't even know he had a Digimon until a few minutes ago! Stop!" Yun yelled back, but Ayaka wasn't stopping.

"LIES! YOU RETARD! BACK-STABBING GIT! SPOILED BRAT! I always knew you were plotting to turn the only person who understood me and made me happy against me!" Ayaka screamed again. This time, she didn't get to continue with her tirade.

In fits of anger, Lucero, Terriermon, Otoya, Lopmon, and Labramon all dragged Ayaka off of a frightened Yun and pushed her to the ground.

"Don't EVER call Yun names like that ever again! Yun would never plot anything against you!" Lopmon edicted with her paws crossed.

"That's right! She didn't drag him into this mess! He already had a Digimon before we knew it!" Otoya exclaimed proudly.

"Thy sister is not a wicked thing! Thou must understand! Why express anger toward thy sister? She hath done nothing!" Lucero backed them all up.

"If you ever hurt Yun again, I won't go easy on you!" Terriermon yelled.

"Stay back! Don't ever treat her that way again!" Labramon howled. Ayaka, feeling very humiliated and mortified, stood up and clenched her fists.

"I can't believe this! This is why I hate you all! You're always-" Ayaka tried to continue her tirade, but someone put a hand on her left shoulder, which stopped her from yelling.

It was Shunji. He stared at her with a very straight and even strict look on his face. Ayaka turned to look at him. She was confused. She never saw him look this way before.

"Ayaka-chan. In this case, she really is right. She didn't drag me into this whole Digimon mess. I found Dracomon on my own. You shouldn't treat her that way. After all, she saved me from that disgusting Vegiemon when all hope seemed lost. Please," Shunji said.

"B-But Shun-" Ayaka tried to explain herself, but Shunji put a finger on her mouth.

"Not another word. Also, don't treat my Digimon the way you did. He's my friend! Care to hear me out?" Shunji told her strictly. Knowing that there was nothing she could do now, she simply nodded and stepped back.

"Okay. This happened around a week and a half ago. Tuesday I think. I was on my way home from school and found this big green and red egg in my room. On my bed. Feeling curious, I decided to take a look at it. Then it hatched into Petitmon! That's Dracomon's baby form. I remembered that when I was a kid I was a total Digimon fanboy. I watched all the shows, collected all the cards, played all the games, everything! He reminded me of how I was when I was a kid, so I decided to raise him! Then he turned to Bebydomon! That's Dracomon's in-training form. I was soooo happy to have a little friend of my own. We did all sorts of stuff together. Then we saw this Digimon named Alraumon causing trouble, then Bebydomon digivolved to Dracomon and sent it back to the Digital World! It was awesome! Since then, we've been together and right now, I'm loving it!" Shunji explained.

Ayaka was frozen stiff. And silent. And appalled by what she heard. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"No! It's all lies! Shun-kun! Admit it! That stupid retard of a sister dragged you into this mess and is manipulating you!" Ayaka screamed. Shunji just cocked his head to one side.

"You think so? I don't think I've ever told her that I liked Digimon. And besides, she's practically never around me, so why would she want to drag me into this Digimon mess and manipulate me? Plus you gotta admit, she's only 11 years old. Does she even know what the word manipulate even means?" Shunji told her.

Yun cocked her head to one side again, showing Shunji's point. He flicked out his cell phone and saw the time.

"Whoopsie! It's getting late! I think we should all be heading back now. Good night everyone! And Ayaka-chan, try not to murder your dear little sister! Restrain yourself for me, okay? We cool? Yaaaaaay! Come on, Dracomon!" Shunji happily waved at his girlfriend and new friends and walked off with Dracomon by his side.

In a flash, Yun zipped back home before Ayaka could get the chance to yell at her even more. Yun took a bath, brushed her teeth, and, with her floppy eared friends, plopped into bed, tired because of everything that happened. And she had the best sleep in years. Lucero did the same thing, and he enjoyed it.

Author's Note: Yay! I finished chapter 13! Sorry if it's not as good as the other chapters. I guess the ideas didn't come to me all that good. By the way, the next two chapters are going to be super exciting! You won't believe what will happen after this! Well, I better go now. I wish I could post my chapters onto LiveJournal, but it's still being difficult! Anyway, I'll see you all later! Bye-bee!


	14. Outings and Happenings

Author's Note: Hello everyone! I've returned! Sorry I haven't been on. Hurricane Irene kinda hit my area (though not as hard as we actually expected), and my dad unhooked my computer so potential flood water wouldn't ruin it (which it didn't! Yay!) so I'm good to go! Well, my basement did flood a little bit, but the water didn't hit anything important, and dad managed to ameliorate the situation so we're good to go! I get to watch anime and read manga and write stories again! Yippee! It's been soooooo long! But man! School starts next Tuesday for me. I'll start my freshman year of college! College! Nooooo! I want summer to go on forever! This summer was the most exciting and eventful ever! I loved it! I wish it could go on! Well, I better bear it once college arrives. Dad says I'll like college better than high school, but I'm kinda wary. Who knows? I better stop angsting and start working on my fan fic! Ladies and gentlemen, here's Digimon: A Seraphic Tale chapter 14!

EPISODE 14: Outings and Happenings

Another Friday, another day until the beloved weekend arrives. But Yun had been looking forward to today the most, because after school, she and Minako are going to hang out and spend some time together. Yun hadn't really hung out with JUST Minako for a long time. Especially not after Minako's little brother died (as far as Yun knew, mostly). Yun knew very well that Minako had become withdrawn and even quiet and solemn after her little brother's death. She was grieving, and of course grieving would make someone forget about others. It happens to a lot of people. Yun knew this well, and knew to give Minako space when she needed it. Yun didn't like seeing her friend look so somber and abject and gloomy. She wanted to help in some way, but she didn't know how, even though they were friends. But now, it seems Salamon's presence is helping Minako return to her old self again: the same outgoing, smart, level-headed, and oftentimes motherly Minako Yun knew and loved. Yun loved this, and was happy to see Minako return to her old self again.

Yun couldn't wait to go to her house and hang out. It had been a long while since she had ever been to Minako's house. A few months to be more precise (though this was surpassed by the last time Yun had been to Kosuke's house, due to obvious reasons). Yun was just so happy and excited about today she wanted school to just fly by in a millisecond and be done with it so she wouldn't have to deal with Nenji and Seiko or worry about anything. Unfortunately, this was not the case. Well, she'd have to deal with it. As much as Yun absolutely loathed dealing with Nenji and Seiko, even for the tiniest millisecond, Yun was willing to endure anything for the sake of achieving something and getting something in return. Oftentimes she'd joyfully endure something and not get a reward at all, which seemed dreadfully unfair. But it was life. Stuff happens. This time, Yun was sure to have some alone time with Minako. No doubt about it! No sudden plans, no sudden interruptions, no trouble, no mischief, nothing. But it wasn't after school yet. It is morning, and Yun had just finished prepping herself up for school, even though it's still only 7:21 AM. Yun tried to dress herself up real nice today. Yun liked doing things early and getting them done and over with so she won't forget anything in the process. Right now, she's in the living room, playing with Terriermon and Lopmon. Lucero was getting his stuff together. Even Terriermon and Lopmon couldn't help but notice Yun's excitement.

"Yun? You seem very excited today," Lopmon said with a smile. Although Lopmon sort of found it strange, she loved seeing Yun smile and be joyful and happy. And Yun is VERY joyful and happy today. So happy, in fact, that she literally hoisted Lopmon into the air.

"I am! I'm VERY excited! I'm gonna go to Mina-chan's house today after school! We're gonna hang out! And don't worry, you and Terriermon will come too!" Yun exclaimed happily as she spun around in the air with Lopmon in her hands.

"We're gonna go to Mina-chan's house and hang out? Awesome!" Terriermon said as Yun stopped and he clung to her leg happily. Yun set Lopmon back down on the couch and gently pulled Terriermon off of her leg.

"I haven't been to Mina-chan's house in a few months so it'll be my first time over there since school began! I just can't wait!" Yun said with a smile.

"What will we do over there?" Lopmon asked.

"I don't know. Maybe talk about stuff, watch some anime, play some games, eat some of her dad's awesome snacks, and all that stuff. That's usually what my friends and I do whenever we get together," Yun explained.

"Is that all?" Terriermon asked.

"Unfortunately, yes. As you might know, I don't really go out much," Yun muttered.

"Really? Ever since we've been battling Digimon you've been going out a lot lately," Lopmon said, putting her tiny, rosy pink paws on Yun's hand with a smile. Lucero stood up, unknowingly hearing Lopmon's statement.

"It's true. Thou has journeyed outside the house a great many times since we have arrived," Lucero explained lucidly, which made Yun blush a bit.

"Yeah, that is true indeed..." Yun murmured quietly to herself.

"But if thou art going to Minako-dono's house by thyself...what shall I do at home?" Lucero asked. Yun saw his point. If she went to Minako's house, Lucero would be left with Hisako and Ayaka all alone. Teruki would be at work until around 8:30 PM, Ayaka will probably confine herself to her room, and Lucero is so used to being around Yun that comprehending the idea of not having Yun around for a couple of hours would probably throw him off (Just Yun's assumption. She doesn't know what could happen).

"I see. Well, Mom'll be home until around 7:30 PM so you can hang out with her...wait!" Yun explained at first, but was confused by something Lucero had just said. "Did you just call Mina-chan..._dono_?"

Lucero nodded. "Yes."

"_'Dono'_? Isn't that a really old and super duper respectful reference term from ancient times?"

"Yes."

Yun could feel some sort of anime-style sweat drop on the side of her head, though it wasn't real.

"You really do sound like you're from another timeline!" Yun exclaimed.

"Doth thou see a problem with my rhetoric?"

"No no! I like the way you talk! It's just...dono...isn't that going a little overboard? It's a higher level of respect than _'sama'_! People will think you're treating them like kings and queens!"

"Is that wrong?"

"No! Not at all! I...ugh!"

Yun, feeling very embarrassed at her inability to communicate with Lucero and make him she her point, drooped her head abjectly. Terriermon hopped on her head and gently stroke her hair with his green paw.

"There there, Yun. It's alright. No need to be all gloomy," Terriermon cooed sweetly, making Yun feel a bit better, and it wasn't because Terriermon's little black fingers were gently and slightly tickling her in the side of the head either. Lucero approached her and smiled at her too.

"Do not be so harsh on thyself. I feel thy pain. It happens to me too, and I get what thou mean. Shouldst thou go to school and make merry without a thought?" Lucero said gently. Yun stood up, forgetting that Terriermon is on her head.

"You're right! Today's a fun and happy day! Nothing will ruin my day with Mina-chan!" Yun edicted proudly, pumping her fists into the air.

"Yeah! Play with Mina-chan, Yun!" Terriermon innocently backed her up.

It's here that Hisako came into the living room with a smile on her face.

"You're certainly in high spirits today, Yun," Hisako said as she sat on the couch and turned on the news.

"Of course I am! You would be too if you were invited to hang out with a dear friend and were allowed to make merry without a thought!" Yun replied coarsely, literally (and unknowingly) copying Lucero's dialogue at the end of the sentence, which even left him awestruck. But regardless, Hisako smiled, happy that her youngest daughter's so high spirited and joyful today.

"I'm glad. Remember to take your phone with you in case there's trouble...and leave it on!" Hisako said, with emphasis on the last part. Yun looked confused.

"Do I really have to take it with me while I'm at school? Cell phones aren't allowed on school grounds!" Yun said.

"That is true! Cell phones are strictly prohibited," Lucero backed her up.

"No. You don't have to take it to school. I'll just hand it to you when you meet me at the car and watch you go off with Minako. How's that?" Hisako explained. Yun smiled and nodded.

"A much better idea!" Yun replied.

"A very good idea, indeed," Lopmon backed her up sweetly. Terriermon hopped into Yun's arms.

"Yun! Does Mina-chan have games?" Terriermon asked innocently.

"Sorta. She has an old pink Nintendo DS Lite and played games like Pokemon, Mario, Drawn to Life, and Professor Layton. She LOVES the Professor Layton games. She likes games that make her think and make her brain get active. She doesn't play them very much anymore though," Yun told him, but Terriermon did not seem to mind.

"Yay! Games! Yeehee!" Terriermon exclaimed cutely, which made Yun snuggle up to him like a little girl who got her first stuffed animal, even though to her, Lopmon and Terriermon are MUCH more satisfying than any doll she has or will ever get. Ever. Yes, these little floppy eared animals are special. Special to her. VERY special indeed.

Though she couldn't spend the entire day with them. Yun happily trotted off to school with a light heart, eagerly awaiting what's to come.

Of course the first person she greeted was Minako, who gave her a light-hearted "Good morning!", an obvious harbinger that Yun is going to have a great day. The school day came and went, without much difficulty, although there were some bumps in the road, with Seiko making some snide comments about Yun and accidentally giving the wrong answer on a question in health class and getting knocked over by Nenji in gym class. Regardless, Yun did not let these things amass on her heart like bricks being piled on top of a rock. She was determined to have a fun day with Minako and Salamon without anything holding her back! No sir!

Finally, the bell for dismissal finally rang, and Hisako gave Yun Terriermon, Lopmon, and her cell phone (of course, Yun had her digivice on her the whole day). Yun then trotted off with Minako and Minagi in the car. Minagi drove the two girls to the house. Yun also brought some DVDs and books with her in case Minako wanted some entertainment. Right when Yun and Minako stepped into the house, Salamon greeted them joyously.

"Yun-chan! Wan!" Salamon cried out sweetly and hopped into Yun's arms.

"Salamon! Hi!" Yun said.

"Girls! I made an afternoon snack!" Tatsuha yelled out with a smile.

Tatsuha cooked up some omelet rice, both without toppings. Yun doesn't like toppings on anything, not even on her favorite foods. She didn't even like ketchup, mustard, OR mayonaise. But Minako didn't mind. She and her family knew Yun long enough to know what she likes and doesn't like, and they respect that. Yun took a couple bites of omelet rice, while secretly giving some to Terriermon and Lopmon, who were under the dining room table (along with Salamon). Tatsuha was the first to strike a conversation.

"Wow! Yun-chan! You sure got pretty over these past few months!" Tatsuha said kindly. Yun's face turned red.

"Ah! No! I-I-I'm not pretty at all! I..." Yun got a little flustered. She wasn't sure if he was referring to her clothes (a short sleeved white shirt with three yellow stars, one big one on the left part of her chest and two small ones on the bottom, and red buttons, black jean shorts, white socks with pink stars on them, and white sneakers) or her general appearance. Yun never did consider herself attractive or pretty (blame Seiko for her snide comments), and she never did try to actually be as such. She doesn't even wear make up. She hates how make up, especially mascara and eye shadow, feel on her skin. Yun never did consider make up very good. She never understood why people made such a big deal about it. To her, make up was the most extraneous thing anyone would bother to put to use, and Yun was determined to never put on make up. Ever. Not even if her parents forced her to do so. But Minako and her family liked Yun the way she is.

"It's true. So how've you been since we've last met?" Minagi asked.

"I-I've been good," Yun replied timidly.

"Yun's entering the school's annual End Drug and Substance Abuse contest this month," Minako said.

"Really? How wonderful!" Minagi exclaimed with her hands clasped together.

"Well, I...I don't really expect to win, really. And even if I did, I'm mostly kinda doing it for the Takakage Eriko books. But I care about making sure kids don't do drugs too, so...ugh!" Yun explained...in a not-so-very-thought-out way, like earlier today when she talked to Lucero about his usage of _'dono'_, which weirded her out. Nobody in this day and aged used _'dono'_ as a reference term toward anyone. But Minagi and Tatsuha didn't seem to mind.

"Did you do anything fun over spring break?" Minagi asked.

"Umm...well, Dad and I went to the zoo once. And Mel-chan and I hung out a lot. That's about it," Yun replied.

"Mel-chan? Do you mean Shimotsuki Melody?"

"Yes."

Minagi got a strange look on her face. Yun suspected it was of slight caution and distaste. She wanted to ameliorate her reaction by explaining.

"I-I know Mel-chan's a bit strange and can be rather moody and sour and snippy sometimes, but she's really a nice person! Honest, she is! She's helped me deal with Nemoto and Shimizu lots of times and she sticks up for me when they pick on me, so I'm truly grateful to have her!" Yun tried to explain, but was fearing her attempt was in vain. As usual.

Oddly enough, Minagi looked at Tatsuha.

"Nemoto and Shimizu? Tatsuha, you work with Shimizu's father at the diner in town, right?" Minagi asked.

"Yep. I sure do. Quite the nice guy, he is!" Tatsuha replied with a smile.

"Does he know about his daughter's bullying?"

"I wanted to ask him about it, but I figured I shouldn't meddle in other people's private business. But he sure does look mighty disappointed a lot these days."

Minako turned toward Yun.

"Wanna come to my room?" Minako asked.

"Yes! I'd love to!" Yun replied.

Minako gently took Yun by the hand and led her away from the table. Secretly and cautiously, Lopmon, Salamon, and Terriermon followed them. They made sure Tatsuha and Minagi didn't notice them, which they didn't. They escaped unscathed. Once they arrived in Minako's room, Lopmon, Salamon, and Terriermon happily hopped on the bed. They were surprised with how halcyon and peaceful and comfortable Minako's room looked. It looked and felt very much like a peaceful oasis of calm in any sea of calamity or destruction.

"Oh! This bed is very comfy and soft!" Lopmon exclaimed.

"That's because Mina-chan's bed doesn't have those metal springies in them! Wan!" Salamon told her.

"Metal springies? That sounds like it hurts!" Terriermon said.

"I wish I had a new bed! I wouldn't mind getting a tempur-pedic bed!" Yun exclaimed with her arms crossed. Minako couldn't help but chuckle.

Yun turned to look at Minako's desk and noticed her cell phone. Minako, seeing Yun's sudden curiosity, took the cell phone.

"Want a picture?"

"Umm...sure!"

Yun caressed Terriermon and Lopmon as she positioned herself in front of Minako and her cell phone. With a single click, a cute picture of Yun and her floppy eared Digimon friends was successfully taken. Yun, Minako, and the three little Digimon took a peek at it. Terriermon is doing the peace sign with both his little paws. All three of them are smiling sweetly.

"Oooh! It's cute! Wan!" Salamon piped in kindly. Minako then put her cell phone on her bed.

"Mina-chan...I notice you take a lot of pictures lately. Do you want to be a photographer when you grow up?" Yun asked.

Minako smiled.

"No. I don't want to be a photographer when I grow up. I mostly take pictures as a way to occupy my time, since sometimes I get bored rather easily. I really want to be a volunteer or charity worker, mostly in those charities that specialize in helping disabled kids overcome their adversities, helping provide food for the hungry, campaign against violence, and help make the world a better, more peaceful and livable place. That's my dream. The world is becoming a really bad place for some people, and it wouldn't be good if it were allowed to succumb to the decays it has," Minako explained slowly but lucidly.

"Awww! How wonderful, Mina-chan! Wan!" Salamon exclaimed as she rubbed against Minako's legs.

"Oh! Now I remember! When we were in 3rd grade you volunteered for that animal rescuing charity, didn't you?" Yun asked.

"Yes I did!" Minako said.

"How very admirable! It's wonderful to see that there are people who wish to make the world a better place and see that it is truly an honor!" Lopmon exclaimed happily.

"But...you're just one person, aren't you? How will you make the entire world a better place?" Terriermon asked.

"Well, I don't expect to do everything all by myself and for it to happen really quick. That's not possible for me. But doing little things can make a big difference," Minako replied.

"Like planting flowers?" Lopmon asked.

"Yep!"

"What about cleaning up trash? Wan!" Salamon asked.

"Yep!"

"Would rebuilding places count?"

"Yep!"

Yun crossed her arms with a smile on her face. She had nearly forgotten that when she needed to be, Minako can truly be a saint when it comes to helping others. In fact, Minako had always done charity work since she was a girl. Her parents thought it'd be good for her morality, and did it work! Salamon suddenly got a pang of curiosity.

"Mina-chan! Question! How'd you get to be friends with Yun?" Salamon asked innocently. Minako smiled.

"You want to know?"

"Yes! Wan!"

"We wanna know too!" Terriermon and Lopmon both exclaimed happily as they hopped onto Minako's bed. Salamon followed suit. Yun and Minako both sat cross-legged on the floor.

"Alrighty! It all started about a week and a half after starting second grade..." Minako began.

(flashback)

_A young Minako sat in a 2nd grade classroom among many young children, sitting on the rug and listening to the teacher read The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter. Minako's semi-long blonde hair was kept in two wiggly pig tails supported by purple beaded hair accessories. Her violet eyes were fixated on her young teacher reading the book with such enthusiasm and sincerity, making the events from the book sound real itself. She wore a pink and white sweater, a white skirt, white socks, and purple shoes. She was having a hard time keeping still and finding a comfortable position to arrange her legs in. Of course, nobody really noticed since there are so many kids and the teacher is too focused on reading the book._

_As she finally found a comfortable position to sit, she noticed one child slowly creeping out of the crowded circle and crawling toward the little book shelf. The girl has short dark brown hair and green eyes, wearing a blue green shirt and beige pants. Minako watched as the innocent and curious girl got to the book shelf and started looking for a book. Becoming curious herself, Minako slowly crawled over to the girl, enough so she wouldn't get caught by the teacher and enough so she could talk with the girl without interruption. Minako finally got the courage to speak._

_"What are you doing?" Minako whispered._

_No answer._

_"Takatsuki-sensei's reading. Come back," Minako whispered again._

_No answer. It looked as if the girl didn't hear her at all. That or she's too focused on finding a book to notice her presence, which somewhat annoyed Minako._

_"Come on! You'll get in trouble!" Minako finally got a grip on the girl's tiny hand, which made the girl's eyes grow big. She gasped. Loud enough for the teacher to hear._

_"Yun-chan? Mina-chan? What's going on?" Miss Takatsuki asked._

_Both girls were silent. They looked at each other with confused faces. They didn't know how to answer. They didn't know how they could put the situation into words. Especially not the girl, Yun. But when Miss Takatsuki approached them, Yun saw the book and snatched it from her hands._

_"Hey! Yun-chan!" Miss Takatsuki yelped._

_Then, unexpectedly, Yun held the book in her hands._

_"I read!" Yun exclaimed._

_Some of the little kids giggled under their breath, while the teacher and Minako were both confused. Despite this, Miss Takatsuki slowly approached the enthusiastic and bubbly Yun._

_"Yun-chan. You can't read this just yet," Miss Takatsuki told her gently, but it seemed Yun didn't hear her._

_"I read!" Yun opened the book and started to read the words. At first, everyone was rendered silent, but Miss Takatsuki gently took the book from Yun's little hands._

_"That's enough storytime for today. Let's start our spelling lesson, shall we?" Miss Takatsuki told her in a strict but dulcet voice. But Yun was not liking it._

_"No! I read now!" Yun cried out._

_"No, Yun-chan. Storytime's over now. Come here. Asami-sensei needs you," Miss Takatsuki took Yun by the hand and took her to her seat. Everyone else followed suit._ _Yun made a pouty face and crossed her arms, not happy that she was deprived of the opportunity to show off her reading skills. Kids barely developed reading skills by the time second grade came around. Even Minako knew this, but something about Yun seemed to stick out in Minako's mind. She just didn't know what._

_Then, recess time came. Minako was just quietly playing jump rope by herself and humming the theme song to 'Animal Yokocho' to herself when suddenly she felt a tight tug on her hair. Before she knew it, one of her pig tails came loose. Someone stole one of her hair beads. Minako saw the culprit and chased after him._

_"Hey! That's mine!" Minako yelled as she chased after the boy. The boy holding the hair beads continued to run when suddenly he was stopped by Yun of all people! Yun stared at him with a very striking and strict stare in her emerald green eyes. Her stare was so stern that the boy was frozen in his tracks._

_"Dat's not yours! Give them back and say sorry!" Yun told him in a stringent, almost teacher-like tone of voice. At first the boy looked very reluctant to do what Yun said._

_"No! I wanna play with them!"_

_"Dat's not yours! Give them back and say sorry!" Yun repeated._

_"Uh-uh!" The boy shook his head vigorously._

_"Give them back and say sorry!"_

_Yun kept repeating her sentence over and over again, which annoyed the boy. Soon, seeing how persistent and relentless Yun is, he finally relented and gave Minako back her hair beads._

_"Sorry..." He muttered._

_Minako, happy she got her hair beads back, smiled._

_"It's okay! But Takatsuki-sensei says stealing is wrong! YOU wouldn't like it if I took one of your toys, would you?" Minako replied._

_"No."_

_"See?"_

_Soon, the boy went along his way, leaving Yun and Minako all alone. Minako looked at Yun, who very sweetly and innocently smiled at her,_ _which seemed to throw her off a bit. But regardless, Minako smiled back at her._

_"You're Yun-chan, right?" Minako asked._

_"Yeth! Wakamiyun!" Yun exclaimed happily, raising her hand._

_"I'm Minako. You can call me Mina," Minako replied._

_"Mina-tan! Mina-tan!" Yun cooed, which made Minako smile until she noticed the book in Yun's hand. Much to her surprise, it's Black Beauty by Anna Sewell! And a really big version of it too!_

_"You say you can read?"_

_"Yeth!"_

_"Can you read that? I can't."_

_"Yeth! Read now?"_

_"Sure!"_

_So Yun and Minako sat on the black top and read parts of the book. Then they happily played on the jungle gym together. It was the beginning of a brand new friendship...and a very special one._

(end flashback)

"...and that's how it all went down!" Minako concluded. Terriermon and Lopmon clapped their paws while Salamon hopped onto Minako's lap.

"Awww! How sweet! Wan!" Salamon cooed sweetly. But something left Yun confused.

"Was I really able to read Black Beauty back then?" Yun asked.

"I remember hearing your parents say you were more advanced in reading than everyone else. Even me!" Minako told her.

"Mom often says I was always able to read, even since I was a toddler, but I kinda don't believe it," Yun replied.

"Ah, the human mind is very interesting," Lopmon muttered.

"Isn't it?" Salamon backed her up and the two Digimon smiled at each other.

Soon, the girls decided to stop talking and start having fun. They watched a DVD of one of Yun's favorite anime, _Emily of New Moon_(1), they read mangas together (Minako read Sailor Moon while Yun read Miracle Girls), Minako showed Yun and the Digimon some interesting and amusing articles and videos on the computer, they played games together, ate snacks together, and played together like normal little girls. Yun and Minako were both enjoying it immensely, but for different reasons.

For Yun, it had been such a long time since she had been alone with JUST Minako. Ever since she heard about Minako's little brother's death, Yun knew that Minako would be very depressed and grief-stricken and wanted to help in some way. But Yun could see that Minako's death really was taking it's toll on her. For one thing, Minako stopped being the motherly and outgoing person she was, and even declined whenever Yun wanted to start a conversation. Yun knew Minako had her reasons and respected them and gave her space when she wasn't in the mood, but Yun couldn't help but feel a little lonely and rejected. Yun isn't a selfish person and knew better than to bother Minako when she's sad and depressed and dejected, but it was hard to deal with such a drastic change. Yun hadn't hung out with her all spring break (partly because Yun never went out on her own and couldn't go visit).

For Minako, she was just plain guilt-ridden and grief-stricken. She was too depressed and dejected to even think about hanging out with friends. All she did throughout spring break was stay at home and shut out the outside world. Minako had spent so much time thinking about herself and wallowing in her own sadness and sombriety that she didn't consider how others felt about her. She was sure they considered how she felt and left her alone so she could potentially get over her little brother's death, but she rejected them when they did offer her their condolences and friendship. Simply because she wasn't in the mood. She felt bad, but what could she do? She was still feeling the sting of it all. She knew how lonely Yun often felt, but she was just too selfish and sad to care and notice. Not that she intended to be selfish. So much was going on and she didn't have time to think about her friends. Everything was happening so fast and so tragically. Thankfully, it seemed Salamon is helping Minako come out of her shell. Minako really liked Salamon, even from the first day they met. With her bright eyed and eternally burning curiosity, her cute antics, her knack for exploring, and her genuine sweetness, Salamon immediately charmed herself into Minako's short but dark life and made it just a little brighter, as if her eyes had bright suns in them that lit up the area with their opalescence. Minako was happy, but she missed being with her friends. Now, she felt great.

After a while, Minako had an idea.

"Hey Yun. Wanna go for a stroll?" Minako asked.

"Sure!" Yun replied.

"We're gonna walk around? Yay! Wan!" Salamon barked happily.

"Yay! Outdoors!" Terriermon cheered happily.

They got Minako's parents' permission and decided to take a stroll. They brought both of their cell phones, flash lights (in case it got dark before they got back), and digivices in case of emergencies. As they walked, something came back to Yun's mind, and she felt the need to tell it to Minako.

"Mina-chan?"

"Yes?"

"Do you remember when we fought Devimon?"

"Yeah."

"Something's been bothering me. Witchmon is a data attribute Digimon, and normally she's supposed to be less powerful than Devimon, who's an insanely evil and powerful evildoer! Why is it that we were able to defeat Devimon so easily and not Witchmon?"

Lopmon, Salamon, and Terriermon decided to join in on the conversation.

"You're still perturbed by that, Yun? Well, I guess it would be natural to be worried. To be honest, that's bothering me too," Lopmon piped in.

"I always thought it was because the rest of the Digimon couldn't digivolve yet. Wan!" Salamon said.

"Me too. I guess that's not the case, huh?" Terriermon backed her up.

"You're right. And Witchmon's no more than a champion level. Even I'm surprised by how powerful she is. Besides, she doesn't even look all that corrupt," Minako said.

"I know, right? And another thing! Devimon mentioned that he and Witchmon have some master or something. Remember how in season one, Apocalymon was the evil mastermind?"

"Yes," Minako nodded.

"What if maybe there's some evil mastermind telling Witchmon to put Dark Emblems on various Digimon? Do you think maybe he's planning something awful?"

"Could be. I think the best guess would be that he wants world domination."

Yun sighed. "Yeah. Seriously, that's so cliche nowadays! Can't most kids anime come up with better plots than that? It's starting to get a little overkill!"

Salamon couldn't help but laugh. "Taking over the world is cliche! Wan!"

"What does cliche mean?" Terriermon asked.

"Cliche means overdone, overused, too common," Lopmon explained politely.

All of a sudden, all three of the little Digimon stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. Lopmon and Terriermon's long ears rose into the air while the hair on Salamon's back stood up like static electricity went through her veins. Yun and Minako turned around and saw this.

"What's wrong?" Yun asked.

"A Digimon! Underground!" Terriermon yelled.

"Are you serious?" Minako exclaimed.

Then, out of nowhere, the ground started shaking. It felt as if an earthquake were about to hit. Thankfully, this wasn't the case. A big, silver drill popped out from the ground, causing dirt and residue to fly all over the place. A big hole was formed in the street, and a big Digimon appeared from said hole. The Digimon looks like a big mole, only it has a drill for a nose (and smaller ones for fingers), purple and white fur, and long whiskers. Minako and Yun gasped when they saw it's eyes. Glowing bloody red. A blatant harbinger that somewhere on it's body lies a Dark Emblem. The Digimon only showed it's upper body as it came out from the hole. Minako looked up the Digimon's info on her digivice.

"Drimogemon, a champion level, data attribute, beast type Digimon. His attacks are Drill Spin and Mole Claw!" Minako said.

"Looks like this one's gonna be a tough nut to crack!" Yun said.

The giant mole Digimon, Drimogemon, came out from the hole once it spotted Yun and Minako and drilled another hole into the ground.

"Let's follow it!" Yun exclaimed.

Lucky for them, the holes are big enough so that even they can walk through without having to kneel or keep their heads low. This allowed them to find Drimogemon easier. Although it took a while, they came out of the hole and found themselves in the construction site. The same place where Melody and Birdramon fought Kokatorimon before. Once Drimogemon caught sight of them, it readied itself for battle, and so did Yun, Minako, Salamon, Terriermon, and Lopmon.

"Alright! Let's whack a mole!" Yun cried out courageously, digivice in hand.

"If only we had a mallet!" Terriermon backed her up.

"Wan! We don't need one!" Salamon retorted.

"If only we had that Digimon named Caturamon. He can turn into a mallet! That'd be awesome!" Minako joked, even though these are no joking circumstances. She felt she had to do it anyhow.

Lopmon digivolved to Turuiemon, Terriermon to Gargomon, and Salamon to Gatomon. All three of them attacked Drimogemon, who roared and was willing to fight the three of them.

"Ninja Fist!"

"Gargo Laser!"

"Lightning Paw!"

All three of them landed hits on Drimogemon. Unfortunately, they weren't enough to defeat him. Drimogemon charged at them with an attack.

"Mole Claw!"

Drimogemon attempted to scratch Gargomon, who courageously blocked the attack by holding up his arm guns and using them as a type of shield. They were equal in strength, so they held out for a long time. Gatomon decided to take this opportunity to find a certain something.

"I'll see if I can find the Dark Emblem!" Gatomon muttered to herself as she pounced behind Drimogemon to find a Dark Emblem. Yun and Minako watched the battle.

"I think we should go help them. Our digilassos can be pretty handy here," Yun suggested.

"I was thinking the same thing. Shall we do it?" Minako replied.

Yun nodded with a smile. Both their digilassos came out and they charged at Drimogemon. However, Drimogemon managed to push Gargomon out of his way and attempt to dig another hole. Gargomon tried to wrap his arms around him so he wouldn't escape, but to no avail. Gargomon has no hands, and that made it hard for him to have a good grip on Drimogemon. Drimogemon escaped and tried to dig another hole. Right there, Turuiemon leaped off from a construction beam to land an attack.

"Gauntlet Claw!"

She landed one of her gauntlets onto Drimogemon's head, which didn't seem to phase him. In fact, it only made him madder. Coincidentally, he locked eyes with Gatomon, and this gave Gatomon a great opportunity.

"Cat's Eye Hypnosis!"

Once Gatomon's eyes glew purple, Drimogemon suddenly found himself paralyzed. Gatomon crawled around looking for a Dark Emblem. She found it above Drimogemon's scrawny little purple tail.

"I found it, girls! It's on his tail! Nyan!" Gatomon called out.

"Good! Thanks, Gatomon!" Minako yelled, which made Gatomon wink cutely at her.

Sadly enough, Gatomon's Cat's Eye Hypnosis couldn't last. Drimogemon finally made himself mobile again, though this gave Yun and Minako a chance to lay their own little attack on him.

"Now!" Both girls yelled in unison and threw their digilassos at Drimogemon. They wrapped around his neck tight, but it made Drimogemon mad. The other Digimon attempted to attack him too, on his rear end no less, but he apparently knew it was coming and decided to make a run for it.

"Drill Spin!"

The drill on Drimogemon's nose spun around like a tornado, and he dredged another new hole into the ground. He was so strong that he actually dragged the two girls down with him. The girls were too small and too lightweight to be able to hold down such a big, bulky, and strong Digimon, though they didn't seem to mind. They held on tight until Drimogemon finally came back up onto the surface, which, in this case, is back to the construction site. Drimogemon attempted to attack Gargomon from the ground. Thankfully, he saw it coming.

"Think you can sneak up on me, eh? Take this! Bunny Pummel!" Gargomon leaped into the air and whacked Drimogemon hard on the head. So hard, in fact, that he was rendered unconscious! Minako decided to take the opportunity. She turned her digilasso into a digisword, found the Dark Emblem on Drimogemon's tail, and dredged her sword into it, making it shatter into a million pieces. It faded away and she took it out.

"Wow, Mina-chan! That was awesome! Nyan!" Gatomon exclaimed happily. Gargomon and Turuiemon both de-digivoled back into Terriermon and Lopmon and leaped into Yun's arms.

"This guy sure was a tough nut to crack!" Terriermon said with a smile.

"Well, let's be happy we managed to stop him in time," Lopmon told him.

Suddenly, Drimogemon awoke with a start, his eyes no longer glowing bloody red. He looked around the construction site, apparently not seeing or noticing the two girls and their Digimon next to him.

"Wha? Huh? Eh? Hey wait! This ain't the Underground Earth Maze! Holy moley! I better make like a shoe and beat it!" Drimogemon exclaimed, suddenly regaining his composure. He snapped his drill fingers and a digital hole appeared underneath him.

But it didn't just appear underneath him.

It was underneath Yun.

Yun and Minako all saw it too late, but not only did Drimogemon get sucked into the digital hole, it took Yun, Terriermon, and Lopmon with him!

"Yun!"

"Yun-chan! Nyan!"

Minako and Gatomon tried to get them back, but it was too late. The digital hole sucked in Drimogemon, Yun, Lopmon, and Terriermon. It had already closed.

Yun had unknowingly been sucked into the Digital World.

Author's Note: Yay! I finished chapter 14! Jeez, am I ever going to get out of my Digimon phase or what? I've only done fourteen chapters of this story yet I outlined ideas for about 60 chapters! Yes! SIXTY chapters! Wow! How cool is that? I've never been so pumped up for a story before! And sorry if this chapter's my shortest one. I guess I didn't have a lot of ideas for it. I did the best I could. Urgh! Well, I better keep working on this before my phase suddenly gets drained out of me by college! I have to go now. I'll see you all later! Bye-bee!

Footnotes:

1. Emily of New Moon is a book written by Lucy Maud Montgomery. It was written in 1923, and an anime was made in 2007.


	15. First Trip to the Digital World!

Author's Note: One week until college! Noooooo! But at the same time I can't wait! Also, the final episode of this summer's Degrassi season was awesome! Nooooo! Why did it have to be Adam of all people? I refuse to tell you what. Also, Shinryaku! Ika Musume season 1 is on DVD later this month! Yay! And for 16 bucks, no less! I'll have to made Dad order it off of Amazon for me. Geso! Well, ladies and gentlemen, thanks for your patience and here is chapter 15 of Digimon: A Seraphic Tale!

EPISODE 15: First Trip to the Digital World

As happy as Yun was when she and Minako removed Drimogemon's Dark Emblem and got him back to normal, she didn't even realize that the ground beneath her turned into a digital hole until it was too late. She tried to call out to Minako and Gatomon, but she had already been sucked into the hole. When Yun finally opened her eyes, she found herself in a totally different place. She's floating. Suspended in mid-air in a glowing electric blue ocean of ones and zeroes, with rainbow streaks flying by her like the neon lights one would see in 1950's themed diners and restaurants. Yun didn't realize what was going on. Her little mind couldn't comprehend the fact that she just left her home planet, Earth, and is traveling to a totally different dimension!

Terriermon and Lopmon clung to her, and she clung to them desperately. As overwhelmed and freaked out as she was, she was made even more so by the fact that she realized she couldn't speak. It was like her vocal chords shut down. The same for Terriermon and Lopmon. With no means of communication, except for the expressions on their faces, Yun could feel herself about to have a nervous wreck. Her face was already wracked with fear. Lopmon was just a little surprised. Terriermon has the expression of a little boy on a super fast and speedy roller coaster going "Wheeeeeeee!" though Yun and Lopmon could both tell that his happy exterior was just a facade. Of course he'd be rationally terrified on the inside. Who wouldn't?

In a flash, Yun saw a white light at the end of the seemingly endless tunnel of ones, zeroes, and neon-esque rainbow lights. In one final act of desperation, she squeezed her eyes tight and clutched onto her floppy eared friends even tighter. Yun braced herself for the worst, and so did Terriermon and Lopmon. But oddly enough...the worst didn't come. Although Yun expected to fall on something hard and rocky, possibly something that could've either easily killed her or broken all the bones in her body (Yun didn't break one single bone in her entire life, and she intended to keep it that way for all time), she felt something...soft and fuzzy. She finally got the mettle to open her eyes and see what just happened.

Without moving, she saw a blue sky with a couple of light blue and rainbowy-hued spots, and a desert-like landscape, also with some light blue and rainbow-hued spots, some ranging from tiny, medium sized, and immensely huge. Yun very slowly sat up and saw that the thing she landed on is fluffy and purple. Drimogemon! She landed on Drimogemon! She looked and saw his wide-open eyes and silver drill nose. Very slowly, Yun slid off of Drimogemon's back and gently landed on some solid ground. Terriermon and Lopmon woke up and saw everything around them. Terriermon was the first to speak.

"What just happened? And where are we?" Terriermon asked innocently as Yun gently set him on the ground. Yun looked around, seeing the same scenery. When she looked up, she gasped. In the sky is a huge, blue green and malachite sphere, with white circles on various parts of it with pink lines coming out from them like popsicle sticks. Right as Yun laid eyes on the gigantic sphere, she realized it right away.

"We're in...the Digital World!" Yun cried out.

The Digital World! Yun couldn't believe her eyes! She knew of it's existence, but it was only on TV! Supposing it had been nothing but just a fictional setting in a TV show! But now Yun is IN the Digital World! IN it! Yun had trouble wrapping her little mind around this huge and awesome revelation. But it seemed Terriermon, Lopmon, and Drimogemon had no problem dealing with this new revelation at all. Especially not Drimogemon, who is now happy and full of glee.

"Yay! I'm back! Phew! What an adventure that was! It feels so good to be back in my home world!" Drimogemon exclaimed happily and was about to dance a happy dance until he saw a very confused and possibly overwhelmed Yun in front of him. This made the giant mole feel a little guilty. He sat down and faced her.

"Hey girlie. You alright?" Drimogemon asked. The sound of his voice abruptly pulled Yun out of her reverie and she gasped.

"Wha! Oh! Sorry, I...I just...still can't believe I'm in the Digital World. This is all so sudden and a little overwhelming," Yun replied.

"It's alright! It happens! Oh! This probably won't help much, but if you're lookin' for a place to crash, there's a lively little town around here called Fionn Village," Drimogemon explained kindly.

"Fionn Village? That's a funny name," Yun said with a small chuckle, which Drimogemon took as a sign that Yun is finally coming around.

"It ain't all that funny. In Ancient Digicode, the word _'Fionn'_ means _'Hearts moving toward dreams.'_" Drimogemon explained.

"Hearts moving toward dreams...how lovely!" Lopmon said with a smile.

"It sure is!" Drimogemon said.

"Oh. But more importantly, how do we get there?" Lopmon asked.

"It ain't too hard to get there from here. All you gotta do is go _STRAIGHT_, down there. All ya gotta do is follow those pretty pointy crystals stickin' up from the ground," Drimogemon explained with blatant and strong emphasis on the word straight.

Yun saw what Drimogemon went once she turned around and caught sight of them. The crystals looked to be six feet tall, and are very pretty. They seemed to turn a rainbow hue when the sunbeams were reflected off of it, though it mostly looked pearly purple and opalescent white. Yun couldn't help but be rendered silent by how beautiful the tall, dignified crystals were.

"So young as you don't go off the path, you can reach Fionn Village in no time flat! Plus the Digimon there are pretty nice so I don't think you'll have a problem gettin' friendly with them! Plus their houses are pretty funny-lookin' so you won't have a problem seein' it!" The big Drimogemon explained.

"What are those spots all over this place? Y'know, the ones that look all rainbowy and staticy," Terriermon explained, looking down at one of them. This one was almost as big as his little body, though he's only a foot away from it.

"I wouldn't touch that if I were you," Drimogemon said.

"Why not?"

"I don't know what those are, but I saw a Digimon hop into one once, and all his data disappeared. He never came back!"

Terriermon stepped away from the spot and shivered. Yun scooped little Terriermon in her arms and held him close.

"Scary!" Terriermon muttered. However, Yun turned to Drimogemon and smiled.

"Well, I'm glad you're feeling better. Thanks for helping us, Drimogemon. We really appreciate your kindness," Yun bowed before Drimogemon in a kind and polite fashion.

"Oh, no! I should be thankin' you for stoppin' me from goin' crazy! I oughta be more careful from now on. Well, I'd best be goin'! My buddies might be worryin' about me! Take care of yourselves! Peace out!" Drimogemon said as he prepared his drill, dredged a hole in the ground, and leaped into it.

Yun looked at the tall, opalescent crystals with a courageous look.

"Fionn Village..." Yun muttered to herself.

"Let us depart, shall we?" Lopmon said. Yun nodded and they all walked through the path of crystals.

As they walked, Yun looked around, with her green eyes wide with curiosity. She made sure to stay on the path, which she did, but something seemed to be odd. The spots. The light blueish, rainbowy, and staticy spots that Drimogemon told them about earlier. Yun noticed that they were practically everywhere. Some were tiny, some where sort of Lopmon's size, some where her own size, and some were as big as her house! She didn't know what they were all doing here in the Digital World. To Yun, they looked like holes that had been made by a very big and very angry bird that pecked at everything and made it look like Swiss cheese, and Yun was sure it wasn't one of those angry birds from that cell phone game that Melody plays every day either.

Not only that, there were lots of them on the ground too. Yun looked on the path and made sure to avoid them so she wouldn't fall in and disappear, as Drimogemon warned them not to touch them. Yun made sure to follow this rule. At one point, Yun saw one very tiny spot get smaller and finally disappear into thin air, making one part of the ground hole again. Cautiously, Yun touched it and was relieved to see that she didn't disappear. Thank goodness. Yun's overwhelmed heart began to lighten ever so little. The walk sure helped, and looking at the pretty crystals sure helped too. Now these are what Yun considered beautiful. These crystals looked as if they could glow a luminous white or rainbowy shade if the sun were ever to completely cover it. This certainly mollified Yun and erased all of her feelings of fear and anxiety.

Suddenly, Lopmon saw something that caught her eye.

"I think that's it!" Lopmon pointed to it and the three of them ran toward it.

What they saw left them frozen in their tracks with shock. They were flabbergasted.

It was a town alright, but it sure wasn't like any town they expected to see! For one thing, this town is completely bright and colorful, emphasis on colorful. All the houses and buildings looked like they had paint splattered all over them. None of the houses and buildings are one set color. Greens, yellows, purples, pinks, every color from the rainbow you can think of can be seen in this town! Not only that, the trees are white and even the sidewalks are bright and colorful. Red, blue, yellow, orange, pink, everything! A statue that looks like an angelic digimon is white but the bottom part of it has hard spots on it in all colors. Like orange, blue, yellow, purple, light green. This town looked like a little child's idea of a sweet and halcyon town straight out of a storybook...but went totally overboard with the bright and colorful idea. Sometimes it looked as though the colors had been mixed in a blender. Not that this was a bad thing. Yun was just so surprised by how it looked she couldn't comprehend a town like this existing. Drimogemon sure was right when he said this town is funny looking. Not in a bad way, of course.

Yun, Lopmon, and Terriermon decided to look around. They became even more surprised by what the residents did with their houses. One house had paintings of animals and birds all over the roof. One house had a lion Digimon on it's walls. Another house had flowers painted all on the front like a little flower garden...but they're all ON the house, not in front of the house. Another house had ocean waves painted on it similar to how the great painter Hokusai painted his famous Ukiyo-e woodblock print, The Great Wave off Kanagawa. Another house had a galaxy, the stars, and the moon painted on it. Yun, Terriermon, and Lopmon were all entranced by how this town looked. How colorful, bright, and most of all, artsy, it looked. Artsy and artistic. No wonder this town is named Fionn, or _'hearts moving toward dreams'_ as Drimogemon pointed out. They looked at the houses, sidewalk, and paintings with wonder and awe, somewhat entranced by how strange yet halcyon and wonderful this town looked.

Yun knew one thing for sure: she absolutely LOVED this place!

But one thing they also noticed that it looked somewhat like a ghost town now. Nobody was walking around. No Digimon in sight. Drimogemon said this town is supposed to be lively, but there's nobody here. Lopmon noticed it.

"I wonder where everyone is?" Lopmon asked.

"Maybe they moved away or something," Terriermon replied.

"I don't think so. I still see pieces of artwork on that big purple column, and I see merchandise in that little stand," Lopmon pointed out. The little stand has lots of trinkets and mini stuffed animals...and a sign that said _'Closed Until Circumstances are Ameliorated!'_ Little Terriermon cocked his head to one side in confusion.

"What do they mean 'until circumstances are ameliorated?'" Terriermon asked.

"Perhaps maybe a Digimon is running rampant?" Lopmon said.

"Hey! You're right! Look! One of those crystals looks like it got broke real good!" Terriermon exclaimed, pointing to another pretty and tall crystal...which isn't so tall anymore. The top part looks like it got knocked over by a wrecking ball, and the shattered remains are all over the place.

"Wow! If there really is-" Lopmon wanted to make a statement, but she was cut off by a high-pitched shriek.

_"YEEEEEEK!"_

One that came straight from Yun's mouth.

"THIS PLACE IS AWESOME!"

Yun screamed like an overly happy fangirl and hopped all over the place.

"This place is awesome! Full of works of art and colors and all that stuff! I'd like to live here!" Yun cried out as she hopped all over the place in a paroxysm of joy and glee. Lopmon, although feeling a little irked that Yun didn't quite take the situation seriously (Lopmon hoped she secretly was), smiled and watched her run around.

"I agree! It looks like the perfect place for us, Yun!" Terriermon exclaimed. Lopmon couldn't help but loosen up a bit and smiled.

"Well, I also agree that it looks very wonderful and artsy and harmonious," Lopmon said.

So all three of them succumbed to the beautified town's artsy mien and somewhat grandiose exterior. So what if it was a little grandiose? Yun didn't care. The placed looked EXACTLY like her own self-created fantasy world. No, not the one in her dream with the boy with white wings singing "A thousand lights" (That's the name Yun gave the song. She didn't know the actual name of it). She could live in this peaceful place in total concord and never have a care in the world. And she'd NEVER let her enemies, Nenji and Seiko, or someone who would immediately hate this place and dismiss it (Ayaka). Yun hopped around, looking at everything with her big emerald eyes wide with joy and wonder.

"I wish I had a camera!...or knew how to use one! I'd take lots of pictures of this place!" Yun exclaimed happily.

Out of nowhere, Lopmon's ears suddenly perked up in alarm. "There is a Digimon nearby," she gasped.

"Where?" Yun asked, quickly removing her digivice from her pocket.

The very moment she had asked that, a small object rolled into view. At first glance, one might think it was some sort of green egg-shaped object or a green apple. However, upon much closer inspection, the trio discovered that it was a very small Digimon, no bigger than an apple. Its light green skin matched the grass almost perfectly. Its eyes were large and black with white pupils, just as the eyes of Terriermon and Lopmon were when they were Zerimon and Conomon. Underneath each eye was a layer of skin that was small, pink, and in a perfect circle, looking ery much like blush. Two stubby legs were barely sticking out from underneath its body. The top of its head looked like a cap made of tiny leaves with a stem at the very top.

The little green Digimon caught sight of Yun, and it's face lit up like a little kid getting his cookie.

"Pipi!"

A faint but cute whistle came out from it's mouth and it ran toward Yun with a sweet and innocent smile, just like the smiles Terriermon and Lopmon had when they were Zerimon and Conomon. Yun got her digivice out.

"Datirimon, a baby level Digimon. It's special attack is bubble blow," Yun read the information and put her digivice back in her pocket. The little Digimon, Datirimon, rubbed itself against Yun happily.

"Pipi! Pipi!"

Yun's heart became lighter than ever, and she herself lit up with joy.

"Awww! You're so _CUTE_!" Yun exclaimed loudly, which Datirimon did not seem to mind. Terriermon and Lopmon approached the tiny Digimon.

"He really is cute!" Lopmon said as she put her paw on it's head, which Datirimon relished immensely.

"Hey! Wanna play, little guy?" Terriermon asked.

"Pipi! He...hewwo!" Datirimon blurted out sweetly, in a very cute voice similar to Lopmon's when she was Kokomon. Yun, out of pure joy and compulsion, scooped the little digimon in her arms and rubbed herself against it.

"Hello! You're so cuuuute!" Yun cooed sweetly. Once she was done, Datirimon looked into her green eyes with it's big black ones.

"You-man! You-man!" Datirimon squeaked cutely.

"Wha?" Yun said, confused.

"Hewwo you-man!" Datirimon squeaked again.

"I think it's trying to say the word human," Lopmon said with her finger to her chin.

"How do you know?" Terriermon asked.

"It's language skills appear to be underdeveloped, but from the way it looked at Yun and said you-man, I think human is the closest thing I can decipher. There aren't any other words that sound like it," Lopmon explained.

"Wow. You sure are smart, Lopmon! I'm glad you're my sister!"

"Thank you," Lopmon blushed a bit.

Yun continued to play with Datirimon when suddenly a voice appeared out of nowhere.

"Datirimon!"

Yun stopped and looked around, looking for the source of the voice. Suddenly, Datirimon leaped out of her hands.

"Pipi!"

"Datirimon! There you are!"

Then, someone appeared. And it wasn't human! A Digimon, it was! An almost human-esque cartoon character-like Digimon with pure white skin, rosy red gloves, rosy red boots, a rosy red scarf wrapped in a ribbon that almost made it look as though it had heart-shaped wings, a blue gem stone on the front, and a rosy red hat with two long and sproingy antennae with hearts at the end. This Digimon has an innocent-looking face and childish exterior. As Datirimon and the other Digimon reunited, Yun took this chance to look up it's information.

"Bucchiemon, an armor level, vaccine attribute, fairy Digimon. It's special attacks are Talon Arrow and Love Laser," Yun then put the digivice back in her pocket. Datirimon leaped into Bucchiemon's arms, but Bucchiemon looked worried.

"Datirimon! How many times do I have to tell you? You shouldn't wander off by yourself! Especially if there's a wild Digimon running loose and about to destroy everything!" Bucchiemon reproved the little Datirimon who seemed unphased.

"Hewwo! We haff guests!" Datirimon piped in.

"Guests? What guests?" Bucchiemon asked...until he caught sight of Yun, Lopmon, and Terriermon. He looked surprised at first, then he leapt toward them with a sunflowery face full of joy.

"Wow! A human? A real, living, breathing, human? Wow-wee! I can't believe I'd live to see the day! A human standing before me! In my presence! Awesome!" Bucchiemon exclaimed at first.

"Cute!" Yun exclaimed, refering to just Bucchiemon this time, not Datirimon, and not caring that Bucchiemon seems to think of her as some heavenly entity from some kind of myth. Once Bucchiemon got a hold of his excitement, he backed away for a bit and bowed before Yun.

"Hello, human. Thanks for taking care of Datirimon," Bucchiemon said in a nice, somewhat feminine voice. It wasn't as harsh as Lucero's, that's for sure.

"Oh, no. It's alright. She's cute! Uh...he or she?" Yun replied, but she didn't know Datirimon's gender.

"She's a she. She's one of the Digimon I'm taking care of," Bucchiemon explained.

"Pipi!"

"Umm...do you live in this village?" Yun asked.

"Yes! I sure do! This is Fionn Village!" Bucchiemon replied.

"Why's it so colorful and full of art?" Terriermon asked.

"That's because all residents here are very interested in all forms of art and distinguish themselves from the other towns. Fionn Village is also known as both the city of art and the city of admiration, which is why it's all bright and colorful," Bucchiemon explained with a smile, but then cocked his head to one side. "Does it bother you?"

Yun lit up. "Not at all! I think it's awesome! I'd like to live here if I wanted to!"

"Wonderful! Oh! More importantly...what's a human like you doing here?" Bucchiemon asked.

"Well, a Drimogemon controlled by something called a Dark Emblem came to my world and started wreaking havoc. Terriermon, Lopmon, my friend Minako, and I fought it and got it off, but somehow...I guess I got caught in the digital hole and wound up here. He showed us here, by the way," Yun explained.

"Ah, I know who you mean! That Drimogemon's become quite the regular here! But..." Bucchiemon said, at first happily but then looked rather solemn. "A Dark Emblem, you say?"

"Yeah. Those black hexagon symbols that have skulls on them that make Digimon go crazy. You heard of them?"

"Yes, unfortunately. Lots of Digimon have been branded with them lately and very few know why. I'm not one of them, sadly, though I really want to know," Bucchiemon said.

"I agree. They've been running rampant. Oh! I should introduce myself! I'm Wakamiya Julia, but call me Yun. These are Terriermon and Lopmon," Yun explained.

"It's nice to meet you," Lopmon said.

"Hiya! I'm Terriermon!" Terriermon exclaimed.

"My name is Bucchiemon. I'm very honored to be in your presence. Oh! Would you like to come to my studio?" Bucchiemon said.

"Sure! We'd love to!" Yun exclaimed.

"Pipi!" Datirimon squeaked.

_Back in the real world..._

A worn out and impatient Witchmon is sitting on top of the roof of an electronics store, not happy with having to wait for her sidekick, Roachmon, who is inside and scaring people into screaming like maniacs. After about a few more minutes, Roachmon finally appeared with a small, silver, palm-sized video camera in his hands.

"You got something?" Witchmon asked.

"I suuuure did! Dis is what them folks call a video camera. It takes videos of stuff. It's awesome! This will be perfect to show our master! I already got awesome footage of dem humans already!" Roachmon boasted happily, reveling in his new stolen video camera.

"I sure wish Devimon was here to see this."

"Eh? What happened to Devimon?"

"You don't know? Those brats and their Digimon took him down and killed him! An Angemon! A no-good Angemon defeated him! Can you believe it?"

Roachmon gasped with horror. "Whoa! I din' know 'dat! Man! Those brats really must be tougher than 'dey look if they managed to take down someone like Devimon!"

"I know, right? It's really getting annoying!"

"Well, least we can show 'dis to master and have him deal with 'dem! 'Dat'll show 'em! Chaw-haw-haw, 'dis is gonna be good!"

"But he'll be mad if we don't put Dark Emblems on more Digimon and take them to his inner sanctum!" Witchmon sighed distastefully. "I hate not being able to do what I want!"

"Well, yer just gunna have to deal wit' it, Witchmon! Yeah! Now I just hafta-WHOA!" Roachmon was about to fly away and take Witchmon with him to the Digital World...but suddenly his foot got caught in a satellite wire and it made him trip, even though he can fly, causing the video camera to slip out of his hands and fall to the ground.

_CRASH!_

It fell onto a solid trash can lid, which made the trash can fall over, making the already destroyed camera fall. Then, an old titanium box fell out from the trash can and fell onto the camera, shattering it even more. Witchmon and Roachmon both witnessed this horrible turn of events, shocked and appalled. Witchmon, however, became choleric and got her broom out.

"YOU'RE SUCH AN IDIOT!" Witchmon yelled as she grabbed Roachmon, threw him onto the street, and started beating him with her broom, acting like a little girl having an epic temper tantrum.

"Git off 'a me, you spoiled brat!" Roachmon yelled as he tried to defend himself against Witchmon's blows, but she wasn't having it.

"Master's gonna kick me out of the inner sanctum because of you, you stupid no-good disgusting ugly smelly breathed roach! Take this and that and this and that!" Witchmon yelled as she continued to beat Roachmon with her broom.

"Your breath's way smellier than mine!"

"IT IS NOT!"

"Look who's talking!"

"You'll pay for that!"

"Act like a brat, why don'cha?"

What they didn't know was that they were so immersed in their little spat that they didn't realize that people stopped to watch...with scared and frightened faces. Witchmon and Roachmon finally stopped to see, and they weren't happy.

"Pheh! We'll settle this in the Digital World! I've got better things to do than hang around a smelly and putrid thing like you!"

"Brand some Digimon with Dark Emblems, why don'cha?"

"Fine!"

"But wanna scare these beasts first?"

"Sure! Fine by me! A girl needs an outlet for her anger anyhow!"

"Yard Sale Bomb!"

"Baluluna Gale!"

Trash and gusts of wind blew the samaritans away, and the two quarreling Digimon finally opened a digital portal and made a run for the Digital World. In the process, Witchmon remembered branding a big red stag beetle Digimon with a brand and decided to find it as she arrived into the Digital World. Then she caught sight of Yun.

_'What? What's she doing in the Digital World? This can't be true! But then again...I think I've found a new outlet for my anger! Teeheehee!'_ Witchmon snickered in her thoughts and found something fun (in her book) to do later on.

_In the Digital World..._

So Bucchiemon propitiatingly allowed Yun, Terriermon, and Lopmon to come into his studio, which isn't anything except for a very colorful and well-painted garage with stars and angels painted all over it. They were surprised by how quaint and halcyon it was. All around the garage are paint buckets, canvases, paper, colored pencils, crayons, plastic wrap, everything. One picture on an easel in the middle of the studio showed an almost finished painting of an angel digimon clad entirely in white, like snow. Possibly satin. Lopmon and Terriermon noticed that not only Datirimon lived here, but some other baby Digimon too. One is a very tiny, cloud blue fish with big cherry red eyes, two little fins, two antennae, and some fins on it's back. Another is a round red thing with two little bat wings for ears. Another is a little white creature with a curled horn and two little yellow wings. Two of them are Conomon and Zerimon! The final one is a little pink baby bird with a yellow beak and two wiggly fins.

"Awww! Look at all the cute baby Digimon! Are they all yours?" Yun exclaimed happily as Datirimon joined the group.

"Not really. I'm in charge of babysitting them when their parents are busy. You've met Datirimon already. The little fish is Pichimon. The little red one is Jyarimon. The little white angel here is Puttimon. The pink bird is Pururumon, and-" Bucchiemon explained all the babies' names, except for two of them.

"The twins are Conomon and Zerimon!"

"Wow! How'd you-Oh!" Bucchiemon was about to ask how she knew, but saw Terriermon and Lopmon. "I see. Alright then."

All the little baby Digimon crowded around Terriermon and Lopmon, happily playing with them. Yun saw Bucchiemon get his art supplies together and begin painting.

"Umm...I hope you don't mind me asking, but Drimogemon said this town is normally very lively, but now it doesn't look as such. Why is that?" Yun asked innocently.

Bucchiemon sighed.

"Oh! If you don't want to say, that's fine! Sorry I asked! I didn't mean to-"

"No. It's fine. I want to tell you...or someone. See, those Dark Emblems you mentioned...there's been a Digimon running loose in town lately with one on him. His name is Kuwagamon. He's a fearsome beast. Normally you don't see them around here, but he just up and appeared one day and started attacking. The residents around here are terrified. Most of them fled. Some of them are still living here, but they spend their days confined to their houses, not wanting to come out," Bucchiemon explained as he added some strokes of paint to his new piece of work.

"Why don't you battle him?" Yun asked.

"We'd like too, but he's a bit too strong for us. Plus some of the residents here are a tad cowardly. I tried defeating Kuwagamon once, but he outsmarted me. But I don't plan on giving up just yet! I'm not going to let him destroy this wonderful place and all the effort I put into making it such!" Bucchiemon explained, with a spec of courage in the last sentence. Yun smiled.

"You're not one who likes to give up, do you?" Yun asked.

"Nope! Although I am a pacifist and don't like fighting, I know there are times that I have to in order to protect the things that I cherish, and I certainly don't want some giant stag beetle ruining this wonderful oasis of mine! Or hurting me, the babies, and all my friends and neighbors here!"

Right then, Yun had an idea that popped in her head like a jack-in-a-box.

"Bucchiemon? I was wondering...would you mind if we helped you defeat Kuwagamon?"

Bucchiemon suddenly dropped his paint brush, and Terriermon, Lopmon, and all the Digimon babies heard this statement.

"You? Want to help us?" Bucchiemon asked.

"Yeah! I have a lot of experience with hunting down Digimon and removing the Dark Emblems. It's hard, yes, but like you said, we don't give up until it's done! If you don't want our assistance, that's fine. I'll respect whatever decision you make. But if Kuwagamon isn't taken care of, I'd feel bad because he might destroy your precious town and pieces of work, and I don't want that happening! I know exactly what it's like to have things you love and cherish be destroyed, so I feel for you!" Yun exclaimed courageously.

Lopmon and Terriermon, hearing this, decided to walk to her side.

"I wanna help you out too!" Terriermon exclaimed.

"I would also very much like to help you. If you don't want our assistance, then so be it. But it would be terrible if Kuwagamon came back again and destroyed everything," Lopmon said.

The baby Digimon suddenly cheered happily and enthusiastically, leaving Bucchiemon flabbergasted and blushing, even though he's red enough already! Help from a human and her Digimon partners? How in the world could something like this happen? Bucchiemon was shocked, but at the same time, he slowly grew to like this human girl and her floppy eared Digimon partners. Look at how well the baby Digimon are getting along with them. Not only that, Bucchiemon had always loved hearing tales about humans and how they created the Digital World (as far as he knew). But to have one of those humans present herself in front of him and offer her assistance? What a miracle! What an answer to a prayer it was to Bucchiemon. Not wanting to decline, he smiled sweetly.

"Sure! I'd love for you to assist me!" Bucchiemon replied.

"Cool! Don't worry. No matter what happens, we'll make sure Kuwagamon and it's Dark Emblem are taken care of, and that this town doesn't get destroyed!" Yun exclaimed enthusiastically.

"Yeah!" Terriermon backed her up. Lopmon held a Pichimon in her arms and smiled at it, and it smiled back at her too.

"I'm truly grateful! I don't want to...lose this town again..." Bucchiemon muttered.

Yun got confused. "Again? How is it again?"

"This town was destroyed once before, along with the rest of the Digital World."

Yun's jaw dropped. Lopmon and Terriermon's jaws dropped to the plastic wrap on the floor.

_"WHAAAAT?"_

The Digital World was destroyed? How can the Digital World be destroyed when Yun and her friends are stepping amongst it right now? Yun just HAD to point this out.

"The Digital World? Destroyed? How is that possible? It looks fine to me!" Yun exclaimed.

"You probably don't know. About three years ago in Digital World time, the Digital World was suddenly wiped out. Rumors say an evil and all powerful Digimon used his terrible powers to annihilate the Digital World and attempt to wipe out time and space. Other rumors say that the guardians of the very core of the Digital World, including the kind ruler who keeps it in balance, were killed. That's why there are these rainbowy and staticy spots all around the Digital World. They're the damage that the Digital World has sustained. It's been regenerating and getting the old data back steadily, which is how the spots disappear, but it's not totally complete just yet."

"How terrible!" Lopmon exclaimed.

"I know, right? This town was destroyed because of it too...once. Me and all the other residents worked very hard to restore everything back to it's original state, and we did a fine job of doing so. Others aren't so lucky, but in time the data will be reconfigured and regenerate, so I wouldn't call it a total tragedy."

"You say they're rumors? Why are they rumors?" Terriermon asked.

"To be perfectly honest, nobody really knows who's responsible for destroying the Digital World or why it happened or why the Dark Emblems appeared or if the guardians are still alive. All we know for sure is that Digimon are being branded with Dark Emblems lately and are wreaking havoc. Even I don't know how everything happened, even though I'm one of the few survivors. I think the destruction was so powerful that it made everyone lose their memories. It's happened to a lot of Digimon."

Yun ruminated deeply about Bucchiemon's story. The Digital World? Destroyed completely? With few survivors and survivors who potentially lost their memories in the catastrophe? How in the world can something like this happen? But then something else hit Yun. The Dark Emblems. They started appearing after it happened. Could Witchmon and the now defeated Devimon have something to do with the destruction? And what about the so-called master they keep talking about? Is he the one responsible for destroying the Digital World? Yun's mind was wracked with many thoughts, theories, and wild speculations about what could happen.

"That must have been horrible!" Terriermon exclaimed.

"It was. But...I'm happy that I at least got my town back. I love this place and I would never change it or trade it for anything else," Bucchiemon said. The baby Digimon squeaked as if they're backing him up.

As Yun was about to lose her mind to new theories about why the Digital World was destroyed, she caught sight of Bucchiemon's painting. It depicted a humanoid Digimon clad entirely in white, with two thick and possibly fluffy white wings, a cross emblazoned forehead guard with pale yellow wings on both sides covering his eyes, long sun-kissed blonde hair, and a bronze belt with the peace sign on it. Yun stared at the painting, entranced by it's beauty. It wasn't because of how detailed and striking the picture looked. It was because...Yun felt very warm and serene upon looking at it. The only times she felt this way were if she was alone with just Terriermon, Lopmon, and Lucero, and the times when she had the dream. The pure and divine angel stood among a blue sky, laced with fluffy purple and pink clouds, with a couple of faint sun breams permeating the clouds and striking the angel's cloak, giving it a warm feeling. Terriermon and Lopmon noticed and hopped on both of Yun's shoulders to look. They became equally as entranced. Bucchiemon noticed and approached them.

"Do you like it? I'm afraid it's not finished yet," Bucchiemon said as the eager and happy baby Digimon crowded around him.

"It's...beautiful," Yun muttered.

"Sublime," Lopmon muttered.

"Awesome," Terriermon muttered.

"Who is this?" Yun asked.

"That's MagnaAngemon. He's the mayor of our town," Bucchiemon said.

"MagnaAngemon? But the MagnaAngemons I know have eight silver wings and have a purple helmet and have a gold sword!" Yun explained.

"Yes, that's true. But this is him in his priest mode. He is a kind, gentle, and chivalrous Digimon who governs all of Fionn Village, and a few other places as well. He also survived the Digital World's destruction, and we, the citizens, helped him restore Fionn Village back to normal. I really like him. He's my favorite role model! I thought I'd paint a picture of him to give to him as thanks for being such a good mayor," Bucchiemon explained. Yun knows what he meant. She could feel the feelings of gratitude, benevolence, and sanctity protruding from the painting as if she could actually touch them. Perhaps Bucchiemon's diversion is more than it seems, but Yun loved it.

"You did a great job!" Yun said.

"Thank you," Bucchiemon said.

"Yun's an artist too. She likes drawing," Lopmon said, which irked Yun a bit.

"L-L-Lopmon! I-"

"Really? You draw too?"

"Yep! She sure does!" Terriermon backed Lopmon up in that respect.

"Well...I...I do draw. I love drawing. But I'm not very good at it," Yun explained, feeling a little embarrassed.

"Can you draw something for me?" Bucchiemon said.

At first, Yun wanted to decline, but then she caught sight of Datirimon, one of the baby Digimon. This gave Yun an idea.

"Sure. Do you have paper and colored pencils?"

"Yep!"

Bucchiemon handed Yun a paper, colored pencils, and a perfectly flat wooden slate so Yun could draw her picture perfectly and without the creases and bumps that drawings have when on a bumpy and not-so-flat surface. Yun set these down on the plastic wrap covered floor and began to draw.

"She doesn't like being watched when she draws, so would you be so kind as to please refrain from watching her?" Lopmon explained.

Respecting this rule, Lopmon and Bucchiemon played while Terriermon played with the baby Digimon. All of them minded their own business as Yun got absorbed into drawing her picture. After about a few minutes, she finished adding the finishing touches.

"Done!"

"What is it? Lemme see!" Terriermon said.

Yun showed them the picture and...lo and behold, it's a colored drawing of Datirimon! Everyone was awestruck.

"Pipi!" Datirimon squeaked happily and hopped around, signalling her happiness.

"Wow! It's wonderful!" Lopmon said.

"Yeah! Awesome, Yun!" Terriermon said.

"You really captured Datirimon's innocence and gave it a sense of purity! How utterly captivating!" Bucchiemon said.

Suddenly, the ground started to shake. Pichimon hopped away from the group and pointed to a part of the floor, behind Bucchiemon's painting. Then, some dirt came up from the ground, falling onto the plastic wrap (which was good), and, much to everyone's surprise, another Digimon appeared from the hole! At first, Yun thought it was Drimogemon again, but upon closer inspection, this Digimon is much smaller, though still the same size as Yun. This Digimon looks like a prairie dog with rabbit ears, only the rabbit ears are silver and look like they're made of metal. It has whiskers, a black mark on it's head, silver gauntlets with shiny red claws on them, a big fluff of fur on it's chest, big feet, and a slightly wavy tail. As the Digimon inspected it's surroundings, Yun looked up it's data on her digivice.

"Prairiemon, an armor level, vaccine attribute, animal Digimon. It's special attacks are Hare's Ear and Prairie Claw," Yun then put the digivice back in her pocket. Bucchiemon and the baby Digimon seemed very happy to see her.

"Prairiemon!" Bucchiemon exclaimed as he approached the big, furry Digimon, who got up and pushed the plastic wrap away from it's feet.

"Merciful goodness, this plastic wrap is very annoying!" Prairiemon exclaimed in a sweet and lady-like voice, much deeper than Lopmon's.

"Sorry! I haven't seen you in a while! How've you been?" Bucchiemon asked.

"I've been well, my friend...Oh! What's this?" Prairiemon replied but gasped when she saw Yun.

"This is Yun! She's a human! Yun, this is Prairiemon, my best friend. She's my co-worker and a sculptor!" Bucchiemon explained, which made Prairiemon gasp.

"WHAT? A human! A real, living, breathing human! Mercy me, a human is gracing us with her very presence!" Prairiemon exclaimed loudly.

"I know, right? It's awesome!" Bucchiemon and Prairiemon joined hands and bounced around happily like excited little kids. The baby Digimon decided to join in. Lopmon and Yun looked at each other with confused faces. Soon, Bucchiemon, Prairiemon, and the baby Digimon calmed down.

"Oh! I'm sorry. How rude of me! Hello, Yun-san. I'm Prairiemon. It's an honor to be in your presence," Prairiemon introduced herself politely which made Yun blush a bit.

"No no. It's fine. So...you're a sculptor?" Yun said.

"Yes! Bucchiemon's an artist who draws and paints, while I sculpt things out of clay...or, in this case, Digi-Putty," Prairiemon explained.

"Digi-Putty? What's that?" Terriermon asked as Jyarimon decided to hop on his head and play around. The little angel Digimon, Puttimon, hopped onto Prairiemon's head and began playing.

"Digi-Putty is a very special type of clay or dough that is made up of all the purest chemicals and compounds in the world. Depending on what you use it for, it can stay soft and mendable forever, or it can harden and be used for something useful, like fixing a broken pipe or filling a hole in the wall," Prairiemon explained.

"Like wood filler," Bucchiemon backed her up.

"Yes. The Digital World uses it for a great many things, but I use it to make pots and plates and tea bowls out of it. Sometimes Bucchiemon paints them and makes them look nice," Prairiemon explained.

"That sounds wonderful!" Yun exclaimed.

"It is! Oh! Speaking of which, Bucchiemon! Do you happen to have any sunburst orange paint on you? It seems I ran out and I need to finish up this little teacup and sell it to Pidmon before tomorrow night," Prairiemon explained. Bucchiemon snapped his fingers.

"You came at a great time. I just happened to buy a new packet of it yesterday!" Bucchiemon said and ran to a box to grab some paint.

"But aren't all the stores around here closed because of a rabid Kuwagamon?" Yun asked.

"Oh? Bucchiemon told you? Sadly, yes. The stores here are closed, but I need to get some money for food so I'm secretly working on a tea cup to sell," Prairiemon replied.

"Food to store in case the town gets destroyed again?" Lopmon asked.

"He told you THAT too?" Prairiemon sighed. "Yes, that too. It really is troublesome. The citizens here are not taking kindly to Kuwagamon's sudden attacks."

"We can help you if you want!" Yun exclaimed.

"What? Oh no! You must be joking!"

"I'm not joking! If you don't want my help, that's fine, but it'd be terrible if Kuwagamon destroyed the town and all the pretty pictures and paintings and pottery you all made!"

"Yes. It would be a tragedy if it were to happen, and I'm not one who likes to turn a blind eye to events like this, so yes. I accept your assistance."

"Here's the paint!" Bucchiemon said.

But before Prairiemon could even go back home, a high-pitched, buzzing noise permeated the halcyon and peaceful silence of the town.

_Bzzzzzzzz! Bzzzzz!_

Yun, Lopmon, Terriermon, Bucchiemon, and Prairiemon ran out of the studio to see what's up, and so did all the other Digimon. Much to everyone's horror, a big red stag beetle Digimon with black markings all over it is flying around and running rampant!

_BZZZZZZZZZZ!_

And the buzzing sound it's making hurt Yun's ears so much she had to cover them with her hands. Lopmon took her digivice out and found the giant beetle's information.

"THAT's the Kuwagamon Bucchiemon was talking about! He's a champion level, virus attribute, insect Digimon. His special attacks are Scissor Claw, Trap Scissor, and Power Guillotine!" Lopmon said.

"That's the beast that's wrecking our town!" Prairiemon exclaimed.

"But wait! There's two other Digimon there!" Bucchiemon yelled as he pointed to a black figure and a red figure hovering above Kuwagamon.

Surprisingly, Yun and Terriermon both recognized the red one.

"Witchmon!"

"Oh ho ho! I never expected to see one of you brats hanging around here! But nevertheless, you've become annoying so I'll let Kuwagamon here destroy you!" Witchmon exclaimed.

"Man! You're weirder lookin' than I imagined! Chaw-haw! I never knew humans were so disgusting!" Roachmon exclaimed.

"You're WAY more disgusting than me, you ugly puke-head!" Yun retorted angrily, which made Roachmon choleric!

"Why you-!" Roachmon was about to attack, but Witchmon held him back.

"Let's be on our way! Ciao!" Witchmon tied Roachmon to her broom with a rope, sat on him, and flew away in a flash, leaving Kuwagamon alone with Yun and all the residents of Fionn Village. All the Digimon decided to prepare themselves for battle.

"Let's squash this bug!" Yun exclaimed as she got her digivice out.

Lopmon digivolved to Turuiemon and Terriermon digivolved to Gargomon. Bucchiemon and Prairiemon were awestruck when they saw them digivolve with the light of Yun's digivice.

"Wow...so that's how a human and Digimon work in sync," Bucchiemon said.

"Yes. How beautiful..." Prairiemon muttered.

Suddenly, a flower-faced Digimon by the name of Kabukimon approached the two.

"We cannot just sit by and let them fight that thing alone! We must assist them!" Kabukimon exclaimed.

"You're right! Let's help them out! Everyone, charge!" Bucchiemon yelled as he, Kabukimon, and Prairiemon decided to help them out. The rest of the residents decided to help too, while one whale Digimon by the name of Orcamon decided to stay back and watch over the babies.

"Gargo Laser!"

"Ninja Fist!"

"Talon Arrow!" A pink, heart shaped arrow shot from Bucchiemon's finger and hit Kuwagamon in the face, making it screech in pain.

"Prairie Claw!" Prairiemon scratched Kuwagamon's face with one of her red claws.

"Cherry Blossom Storm!" A fierce blizzard of cherry blossom petals shot from Kabukimon's hands and hit Kuwagamon's wings.

"Double Strike!" A Digimon named Yasyamon hits Kuwagamon with it's kendo swords.

"Fire Cloud!" A Digimon named FlaWizardmon shoots a cloud of fire at Kuwagamon, setting it's wings ablaze.

Kuwagamon was finally brought to the ground.

"Do you see a Dark Emblem?" Yun asked.

"Yep! It's on it's chest!" Turuiemon reported back.

"Oh no! Watch out!" Yasyamon yelled as Kuwagamon rose back up from the ground and charged toward Yun.

"Trap Scissor!" Kuwagamon's horns pinned Yun against Bucchiemon's studio, where Orcamon and the babies are.

"Yun! No!" Gargomon and Turuiemon yelled as they witnessed Yun get pinned against the wall.

Yun, not wanting to become Kuwagamon's dinner, got her digivice out, turned it into a digisword, and attempted to stab Kuwagamon in the face with it. Unfortunately, it didn't work. The digisword is still too short to really hit Kuwagamon's face, and it was too heavy to throw at him and get a good hit either. Yun even tried to lash it with a digilasso, but even that didn't work. Kuwagamon roared loudly, which made Yun cover her ears, causing her to drop her digivice. Yun braced herself for the worst...until it happened.

"Prairie Claw!"

"Love Laser!"

Bucchiemon and Prairiemon attacked Kuwagamon right in the face, causing it to finally release Yun and set her free. Turuiemon came to her aid.

"Are you alright?" Turuiemon asked worriedly.

"Yeah. I'm fine," Yun replied.

"I'll take down that bug! Watch me!" Gargomon exclaimed as he charged at Kuwagamon like all the other residents of Fionn Village did.

The fight seemed to go on for hours. Despite the efforts of all the citizens of Fionn Village, Gargomon, and Turuiemon combined, Kuwagamon seemed too strong for all of them. They all fought and fought with all their might, but Kuwagamon seemed to be impervious to all of their attacks. But nobody gave up. They all kept on fighting with their relentless spirits. Soon, they fought enough for even Kuwagamon to be weakened a little. Yun decided to take this opportunity and stab Kuwagamon in the chest with her digisword.

Once Kuwagamon was too weak to move, all the Digimon held him up in just the right position so Yun could land a hit. With all her might she dredged the sword through Kuwagamon's thorax, making Kuwagamon roar in pain. Finally, the Dark Emblem disappeared into thin air, and Kuwagamon was freed from it's control...literally. Something was odd. Something happened afterward that confused Yun. Not only did Kuwagamon disappear, but so did Kuwagamon himself! He exploded into a puff of data, which gathered in a place on the ground, glew for a bit, and formed a red digiegg with black stripes on it. Yun approached it with a somewhat dejected and guilty look on her face.

"I guess we were too hard on it," Yun muttered. She stroke the digiegg gently.

"Sorry, Kuwagamon..." Yun muttered again.

"I don't think it's anything to be sorry about. Perhaps this is for the best. Besides, he's not gone forever. His life will begin anew," Lopmon said reassuringly, with a smile to go with it.

"Yeah. You're right. I have an idea," Yun replied with a smile of her own. She gently pulled the digiegg off of the ground and handed it to Bucchiemon.

"Here. He's yours," Yun said as she showed him the digiegg. Although reluctant at first, Bucchiemon took the egg from Yun and caressed it in his overgrown arms.

"Why?" He asked.

"We defeated him and got the Dark Emblem off of him. You take care of baby Digimon, don't you? Perhaps maybe you'll be able to raise this little one as well. Maybe teach him how to be good and kind," Yun explained. Bucchiemon looked at the egg for a bit, then at Yun and smiled brightly.

"I will," Bucchiemon said.

"I think it's a great idea! We have defeated Kuwagamon!" Prairiemon exclaimed happily and leaped into the air.

"HURRAH!"

All the citizens of Fionn Village cheered and rejoiced joyously. Yun, Lopmon, and Terriermon couldn't help but rejoice with them...until Lopmon became alarmed.

"Oh my!"

"What's wrong, Lopmon?" Yun asked.

"Look! Bucchiemon and Prairiemon!" Lopmon pointed to the two of them, who stopped upon hearing Lopmon's alarmed voice.

"What's the matter?" Prairiemon asked.

"You're..._glowing_!"

She was right. Bucchiemon looked down and noticed the blue gem on his chest is glowing. He also noticed that the black mark on Prairiemon's head is glowing too! Bucchiemon's gem glew bright pink while Prairiemon's mark glew a bright orange. Everybody watched with awe and wonder, wondering why such a thing is happening. Then, out of nowhere, two small orbs of light came from both Bucchiemon's gem and Prairiemon's head. They spun around each other at first, then floating toward Yun and landing in her hands. The pink light faded and formed a gem stone shaped like a pink heart. The light orange light faded and formed a gem stone in the form of a light orange diamond. Everyone looked at them and were stunned.

"Wow! What just happened?"

"I have no idea!"

"These are beautiful!"

"Are they the symbols of a connection between humans and Digimon?"

"Who knows?"

Nobody knew the answer until a certain Digimon blurted it out.

"Those are D-Chips!"

The voice came from Orcamon, the black whale Digimon with an orange life jacket and a red and white inner tube who has all the Digimon babies by her side.

"What are D-Chips?" Yun asked.

"Yeah! Tell us, Orcamon!" Bucchiemon asked.

"Gladly. See, I saw a human and a WarGreymon wandering around one day, and he called upon a Digimon named Sorcermon by putting one of those gem stones into his digivice and chanting some kind of chant he made up. He called them D-Chips, and I overheard him say that D-Chips are the symbols of connection between humans and Digimon who aren't really sole partners. The Digimon he calls upon with them are called secondary Digimon. How do you like that?" Orcamon explained lucidly so everyone could hear. Yun couldn't help but stare at the gem stones some more.

"So...Bucchiemon and Prairiemon are my secondary Digimon? Which means...I have more partners?" Yun muttered at first, then shouted the last sentence upon discovering the new revelation.

"I don't think it's a matter of total partnership," Prairiemon joined in. "I think you can only call upon us if you're in a bind or something like that."

"Yeah. I agree," Lopmon said.

"That or whenever," Terriermon said.

Yun looked down at her D-Chips and smiled.

"So it looks like I made some new friends!" Yun said. Bucchiemon suddenly took Yun by her hands.

"So we're partners now! What wonderful news! Come with me! To celebrate our new friendship, come to my house and join us for a banquet! We have the best selection! Everyone! Let us celebrate!" Bucchiemon said to Yun at first, then to everyone else.

"HURRAH!"

So, everyone prepared a special banquet for Yun, Terriermon, and Lopmon as gratitude for defeating Kuwagamon and saving Fionn Village from being destroyed a second time. It took about two hours for everyone to get their choices of food ready, but when they presented it, they made sure to make it look as good and presentable as possible. Yun wasn't used to having banquets in her honor since she didn't consider herself the honorable and noble type, but she couldn't help but love the food they cooked. It was delicious. Lopmon and Terriermon too. Yun knew she liked Fionn Village from the beginning, but she never knew it would suddenly turn up like this. She felt appreciated and loved, and this was what she wanted for a long time.

But at one point, Yun was letting Prairiemon look at her digivice.

"Hmmm...this is quite the interesting little trinket here," Prairiemon murmured as she inspected all aspects of the egg-shaped digivice.

"Yeah. It is," Yun said.

"Prairiemon! Can you help me with this! The Digi-Putty's being difficult!" Kabukimon yelled from the other side of the house.

"Be right there, dearie!" Prairiemon cooed as she was about to attend to Kabukimon's sudden Digi-Putty trouble...when the digivice suddenly slipped out of her claws.

It fell...and it flipped open. Yun tried to catch it, but she was too late. All of a sudden, the front of the digivice flipped open like a cell phone. Shocked, Yun kneeled to it and picked it up. She was surprised with what she saw. Now it resembled a really big and bulky cell phone. The top part of the digivice, the one with the small screen and buttons on the front, now has a big egg-shaped screen. The bottom part, with nothing on the back at all except a small black rectangle with a silver lens on it, is now a screen full of little buttons, a little keyboards with all the letters, numbers, the space button, and the grammar buttons and all, and two small circles on both sides of it and another circle on the very bottom. On the buttons are pictures of an egg, a camera, a comic strip bubble, a phone, a letter, two circles with an arrow in between them, a door, the letters DD, a video camera, a crossroad sign, a big S button, a black hexagon almost resembling a Dark Emblem, and a magnifying glass. There are also two quarter circle shaped buttons on both sides of the egg. The one on the left has the letter L on it while the one on the right has the # sign on it. Yun stared at everything with awe and wonder, and so did Terriermon, Lopmon, Prairiemon, and Bucchiemon.

"Whoa! Where did all this come from?" Yun asked herself.

"Beats me! Let's see it!" Terriermon exclaimed.

"Wow! I guess my little accident turned out to be a good thing after all!" Prairiemon said in her pretty voice.

On compulsion, Yun pressed the button with DD on it, and she was surprised to find it was a list of all the Digimon she encountered! Lopmon, Terriermon, Goblimon, BlackAgumon, Drimogemon, Dokugumon, etc. Even her friends' Digimon and all their other forms (well, not ALL of them) are listed! She scrolled down and pressed the entry featuring MarineAngemon, and it displayed ALL of her info, attacks, forms, etc. Yun went back to the original stats and pressed the crossroad button and out popped a map of the entire Digital World. Yun could tell it was the Digital World because the landscapes and continents and structures all looked different. She played around with it and found Fionn Village on the map. After that, she pressed the button with the hexagon on it and it displayed a list of all the Digimon who had Dark Emblems on them. Kuwagamon, Moosemon, Drimogemon, Goblimon, Dokugumon, Mothmon, etc. Yun was so surprised.

"Woooow! This is awesome! My digivice can do everything! I can't believe I never noticed this until now!" Yun exclaimed happily.

"Perhaps the digivice is more than it appears!" Lopmon exclaimed.

"Do you think maybe humans made it?" Prairiemon asked.

"Who knows. But it sure is interesting!" Bucchiemon replied.

Terriermon noticed one button that caught his interest.

"What's this thing do?" Terriermon asked as he slapped his paw on the button with the door picture on it.

Suddenly, the ground beneath Yun, Terriermon, and Lopmon disappeared. Bucchiemon saw it right away.

"Whoa! Is that a digital hole?"

The two rabbits and Yun looked down, and saw the white digital hole below them. Then..._WHOOSH!_

"Gyaaaah!" All three of them shouted as they fell in.

"Yun!" Bucchiemon tried to go after them, but Prairiemon held him back.

_Back in the real world..._

"Yun!" Minako yelled as she watched Yun fall into the Digital Hole.

"She's gone! Nyan!" Gatomon meowed.

But a few seconds after the digital hole disappeared, it re-appeared, and it spat Yun, Lopmon, and Terriermon out like they were vomit and disappeared in that same amount of time! Yun, Lopmon, and Terriermon fell right in front of Minako and Gatomon, who were shocked by their second long disappearance and re-appearance.

"Yun! Oh my God!" Minako yelped.

"Nyan! You came back!" Gatomon meowed happily. Yun, Lopmon, and Terriermon got themselves off of the ground and helped themselves up.

"Whoa! Are we...back in the human world?" Lopmon asked.

"It seems we are!" Yun exclaimed, then scooped Terriermon into her arms and squeezed him. "You're a genius, Terriermon! You did it! You got us back!"

"B-B-But all I did...was press the door button!" Terriermon replied as he was being suffocated by Yun's loving embrace.

"What door button?" Minako asked.

"Oh! Mina-chan! I've GOT to show you!" Yun showed Minako her digivice and all the buttons and capabilities it has.

"Whoa! Our digivices can do that?" Minako yelped.

"Yeah! A Digimon I met dropped it and it just suddenly opened! I don't know how it works, but it's sooo awesome!" Yun explained. Yun was so excited that she failed to notice Lopmon and Terriermon glowing behind her back.

"You're right! I'll have to do some research on this tomorrow morning!" Minako replied.

"Oh! Oh! I just decided! Emergency Digimon Brigade meeting tomorrow evening at around three-ish!" Yun edicted.

Minako was a little swayed by Yun's excitement, but knowing the discovery she made, she had to go along with it. "Sure! I'll let everyone know about it once we get home!"

Gatomon saw something else.

"Yun-chan?"

"What?"

Gatomon pointed behind her. Yun turned around and saw that, much to her surprise, Lopmon and Terriermon had de-digivolved back into Kokomon and Gummymon! Even they noticed this.

"We de-digivolved!" Kokomon exclaimed.

"Guess this is what happens when we leave the Digital World after a battle. Awesome!" Gummymon exclaimed.

Despite this sudden change, Yun smiled and scooped the cute little blobs into her arms and hugged them.

Soon, Minako, Yun, Salamon (who de-digivolved), Kokomon, and Gummymon finally went back to Minako's house. Yun got her stuff together and called for her mother so she can be picked up. A few minutes later, Hisako came and took the three of them back home. Yun was just so excited about her digivice and it's new capabilities that she played with it throughout the night and was going to do it the next morning.

But she was unaware of what was going to happen tomorrow morning. A very special encounter was waiting for her.

Author's Note: Yay! I finished chapter 15! And yeah, sorry if I didn't delve that deep into the Digital World. I will soon! I promise! But it won't be until much later. How'd you like it? Awesome, wasn't it? Well, I better run now. I'm gonna watch an episode of Bunny Drop! I'll see you all later! Bye-bee!


	16. The Boy With a Constellation's Name

Author's Note: Hello everyone! It's me, Firechick! I start college in two days. Happy Labor Day weekend! What are you all gonna do besides prepare for school? I wonder what my college will be like? Anyway, fans of Rozen Maiden can rejoice because Sentai Filmworks is gonna re-release both anime seasons along with a brand new release of the OVA, Overture! I need to get the final two DVDs of Traumend! Well, I better start getting back to working on this! Ladies and gentlemen, heeeeeeeeeere's chapter 16 of Digimon: A Seraphic Tale!

EPISODE 16: The Boy With a Constellation's Name

The weekend has come once again for not just Yun, Lucero, Kokomon, and Gummymon, but for all kids, especially those who hated school with a passion. Yun had woken up earlier than the others. At around 6:40 AM. She went to the basement, got on her dad's computer, listened to music for a while, updated some of her storie, and got off. After that, she decided to draw some pictures at her very messy and unkempt drawing table. She had finished her drawing featuring Kokomon and Gummymon, and now she's working on one with Lucero on it. Of course, it's still in it's beginning stages. After about 20 minutes, Yun decided to take a break from drawing and went back upstairs. When she arrived in the kitchen, she saw little Kokomon standing there, comfortably wrapped in one of Yun's blankets, even though it's much too big for her. Yun noticed this and smiled.

"Good morning, Kokomon!" Yun cooed sweetly as she kneeled before the little pink blob.

"Morning," Kokomon replied just as sweetly. Touched, Yun gently caressed the little pink blob and wrapped her in her arms.

"You're up early," Yun said.

"I noticed you were gone," Kokomon replied.

"Nah. I was just in the basement working on some stuff," Yun said quietly and reassuringly.

"You working on your school project?" Kokomon asked.

"It's already finished! I plan on turning it in on Monday," Yun replied.

"I think you'll win! Your project's beautiful!" Kokomon told her, which made Yun blush a bit.

"Oh, no no. I don't think I'll win at all," Yun said.

"Oh! Yun! I notice you sleep with this blanket every day. Why is that?" Kokomon asked, pulling part of the blanket she's wrapped in with her mouth. Yun took little Kokomon into the living room and sat down on the couch with her.

Yun took Kokomon out of the blanket and set her down on her lap. Yun unfolded the blanket so she could get a better look at it. It's two feet smaller than Yun and it's mostly white, but has little angels with blonde hair, white wings, and smiling faces embroidered on the top left and bottom right parts of it. There are also yellow stars and little red hearts embroidered around it. In the very middle are the words _'Little Angel'_ in English in multifarious colors, like pink, blue, purple, light green, etc. Yun folded the blanket back up and held it close to her chest.

"Mom says when I was first born, I was wrapped in this very blanket. She says it was made by my grandmother's friend. I've never met her friend, and I don't know her name, but I guess I've held on to this thing a lot. I don't sleep without it," Yun explained.

"But you're not a baby anymore, right?" Kokomon asked.

"Yes, but I can't help but cherish this thing. I guess you could say it's the only memory I have of my birth," Yun replied.

"It's cute!" Kokomon piped in.

"It is! And it's soft too! If you want, I could wrap you and Gummymon in this thing!" Yun exclaimed with a smile.

And speaking of Gummymon, he just so happened to trot into the living room, looking kinda weary and not all that awake just yet.

"Mornin'..." Gummymon murmured with his little beady eyes only half open. Yun walked up to him, picked him up, put him and Kokomon into the blanket, and wrapped the two little blobs in it. The two little blobs closed their eyes and fell back asleep. Yun held them and closed her eyes as well, but not to sleep.

Yun laid against the couch, holding her two little friends in her cherished infant blanket like a mother who is holding her newborn child for the first time. As Yun drifted off to dreamland for a bit, she remembered very lucidly the day she first met Kokomon and Gummymon. Yun had finally let the thought of having Digimon partners for real sink in. It had been about two weeks since she met her new friends, and boy had they come at the right time for her! Yun was loving every single minute she spent with her Digimon, and cherished them as if they were real pieces of heaven itself. Yun would never want to trade them for anything else. Nothing else in the world seemed that important to her than Kokomon and Gummymon anymore. Not only that, Yun was excited. Excited for today's Digimon Brigade meeting. Her mind was a whirlwind of happy thoughts just waiting to burst open like an erupting volcano at any moment. She couldn't wait to tell all her friends about her trip to the Digital World, the D-Chips, the digivice and all the things it can do. She couldn't wait for today.

Unfortunately, she was unaware that the meeting she looked forward to was going to have to wait much longer than expected. It seemed destiny had other plans for Yun.

At around 9:00 AM, Yun, Kokomon, and Gummymon sat down to watch an episode of Pokemon. After that, Yun got dressed. She dressed in a short sleeved white shirt, a red sleeveless hoodie with a zipper, and her blue capris. She played with Kokomon and Gummymon like no tomorrow. Soon, Lucero had joined the little play date. He put on a sleeveless dark green shirt and beige khaki shorts. They were having a lot of fun. Teruki was watching them with a smile while reading the paper at the kitchen table. Hisako was busy prepping herself up in the bathroom. Ayaka was still asleep in bed. But even after Yun continued to play with her friends, she desperately wanted that Digimon Brigade meeting to start so she can explode like a bomb and tell everyone about the stuff she discovered and the things she experienced. Right now, she, Lucero, Kokomon, and Gummymon are in Yun's room, looking at Yun's yearbook from 2010.

"Is that thou?" Lucero asked curiously, pointing to a picture of a rather straight-faced Yun in a page full of pictures of kids' faces.

"Yep! That's me!" Yun replied.

"Wow! You didn't change one bit!" Gummymon exclaimed.

"I don't ever wanna change! Not ever!" Yun said.

"But don't you ever want to grow your hair out or put it up?" Kokomon asked.

"Nope! I NEVER put my hair up! EVER! And I don't ever want to do so!" Yun replied sharply.

"I see. Okay then. If you don't want to change how you look, that's perfectly fine with me," Kokomon said.

"Doth thy school make yearbooks every year?" Lucero asked.

"Yep! It's a tradition for all schools. It's been like that for years and years," Yun replied.

"I'd love it if I was in something that would take place forever and ever," Gummymon said.

"We can always take pictures with cell phones and digivices, right?" Kokomon said.

"That's true! We can!" Yun said.

It's here that Yun suddenly saw Hisako come into the room, looking very prepped up. She is wearing a sleeveless cream white blouse along with a violet purple skirt that goes to her knees, black Chinese slippers, a bracelet made of pink quartzes with a heart hanging from it, two ruby earrings, and a sapphire necklace with a silver chain. Yun couldn't help but notice.

"Yun?"

"Yeah?"

"You might want to brush your hair and teeth and put your shoes on."

"Why?" Now Yun was confused.

"Because a friend of mine at work has just moved into the area two days ago, and I want to go over and get her settled in. Plus she's having a little moving in party. I want you to come with me. We leave at eleven," Hisako said.

This made Yun's eyes wide and her jaw drop to the floor. A party? Her mom's friend is having a moving in party? Today? At eleven? And she wants Yun to come with her? Yun couldn't understand. Why? Why does she have to go?

"Mom? Why do I have to go?" Yun asked politely.

"It's just to get you out of the house for a bit. Plus we won't stay there long," Hisako told her.

"But I am gonna get out of the house today! My friends and I are having a Digimon Brigade meeting today at three!" Yun retorted.

"We'll be back by then!" Hisako said. But Yun didn't look convinced. Not one bit.

"You say that but then lots of time passes and we don't get home by the set time at all!" Yun sneered a bit, putting down her yearbook.

"Yun. It'll be fine. Besides, Ayaka's gonna be home all day today," Hisako whispered.

At first, Yun was a bit confused as to why Hisako would tell her this. But then the answer pounded on her ears like the beginning of a horrid rap concert.

"Suzuki! I told you already we're not friends anymore! Can't you take a hint?"

Yun could feel extraneous and potential pressure amassing onto her heart. She sighed.

"On second thought...maybe I'll go after all," Yun muttered. "But! On one condition! Can I take Lucero, Kokomon, and Gummymon with me?"

Hisako nodded. "Sure. I don't mind. But be sure to hide them so nobody finds out what they really are. And if you want you can bring your games."

Then, Hisako left the living room. Yun got her digivice out.

"Yun? What art thou doing?" Lucero asked.

"Texting Mina-chan and letting her know the meeting's gonna be re-scheduled for tomorrow," Yun said as she began typing out her newly formed text into her digivice.

"But Hisako-dono said we might be home by three," Lucero said.

"She says we'll be back by certain times a lot, but then the events go on and on and we end up not getting back by then at all! So I'm doing this as a pre-caution," Yun said as she finished typing out her text to Minako.

It read:

**_Mina-chan. It's me, Yun. Mom's making me go to a friend's party so I can't make today's Digimon Brigade meeting! SORRY! She didn't tell me about it beforehand! I'm so mad! You're probably mad too. Would tomorrow at around noon be better? A million sorries!_**

Yun pressed the send button and it was sent successfully.

Deciding not to make a huge fuss about the sudden announcement, Yun decided to prepare. She brushed her hair and teeth, put her silver Nintendo DS and some games and a book into a small green purse that Rena had gotten her for her 10th birthday (which is also good enough to fit Kokomon and Gummymon in so long as she didn't zip it up), put on a pair of black socks with white, pink, and red hearts on them, put on her white sneakers, and put two packs of fruit snacks into her pockets. Lucero did the same. He didn't understand what was going on and did not make a fuss, but so long as Yun was by his side, he chose not to worry about it. Yun also put her digivice in her pocket so she wouldn't lose it.

And speaking of her digivice, as Yun, Lucero, Kokomon, and Gummymon waited for Hisako to come into the living room and tell them that it's time to go, Yun noticed a button on her digivice blinking. Yun flipped open the digivice and was relieved to see a text from Minako.

It read:

**_Morning Yun! It's alright. Stuff like that happens all the time. You actually picked a really good time to tell me this because I was planning on texting everyone about it at around eleven! I didn't get the chance to do so right now. Thanks a lot for letting me know! And I'm not mad. I'll ask everyone if tomorrow at noon will be good. Thanks!_**

Yun felt relieved reading the text. It seems Yun really did pick a good time to text Minako about it since Minako was planning on letting everyone know about the original Digimon Brigade meeting date. Now she had nothing to worry about. And at the same time, she was thinking about something else. Maybe this whole party idea won't be such a bad idea. Especially since Ayaka's going to be home all day and might do a LOT of yelling, and Yun hated the sound of yelling and screaming. Perhaps this will be good for Yun. Later, 11:00 AM came and Hisako put everyone in the car. Both Yun and Lucero sat in the back seat. Yun held onto her purse, which as Kokomon and Gummymon in it. In a few minutes, the car slowly drove away from the drive way and onto the streets.

Yun looked outside upon seeing the car leave the drive way and observed all the scenery running past her. She saw the houses, the trees, the birds flying around, the telephone wires, satellite dishes on people's houses, cars, bikes, a group of kids playing basketball in their backyard, everything. She lifted her purse up so Kokomon and Gummymon could see all the scenery too, and they loved it. A few minutes passed, and upon feeling the car suddenly stop in front of a traditional Japanese house, Yun realized that the trip wasn't as big as she thought. Much to her surprise, Yun realized they're on Senko Avenue, which intertwines with Kin Avenue, which is where Aria lives. Yun couldn't believe how close this house was to Aria's house, even though their houses are starkly different from one another.

The plate on the front of the gate read _'Kamitsure'_, possibly the surname of the people living here. Yun was surprised with how traditional the house looked. She had seen traditional Japanese houses before, but those were mostly on TV. She never expected to see one in real life, let alone have one so close to where she lives! The roof is thatched in an old style, and the walls and partitions look to be made of wood and paper, possibly having those sliding doors called fusuma too. Yun could see immediately that one part of the house leads to a full on tatami room with shoji, which are very thin paper doors that allow light to permeate them and light up the room. Hisako opened the gate and walked on a little stone path that lead to the front porch. Yun and Lucero followed her without a word...and then Yun turned her head to her left and saw the garden.

And a boy.

A boy is standing in front of a garden full of white star flowers and holding a few of them in his land...and he just so happened to lock eyes with Yun. Both of them were frozen in place. Yun couldn't believe her eyes. There's a boy in the garden looking at her. A very slim and thin boy, almost emaciated looking, with a head of thick, dark chocolatey brown hair covered by an indigo blue snow hat. Parts of it stuck out from his hat, but he did not seem very cognizant of this fact. Round, clear, coke bottle glasses only barely concealed a set of cobalt blue eyes, eyes that looked as though they were a mixture of blue and grey. His eyes didn't look very lively or animated. In fact, quite the contrary! Hollow and almost listless and apathetic, they looked, but at the same time, full of surprise because of Yun's presence. His skin is just as white as Yun's, like snow and porcelain. There wasn't one blemish on his skin. Not one freckle, not one little bump, not one scratch, nothing. The boy's skin was just as flawless as Lucero's (Yun's wasn't exactly flawless, but it wasn't bad or squalid either). The boy is wearing a green and dark blue rugby polo shirt and a pair of strikingly pale blue pants. Yun had never seen pants like them, pants that were so pale blue that they almost looked white. Was it called cloud blue? She didn't know. The boy also wore black and white sneakers and dark blue socks.

But what Yun noticed the most was the white and yellow thing wrapped around his neck.

At first glance, one would think it was a scarf or even a stuffed animal, mostly a stuffed animal. A stuffed white weasel with intricate yellow markings all over it. But something about that stuffed animal wasn't right. It didn't look...fake. That was it. It wasn't fake. Even Yun could see this very well. Suddenly, the boy opened his mouth just a little bit, almost as if he wanted to speak. Yun had suspicions, and she decided to try and confirm them by talking to the boy.

"Umm...Hi!" Yun blurted out finally.

Unfortunately, the boy didn't respond. He simply ran back into the house, still holding the white star flowers in his hand. Yun sighed despondently and ruefully. Lucero put a hand on her shoulder.

"What's wrong?" Lucero asked kindly.

"I think I scared him," Yun muttered.

"Maybe he's just shy," Kokomon piped in.

"Could be! But he doesn't look like much," Gummymon muttered.

While Yun became slightly overcome with feelings of dejection and despondency, Hisako was overcome with nothing but absolute joy and excitement, especially when she saw a woman come out from the house. About Hisako's age, with curly dark brown hair going down her shoulders and dark green eyes, wearing nothing but a short sleeved red violet shirt, beige jean pants, and maroon shoes.

"Kamitsure-san?"

"Oh my! Wakamiya-san! Hi!"

The two women embraced each other, squealing and acting like long lost friends who had not seen each other for the longest time. They hugged and exchanged happy greetings.

"Wow! It's been such a long time! How've you been, Kamitsure-san?" Hisako asked.

"I've been well, thanks! And I thought I told you to call me Aki while we're not at work!" The woman, Kamitsure Aki, exclaimed happily and joyously.

"Sorry, Aki," Hisako said.

"It's alright...Oh? Now who're they?" Aki exclaimed once she caught sight of Lucero and Yun.

Knowing that Aki saw her, Yun tensed up while Lucero said nothing.

"This is my daughter, Yun, and my adopted son, Lucero. Yun, say hi," Hisako said to Aki at first as she introduced them, then to Yun. Yun could feel her insides doing backflips.

"Hi..." Yun muttered very shyly. Aki clasped her hands together.

"Wow! You're so pretty! You look just like my daughter Airi when she was your age!" Aki exclaimed happily.

"Th-Thanks..." Yun muttered again. Aki then turned to Lucero.

"Wow! Aren't you a handsome cookie!" Aki exclaimed. Lucero was taken aback by Aki's compliment.

"Nice to meet thee, ma'am. But cookies are food," Lucero replied.

"Yes yes, I get the picture! Come in! Come in! My husband's passing out food to the other guests as I speak!" Aki said as she escorted everyone into the house.

Lucero and Yun saw that there are a lot of women in the main room, talking amongst themselves and eating the food samples that a man is passing out. Yun plodded into the room and watched everything happen around her. Aki was too busy introducing her husband, the person passing out the food, to Hisako. Yun sat down and decided to play her Nintendo DS while everyone else minded their own business. After about a few minutes, Yun started to feel like she's being watched. Yun turned around and saw the boy peeking out from one of the hallways, observing her with indifferent but interested eyes. But right when she laid eyes on him, he gasped and ran away again. Yun was surprised. This boy is more taciturn and diffident than she and Lucero are combined! Yun couldn't help but feel a little curious about the boy. Lucero suddenly noticed Yun spacing out.

"Yun? Something wrong?" Lucero asked.

"Wha? Oh! Nothing," Yun muttered. Kokomon and Gummymon remained silent throughout the whole thing, though Gummymon is starting to become rather impatient.

Yun wanted to continue playing her Nintendo DS happily, peacefully, and without interruption, but didn't get the chance to do so. A loud, high-pitched shriek came right into the room, along with another shriek. Yun covered her ears, turned around, and saw two little girls fighting over a toy, which scared the other guests as well. One girl has a mass of curly light brown hair while the other one has them in pig tails. Both looked to be about four to six years old in age. Yun tensed up even further. Aki suddenly saw the little fracas and proceeded to break them up.

"Ack! Kimi! Nene! I thought I told you two to not fight over toys!" Aki pulled the two girls apart and took away the toy truck that they were fighting over. Aki then scooped the curly haired girl, Nene, into her arms and lifted her up. She bowed before the guests. The girl she wrapped in her arm screamed again.

"Sorry about this!" Aki exclaimed as she bowed before them. Suddenly, the pig tailed girl, Kimi, lit up upon catching sight of Kokomon and Gummymon and ran toward them. Lucero tried to stop her, but she kept struggling.

"Dollies! I want the dollies!" Kimi yelled.

"No! They're not...thine!" Lucero told her, even though he messed up his own dialect. Unfortunately, Kimi got away from Lucero's clutches and literally pulled Kokomon out of the bag and began playing with her. Yun gasped.

"Hey! Give her back!" Yun yelled as she tried to take Kimi's tiny but strong hands off of the poor, defenseless Kokomon. Unfortunately, Kimi was NOT giving up.

"No! Mine!"

"It's mine! Give her back!"

"No!"

Kimi and Yun fought over Kokomon, who was now grimacing in pain. Hisako and Aki tried to break them up and get Kokomon out of Kimi's little hands, but it seemed Kimi was willing to do just about anything to get what she wanted. She bit Aki and grabbed Kokomon again, but this time much harder than before. Yun wanted to cover her ears (because of Kimi's high-pitched screaming) and save Kokomon without getting her hurt or making Kimi cry. Unfortunately, Yun has had just about enough. She literally ripped Kokomon from Kimi's hands in a paroxysm of anger.

_"LET GO OF HER, YOU STUPID BRAT!"_

Yun screamed as loud as her lungs could muster, leaving practically everyone in the room silent and speechless. She held the scared and frightened little Kokomon in her arms tightly, away from Kimi's reach. Yun stared down at the speechless Kimi with a very choleric and ferocious look in her eyes, like that of a lion wanting to pounce on it's prey at any moment. The entire room was dead with silence...but Kimi finally started to cry. Loudly.

"_Bweeeeh!_ You're a big fat meanie!" Kimi squealed through her tears, which made Yun frightened.

"Kimi!" Aki took the crying Kimi away by the hand, but Yun took Kokomon and Gummymon and ran away. The guests immediately started talking and gossiping as Aki took the two crying girls back to their rooms.

Meanwhile, Yun managed to find the backyard, which was confined by a fence. Yun could see a nice, thick, green bush of morning glory vines covering one part of a fence like a blanket. But she wasn't enjoying it, nor did she want to. Her ears were still ringing because of the children screaming earlier, and her heart began to feel heavy with bricks of guilt because of making Kimi cry. She didn't mean to snap at her like that or to make her cry, but what else could she have done to make Kimi realize that Kokomon wasn't hers? How would a little four year old girl take an eleven year old seriously? Yun held onto Kokomon and Gummymon tightly and silently shed tears herself. Kokomon and Gummymon felt very bad because of what happened, even though they knew if they did anything people would see and find out they were Digimon. But still, it was hard to watch Yun suffer.

Yun hugged her little friends tightly. Yun absolutely hated young children, especially babies or bratty kids who cried and whined incessantly over the littlest things possible. And to her, Kimi and Nene were those very children. Aria was one thing, since she's seven years old and has possibly been brought up right and knows that what belongs to other people don't belong to her. Yun loathed being in the presence of crying babies and young children who shrieked and yelled and stole things from others. Yun was convinced that her very presence frightened babies and young children as if they perceived her as some scary monster about to eat them. Not only that, Yun is also convinced that they hate her simply for existing. Sure, it's normal for babies to cry and kids to behave rather inappropriately at times, but Yun couldn't deal with things like that. She can't handle the crying, the loud shrieks, their inappropriate behavior, all of those things. Yun cried not just because she let herself succumb to Kimi's brattiness, but because she made Kimi cry, and that basically proved why Yun hates kids. Yun is convinced her very presence makes kids cry. Yun wanted to ask for Kimi's forgiveness, but she assumed that just saying sorry wouldn't help anything. Why would a little four year old girl forgive an eleven year old for yelling at her? No way would that happen! Yun convinced herself that there was no way a child would forgive Yun for making her cry.

Kokomon was the first to speak.

"You okay?" She cooed quietly.

"No! I'm not! I can't believe Mom took me here!" Yun muttered.

"She didn't know," Gummymon said.

Yun sighed abjectly. "Yeah. I know. It's not her fault. But still! I hate little babies and little kids! They hate my guts!"

"Do they really?" Gummymon asked.

"YES! Yes they do! They all do!" Yun yelped.

"Ummm...I do think you yelling wasn't the best way to handle it, but thanks for saving me," Kokomon said.

"I know. But how else can you make a whiny little kid take you seriously about stealing someone else's stuff? Like I said, all little kids and babies hate my existence! And besides, even if I say sorry they'll never forgive me!" Yun said.

"How do you know?" Kokomon asked.

"I just do!" Yun replied back sharply.

Yun sighed again and shed some more tears while clinging to Kokomon and Gummymon. But Yun was oblivious to the fact that the boy from earlier is standing in front of the morning glory vines! And looking at her! He still has the white star flowers in his hand but he looked at Yun, who is oblivious to his presence. But instead of his eyes being full of apathy and listlessness, he looked at Yun with an almost caring and sympathetic look in his eyes. He even saw Yun's tears a little bit. Feeling a little flame of compassion and empathy buring in the dark and apathetic ocean that is his heart, he very slowly and silently ambled toward the sniveling Yun. He stood in front of her for a few minutes, then bent forward and gently tapped Yun on the arm with his hand. Yun stopped whimpering and looked up. She was surprised to find the boy standing right in front of her.

At first, Yun was frightened. Her mind was filling up with worry. Did the boy hear her conversation between Kokomon and Gummymon? Does he now know that they're real? Yun's mind was wracked with bad thoughts, but the boy said nothing. He continued to look at her with eyes full of empathy and compassion. As Yun looked at him, she also noticed the little white weasel stuffed animal still wrapped around his neck. She saw that the stuffed animal's ears have black tips, along with a little pink nose with the same pinkness as Kokomon, striking gold eyes like the sun and it's golden effulgence, and a little orange earring on it's left ear. Suddenly, Yun saw white flowers presented before her. The boy looked at her and showed her the flowers. Yun saw his face and she could see that he has a look that's saying, _'Don't cry. Please accept these flowers.'_ Yun was a little reluctant to accept them at first, but seeing the compassion in the boy's eyes, Yun very slowly took them. She smiled just a little bit.

"Thank you," Yun muttered. The boy nodded and turned to look at the morning glory vines, which have now closed up (or, have been for quite a while). Yun suddenly gathered an interest in looking at them with him. She stood up and ambled toward the vines. She stood right next to the boy and smiled at the thick and tall vines enveloping the big wooden fence.

"These are morning glories, aren't they?" Yun asked.

The boy nodded. Yun decided to continue the conversation.

"I have a fence full of them in my backyard too. They're all blue. Blue's one of my favorite colors," Yun said.

The boy said nothing.

"They're beautiful. I like looking at them," Yun said.

She expected the boy to say nothing, but...

"White."

"Eh?"

"The ones here are white."

Yun gasped. The boy spoke! Although his voice was very low, Yun could tell he had sort of hit puberty early and that his voice has a sort of low and somewhat nerdy tone to it, but it was also nice and dulcet-sounding too. Yun smiled.

"I didn't know there were white morning glories. I'm sure these must be pretty too!" Yun said.

The response she got after this statement was something she NEVER expected.

"The morning glory is a common name for over 1,000 species of flowering plants in the Convolvulaceae family whose current taxonomy and systematics is in flux. Morning glory species belong to many genera, some of which are calystegia, convolvulus, ipomoea, merremia, rivea, astripomoea, operculina, stictocardia, argyreia, and lepistemon."

This was only the very beginning of the boy's long, long, LONG and graphically detailed explanation about morning glories. In fact, he talked and talked and talked about even the very detailed aspects of morning glories and their origins. Yun was flabbergasted. Even though this boy is speaking in a very low and timid voice, she was surprised he could even speak at all. She liked the sound of his voice. As the boy got further into the explanation, Yun suddenly started eyeing the little white stuffed animal wrapped around the boy's neck. The boy didn't notice, but Yun looked at the white weasel for a bit.

That's when her suspicions got confirmed.

One of it's eyes moved. It looked right at her, without moving one inch of it's body.

Yun tensed up a bit and looked away. But after a second, she looked at the boy's pocket and saw something shocking. An egg-shaped thing with a silver strap and a gold ring on it.

_'It's a digivice! So I was right after all! That white thing's a-'_ Yun thought, but her thinking was interrupted when the boy finally stopped talking and turned to look at Yun with a straight face.

"I heard you yelling," The boy said. When Yun heard the word yelling, she assumed he was talking about the incident from earlier.

"Oh! Did you? I'm sorry! It's just...your little sister took one of my stuffed animals and wasn't being nice. I didn't mean for you to-" Yun explained, but she was unexpectedly cut off by a very strange and almost undeniably caustic statement.

"She's not my sister."

This left Yun speechless, other than a little "Eh?" coming out from her mouth.

"She's not my sister. She never was my sister and never will be. None of them are. That man who's passing out food...he's not even my real father. Just a man who my mother married," The boy said again.

Yun was so confused. The boy talked about Kimi like she was some freeloader who was taking up space and irritating him out of his mind. Why in the world would this boy say something like that? Sure, Kimi wasn't exactly the best little kid to know and probably not the best sister to have either, but she was still human. But this boy...he made her and the others sound...inhuman. But Yun refused to say this out of fear that she might accidentally anger him. She couldn't picture him being angry, and she did not want to know what it was like either. So she decided to move on to something else.

"Ummm...Oh! My name's Wakamiya Yun. What's your name?" Yun introduced herself as politely as she could. Thankfully, the boy's solemn face softened just a little bit.

"My name is-" The boy was about to say his name.

But someone else did it for it.

"Hokuto! Lunch is ready! And Airi needs your assistance!" It was Aki who called out to him.

The boy, Hokuto, finally darted back into the house. Yun, Kokomon, and Gummymon were left alone in the backyard. Yun could hear one of the little girls crying again, but she was too stunned by the sound of his name.

_'Hokuto? His name's Hokuto? Hokuto like the constellation? Big Dipper? Oh wow! Hokuto means Big Dipper! He's named after the constellation? Awesome!'_ Yun thought. She never dreamed of meeting someone who's named after a cluster of stars, let alone the Big Dipper of all things.

Suddenly, Lucero and Hisako both appeared and approached Yun.

"Yun! Art thou alright?" Lucero asked kindly.

"Yes. I'm fine now. Thank you," Yun replied quietly. Hisako, with a worried look on her face, put a hand on Yun's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, dear. For putting you through something like that," Hisako muttered.

"It's alright. You didn't know," Yun told her.

"That's true. But I really must say...I don't think it was very nice of you to call Kimi a stupid brat, Yun," Hisako said with a more solemn expression now.

"I'm sorry! But how else was I gonna make her let go of Kokomon? And she kept screaming and crying too!" Yun said.

"You have a point, but there are better ways to handle the situation, and calling names isn't one of them," Hisako reproved her calmly.

"I know, and I'm sorry. Now you see! All little kids hate my guts!" Yun said.

"That's not true."

"Yes it is! She even called me a big fat meanie!"

"I do agree it wasn't nice of her to take Kokomon and call you names and I'm sorry you had to go through this, but please let us adults handle situations like that from now on?"

"She wouldn't have listened anyhow."

"She would've."

Yun wanted to say "How do you know?" but Hisako would counterargue by saying she's raised two kids. Hisako had a point. She couldn't deny it. As much as Yun hated little kids, even she had to acknowledge her own wrongdoing, even if she didn't mean for it to happen on purpose. But the damage had been done and it couldn't be helped. Yun knew this well. Lucero smiled gently at her and rubbed her back in a consoling and kind way. Kokomon and Gummymon kissed both her cheeks. These small gestures were to let Yun know that it's not the end of the world. Yun relished these kind gestures greatly.

But one thing did catch her interest though, and it was enough to make her stay at the Kamitsure house for a bit longer: Hokuto.

A while later, everyone gathered at the table, ate food, and talked amongst themselves. Yun sat in between Hisako and Lucero so she wouldn't have to deal with the other guests, who were very likely to question her and talk to her if she were to sit next to them. The only food that Yun ate were carrots. Only carrots. That's it. Yun didn't like the other foods that were presented at the table. Celery was the worst of them. But she also made sure to give Kokomon and Gummymon some food too. Kokomon requested carrots while Gummymon requested the pieces of watermelon. Thankfully, nobody was cognizant of the fact that Kokomon and Gummymon are real and are Digimon too. Yun thanked her lucky stars for making sure they made it unscathed, at least. Out of boredom, she turned around.

And there he was, Kamitsure Hokuto, sitting at the corner and facing the garden, manipulating string with his fingers. Cat's Cradle it was called. Yun knew of this well, but never really understood why people called it Cat's Cradle. But what she saw next to him made her cringe. There was Nene, the six year old little curly-headed girl who is Kimi's sister, who is also kinda bratty and inappropriately behaved. The little girl watched as Hokuto manipulated string without difficulty and with utmost devotion. Yun assumed that Cat's Cradle was his favorite diversion, but also had an aversion to his little sisters (if he ever called them that). The little white weasel didn't move an inch, even as Nene is looking at it. And Nene certainly became interested in the string.

"Hey! Can I play with it?" Nene asked in a high voice.

Hokuto said nothing.

"I'm talkin' to ya! Lemme play with it!" Nene exclaimed, becoming a tad choleric.

Hokuto shook his head. This made Nene angry. She literally snatched Hokuto's string right out of his hands.

"Gimme! Mine!"

Yun and Lucero gasped when they both saw this. Not wanting to let Nene get away with her transgression, Yun got up and stood before her.

"That's Hokuto's string! Give it back!" Yun edicted sternly, standing before Nene with arms akimbo and a very strict expression on her face.

Nene wanted to yell and scream like Kimi did, but unlike Kimi, she knew that if she screamed and yelled, Yun would get mad as well, and Yun being mad was NOT a pretty sight. Even Nene, with her meager six-year-old intelligence, knew this well. Nene pouted a bit and gave the string to Yun.

"Good! Now tell me. YOU wouldn't like it if I took something that was yours, would you?" Yun exclaimed.

"No," Nene muttered.

"That's right. Now be a good little girl and go play," Yun gently pushed the girl and she (Nene) walked away without complaint or protest.

Hokuto looked her way. Hisako, Aki, and Lucero all smiled. Kokomon and Gummymon silently rejoiced. Yun then approached Hisako.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom," Yun said.

"Alright. It's down the hall on your right. It's next to the bedrooms," Aki told her. Yun took Kokomon and Gummymon with her.

So Yun went down the hall and found the bathrooms. She was relieved to see that nobody was there. Once she did her business, she left feeling refreshed...until she saw three ladies walking down the hall gossiping. And in a very maligned manner at that.

"My goodness! That Kimi girl almost gave me a heart attack with her screaming!" One lady with a ponytail said.

"I know, right? I honestly pity the poor woman for having so much to deal with. Did you know her ex-husband worked in a nuclear weapon's plant in Cuba back in the eighties?" One woman with a braided pig tail said.

"What? You're kidding!" Another woman with a birth mark under her right eye exclaimed, shocked.

Thankfully, they didn't see Yun. But Yun couldn't help but feel curious about their conversation. She knew eavesdropping was wrong, but something about the conversation didn't quite sit well with Yun.

"It's true! Not only that, he opened a facility in Tokyo a few years ago and one of the machines exploded. It killed so many people! Oh, the horror!" The ponytail lady said.

"By the way, is it true that he was the father of one of her children?" The lady with the braid asked.

"Yes. The one with the glasses who doesn't speak. Hokuto, was it?" The birth marked lady said.

"That's the one. Something about that boy doesn't sit well with me."

"I agree. He doesn't speak to anyone at all, he's always wandering around doing whatever he pleases, and he always looks as if he doesn't acknowledge the fact that people are around him. He totally ignored me when I tried to start a conversation with him!"

"He's so...ghostly."

"Yes! And pale too!"

"Not only that, he looks exactly like his father. Dear me, I certainly don't want my children hanging around him."

"He's certainly not normal. That I can guarantee with utmost certainty. I definitely don't want my children being involved with a child of Hizashino Saruto! That'll be his payment for killing all those people back then!"

Yun was absolutely outraged and incensed! They're gossiping and gibing about Hokuto as if he's not human! And they're actually planning to hate him and tell their kids to hate him JUST because he happens to be the son of someone who worked in nuclear weapon plants and killed people in the past? For Yun, this was just utterly, excruciatingly, and absolutely intolerable. She couldn't let those woman get away with their snide and causic comments. Yun stomped in front of them, red in the face with anger.

"You don't know _ANYTHING_, you big fat skeletons! You don't know a thing about Hokuto-kun and his ancestry! So what if his previous dad worked in a nuclear weapons lab and killed people? It doesn't mean he's gonna do the same thing! And it certainly doesn't mean they have to be reminded of that on a regular basis! And it certainly DOES NOT mean he's automatically abnormal and inhuman! I thought you adults were better and smarter than that! Quit making up all those lies and claim you know him when it's blatantly clear that you don't know one little thing about Hokuto-kun! If you hate the Kamitsures so much, then why'd you come to this party anyhow? To eat food? Well if you hate this party, then you can leave for all I care! Good riddance! People like you don't deserve to be here anyhow!"

After that articulate little tirade, Yun stomped off. But not before she unknowingly heard more gossip from the three women who were quite unphased.

"My! What an ill-tempered child she is!"

"Goodness gracious. I think the boy's influence is rubbing off on her."

But Yun didn't care what they thought. She didn't care if they made up lies about her and spread them around. Let them spread rumors! But she DID care about Hokuto, even though she just met him today. Gummymon certainly noticed this.

"Wow! You were awesome back there, Yun! I didn't think you had it in you!" Gummymon said.

"They have no right to think Hokuto-kun's inhuman just because his biological dad happened to commit crimes! So what?" Yun exclaimed.

"I'm very proud of you for standing up to them like that. You're right. It wasn't their place to say those things. You certainly showed them no mercy!" Kokomon said.

"Good! They don't deserve mercy!" Yun exclaimed.

Yun suddenly found herself in the back yard again...and what she heard left her frozen and speechless.

"Hokuto...I think you should be friends with her."

A voice. But it wasn't Hokuto's! Definitely not Hokuto's at all. It sounded...much lower and kinder than the other voices she heard today. Yun turned around and saw Hokuto sitting in front of the garden, looking at the white star flowers listlessly and with an apathetic expression on his face. Yun suspected that the voice didn't belong to Hokuto, that was for sure. And her suspicions about the white weasel were confirmed a second time.

The white weasel was doing the talking.

"It might be good for you," The white weasel said in a low, mature, civilized, and kind voice. But Hokuto didn't look at him, nor did he show any reaction on his face

"No. I can't. She already knows. I can tell," Hokuto replied softly.

"How do you know?"

"Everyone else knows, so she must know too...that I'm a lab rat."

This made the white weasel slightly mad. "Don't ever say such a thing! You know very well that's not true!"

"It is. You don't get it."

"Perhaps not. But it doesn't mean that there are no such things as people who truly care about you."

"No one can ever care about me or understand me. They either automatically hate me or pity me. I'm not them. I'm not..." Hokuto let the sentence drift away.

"I know what you're going to say. Also, that girl...Yun, was it? She seems nice enough. I think she'd be a good friend for you. You heard her yelling just now, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"I don't sense any wickedness in her heart."

"Your senses must be playing tricks on you, then."

"My senses never lie to me. Hokuto...please. Give her a chance. For me? Please? You never know. She might turn out to be the best friend you've ever had."

"What if she doesn't."

"I'll know if she does or doesn't. You can count on me, partner."

Hokuto said nothing and nodded.

"Also...she has Digimon."

"Huh?"

"I can feel them. Those green and pink creatures in her purse. They're Digimon too. I can feel them."

"Really?"

"Yes. I suppose she knows about me too."

"That can't be true!"

"But even if she did know, she didn't make a fuss about it. Doesn't that count for something, Hokuto?"

Yun gasped slightly and hid behind the wall. She was right all along! That white weasel wrapped around Hokuto's neck IS a Digimon! And it even knows that Kokomon and Gummymon are Digimon too! Yun got out her digivice, messed with it a bit, and finally got the white weasel Digimon's information to present itself. Yun was surprised with what she found.

"Kudamon, a rookie level, vaccine attribute, holy beast Digimon. It's special attacks are Bullet Whirlwind and Blinding Ray," Yun recited the information displayed on the digivice, turned it off, and put it back in her pocket. Yun looked back out and saw that the two of them are silent. They weren't talking anymore. Yun finally got the mettle she needed to approach him and talk to him. So she did.

"Hokuto-kun? May I sit with you?" Yun asked as politely and lucidly as possible. Hokuto looked up, confused at first, and then nodded. Yun sat down next to him without a word. After a few minutes, Yun decided to start a conversation.

"Umm...I'm not sure if you know, but your mom works in the same place my mom works. Some coincidence, isn't it?" Yun said.

Hokuto said nothing, but Yun didn't seem bothered by it.

"Those white flowers are pretty. Did you plant them?" Yun asked.

"No. My real father did," Hokuto replied softly. But Yun was able to hear it without a problem. Yun wanted to ask him more about his real father, but from the way those ladies talked about him, she figured it was a sensitive subject that she shouldn't mention. She decided to keep her thoughts tucked away in the back of her mind. Suddenly, Hokuto spoke.

"Your friend."

"What?"

"Your friend with the blonde hair. Why does he have those tattooes?" Hokuto asked. Yun was flabbergasted by Hokuto's sudden question. But then again, practically anyone would be curious about Lucero's strange tattooes, so perhaps it wasn't all that surprising.

"I...I don't know," Yun muttered.

So Yun and Hokuto spent some time together. The more the two had their conversations, the more and more Yun began to notice Hokuto cracking the faintest of smiles. Yun felt happy with the fact that she was ever so slowly helping the boy come out of the shell, even just a little bit. She even noticed Kudamon smiling too, but neither of them said a word.

And speaking of strange coincidences, as Yun and Hokuto are having their conversation, Hisako and Aki are having a conversation of their own. Hisako is helping Aki in the kitchen.

"Your daughter's a real cutie, Hisako-chan!" Aki exclaimed.

"I'm glad you think so. I've seen your son a few times. What was his name again?" Hisako asked.

"Hokuto. That's his name."

"Hokuto...that means Big Dipper, doesn't it?"

"You got it!"

"That's a nice name to give to a boy!"

Suddenly, Aki sighed rather dejectedly. "Hisako-chan...sorry about my two youngest daughters causing a ruckus. Kimi and Nene are always fighting over little things and stealing other people's stuff."

"It's alright. It's not your fault. And sorry if Yun kinda took it a bit too far."

"I don't blame her. My son's like that too."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Forgive me for saying this, but when it comes to shyness and socializing, Hokuto is much worse than Yun. He's not autistic, but he's been through some pretty bad things."

"It must be hard."

"It is. To be honest, I've only just gotten custody of him a year ago."

"A year?"

"Yeah. My late ex-husband raised him most of his life and forbade me from ever having contact with him. I don't want to delve too deep, but what he did to my son was awful. But another problem I'm having is that Hokuto can't seem to connect with anyone. He even looks as though he doesn't acknowledge anyone in the family as his family."

"How so?"

"He's told Kimi and Nene that they're not his sisters. They don't understand what he's talking about so I don't think they take him very seriously. Not once has Hokuto ever called me mom. I guess that's not surprising considering we've never had contact with one another. Grr! That stupid ex-husband of mine! I'm glad he's gone! After what he did to Hokuto, I refuse to have anything to do with him! But...Hokuto doesn't seem to believe what his father did to his was cruel."

"Sometimes children interpret their parents' actions differently depending on how they were raised."

"You've got that right. Not only that, Hokuto's been fighting cancer lately so he has to wear that wig a lot. He's off the chemo and the cancer's gone, which is good, but we still have other stuff to get through. I need to find some way to help Hokuto adjust to his new surroundings. Sometimes he looks as though he doesn't consider himself human."

"I think Yun might be able to help him out."

"Really? How so?"

"I've seen them interact a couple of times, and I heard Yun yelling at some of the guests because they were talking bad about him. This is the first time Yun's ever stood up for someone she's only known for an hour and a half."

"Guess he's rubbing off on her, isn't he?"

"Who knows."

The two women laughed at that last comment and then decided to continue freshening up. During this time, Yun decided to leave Hokuto at the garden while she settled back into the living room with Lucero, Kokomon, and Gummymon.

"What doth thou think of that boy thou were talking to just now?" Lucero asked.

"He's nice," Yun muttered.

"He's got a Digimon!" Gummymon exclaimed. Kokomon gently whacked him with her ear.

"Gummymon! Don't say it so loud!" Kokomon scolded, which made Gummymon feel guilty.

"He does?" Lucero asked.

"Yeah. Not only that, I accidentally overheard a conversation going on between them. To be honest, I don't know how to ask him about it. I don't want to startle him or make him freak out or anything," Yun explained.

Suddenly, Kokomon's face lit up as if a light bulb had gone off in her head. Yun didn't notice this. Secretly, Kokomon got out of the bag and took Gummymon with her. They left Yun and Lucero in the living room while they went off to play in the garden...well, technically they hid in one of the big bushes next to the white star flower garden, out of everyone's sight. Yun got her digivice out.

"I'll ask Mel-chan and see what she thinks," Yun said as she flipped her digivice open and began typing out a message.

_**Hi Mel-chan! It's me, Yun! I have a question! See, my mom took me to her friend's party (where I'm at right now). I found out her son has a a Digimon! Not only that, said Digimon knows that I have Digimon too! I overheard a conversation between them. I want to let him know that I have Digimon too, but I don't want to do it in a way that'll scare him or make him think weird thoughts. What do you think I should do?**_

Yun pressed send and the message got sent.

"I found out thou hast Digimon because they intentionally presented themselves to me," Lucero said.

"You've got a point," Yun said.

"Art thou interesting in making Hokuto-dono into a member of the Digimon Brigade?"

"In a way, yes, but if he doesn't want to, I don't want to force him. I learned that the hard way."

"Perhaps such a scenario is possible. But thou never know. Perhaps Hokuto-dono will love thy invitation and thy Digimon."

"Maybe. But considering how indifferent and frail he is, I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't interested."

"Let us wait and see."

"Yeah."

"Hm? Now where are Kokomon and Gummymon?"

Yun looked in her purse and saw that Kokomon and Gummymon aren't there.

"Hey! You're right!"

"Thy digivice is beeping," Lucero pointed to her digivice. Yun pulled it out of her pocket, flipped it open, and saw that she got a reply back from Melody.

_**Yun! For me, the best way to let someone know that you have a Digimon is if they accidentally pop out somewhere and start talking while not knowing people are watching them. Aria and MarineAngemon did that with me, and she was cool with it, so it should work for you too! Peace out!**_

Yun sighed with relief. She closed her digivice and put it back in her pocket.

"She wants Gummymon and Kokomon to expose themselves?" Lucero asked.

"Yeah. That's actually a pretty cool idea," Yun said.

"Doth thou agree with her?"

"Sorta. Mel-chan's a bit unorthodox at times, but she means well."

"I certainly see why Melody is thy friend."

Yun laughed in response to Lucero's well-intentioned comment. He blushed a bit, but not out of embarrassment. Unfortunately, their bliss was interrupted by a very unlikely voice.

"What? What in the world are you saying?"

Loud yelling permeated the room, which made Yun cover her ears and Lucero stand up in alarm. Yun knew that voice well. It was Hisako! Yun and Lucero went inside to see what was going on. Much to Yun's infuriation and Lucero's surprise, Hisako is yelling at the exact same ladies that Yun yelled at earlier today! The pony tailed lady is standing in front of a choleric and dismayed Hisako with her arms crossed.

"Exactly as I said! You should keep your daughter away from that kid!" The ponytailed lady edicted angrily.

"Who are you to decide who my daughter should be interacting with?"

"You're sure not doing a good job of pickin' the right people to be with! The Kamitsures are bad luck! They're cursed people!"

"Is that what you think? Aki's always been there for me at work! She's helped me a lot and I love having her around! She's not cursed or bad luck or whatever!"

"And what about the boy? Shouldn't you be keepin' your daughter away from him? He's not exactly the best kid to befriend, y'know?"

"You don't know that!"

"I do know he's the son of Hizashino Saruto, the man who intentionally blew up part of a nuclear weapons facility and killed dozens of people!"

"That doesn't mean Hokuto-kun's gonna do the same thing when he's older!"

"How do you know? He's not even your kid! And you should be happy that you don't have him as yer kid! He's paler and ghostlier than a ghost itself! You should make sure your kid don't get influenced by his bad ways!"

"Exactly what do you mean by bad ways?"

"Don't you know? You should've seen the stuff his dad did to him. He's-"

Yun was outraged. Not wanting to stand by and let these women talk bad about Aki, Hokuto, and the Kamitsures in general, she stomped over to them and stamped her feet before them. Hard.

_Stamp! Stamp! Stamp!_

Apparently her foot stamping was so loud it silenced not only Hisako and the three nefarious and virulent ladies, but the rest of the guests as well. Yun couldn't tolerate all their egregious calumny and virulent remarks about Aki, Hokuto, and the Kamitsures in general. Yun found them to be insidious. Now Yun had a few goal: to befriend Hokuto and prove these ladies wrong! She looked at the three ladies with both a very courageous and choleric expression on her face, her green eyes full of fire. Lucero watched as one of the ladies made another caustic remark.

"It's very improper of a young lady of your age to stamp your foot like that!" The birthmarked lady exclaimed.

"It's even MORE improper to talk bad about people you don't know!" Yun yelled back. Hisako didn't say a word. She knew that Yun was right.

After that piece of rhetoric, Yun turned around and ambled toward the garden, where she saw Hokuto kneeling before the white star flower garden yet again. Lucero watched her pass by and was surprised with how ardent and compassionate she looked through her simmering anger. Yun stepped off of the porch and crossed her arms.

"Hokuto-kun!" She yelled. Her voice was so loud it caught Hokuto's attention. He stood up slowly, with flowers in hand, and Yun took a few steps further, her face softening just a bit. She put her hands in her pockets and looked straight into Hokuto's cobalt blue eyes, even though they were hidden by his round glasses.

Yun finally dropped the bomb.

"Wanna come to my house and hang out?"

Everyone, including Hisako and Aki, gasped, though for different reasons altogether.

"Yu-Yun! What are you doing?" Hisako exclaimed.

"She can't be serious!" The lady with the braid yelled.

Aki put her hands to her mouth, not wanting to say anything. But she couldn't believe her eyes. Someone is actually asking Hokuto to come to their house and hang out for a while. To Aki, this was a miracle. Something she never, ever, EVER expected in a lifetime, especially considering the things Hokuto went through (which Yun didn't know about). But the problem was: will Hokuto accept her request? Will he finally open up and befriend Yun and possibly see the world through her eyes? To be perfectly honest, Aki didn't care if Hokuto gained a totally different perception of the world that she expected. She didn't care if he displayed some weird behaviors similar to Yun's and if he adapted to her life style even though he should come up with his own life style. She prayed and prayed, hoping for Hokuto to accept her kind and generous request. If he did, she would faint happily to the floor. She didn't care about what the other guests thought. This is Hokuto's opportunity to make a friend.

Yun thought differently. She stared intently into Hokuto's eyes, which are hollow and listless. To be honest, even though Yun is putting up a bold front and actually had the audacity to ask Hokuto to come to her house directly and without one quiver in her voice, on the inside she's scared and shaking like a leaf. Her insides are doing back flips and she felt as if her legs would turn to jelly. She was afraid that Hokuto might turn down her request, but at the same time she expected it because most of her attempts to befriend new people and invite them to her house and hang out practically always ended in failure. Part of it was because Yun realized that those people weren't as kind and truthful as Yun thought. Hokuto wasn't one of those cases. To Yun, Hokuto seemed like a feral animal, lost in a world of totally different species and with absolutely no knowledge or awareness of the world around him. It seemed as if he was deprived of everything and now doesn't know what's normal and what's not. Yun wouldn't mind if he didn't know anything about her favorite anime, manga, games, books, etc. She wouldn't mind if he didn't speak much or socialize much or had a bit of a complicated childhood. She wanted to show those ladies that they're wrong in their perception of Hokuto! She wanted to give Hokuto a chance, something not very many people did, which Aki knew from experience but Yun knew just from observation. Perhaps this is a nice opportunity for Yun to make a new friend and convince him (gently, of course) that she is a person he can trust.

Hokuto thought about Yun's question and ruminated deeply, going into a pensive state while staring at Yun, to which she didn't mind. He was never asked this question before. Nobody did. Hokuto thought about the sudden change in his life and the things that came with it. Like Aki said, Hokuto spent most of his days in the hospital due to cancer (which Yun didn't know about yet) and had to go through chemotherapy a lot. Hokuto didn't know about friends. Well, the most recent friend he made is Kudamon. He kept wondering what it was like to have a human friend, someone his own age. He was never exposed to those kinds of social luxuries, and now that he is, he didn't know how to answer to them or how to react to them or how to display social cues. He barely ever interacted with his sisters (then again, he didn't consider them sisters since they're born from the person Hokuto's mom married, the man passing out food), mother, and new father, and he hasn't been to school for a really long time. Hokuto never did think that people were actually interested in being his friend or even interacting with him. But Yun...she was another story entirely. Hokuto stared at Yun intently, with his listless face, and absorbed all her features, trying to brand them into his mind. Her short brown hair, her striking emerald green eyes, her white skin (darker than his and Lucero's combined), her dignified stance, her piercing voice (when she wanted to be loud), her sweet voice (when she wanted to be soft and quiet), her clothes, everything. Yun is the first person who ever gained an interest in Hokuto at all. Not only that, he actually started to become interested in her. Hokuto never expected himself to be interested in anyone else (except Kudamon). Hokuto thought about Kudamon's advice.

_"Give her a chance. You never know. She might turn out to be the best friend you'll ever have."_

Kudamon was right. He needed to give her a chance. He didn't know what she was like. You never know until you try. Hokuto was a little embarrassed, but he refused to show it on his face. He decided to take it.

He very slowly turned around...and walked toward Yun. Stopped right in front of her. Everyone (except Yun and Hokuto) gasped. Hisako with surprise, Aki with joy, and everyone else with dismay. Yun and Hokuto didn't see what was so wrong with inviting someone to their house, but nevertheless, Hokuto accepted Yun's offer (albeit silently).

A few minutes later, the guests left, and Hisako and Aki talked amongst yourselves. Hokuto, Yun, and Lucero are still in the garden.

"I don't think I've introduced you. Hokuto-kun, this my friend Lucero," Yun said.

"A thousand salutations to thee, Hokuto-dono," Lucero bowed before him and introduced himself. Oddly enough, unlike the others, Hokuto did not say anything about Lucero's strange dialect. Yun assumed it was because he was probably never exposed to other dialects before. He just accepted it without question.

"Your tattoos are cool," Hokuto muttered.

"Oh? Really? Umm...thanks," Lucero said, blushing a little bit.

Suddenly, all three kids heard a loud and piercing rustling sound. It came from the bush right next to the white star flower garden. After that, out came Kokomon and Gummymon! They tumbled before the trio of children, playing amongst themselves.

"Gummymon! I told you not to do that!" Kokomon yelled.

"Aww! I just wanted to see what it felt like!" Gummymon whined back.

Then, the two little blobs saw the trio looking down at them with surprised faces. The two little blobs gasped, frightened by the fact that Hokuto saw them.

Hokuto was the most surprised. Yun has Digimon!

Author's Note: Yay! I finished chapter 16! I'd like to work on more, but I have to prepare for college and see how it goes. Don't worry, I'm not gonna live there. I live like a mile away from my college so my parents can drop me off and pick me up there easily. Yeah, I don't drive. Stupid, I know. Well, I better go. I have anime to watch before college starts! Bye-bee! And happy Labor Day!


	17. A Little Grizzly Bear

Author's Note: Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't been around much. I've started my first week of college and I'm having a bit of a hard time of it, partly because I'm struggling to get text books for my classes (the bookstore in my college is certainly no help!), I'm struggling to understand what homework I have to do for what weeks, and pretty much get used to college life. Don't worry, I'm still gonna try and find time for myself, anime, manga, and my stories! No way am I gonna give up! Well, I better get crackin' on this! Heeeeeeeeere's chapter 17 of Digimon: A Seraphic Tale!

EPISODE 17: A Little Grizzly Bear

Although Hisako was very shocked by Yun's reckless and unexpected announcement, along with everyone else, Hisako decided to let Yun invite Hokuto to their house and let him hang out anyway. As she heard from Aki, Hokuto never really had any friends and was possibly never given any opportunities to go to other people's houses and hang out before. This was part of why she approved. The main reason Hisako approved of this split-second decision was because of Yun herself. In all the years Hisako raised Yun, there wasn't ONE moment in which Yun made friends with someone within two hours and proudly invited him or her to her house without a moment's hesitation. Hisako was certainly surprised! But at the same time, Hisako was proud of Yun. She couldn't help but smile at the way Hokuto silently approached Yun after she made her little announcement. _'Perhaps this will be a good opportunity for the both of them. No, I believe it'll help them a lot. I'm sure of it!'_ Hisako thought.

About half an hour later, at around 1:30 PM, Hisako decided to take Yun, Lucero, and Hokuto home. During that time, she talked with Aki and learned some things about Hokuto beforehand. Firstly, he absolutely hates the following foods: beets, bell peppers, shellfish, crackers, pizza (_'how can a child NOT like pizza?'_ Hisako thought), cookies (all cookies), and basically any kind of junk food. Hisako was a bit flabbergasted by the fact that Hokuto doesn't eat ANY junk food AT ALL. Most children would binge on junk food if they had the chance, but a child who was disgusted by all junk food and walked away from the sight of it? This was hard to process, for both her and Yun. Secondly, Hokuto is allergic to wheat, peanuts, and soybeans (Yun wished she was allergic to soybeans. They're NOT her favorite food). Thirdly, Hokuto cannot lift heavy objects like weights and furniture (like the big couch). Finally, Hokuto cannot hold anything made of glass. For some reason his hands shake and anything made of glass drops out of his hand and breaks, so he's prohibited from holding all things made of glass. And that was it. After that, Hisako drove the three kids (and Digimon) home. Yun let Hokuto go inside the house first, since he's a guest.

Hokuto was rather surprised by how Western and modern Yun's house is. It's nothing like his traditionally Japanese house. Though he knew about Westernized houses beforehand, he never saw them in real life until now. He mostly stood in the middle of the living room for quite a long while, processing and absorbing everything around him. Seeing this, Yun left him alone for a bit until he decided to move, which didn't take long. Yun gently put her things down, took Kokomon and Gummymon out of the bag, took Hokuto by the hand, and showed him the rest of the house. Her room, her parents' room, Ayaka's room, the bathroom, the kitchen, the dining room, and the basement. Hokuto didn't say much. He just looked at all the rooms without one word. Once the three kids (and Digimon) gathered in the dining room, Hisako began looking through the refrigerator in the kitchen.

"Hokuto-kun? Is there anything you'd like to drink? We have milk and orange juice," Hisako said.

"Milk please," Hokuto muttered loud enough for Hisako to hear. Hisako poured some milk into a small plastic cup and gave it to Hokuto.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"Do you want anything to eat?" Yun asked.

"No. I'm fine. Thank you," Hokuto replied softly. Soon, Hokuto finished his drink.

"Wanna come to my room?"

"Sure."

Gently, Yun took Hokuto by the hand and kindly escorted him into her room. Lucero, Kokomon, and Gummymon sat on the bed while Yun and Hokuto sat on the floor at the foot of it. Hokuto decided to start the conversation.

"I didn't know...you had Digimon too," Hokuto muttered.

"I was going to tell you that, but I didn't know of a good way to tell you without freaking you out," Yun said.

That's when Gummymon hopped onto Yun's lap jauntily.

"Kokomon planned it!" Gummymon piped in.

"Huh? Planned what?"

"You and Lucero were talkin', and Kokomon thought we could show ourselves off by hopping out of the bush when you appeared and pretendin' we were arguing!"

"What? You did that?" Yun turned to Kokomon, who sat on Lucero's lap.

"Yes. I thought it'd be the best way," Kokomon muttered. After a second, Yun smiled and rubbed Kokomon's ear.

"You sneaky little things! But thanks anyway," Yun said. Kokomon nodded and hopped into Yun's lap.

"Oh! I should introduce you! These are my Digimon! The pink one is Kokomon and the green one is Gummymon," Yun explained.

"I'm Gummymon!"

"I'm Kokomon. It's nice to meet you."

Hokuto cracked the faintest of smiles.

"They're cute," Hokuto muttered.

"Aren't they?" Yun said.

"Quite!" Lucero piped in.

That's when an unlikely voice decided to reveal itself, though Yun expected it.

"I suppose it's time for me to appear on the stage."

It came from the white weasel wrapped around Hokuto's neck, Kudamon.

He leaped off of Hokuto's shoulder and stood on his hind legs right in front of Yun's crossed legs. Quite a small and skinny little thing he is, with striking gold eyes, a little pink button nose, pointed white ears with black tips, intricate yellow markings on his back, a gold ring around his neck, a violet purple earring, and a little yellow thing at the tip of his tail. Kudamon bowed before Yun and the two blobs like an obedient and dignified butler greeting his master after a long journey.

"Good afternoon. My name is Kudamon. I am a vaccine attribute holy beast Digimon, though I suppose you know about me already. I'm honored to make your acquaintance," Kudamon introduced himself in a mature, low, and dignified voice, kindly presenting himself before Yun and the two little blobs. Yun was taken aback by the little white weasel's introduction...in a good way.

"Sorry if this sounds impolite, but...you're so cute!" Yun exclaimed happily as she got a good look at Kudamon.

"Hm. Perhaps I am," Kudamon said, not really minding Yun's well-intentioned comment. Yun scratched the back of her head with her hand in honest modesty.

"Also...yeah, I did kinda know about you," Yun said.

"How so?" Lucero asked.

"I saw the TV show, _Digimon Savers_(1), and Kudamon was in it! That's how I knew, even though it was long ago," Yun explained.

"Oh. I didn't know that," Hokuto muttered.

"How very interesting. We Digimon are fictional creatures in a cartoon in this world. Perhaps the human world is more interesting and wondrous than I thought," Kudamon said. Kokomon and Gummymon leaped in front of him.

"We thought so too!" Kokomon piped in.

"Wanna play?" Gummymon asked, which seemed to irk Kokomon.

"Gummymon! Don't say that. He's probably not the type!"

"Boo!"

Oddly enough, Kudamon smiled.

"Alright. I will play with you," Kudamon said.

"Really? You don't look the type," Kokomon said, looking a little worried.

"I'm not exactly the ever-serious and uptight Digimon the humans think I am. Even I like a trifle social activity once in a while, just so long as it's not rough or violent," Kudamon said.

"Okay! Come on! Let's play!" Gummymon happily invited Kudamon under the bed, and all three little Digimon ran under it.

"Be sure not to hurt thyselves!" Lucero told them.

"We won't!" Gummymon replied back.

Yun decided to talk to Hokuto again.

"So! Hokuto-kun! Exactly how did you meet Kudamon?" Yun asked.

"Wouldst thou like to share thy story with us?" Lucero asked, backing Yun up.

Hokuto looked up at the ceiling and ruminated for a bit, then looked back at Hokuto.

"Yes. I do. It was about a week and a half ago..." Hokuto began.

(flashback)

_Hokuto sat in a hospital bed, comfortably wrapped in the blanket and in his pajamas, quietly reading a book about insects and their biology while a young nurse adjusted his IV bag. Hokuto wore his dark yellow pajamas and a blue and purple bandana on his bald head. Yes, he is bald._ _He doesn't have hair. Not one strand of hair was on his head. His head is totally clean and shiny. That's because he has been on chemotherapy for the past few months, and his last session is in two days. Even the nurse knew this. Once she finished adjusting Hokuto's IV bag, she turned to Hokuto and smiled._

_"Isn't this great, Kamitsure-kun? Your cancer's practically gone, and after the next session you won't have to go through chemo ever again!_ _Are you excited about going home later?" The nurse said with a smile. Hokuto never lifted his face from the book, but he did hear the nurse talking to him and knows that she's there._

_"Yes. I am," Hokuto muttered back._

_"I'm glad. Nobody likes being stuck on chemo for a long time. My grandmother survived cancer once!" The nurse was about to go into a story about her grandmother and how she survived cancer, but looked at her pager and became alarmed._

_"Whoops! Mogami-sensei needs me! I have to go now, Kamitsure-kun! If anything goes wrong, press the button on your pager and someone will come running. Bye!" The nurse said and left the room._

_All of a sudden, Hokuto's room became ominously quiet. Hokuto suddenly got tired of his book of insects and decided to close it and take a break from it for a while. But he didn't quite know what else to do...except take a nap. That's what Hokuto decided to do. He decided to lay back on the bed, close his cobalt blue eyes, and drift off into dreamland for a while. He had only been asleep for 20 minutes. He would've slept for much longer...if he didn't suddenly feel something hard rubbing against his foot._

_Hokuto immediately woke up because of it. He was quite alarmed. He didn't use the pager to call for someone. He saw that the IV needle had been removed so he was free to move around in his bed. Silently and cautiously, Hokuto very slowly pushed the blanket off of him and further toward the foot of the bed. He got closer to his legs. Closer...and closer...and finally, the blanket was off! And what Hokuto saw beside his feet surprised him, but not enough to make him scream._

_It was an egg! A white and yellow egg the size of Hokuto's IV bag. Hard and white, with many intricate yellow patterns on it. Hokuto had never seen the egg or the patterns before, so he didn't know what to make of either of them. A myriad of thoughts were running through his little mind. What is this egg? What's inside it? Where did it come from? How did it get under his blankets? How did he not know about this?_ _Did someone slip it under his blanket as he slept? Is it a get well gift from someone? Or is it something more sinister and malicious? He simply couldn't figure out how, when, and why this egg had appeared before him. He wanted to leave it alone, but at the same time, he was curious and didn't want to just simply leave it be, so he decided to take the egg into his arms and hold it. Much to his surprise, it was warm. Warm like fresh baked bread that just came out from the oven. Hoktuo smiled at it. He liked the feeling of it. Well, he crossed the sinister and malicious thought off of his list._

_Suddenly, it wiggled!_

_"Huh? What?"_

_After that, it glowed and was enveloped in a bright white light! It was so bright Hokuto had to cover his eyes and look away. Thankfully, the light didn't last long. Only about a minute or so. Fortunately, nobody else really took notice of it since nobody was in his room nor did anyone suddenly pass by and see it, which was a relief for Hokuto. Finally having the mettle to open his eyes, he did. And what he saw surprised him even more._

_On his knees is a very tiny, very soft, and very light little creature. It was no bigger than Hokuto's four fingers (excluding his thumb). It is very small and fluffy, with cloud blue down fur with a big curl at the end of it's tail, two ears with chocolate brown tips, and big,_ _black, beady eyes. Hokuto was surprised with it's very presence. But something about it seemed to shake Hokuto a bit. Suddenly, the small creature looked up at Hokuto with it's big beady eyes and smiled brightly. It's smile was as pure and full of life as the flowers that his mom gave him which are sitting at the window sill right now. The little creature's smile made Hokuto smile a bit too. Well, whatever this creature was, it didn't look like he'd do any harm. Hokuto held the little one close and smiled at it._

_"Hello," Hokuto muttered. The little fluffy animal looked up at him curiously, his round, black eyes big with wonder._

_"I'm Hokuto. Do you have a name?" Hokuto asked. The little fluffy animal opened it's mouth a few times, but it didn't look like it could talk just yet._

_"It's alright. You can tell me when you're ready," Hokuto told him, which made the little creature smile._

_The little fluffy animal stayed by Hokuto's side, no matter what, even as Hokuto underwent his final chemotherapy session. The little white animal didn't exactly know what was going on, but he grew attached to Hokuto already so he didn't mind at all. About two days later, the doctors and nurses deemed Hokuto healthy enough to go home, so Aki took him home. But Hokuto still seemed rather tired, so he went into his new room. Despite this, Hokuto and the little white animal stayed together for the entire day, and they did everything together. Hokuto fed him, played with him, groomed him, read books to him, slept with him, everything. Hokuto had never felt so ardent about something like this before. Part of it was because Hokuto was never really given an opportunity like this considering his deprived lifestyle before Aki got custody of him, and another part was because Hokuto had been confined to the hospital a lot._

_One thing he knew for sure was that he loved this little white creature. The way he hopped around, the way his big black eyes absorbed everything around him, the way he smiled, his somewhat voracious appetite, the mild and gentle way he approached Hokuto, everything made Hokuto's heart skip a beat or two. The little white fluffy animal loved Hokuto, and Hokuto loved the little fluffy white animal. This little white creature was his and his alone. Nobody could tell him how to raise it or how to perceive it or what to call it or anything. Hokuto was determined to raise this little creature all by himself, without anyone's opinion or help. Hokuto loved this little animal, and he continued to do so, even after he suddenly changed appearance one day._

_The day after Hokuto arrived home from the hospital, Hokuto sat with his family and had breakfast. All he ate were bananas and omelet rice._ _But he hated being at that table, partly because Kimi and Nene were fighting and screaming and behaving inappropriately as usual, and partly because practically everyone expected Hokuto to say something. Hokuto hates talking to people, especially those who expect him to speak to anyone and everyone as if it were a big and important school project that, if he failed, would hurt his entire grade. Once he finished breakfast, Hokuto returned to his room to play with the white creature...only to find that the little white creature wasn't himself anymore!_

_The little white animal turned from a fluffy white creature to a baby raccoon-esque creature with fluffy beige fur, fluffy white tipped ears,_ _a fluffy pale blue and violet raccoon's tail, blue eyes, orange triangles above it's eyes, and little stubby and clawed feet. Hokuto was taken aback somewhat. 'Is this the same fluffy animal that hatched from the egg?' Hokuto thought as he looked at the little baby raccoon. But suddenly, the little baby raccoon saw him and practically leaped onto him like a grasshopper who had too much sugar. Hokuto caught the little thing and made sure it didn't fall, though his claws dug into Hokuto's shirt. Then, out of nowhere, the little baby raccoon looked right up at Hokuto, straight into his eyes, and cried out, "Hokuto!" as loud and clear as it could be. Hokuto was flabbergasted even further. Not only did the strange little animal change his appearance, but he learned to talk too. Then, an idea hit Hokuto like a strong blast of lightning._

_"You...can talk?" Hokuto asked._

_"Yep!" The little baby raccoon replied in a high voice like that of a four year old boy. Hokuto didn't like high pitched voices. Especially those that were screeching and obnoxious, like those of Kimi and Nene. However, this little baby raccoon's voice was more innocent and mild than loud and bombastic. Hokuto smiled and cradled the little baby raccoon in his arms._

_"What's your name?" Hokuto asked. The little baby raccoon's tail and ears perked up._

_"Kyaromon!" The little baby raccoon, Kyaromon, replied cutely._

_"What are you?"_

_"A Digimon!"_

_"Where are you from?"_

_"The Digital World!"_

_"Do you eat?"_

_"Yep!"_

_"Do you have powers?"_

_"Yep!"_

_"Why did you change appearance?"_

_"I digivolved! And I can do more of it too!"_

_Their conversations consisted solely of these kinds of rhetoric. Questions and answers and nothing else. But both Hokuto and Kyaromon didn't mind. Soon, when the day ended, Kyaromon and Hokuto slept together in the futon peacefully and without a care in the world._

_Then, a few days before Hokuto met Yun, Kyaromon changed! Or, as Kyaromon himself put it, digivolved! Hokuto and Kyaromon were having breakfast by themselves when suddenly Kyaromon became enveloped by a white light. He grew thinner and bigger, but he reached the size of Hokuto's forearm. Now Kyaromon turned into the white weasel with gold eyes, white fur, intricate yellow markings on it's back, arms and legs,_ _a tail with a yellow thing at the end of it, a pink button nose, white ears with black tips, and a purple earring. Hokuto was surprised, but he decided to make conversation with him anyway._

_"Hello," Hokuto muttered._

_"Salutations," The white weasel replied._

_"Did you digivolve just now?"_

_"Yes, and I have become stronger."_

_"What are you now? You're not Kyaromon, are you?"_

_"Kyaromon's my in-training form. Now, I'm Kudamon."_

_"Kudamon?"_

_"Yes. Do you not like my metamorphosis?"_

_"I don't mind. You're quite cute."_

_"Thank you."_

_Unlike with Kyaromon, Hokuto and Kudamon's conversations turned from simple to detailed and vast. Instead of talking about food and games,_ _they talked about everything from science to Digimon and insects and biology and cancer and pretty much Earth itself. And the two of them had a great time of it. Not only that, Hokuto got his digivice. It was silver. Hokuto didn't know what the digivice was for, but he kept it and Kudamon anyway. A new friendship blossomed between these two._

(end flashback)

"Awww! How sweet!" Yun exclaimed.

"Thou and thy Digimon really became close, didn't thou?" Lucero asked.

"Yes. We did," Hokuto said. Right then, Kokomon, Gummymon, and Kudamon peeked their little heads out from under the bed.

"So you already knew you were a Digimon beforehand?" Kokomon asked.

"Yes, I did. If one were to not have any memory of where they came from or how they got to this world, it doesn't mean the knowledge of being a Digimon leaves your mind," Kudamon replied matter-of-factly.

"You got that right!" Gummymon piped in.

"Do you remember how you ended up in the human world, Kudamon?" Kokomon asked. Kudamon drooped his head a little bit.

"No. It would seem not," Kudamon replied.

"Oh! You're just like us then! We don't remember why or how we got to the human world either!" Gummymon exclaimed.

"That's quite a coincidence!" Kudamon said.

"It is, indeed!" Yun backed him up.

"Hath thou encountered other Digimon before? Besides Kudamon, I mean," Lucero asked. Hokuto looked up at the ceiling and ruminated again, then looked back at Yun.

"Nope. I've never seen any other Digimon except for Kudamon before. Yours are the only other ones I've met," Hokuto replied, which left Yun with her jaw hanging to the floor.

"Are you serious?" She yelped.

Hokuto nodded.

Yun felt quite surprised. When she received Kokomon and Gummymon for the first time, she encountered lots of Digimon. But Hokuto only knew of Kudamon's existence and no other Digimon? From the looks of it, he probably hasn't fought any other Digimon either. Yun couldn't quite understand why Hokuto would keep Kudamon if he had no idea what he was in for. But then a bright idea flashed into her head like a strong bolt of lightning setting a tree on fire and knocking it down.

"Since you say you've never met other Digimon before, I think it's time you met some!" Yun exclaimed as she stood up. She grabbed her digivice, opened it, adjusted the settings, punched in some letters, pressed the send button, and closed it. Hokuto, Kudamon, and Lucero were surprised.

"What did you just do?" Hokuto asked.

"I used my digivice to send a text message to my friend Minako-chan. Oh! I forgot to mention! This is a digivice, and you can do lots of things on it like talk to people like on a phone, text someone and send messages to them, look up Digimon's info on it, and, best of all, you can even go to the Digital World!" Yun explained.

"The digivice can do that? I never knew!" Kudamon exclaimed.

"I didn't know either until just last night. It's so cool!" Yun told him.

"It is cool, though going to the Digital World is gonna take some getting used to," Gummymon said.

"Yeah. That's why we're in our in-training forms. I think the Digital World traveling kind of drained the energy out of us," Kokomon said.

"What does she mean?" Hokuto asked Kudamon.

"Most of the time, if Digimon lose certain amounts of strength and energy, mostly from fighting, they de-digivolve into their in-training or baby forms. It's so they can save up on energy and digivolve again," Kudamon explained in a prosaic manner like he was some college professor.

"Can you do that?"

Kudamon nodded.

Yun checked her digivice again and smiled. Then she put it in her pocket.

"Alrighty! Hokuto-kun! You're coming with us!" Yun edicted.

"Where?"

"To the park!"

Yun and Lucero took Hokuto out of the house and walked toward the park. Kokomon, Gummymon, and Kudamon stayed on their partners' backs so they wouldn't get lost. Hokuto was quite confused as to why Yun is dragging him out of the house like that.

"Umm...why are we going to the park?" Hokuto asked, sounding confused.

"I'm gonna have you meet my friend Minako-chan. She has a Digimon too, and she's very smart. She knows everything! She knows all about Digimon too! I think she might be able to help you understand them better. Plus she said she's been researching the digivice a bit and has some stuff she'd like to tell us, so I thought we'd go and see her before the day ended! How's that?" Yun explained.

Hokuto, while a little overwhelmed by this turn of events, decided to go with it anyway. Hokuto doesn't exactly know much about Digimon in general, like Yun figured out. Perhaps this little meeting might help him learn more about Digimon and how they work. After about a few minutes, Hokuto saw a girl sitting on a bench in the park. She has blonde hair tied in a ponytail with a purple ribbon and is wearing a short sleeved red shirt with a white letter 5 on it, along with black jean shorts, purple socks, white and brown shoes, and a purple choker with a pretty violet amethyst jewel on it that was streaked by the afternoon sunbeams. By her side is a very tiny and very cute cream colored puppy with big violet eyes, pink and rosy cheeks, and a gold collar around it's neck. Yun waved to her right on sight.

"Mina-chan!" Yun called out. Minako stood up and waved back.

"Yun!" She yelled back. Salamon hopped up right upon hearing Yun's voice.

"Yun-chan! Good afternoon! Wan!" Salamon piped in as Yun, Lucero, and Hokuto approached them. Minako and Salamon cocked their heads to one side in confusion once they saw Hokuto.

"Yun? Who's this?" Minako asked. Yun grabbed Hokuto's arm.

"I'm glad you asked! This is Kamitsure Hokuto-kun! He's my mom's friend's son who just moved into the area a few days ago. Get this! He has a Digimon but doesn't really know what Digimon are!" Yun explained rather excitedly and jauntily, frightening Hokuto just a bit, but he did know that she doesn't mean any harm by her excitement. Yun then turned to Hokuto. "Hokuto-kun, this is one of my best friends, Omori Minako, and the cute little puppy with the big eyes and rosy cheeks here is Salamon, her Digimon!"

Minako approached Hokuto with a smile. "Hello."

Hokuto timidly shook her hand. "Hello."

Minako then noticed Kudamon, who stood upright on Hokuto's shoulder. "I suppose you're his Digimon?"

"Yes, I am. I am Kudamon. A pleasure to meet you, Omori-san," Kudamon replied in a dignified and sophisticated manner. Salamon happily and jauntily hopped around Hokuto like a very excited child wanting a cookie.

"Hello, Hokuto-kun! I'm Salamon! Nice to meet you! Wan!" Salamon piped in sweetly. Hokuto couldn't help but feel his heart skip a beat once he saw this lively and curious little puppy Digimon. He smiled.

"Nice to meet you too," Hokuto muttered.

It's here that Kudamon hopped in front of Salamon and bowed before her.

"Hello, fellow Digimon. I'm Kudamon. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance," Kudamon said as he introduced himself. Salamon smiled sweetly.

"Hi! I'm Salamon! Nice to meet you too! Wan! I hope we can be friends!" Salamon chimed.

"Perhaps we shall," Kudamon replied softly.

Kokomon and Gummymon hopped in front of Kudamon and Salamon. The four of them played together while the three kids decided to sit on the grass. Yun told Minako everything.

"Oh! I see. So that's how it went down. I'm surprised you were gutsy enough to do that," Minako said.

"Yun is quite the brave little meister, I can tell thee that with utmost certainty!" Lucero edicted with a smile, making Yun blush a bit.

"No, it wasn't gutsy at all!" Yun exclaimed.

"Yes it was!" Gummymon piped in as he played with the three Digimon.

"Regardless, I'm glad you two became friends!" Minako said with a smile. But then she remembered something. "Oh! That reminds me! Yun, earlier I told everyone about postponing the meeting for tomorrow. Everyone's cool with it. Wanna guess how I did it?"

Yun pointed a finger at her like she was Phoenix Wright. "You texted them with the digivice, didn't you?"

Minako snapped her fingers. "You got it! I wanted to surprise them so I kinda jumped the shark a bit."

"It's alright! I think it was awesome. In fact, I kinda texted Melody earlier today. No wonder she wasn't all surprised when I texted her. I guess maybe you told everyone around then?" Yun said.

"Good guess!" Minako said.

"Thou art very prudent and sneaky!" Lucero said.

Yun wanted to talk to Hokuto, but when she looked at him, she saw that he's doing nothing but stare at the town. He didn't even look to see the four little Digimon happily playing together like little children. His eyes looked very listless and impassive, just like he was when Yun first caught sight of him in the front garden, holding his favorite white star flowers. All of a sudden, Yun got another idea. She smiled at Hokuto and tapped his shoulder.

"Hokuto-kun? Wanna go for a stroll around town?" Yun asked.

"Huh? Why?" Hokuto asked.

"Well, you just moved in, didn't you? I thought maybe if we walked around a bit, you'd know where everything is and get a better feel of it. Is that okay?" Yun asked politely. Here, Kokomon, Gummymon, Salamon, and Kudamon stopped playing and listened.

"Oh! Oh! I wanna walk around town and see everything! Wan! It sounds fun!" Salamon exclaimed cutely.

"I wouldn't mind a little stroll. Perhaps this will be good for us," Kudamon muttered softly.

"This'll be fun!" Kokomon said.

"Yeah! I wanna go! I wanna see the whole entire town!" Gummymon said.

Although he was quite reluctant to do so, upon seeing the happy faces of his newfound human and Digimon friends, including Kudamon, Hokuto smiled sweetly, albeit timidly.

"Okay. I'll walk all over town with you," Hokuto said.

"Come on! Let's go!" Yun prodded as she took Hokuto's hand.

So, the four kids and Digimon walked all over town. Yun and Minako showed Hokuto and Lucero everything. They saw the local food store, the 49 cent store, the video rental place, the little pizza place, the train station, the library, the elementary school where Aria goes, Fushimi Middle School (where Yun, Minako, and Lucero attend, though Hokuto is said to start his first day later on), the old Catholic school which had closed down three years ago (whose black top is mostly used by kids playing basketball), the tattoo parlor, every house and building under the sun. Hokuto found himself surprised by the fact that Yun, Minako, Lucero, and the Digimon were kind enough to take him all over town and show him everything despite only knowing him for a couple of hours. Nobody had ever done this for Hokuto before. But then again, Hokuto never did know what it was like to live in a town and know everything in it. All Hokuto knew was his father, his sickness, and Kudamon, along with the things he learned from his books. That was it. It made him feel very detached from humanity. All of a sudden, as the kids in front of him talked amongst each other, he smiled and finally began feeling a connection. Not just with them, but with possibly all of humanity in general.

As they reached a bench around a street corner, they sat on it and Minako told him everything he needed to know about Digimon and the Digital World. Hokuto listened and was attentive throughout the entire explanation. When Minako needed to, she could go on and on forever and belabor about anything she could think of, whether it was to teach someone about something or to just annoy someone. But Hokuto didn't mind. He hearkened and absorbed all the knowledge that was pouring out from her mouth like a vaccuum cleaner, and all of it went into the vaccuum cleaner bag that is his head. Once Minako finally finished, they went to the ice cream place to grab some ice cream. Minako had money on her so she paid for everyone. Oddly enough, Hokuto ordered vanilla ice cream and enjoyed it immensely. Yun was told Hokuto didn't like anything with sugar in it. She was confused. Maybe ice cream doesn't have sugar? She wanted to ask Minako, but she and Salamon were too busy enjoying their ice cream. She couldn't help but wonder. But out of respect for Hokuto, she decided not to bring it up with him. All the kids shared the ice cream with the Digimon, and they all enjoyed it too, including Kudamon, even though this is his first time eating such cold yet soft and sweet food. Quite a pleasure it was to everyone.

Finally, the kids decided to walk back to the park.

"Man! I really can't wait for tomorrow's Digimon Brigade meeting. There's so much I want to tell everyone!" Yun exclaimed.

"Don't worry. Tomorrow's on it's way and you'll be able to palaver all you want!" Minako said.

"What does palaver mean?" Gummymon asked.

"It means to talk incessantly about something," Kudamon said.

"Yeah! Mina-chan can be pretty garrulous and verbose when she wants to be! Wan!" Salamon exclaimed.

"How'd you know those big words?" Yun asked.

"Mina-chan taught me!" Salamon replied.

"Oh! I see. She's taught me some big words too," Yun said.

When they finally got to the park, something caught Lucero's eyes.

"Hm?"

Hokuto was the first to notice.

"What's wrong?" Hokuto asked.

"Something's in that tree," Lucero replied, pointing to one of the big trees in the park. Kudamon's ears perked up.

"Yes! He's right. Something's in the tree, but it's not a Digimon. Strange, I can feel another Digimon's presence," Kudamon said.

"What? You can?" Yun asked.

"Let's go check it out!" Gummymon edicted.

The four kids and Digimon came back to the park and decided to see what was in the tree. Much to their surprise, the something in the tree is actually a someone! A human! More precisely, a young boy of about seven or eight years old, with a big, thick, fluffy head of spiky dark crimson red hair, deep and red as maple trees in autumn, and dark navy blue eyes, blue as the night sky. They really looked as though they had stars in them. The little boy's skin is a fresh apricot color, not white like Yun or Lucero, but darker, like the pinkness of a fresh new peach that fell from a tree. The little boy wore a short-sleeved white shirt with beige, yellow, and bright red pastel lines all over it with a turtle on the left breast pocket, dark blue jean shorts, big orange and white sneakers, and sagging white socks. The boy looked as though he were reaching for something. Lucero looked and saw it was a soccer ball, perfectly white with the black spots on it and a couple spots of dirt on it. It looked like it had been well used. But the soccer ball is stuck in a tree branch, and the boy is slowly and cautiously crawling on the branch, trying to get it. Yun gasped.

"Oh no! He might fall!" Yun exclaimed. Not wanting to see the boy potentially fall and get hurt, she ran toward the tree.

"Yun! Wait!" Lucero called out, but she didn't answer. Yun stopped in front of the tree, looked up, and called out to the boy.

"Excuse me! Please get down from there! You could get hurt!" Yun cried out with her hands around her mouth so the boy would hear her, but he totally ignored her. After a few seconds, he finally got the soccer ball out of the tree branch and into his hands.

"Got it!" The boy exclaimed.

That's when it happened. The entire tree branch snapped under the boy's weight. The boy and the tree branch came crashing down.

"Waaah!" The boy wailed as he closed his eyes and clung to the soccer ball with all his might.

"Look out!" Yun cried out as she extended her hands out and upward so the boy could fall onto her and not get hurt. Thankfully enough, the branch totally evaded Yun and the boy safely fell into Yun's arms, even though the boy was so heavy Yun herself fell onto the ground. The other kids and Digimon ran toward them.

"Yun! Art thou alright?" Lucero exclaimed.

"How is he? Is he okay?" Minako asked.

Both Yun and the boy opened their eyes and saw the kids looking down at them with expressions overcome with worry. Yun smiled and rubbed the back of her head with her hand.

"I'm fine, though my back kinda hurts," Yun replied.

Without her knowing, the boy fixed his gaze on Yun and Yun didn't realize it until she suddenly saw the boy looking at her. She immediately tensed up upon seeing the little boy's innocent Bambi eyes lock onto her own. Yun wanted to run away, but she couldn't. He was sitting on her and looking right at her. Suddenly, the boy spoke first.

"Hi!" The boy said in a sweet, nice voice. Yun was suddenly pulled out of her reverie.

"Ummm...hi!" Yun replied back. The boy smiled.

"Thanks for saving me!" The boy exclaimed as he stood up and got off of Yun with his soccer ball in hand. Yun got up and brushed herself off.

"You're welcome," Yun said, but then she put her hands on her hips and a stern and strict look was painted on her face. "But should you really be climbing trees? With the way that tree branch fell, you could've gotten hurt!"

"Sorry. I wanted to get my soccer ball out. I kicked it too hard, that's all. I didn't mean to scare ya or anything," The boy explained innocently.

"Well, at least Yun saved you," Minako said.

The boy was about to talk to Minako, but then he noticed Kokomon, Gummymon, Salamon, and Kudamon. In a split second, the boy's midnight blue eyes lit up like a super nova, and he smiled bigger and brighter than the explosion that came with that super nova.

"Wow! Are those Digimon?" The boy suddenly cried out happily.

Every single person in the group tensed up, the Digimon included. The boy dropped his soccer ball and hoisted Gummymon into the air.

"So cool! You've got them too? Awesome!" The little boy beamed as he took a good look at a very surprised yet happy Gummymon. Gummymon, feeling as though he couldn't stay silent anymore, decided to spill the beans.

"Yep! We're Digimon!" Gummymon exclaimed, which made the little boy laugh and jump around like a very excited little child getting a reward after getting a very good grade on a spelling test. The kids looked at each other, at first with confusion, but upon seeing the happy boy's face and his knowledge of Digimon, they smiled. Minako decided to talk to him first.

"So you know about Digimon?" Minako asked.

"Yep! I have one too!" The boy exclaimed.

"You do?"

"Yep! Wanna see?"

"Sure!"

The little boy turned to the bushes near the tree that he climbed.

"Hey Bearmon! Come out here! You gotta see this!" Isao yelled.

"Coming, Isao-kun!" A strange but just as boyish and childish voice replied back.

The bush rustled a bit, and out came a Digimon! A little bear cub with black fur, a white snout, a furry white belly, a purple hat with the word BEARS written in red (which the bear cub is wearing backwards), purple straps on it's paws, a little bushy black tail that looked like one of those old black chimney sweepers used in the late 1800's, sharp teeth, and two red Indian war paint stripes under it's big indigo eyes. The happy bear approached the boy, Isao, jauntily. Hokuto decided to look it's information up on his digivice, and it's his first time doing it too.

"Bearmon, a rookie level, vaccine attribute, beast Digimon. His attacks are Karate Fist and Bear Roll," Hokuto muttered.

"Hey Isao-kun! What's up?" The Digimon, Bearmon, exclaimed happily.

"Look! We have new friends! And they've got Digimon too!" Isao proudly showed Bearmon the four kids with a smile on his face. At first, the bear Digimon looked shocked, but upon seeing they have Digimon, all of which are smaller than him, he smiled innocently.

"Awesome!"

"I know, right?"

Yun decided to speak.

"So...he's your Digimon?" Yun asked shyly.

"Yep! Oh! I forgot! The name's Taketatsu Isao, and this is my best buddy Bearmon!" The little boy, Isao, introduced himself and Bearmon with a smile on his face the whole way through, apparently happy to meet some new friends, even though they're all big kids.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Omori Minako."

"Wakamiya...Yun."

"Kamitsure Hokuto."

"Lucero. We're...honored to make thy acquaintance."

Minako's greeting was the only cheerful one. The other three felt too shy to introduce themselves, but they did it anyway. But it seemed Isao and Bearmon didn't mind one bit.

"Lemme guess! That's Kokomon, Gummymon, Salamon, and Kudamon! Right?" Isao recited the names of all four Digimon perfectly, which left the four kids flabbergasted.

"Whoa! You know their names?" Yun exclaimed.

"Yep! I saw all the Digimon shows, so I know them all!" Isao replied.

"You're smart!" Gummymon said.

Timidly, Bearmon approached the four smaller Digimon.

"Umm...wanna play with me?" Bearmon asked shyly and softly. Salamon was the first to respond. She leaped in front of Bearmon and not once was she scared of his size.

"Sure! We'd love to! Wan!" Salamon exclaimed.

"I'll play too!" Kokomon piped in.

So, all five Digimon began playing. The kids played with them for a while too, then they went back to one of the benches. Yun was the first to strike up a conversation with Isao.

"So, Isao-kun...exactly how and when did you meet Bearmon?" Yun asked.

Isao decided to tell his story.

"Well, it was about a week and a half ago. This Tuesday it'll be two weeks. Anyway, I was coming home from school all hyped because my friends and I beat some other boys at a soccer game and all of a sudden, I found a DigiEgg in my room. I knew it was a DigiEgg because I've seen them lots of times before. After I found it, it hatched into Punimon. Y'know, the little red baby Digimon with the three thingies on it's head. I was super duper happy! We played for a while and then he digivolved into Tsunomon! My favorite Digimon! I made sure Mom didn't see him because I knew she'd freak out. Then we saw some weird Digimon named Chuumon causing trouble and wrecking everything. That's when Tsunomon digivolved to Bearmon! He totally nuked him hard! I was a little sad that he didn't digivolve into Gabumon since Gabumon's my favorite Digimon, but Bearmon's just as cool so I love him anyway! The end!" Isao explained brightly.

But Yun was further taken aback by Isao's story, particularly by one part of it. Yun noticed one thing that she and the rest of the Digimon Brigade members, Hokuto and Isao included, had in common: they all received their Digimon a week and a half ago, soon to be two weeks, on a Tuesday. To Yun, this was quite a scary coincidence indeed. She couldn't just classify it as one big coincidence. Coincidence was simply an understatement. Something didn't feel right. But she put those thoughts in the back of her mind. She was happy she made a new friend who has a Digimon.

"I'll bet you were really happy," Yun said.

"Sure I was! How could I not be happy with a super cool Digimon?" Isao exclaimed with his usual bright smile, then his expression changed all of a sudden. "But something's weird."

"What's weird?"

"Kokomon are normally brown, right? Yours is pink. Why is that?" Isao asked innocently.

He was right. Even Yun knew it. Normal Kokomon are brown, not pink. The only time a Kokomon was pink was in the 3rd Digimon movie (which is Yun's all time favorite). Kokomon are normally brown, partly because their Japanese name, Chocomon, comes from the word chocolate. Yun never really did question why her Kokomon was pink while others are brown. Part of it was because she was just so happy with having Kokomon and Gummymon at all to really notice, let alone care, and another part was because pink is her favorite color, so she didn't mind.

Later on, she did notice. That...and something else. But she decided not to bring it up. She smiled at Isao.

"I...I don't really know," Yun replied. She was afraid that Isao might not like this answer and find it to be very unsatisfying. But Isao smiled as if he didn't mind at all.

"Okay then! I was just wonderin'! I think Kokomon's fine the way she is anyway!" Isao edicted.

Kokomon hopped right next to Isao as she was playing with Kudamon and just so happened to hear Isao's kind-hearted statement.

"Really? You mean that?" Kokomon asked.

"Yep!" Isao replied.

"I don't sense any deceit, so it's safe to say he means it," Kudamon said. That's when Bearmon approached them slowly.

"Isao-kun never tells lies! It's bad to lie," Bearmon said.

"I agree," Kokomon said.

"I second that notion," Kudamon said. Then the three Digimon re-joined Gummymon and Salamon in their little game. Isao looked up at Yun.

"Hey! Did you guys fight any bad Digimon lately?" Isao asked.

"Yep! In fact, that's why we created the Digimon Brigade! It's so we can find evil Digimon and stop them from destroying everything!" Yun edicted like she was some superhero. Isao was mesmerized.

"Wow! So cool! I wanna fight evil bad guys with you too!" Isao cried out happily, then got confused. "What's a Digimon Brigade?"

"It's the group me and my friends made so we can defeat evil Digimon! Would you like to join us, Isao-kun?" Yun explained. Isao's midnight blue eyes lit up like the milky way appeared.

"I'd love to! Please? Can I?" Isao importuned with a smile on his face.

"Okay! Taketatsu Isao-kun, since you have a Digimon and are willing to fight on the side of justice, from this day on, you will be crowned as an official member of the Digimon Brigade!" Yun struck a few dramatic poses as she made her noble speech. Isao was entranced by Yun's sense of authority. After her little speech ended, he rejoiced happily.

"Yay! Yay! I'm part of the Digimon Brigade now! Thanks! Hooray!" Isao jumped around and pumped his tiny fists into the air joyously, happy to have made new friends.

"Hey Isao-kun! Look!" Bearmon called out to everyone and saw that Salamon's on top of Bearmon's head, Gummymon and Kokomon are both on top of Salamon's head (though Kokomon is looking quite scared and frightened), and Kudamon is sitting contentedly on both of their heads while being scrupulous to not accidentally scratch his little paws on their horns.

"We're a tower of Digimon! Wan!" Salamon said.

"Thou shouldst be careful not to harm thyselves!" Lucero called out.

"We won't!" Gummymon replied back.

Suddenly, Bearmon started to sway back and forth, which made all the Digimon on top of him wobble a bit too. Seeing what might happen, all the kids ran to them and grabbed their respective Digimon in order so they wouldn't fall. Hokuto grabbed Kudamon, Yun snatched Kokomon and Gummymon (Kokomon exhaled a huge sigh of relief), Minako scooped a happy little Salamon in her arms, and Isao hugged Bearmon, who didn't look one bit scared.

"That was fun!" Bearmon said.

"Sure looked like it! Oh! Bearmon! Guess what? We're part of the Digimon Brigade now!" Isao told him. Bearmon cocked his head to one side in confusion.

"Digimon Brigade?" Bearmon asked.

"Yep! We're gonna fight evil bad guys and save the day!" Isao told him with his fist clenched.

"Isao. Doth thou have a digivice?" Lucero asked.

"Do I have a digivice? Yep! Wanna see?" Isao replied.

Lucero nodded. Isao put his hand in his left pocket and pulled out an egg-shaped digivice with pale bronze buttons and a pale bronze strap. Exactly the same type of digivice as the other Digimon Brigade members have, but Isao's is a shiny brown color.

"I'm happy it's brown because brown's my favorite color! Brown's the color of chocolate and bears!" Isao said.

"Not all bears are brown. Have you heard of black bears? Bearmon's black too," Yun explained.

That's when Hokuto finally spoke for the first time in a long while. But it's something nobody expected to hear from his mouth.

"The American black bear is North America's smallest and most common species of bear. It's species name is Ursus americanus. Black bears are omnivores, with their diets varying greatly depending on season and location. Black bears typically live in largely forested areas, but do not leave their forests in search of food. Sometimes they become attracted to human communities because of the immediate availability of food. Adult male black bears can weigh as much as between 57,250 kg, 130,550 lb, while females weigh 33% less at 41,109 kg, 90,240 lb,. They enter their dens in October or November to begin hibernation, and 85% of their diet comes from vegitation."

Hokuto basically delved into an insanely long, verbose, articulate, and almost endless explanation about black bears and everything about them from size and figure due to gender and their period of hibernation. Everyone was rendered silent. He even out palavered (if such a word exists) Minako by a looooooong shot. But Hokuto was unfortunately not given the opportunity to finish his long, rhetorical, and oratorical explanation about black bears.

A loud and vociferous _BOOM!_ stopped him from doing so.

"Ummm...speaking of bad Digimon...doth thou think-?" Lucero was about to say that that boom might be caused by a Digimon, and Minako could tell right off the bat.

"Could be! It sounds like it came from the construction site!" Minako said.

"Wanna go take a look?" Yun asked.

"Sure! Come on, everyone! Isao-kun and Hokuto-kun! You two follow us!"

The five children and five Digimon ran from the park and toward the construction site. Isao and Bearmon looked at each other with excited faces.

"We're gonna fight a Digimon! You psyched?" Isao asked.

"Yep! I sure am, and whatever happens I'll do my best to protect you!" Bearmon replied.

Hokuto didn't look too keen on fighting a Digimon, but he followed the kids anyway.

They finally got to the construction site and were surprised to see that most of the construction beams, piles of wood, and bricks have all been knocked to the ground! Even the metal chains and beams looked as though they were squished by something stronger than metal or even steel! And they sure saw what did do all the destroying. A huge rock-like beast who looks like he's entirely made of yellowish rock, with a greyish black face with a brown belt around his head, horns sticking up from his back, a lot of silver strings wrapped around various parts of his body (possibly made to keep his body parts from falling all over the place or something), and glowing bloody red eyes. Hokuto got his digivice out and looked up the Digimon's information.

"Golemon, a champion level, virus attribute, rock Digimon. His attacks are Golem Punch and Sulfur Plume," Hokuto said as he read the big ugly Digimon's information and put his digivice away.

_"RAAAAWWWWR!"_ Golemon roared and howled like a rabid coyote as he threw a construction beam at a tree. BOOM! it went and it fell into the forest. Kokomon and Gummymon hopped off of Yun's shoulder.

"Looks like it's time to break it into a bazillion pieces!" Gummymon exclaimed as he readied himself for battle.

"We can't let it reach town! Yun! Let's fight him!" Kokomon backed Gummymon up, though in a much more prioritized fashion.

"Now you're speaking my language! Everyone, get ready!" Yun got her digivice out.

Kokomon digivolved to Lopmon, Gummymon to Terriermon, and Salamon to Gatomon. Unfortunately, it seemed Lopmon and Terriermon don't have enough energy to digivolve to champion level so they had to make do with fighting in their rookie forms, even though Golemon looks to be a very strong champion level Digimon. Bearmon and Kudamon decided to fight too.

Lopmon made the first move.

"Freezing Snow!"

A little blizzard shot out from Lopmon's mouth and froze part of Golemon's foot, making it roar in pain in reaction to the cold. Sadly, it wasn't enough, as Golemon's sturdy body allowed it to literally walk out of the ice and shake it off. Kudamon and Bearmon decided to help out.

"Karate Fist!"

"Holy Ray!"

Bearmon punched Golemon's arm with one of his rolled up fists, and Kudamon's purple earring glowed in a blinding white light, making Golemon incapable of seeing for a bit. Unfortunately, even those attacks weren't enough.

"Lightning Paw!"

"Blazing Fire!"

Gatomon punched Golemon with her paw and Terriermon attempted to leave a 3rd degree burn on the giant rocky monster. Gatomon's paw hurt upon punching the beast, and Terriermon's fiery attack didn't even leave one mark. Not even a scratch or one little third degree burn. It was like it was impervious to everything.

"Urgh! If only Lopmon and Terriermon could digivolve now!" Yun exclaimed.

That's when Yun heard a voice that made her shiver.

"Awww! You brats again? Can't you ever leave us alone?"

Yun looked up to a tree that was behind her. On the top were Witchmon and a very ugly looking roach Digimon.

"Witchmon!" Yun yelled.

"Witchmon? Who's Witchmon?" Isao asked.

"She's an evil Digimon who puts these things called Dark Emblems on others!" Yun explained.

"Do you have to be so rude? We've been ordered to put Dark Emblems on Digimon! Really, you humans are so nosy and persistent! Don't you know that we have a mission to fulfill? Quit getting in our way!" Witchmon exclaimed in a not-so-pleased voice.

"Yeah! Mind yer own beeswax, ya rotten human!" The evil roach Digimon sneered.

Yun was just absolutely disgusted by this noisome Digimon, and she felt she just HAD to point it out. "Okay. You're the ugliest and most appallingly disgusting Digimon I've ever seen!"

The roach Digimon became choleric. "WHAT? I ain't ugly! Yous da ugly one, yo!"

"Nope. You're way uglier, Roachmon!" Witchmon said in a sassy voice.

"Witchmon! Whose side are ya on anyway?" The ugly roach Digimon, Roachmon, yelled back.

Isao looked the Digimon's information up on his bronze digivice.

"Roachmon. He's a champion level and a virus type Digimon! His attacks are Garbage Dump and Yard Sale Bomb. Ugh! Sounds yucky!" Isao said, feeling disgusted by Roachmon's attack and not having a nice time imagining what they're like. Golemon stopped going on a rampage upon catching sight of Roachmon and Witchmon, but someone decided to land a nice verbal beating.

"THOU ART UGLY!" Lucero screamed from afar, hiding behind a tree with Hokuto.

"Hey! Who said that? Come out here so I can pound yer brains out, yo!" Roachmon yelled. Suddenly, Witchmon got on her broom.

"Hmph! I have more important things to do than watch you brats mess up my plans! I'll have to do more! Roachmon, I'll leave you and Mr. Rock Face here to deal with them," Witchmon told them sassily, which angered Roachmon. Then she flew away in a millisecond.

"HEY! Witchmon! Come back here! I ain't done wit' you yet!" Roachmon yelled as he tried to fly after Witchmon, but she had already disappeared into a Digital Portal that she herself formed.

"Okay. That giant bug needs a grammar lesson," Hokuto muttered.

"I absolutely and uncategorically second thy notion," Lucero said.

Suddenly, Roachmon felt something hard hit him on the back. It was Gatomon.

"Lightning Paw!"

Gatomon successfully landed a hit on Roachmon, making him fall off the tree for a bit. But he got his ugly brown wings out and flew above Golemon. This angered Gatomon.

"Nyan! He's fast!...and he even smells disgusting!" Gatomon exclaimed as she leaped onto Golemon's arm.

"I sure agree with you on that, Gatomon!" Minako exclaimed.

All the Digimon attacked and pummeled Golemon and Roachmon with all their might, but they were just too strong for him. At one point, Yun told Kudamon and Bearmon to find the Dark Emblem. As the Digimon, Yun, and Minako fought (with their digiswords since the digilasso was too weak for Golemon's sturdiness) Golemon, Kudamon managed to find the Dark Emblem on Golemon's right foot, easily flying away once Golemon attempted to squash him like a bug (or, like Roachmon). Lopmon and Terriermon both managed to get a hold on Roachmon at one point and attempted to attack him. Unfortunately, they were thrown off by Roachmon and he attacked with his Garbage Dump attack, which sure didn't look, feel, or smell pretty. Yun made sure they didn't get hurt, so she took the attack herself. She wasn't hurt, but she hated the feeling of garbage falling on her clothes and emitted a noisome odor as a result, which she hated even more. But she reminded herself that this was NOT the time to be complaining about smelly clothes.

The battle seemed to go on for hours on end. Lopmon and Kudamon took turns trying to attack Roachmon (who was also successfully evading their attacks like it was nothing) and Terriermon, Bearmon, and Gatomon tried their absolute hardest to fight Golemon and destroy the Dark Emblem on his right foot. But nothing worked, no matter what they tried. Lopmon and Terriermon still weren't able to digivolve due to their low energy level, Kudamon and Bearmon haven't reached the digivolution stage yet, and Gatomon wasn't even close to being as powerful as Golemon is, even though she herself is a champion level. Minako and Yun tried hard to attack Golemon, but his rock hard body made their digiswords literally bounce off of him. Isao watched the girls fight and decided to try and use his digivice as a weapon himself. Thankfully his digivice did as asked and turned into a lit up sword. Isao hit Golemon's foot lots of times, but it didn't work. Gatomon was starting to get irritated.

"Nyan! Is there no end to these ugly Digimon?" Gatomon yelled.

"I HEARD 'DAT! And no, there ain't! I'm 'a make sure you never interfere with our plans ever again! Golemon, take 'em down!" Roachmon yelled vehemently.

"What exactly ARE your plans! Do tell, because we'd LOVE to thwart them!" Minako yelled sarcastically.

"As if I'd tell a rotten thing like you!"

"You're even MORE rotten than us!"

"Yeah! And you're ugly too! You smell like dog poop!" Isao yelled, backing Minako up, which made Roachmon even madder. He finally decided to attack.

"I had just about enough of 'dis, yo! Garbage Dump!" Roachmon threw piles of garbage at the kids. Yun held her digivice up on a complete whim, hoping that something would happen.

And happen it did.

Her digivice glew, and a rainbow like dome appeared over the children and weakened Digimon, turning into a shield that made Roachmon's disgusting attack dissipate into this air! Yun opened her eyes and saw the wondrous rainbowy shield and silently rejoiced. The digivice didn't just work as a lasso or a sword, but a shield as well!

"WHAT? Now 'DAT can't be good!" Roachmon yelled.

But someone else had other ideas.

"Eat this, you baddie!" Isao yelled as he tried to dredge his sword into Golemon's foot. But Isao didn't notice Golemon looking down at him angrily.

"Isao! Look out!" Bearmon yelled, but Golemon very quickly grabbed Isao with his big, stony hand and lifted him into the air. Isao could feel himself suffocating. He felt his bones were about to crack in two. He struggled to get himself out, but it didn't work.

"Isao!" Everyone yelled. Kudamon, with blinding speed, climbed Golemon's body and hopped in front of Golemon's face.

"Release the boy, now! Holy Ray!" Kudamon attempted to blind Golemon with his light, which unfortunately did not work as Golemon managed to knock Kudamon out with his arm, the one that's holding Isao.

"Kudamon!" Hokuto caught Kudamon in the nick of time. Then, Bearmon and Terriermon decided to take things into their own hands.

"Bear Roll!"

"Terrier Tornado!"

Both of them spun around (in different directions) and went up in the air so they could land a hit on Golemon. Sadly enough, their attacks bounced off of the rocky beast and they ended up getting hurt.

"Man! That thing's harder than my horn! Jeez!" Terriermon complained. But Bearmon ran back toward Golemon, who was looking at Isao with great but hostile curiosity.

"Bearmon! Wait! Where are you going?" Terriermon yelled.

"I'm gonna save Isao-kun! That's what!" Bearmon replied as he climbed onto Golemon's foot.

"But he's too strong for you! Come back this instant!" Lopmon warned worriedly.

"So what? I can't just leave Isao with that giant monster! He'll die if I don't save him! Isao, I'm coming!" Bearmon yelled as he slowly began to climb Golemon's foot. Golemon didn't notice as he was too busy looking at Isao like a big, hungry monster. Isao could feel himself shivering with fear and about to explode into a paroxysm of tears.

_'I can't! I can't cry now! I have to be strong! For Bearmon and my new friends! Strong people don't cry! I...I have to-Ugh!'_ Isao thought as he struggled to hold back his tears and break free. Unfortunately, Golemon's rock hard grip was slowly crushing him.

Then, out of nowhere, his bronze digivice glew. And so did Bearmon! The glow was so bright and blinding that even Golemon had to cover his eyes. Sure, he used the arm holding Isao as his cover, but Isao didn't care. Even though he couldn't see, he knew what this light meant.

"Bearmon! You're digivolving!"

"Bearmon, digivolve to..."

The bronze light enveloping Bearmon grew bigger and bigger until he was the exact same size as Golemon, albeit only shorter than him by about two feet. Once the majestic bronze light faded, out came a giant grizzly bear standing on all fours. Now he has a royal blueish purple coat with red armor on his large front paws with sickeningly sharp silver claws, and a pure white crescent moon shape on his head. He sure looked pretty ferocious, as Hokuto was scared spitless by the giant bear and ran back behind the tree with Kudamon safely snuggled in his arms. But to Isao, he was the awesomest thing in the whole wide world.

"Grizzlymon!"

Right after he digivolved, Grizzlymon rammed into Golemon like he was a ferocious, wild bull in a rodeo. He came with such force that Golemon finally let go of Isao. In a split second after that, Grizzlymon let Isao fall on his big fluffy coat of fur. Even Roachmon was surprised.

"Hah? A Digimon digivolvin' with a human's help? Pathetic!" Roachmon sneered angrily.

"You're even more pathetic! Cat's Eye Hypnosis!" Gatomon piped in, but not before paralyzing Roachmon with the eerie glow in her violet eyes.

Isao and Grizzlymon readied themselves to take down Golemon.

"You ready to break this thing into a million pieces, Isao?" Grizzlymon asked in his deep and...well, grizzly voice. But Isao didn't mind one bit.

"Yeah! Let's do it!" Isao roared happily.

"Alrighty! Maul Attack!" With an excited Isao on his back, Grizzlymon charged toward Golemon yet again, knocking him to the ground. Yun and the Digimon saw the Dark Emblem on Golemon's foot. Isao saw their faces as he looked, and knew what he had to do.

"Grizzlymon! Hop on top of him so he won't get up!" Isao commanded.

"You got it!" Grizzlymon walked on top of Golemon and prevented him from getting up. This gave all the Digimon an opportunity to attack.

"Freezing Snow!"

"Blazing Fire!"

"Lightning Paw!"

"Crystal Air!"

All four small Digimon attacked the Dark Emblem with all the power they had. Unfortunately, it didn't destroy it. Thankfully, Grizzlymon and Golemon fought enough that Golemon was finally rendered unconscious by Grizzlymon's weight. He decided to land the final blow.

"Crescent Dawn!"

A white light shot out from Bearmon's crescent and finally destroyed the Dark Emblem. After that, a digital hole was opened and Golemon fell into it. Gatomon and Grizzlymon both de-digivolved back to Salamon and Bearmon. Everyone rejoiced...all except for Roachmon.

"WHAT? This ain't right! Grrr! It's no wonder you humans keep ruinin' our plans! I'm definitely gonna report ya to my master and have him do somethin' about it!" Roachmon yelled like a drunkard as he broke out of Gatomon's Cat's Eye Hypnosis.

"Or what? You're gonna throw us in the dumpster or something?" Yun mocked Roachmon similar to how Melody does with Seiko often.

However...Lucero made the mistake of getting out from behind the tree and approaching Yun.

"Yun! Let us go home!" Lucero said.

That's when Roachmon's big, ugly, googly eyes locked onto the blonde boy, and right when he did...he screamed like a lunatic.

_"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"_

Roachmon's screaming was so loud, Yun had to cover her ears. Lopmon and Terriermon hopped on her head and covered Yun's ears with their big floppy ones so the noise would be muffled. But it sure didn't stop Yun from shaking like a leaf, though she did look up at Roachmon, who looked at Lucero and thought that the sight of Lucero was the biggest calamity that had ever hit him in the face of the earth.

"You-You-You-You-You're..._STILL ALIVE_?" Roachmon yelled. Then he suddenly flew toward Lucero and grabbed him.

"No way! You can't be alive! You should be dead! My master destroyed you! This can't beeeee!" Roachmon screamed like a maniac, and Yun sure wasn't having it.

"Let go of him, insectoid!" Yun managed to pry Roachmon off of Lucero, though Roachmon's skin didn't feel very nice to Yun. Roachmon, knowing that these kids won't let him near Lucero, especially if they have Digimon who can digivolve and easily defeat him, decided to let him go and fly away, but not before leaving behind a caustic and ribald statement.

"I'm 'a lettin' my master know about 'dis, yo! Just because you survived don't mean we can't destroy you again! Just you wait!" Roachmon yelled before he opened a digital hole and flew into it. Everyone was silent.

"Uh...what just happened?" Hokuto asked.

"I think Roachmon knows Lucero somehow," Minako said.

"He knows me? But I don't know him!" Lucero exclaimed, feeling rather uncomfortable with this new twist. Yun crossed her arms.

"Well, regardless, I don't think we should ignore this. That ugly bug thinks he knows Lucero. Devimon too. Remember? They both said _'You should be dead!'_ and tried to attack him. I don't think this is some case of mistaken identity," Yun explained.

"Me neither. We're definitely going to bring this up at tomorrow's Digimon Brigade meeting," Minako said. Terriermon hopped onto Yun's shoulder.

"Maybe Lucero's secretly a super cool Digimon who can save the world! Heehee!" Terriermon exclaimed happily, which irked Lopmon.

"Terriermon! Don't make jokes like that! This is serious!" Lopmon exclaimed.

"Well, if there's one thing that's serious...it's the fact that when I get home, I'm taking an epic bath!" Yun exclaimed as she took her two floppy eared friends and zipped back home. But not before registering Isao's digivice with hers and getting his home address and phone number. Now that the battle was over, Yun was determined to get herself clean...and clean herself she did!

_In the Digital World..._

Roachmon and Witchmon are flying through a very dark, very damp, and very ominous looking cave with determined looks on their faces. Both of them held lit up torches so they could see.

"I'm tellin' ya, Witchmon! I saw him with my own two eyes! I still have a hard time believin' it! To think he's been alive all this time!" Roachmon exclaimed.

"Are you sure it's really him?" Witchmon asked.

"Sure I'm sure! Where else can you find a human boy with purple tattoos and holy rings?"

"Well, I've never really seen him before so I don't know what he looks like."

"By him you mean what he was like before Master destroyed him, right?"

"Yep! But man! All I managed to do was lay a curse on a tiny little pink fairy! I wanted to do so much more back then! Boo! And besides, our master doesn't believe in humans! He's not gonna take you seriously!"

"Quit yer belly-achin', Witchmon! We gotta tell Master right away! He'll explode!"

In a hurry, Roachmon flew ahead of Witchmon.

"Hey! Roachmon! Wait for me! Don't leave me behind in this dark and dirty place!" Witchmon wailed like a spoiled child, but Roachmon was just too excited and pumped up. Soon, the tunnel got bigger and bigger the further he went.

"Master! Master!"

He got to the end and found himself in a very big, very dark, very damp, very cold, and very ominous looking room with nothing in it...except for a few other tunnel holes and a 30 foot tall crystal trapped in some rock formations right in the middle of the room. Inside the big blue crystal...is a shadowy, eerie, and ferocious looking apparition shaped like a small purple dragon with two heads, orange and yellow eyes glowing very evilly and eerily, two arms, and a lighter purple light in it's abdomen. He sure did NOT look like a very nice Digimon. Some little white ghost Digimon and grey animal Digimon ran out of Roachmon's way once he stood in front of the giant crystal. Roachmon bowed before the giant crystal.

"Why do you come?" The ghostly dragon in the crystal asked in a sickeningly deep, rich, and booming voice that seemed to make the cavern shake a little, like a small earthquake hit. But Roachmon didn't feel a thing.

"Greetings, Master MoonMilleniummon! I don't mean to intrude on your coveted slumber, but I've discovered something that I feel obliged to share with you!" Roachmon explained in a polite and suave voice. Suddenly, Witchmon fell on his head.

"Ow!" Both of them yelled in unison. Roachmon vehemently threw Witchmon off of him.

"Git offa me, Witchmon!"

"It's your fault for running ahead of me, you roach!"

"Yeah, well, you're a spoiled brat anyway!"

"What'd you call me?"

_"SILENCE!"_ The dragon inside the giant crystal, MoonMillenniummon, screamed angrily, causing the entire cavern to shake violently and most of the small Digimon to scurry out of the cave. Roachmon and Witchmon really felt as if an earthquake was about to it. Thankfully, the shaking stopped.

"Jeez! Can't you two low-life incompetents stop squabbling even for a second? It's no wonder I don't get any sleep! I can't believe I even paired you two up in the first place! I need to set some standards!" MoonMillenniummon yelled.

"W-We're terribly sorry, Master!" Roachmon bowed before his master, but Witchmon didn't look too happy.

"Shouldn't he be getting all the blame instead of making us share it?" Witchmon muttered to herself.

"Well, Roachmon? You said you had something to tell me? Speak! And after that, get back to recruiting Digimon so I can complete my army!" MoonMillenniummon roared.

"Yes! But before I get to that, I'd like to explain something, if you will! See, you know about humans, right? The creatures who supposedly created us? See, I've found that they really exist!" Roachmon explained, rubbing his hands together.

"Huh? That's all? You know very well that there's no such thing as humans! Roachmon, you should know better than to believe such poppycock!" MoonMillenniummon scolded like a strict parent.

"Oh, but Master! There are! Witchmon and I saw 'dem with our own two eyes! And you ain't gonna believe who we found in there!"

"Aren't, not ain't. Aren't. I ought to start giving you grammar lessons," MoonMillenniummon said.

"That ain't important! Listen!"

Roachmon krept closer to MoonMillenniummon and whispered something in front of him. It wasn't entirely low because MoonMillenniummon has a hard time hearing really low voices. Right when MoonMillenniummon heard what Roachmon said, he roared.

_"BLASPHEMY!"_

A small blue lightning bolt shot out from his crystal and electrocuted Roachmon. Witchmon caught him before he fell onto the ground.

"Hey! What's with the electricity?" Witchmon yelled as she helped Roachmon stand up and regain his balance.

"How dare you waste my time with such calumny! Roachmon! I'm disappointed in you! I always knew you were incompetent, but I never dreamed of such audacity! I _KILLED_ him! I killed him with all the powers I had! You were there! You saw everything! Yet you expect me to believe that he is actually ALIVE and walking amongst humans as we speak? Lawful heart! Don't ever mention his name to me ever again! And don't ever tell me those lies either!" MoonMillenniummon screamed angrily.

"B-But Master! What he says is true! I saw him too! And those brats who keep ruining our plans!" Witchmon pleaded as Roachmon helped himself up.

"Not another word! Go and put Dark Emblems on any Digimon who's not willing to assimilate into my army! Coerce them or do it by force, I don't care!"

"We're trying, but those humans keep getting in the way!"

"Oh, is that your excuse? I'd like to go out and recruit myself, but I don't have enough power nor can I break out of this rock formation that's trapped me in this rathole! Anyway, leave this place immediately before you're next, Witchmon!"

"Master! Listen!"

"I said leave and do your duty! Obey me at once!"

Knowing that trying to persuade a crystalized dragon with a bad temper was futile, Witchmon abdicated, took Roachmon away, and left the cave, leaving MoonMillenniummon all alone.

_'Hmph! He can't be alive! Absolutely not! And there are NO such things as humans! They're nothing but a foolish fabrication made up by a bunch of hacks. Those two idiots should know better than to be so gullible! But come to think of it...it is strange that the Digimon who get branded with my specially created Dark Emblems have been disappearing lately. No! That's not true! No human world ever exists! Tch! I'd go and see for myself, but this form and this rock formation are holding me back. Oh well. I might as well wait and see. Now I'm hungry.'_ MoonMilleniummon thought as he watched Witchmon and Roachmon leave the cave. "Ghoulmon! Get me some gruel, will you?"

Witchmon and Roachmon left the cave panting.

"Told you he wouldn't believe you," Witchmon told him.

"Shut up, witch!" Roachmon snapped.

"You know how he is. Once he's set on a certain belief he won't budge no matter how much you try to persuade him."

"Looks like we're really gonna hafta hit it home."

"How? Those pesky brats keep getting in the way and he won't send the other servants with us either. It also doesn't help that LadyDevimon's taken over Mt. Trinity and is living like a spoiled princess."

"YOU actually HATE LadyDevimon?"

"Yes! She's always ordering me around like I'm her servant! But that's irrelevant right now. What are we gonna do?"

"Well, if there's one good thing I know about Master, it's that he'll start believin' something's true if there's solid evidence. We might as well grab somethin' in the human world that'll make him believe!"

"We tried that once, but you dropped the recorder!"

"That was your fault!"

"Was not!"

"Alright alright! It was both our faults! This ain't the time to argue! Anyway, if my feelin' in my gut is correct, he don't look like he has his wings or his powers. He could be easy to defeat. Alrighty! I got a plan! Witchmon, you keep on puttin' Dark Emblems on Digimon and deal with the pests while I do some info gatherin'!"

"What? Come on! I'm tired of recruiting!"

"Quit yer complainin' and do it! And what do you think we should do? Drag Master to the human world with us?"

"That'd be a great idea! But we can't. One: he doesn't believe what we're telling him is true. Two: the biggest a digital hole we make can be is 5 meters long. He won't be able to fit! And three: if those brats figure out what we're doing, they might want to ruin our plans!"

"That's where you come in! You can stall 'em for however long ya want while I get the stuff I need to execute my new plan! Well, let's get to it, yo!"

Witchmon scoffed at him silently once he flew away. "Pfft! Stupid Mr. Know-It-All."

Author's Note: Yay! I've finished chapter 17! Hope you guys enjoyed it! Also, today's the 10th anniversary of 9/11. Wanna know one thing we can celebrate on this day? Bin Laden kicking the bucket back in May! Sorry if that sounds weird, but hey! It's one good thing that happened in the midst of all the despair, right? I better run. Anime to watch. Bye!

Footnotes:

1. Digimon Savers, or Digimon: Data Squad in the US, is the 5th season in the Digimon franchise, and as Yun pointed out, Kudamon is one of the characters in it.


	18. Fly to the Heavens! Coredramon!

Author's Note: Hello everyone! Guess what? I'm alive! Sorry I haven't been around much. One word: college. Or more precisely, the first week of college. Last week. It was kinda overwhelming at first, but I think I'm starting to get the gist of everything now. Hopefully I'll be able to survive it all. Sorry if I sound kinda sour. Some brouhaha happened on DA and I'm feeling a little down in the dumps because of it, partly because it was mostly my fault. Well, I should focus on this to take my mind off of it. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you chapter 18 of Digimon: A Seraphic Tale!

EPISODE 18: Fly to the Heavens, Coredramon!

"Shunji!"

The boy slept in his room, totally off in dreamland and totally oblivious to the fact that someone is calling his name. He was so dead asleep that he failed to notice the bright, golden yellow sunbeams permeating his glass window and lighting up the room like it was a beautiful lantern lit up during a _Bonbori Festival_(1). His thick mop of jet black hair hung off of his head and behind his pillow and specs of drool were slithering down his chin and trying to make their way to his neck. But he just didn't care! Sleep he did, and like a person dead on the street, no less! And on a tranquil and halcyon Sunday morning. He didn't even see that his clock read 7:54 AM! Thankfully, someone did and is trying to wake him up.

"Shunji! Shunji! Wake up!"

He felt himself being shaken by a pair of clawed hands, but his ocean blue eyes didn't open. Not one bit. But he did mutter something in his sleep.

"Mmmgah...food...egg rolls...delish!"

The voice calling to him was now getting mad.

"HELLO! WAKE UP, YOU LAZY SACK OF BONES! YOU'RE GONNA BE LATE FOR YOUR DATE!" The raspy voice shouted angrily and vehemently. Alas, the boy turned around and hugged his futon like it was a very fluffy piece of cotton candy that he wanted to cuddle with instead of eat.

"Hmph! If that's how you wanna play it, then take this! Dragon Gas!"

Suddenly, the boy's nostrils were assaulted by a noisome and putrid smell. It smelled like a combination of rotten MacDonald's food, dog puke, and simmering eggs laying out on the sidewalk on a hot summer day.

The boy's blue eyes finally shot open like a jack-in-a-box.

_"GYAAAAAH!"_

He literally shot out of bed like a rocket and fell back into his futon like a falling piece of paper. His long slender arms flailed around, trying to make the absolutely horrid smell dissipate into thin air, which it did after a while. He flailed and struggled like he was some patient in a mental institution trying to break out of the clutches of the staff after an epic temper tantrum. Once he was finally awake, he groaned, yawned a huge, wide open mouthed yawn, and rubbed his head with his hand, he caught sight of a little green dragon half his height with red Y shaped horns, reddish orange bat wings, and big round eyes.

"Good morning, Shunji!" Dracomon exclaimed with a big, toothy smile. It's then that Anjo Shunji gasped.

"Wha? Did YOU do that, Dracomon?" Shunji asked in a loud voice.

"Yeth! Cuz' you wouldn't wake up!" Dracomon replied, apparently feeling proud of his successful awakening of his human partner...though his recent method of doing so was something Shunji hoped to never have to experience ever again.

"But really? With your smelly breath? My God! Brush your teeth when you wake me up, will ya?" Shunji yelled.

"Nothing else worked, so I decided to attack your nostrils!" Dracomon told him.

"Attack my nostrils indeed!" Shunji exclaimed, wiping the dried up drool off of his chin. He didn't wear anything but a pair of soft black shorts. Yeah, he slept with his shirt off. Dracomon didn't see any problem with it, and neither did Shunji. "But today's Sunday, Dracomon!"

"Correction! It ain't just ANY regular boring Sunday!" Dracomon talked back, wagging one of his clawed fingers at Shunji like a nagging mother.

"What do you mean?" Shunji asked absentmindedly, still trying to regain his composure a bit. But then it hit him, and he gasped. It was enough to make him stand up in a flash.

"WHOA! You're right! I totally forgot! My early morning date with Ayaka-chan is today!...and the Digimon Brigade meeting comes afterward!" Shunji exclaimed as he scrambled to the closet and started throwing on clothes like an overanxious politician trying to get to the next press conference while on an appallingly tight schedule.

"Shunji? Can I come with you?" Dracomon asked innocently as Shunji threw on a nice clean shirt.

"Huh? To the Brigade meeting?" Shunji asked.

"No," Dracomon shook his giant, over-sized head. "On your date!"

Shunji felt a pang in his heart. No longer did he feel the need to rush and dash out of the house. He stopped once he picked out a nice clean pair of pants and held it in his arms. Dracomon is actually asking to follow him on his date with Ayaka? Shunji didn't think this day would come! However, there was one problem. He remembered Ayaka's inappropriate reaction to Dracomon's appearance and it tore at his heart to see him get beaten with that tree branch, even though he was proud of Dracomon for fighting it off and unflinchingly standing up for himself. As much as he loved this big-headed, big-hearted miniature dragon, he liked Ayaka too, and he wanted to make her happy, not scared. And she was scared of Dracomon indeed. It pained him to do so, but he smiled and put a hand on Dracomon's big head.

"Sorry, buddy. I'm afraid I can't let you come with me," Shunji said in a soft, dulcet, sympathetic voice, which saddened Dracomon.

"Awww! But I'm sick and tired of being cooped up in the house! Especially when your grandparents are sittin' around, doing nothing!" Dracomon explained.

"It's not their fault. And besides, I'd love to take you with me. I really would. But you saw the way Ayaka treated you. I don't want you getting beaten up and I don't want her to be frightened. Not that you meant to frighten her or anything. It's just not normal to see kid sized dragons running around. Not that it's your fault or anything. It's just natural reaction."

Dracomon drooped his big head and stared at the tatami floor, looking very dejected and crestfallen.

"But don't worry! The Digimon Brigade meeting doesn't start 'til around two-ish according to Minako-chan's text. You'll get to come with me then!"

"But it's too long a ways away!"

"Sometimes we just have to be patient and bear with it. Don't worry, little buddy! Time will fly by before you know it!"

"You think so?"

"I know so!"

Dracomon thought about Shunji's words and nodded. "Alright. I'll stay."

"Good! Sorry to do this to ya, but it'll all be over soon! And guess what we're gonna have for dinner tonight?"

"Steak?"

"Yep!"

"Hooray!"

Dracomon jumped for joy upon hearing the word steak. Dracomon LOVES steak. He developed a great fondness for it when Shunji snuck a piece of it after dinner and gave it to Dracomon. Dracomon had fallen in love right when his giant dragon teeth chewed on the rough skin. After that, Dracomon officially declared steak to be his all time favorite food. Shunji loved it when Dracomon would drool over steak like a very eager and excited little child wanting to get a cookie.

Shunji put his clothes on, went into the bathroom, brushed his hair and teeth, and hopped into the living room, where he saw his grandfather watching TV, namely Judge Judy, and his grandmother knitting something out of purple yarn. Both of them are about 80 something years old and looked very wrinkled and emaciated, with stone gray hair, extremely thin arms and legs, and wearing thick, coke-bottle glasses hiding their eternally closed eyes. They're certainly not blind. Shunji knew this. He approached his grandmother.

"Good morning, Gran!" Shunji exclaimed joyfully, waving at the drained out old woman, who did nothing but continue working on her knitting.

"Not so loud, Shunji," The grandmother whispered in a rather impassively monotone voice. "Breakfast is on the table."

"Thanks!" Shunji dashed into the kitchen, grabbed some breakfast, ran back to his room, gave some to Dracomon, and dashed out of the house as quickly as if it were all done in a millisecond.

"I'll be back before dinner! Bye!" Shunji cried out with a smile as he left the house, leaving his two grandparents all alone in the now stone silent house, if you exclude the TV making a lot of noise.

"That boy's such a handful. I don't know why you offered to take him in, Shinzo. You don't even talk to him," The grandmother said to her silent and taciturn husband, Shinzo, impassively.

Shinzo watched TV and ignored her.

Shunji ran through town, hoping to meet Ayaka in front of the library this morning. Shunji and Ayaka had planned out their date and hoped to go through with it without any sudden interruptions or incidents or anything like that. They wanted to enjoy the first date they've had in a very long time. Especially since Shunji recently moved into town. Shunji didn't tell her that he's also planning to go to the Digimon Brigade meeting later today. He knew this would send Ayaka into a towering rage, but as much as he liked Ayaka, he liked Dracomon too, and like Dracomon said, he didn't want to be cooped up in the house all day.

After about a few minutes of running, Shunji finally found Ayaka impatiently standing in front of the now turned off street lights in front of the library. She wore nothing but a black tank top, very short white shorts, red and brown high heeled sandals, blue green square shaped earrings on both ears, and a black scrunchie holding up her long, light brown pony tail. Her pale sky blue eyes, blue as the morning sky right now, finally caught sight of Shunji running towards her happily.

"Ayaka-chan!"

He hopped right in front of her.

"You really kept me waiting, Shun-kun!" Ayaka exclaimed with a smile, which was rare for her since, according to Yun, she hadn't smiled in a very long time. Shunji laughed and rubbed the back of his unkempt head of black hair with his hand modestly.

"I kinda overslept. Sorry! Anyway, now that I'm here, let's have some fun! Shall we?" Shunji told her kindly, which made her smile even more.

"Wanna go to the movies with me? He Has a Broken Heart Times A Thousand has just been released in theaters," Ayaka said.

"You wanna see a movie? Sure! No prob! I'll get a taxi! I brought my wallet with me!" Shunji said.

Soon, a taxi as yellow as a banana pulled out in front of the young teenaged couple and they drove off to the nearest movie theater. The two of them even made out in the back seat as the taxi drove along, but the driver focused solely on driving and having absolutely no intention of meddling in their little make out session. Once they got to the theater, Shunji dutifully paid for the tickets and snacks, let Ayaka sit in her assigned seat first like a gentleman, and sat next to her. The movie wasn't much. Just a silly and stupid romantic chick-flick movie about broken hearts and love triangles and intensified rivalries. Ayaka loved these kinds of things, but 20 minutes into the movie, she and Shunji made out again. It was dark in the theater so nobody saw them making out, which was fine with them.

Back at the Wakamiya house, at around 10:30 AM...

"Hi Yun! We're here!"

Practically ALL the members of the Digimon Brigade arrived at Yun's house. Minako and Salamon, Kosuke and Patamon, Melody and Biyomon, Otoya and Labramon, Rena and Lunamon, Riku and Coronamon, Aria and MarineAngemon, Hokuto and Kudamon, and finally, Isao and Bearmon. Thankfully Yun and Lucero were up and dressed so they didn't look awkward in front of them. It also helped that both Teruki and Hisako are awake. Yun beamed with joy once all of her friends arrived.

"Morning, everyone! Welcome to my house!" Yun let them all inside and they settled into the living room. Salamon, Patamon, and Lunamon looked around the living room observantly and with curious eyes.

"This is your living room? It's nice and roomy! Wan!" Salamon exclaimed with her usual sweet and rosy cheeked smile.

"Isn't it? I think it's wonderful!" Patamon exclaimed.

A second later, they noticed Lunamon looking up at a framed picture on the wall. A big watercolor painting featuring a clear pond with green lily pads and pink water lilies merrily floating about, with a few streaks of swirly green things that could almost look like seaweed hanging from the top of it, along with some small yellow and white spots on the water. Lopmon happened to notice.

"It's beautiful!" Lunamon whispered in her sweet voice.

"Isn't it? Hisako-san was telling me about it earlier. This picture shows a painting done by an artist named _Claude Monet_(2). Do you like it?" Lopmon explained.

"Oh, I do! I wish I could do something so beautiful like that!" Lunamon said with her little pale purple paws clasped together.

"We have pretty morning glories in the back yard. Wanna come and see?"

"Sure! I'd love to!"

Lopmon gently took Lunamon by the hand and escorted her out into the backyard. But before they could get there, they ran into Hisako, who gasped upon seeing the myriad of Digimon sitting in the living room right now.

"Oh my!" She yelped.

The two lop eared rabbits felt a little guilty upon seeing Hisako's expression of surprise, but Lunamon decided to step in. She politely bowed before Hisako.

"Good morning. My name is Lunamon, and I'm Nobara Rena-san's Digimon. It's very nice to meet you, and I apologize for the great many Digimon that have entered your humble home. Do not fret, because they are good and well brought up. We promise to behave as well as we can and we apologize for the trouble. Please pay us no mind," Lunamon said in a suave and sweet voice. Hisako felt a little taken aback by this funny looking, lop eared animal. But after seeing all the Digimon getting along so well with their partners, Hisako smiled and stroke Lunamon's antenna.

"It's nice to meet you too, dear," Hisako said. Lunamon both smiled and blushed a bit upon seeing Hisako greet her back. Hisako left the door open and unlocked for the two rabbit Digimon so they could come and go out into the backyard whenever they pleased.

Once the kids and Digimon settled down into the living room, Yun stood up with Terriermon on her shoulder and arms akimbo.

"Everyone! The meeting hasn't officially started yet, but I have a very important announcement to make! Starting today, we have two new friends joining our special organization today!" Yun edicted proudly. Somehow knowing this was a harbinger to stand up, Hokuto and Isao both stood up and walked next to Yun.

"This is Kamitsure Hokuto-kun and his Digimon, Kudamon. This little squirt here is Taketatsu Isao-kun and his Digimon, Bearmon. Let's give them a warm welcome, shall we?" Yun explained. Hokuto blushed violently when he realized he was standing in front of a bunch of kids, but Isao relished in the attention. He flashed the peace sign. Everyone clapped for the two boys. Once the clapping stopped, Aria suddenly lit up with joy.

"Isao-kun?" Aria exclaimed, which got Isao's attention.

"Wow! Aria-chan! You have a Digimon too? Awesome!" The two young kids approached each other and high fived. The other kids were confused.

"You two...know each other?" Minako asked.

"Yeah! We're in the same class together!" Isao said.

"He's my friend!" Aria backed him up.

"Oh. I see. How sweet!" Rena said.

MarineAngemon happily floated into Aria's little hands while Bearmon krept up behind Isao.

"Isao-kun! This is MarineAngemon, my partner," Aria said with MarineAngemon in her hands.

"Hi! Nice to meet you!" MarineAngemon exclaimed. Isao stared at her for a bit, then smiled.

"Yep! She's your type of Digimon alright!" Isao said.

"Hi. I'm Bearmon," Bearmon said rather timidly.

"Oh! I like your hat!" MarineAngemon said. Bearmon blushed upon hearing the compliment and stroke his hat with one of his paw.

"Aw golly. Thanks!" Bearmon said. Terriermon suddenly hopped on his hat.

"Yeah! You should've seen him yesterday! He digivolved into Grizzlymon and defeated an angry Golemon! He's awesome!" Terriermon said.

"Hey! Stop! You're embarrassing me!" Bearmon pleaded.

"Why should you be embarrassed? Defeating a rogue Digimon is a very noble and chivalrous act. It's nothing to be ashamed of," Labramon told him kindly, which lessened his feelings of embarrassment.

"Yeah, that's true," Bearmon said.

Riku raised his hand like he was in class. "So...the meeting's not started yet?"

"Not really. There is another person who's supposed to be here, but it doesn't start until eleven, so I think we'll wait until then," Yun explained.

So, the kids and the Digimon played and frolicked in the backyard. Lopmon and Lunamon looked at the morning glories. Terriermon, Bearmon, Riku, Isao, and Coronamon played tag and jumped all over each other. Aria, Salamon, Patamon, and MarineAngemon made little flower wreaths out of the little yellow flowers (NOT dandelions) that popped out from the green grass. Melody and Yun sat on the patio table and talked amongst each other while Biyomon sat on the railing and groomed herself. Labramon slept on Otoya's lap while she stroked him and talked with Minako and Rena. Hokuto and Kudamon sat behind Lopmon and Lunamon, looking at the morning glories with them but they didn't know that they were behind them. Hokuto looked rather perturbed being around all these new people, but Kudamon did not seem to mind at all. Later, he joined the group that's making flower wreaths and had a nice time of it. Hokuto felt quite inundated by the Digimon Brigade, not just because of how many members there were, but because of how energetic, lively, and jaunty they all are. He knew he couldn't blame them for it since this is probably how they always are, but he didn't like how loud it was getting. Especially in Riku and Coronamon's group. As he was about to get up and walk away, he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Aria and Patamon.

"Wanna play with us?" Patamon asked kindly.

"We're making flower wreaths," Aria piped in gently.

Hokuto blushed a bit upon seeing the little girl and the orange ear-winged guinea pig, but he smiled and decided to join them.

As the Digimon Brigade's pre-meeting fun was going on, a certain couple's date just ended and they just got off of the taxi that dropped them off in front of Shunji's house.

"That sure was a fun movie!" Ayaka said with a smile.

"Glad you liked it, though personally I'm kinda not into that kind of stuff," Shunji said.

"It's fine. I kinda figured you wouldn't anyhow," Ayaka said.

"You going home now?"

"Yeah, as much as I hate going back."

"I can accompany you if you want."

"Really? Aren't you busy today?"

"Nope! I'm free all day! But I do have some business to do at your house," Shunji explained in a matter-of-fact manner, which left Ayaka a trifle confused.

Shunji ran to the side of the house and knocked on his window.

"Hey Dracomon! Come on out! It's time for the meeting!" Shunji said.

Totally consumed by ecstasy and joy, Dracomon flipped the window open and leaped in front of Shunji and Ayaka with his big, bright cherry red eyes.

"Yay!" Dracomon yelled as he hugged Shunji. But then he saw Ayaka...and the petrified look on her face.

"Oh! Hi there!" Dracomon said, but she said nothing.

"Let's go, shall we?" Shunji said.

"Yeah! Let's! I've been cooped up all day! It's nice to get some fresh air!" Dracomon exclaimed.

Ayaka did her absolute best not to scream and beat Dracomon over the head repeatedly with any object that was within plain sight, though the temptation to do all of these things was so ripe even she had a hard time just putting them in the back of her mind. Especially since she held great animosity toward Dracomon. And Digimon. And she sure knew the reason why.

_'I am so going to wring her neck when we get home! This is getting out of control!'_ Ayaka screamed in her head virulently, not caring about what Shunji or Yun will think when she gets home. Finally, about two minutes after eleven, Shunji burst through the door.

"Bonjoooooooour!"

Everyone in the living room was rendered silent by Shunji's flamboyant and rather broadway-esque entrance into the Wakamiya home. Ayaka was so incensed by the sight of all the kids and their Digimon that she wanted to pounce on Yun, slap her, strangle her, and do everything she could to her since she considered Yun reprehensible for Shunji's having a Digimon. Thankfully, fate was on Yun's side and Teruki suddenly came to the living room, noticing Ayaka's presence.

"Oh! Ayaka! You're just in time! I found those concert tickets you were looking for. I'll show you!" Teruki exclaimed with a smile.

Ayaka was just appalled and flabbergasted. _'Why isn't Dad going super nova about this? Why is he not yelling at that brat for inviting all these kids and their beasts over here? Worse than that, why is he acting like these kids and their beasts are the most normal thing in the whole wide world? This is out of control!'_ Ayaka thought angrily. But hearing Teruki say the word concert tickets made her click, so she decided to follow him into the basement and have a look. To answer Ayaka's question about why Teruki's not screaming at the Digimon, he knows very well that Yun's friends are good people who would never do anything malicious or virulent, and he suspected that their Digimon were no exception. He also knew that Ayaka would obviously fly into a towering rage if she were to see them, so he decided to alter her train of thought by inviting her down into the basement and showing her those concert tickets he found online. He knew that Yun needs a day to waive her yelling and screaming at her for every little thing. Of course, he searched for those concert tickets for a long time and knew that Ayaka would be very happy once she saw them, so he pretty much prevented conflict on both sides of the battlefield (or in this case, the living room).

The kids and Digimon had re-gathered into the living room, and Yun stood among them again.

"Now, the Digimon Brigade meeting shall begin with another new member! See this kid here? He's Anjo Shunji!" Yun introduced Shunji to everyone enthusiastically at first, but became perturbed afterward. "...and as embarrassing as this is to admit, he's...my sister's boyfriend."

Shunji winked at everyone. "How do you do?"

All he got was a giant _"EEEEEHHHHH?"_ from all the kids in perfect unison.

"Your sister's boyfriend? This is insane!" Melody exclaimed.

"I know right? I didn't expect him of all people to get a Digimon! But anyway, this is Dracomon," Yun said, introducing the big blue green dragon to everyone.

"Hello! I'm Dracomon! It's nice to meet you all!" Dracomon bowed before everyone politely. He was given quite a warm welcome since everyone clapped...well, not everyone gave him one. Lunamon hid behind Rena shyly.

"He looks scary..." Lunamon muttered. Rena sighed a bit.

"Don't worry. He doesn't look like he'll bite," Rena rubbed her little friend's big loppy ears and cooed reassuringly so Lunamon would calm down a bit. Thankfully, two other Digimon decided to give Dracomon a direct welcome. Patamon and Salamon happily approached Dracomon with bright eyes and reassuring smiles.

"Welcome to the Brigade! I'm Patamon! Make yourself at home!" Patamon told him.

"And I'm Salamon! I hope we can be friends! Wan!" Salamon chirped happily, which made Dracomon smile.

"Now that the introductions are done, onto the big subject! You guys will never believe what I found out!" Yun exclaimed.

"What'd you find out?" Otoya asked.

Yun told everyone about the battle with Drimogemon a few days before, how she accidentally got to the Digital World, and how she befriended Bucchiemon and Prairiemon. Everyone (except for Minako and Melody) was surprised.

"WHAT? You went to the Digital World?" Isao exclaimed.

"Awww! No fair! I wanna go to the Digital World too!" Riku whined.

"Me too!" Coronamon whined with him.

"But wait! This is the cool part! I found out that the digivice isn't really what it seems. Look!" Yun showed everyone her digivice, pressed one of the buttons on the front, and it flipped open like a cell phone. Everyone watched with awe.

"The digivice is basically an all around gizmo! You can do all sorts of stuff with it like take pictures, text, look at a map of the Digital World, record videos, call people, everything! It's awesome, isn't it?" Yun explained.

"Wow! That's so cool!" Rena exclaimed.

"I never dreamed that the digivice would be an all around gizmo!" Otoya said.

"How very interesting!" Labramon said.

"Awesome!" Coronamon said.

"I'd love to take pictures with mine!" Aria said.

"Yeah! It looks neat!" MarineAngemon said.

"Can you upload videos onto YouTube with it? I'd love to do that!" Melody said.

Minako decided to join the conversation with her laptop in hand.

"Of course you can. I spent all day yesterday researching the digivice, tinkering around with it, and seeing what it's capable of. I'm happy to say that it's capable of basically everything you can think of. I managed to transfer pictures and videos from my digivice onto my computer with this new cable I got recently. Not only that, I analyzed the digivice itself. As it turned out, the digivice is made entirely out of compressed data that's been manually converted into a physical form and that it's made out of both real materials you find here in the human world, and artificial digital materials that are found in the Digital World. I'm still trying to find out other things about it, but this is quite a breakthrough in the history of science!" Minako explained.

"Sorry, but I didn't get a thing you just said," Riku said.

"Me neither. You talk too much," Coronamon said.

"Riku! Don't say stuff like that! Honestly, you two are just too honest!" Rena yelled.

"It's not nice to tell people you don't understand what they're saying," Lunamon muttered softly.

"It's alright. No need for scolding. I suppose it's normal. Anyway, in short, the digivice can do just about anything," Minako said.

"Wanna know the best thing about it?" Yun asked.

"What is it?" Patamon asked.

"That you can go to the Digital World with it!" Yun edicted proudly, which made everyone scream joyfully.

"Wow! You can? Seriously?" Patamon asked.

"That's so cool! No wonder you came back shortly after our battle with Drimogemon! Wan!" Salamon piped in.

That's when Hisako stepped into the room.

"Children? Can you quiet yourselves down please?" Hisako asked.

Everyone drooped their heads down and felt crestfallen. "Sorry..."

Hisako left the room. Biyomon decided to join in on the conversation.

"She'd look much better if she put her hair up," Biyomon said with her wings crossed.

"What does putting her hair up have to do with her asking us to be quiet?" Dracomon asked.

"Yes. I'm afraid your comment just now has absolutely no bearing on the subject matter in which we are speaking of whatsoever," Kudamon told her in a low, prosaic voice, which seemed to irk Biyomon.

"Oh! So you think you're smarter than anyone else, don't you?" Biyomon yelped.

"No. I'm just simply telling you that your comment just now was quite extraneous. Also, please don't assume things and come to wild conclusions that aren't true," Kudamon told her again.

"I dare you to say that again, weasel!" Biyomon yelled.

Dracomon and Bearmon stepped in.

"Hey guys! Don't fight!" Bearmon pleaded.

"Yeah! Friends shouldn't fight!" Dracomon stepped in between the two. Biyomon hmphed and looked away from Kudamon while Kudamon sat on top of Hokuto's hat. Yun let out a cough.

"Now, back to the subject at hand...do you guys remember the battle we had with Devimon?" Yun managed to get everyone's minds back into the meeting. Once they heard Yun's question, everyone (except for Shunji, Isao, Hokuto, and Aria) nodded.

"Remember when he tried to attack Lucero and yelled _'You should be dead!'_ at him?"

Everyone nodded (except for Shunji, Isao, Hokuto, and Aria).

"Well, it seems he's not the only Digimon who thinks he knows Lucero. Yesterday, Mina-chan, Hokuto-kun, Isao-kun and I battled a Digimon named Roachmon, and he said the exact same thing. I get the feeling that this isn't some random case of mistaken identity," Yun explained calmly and solemnly.

"Although I wasn't there when you guys battled that Roachmon or whatever, I agree. Something's not right about this whole thing," Melody said.

"Roachmon? Ew! Sounds ugly!" Biyomon whined.

"Yeah. You wouldn't like him at all," Bearmon told her.

"Didn't Terriermon make some joke about Lucero being some awesome Digimon?" Isao asked innocently, which made Lucero blush violently.

"Doth thou truly think I am a Digimon? Nay I say!" Lucero exclaimed.

"Yeah. That was a stupid joke," Terriermon said, patting Lucero on the head with his little paw.

"But if they truly think they know who he is, then I don't believe this should be ignored," Lunamon muttered.

"I agree, and from the way they looked all appalled and angry when they saw him, I think dismissing it as a prank should be out of the question. Wan!" Salamon explained just as calmly as Yun, which seemed a little strange to Minako since Salamon is usually so happy, cheery, and optimistic. Perhaps Salamon can be mature and understanding when she wants to be.

"Oh! Something else I forgot to mention! One Digimon I met said that the Digital World had been destroyed once," Yun explained. Some of the kids gasped in horror while some remained silent but curious, particularly Melody.

"Had been? What do you mean?" Melody asked.

"Please share your information with us. This will surely be useful!" Kudamon said.

"When I was in the Digital World, it was covered with a lot of these spots of data. If you touch one or fall into one, you get deleted permanently and never come back, but they disappear after a while and you can walk on those areas once they do. Bucchiemon was telling me that a very strong Digimon destroyed the Digital World once and that even the guardians of the core of the Digital World were annihilated too. I didn't get to ask him who they were, but he also said that after that, their memories became a little spotty as a result. Some don't remember what happened or who did it or what was lost. He said it happened three years ago in Digital World time," Yun explained.

"How long ago was it in real world time?" Shunji asked.

"To be honest, I don't know. I'll have to do some research on that. But come to think of it, Yun...how long were you in the Digital World the first time you went there? You went into the portal and then a second later you came back," Minako asked curiously.

"Yeah! You're right! And...I don't quite know exactly how long I was there, but I remember looking at Bucchiemon's clock twice when I was in his studio, before and after a battle with a Digimon, and from what I can guess, I think I might have spent about an hour there," Yun explained.

"That's right! Human world time and Digital world times are very different!" Labramon exclaimed.

"Really? How so?" Aria asked.

"See, like we said, the Digital World is entirely digital and however much time passes doesn't affect the human world's time passing. I suppose it's because our world is more artificial and more vast than your world is, but I personally don't know the true answer," Labramon explained.

"You're right about that," Otoya backed him up.

Riku and Coronamon suddenly stood up.

"So basically we can spend weeks in the Digital World and not a minute passes in the human world?" Riku exclaimed.

"Uhh...yeah?" Rena asked.

Riku and Coronamon jumped for joy and hugged each other.

"Yay! This'll be an awesome way for me to study for tests and slack off all day!" Riku exclaimed.

"Yay! And we can hang out and play together all the time!" Coronamon cried out.

"Boys! Keep it down!" Rena tried to mollify them, but they were too busy dancing and singing and happily prancing around the living room like drunk maniacs.

"Lower your voice, you freckle-faced rat!" Biyomon yelled, which immediately snapped a thread in Riku's brain, and it made both him and Coronamon choleric.

"Hey! I'm not a rat!" Riku yelled.

"Yeah! Don't be mean to Riku! He's awesome!" Coronamon screamed angrily.

"Calm down, you three!" Yun exclaimed, but the three continued to bicker.

However, their bickering immediately stopped when a voice that Yun hoped never to hear for a while permeated the room.

"Will you loudmouths shut your giant pie holes already?"

It was Ayaka, looking down at the entire group, totally red in the face, teeth gritting together, eyes bloodshot, and looking like she's about to explode. Then, she attempted to stomp toward Yun. Knowing what this signified, Lopmon, Terriermon, Lucero, Melody, Otoya, and Labramon all held her back and stopped her from doing what she was about to do, and they sure knew what she was going to do. But this didn't stop Ayaka from wanting to say, or yell, a few words.

"It's bad enough you have all your little friends joining your stupid little crusade or whatever! But now you've turned my own boyfriend against me! I oughta wring your neck!" Ayaka screamed. This made Shunji stand up.

"Ayaka! She did NOT turn me against you! I joined by my own discretion!" Shunji exclaimed as he approached Ayaka, trying to calm her down.

"Lies! All lies! She planned this, I know it! She's planning on having you break up with me, is that right?" Ayaka yelled again.

"No! Why would she even think about breaking us up? She wouldn't even know how to do that! And I have absolutely no plans on breaking up with you, Ayaka-chan!"

"If you say you're not being turned against me or breaking up with me, then why are you chatting amongst these brats like it's the most normal thing in the world?"

"To be perfectly honest, as a kid, I've always wanted to have this happen to me! To be with other kids who have Digimon! Yeah, I was an avid fanboy back in the day!"

"That's insane!"

"It's true! I still have all my cards too!"

"This is all a bunch of kiddie gruel!"

"Gruel? More like games, don't you think?"

Ayaka was flabbergasted. Not only had her boyfriend, the only person she assumed who ever accepted her, made her happy, and ever considered her important, joined the Digimon Brigade, but is now claiming he was an avid Digimon fanboy and that he's happy to be among a group of kids who also have Digimon? To Ayaka, this was just absolutely mortifying. She felt as if her only salvation had been ripped away from her by some evil demon who had some kind of grudge against her. What she failed to consider is how Shunji felt. She's so wrapped up in her own anger and vehement hostility (especially towards Yun, whom she thinks started all this nonsense) that she failed to consider how Shunji felt. She did see how happy Shunji looked when he talked with the kids and Dracomon, but she saw this as him betraying her, even though Shunji himself thought otherwise. Appalled, Ayaka finally grabbed some things and stormed out of the house.

"Whatever! I have more important things to do than sit and watch you brats blab it up all day!" Ayaka yelled as she stormed out.

Everyone was rendered silent. And scared. Especially Aria, MarineAngemon, Salamon, Isao, Bearmon, and Lunamon. Aria and MarineAngemon snuggled up to Yun.

"That's your sister?" Aria asked softly with fear in her tiny voice. Yun sighed.

"Unfortunately, yes," Yun muttered.

"She's mean!" MarineAngemon said.

"Are all siblings like that?" Salamon asked innocently.

"No. Ayaka's just kinda angsty about everything," Minako replied.

Shunji did nothing but look down at his clenched fists. Dracomon noticed and felt a little guilty, even though he had done nothing wrong.

"Shunji? I'm sorry," Dracomon said. Shunji looked up at his dragon friend with his blue eyes.

"Why are you sorry, buddy? You didn't do anything wrong!" Shunji told him.

"You say that, but I did. I took you away from your girlfriend. Isn't that why she's yelling a lot? She hates us Digimon, and I don't want to ruin both your and her happiness! She must think we made you betray her, and I don't want her thinkin' that!" Dracomon explained.

Even though it wasn't Dracomon's fault (and that Ayaka's virulent insults were always directed at Yun), he felt very rueful and guilty about everything. As much as he loved Shunji, he knew very well that he loved Ayaka too. Even though Ayaka wasn't Dracomon's favorite person in the world, he knew that she made Shunji happy and that he made her happy. Heck, he's probably the only person who ever made Ayaka happy. The blue green dragon thought that he took Shunji away from Ayaka and made her choleric and incensed because of it. He knew that it wasn't REALLY his fault he was partnered with Shunji. It just sort of happened, and both of them made the best of it. But upon seeing Ayaka's inopportune and virulent attitude toward him, Yun, and everyone else, he considered himself reprehensible for just being Shunji's partner. He didn't want to have to force Shunji into choosing between him and Ayaka, since one or the other could be hurt bad. He wouldn't want to become someone's partner while making someone else believe that his partner betrayed the other person. He didn't like that principle. Shunji, on the other hand, didn't consider Dracomon to blame. He just smiled and put a hand on Dracomon's head.

"Don't be sad, Dracomon. It's not your fault. Stuff just happens. She's just going through a lot in her life. Don't take it personal," Shunji told his little dragon friend gently. Then, he stood up.

"I'm going to go after her. You guys can continue the meeting without me," Shunji told everyone like he was a leading actor standing in the middle of the stage under the spotlight.

"You know she's stubborn as a mule, right? She'll never accept that the Digimon exist!" Melody said.

"But we can't force her to like them. If she doesn't like them, then she doesn't. She doesn't like Lopmon and Terriermon, but I don't try to force her into liking them. They're not her thing," Yun explained kindly.

"Yes, that's true. If someone is opposed to something, then we shouldn't force her to change and hurt her feelings," Lunamon muttered.

"Don't worry. I'm not gonna convert her. I'm just going to explain-" Shunji wanted to tell them why he plans to go after Ayaka, but he did not get the opportunity to do so.

A loud, bloodcurtling scream let the sentence drift away.

"Whoa! What was that?" Isao asked.

Shunji gasped.

"Oh no! That's Ayaka screaming! We've gotta go!" Shunji yelled and dashed out of the house like an olympic runner.

"I'm right with ya, pal!" Dracomon exclaimed as he followed Shunji out the door.

The rest of the Digimon Brigade members nodded at each other and then followed Shunji and Dracomon. Once they got out, they saw people looking up at the sky and pointing at it. When they all looked up, their eyes widened upon locking eyes on a huge, red winged dragon flying in the sky! This dragon was big and long, with big crimson red bat wings that have a few holes in them, a blue body, a red and yellow tail, yellow hair, sharp teeth, and a skull-like helmet with two horns on it covering it's face. And in it's mouth...is Ayaka, desperately trying to free herself from the dragon's wrath. The dragon's eyes are glowing, a blatant harbinger that a Dark Emblem is on it's body somewhere. Shunji got his digivice out.

"Airdramon, a champion level, vaccine attribute, mythical beast Digimon. His attacks are Spinning Needle, Zephyr Tornado, and Wing Cutter," Shunji said. Once he put his digivice away, he followed the dragon Digimon.

"Shunji! Wait!" Dracomon chased after his partner.

Meanwhile, Ayaka is stuck in Airdramon's mouth. Although she is unhurt, she's desperately trying to push herself out of the intimidating and scary looking Dragon's gums.

"Get off of me! Let me go, you cracked up in the head snake!" Ayaka screamed as she banged her thin fists on Airdramon's head, but all she got were throes of pain going through the veins in her fists as Airdramon's skull helmet is VERY strong. Suddenly...

"Agh! Airdramon, I told you not to eat anyone! Can't you ever listen to me for two seconds?"

Witchmon appeared out of nowhere, trying to subdue the rogue Airdramon with a few attacks, but to no avail. She did, however, manage to fly right next to Airdramon's head so she can get a good look at Ayaka. She became a little perturbed.

"Hmph! I don't know if Airdramon's brain dead or what, he sure has bad taste in humans! You need to cover up!" Witchmon sneered, which infuriated Ayaka.

"You think I'm bad taste? You have bad taste in clothes! You look like you just got thrown in the dumpster!" Ayaka screamed.

Now this made Witchmon absolutely incensed.

"How dare you! _How dare you!_ Aqua Pressure!" Witchmon screamed and suddenly a huge wall of water crashed down on Airdramon and Ayaka, causing Airdramon to fall to the ground unconscious. In a fit of frustration, Witchmon opened her little digital portal and flew back to the Digital World. Shunji and Dracomon both opened the unconscious Airdramon's mouth and Ayaka slipped out.

"Ayaka! You okay?" Shunji asked once he got a hold of her.

"Yeah. Thanks," Ayaka muttered.

Out of nowhere, Airdramon reawoke. He roared, flew up into the air, and decided to attack.

"Spinning Needle!" A myriad of thin spears of wind formed around Airdramon, and shot at the Digimon Brigade. Thankfully, many of the rookie Digimon stepped in and decided to deflect them.

"Terrier Tornado!"

"Lop Twister!"

"Holy Roar!"

"Dragon Ember!"

"Lop Ear Ripple!"

"Apollo's Tornado!"

Lopmon and Terriermon turned themselves into tornadoes, along with Coronamon who became engulfed by fire, and managed to successfully deflect most of the spears. Salamon blew some of them away with her high pitched roar, Dracomon's wave of flames made some dissipate into thin air, and Lunamon trapped some of them with her rainbowy bubbles.

"It looks like another Digimon battle!" Yun exclaimed as she got her digivice out.

"Yeah! Let's do this!" Shunji exclaimed.

Lopmon digivolved to Turuiemon, Terriermon to Gargomon, Salamon to Gatomon, Labramon to Seasarmon, Biyomon to Birdramon, Lunamon to Lekismon, Coronamon to Firamon, Bearmon to Grizzlymon, and Patamon to Angemon. MarineAngemon is already at her highest form, and Kudamon and Dracomon haven't digivolved yet. Despite this, they all tried to attack Airdramon, who shot out another attack.

"Wing Cutter!" Two blades of air shot out from Airdramon's wings.

"Gauntlet Claw!"

"Gargo Laser!"

"Tee Dia!"

"Spray of Hearts!"

"Moon Night Bomb!"

"Fira Bomb!"

"Meteor Wing!"

"Dragon Ember!"

"Hand of Fate!"

Most of the champion level Digimon and Dracomon managed to deflect Airdramon's attack. But Airdramon proved to be much stronger and faster than he looked. For one thing, he was flying so high he managed to evade most of their attacks, mostly those of Gatomon, Kudamon, Grizzlymon, and Dracomon. He was also very fast, so Gatomon couldn't land her Cat's Eye Hypnosis on him. Airdramon even outdoed Lekismon and Turuiemon in terms of agility. He even managed to land a surprise Wing Cutter on the two of them and Gargomon! Yun and Rena ran to their aid while everyone else persisted. Melody and Riku both got their digiswords out as they rode on Birdramon and Firamon. They leaped off of them and tried to land some hits on Airdramon, but Melody's digisword bounced off of Airdramon's head, and Riku's only managed to pierce one of his fins.

"See any Dark Emblems?" Yun called out.

"Nope! Not yet!" Angemon exclaimed.

"Find it and destroy it!" Kosuke commanded.

All the Digimon had a hard time just finding the Dark Emblem. The battle seemed to go on for hours. One of Airdramon's attacks knocked down a tree, which snapped one of the power lines. The sound made Yun flinch. Angemon managed to grab Airdramon and hold him for a bit while Firamon searched for the Dark Emblem. Airdramon struggled so much that Birdramon decided to step in and help. After a while, Firamon found the Dark Emblem on the back of Airdramon's head and attempted to destroy it with his Fira Claw. Sadly, Airdramon managed to let out an attack.

"Zephyr Tornado!"

A big, ghastly twister formed around Airdramon and the other Digimon. It was so strong that Angemon, Birdramon, and Firamon had to let go of Airdramon. Not only that, Dracomon, Kudamon, Isao, Aria, and MarineAngemon got caught in it too!

"Oh no!" Otoya screamed as she watched the kids get sucked into the tornado. Dracomon, seeing Aria, MarineAngemon, Isao, and Kudamon clutching each other once they got close enough, decided to take matters into their own hands.

_'They'll die if this goes on! I've gotta help them!'_ Dracomon yelled in his head. Although the force of the wind was quite strong and ferocious, Dracomon flapped his little wings persistently and pushed through the tornado, hoping to reach the two kids and Digimon. Once he finally got close enough, he decided to do it.

"Tail Smash!"

Dracomon swung his tail so hard that it literally pushed Aria, Isao, MarineAngemon, and Kudamon out of the tornado! Thankfully, Angemon caught the two kids and Digimon while the tornado carrying Dracomon vanished and he fell on top of Airdramon.

"We're safe! Thanks Angemon!" Aria exclaimed.

"Don't thank me," Angemon said.

"He's right! Dracomon saved us!" Isao yelled.

"Where is Dracomon anyway?" MarineAngemon asked. Kudamon gasped.

"Up there! On top of Airdramon!" Kudamon screamed. Shunji gasped when he saw Dracomon desperately clinging to one of Airdramon's wings.

"Dracomon!" Shunji yelled.

Dracomon clung to Airdramon's right wing desperately, hoping to climb it and get to the Dark Emblem. Unfortunately, Airdramon could feel Dracomon's claws digging into his wing. He roared and struggled, flailing Dracomon around like he's an old rag doll. Shunji couldn't bear seeing Dracomon like that.

_'I can't just sit around and let Dracomon get thrown around like that! I'm going in!'_ Shunji thought and raised his hand up. "Birdramon! Take me to Airdramon!"

"Bottom's up!" Birdramon grabbed Shunji and flew toward Airdramon.

"What's he doing? Is he nuts?" Ayaka wailed as she watched the epic Digimon fracas erupt like a volcano.

Once Birdramon got close enough, Shunji leaped off of her, threw his digilasso on Airdramon, and clung to his digivice. His digilasso got onto one of Airdramon's wings and he managed to see Dracomon.

"Dracomon!" Shunji yelled. Dracomon caught sight of Shunji.

"Shunji! I'm handling this! Get out of here!" Dracomon yelled.

"No! I'm not letting you do something so dangerous!"

"Don't tell me what to do!"

"Too late! I'm already telling you what to do!"

"Go back down!"

"No!"

"You'll get hurt!"

"You're gonna get hurt too!"

"Zephyr Tornado!" Another tornado formed around Airdramon, this time carrying both Shunji and Dracomon. The tornado didn't last long, but Airdramon slapped Dracomon with his tail and made him fall to the ground, bringing Shunji down with him. They fell into a tree and then fell out of it with lots of cuts and bruises. Everyone ran to his aid.

"Shunji! Wake up! You idiot!" Ayaka yelled as she shook Shunji with her hands.

"Wow! That sure was brave!" Isao exclaimed. Ayaka hit him on the head with her hand.

"This is NO time for praise, you brat!" Ayaka screamed. Melody and Lucero stepped in between them.

"And this is no time for acting like a brat yourself!" Melody yelled back.

"Girls! Please! Do not let thyselves be consumed by anger!" Lucero exclaimed.

Shunji sat himself up and got twigs out of his hair.

"Yeah. Would you quit yelling please?" Shunji said. But then he saw Dracomon and gasped with horror.

"Dracomon! Dracomon! Wake up! Wake up, little buddy!" Shunji pleaded as he shook Dracomon similar to the way Ayaka did with him just earlier.

"Oh, so you care more about a stupid dragon than you do yourself or me?" Ayaka yelled, but it made Shunji shoot an angry look at her.

_"Stop being so selfish, Ayaka!"_ Shunji screamed, which rendered Ayaka silent. But it also made Dracomon wake up.

"Shunji...?"

"Dracomon!"

"She...she's right," Dracomon murmured sadly. "I...I am stupid. I'm not fit to be your...partner," Dracomon whispered in a choked voice, which actually brought Shunji to tears.

"No! That's not true, Dracomon! I've always wanted my very own Digimon partner, even as a kid! Don't ever think yourself worthless or that you're not fit to be my partner because you are!" Shunji wailed as he held Dracomon close.

Ayaka was flabbergasted. Shunji's actually shedding tears right before her very eyes. Shunji NEVER cried. Especially not in front of Ayaka. But the look she saw in his eyes when he yelled at her was something she never expected to see out of her normally lazy, flirty, flamboyant, and overly friendly boyfriend: bravery and determination. That's what she saw. But at the same time, her heart sagged when she heard Shunji wail in front of Dracomon and tell him he's not worthless. Ayaka had never been in dire situations until now, and although she had been saved by Shunji a few minutes ago, it was nothing compared to what he tried to do for Dracomon. _'Does he care more about Dracomon...than me? Is he willing to risk his life for Dracomon...and not me?'_ Ayaka thought sadly. Then she ambled away. Lucero noticed her walk away.

"Where art thou going?" Ayaka asked.

"Don't talk to me...brat," Ayaka whispered back and ambled away from the scene. She didn't flinch even when Airdramon knocked down another tree and scared some people away. Shunji and the kids tried to help Dracomon out.

"Shunji...you love Ayaka...don't you? Go with her. Don't worry about me," Dracomon muttered.

"Of course I love Ayaka, but I love you too! No way am I gonna let you die here!" Shunji yelled as he held Dracomon closer. Dracomon closed his cherry red eyes and relished Shunji's warm embrace. But Dracomon noticed something else about Shunji, and he just HAD to point it out.

"Shunji...I can feel it...your determination...burning in your heart. It's exactly...what I needed...to digivolve!" Suddenly, Dracomon was consumed by an emerald green light coming from Shunji's digivice. Airdramon didn't notice as he was too busy making people run away screaming and knocking down trees. But the rest of the Digimon Brigade were awestruck as Dracomon is digivolving right in front of them.

"Dracomon, digivolve to..."

The emerald green light enveloping Dracomon got bigger...and bigger...he reached the size of Yun's house, and the green light dissipated. Out came a VERY big blue dragon with two red horns on his ears, a big red horn on his nose, MUCH sharper teeth, MUCH bigger and bulkier wings, slick and ferocious claws on both his hands and feet, a tail with red scales on it that looks as though it can knock down a tree, and cherry red eyes. The same as Dracomon's.

"...Coredramon!"

Coredramon stood before the entire Digimon Brigade (he is bigger than everyone in it combined), including Shunji, who was so happy and awestruck by Coredramon's appearance that he nearly fell over. Another someone, however, had no problem expressing his excitement.

"Woooow! Dracomon's champion form is awesome!" Riku yelled.

Most of the champion Digimon had de-digivolved around this time, so Coronamon decided to join in on the excitement party.

"Yeah! Smokin' awesome!" Coronamon yelped as he leaped onto Riku's head. Coredramon lay down on the ground on his stomach and he looked at Shunji.

"Shunji. Hop on my back. Let's defeat Airdramon together. As a team," Coredramon said.

Shunji smiled and hopped on his back.

"Yeah! Let's do it, Coredramon!" Shunji said.

Coredramon flapped his giant wings and ascended into the air as if he were flying towards heaven. Shunji hung on tight but he wasn't the least bit scared. In fact, he was too happy to even think about being scared. Airdramon finally caught sight of Coredramon and decided to attack.

"Zephyr Tornado!"

"Blue Flare Breath!"

A giant tidal wave of blue fire shot out from Coredramon's huge mouth and totally annihilated the tornado, turning it into absolutely nothing at all! However, Airdramon wasn't planning on abdicating or conceding defeat just yet.

"Spinning Needle!"

"Blue Flare Breath!"

Yet again, Coredramon's stream of blue fire made the air spears dissipate. Now Airdramon was getting furious. He flew toward Coredramon in an attempt to ram it's own head against it. But it seemed Coredramon and Shunji were expecting this.

"Coredramon! Sick 'em!"

"You got it!"

Right on cue, Coredramon wrapped his arms, and himself, around the furious Airdramon, locking it within his rough embrace. Airdramon's big wings were caught in the embrace, preventing him from flying.

"Shunji. I'll let you destroy the Dark Emblem," Coredramon said. Shunji smiled and got his digisword out.

"Thanks buddy!"

Shunji got onto Airdramon's back and very slowly climbed it with digisword in hand. It took him a while to do so since Airdramon kept on struggling and flailing around. Once he got close enough, he dredged his sword in the back of his head, making the Dark Emblem shatter and disappear. Airdramon fell unconscious and ended up slipping out of Coredramon's giant hug, causing him to fall to the ground. Hard. Shunji was caught by Coredramon so he didn't fall. Once Coredramon put Shunji down on the ground, he de-digivolved into a very exhausted Dracomon, who fell into Shunji's arms.

"Dracomon! You alright?" Shunji asked. Dracomon had only one response to that.

"I'm hungry! Gimme some nice, juicy steak!" Dracomon yelled, which made Shunji and the other kids laugh. What they didn't know was that Aria and MarineAngemon were walking right up to Airdramon's tail out of curiosity. What they also didn't know was that Airdramon was beginning to wake up.

"Look! Airdramon has reawakened!" Lucero edicted.

Airdramon opened his eyes and groaned a bit.

"Urgh...I feel like I was attacked by an avalanche of giant rocks..." Airdramon muttered in pain. Yun decided to approach him with Lopmon and Terriermon both on her shoulders.

"Are you okay?" Yun asked.

Once Airdramon got a decent hold of himself and locked eyes onto Yun, he inhaled a big gob of air and shot up. Not into the sky. He just raised his head rather quickly, which made his tail stand up too...which caught Aria by the shirt.

"Whoa! A human! A human is blessing me with her very presence! Oh, how wonderful!" Airdramon exclaimed happily.

Yun cocked her head to one side in confusion. She never did get why most of the Digimon she met were happy to see a human, and she kicked herself for forgetting to ask Bucchiemon or Prairiemon about it. Minako decided to talk to it.

"You're in the human world," Minako told it.

"Oh wow! I'm in the human world? What joy!" Airdramon exclaimed again. But then he saw some knocked down trees and a broken power line. He immediately got both confused and dejected.

"Did...did I do all of this?" Airdramon asked.

"While under the control of a Dark Emblem, yes!" Melody said.

Airdramon immediately bowed it's head before them.

"I'm so sorry! I truly am! I had no idea I was being used! Well, now that I think about it, a Digimon named Witchmon was attacking me and chasing me. I tried to fight her off, but she was too strong. But that doesn't justify what I did! A million sorries!" Airdramon lamented in front of the Digimon Brigade. But Yun smiled and put a hand on Airdramon's hard, rocky skull helmet.

"It's okay! Just knocked down a few trees and broke one power line. That's all. At least nobody died here!" Yun said.

"I-I'm glad I didn't do worse. Although I do have meager knowledge of your existence, I do know that humans can't turn into digieggs when they die like we Digimon can. It's such a pity," Airdramon said.

Salamon noticed something weird about Airdramon and decided to point it out.

"You kinda seem like the timid and awkward type. Aren't Airdramon usually wise and mature?" Salamon asked innocently. Airdramon blushed.

"As embarrassing as this is to admit, I'm afraid that's true. Alas, I'm not the wisest or the most mature one of my troupe," Airdramon replied shyly.

"Troupe? What troupe?" Patamon asked.

That's when Airdramon lit up like a newly installed light bulb.

"That's right! See, I'm part of an acting troupe that consists of five of us Airdramon, me included, and some smaller Digimon that can fly. We put on air shows and displays for all to see. I may be rather shy and socially awkward, but I'm very good at putting on beautiful displays with my attacks!" Airdramon explained with a giddy smile on his somewhat ferocious looking face.

"It must be cool!" Bearmon said.

"It is! You should come to the Digital World and watch us one day! Our next show is going to be at Fionn Village, and I think it starts in about three months or so," Airdramon explained.

"Fionn Village? I love that place!" Yun yelled happily.

"You do, eh? It's a very nice little village. I have to say I love it there myself. Oh! Speaking of my troupe! It seems they might be worried about me!" Airdramon said.

"Ack!" Aria yelped. Yun saw Aria being held up by Airdramon's tail and ran to her.

"You okay?"

"My shirt's stuck!"

"Don't worry. I'll help you!"

"Well! It seems I must be going now! Thanks very much for stopping me from destroying this place, and again I apologize for the damage I did cause! Farewell, humans!" Airdramon exclaimed as he finally flew into the air, opened a Digital portal, and flew straight into it. Everyone exhaled a sigh of relief.

"Now THAT was an awesome battle!" Isao exclaimed.

"It sure was!" Riku backed him up.

But Rena and Lunamon were looking around the area rather restlessly. Labramon noticed.

"Rena? Lunamon? What's wrong?" Labramon asked.

"Umm...where are Yun-chan and Aria-chan?" Rena asked.

"We can't find them anywhere!" Lunamon exclaimed.

Everyone gasped with horror. Yun, Lopmon, Terriermon, Aria, and MarineAngemon are all gone!

Author's Note: Yes! I finished chapter 18! I'm sorry if this is such a poorly constructed chapter. It's kinda sloppy, I know. I guess I didn't come up with the right ideas for it, but I wanted to get it done and over with. Don't worry! The next chapter will be better! I promise! And guess what? I got a job! At my college! A lot of my time might get taken up, but I'm free on Fridays and the weekend so I won't be entirely taken away from my stories! Please bear with me! Anyway, I've gotta go. Homework to do. See you all later! Bye-bee!

Footnotes:

1. The Bonbori Festival is a festival in which people make bonbori lanterns and show them on display. I tried looking up information on this but I didn't find anything good! Sorry!

2. Claude Monet is a famous artist who founded French impressionist painting and was known for painting vast landscapes.


	19. MarineAngemon's Curse

Author's Note: Hi everyone! Glad I could make it! I'm finally starting to get the gist of college life here. But four things have made me happy this past week! One: NATSUME YUUJINCHOU IS GETTING A FOURTH SEASON! YAAAAAY! Two: I finished Ikoku Meiro no Croisee and have just finished my review of it. Three: I joined an anime club at college! I think I might even make some new friends! There's this one girl I sat next to named Mary. She likes Plus Anima and Shounen Onmyouji! I definitely want to try getting along with her. Four: One of my favorite Pokemon movies is out! The one with Zoroark! I'm gonna try and get it at Target next time Mom and I go. Well, enough of my happy randomness! Ladies and gentlemen, heeeeeeeeeeere's chapter 19 of Digimon: A Seraphic Tale!

EPISODE 19: MarineAngemon's Curse

In the Digital World, Witchmon flew aimlessly through the skies on her long, crooked broom, looking quite pensive and calm, and it wasn't just because she finally has a small moment of peace in which she could do whatever she wanted, and it wasn't because she enjoyed looking at the blue sky covered with the staticky spots that could delete anything that touched them permanently, and it definitely wasn't because she felt entranced by the changing colors of the tree leaves in the forest. These trees weren't green or pretty autumn colors like mango orange or sunshine yellow or chocolate brown or vermilion red. These trees were turquoise, aqua green, light lavendar, robin's egg blue, and indigo blue! These were definitely not trees that you would see in the world of humans. Witchmon knew this because she saw with her own eyes that the human world's trees are vastly different from the Digital World's trees. She found this small, irrelevant fact quite interesting compared to her comrades, since she was always one who enjoyed an occasional change of pace and scenery, and right now, she definitely needed a great change in both pace and scenery.

Witchmon had gone around, almost all over the Digital World with her lightning fast speed, flying around and putting Dark Emblems on any Digimon she could lay her robin's egg eyes on. Zip and zoom she went, scaring small Digimon and thrusting Dark Emblems onto any one she could lay her giant hands on. Of course, she did it all so hastily and rashly that she was not cognizant of the fact that she had put Dark Emblems on them in very open and obvious places, places that could allow them to be destroyed easily. But to be fairly honest, Witchmon, in all her grace and beauty (as she says), didn't give a rat's hat about any of it. She didn't care. She didn't like being stuck with the task of just putting Dark Emblems on small, weak, hapless Digimon. She wanted to do more. She wanted to go to the human world, gather information, show it all to her master so she could prove to him that humans do exist and that they're not just some legend made up by some hack. She wanted to show off her powers and prove how strong she was. Alas, her master ordered her to continue recruiting and putting Dark Emblems on any Digimon she laid eyes on.

She was very jealous. Although silent, she had feelings of jealously aroused in her heart (if she even had one). She was jealous of the Digimon who got better jobs to do from their master. She was jealous of Roachmon for being able to go to the human world and gather information. After all, her master was lenient on him and not on her. This pained her greatly. Why couldn't her master be lenient on her? She began to feel as though her master liked picking favorites. She began thinking these pained thoughts when she and another Digimon worked together one time. They helped to curse a Digimon. They used this Digimon as a guinea pig for their first experiment: a curse in which the cursed Digimon can never be able to digivolve or de-digivolve or regain their strength and energy fast enough once they used it up in battle. It would also make them more sensitive and vulnerable to pain, making it easier to kill them, even in their highest form. Even a champion level could easily kill a cursed mega level Digimon. It was an experiment that her master thought up, and she and another Digimon were assigned to find a suitable host for this curse and see if it was any good. The first test was a success. Witchmon and her partner had successfully put the curse on the Digimon and rendered it helpless. Unfortunately, when Witchmon and her partner got back to their master's inner sanctum, Witchmon was appalled and angered to see and hear that her master gave her partner all the credit, and all Witchmon got was a superfluous scolding! A scolding! For what? Witchmon did as asked. She didn't understand. And why should her partner get all the credit when Witchmon had just as much involvement in setting the curse in motion as her partner did? Witchmon felt mortified and ashamed.

That was back then. Now, Witchmon let out a sigh.

"Recruiting Digimon and putting Dark Emblems on all of them is so booooring! Even magic battles with all my friends and rivals in Witchelny were more exciting than this! Why couldn't Master have let me go do what I want and have Roachmon do the recruiting? Well, it could be because I'm so powerful and fast that it must be so, but still! I deserve better!" Witchmon whined tiredly like a spoiled teenage girl who was sprawled out on her bed listening to her mother nag. She sat upbright on her crooked yellow broom and began counting on her big red fingers.

"Let's see...I managed to nab twelve Elecmons, a couple Garurumons, five Togemons, six Tapirmons, three Jagamons, one SkullMeramon, seven DoKunemons, two Flymons, eight Ninjamons, and ten Mushroomons! Hm! I got a decent amount today! I think Master will be pleased with this selection!" Witchmon closed her giant hands with a smile and was about to fly away, but she became perturbed when she saw the place where she was flying toward.

"Ack! Why did I have to arrive at Mt. Trinity of all places?" Witchmon yelled angrily. Mt. Trinity is a tall pointed mountain surrounded by many smaller rock formations, many thick, leafy trees, and is near a beach with lots of colorful rocks and soft white sand. But there was a reason Witchmon didn't want to come here, and she certainly had an aversion toward sticking around. But she couldn't just fly away in a millisecond. Witchmon decided to float away silently.

'If I keep quiet like a mouse or rat or whatever those humans call it, maybe I can-' Witchmon thought quietly as she was about to gently and silently float away from Mt. Trinity.

Alas, she couldn't.

"Witchmon? What are you doing here?"

"GUH!" Witchmon tensed up when she heard a very cold, slithery voice run up her spine from behind, and, in an act of fear and self-defense, she whacked whatever was behind her with her broom.

"OWWW!"

The Digimon screamed once Witchmon's broom made contact. Witchmon was disgusted and incensed by this Digimon's appearance and entrance. This Digimon is a woman, like Witchmon, but taller and with a better figure. She is totally draped in black, save for her white mouth, part of her white arm, and her white left leg. Her hair was long and white, and if you looked at it from far away, you'd think her hair was made of small white chains! The woman has stitches on parts of her body, namely on her head and above her sharp, crimson, bloody red eyes that showed absolutely nothing but contempt and scorn at just about everything. Her left arm is as big and long as Witchmon's, but her arm dawned sharp, bloody red claws, a red bat tattoo on it, and a series of silver bracelets going up her arm. A white skull tattoo is on her left breast and two long black capes streamed out from her black outfit. Her right arm is wrapped in silver chains and there's a black ghostly figure coming eerily out from the left part of her outfit, wearing a wicked and contemptuous smile. Even the Digimon's shoes are black and have evil blood red eyes. Witchmon was NOT pleased by this Digimon's presence. Not one bit.

"LadyDevimon!" Witchmon screamed as the Digimon, LadyDevimon, rubbed her throbbing head with a pained look on her face. LadyDevimon was just as discontented as Witchmon is.

"Is that really how you greet your comrades? Especially your beloved partner in crime?" LadyDevimon sneered angrily once she regained her composure.

"You're no partner of mine, and you never will be!" Witchmon screamed in a high voice that made even LadyDevimon cover her ears.

"Oh, is this how you plan to thank me for helping you curse that MarineAngemon?" LadyDevimon asked with malice in her voice.

"No! Never! And you've obviously forgotten, but WE cursed MarineAngemon yet _YOU_ got _ALL_ the credit! I did the hardest stuff, in case your tiny brain forgot! I helped set the trap and I held it down! But you didn't do anything but put the curse on her, yet you got all the credit!" Witchmon explained angrily, which made LadyDevimon choleric.

"For YOUR information, my brain is NOT tiny!" LadyDevimon let out a sigh and crossed her arms. "Secondly, Master clearly said that all he wanted was for the curse to be placed, not to waste any time on traps or spells."

"But my trap was perfect!"

"Do you really think so? Because from what I hear your magic in itself isn't exactly the best!"

"That's only because I never had any formal training! Is that so wrong?"

"Yes, it is! Especially since you're the one who destroyed most of Witchelny's most important ancient archives in their library."

A vein popped in Witchmon's head, and she instantaneously exploded into a paroxysm of anger.

"THAT WAS _NOT ME_! All I did was fly past them! I didn't touch them! Not once! Better yet, I never laid a finger on them in my entire life!" Witchmon screamed.

"But your hat was found at the scene!"

"That's because I dropped it and didn't know it! Is it really that hard to know what's the truth and what's a fabrication?"

LadyDevimon sighed and shook her head like a disappointed mother. "You really don't get it, do you?"

"OF COURSE I DO! And it's bad enough I had to deal with a human just now who said I have bad taste in clothes and look like I came out of a dumpster!"

LadyDevimon literally burst out laughing when Witchmon said that. This made Witchmon blush violently.

"Wha? Why are you laughing?"

"Someone...told you that? Ha ha ha! Now this is a first! And yeah, it's true. You do have bad taste in clothes!"

"YOU'RE WORSE THAN ME, YOU PROMISCUOUS HUNK OF DARK MAGIC!"

A vein popped in LadyDevimon's head and she exploded.

"I am NOT promiscuous!"

LadyDevimon and Witchmon butted heads and engaged in a verbal battle until they finally calmed down. Witchmon remembered that she had something she needed to bring up.

"So, I've heard you've taken over this mountain. Why is that?" Witchmon asked curiously. LadyDevimon turned her head to look at Mt. Trinity with her bloody red eyes.

"I like the scenery around it during the night. You know I get my power from darkness, don't you? There were a few annoying Digimon, but I chased them off. I love the darkness. Don't you, Witchmon? When it gets dark, everything gets swallowed by night. Nothing but black shadows. Isn't it just beautiful?" LadyDevimon explained in a sweetly wicked voice as she looked at Mt. Trinity from the air. She smiled wickedly at the mountain, but Witchmon wasn't having it.

"Aren't there more important things you should be doing instead of smiling at darkness? Shouldn't you be recruiting like I am?" Witchmon asked.

"I actually just got back from recruiting. Master let me off early so now I can relax," LadyDevimon explained. Suddenly she turned to look at Witchmon. "Speaking of, I meant to ask you something. Do humans really exist? Did you really go to a human world?"

Witchmon was taken aback by LadyDevimon's question. But she answered anyway. "Yes. I did go, and they do exist. Why do you ask?"

"The Gazimon have been talking, saying you and Roachmon have been shirking your duties and loitering around in the human world."

"We weren't shirking our duties! Haven't you noticed that whenever Dark Emblems get put on Digimon they always disappear?"

This made Lady Devimon ruminate for a bit. "Come to think of it...you're right for once. But none of the ones I branded disappeared. I made sure to hoard them all in the mountain before I sent them off to Master."

"Wow. Are you a pack rat or something?"

LadyDevimon showed her gritted teeth. "I only do so just so I can see what their powers are like and see if they're worthy of my Master! But anyway...I never really did believe in humans and don't really want to do so until I see some full on evidence. But if what you're saying is true, then I don't think this is something to be taken lightly."

"EXACTLY! I've been putting Dark Emblems on Digimon left and right since three years ago, when Master destroyed the guardians and him, but they keep on disappearing to the human world! Wanna know the worst thing? There's this one particular group of pesky humans with Digimon who keep ruining our plans!"

"One particular group, you say?"

"Yeah. They called themselves the Digimon Brigade or something."

"And they actually domesticated Digimon?"

"Yeah! And that MarineAngemon we cursed is one of them!"

"Exactly how do you know of this?"

"I've seen them myself. We got into an epic battle in this place called a parking lot as I was trying to retrieve some Digimon I branded. They couldn't destroy me, thankfully, since I'm too powerful for them anyhow."

"You don't say."

"But it's true!"

LadyDevimon crossed her arms and ruminated. "If there really are humans, then-"

"Witchmon!"

Roachmon suddenly appeared out of nowhere with a tiny Digimon dressed in a green ninja outfit with a small, square-shaped screen on it's face in front of a surprised Witchmon and LadyDevimon.

"Ro-Roachmon! Jeez! Don't sneak up on me like that! You almost gave me a heart attack!" Witchmon yelled, not happy with the suddenly very enthusiastic Roachmon's entrance.

"Good! I wanted to give her a heart attack too since she's so ugly!" Roachmon exclaimed, referring to LadyDevimon, who instantly became choleric.

"You're no uglier than me, you bug!" LadyDevimon screamed. "Hmph! I've got no time to waste with you two incompetents!"

And she flew back to Mt. Trinity.

"I AM NOT INCOMPETENT!" Witchmon screamed, but calmed down when she noticed the tiny Digimon Roachmon is holding. "What are you doing with that Monitormon?"

"I'm using this little buddy and HiVisionMonitormon to record some human activity and show it to Master!" Roachmon exclaimed with a snicker. "See this little black camera here?" He pointed to Monitormon's head, showing a very tiny black camera. "I've got one hooked up to HiVisionMonitormon back in the base. I'm gonna use this to prove to Master that humans do exist! It'll be perfect! I'm gonna go the human world right now and do some info gatherin'!"

"Mind if I join you?"

"Sure! Besides, this stupid mystical veil is about to close up any minute! We oughta act fast and split right now!"

"You got it!"

A medium-sized digital portal appeared in the spotty sky, and Roachmon, Monitormon, and Witchmon flew straight into it, leaving no traces. In an instant, it dissipated.

But what they, or LadyDevimon, didn't know was that on a small island about 5 miles away from Mt. Trinity, another digital portal opened. Out came Airdramon...and Yun, Aria, Lopmon, Terriermon, and MarineAngemon! Airdramon flew into the spotty digital sky while Yun, Aria, Lopmon, Terriermon, and MarineAngemon plopped onto the soft white sand, which broke their fall. Thankfully, the digital portal wasn't that far from the ground so they weren't hurt in any way. Airdramon didn't notice and just flew away, happy to be back in the Digital World. Lopmon was the first to sit herself up from the soft white sand.

"Owww...that hurt!" Lopmon rubbed her backside with her pink paw. Yun got up, then Aria, Terriermon, and MarineAngemon. Aria rubbed her pale blue green pants and rubbed some sand off of her sleeveless white shirt with a pale blue butterfly on it the size of her hand. Terriermon stretched his ears out.

"Now THAT was crazy!" Terriermon exclaimed.

"Yun? Where are we?" Aria asked once she saw Yun get up and observe everything. Yun looked around carefully. Once she realized that this wasn't the real world, she realized it.

"We-We're in the Digital World!" Yun exclaimed.

"What? The Digital World? No way!" MarineAngemon shouted.

"But how did we get here?" Terriermon asked.

"Airdramon took us here," Lopmon said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah. My shirt got caught in his tail and you all tried to help me get out. That's when he flew and took us here," Aria said in a strangely calm and serene manner. She didn't sound afraid or confused at all. This made Yun a little concerned.

"How come you're not afraid, Aria-chan?" Yun asked.

"Do I need to be afraid?" Aria asked back innocently.

"Well, no, it's just...normally when little kids enter a new world, they get kinda scared or think someone's gonna get them. You look pretty calm and cool with it. Why is that?"

Aria looked up at the spotty sky and ruminated for a bit, then she looked at Yun and smiled sweetly.

"I'm not afraid. That's because I have you and MarineAngemon with me. We'll be fine!" Aria exclaimed with her sweet smile. To prove her security, she gently held onto Yun's hand.

Yun was surprised. Nobody ever said they were safe with Yun around before (other than Lopmon and Terriermon). In fact, most people both thought and told Yun right to her face that her presence either frightened them, made them uncomfortable, or just weirded them out. All in a malicious, virulent way. Yun never expected anyone to say they felt safe with her, let alone a little child nearly half her age and height! Of course, Aria did mention MarineAngemon too, and MarineAngemon is a mega level and at her highest power, so of course she would mention her and hold her in high regard. But Yun? Not one person ever said they felt safe being around her.

Aria was another story entirely. For reasons she didn't quite mention, Aria never exactly considered herself to be safe, even in school where she had nice teachers. She didn't tell anyone, but she felt insecure and wanted to be with someone. Someone kind, brave, knowledgeable, understanding, and who would make her feel safe. She didn't care how big they were or how old they were. She just wanted someone to rely on. Despite her own sweet and congenial personality and demeanor, she had trouble finding people in her own family that made her feel safe. But since MarineAngemon and Yun came into her life, she finally felt as though security had come to her. Once she realized that Yun and her newfound Digimon were kind, protective, and reliable, she vowed to never be afraid of anything so long as she either thought of them or stayed by their side. Aria really liked Yun, and she loved MarineAngemon too, so she was perfectly content with these two.

Their silence was interrupted when MarineAngemon got their attention.

"Girls! Look! There's a continent!" MarineAngemon exclaimed. Yun and Aria looked and saw what looks to be a very large island with a mountain rising up into the sky. Terriermon hopped onto Yun's head to get a better look while Lopmon stayed next to Aria.

"How can you tell it's a continent?" Yun asked.

"I looked at this place from above and I see it's an island. Not very big, I presume," MarineAngemon replied as she flew back downward.

"What's a continent?" Aria asked Lopmon, who stood next to her quietly. Lopmon smiled.

"A continent is a very large mass of land that's bigger than an island. People live on them," Lopmon explained.

"Do people live on islands?" Aria asked.

"Yes, but islands aren't really considered continents since they're small," Lopmon replied.

"What's that mountain over there?" Terriermon asked as he pointed to it with one of his black fingers.

"If I remember correctly, I think it's called Mt. Trinity," MarineAngemon replied.

"How do you know?" Yun asked.

"I'm starting to remember. I've been there a couple of times. It's home to a lot of holy Digimon, like Tapirmon or Kudamon or Unimon," MarineAngemon explained in her sweet, dulcet voice.

"Something about it doesn't feel right," Terriermon muttered.

"I agree. I can feel something rather eerie and ominous coming from there, and it doesn't feel good at all," MarineAngemon said.

As Yun looked at MarineAngemon, she noticed something quite odd and peculiar. It was small, but Yun could see it with her green eyes. On the back of MarineAngemon's shiny gold collar is something very small. A tiny black dot. As Yun leaned closer, she saw it was a hexagon, very vaguely resembling the Dark Emblem, but not as detailed or ominous-looking. Yun couldn't believe she never noticed it before. Once she laid eyes on it, she began ruminating about things MarineAngemon had said. Perhaps this little thing has something to do with her curse? Not wanting to wait any longer, Yun decided to speak.

"MarineAngemon? There's something on your collar here," Yun said.

"Huh? Really? Where?" MarineAngemon said.

"On the back," Yun said. MarineAngemon tried to turn her head to look, but couldn't.

"I don't think I can turn my head enough to see it," MarineAngemon said as she floated into Yun's hand. This gave Yun an opportunity to show it.

"Aria-chan, Lopmon, Terriermon, look here. You see the black hexagon here?" Yun whispered as she showed them. MarineAngemon refrained from asking if it was a Dark Emblem. If it was, her eyes would be glowing red and she would be going crazy, destroying everything she could lay her eyes on. But this wasn't the case. Aria, Lopmon, and Terriermon looked closely and gasped.

"Wow! You're right! Something _IS_ there!" Terriermon said.

"What is it?" Aria asked.

"Beats me. Here, I'll take a picture," Yun said. She got out her digivice, opened it, held it behind MarineAngemon, and took a picture of the small black hexagon. MarineAngemon turned around and became curious.

"What is it?"

"Look," Yun showed MarineAngemon the picture. Her emerald eyes widened a bit.

"Wow! You're right! I can't believe I never noticed it before!" MarineAngemon exclaimed.

"Me neither, though I think it's because it's so small, so it'd be easy for anyone to overlook it," Yun said.

"Can I see it again?" Terriermon asked.

MarineAngemon complied and let Terriermon get a look at it again. But this time, Terriermon had other ideas.

"I wonder what happens if you touch it?" Terriermon asked himself as he raised his paw up and very gently stroke the black hexagon with his black pointer finger.

MarineAngemon tensed up, her emerald eyes widened violently, and she yelped.

_"YOOOOOWW!"_

She literally dashed into the air like a rocket and flew back down on Aria's head just as fast. This left everyone taken aback by her strange and somewhat inopportune reaction.

"That really hurt!" MarineAngemon screamed.

Right when she said that, Terriermon immediately became rueful. "I-I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! I was being as gentle as I could! Really, I was!"

Strangely enough, the pain that MarineAngemon felt immediately dissipated and she regained her equanimity. "No worries. I knew you were and it's alright. But it is strange. Normally it's not supposed to hurt when someone touches me there."

"Perhaps it makes you more sensitive to pain in that area?" Lopmon asked.

"Probably."

"Do you think it might be related to the curse?" Aria asked.

"I was thinking the same thing," Lopmon said.

"Me too!" Yun exclaimed.

"I never even thought of that!" MarineAngemon exclaimed.

"Maybe we should stick around and find out," Terriermon piped in with a smile. Yun smiled.

"I think that's a great idea!" Yun said with her fists clenched. But Aria looked a little worried.

"But won't our parents be worried?" Aria asked innocently.

"No. See, time in the real world and Digital World are very different, so even if we spend a few weeks here, time won't pass in the real world. That's the fun thing about it!" Yun explained. She didn't know how to explain something like this to a little girl, but Aria seemed to not mind anyway.

"MarineAngemon. You want the curse to be removed, right?" Lopmon asked.

Suddenly, MarineAngemon became silent. This concerned Lopmon a trifle. Normally MarineAngemon never remains silent about anything. She's always talking about something, even the most rudimentary of things. She refrained from answering. As far as the both of them knew, curses are normally nefarious and insidious. No curse could ever be good in any way. But questions were running through Lopmon's mind. Why is the sweet, bold, and congenial MarineAngemon clamming up regarding whether she wants the curse to be removed or not? Why is she hesitating? Does she...not want the curse to be removed? No, that couldn't be. No person or Digimon she ever met or knew wanted a curse to not be removed. Another question went through Lopmon's mind. _'Does she not want to de-digivolve or stay the way she is? For Aria's sake, maybe?'_ Lopmon thought. Terriermon, becoming a little impatient, decided to repeat the question.

"Don't you want it removed? Curses are bad!" Terriermon exclaimed.

"Terriermon! Give her a minute to think!" Yun yelled.

"What? She looked like she didn't get the question!" Terriermon yelled back.

A small dispute was about to erupt between them until MarineAngemon stopped it with her presence.

"Please don't fight," She muttered softly. Yun and Terriermon refrained from getting into a fracas.

"Is something wrong?" Aria asked.

"Well..." MarineAngemon stuttered a bit, but she continued with her answer. "Um...see, although I don't like not being able to de-digivolve, I...to be perfectly honest...I'm kinda happy that I'm cursed."

Now THIS left everyone flabbergasted. Why would anyone, especially a tiny Digimon for that matter, want to be happy about being cursed? Yun just had to press her.

"Why would you be happy about being cursed?" Yun asked.

"Well, for starters, other than making me more vulnerable to pain, it doesn't really have any other side effects that I know of. And besides, I don't mind not being able to de-digivolve," MarineAngemon replied.

"But don't you want to come to your rookie form? Everyone else is in their rookie levels," Lopmon asked quietly. She thought this question to be rather insensitive, but she asked anyway. MarineAngemon didn't seem to mind.

"That's true, but...my rookie form...is kinda ugly. It might scare you," MarineAngemon replied.

"Scare us?" Aria asked.

"Yeah. My rookie form's not as cute and cuddly as my other forms. Even I don't like it. It's kinda ugly," MarineAngemon said.

Yun crossed her arms and ruminated. _'MarineAngemon doesn't like her rookie form? Hm...to me, a Digimon staying in a higher form other than it's rookie is kinda weird to me. In the first Digimon series, Kari's Digimon stuck around as Gatomon, not Salamon, and that was because Salamon kept being abused by Myotismon and digivolved naturally instead of with Kari's help, so that was understandable. Although I do think MarineAngemon is adorable and cute, she can't stay in that form forever. Can she? It takes too much energy,'_ Yun thought. However, Aria had another reaction entirely.

"Okay. If you wanna stay as you are, you can. We won't make you de-digivolve if you don't want to," Aria said. This surprised everyone, including MarineAngemon.

"You sure?" Terriermon asked.

"Yes. I am. But even if you become a rookie level or baby level...you'll always be my Digimon!" Aria said with the sweetest of smiles, possibly even just as sweet and pleasant as MarineAngemon's smile.

"Aria...I'm so happy you're my partner!" MarineAngemon flew toward Aria, and Aria gently hugged her while making sure she didn't rub against the back of her collar. They shared a cute moment, but then Yun looked at the ocean.

"So...how can we get to Mt. Trinity?" Yun asked.

Just as she asked that, Aria and MarineAngemon broke away from their happy embrace. Aria then saw something peek out from the water. It looked like the head of a small dolphin, only this dolphin is blue and white with a red scar right above it's nose. Plus it has green eyes like MarineAngemon. Aria krept closer and saw that it didn't swim away.

"Hey! Look! A Digimon!" Aria called out. Yun, MarineAngemon, Lopmon, and Terriermon turned to look at the Digimon quietly peeping it's head out from the water. Strangely enough, it didn't swim away even when more faces are looking at it. Yun got her digivice out and found the Digimon's information.

"That's Dolphmon. He's a champion level, vaccine attribute, sea creature Digimon. His attacks are pulse blast and dolphin kick," Yun said. Aria krept just a bit closer.

"Hello Mr. Dolphmon! I'm Aria. These are my friends. Don't be afraid. Wanna come out and play?" Aria said very gently and softly so she wouldn't scare the aquatic Digimon. Unfortunately, Dolphmon dived back into the water.

"Awww, I scared it," Aria said. She felt guilty upon wanting to strike a conversation with the Digimon that she scared.

...or did she?

Suddenly, a voice permeated the ocean waters.

"Hey! Everyone! Look! Look to the surface! There's humans!"

A high pitched male voice came from underwater. Even Aria and MarineAngemon could hear it with their small ears.

"What? Humans? That's insane!"

"They don't exist, do they?"

"No! I'm telling you! They exist, and they're right above us as we speak! Come look! You've gotta see this!"

"Alright alright. We'll look with you, but don't come crying to us if they turn out to be illusions!"

Some other high pitched voices and one very deep and rich manly voice came from the ocean. Suddenly, three Dolphmon, including the one that observed Aria and the others earlier, popped out from the water, along with a VERY VERY big whale Digimon with a blue body and a big brown helmet. Yun just had to look up the whale's information.

"That big whale is Whamon. He's also a champion level and vaccine attribute. Of course he's a sea creature. His attacks are Tidal Wave, Ice Blast, and Blasting Spout," Yun said.

"See? I told ya! Is this cool or what?" The first Dolphmon exclaimed with a smile.

"Wow! I can't believe my eyes! They really do exist!" A second Dolphmon yelped.

"Awesome! This is great!" A third Dolphmon said.

"Well well. It seems humans do exist after all. You're a little smaller than I imagined, but I suppose that's to be expected. Welcome to the Digital World...or, more specifically, White Sands Island," The Whamon said in a deep, rich voice.

"I can see why it's called White Sands Island," Yun said, demonstrating her knowledge by putting her shoes in the white sand.

"It's beautiful!" Lopmon exclaimed.

"Well, of course it is! White Sands Island is one of the most beautiful islands in the Digital World. Now tell us, what brings you here?" Whamon asked.

"Uhh...we kinda got dragged here by an Airdramon who says he's part of an acting troupe," Terriermon explained.

"An Airdramon who's part of the acting troupe? You're talking about the Airdramon Acrobat Association, right?" The first Dolphmon asked, brimming with curiosity.

"Yeah! That's them! I love watching them!" The second Dolphmon exclaimed.

"They're so cool, right?" The third Dolphmon piped in happily.

"Now now, dears. Don't get too excited," Whamon advised calmly like a parent.

Suddenly, an idea popped into both Aria and MarineAngemon's heads like a hatched egg.

"Umm...we were wondering. We'd like to get to Mt. Trinity. Can you take us there?" Aria asked.

Suddenly, all three Dolphmon tensed up with fear.

"Mt. Trinity? Are you serious?"

"No way! No way do you wanna go there right now!"

"Yeah! It's terrible there!"

"What's wrong?" Lopmon asked.

"Are you sure you wish to go to Mt. Trinity? There have been some bad things happening over there, and we wouldn't want you to get caught up in it," Whamon explained.

"We've been caught up in some bad things before by accident, so it won't matter. Do you want to take us there? If not, sorry we asked," Lopmon explained.

Whamon and the three Dolphmon whispered amongst themselves, nodded at each other, and looked at them.

"Alright. We'll take you there," Whamon said.

"Really? Thank you so much!" Yun exclaimed happily.

"Not a problem at all. It's not every day we get to escort humans across the ocean, so you can consider this a very rare honor for us!" Whamon said.

So, Yun, Aria, Lopmon, Terriermon, and MarineAngemon hopped onto Whamon's back. Whamon slowly got off the shore of White Sands Island and drifted into the ocean, with the three Dolphmon following them. Out of curiosity, Aria decided to ask them about Mt. Trinity.

"So what's wrong with Mt. Trinity?" Aria asked curiously and innocently.

"Oh, it's just terrible," Whamon let out a sigh. "A wicked and insidious Digimon named LadyDevimon has driven all the Digimon out and claimed the mountain for herself! She is a wicked, wicked thing whose power should not be taken lightly."

"LadyDevimon? I know who that is! She's an evil Digimon whose special attack is Darkness Wave, right?" Yun asked.

"Why, yes! How did you know?" Whamon asked.

"I've seen a LadyDevimon before on TV," Yun replied.

"See? Humans are smart! They might know more stuff than we do!" The first Dolphmon said.

"You don't say!" The third Dolphmon piped in.

"What else happened?" Terriermon asked.

"See, lately some bad Digimon have been putting these things called Dark Emblems on our comrades. It's just horrifying!" Whamon said.

"Oh. I get what you mean. We've defeated some Digimon with them before. I suppose LadyDevimon is one of the Digimon branding them?" Yun said.

"My, you're as sharp as you are observant. Yes, LadyDevimon has been branding our friends with them and it's terrible, indeed! Our friends have tried to fight her off, but she is just too powerful," Whamon explained.

"She's an ultimate level," Yun muttered.

"Yep she is!" MarineAngemon said.

"Speaking of Mt. Trinity, I wonder if Unimon is still around?" The first Dolphmon asked himself.

"Unimon?" Aria asked.

"Yep! He's an awesome friend of ours. He saved us from a rabid Gesomon in no time flat! He's insanely cool!" The second Dolphmon explained.

"I know, right?" The first Dolphmon backed him up.

"Mt. Trinity was his home. He's been pretty ticked off since LadyDevimon kicked him and all the Tapirmon out. I wonder if he's plotting to take her down. I hope she gets owned real good, because I'm sick and tired of her ordering us around and telling us what to do!" The third Dolphmon explained, sounding a bit bitter at that last sentence.

Yun, Aria, Lopmon, Terriermon, and MarineAngemon remained silent throughout the rest of the ride. Yun wanted to ask them if they could help defeat LadyDevimon, but she knew that LadyDevimon is an ultimate level Digimon, way above champion level, and as the Digimon are now, there was likely no way to defeat her. MarineAngemon was another story entirely. She's a mega level Digimon, much more powerful than an ultimate level and very much capable of defeating her. But Yun had to consider MarineAngemon's physical state right now. What would happen if MarineAngemon ran out of energy to fight or was defeated because of the curse? The curse made her more sensitive and vulnerable to pain, and Yun didn't want Aria's precious Digimon to have to suffer such a fate. Yun clung to Lopmon and Terriermon.

Right now, Aria is enjoying this ride on Whamon and talking with the energetic and jaunty Dolphmon trio. Aria always did like aquatic animals and anything that came from the ocean. She loved going to aquariums with her family and looking at the multifarious fish, the octopi, the sharks, the sea turtles, everything. No wonder she bonded so well with the bouncy Dolphmon trio as they swam toward Mt. Trinity. But she couldn't help but notice that MarineAngemon is also a watery Digimon. Aria didn't know how she knew that. She just did. Was it because she secretly looked at Minako's digivice when Minako looked up her information? Nonetheless, Aria is just happy to have MarineAngemon as a partner and wouldn't ask for anything more. But although she let MarineAngemon talk about her feelings regarding her curse, small, innocent Aria couldn't help but be curious about MarineAngemon's forms. Why doesn't she want to de-digivolve? Why does she think her rookie form is ugly? Is it ugly? Who wouldn't be curious about something like that?

After a while, Whamon and the trio of Dolphmon finally arrived at the continent. Yun, Aria, Lopmon, Terriermon, and MarineAngemon all hopped off of him.

"Thanks for the ride, Whamon! We appreciate it!" Yun said brightly.

"You're very welcome. But I must advise that you be careful here. LadyDevimon is not a Digimon to be taken lightly," Whamon advised warmly.

"We will. Thanks for your concern, and you should also be careful getting home," Lopmon told him as the three Dolphmon decided to leave first.

"Have a nice day!" Aria waved at the aquatic animal Digimon as they swam away.

"Goodbye, fellow humans!" Whamon said as he swam away.

Once Whamon and the jaunty Dolphmon trio swam back to White Sands Island, the kids and Digimon decided to take a look around. They were very surprised to see that the trees aren't totally green or any autumn colors like red or yellow or brown. These trees are thick and leafy and look very soft, but they're totally strange colors! Turquoise, lavendar, aqua green, and indigo. Aren't these the colors people normally see on pieces of artwork done by impressionist painters like Claude Monet? But at this point, they didn't care. The trees were just so pretty to look at. They were again on the beach, but decided to go deeper into the forest so they can take a look at Mt. Trinity.

The kids and Digimon looked around. They saw some small Digimon, like green plants with pink and yellow flowers on their heads and small elephants with helmets and clouds for feet. Yun looked their info up on her digivice and found the Digimons' names were Palmon and Tapirmon. Aria even tried talking to a Tapirmon at one point, but he timidly flew to the top of an indigo blue tree, leaving Aria a tad crestfallen. Yun thought they became timid and ran away because they feared that they'd be in danger lest this LadyDevimon Digimon show up and attempt to destroy them. But they did manage to catch some interesting gossip happening amongst them. Yun, Aria, and their Digimon knew it was wrong to eavesdrop, but the Digimon talking were barely restraining their voices so they couldn't help but hear.

"Hey. Look. Are those humans?"

"Really? The creatures of legend?"

"That can't be. They don't look huge and holy like the legends say."

"They must be heading toward Mt. Trinity."

"Mt. Trinity? But LadyDevimon owns it now!"

"Right. She beseiged us and drove us out. We'll be rebuked if she thinks we sent them."

"No. I don't think so. She doesn't believe in humans so she wouldn't suspect anything."

"That's what you say!"

"Quiet! They'll hear us! Be prudent, will you?"

"Where's Unimon been?"

"Still trying to plot something, is he?"

"Eh. I wouldn't expect him to be able to defeat LadyDevimon. His presence before her is already a big vexation as it is."

Yun could tell they were talking about LadyDevimon and the Unimon who plans to overthrow her. Lopmon and Terriermon could hear the gossip and the conversations better because their ears are so big and long. Suddenly, a booming and vociferous sound caught everyone's attention, even the frightened and gossipy Palmon and Tapirmon. It came from further up, and Aria was the first to react by running toward it.

"Wait! Aria-chan! Come back!" MarineAngemon pleaded, but Aria didn't answer.

They finally got out of the forest and are now right near Mt. Trinity. A tall mountain it is indeed, looking as though it were actually touching heaven and saying to those below it "I'm closer to heaven than you are! In your face! Ha ha!" or something like that. But Aria was not interested in the tall mountain or anything around it. She's interested in the Digimon who's insatiably driving it's horn against a wall of solid rock...and making good progress in making a giant hole in it. He is coated with white fur, has a beautiful goldenrod mane and tail, a shiny red metal mask with a horn on it and turquoise eyes on it, scars all over his body, long white ears with golden tips, little gold hairs above his hooves, and, most striking of all, a pair of jet black wings that look as though they've been incessantly pecked at by a giant hawk. Aria decided to use her digivice to look up his information.

"Unimon. Champion level. Attacks are Aerial Attack, Aerial Gallop, and Spread Nails," Aria said. She then put her digivice away and very slowly began to amble toward the big, fearless Digimon. Yun gasped.

"Aria! Come back here right now!" Yun yelled.

"What if he's dangerous?" Lopmon pleaded.

But Aria didn't listen. She just walked toward it without a hint of fear or hesitation. Unimon finally stopped ramming his horn in the rock.

"Hm! That'll do for today. I should probably get something to eat-" Unimon muttered in a strange voice as he turned around to fly away, but he gasped and froze as he saw Aria, looking up at him with a smile. He stepped back a bit.

"Wha? What? Uh...who are you?" Unimon asked.

"Hello!" Aria said sweetly. Unimon cocked his head to one side in confusion. Yun, Lopmon, Terriermon, and MarineAngemon held their breath in fear, hoping that Unimon doesn't attack Aria while she's totally vulnerable. After a while, Unimon stepped back a few more steps.

"Umm...don't be afraid! I'm not gonna hurt you," Aria cooed reassuringly. Unimon shook his long head.

"No no! I'm not afraid or anything! It's just...I can't believe my eyes! I always believed that humans existed, but I never dreamed that I'd be lucky enough to see one for real!" Unimon exclaimed happily. Seeing that Unimon isn't dangerous, Yun got the mettle to approach him as well. The three smaller Digimon did the same.

"Oh? You have friends," Unimon said.

"Yep! They're my bestest friends!" Aria said gently.

"Hmm...you're a tad smaller than I expected you to look, but I suppose that's to be expected. Sorry for the selfish thought," Unimon said.

"It's okay! Sorry to ask if this sounds bad, but why are you here in front of Mt. Trinity?" Aria asked sweetly.

Unimon turned around looking like he's about to fly away. He drooped his long head down.

"I apologize for sounding harsh and bitter, but Mt. Trinity is my home. My only home. The best one I have. I've worked long and hard to have a nice home of my own where me and my friends, the Tapirmon, can live in peace, even though it was partially destroyed three years ago. We all worked hard to repair it and return it back to it's original state. That horrid and insidious LadyDevimon defeated us and drove us out just recently, and after all that trouble too! My Tapirmon friends have given up and are with the forest Digimon, but I refuse to let that wicked witch sully my holy home with her dark powers!" Unimon explained, sounding rather caustic at the last sentence.

"Do you plan on fighting her?" Yun asked.

"I have been fighting her. Lots of times, to be more precise. I've lost most of the battles, but I don't plan on conceding defeat just yet! Mt. Trinity is my home, not hers, and I intend to drive her out just as she did with me and the Tapirmon!" Unimon replied.

"But she's an ultimate level and you're a champion level," Lopmon said.

"Doesn't mean I can't get stronger and defeat her, which I will in due time! If I was an even higher holy Digimon I could have the power to purify her and have her be reborn as a good Digimon. But alas, that is not to be," Unimon muttered.

"Can you really do that?" Terriermon asked.

"Yep! I've seen it happen before!" MarineAngemon said.

"I'd love to see that happen!" Yun exclaimed.

"You've got that right!" Unimon backed her up, acting like he was a close friend of hers.

"I like your wings," Aria said. Unimon blushed a bit.

"Thank you, little one. These wings have endured much hardship, but they're still capable of flight nonetheless," Unimon explained.

"You planning on fighting the evil LadyDevimon again?" Aria asked.

"Of course! I've been training for this for the longest time! I don't care how many times I get defeated, I won't-" Unimon wanted to finish that chivalrous and heroic sentence. But he couldn't.

"Darkness Wave!"

A huge stream of ominous and noisome black energy suddenly spurted out from the sky and nearly hit the kids and Digimon! Unimon grabbed Aria by the shirt and flew into the air (along with MarineAngemon who followed them) while Yun, Terriermon, and Lopmon managed to hop away from the black stream. Once it went away, that's when Aria pointed to the sky.

"Look!"

Floating in the air with a malicious, wicked look on her face is LadyDevimon. Yun looked up her information.

"That's LadyDevimon! She's an ultimate level, virus attribute, evil Digimon! Her attacks are Darkness Wave, Evil Wing, and Fallen Angel's Spear!" Yun said. LadyDevimon presented herself before a now choleric Unimon, who safely put Aria back to the ground.

"You've come yet again? Goodness, you're so persistent! Don't you know when to give up?" LadyDevimon asked in a wicked voice.

"We Unimon never give up! Don't act like you're the center of the universe, witch!" Unimon roared angrily.

"I never said anything about being the center of the universe! I simply-huh?" LadyDevimon was about to yell at Unimon when she caught sight of Yun and Aria with her evil red eyes. Becoming curious, she floated closer to them.

"Hm? Hm? Hmmmm?" LadyDevimon looked at a now frightened Yun with her bloody red eyes. She was about to creep closer to get a better look, but Yun wasn't having it.

_POW!_ She whacked LadyDevimon in the face with her hand.

"Get away from me, you promiscuous witch!" Yun screamed angrily as she clung to Lopmon and Terriermon like a scared child. A vein popped in LadyDevimon's head.

"That's the second time I've been called that today!"

"GOOD!" Terriermon yelled, backing Yun up, which perturbed Lopmon a bit. Once LadyDevimon regained her equanimity, she crossed her arms.

"But this certainly IS interesting! To think that humans actually exist! I've heard the legends, but I've never really believed that you really existed, and neither does my master. Thought it was just a waste of valuable time and effort. Looks like that incompetent Witchmon was right after all!" LadyDevimon explained.

"You know Witchmon! You're her partner in crime, aren't you?" Yun exclaimed.

"Wow! Now THIS is getting even more interesting! You're as sharp as you are scrawny. However, we used to be partners in crime, but now she hates my guts because I took the credit for-" LadyDevimon was about to explain herself when suddenly a loud, high pitched scream permeated the air, leaving everyone silent.

It came right out of MarineAngemon's mouth. LadyDevimon gasped upon catching sight of the now absolutely incensed small pink fairy Digimon.

"YOU! YOU AND WITCHMON CURSED ME, DIDN'T YOU?" MarineAngemon screamed.

LadyDevimon was about to say something, but MarineAngemon decided to go on an epic harangue.

"I remember now! All I was doing was minding my own business in the core of the Digital World when you and Witchmon assaulted me from out of nowhere! You two set up a trap that kept me from both moving and using my attacks! You caught me and put the curse on my holy collar! You AND Witchmon cursed me!" MarineAngemon screamed angrily.

Aria, Yun, Terriermon, Lopmon, and Unimon were all surprised. Surprised to see that the sweet, pleasant, bold, and congenial little Digimon with a big heart despite her small size is going on the tirade of all angry tirades in front of a wicked, insidious Digimon like LadyDevimon! And she seemed to LOVE going on her tirade right now. LadyDevimon cleared her throat.

"Yeah. That was us," She said rather calmly.

"You confessed? Just like that? Aren't you gonna deny it?" Yun asked, confused by LadyDevimon's rather unrealistically calm and collected reaction to MarineAngemon's tirade.

"There's nothing to gain from denying anything I did. In fact, I'm proud of what I did! And yes, Witchmon was involved with working with me to curse you, but she set up the traps while I set the curse. That's why I got my master's approval. I'm the one who set the curse in motion while Witchmon wasted valuable time by setting up those spells. She's incompetent indeed," LadyDevimon explained.

"Tell us! Who's your master?" Lopmon asked.

"And are you gonna give back my home or what? I'm tired of waiting!" Unimon yelled.

"As if I'd tell you freaks about my master! And no, you're not getting your home back. I've no time to waste dealing with you weaklings. But before I go about my merry way..." LadyDevimon said calmly at first, but wickedly at the last sentence.

Unimon made the mistake of charging toward her.

"Unimon! No!" Aria yelled to no avail.

LadyDevimon pulled a black hexagon shaped stone out of her hand and pressed it onto Unimon's neck. It dissolved into his neck and he roared in pain. Afterward, he fell to the ground. Aria tried to run toward him.

"Unimon!"

"No! Don't!" Yun and Terriermon pulled her back now that he's been branded with a Dark Emblem. A few seconds later, he woke up with the eyes on his helmet glowing red and he roared like a hungry lion. Terriermon, Lopmon, and MarineAngemon prepared themselves for battle.

"It looks like we might have to fight him!" Yun said once she got her digivice out.

Lopmon and Terriermon both digivolved into Turuiemon and Gargomon. MarineAngemon is already digivolved but she doesn't need to. Yun got her digilasso out and decided to fight with them. All three Digimon attacked first.

"Gauntlet Claw!"

"Gargo Laser!"

"Spray of Hearts!"

Turuiemon's attack didn't work since Unimon flew upward before she could land it on him. Thankfully, Gargomon and MarineAngemon's attacks managed to land a decent hit, but not enough to make Unimon abdicate nor the Dark Emblem go away.

"Aerial Attack!" A red beam of light shot out from Unimon's mouth and was about to hit Turuiemon, but she deflected it with her gauntlets successfully. MarineAngemon decided to follow the flying horse and attack again.

"Spray of Hearts!" Glowing pink hearts shot out from MarineAngemon's mouth and nearly hit Unimon, but he evaded it. However, MarineAngemon wasn't going to concede defeat just yet. She persistently shot glowing hearts at Unimon wherever he went. Although they didn't hit him, he was weary and nearly descended to the ground.

That's when Yun decided to use her digilasso on him. She threw it around Unimon's neck as Turuiemon used the opportunity to wrap her arms around him enough to both push his wings down to his back and keep him at bay. Unimon struggled and flailed, but Turuiemon and Yun were not going to let Unimon escape.

"Good! We got him!" Yun exclaimed as she turned to Gargomon and Aria. "Aria-chan, make your digivice turn into a sword and help Gargomon take off the Dark Emblem!"

Aria didn't move. She clutched her pink digivice with her trembling hands with Gargomon standing next to her, noticing her fear.

"What's wrong?" Yun asked.

"I...I can't," Aria muttered.

"Why not?"

"What if I...kill him?"

Yun smiled gently at her. "It's okay! Digimon don't really die. If they're defeated in a battle, they turn into DigiEggs and be reborn again! They're not like us humans! And besides, we're not gonna kill him. Just dig your sword into him enough to make the Dark Emblem go away. Is that good enough for you?" Yun explained gently, though she thought her euphemism was a little dry and not executed properly.

Aria wanted to believe Yun's words, but she had her doubts. Aria is not one who likes to fight for any reason at all. It also doesn't help that she doesn't know how to make her digivice turn into a sword nor is she really capable of both fighting or defending herself. She's only seven years old so of course she wouldn't be good at fighting, but hurting a new friend she just made? She couldn't do it. She feared that lest she do something wrong, Unimon would truly die and never come back. She had always been reminded that those who die never come back no matter how hard you wish or pray or beg or cry or call for them. She didn't want to be reminded of that again. Even though she's seven years old, she knows what death is and knew that it's not a nice thing. But as much as she didn't want to hurt Unimon, she knew deep in her heart that if things continue as it is, the Dark Emblem will stay on Unimon and he'll suffer for who knows how long. It pained her to see Unimon roar and scream like that. She clutched her digivice and decided to approach him with Gargomon by her side.

"Don't worry. It'll be fine," Gargomon told her reassuringly.

"Alright. I'll do it. But how do I make a digisword?" Aria asked.

"You just gotta think it."

"Think it?"

"Yeah."

Aria closed her eyes. 'Digivice, turn into a sword!' She thought. Suddenly, a long ray of pink light came from Aria's digivice. Aria smiled as she opened her eyes. Both she and Gargomon approached Unimon and were about to remove the Dark Emblem...but they couldn't do it.

"Ack! Oh no!" Unimon whacked Turuiemon with both his horn and one of his hooves, causing her to let go of him. Unimon flew away from her grasp and knocked her to the ground.

"Turuiemon! You okay?" Yun exclaimed as she helped her Digimon friend up.

"I'm fine. Thanks," Turuiemon replied.

"That didn't work! Let's get him!" MarineAngemon exclaimed.

The battle seemed to go on for hours. They tried with all their might to mollify Unimon and keep him at bay, but nothing work. Since he and MarineAngemon are the only Digimon that could fly, Yun, Aria, Gargomon, and Turuiemon were at a big disadvantage.

"Spread Nails!" A streak of lightning shot out from Unimon's horn.

"Digishield!" Yun threw her digivice in front of herself and the rainbowy shield appeared, stopping Unimon's attack from hurting her. Aria was about to run away from the scene, but Unimon suddenly caught sight of her and decided to attack her.

"ARIA! RUN!" Yun screamed. Turuiemon wanted to save her, but she was already on a high part of the mountain and wouldn't make it in time.

Aria turned around and saw Unimon charging toward her. She closed her eyes and braced for impact.

"Aerial Gallop!"

_Shing!_

Aria waited for the blow to come. But oddly enough, it didn't. Not wanting to see if it was a trick, she slowly but steadily opened her eyes. But she was about to wish she hadn't, because what she saw made her dark brown eyes widen...and the eyes of everyone else. They were all frozen in place once they saw who was impaled by Unimon's horn.

It was none other than...MarineAngemon.

Worse than that, he impaled her straight through the collar, right in the area where the symbol of the curse is. Unimon's big, hard, red horn protruded out from the red heart symbol on her chest.

Aria dropped her digivice and it bounced on the ground. She was oblivious to this because she was too frozen in place to move or even to scream. MarineAngemon too. After a few seconds, Unimon sneezed a bit and pulled his horn out of a mortally wounded MarineAngemon, who fell to the ground, causing Aria to finally run toward her in tears.

"MarineAngemon!" Aria screamed as she cradled her injured partner in her small arms. Yun was just incensed, and so was Gargomon.

"You're gonna pay for that!" Yun screamed once she got her digisword out.

"No way are we gonna go easy on you!" Gargomon yelled as he charged at Unimon with Yun by his side. Turuiemon silently decided to join in. She wanted to console Aria and MarineAngemon, but it was futile and she couldn't.

As the battle waged on, Aria noticed part of MarineAngemon's tail turning into particles of hot pink balls of light. Her tears fell on the injured pink fairy.

"MarineAngemon..."

The pink fairy looked up at Aria with her wide emerald eyes and the sweetest smile she ever gave.

"Aria...I'm free. The curse has been removed! I can feel it. Unimon...saved me..." MarineAngemon croaked weakly.

"MarineAngemon...why? Why did you...save me?" Aria asked sadly.

"Because you're my partner, and you...saved me too. I felt it was time for me...to pay you back," MarineAngemon replied.

"But look! Now you're gonna-!"

"No I won't. I won't be gone forever. I'll turn into a Digiegg and...come back. What Yun-chan says is true," At this point, the lower half of MarineAngemon's body dissipated into hot pink spheres of light, but she didn't seem to be cognizant of this fact. "We Digimon aren't like you humans, who die and stay dead forever."

"Really?"

"Yep! Also...please, forgive Unimon. He saved me from the curse, so show him mercy. Please?"

Aria held her little fairy friend close to her heart and cradled her in her arms, with warm tears streaming down her plump, tan cheeks. She didn't scream or cry out. She just smiled and remained silent. Aria didn't expect anyone to tell her to forgive someone and show them mercy before. Aria always was a forgiving and merciful child, even as she was younger and was beginning to know the difference between right and wrong. But certain circumstances made Aria question her ideals.

After all...a certain someone she knew didn't forgive her or show her mercy regarding just about anything.

However, this was a perfect time to show mercy. Aria hugged MarineAngemon, whose head was left.

"Yes. I will. But you'll come back, right?"

"Yes. If you don't believe me, I'll show you. Watch closely..."

Right there, MarineAngemon's hot pink data floated into the air and...into her pink digivice. Aria gasped when she saw this because she had no idea what was happening. Fortunately she was oblivious to the fact that Gargomon, Turuiemon, and Yun have successfully kept Unimon at bay and are about to land the final blow.

"Gargomon! Do it now!" Yun yelled.

"Bunny Pummel!" Gargomon punched Unimon square in the neck with one of his gun hands, causing the Dark Emblem to break into pieces and dissipate and make Unimon fall to the ground unconscious. Gargomon and Turuiemon de-digivolved back into Terriermon and Lopmon, and they all looked at Unimon sympathetically.

"You think he'll be alright?" Terriermon asked.

"I believe so. He's breathing so he will awaken soon," Lopmon said.

That's when Yun saw it.

"Terriermon! Lopmon! Look!" Yun exclaimed as she pointed to Aria. Terriermon and Lopmon quickly turned their heads to see a strawberry pink light coming out from Aria's digivice and turning into an oval shaped light right before Aria's widened dark brown eyes. They ran to her and watched as the pink light glew.

After a few seconds, the light finally dissipated and formed a small pale pink egg with a little red heart right in the middle. Just like the heart on MarineAngemon's chest. It was small and light, and it fit right into both of Aria's small, tender hands. Everyone smiled, including Aria, who held the egg close.

"Looks like what she said is true," Terriermon said.

"I'll...take good care of her," Aria muttered. Yun put a hand on Aria's shoulder tenderly.

"It's okay. She'll hatch when she's ready. Then you'll get to see her other forms! Maybe she'll be stronger than ever before!" Yun told her brightly and reassuringly, which made Aria smile. Suddenly, Lopmon noticed something.

"Look! Unimon has reawakened!" Lopmon exclaimed.

They all ran toward Unimon, who helped himself up.

"Urgh...my head is throbbing!" Unimon muttered. Aria took the plunge and approached him.

"Are you okay?" Aria asked softly.

"Y-Yes. I'm starting to feel a bit better..." Unimon replied when he suddenly caught sight of the small pink digiegg. He gasped as he remembered his transgression. He drooped his head down in guilt.

"I...I killed your partner. How could I be so cruel and heartless?" Unimon wailed a bit, but Aria continued to smile at him.

"It's okay! She's here in this egg now, so she'll be back. Also, you actually saved her from the curse. It's not your fault. LadyDevimon used her evil magic on you, so I forgive you!" Aria replied sweetly. Unimon blushed.

"Oh, no, I...I'm not worthy of-"

"Oh my! Unimon! Your horn is glowing!" Lopmon suddenly yelled.

She was right. Unimon's red horn is glowing a gold color. Out of the blue, a small spec of goldenrod light floated out from Unimon's horn and floated into one of Aria's hands. It turned into a small gold gem stone in the shape of a unicorn.

"Wow, Aria-chan! You befriended Unimon and got his D-Chip!" Yun exclaimed happily.

"Is that what this is?" Aria asked innocently.

"Yep!"

"I suppose you're my sort of partner now, eh?" Unimon said.

Aria nodded kindly and put the D-Chip on top of her digiegg.

"See, MarineAngemon? I made a new friend!" Aria said.

Then Yun had an idea.

"I think it's time we take a break and go back home, shall we?" Yun said as she flipped her digivice open. "Unimon! Wanna come with us?"

"Eh? I-I-I'd love to go with you, but-"

"Alrighty! Onward!" Yun edicted and pressed the little door button on her digivice.

But nothing happened. An awkward silence enveloped them. Yun was getting confused.

"What?" She pressed the button again. Nothing.

She pressed it three more times. Still nothing.

"What? Why isn't a digital portal opening? We have to get back!" Yun yelled as she pressed the button a few more times.

"Umm...as of now, going to the human world isn't possible," Unimon told them shyly.

Everyone's jaws dropped to the ground.

_"WHAAAAAAAT?"_

"Unfortunately, the mystical veil that divides the Digital World and the human world has closed up completely right now. It tends to act a little mischievous sometimes. Normally it doesn't stay closed for very long, but so long as it's closed, you can't go back to the human world. I've tried going a few minutes ago before I met you, but I was unsuccessful," Unimon explained.

Yun, Aria, Lopmon, and Terriermon were appalled. But Aria did remember something.

"Oh! Labramon was talking about a mystical veil, wasn't he?" Aria asked.

"Yeah he was. But to think we're stuck here..." Yun muttered.

"Well, our time in the Digital World doesn't affect what goes on in the human world, so I don't think you have anything to worry about, Yun," Lopmon explained.

"Yeah. You're right. We might as well make the best of it," Yun said quietly.

"Ooh! Maybe we can go exploring! I've always wanted to see what the Digital World is like!" Aria said sweetly.

"I guess that'll be fun," Yun said. Aria looked up at Unimon.

"Thanks for everything. We'll be leaving now!" Aria said.

"You're more than welcome to call upon me at any time. I advise that you be careful, as not all Digimon here are friendly," Unimon advised.

"I see. Sorry we couldn't help you defeat LadyDevimon."

"It's alright. I didn't think you were ready to defeat her just yet, but I suppose that's understandable."

"How about I make a promise with you? When we get stronger and are ready to defeat her, I'll call for you so you can defeat her with us!"

"I like it! I accept your offer and hope that you grow strong with your friends and keep your promise."

"Okay! We will! Bye-bye!" Aria waved at her new unicorn friend, clutched her pink digiegg, and followed Yun, Terriermon, and Lopmon as they decided to leave the forest of Mt. Trinity and journey to some new place in the Digital World. Although Aria wanted to see more of the Digital World, the thing she was looking forward to the most was as blatant as peanut butter and jelly.

The day in which MarineAngemon, or whatever form she'd be in, will hatch from her egg.

Author's Note: Yay! I finished chapter 19! Chapter 20 will be up soon! And if you guys are wondering how MarineAngemon was so easily defeated by Unimon, here's an explanation: If the cursed Digimon were to be attacked or impaled in the area where the curse symbol is, the damage and pain sustained from the attack is the equivalent to a mega level Digimon easily defeating a champion level (like how Beelzemon killed Leomon in Digimon Tamers episode 34). Basically the curse makes a mega level Digimon more vulerable and makes killing it easier for weaker Digimon (but rookies, in-trainings, and babies won't be capable of killing a high level cursed Digimon). How's that? Well, I better go now. I'll see you all later! Bye-bee!


	20. The Masked Warrior Named Link

Author's Note: Hiya everyone. Sorry I haven't been around much. College homework and stuff. However! I'm glad to say that this weekend I found an astonishing and awesome yet criminally underrated and under appreciated anime movie! It's called Happy Birthday: Inochi Kagayaku Toki. Seriously, this is one of the best old movies I've seen since Dog of Flanders! My goodness! It is THAT good. If you guys are interested in reading more about my fangirling over this movie, you can find my review on my livejournal page. Well, I better quit fangirling and give you all chapter 20 of Digimon: A Seraphic Tale!

EPISODE 20: The Masked Warrior Named Link

_In the Human World..._

Witchmon, Roachmon, and the little Monitormon flew out of the digital portal and into the world of humans. They arrived above a rather busy street, full of people running around. Certainly this wasn't the little town that the Digimon Brigade are living in, but they found this irrelevant as of right now. Roachmon pulled out a silver walkie talkie and held it up to his mouth.

"Hey Master! Can ya hear us? Over!" Roachmon said into the walkie talkie.

A deep, ominous sigh came out from the walkie talkie.

"Hello?"

_"I HEAR YOU, YOU BUG! I don't even know why I let you talk me into this nonsense! Humans don't exist!"_ MoonMillenniummon screeched angrily. Witchmon covered her ears. _"I still can't believe you duct taped this stupid walkie talkie right in front of my face!"_

"No need to be so grouchy! We just wanna show you!" Witchmon exclaimed.

_"Show me what? Another fabrication? As if! I'd rather watch one of Puppetmon's lame puppet shows or Lilithmon charm her way into getting a piece of digital gruel for free than see you incompetents show me a bunch of calumny!"_ MoonMillenniummon yelled. _"But...all the rest of my servants are recruiting so they can't take this walkie talkie off, and I can't get out of this horrid rock formation, so you better show me what you got. I'm bored anyway."_

"You think humans are fabrications? See for yourself, yo!" Roachmon held Monitormon up in the air and showed it the city down below. "Welcome to the human world!"

Roachmon didn't know if Monitormon or it's little camera was transmitting the footage to HiVisionMonitormon or whether it was showing the footage on MoonMillenniummon's end. But he had to take this chance and prove to MoonMillenniummon that humans do exist.

"You still don't believe us now? Watch this, yo!" Roachmon said as he handed the Monitormon to Witchmon.

_"Uh...would you PLEASE stop ending your sentences with yo? It's very bad and improper grammar! It makes you sound like a guttersnipe,"_ MoonMillenniummon advised rather half-heartedly.

But Roachmon didn't really listen. He just swooped down in front of two women and made them run away screaming with his Yard Sale Bomb. Out of joy, he decided to scare away a few more people. Feeling a bit irked, Witchmon decided to join in.

"Awww, come on! I wanna have some fun too! Aqua Pressure!" Witchmon, out of boredom, decided to drown some people with a huge waterfall that came out with a snap of a finger. Thankfully no one REALLY drowned, but their clothes became sopping wet as a result, and Witchmon didn't really care.

After a while, they decided to look around some more.

"So what do you think, Master? Convinced yet?" Witchmon asked as she held the walkie talkie. She had now let Roachmon have the responsibility of holding onto Monitormon.

_"Hmmm...this sure doesn't look like anything that can be fabricated, even by my own hand! And upon observing your interactions toward them I guess it's safe to say that they really are real,"_ MoonMillenniummon said. Witchmon's face immediately lit up.

"Whoa! Seriously? You finally believe us?" Witchmon yelped.

_"Calm yourself! I never said anything about me believing your story just yet! Jeez, Witchmon. You need to learn to listen,"_ MoonMillenniummon replied rather harshly, like a strict parent. Witchmon was about to yell back at him, but something caught Roachmon's attention.

"Yuck! What is that?"

Roachmon and Monitormon are floating in front of a rather...strange cafe, with lots of big pink and red hearts, black and white cats, and a girl in a rather strangely short black and white lace dress on the sign, with a few other girls standing in front of the restaurant dressed like maids...only these maid outfits were short and somewhat odd. Even Witchmon found herself disgusted.

"EWWWW! And people say I have bad taste in clothes!" Witchmon yelled, but it seemed nobody really heard her.

"You don't say! I've heard of over the top and overkill, but this really takes the cake, yo!" Roachmon exclaimed.

_"Yeah. Personally I wouldn't be caught DEAD eating at a place called the Sweet Maid Cafe. Just because I'm the root of all evil doesn't mean don't have standards,"_ MoonMillenniummon said.

"Yes it does," Witchmon said.

_"Oh shut up, Witchmon. I'd zap you with one of my lightning bolts and rearrange your dental work if you said that in my inner sanctum. But right now that's not relevant,"_ MoonMillenniummon sneered rather wickedly from his side of the walkie talkie.

"Come on. Let's go-EH?" Witchmon was about to fly away when she noticed Roachmon blushing and staring at the girls in a rather dazed yet happy expression. This angered Witchmon so much that she hit him on the head with her broom.

"OWWWW!" Roachmon roared in pain as Witchmon grabbed Monitormon and ripped it from his yucky hands.

"What was 'dat for?" Roachmon yelled.

"What are you doing, staring at those human weaklings like you're some drunk Orochimon(1) going into an epic hangover? You are just utterly disgraceful!" Witchmon screamed angrily.

_"I say! At least here's one thing we agree on!"_ MoonMillenniummon exclaimed at Witchmon. _"Roachmon! You should know better than to get all lovey-dovey over something so stupid and disgraceful as those scrawny weaklings! I expected better out of you!"_

"Aww come on!" Roachmon pleaded.

Witchmon crossed her arms with Monitormon climbing on her head innocently. She was oblivious to this, however.

"Pfft! This is stupid! We've got more important things to worry about! I'm done here! Let's go back!" Witchmon snapped her fingers.

But strangely enough...nothing happened.

"Eh?"

She snapped her fingers again. And again. And again. Nothing happened.

"What? What? WHAT? What the freak?"

"What's wrong, Witchmon?"

"A digital portal's not opening! I can't make one appear!" Witchmon cried out.

_"Are you serious? You can't even come back to the Digital World?"_ MoonMillenniummon yelled.

"It would seem so! Awww, come on! How did this happen?" Witchmon whined like the spoiled child she is.

_"Oh. Wait. I think the mystical veil closed up,"_ MoonMillenniummon said rather calmly.

"WHAT? It closed?" Both Roachmon and Witchmon yelled in perfect unison.

_"Yes. It tends to act very mischievous sometimes. Even I have no control over it, though I think it's being weird because of what I did three years ago. Well, looks like you're stuck there til it opens! I can usually tell when it's about to open so when it does, I'll let you know,"_ MoonMillenniummon explained, sounding like Witchmon's little drama spheal was the most normal thing in the world. Even he didn't seem bothered by this.

"Noooooo!" Witchmon wailed.

"Ah, quit bein' a big baby, Witchmon! Better yet, I smell a nice opportunity! How about we show Master those pesky kids who keep ruining our plans!" Roachmon said.

"Huh? You're serious?" Witchmon asked, confused.

_"Pesky kids? Ruining your plans? Ah ha ha ha!"_ MoonMillenniummon burst into laughter. _"Oh, this is the best thing I've heard since Boogeymon told Chaosdramon he looks like he got melted in a volcano that I made erupt! Ha ha! Humans screwing up your recruiting plans? Yeah right! They don't look like they can do much! Not to me, anyway! I'll bet they can't even lift up a rock!"_

"MoonMillenniummon! Stop laughing!" Witchmon yelled, but he continued to laugh anyway, though if he heard that Witchmon was telling him what to do, he'd pop out of his rock formation and zap her until she turned crispy and black, especially since she didn't call him Master just now. He can't really break away from the rock formation that has him imprisoned, however.

Roachmon became incensed.

"You think we's a lyin', yo? I'll show you!" Roachmon yelled as he zipped away.

"Wait! Roachmon! You're going the wrong waaaaaaay!" Witchmon chased after him, with both the walkie talkie and Monitormon in hand.

_"Pfft! A bunch of humans ruining their recruiting duties. What a riot!"_ MoonMillenniummon muttered to himself, but Witchmon and Roachmon didn't hear a thing.

_In the Digital World..._

Even though Yun, Lopmon, Aria, and Terriermon had no idea where they were going, they ventured onward anyway, mostly just for the sake of exploring and getting a better idea of what the Digital World is like, who lives in where, and where certain places are located. The kids didn't really have a particular destination and they didn't really plan on going anywhere special. This was the reason the kids didn't ask Unimon to take them flying somewhere. They had no particular destination. So the kids and Digimon walked and walked, not really minding the fact that they're now in a totally foreign world and apparently can't get back until this supposed mystical veil opens up again. But exactly when will that be? Yun didn't know, Aria didn't know, and even Terriermon and Lopmon didn't know. It didn't look like Unimon knew either, though he does know that it likes to act 'mischievous' as he puts it. Despite this, however, Yun and the others left the forests of Mt. Trinity and went through another forest, looking at anything and everything around them. Along the way, they saw some small green buggy Digimon wrapped in brown coats hanging from the trees. Aria found them to be Minomon. Cute and playful little things, they are.

However, Aria wasn't focused on anything regarding the forest or path or anything like that. All she did was stay by Yun's side and hold onto her DigiEgg. She wanted more than anything to never let go of her precious DigiEgg and never leave it out of her sight, even for the littlest second possible. Even Terriermon noticed this, but he didn't say anything because it would be insensitive. He knew that inside the DigiEgg is MarineAngemon, and Aria loved MarineAngemon dearly. The pink egg with the red heart in the middle is being safely cradled in Aria's small, tender, tan-colored hands. As far as Terriermon knew and saw, not once did those soft, tiny hands come off of the egg except for when Aria had to use her hands. But he noticed later that when the time came that she needed to use one, she used only one hand and used the other for carrying the DigiEgg. Even Yun and Lopmon noticed this, but they also refused to say anything out of respect for her. They didn't want to hurt Aria's feelings. But nonetheless, they wondered what was going on in Aria's head. What she was thinking. What she was ruminating about. Why she stayed silent throughout the entire walk. Nobody could read her mind, but they couldn't press her about it either, so they continued on.

Aria had her reasons for constantly clinging to MarineAngemon's DigiEgg. Part of it was her duty as MarineAngemon's partner. She was her partner and nobody else's. Aria wanted solely to protect MarineAngemon's DigiEgg at all costs. She was quite ardent and fervent about keeping her precious DigiEgg in her grip and nobody else's. In her little heart, she was quite dejected upon seeing her best friend be attacked by Unimon and turned into a DigiEgg. She knew Unimon didn't do it out of malicious intent. It was the Dark Emblem that made him do it, and it was LadyDevimon's fault for putting it on him, so she's just as reprehensible as Unimon is. But Aria forgave Unimon for his unintended transgression. But what saddened her is that MarineAngemon turned into a DigiEgg and can't protect her. Aria had nearly felt that the one piece of happiness and security was ripped out of her little hands. She had already lost her beloved mother, who was another person who made her feel secure and happy, and now she had lost MarineAngemon. Temporarily, yes, but Aria secretly had her doubts. Since her dearest mother died, Aria's home became a tad broken and insecure, so she didn't feel safe. Her new stepmother worked during the day, her father is becoming more withdrawn and irritable, and Aria felt as if she no longer felt safe. She had been reminded many times that death is permanent and nobody comes back once they die. But then MarineAngemon and Yun came into her life. She was so happy to have someone to take care of and to have someone protect her. MarineAngemon was hers and all hers to love and care for, nobody else's. Aria decided in her heart to raise and protect MarineAngemon. Then Aria met Yun, who turned out to be a very nice and kindly big girl in Aria's little brown eyes. She felt as if she finally felt safe. But now MarineAngemon is inside a DigiEgg, and Aria had her doubts about MarineAngemon's supposed last words.

_"I won't be gone forever. I'll turn into a DigiEgg and be reborn again. If you don't believe me, I'll show you. Watch closely..."_

Aria wanted to cry, but she didn't. For MarineAngemon's sake. She wanted to believe and have faith in MarineAngemon's promise, hoping she didn't unintentionally break it. If that did happen, it wouldn't be her fault, but still. Aria ruminated and stayed inside her head as she walked until Yun's high voice pulled her out of her reverie.

"Oh wow! Look!" Yun exclaimed, which made Aria come to her senses.

Right before them is a large, vast, and perfectly evergreen orchard, full of lush and lively trees with lots of food growing from them. Yun was so excited she ran toward it. Terriermon and Lopmon too. Aria, feeling a little hungry, decided to join them. All the fruit trees were arranged in a myriad of perfectly set rows, like dominoes, and they looked as though whoever grew them took very good care of them. At least one part of their small journey ended in fruition. Aria noticed Lopmon looking around.

"What's wrong, Lopmon?" Aria asked innocently as she clutched her pink DigiEgg.

"I'm checking to see if there's anyone here who owns this orchard. We don't want to suddenly intrude on their property and steal their food, do we?" Lopmon explained. Terriermon heard her as he yanked off a plump, tasty-looking peach from one of the trees.

"Come on, Lopmon! Loosen up a bit! Just a little won't hurt! And besides, I'm gettin' kinda hungry," Terriermon said as the peach fell into his paws. Then he chomped on it with his little teeth and chewed part of it off, relishing in the taste. "Mmmmm! So good!"

"But Terriermon! We could be intruding on someone else's property and not know it! You shouldn't eat things that aren't yours!" Lopmon exclaimed. Yun put a hand on her chin and ruminated.

"She's right. I wonder if-" Yun was about to say something, but it seems someone else finished the sentence for her.

"You guys can eat if you want."

Everyone gasped once they heard the strange voice. They turned around and saw a HUGE flower Digimon with a green body, big arms, small curled legs, a long bulky green tail, a perfectly yellow corolla face with yellow petals, big leafy wings, and a pink up side down triangle on its forehead. Yun got her digivice out and looked up its information.

"That's Sunflowmon, a champion level, data attribute, plant Digimon. Her attacks are Sunshine Beam and Cactus Tail," Yun said. The big flowery Digimon, Sunflowmon, smiled down at the kids. Aria immediately smiled.

"Wooow! You're so pretty!" Aria said.

"Indeed! Quite so!" Lopmon backed her up. Sunflowmon blushed.

"Oh, thank you, but you flatter me so. Anyway, you're more than welcome to eat the fruit off of the trees I grew. It's perfectly alright!" Sunflowmon said in a nice voice.

"But you grew all of these, didn't you?" Lopmon asked.

"Yep! Growing fruit is my livelihood! Sometimes I plant them for myself, some to import to other cities, and some I give to travelers who have gone a long way. I don't mind one bit. Besides, there's lots of trees so there's plenty of food to go around!" Sunflowmon explained kindly.

"Thanks! Time to eat!" Terriermon thanked Sunflowmon but then ran back to the orchard to pick some grapes and apples. Yun bowed before the kind and jaunty Sunflowmon.

"We're grateful for your kindness. We really appreciate it," Yun said politely.

"Quite the polite little things, aren't you? I like that!...Oh?" Sunflowmon said but then she noticed Aria's DigiEgg.

"Hm? That yours?" Sunflowmon asked.

"Yes. My partner's in here," Aria replied softly.

As Sunflowmon and Aria talked, Yun plucked off a nice set of perfectly ripe yellow bananas and had one. The taste was just so good she had to squeal.

"Kyaaaa! Sooooo good! Way better than the ones at ShopRite!" Yun exclaimed. Lopmon had some strawberries.

"These strawberries are perfectly exquisite! I can tell Sunflowmon certainly took great care to bring them up!" Lopmon said kindly. Terriermon stuffed his face with more peaches. He became especially entranced by the peaches. Aria took a bite of a banana and pretended to give one to MarineAngemon's DigiEgg like she was playing house with her dolls...only Aria really wanted to give MarineAngemon a piece of Sunflowmon's perfectly grown fruit.

After a while, sunset came and it began to grow dark. Sunflowmon said something that shocked them.

"You kids kinda look like you need a place to stay for the night. If you want, you can stay in my forest," Sunflowmon said.

The kids and Digimon looked at each other, then back at Sunflowmon.

"Oh. Umm...that's nice of you to offer, but we kinda already ate your fresh fruit already. Should you really be letting us stay here? We don't really have anything to give back to you. Sorry!" Yun explained, feeling guilty about not being able to pay Sunflowmon back for her kindness.

"You don't have to pay me back. It's fine. Though if you want to, you can. Anything's fine. As for me letting you stay in my forest for the night, it's getting kinda dark, and it gets kinda dangerous for travelers once they leave here and head toward Symphony Valley, especially with all the Digimon with the Dark Emblems and all. Just trying to make sure you're all well and rested before you head over there. Is that okay?" Sunflowmon explained lucidly and in a matter-of-fact voice.

Yun, Aria, and the two floppy eared Digimon looked at each other for a bit, ruminated, nodded, and looked at Sunflowmon with smiles on their faces.

"Sure! We'd love to stay for the nice. Thanks," Yun replied.

"You're welcome dears," Sunflowmon told them sweetly.

Before it turned totally dark, Sunflowmon lead them to a small clearing full of nice, thick, leafy trees and bushes, guaranteed to make sure they don't get spotted by any feral or evil Digimon. Sunflowmon also made sure to make some beds made from the softest of leaves from her trees and blankets made from big flower petals she found. Yun was a trifle perturbed with not being able to sleep in her own room, in her own bed, in her own pajamas, and snuggling with her own blankets and pillows, but she knew she had to make due with what she had and did not complain about it. Not even once, though she was tempted to do so. Terriermon didn't complain either, though he normally liked to do so when something didn't go right on his end (he's not exactly spoiled. He's just kinda boyish and energetic). Once night fell, the kids and Digimon prepared to sleep. Terriermon had already fallen asleep, and Yun and Lopmon were just about to do so when they saw Aria gently patting her DigiEgg.

"MarineAngemon. It's night time now. We're going night night. Do you want me to sing a song?" Aria was talking to her DigiEgg in a soft voice. "Mama used to sing to me when I had to go to bed, so I'll sing to you too. This is one of my favorites."

Softly, Aria sang.

_"Is it a kind of a dream_

_Floating out on the tide_

_Following the river of death downstream_

_Oh is it a dream?_

_There's a fog along the horizon_

_A strange glow in the sky_

_And nobody seems to know where you go_

_And what does it mean?_

_Oh is it a dream?_

_Bright eyes, burning like fire_

_Bright eyes, how can you close and fail?_

_How can the light that burned so brightly,_

_Suddenly burn so pale?_

_Bright eyes_(2)_"_

Yun couldn't believe it. It wasn't because of Aria singing the song that she was shocked and frozen beyond belief. What shocked her is the song itself, and the fact that Aria herself sang it, even though she's only seven years old. Yun knew that song. It's one of her favorites as well, but she only came across it recently (or, more precisely, about a few weeks before she met Lopmon and Terriermon). How could Aria, a small, sweet, and innocent little seven year old girl, know of such a deep and somewhat dark and poignant song? She pronounced the words perfectly too! Aria's sweet, tender voice sang the song and it drew Yun closer to Aria. Once Yun got close, Aria saw Yun standing over her with a strange look.

"What's wrong, Yun-chan?" Aria asked innocently.

"That song...why do you know it?" Yun asked.

"It's on that movie I saw once. I think it was called Water something..." Aria muttered.

"_Watership Down_(3)," Yun muttered.

"Yep! That's it!"

"But...that movie's kinda dark and scary for a little girl to be watching, isn't it?"

"I only saw the ending, but I love the song! Mama sung it to me all the time, mostly when I had to go to sleep, so I love it!"

Yun secretly hoped that Aria saw parts of the movie that weren't scary, bloody, or violent. It didn't look like Aria was mentally scarred by it or anything, so it's safe to say that Aria did see the ending of it. That or she's much more mentally mature and tougher than she looks. Lopmon approached Aria.

"It's a very pretty song," Lopmon said.

"Isn't it? It's called Bright Eyes. Mama said I have bright eyes. I don't know who sings it," Aria said.

"Art Garfunkel(4)," Yun told her.

"Art? Whose name is art?" Aria asked.

"That's a funny name, isn't it?" Lopmon asked.

"Well, I think we should be getting to sleep now. Good night," Yun said as she went to her makeshift bed.

"Night night!" Aria said.

It took them both a while to really get to sleep, probably because they were so accustomed to sleeping in real beds and wrapped in real blankets, but they went to sleep nonetheless. All of them fell into dormant states, their brains flying off to dreamland. Yun dreamed the dream again, where she's in the beautiful place full of little creatures and the boy with white wings singing A Thousand Lights. Yun loved this dream. Aria dreamt of something different. She dreamt that she was playing with both MarineAngemon and her beloved mother. All through the night, Aria clutched her little egg.

The night seemed to go by really fast, and the morning arrived. The sun and it's golden effulgence covered Sunflowmon's big orchard, warming it up and quenching the trees' thirst for sunlight. Small but warm sunbeams permeated the leaves and struck Terriermon's sleepy face and Aria's DigiEgg. Aria didn't quite notice because she was sleeping. But one thing she failed to notice the most is that underneath her arm...

The egg is wiggling.

After a couple wiggles, the DigiEgg slipped away from Aria's clutches and rolled a few feet. A few seconds later, it spun around a bit and fell on it's side. Aria, feeling the sunbeams strike her eyes, woke up and rubbed them with her arms...only to find that her DigiEgg is no longer in her arms. She was about to panic, but she refrained from doing so once she saw her egg about a few feet away. Smiling, she ambled toward it. It's here that Yun, Lopmon, and Terriermon woke up.

"Morning..." Yun murmured.

"Good morning," Lopmon muttered. Terriermon stretched himself out and yawned.

"Buwaaaaah. Mornin'!" Terriermon said. Yun noticed that Aria's bed is empty and was about to panic when she saw Aria holding her DigiEgg and walking toward them.

"Wow. You're up early," Yun said.

"MarineAngemon wanted to go for a morning roll!" Aria said sweetly. It made Lopmon chuckle a bit.

"That's a nice way of putting it. Perhaps MarineAngemon likes how the sun feels in the morning," Lopmon said.

"Maybe!" Aria said.

Suddenly, the DigiEgg wiggled in her arms. The sight of it wiggling was so strong that it snapped Terriermon out of his woozy and weary state and made him up and alert.

"Whoa! It moved!" Terriermon exclaimed.

It wiggled again.

"Wow! It is! She's coming out!" Aria yelled.

"It's hatching!" Yun said.

Out of nowhere, a small crack appeared on Aria's pink egg.

_Crack!_

Then came another crack. It got bigger and bigger.

_Crack! Crack!_

The excitement was building, and the suspense was just unfathomable. Everyone looked at the egg excitedly as more cracks appeared at the top. A clear harbinger that MarineAngemon might just be able to fulfill her promise after all. The tension amassed on their heads and they looked at the egg, attentive and hopeful.

And then...

_Pop!_

The egg shell completely fell apart, and the pieces all fell to the ground and dissipated. Out came a very small, very slimy, and very funny looking Digimon. Her body is very small, the size of both of Aria's small hands put together, shaped like a comma and totally light blue. Turquoise even, like the sky. Two small antennae came out from her head, and two fins came out from her sides. On her face are two very large and very bright cherry red eyes. Not the bloody red malicious looking eyes on Digimon branded with dark emblems. The small fish Digimon's red eyes were happy, curious, innocent, and congenial looking. Three little fins are protruding from her back, shaped like triangles. Right when the little Digimon locked eyes with Aria, she smiled and made little high pitched noises.

"Pi! Pi! Pichi! Pichi!"

Aria's own dark brown eyes widened and lit up with joy. Aria was just so happy upon seeing this little fish Digimon that she couldn't help but hug it.

"Hello! I'm Aria! Are you MarineAngemon?" Aria asked innocently. Yun looked up the small Digimon's information on her digivice.

"Technically yes, but she de-digivolved. She's Pichimon now. She's a baby level, slime Digimon. Her attack is Soapy Bubble Blow," Yun said.

Aria, with her heart full of joy and love, caressed the little Pichimon happily. She rubbed Pichimon against her cheek, and both of them loved it.

"You're so cute!" Aria said happily.

"Pichi! Pichi!" Little Pichimon squeaked lovingly, her small fins gently tapping Aria's face. Aria loved the sensation of it all.

On impulse, Aria took her little finger and gently tickled Pichimon's tiny tummy with it. Pichimon giggled cutely upon being stroked with Aria's tiny, tender fingers. Everyone smiled at this little fish. Once Aria stopped, Terriermon approached her.

"Wow! She is cute! Hiya!" Terriermon put his paw out and patted Pichimon on the head with it. A second later, Pichimon wrapped her little fins around Terriermon's paw and clutched it.

"Pichi!" She squeaked.

Yun, Lopmon, and Aria laughed. "She likes you!" Lopmon said.

Terriermon didn't mind. He and Pichimon played together for a bit until Pichimon suddenly took an interest in Lopmon. Feeling very light and soft-hearted right now, Lopmon couldn't resist and held little Pichimon in her stubby arms.

"Hello, little one," Lopmon cooed gently and sweetly. Pichimon tapped Lopmon's chubby cheeks with her weak little fins, hopped out of her paws, and wrapped herself in one of Lopmon's ears, like it was a blanket.

"Pichi!" Pichimon squeaked, which made Lopmon laugh again. Just as quickly, Pichimon rubbed herself against Yun's leg, which made Yun pick her up.

"Aren't you a little cutie pie!" Yun cooed tenderly like she was talking to a little baby. Pichimon didn't mind. She hopped on Yun's thick head of dark brown hair and stayed there for a while.

"Pichi!"

Then, she hopped back into Aria's hands and smiled at her so sweetly and with such purity that Aria couldn't help but go, "Awww!" at the sight of her de-digivolved MarineAngemon.

"I suppose MarineAngemon has returned after all," Lopmon said.

"I can tell. Plus she's free from the curse," Aria said.

"How do you know?" Terriermon asked.

"She said Unimon freed her by attacking her. She doesn't have that hexagon on her anymore, does she?" Aria said as she showed them the very curious and happy Pichimon once more. They looked, but they didn't see the cursed emblem.

"You're right! It's gone!" Yun said with a smile. "So she can digivolve and de-digivolve now! Awesome!"

"Pichi!" It seemed Pichimon agreed with her in that respect. Suddenly, Aria had an idea.

"Oh! I know!" Aria exclaimed. Out of nowhere, she ran out of the leafy clearing in a flash.

"Wait! Aria-chan! Where are you going?" Yun, Lopmon, and Terriermon all chased after her.

Aria dashed toward one of the fruit trees, plucked a banana from it, unpeeled it, and showed it to Pichimon.

"Try it," Aria muttered softly. Pichimon chomped on the banana hard and relished in the taste.

"Pipipipichi!" Pichimon squealed upon digesting the ever so yummy banana.

"Was she hungry?" Terriermon asked.

"Yeah. I wanted her to try this since they're so good. You like it, Pichimon?" Aria replied.

"Pipichi!" Aria laughed at Pichimon's cute response.

It seems another person, or in this case Digimon, noticed Pichimon and, piqued by curiosity, decided to take a look.

"Now who's this little butterball?" Sunflowmon asked as she quietly approached them out of fear she may scare the little fish. Oddly enough though, little Pichimon wasn't scared at all. Once she finished her banana, she leaped in front of Sunflowmon and bounced around happily.

"Pichi! Pichi!"

"Aww! Cute!" Sunflowmon exclaimed. Yun picked the hyper little baby fish up and tickled her a bit with her finger, which made Pichimon let out a cute giggle.

"Yeah she is!" Yun exclaimed with a smile.

After a few more moments of gushing over the cuteness of Pichimon, the kids decided it was time to leave. But before they did, they gathered some more of Sunflowmon's freshly grown fruit in case they needed to stick around for a bit longer. Yun pressed the door button on her digivice, but no digital portal came out. This discouraged her a bit, but she figured it was going to be like this anyhow. A few minutes later, the kids got ready and were about to leave.

"Thanks for giving us the food and a place to sleep, Sunflowmon! We really appreciate it, and we hope to pay you back someday!" Yun said.

"Yes, we are truly grateful," Lopmon bowed before Sunflowmon.

"Thanks a lot!" Terriermon said.

"You're very welcome. Be careful on your journey now," Sunflowmon advised. Aria and Pichimon waved at her.

"Bye-bye!"

"Pichi!"

So the kids and Digimon left Sunflowmon's beautiful orchard and went west. Sunflowmon mentioned something about Symphony Valley, so they decided to go over there and see what it's like.

As it turned out, getting to Symphony Valley was going to be harder than they thought. They slowly but steadily left the evergreen fields and beautiful forests and flowers and came upon a small desert. Some Digimon tumbled about and flew about, but they ignored the kids and floppy eared Digimon. But the hardest thing to do was keep Pichimon within their vicinity. Pichimon has an extremely vigorous curiosity whose cherry red eyes seemed to have a voracious appetite for just about anything and everything they gazed upon. Pichimon hopped out of Aria's little hands countless times. Thankfully every single time she wanted to hop out and look at something, they managed to find her and keep her at bay. But little Pichimon turned out to be quite the animated and cheerful little Digimon. Even Aria was having a bit of a hard time handling her energy and jaunty personality. After a while, Pichimon settled happily into Aria's arms. It was getting rather hot and toasty the further they went into the desert, and they couldn't comprehend the fact that Pichimon could still be such a bundle of energy even in this heat. It took all morning to reach Symphony Valley, but after a few long hours they finally made it.

It was mostly because Yun could hear really strange music along the way. They followed it, and came upon a small oasis full of water in between some huge rock formations and a set of mossy green trees that looked just fine. The music became louder and more lucid as they got closer to the valley. The closer they got, the more Yun noticed that the people singing the song had very...grating voices. To her, the voices sounded like cats that got caught in a blender. As they got much closer, they finally found the source of the singing. Apparently there's a very large group of Digimon. The Digimon look like frogs, with light green skin and big eyes...only to Yun, they were EXTREMELY creepy looking. Their eyes are HUGE and looked cross eyed. Their hands and feet are webbed and look slimy looking, they have yellow tubes coiled around their necks, and their expressions made them look like demented patients in mental institutions who have been overdosed with anti-schizophrenia medication. One of them held a small stick and waved it around like he was some famous composer conducting an orchestra in Carnegie Hall. All the other Digimon sang along. Yun looked up the Digimon's information.

"Gekomon, a champion level, virus attribute, amphibian Digimon. His attack is Symphony Crusher, Tongue Attack, and Noisy Echo," Yun said and she put her digivice back in her pocket. Right when the Gekomon group started singing again, Yun covered her ears.

"Do you not like it?" Lopmon whispered very softly and quietly so the Gekomon wouldn't hear her.

"It's not that I don't like the song. It's just sooo loud. And their voices are a bit...grating," Yun whispered back.

It's here that Pichimon suddenly succumbed to the urge to talk to the Gekomon.

"Pichi!"

She hopped off of Aria's head and darted after them.

"Wha! Pichimon! Come back!"

At that instant, the Gekomon stopped singing and saw the tiny little fish Digimon hop toward them with brimming and sparkling curiosity in her cherry red eyes. The Gekomon turned to observe the scrawny fish baby, who hopped in front of them and squeaked joyously.

"Pichi! Pichi!"

"Now who's this little fellow-geko?" One Gekomon asked in a strange voice.

"This is a Pichimon, isn't it-geko?" Another Gekomon asked.

"Yep! This is a Pichimon! No doubt about that-geko!"

"Don't they live in the Net Ocean-geko?"

"Not always, as far as I know-geko."

Another Gekomon suddenly caught sight of the kids and were shocked.

"GEKOOOO! Look! It's them! The creatures of legend! Geko!"

All the Gekomon turned to look at the kids and inhaled big globs of air. Pichimon failed to notice their shock.

"Wow! It's them! It's really them! The creatures of legend! Geko!"

"Oh! Well I'll be on the heights of joy-geko! They really are real after all! Geko!"

"What an honor it is to be in their presence! Geko!"

Aria and Yun looked at each other with confused faces, then back at the jaunty and excited Gekomon.

"Umm...creatures of legend?" Yun asked. One Gekomon took Yun by the hand.

"Yes! You're humans, aren't you-geko?" The Gekomon asked with brimming curiosity in it's crazed eyes, just like Pichimon.

"Uhhh...yeah?"

"Yes!"

"So...why do you call us creatures of legend?" Yun kept on forgetting to ask the Digimon she met why they loved to see humans so much. Now seemed like the best opportunity. The Gekomon standing in front of her decided to explain...very happily.

"You humans created us and gave us life! That's what! See, you humans have been the subject of many myths and legends passed down since the creation of the Digital World! Only very few know that humans truly did create us Digimon and give us life, but nobody we know has really seen them. They've always been a mystery to us. We Gekomon are fascinated by another, much higher life form creating another life and we have long since dreamed of coming across a creature of legend. And we're not the only ones either! Lots of Digimon who believe in humans dreamed of going to a human world and seeing another world that's different from ours. Of course, not many of us have been successful in doing so, and some Digimon don't believe in humans. We tried going to the human world, but we had no luck. It's been our dream to confirm the existence of holy creatures such as yourselves! Now our dream has finally come true-geko!" The Gekomon explained. Aria looked up at Yun with a confused look.

"So to the Digimon, we're like angels and devils who are told in stories?" Aria asked.

"Yep! Some don't believe in us while some do," Yun explained.

Another Gekomon caught sight of Terriermon, Pichimon, and Lopmon.

"I suppose you have been domesticated by these two?" Gekomon asked curiously. Pichimon hopped onto Lopmon's head.

"Yes, we have. But they're very nice girls, so I'm perfectly happy with being Yun's partner," Lopmon replied with a smile.

"Pichi!" Pichimon backed her up with a squeak.

"Yep! Yun's awesome!" Terriermon said.

"Yun?"

"Oh! We forgot to introduce ourselves. Hello, Gekomon clan. I'm Wakamiya Julia, but call me Yun. This is Yukino Aria, but call her Aria," Yun explained in a kind voice.

"So do you like to sing?" Terriermon asked.

"Oh, yes! Singing is our livelihood! That's how we Gekomon live in peace-geko!" Gekomon exclaimed.

Suddenly, Yun thought of an idea.

"Umm...question! Do you guys know this song?" Yun asked. The Gekomon, Aria, and the other Digimon looked at each other. Yun normally would never do this, but since she found it a nice occasion to do so, she decided to do it.

She sang.

_"Oh, the million points of light._  
><em>Oh, the many lights in the sky.<em>  
><em>Oh, how they light the night sky.<em>  
><em>Oh, they are called stars.<em>

_They shine and illuminate each other,_  
><em>As if they're affirming each other's existence.<em>  
><em>But one star shines purely and brilliantly.<em>  
><em>That star is you.<em>

_You are the star that makes me heart sing._  
><em>You are the star that lights my world.<em>  
><em>You are the star that lights my world of darkness and despair.<em>  
><em>You are at peace, and make me feel harmony.<em>  
><em>Your mercy gave me freedom and faith.<em>  
><em>Your grace and strength nurtured my determination,<em>  
><em>In a world that needs justice.<em>  
><em>You make me worthy of giving forgiveness.<em>  
><em>Your acknowledge my prudence and help me.<em>

_The star that shines the brightest gives me hope and liberty._  
><em>You are my hope, my harmony, my eternally shining star."<em>

Practically everyone was entranced by Yun's singing. Even Pichimon couldn't help but be immersed by it. Once she finished, the Gekomon cheered happily.

"Oh! What a beautiful song it is-geko!" One Gekomon said.

"Somehow...it sounds familiar-geko," Another Gekomon said.

After talking with the Gekomon more, they offered them great hospitality. They made them a great feast, which they enjoyed. But even the Gekomon couldn't handle the hyper and jaunty little Pichimon, who jumped around and darted off to whatever her big cherry red eyes caught sight of. After a while, they decided to leave Symphony Valley. They gave the grateful Gekomon a thanks and a goodbye and left Symphony Valley. It's still light out, so they decided to journey some more, even though they didn't have a particular destination. As they walked, it began to feel more and more like a desert. But along the way, Yun saw some red Digimon with blue stripes running around. She looked up their information and found them to be Elecmon. What's more, Lopmon and Terriermon heard a conversation going on between three of them.

"Look! More humans!"

"Really? There's more? I thought Link-sama was the only one!"

"Link? Who's Link?"

"You haven't heard? Link is a human who's been in the Digital World for six years now. He travels the world with a faithful WarGreymon by his side and they fight crime!"

"Not only that, he wears a funny-looking blue and purple mask."

"Why?"

"Nobody knows. Some say it's because he's self-conscious about his appearance. But he's become quite famous."

"I saw him defeat a herd of DarkSuperStarmon around here! It was amazing!"

"But other DarkSuperStarmon are still around, aren't they?"

"Yes, and they're very powerful. Even three of us rookies wouldn't be able to defeat just one. But he sure can!"

"I think it's high time we went to Symphony Valley."

"Yes. That's the best plan for now."

So the three Elecmon darted away from the pile of rocks they hid behind and headed in the opposite direction, towards Symphony Valley. Their conversation piqued their curiosity.

"Link? There's another person here?" Yun asked. _'I wonder if maybe he knows more about Digimon than we do?'_ She thought.

"Wow! Looks like the Digimon Brigade aren't the only ones who have Digimon!" Terriermon said.

"I wonder what this person named Link is like?" Lopmon asked.

Suddenly, something caught Pichimon's attention.

"Pichi!"

She darted off again.

"No! Pichimon! Come back here!" Aria chased after her. Yun, Lopmon, and Terriermon followed suit.

"Jeez! Pichimon's a real handful sometimes!" Yun exclaimed.

After a while, Pichimon stopped in front of three very big and ominous-looking creatures. Scared, she hopped back into Aria's arms. These giant Digimon are shaped like stars, but their bodies and sharp-looking sunglasses are as black as night. In between their sunglasses are small, gold diamonds on their foreheads. A black scarf protruded from the tips of their star bodies, and all three of them have red gloves and boots. They didn't look like nice Digimon at all. It seemed even Pichimon knew this. Yun looked up their information.

"Wow! These are the DarkSuperStarmon! They're ultimate levels, virus types, and mutant Digimon! Their attacks are Dark Explosion, Black Fog, and Dark Hole!" Yun said. Aria clung to Pichimon in fear as the trio of DarkSuperStarmon looked at them with ominous looks behind their jet black sunglasses.

"We should probably run! We can't take down three ultimates in the state we're in now!" Lopmon advised. She knew that she and Terriermon could only go up to their champion levels, and that wouldn't be enough to defeat them. It also didn't help that Pichimon is still a baby and doesn't have enough energy to digivolve just yet.

"You're right. Let's-" Yun was about to take them and run, but suddenly one of the DarkSuperStarmon attacked.

"Black Star Punch!" One DarkSuperStarmon darted in front of Yun and punched the ground, making rocks go flying.

"Terrier Tornado!" Terriermon quickly deflected the rocks with his own counterattack, saving Yun and the others. Suddenly, they were surrounded.

"Oh no! We're locked in!" Yun exclaimed.

"It looks like we have no choice but to fight!" Lopmon said.

Lopmon and Terriermon digivolved to Turuiemon and Gargomon and fought with the three DarkSuperStarmon as well as they could. Perhaps they could stall them and allow Yun, Aria, and Pichimon to run to a safe place until they were subdued. Unfortunately, the trio of the jet black DarkSuperStarmon are not only fast, but powerful as well. Yun wanted to step in and help, but she knew her meager strength wouldn't be enough to defeat them, let alone even lay a scratch on them. Not only that, the trio of DarkSuperStarmon were VERY persistent.

"Jeez! Don't these things ever take a break?" Gargomon complained as he gargo lasered a DarkSuperStarmon coming his way.

"They're ultimate levels! Of course they'd be more powerful than we are!" Turuiemon snapped as she kicked a DarkSuperStarmon off of his feet albeit only for a little bit.

Suddenly, one DarkSuperStarmon decided to end it.

"Black Explosion!"

Out of nowhere, a HUGE and loud explosion of bright purple and indigo blue smoke and light appeared from DarkSuperStarmon's hands, causing not only Turuiemon and Gargomon to immediately de-digivolve, but send Yun, Aria and Pichimon all flying! Far away, no less!

For Yun, everything went black. She could tell she fell on something hard and her back hurt. After a while, she, Aria, and Pichimon woke up. When Yun tried to sit up, her back jolted.

"Ow! My back!" Yun rubbed her back with her hand as well as she could, but it didn't work. She didn't know how much time had passed. She looked at Aria, who clung to Pichimon.

"Aria-chan! You okay?"

"Y-Yeah. But my hand hurts," Aria muttered, showing Yun her injured hand. Yun could see some dirt and blood coming from it. Noting the way Aria held onto Pichimon, she probably got that injury from protecting her. Yun wanted to use something to take care of it, but she found she had nothing on her.

But Pichimon had other ideas.

"Pipichi!" Suddenly, a slur of soapy rainbow froth spilled out from Pichimon's mouth and caressed Aria's injured hand. Her hand glowed and not only did the froth disappear, but Aria's injury as well. Aria no longer felt the pain.

"Wow! It's all better! Thanks, Pichimon!" Aria replied.

_'I should call that attack Healing Rainbow Bubbles,'_ Yun thought.

"Pichi!" Pichimon squeaked happily. Yun smiled. At the same time, she remembered something similar happening to her. The time when Lopmon, as an infant Conomon, healed the injury that she got from being slapped in the face by Nenji's mom with rainbow bubbles. Yun absolutely loved that memory because it made her remember how much she influenced Lopmon and Terriermon.

And speaking of Lopmon and Terriermon, when Yun looked around, she noticed that they weren't here.

"Terriermon? Lopmon?"

She looked and looked, but didn't see them. Upon seeing this terrifying revelation, fear and anxiety began to consume her very being.

"OH NO! Lopmon! Terriermon! Where are you?" Yun cried and cried for them, but no answer came. She could feel tears streaming down her face now.

"The DarkSuperStarmon must have blasted us apart with their Dark Explosion. What if they're still fighting them? Lopmon and Terriermon are helpless against three ultimates!" Yun sounded as though she were about to explode into a paroxysm of tears any moment. She often did this when extremely anxious or scared. This time, she had every reason to do so. What if the DarkSuperStarmon defeated them, turned them into DigiEggs, and sent them somewhere they never went to before? How would they find Yun? She fell to her knees.

"Terriermon...Lopmon..." Yun muttered, sounding like she's about to cry out loud. Suddenly, Pichimon hopped out of Aria's arms and hopped in front of Yun's face. Yun stopped to look at the happy little fish.

"Pichi! Pi! Pi! Pichi pichi!" Yun cocked her head to one side in confusion.

"She's saying that we'll find them," Aria muttered as she gently put a hand on Yun's shoulder. Feeling reassured, she smiled and put her hand on Aria's.

"Yeah. We will. Sorry. I know I shouldn't be the one crying, but..." Yun replied rather sadly.

"It's okay," Aria said.

That's when Yun suddenly heard a loud squeak.

"Pichi!"

Pichimon is on the ground, shaking like a leaf, with her big cherry red eyes trembling.

"Pichimon!" Yun yelled. Aria ran to her and cradled the shaking fish in her arms.

"Pichimon! What's wrong?" Aria asked, feeling worried.

That's when it happened. Pichimon closed her eyes and was enveloped in a bright pink light.

"Pichimon, digivolve to..."

The light lasted for about a minute and a half, and once it dissipated, Pichimon wasn't Pichimon anymore! Out came a little grey seahorse like dinosaur with long, flabby grey fins, a white belly, emerald green eyes, and a little piece of fuzzy blonde hair on her head.

"...Bukamon!"

Both girls were shocked. Pichimon digivolved into Bukamon. Bukamon woke up and looked up at Aria with her big green eyes(5). She smiled.

"Aria-chan. I'm back. Did I keep my promise?" Bukamon asked, no longer sounding like the cute and jaunty little baby fish who would dart off toward anything she'd lay eyes on. Aria smiled and hugged Bukamon.

"Yes. You did. Welcome back, Bukamon!" Aria exclaimed as she hugged Bukamon. Yun had a thought in her head. _'I always thought Bukamon were boys_(5)_,'_ She thought.

Bukamon looked around, then at Aria.

"Let's go find Terriermon and Lopmon!" Bukamon exclaimed in a more tomboyish voice.

"Should we go back to where the DarkSuperStarmon attacked us?" Yun asked.

"We probably should," Bukamon replied.

"But we don't know where we are right now!" Aria said.

"That may be true, but let's still go lookin' for them anyway!" Bukamon exclaimed.

"Bukamon's right. We can't give up now! Let's go look for them right now!" Yun exclaimed. Aria and Bukamon both nodded in agreement.

They looked everywhere in the rocky area. In every formation, in every crack, in every open area, everywhere. But they didn't find the two floppy eared Digimon anywhere. They made sure not to leave every stone unturned. The day seemed to drag on for a long time, especially since it's so hot. Despite the heat, they looked and looked. Unfortunately, they turned up empty-handed and found nothing. When Yun looked up at the sky, she could see some specs of orange. Sunset is coming. She gasped for breath.

"Ugh! How hard can it be to find Lopmon and Terriermon!" Yun yelled.

"Maybe it's because we don't know where we are," Aria said.

"That's true. It doesn't look like we're near Symphony Valley anymore," Bukamon said. Yun got up again and walked toward Aria.

"I guess we should-" Yun didn't get to finish that sentence because Aria saw something that caught her attention.

"Look!" Aria yelled as she pointed to the thing that got her attention. "Gazimon!"

Yun and Bukamon's eyes widened upon seeing what Aria saw coming toward them. There's a very large group of Digimon approaching them with glowing, bloody red eyes. The Digimon in particular is a grey animal thing, with a mischievous looking face, long furry ears, a white belly, greyish black claws on both its hands and feet, and a grey tail with a small black ring wrapped around it. Aria looked up the Digimon's information on her digivice.

"Gazimon. Rookie level, virus attribute, mammal Digimon. His attacks are Electric Stun Blast and Pitfall!" Aria said.

"Didn't you just say his name?" Bukamon asked.

"I saw them on TV before," Aria said.

"Let's run! We can't fight them all right now!" Yun said and attempted to run away, but Bukamon stopped her.

"Oh no! There's more of them!" Bukamon yelled. The two girls turned with a gasp once they saw another group of Gazimon branded with Dark Emblems walking toward them eerily. Yun tried to run another direction but was appalled upon seeing yet another Gazimon clan approaching them. Yun had to act fast since she's the older one. She didn't have Terriermon and Lopmon to help her now, so she couldn't rely on them. Her digisword and digilasso skills are rather lacking so she crossed those off the list too. She honestly wished she could be strong and take care of Aria and Bukamon like she should be doing now. But she's just an eleven year old girl with no self-defense and no knowledge of how to take down a large group of Digimon on her own, let alone with a child to take care of. Quickly, she looked up and saw a large rock pointing to the edge of a cliff with a hole in it. Yun had an idea.

"Aria-chan! Bukamon! Follow me!" Yun put her hand on the tall rock and climbed it. Even though Yun had no experience with climbing, she figured this was her only chance to get away from the Gazimon, if only for a little bit. Yun was scrupulous to make sure she gripped those rocks carefully, not complain about it, and not look down. She told Aria not to look down too. Although Yun didn't like the dirty feel of the rocks on her hands, she couldn't complain because a large group of branded Gazimon are much worse than dirty hands. Aria made sure to climb carefully too, with Bukamon sitting on her head and attacking the Gazimon.

"Soapy Bubble Blow!" A stream of colorful froth spilled out from Bukamon's mouth and managed to sting some Gazimon, leaving them helpless and slapping their eyes with their claws. Thankfully, this was enough for Yun and Aria to reach the top of the rock.

However, much to Yun's horror, the cliff was much taller than she expected. She was close to it by a foot, but reaching it was an even bigger problem. From it's distance from the rock, it looked as though it would take at least two people her size to even reach the cliff. But Yun is eleven, Aria is seven, and Bukamon is a weak in-training Digimon. Climbing it was impossible because the cliff was as smooth as the pavement on a street, and it didn't have any rocks protruding from it so they could climb it. The Gazimon were closing in, and Yun knew she had to do something. She didn't like what she thought up, but she decided to go with it anyway.

"Aria-chan! I'll give you a boost! Here!" Yun cupped her hands together so Aria could stand on them. She never did this before and didn't think she could handle someone stepping on her hands, but she knew she had to in order to keep Aria and Bukamon safe. Aria didn't say a word. As soon as she saw Yun cup her hands together, she removed her shoes and climbed onto Yun.

Aria's feet were soon on Yun's shoulders. And her head. Aria reached and reached with her arms stretched out as far as she could, but it still wasn't enough. Yun could feel Aria's feet pressing on her head. She wanted to cry out, but she couldn't. She had to bear it for Aria and Bukamon. The Gazimon were now close enough to the rock to climb it. Once Yun saw that they were climbing, she knew her attempt to save Aria was in vain.

"Bukamon!" Aria yelled as she saw Bukamon hop off of her hand and get on the edge of the cliff.

"Hurry up! Come with me!" Bukamon yelled.

"No! Go! We'll be fine! Go without us! Find Terriermon and Lopmon!" Yun yelled.

"But I can't leave you here!"

"What can you do? You don't have enough energy to digivolve!"

"I've gotta do something!"

"Run! That's what!"

"She's right, Bukamon!" Aria yelled desperately. "You have to find Lopmon and Terriermon!" Suddenly, Yun started to stumble a bit.

"But..."

"Aria-chan!" Yun stumbled and tried to keep herself, and Aria, as balanced as possible. But it was too late. Not only did Yun's foot slip, part of the rock she was standing on fell off, and it made both Yun and Aria fall right towards the group of angry Gazimon.

Bukamon was absolutely heartbroken.

"No! I'm not leaving you behind! No way! I'm savin' you!" Bukamon screamed as loud as she could.

Right when a Gazimon's claw wrapped around Aria's foot, her digivice glowed in a radiant carnation pink light. The same light enveloped Bukamon, who decided to leap off of the cliff, as well. Even the Gazimon were blinded by Bukamon's pink radiance.

"Bukamon, digivolve to..."

The bright pink light, MarineAngemon's light (as Aria saw), grew bigger and bigger. When it dissipated, out came a totally different Digimon. Something neither Yun or Aria ever expected to see. The Digimon is a little green thing with two sproingy antennae and golden yellow eyes trapped in a big pink oyster shell with teeth and black markings on it.

"...Syakomon!"

The sea shell Digimon, Syakomon, appeared before the Gazimon, forcing them to let go of Yun and Aria. The group of furry Digimon charged toward her.

"Eat this, you lump of furballs! Black Pearl Barrage!" Suddenly, a giant barrage of black pearls shot out from Syakomon's mouth, not only hitting some Gazimon, but forcing them to slip and fall to the ground like some people do with banana peels. The force of the black pearls were so strong that it both knocked most Gazimon unconscious and destroyed some Dark Emblems. Even so, more Gazimon prepared to attack.

"Electric Stun Blast!"

Bolts of jet black electricity shot out from their mouths. But Syakomon sure wasn't going to give up.

"You think you're so tough, eh? Tidal Wave!" Suddenly, a ring of water spun around Syakomon and exploded into a crashing wave of water that not only nullified the Gazimons' attack, but drowned them and destroyed all of their Dark Emblems.

"Yay for Syakomon!" Both Yun and Aria cheered happily. Then, the giant clan of Gazimon woke up.

"Huh? Huh? What the heck are we going here?"

"Beats me!"

"We gotta run! Those DarkSuperStarmon could be after us!"

Most of the Gazimon ran away in fright. Aria, with lit up eyes, caught sight of Syakomon, who is now blushing and trying desperately to avoid eye contact with Aria.

"Syakomon! You were great! Thanks for saving us!" Aria exclaimed happily. But Syakomon didn't respond. This made Aria confused.

"What's wrong?" Aria asked innocently.

"Now you see. This is my rookie form. I'm ugly, aren't I? I'm not cute and cuddly like MarineAngemon. I-" Syakomon wanted to angst a little about her appearance, but she didn't get to do so because Aria flew to her and hugged her.

"NO WAY! You're so cute!" Aria squealed.

"Wha? Me? Cute? No no no no no! I'm only cute as MarineAngemon!" Syakomon fluttered. "Look at me! I'm ugly! You're supposed to say I'm gross and ugly!"

"I don't think you're gross or ugly."

"Why?"

"Because you're my Digimon! That's why! I don't mind if you're MarineAngemon or Syakomon or whatever. You'll always be cute to me! And besides, you're still my Digimon partner!" Aria hugged the slimy green Syakomon tenderly and smiled at her, which made Syakomon shed some tears.

"Aria-chaaaaaan! I'm so happy you're my partner!" Syakomon wailed.

Although Yun was paying attention to this and feeling happy that Aria and Syakomon are together, she was at the same time VERY frightened. It wasn't because of Syakomon's appearance, nor was it the Gazimon.

It was what the Gazimon said that scared her. They mentioned DarkSuperStarmon.

And speak of the devil, two of them appeared.

"Schwarz Nebel!"

A stream of black smoke poured over Yun, Aria, and Syakomon. Aria covered Syakomon with her body so she wouldn't inhale the smoke. Yun made sure she herself didn't inhale it either. Once it faded, they were against the cliff wall, confronted by two DarkSuperStarmon. She noticed that the other one is missing. Aria and Syakomon clung to Yun in fear.

"No! They've come back!" Syakomon yelled, remembering the terrible memory she had of them as Pichimon.

"There's no way we can defeat two of them with one rookie!" Yun exclaimed. She didn't want to think the situation was futile and hopeless, especially since Aria is by her side, but she couldn't deny it. It was. Two ultimate level Digimon against one rookie? They couldn't defeat three ultimates with two champions and a baby Digimon! Now the odds are against them even worse! Yun didn't want to give up, but she knew she couldn't do anything. She wished and prayed that she could at least do something. She didn't want to give up, but knew she had to.

Syakomon, however, had other ideas.

"Don't you dare come near my friends, you brutes! Black Pearl Barrage!" Syakomon fired another flurry of black pearls like she was a bazooka. Unfortunately, both DarkSuperStarmon blocked them all with their red gloves. Despite this, Syakomon persisted and fired more and more black pearls incessantly, like she was a World War II panzer. However, her efforts were in vain, as the duo of DarkSuperStarmon blocked all of her attacks and ambled toward the terrified duo of girls.

To Yun, everything was coming to a close.

...Or was it?

"Terra force!"

Pandemonium broke out when a very large fiery sphere suddenly exploded between the two DarkSuperStarmon, causing them to fall toward the girls. Thankfully, the girls and Syakomon took the opportunity to run away. When the smoke dissipated, Yun decided to take a look and see who launched the attack, even though the vociferous noise from the attack made her cover her ears. Standing valiantly behind the two scared and tenuous DarkSuperStarmon are a large dinosaur-like Digimon, almost two feet taller than the average adult man, with a silver helmet with horns on the ears and nose, striking emerald green eyes, silver breast and torso plates with red cables, gold armor covering his shoulders, hands (with silver claws), and back, a big yellow hexagon shaped shield split in two on his back, silver pieces of metal on his legs, and tufts of red hair sticking out from the back of his helmet. Behind the Digimon...is a human. An adult man wearing a long maroon jacket flowing in the wind caused by the explosion with very short blonde hair and a face covered with a blue and purple mask, with only his left blue eye and his mouth being exposed. The mask looked as though the left part, the one revealing his eye, had been broken but the rest remained in tact. Under the maroon jacket the man is wearing a beige shirt, black jeans, and light brown combat boots.

Hanging from part of his black jeans is...a dark orange digivice. The exact same shape and exterior appearance as the ones Yun and Aria have.

But what shocked Yun the most were what were standing behind him.

Gargomon and Turuiemon!

But she didn't get to cry out and leap on them, because the DarkSuperStarmon got up and attempted to attack them.

"Black Explosion!"

Right as they were about to attack, the Digimon got his clawed arms out and spun around.

"Great Tornado!" The Digimon spun around like a tornado and attacked the DarkSuperStarmon.

Gargomon and Turuiemon decided to help out.

"Gargo Laser!"

"Ninja Kick!"

Gargomon's bullets managed to knock one DarkSuperStarmon off of his feet while Turuiemon rendered him helpless by kicking him right in the abdomen. The man pulled out his digivice, made a digilasso come out, and wrapped it around the helpless DarkSuperStarmon's leg. The Digimon tried to get away, but he couldn't. The man smirked as he turned his digilasso into a digisword, jumped on top of him like an acrobat, and dredged his digisword into DarkSuperStarmon's back. After a few seconds, he got his digivice, leaped off of DarkSuperStarmon and watched as DarkSuperStarmon turned into data.

Seeing Turuiemon and Gargomon chase after the other DarkSuperStarmon, Yun had an idea.

"Aria-chan! Come with me!" Yun took Aria by the hand and ran toward the other one. Once the DarkSuperStarmon was cornered, Yun and Aria both got their digilassos out and lashed him before he could land an attack. The man and his Digimon were surprised, and so were Turuiemon and Gargomon.

"Yun! You're alright!" Gargomon exclaimed.

"We were so worried about you!" Turuiemon said.

"Me too! But we thought you and the man could use some help! Come on! Defeat this thing while we got him roped!" Yun exclaimed.

Turuiemon, Gargomon, Syakomon, the other Digimon, and the man all attacked in order.

"Bunny Pummel!"

"Gauntlet Claw!"

"Tidal Wave!"

"War Driver!"

All four Digimon attacked while the man dredged his digisword into DarkSuperStarmon (with a mischievous smirk) and turned it into data. The two DarkSuperStarmon were finally defeated. Once the data dissipated, Gargomon and Turuiemon de-digivolved back into Terriermon and Lopmon. They laid eyes on Yun, their own eyes lit up and they dashed toward her.

"Yuuuun!"

Yun couldn't help but burst into tears as she ran toward her bunny friends.

"Terriermon! Lopmon!" The three bunny Digimon leaped into Yun's arms happily and Yun embraced them lovingly. Terriermon laughed, Lopmon cried, and Yun did both.

"I thought I'd lost you!" Yun exclaimed.

"Me too! I was so worried about you!" Lopmon exclaimed through her own tears.

"We were about to be pummeled by the DarkSuperStarmon when this masked man saved us!" Terriermon explained. Once the three of them calmed down, they turned to look at the armored dinosaur Digimon and his partner, the masked man. Aria took the time to look the Digimon's information up on her digivice.

"He's WarGreymon! A mega level, vaccine type Digimon! His attacks are Terra Force, Great Tornado, and War Driver!" Aria said and then put her digivice away. Terriermon and Lopmon suddenly caught sight of Syakomon.

"Wow! Is that you, MarineAngemon?" Terriermon asked. Syakomon was so elated she didn't care about her appearance right now.

"Yep! But I'm Syakomon now!" Syakomon replied happily. Aria looked up and saw the man and his Digimon, WarGreymon, ambling toward them with a rather smarmy smirk on his face. He then flicked some hair out of his mask.

"I'm sorry for arriving so late, ladies," The man said in a deep, adult man-like voice. He sounded like he was in his 40's. Yun clung onto Terriermon and Lopmon with a smile and bowed before the man politely.

"It's no problem! We're glad you even came at all! Thanks sooooooo much for both looking after my friends and saving us just now! We really are grateful!" Yun exclaimed like a happy fangirl. Suddenly, she felt a hand stroke her hair.

"A place like this isn't quite suited for little girls like you," The man said.

"Well, we didn't come here on purpose. An Airdramon kinda dragged us here by accident. We've been trying to get home, but something called a mystical veil is keeping us from doing so, and we kinda got caught up in some stuff," Yun explained.

"It's true!" Aria backed her up.

"By the way, who are you?" Syakomon asked, cocking her head to one side curiously.

"I'm known around these parts as Link, and this is my Digimon partner, WarGreymon," The man, Link, introduced himself politely. WarGreymon bowed before them a bit.

"We're honored to meet you," WarGreymon said in an equally deep voice.

But Yun gasped. Something shot into her head like a lightning bolt. But before she could tell him...she burst out laughing. So did Aria. This made Link blush violently.

"Wha? What's so funny?" Link exclaimed.

"Link, like the Zelda character! That's awesome! Ha ha!" Yun said through her laughter. Why would a man name himself after a popular video game character? She found this to be very amusing, though not in a malicious way.

"So what? I'm a closet Zelda fan! Is that so wrong?" Link yelled. After a few seconds, Yun mollified herself.

"Sorry about that. Anyway...you travel the Digital World, don't you? What are you doing here?" Yun asked.

"I was going to ask you kids that. But I'm here on a special mission. I'm here studying the Digital World and its inhabitants. I want to do some research on them," Link replied.

"Why?" Aria asked.

"Sorry, but I can't exactly say why, but just so you know, I'm not here to destroy the Digital World or anything like that. I'm-" Link didn't get to finish that sentence because Yun cut him off.

"How long have you been in the Digital World?" Yun asked. Link put a hand on his hip.

"About two years in human world time, six years in Digital World time. But as you can see, I haven't changed a bit, and neither will you!" Link explained.

"You're famous in the Digital World, aren't you? I heard some Elecmon talking about you!" Yun pointed out. Link smiled.

"It seems I am. Yes, WarGreymon and I have stuck around and helped a lot of Digimon out so I guess you can say I've developed a following," Link explained happily.

"It's true. Many of the Digimon we've encountered view Link-sama as a hero thanks to his chivalrous deeds," WarGreymon said. Link examined Lopmon, Syakomon, and Terriermon with the eye coming out from his mask.

"Do you know what D-Chips are and what they do?" Aria asked.

"Oh! So you've heard! D-Chips are the names I gave them. If you befriend a Digimon even though you already have a partner, you get a piece of their data in the form of a stone, which I call a D-Chip. See this little slot on the side of your digivice here?" Link pointed to a little black upside down rectangle on the side of his digivice. "If you put a D-Chip in here and think about calling your secondary Digimon, they'll come to you in response."

"So we use D-Chips to call for our Digimon?" Yun asked.

Link nodded.

"Wow! That's so cool! If we had known that earlier we would've called for Unimon and asked him to help us!" Aria exclaimed, feeling a little guilty she hadn't gained this piece of knowledge.

"That way I would've stayed Bukamon for a bit longer!" Syakomon said.

"You still think you're ugly, don't you?" Terriermon asked, which made Syakomon blush.

"Tell me, girls. Exactly when did you get your Digimon?" Link asked.

"On Tuesday it'll be two weeks since we first got them," Yun explained.

Link's left eye widened a bit, but he said nothing. Terriermon noticed this.

"You really love them, don't you?"

"Yep! We sure do!" Aria said.

"I'm glad," Link said. But then he pulled out his orange digivice, flicked it open, and pressed a button. A white digital portal appeared underneath the kids.

"It seems it's time for you to go back home. Ciao!" Link smiled and waved at them with his hand.

"But wait! Link-san! I still have questions-!" Before Yun could finish her sentence, she, Aria, Lopmon, Syakomon, and Terriermon were all pulled into the digital hole, leaving Link and WarGreymon behind. Link looked at WarGreymon.

"What's wrong? You look dazed," Link asked.

"That girl. The older one. She's the one," WarGreymon muttered.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Remember when a Digimon attacked us out of nowhere and branded me with that thing? A Dark Emblem I think it was. She and another girl were the ones who removed it."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. The other one had a Lunamon."

"It seems kids are getting Digimon too."

"Also...they were glowing just now."

"What was?"

"Those things we found. Two of them. The white one and the pink one."

Link dug into his jacket pocket and pulled out two small, egg-shaped objects that were the size of robin's eggs. What's odd was that they both had symbols on them. The white egg stone has a big hollow circle with a smaller one in the middle, and four other small full circles surrounding it. The pink stone's symbol is shaped like a standard key hole, but the circle part is hollow and a smaller one fills up the empty space.

"I wanted to tell you earlier, but it seemed you intended to get those girls out of danger first, so I didn't bother."

"It's okay, WarGreymon. To be honest, I don't plan on giving these up just yet. The time's not right yet."

"Link. You know, right? Two weeks ago, human world time..."

"Three years ago, Digital World time. Yes. I know."

"If they got their Digimon right then and there, and if two of those things resonated with them, could it be...?"

WarGreymon and Link looked at each other solemnly.

Regarding the time not being right, as it would soon turn out later, Link didn't have to wait long.

_In the human world..._

In a flash, Yun, Aria, and their Digimon (all of whom de-digivolved into Kokomon, Gummymon, and Bukamon) flew out of the digital portal and found themselves in the construction site. Yun looked around confusedly.

"What? Why are we in the construction site of all places? And what time is it?" Yun exclaimed.

Suddenly, Kokomon's ears perked up.

"I hear someone!" Kokomon yelled.

"Yeah! Me too!" Bukamon exclaimed.

The kids and Digimon stopped to listen.

"Yuuuuun!" A strange voice permeated the air. Considering how low it sounded, Yun recognized the voice immediately.

"That's Hokuto-kun!" Yun yelled as she scooped her Digimon up and ran towards the voice. Aria followed with Bukamon safely on her head. Once they got out of the construction site, they saw two people and Digimon looking for them. Hokuto, Kudamon, Rena, and Lunamon.

"Yun-chan! Aria-chan!" Rena leaped onto the two girls and hugged them like she hadn't seen them in many years. Hokuto approached them with a small smile with Kudamon safely wrapped around his neck.

"You went to the Digital World, didn't you?" Lunamon asked politely.

"We sure did! It was fun!" Aria said with a smile.

"It suuuuure was!" Gummymon backed her up empathetically. Kudamon examined Bukamon with his gold eyes.

"It seems you've de-digivolved. You're not MarineAngemon anymore, are you?" Kudamon said solemnly.

"Yep! The curse is gone! I can digivolve and de-digivolve again! And yeah, I'm Bukamon right now!" Bukamon said.

"We're glad...you're safe," Hokuto muttered.

"Have you been looking for us?" Yun asked quietly. Hokuto nodded.

"We've been searching all over the place for you! For some reason we couldn't open a digital portal to go after you ourselves!" Rena explained.

"It's true. We tried, but nothing worked. We were very worried," Lunamon said.

"Thanks for worrying about us," Kokomon said sweetly, sitting on Lunamon's head.

"But now we're back! And boy are we tired! What time is it?" Yun asked.

"It's 2:23 PM," Hokuto said, looking at his watch.

"We should probably be getting home now," Rena said as she took Yun and Aria by the hands.

"Yeah! Let's!" Yun said as she, Kokomon, Gummymon, Aria, Bukamon, Hokuto, and Kudamon walked away.

Aria didn't say a word, namely because she was happy she got to see MarineAngemon's other forms. She couldn't wait to play with Bukamon once she got home.

Author's Note: Yay! I finally finished chapter 20! Kinda long, isn't it? Guess I have a LOT of ideas for it! And for those of you wondering who the man and his WarGreymon really are, read my future chapters and find out, because he plays a VERY important role in the story. Anyway, I've decided which anime I'm gonna watch for this season: Shinryaku! Ika Musume, Tamayura, and Kimi to Boku. I'm planning to try out Chihayafuru or Hunter X Hunter later later and see if they're any good. Well, I better go. I have a research paper to work on. Bye-bye!

Footnotes:

1. Witchmon is referring to an episode in Digimon Tamers where some of the kids meet an Orochimon who loves beer and wine.

2. These are the first half of the lyrics to the song, Bright Eyes, sung by Art Garfunkel.

3. Yun is talking about the movie named Watership Down. It was produced in 1978 and is based on the book by Richard Adams. Art Garfunkel's song, Bright Eyes, is the ending theme to the movie.

4. Art Garfunkel was a famous singer and musician who was part of the folk duo Simon and Garfunkel, which split up in 1970. After their disbandment, Garfunkel continued his music career. In 1990, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

5. In my story, Aria's Bukamon is a girl. I know that Bukamon are normally of the male gender. In my story, Bukamon (and all her other forms) uses the feminine self-reference term _'atashi'_ so as to differentiate herself from the male Bukamon. That's why I had Aria's Digimon be Syakomon instead of Gomamon. Hope you don't mind!


	21. Save Lucero! Roachmon Strikes Back!

Author's Note: Hi everyone. Good news and bad news. Good news number one: I think I aced my first college math test! It wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it'd be. There was only ONE problem that threw me off, but that was it. Bad news number one: my sister's moving back into my house. Bad news number two: my dad's gone off to Pittsburgh for a while. Good news number two: there's a mole in my back yard! I thought moles were bigger than the one I just saw. Bad news: I was retarded enough to have five points taken off of an assignment because I forgot to put a thesis and screwed up some very important logic! I'm retarded! I don't deserve to be in college! Well, here's chapter 21. Enjoy.

EPISODE 21: Save Lucero! Roachmon Strikes Back!

_In the human world..._

"Roachmon! What are you doing? Don't gorge on all that food! You're such a pig!" Witchmon screamed like a very embarrassed teenage girl whose father did something really stupid in public.

This took place around the time Pichimon hatched. Roachmon was suddenly overcome with an urge to raid a MacDonald's and eat their food since, to him, it was the best thing ever. Roachmon attacked both the customers, the employees, and even the manager with his Yard Sale Bomb and trashed the place completely...but not before making sure all the food was his and his alone. Appalled by Roachmon's noisome behavior, Witchmon whacked him on the head with her crooked broom. Roachmon yelped in pain as ketchup got caught on his chin.

"Owwww! That hurt, Witchmon!" Roachmon yelled as he rubbed his head and gave Witchmon a stinkeye.

"Just because we come into the human world and see what they do does NOT mean you have to act like a rabid animal!" Witchmon scolded as she held both her broom in one hand and the walkie talkie (with MoonMillenniummon on the other end) in the other. Monitormon was sitting in front of them, happily and contentedly sticking a french fry in a puddle of spilled mayonaise.

_"She's right for once! Where are your manners?"_ MoonMillenniummon screeched, and that wasn't making the walkie talkie sound all staticky and sandstorm-like either.

"I don't need no manners! We just raided a ratty food place, so of course I deserve a little reward for my awesomeness!" Roachmon sneered as he chowed down on a greasy MacDonald's hamburger.

_"You have no sense of honor and dignity! I may be the ruler of the Digital World right now, but even I know better than to act all egotistical and gorge on hordes of disgusting food like a depraved animal on the streets! Not only that, even I want to make sure that all my servants display respectable manners and propriety, and you're not following my example, Roachmon!"_ MoonMillenniummon sneered on his end of the walkie talkie.

"Pfft! Yeah, says the Digimon who thinks I'm incompetent," Witchmon muttered.

_"I heard that!"_ MoonMillenniummon yelled.

"And besides, we have more important things to do than stuff our faces with this..." Witchmon scolded again until she felt a hamburger patty on her big hand. "This...horrid gruel! Disgusting! Who knew humans could go this low?" She threw the patty at Roachmon's face, and it went splat.

_"You haven't even tasted it, so how would you know how it tastes?"_ MoonMillenniummon sneered.

"Oh, you're one to talk! You can't eat anything but gruel because you're stuck in a giant crystal!"

_"Do you think I **WANT** to be stuck inside a giant crystal and this rock formation? You should be grateful you have the luxury to even eat anything at all and move around all the time! I don't have that right now! And believe me, I want to get out of his rat hole just as much as you do, and do whatever I want with the Digital World!"_

"You already destroyed it but you don't even do anything with it. You wonder why it's not reforming the way you want it to."

_"Says you! Oh great! Now you're giving me a craving for giant meatballs! Grrrr! I'm so jealous of that little Monitormon over there! He's happily, and politely, snackin' on those potato shavings _(french fries)_! HE actually has a sense of honor and dignity!"_

"For once I actually agree with you on that."

Monitormon heard the mention of his name and turned to look. "What was that about me?"

Suddenly, Witchmon felt something smack her in the back of her head, causing the walkie talkie to slip out of her hand.

"Ow!" She yelped. It was Roachmon's wing.

"Yer right!" Roachmon stood up like he was some cliche superhero from an old comic. "There's WAAAAAY more important stuff than eatin' gruel, yo! I wonder if he's still around? I hope he is, cuz' I thought of somethin' cool! Witchmon, watch the place for me, will ya? Thanks! Gotta bounce!"

Suddenly, Roachmon broke a MacDonald's window and zipped out like a bee, leaving Witchmon, Monitormon, and the walkie talkie with MoonMillenniummon on the other end all alone in the vandalized fast food place.

"Roachmon! You idiot!" Witchmon screamed angrily. Once he was out of sight, all three of them sighed.

_"I have no idea what goes on in his head sometimes..."_ MoonMillenniummon muttered.

"You're telling me. Why'd you pair me up with him anyhow?" Witchmon asked.

MoonMillenniummon paused for a bit, which piqued Monitormon's interest.

"You there? What'cha thinkin' about, Master?" Monitormon asked in a sweet voice, which irritated Witchmon.

"Quiet, Monitormon! You know how bad his temper can be when he gets interrupted while doing something!" Witchmon scolded.

"Sorry!" Monitormon shrunk into the floor. Witchmon could hear a bit of static on the other end.

_"...Roachmon needs someone to get him on the right path. He doesn't know it or believe it, but he has a lot to learn. Much like you, he has also been banished from his kind, and he hasn't taken it well. You're more sophisticated than he is, and I gave you the responsibility of taking care of him because I feel he may benefit from it...and I think I see signs of improvement,"_ MoonMillenniummon explained calmly.

"You call raiding a greasy food place and gorging like a depraved animal improvement?"

_"No, that's not what I mean. See-"_ MoonMillenniummon didn't get to finish that sentence because the manager and some police men barged into the MacDonald's, scaring both Witchmon and Monitormon.

"That's them, officers! They're the vandals!" The manager yelled, pointing to Witchmon. Incensed, Witchmon scooped Monitormon and the walkie talkie in her hands and flew on her broom.

"Roachmon's the vandal around here! You should be going after him! I've got other things to do! Aqua Pressure!" Witchmon shot a giant jet of water at them and flooded the place while she flew out of the broken window. She wanted to get as far away from that place as possible.

Once she got far enough, she sat on the ceiling of another building and sighed.

"That was fun!" Monitormon screeched happily.

"Good for you," Witchmon muttered. "Master. You were saying?"

_"Oh great. Sorry, Witchmon. It's apparently time for my Daily Involuntary Consumption of Digital Gruel, and I've gotta take this walkie talkie off. Once I see that the mystical veil is open, I'll let you know! Veda_(1)_!_" And MoonMillenniummon officially checked himself out.

"What? Master! Wait!" Witchmon tried to get him back, but he didn't come back. Incensed, Witchmon threw the walkie talkie to the ground like it was a rag doll. But feeling remorseful, she checked to make sure it worked. It did. She clung to it, which piqued Monitormon's curiosity.

_'Good. It's not broken. Master gave this to me...'_ Witchmon thought.

"What wrong? We gonna go back?" Monitormon asked innocently. Witchmon snapped her fingers, but a digital portal didn't form.

"No. It seems we can't, little guy. Sorry," Witchmon replied ruefully.

"Ish okay!" Monitormon said.

"Doesn't it feel like we're in exile?"

"Exile? What's that mean?"

"If you're banished or sent away from your clan, you're in exile."

"Are you in exile?"

Although Witchmon was rather charmed by Monitormon's innocent curiosity, she couldn't help but feel pangs of both jealousy and pain. Jealousy because she wished that she was as innocent and curious as Monitormon is, and pain because she remembered a memory that she wished she could forget.

(flashback)

_In a beautifully crafted and styled crimson red, gold, and indigo courtroom draped with emerald green curtains, Witchmon sat in a defendant's chair while the judge, a Digimon clad in white, red, and yellow armor, a red cape, and held a two sided axe in his hand, sat in the judge's chair in front of her. A few other Digimon sat in the jury's chairs, and they looked upon Witchmon with barely hidden contempt, scorn and rancor. Witchmon was becoming desperate._

_"I'm telling you, MedievalDukemon-sama! I didn't destroy the ancient archives! I swear!" Witchmon importuned sadly, with tears coming from her light blue eyes. This set the jury off._

_"You're a liar!"_

_"Guilty! She's guilty!"_

_"Wicked thing! How could you be so selfish?"_

_"She's the one! No doubt about it!"_

_"You're not fit to be a citizen of Witchelny!"_

_"Order! Order!" The judge, MedievalDukemon, pounded his giant axe into the ground twice, which sent the jury and audience into silence._

_"Witchmon. You are aware that your hat was found at the scene, correct?" MedievalDukemon asked in a chilling, icy voice._

_"W-Well...yes, that's true. But all I did was fly past them! I didn't even lay a finger on them! I never have and never will! It's against the law to have access to the archives if you haven't mastered all the four techniques! Baluluna, Aquary, Energe, and Earthlin! That's right,_ _right?" Witchmon explained pleadingly._

_"You do have a point, yes, and you haven't mastered the techniques of Energe and Earthlin as far as I know. However, we can't deny the fact that your hat was found at the crime scene, and that there's no other evidence that suggests otherwise," MedievalDukemon explained coldly._

_Witchmon was appalled. "But MedievalDukemon-sama!"_

_"I'm sorry, Witchmon. From this point onward, you will be inhibited from entering Witchelny. You will be stripped of all your privileges and you will be banished."_

_Witchmon felt her heart sink. She couldn't believe this was happening to her._

_"Banished? But where will I go? How will I live?"_

_MedievalDukemon shook his head sadly. "I wish there was some other solution, but I'm afraid there is not. Forgive me. But it will not happen immediately. I will give you time to pack your things. You will ship out tomorrow evening. That is as much clemency as I can give,_ _Witchmon. I hope you understand. Court is adjourned!" With a whack of the axe, the meeting was adjourned...well, for him and Witchmon. But for the audience, not so much._

_Pandemonium broke out._

_"WHAT? Come on! You can't be serious, MedievalDukemon-sama!"_

_"She needs to be banished immediately!"_

_"Yeah! No criminal deserves to have time to pack their things! We'll destroy them!"_

_"We don't tolerate leniency!"_

_Witchmon felt as if her entire being had been thrown into the darkest parts of the Digital World. Total abject and dejection overwhelmed her._ _She fell to her knees, with her broom by her side. She absorbed all the insults that were being thrown at her. She didn't bother to stand up to them nor did she want to prove them wrong. The situation was futile. She couldn't squirm her way out of this, even with her plea that she didn't destroy the ancient archives. 'What did I do...to deserve this? I didn't do it! I didn't do it! Why does it have to me be? Why is all of this happening to me?' Witchmon covered her face with her giant hands and wailed loudly. She didn't care if the other citizens were throwing insults or magic spells at her. She had fallen into rock bottom._

_Even though MedievalDukemon passed his judgement on Witchmon, the citizens had other ideas. When Witchmon went to get her things, she found them destroyed, and the citizens put her in hand cuffs, threw her out of Witchelny and into some uninhabited desert, and locked the gateway to Witchelny, not letting Witchmon in, no matter what._

_Witchmon fell into the deepest depths of the pit of despair._

(end flashback)

"Ouchie," That was all that came out of Monitormon's mouth, but Witchmon found it comforting enough, and she stroke Monitormon's TV-sized head gently.

"Yes. A big ouchie. But MoonMillenniummon was kind enough to take me in when he was Kimeramon. He gave me food, shelter, a place to live, everything. Yes I don't like customs and the way he operates sometimes, but I appreciate him taking me in at all. I'm grateful," Witchmon told little Monitormon.

"Roachmon's another story."

This irked Witchmon. "I know, right? I don't understand why Master even bothered to take him in when all he does is cause trouble! He's always eating greasy food, running off and leaving others behind, throwing garbage all over the place, and bothering Master! Sure he's been with him longer than me, but still! He should learn to follow his example! I don't care if he was there when MoonMillenniummon killed-"

Suddenly, it hit Witchmon like an avalanche. Earlier, Roachmon left because there were 'more important things to do than sit around and eat greasy food all day.' Witchmon didn't realize it until now. She remembered something else Roachmon said. She remembered the time she and Roachmon tried to tell MoonMillenniummon that a certain someone he killed was alive and living in the human world.

Her blue eyes widened.

_'Oh! Why didn't I think of that before? Roachmon's going after him, isn't he? If he's thinking what I'm thinking...oh no! This can't be good! I should go after him!'_ Witchmon clung to Montiormon and was about to fly away until her walkie talkie hissed.

"Yes?"

_"Witchmon. The mystical veil has opened up. You can come back now,"_ MoonMillenniummon said. Although Witchmon is happy that she can go back to the Digital World, she suddenly had something else in mind.

_'I think Roachmon will need some help. I'll grab some Digimon along the way,'_ Witchmon thought. "Thanks! I'll be there in a sec!"

A Digital portal opened, and she zipped right into it.

_In the Digital World..._

A black version of Monitormon, with a flatter screen, a yellow satellite dish on its head and a yellow thing in his hand stopped showing footage in front of a crystalized MoonMillenniummon, whose walkie talkie was removed by a ghost Digimon with big black eyes and sharp teeth.

"Thank you for your time, HiVisionMonitormon. You may rest now," MoonMillenniummon said kindly, which made HiVisionMonitormon jump for joy.

"Thanks, Master! YAAAAAY! About time! My whole body is stiff!" HiVisionMonitormon yelled happily as he hopped away from the inner sanctum, leaving him and the ghost alone. MoonMillenniummon sighed. _'HV-Monitormon needs to learn his manners,'_ He thought.

"You, Bakemon. Thanks for removing the duct tape and walkie talkie. I appreciate it," MoonMillenniummon said kindly.

"It's no problem, Master! I'd best be going now! Good day!" Bakemon said in a creepy voice and floated away.

Once Bakemon went away, MoonMillenniummon closed his glowing eyes and went into a pensive state.

_'I know what Roachmon is planning. He wants to show me the very being that I killed and prove to me that he's alive and living amongst humans. He may have his problems, but this is going too far! I killed him with all the powers I had, which is why I'm stuck in this rat hole! He shouldn't be alive! And besides, the humans don't look like much. Hmph! I don't see the point of wasting time on studying those little weaklings. They don't look as though they're capable of doing anything. Well, I can see why Roachmon would want to do this. All he wants is to prove himself worthy, since he's been banished from his kind...even though I still have hordes of other Roachmon at my wake. But really! Coming up with those lies? Lawful heart! He really can be a handful! But I don't turn him away because he has nowhere to go, and his spirits have been crushed enough already. All of my childrens' dignity and self-confidence have been trampled on by others...including my own.'_

Suddenly, a Gazimon appeared holding a walkie talkie and a small thing of duct tape.

"What is it, Gazimon?" MoonMillenniummon asked.

"Someone wishes to talk to you, Master!" Gazimon said as he taped the walkie talkie to MoonMillenniummon and scurried away in a hurry.

MoonMillenniummon sighed. "It really is slow around here..." Then he talked into the walkie talkie. "This is MoonMillenniummon speaking!"

All he got was a VERY tired out sigh on the other end, but he recognized it. It wasn't Witchmon's, Roachmon's, or even LadyDevimon's sigh.

He knew that sigh anywhere, and it made him sigh upon hearing it.

"What is it now, Lilithmon?" He asked.

_"Why do you keep sending me on these missions?"_ A wicked, lady-like voice sneered on the other end. It sounded much more malicious and ominous than LadyDevimon. MoonMillenniummon wasn't pleased.

"I told you, you have enough experience in the field and I thought it'd be much too easy if I gave every hard job to you! And besides, the rookies need some experience too, y'know?"

_"YES! I know! But you keep giving me the scrappiest jobs!" _Lilithmon yelled angrily on her end, which irked MoonMillenniummon a trifle._ "Witchmon, Roachmon, and LadyDevimon are out recruiting, Ghoulmon's taking over whatever small Digimon kingdoms he can find, Boogeymon, Mephistomon, and Phelesmon are making blueprints for your castle, Pharaohmon's disappeared without a trace, and the Bakemon, Gizamon, and Gazimon are running around stealing food and turning it into gruel while you have me GETTING BLACKGATOMON OUT OF TREES?"_

"Stop whining," MoonMillenniummon told her sternly. "Besides, you're not just getting them out of trees. You're influencing them into joining me. Isn't that the same as recruiting? You should be lucky you even have a job to do at all. I suggest you finish up and come back here if you're not satisfied. Veda!" And MoonMillenniummon checked out again.

He sighed yet again. "Lilithmon can be so whiny. Oh. It seems the mystical veil has opened up again. I'd best let Witchmon know."

_In the human world, on the same day..._

Aria, with Bukamon happily clinging to her head, ran away from the construction site towards home as soon as everyone in the Digimon Brigade confirmed she was alright. She was so excited about all that she experienced that she couldn't wait to tell someone about it. Right when she stumbled across a dark green house, she immediately dashed inside. She ran through the kitchen, through a hallway, and dashed into her little room. Her room is nice and light pink, the same pink as Kokomon's skin, with a little bed with a spread embroidered with little multicolored flowers, a white dresser, a night time themed night light sitting in an outlet next to her bed, windows overlooking her rather plain back yard, and a long yellow box sitting in between the side of her bed and the wall. Aria plopped into her bed happily.

"It's great to be home!" Aria exclaimed happily. Bukamon fell right next to her.

"It sure is! That was some adventure we had!" Bukamon backed her up. Both of them laughed wholeheartedly and childishly, which caught someone's attention.

A girl of about ten, with long black hair tied into two pig tails with simple brown hair accessories, light brown eyes, and slightly lighter skin than Aria. She looked as though she had a permanent scowl on her face despite her simple raiment consisting of a sleeveless orange top, a black skirt, and purple flip flops.

"Aria? Is that you?" The girl asked in a rather low and tomboyish voice.

"Oh! Orie-Neechan!" Aria exclaimed as she saw her big sister, Orie, entering her room.

"What are you so hyped up about?" Orie asked.

"I had so much fun with my friends today!" Aria replied.

"Hm. Is that so-YEEEEK! What is that?" Orie screamed upon laying eyes on Bukamon, who immediately became hurt by Orie's reaction.

"Don't be mean! This is MarineAngemon, only she's Bukamon now!" Aria said.

"That's...little MarineAngemon? No way!" Orie said.

"Yeah! It's true! But now I'm Bukamon because I used up all my energy! Plus the curse is gone so I can digivolve again! But not right now though," Bukamon explained, which mollified Orie a bit. But Orie's light brown eyes did widen upon seeing Aria's clothes.

"Shouldn't you be changing your clothes and taking a bath? Look at you! You're filthy! Have you been playing in the dirt? You know how Dad gets when he sees us all dirty!" Orie scolded sternly.

"I didn't get dirty on purpose! I slipped and fell a little bit!"

"A little bit is an understatement. Here, I'll help you clean up."

"I'll go with you!" Bukamon followed the two girls.

Orie got the bath ready while Aria and Bukamon went in. Orie put some stuff in the bath water which made bubbles appear, which made Aria and Bukamon's eyes sparkle with joy. Bukamon decided to help out by spitting out his own soapy froth, which Aria and Orie made sure didn't get into their eyes. Aria and Bukamon played and played while Orie washed them down. Aria doesn't quite know how to wash herself just yet, so Orie has to do it for her (at least until Aria gets it). Aria was just so happy she didn't care if Orie was vigorously washing her hair. She just enjoyed playing with Bukamon. She remembered the day they (Aria and Orie) first met her as MarineAngemon.

(flashback)

_"Orie! Take care of your sister, and don't do anything stupid while we're gone!" Aria's father yelled before he got into the car with his new wife. Once he got in, they drove away to the church in which they would be married. Orie watched with a scornful scowl while Aria walked by her side just as they left._

_"I wonder why we can't go with them," Aria muttered._

_"Tch! Dad's an idiot! Not even letting us go to their wedding!" Orie muttered, sounding very perturbed. Aria wasn't irked but she did wish she had gone, maybe so she could see her new stepmother's beautiful white wedding dress or eat the delicious cake or maybe be the flower girl. She knew what those things were because she saw them on TV, even though she had never really been to a real wedding before. She really wanted to go, but her dad always said no. In the end, she and Orie didn't get to go._

_"Wanna play frisbee with me, Orie-Neechan?" Aria asked innocently. Orie sighed._

_"Alright. I guess it's better than doing nothing. I'll be there in a sec," Orie replied. Aria dashed into the back yard, happy to be able to play with Orie. But when she got there, she noticed something odd. Aria may be small and young, but even she knew when subtle changes in her environment began appearing around her._

_She saw something hanging from the small tree sitting in the middle of their back yard. As Aria ambled closer, she saw it was pink, with a red heart on it. Could it be a bird? Or some other animal she hadn't seen before? A fairy? No, fairies only existed in books and cartoons,_ _but Aria certainly believed in fairies. Once she got even closer, she saw that the pink thing in the tree really is a fairy! But it wasn't the kind of fairy she expected to see. To Aria, fairies were very tiny humans the size of her fingers, with clear wings that fluttered like the wings of a hummingbird, with flowing dresses and hair that sparkled like morning dew. This fairy was starkly different. This fairy isn't human nor the size of Aria's finger. The fairy is all pink, shaped like an animal the size of her tiny palms, with two sproingy antennae,_ _hands, and a little tail. On its chest is a little red heart, around its neck is a gold collar, and its wings were pink and fluffy. But something else caught Aria's attention._

_The fairy has lots of fresh cuts and scrapes on it. Its breathing was labored, and it looked as though it could fall from the tree any minute._

_And it did._

_Thankfully, Aria caught it just in time. It's right around here that Orie came out, frisbee in hand._

_"Aria! I got the frisbee!" Orie called out. But when she saw Aria holding the injured fairy, she dropped the frisbee and ran to her._

_"Aria! What is that?" Orie asked. All Aria did was look Orie in the eye with a sad, pleading look and show her the injured fairy._

_"The fairy's hurt!" Aria said._

_"No way. This can't be real," Orie said. As a precaution, she poked the fairy right in the heart. The fairy gasped for air, which made Aria and Orie themselves gasp._

_"Wow! It is real! Aria, come with me. We're gonna play doctor for real today!" Orie exclaimed._

_Aria did as asked and followed Orie into the house. Aria poured water on a wash cloth and, as gently as she could, cleaned the fairy's wounds with it while Orie looked all over the house for band-aids or pieces of gauze, both of which she found in the bathroom. Normally they wouldn't have access to this stuff, but Orie had seen her dad put them in the bathroom cupboard lots of times so she knew where to find them._ _Once Orie found them, she and Aria tended to the fairy's wounds and made sure the band-aids and small pieces of gauze were securely placed so they won't fall off. After a while, they cleaned her up and put her in a makeshift bed made out of a basket, a small pillow, and an old baby blanket that Aria's mother made for her._

_"Aria. Stay here and look after it while I make some hot soup. Don't go anywhere, okay?" Orie told her before running out._

_Aria did as told and stayed by the fairy's side, though to her it wasn't just because Orie told her to stay with her. She stayed because she wanted to. Something about the fairy seemed to click in Aria's innocent little mind. Aria smiled sweetly upon seeing the tiny pink animal fairy. On impulse, Aria gently stroke the fairy's pink hair with her tiny fingers. She tried to be as gentle and tender as possible so she wouldn't stimulate the fairy's wounds into acting up. Thankfully, the fairy seemed content with sleeping in the little bed and having her pink fur touched by Aria._

_"She's so cute!" Aria muttered to herself, though she wasn't quite sure if the fairy was a girl or not. To her, most fairies were girls, so she applied this knowledge to this one as well._

_Suddenly, it happened. The fairy stirred a bit, which made Aria pull her hand back, and she opened her eyes. Aria was so surprised. The fairy's eyes are large and bright, a striking emerald color they were. Very beautiful emerald green. The fairy looked at her surroundings,_ _then at Aria, who was confused but continued to smile at the fairy. The fairy, upon locking her green eyes with Aria's brown ones, seemed to forget about her distended wounds and smiled at Aria._

_"Hello," She said in a sweet voice, but a bit higher than Aria's normally taciturn voice. Aria's heart skipped a beat upon hearing the fairy's sweet, dulcet voice and smiled even bigger._

_"Hello," Aria replied. "Who are you?"_

_"Who are you?" The fairy asked, wanting to know Aria's name first. Aria didn't mind._

_"I'm Aria," She said._

_"I'm MarineAngemon," The fairy, MarineAngemon, piped in at last._

_"What are you?"_

_"A Digimon. It's short for digital monster. What are you?"_

_"A person. You're cute!"_

_"You think so?"_

_"You okay? Orie and I put those things on you. You have a lot of boo-boos." MarineAngemon looked around herself, seeing all the band-aids and gauze on her._

_"So I do. Thanks for taking care of me."_

_"You're welcome."_

_"Soup's ready!" Orie exclaimed as she ambled inside, taking care not to drop the bowl of soup in her hand. She stopped once she saw Aria and MarineAngemon talking. But she quickly put the bowl of soup on the dresser and walked toward MarineAngemon._

_"Hi!" MarineAngemon said, which made Orie gasp. At first, MarineAngemon was confused by Orie's reaction, but Aria wasn't surprised at all._

_"This is my sister, Orie. Orie, this is MarineAngemon! She says she's a Digimon!" Aria explained._

_"What? A Digimon! Yeah right! Digimon's a cartoon! No way is this real!" Orie exclaimed, not buying Aria's explanation._

_MarineAngemon became rather irked upon hearing Orie's claim of disbelief and floated into the air with a courageous face._

_"Oh really? If I'm a cartoon, then how come I'm talking and flying? How come you were able to put all these band-aids and gauze on me?"_ _MarineAngemon proclaimed boldly, which rendered Orie silent for a bit._

_"I know you're real!" Aria said. MarineAngemon smiled._

_"Thanks, Aria! I like you!" MarineAngemon replied back sweetly. Once Orie regained her composure, she got the soup and presented it to MarineAngemon._

_"Eat this. It helps," Orie said. Dutifully, MarineAngemon ate the soup and enjoyed it immensely. Aria let MarineAngemon rest since she was still injured, but she was definitely getting better. They played and played. Orie and Aria vowed to never tell their dad or new stepmom about MarineAngemon or else they'd fly into hysterics _(so they thought)_._

_About two hours after they found her, a pink light appeared next to MarineAngemon suddenly, as Orie was in her room doing her homework. Aria and MarineAngemon were the only ones to see it. Aria tried to grasp it, but it was too hot and bright to touch. Soon, the pink light dissipated and formed a pink digivice. Aria knew that this meant she had become MarineAngemon's partner. She cherished the digivice and vowed to love MarineAngemon forever._

(end flashback)

Once bath time was over, Aria put on a sleeveless blue green dress and played with Bukamon for the entire day. Orie already blow-dried her hair so Aria is now perfectly squeaky clean. About two hours after Aria came home, Aria's step mother came through the door.

"Girls! I'm back!" Said a mousy looking woman with light brown hair, caramell eyes and light skin. Aria was the first to come out of her room and greet her.

"Hi, Mariya-san!" Aria said.

"Hello, dear. How was your day with your friends?" The stepmother, Mariya, asked kindly.

"Great! I had lots of fun!" Aria exclaimed happily.

"I'm glad. Oh! Aria-chan. I don't work tomorrow, so would you like to do something tomorrow?"

"Hm?"

"You know, like go to your favorite places. Like an aquarium or the zoo. I'm afraid I don't know what places you like so you'll have to tell me."

Aria remembered when Yun told her to try and get to know her stepmother before drawing conclusions. So far, Aria did manage to strike up some conversations with Mariya, confirming that Mariya really is a nice person and not like Cinderella's wicked stepmother. Mariya is far from it, actually. But there was something that Aria really wanted to do, so she decided to bring it up.

"Umm...can I go to my friend's house?" Aria asked innocently.

"Hm? A friend's house? Whose?" Mariya asked back.

"My friend Yun-chan! She's very nice."

Mariya smiled. "Is that so. Tell me about her."

"She's eleven years old and in the 6th grade!" This made Mariya's eyes widen a bit, but she let Aria continue. "She teaches me lots of things and plays with me and tells me stories that she made up and draws pictures and everything!"

"You really like this Yun person, don't you?"

"Yep!" Aria replied with an empathetic nod.

"Do you know where she lives?"

"Here," Aria pulled out a paper containing Yun's home address and phone number and showed it to Mariya. Mariya looked at it, then gave it back to Aria.

"Oh! I see. It's not too far from here. Well, I don't see why not, so...yes. You can go and play with her tomorrow," Mariya said with a kind smile. Aria's brown eyes lit up with joy and hugged Mariya happily.

"Yay! Thank you, Mariya-san! You're not Cinderella's evil stepmother after all! Sorry I thought of you like that before!" Aria was oblivious to the fact that she said something rather inappropriate, but she was just so excited and happy, not just with being allowed to go to Yun's house but to know that Mariya really is a nice person after all, that she couldn't help but say it. Mariya didn't mind either and let Aria jump for joy. Aria went back to her room and played with Bukamon. She couldn't wait to play with Yun again.

_The next day..._

It is now Monday. Normally kids are supposed to be at school, but today's a teacher's convention day so school's out. The kids are pretty happy about that. One of them in particular is Yun. Right now, she's in her basement, at her drawing desk, happily drawing her dream. She had it again last night, and she felt the need to draw it. She only just finished coloring in the trees with her cream colored pencil, and now she decided to focus on drawing the flowers, which are a great many colors. Lopmon (who digivolved from Kokomon earlier this morning), found Yun in the basement and hopped onto her shoulder.

"Yun? Are you drawing?" Lopmon asked politely.

"Yep! You know that dream I keep having? Well, I kinda thought it'd be nice to draw it. I've been going at it since this morning," Yun explained. Lopmon caught a glance and smiled brightly.

"It's beautiful so far!" Lopmon exclaimed with a smile.

"Thanks, but it's not done yet," Yun said.

"Regardless, it's still beautiful. You're quite a talented artist!"

"Well, I'm not THAT good. Some people on this site I go to draw way better than me."

"So?"

"I want to get even better at drawing so I can become a mangaka or an anime maker."

"Mangaka? The people who make mangas?"

"Yep!"

"Oh! I didn't know! What a wonderful dream you have planned for yourself."

Yun put down her colored pencils and stroke Lopmon's ear, which made her giggle cutely.

"It's almost lunch time. You want anything in particular?" Yun asked as she got off of her chair and walked upstairs.

"I wouldn't mind having a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, if you please," Lopmon replied politely.

"You like jelly, eh? I don't," Yun said.

"Why not?"

"I dunno. I only eat peanut butter sandwiches."

As Yun and Lopmon came up the stairs, Yun accidentally heard Teruki having a conversation on the phone with Lucero and Terriermon by his side.

"Yes. He certainly remembers his way of talking, which I'll tell you more about later. Yes. Thanks, doctor. Have a good day. Bye," After that, Teruki hung up the phone and saw Yun and Lopmon looking.

"Ack! Sorry! We didn't mean to-" Yun exclaimed. But Teruki smiled.

"It's alright. In case you're wondering, I've scheduled a hospital visit for Lucero on Wednesday. He's going to have his stitches removed," Teruki explained kindly. Yun couldn't believe she had forgotten about Lucero's shoulder injury.

"Oh. I see," Yun said.

"But won't that hurt?" Lopmon asked.

"Not if you're under this thing called anesthesia. I had oral surgery back in January and I didn't feel a thing," Yun explained.

"By the way, Yun. You kept mentioning something about going to the movies later, right? What was it you wanted to see again?" Teruki asked.

"_Hoshi o Ou Kodomo_(2)! Why?" Yun exclaimed.

"Well, I get off work early this Friday, so how about we go when I come home?" Teruki said with a smile. Yun's green eyes lit up with joy and she leaped on her father and hugged him.

"Yaaaaay! You're the best, dad! I love you!" Yun exclaimed happily. Teruki stroke Yun's hair with his big hand.

"I love you too, dear. Alright, time to get in the shower," Teruki said as he let go of Yun and walked away, leaving Yun, Lucero, and the two floppy eared bunny Digimon all alone in the kitchen. Lucero was the first to speak.

"What were thou talking about again?" Lucero asked innocently.

"There's this movie that I really really want to see, but it was released in theaters weeks ago and I never got the time to see it. But I hear it's still in theaters and I wanna see it before it gets taken off," Yun explained happily.

"But won't a DVD be released later?" Terriermon asked.

"Yes, but they usually take a while," Yun replied.

"Can we go see it with you?" Terriermon asked again.

"Sure!" Yun exclaimed.

"Wheeee! Movies!" Terriermon cried out happily as he leaped onto Yun's shoulder.

"I've never been to a movie theater," Lucero said.

"Well this Friday will be your first time!" Yun said.

"Speaking of movies and TV, shall we watch more anime?" Lopmon asked politely.

"Yep! And I know the perfect anime the four of us can watch!" Yun exclaimed happily.

As they looked through Yun's collection of anime DVDs, all four of them picked out _Tamayura_(3) and decided to watch it. After it ended, they felt very relaxed and euphoric. They did other things throughout the morning too. They read manga (Yun read _More Starlight To Your Heart_(4), Lopmon read _Chi's Sweet Home_(5), Terriermon read _Plus Anima_(6), and Lucero read Twin Spica) together, played video games together (and against each other. Terriermon beat Lucero at Pokemon twice), told stories (Yun told Lucero about her adventures in the Digital World just now), and overall spent nice quality time together. Even Hisako and Teruki noticed how much Yun blossomed when she talked with her floppy eared Digimon friends and Lucero. They were very happy seeing the nice little scene.

Later, Teruki drove off to work. Ayaka had gone to a friend's house so Yun and Hisako were the only members of the Wakamiya family alone in the house (excluding Lucero). Hisako went out to water her garden. Lopmon followed her and assisted while Terriermon climbed trees and hopped all over the place jubilantly, happy to be outside under the sun's warm, golden effulgence. Yun and Lucero sat on the deck and watched them. Lucero decided to strike up a conversation.

"Lopmon and Terriermon are enjoying themselves, that I see real well," Lucero said.

"Yeah they are," Yun muttered.

"Terriermon is quite active and jaunty while Lopmon is docile and peaceful."

"That's true, but Lopmon can be playful and cute when she wants to me. But they're both my cute little friends."

"Thou doth truly love them, and they love thee, I can certainly see that. Perhaps it is because thou art very munificent and tender that they take to thee so well. Thou bestow them with the right amount of love, and if thou shouldst shed a tear, they comfort thee."

Yun blushed. "Well...yes, all of that's true, but I'm not that good!"

"Why ever not? My eyes never deceive me! Lopmon and Terriermon love thee very much!"

"Yes. I love them too. They're the best thing that ever happened to me...and you too! You're awesome too!"

"Am I?"

"Yeah! You're definitely more civilized than some of the kids in school. You're always polite and don't talk the way they do."

"I loathe bragging, but that is indeed true. There's never a paucity of mischief and transgressions."

"Transgressions mean naughty acts, right?"

Lucero nodded. Yun looked down at her folded hands and watched as Lopmon happily helped Hisako water some flowers and Terriermon as he tried to catch a butterfly.

"Lopmon and Terriermon...you don't know how I got them so I'll tell you. I was having a bad day at school. Nenji and Seiko kept being mean to me, even though my friends tried to stop them. When Mom and I got home, Nenji's mom slapped me in the face and yelled at me." Lucero gasped at this part. Thankfully Hisako and the Digimon didn't hear. "I cried my eyes out in my room, and when I stopped, I found their DigiEgg in my stuffed animals. Then they hatched into Conomon, Lopmon's baby form, and Zerimon, Terriermon's baby form. I was so happy. I did my best to raise them and teach them right and wrong and feed them and make sure they're loved. My efforts paid off, when Conomon noticed the scratch on my face. She used her Healing Rainbow Bubbles to make it all better. I was so touched. I cried after she did it, not because I was sad, but because I was so happy. Indescribably happy."

Lucero listened intently and attentively. It's true that he never heard the story of how and when Yun first met Lopmon and Terriermon, and admittedly was curious, but he never got the time to ask her about it. He found this time the perfect opportunity to ask her about it. He always had been curious about her relationship with the two floppy eared Digimon. He loved watching her play with them and raise them and shower them with all of her pure and innocent love. The sweet and innocent Yun, the energetic and playful Terriermon, the gentle and docile Lopmon, together. He became more and more cognizant of the fact that Yun was quite ardent about making sure they were as happy and well taken care of as possible (and was appalled upon hearing that Nenji's mom slapped her. Who would do that to another person's child?). To her, they seemed like her very own children. Whenever she had a wonderful day, she would tell them about it. If she had a story to tell, be it from her own life or from her fantasies, she told them about it. If she was sad and needed comforting, she went to them. Through all of that, none of them minded. He especially figured it out when Terriermon was depressed over scaring Yun when they first met Witchmon. Terriermon was guilty about having made Yun cry and put his life in danger for her sake. Lucero smiled at Yun and put his tender hand on hers.

"Thy love for them is undeniably and categorically pure. Thou art very munificent and ingenuous. I can certainly see why they cherish thee so much," Lucero said. "The love thou hast for them has tied the three of thee into a perfect circle of harmony."

Yun couldn't help but blush at Lucero's kind yet rather Shakespearian compliment. She blushed even after Hisako passed them with Lopmon and Terriermon happily trotting behind.

"Wow, Yun! You're red as a rose!" Hisako exclaimed.

"Yeah! Or a tomato!" Terriermon said. Lucero took his hand off of Yun's.

"Terriermon! Don't say inappropriate things like that!" Lopmon scolded.

"Hey! I wasn't saying it to be mean! Really! Don't be so uptight, Lopmon!" Terriermon snapped back, which made the three (Hisako, Yun, and Lucero laugh).

"No no. It's fine. I kinda remembered something embarrassing from my childhood, that's all," Yun explained.

"Uhh...yes! It's true! Indeed!" Lucero stammered. "She...was telling me about the time when she-"

"Cut your hair by yourself at two years old?" Hisako piped in. All four of them gasped, but Hisako smiled and decided to tell the story.

"Oh! Now that you mention it, I guess I'll tell you anyway! It was so funny! This one time, I was helping Ayaka prepare for her play at kindergarten before taking Yun to the barber shop so I could get her hair cut. I had only left her alone for two hours! When I went to get her, she had already cut her bangs! They were this long!" Hisako modified her fingers so she could show them the length of which her bangs were. Hisako's fingers were the length of small paper strips used to test for poison in various foods. "It was so cute! She looked like David Bowie!"

"Who's David Bowie?" Terriermon asked.

"He's one of my favorite American singers from the seventies! I used to listen to his music all the time as a girl, along with The Blue Hearts(7)! Ah, the memories!" Hisako clasped her hands together when she reminisced of her high school days, when she and her girl friends used to watch David Bowie on TV or go to The Blue Hearts concerts and stay up all night. Hisako's green eyes (darker than Yun's) sparkled when she became overcome with nostalgia. Lopmon took notice of this.

"She looks like you when you're being all happy and joyful, Yun," Lopmon said gently, which made Yun laugh a bit. Soon, they all went back inside and unwound. Suddenly, a sound broke the halcyon silence.

_Knock knock_

"Oh! I'll get it!" Hisako dashed for the door and answered it.

Much to her surprise, two little kids of seven years old are standing on her porch, looking up at her with wide, curious eyes and smiles on their faces. One of them is Aria, wearing a sleeveless orange dress with yellow and pink flowers on both the skirt hemline and the straps, white socks, and pink shoes, with Syakomon sitting shyly behind her. The other is Isao, with his shaggy crimson hair sticking out on all sides and navy blue eyes dark as night, wearing a dark brown short sleeved shirt with the word strength written on it in chalky white ink, blue jean capris, sagging white socks, and black and white sneakers, with Bearmon happily standing behind him. Hisako was a little awed by their presence.

"Umm...may I help you?" Hisako asked.

"Is Yun-chan here? We've come to play!" Aria said sweetly.

"Yeah! We wanna play with her, if you don't mind!" Isao edicted proudly.

Hisako, feeling rather charmed by their audacity and sweetness, smiled. "Yun's here. You can come in and play."

Hisako happily let them in. Isao, Aria, Bearmon, and Syakomon all walked in. When Hisako laid eyes on Syakomon, however, she gasped. "Oh my!"

Upon seeing Hisako's frightened reaction, Syakomon immediately blushed violently.

"See, Bearmon? I told ya she'd think I'm ugly!" Syakomon yelled.

"But she didn't say it," Bearmon told her.

"I know she's thinkin' it! Didn't you see her gasp just now?"

"She already knows we're Digimon and is cool with it. She's probably just surprised you changed!"

"That's what you think!"

Upon shedding her feelings of fear and shock, she looked at Syakomon with a smile.

"I'm sorry, dear. I don't think you're ugly at all. And he's right, you have changed. Pay no mind. Forgive me," Hisako told her kindly. Syakomon blushed a bit, but smiled and followed Aria, Isao, and Bearmon to find Yun. But it seemed Yun, Lucero, Lopmon, and Terriermon ran into them.

"Isao-kun! Aria-chan!" Yun exclaimed.

"Bearmon! Syakomon!" Terriermon edicted happily as he hopped toward them with all smiles and rosy cheeks. Bearmon and Syakomon greeted him and Lopmon happily.

"How've ya been, Terriermon?" Bearmon asked.

"I've been swell!" Terriermon said.

"I suppose you've digivolved," Lopmon said politely to Syakomon.

"Yes...but I still think my rookie form is ugly!" Syakomon muttered in response.

Yun invited them to her room and they hung out there.

"So what brings you two here?" Yun asked.

"We came to play!" Isao exclaimed.

"Aria-chan. How've you been since our adventure in the Digital World?" Lopmon asked.

"I've been good! And I loved it!" Aria exclaimed.

"You didn't think it was scary?" Bearmon asked timidly.

"Nope! Well, maybe I was scared a little bit, but everything turned out all right in the end!" Aria said.

"Yeah, that's true," Terriermon said. "If that guy Link hadn't saved me and Lopmon, we would've been dead meat!"

Lucero cocked his head to one side. "Who's Link?"

"He's this man who saved me and Terriermon when we got separated from Yun and Aria. He has a WarGreymon and seems to know a lot about the Digital World," Lopmon explained.

"Whoa! A grown up who knows about Digimon and has a WarGreymon? That sounds cool!" Isao edicted happily.

"Is he super strong and powerful?" Bearmon asked.

"Yep! He and his WarGreymon knocked out two DarkSuperStarmon in no time flat!" Syakomon backed him up with a smile.

"Art thou not going to see him again?" Lucero asked.

"We might go to the Digital World again later. Maybe not now, because I wanna enjoy the rest of my weekend before school starts tomorrow. I hear Hokuto-kun's gonna start school with us tomorrow," Yun explained.

"He knows what D-Chips are!" Terriermon exclaimed.

Suddenly, Yun stood up abruptly. "Ack! The D-Chips! I totally forgot! This is the perfect opportunity!"

In a flash, Yun grabbed her digivice and two D-Chips and dashed out into the back yard. Everyone else decided to follow her.

"Wait! Yun! Come back!" Lucero exclaimed as he gave chase.

They found Yun standing in the middle of the back yard and approached her.

"Yun-chan! What are you doing?" Isao asked.

"Yeah. You look like you're about to do something cool," Bearmon said.

"This is the perfect time to test out the D-Chips and see if they work!" Yun edicted proudly as she held her digivice in one hand, and the red heart-shaped D-Chip in another.

"But won't they only work in the Digital World?" Lopmon asked.

"There's only one way to find out. Do it, Yun-chan!" Syakomon told her. Yun nodded.

Yun found the black slip on the side of her digivice, gently and slowly pressed the heart-shaped D-Chip into it, and held the digivice in her hands. She closed her eyes and thought about calling the Digimon whose D-Chip her digivice holds.

"Oh fellow Digimon friend, hear my voice. I commandeth thee to reveal thyself to me. Appear before me, Bucchiemon!" Yun chanted in Lucero's old-fashioned talk and held her digivice in the air. A pinkish red light shot out from her digivice and into the air. About a few seconds later, a bigger version of the light descended onto the back yard, before the group of kids and Digimon. Once the light dissipated, out came Bucchiemon! He opened his eyes and looked around, feeling very confused.

"Wha? What? What just happened?" Bucchiemon asked himself, looking confused and beginning to feel anxious until he suddenly laid eyes on a very excited Yun. Upon locking eyes with her, all his anxiety faded away and he leapt on her.

"Yun-chan!"

"Bucchiemon!"

Yun and the red and white Digimon hugged each other like they were old friends who had been separated for a very long time. They spun around for a bit, then released each other.

"It worked! I called for you without any problems!" Yun exclaimed as she got her digivice and red D-Chip, which had fallen out. Bucchiemon smiled.

"I suppose you were testing the D-Chip?" Bucchiemon asked curiously.

"Yep! Sorry if I interrupted anything you were doing."

"No no. It's fine. I wasn't really doing anything. Oh? Is that your house?"

"Yeah. Sorry if it's kinda plain. We don't have towns like Fionn Village in this world."

"Oh, that's alright! I've always wanted to come to the human world, and now I have! How wonderful!"

Suddenly, Aria, Bearmon, Syakomon, and Isao were looking up at him curiously, with wide eyes.

"Wow! Yun-chan, is he one of your Digimon friends?" Isao asked.

"So cute!" Aria exclaimed as she held onto Bucchiemon's hand, which made him blush.

"Indeed he is!" Syakomon backed her up.

"Nice to meet you!" Bearmon gently shook Bucchiemon's other hand. Once they were done, they let go of him and gave him some space.

"These are my friends. That's Taketatsu Isao-kun and his Digimon, Bearmon, and the girl is Yukino Aria-chan and her Digimon, Syakomon!" Yun introduced her friends to Bucchiemon.

"A pleasure to meet you," Bucchiemon said. Suddenly, Terriermon flew onto his head.

"It's been a while! How've ya been?" Terriermon asked.

"I've been good. Oh!" Bucchiemon said when he suddenly remembered something. He rummaged through the big bow tied around his neck and pulled two books out.

"Yun-chan. These are for you," Bucchiemon handed the books to Yun.

"What are these?" Yun asked as she took them.

"The big orange one is a Digimon dictionary. It translates Digicode into human world languages, like Japanese or English. It also has the alphabet and both modern Digicode and ancient Digicode. This might help you read and write in Digicode if you're interested. The green one is a book that a Digimon wrote long ago. I think you'll like it very much. It's one of my favorite stories. I tried to give them to you after we defeated Kuwagamon, but you left so suddenly I wasn't able to do so, not that it was your fault," Bucchiemon explained kindly.

Yun smiled and held the two books to her chest.

"Thank you, Bucchiemon," Yun muttered. All of a sudden, Aria gently pulled on one of Bucchiemon's long antennae.

"These are hearts! You kinda look like a cupid!" Aria said. Bucchiemon laughed merrily.

"I do, don't I? I get told that a lot. But if you really want to see a cupid Digimon, there's one named Cupimon. Oh! I should mention! You remember the baby Digimon I often look after, right? One of them digivolved!" Bucchiemon explained.

"Really? How nice!" Lopmon said with a smile.

"Is he gonna digivolve further?" Bearmon asked.

"Actually, she's a girl, and yes she will later on," Bucchiemon said.

So, Yun, Lopmon, Terriermon, Aria, Syakomon, Isao, Bearmon, and Bucchiemon all played together in the back yard for quite a while. Bucchiemon is certainly happy to be in the human world, Yun is happy her D-Chip test worked, basically everyone was happy. Yun put her new books in her room so they would be safe, and Hisako didn't mind her cute new friend (Bucchiemon) hanging around. The kids and Digimon played and frolicked merrily and to their heart's content...until Yun saw someone hopping the fence and approaching her. She smiled when she saw who it was.

"Mel-chan!"

There was Melody, hopping the fence unannounced, running toward Yun with a grim look on her face. She wore her usual outfit: black short sleeved shirt, black pants, brown combat boots, and silver bracelet.

"Yun!"

Melody gripped Yun's shoulders abruptly, which frightened Yun a bit.

"Wha? What's wrong, Mel-chan?" Yun asked, feeling rather confused.

"Yun! You've gotta come to the beach! Now! Witchmon and Roachmon are back! And with big trouble!" Melody exclaimed.

"What? Again?" Yun yelled.

"Yeah! They've got a rabid Gesomon and an army of Otamamon! Come on! I've got Birdramon with me so I can take you there!" Melody exclaimed.

Knowing this was a situation she couldn't ignore, she decided to follow Melody. Isao, Bearmon, Syakomon, Aria, and Bucchiemon followed them too. They got onto Birdramon's back and flew away from Yun's house. Hisako witnessed Birdramon's entrance, which left her shocked. But Yun failed to notice this as Birdramon flew over her house. Once they were far from it, Melody noticed Bucchiemon.

"Oh? You've got a friend?" Melody asked.

"Yep! This is Bucchiemon! He's one of Yun's secondary Digimon!" Lopmon announced.

"Nice to meet you, fellow human!" Bucchiemon said.

"Secondary Digimon?" Melody asked.

"We'll explain later! Beating up Witchmon and Roachmon is more important!" Terriermon said.

"We shan't ignore potential destruction!" Lucero backed him up.

"Yeah. That's true. But he is cute, no doubt about that!" Birdramon piped in.

After a while, they finally arrived at the beach. Yun recognized it. She and her family often came here during the summer. But now it was starkly different. A giant white octopus with two big tentacles is sending waves all over the ocean, with black markings on its face and cables sticking out from it. Surrounding it are a myriad of small blue and red tad pole Digimon. Much to Yun's surprise, practically all the members of the Digimon Brigade are fighting it! All of their Digimon have digivolved! Minako, Gatomon, Hokuto, Kudamon, Rena, and Lekismon are fighting off the vast army of Otamamon. Riku, Firamon, Shunji, and Coredramon are fighting the giant squid. Kosuke, Angemon, Otoya, and Seasarmon are chasing after Roachmon and Witchmon, but to no avail.

"In case you're wondering, the giant squid over there is Gesomon. He's a champion level, virus attribute, mollusk Digimon. His attack is Coral Crusher," Melody explained as she read the information on her digivice.

"Yes. Thanks. The little tadpoles are Otamamon. The blue one's a virus attribute while the red one's a data attribute. They're both amphibian. Their attacks are Water Shot, Bubble Bomb, and Tadpole Slam...and to think I only thought Otamamon were blue!" Yun explained.

"There's no time to be fooling around! This Gesomon's a real tough cookie!" Birdramon piped in again.

"Okay! Let's have fried squid for dinner!" Terriermon exclaimed as he leaped off of Birdramon and digivolved into Gargomon. Lopmon digivolved into Turuiemon and Bearmon into Grizzlymon. Surprisingly enough, all of them are good at swimming. Gargomon, Turuiemon, and Grizzlymon didn't have any problems getting into the water and swimming toward Gesomon. Yun, Aria, Isao, and Syakomon are all on Grizzlymon's back, but they didn't get too deep into the water yet. They decided to check on Minako, Gatomon, Hokuto, and Kudamon as they fought a myriad of Otamamon coming their way on the board walk.

"Out of my way! Nyan! Lightning Paw!" Gatomon punched some Otamamon repeatedly until their Dark Emblems disappeared. Minako attacked them with her digisword. Hokuto caught one Otamamon and clung onto it as Kudamon purified it.

"Holy Ray!" The Otamamon fell unconscious and Hokuto impassively threw it back into the ocean.

"Mina-chan!" Yun called out.

"Look! It's Yun-chan! Nyan!" Gatomon yelled, which caught Minako and Hokuto's attention.

"Oh dear lord! Yun! I'm so glad you're here! There's so many Otamamon here we've lost count! Shunji and Riku are having a hard enough time taking on that Gesomon! Kosuke and Angemon are chasing after Witchmon and Roachmon!" Minako explained.

"Yeah! We're getting worn out! Nyan! Think you could lend a hand?" Gatomon asked.

"Not to worry! We'll help you out!" Yun explained.

"Thanks for coming, Yun. We could use the reinforcements," Kudamon said.

"Tear Arrow!" Lekismon pummeled some more Otamamon with her attacks while Rena trapped them with a diginet, something she came up with.

"Aria! Stay and help Mina-chan and Rena-chan while Isao-kun and I go after Gesomon!" Yun told her.

Aria and Syakomon stayed behind without protest and assisted Minako, Gatomon, Hokuto, Kudamon, Rena, and Lekismon with their epic Otamamon stampede. Isao, Yun, Turuiemon, Gargomon, Bucchiemon, and Grizzlymon swam toward the raging Gesomon and attacked.

"Jeez! Take forever, why don't you?" Shunji yelled sarcastically.

"Calm down, Shunji! At least be happy they're even here at all! Strike Bomber!" Coredramon scolded like a parent, then proceeded to slap one of Gesomon's flailing tentacles.

"Yun! The Dark Emblem's on one of Gesomon's tentacles!" Riku yelled so Yun could hear.

"It's true! I saw it myself, though Gesomon keeps throwing them around like crazy! Fira Bomb!" Firamon backed him up, then fired a flurry of fire balls at Gesomon, though they didn't seem to phase him.

"Thanks!" Yun yelled back.

"Time for some fried squid! Meteor Wing!" Birdramon shot flares down at Gesomon, but it knocked them away with its tentacles.

"Gargo Laser!"

"Ninja Kick!"

"Crescent Dawn!"

"Talon Arrow!"

The four Digimon assaulted Gesomon with their attacks, which actually worked. But they didn't hit the Dark Emblem. Yun attempted to slice it with her digisword, but was knocked away. Thankfully, she was saved by Turuiemon.

"Come back heeeeere!" Kosuke screamed angrily as he, Angemon, Otoya, and Seasarmon were chasing Witchmon and Roachmon around.

"Yard Sale Bomb!"

"Baluluna Gale!"

"Tee Dia!"

"Hand of Fate!"

All of their attacks collided and dissipated into the air.

"Nyeh nyeh! You can't catch us, weak little humans!" Witchmon taunted condescendingly.

"Don't toy with us, you knaves!" Angemon yelled.

"You humans are trippin', yo!" Roachmon yelled in very bad grammar.

"Roachmon, I'll let you handle everything here. I have things to do in the Digital World!" Witchmon said and opened up a digital portal.

"Oh, no you don't!" Kosuke and Angemon tried to go after her, but she zipped by so fast they couldn't catch her.

"Man! Even though we digivolved, we still can't get her!" Otoya complained.

"Not to worry, Otoya. She may have escaped us now, but the time in which we will defeat her will come. Let us be patient and keep Gesomon at bay first," Seasarmon said.

"Otoya! You go and help everyone fight Gesomon! Me and Angemon will go after Roachmon!" Kosuke commanded. Otoya and Seasarmon left him and Angemon alone without protest and went to help the others.

"Looks like we have to fight Roachmon alone, I suppose," Angemon said.

"Unfortunately yes. Let's squash this bug!" Kosuke said.

"Yes. Let's. But he may be stronger than he looks, so let's both be careful and make haste, Kosuke. I don't want you getting hurt again," Angemon explained.

The fights seemed to go on forever. It felt as though eons had gone by, but only two hours passed. Rena, Lekismon, Hokuto, Kudamon, Aria, Syakomon, Minako, and Gatomon all fought the Otamamon army and tried to keep them at bay. After about one agonizing hour, there were only 30 Otamamon left. At this point, Yun, Turuiemon, and Bucchiemon decided to go to the board walk and help them out. Melody, Birdramon, Otoya, Seasarmon, Riku, Firamon, Gargomon, Isao, Grizzlymon, Shunji, and Coredramon persisted and tried to keep Gesomon from the board walk so he wouldn't hurt any potential pedestrians walking by. Despite their efforts, Gesomon didn't seem like the type to give up and continued fighting them. Not only that, Kosuke, Angemon, and Roachmon kept duking it out, but nobody was winning. It was getting really annoying.

"Man! Doesn't this thing ever take a break?" Melody yelled angrily.

"I say! This thing must be high or something!" Riku exclaimed.

"High? What do you mean? He can't fly!" Firamon said.

"That's not the point! Keep him away from the board walk at all costs! Someone destroy his Dark Emblem already! This is getting insanely annoying!" Birdramon screeched.

"I know, right? This thing's gotta be cooked, no matter what!" Gargomon exclaimed.

"Grizzlymon! Sick 'em!" Isao edicted.

"You got it! Maul Attack!" Grizzlymon leaped out of the water and struck Gesomon in the face, weakening it just a little bit. This gave the Digimon the opportunity to land an all-out assault.

On the Otamamon side of things, Lucero managed to punch the Dark Emblems off of three Otamamon with his fists. Yun removed the last of them by kicking them in said areas. Syakomon pummeled them with endless black pearls like a bazooka. Finally, the last Otamamon was thrown into the ocean. Rena fell to her knees.

"Ahhhhh! That was sooooo exhausting! My legs feel like pudding!" Rena exclaimed. Lekismon also fell to her knees.

"Indeed! I don't think I have the energy to even swim!" Lekismon backed her up. Hokuto, Minako, and Gatomon also slumped to the ground.

"Man! Who knew taking on a giant army of tadpoles would be so grueling!" Minako said.

"Well, at least the smallest stuff is done and over with. Nyan!" Gatomon said. Yun was about to say something until Lucero beat her to it.

"Yun! Aria and Syakomon are swimming toward Gesomon!" Lucero exclaimed with worry in his blue eyes.

"WHAT?" All the kids and Digimon yelled in unison.

"Aria-chan! Our friends need our help! It's time to digivolve!" Syakomon edicted.

"Yeah! I'll help you out however I can!" Aria said.

Suddenly, her digivice began to emit a bright pink light. It crawled out of her digivice and consumed Syakomon. The light was so great it even made the ocean glow! This caught the attention of not just the kids, but the Digimon and Gesomon as well. Even all the Otamamon who were knocked out earlier watched in awe as Syakomon glowed in a ghostly pink light. Even Roachmon, Kosuke, and Angemon watched, awestruck by this new revelation.

"Syakomon, digivolve to..."

Syakomon got bigger and longer, enough to be a little bigger than Aria. Almost the same size as Yun. Aria was surprised to see that Syakomon digivolved into something she never expected.

"...Dolphmon!"

Dolphmon leaped gracefully out of the water with Aria on her back and raced through the water with great agility. Aria hung onto Dolphmon as tightly as she could, happy that Syakomon finally digivolved, and into a Digimon she started to like at that! But even though Aria and her Digimon are in the midst of battle, she noticed something odd. She saw other Dolphmon before, and as far as she knew, their fins looked rather jagged and had small holes in them, and scars above their snouts. Her Dolphmon's fins are perfectly clean and smooth, like fresh clothes that came out from under the iron. Not only that, her Dolphmon has no scar on her snout, and the stripes in between the fins on her back are peridot green instead of light blue. But Aria didn't find this important right now.

"Hey giant squid! You think you're so tough, eh? Come and get meeeee!" Dolphmon taunted the intransigent Gesomon mockingly, and Gesomon attacked.

"Coral Crusher!" Gesomon tried to attack Dolphmon and Aria with his giant tentacles, but Dolphmon swam so fast she practically evaded the attacks without a scratch.

"Aqua Mist!" A giant cloud of pure white and light blue smoke came out from Dolphmon's mouth, trapping a now tired and confused Gesomon inside. Gesomon looked around, trying to find his target. But he found it too late.

"Aria-chan! Do it now!"

"Up and at 'em!"

Dolphmon leaped into the air with Aria on her back. Aria, once she got high enough, leaped off of Dolphmon and stabbed Gesomon in the face with her digisword. Gesomon screeched in pain once the mist dissipated, which gave Aria the opportunity to leave (and be caught by a small group of Otamamon who came in to help), and Dolphmon the opportunity to attack.

"Pulse Blast!" Blue aquatic rings shot out from Dolphmon's mouth, hitting Gesomon's tentacle, the one with the Dark Emblem on it. All the other Digimon decided to attack with her...but with allies backing them up.

"Water Shot!"

The entire army of Otamamon got out from the ocean and helped them out by lending their attacks and assaulting Gesomon. Thankfully, the Dark Emblem on Gesomon's tentacle finally shattered, and a giant digital portal opened under the sea, sucking Gesomon inside. The Otamamon decided to follow it, but not before yelling, "Thank you!" to all the members of the Digimon Brigade and giving them grateful bobs of courtesy. Once they got in, the sea became calm and the Digimon went back to the board walk. Most of them de-digivolved.

"Wow, Aria-chan! I didn't know Syakomon could digivolve into Dolphmon! I only saw a little bit of your fight, but you were great!" Yun exclaimed, extoling Aria and lauding her for her ardent bravery.

"Thanks," Aria muttered.

"We both took down Gesomon, and the Otamamon army helped us out! Isn't that great? Maybe they helped us because we took the Dark Emblems off of them!" Dolphmon explained.

"Could be!" Patamon exclaimed happily.

"But man, was that exciting! We-" Yun wanted to ramble, but she couldn't...because of a bloodcurtling scream.

It was so loud that everyone became alert. It was Hokuto and Kudamon who saw it.

"Look! Up there!" Hokuto yelled. Once everyone looked, they were appalled by what they saw.

Roachmon is flying in the air with a happy and accomplished look on his face...and he's carrying someone in his arm. Who is he carrying?

Lucero!

"OH NOOOOOO!" Yun screamed as she saw Roachmon flying in the air with Lucero in his hands.

"Eh! Looks like Gesomon proved to be a great distraction after all! You humans are punier than the Gazimon, yo!" Roachmon mocked while Lucero struggled to free himself from Roachmon's clutches.

"Give him back, you filthy old letch!" Kosuke yelled as he and Angemon flew towards him.

"As if! Time to bounce! Ciao!" Roachmon opened a Digital Portal and zipped into it...but Kosuke, Angemon, Aria, and Dolphmon tried to stop him with their attacks.

"Hand of Fate!"

"Pulse Blast!"

"Release me now!" Lucero yelled as Roachmon dodged their attacks and zipped into the digital portal. Yun's heart sank.

_"NOOOOOO!"_ Yun screamed as loud as she could, angry at herself for not being able to notice earlier and save Lucero. The rest of the Digimon de-digivolved.

"Did you see that? I can't believe it! He just up and kidnapped Lucero!" Riku screamed.

"We just saw that, you twit!" Kosuke scolded angrily.

Most of the Digimon drooped their heads down sadly.

"If only we stayed in our champion levels a bit longer, we could've saved him..." Lopmon muttered. Minako walked up to them and put a hand on Lopmon's head.

"It's okay. He outsmarted all of us. I should've known he'd plan something like this since he was so interested in Lucero from the very beginning. But we'll get him back!" Minako told her kindly.

Suddenly, Yun stood up and faced the entire Digimon Brigade with a stern look on her face.

"Everyone. Tomorrow, after school, we're going to the Digital World...and getting Lucero back!" Yun edicted proudly and courageously.

"But why tomorrow? Shouldn't we go right now?" Riku asked.

"We need to give ourselves time to prepare and the Digimon time to regain their energy," Yun explained.

"Yeah. She's got a point," Rena told him.

"Wow! We're going to the Digital World? Awesome! I can't wait!" Isao exclaimed.

"This'll be fun!" Bearmon backed him up.

After a while, the kids and their Digimon went back home with a brand new resolve.

To go to the Digital World, defeat Roachmon and Witchmon, and get Lucero back safe and sound!

Author's Note: Chapter 21 is finished. I have nothing else to say other than I just proved myself to be the biggest retard on the face of the earth. Bye.

Footnotes:

1. Veda is Turkish for goodbye.

2. Hoshi o Ou Kodomo is the most recent movie created by Makoto Shinkai.

3. Tamayura is an anime series directed by Junichi Sato.

4. More Starlight To Your Heart is a manga by Hiro Matsuba.

5. Chi's Sweet Home is a manga by Kanata Konami.

6. Plus Anima is a manga by Natsumi Mukai.

7. The Blue Hearts were a popular Japanese punk rock band who rose to fame in the late 80's and early 90's.


	22. An Unlikely Friend

Author's Note: Hiiiiiiiiiiiiii everyone! Konnichiwa minna-san! It's me, Firechick! How are you all today? I am sooooooooo happy right now! Wanna know why? Because one of my favorite anime, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, is gonna be English dubbed and released on DVD February 14th! I can't wait to own it! I'm kinda sad that the English cast isn't what I expected, but oh well. Who knows. Maybe I'll love these actors and actresses. Not only that, the manga's been licensed by my all time favorite manga licensing company, Yen Press, along with the manga for Heart no Kuni no Alice, my friend Miki's all time favorite manga! And to think I was having such an awful day yesterday (caused by yours truly). Hooray for anime and manga awesomeness! Well, I might as well work on this! Ladies and gentlemen, heeeeeeeeere's Digimon: A Seraphic Tale chapter 22!

EPISODE 22: An Unlikely Friend

It happened all too fast. Once he was mollifying an Otamamon and making sure it got into the ocean safely, a minute later he's trapped in the yucky, repulsive arms of a disgusting and noisome Roachmon, who obviously smelled horrid and putrid. He could see it all too clearly. Seeing all the world getting smaller before him, the kids looking like little stick figures on a child's first drawings, his feet not touching the ground, the childrens' shocked and angry faces, his own life hanging in the balance, and falling into a world of nothing but vast blue backgrounds, white square grid lines, ones and zeroes. Of course, he knew where he was going. The Digital World. He didn't understand why Roachmon suddenly gained interest in him. He remembered that Roachmon screamed upon seeing that he's, as Roachmon said, alive, should be dead, and that his master destroyed him. He couldn't understand what Roachmon meant. But then again, he didn't remember anything before meeting Yun, and he didn't want to consider the possibility that he, in fact, HAD met Roachmon and his supposed master before. But right now, all he wanted was to go back to the human world, reunite with Yun, and practice learning self-defense skills since his fighting skills are a bit lacking.

Even though he's surfing through the grid-like world, he should be scared or silent or cowering in fear. But no. He wasn't scared at all. In fact, Lucero didn't have time to be scared at all! Why? Because he's too busy duking it out with Roachmon! Upon entering the bridge between the two worlds, Lucero decided he wouldn't let himself be trapped by this ugly, disgusting, repulsive roach and decided to fight back and free himself from Roachmon's clutches. Lucero and Roachmon got into a big brouhaha, in which they kicked and punched and slapped and hit, all the while Roachmon was making sure Lucero remained in his arms and Lucero tried to get away. They floated through the grid, struggling and fighting each other. Neither of them had any plans on giving up.

"Let me go!" Lucero kicked Roachmon in the leg and tried to escape, but Roachmon managed to grab Lucero by the arm.

"You ain't gettin' away from me! My Master's gonna be spittin' mad once he sees you alive!" Roachmon tried to wrap Lucero under his other arm, but Lucero flailed his limbs around and struggled so much that even Roachmon had a hard time with him.

"Thou hast no right to kidnap me!" Lucero kicked him again, this time in the stomach, but not enough to make Roachmon stop breathing.

"At least your weird flowery talk hasn't changed much! Quit bein' a brat, yo!" Roachmon tried to tie Lucero down with a rope. This was the absolute last straw for Lucero.

"RELEASE ME NOW!" Lucero screamed wildly and punched Roachmon in the face so hard that Roachmon actually let go of Lucero. Roachmon screamed as Lucero punched him square in the face. Now the both of them were floating apart and away from each other. To Lucero, this was his opportunity to escape as he faced another part of the grid-like world and floated there. To Roachmon, this was a potential calamity. Lucero was getting away, and he needed to get him back.

"Come back here, yo! I ain't done wit' you yeeeeeet!" Unfortunately for Roachmon, Lucero was sucked into the current and he was not able to catch him. Lucero found an entrance and fell into it. As did Roachmon, but he fell aimlessly into it.

As for Lucero, the entrance to a part of the Digital World was a few feet above the ground, and he fell on some grass, which broke his fall. He did feel a jolt of pain stream through his back and it hurt. But once he opened his blue eyes and looked around, he saw that he was no longer on the board walk by the beach anymore. Before him is a very vast and halcyon meadow, full of green grasses and a few flowers popping up here and there. The sky above him is perfectly creamy white, with some splotches of mango orange, chrysophrase green, and poppy pink. No, there are no clouds. The sky itself is all white, no clouds. Lucero could feel a nice, gentle breeze caressing him and making his blonde locks sway a little bit. Once he regained his composure, he stood up and looked around. He saw a brook with a river running merrily through it, along with some rocks around it, big and small. He saw some small pink Digimon with yellow beaks flying around. One of them happened to catch notice of Lucero and flew up to him curiously, with big blue eyes. The little Digimon is soft and furry, covered with pink hair, and a red feather tipped with yellow is protruding from its head. The little bird Digimon smiled sweetly at the confused Lucero.

"Hello!" The bird Digimon said in a cute voice, which made Lucero smile a bit.

"Hello. Who art thou?" Lucero asked.

"I'm Poromon!" The bird Digimon, Poromon, exclaimed cutely. Lucero couldn't help but stroke his fur a little bit.

"I'm honored to meet thee," Lucero said.

"You talk funny."

"I know. I'm told that a lot."

"You look...familiar. Do I know you?"

Lucero cocked his head to one side in confusion. "Uhh...I'm afraid I have no prior knowledge of thee. I'm sorry."

Despite Lucero's answer, Poromon smiled. "Okay! Bye-bye!" After that, he flew back to his group.

Lucero looked around and saw some more Digimon. One is a green worm trying to climb a rock. One is a peacock-esque thing with a blue head, a lighter blue body, a crown on its head, red eyes, a red bow tie, red and white shoes, and a back side consisting of nothing but a big green bushel of flowers. It flew to a small tree and picked some fruit out of it. Two of them are beige stump-like things with blue eyes that are arguing with each other. Another is a little thing with a pumpkin on its head. The final Digimon he saw is a little green apple thing with big rosy cheeks and a cute demeanor. The little apple-like Digimon caught sight of Lucero and found him interesting, and decided to approach him with its big beady black eyes.

"Pipi!" The little green Digimon squeaked happily, which caught Lucero's attention. Lucero, charmed by the cute little Digimon's presence, smiled at it and kneeled in front of it.

"Who art thou, little one?" Lucero asked.

"Pipi!" The Digimon replied. From what Lucero saw, the Digimon is probably a baby whose speech hasn't quite developed yet. He smiled, stroke the little thing's head, and walked away.

After a while, Lucero stood in the middle of the meadow and looked up at the sky, right at the blue green and malachite sphere with pink lines of light protruding from it.

_'I'm in...The Digital World...'_ Lucero thought wistfully.

_In the human world..._

A day had passed since the Gesomon fiasco last night. Bucchiemon had already gone back home (The Digital World). The night before, Yun made sure to pack some small packs food and other essentials into a green butterfly-themed bag that Minako got for her long ago. Yun wanted more than anything to get Lucero back at all costs. She didn't care what would happen, but her mind is plagued with all kinds of questions. Where is Lucero? Is he alright? Has he really been kidnapped and thrown into Roachmon's master's inner sanctum? Is he scared? Yun couldn't help but wonder, and she continued to wonder even at school, though she made sure to pay attention to the lessons. Also the night before, she texted every member of the Digimon Brigade, telling them to meet at the park with their Digimon right after school along with their Digimon. Yun was absolutely dreading her schedule right now (Her schedule goes like this: 1st period homeroom, second period art, third period health, fourth period math, fifth period lunch, sixth period recess, seventh period English, eighth gym, and ninth science). Despite her efforts in making sure she paid attention and took notes, all she wanted to do was go to the Digital World and save Lucero.

However, despite her dragging herself through the schedule like a sloth, she did notice something else, which she found during math class. Mrs. Takahashi made an important announcement.

"Alright kids! Listen up! Just so you know, our math test is this Friday, so you better study real hard and real good, because this test counts for 20% of your grade! I don't want to see any F's on those papers! Got it?" Mrs. Takahashi edicted sternly.

After her announcement, the kids had to go into groups for a class assignment. It's then that one girl approached her.

"Wakamiya-san?" A girl asked when she approached Yun. She has long light brown hair covered by a purple hat and matching light brown eyes. She is wearing a short sleeved light blue shirt with white cuffs, beige jean shorts, red and white shoes, and has an orange bag slung over her shoulder with purple flowers on it. Yun recognized her.

"Oh! Harima-san?" Yun said.

"Yeah! I was wondering if maybe I could-" She couldn't finish her question because Seiko suddenly appeared and grabbed her by the arm.

"Shione-chan! I'm so glad I found you! We need a final member of our group!" Seiko dragged Shione away from Yun, but not before giving her a rather wicked smile and glance. Yun simply scoffed at Seiko and joined Otoya, Riku, and another classmate so the assignment can be done.

As the day went on, Yun began noticing that Shione is acting strange. They were more classmates than friends, but Yun knew her enough to know that something about her is off today. They weren't on bad terms, that's for sure. But today, Yun had been approached by Shione more than five times in five classes. They shared five classes together so Yun knew she was there. Yun also noticed that whenever Shione tried to finish her question, Seiko or members of her clique always dragged her away by force. Yun did know that Shione was often approached by Seiko's clique and had been repeatedly given the opportunity to be part of them, but she ALWAYS declined. However, despite Shione's ardent and straightforward denials, Seiko always persisted and kept going after Shione, trying to bring her into her clique. Yun didn't find Seiko's going after Shione strange anymore, but she found Shione approaching her five times rather strange.

She had no idea that Shione approached her for a very personal reason, and she was going to find out what it was at the end of the day.

Once science class was halfway done, Yun finished her assignment early and requested to go to the bathroom. Right as she was about to turn a corner, she heard yelling coming from the bathroom.

"Quit bothering me, Shimizu! What part of I don't want to be part of your stupid, prissy little clique DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?" That was Shione's angry voice. Yun stopped where she was. She didn't want to eavesdrop, but she really wanted to go inside. To do her business. But if Seiko and her clique were really in there, they would notice her immediately and do anything to mess with her. Yun stayed where she was and listened (unintentionally) to their conversation.

"You're the one who doesn't understand. I'm trying to save you. Save you from that retard, Wakamiya," Seiko said condescendingly and maliciously.

"Save me? Yeah right! You don't want to save anyone but yourself, and Wakamiya's NOT a retard!"

"Shione-chan-"

"Don't call me by my name, Shimizu!"

"You'd be much better off if you were with me and my friends. We're actually better than Wakamiya and her little loser league!"

"Oh yeah, says the girl who thinks the area of a circle is 2 pi r! If anything, you're the one who's retarded!"

"You take that back!"

"No! And for your information, I'd MUCH rather be friends with Wakamiya than someone like you anyway! All you and your friends do are talk about nail polish and gossip and bully people who you think aren't fit to be in your presence! You suck! Wakamiya's actually _nice_ compared to a nasty little witch like you! She helped me with my English assignment when I didn't understand parts of it! She doesn't act all conceited and egotistical when she does well on tests and stuff! She actually works hard and does whatever she can to get good grades honorably! I've been trying to be friends with her all year yet you keep dragging me away! I'm sick and tired of it! I'm not gonna sit by and let you step all over me!"

"If you be friends with her, your life will be miserable!"

"My life's already miserable! I have enough to deal with at home, and being friends with Wakamiya will actually help me get away from it for a while! You'll never understand how important this is to me! I'm done dealing with you! For the last and final time, I AM **_NOT_** GOING TO JOIN YOUR CLIQUE! And don't EVER try to coerce me or drag me into it either! Quit following me like you're some stalker or something! That's it! I'm done with you! For good! I HATE YOU!"

After that eloquent piece of rhetoric, Shione burst out from the bathroom door and dashed away from the scene. Shione didn't notice a very surprised Yun standing there, and Yun didn't try to approach her or go into the bathroom. Seiko came out afterward, and Yun made sure she hid from her sight. Thankfully, Seiko didn't catch sight of her, which gave Yun the opportunity to go in.

Seeing that scene really shook Yun up. Not in a bad and traumatizing way. It made Yun realize something. All the times Shione approached her, not just today, but all year, it was all because Shione wants to be friends with Yun. Yun couldn't believe it. She couldn't believe someone as outgoing and exuberant as Shione would want to be friends with someone as timid and easily frightened as Yun. But then again, Yun was paired up with Shione for projects a few times, and Shione turned out to be quite the nice girl. Bright, headstrong, and optimistic, she was. However, Yun never heard Shione mention anything about liking anime or manga, so Yun didn't really bother telling her about her likes and dislikes. But after that scene, Yun couldn't help but wonder. Perhaps...maybe she can be friends with Shione after all.

_'Alright. I've decided. After school, I'll find Shione-chan and be friends with her. It's what she wants, isn't it? Who knows. Maybe she'll turn out to be better than I thought,'_ Yun thought as she went back into her science class. Yun drew pictures the rest of the period. Then, the final bell rang.

_riiiiiiing_

Everyone left the school building once the bell rang. Strangely enough, it seemed fate was on Yun's side. Kosuke couldn't come to the park until later because he needs to take care of his mother for a while, Otoya has to help prepare for the church's next Sunday school and stay with the members of the choir for practice, Aria needs permission from her stepmother, and the Nobara twins needed to get some chores done before they went anywhere (much to Riku's dismay). Yun decided to take this time to find Shione. But she couldn't find her.

That was because Shione was already walking home.

With her purple book bag and orange purse on her back, Shione walked on the sidewalk with a not so joyous look on her face. She sighed as she walked further along.

"Seriously, Shimizu is so stubborn it's unbelievable! She's not as bad as my big sister, but still! Me, into her posse? No sir! I don't want anything to do with her! No way am I hanging out with people like her! I'm gonna grow up, go to high school, make some nice friends, go to college, receive training on how to take care of disabled kids, and be a special ed teacher! Nothing will stop me, no matter what. Mom always says to calm down and carry on, and I'll do just that," Shione muttered to herself.

Once she arrived in front of a dark brown house, she noticed a young girl sitting on the porch crying. She looked shorter than Shione by about half a foot, with shorter hair the same color as Shione's. But this girl has nice blue eyes, like sapphires. She looks to be about nine years old in age, and has her bangs part down the middle, mixing with the rest of her hair. She is wearing a short sleeved orange shirt under a pair of deep blue overalls, red and white shoes, and light green socks. Shione became alert upon seeing the crying girl and ran to her.

"Mikuni! What's wrong?" Shione asked, while making hand gestures. Sign language. Mikuni pulled out a dark grey cell phone, punched in some letters, and showed it to Shione.

_"Daddy and Himari-Neechan are yelling again,"_ Mikuni typed.

Shione felt her heart sink again, but for a totally different reason all along. Shione grimaced, because she can actually hear yelling coming from inside her house. Mikuni calmed herself down while Shione hopped onto the porch.

"Stay here," Shione signed. She opened the door a crack, and already her ears were assaulted by the vociferous voices of her dad and her older sister, apparently engaging in an epic yelling brouhaha.

"Do you realize what you've done, Himari?" A man in his mid-40's with glasses screamed angrily at another girl, banging his fist against the wall and not showing any clemency at all.

"What's it to you, old man?" The taller girl, Himari, yelled back. She seems to be about sixteen with Shione's light brown hair and dark brown eyes, but she seems to be in the plump department as her stomach is protruding slightly.

"As if we weren't in a bad enough situation already, you had to go and get pregnant!"

"I didn't know, Dad! I didn't find out until two weeks ago!"

"We don't have the means to raise another child, Himari, nor do you have any experience in parenting! And you're in your junior year of high school for crying out loud! Couldn't you have waited until you got much older?"

"I didn't even know, Dad! I'll get an abortion! I just need the money!"

"You can't! Do you seriously expect us to just have 100,000 yen magically appear in thin air and heap it onto you? Money doesn't come from trees, Himari! Especially in this stupid economy! And besides, you're too far along! It's too late to get one anyhow!"

"How was I supposed to know how far along I was?"

"You could've gone to a hospital and gotten checked, but NOOOOO! You had to laze around and wait for the worst to happen!"

"If I went to a hospital they would've told you about it, and I knew you'd freak out!"

"Did you seriously expect us to be happy with this screw up of the century?"

"No! And besides, once I give birth I'll put it up for adoption! Happy?"

"It's not as simple as that, Himari!"

"Then have Mikuni take care of it! She's deaf and can't hear a thing, so she won't hear the thing crying! That'll-"

_SLAP!_ Absolutely overcome with anger, Himari's father slapped Himari square in the face, causing Himari to fall to the ground. She didn't even bother to clutch her stomach and protect her developing baby. Both of them became absolutely incensed.

"Don't EVER try to heap your problems onto Mikuni! This is the problem, Himari! You never want to take responsibility for your own actions and instead choose to put them on other people just for your own self-satisfaction! You always believe that putting your own problems onto someone else's shoulders will make everything better! Get it in your head, Himari! The world doesn't revolve around you! Stop being so selfish and irresponsible!"

"Why do you care more about that stupid deaf retard than me? I do _EVERYTHING_ for you yet you don't even care! You spend all your time and money on Mikuni and don't give a rat's hat about me! You're the one who's selfish!"

Not wanting to stick around and have her ears pounded on, Shione closed the door, took Mikuni by the hand, and walked into the woods. Shione and Mikuni had been doing this a lot since Himari and their dad had suddenly started screaming at each other. They didn't go too far so they didn't get lost. They went far enough to not hear their yelling. This was their means of escape, even though their parents didn't exactly approve of it. Shione always had her cell phone on her so she could call them and let them know where she was, so there wasn't any problem with it as far as she knew. They sat on a fallen log and watched the birds go by. Mikuni shed some more tears and continued clutching her big sister's hand, not wanting to let go. Shione, feeling guilty about what happened, smiled sadly at Mikuni.

"Sorry you had to go through that," Shione said and signed. Mikuni grabbed her cell phone again and typed in another sentence.

_"I'm sorry for being so stupid, dumb, and deaf. I wish I was normal and I want to hear!"_ Mikuni typed. This saddened Shione.

"What are you saying? It's not your fault! You didn't wish for all this. Stuff just happens. Mom says it's a part of life so we have to deal with what we have. Don't call yourself stupid and dumb. That's not true!" Shione explained while making hand gestures at the same time.

_"But Himari-Neechan's right. Mommy and Daddy always spend money on my hearing aids and special classes at school. They don't do much for her anymore. I feel bad for her. I wish I could make her happy,"_ Mikuni typed. Shione hugged her little sister for a bit, then looked her in the eye solemnly.

"I'm glad you care about Himari-Neechan, even though she's always mean to you. Like I said, it's not your fault. Stuff happens. How about this? After I finish homework, how about we walk to the ice cream place and grab some ice cream? That'll make you better, right?" Shione told her while signing. Mikuni finally smiled and typed something into her cell phone.

_"Yes! Can I have chocolate with the brown sprinkles?"_ Mikuni typed with a smile on her face.

"Yep! Anything you want!" Shione exclaimed happily. Mikuni was about to rejoice happily when something caught her attention. Shione could tell because of Mikuni's body language and the way she's trying to stand on her toes.

"See something interesting?" Shione asked while making a sign.

All Mikuni did was point deeper into the forest.

Shione looked and found herself frozen in place with awe and surprise. There's a big white deer with blue hair, horns, and markings eating leaves off of a tree! Both Shione and Mikuni were entranced by the majesty and beauty of this strange creature and everything about it. She couldn't believe such a thing existed. They were both silent and watched as the tall, slender white deer delicately ate leaves off of a tree and enjoyed every minute of it. Just the sight of this tall, mysterious looking deer placated the hearts of these two girls and gave them a sense of tranquility. The deer plodded away from the tree and was about to munch on some more leaves protruding from another tree until its pretty red eyes locked onto the two girls.

Both the deer and the two girls were silent and frozen in place. The girls were taken aback by the deer's slender neck and legs, its big, strong blue horns, its cherry red eyes, and its majestic beauty, while the deer was taken aback by the girls' presence and new knowledge of its existence. Neither of them moved even a single inch. Not one bit. They were about to remain that way for a while...if it hadn't been for Witchmon suddenly appearing out of a digital portal that popped out in between them. Witchmon fell onto the ground, getting dirt on her face and dress. She got up, looking very irritated.

"AAAARRRGH! What the heck is LadyDevimon thinking? Shoving me into the human world like this! Why I oughta-huh?" Witchmon wailed like a very spoiled and self-centered sixteen year old girl (Himari, anyone?) but stopped when she noticed both Shione, Mikuni, and the white deer looking at them with confused faces. Witchmon screamed upon laying eyes on the deer.

"YEEEEK! You're that Moosemon who I branded long ago!" Witchmon exclaimed.

"So we meet again, Witchmon! You're a wicked thing, indeed!" Moosemon snapped, preparing himself for a battle. Witchmon was about to fly away when she saw Shione and Mikuni, clinging to each other. Shione decided to speak.

"Who the heck are you?" Shione asked courageously.

"Ugh! Another human!"

"You're not from around here, are you? Care to explain yourself, witch?"

"It's Witchmon to you! I'm a Digimon! You know what? Screw it! I'm angry and I wanna take it out on somebody! I know! You're perfect! Time to unleash my wrath!"

Shione stepped in front of Mikuni with fire in her eyes. "I'll take your wrath any day! But lay a hand on my sister and you're mincemeat!"

"Says you! Baluluna Gale!" Witchmon got her broom out and unleashed a swirling tornado of air. Shione knew she was being reckless, but she couldn't help but want to protect Mikuni from this strange person.

Thankfully enough, Moosemon decided to step in.

"Hanging Twister!" Moosemon unleashed his own tornado at Witchmon's attack, and the two gusts of wind collided and dissipated. Witchmon decided to use this opportunity to brand Moosemon again.

"Eat this!" Witchmon got the stone out and pressed it onto Moosemon's head.

But strangely enough...nothing happened. Witchmon noticed and became confused. Even Moosemon, Shione, and Mikuni were confused as to what was currently happening.

"Eh?" Witchmon pressed the stone onto Moosemon's head again. Nothing.

"What? What? WHAT? What the freak? Why won't you get branded?" Witchmon banged Moosemon on the head repeatedly, but a Dark Emblem wasn't appearing. Moosemon got irritated.

"Horn Blade!" He smacked Witchmon with his horns and sent her flying against a tree. Witchmon popped out of it with leaves in her hair.

"Waaaaagh! I totally forgot! Dark Emblems don't work on the same Digimon twice!" Witchmon wailed, which left all three of them confused.

"Are you done being a whiny little brat yet?" Shione asked. This made Witchmon choleric.

"HOW DARE YOU CALL ME A BRAT!" Witchmon got her broom out and flew towards them so she could attack them. In a flash, Moosemon caught Witchmon's broom with his horns.

"I don't think so!" Moosemon tried to push Witchmon away. As he did, he looked back at the two girls.

"Girls! I'll hold her off! Run away! Go somewhere safe!" Moosemon commanded.

"But...what about you?" Shione asked.

"I'll be fine! I'll deal with her! Go on! Run!" Moosemon replied again. Suddenly, Witchmon got out of Moosemon's horns and raised her hand up in the air.

"You ain't seen nothing yet! Aqua Pressure!" Once Witchmon snapped her fingers, a huge wave of water popped out and streamed toward them.

"Mikuni!" Shione quickly wrapped her arms around Mikuni's head, enough to cover both of her hearing aids, and pulled her into her chest as she was hit by the wall of water. It didn't hurt her as much as she thought because Moosemon stepped in front of them and held off most of it, so they didn't drown. Once the water disappeared, Moosemon and Shione both looked up at Witchmon with angry faces.

"You're terrible!" Shione yelled as Mikuni squirmed out of her arms.

"I second that! Leave these girls alone, you knave! They have nothing to do with you, so I suggest you leave them out of whatever evil schemes you're planning! Go back to the Digital World this instant!" Moosemon yelled. Witchmon sighed.

"Fine! I only wanted to kill some time and release some of my anger anyhow! Bye!" Witchmon opened a digital portal and zipped into it, leaving Moosemon, Shione, and Mikuni all alone. Shione and Mikuni both didn't mind that their clothes were a tad wet. Moosemon took a look at the two girls with concern in his eyes.

"Why didn't you run as I told you to? Witchmon is a powerful Digimon! She could've drowned you both! She-" Moosemon scolded them briefly, but stopped when he saw the sparkly looks in both Shione and Mikuni's eyes.

"WOW! You're soooo cool! You were awesome back there! Are you seriously a Digimon?" Shione asked happily as she gazed at Moosemon with her bright brown eyes, shining merrily. Moosemon couldn't help but blush a bit.

"Y-Yes. I am a Digimon," Moosemon replied.

"A Digimon! I can't believe it! One of my favorite childhood cartoons is actually real! Awesome! And you're the prettiest Digimon I've seen!" Shione squealed like a happy fangirl at an Elvis concert. Moosemon smiled.

"Thank you for the complement. I'm glad you're alright," Moosemon said.

"Oh! Hi! I'm Harima Shione, and this is my sister, Harima Mikuni!" Shione introduced herself and Mikuni to Moosemon. Mikuni typed into her cell phone and showed it to Moosemon.

_"Nice to meet you!"_ It said. Moosemon looked at it with a confused face and cocked his head to one side.

"I...can't read that," Moosemon muttered.

Shione sighed. "You can't? Oh, I see. You Digimon must have your own language or something. Sorry. Mikuni can't hear so she communicates by either sign language or typing into her cell phone," Shione explained.

"She can't...hear? Or talk?"

"She talks a little, but it's usually really simple words that even little kids can understand. Oh! Enough about us, how about you?" Shione explained.

Moosemon, Shione, and Mikuni grew to really like being in each other's presence. After a while, Moosemon laid on the ground while Shione and Mikuni were sitting on him. Mikuni is ruffling his neck hair while Shione had her head in between his antlers.

"So you two girls live over there?" Moosemon asked.

"Yeah. We're actually not allowed to come out here, but my dad and my big sister are having a yelling brouhaha and we don't like it, so we come here so we don't have to hear it," Shione explained.

"Ah, I see. Too loud for you? I know how that feels."

"I know, right? They're always yelling, and we hate it!"

"Exactly...what are they yelling about?"

"Well...our big sister Himari's been hanging out with her new boyfriend a bit too much. About two months ago she disappeared for nearly a whole day and nobody knew where she was. She came back, but our parents were pretty ticked off. They grounded her good, but it didn't work."

"What had she been doing?"

"I don't know the details, but she's been with her boyfriend a lot. That's about all I know. But about a week ago...we found out that Himari's having a baby."

"A baby? A human baby?"

Shione nodded silently.

"Oh! How wonderful! A new life is always welcome in my book, be it human or Digimon! Your family must be so happy!"

Shione became a little silent and dejected.

"What's...wrong? Did I say something bad?"

"No. See...our family's been hit pretty hard by the bad economy. Dad lost his job and is looking for a new one with no luck, and Mom's been working more hours just to make ends meet. We don't have the money to raise a baby, let alone buy stuff for it. But Dad's angry at Himari just for getting pregnant. It's really thrown our family into upheaval."

"How can the birth of a new life throw a family into upheaval? New lives are to be celebrated and welcomed!"

"Yeah, but the timing is bad. See, Himari's only 16. She's still a kid and is just starting her junior year in high school. She's too young and inexperienced to have a kid, let alone take care of it. It also doesn't help that she's selfish, irresponsible, disrespectful, and is always causing trouble. She always wants to throw her problems onto other people and not solve them herself. A few minutes ago, she was yelling at Dad and suggesting that Mikuni take care of the baby since she's deaf. Now don't get me wrong, I'd be thrilled to have a niece or nephew and teach them stuff. But now's not the time to have a kid. For Himari, I mean. She could've waited until she was much older, got married, got a nice job, and gained experience with taking care of herself, as Dad said, but she just up and got pregnant too early. Plus there's Mikuni to worry about. She's in special ed classes at her school and Mom and Dad have to work real hard just to pay for her hearing aids and medical bills. It's really tough on us Harimas altogether."

Moosemon sighed. "Now I see why it can be a problem. I'm sorry your family's in a tight spot. I wish I could help in some way."

"It's not your fault! Why would it be?" Shione said. "Besides, Himari's not the only one. Lots of kids are having babies too early for their own good. It's kinda an epidemic."

"Hmmm...I suppose humans can be rather brash and reckless sometimes."

"You're telling me! Oh! Sorry! I didn't mean to heap all my problems on you. It's just-"

"I know, and I'm happy you told me, Shione. Lots of people want someone to confide to about our problems. Even we Digimon want a little solace once in a while. Shione...you and Mikuni are nice girls. I like you two a lot."

Shione blushed a bit, but she didn't let it stop her from smiling. "I sure never expected Digimon to be real!"

"I've heard that a couple times."

"Anyway, now onto a happier subject...see, there's this girl I really want to be friends with."

"Really?"

"Yeah. She's really nice, sweet, and innocent, like Mikuni. She does well in school, loves anime and manga, and is just plain awesome. I've tried approaching her a few times, but these other girls keep taking me away from her. They don't want me being friends with her. They think she's stupid and retarded and a loser, but I don't think that's true."

"Now who might this girl be?"

"Her name's Wakamiya Yun."

Moosemon's ears perked up. "Huh? Did you just say Wakamiya Yun?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Oh! Oh! I actually know her!"

"Whoa! Seriously?"

"Yes! In fact, not too long ago she and her Digimon saved me!"

"She has Digimon too?"

"Yes! Oh! I'm sorry to surprise you, Shione. Truly, I don't mean to."

"It's alright!"

"Oh! How about I take you to her? I've recently developed the ability to smell familiar scents coming from both humans and Digimon. I know Yun's scent by now, so how about I take you to her?"

Shione beamed. "That'd be awesome!"

Moosemon stood up. "Alright! Here we go! Hold on tight, girls!"

Shione and Mikuni clung to Moosemon's neck as Moosemon slowly and delicately plodded away.

During this time, most of the kids in the Digimon Brigade had to get some things done before heading off to the Digital World. Now, all the kids and Digimon have arrived, and Kosuke was the last to arrive.

"You're late, Kosuke!" Melody scolded with her arms crossed.

"Yeah! Don't keep us waiting!" Biyomon sneered.

"Come on! At least be happy I'm here at all!" Kosuke retorted back.

"Well, better late than never, right?" Patamon said.

"I agree," Lunamon said.

"I second that notion! Wan!" Salamon piped in.

"So! Is everyone ready?" Yun asked. Everyone nodded. Yun got her digivice out.

"Alrighty! Digimon Brigade, it's time to-" Yun was about to press the door button that would send them to the Digital World. Unfortunately, Yun didn't get the chance to press it...because of a vociferous BANG! stopping her from doing so. The ground shook and it made everyone tremble and almost lose their balance.

"What was that?" Coronamon exclaimed.

"I have no idea!" Shunji exclaimed.

Kudamon, Lopmon, Terriermon, and Lunamon's ears all perked up.

"A Digimon is here!" Kudamon exclaimed.

"What? Already?" Minako yelled.

"Yes! We can feel it! It's close by!" Terriermon said.

"Let's go after it!" Lopmon piped in.

"Awww man! Guess the Digital World's gonna have to wait," Riku complained with a facepalm.

"Yeah. That's what I say," Coronamon muttered.

"It's in the woods!" Lunamon piped in.

All the members of the Digimon Brigade followed the four Digimon into the woods, and what they saw shocked them. Moosemon, with Shione and Mikuni on his back, is standing before another horned Digimon. This Digimon looks like a bull clad in blue and gold armor, with brown legs, sharp gold horns, one of which is cracked slightly, glowing red eyes, a black eye patch, and a tattered red cape on its back. Yun gasped.

_'Is that the Moosemon from before? The one Terriermon befriended? Oh my-!'_ Yun thought, but became more frightened upon seeing who is sitting on Moosemon's back.

"Shi-Shione?" Yun screamed. Shunji looked the Digimon up on his digivice.

"That's Bullmon! He's an armor level, vaccine attribute, mammal Digimon! His attacks are Matador Dash and Tail Whip!" Shunji said.

Shione heard Yun's yell and looked at her.

"Wakamiya? What are you-?" Shione couldn't say anything more because she was surprised by the sheer amount of Digimon in her presence.

_"MOOOOOO!"_ The Bullmon charged toward Moosemon at full speed, but Moosemon successfully caught Bullmon's horns with his own antlers and tried to push him away. Moosemon's red eyes widened when he saw the chip on Bullmon's right horn, the black eye patch, and the scar on it's left leg.

"Bullmon! Wake up! This isn't you! Snap out of it!" Moosemon pleaded as he rammed his antlers against Bullmon's horns.

"What's wrong? You know this cow?" Shione asked.

"Yes! He's my best friend! I recognize the chip on his horn, the eye patch, and the scar on his leg!" Moosemon said as he pushed against Bullmon further, not wanting to concede defeat.

Terriermon's ears perked up in alarm. _'What? This Bullmon is...Moosemon's friend? The one he nearly maimed?'_ He thought with shock.

Successfully, Moosemon managed to push the choleric Bullmon away from the kids and have him fall to the ground, but Bullmon staggered to his feet yet again. He dug some dirt with his hoof and air came out of his nose.

_"Moooo!"_ Bullmon attempted to charge at Moosemon again, but a digilasso, now a whip, smacked Bullmon square in the neck.

"Dragon Ember!" A flurry of orange fire balls came out from Dracomon's mouth and burned part of Bullmon's cape and his left cheek.

"Who's up for a rodeo?" Shunji exclaimed happily as he and Dracomon decided to distract Bullmon for a bit. Shione and Mikuni both got off of Moosemon's back. Moosemon looked at Yun.

"Yun-san! I'm so glad you're here! Please, I beg you! Don't hurt Bullmon too much! He's my best friend!" Moosemon pleaded sadly. Yun put a hand on his neck and smiled at him reassuringly.

"Don't worry. We'll get the Dark Emblem off of him. We promise," Yun said.

"Yeah! Just leave it to us! We'll be careful! But we also have to make sure he doesn't hurt anyone here. Is that alright?" Terriermon piped in. Moosemon nodded.

"Yes. I leave this to you," Moosemon told her.

"Alrighty! Let's have a rodeo!" Kosuke exclaimed as he got his digivice out.

"You got it, Kosuke!" Patamon backed him up.

For Moosemon and Bullmon's sake, only a few Digimon digivolved. Lopmon digivolved to Turuiemon, Terriermon to Gargomon, Patamon to Angemon, Labramon to Seasarmon, and Lunamon to Lekismon. The rest of the Digimon remained in their rookie forms...all except for one.

"Looks like it's time for me to warp digivolve!" Syakomon edicted as a bright pink light enveloped her. Suddenly, she got smaller.

"Syakomon, warp digivolve to..."

The light got dimmer and dimmer, and Syakomon got smaller and smaller until she was the size of Aria's hand. Once the light dissipated, out came...

"...MarineAngemon!"

Aria beamed with joy once Syakomon digivolved into MarineAngemon. _'MarineAngemon's back! She came back! She fulfilled her promise after all!'_ Aria thought silently but happily.

"Go MarineAngemon! You can do it!" Aria cheered.

_"MOOOO!"_ Bullmon decided to charge again. Angemon decided intercept his attack first.

"No way are you going to gorge anyone with your horns! Angel Rod!" Angemon used his gold staff to defend against Bullmon's sharp horns. As Bullmon and Angemon pushed against each other, the rookies decided to attack. Namely, Salamon, Kudamon, Bearmon, and Coronamon.

"Holy Roar!"

"Holy Ray!"

"Bear Roll!"

"Corona Flame!"

Salamon's vociferous and piercing roar pounded on the ears of not only Bullmon, but everyone else as well. Yun covered her ears the hardest. Kudamon's holy light blinded Bullmon's good eye, temporarily rendering it blind. This gave Bearmon the opportunity to hit it with his rolling power while Coronamon threw a ball of fire at it (he was careful not to make it hit the trees).

"Be sure to look for a Dark Emblem!" Melody called out.

"We will in a second!" Angemon called back. Altough Bullmon was weakened slightly by the other Digimons' attacks, they weren't enough to totally defeat it. He pushed Angemon out of his way and charged at Moosemon.

"Horn Blade!" Again, Moosemon pushed his out of control friend away from the group, causing Bullmon to fall on his side.

"It's not on his head!" Moosemon announced.

"It's not on his body either!" Biyomon said as she flew over Bullmon to take a look at his tattered red cape.

"It's definitely not on his belly either! I just checked!" Dracomon announced as he sneaked out from underneath Bullmon, somehow managing to not get stepped on. Turuiemon and Lekismon looked at each other.

"Turuiemon. I think I have an idea of where it might be. Care to assist me?" Lekismon asked politely.

"You're thinking what I'm thinking, aren't you?" Turuiemon asked back. Lekismon solemnly nodded.

"Well, it's about time we found out!" Turuiemon edicted courageously.

"Everyone! Stand back! Turuiemon and Lekismon have a plan!" Yun pushed the kids further back so they won't be in their way. Bullmon pushed Moosemon to the ground.

"Moosemon!" Shione exclaimed as she threw Mikuni to Rena and ran to him.

"Harima! Come back! It's not safe!" Rena yelled, but Shione didn't listen. Bullmon is about to charge at them again.

_"Mooooo!"_

That's when Lekismon made her first move.

"Moon Night Bomb!"

Three spheres of water fell on Bullmon's face, causing it to lose his sight yet again. It's here that Turuiemon swooped in and got her leg ready.

"Ninja Kick!"

Turuiemon kicked all of Bullmon's legs, causing him to fall to the ground yet again. Quickly, Turuiemon and Lekismon grabbed both of his feet and looked at them.

Lekismon found a black hexagon on Bullmon's left back leg.

"I found it! It's on one of his hooves!" Lekismon edicted.

"Mind if I had a knack at it?" Dracomon asked innocently.

Unfortunately Bullmon reawakened and mooed and struggled so hard Turuiemon and Lekismon both had to let go of him. Bullmon became more volatile. The rookies, Seasarmon, and Gargomon decided to attack.

"Spiral Flame!"

"Echoing Bark!"

"Tee Dia!"

"Gargo Laser!"

All of them attacked, but Bullmon just charged through them without a hitch. That's when someone decided to digilasso Bullmon and hop on top of him.

It was Shunji.

"What? Anjo! What are you doing?" Otoya screamed as Bullmon wailed around the clearing angrily as Shunji was riding him like a crazed cowboy in a rodeo contest...and enjoying every minute of it.

"YEEEEAAAAHH! This is way more fun than that time I nearly made my 6th grade science class explode! Yeeee-haaaaaaw!" Shunji screamed joyously like a cowboy, which angered Dracomon too.

"Shunji! Get off of him! This isn't the time to be playing around! Dragon Ember!" Dracomon pleaded, then attacked Bullmon with his flames, but Bullmon somehow evaded them.

Shione watched with awe as all the Digimon, including Moosemon, tried to keep Bullmon at bay. She couldn't believe all of this was happening right in front of her eyes. Digimon, fighting another of their kind, trying to protect their human partners.

_'Wow! This is awesome! But this is getting dangerous too. I wish there was-Oh!'_ Shione thought, but became alert when she saw Yun's red hooded vest. This gave her an idea. Shione ran from Moosemon and approached Yun for a sixth time. Only this time...the reason was different.

"Yun! Do you mind if I borrow your red vest?" Shione asked. Yun was confused, but she took it off and handed it to Shione.

"Umm...okay, but-" Yun said reluctantly, but then Shione just grabbed the vest and ran.

"Don't worry! I'll give it back! Thanks!" Shione ran in front of two thick trees that were the same distance apart as Bullmon's horns.

"HEY BULLMON! OVER HERE!" Shione screamed, which got all the Digimons' attention, including Bullmon, who prepared to charge at her.

Shione looked at the rabid bull courageously and held Yun's red vest in front of the two trees, while making sure she was a good distance away from them. Everyone watched with awe.

"_Toro_(1)! Toro! Toro toro!" Shione yelled, which made Bullmon even angrier.

"What the freak is she doing?" Melody asked.

"Oh no! She's trying to draw Bullmon toward her! This isn't a Mexican bullfighting contest(2)!" Minako screamed, but Shione continued to insult Bullmon.

"Toro! Toro!" Shione yelled.

Finally, Bullmon charged at her.

_"MOOOOO!"_

"Harima! Move it!" Kosuke yelled.

Angemon, Turuiemon, and Lekismon were about to save her, but stopped once they saw Shione smirk. Once Bullmon was about a few feet away from her, Shione swiftly moved out of the way, causing Bullmon's horns to ram into some trees, trapping both them and him. This gave Shunji the opportunity to get off...but not before he knocked Bullmon over the head with a digisword.

"_Yo soy un torero_(3)!" Shunji yelled like a drunk cowboy as he knocked Bullmon unconscious with his digisword and hopped off of him with a smile on his face. Bullmon was officially out cold. But not before MarineAngemon landed a hit.

"Spray of Hearts!" Wanting to make sure he stayed out cold, MarineAngemon spat out some pink hearts that made Bullmon even more woosy. Then, the champion level Digimon de-digivolved. Dracomon, Terriermon, and Lunamon decided to hold onto Bullmon's leg and destroy the Dark Emblem.

"Dragon Ember!"

"Bunny Blast!"

"Lunar Claw!"

Dracomon's flames, Terriermon's flurry of bunny shaped white lights, and Lunamon's black and purple glowing claw both destroyed the Dark Emblem, and the red glow in Bullmon's eyes disappeared. Everyone rejoiced.

"Yay! We did it!" The kids yelled.

"That was fun!" Shunji said.

"Jeez! You're worse than me!" Riku scolded.

"Also...when and where did you learn Spanish?" Hokuto asked shyly.

"My Dad likes Spanish women," Shunji replied gawkishly.

Once they rejoiced, the kids and Digimon decided to pry Bullmon's horns out of the trees...except for Yun, Mikuni, Shione, and Moosemon. Yun was a little frightened, but she gathered her mettle and spoke to Shione.

"Ummm...Harima-san. That thing you did just now...that was real brave," Yun muttered shyly, lauding Shione for her valiant and chivalrous deed. Shione gave Yun back her red vest.

"Thanks! I saw it on TV and thought maybe it'd work here. Bulls hate the color red," Shione exclaimed happily. Mikuni nodded to back her up.

"But...you shouldn't have done that. That was very dangerous. You could've been killed!" Yun explained.

"She's right, Shione. It's not safe to put yourself in a dangerous situation like that," Moosemon told her kindly.

"I know. But I wanted to do something to help! And besides...Yun-san. Ummm...sorry if this is a sucky time to tell you, but...the truth is, I've liked you for a long time. Umm...can we be friends?" Shione blurted out finally.

Yun was stunned. She remained stunned even as Terriermon and Lopmon returned to her side faithfully. After a while, she smiled.

"Umm...I-I know we probably don't have much in common, but...I've always liked you. You're always nice, you always do well in school, you don't act all stuck up and selfish like Shimizu, and you try hard and do everything honorably. I've actually been trying to befriend you all year, but Shimizu kept stopping me from doing so. I never did like her, and I feel bad that she's always picking on you. I feel even more bad that I never stood up to her in public. Umm...I'm sorry. This is probably stupid! I-"

Shione felt a hand crawl into hers. It was Yun's. Yun smiled at her sweetly.

"Sure! I'd love to be friends with you, Shione-chan!" Yun edicted sweetly, which made Shione beam. Moosemon lowered his head toward her.

"See Shione? You made friends with her after all! I knew you could do it," Moosemon told her. Shione beamed and hugged Moosemon's head.

"Not just her! You're my new friend too, Moosemon!" Shione exclaimed happily as she nudged herself against a happy Moosemon. Suddenly, all the kids managed to get Bullmon out of the trees and watched as Shione and Moosemon bonded happily.

Suddenly...

"Wan! Look!" Salamon exclaimed loudly.

Moosemon and Shione looked up to see a radiant dark blue light floating in between them. The blue light floated gently into Shione's hands and dissipated to form a dark blue digivice. Everyone lit up.

"Wow! She tamed Moosemon! He's her partner now! Wan!" Salamon cried out happily.

"Congrats! You have a Digimon!" Patamon said.

"Oh, wonderful!" Rena and Lunamon both called out in unison. Shione found herself smiling so much her cheeks were hurting. When she looked at Yun, she stopped.

"Oh! Uhh...sorry about the really bad timing. I promise I won't tell anyone about the Digimon! I promise!" Shione said.

"Hey! Wanna be part of our group?" Yun asked.

"Group?"

"Yeah! We're the Digimon Brigade!"

"Brigade?"

"Yep! Alrighty! Harima Shione, from this day forth, to reward you for your valiant and noble deed, I shall name you honorary member of the distinguished Digimon Brigade!" Yun edicted like she was some priest conducting a solemn ceremony.

"Distinguished? Yeah right!" Dracomon exclaimed. Shunji laughed with him. This irked Yun.

"Hey! Don't laugh!" Yun yelled. Suddenly, Shione's attention was directed elsewhere.

"Awwww! They're so cute!" Shione gushed over Terriermon and Lopmon. Then she saw Salamon and beamed. "Awww! So cute!"

And she wasn't the only one. Mikuni pulled on Yun's shirt, typed something into her cell phone, and showed it to Yun.

_"May I hold Lopmon, please?"_ Mikuni asked with her phone. Yun smiled and gently handed Lopmon to her.

"Okay. But be gentle," Yun told her quietly. Mikuni nodded and gently cradled Lopmon in her arms. Lopmon smiled.

"Hello! Nice to meet you!" Lopmon cooed sweetly, which made Mikuni hug her, happy to hug the cute bunny.

"Is she your sister?" Rena asked.

"Yep! Harima Mikuni," Shione said.

"Oh! Your sister helps me out at the church a lot! She's deaf, right?" Otoya exclaimed.

"Yeah, she is," Shione said.

"WHAT? _DEAF_? You should've told me that earlier! I don't know sign language!" Yun yelled.

"It's fine. She can read lips too. In fact, she can read lips better than other deaf people I know. Besides, she prefers using her phone over sign language," Shione told her while smiling as she watched Mikuni play with both Lopmon and Salamon.

"Ummm...don't we have more important things to do than play around?" Kosuke asked.

Yun realized it, and screamed.

"EEEEEEK! LUCERO! That's right! We gotta go to the Digital World and save him!" Yun wailed.

"Whoa! You can go there? Awesome! Do you mind if Moosemon and I come with you?" Shione asked.

"Sure! I don't mind!" Yun said.

Mikuni, kindly giving Lopmon and Salamon back to Yun and Minako, typed into her cell phone and showed it to them.

_"Can I come too?"_ Mikuni typed.

This made the entire Digimon Brigade go "EH?" and feel a little scared. Melody decided to take the plunge.

"Sorry, but you can't come. It'll be really dangerous. You could get killed!" Melody explained as Shione signed everything she said.

_"But I want to go anyway! Going to the Digital World will be better than hearing Daddy and Himari-Neechan yell every day!"_ Mikuni typed.

"She has a point," Shione muttered.

_"Besides, I'll be safe if my nice sister Shione's around! Moosemon's here too! I'll be just fine!"_ Mikuni typed.

"You sure?" Shione signed.

_"Yep! I won't wander off. I promise,"_ Mikuni typed.

The kids looked at each other, then back at Mikuni, who looked pretty ardent about her decision to follow them to the Digital World.

"Alright. You can come. But you MUST stay with us! Okay?" Minako said.

Mikuni smiled and hugged Minako, and then Salamon.

"Miku-chan's nice! Wan!" Salamon piped in.

"Alright! Enough wasting time! Let's goooooo!" Yun exclaimed as the entire Digimon Brigade, with Moosemon, Shione, and Mikuni following, went back to the park.

But before they could even leave the clearing, they heard a small groaning sound. Kudamon was the first to notice.

"Look! Bullmon is reawakening!" Kudamon announced as he saw Bullmon trying to stand on his feet.

"Bullmon!" Moosemon ran to Bullmon and helped him up. Bullmon shook his head.

"Huh? Moosemon? Is that you?" Bullmon asked in a deeper voice than Moosemon's.

"Oh! Oh, thank goodness you're alright!" Moosemon nudged himself against Bullmon gently and happily, which made Bullmon happy.

"Umm...where am I?" Bullmon asked.

"You won't believe this! We're in the human world!" Moosemon edicted happily.

"WHAT? The human world?"

"Yes! Awesome, isn't it? Look!" He and Bullmon looked at the Digimon Brigade. "See those children over there? They removed the Dark Emblem and turned you back to normal! Isn't that great?"

Bullmon walked closer to the kids and examined him with his good eye.

"We'll I'll be a Monmon's banana peel! These are real life humans! I never thought they existed at all! Guess I was wrong!" Bullmon said.

"Ummm...nice to meet you?" Yun muttered shyly.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Bullmon said kindly.

"Bullmon. These kids are going to the Digital World to save their friend. Would you like to come along? We could surely use your powerful horns and unrivaled head power!" Moosemon said. The kids looked at each other, then nodded.

"Sure. We don't mind," Shione said. Mikuni nodded to back them up.

"Ha ha! Isn't this great! Sure, I wouldn't mind taggin' along! And don't worry, since you saved me, I'll make sure not to run into you with my horns! That wouldn't be good!" Bullmon exclaimed happily.

The kids went back to the park to go to the Digital World.

Author's Note: Yay! I finished chapter 22! Sorry if this chapter's a bit more unorthodox and more serious than the other ones. I thought it'd make the setting and characters a bit more real if I made one of the characters have a pregnant older sister. Sorry if it's too weird! I hope you all pay no mind! Anyway, I have to go. Homework to do. Bye-bee!

Footnotes:

1. Toro is Spanish for bull.

2. Shione and Bullmon are imitating a sport known as bullfighting, where bullfighters try to wrangle a bull and try to avoid being killed by it. Minako makes a reference to Mexican bullfighting, which often takes place in the Plaza de toros Mexico, which is in Mexico City, Mexico. It is currently the largest bull fighting ring in the world, though bullfighting originates from Spain.

3. Yo Soy Un Torero is Spanish for _"I'm a bullfighter!"_


	23. Lost And Found

Author's Note: Hi everyone! It's me, Firechick! I'm soooooo happy!...about two things! One: Miki's birthday is coming up! Me, her, and all my friends are going to go to our local Old Country Buffet on Sunday for dinner to celebrate! But man, I wish I had a good present for her! I'd get her Heart no Kuni no Alice volume 6, but it's not out, TokyoPop kicked the bucket, Yen Press got it, and I don't know if Yen Press is going to release volume 6 or not. Two: GADHAFI IS DEAD! Yep, he officially kicked the bucket and is now six feet under dirt! No more crisis in Libya! Allelujah! Okay, enough rejoicing! Heeeeeeeeeeeeere's chapter 23 of Digimon: A Seraphic Tale!

EPISODE 23: Lost and Found

After the little fracas with Bullmon, the kids gathered in the park in a circle.

"Alright everyone! It's time for the Digimon Brigade's first trip to the Digital World!" Yun edicted proudly.

"Man! I'm so psyched! I don't think I can wait any longer!" Riku muttered to himself.

"Yeah! I know, right? This is gonna be super duper blazin' awesome!" Coronamon backed him up happily. Shunji crossed his arms and looked up at the blue sky with a laid back smile on his face.

"Who knew there'd be a world in computers? This I'd like to see!" Shunji whispered to himself.

"Are you excited, Shunji? I am!" Dracomon told him.

"Excited? I could bounce off the walls any minute!" Shunji replied.

"You better restrain yourselves kids, because the Digital World may look pretty, but as of now it's kind of in a rough state. Not only that, some of the Digimon are runnin' wild," Bullmon advised sternly.

"That's true. Especially since more and more Digimon are being branded with Dark Emblems or joining Witchmon's cause," Moosemon told him dejectedly.

"The poor Digimon. I feel bad for them," Lunamon whispered softly. Kudamon hopped on her head reassuringly.

"Don't worry, Lunamon. Once we get to the bottom of this little affair, we will remove all the Dark Emblems from the Digimon and they will be saved," Kudamon told her kindly and hopped back onto Hokuto's shoulder.

"Yeah! Maybe this is why we partnered up with the kids! To save the Digital World from Witchmon? This'll be great!" Patamon said.

"I know, right? Wan!" Salamon piped in happily.

"I wonder if maybe we'll get to meet Witchmon's master?" Bearmon asked curiously.

"Maybe he's some super duper powerful Digimon that we can't beat yet!" Isao exclaimed. Otoya shushed them up.

"Shh! Yun's talking! Quiet!" Otoya whispered harshly, which made Isao and Bearmon become silent. Soon, everyone was silent.

"Everyone! Let's join hands...or legs or elbows if necessary," Yun told them.

The kids and Digimon did as asked and held hands, legs, and elbows...that, or hopped on the backs of big Digimon. Shione and Mikuni both climbed onto Moosemon's back. Shione wrapped her arms around Moosemon's neck, and Mikuni wrapped hers around Shione. Shunji, since he's the oldest and tallest member of the Digimon Brigade, wrapped one of his arms around the curvy parts of Bullmon's horns, taking extra care not to go near the pointed parts of the horns, which can certainly leave a deep gash on any part of his body. MarineAngemon, being so small, flew into Aria's jean pocket. Salamon put herself on Minako's shoulder. Lopmon and Terriermon both clung to Yun's shoulders. Labramon climbed onto Bullmon's back. Everyone else joined hands to make sure they all got a good grip on each other. They did. Melody's elbow was wrapped around Yun's, the latter whose hand is holding her digivice.

Unbeknownst to everyone, there's only one person who's quite anxious and afraid regarding going to the Digital World. It was Hokuto, who held onto Yun's other hand. His face had a rather pinched look to it. His dark brown eye brows hung in a crooked fashion, his cobalt blue eyes looked very dejected and wracked with anxiety, and they trembled. Kudamon took notice of this and stroke Hokuto's fake hair with his tail.

"Hokuto. What's wrong? You look rather pained," Kudamon asked in a whisper.

"I..." That was all Hokuto could croak, because Yun was ready to commence the mission.

"Is everyone ready?"

"Yep!" The kids and Digimon (except Hokuto and Mikuni, the latter because she's deaf) yelled in unison.

"Okay! Digimon Brigade...to the Digital World!"

Yun pressed the door button on her digivice. Immediately, a huge digital portal appeared from underneath them, and they fell in.

Before they knew it, they found themselves floating through an entirely blue world consisting of nothing but blue backgrounds, white grid lines forming squares, ones, and zeroes.

"Be sure not to let go or else we might get separated!" Yun warned them.

"We won't! I'm hanging on as tight as I can!" Labramon exclaimed.

"You sure are! I can feel it!" Bullmon told him rather sarcastically.

"Man, this is so cool!" Melody exclaimed with a smile.

"The numbers are hurting my eyes!" Biyomon whined.

"I feel like I'm in a computerized math class," Riku muttered rather unhappily.

"Gee, you think?" Kosuke retorted.

As the kids floated faster and further, they could tell that they were starting to get closer to the Digital World. However, before they even laid eyes on the end of the computerized tunnel, Rena screamed.

"Guys! Kamitsure-kun's slipping away!"

Yun was the first to react. She could see it well. Hokuto's small hand is slipping out from Rena's. Once Yun laid eyes on Hokuto, she saw it. Hokuto was scared. His cobalt blue eyes are huge with shock. Not only that, his fingers are wiggling around in Rena's hand. And in Yun's too.

"Rena-chan! Grab him!" Yun yelled.

"I'm trying!" Rena grabbed onto Hokuto's wrist as fast as she could, but she could feel it moving...along with Hokuto's hand.

"Hokuto! What are you doing? Stop it!" Kudamon yelled as Hokuto's hands continued to helplessly wriggle out of Yun and Rena's hands.

"I...I...I can't..." Hokuto muttered.

"Are you insane?" Melody yelled.

Finally, Hokuto's hand slipped away from Rena's. She tried to grab him, but it was too late. Thankfully, Yun grabbed a decent hold on Hokuto's thin wrists.

"Hokuto-kun! Hang on!" Yun screamed as she grabbed him. Hokuto was still overcome with fear. "Terriermon! Lopmon! Help me out here!"

"Okay!" Both of them said in unison. Both of their long floppy ears wrapped around Yun and Hokuto's hands. Now the Digimon Brigade formed a rather contorted line, no longer a perfect circle. Hokuto couldn't feel his other arm and couldn't grab Yun's hand with it. But it was about to get worse.

Despite their valiant efforts, Hokuto's small hand finally slided out of Yun's. He drifted away.

_"NOOOO! HOKUTOOOOOO!"_ Yun screamed and desperately tried to get him back, but Hokuto drifted further and further away, trapped by the fast and swiftly moving current of data separating both him, Kudamon, and the Digimon Brigade. All of them, though separately, disappeared into two white lights.

_In the Digital World..._

Lucero had walked a long distance, and now he's away from the meadow with the white sky. Now both the sun and the green sphere with pink lines protruding from it are blocked by thick, ghastly grey clouds. Lucero found himself in an empty, desert like landscape occupied by some trees and...dirty garbage cans all over the place? Lucero found himself both tired and disgusted by this sight.

Lucero sighed. "Now where am I?"

Suddenly, a little pink swirl passed right by him. Lucero managed to get out of its way, but he was disgusted upon seeing the thing that threw the pink swirly thing. The Digimon is half his height, looking like a big pile of green sludge. This slimy green-skinned Digimon has purple spots on its back, big googly eyes on stems coming from its head, a huge set of humanoid teeth, and a big slimy red tongue. Lucero was absolutely flabbergasted by this strange, noisome, repulsive specter of a Digimon.

"Hello!" The green slime Digimon said in a rather sickening voice. Lucero walked back a few steps.

"Who...who art thou?" Lucero yelped.

"I'm Numemon! Yer pretty!" The Digimon, Numemon, exclaimed happily. Suddenly, two more Numemon appeared by its side.

"Hey bro! What'd ya find? Anythin' cool?" The second one asked.

"Anythin' shiny? Like aluminum foil?" The third one asked.

"I found this here human!" The first Numemon exclaimed proudly, in a rather conceited manner.

"Whoa! A human?"

"Nuh-uh! Humans don't exist!"

"They do now! See for yerself!"

"Wow! Yer right!"

"But what's with 'dem tattoos?"

"Somethin'...feels kinda familiar. Do I know you?" The first Numemon asked.

"Uhhh...no. I certainly don't know thee. Not at all! I apologize...b-b-but I really should be going-"

"HEY! Wait just a cotton pickin' minute! Are you the one who stole all our stock?" The second Numemon yelled, insinuating Lucero.

"What? Stole all of thy stock? I-I have no-!" Lucero couldn't finish that sentence because the Numemon trio are already riled up by the insinuation.

"'Ey! Yer right! Maybe he's the one who stole all our precious food!" The first Numemon yelled.

"Maybe! Let's get 'em, guys!" The third Numemon yelled, pink swirlies in hand...or rather, slime protrusions.

"WHAT?" Now Lucero was scared.

"Poop attack!" All three Numemon threw their pink swirlies, or...poop, at Lucero. Lucero immediately ran away in fear. The three Numemon, who continued to throw their poop at Lucero to no avail, gave chase.

"Noooooo! Cease desist! I am not thy thief! Leave me aloooooooone!" Lucero wailed as he desperately tried to run away from the now incensed Numemon trio.

About much further away, the Digimon Brigade leaped out of the digital portal and found themselves in another desert like landscape, only this time with more trees and no trash cans with Numemon in them (not that they knew this, of course). There were a few bushes and brambles with some flowers here and there. Everyone was surprised...in different ways.

"Whoa! This is the Digital World?" Kosuke exclaimed, in shock.

"Yep! This sure is the Digital World! Well, this is only one part of it. If I remember correctly, this is called Kiwi Meadow," Patamon explained.

"Yaaaaaay! This is awesome!" Riku yelled as he ran around like a happy drunk person.

"Yaaaaaay! This is way too cool for words!" Coronamon yelled, backing Riku up.

"Whee! We're in the Digital World!" Isao cried happily.

"Awesome indeed!" Bearmon rolled around like a happy child.

"Will you stop fooling around?" Rena scolded like a strict parent. Otoya stood next to her with her arms crossed.

"I think we should let them fool around, if only for a little bit. It's not every day you go into the Digital World. I think we should savor the moment. But really, this is so cool!" Otoya explained, then got excited (rationally) at that last sentence.

"Indeed it is. Right now we're in Kiwi Meadow," Labramon said.

"What's Kiwi Meadow?" Aria asked innocently.

"Kiwi Meadow is where the Kiwimon live. They're friendly and pleasant Digimon, but they're also very territorial and don't like it when unwanted guests trespass onto their territory," Labramon explained.

"That's right. Plus this is where they grow their food, which is how they live," Patamon explained.

"Ah, you're as smart as you are informative. I'm impressed!" Moosemon said.

"But a meadow JUST for growing kiwis? Isn't that going a little overboard?" Shione asked.

"Kiwi? Like the food? Ewwww! I hate that stuff!" Melody exclaimed.

"Me too," Mikuni typed in her cell phone.

"I agree. Not only do I hate the food, I hate the Digimon too! They're so volatile and clueless!" Biyomon sneered conceitedly.

"Shouldn't we stop talking about kiwis and start looking for Lucero and Hokuto? Priorities, people!" Dracomon scolded.

"Yeah. You're right. But..." Minako said when she looked at Yun, who stood in front of a bramble of flowers with a despondent look on her face.

Lopmon and Terriermon stood by and watched as Yun stared down at the flowery bramble sadly. Yun couldn't believe what had happened. Hokuto is now gone, and now they have to look for two people! Dejected and guilt-ridden, Yun wrapped her arms around herself like a force field and tried to shut everything out. Lopmon and Terriermon were about to comfort her and take her out of her guilt zone when someone else beat them to it by placing a hand on Yun's head and stroking her hair. Yun looked behind her to see who it was. It was Shunji, with Patamon and Salamon by his side.

"Don't look so glum, Yun-chan. Of course people'd get lost in something like this. It happens all the time. Like when people are walking in a maze and get separated from a group. Don't blame yourself," Shunji told her quietly and reassuringly.

"But I-"

"No buts! Would they want you to be beating yourself up for this?"

"That's right. Lucero-kun and Hokuto-kun wouldn't like it if they found out you were sad and depressed!" Patamon backed Shunji up with his own piece of rhetoric.

"Sad faces don't suit you, Yun-chan!" Salamon piped in.

Upon hearing their kind, magnanimous words, Yun smiled and picked up Terriermon and Lopmon.

"You're right. Sorry," Yun said.

"It's okay. It's natural to feel rather sad upon something like this happening. But of course small little accidents like this will happen once in a while," Lopmon explained.

"Alrighty! Let's go find them!" Terriermon edicted.

Suddenly, something caught Lunamon's attention.

"Oooh! Look! How pretty!" Lunamon exclaimed. Everyone turned to look.

Eating some kiwi growing on a bush is a peacock-like Digimon with a blue head, a gold crown on it, and a big bush of flowers on its back. Rena looked up the Digimon's information.

"That IS pretty! That's Deramon, an ultimate level, data attribute, bird Digimon. Its attacks are Royal Smasher and Beak Buster," Rena said and then put her digivice away. "Awww! That bow tie looks so cute on it!"

Deramon, the funny-looking bird with the bow tie and thicket on its rear end, suddenly heard their voices and turned to look at them. The group froze upon locking eyes with Deramon. Deramon cocked its head to one side, examining them, and then hopped away, happy to have consumed its lunch.

"Ah! I know Deramon. Like Kiwimon, they're also friendly and pleasant, but they have fearsome tempers," Lopmon said.

"Ain't that the truth! Deramon can be pretty nasty if they're mad. They'll peck at ya like crazy! Trust me, I've been there," Bullmon said in a matter-of-fact way.

"I wouldn't go makin' a bird like that mad if I were you," Terriermon explained.

If only a certain someone had heard that, because he already made a Digimon mad.

"Owwwww!"

It was Riku who screamed in pain. He and Coronamon are being chased by a wingless brown bird with grey legs, pink talons, a silver helmet on its head, green eyes, and grassy green hair coming out from the back of its head. Otoya got her digivice out.

"Now THAT's a Kiwimon! A champion level, data attribute, ancient bird Digimon whose attacks are Pummel Peck and Kiwi Bomb!" Otoya said.

"Rikuuuuuu! What'd you do this time?" Rena yelled angrily and decided to go after them.

"It wasn't me, sis! I swear! I just slipped and fell on it by accident!" Riku yelled. Not wanting to be chased around anymore, Coronamon decided to attack.

"Corona Flame!"

"Kiwi Bomb!"

Coronamon shot a sphere of fire at Kiwimon while Kiwimon retaliated by shooting multiple glowing green seeds of light from its mouth, making the fiery orb disappear. Soon, Kiwimon and Coronamon were both duking it out. Once the Kiwimon, who wasn't branded with a Dark Emblem, was tired enough, Riku got his digilasso out and lassoed Kiwimon by the neck.

"Calm down, will ya? I didn't mean to fall on you like that! Honest!" Riku explained.

"Clumsy thing, you are! You should watch where you're going and be more aware of your surroundings!" The Kiwimon yelled back in a high voice, similar to that of a lady's. "And how do I know you're not going to steal our precious kiwi!"

"Ummm...first off, I don't even like kiwi. I hate the stuff! I wouldn't steal that stuff if my life depended on it!" Riku replied in a rather matter of fact voice.

"That's right! Riku's awesome, you bird!" Coronamon yelled.

"Coronamon, will you shut your mouth?" Rena yelled in the same manner as Kiwimon.

"As if my day wasn't horrid enough already! I come here to relax and get away from the branded ones and now I can't even do that!" Kiwimon yelled.

"We're humans. Did you know that?" Otoya asked.

"I don't care if you are humans! I don't tolerate anyone who trespasses onto my territory and attempts to steal our food! Well, I'm sorry for accusing you, but please refrain from stealing! And if you would be so kind, release me at once!" Kiwimon exclaimed sternly. Riku finally released her from the digilasso. Kiwimon ruffled her body feathers and shook some of the sting off of her. Rena ran in between them, feeling bad that the little brouhaha happened.

"Sorry if we kinda disturbed you. My brother's just an idiot sometimes," Rena said.

"Hey! I am not!" Riku yelled, which made Shunji laugh out loud. The Kiwimon didn't look too pleased, but the expression in her green eyes softened and she straightened her long legs.

"Well, you do look rather sincere, so I'll forgive you this time. But I'll have you know that Kiwi Meadow is our home, and it has already been destroyed once, and I intend to make sure it doesn't get destroyed again, along with the rest of my kin! If I see that you DO have intent to steal our precious food, I most certainly won't go easy on you next time!" Kiwimon explained rather rudely, then held her beak up high and carried herself like a spoiled little princess. "Good day!"

And with that final piece of rhetoric, she walked away. The kids were stunned. Once Kiwimon was totally out of sight, Melody was the first to speak.

"Wow. Talk about spoiled!" Melody said.

"Exactly! That's exactly why I don't like them. So impertinent, they are!" Biyomon said.

"Oh really? From what I hear, you're kinda on the spoiled side yourself," Shunji said.

"Hey! I am not!" Biyomon yelled, which made Shunji laugh.

"Yes you are!" Shunji said.

"You want spoiled? I'll give you spoiled! Take this!" Biyomon suddenly began pecking Shunji on the head. Suddenly, Shunji managed to pull Biyomon out of the air and lock her in his arms. He just manhandled her.

"See?" Shunji said. Biyomon finally conceded defeat and Shunji let her go...but not without laughing.

"Ah, that was great!" Shunji said with a bellowing laugh.

"You really are too flamboyant for your own good!" Dracomon scolded.

Shione ambled toward Yun, feeling rather confused. "Who's he?" She asked.

"My sister's...insane boyfriend," Yun muttered.

"He's kinda on the overly carefree side," Terriermon said. Mikuni showed Yun her cell phone.

_"I like him! I'd much rather have him than Himari-Neechan, who yells a lot!"_ Mikuni typed.

Yun felt a little anxious, not knowing what to do when it comes to communicating with a deaf person. She never did communicate with a deaf person before, nor had she met any until now. She doesn't know sign language, and Mikuni won't hear a thing she says, so it made Yun feel a little perturbed. Shione put a hand on her shoulder.

"You can talk to her without using sign language. Like I said, she can read lips better than anyone else I know," Shione told her with a reassuring smile.

"She can? I didn't know people could do that," Lopmon said.

"Try it! She'll answer you in a heartbeat!" Shione said.

"Okay...Mikuni-chan! Nice to meet you!" Yun said. Mikuni typed into her cell phone and showed it to Yun.

_"Nice to meet you!"_

Yun tried it again just to make sure. "Peanut butter and jelly sandwich!"

_"Peanut butter and jelly sandwich!"_

"Blue sky!"

_"Blue sky!"_

"Digimon!"

_"Digimon!"_

"Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto are the eight planets in the solar system!"

_"Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto are the eight planets in the solar system!"_

Yun was flabbergasted. Everything she said, Mikuni typed into her cell phone with impeccable accuracy! Lopmon stroke Yun's hair with her paw.

"Now now. No need to look like you're about to faint," Lopmon cooed sweetly to mollify Yun.

"Wow! That sure is cool! I wish I had my own cell phone!" Isao said.

"Why don't you get one?" Bearmon asked.

"My mom says I'm too young to get one. She says I have to wait until I'm older," Isao said.

Suddenly, someone yelped with surprise.

"Oh my!"

Shione recognized it. It came from Moosemon.

"What's up, Moosemon?" Shione asked.

"I know this place! Chloros Forest is right near here!" Moosemon exclaimed happily.

"Hey! You're right! I remember this place now!" Bullmon backed him up.

"Chloros Forest?" Kosuke asked.

"Oh! I know! Chloros Forest is where you came from, right Moosemon? I remember you asking me about it when you came to the human world!" Terriermon exclaimed happily, with his paw in the air.

"That's right! Bullmon and I live there, along with other Digimon. It's a wonderful place! Now that I mention it, if you want, we can take you there!" Moosemon explained.

Most of the kids beamed. "Really? Can we?" Aria asked.

"Sure!"

"But won't your Digimon friends not like us?" Rena asked.

"Will they think we're enemies?" Lunamon asked.

"Not if I explain things to them. Most of them are very nice, so I don't see why anything would go wrong."

"Will there be pretty flowers?" Aria asked.

"Oh yes! Chloros Forest is known for its exuberant greenery and love for all things nature, so of course there will be flowers!"

"Well...if it'll help us find Lucero-kun and Hokuto-kun, I suppose I wouldn't mind going," Minako said.

"I wanna go! It sounds like a nice place! Wan!" Salamon said.

"What are we standing around for? Let's go!" MarineAngemon exclaimed.

"She's right! We ain't got no time for lollygagging! Come on, kids!" Bullmon exclaimed. The kids decided to follow Moosemon and Bullmon to their home, Chloros Forest. Yun walked next to Minako.

"I wonder what Chloros means," Yun said.

"Me too," Lopmon and Terriermon both said in unison.

"Chloros is the Greek word for green. Have you heard of Chloris? In Greek mythology, she's a minor goddess of vegetation," Minako explained with a smile.

"That's nice," Yun said.

"Sure does!" Salamon backed her up.

"I wonder if this Chloris goddess loves nature of all kinds?" Lopmon asked.

"I'll have to do more research," Minako said.

Soon, the kids walked through Kiwi Meadow, hoping to reach Chloros Forest.

Meanwhile, as the kids were walking towards Chloros Forest, a certain someone else was nowhere near Chloros Forest. Lucero sat behind a big grey rock, panting and gasping for breath in exhaustion.

"It...it seems...I've finally...lost them," Lucero panted as he tried to catch his breath. After resting for a while, he decided to stand back up. He looked behind the big rock so he could see if the Numemon were still chasing him. To his joy, however, they weren't. Lucero beamed.

"Good! Now I can-huh?" Lucero was about to walk away from the big rock, which is about 13 feet tall and VERY long and wide, when he saw a small white light in the distance. Something fell out of it. Although it was small, Lucero could see it, even from his distance. It fell behind another big rock. Lucero, hoping that what his gut was telling him is wrong, decided to run over there and see what fell out of that white light.

Lucero approached cautiously, hoping that the Numemon weren't there. Although he was relieved that the Numemon weren't chasing him anymore, he still wanted to keep his guard up for in case they were about to willfully chase him again. Slowly and calmly, he got closer to the big rock and looked behind it. What he saw shocked him. Someone is lying on the ground unconscious! Another human! About his size and stature, with white skin, thin and slender arms and legs, with dark brown hair covered by a blue snow hat, cobalt blue eyes closed and hidden by round glasses. He's wearing a short-sleeved red shirt with the number 11 written on it in white, along with olive green shorts, black and white sneakers, and pale blue socks. A white weasel with yellow markings is trying to wake him up.

Right when Lucero laid eyes on the unconscious child, it hit him. He immediately recognized who it was.

"Hokuto-dono!" Lucero ran from the rock and approached Hokuto, who is unconscious. Kudamon was surprised upon seeing him.

"Lucero! You're alright!" Kudamon exclaimed, sounding rather relieved. But Lucero didn't listen. He cradled the dormant Hokuto in his arms and shook him.

"Hokuto-dono! Wake! Wake up! Art thou alright?" Lucero pleaded as he tried to wake him up, but to no avail. It's here that Hokuto's hair and hat both slipped off. Kudamon wasn't surprised, but Lucero became shocked upon seeing that the hair and hat is just a wig, and that Hokuto is bald! Well, not totally and completely bald. Lucero could see some small tufts of brown hair beginning to grow on his perfectly round head. Lucero calmed himself down and grabbed onto the wig so it wouldn't get dirty. Kudamon seemed to notice Lucero's blatant shock upon seeing Hokuto's head.

"In case you're wondering, Hokuto's lost his hair because he had to go through chemotherapy, which is used for fighting cancer. Cancer is a sickness. He's better now, and his hair will grow back in due time, so do not be frightened," Kudamon explained softly but in a matter of fact manner. Lucero smiled.

"I thank thee for thy veracity. I have no problem with this at all," Lucero told him. "But more importantly...what art thou doing here?"

"Looking for you, of course. The Digimon Brigade too, but we accidentally separated from them," Kudamon replied calmly.

"Separated? Are they alright?" Lucero asked, becoming a bit more perturbed.

"Worry not. I don't believe they're in great danger so I see no need to worry. Besides, Hokuto and I have found you," Kudamon explained calmly. Lucero didn't feel any better knowing that the rest of the Digimon Brigade is looking for him. The Digital World is probably more vast than he expected. Who knows how far away they are from them. Suddenly, he felt Hokuto stirring.

"Urgh...I...I'm not...worthy..." Hokuto croaked in his sleep.

"Hokuto-dono! Wake up!"

"Are you alright?"

Finally, Hokuto opened his eyes and found Kudamon and Lucero looking down at him, now with jubilant and relieved faces.

"You're awake! Thank goodness!" Kudamon said.

"Hokuto-dono! I'm glad thou hath awakened!" Lucero said as he helped Hokuto up.

"Urgh...how did-?" Hokuto rubbed his head...and realized his wig wasn't on. He felt more around his head, and the more he realized his wig is off, the more perturbed he became. Lucero saw the wig in his own hands and gently handed it to Hokuto.

"Uhh...thy wig came off. Here," Lucero handed the wig to Hokuto, who calmed down and put the wig back on his head, making sure it was in the right position.

"Thank you..." Hokuto muttered as he put his wig back on. Lucero found this to be the perfect opportunity to interrogate them (gently) about why he and the Digimon Brigade came.

"So! Question! Kudamon here says that the Digimon Brigade and thou hath come to the Digital World to rescue me. Explain thyself. Is what they say true?" Lucero asked.

There was a long pause after that, and it seemed Hokuto took a long time answering not just this question, but all questions. Nonetheless, Lucero and Kudamon patiently waited until Hokuto answered.

"Yes."

In a way, Lucero was relieved to know that the Digimon Brigade are here in the Digital World, looking for him. He had never had such a thing happen to him before, and knowing that there are people who care about him enough to look for him in a new and foreign world made his heart leap. But something about Hokuto didn't feel right to Lucero, so he decided to bring it up, inappropriate as it may sound.

"I also heard that thou hast separated from them as thou came here. Is that true as well?" Lucero asked gently.

"Yes."

The two boys stood up. Kudamon wrapped himself around Hokuto's neck.

"The current in the bridge between the two worlds was perhaps too strong for Hokuto, and we got separated as a result," Kudamon explained. Lucero couldn't help but smile.

"I see. Well, thou hast found me, and thou art alright too, so we should be thankful for that. I believe it's time-" Lucero wanted to lift their spirits by sounding upbeat and jaunty about the positives behind the whole situation, but an interruption stopped him from finishing his sentence.

"No. It wasn't...an accident," Hokuto whispered, softly but loud enough for both Kudamon and Lucero to hear.

"What do you mean it wasn't an accident?" Kudamon asked. Lucero said nothing out of fear he might set Hokuto off. They waited so Hokuto can take his time to answer.

As Lucero looked at Hokuto's face, he noticed that Hokuto's cobalt blue eyes practically always looked indifferent, abject, and dejected regarding almost everything around him. They didn't change, even now. They didn't change even as Hokuto hung out with the other kids and their Digimon. He wondered why Hokuto looked so pessimistic and impassive all the time...and he was about to find his answer.

"I...I let go. On purpose."

Kudamon and Lucero's eyes widened.

"What? Are you saying-?" Kudamon yelped, shocked by this new revelation.

"Yes. I separated from them. Intentionally," Hokuto muttered shyly.

Lucero and Kudamon were both appalled.

"Why? Why wouldst thou do such a thing? This isn't like thee! Yun would most certainly-!" Lucero wanted to go on a mild tirade about Hokuto's reasons for intentionally separating from the group, but Hokuto quickly interrupted.

"No! It _IS_ like me. I...I'm not worthy of being with them," Hokuto's voice trembled, his eyes shook and looked very sad, and his hands were balled into little scrawny fists.

"But thou art! Thou art truly worthy of being a member of the Digimon Brigade! Yun likes thee! A lot! Doth that not count for something? Thou hast thy intelligence and modesty! Modesty is a wonderful trait that thy humans have amongst themselves! Thou hast one of the smartest Digimon around! Why-"

"I'm not-"

"Hokuto! Don't you dare!" Kudamon snapped. This confused Lucero.

"Why doth thou scream so, Kudamon?" Lucero asked innocently.

"I apologize. Hokuto keeps saying things about not being human, and it irritates me greatly," Kudamon explained calmly.

"But I'm not..._human!_"

"Hokuto! You are! Stop saying you aren't!" Kudamon scolded like a strict parent.

Lucero agreed with Kudamon. "Kudamon is right, Hokuto-dono. Thou art human! Thou art very human! Why wouldst thou thinkist not so? Thou look like a human, thou talk like a human, thou walk and eat and behave like thy species. What idea is in thy head that makes thee not human?"

"The Digimon Brigade kids are more human than I could ever be! I can't even say hello without sounding like I have vocal chord paralysis!"

"That's irrelevant! Thou art the same as them! They're the same species as thee! Oh! Speaking of the Digimon Brigade..." Lucero explained rather loudly. He grabbed onto Hokuto's hand and dragged him away from the rock.

"Wha-What are you doing?" Hokuto yelped.

"We shouldn't be standing around. The Digimon Brigade must be very worried about us! Let us depart from this place and find them!" Lucero told him boldly.

Stunned silent by Lucero's display of audacity, Hokuto said no more and decided to go along with Lucero with Kudamon wrapped around his neck. Kudamon, despite his calm exterior right now, continued to worry about Hokuto on the inside.

_'Hokuto...what Lucero says is true. You're human, just like everyone else. What you went through doesn't decide whether you're human or not._ _Of course you've been deprived of normal human contact, but should that really decide how you should see yourself? Oh, Hokuto...if only I could help you see the other way...'_ Kudamon thought pensively as he sat on Hokuto's shoulder.

As Lucero, Hokuto, and Kudamon set off to find the Digimon Brigade, the Digimon Brigade itself had set off long ago. The kids looked around the area as they walked, and were impressed with what they saw.

"Hey Yun-chan? What are these things?" Aria asked, pointing to a staticky spot in the sky.

"Don't touch it!" Yun grabbed Aria's hand and pulled her away from it. "Those are holes full of unstable data. If you touch it, you'll disappear and never come back!" Yun advised.

"Oh. I see. Sorry," Aria muttered.

"It's okay. I should've told you earlier," Yun muttered.

"We probably would've found out anyway," MarineAngemon piped in.

Suddenly, Lopmon and Terriermon's ears perked up in alarm.

"A Digimon!" Terriermon exclaimed.

"Already? Cool!" Riku exclaimed. Minako looked up at the sky.

"I hear it too. It sounds like its coming from over there!" Minako pointed to a small formation of rocks on her left.

"I wonder if we'll kick its butt?" Riku asked.

"I'd love to see it go up in flames!" Coronamon bellowed as he clenched his little fists. Otoya, Rena, Lunamon, and Labramon all sighed and facepalmed when they heard this, but followed the kids anyway. When they arrived at the rock formation, Moosemon was the first to see the Digimon.

"It's here!" Moosemon exclaimed. What they saw left them awestuck.

A tall Digimon clad in yellow armor lay on the ground, unconscious, injured, and in considerable pain. The Digimon has pure white butterfly wings with dark purple markings on them. One of them has a big gash on it. Its armed resembled that of Gatomon's claws, yellow with red stripes and black nails on them. The Digimon also has blue eyes, white and purple ears, and black talons on its feet. Minako was the first to run towards it.

"Oh no! It's injured!" Minako yelped as she and Salamon ran toward it.

"Minako! Be careful!" Melody yelled. Minako gently stroke the Digimon's armor and got its attention.

"Are you okay?" Minako whispered softly and kindly, which made the Digimon open its eyes and look at Minako rather strangely.

"Who...who are you?" The Digimon asked in a low, lady-like voice. Minako got some gauze out of her book bag.

"Don't move. We'll take care of you. You look like you've been hurt pretty bad," Minako told her in a motherly voice as she gently wrapped the gauze around the Digimon's wing, left leg, and shoulder.

"It's okay! You'll be all better soon. Wan!" Salamon told it reassuringly, which seemed to make the Digimon smile, even though her mouth is covered with armor. Otoya looked up the Digimon's information on her digivice.

"She's Butterflymon, an armor level, vaccine attribute, insect Digimon. Her attacks are Sweet Honey Straw, Butterfly Masquerade, and Butterfly Serenade," Otoya said.

"Would you like some help?" Rena asked as she ran towards Minako.

"Me too!" Otoya followed suit.

"Huh? Why'd you all bring gauze with you?" Kosuke asked.

"Simple. We figured we'd be in the Digital World for a while, and of course there'd be some danger along the way, so I decided to bring some gauze and some first aid stuff for in case anyone gets hurt," Minako explained.

"Mina-chan's always prepared for potential bad situations! Wan!" Salamon piped in.

"I brought lots of band-aids for in case Riku got himself scraped again," Rena said.

"Me too!" Otoya piped in.

"Wow. You girls are more prepared than I expected you to be, not that I didn't expect you'd be prepared or anything," Labramon said.

"Ah, women. Such delicate and genteel creatures, they are!" Shunji said rather condescendingly, acting as if he's in some Shakespearian play, which irked Yun a bit.

"If Ayaka heard you say that, she'd think you're a flirt," Yun told him sharply.

"May I be of assistance? Some of my water attacks may help in disinfecting the wounds," Lunamon said.

"Yes. My ice attacks will cool things down, if you don't mind," Lopmon piped in kindly. Minako smiled.

"Sure! Go ahead. We could use all the help we can get," Minako told them.

The kids put Butterflymon against the rock and the three girls tended to her wounds. Lunamon used a mild Tear Shot attack to clean up Butterflymon's wounds and disinfect them. Lopmon used a mild Freezing Snow to cool Butterflymon down, since it's rather hot outside right now. After the Digimon did what they could, Minako, Rena, and Otoya wrapped Butterflymon in however much gauze they needed and made sure to be as gentle as they could be. As the three girls tended to Butterflymon, Melody nudged Yun on the arm with her elbow.

"What's up, Mel-chan?" Yun asked.

"Have you ever heard of a Ladies' Aid Society?" Melody asked.

Yun cocked her head to one side, confused. "Ladies' Aid? Well, I've read about it in some of my books, but they never do explain what they are."

"I did some research, and I found out that in the 19th and 20th centuries, Ladies Aid Societies gave food to soldiers who went off to war, made clothes out of scraps, nursed the injured back to health, and all that jazz," Melody explained in a prosaic manner.

"Is THAT what they're for? I never knew! But why bring it up?"

"Cause...Minako, Rena, and Otoya are acting like total nurses right now," Melody looked at the trio of girls who dutifully tended to the wounded Digimon's injuries with aplomb. Yun looked and smiled. Terriermon too.

"They sure look like they're having fun doing it!" Terriermon exclaimed. Yun stroke his ear with her hand and smiled with him. Suddenly, MarineAngemon approached the three girls and Digimon.

"May I help out too?" MarineAngemon asked.

"Sure! Do whatever you need," Otoya replied.

"Okay! Here goes! Spray of Hearts!" MarineAngemon shot three small, pink glowing hearts from her mouth, which hit Butterflymon, but not in an injuring way. Butterflymon actually sighed and closed her eyes as if she were content with everything that's been happening.

After a while, Butterflymon was fully wrapped up in gauze.

"Ah...I feel much better already. I don't know what I'd do if you hadn't come. Thanks for taking care of me. I really appreciate it," Butterflymon muttered.

"It's alright. We're just glad we made it in time," Minako said.

All of a sudden, Butterflymon's eyes widened and she looked at Minako with interested blue eyes and ears rising into the sky. Salamon noticed and decided to bring it up.

"What's wrong?" Salamon asked.

"Do my eyes deceive me? You're...you're humans, aren't you? You are! You are, indeed! Wow! Magnificent! I've always dreamed of meeting a human being, and not only have I met them, but they've taken care of my wounds! Oh, what joy!" Butterflymon exclaimed happily.

"Oh. You Digimon...have heard about us?" Minako asked, her curiosity piqued by Butterflymon's complimentary remarks.

"Yes, but mostly in the form of rumors and legends. Here in the Digital World, we're told that there exists a being much higher than us, who created us from nothing and gave us life. I've always dreamed of meeting the very creature who gave us Digimon life, and now here I am in your presence!" Butterflymon explained.

"Do other Digimon like humans?" Salamon asked with a smile.

"Some do and some don't. Some don't believe in humans and think they're nothing but a farce, while some, like I, truly believe in their existence and have long since tried to go to the human world, but we've found no means to do so," Butterflymon replied.

"How come you were all hurt like that?" Bearmon asked.

"Yeah. You look like you've been pecked at real good!" Isao backed him up.

Butterflymon's blue eyes closed in dejection. "Pecked at is exactly what happened to me. Some Kiwimon branded with these things called Dark Emblems attacked me out of nowhere. I tried to stop them, but they were too powerful for me," She explained rather sadly. Minako put a hand on her bandaged shoulder.

"I'm sure they were. But hey, at least you survived!" Minako told her reassuringly.

"Yes, if it hadn't been for you, of course. I need to get back to Chloros Forest so I can work on my business, but in my condition, I don't think I'll be well enough to fly all the way there," Butterflymon said.

"We're actually on our way there. If you want, you can come with us!" Minako said.

Butterflymon's eyes widened. "Really? Can I? But what if things get dangerous?"

"Not to worry!" Salamon piped in. "They have us Digimon partners to protect them! Everything's gonna be just fine! Wan!"

"My champion form's the biggest Digimon around, so we can take down some bad Digimon easily!" Dracomon piped in courageously.

Butterflymon smiled. "Well, it's no wonder you humans are so wonderful. Alright, I will accompany you. I hope I won't get in your way. I promise I'll do whatever I can to pay you back for your kindness," Butterflymon said.

Everyone agreed to take Butterflymon with them since they didn't want to just leave her there. What if another branded Digimon were to pass by and attack her? She wouldn't have stood a chance. Minako took Butterflymon by the hand and led her away from the big rock. Everyone else surrounded them so Butterflymon would be protected. They walked away from the rock and headed towards Chloros Forest.

"So Moosemon. How much longer til we get there?" Shione asked.

"Not much longer. Just another 2 kilometers," Moosemon replied. Shione and Mikuni both sighed. Salamon sat on top of Butterflymon's head. For some reason, Butterflymon decided to strike up a conversation with her.

"Salamon? Your partner's very nice and intelligent," Butterflymon told her, which made Salamon smile.

"I know, right? She's smart and teaches me lots of fun things!" Salamon piped in.

"You're very lucky to have her for a partner," Butterflymon said. Salamon smiled sweetly.

"Me too," Salamon replied, which got Minako's attention.

"Is that me you're talking about?" Minako asked.

"Butterflymon says you're nice and intelligent, which you are! Wan!" Salamon piped in without fear or hesitation at all. In fact, she didn't mind if Minako heard their conversation. It was about Minako and the good things about her, so Salamon simply thought _'What's wrong with someone unknowingly hearing about a conversation about how nice you are?'_ Minako blushed a bit.

"Yeah. Lots of people tell me that," Minako said.

"Want to know a little something interesting? Did you know that I happen to be one of Salamon's armor digivolutions?" Butterflymon whispered like she was someone's girlfriend.

"Yeah. I knew that," Minako said.

"Hm! I see! Well, I suppose you don't recognize the symbol on my wings, do you? It means knowledge," Butterflymon said.

"The crest of knowledge?"

Butterflymon cocked her head to one side. "What's a crest?"

Minako chuckled. "Oh..."

Suddenly, Isao decided to join the conversation. "Oh! I know what a crest is! It's those things that the Digidestined have so their Digimon can digivolve to ultimate level! Izzy has the crest of knowledge!"

"Isao-kun. You know that's a TV show, right?" Minako told him.

"Yeah, but I thought she'd want to know," Isao said while rubbing the back of his thick red hair with his hand.

"That's right. Is it wrong to tell someone about a little interesting piece of knowledge?" Bearmon asked. Minako chuckled a bit.

"You kind of worded it wrong, but no, there's nothing wrong with sharing knowledge once in a while, so long it doesn't hurt anybody," Minako replied tactfully.

"How can knowledge hurt someone?" Bearmon asked curiously. Minako's eyebrows dropped a bit.

"Well..." Minako let the sentence drift away because Isao is just a young kid, and he wouldn't understand Minako's explanation for how knowledge could potentially hurt someone. That, or he would get bored to death by it. Nonetheless, Isao and Bearmon walked along merrily, forgetting their part in the conversation. The Digimon Brigade walked along quietly, when all of a sudden...

"Kiwi Bomb!"

A myriad of pale green orbs of light charged towards the Digimon Brigade. Yun, Melody, and their Digimon were the first ones to react.

"Freezing Snow!"

"Terrier Tornado!"

"Spiral Flame!"

Lopmon, Biyomon, and Terriermon's attacks managed to stop most of the kiwi bombs from hitting the Digimon Brigade, but a few managed to fly past them. This is where Yun and Melody stepped in.

"Shield!" On cue, the two girls held their digivices up, and a big rainbowy dome appeared over the Digimon Brigade, causing the kiwi bombs to dissipate. The kids were impressed.

"Wow! You can use a digivice to make a shield too? That's awesome!" Riku said.

"Indeed it is!" Bullmon piped in.

"Everyone! Look!" Shione yelled as she saw the culprits behind the assault. Standing before them are three Kiwimon, with glowing red eyes and angry demeanors. Butterflymon gasped.

"That's them! They're the Kiwimon that attacked me!" Butterflymon said.

"Hey! Ya think we should pound 'em?" Coronamon asked.

"Now you're speaking my language!" Riku exclaimed.

"But what about Lucero and Kamitsure?" Kosuke asked.

"I haven't forgotten about them, but we don't want to leave these Kiwimon to suffer, now do we?" Yun pointed out.

"Yun-chan's right. The Dark Emblems could also be hurting the Digimon! We can't have that happening! Come on! Let's help them out!" Patamon said.

"Yes. Let's purify them!" Labramon exclaimed.

Since there are three Kiwimon, only a few of the rookie Digimon digivolved. Labramon digivolved to Seasarmon, Coronamon to Firamon, and Patamon to Angemon. Moosemon, Bullmon, and MarineAngemon are already at their highest forms, so they didn't need to go any further. They were enough. Despite this, the rookies and the kids decided to fight with the champions so they could keep the Kiwimon at bay. Minako held onto Butterflymon.

"You're in no condition to fight, so I'll stay with you," Minako told her. Butterflymon wanted to protest for Salamon's sake, but decided not to.

The three Kiwimon charged at them.

"Pummel Peck!"

Little tiny objects in the form of small Kiwimon shot out at the kids. The kids got their digiswords out and slashed most of them, while the Digimon helped out.

"Lunar Claw!"

"Freezing Snow!"

"Dragon Ember!"

"Holy Roar!"

"Spiral Flame!"

Although their attacks destroyed the tiny Kiwimon objects, the three Kiwimon themselves are still at bay, trying to peck at everyone. Biyomon became incensed when a Kiwimon attacked her out of nowhere and plucked off some of her feathers.

"Why you disgusting, horrid thing! You're gonna pay for that! Holy Blaze!" Biyomon, in a paroxysm of anger, engulfed herself in flames and rammed into Kiwimon repeatedly.

As Biyomon and one of the Kiwimon were duking it out, Yun seemed to have a plan.

"Everyone! I've got a plan! All of you get into pairs of two! Have your Digimon either tire out or knock out the Kiwimon with their attacks long enough so they won't be able to fight. Once they're worn out, digilasso them so they won't run away! After that, find the Dark Emblems and remove them! Got it?" Yun edicted like a leader. Everyone smiled at her.

"Right!" Everyone yelled in unison.

"Look out!" Aria yelled as a Kiwimon was about to attack Yun.

"Spray of Hearts!"

"Hanging Twister!"

MarineAngemon and Moosemon attacked the Kiwimon and saved Yun.

"Thanks!"

"Consider this payment for saving me back then!" Moosemon told her.

Upon hearing her command, Kosuke decided to pair up with Otoya since both their Digimon are at their champion levels. Angemon and Seasarmon seemed to know they had plans and decided to go along with it.

"Hey Seasarmon!" Angemon said.

"What's up?" Seasarmon asked.

"You up for a little holy tag team action? I could use your powers!"

"Sure! In fact, I've been waiting for a little something like this! How about it?"

"Deal!"

A Kiwimon came charging at them.

"Angemon! Seasarmon! Attack!" Kosuke commanded.

"Kiwi Bomb!"

Angemon and Seasarmon performed a little dance before preparing to unleash their combined attack. Once Angemon and Seasarmon were in their positions (Angemon sitting on top of Seasarmon like he's some equestrian), they went and did it.

"Shining Solar Strike!" Angemon and Seasarmon were engulfed by a dazzling gold light and both charged at Kiwimon so much that they not only knocked it unconscious, but destroyed it enough to have it turn into a DigiEgg. Otoya rubbed her head with her hand.

"Wow. That worked a little TOO well," Otoya said.

"It seems we went a bit too far," Angemon said.

"Well, at least Kiwimon should be fine from now on," Seasarmon said.

"Speaking of Kiwimon, wanna help the others out?" Kosuke asked.

"You've just read my mind!" Angemon exclaimed with a smile. But his smile faded immediately when he heard Yun scream.

"MINAKO! LOOK OUT!"

"Kiwi Bomb!"

Yun screamed as she saw a Kiwimon attempt to attack her. It came by so quickly nobody had time to react, not even Salamon.

Except for one.

"Butterfly Serenade!"

A myriad of butterflies glowing in multifarious colors streamed out from Butterflymon's arms and consumed the kiwi bombs as if they were dinner. But not only did they consume the kiwi bombs, they also managed to lay some hits on Kiwimon. Angemon pummeled that same Kiwimon with his holy rod.

"Okay! My turn! Holy Roar!" Salamon roared loudly, so much that Kiwimon was knocked off of her feet and unconscious. Minako decided to use this opportunity to get her digisword out and gently remove the Dark Emblem, which she did with aplomb.

"Mina-chan! Are you alright?" Salamon asked, her wide violet eyes trembling with worry. Minako gently picked up the worried little pup and held her close.

"I'm alright. Thanks for worrying about me," Minako whispered to Salamon gently, then looked up at Butterflymon. "And Butterflymon...thanks for saving me."

"You're welcome. Now we're even," Butterflymon said.

"But what about the other Kiwimon?" Salamon asked.

"I think we'll let Riku handle that one. Biyomon's done pecking it anyhow," Minako told her, which made Salamon smile with relief.

And speaking of Riku and Firamon...

"Grrr! This thing's annoying! I can't land one hit on it!" Firamon complained. Riku noticed that Kiwimon is beginning to stammer just a bit.

"Not to worry! She's starting to get weaker, so try hitting her again!" Riku commanded.

"But I might use up the last of my energy! And if I miss-"

"We don't have time to laze around! Do it!"

Firamon sighed. "If you say so."

Finally, Firamon attacked.

"Fira Claw!"

With its forelegs engulfed with flames, Firamon clawed Kiwimon enough to both knock her unconscious and remove the Dark Emblem from the back of her head. All three of the Kiwimon were purified, though one got turned into a DigiEgg as a result of Angemon and Seasarmon's lack of control (which they didn't intend). After that, all the champion level Digimon (except for Bullmon, Butterflymon, MarineAngemon, and Moosemon) de-digivolved back into their rookie forms. Terriermon fell to his knees.

"Whew! That sure was tiring!" Terriermon exhaled a sigh of exhaustion.

"You're tired? You hardly did a thing!" Kosuke scolded, sounding rather irritated.

"Yeah I did! Lopmon, Lunamon, and I saved Yun and Melody from being pummeled by the kiwi bombs!" Terriermon retorted back.

"That was just one thing!" Kosuke exclaimed.

"So? It's better than nothing, right?" Terriermon said back.

"Now now! Let's not fight, shall we? The important thing is that the Kiwimon have been purified and everyone's safe!" Patamon jumped into the scene and quickly stopped Kosuke and Terriermon from getting into a brouhaha.

"You kinda overdid it on your part," Kosuke said, which made Patamon irk a bit.

"Yeah...that was an accident!" Patamon retorted.

"We did not intend to turn Kiwimon into a DigiEgg, though I suppose it's not necessarily a bad thing since she will begin her life anew. Perhaps we should practice our combination attacks in the future," Labramon explained calmly, not bothered by Kosuke's attitude towards this turn of events.

"They're right. At least we stopped potential destruction," Minako explained.

"Alrighty! I think it's time to-WHAT? Butterflymon's glowing!" Yun edicted like a leader at first, then screamed like a maniac when she saw Butterflymon's wings glowing.

Yes! Butterflymon's wings are glowing a serene and calming violet purple color, like Minako's violet eyes. Everyone watched, surprised by this new turn of events, even Minako and Butterflymon. After a short while, a small orb of purple light came out from Butterflymon's injured wing, causing her wings to stop glowing. The orb of light floated in the air for a bit and gently fell into Minako's palms. When the purple light dissipated, out came a small purple gem stone in the shape of a tiny butterfly. Everyone stared at it with awe.

"Wow! What was that?" Melody yelped.

"Beats me!" Riku piped in.

"But whatever it is, it's awesome!" Coronamon piped in.

"It's shaped like a butterfly, like Butterflymon!" Otoya said.

Suddenly, Yun yelped, seeing that she forgot to tell everyone something very important.

"AAACK! I totally forgot! Mina-chan! You just got Butterflymon's D-Chip!" Yun exclaimed loudly.

"A D-Chip? What's a D-Chip?" Rena asked.

"Care to tell us, Yun-san?" Lunamon asked politely.

"You know about this?" Labramon asked politely.

"Come on! Spill the beans!" Biyomon said.

"Okay okay!" Yun held her hands up to calm everyone down, feeling rather inundated by their prodding. "That thing that came out of Butterflymon just now is what's called a D-Chip. If you befriend another Digimon even though you already have a partner, you get a piece of their data and it turns into one of those gem stone things, which is a D-Chip. Any Digimon whose D-Chip you have is your secondary Digimon, and you can call for them by putting the D-Chip in that hole on the side of your digivice. I have a couple of them myself, and Aria-chan has one too."

Aria backed her up by showing off her own D-Chip. "It's true! I made friends with a Unimon!"

"Wow! Really? That's so cool!" Patamon exclaimed happily.

"Seriously? Aw man, that's awesome! I wouldn't mind getting one of those from a Leomon or a Flamedramon or somethin'!" Riku exclaimed happily.

"Hey! Are you pickin' favorites already? Aren't I your awesome Digimon partner?" Coronamon exclaimed, feeling rather irritated by Riku's remarks just now. Immediately, Riku felt guilty and hugged his furry red hamster Digimon.

"Of course you are! No way is anyone gonna replace you, little buddy! You were awesome today too!" Riku said.

Kosuke crossed his arms. "Why didn't you tell us this before?"

"I was planning to!" Yun replied. "I was planning to tell you guys about this and another thing at the next arranged Digimon Brigade meeting! But all this stuff happened and we didn't have time to even make plans."

"She's got a point," Labramon said.

"How do you know they're called D-Chips?" Minako asked.

"This guy named Link told me and Aria-chan about them!" Yun replied.

"WHAT? You met another human in the Digital World?" Everyone yelled in unison, which inundated Yun a bit, which Melody noticed.

"Will you pipe down? Yun doesn't like it when you yell!" Melody scolded in an austere tone of voice.

"Y-Yes...he calls himself Link. He has a WarGreymon and he wears a purple mask. A lot of Digimon seem to revere him and think he's a hero," Yun explained.

"Please don't be angry. Like she said, we were planning to tell all of this to you, but everything that's happened kind of took our minds off of it. We apologize for not telling you sooner," Lopmon told them in a dulcet, serene voice, hoping to mollify them.

Strangely enough, some of the kids laughed! Shunji and Kosuke being two of them!

"Link? Like the Zelda character? Oh my God, that's too weird! Oh, my ribs!" Shunji laughed and cracked up like he heard the funniest joke in the history of jokes.

"I know, right? What adult would like Zelda?" Kosuke laughed.

"Jeez! This guy must be a total video game otaku!" Riku laughed.

"Yeah! Like me and Riku with Space Raiders!" Coronamon piped in.

"Come on, guys! Stop laughing! Yun-chan just told us something very important!" Patamon scolded like a strict parent. Yun was surprised that Patamon would scold his own partner for laughing at Link's name.

"Yes. This is not funny!" Labramon piped in.

After a while, the kids finally stopped laughing. Rena decided to put in one final statement.

"Do you think maybe we should look for this Link guy, too? Along with Lucero-kun and Hokuto-kun?" Rena asked. Yun folded her arms, looked up at the digital sky, and ruminated.

"Hmmm...well, he has WarGreymon with him, so I don't think we should. I think he'll be fine. He's a grown up and can take care of himself after all," Yun said.

"Yes. That's true," Lopmon said.

Suddenly, smoke came out from Bullmon's nose.

"I feel it! Chloros Forest is close! Come on! We better get there fast before any more branded Digimon get us! Come on, now! Scat!" Bullmon exclaimed as he attempted to dart off like a cheetah, but very quickly Moosemon bit onto his tail and stopped him from running off.

"Bullmon! Calm down! Let everyone get ready, will you?" Bullmon advised through his teeth, biting onto Bullmon's tail and keeping him out of trouble. Bullmon relented and stopped what he was doing.

Once the group got prepared and the two Kiwimon walked away with their DigiEgg, the Digimon Brigade went back to heading towards Chloros Forest.

Finally, they saw some HUGE and awesomely tall green trees and some small Digimon flying around. Moosemon beamed.

"There it is! Chloros Forest!" Moosemon edicted.

"What joy! We're here at last!" Butterflymon said.

They finally went inside, and they saw that the forest was not as dense and claustrophobic-feeling as they imagined it to be. On the contrary, everything below the tree leaves was quite roomy, open, and not cluttered up whatsoever. There was space everywhere. Not only that, food is being grown from all places, from the ground to the trees. Some diminutive Digimon are tending to a little campfire. But what shocked the kids the most were how far away the leafy trees are. The bark is so tall, much taller than they are combined! They could barely even reach the trees and feel their evergreen leaves. Some winged Digimon picked some fruit out of the trees, unintentionally giving off the impression that they're saying, "Ha ha! We can get to the trees and you can't! Nah-nah!" Once Moosemon, Butterflymon, and Bullmon came in, all Digimon laid eyes on them.

"We're back!" Moosemon edicted proudly.

Instantly, pandemonium broke out in the form of beast Digimon crowding around Moosemon, Bullmon, and Butterflymon.

"Moosemon! Yer back! Nice to see ya!"

"How've you been? We've been so worried since we learned you disappeared!"

"What happened to you? You okay?"

"Butterflymon! Where were you? We looked everywhere for you!"

"Did you get the kiwis from Kiwimon?"

"Bullmon! You didn't ram into more innocent Digimon again, do you?"

"Aw, come on! Lighten up! They're back so let's give them a nice welcome!"

One Digimon, a giant beetle clad in shiny silver armor with red eyes, noticed the kids, awed by the sheer amount of Digimon inundating them this very moment. "You have company? What do you have there?"

"I'm glad you asked, Searchmon! They're humans!" Butterflymon edicted without one hint of hesitation in her voice.

All the citizens of Chloros Forest gasped.

"What? Humans?"

"Are you serious? The creatures of legend?"

"No way! They can't be humans! Look! They're so scrawny and look like they could snap into two!"

"They're a lot smaller than I imagined."

"This is awesome! Humans are actually gracing us with their presence!"

"This calls for a celebration! Come on! Let's throw a feast, shall we?"

"Hurrah!"

"Now now, everyone! Please, calm yourselves!" Moosemon advised calmly as he tried to push the mob of excited and jubilant Digimon away from the Digimon Brigade. "These humans are on a quest to save their friend! Let's be civil now, shall we?"

The Digimon turned silent.

"Wow. That sure is quite a welcoming committee," Melody said.

"Well, what did you expect? Lots of Digimon get all excited upon seeing humans," Biyomon told her.

"Yes, that's true," Butterflymon piped in.

"Whoa! These are all Digimon? Wow! Amazing!" Shione said.

"This is so cool! I feel like I'm in a zoo!" Mikuni typed into her cell phone.

"Searchmon. I'll have you come first," Moosemon told the silver beetle, Searchmon. Searchmon approached the kids. Aria, Isao, MarineAngemon, Bearmon, and Mikuni all clung to Butterflymon in fear. Terriermon and Lopmon covered Yun's ears with their own since they know she's sensitive to loud noise.

"Hello, humans! I'm Searchmon, a citizen of Chloros Forest. Pleased to meet you! If you don't mind me asking, Moosemon says you're here to save your friend. Is there any way we can help?" Searchmon asked.

Yun decided to answer.

"Hello. See, we're looking for two boys. One of them has blonde hair, blue eyes, white skin, blue overalls, and a LOT of funny-looking purple tattoos all over the left side of his body. The other one has brown hair, darker eyes, glasses, light skin, and has a white weasel wrapped around his neck," Yun explained lucidly and calmly so they can take their time and process what she's saying. She left out the part about Kudamon being a Digimon because she didn't want them to suddenly get excited. The Digimon looked at each other for a bit when one Digimon decided to say something.

"Two boys? Oh! Now that you mention it, I think I have seen them!" One Digimon with a white body, white wings, and an Egyptian-looking face exclaimed.

"You have, Nefertimon? Spill the beans! Where?" Bullmon yelled.

"It was about a few minutes ago, I was flying over the desert and saw two scrawny little things talking. They were small so I didn't think much of it. But now that you mention it, if you say they're missing then...I have a bad feeling that they might be going to Noir Lake," The Digimon, Nefertimon, explained.

"Noir Lake?" Otoya asked.

"Yes. Noir Lake is a place in between Chloros Forest and the desert that she flew over. Chloros Forest is on the left of it while the desert is on the right. It's not exactly the nicest place in the world. Kinda dark. The water's all black. A lot of dark and ill-natured Digimon live there. It gets especially dangerous at night, when all the Digimon come out!" Nefertimon explained.

"If that's the case," Minako inquired, beginning to feel worried. "Then we should go there right away and see if they're there!"

Suddenly, a rumbling sound permeated the forest. Then came more growling sounds. Some of the Digimon laughed.

"I guess maybe we should eat before going to Noir Lake!" Patamon said.

"We need our strength," Labramon said.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's eat!" Terriermon exclaimed.

The Digimon decided to throw a feast for the Digimon Brigade after all. All the kids followed them...except for Kosuke. Patamon was about to fly towards them when he noticed Kosuke standing against a tree in a pensive state.

"Kosuke! Aren't you coming?" Patamon asked innocently, which pulled Kosuke out of his reverie.

"I'll catch up with you," Kosuke told him. Patamon didn't exactly find his response very satisfactory, especially since in his house food is always a problem since they can barely get it. Patamon couldn't understand why Kosuke would want to wait before scarfing down food, which in their house is a rarity. But Patamon didn't argue, and decided to fly off.

"If you say so. I'll save you something nice, okay?" Patamon said and flew off to join the kids. Kosuke smiled at Patamon as he flew away, but it dissipated when he leaned against the tree and ruminated again.

_'The Digital World's pretty awesome. These Digimon are lucky. They don't have to worry about famines or food shortages or anything while I have to eat long expired leftovers and convenience store food. I'd like to eat here, but since the Digital World is made of just computer data, won't the food just be artificial? It'd be like it never even existed. I dunno...'_ Kosuke thought deeply until he was suddenly pulled out of his reverie yet again, this time by someone other than Patamon. The sound of strong footsteps caught Kosuke's attention.

What he saw surprised him. Standing before him is a horse with orange skin and little ear wings like Patamon, shining golden armor, yellow hair going down its neck, beautiful, elegant yellow wings, and a swishy yellow tail. The winged horse stood in a refined and careful stance, looking upon Kosuke with curious and interested blue eyes, blue as the sky. The horse's long face, clad entirely in a gold armor helmet only showing his eyes, cocked his head to one side as if he were examining Kosuke and absorbing his features. Kosuke couldn't help but find this majestic and serene creature quite dazzling, beautiful, and breath-taking, with the thin and slender sunbeams streaking his wings, making them look as though they emitted a beautiful, almost blinding, golden effulgence. The horse's mane is the color of the sun-yellow, bright, and warm. The horse himself felt warm and friendly. Being rather taken aback, Kosuke decided to look up the Digimon's information out of curiosity.

"Pegasusmon, an armor level, vaccine attribute, holy beast Digimon. His attacks are Star Shower, Eques Beam, and Wind Mane," Kosuke muttered as he looked at his digivice, then put it away. The beautiful Digimon, Pegasusmon, walked a few steps closer to Kosuke, getting a better look at him. Now, Kosuke was becoming a little confused by this holy Digimon's curiosity.

"Ummm...hi?" Kosuke said.

"Hello!" Pegasusmon said in a rich, kind adult male voice, his eyes closed happily. Kosuke couldn't tell if he was smiling or not since his mouth is probably clad in armor. But from the way Pegasusmon said hello, he sounded happy, so Kosuke figured as such.

"Hi," Kosuke said again. Suddenly, Pegasusmon looked at him again, this time rather solemnly.

"You look as though you wish to fly."

"Huh?"

"You yearn for freedom and flight. You want to be like a bird, who flies happily through the skies, not bound to anything. But chains hold you down and keep your feet locked to the ground, holding back your progress. I can certainly see you do have wings, but chains are keeping them from flying."

Kosuke found himself frozen, unable to move. Frightened, shocked, silent. He wasn't afraid or hurt by what Pegasusmon just said. No, he was far from hurt. In fact, Kosuke was shocked because everything that Pegasusmon just said was absolutely dead-on. Spot-on. Right on the target. Those words hit him in the heart like an archer's arrow hitting a bulls-eye impeccably, without fail. Did Pegasusmon just basically outright state Kosuke's whole entire life right in front of his face, even though they only just met? Maybe this is some sort of super cool Digimon intuition? Kosuke couldn't help but wonder. Seeing the surprise on Kosuke's face, Pegasusmon closed his eyes.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you or anything. That's just the vibe you sort of give off to me. Eh, ignore my silly ramblings," Pegasusmon said with a chuckle at the end of that sentence. Kosuke's shock dissipated.

"Oh, no...it's fine," Kosuke said. "You're kinda cool."

Pegasusmon nudged his face against Kosuke's cheek. "Thank you. I'm honored by your praise. But if you do need assistance in breaking the chance that bind you to the ground, perhaps I can help. Patamon too."

Kosuke smiled. Right when Patamon's name was mentioned, speak of the devil, Patamon came out with a peach in his hands.

"Kosuke! They make great peaches here! Try one!" Patamon said as he gave Kosuke the peach. Kosuke munched on it and was surprised with how good it tasted.

"It's great!"

"Isn't it? Oh!" Patamon said and noticed Pegasusmon. "You have a new friend? Cool! Hey, did you know that Pegasusmon is one of my armor Digivolution forms?"

"I knew that," Kosuke said.

"Did you? Hm! You humans are as smart as you are easy to read," Pegasusmon said.

"Am I THAT easy to read?" Kosuke asked.

"Yep!" Both Patamon and Pegasusmon said in perfect unison. Patamon pulled on Kosuke's shirt.

"Come on! Enjoy yourself! You can come too, Pegasusmon!" Patamon said as he dragged Kosuke away.

"I'd be happy to join you," Pegasusmon said with a barely hidden smile, even though his face is covered with armor. Soon, the kids and their Digimon joined the citizens of Chloros Forest and celebrated with a feast specially prepared for them and them alone.

As the festivities were going on, however, Witchmon flew into MoonMillenniummon's inner sanctum with Monitormon and a funny-looking bluish grey Digimon with floppy dog-like ears, red crescent moon shaped eyes that look very eerie and ominous, and a heart-shaped mouth. The blue crystal looked upon the three of them eerily.

"I see you've returned, Witchmon. I've received the Digimon you recruited. Well done," MoonMillenniummon said. Witchmon blushed a bit.

"Oh! Thanks, Master! I did my best to-" Witchmon became happy upon being praised by MoonMillenniummon and wanted to ramble, but the grey Digimon suddenly smacked her in the face with one of its ears.

"OWWW! Hey! What'd you do that for?" Witchmon yelled at the grey thing.

"You're stupid and ugly!" The grey Digimon exclaimed naughtily. This egregious and willful transgression made Witchmon incensed.

"Why you ungrateful little-!"

"Pagumon," MoonMillenniummon said ominously, which caught the Digimon, Pagumon's attention. "In this inner sanctum, we don't slap those who have been kind enough to save us from eternal despair. Witchmon took the time to feed you and offer you her kindness. In this place, we expect you to be cooperative and obedient to your elders. It may seem boring to you, but thankfulness can do a whole lot. Now apologize to Witchmon, if you please."

Pagumon hesitated, but covered its eyes with its ears.

"Sorry..." Pagumon muttered.

"Good," MoonMillenniummon said tenderly. "It's alright now. Go and play with the others. You're not quite experienced yet, so I cannot give you any duties until you've digivolved."

"Yes!" Pagumon said and bounced away. Witchmon flew to the ground, putting Monitormon down.

"Alrighty! You're free to run around and play!" Witchmon said.

"Yes ma'am! Oh! Here!" Monitormon said and dug around to find something and gave it to Witchmon. In Witchmon's big red hand is a little greyish stone with reddish violet spots on it.

"A rock?"

"Ish a red and grey rock! Reminds me of you! Like it?" Monitormon said sweetly. Witchmon wanted to complain and argue that this rock looks absolutely nothing like her or about why it reminds Monitormon of her. But she held in her anger and refrained from exploding into a paroxysm of fiery rage. Monitormon had been particularly sweet to her throughout all the time they spent together. Not once did Monitormon ever say anything bad about Witchmon. In fact, as Witchmon noticed, Monitormon seemed to look up to her and view her as a motherly figure, even though Witchmon says she hates responsibilities. Seeing Monitormon's genuine sweetness, Witchmon clutched the little stone, smiled tenderly, and stroke Monitormon's head with her other hand.

"Thank you, Monitormon. You're sweet. Now go on and play with your friends!"

"You not gonna come with me?"

Witchmon shook her head. "I'd like to, but I can't. I have duties to perform, jobs to do."

"Can I do them for you?"

"No. You're too small. Sorry."

Monitormon was crestfallen, but he accepted Witchmon's response nonetheless. "Okay. Have a good day!" Then Monitormon happily trotted off to play with more of his kind. Once he disappeared, Witchmon sat on her broom next to MoonMillenniummon and sighed.

"Jeez Louise! I'm finally finished for today! I'm so exhausted!" Witchmon said.

"It seems Monitormon likes you a great deal," MoonMillenniummon said.

"Yeah. He does. I didn't expect him to though. Most Digimon can't stand me."

"That is true, sadly enough. But Monitormon has taken to you real well, especially since he's the most recent rookie."

"Was he abandoned too?"

"Unfortunately, like the rest of us, yes, he has. He's...slower than his kind, and they didn't quite like the fact that he took longer to do things than the rest of them. He's clumsy, uncoordinated, and even his speech isn't fully developed yet. He was kicked out because he accidentally hurt a Monimon. Lawful heart, I don't know why any Digimon could be so selfish and cruel!"

"You're cruel."

"And so are you, to a degree. But not towards Monitormon, that I know very well."

"Yeah. He must think I'm his mom."

"He does. He follows you around like a Chicchimon. He considers you very important to him."

"Hey Master...all the Digimon who serve you, Roachmon and LadyDevimon both included...have they all been through bad experiences? Have they all been abandoned or ignored or left behind in some way?"

"Yes. The Digital World has been unkind to them and for various reasons, they are abused, neglected, ignored, left behind, and abandoned. I take them in because I've been there myself. Unfortunately, nobody saved me or bothered to take care of me. I had to fend for myself and save myself, even as a baby. I've worked hard to get to this point."

"All those digital spots you made sure prove it."

"That's true. I want to create a Digital World where nobody is abandoned or ignored. I want to save them from despair, even if they may think my motives are cruel. Heck, why else do you think I took you in after Witchelny was cruel enough to banish you for a crime you didn't do? Why else do you think I took in Roachmon or LadyDevimon or Lilithmon after the hardships they went through? In my book, everyone is equal."

"Equal? Oh says the Digimon who praises LadyDevimon for cursing the Digimon while I did all the work!"

MoonMillenniummon sighed. "Witchmon...I have a confession to make. I apologize for making you feel left out back then. Around then, you were the most recent rookie. Most of the smaller Digimon looked up to LadyDevimon and didn't think you could do anything worthy of me. They often said you were being lazy or indolent. The only reason I praised LadyDevimon in the first place was because I thought maybe it would motivate you into working hard and proving them wrong. You were actually very smart to lay those traps for that MarineAngemon. If you hadn't, she would've easily escaped."

"Why didn't you say so back then?"

"I knew about how the small Digimon perceived you, and I didn't want them to think I was picking favorites. It may seem to you that I prefer LadyDevimon over you, but this is the truth: I don't pick favorites. Most Digimon who have been abandoned claims that those who raised them had favorites, and I didn't want to give the wrong impression. If you want to think I am picking favorites, that's fine. I don't expect everyone to like me."

Witchmon remained silent. This was the first time she ever saw this side to MoonMillenniummon. She couldn't help but feel a little sense of warmth in her chest (supposing she even had a heart). MoonMillenniummon is praising her right in front of her, and not feeling one bit ashamed about it. Witchmon was so surprised. Who knew MoonMillenniummon cared for her THIS much. Nobody had done this for her since she was banished from Witchelny. Well, MedievalDukemon DID at least TRY to be merciful and kind to her as he passed judgment, but the citizens were cruel and kicked her out without a second thought. She was about to think more when MoonMillenniummon suddenly pulled her out of her little reverie.

"Hey Witchmon. Did you ever play any games in your world?"

"Games? Oh! Now that you mention it, back in Witchelny, I always used to partake in magic fights with my friends and rivals. We'd blast each other with attacks and magic spells until we got too tired to play anymore. It was fun!"

"Do you mind if...we two played magic fight?"

Witchmon gasped. MoonMillenniummon, of all Digimon, asking her if he can play magic fight with her? To Witchmon, this was the strangest thing since she learned of the existence of humans! MoonMillenniumon, asking to play a child's game! Who knew he had this side to him?

"You? Play magic fight with me? Why?"

"Because...all the other Digimon are out. You and I are the only ones here. Roachmon and the others won't be coming back until later...plus I'm BORED TO DEATH in this stupid rock formation! I can't even change form, let alone break away from this rock formation on my own! If I did know how, I'd do it within a millisecond! But sadly enough, I can't. I can't think of anything else to do other than eat digital gruel, so...can we? Just for fun?"

Suddenly, Witchmon found her opportunity. An opportunity to show MoonMillenniummon what kind of Digimon she really is.

"Alright! I'll go first! Get ready! Baluluna Gale!" Witchmon immediately threw out a spinning tornado of wing.

"_Donner Brechen_(1)!" A sliver of blue lightning shot out from MoonMillenniumon's crystal and managed to make Witchmon's attack dissipate into thin air.

"What? That's no fair!"

"That's how life is, Witchmon! Ha ha!"

"Oh, really? Take this!"

Witchmon and MoonMillenniummon playfully shot attacks at each other for a long time. Soon, both of them became tired out. But Witchmon hadn't felt so happy since the last time she played with her friends and rivals in Witchelny. Never before had she felt so free, so happy, so loved. She hadn't been loved for a long time, nor have maybe any of the other Digimon MoonMillenniummon has taken in right now.

"Phew! That was fun!" Witchmon said with a laugh.

"It sure was! A nice, welcome change of pace, it is!" MoonMillenniummon bellowed like an old man enjoying his last days.

Then, he did something Witchmon never expected. A blue ghostly aura appeared from the crystal in which MoonMillenniummon is trapped, wrapped itself around Witchmon, and pulled her towards MoonMillenniummon. The aura locked Witchmon in and pushed her against him. Normally, people would get scared by such a thing. Witchmon was feeling a little surprised herself. But there was something warm about this aura that's pushing her against the hard crystal. It almost felt like she was being...hugged. Embraced.

"Master...?"

"Witchmon. I feel your pain. We both share the same feelings of loneliness, distrust, abandonment, and melancholy. We both need a little warmth and happiness in our lives. All the Digimon here feel the same way, and they have no one to save them or make them feel worthy. I hope that I've saved you, Witchmon. Saved you from eternal despair, along with everyone else. You all...are like my children to me. All of whom I deem very precious to me. This is all I can do to truly embrace you, but it's better than nothing, right?"

Witchmon couldn't believe what she was hearing. MoonMillenniummon thinks of her, and everyone else, as his child? His precious child? She never heard him say this before. It's probably because MoonMillenniummon is much more prideful and self-conscious than even she is, but...to actually show a softer, kinder, even fatherly side to all abandoned Digimon? It's no wonder he took her, Roachmon, Monitormon, LadyDevimon, and everyone else in! Here, in MoonMillenniummon's inner sanctum, they all share the same pain and feelings of hardship, melancholy, distrust, loneliness, and abandonment. Before, once Witchmon was banished from Witchelny, forbidden from ever going back, she felt as though her heart were nothing but a chunk of ice, doomed never to melt. Ever. But now, everything felt melted and soft. Even her own sky blue eyes felt warm and melted and soft. This is because tears were pouring out of her, like waterfalls. Overcome with the kindest and warmest thing she wanted, love, she finally cried out loudly. MoonMillenniummon remained silent as she cried.

"Ma-Ma-Master! I...I...I've wanted...more than anything...to go back to those...happy days...when I was happy and free of everything! I...I can't believe...that you really...bwaaaah!" Witchmon bawled and wailed like a little child who has been reunited with its parents after a long and agonizing separation. Witchmon finally learned the extent to which MoonMillenniumon truly cares for not just her, but for all the Digimon he took it, even though his motivations may be rather unorthodox.

"You actually had happy days before coming here. I had none. To be honest...I sort of envy you. Forgive me for my jealousy," The ghostly dragon in the crystal told her kindly, in a father-like voice.

Witchmon cried and MoonMillenniummon embraced her for a long time. After a while, Witchmon finally mollified herself and wiped her tears away.

"I'm sorry...for talking bad about you before. I didn't know..."

"It's quite alright. In fact, it's to be expected that you talk bad about me. I'm used to it. Sometimes a little motivation can do volumes for Digimon."

"Thank you...for caring for me...and for taking me in."

"You're welcome."

Their happy moment finally ended when Roachmon appeared.

"I'm baaaaack, homies!"

MoonMillenniummon and Witchmon's mouths fell to the ground.

"H-H-Homies?" Witchmon exclaimed, flabbergasted by Roachmon's cursory and vernacular language.

"Roachmon! How dare you use such language! Where are your manners? Haven't I told you to stop talking like a guttersnipe? You don't exactly give the best first impression, you know!" MoonMillenniummon scolded in an austere tone of voice, like the self proclaimed parent he is.

"Eh, who gives a Ratmon's hat?" Roachmon retorted rather boldly, being the obstinate little roach he is. MoonMillenniummon sighed.

"Alright. Now that you two are here, I have a mission for you two to fulfill," MoonMillenniummon told them solemnly.

"A mission? Really? Spill the beans already!" Roachmon demanded.

"Yes, a mission. Patience, Roachmon! Anyway, you all have heard of Chloros Forest, right?" MoonMillenniummon asked.

"I've heard of it! I've been there once! It's right next to Noir Lake, isn't it?" Witchmon said.

"Yes. That is correct. Chloros Forest is one of the few areas in the Digital World that has been untouched by my powers since I decimated the Digital World many years ago," MoonMillenniummon began. "The Digimon there are very obstinate and strong willed. I want you two to subjugate them with the Dark Emblems and bring all of them here...using some of your recruits. Appear!"

MoonMillenniummon commanded a glut of branded Digimon to appear. Once they did, Witchmon gasped.

"Whoa! Elecmon, Garurumon, Tapirmon, Togemon, Mushroomon...whoa! These are all the Digimon I recruited!" Witchmon exclaimed. She recognized most of the Digimon. Roachmon did too.

"Yeah! You're lettin' us use the Youkomon, Snimon, Tuskmon, and DarkLizardmon too?" Roachmon said.

"Yes. Taking over Chloros Forest will be very tough, so I'm letting you take this army with you so it'll be easier for you to keep them at bay. Now, embark!" MoonMillennimon said.

"Yes, sir!" Roachmon and Witchmon said. Then they rounded up the Digimon army and left the inner sanctum, leaving MoonMillenniummon all alone.

Author's Note: Dang! This has to be my longest chapter yet! So much to put in! I had some other ideas for this chapter, but since it got so long, I think I'm going to move them to the next chapter instead. Well, I better go now. I have homework to do. Bye-bee!

Footnotes:

1. Donner Brechen is German for "thunder break".


	24. Howl of a Mad Humanoid Beast

Author's Note: Hello everyone! It's Firechick and I'm alive! Great news! After a loooooong while, I've finally gotten some manga and books! Unfortunately, stupid Barnes and Noble only had Natsume Yuujinchou volumes 8 and 9. I wanted to get With The Light volume 8! Nooooo! Oh well. I might as well be happy with what I have. Other great news: my dad got a new job and my sister made it to round three on America's Got Talent. How cool is that? Sure didn't expect it. But oh well. Now, I present to you all chapter 24 of Digimon: A Seraphic Tale! Enjoy!

EPISODE 24: Howl of a Mad Humanoid Beast

The citizens of Chloros Forest exalted the Digimon Brigade and invited them into one of their houses for a feast. Minako noticed that the house resembles that of a traditional Native American longhouse, made from pole frames and elm bark covering. To their surprise, it's 200 feet long and 20 feet both high and wide! This is such because if there were to be any disasters or meetings, they can retreat to the big longhouse. As Minako noticed, a lot of the houses in Chloros Forest looked eerily like traditional Native American tepees, longhouses, and wigwam houses. The Digimon preparing the feast did it outside because according to the citizens of Chloros Forest, any food that is prepared under what they call Chloros Forest's blessed trees tastes the best of them all. At this point, they didn't really care what they ate so long as it filled their stomachs. Kosuke sat in between Pegasusmon and Searchmon, with Patamon sitting safely, and happily, in his arms. Minako sat in between Nefertimon and a Digimon in the form of a she-lion covered completely in fire. Thankfully enough, the flickering and dancing flames on her body didn't harm Minako or anyone else, so it was okay. As the Digimon waited, the fiery lion Digimon suddenly found Minako interesting and decided to talk to her.

"Hello!" The fiery cat Digimon said. Minako cocked her head to one side for a bit, then smiled.

"Hello," Minako said.

"I'm Lynxmon!"

"I'm Omori Minako, but feel free to call me Mina."

"I was wondering...what do you humans eat?"

"Eh?"

"I mean...are you allergic to Digimon food or something? Or can you eat just about anything?" Lynxmon blushed as she talked, which Nefertimon noticed.

"Lynxmon! Why bring up such a subject? You know you shouldn't ask about someone's diet!" Nefertimon scolded sternly.

"But I'm just asking! I wanna know what humans are like!" Lynxmon said. Minako was going to say something, but Salamon beat her to it.

"It's okay! She means well. Humans can eat about anything...except food that's made for animals. But sometimes people are allergic to stuff and can't eat certain things. Some people can't drink milk. If they can't drink milk, then they're lactose intolerant. Lactose is a disaccharide sugar which is made from galactose and glucose. Lactose also comes from the word lactis, which is the Latin word for milk!" Salamon explained.

"Wow! You know all that stuff? Amazing!" Lynxmon exclaimed.

"Heehee! Mina-chan taught me recently," Salamon said with a smile.

"I've only just recently learned it myself in science class before we came here," Minako said.

"I wish I was smart like that!" Lynxmon said.

"Me too. You humans are quite interesting," Nefertimon said.

Salamon secretly decided to speak with Minako.

"Hey, Mina-chan. Did you know that both Lynxmon and Nefertimon are two of my armored digivolution forms?" Salamon asked in a quiet whisper.

"I know Nefertimon is, but not Lynxmon. How did you know that?" Minako replied.

"I was taught that they were. I don't remember who taught me though," Salamon said.

"Your memory's still fuzzy, huh?"

"Yeah. Kinda. But I don't mind, so long as I'm with you. Oh! Maybe you should get their D-Chips!"

"I don't even know how to get their D-Chips."

"You'll probably figure that out soon. Maybe Yun-chan will show you."

And speaking of Digimon showing interest in the kids, one Digimon also showed interest in Kosuke. He looks to be a cross between a fighter jet and a pteradactyl, only clad entirely in purple armor. Patamon found him interesting and decided to greet him.

"Hello!" Patamon said with a cheerful smile, which made the Digimon blush.

"Hello. I'm Pteramon," The figher jet/pteradactyl combo Digimon, Pteramon, replied.

"Nice to meet you! This is my awesome partner, Kosuke!" Patamon explained, showing Kosuke to Pteramon. Upon laying eyes on the strange beast, he couldn't help but smile.

"You're pretty hardcore for a Digimon. Think you can achieve light speed?" Kosuke asked.

"Oh! You noticed? Yes, I am a rather fast Digimon, but sometimes it gets me into trouble, even though I don't mean to cause it," Pteramon explained.

"Pteramon are one of the fastest Digimon in the Digital World!" Patamon exclaimed.

"You don't say. Reminds me of a certain someone we know," Kosuke said, eyeing Riku, who is happily making conversation with a giant goat Digimon named Oryxmon. The smaller children, Isao, Aria, and Mikuni, are playing with some of the baby Digimon. Mikuni happened to be interested in a little white bear head with two round ears, beady black eyes, and rosy cheeks. She showed it to Shione and typed her opinion of it in her cell phone.

_"She's so cute!"_ Mikuni typed with a big smile plastered all over her face. Shione smiled.

"She sure is! What's her name again?" Shione agreed, though was confused and didn't know the little Digimon's name.

"That's YukimiBotamon! She's my baby form!" Salamon piped in.

"Really? I didn't know that!" Shione said. Mikuni went back to playing with YukimiBotamon while Otoya gushed over a little round Digimon with magenta-colored ears.

"Awwww! How cute! This little one's your baby form too, isn't it, Labramon?" Otoya exclaimed cutely as the little puppy hopped into her hands. Labramon smiled sweetly.

"Yes. This is Paomon. He's quite a rare Digimon around these parts," Labramon explained.

"I remember you hatched into a Paomon when I first met you!" Otoya said with a smile.

Rena noticed something and decided to bring it up, since Moosemon sat next to her and Lunamon.

"Hey Moosemon. I notice that most of the Digimon here are armor digivolved forms. Are all of you guys armor digivolved forms?" Rena asked.

"No, not all of us. We have a good amount of rookies and champion levels. Chloros Forest is not exactly the most guarded place in the Digital World, even though it managed to survive the Digital World's destruction years ago. We choose to become armor levels because it's easier for us to stay in these forms while taking care of our home," Moosemon explained.

"I see what you mean. Unlike champions, armor level Digimon are more sturdy in defenses," Lunamon explained politely.

"That's right! We inhabitants of Chloros Forest saved our home from destruction! Ain't that amazing?" Bullmon exclaimed.

"It is!" Lunamon piped in.

"The Digital World was destroyed? It doesn't look like it here!" Rena said.

"That's because most of the unstable spots of data disappeared and Chloros Forest is almost finished reforming. You'll see when you have the opportunity to travel to other places that weren't so lucky," Moosemon told her. This made Lunamon feel rather despondent.

"How sad. I wish there was something we could do to help," Lunamon muttered. Rena smiled at her and stroke her lavendar fur with her hand.

"Me too. I wouldn't mind starting a charity drive here," Minako said.

"Oh! That's right! You love helping people, don't you, Mina-chan? Wan!" Salamon piped in.

Minako, Salamon, Lynxmon, and Nefertimon dove into a long and friendly chat while Yun looked at some papers with a rather determined and vigorous stare. Terriermon and Lopmon both noticed, but they knew it was for something important, so they didn't bother. Shunji, on the other hand, was curious and snuck a peek at Yun's papers.

"Yun-chan! What'cha doin'?" Shunji asked, sounding like an annoying little brother.

"I'm studying for my math test!" Yun replied sharply.

"A test?"

"Yes! I HAVE to pass this one or my grade won't go up! Since the Digital World's flow of time is different from that of the real world, I thought this would be a great time to study! Sorry, but I can't talk much right now."

Shunji gave her a pat on the shoulder, which made Yun flinch. "Okay! Good luck, Yun-chan!"

"If Ayaka find out about this she'll hit me!" Yun mused to herself, sounding very dejected because of Shunji's well-intentioned gesture.

"You don't like being touched?" Terriermon asked.

"Normally no, but I hate it when Anjo does it! It makes me think he's doing that just to make Ayaka jealous, and I already have to deal with her yelling at me whenever I'm even near him! She already has weird ideas in her head as it is! He doesn't understand how weird I feel about being around him!" Yun replied.

"I'm sure he does, and Ayaka's not here," Lopmon said.

"Yeah, but...still!" Yun muttered. Lopmon, feeling a tad sorry for the flustered Yun, smiled and gently pat Yun's shoulder with her tiny, soft rosy pink paw.

"It's alright! There's nothing to worry about, Yun," Lopmon crooned sweetly, which made Yun smile.

Unfortunately, it seems there are those among the happy inhabitants who are becoming rather impatient.

"Gaaaaah! Where's the grub? I'm hungry!" Coronamon wailed impatiently.

"Now now, Coronamon. You'll get to eat soon. It's not done yet!" Riku explained calmly. This surprised the kids, especially Rena. Normally, he's the impatient one and they have to mollify him. Now he's trying to mollify Coronamon, who doesn't seem to be getting the message.

"But I'm tired of waiting!" Coronamon complained, which made both Melody and Biyomon cross their arms in dismay.

"Well, deal with it, you red hamster! They say good things come to those who wait! Unlike you, I'm civilized enough to wait for my meal and not make a fuss about it," Biyomon retorted rather vainly.

"Pfft! Says the bird who clucked like a chicken after getting soy beans in her tail feathers," Melody whispered to herself, low enough that Biyomon didn't hear. If Biyomon heard that, she would've clucked like a chicken again and pecked her until all her hair got yanked out of her head. Suddenly...

"Everyone! The feast is ready!" A Digimon announced.

"Thank the Gods! I'm starvin' to death here!" Coronamon wailed loudly, literally drooling.

"Please calm yourself, Coronamon," Lunamon told her hairy and hyperactive brother shyly and gently, while feeling a little inundated by his vociferous, high-pitched voice. Everyone laughed at Coronamon's proclamation of satisfaction. Soon, the food was presented to them and everyone ate to their heart's content.

However, while the Digimon Brigade kids are having good times right now (as a way of preparing for what's to come), it seems two of those kids are still in hot water. Lucero, Hokuto, and Kudamon are still in the desert, trying to find a way out. Lucero kept his hand wrapped around the very reluctant and frightened Hokuto's thin, slender wrist like a vicegrip, having absolutely no plans on letting go any time soon. Hokuto had tried to drag his feet and wriggle away, but Lucero is stubborn as a mule and won't let him out of his sight or grip, even for the tiniest millisecond in the face of the universe. Not even Kudamon was letting Hokuto have his way.

"P-P-Please...let me go!" Hokuto exclaimed fearfully as he was being dragged by Lucero.

"Nay, I say! Thou shalt not leave my sight! This hand may be thine, but my grip is on it, and as long as I'm holding onto it, thou art not getting away from me!" Lucero edicted proudly.

"Yes, Hokuto. Plus it's dangerous to go into the Digital World alone. Even you should know that," Kudamon told him sternly.

After a while, Hokuto finally had enough. He yanked Lucero's hand off of him with his other hand and attempted to run away. Thankfully, Lucero managed to catch up to him and leap on him, enough to make sure Hokuto was pinned to the ground, despite the fact that Hokuto flailed and struggled. Kudamon was shocked.

"Hokuto! What are you doing?" Kudamon yelped.

"Let me go NOW!" Hokuto yelled.

"Nay! Thou art staying by my side!" Lucero scolded.

"I can't do this! I'm not worthy of being with them!"

"Thou art! Stop calling thyself unworthy!"

"Leave me alone!"

"No!"

After some more struggle, Lucero brought Hokuto back to his feet. This time, he didn't run away. Kudamon stood in between the two young boys with a very stern and austere look in his golden eyes. His black-tipped ears pointed to the sky as he did this.

"If you leave us now, you'll be vulnerable to God knows how many Digimon in this world! Why do you think I remain by your side in the first place? You know full well that you won't be able to stand up to a powerful Digimon and defeat him!" Kudamon scolded with his paws crossed like a typical strict parent. Lucero backed him up.

"Kudamon is right. Our first priority is to reunite with the Digimon Brigade. Who knows what kind of Digimon are roaming this area as we speak! They could all be very dangerous! Thou wouldst not be able to stand a chance on thy own!" Lucero explained.

Hokuto clenched both his fists and teeth, and his face looked rather contorted. "How would you know?"

Lucero was getting ticked off. "I asketh thee! Doth thou have any self-defense skills?"

"Huh?"

"Self-defense skills! Fighting skills! If a Digimon came up to thee and began attacking, wouldst thou be able to defend thyself from it's attacks? Can thou punch or hit or kick in any way?"

Hokuto was rendered silent. Lucero had good points. VERY good points. Hokuto looked down at his shoes and ruminated. Hokuto never exactly had the best consitution nor the biggest amount of muscle in his body. He looked down at his body. Thin arms, thin legs, a thin torso, a thin neck, the only thing big about him is his head, and possibly his brain. Robust was one thing Hokuto was never told he'd be (by everyone except his mother). Hokuto had never even lifted a heavy object in his life. Not one. Not even some small weights. Not only that, he didn't have any self defense skills or fighting abilities at all. If some big kids approached him and attempted to beat him up, there would be no way Hokuto would be capable of standing up for himself. He wouldn't be able to fight back. Lucero saw Hokuto's silence as a blatant answer to his question.

"I didn't think so!"

"But...you don't have any self-defense skills yourself!"

"Doesn't mean I'll let a monster trample all over me! I may not have much physical strength, nor am I very good at fighting, nor do I even like fighting, but if I'm in a situation like this, I'd have to fight with everything I have, no matter what gets thrown at me! The Digital World is VERY different from the real world, Hokuto-dono! It's like being in the wild, only with more chances of getting defeated unless thou hast proper fighting skills or a strong Digimon by thy side. Besides, we have Kudamon with us! This may sound selfish and I apologize for sounding as such, but Kudamon may be able to help us if we were to get into trouble! If the timing is right, he may even digivolve!"

"Lucero's right," Kudamon piped in sternly. "I'm the only chance you two have of getting out of here alive. It also helps that I happen to have retained most of my knowledge of the Digital World, and that I can feel a Digimon's presence and determine if they have good or ill intentions."

"But you can't digivolve yet!" Hokuto yelled.

"Perhaps not now. But what about tomorrow? Or next week? I've been preparing for my digivolution for a long time now. When the time is right, maybe I will digivolve. But even I don't know when that'll be. But as of now, our first priority is to reunite with the Digimon Brigade and return to the human world. We cannot waste time, especially with that pessimistic attitude of yours," Kudamon retorted sharply, showing no mercy for Hokuto's frightful outlook on the situation. But he did hop back onto Hokuto's shoulders. Hokuto said nothing after that. Lucero held onto Hokuto's hand again.

"Come. Let us make haste," Lucero told him gently. Thus, the two boys walked away.

Nobody had a watch on them. They didn't know what time it was, nor how much time had passed in both the human world or the Digital World. But to the duo of boys and Kudamon, it felt like a very long time. Almost eternity, even. They walked and walked and plodded through the desert, feeling rather hungry. They didn't say it out loud, but Kudamon could tell that they needed something to eat or drink or they could pass out at any moment. Nonetheless, they walked onward...until Kudamon saw a huge grey rock coming into their view. This gave him an idea.

"Oh! That rock!" Kudamon exclaimed and hopped off of Hokuto's shoulder.

"What's wrong?" Hokuto asked. The two boys stopped walking once they saw Kudamon's sudden interest in the big rock.

"That huge rock over there. From the looks of it, if we get close to it, it may prove to be much taller than we are. It looks like it has a flat surface too. If what I'm seeing is correct, then we can climb to the top of it and see from all directions. We may even see if there are any nearby towns!" Kudamon explained. Lucero beamed happily.

"Great idea, Kudamon! Thou art very observant!" Lucero exalted him happily, since Kudamon is an exalted beast after all. Both Lucero and Kudamon loved the idea, but Hokuto didn't seem to keen on it.

"Do you not agree, Hokuto?" Kudamon asked.

"I...I've never climbed before..." Hokuto murmured. Feeling a little sympathy for the poor, scared little thing, Lucero put a hand in Hokuto's with a reassuring smile.

"It will be alright. We shall remain by thy side and make sure thou doth not leave our sight. Come! Let us depart for the large rock!" Lucero explained gently and followed Kudamon.

Although Kudamon is quite fast, he maintained a normal speed so Hokuto and Lucero can keep up with him. After a short while, they finally got to the rock, which, thankfully for them, is high enough to reach the sky. Lucero understood why Kudamon wanted to do this: he wants them to climb to the top of the rock so they can get a much wider and broader view of the desert around them in the hopes that the increased field of vision may help them find a nearby town or village where they can at least rest up and eat something for a while. The rock looked sturdy enough. Lucero, it must be confessed, like Hokuto, also has no experience with climbing, especially not with rocks. But with this new development and with the situation they're in right now, he knew that he had to in order to see if the Digimon Brigade members were close by, or if there's a town or village they can retreat to since they're getting hungry.

Since Kudamon is the lightest, smallest, fastest, and most tactical of the trio so far, they gave Kudamon the honor of going up to the top and seeing what's around them. Since there are a lot of ledges, it was easy for Kudamon to jump on them and hop to the top without falling or breaking anything. As Kudamon predicted, the height of the rock gave him a vast and much broader view of the desert than what he got from being on the ground. But being small as he is, he might need a bit more altitude before he could see anything within their vecinity. Lucero decided to climb to the top and accompany Kudamon. Carefully, he put a hand on a small protrusion and ascended from there. Cautiously and slowly, Lucero climbed and kept good grips on the protrusions. He made sure not to look down at all. Lucero was scrupulous to make sure that he didn't look down or hold onto the rock protrusions for too long, lest he fall, even though he had no prior experience with climbing big rocks at all. After a while, Lucero finally got to the top, meeting up with Kudamon, who leaped on his head of golden locks. Lucero stood at the top of the rock, looking around him with his sky blue eyes. Lucero gazed onto the vast landscape, hoping to see at least something. What he failed to see is that Hokuto is beginning to climb the rock. Neither he nor Kudamon noticed this, but they paid no heed. Lucero looked until he and Kudamon both saw something in the distance.

There seemed to be a row of trees. Deep, raven black trees with thick black leaves, black as the raven's wing. A forest, maybe? Lucero didn't know. But he did feel a little tense upon laying eyes on it, feeling as though the forest gave off a rather eerie and ominous aura. However, upon laying eyes on it, Kudamon tensed up more than Lucero did.

"What's wrong, Kudamon? Thou look pained," Lucero said.

"I know that place! Noir Lake is within that black forest!" Kudamon exclaimed with alarm.

"Noir Lake?"

"Yes. Unfortunately, it's a dangerous place where lots of dark and ill-intentioned Digimon live. Especially at night, when the Digimon come out! However, if you manage to pass through there, you'll wind up in Chloros Forest, which is a much safer place than Noir Lake is. But it's very risky, and since I can't digivolve yet, and that neither you or Hokuto have any self-defense skills, no offense, then the risks are much higher," Kudamon explained calmly, though Lucero could tell that he's just as frightened as he is by even the sight of Noir Lake.

"But it doesn't look as though there's any other alternative, is there?" Lucero asked. Kudamon sighed abjectly.

"Sadly enough, yes. As reluctant as I am to go through there, it seems we may not have any choice. It helps that not many of the Digimon that live there come out during the day, so if we act quickly, perhaps we may be able to get through it unscathed," Kudamon said.

"I agree. Let us make haste!" Lucero said. Kudamon went off first and hopped back to the bottom, even though he saw Hokuto trying to very slowly climb the rock. His feet aren't on the ground anymore.

"Hokuto. There's no need to climb the rock now," Kudamon told him, but it seemed Hokuto didn't listen.

"Noir is the French word for black. It can also be written as noire. It is also used as a surname..." Hokuto murmured to himself. Kudamon was used to hearing Hokuto delve into long and detailed explanations regarding just about anything he hears or sees. Just as Hokuto decided to climb back down to the ground, Lucero attempted to do so too...but a piece of rock broke underneath one of his feet, causing Lucero to fall.

"Wha? Wha-AHHH!" Lucero screamed as he fell from the rock. Hokuto and Kudamon both became alert upon hearing Lucero's scream. A second later, a cloud of orangeish brown dust came up from the ground.

"Lucero!" Kudamon yelped as he and Hokuto ran to see if Lucero is alright.

Much to their relief, Lucero is okay. However, much to Kudamon's horror, Lucero is sitting on a metal Digimon! Lucero didn't know this, as he's too busy grimacing and rubbing his back in pain. The Digimon is shaped like a sphere, covered in purple metal, with black and white eyes, sharp teeth, two metal arms with red gloves at the ends of both of them, and a tiny dagger in it's left hand. The Digimon obviously broke Lucero's fall, albeit causing more pain to Lucero, who finally decided to get off of him.

"Are...you okay?" Hokuto asked, both fearfully and timidly.

"Owwww! Y-Yes, I am. But my back hurts!" Lucero replied in pain. But right when he turned around, he saw the metal Digimon he fell on, and immediately screamed again.

"Gaaaaah! I-I-I-I'm so sorry! I-I didn't mean to fall on thee like that!" Lucero pleaded, hoping that the Digimon would forgive him. However, the Digimon got up from the hole that it unknowingly made and looked at the trio with evil eyes. Kudamon leaped in between them.

"Lucero! Hokuto! Get back!" Kudamon commanded. "Holy Ray!"

Right before the big metal Digimon attempted to attack, Kudamon beat it by shining a bright white light from his purple earing, temporarily blinding the Digimon and allowing the trio to run. Unfortunately, the Digimon saw them run and chased after them. Hokuto just happened to notice.

"He found us!" Hokuto yelled.

"What IS that Digimon?" Lucero exclaimed.

"That's Tekkamon! He's an ultimate level and a virus attribute! With the way we are now, there's no way we could be able to defeat him!" Kudamon yelled.

And he was right, because Tekkamon is gaining speed and chasing after them with an insidious smile and the wickedly sharp dagger it holds in it's hand.

"Electronic Blast Sword!" The dagger in Tekkamon's hand suddenly made blue sparks fly around. Tekkamon swung the sword in a crescent-shaped arc and threw the blue blast at the boys. Thankfully, they split up so the blast didn't hit them. Suddenly, Hokuto tripped and fell flat on his face, causing his round glasses to fly off of his head and bounce onto the sand.

"Boys! What are you doing? Run!" Kudamon yelled as he stood in between Tekkamon and Lucero, glaring at Tekkamon with a sparking fire in his gold eyes. Lucero saw Hokuto crawling around helplessly, trying to find his glasses.

"Hokuto-dono! We must make haste and run!"

"But...my glasses! My glasses!"

"Electronic Blast Sword!" Tekkamon attacked again. The blue blast zipped right past Lucero, barely missing him by about an inch. Although he wasn't hurt, he could feel his skin tingling thanks to the spark, but he paid no heed as he proceeded to try and grab Hokuto's glasses and give them to Hokuto so they could escape. But Tekkamon proved to be faster than he looked and zipped in front of them, preparing for yet another attack. Only this time, he's in close range, and Lucero had seconds to come up with some kind of plan.

"Electronic Blast Sword!"

Lucero came up with something. He knew it possibly wouldn't work, but he had to try.

"Lucero! Look out!"

Before the blue blast hit them, Lucero raised his fist in front of it as if he were a gladiator raising it's shield in a colisseum battle. Oddly enough, Lucero's thick, hard golden bracelet actually blocked the attack with aplomb! Even Tekkamon was surprised, but it had no plans on giving up. He tried to stab Lucero with his sword, but Lucero intercepted it with his bracelet, holding off the attack. Even Kudamon (who gave Hokuto his glasses) and Hokuto couldn't help but feel awestruck, but Kudamon knew it wasn't to last.

"Hokuto! You can make your digivice turn into a shield! It'll protect us from Tekkamon's attacks! Come on! Get your digivice out!" Kudamon importuned.

"It...it won't work!"

"You don't know that until you try! Come on! Lucero can't hold him off forever!"

"I don't even know how to make it appear!"

"Just think it! Yell 'digivice, turn into a dome shield!' in your head, and it'll appear!"

After a while, Tekkamon finally pushed Lucero away and prepared for another attack. Lucero then jumped on the metal creature and clung to it similar to how he did with Witchmon's broom. Tekkamon struggled and flew around, hoping to throw Lucero off of his metal body. This gave Hokuto time to think.

"Hokuto. You can do it. I know you can. You're my partner," Kudamon crooned quietly, so Hokuto wouldn't be so overwhelmed.

Hokuto looked down at his silver egg-shaped digivice and ruminated as Lucero and Tekkamon are at odds with each other. Hokuto's small, thin hands began to shake. Hokuto never did consider himself worthy of anything, nor did he think he could contribute anything important to just about anything, not even the Digimon Brigade. He assumed that all he'd been doing was hold them back with just his very presence. Other people told him that before. But after seeing Lucero fight and try to get a hold of Tekkamon, even though Lucero has absolutely no proper fighting or self defense skills, Hokuto's heart stirred. Hokuto couldn't just sit around and watch. But he didn't know WHAT to do. The situation was getting dire, and Tekkamon has had just about enough. Right as Hokuto was about to act, Tekkamon threw Lucero at him, causing both boys to fall to the ground, and Hokuto's digivice to slip out of his hand and bounce onto the sand. Lucero is on top of Hokuto and in considerable pain. Tekkamon approached the two boys with his sword in hand. Kudamon leaped into the scene away.

"Stay back, you vile, wicked creature! Bullet Whirlwind!" Kudamon spun himself around like a top and threw himself, and his tiny goldenrod cartridge, at Tekkamon. Unfortunately, Tekkamon decided to fight back.

"Slamming Skull!" Tekkamon headbutted itself at Kudamon, causing a small fiery explosion to occur and Kudamon to fall to the ground.

"Kudamon!" Hokuto wailed. Now they were in hot water. Tekkamon smiled wickedly at them, finally having the chance to destroy them. Whether it was because of Lucero falling on top of him or something else, nobody knew. Tekkamon raised its sword and attempted to stab them with it. Lucero and Hokuto both couldn't move.

_'No! No no no! It can't end here! There has to be something more I can do! Hokuto-dono and Kudamon are counting on me! Yun and the others! I can't leave them!'_ Lucero thought wildly.

_'I knew it was a hopeless situation. I couldn't do anything after all. Perhaps...'_ Hokuto thought silently and abjectly.

_'Hokuto...I...I can't...let you die here...'_ Kudamon thought.

Tekkamon didn't hear their ardent and fervent pleas. He was about to dredge his sword into them. The kids and Digimon closed their eyes, conceding defeat.

"Electronic Blast Sword!"

_Shing!_

Sparks flew. Tekkamon thought he finished them off, but was surprised to see that he didn't! Lucero, Hokuto, and Kudamon all thought that they were finished, but were surprised to see that they're still alive! When they finally got the mettle to open their eyes, what they saw in between them and Tekkamon left them awestruck. Another Digimon stood in front of Tekkamon, successfully intercepting Tekkamon's sword with it's claw. Even Tekkamon was frozen with shock.

"Uh? UHHH?" Tekkamon screeched like a broken machine. Tekkamon tried to stab the Digimon with the sword, but the heavily armored dinosaur Digimon's claws began to glow in a ghostly but warm orange light.

"War Driver!" The Digimon's claw was consumed by flames, and he pushed Tekkamon so hard that he was sent flying.

Hokuto decided to use this opportunity to help Kudamon. At this point, his digivice didn't feel important.

"Kudamon! Are you okay?" Hokuto asked. Kudamon opened his eyes and saw a fearful and very worried Hokuto looking down at him with trembling cobalt blue eyes that looked as if they were about to burst into tears.

"Hokuto...I'm alright. Thank you..." Kudamon croaked weakly, which made Hokuto smile. This wasn't a fake smile. It was a real smile. A real, genuine smile full of love. Lucero finally got up and saw something else that shocked him.

Standing next to him is another human! An adult man with short blonde hair wearing a purple mask with blue markings on it, with his left blue eye exposed. In his hand is a dark orange digivice, and he smirked once he saw Tekkamon trying to attack again.

"Slamming Skull!" Tekkamon charged himself at the Digimon, but the man stepped in and intercepted Tekkamon's attack with a digisword.

The two got into a swordfight, where they clashed and clashed and threw themselves at each other nonstop. Finally, Tekkamon got tired enough to fall to the ground, panting. The man turned to the trio with a smile.

"You kids alright?" The man asked. Hokuto and Lucero all nodded.

"Link. I'll let you handle this one," The Digimon said.

"Thanks, WarGreymon! I've been waiting to polish my skills!" The man, Link, told his heavily armored dinosaur Digimon, WarGreymon, happily.

Link approached the now tired out Tekkamon with a smile as he turned his digisword into a...digi-hammer? The light that formed his digisword now spread out in two ways at the top, looking rather bulky and much like that of a sledge hammer. Link pounded the hammer on Tekkamon, causing Tekkamon to finally dissolve into a cloud of dusty purple data, flying away into the digital sky. Hokuto closed his eyes as it happened and clung to Kudamon the whole time, but Lucero couldn't keep his eyes off of this strange man, who saved their lives. After the fight ended, Link approached the two boys, kneeled before them, and helped them up.

"Seems there's an outbreak in kids coming to the Digital World!" Link said with a smile.

"Uhh...uh...I...I thanketh thee for thy chivalry and kindness! Thou hast saved our lives! If thou had not come, we would surely have perished! For that, we are grateful!" Lucero stammered shyly. Link couldn't help but laugh. Hokuto finally loosened up and looked at the man with admiration, after he got his digivice.

"Ha ha! It's no problem at all, though I must say that-" Link laughed like a mellow old man with his eyes closed, but when he opened his eyes and got a good look at Hokuto, his merry laugh immediately dissipated. His blue eye got big upon seeing Hokuto, and he gasped just a little bit.

All Hokuto was doing was staring up at him with his cobalt blue eyes in admirnation, but just looking at Hokuto in plain sight made Link frozen in place with shock. It was as if he actually recognized Hokuto and saw him before. But both boys didn't understand why Link looked as though he saw a ghost. His knees felt as though they were about to buckle and cause him to fall to the ground. Even WarGreymon noticed the fear plastered all over Link's face. But WarGreymon didn't dare touch him because his metal claws are sharp, and he didn't want to unknowingly scratch Link in any way. Lucero looked at Hokuto and Link at the same time with a confused face. So did Kudamon, who is slowly coming to. Lucero finally decided to break the awkward silence.

"Umm...why doth thou stare so?" Lucero asked.

Link was finally pulled out of his reverie, and shed his initially fearful expression. He let out an embarrassed chuckle and rubbed the back of his short blonde hair with one of his bulky hands.

"Hehehe. Sorry about that. You kinda reminded me of someone I once knew. Sorry to have confused you," Link said. Hokuto didn't say a word. But Link did catch sight of Kudamon, who is injured.

"Oh. The poor thing. Mind if I take a look?" Link asked in a soft voice. Knowing what he meant, Hokuto handed Kudamon to him gently, even though he was reluctant to do so. Link took a quick look at Kudamon's injuries and smiled.

"Good. They're not deep. I think I might be able to stitch this up a bit," Link handed Kudamon back to Hokuto, got out a big black bag, rummaged through it, and pulled out a first aid kit.

Hokuto handed Kudamon back to him. Link put some alcohol on a cotton ball and very gently pressed it on Kudamon's wound. Even though it stung, Kudamon tolerated it in silence and made sure not to cry out in pain. Link gently rubbed the cotton ball on the wound a bit, then put it away. He then got out a small packet of gauze and slowly wrapped it around Kudamon. He put a band-aid on Kudamon's smaller wound, on his right paw. After a few more seconds, Link put the last band-aid on Kudamon's back.

"That should do it!" Link said as he handed Kudamon back to Hokuto, who smiled at him.

"You're...healing his wounds, aren't you?" Hokuto asked timidly, but with a gentle smile as he gently stroke Kudamon's ears with his small, slender fingers. Seeing how careful he is with Kudamon, who looked very content with being in Hokuto's slender arms, Link smiled.

"I always come prepared. Not just for me, but for others who are in need as well," Link said.

"That's right. Link always has what he needs for his journey. Preparation is very important when it comes to traveling," WarGreymon piped in.

"Thank you for tending to my wounds. I appreciate it," Kudamon whispered.

"I'm just glad we made it in time. I take it you're all hungry, too?" Link said. Hokuto, Lucero, and Kudamon all looked at each other. Link smiled again.

"Don't worry. I have some stuff on me," Link said.

Link pulled out three self-cooling camoflage lunch boxes full of blueberry flavored granola bars, packs of orange juice, crackers, little fruit gummy snacks, yogurt (with plastic spoons), chocolate milk, and packets of apple slices. Lucero, Hokuto, and Kudamon chowed down (in a polite manner) to their heart's content. It seemed as though Link had actually read their minds. They all sat down and consumed their hearty meal, even though it was nothing like they'd ever expected. Nonetheless, once they finished, they felt full and satisfied. Even Kudamon couldn't help but feel a little revitalized by the food he just scarfed down (politely, of course).

"Alrighty then. Now that everyone's full, I must ask...what are you two boys doing here?" Link asked as he sat in _seiza_(1). Lucero decided to speak first, since Hokuto is tending to Kudamon.

"We didn't come here on purpose. A Roachmon kidnapped me and tried to take me to his master, but I escaped. I ran into Hokuto-dono shortly after. He and the rest of the Digimon Brigade apparently came here to get me back. But he separated from them, and we're trying to find the others so we can return to our world. So far, it hasn't quite gone well. Not until thou and WarGreymon hath come, of course," Lucero explained as calmly and lucidly as possible.

"Huh? Did you say Digimon Brigade?"

"Yes. They all have Digimon partners, so I believe they're fine. I don't believe thou hast encountered them, right?"

"Tell me. Are there any girls in your group?"

"Huh?"

"Is there one with short brown hair, green eyes, white skin, and has a Lopmon and Terriermon for partners?"

Lucero gasped so loud even Hokuto and Kudamon heard him. "Y-Yes! That's my friend Wakamiya Yun! How didst thou know about her?"

Link cracked a smile. "I figured as much. How did I know? Simple. I ran into her last time she and her little friend wound up in the Digital World. Something about an Airdramon dragging them here?"

"Yes! I suppose they toldst thou?" Lucero asked.

"Sure did! Since you say she and the rest of her friends are here, would you mind if I joined you in finding them?" Link asked.

Lucero sprung to his feet. "Yes! We'd greatly appreciate it!"

Hokuto slowly stood up as well.

"We're sorry for the trouble," Kudamon told him politely.

"It's no trouble at all. WarGreymon can carry you guys while I walk and keep an eye on you two," Link said, pointing to WarGreymon with his thumb.

"Hey! Why make me into their transportation?" WarGreymon exclaimed. Link laughed.

"You can carry kids better than you can a grown man!"

WarGreymon sighed. "You have a point. Well, you don't look heavy, so I guess I can take you both under my wing."

"But you don't have wings!" Hokuto exclaimed.

"Doesn't mean I can't fly!" WarGreymon said.

"Exactly where were you two headed?" Link asked.

"We were planning to go through Noir Lake and head towards Chloros Forest. It's risky, yes, especially at night, but we didn't find any other alternatives. It's the closest we've gotten so far. We were planning to act quickly and walk through it while it's still light out since the Digimon there typically don't come out in the day time, but the Tekkamon got in our way," Kudamon explained.

"Figures. Well, you guys did pretty good in coming this far, I can tell you that," Link said.

Hokuto and Lucero climbed onto WarGreymon. WarGreymon floated in the air and moved forward, with Link walking next to him. WarGreymon maintained a slow pace so he won't go very far ahead of Link.

"What were you doing before you found us, Link-san?" Hokuto asked.

"Eh, searching for something important. I need it for my research," Link said.

"Doth thou research the Digital World?" Lucero asked.

"Yep! I've been doing it for two years in human world time, with a few trips back and forth here and there. From the Digital World to the real world, I mean. I can't stay in the Digital World for too long, now can I? People will think I'm missing if enough time went by, and too much time spent in the Digital World might be bad for you in the long run," Link said.

"What are you searching for?"

"Answers."

"Answers to what?"

"Questions."

"Can you be more specific?" Hokuto asked.

"Maybe. But not right now. When the time is right, maybe I'll spill the beans."

"But you don't have any cans of beans on you. There are many types of beans. Soy beans, kidney beans, jelly beans, green beans-"

"It's an expression. When someone says spill the beans, it means talk. If I ask you to spill the beans about Digimon, I want you to tell me about Digimon. I suppose you're not good with that kind of stuff, are ya?"

Hokuto shook his head.

"Figures," Link put his hands in his pockets and walked with the floating WarGreymon. A lot of thoughts are going through his head.

_'I never believed that I'd run into his son so soon...and that he'd get a Digimon, no less! His Digimon looks nice and intelligent enough, so in a way, maybe this'll be good for him. But I wonder how he'll be able to survive in the world? He's been cooped up in that little laboratory room his whole life and had all sorts of stuff done to him. I don't think he realizes the impact it's going to have on him. Or maybe he does. I don't know. Oh, Saruto...I don't know what you've done to your own kid, but it's time that he come out into the world and finally know what it's like to be human. It's such a good thing I saved him back then...'_ Link thought in his mind.

Yes. He had seen Hokuto once before.

While Lucero, Hokuto, and Kudamon finally found peace, the peace in Chloros Forest was about to be disrupted. As Lucero, Hokuto, and Kudamon were saved by Link, the kids were happily lounging around in Chloros Forest. Mikuni, Yun, Shione, Aria, Lopmon, and Terriermon were playing with all the baby Digimon. Biyomon was busy pecking Riku on the head after he called her a chicken and Coronamon tried to turn her into one by attacking her with repeated Corona Flame attacks. Bullmon intervened and stopped the fighting. Kosuke, Patamon, Pegasusmon, and Pteramon had a friendly chatting session that seemed to go on for hours. Rena, Lunamon, Otoya, Labramon, Salamon, Minako, Lynxmon, and Nefertimon helped Moosemon with making another Indian tepee for another Digimon family. Minako sat on a tree stump, tinkering around on her laptop while Salamon, Dracomon, Bearmon, Isao, and MarineAngemon played tag with some other Digimon. Shunji just sat next to Minako with his legs crossed, like the lazy and laid-back observer that he is.

"Bet you can't catch me!" MarineAngemon exclaimed teasingly but playfully until she felt a strong tug on her tail. It was one of Bearmon's claws. He got her enough to make her not escape, but loose enough to make sure he didn't hurt her. He didn't like hurting others, be it intentionally or not.

"Tag! Got you! You're it, MarineAngemon! See if you can catch any of us!" Bearmon said.

"Heehee! No way am I gonna be it!" Dracomon exclaimed.

"No way are you gonna catch meeee! Nah nah!" Isao teased playfully as he ran.

"I'm gonna get you!" MarineAngemon gave chase to the Digimon and Isao, who are having too much fun right now.

Salamon stopped and noticed Minako playing around on her laptop. Salamon also noticed that Minako has her purple digivice plugged into her computer with a small grey extension cord. Curious, Salamon decided to approach her.

"What's up, Mina-chan? What'cha lookin' at?" Salamon asked curiously.

"I'm deciphering these digital codes that just showed up on my laptop all of a sudden. I think they might be helpful in showing us how the Digital World came to be," Minako explained.

Salamon was about to ask her more questions when she saw Shunji playing around with his digivice. He opened it, pressed some buttons, and pressed it against his ear for a few minutes. Then he pressed some more buttons. Even Bearmon, in the middle of his game, became curious and decided to look.

"Hey Shunji. What are you doing?" Bearmon asked.

"Yeah. What'cha doing?" Salamon asked.

"I'm trying to call Kamitsure-kun, but he's not answering his digivice. I just sent him a text message," Shunji said.

"Text messages are those things you type in and send to people through cell phones and stuff, right?" Bearmon asked again.

"Yep! You sure catch on fast," Shunji said. Rena and Lunamon, who are carrying some piles of sticks, happened to pass by and accidentally overhear their conversation.

"I don't think Kamitsure-kun really knows how to use his digivice as a phone yet," Rena piped in.

"Perhaps maybe we should've taught him how to do so?" Lunamon asked.

"I think you're right, Lunamon. I don't think we really had time to show him all the stuff that the digivice can do. That's probably why he's not answering," Rena said.

"You're right, Rena-chan. We didn't have time to teach anyone how the digivice really works. Luckily I've played around with it a lot and know how everything works, so maybe at the next arranged Digimon Brigade meeting, we can teach everyone about the digivice in more detail," Minako explained.

"That sounds like a wonderful idea! Don't you think, Rena-san?" Lunamon exclaimed with a pretty smile on her face.

"Yeah. I agree," Rena said.

It's here that Mikuni happened to pass by, holding some baby Digimon in her hands and smiling from ear to ear, not caring about the fact that she can't hear. There's three baby Digimon in her arms. One is a pale yellow thing with a long, three tipped protrusion coming out of it's forehead, another is a squishy black thing with two protrusions coming out of its head and yellow eyes, and the third one is a little green thing with two pointed ears, a pink pacifier in its mouth, and a big leaf coming out from the back of its head. Mikuni sure looked happy caressing these little baby Digimon. Rena, Lunamon, Bearmon, Salamon, and MarineAngemon couldn't help but notice.

"You sure love those baby Digimon, don't you, Mikuni-chan?" Rena asked. Mikuni nodded vigorously. "But who are they?"

"The yellow one is Tsubumon. He looks like a plant Digimon, but he's not," MarineAngemon piped in.

"The green one with the leaf on its head is Leafmon, if that wasn't morbidly obvious. They're quite the cute little things, though when they digivolve, they turn into bugs," Bearmon explained.

"Not all bugs are yucky and gross! Anyway, the black one is Botamon. He's the most common baby Digimon in all the Digital World. Wan!" Salamon explained.

"Awwww! They're so cute!" Lunamon said as she gently stroke Botamon's head with her paw. She couldn't help but relish in how soft, squishy, and tender its black skin felt. Botamon seemed to love being caressed by Lunamon too. Mikuni smiled throughout the whole thing, content to just be with these baby Digimon. Once Lunamon finished petting Botamon, Mikuni walked away with that same smile on her face. The trio of little baby Digimon didn't seem to mind being in Mikuni's loving arms at all. To Mikuni, this is probably MUCH better than having to deal with Himari and her dad yelling every single day, even though she couldn't hear them yelling and screaming.

"Hey! Mikuni! Come back!" Shione yelled as she, Yun, Lopmon, Aria, and Terriermon all ran up to the stump where Minako is sitting.

"I'll go on ahead. You guys can take a break," Shione told them before she ran off to chase Mikuni, who didn't seem to care about anything right now.

"What's up?" Minako asked.

"It's time for the babies to be fed, but Mikuni-chan loves them too much and keeps wandering off with them. Not that I blame her, since Shione-chan told me about their situation at home," Yun explained.

"Maybe she can be their partner! That'd be so cool, wouldn't it?" Terriermon piped in happily.

"While I do think it'd be lovely for Mikuni to have a Digimon partner, the babies need to be fed, and we don't want them to start crying. Yun doesn't like the sound of crying babies," Lopmon explained.

"She's right," Yun muttered. Bearmon noticed and put a hand on Yun's arm.

"Not to worry! My paws are big and bulky, so I can cover your ears if you need me to!" Bearmon said reassuringly, which made Yun smile until she heard the voices of Riku and Coronamon.

"Hey! That's no fair! Get back here, you furry red hamster! That's my onigiri!" Riku yelled as he chased Coronamon around.

"Life is never fair! Catch me if you can!" Coronamon yelled teasingly and ran around happily while Riku chased him. Rena sighed while Otoya and Labramon approached her.

"Is your brother always like that?" Otoya asked.

"Yeah. He never seems to go a day without making trouble," Rena muttered.

"I'm sure he doesn't mean it," Otoya said with a reassuring smile.

"I wonder how Hokuto, Lucero, and Kudamon are doing. I sure hope they're alright," Labramon said.

"Yeah. I'm worried too. Kudamon can't digivolve yet, so they must be in more trouble than Riku is in right now," Otoya said.

"That's a nice way of putting it," Rena said.

"We should've taught Hokuto how to use his digivice, I know it," Lunamon muttered. Suddenly, Isao appeared.

"Hey Bearmon! Let's play hide and seek! The bushes here are really big and easy to hide in!" Isao exclaimed with a smile.

"Sure! I'd love to! Come on!" Bearmon followed Isao into another part of Chloros Forest.

"Where's Butterflymon at? Is she okay?" Rena asked.

"Last I checked she was in the infirmary. Shurimon's taking care of her as we speak," Labramon replied calmly.

"That's good. She'd be an awesome secondary partner for Mina-chan!" Otoya said with a smile.

"I know, right? She saved Mina-chan and Mina-chan saved her. Is that cool or what?" Rena said.

"How very noble! It's no wonder Minako-san received Butterflymon's D-Chip," Lunamon said. Suddenly, Melody appeared from one of the tepees, holding a hot dog on a stick.

"Hey slowpokes! Get in here! These digital weener dogs are insanely good!" Melody yelled.

"Since when did you eat hot dogs on sticks?" Otoya asked.

"Since I was three, that's what!" Melody snapped as she chomped on the digital hot dog on a stick like a hungry wolf. Unfortunately, Melody wasn't going to be able to eat the rest of the hot dog on a stick.

"Everyone! There's trouble brewing!" Searchmon yelled as he flew onto the scene. Everyone in Chloros Forest, including the kids from the Digimon Brigade (and Shione, who finally caught Mikuni and the three baby Digimon), became up and alert.

"What's up?" Melody yelped.

"There's a massive Digimon army headed toward us!" Searchmon exclaimed.

"WHAT? A Digimon army? No way!" Bullmon yelled.

"This can't be good at all!" Pteramon exclaimed.

"Searchmon. Tell us. Do you know if there's anyone leading this Digimon army?" Pegasusmon asked.

"Yes! Two Digimon. A Witchmon and a Roachmon!" Searchmon piped in.

This made Yun stand up immediately, with Lopmon and Terriermon by her side. She pounded her fist on her chest.

"Do you mind if we help you take down the army?" Yun asked.

"Oh! Sure! We'd love to have you assist us!" Pteramon exclaimed.

"Since Witchmon and Roachmon are leading this army, we may very well need to act fast and keep them away from Chloros Forest," Lopmon said.

"Well what are we sitting around for? Let's take down the army already!" Melody yelled.

"Awww! But I wanna eat!" Biyomon whined like a spoiled little girl.

"Quit complaining! Come on!" Melody yanked Biyomon by the wing and pulled her away.

"This is our chance to take down Witchmon once and for all!" Patamon said.

"Indeed it is!" Kosuke said.

"Do you mind if we assist you, Kosuke-san?" Both Pegasusmon and Pteramon asked. Kosuke and Patamon both nodded. Lynxmon and Nefertimon did the same with Minako and Salamon, and they agreed too. Pegasusmon looked at some Digimon.

"All of you! Tell the others what's happening and be sure to keep them out of Chloros Forest as much as possible! We can't have this army attacking the infirmary and the day care! Hold them off as much as possible!" Pegasusmon edicted.

"Mikuni and I will stay in the infirmary with Shurimon and Butterflymon!" Shione said and escorted Mikuni, and the baby Digimon, into the tepee where Shurimon and Butterflymon are.

"Don't let anyone in, no matter what! Fight with all you've got!" Pteramon edicted.

"Yes sir!" The Digimon said in unison.

Lopmon digivolved to Turuiemon, Terriermon to Gargomon, Salamon to Gatomon, Patamon to Angemon, Biyomon to Birdramon, Labramon to Seasarmon, Lunamon to Lekismon, Coronamon to Firamon, Dracomon to Coredramon, and Bearmon to Grizzlymon. MarineAngemon is already at her highest level so she doesn't need to digivolve further, and neither do the other armor leveled Digimon. Moosemon, Bullmon, Pegasusmon, Pteramon, Lynxmon, and Nefertimon all followed them out to Chloros Forest. Yun decided this was a great opportunity to use her D-Chips. Aria too. They both called upon their respective Digimon. As they chanted, Bucchiemon came first, then Unimon, and finally Prairiemon. Yun found out that she can't put in more than one D-Chip in the slot on her digivice, but she didn't mind. She was just happy to see her secondary Digimon partners. Aria hopped onto Unimon's back.

"It's great to see you, Aria! Need a little back-up? I can help with that!" Unimon whinnied happily.

"You too! And yes, we might need your help taking down all these bad Digimon!" Aria said as Unimon flew into the air with her on his back, and with MarineAngemon staying close by. Upon seeing her, Unimon found a small opportunity.

"MarineAngemon. I'm truly sorry for taking your life back at Mt. Trinity. I know I was under the control of LadyDevimon's Dark Emblem, but what I did is still wrong," Unimon said. MarineAngemon smiled sweetly.

"It's okay! It's not your fault. On the contrary, you killing me freed me from my curse, so at least some good came out of it!" MarineAngemon exclaimed happily, which made Unimon and Aria both smile.

"Hey Coredramon! You see an army yet?" Shunji called out from on top of Coredramon's head.

"Oh, you bet I do! It's coming this way! Look!" Coredramon pointed to the ground.

Witchmon and Roachmon are in front of a large, amassing army of Digimon. The kids recognized most of them. Garurumon, Elecmon, Mushroomon, Togemon, Tapirmon, DoKunemon, Flymon, Ninjamon, Tuskmon (a big green dinosaur with big black horns), and Snimon (a big green flying praying mantis with big silver sickles and red markings on it's face). Others they didn't recognize, such as a few purple foxes, a few dragons engulfed in brown flames with beige helmets on their heads, a white and blue elephant with big red ears that resemble ceiling fans, and a small group of grey dragonflies with greyish green skin and big green eyes. Otoya took it upon herself to look up the information of the Digimon they didn't recognize.

"Okay. The big armored elephant is Elephantmon, the purple fox is Youkomon, the black fire dragon is DarkLizardmon, and the dragonfly is SandYanmamon," Otoya explained calmly.

"Looks like we're in for a big one!" Seasarmon exclaimed.

"I agree. Perhaps THIS is where we can go overboard with our Shining Solar Strike!" Angemon piped in rather sarcastically, which Kosuke found very unexpected. Seasarmon smiled widely.

"Oh yeah! You got that right!" Seasarmon yelled happily.

"Oh dear! This is huge! I wonder how we'll be able to defeat them all? One Digimon is one thing, but here it looks like there's almost thirty of them! All with Dark Emblems!" Bucchiemon piped in, looking a tad worried about the situation.

"Not to worry! Numbers don't always dominate the outcome of a great battle, you know! Let's give it our best!" Prairiemon piped in.

Once Witchmon and Roachmon saw the Digimon Brigade and some inhabitants of Chloros Forest approaching them, they became flabbergasted.

"ACK! Not you again! Can't you leave us alone for two seconds?" Witchmon whined.

"If we did, you'd be free to destroy Chloros Forest, and we can't let you do that! How would you like it if someone else destroyed your precious home?" Yun piped in.

"It's about time I got back at you for puttin' that Dark Emblem on me!" Gargomon edicted proudly, with his gun hands up in the air ready to fire. Turuiemon facepalmed with a sigh.

'I certainly hope Gargomon doesn't go overboard with this...' Turuiemon thought.

"HEY! OUTTA OUR WAY, HOMIES! We gots a forest to take over!" Roachmon yelled, which left everyone else flabbergasted as well.

"Homies...?" Bucchiemon asked, appalled by Roachmon's vernacular speech.

"What's a homie?" Lynxmon asked.

"I...think it'd be best if we don't know..." Nefertimon said.

"Not very good with making a first impression, are you?" Pegasusmon said. Kosuke and Angemon both facepalmed in perfect unison.

"God! To think I always thought Nemoto was the one who used really bad gangster speech all the time! This really takes the cake!" Kosuke said.

"He needs epic grammar classes, big time," Angemon said.

Some of the Digimon in the army growled like wild animals, wanting to attack their prey. Witchmon decided it was time to get it done and over with.

"Well! Since you refuse to get out of our way, we'll make you! Are you ready to see what we're really capable of?" Witchmon struck a pose as she spun her broom around and winked like she was some super model. Melody wasn't having it.

"Are you kidding? I'd rather see Muammar Gadhafi get water-boarded in potassium cyanide spiked Kool-Aid mixed with cow urine than see you act like some spoiled princess! Bring it on already! We're tired of waiting!" Melody yelled like she was some protester from Libya. Even Birdramon was amazed.

"Wow. You really nailed it this time, Melody," Birdramon muttered to herself. This made Witchmon and Roachmon mad.

"Pheh! Looks like it's time to begin! Take this, yo! Yard Sale Bomb!" Roachmon began with a barrage of repulsive, noisome garbage being thrown at the kids.

"Hey! Don't leave me out of this! Baluluna Gale!" Witchmon helped the garbage get to them faster by adding in her wind attack. Angemon and MarineAngemon were the first ones to act.

"Hand of Fate!"

"Spray of Hearts!"

Both their attacks managed to destroy Witchmon and Roachmon's combined attack, leaving them both shocked.

"GAHHH! 'Dis is jank, yo! Digimon army, attack!" Roachmon screamed like a patient in a mental institution and commanded the Digimon army to attack.

And they did. All the Digimon under their control raced towards the Digimon Brigade.

"Everyone! Hold them off as best you can!" Yun commanded.

"You got it!"

Gargomon was the first to act.

"Gargo Laser!"

He managed to lay some decent hits on three DarkLizardmon, enough to make their Dark Emblems go away. Gargomon felt proud after defeating them so easily. But it's not over yet. The two Garurumon attempted to attack Bullmon.

"Howling Blaster!" A stream of blue flames shot out from their mouths, about to hit Bullmon. But Bullmon had other ideas.

"Matador Dash!"

Bullmon ran so fast he literally ran through the blue flames and managed to nail the two Garurumon in their jaws with his horns. Oddly enough, the Dark Emblems were both on their chins, so he managed to destroy them. Lynxmon was impressed.

"Wow! You sure got better in these past few months, Bullmon! Way to go!"

"Now's not the time for praise! Help the others!"

Lynxmon, with the help of Prairiemon, managed to hold off some Elecmon and hold their own against them.

"Super Thunder Strike!" A bolt of lightning shot out from their tails, hoping to electrocute the two of them. Sparks flew, but not enough for Lynxmon and Prairiemon to back down.

"Howling Buster!"

"Prairie Claw!"

Together, they both managed to defeat the Elecmon. However, more Elecmon were still on the loose. Gatomon managed to use her Cat's Eye Hypnosis to paralyze three more of them. Yun and Minako, with their digiswords, pryed the Dark Emblems off of two of them while Gatomon used her lightning paw to remove the other one.

"That was easier than I expected! Nyan!" Gatomon said with a purring smile.

"Don't think you can take a break just yet!" Yun said.

"That's true. Everyone needs our help!" Minako said.

They were about to try and help the others out, but they didn't act fast enough. Aria saw it and screamed.

"MINA! LOOK OUT!"

"Yard Sale Bomb!"

"Aqua Pressure!"

A huge wave of muddy, dirty water (made from Witchmon and Roachmon's combined attacks) was about to hit Minako. The water was coming so fast, both Yun and Gatomon couldn't act fast enough. Thankfully, two other Digimon did, and they swooped in to help.

"Howling Buster!"

"Cat's Eye Beam!"

Both Lynxmon and Nefertimon managed to both save them and temporarily hold off Witchmon and Roachmon's attacks.

"Thanks for saving us, Lynxmon and Nefertimon!" Minako said with a smile.

"You're both awesome! Nyan!" Gatomon piped in.

"Don't mention it, girls. Come on! The others need our help!" Nefertimon said.

While Minako, Yun, and Gatomon were saved, Kosuke is in a bind of his own.

"Shining Solar Strike!"

Seasarmon and Angemon, with their own combined attack, managed to defeat a large portion of the Digimon army. All the Youkomons, Tuskmons, and Mushroomons. Unfortunately, two Snimon snuck up on Kosuke, preparing to attack him from behind. Angemon was the first to notice.

"KOSUKE!"

"Ultimate Twin Sickles!"

Two glowing pink crescent beams appeared from Snimon's sickles, heading straight towards Kosuke. They were coming so fast, both Kosuke, Angemon, and Seasarmon couldn't act fast enough. Thankfully, others did.

"Star Shower!"

"Missle Storm!"

"Aerial Attack!"

Pegasusmon, with a single flap of his golden wings, made stars rain out from them and stop two of the crescent beams from hitting Kosuke. A myriad of missles shot out from Pteramon's wings, destroying the other two crescent beams as well. Unimon was the one who attacked Snimon and destroyed the Dark Emblem with Aria on his back.

"Hello! You okay?" Aria exclaimed, waving her little hand as Pegasusmon and Pteramon descended to the ground gracefully. Otoya arrived on the scene with a smile on her face.

"That was great!" Otoya said.

"Blue Flare Breath!" A big stream of blue fire spewed out from Coredramon's mouth and defeated most of the Digimon army, so much so that they turned into DigiEggs.

"Yeehaw! Nice one, Coredramon! You really roasted them!" Shunji swung his fists around like a football fan.

"Like steak? Yeah! I know, right? But now's not the time to lollygag!" Coredramon agreed. Now Witchmon and Roachmon were getting mad.

"Awww man! Our army's being blasted one by one!" Witchmon complained.

"This is jank, yo! We gotta do somethin' quick! We ain't givin' up just yet!" Roachmon yelled.

The battle seemed to go on for hours. The Digimon fought and fought, hoping to keep the Digimon army out of Chloros Forest. Thankfully, once the sky began to show specs of mango orange and violet purple, most of their army was subdued. Moosemon and Bullmon were definitely fervent in keeping them out of Chloros Forest, since it's their home. The other Digimon tried to fight Witchmon and Roachmon, but even though they've all digivolved to champion level, Witchmon and Roachmon were still too powerful for them. This left everyone baffled. Even Coredramon, Seasarmon, and Angemon, even with their holy powers, couldn't subdue Witchmon and Roachmon, who were REALLY persistent. Firamon and Riku both intervened when Witchmon tried to unleash an Aqua Pressure on Shunji and Coredramon.

"Flame Dive!" Firamon engulfed himself in fire and stood in between Coredramon and Witchmon, with Riku on his back with digisword in hand.

"Hey Witchmon! Why don't you just give up already? Now you're totally outnumbered!" Riku exclaimed, with his digisword pointing at Witchmon.

"He is right. There is nothing more you can do than concede defeat," Firamon told her in an icy voice. Roachmon intervened.

"Nawww! 'Dat ain't no option for me, dawg! Yard Sale Bomb!" Roachmon screamed and made a big pile of trash come out from the sky.

"Tail Smash!"

"Love Laser!"

"Shield!"

Coredramon, Bucchiemon, and Riku both counterattacked, though Riku just threw up a digishield and made the trash dissipate.

Meanwhile, Turuiemon, Yun, Rena, and Lekismon are having a lot of trouble handling some branded Tapirmon. Gargomon is too busy pounding Elephantmon. Even he is having trouble.

"Nightmare Syndrome!"

"Tear Arrow!"

Lekismon managed to stop two Tapirmon from hitting her with their attack, but she knew it wasn't to last. Rena and Yun both digilassoed one rather obstinate Tapirmon for Turuiemon to hit.

"Gauntlet Claw!"

Fiercely but gently, Turuiemon removed the Dark Emblem from Tapirmon with her gauntlet. Once it was removed, Tapirmon fell unconscious and the two girls let it go.

"Goodness gracious! I've never seen such persistent Tapirmon before! This is getting out of hand!" Lekismon exclaimed.

"You're right. Dealing with these guys is tough. If their Nightmare Syndrome hits us, we'll be rendered helpless!" Turuiemon said.

"B-But they're rookies, for the love of Pete! Champions can defeat rookies, right?" Rena wailed as she digilassoed another branded Tapirmon.

"That may be true, but it's tiring if there are too many of them at once!" Turuiemon exclaimed.

Suddenly, both Turuiemon and Lekismon's ears both perked up. They both looked at each other with surprised looks in their eyes.

"I know that look! That's your thinking look!" Turuiemon said.

"Yes, I'm thinking! Are you thinking?" Lekismon asked.

"Yeah, I'm thinking! Are you thinking the same thing?"

"A double Digimon attack between us? Like with Angemon and Seasarmon?"

"The one we've been perfecting for some time?"

"Yes! This is the perfect opportunity, don't you think?"

"Oh, you bet it is!"

"Will you two stop talking amongst yourselves and defeat these rabid baby elephants?" Yun wailed as she tried to wrangle a branded Tapirmon.

Turuiemon and Lekismon stood next to each other. They both made strange hand gestures and were enveloped by a pinkish purple aura, like the sky during sundown. They performed a little ballet dance, and a myriad of pink and purple flower petals floated around them.

"Waltz of the Flowers!" Turuiemon and Lekismon both looked at the amber and pinkish violet sky as a whirling tornado of flower petals not only spun around them, but also managed to flail around enough to take down all the Tapirmon and remove all of their Dark Emblems. Yun and Rena watched the two of them with awe, impressed with their beautiful and elegant display.

"Wow! That has to be the most beautiful attack I've ever seen!" Yun whispered to herself, her emerald green eyes locking onto the beautiful flowery dance of Turuiemon and Lekismon.

"So graceful and elegant!" Rena said. Soon the flowers dissipated. Turuiemon and Lekismon high fived and rejoiced.

"Yes! We did it! That was beautiful!" Turuiemon exclaimed with a smile.

"Wasn't it? I hope we can do it again next time!" Lekismon said. Gargomon managed to defeat Elephantmon around this time.

"Phew! Now THAT's a tough one!" Gargomon wiped sweat off of his forehead with one of his gun hands.

Finally, the Digimon army seemed to be taken care of. The Digimon Brigade prepared to attack Witchmon and Roachmon.

"OH NOOOO! What are we gonna doooooo?" Witchmon wailed. Then Roachmon looked behind himself and saw a black forest nearby.

"Noir Lake!"

"What? Noir Lake?"

"Yeah, Witchmon! Let's go over there and try to convince the Digimon there to help us! They hate trespassers, especially loud ones! If they make a big enough ruckus, they'll want to defeat them!"

"Great idea, Roachmon! Come on!"

Roachmon and Witchmon both flew away, but the Digimon Brigade gave chase.

"Birdramon! Strike them down, will ya?" Melody yelled.

"Will do! Meteor Wing!"

Unfortunately, Roachmon and Witchmon both dodged Birdramon's attack flawlessly, which made them both mad.

"Ugh! Those two! They're more slippery than a watermelon!" Birdramon muttered.

"Tee Dia!"

"Spray of Hearts!"

"Aerial Attack!"

"Love Laser!"

"Hand of Fate!"

"Blue Flare Breath!"

"Hanging Twister!"

"Star Shower!"

"Rosetta Stone!"

"Missle Storm!"

As if that wasn't bad enough, Witchmon and Roachmon managed to dodge all of their attacks as well! But they didn't give up. The Digimon Brigade attacked and gave chase, hoping to at least tire them out so it'd be easier to defeat them.

Back in the inner sanctum, MoonMillenniummon could tell that something's wrong.

"Those idiots! Why are they going to Noir Lake! That's not why I sent them the army!" MoonMillenniummon muttered to himself angrily. Suddenly, three Digimon appeared with terrified expressions on their faces. A Bakemon, a Gazimon, and a frog-like creature with yellow fur, an orange mane, small blue eyes, webbed black claws, and four black horns protruding from its back.

"Master! Master! There's trouble! Big, BIG trouble! It's plain awful! Awful!" Gazimon yelled.

"What's going on? Speak!" MoonMillenniummon asked.

"Gizamon! You tell them!" Gazimon told the frog Digimon, Gizamon.

"Chloros Forest is fighting back! They've defeated most of Witchmon's army and have driven them to Noir Lake!" Gizamon exclaimed fearfully.

"Master! Please! Let us go with them! We'd like to help them, but we can't do it without your permission!" Bakemon said.

MoonMillenniummon ruminated deeply in a pensive state, then looked at the three Digimon.

"Here's a duty for you. Tell the Digimon at Noir Lake to assist Roachmon and Witchmon. I have underlings who live there. You have the walkie talkies, do you? Go on! Tell them to assist those two and retaliate!" MoonMillenniummon commanded.

"Yes sir!" The three Digimon cried out and ran out of the inner sanctum.

As that happened, Witchmon, Roachmon, and the Digimon Brigade finally arrived in Noir Lake. Yun was the first to notice something. Once she got closer, she immediately beamed with joy once her emerald green eyes locked onto what it was.

Standing near the lake, fighting off some yellow versions of Numemon, are Link, WarGreymon, Hokuto, Kudamon, and Lucero! Yun couldn't hold in her joy and relief any longer. She leaped off of Turuiemon and ran after them waving her arms.

"Oh! Yun! Wait!"

"Lucerooooo! Hokuto-kuuuun!"

Upon hearing her high voice, Lucero and Hokuto both turned to look and beamed with joy.

"YUN!"

The two boys (and Kudamon) leaped into Yun's arms, giving her a very warm welcome. They laughed happily as they embraced each other. Even Kudamon couldn't help but laugh merrily.

"Oh thank God! I was so worried about you two!" Yun wailed happily.

"Yun! I'm so glad thou art alright!" Lucero exclaimed, feeling happier than he ever did.

"We've been waiting for you here," Kudamon muttered solemnly, but with a smile. His tone of voice was warm and kind when he said that. Yun noticed the bandages on Kudamon, but she decided not to say anything since the situation is dire.

"Yun...thank you," Hokuto muttered. Then they let go of each other. Yun was about to approach Link, who is now slashing yellow versions of rabid Numemon with his digisword. The other kids came down and greeted Lucero and Hokuto as well. Not wanting to see Link get hurt, Otoya and Seasarmon decided to step in.

"Hey you! Clear the way!" Otoya called out, which got Link's attention, along with the yellow Numemon.

"Tee Dia!" Glowing yellow arrows came out from Seasarmon and they defeated the yellow Numemon.

"Thanks, little missy!" Link said.

"No, don't mention it! But now I wouldn't mind you helping us a bit!" Otoya said with a smile at first, then solemnly when she looked up at Witchmon and Roachmon.

Suddenly, Yun let out a bloodcurtling scream. Link, Otoya, and everyone else immediately turned around to see a myriad of Digimon appear from the black, damp, murky, and ominous waters of Noir Lake. One set of Digimon are basically yellow skinned, brown spotted versions of Numemon. Another set were...Dokugumon. Yun absolutely loathed spiders, and she ended up reliving the painful memory of having stood up to another Dokugumon when Lopmon first digivolved into Turuiemon. Then again, she expected that it wouldn't be the last Dokugumon she'd see. The other girls from the Digimon Brigade were appalled upon seeing the many Dokugumon, proven with lots of "Ewww!" and "Yuck!" and "Gross!" being screamed all over the place. Another set of Digimon are small little imps with black hoods, eyes on their red-finger nailed hands, wicked smiles, blue bodies, and black feet with red claws sticking out from them. The final set of Digimon is another version of Goblimon, but with darker skin, a dirty yellow mohawk, and a blue viking outfit. Shunji decided to look up their information.

"The yellow Numemons are actually Geremon. The spider's Dokugumon, obviously. Those freaky little wimps are Dracmon, and the dark-skinned Goblimons are Shamanmon," Shunji said.

Suddenly, the entire place was assaulted by a VERY noisome and repulsive odor. Even Witchmon had to cover her nose.

"GAAAHH! What's this smell? I don't even have a nose and I can smell it!" Witchmon exclaimed. However, someone was happy about this.

"Yeeeeah! My homies!" Roachmon yelled like a drunk football fan as he, the Geremon, and the Dracmon danced happily. "Now that yer all here, attack those stupid humans over there! Ya hear me, dawgs?"

"Oh sweet mother of Voltaire, this has to be the worst thing I smelled since Riku's locker!" Kosuke wailed, covering his nose.

"HEY!" Riku yelled.

Soon, the numbers increased, and the Digimon fought again. This time, it was truly sunset when the epic battle of Noir Lake began. Link and WarGreymon both hid in the trees and watched the kids and Digimon fight the nasty inhabitants of Noir Lake. Roachmon and the big army of Geremon attacked everyone with anything that they found (lovingly) disgusting, like garbage and poop. Like always, the Digimon Brigade fought back with gusto, and didn't have any intention of giving up, though it must be confessed that the Digimon's energy is slowly fading away, and no one knows if they'll suddenly revert back to their rookie forms. Could it happen in the middle of battle? No, they couldn't have that happen. Not when there's such a big army of Digimon assaulting them with raining garbage and pink poop that resembles strawberry ice cream. Link and WarGreymon stopped themselves from intervening.

_'This is their battle, not ours. This is when they'll shine. Especially...him,'_ Link thought, even though his blue eye trembled. Soon, night fell. The sky turned as black as Melody's hair (if you were to exclude her red bangs). Only a few of the new army of Digimon were defeated.

"Shining Solar Strike!"

"Waltz of the Flowers!"

Turuiemon, Lekismon, Seasarmon, and Angemon, with both of their combined attacks, managed to defeat a large number of Dokugumon, Dracmon, and Geremon. Sadly, however, once they finished their combined attacks, they immediately de-digivolved back into Lopmon, Lunamon, Labramon, and Patamon, all totally drained of their energy. Their partners rushed to their aid and took them away from the dangerous scene.

"Labramon! Are you okay?" Otoya asked with worry in her voice.

"Yes. Thank you for your concern. It seems I've used up all my energy. I don't think I can fight anymore...though my friends need me!" Labramon explained sadly, feeling guilty that he couldn't stick around as Seasarmon anymore. Otoya smiled and stroke his head with her hand.

"It's okay. You were awesome. You did great overall, so it's time for a good rest," Otoya crooned sweetly, which made Labramon smile. Lucero and Hokuto all ran to Yun, who cradled an exhausted Lopmon in her arms.

"Is she going to be alright?" Lucero asked in a worried voice.

"Yes. I will. But I can no longer fight, even though the situation is so dire right now...Oh, how I wish to become Turuiemon again!" Lopmon croaked tiredly. Yun saw that Gargomon is holding off some Dokugumon with some trouble. Even though Yun hated Dokugumon, she knew she didn't want to stand around and have Gargomon get hurt. Gently, she handed Lopmon to Lucero.

"Lucero. Do me a favor and take care of Lopmon for me. Okay? I'm gonna go help Gargomon!" Yun told him solemnly.

"But aren't thou afraid of spiders?" Lucero asked worriedly.

"You hate spiders, especially tarantulas! How are you going to handle a 20 ton tarantula that looks like it's from a Halloween movie?" Kosuke said.

"I know. I hate all spiders and tarantulas. But I've dealt with a Dokugumon before. It was when Lopmon first digivolved. I don't want to just stand by and let Gargomon handle it alone. I'm gonna go help him and do whatever I can to make it easier for him," Yun told them with a strange flame of courage burning in her eyes. Lopmon saw it, smiled, and put her rosy pink paw on Yun's finger.

"You are brave, Yun. Go help Gargomon. You're partners, aren't you? Partners help each other," Lopmon cooed sweetly, which made Yun smile and run after Gargomon.

"Bunny Pummel!" Gargomon bashed Dokugumon on the head, hoping it'd knock it out. But Dokugumon wasn't planning on giving up.

"Poison Thread!"

A spire of white spider web was about to hit Gargomon, but Yun successfully managed to chop it up with her digisword. Not only that, she dredged it into Dokugumon's face, so much so that Dokugumon wailed in pain and turned into data that floated away.

"Thanks Yun!"

"You're welcome!"

That was only one Dokugumon down. However, it wasn't over yet. Right when they defeated the Dokugumon, Rena screamed.

"No! Get away from us! You're disgusting!" Rena screamed because a Geremon is about to attack. This made Lunamon, Labramon, and Patamon all jump in front of it. Kosuke, Rena, and Otoya wanted to protest, but since they knew the situation is dire, the girls got their digilassos out while Kosuke got his digisword out. As Geremon jumped at them, Rena and Otoya used this opportunity to swiftly wrangle it with their digilassos...by the stems of it's EYES!

"Holy Wing!"

"Echoing Bark!"

"Lunar Claw!"

All three rookies and Kosuke attacked the Geremon enough to turn it into data. But it's not over yet. Birdramon, Coredramon, MarineAngemon, Firamon, and Gatomon are having a hard time taking down Witchmon and Roachmon while Grizzlymon is still trying to take down the rest of the Dracmon and Shamanmon.

"Jeez! This is stupid! These guys are more annoying than this kid at school! Don't they ever give up?" Isao yelled as Grizzlymon knocked out two Dracmon and Shamanmon.

"We're starting to get somewhere now! Crescent Dawn!" With that attack, Grizzlymon defeated more Dracmon and Shamanmon.

"Yeah! You go, Grizzlymon! That was awesome!" Isao rejoiced when the Digimon got destroyed.

While things are going well on their end, the others are still unable to beat Witchmon and Roachmon.

"Meteor Wing!"

"Spray of Hearts!"

"Fira Bomb!"

"Blue Flare Breath!"

"Cat's Eye Hypnosis!"

Sadly, Witchmon and Roachmon evaded them all. They've been evading their attacks this whole time.

"Awww, come on! Not even my all powerful Blue Flare Breath can get them! This is so stupid!" Coredramon exclaimed angrily.

"You're not kidding! This is insane!" Shunji said.

"Who said this would be easy?" Melody snapped at Shunji, then turned to look at Witchmon. "Will you do us a favor and just quit already? I've had about enough of you!"

"Yeah! So what if you've outnumbered us! Give up NOW!" Riku yelled with his fist in the air.

"As if we'd ever give up to the likes of you humans!" Roachmon yelled.

Witchmon, however, is another story. She descended to the ground, lost in thought, with a rather abject and contorted look on her face. She was growing tired. She needed a back up plan. She didn't want to admit it, but she had to in her mind. Riku was right. Even though the Digimon Brigade is outnumbered, they're still superior to them in terms of strength. It also doesn't help that the new Digimon of Noir Lake army is slowly getting defeated. She watched as Unimon, Grizzlymon, Prairiemon, Bucchiemon, and the other armored Digimon defeat more of Noir Lake's inhabitants. Even Kudamon is helping out, despite his injuries.

"Star Shower!"

"Missle Storm!"

"Love Laser!"

"Prairie Claw!"

"Rosetta Stone!"

"Howling Buster!"

"Holy Ray!"

"Aerial Attack!"

"Crescent Dawn!"

Attack names being shouted echoed in the dark forest draped by night. Witchmon looked at everyone with a worried and concerned look on her face. The Digimon army is being taken down despite the Digimon Brigade being outnumbered, and it's likely that the other Digimon at Chloros Forest are fighting back too, taking out every unwanted trespasser that stepped foot into their home with ill intentions. Witchmon couldn't believe her eyes. The first time she fought with the Digimon Brigade, she managed to evade all of their attacks and outmatch them easily, but it was only because most of the Digimon couldn't digivolve back then. Now they've all digivolved, and they're sure to outmatch her in terms of strength. She watched as the Digimon who were originally branded slowly awoke from their dormant states, about to be bombarded by a myriad of attacks, though not directed at them. Unbeknownst to her, Kudamon saw her floating over part of the black lake, lost in thought. However, someone got her attention.

"Witchmon?"

Witchmon looked up and saw Yun, Lucero, and Lopmon all looking at her with sympathetic faces, which Witchmon found rather insulting.

"What do you want?" Witchmon snapped.

"Listen. Is all of this really what you want? Is fighting with everyone really how you're going to live for the rest of your life? You can't go around hurting others for your own self gain! You know that, right?" Yun pleaded, but Witchmon wasn't having it.

"I'm giving all these Digimon what they deserve! They were never there for me when I needed them the most, so who cares if they suffer? I sure don't, and I have absolutely no plans for doing so in the future!" Witchmon snapped vehemently.

"Art thou doing such wicked deeds for thy master? Thy master is a bad influence on thee!" Lucero piped in.

This made Witchmon snap.

"Baluluna Gale!"

A ferocious gust of wind shot out from Witchmon's big hand, though Yun, Lucero, and Lopmon managed to evade it in the nick of time.

"Don't _EVER_ say that my master is a bad influence on me, you worthless bags of flesh!" Witchmon screamed angrily. It was blatant that she is quite choleric right now. "You obviously don't understand what I've been through! I've been thrown away, neglected, and abandoned by my own kind just because they accused me of a crime I didn't do! Right when I was about to die, my master came and saved my life! He gave me food, shelter, and best of all, love! He's the only Digimon in this cruel world who ever cared about me, even after I was banished from my native Witchelny! I'm happy to do all of this for him! He's the best thing that ever happened to me!"

The three of them were stunned. Unbeknownst to all of them though, Hokuto is also watching. Witchmon didn't notice, even though Hokuto is right behind Yun, Lopmon, and Lucero. Also unbeknownst to them, Gargomon is eavesdropping on their conversation. Witchmon's little tirade just now left Yun frozen in place. Witchmon was abandoned? Thrown away by her own kind, accused of a crime she didn't do? Yun couldn't believe what she just heard. She had always suspected that Witchmon had some kind of ulterior motive for branding innocent Digimon with Dark Emblems all the time, hither and thither, but Yun never dreamed that it was some kind of subtle revenge against the Digital World for not being there for her when she needed it the most. Despite the fact that Witchmon's voice is very loud and high pitched, Yun didn't cover her ears or flinch. Not once. Instead, she sighed and looked at Witchmon straight in the eye. Yun knew how Witchmon felt. She knew exactly what Witchmon was talking about.

Loneliness, abandonment, neglect, melancholy, distrust, and hate. Yun had felt all of those things before.

Witchmon hissed.

"Of course creatures like you don't know the meaning of the word suffering! You humans probably have it easy, drowning in all kinds of luxuries and pleasures while we Digimon go through hardship every day! I don't care if you created us! All you did was use us up and spit us out!"

"You really believe we humans don't suffer?" Yun asked solemnly, without a hint of fear in her voice. "You think we're living it up while you Digimon suffer? I'm sorry, but I have to correct you. We humans suffer just as much as you do, Witchmon. We're not pure and holy creatures. We suffer misfortune too. Countries in the middle east are suffering from poverty and starvation, some of which are protesting against their leaders, who are cruel and power-hungry dictators. Some parents abandon and abuse their own children for selfish reasons. I've been picked on and bullied, by both kids and adults, just because I happen to be different from them. Nobody's perfect, Witchmon. Not even us."

As she said this, some unpleasant memories and voices creeped into her head.

_'You stupid girl! You can't even solve a simple math problem like this on your own? Look at your classmates! They can do it just fine! You need to follow their example and be more like them, you retard!'_

_'Quit thinkin' yer so much smarter than the rest of us, you piece of white trash! You oughta die already!'_

_'Go die already, you spoiled brat! Everyone always takes your side so quit complaining!'_

_'Are you ever going to see that you're not worth it, Wakamiya? You're a retard!'_

_'You wicked, wicked girl! You must love making my precious boy look like the bad guy, don't you? I get complaints from the school every single day because of you trying to pin everything on him!'_

_'Get away from us, you freak! We don't need no retards here!'_

Witchmon's light blue eyes got bigger.

"_Lies!_ All lies! Stop trying to act all high and mighty!" Witchmon yelled.

"If I did act high and mighty, I'd be saying things like _"Oh! I'm soooo much better than you. Ha ha ha!"_ and call you mean names and all those things. Have I ever did that to you?" Yun said.

"She is right, Witchmon," Lopmon piped in, despite being rather weak. "You don't have to live your life the way you do. I mean, I'm sure your master cares for you very much and makes you happy, and we respect that-"

"No you don't!"

"-However, you must understand that hurting other Digimon is wrong. Would you like it if we were to hurt you and your precious friends?"

"I don't have any precious friends anymore! Those 'friends' of mine turned against me and conspired in throwing me out of Witchelny and never letting me back in! That's why I'm with my master! So I can feel loved again!"

"Love is an imperative ingredient in the growth of all things, be it human or Digimon. I'm sure thou art a good Digimon and do not wish to hurt others. Thou wish to be loved, yes? I can understand that with great respect. However, as thou art not, thy feelings had lead thee astray. Thy heart is being corrupted with impure thoughts. Hurting others is NOT a way to receive love! Thy will is thine and thine alone! Doth thou truly need a master to live through life?" Lucero said solemnly, as if he were reciting some famous Shakespearian monologue.

However, right then and there...

"Bullet Whirlwind!"

Kudamon wrapped himself in a little tornado and threw himself at Witchmon's back, causing her to yelp in pain. Kudamon landed an impeccable hit! Once she regained her balance, Kudamon looked at her with his striking gold eyes.

"It is very unwise of an opponent to let their guard down. Thanks for distracting her, Yun!" Kudamon said.

Much to his surprise, Yun was appalled.

"Kudamon! I wasn't trying to distract her so you can attack her!" Yun yelled, angry at Kudamon's noble and chivalrous deed.

But it didn't help. Witchmon finally snapped. It began with a high-pitched, bloodcurtling scream so loud that it made Yun and Hokuto both cover their ears.

_"I'M SO SICK AND TIRED OF THIIIIIS! YOU DON'T KNOW A THING ABOUT ME OR SUFFERING, SO I'LL TEACH YOU!"_ Witchmon screamed louder than she ever did before. Tears were literally oozing out of her eyes. _'Master! I'm sorry! I have to do this! I have to do this in order to destroy these heartless humans! Forgive me!'_

Right then and there, an eerie and ominous purple sphere of light enveloped Witchmon. It was so ominous and terrifying that all the Noir Lake Digimon and Roachmon looked up at it. Even the Digimon that Witchmon branded before woke up to see it. The kids stopped fighting so they could look. Everyone became a little scared. Aria, since she's so little, ran to Yun and clung to her with her tiny hands. Lucero clung to Lopmon, who looked quite frightened. The aura surrounding Witchmon made cold shivers run down everyone's spine at about a million miles per hour. Even Roachmon, who often put up a brave and bold front (with bad, poorly constructed gangster-like language included), was rendered helpless.

"Wi-Wi-Wi-Witchmon! What are ya doin'?" Roachmon wailed, but Witchmon didn't listen.

Then, two VERY big, VERY thick dark purple hands protruded out from the sphere, resembling Witchmon's hands, but MUCH bigger. They flew towards Roachmon and all the Digimon from Noir Lake.

"Look out!" Quickly, Coredramon covered all the members of the Digimon Brigade with his big, bulky body and wings, since he's the biggest champion level around.

"Whoa! What is that?" Isao yelled.

"ACK! Witchmon! Git offa meeeee!" Roachmon found himself trapped in one of the big hands, along with a lot of Geremon and Dracmon on his end. The other was full of raging Dokugumon and Shamanmon.

"What are ya doin', Witchmon? 'Dis ain't part of the plan, yo!" Roachmon tried to reason with her, but she didn't listen. Even the Geremon were getting agitated.

"I'm sorry, Roachmon! I have to do this! Thanks for being my friend and sticking with me for all this time, even though you don't exactly display the best behavior! Lend me your strength so I can defeat these pests! Goodbye!"

"No way! You can't-!"

"Haunting Absorption!"

The hands that carried every single Digimon in Noir Lake (and Roachmon) pulled back into the purple sphere. Roachmon screamed and screamed, but couldn't get away.

"Lemme go, Witchmoooon! My _homiiiiiiiiie!_"

That was the last thing he said as he turned into data and got absorbed by Witchmon, along with all the other Noir Lake Digimon. Suddenly, the ominous sphere of dark energy grew bigger and bigger.

"Oh my God! She just ate everybody up!" Rena screamed, clinging to Lunamon tightly.

"No way! Normal Witchmon shouldn't be capable of using that move!" Kudamon yelled, appalled by Witchmon's transformation.

"I can't watch!" Gatomon exclaimed as she clung to Minako.

"No way. This can't be happening..." Melody muttered to herself.

The sphere grew to the size of the entire lake, which is bigger than even Coredramon. Once it reached the size of the lake, the purple mass of dark energy finally dissipated and out came Witchmon. She didn't change much...except for the fact that she's ten times the size she originally was! Now she's the exact same size as Noir Lake itself! Everyone gasped.

"She got bigger!" Isao exclaimed.

"This CANNOT be good! At all!" Moosemon said.

"How're we gonna defeat this thing!" Pegasusmon yelped.

"So what if she's a little bigger? We can still take her down!" Riku edicted, though with a quiver in his voice. Even he didn't sound so sure he could defeat Witchmon, especially now that she's bigger than all of them combined.

But really, it was Hokuto and Kudamon who were the most scared. They were both trembling with fear.

_'I don't believe this! Normal Witchmon shouldn't be allowed to master such a horrible, terrifying spell such as that! But more importantly, nothing we've done has worked, even though everyone's digivolved to champion level! She's turned the tables! I...I'm the only one who hasn't digivolved! Even though I've been saving up all this energy, it's not coming out when we need it the most! Why can't I digivolve?'_ It's here that tears oozed out of Kudamon's gold eyes, even though he's normally not one to cry. _'I have to protect Hokuto and the others! They need me! Come on! Let me digivolve already!'_

Witchmon eyed Hokuto and smirked maliciously.

"I'll take down the weakest one first, since he hasn't done a thing!" Witchmon exclaimed as her big red hand flew outward and attempted to grab Hokuto. It passed by so fast not even Coredramon, MarineAngemon, or any of the armor level Digimon could stop it.

However, someone wouldn't let Hokuto be Witchmon's bait.

_"HOKUTOOOO!"_

Witchmon's hand wrapped around Kudamon, completely encasing him in it. Hokuto fell to his knees, and his cobalt blue eyes, hidden by his round glasses, got bigger than they ever did in his life. While he was frozen with fear, everyone else became incensed.

"Not if we can help it! Let Kudamon go, you witch!" Gargomon was the first to wrap himself around Witchmon's big arm.

"Let him go, NOW!" Birdramon squawked like a chicken.

"Don't think you can defeat us just yet!" Coredramon piped in.

"You're a real idiot, you know that?" Melody leaped onto Witchmon's arms and began kicking it and punching it like crazy. Witchmon continued to smirk wickedly as if she didn't feel a thing.

"Infidels!" Witchmon flung them off of her arm. Melody was caught by Coredramon's hand, which broke her fall.

Everyone was so preoccupied with either yelling at Witchmon or trying to stop her, they failed to notice Hokuto shaking like a leaf.

"Kudamon...Kudamon...Kudamon...!" He muttered with fear in his small voice. Images of him and Kudamon, all the memories they shared and made together, flashed through his brain in a millisecond. His eyes got bigger...and bigger.

"Kudamon...! Kudamon...!" The image of Kudamon screaming his name and being encased in Witchmon's big hand flashed through the most, hitting Hokuto like an avalanche.

Not only that...his finger nails and teeth are growing and getting longer!

His eyes glowed a bloody, ghostly crimson red light.

The hair on his wig stood up, pointing to the night sky, and he roared.

_"GRAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"_

The feral wolf-like howl was so loud that it echoed through the entire forest, not only getting the Digimon Brigade's attention, but Witchmon. If they thought Witchmon's transformation was terrifying, the behavior that Hokuto is displaying right now scared them even more! Yun being the most notable.

"Hokuto...kun?" That was all Yun could mutter once she saw Hokuto's own transformation take hold. Only one thing zipped through her, and everyone else's minds.

Hokuto wasn't Hokuto anymore.

Author's Note: Wow! This may be my longest chapter yet!...though I do think my battle scenes weren't executed properly. Sorry if they feel kinda bland and uninspired! I've barely done battle scenes before, so I guess you could say that's the cause of it. Well, I better get going now. I have a math test to study for. Bye-bee!

Footnotes:

1. Seiza means "proper sitting posture" with one's shin folded under while sitting on tatami mats. To the Japanese, this is the most efficient, beautiful, and "proper sitting posture" while engaging in formal activity.


	25. Divine Wind Warrior! Reppamon!

Author's Note: Hello everyone. It's Firechick. Sorry if I sound kinda bummed today. Tomorrow my dad's moving to another state because of his new job. Me and the rest of my family are staying where we are now, but he's going to another state. I'm still so bummed! I don't want him to go! I already had an epic anxiety attack and burst into tears last night (while nobody was looking, of course. I don't want them to see me cry over this)! Okay. That's enough angst. Here's chapter 25 of Digimon: A Seraphic Tale.

EPISODE 25: Divine Wind Warrior! Reppamon of the North Star!

Nobody saw this coming. Absolutely nobody. Not even the now 10 times larger than normal Witchmon.

But it did.

Hokuto snapped...and developed ferocious wild animal behaviors, both physically and emotionally?

Nobody could describe what they saw. It was too frightening to even acknowledge it, but they had to. The entire Digimon Brigade, Witchmon, Link, WarGreymon, the citizens of Chloros Forest, and all the previously branded Digimon watched with awe and downright fear as Hokuto's mad lion-like roar echoed in the raven's wing black night. Hokuto's once cobalt blue eyes now glew a violent, ghostly, and bloody red light, much like what the Digimon displayed when they were branded with Dark Emblems. But no, nobody saw a Dark Emblem on Hokuto at all. Nobody knew if Dark Emblems could even work on humans at all for that matter! Not even Witchmon knew. Four of his normally pearl white teeth, two on top and two on the bottom of his mouth, sharpened and turned into fangs, like those of a cat. Small but sickeningly sharp, like Snimon's sickles and Garurumon's own fangs. His long, clean nails were already long and sharp, but they practically turned into claws! They only grew by three inches, but that was enough to make people think that in the dead of night, Hokuto possibly turned into some werewolf, or maybe this is some weird, out of whack, and totally out of control remake of the famous Michael Jackson video, _Thriller_(1).

But no. This wasn't a video. This wasn't even a movie. These weren't weird special effects that some computer experts made just to add some dramatic flair to a finished product. This wasn't a publicity stunt. No. It wasn't even close. Not one bit. All that was happening right now...is real. Real. So real. Some say the truth is stranger than fiction, and everyone in Noir Lake wished this was fiction right now. But no. It's real. Yun and Witchmon are the most shocked by Hokuto's out of line transformation. Hokuto, the normally indifferent, quiet, impassive but kind and gentle boy turning into a mad beast with claws and fangs and a rabid, lion-like howl to match? She wished she was dreaming, but she wasn't. So many questions were running through her head like race cars. What happened? How did this happen? Why is Hokuto like this? Is he going to attack them? Is he going to turn into something worse? Yun couldn't believe what was happening. But at the same time, she needed to do something. She needed to try and do something to calm him down. But what if it didn't work? What if she did something and set him off even more? Why is he now showing such hate and overcome with nothing but pure blood lust? She refused to believe Hokuto would be like this forever. Even the Digimon were frozen in place with fear and shock.

Right as Hokuto finally finished howling, he looked up at Witchmon with rage in his eyes and leaped (literally, LEAPED) into the sky and jumped on her broom.

_"RAAAR!"_

"NO! Get off of my broom, you beast!" Witchmon screamed as she tried to get Hokuto off of her broom. However, despite her large size, Hokuto, oddly enough, wasn't giving up! With his newly formed claws he literally ripped through Witchmon's dress, climbed on top of her, dredged his claw into one of Witchmon's hands, and literally RIPPED Kudamon right out of her hand and threw him to the ground like he was garbage.

"Kudamon!" Rena managed to catch him in the nick of time.

But something was off. It didn't look as though Hokuto was done yet.

Witchmon flew around on her broom, though not enough to have super speed like she did when she was normal sized. Perhaps extra weight lowers agility. But even her large size didn't stop Hokuto from trying to claw at her and rip her face off.

"Get off! Get off!" Witchmon struggled and flailed, trying to push Hokuto off of her, but like a rabid animal, he sure wasn't giving up.

It's here that Link couldn't take it anymore. He didn't want to stand by any longer.

"Oh my God! I've gotta stop him!" Link leaped out of the bushes and dashed toward the lake.

"No! Link! Come back!" WarGreymon tried to stop him, but Link was too fast.

Seeing all the hacking and slashing made even the little kids scared.

"I CAN'T WATCH!" Aria wailed loudly and clung to Melody.

Link was planning to do something with his digivice in hand, but suddenly Hokuto jumped onto Witchmon hard enough to pin her to the ground. A few Elecmon and Ninjamon barely managed to get away once she hit the ground, namely because she knocked down some trees.

"My God! Are you guys seeing this or what?" Coronamon exclaimed, feeling both scared to death and excited by this.

"This can't be happening! This can't be!" Minako yelled fearfully.

"Kudamon's capture must have set him off. But why is he acting like he's a rabid animal? No human should ever be capable of displaying those kinds of traits!" Gatomon said.

But it was about to get MUCH more frightening.

Once Witchmon was pinned to the ground, in a split second, Hokuto grabbed her broom (which she unknowingly let go of when Hokuto knocked her down), which was so much bigger than even him, and...

Started beating her with it.

_BASH! BASH! BASH!_

"Ow! Oww! Owwww!"

Mercilessly, Hokuto repeatedly bashed Witchmon all over her body with her oversized broom. Nobody knew how he could carry such a huge broom with his scrawny figure and use it to beat up Witchmon like he was some abusive husband beating up his wife.

_BASH! BASH! BASH!_

"SOMEONE HEEEEELP!"

Witchmon wailed and screamed, trying to stop Hokuto from beating her with her own broom with such violence and vehement hostility, but nothing she did worked. Hokuto showed ABSOLUTELY NO mercy. Not once did he stop beating her with the broom.

This was officially the last straw for everyone.

"He's turned into a monster!" Isao yelled.

This made Yun choleric. She stomped over to Isao and lifted him up by the shirt. Isao got scared and Bearmon got mad.

"Hey! Let him go! He didn't mean it!" Bearmon pleaded fearfully.

_"NO HE HASN'T!"_ Yun screamed angrily. Then she threw Isao to the ground and ran towards a bloodlust-consumed Hokuto and an utterly helpless Witchmon.

"Yun! Come back!" Melody and the others tried to hold her back but Yun broke out of their arms. Once she got close, she leaped onto Hokuto so hard he dropped the broom.

"Hokuto-kun! Stop it right now! Stop! Snap out of it!" Yun screamed as she tried to contain Hokuto, but he just wasn't having it.

"This isn't like you! Come on! Quit it!" Yun pleaded ardently, but it didn't work.

Then, Hokuto did something unthinkable.

He laid eyes on Yun...and scratched her face.

_"AHHH!"_

He slashed her so hard she fell to the ground with a fresh wound on her face. Everyone gasped, horrified with what they saw. However, Yun wasn't planning on giving up. Yun ran to Hokuto again and tried to subdue him...this time, with some back up.

"YOU MONSTER!" An enraged Melody kicked Hokuto in the stomach, hoping it'd stop him from breathing.

"He's NOT a monster!" Yun yelled.

"Out of the way!" Link screamed as he poked Hokuto in the back with a rather long staff with padding on the front and back.

Now, Hokuto and Link were facing each other as Lopmon decided to cool down Yun's wound with a small Freezing Snow attack.

"Thanks..." Yun muttered.

"Yun! You shouldn't have jumped in there like that! Look what he did to you!" Lopmon scolded gently.

"I know...but he's my friend! I couldn't just let him suffer like that!" Yun exclaimed.

"You think he's suffering? He looks like he's having the time of his life!" Kosuke exclaimed.

"And he beat Witchmon like a madman! She deserved that!" Coronamon yelled.

"No she didn't! Okay, yes, she _SHOULD_ be punished for her actions, but not like that!" Yun retorted.

"Oh God! Look! That masked guy's trying to fight him!" Gatomon yelped as she pointed to Link, who is trying to attack Hokuto with a staff.

Hokuto charged at him like a mad beast. Link kept his cool and poked him in his left rib with his staff. Hokuto tried to move, but his rib jolted and suddenly he couldn't. Smirking deviously, Link found himself onto something. He then proceeded to poke Hokuto in the back of his neck, then the back of his right leg, and the small of his back. Hokuto roared and suddenly couldn't move. Link gently put his combat boot on his back, looking like he's Superman who just took down a villain.

"Ummm...what were you doing?" Otoya asked.

"I thought you were gonna wrestle him and put him on some kind of sedative," Shunji said.

"He could've killed you!" Coredramon shouted.

"How did you do that? That was awesome!" Gargomon exclaimed.

Without letting Hokuto go free, Link decided to explain. "Wanna know how I did it? Simple. See this staff? This is great for disabling a person's movements and paralyzing them. Have you ever heard of Chi? It means life force in Chinese. In most martial arts, opponents try to obstruct the flow of chi by attacking the points in which chi flow, which are pressure points. It temporarily paralyzes them if you strike those pressure points, which is what I just did with Kamitsure-kun here. I know he's important to you, so I did this so it'd put you at ease."

"Put us at ease? Why would we be at ease when Witchmon's grown to the size of Muammar Gadhafi's ego and Hokuto's turned into some rabid Michael Jackson-esque werewolf from Thriller?" Melody yelped. Bucchiemon just finished putting a band-aid on Yun's cheek.

Link didn't get to finish that sentence, unfortunately.

_"AQUA PRESSURE!"_

Out of nowhere, a HUGE barrage of water, the size of a 40 foot wave, literally fell from the sky and was about to hit the Digimon Brigade.

"LOOK OUT!"

Both Coredramon and Birdramon covered the kids and Link with their bodies and wings, even though the jet of water pounded on them so hard they almost fell over. Noir Lake overflowed, and once the Aqua Pressure dissipated, Birdramon and Coredramon both finally de-digivolved into Biyomon and Dracomon, feeling very exhausted and drained of every ounce of their energy. Witchmon tried to float into the air, but she was so beat up she could barely even stand up. Rena clung to Kudamon tightly.

"You...foolish...humans! Don't you dare try to outsmart me!" Witchmon sneered.

"Wow. Talk about ungrateful," Patamon said.

"Yes. Indeed," Lunamon said.

Suddenly, Hokuto broke out from underneath Link's staff, happy to be able to move again, but still as ferocious as ever.

This time, Lucero took the plunge. Mostly because Lucero...remembered something Hokuto said.

"But I'm not...human!"

"The Digimon Brigade kids are more human than I could ever be!"

A desperate thought zipped through Lucero's mind. Could THIS be what Hokuto meant when he said he's not human? Does Hokuto even know about this beast living inside him? Lucero couldn't stop to think. He had to stop Hokuto from going on more of a rampage.

"Hokuto! Thou must cease thy bloodlust immediately! Witchmon is not thine to defeat!" Lucero yelled as he tried to subdue the rabid Hokuto. But Hokuto sure didn't have plans for giving up.

_"RAAAAR!"_

As Hokuto was about to slash him, like how he did to Yun earlier, Lucero did something he himself found unthinkable.

"RELEASE ME NOW!"

He whacked Hokuto on the side of his head with one of his golden bracelets.

The blow was so powerful that Hokuto's feral persona actually vanished! His eyes stopped glowing, his fangs and long sharp finger nails disappeared, and his voice softened. But he also fell unconscious, though he fell into Yun's arms. Gargomon, having used up his energy defeating some Ninjamon, de-digivolved back into Terriermon...and so did everyone else in the Digimon Brigade. Even MarineAngemon de-digivolved back into Syakomon. Hokuto is unconscious now, which caught Kudamon's attention. Kudamon leaped out of Rena's arms with worry in his gold eyes.

"Hokuto! Wake up! Answer me!" Kudamon poked Hokuto's shoulders desperately, hoping he'd wake up.

"He's still breathing, so don't worry," Link said.

"Wow! Now _THAT_ is the scariest thing I've ever seen!" Syakomon said.

"Oh, thank goodness he's back to normal..." Yun muttered while exhaling a huge sigh of relief. But this ordeal wasn't over yet.

"I'm not done with you yet, you horrid creatures!" Witchmon proceeded to grab Kudamon yet again with her big hand.

"Kudamon! NO!" Yun, Link, and Lopmon both tried to grab him, but it was too late.

But...Kudamon didn't struggle this time. He didn't scream. He just closed his eyes and looked very deep into the depths of his heart.

_'I see. I get it now. I realize why I'm here now. It's because Hokuto needs me. Hokuto needs someone to both free and tame the beast within him. I don't know what he went through in order to become such a creature, but...it doesn't change the fact that I love Hokuto. I'm sure Yun-san feels the same way, which is why she tried to stop him earlier and yelled at her friends for calling him a monster. He probably doesn't want this. No, I know he doesn't want to go out of control. This is probably why he thinks he's not human. He believes he's nothing more than a feral beast with feelings of bloodlust and yearns for survival in a world he doesn't know anything about. I get it now! This is why I'm with Hokuto now! I'm here to free the beast from within him and convince him that he's human no matter what! Light of digivolution, please...if you're inside me now, it's time for you to come out. Give us liberty, or give us death!'_

Then, Kudamon began to glow.

Kudamon was encased in a bright silver light. Silver, like steel and titanium. The light was so warm and powerful that Witchmon had no choice but to let go of him.

"What? What is this?"

The light enveloping Kudamon rose into the night sky, lighting up all of Noir Lake. Even the previously branded Digimon stood up to watch as the light slowly but surely grew bigger and bigger.

The light was so powerful that...Hokuto woke up. It was the first thing he saw.

His cobalt blue eyes returned. His serene demeanor finally returned to him. He saw the light and slowly rose his hand up on the off possibility that he could reach it.

"Ku...da...mon..." Hokuto muttered softly.

"Kudamon, digivolve to..."

Kudamon didn't get to the size of the now 10 times bigger than normal Witchmon, but enough for the light to finally dissipate. Once it did, out came a totally new creature that nobody saw before. He now looked like a beige cat with black paws, wearing a white mask shaped like a fox's face with red and black markings on it, with white hair coming out from the back of it and two ripped up light blue cloth strips from both sides of it. On his sides are yin yang-symbols, around his neck is a red and white scarf with little white papers on the front, and his tail is a HUGE curved silver blade with three tiny red stripes on it and a gold eyeball on it.

"...Reppamon!"

Once Hokuto saw his partner's digivolved form, he finally fell back into a dormant state. Everyone else, however...their eyes all beamed and glimmered with joy.

"WOW! Kudamon finally digivolved!" Otoya exclaimed.

"He did it!" Labramon cheered.

"Took him long enough!" Melody exclaimed.

"It's finally time to wrap this show up!" Bearmon said.

"Now this is gonna be cool!" Syakomon backed him up.

Reppamon, despite being a lot smaller than Witchmon, floated in front of her with a silvery aura surrounding him. Witchmon was already beet red with anger.

"Pheh! You're just a weak Digimon, just like your partner! Baluluna Gale!" Witchmon shot out her attack.

"Spinning Sky Fissure Slash!" Reppamon curled himself into a ball, rolled like a race car wheel screeching on the hard, black pavement, and literally cut through Witchmon's attack like it was cheese and managed to hit her in the face.

"OWWW!" Witchmon wailed as Reppamon hit her in the face. But he wasn't done yet.

"Vacuum Kamaitachi!" Reppamon's tail trembled.

At first, Witchmon didn't see any attack. She was about to laugh at how weak he is until she suddenly felt multiple blows all over her body. The weirdest thing? They weren't even visible to her eyes! Nor anyone else's either!

"Ow! Ow! Oww! What...What's going on?" Witchmon wailed as she tried to attack, but Reppamon's invisible attacks bombarded her every second. Finally, he stopped and approached her.

"Witchmon. I do believe that you are not a bad Digimon. You do have ulterior motive for branding Digimon with Dark Emblems. I understand the pain you go through. However, that does not justify what you did. You must be punished for your transgressions, and we, the Digimon Brigade, shall pass judgment onto you," Reppamon told her in a very austere and chilling voice, which popped Witchmon's final nerve. She lost her composure for yet another time.

"LIKE YOU COULD EVER UNDERSTAND MY PAIN!" Witchmon wailed as she tried to hit Reppamon with her broom, but he dodged all of her attacks. Now, she was so weak she couldn't even manage another Aqua Pressure, even with her currently large size.

That's when the oddest thing happened.

"Link! Your bag! It's glowing!" WarGreymon cried with alarm.

WarGreymon is right. Link looked down to see that one of the pockets on his big traveler's bag is glowing in all the colors of the rainbow! Cream white, crimson red, mango orange, sunlight yellow, emerald green, ocean blue, violet purple, light lavendar, carnation pink, chocolate brown, and sterling silver! The multifarious colored lights suddenly popped out of Link's bag in slender rays of light which descended into the Digimon and made them digivolve back to their champion forms, Syakomon included. She digivolved into Dolphmon instead of MarineAngemon this time.

"Hey! Look! We digivolved again! I feel revitalized, suddenly!" Dolphmon exclaimed with a smile.

"Yeah! I feel like I've been renewed!" Gargomon said.

"What a wonderful feeling this is!" Lekismon cried out happily.

"Whoa! Wonder what's going on?" Grizzlymon said.

"This is no time to be wondering! Come on! Let's defeat Witchmon together!" Nefertimon said.

"Mind if we help you?" A strange voice asked. Everyone turned around to see all the previously branded Digimon up and alert. Elecmon, Togemon, Garurumon, Snimon, Tuskmon, Youkomon, DarkLizardmon, Mushroomon, Tapirmon, Elephantmon, DoKunemon, Flymon, and SandYanmamon. The voice came from the SandYanmamon.

"You want to help us?" Yun asked.

"Yes, as thanks for removing the Dark Emblems from us!" One of the Elecmon said.

"Witchmon must be brought to justice!" The first Garurumon exclaimed with a proud howl.

"No way are we gonna let her ger away with this!" One of the Tapirmon said.

"I can slice her if you want!" Snimon offered with a rather devious smile that Yun found rather creepy.

"No thanks. We'll leave that to Reppamon," Turuiemon piped in politely.

"Come on! Let us stand by no longer!" Both Pegasusmon and Angemon said proudly.

They all left Witchmon trapped in a circle of re-energized Digimon. Dolphmon swam in the lake, but they gave her room to attack Witchmon from her distance, so she was okay. Witchmon suddenly felt weak and couldn't get up. There was nothing she could do now but finally concede defeat and give up. In a flash, every single Digimon shout an attack name, and it came out. Witchmon found herself surrounded by a million lights.

In the midst of it, she heard screaming.

"NO! Wait-!"

But it wasn't her own voice. It came from...Yun. But after she heard it, her body was totally bombarded by lights. Everything hit her and pounded on her.

_"AAAAAHHHHH!"_

So much power and energy, like nothing she ever felt before, crashed on her like a myriad meteors falling on her. The earth shook. Her brain vibrated. Her eyes became blurry.

Finally, it was over.

Everyone looked at Witchmon, who is now weak, paralyzed, overcome with pain, and returned back to her normal size. Link cradled the unconscious Hokuto in his arms. They all looked down at her with indifferent faces and didn't say anything.

All except for one.

"You idiots!" Yun screamed angrily. She was appalled by what everyone did. She ran through the crowd and pushed everyone away like she was late for school.

"Witchmon!"

"Yun! What the heck are you-?" Shunji tried to hold her back, but she escaped.

Yun ran to Witchmon, who is twitching with pain and uttering strange sounds.

"Uh...uh...uh!" Witchmon gasped for air like she was having trouble breathing. She opened her eyes and saw that the tip of her feet are turning into rainbow-colored data.

As Yun saw this, she ran to Witchmon and held onto one of her big fingers with her own small, tender hand. Witchmon couldn't believe how warm and soft Yun's hands are, especially since it's been cold at Noir Lake the entire time they've been battling! Witchmon looked up into Yun's emerald green eyes, and was surprised with what she saw. Kindness, sympathy, compassion, a very tiny twinge of pity, and sincerity. The latter was what Witchmon wanted to see the most.

"It's okay. I'm here," Yun cooed softly. Suddenly, Witchmon's heart felt melted and soft again, like how she felt when MoonMillenniummon embraced her. Perhaps...the humans aren't cold-hearted creatures living in eternal luxury after all.

"I...All I wanted...was to...go back to those...happy days..." Witchmon croaked as she felt herself growing weaker and weaker. "...When I was playing with my friends...and family...in Witchelny..." Tears slithered down her scratched cheeks.

"You've been through a lot, and I'm sorry we made it worse," Yun whispered gently.

Everyone was surprised. Questions were running through their minds. Why is Yun being kind to Witchmon, even after all the things she's done? Why did Yun attempt to make them NOT attack Witchmon? Lopmon, Terriermon, Melody, and Lucero were the only ones who knew why.

"Yun...you're Yun, right?"

Yun nodded.

"Did you...really...suffer?"

"Yes. I did suffer. I still do suffer. We all go through misfortune in many ways. We have hardships, and we have joy, too."

"I...I see. I'm...sorry. That I snapped...and for everything else..."

"You had every reason to be mad. We were jerks."

"No. I was...the real jerk. You're right...putting Dark Emblems on Digimon is wrong, but...I wanted Master to love me. I guess...I was a little misguided."

Witchmon saw that her legs have disappeared. Only the upper half of her body is left, but Yun kept going.

"Maybe if you be reborn, you can start over."

"I could...but I don't...want to forget...my master...and the love he's given me. You may think...he's some heartless villain...but to me, he's...my world...he saved me..."

"I'm sure he is. I'm happy for you."

Here, Witchmon remembered all the happy times. Both in Witchelny and with MoonMillenniummon. Witchelny, where she played with her friends, fought with her rivals, and studied all the spells she knew. With MoonMillenniumon, with their own little magic fight, her antics with Roachmon, her quarrels with LadyDevimon, and with Monitormon, who viewed her as a mother.

"Master..." Witchmon raised her other hand to reach out to him, but she couldn't grasp anything. Then she looked at Yun.

"Tell me...if you've suffered...how are you able to keep going?"

Yun looked at Lopmon first, then Terriermon, Melody, Lucero, and everyone else.

"They're all my friends. They care about me, and I care about them just as much. To me, they're all my world. They're the most important things I've ever had in my life."

"I see..." Now Witchmon's face was left. "Thank you for...trying to save me back there...and goodbye..."

Finally, she turned into a gust of rainbow-colored data. But she didn't disappear. A light enveloped the entire forest, and everyone had to cover their eyes. When they opened them, they saw lots and lots of DigiEggs on the ground. Lots of them! Probably from all the Digimon whose data Witchmon absorbed. Among all those DigiEggs, Yun saw Witchmon's. There was no mistake. Absolutely no doubt in her mind. She pointed it out right away. Right when she laid her green eyes on it, she could tell it was Witchmon's right from the get-go. It's red, with a ring of black diamonds surrounding it, and with a yellow tip on the top.

"Witchmon...don't worry. I'll give your master credit for saving you from the depths of despair. But at the same time...I'll show you what it means to be in the human world," Yun said. Then she got her digivice out, opened it, and pressed a button.

A small digital portal appeared in front of her. Yun held the egg over it and...

Dropped it into the hole.

Then the hole disappeared. Everyone gasped.

"YUN! Are you crazy? Why'd you throw Witchmon's DigiEgg into the human world? What if she doesn't change?" Riku yelped.

"He's right! You never know if Witchmon's still gonna be the snotty brat she is!" Coronamon backed him up, but Yun balled her fists firmly.

"I want to believe...that she can change for the better. Who knows. Maybe a nice human will find her and raise her," Yun muttered. Riku and Coronamon wanted to go on, but they remained silent. Rena smiled and put a hand on Riku's shoulder sympathetically. The same with Lunamon.

All the kids and Digimon, including the armored Digimon and the ones who were branded, fell to their knees and exhaled a HUGE sigh of relief.

"Wow! That was the most exhausting battle I ever went through!" Dracomon exclaimed.

"Tonight, I'm gonna convince Gran to cook you up some nice, juicy steak with lots of gravy, Dracomon," Shunji said with a smile. Dracomon wanted to jump for joy, but he was too exhausted to even scream like a happy drunkard. Riku and Coronamon were the ones acting like overly happy drunkards.

"YEEEEAAAAHHH! That...was...so...AWESOME!" Riku screamed happily.

"Was that the awesomest thing ever or WHAT?" Coronamon screamed just as happily and high fived Riku. Right then, Otoya saw it.

"Otoya? What's wrong?" Labramon asked.

"Ummm...Lynxmon, Nefertimon, Pegasusmon, and Pteramon are all glowing," Otoya muttered as she pointed to them.

Otoya's right. They're all glowing! Lynxmon's front claw glowed orange, Nefertimon's helmet glowed white, Pegasusmon's helmet glew, and the red button on Pteramon's chest glew dark purple! All four lights suddenly appeared from them and floated into the air. Two floated into Minako's hands, and two floated into Kosuke's hands. In Minako's hands, one jewel resembled a red cat's head while the other one resembled a white sphinx. In Kosuke's hands, one jewel resembled a pair of golden wings and the other one resembled a dark purple airplane. Yun knew what this meant.

"Wow! You both got D-Chips!" Yun exclaimed.

"What? We did?" Kosuke asked.

"Yep! Mina-chan, it seems Lynxmon and Nefertimon are your secondary partners. Kosuke, your secondary partners are Pegasusmon and Pteramon. How cool is that?" Yun explained with a smile. Minako and Kosuke looked at their respective Digimon and smiled.

"Yay! We made some new friends! This is great!" Patamon flew around giddily.

"What a wonderful way to end the Battle of Noir Lake! Wan!" Salamon piped in with a bark.

"You're giving our recent battle a name?" Rena asked.

"Yeah. Is that wrong?" Salamon asked.

"Oh, no! I think it's nice! In fact, it sort of gives off a Gettysburg vibe!" Minako said.

"What's Gettysburg?" Salamon asked.

"Gettysburg is a city in the state of Pennsylvania, which is in the United States. In the year 1863, the Civil War was going on, the Union and the Confederates battled each other in the wake of the war! To this day, The Battle of Gettysburg stands as the battle with the largest number of casualties in history! The Confederates lost more people, with 4,708 people killed, 12,693 wounded, and 5,830 captured and/or missing!" Minako explained.

"Sounds kinda icky. Wan!"

"Yeah. It was pretty bad."

"Okay, _WHY_ are we talking about the civil war? Shouldn't we be heading home?" Melody yelped.

"She's right! I don't want to talk about wars when we just got out of a battle! It makes my stomach churn!" Biyomon chirped angrily.

"Not yet! We have to go and get Shione-chan and Mikuni-chan first!" Yun explained.

"Oh! You're right! I wonder how they're doing?" Lopmon said.

"She's right! We gotta go back and get them!" Terriermon said.

But as it would turn out, they didn't need to go and get them.

"Heeeey everyone!"

Being carried in the arms of a white Digimon named Gargoylemon are none other than Shione and Mikuni! Gargoylemon descended to the ground and delivered Shione and Mikuni to the Digimon Brigade.

"Wow! What happened to all of you? You look like you just came out of a bloody war!" Shione exclaimed, seeing all the exhausted faces of the Digimon Brigade.

"We were just making weird Civil War references!" Melody joked angrily.

_"You okay?"_ Mikuni typed in her cell phone.

"We're...good. How've you been?" Moosemon said.

"It was awesome! The Digimon at Chloros Forest totally manhandled that army without a hitch! It was awesome! Mikuni stayed with me and the babies in the infirmary, but even we could see the action going on from there! It was great!" Shione explained with a smile.

_"I protected the babies!"_ Mikuni typed.

"Well, we're about done here, so I believe it's safe for you to go back to the real world!" Bullmon said.

"Are you gonna stay here?" Terriermon asked.

"Yeah. My friends need me!" Bullmon said.

"Well, I suppose it IS time to get going. Alright-" Yun was about to press the door button on her digivice until...

"NOOOOO!"

Link suddenly leaped on her and grabbed the digivice. It was like he was running away from a house engulfed in flames.

"Link-san! What was that for?" Yun yelped, becoming quite irritated by Link's little hysterical display. WarGreymon facepalmed. _'Oh dear...'_

Link sat himself up. Oddly enough, his mask didn't fall out of place. Not one bit.

"There's something I forgot to mention. If we're in different areas in the Digital World, then we're in different areas in the real world. Each area is connected to another in the opposite world. If you use your digivice to open a digital portal in certain areas, you'll wind up in an unfamiliar place. Another country, even!" Link explained.

"If we're in certain places in the Digital World that are above certain countries in the real world, then...we wind up in another country when we go back to the real world? In countries like America or France or Italy?" Aria asked.

"You're a smart little girl. Yes, you can," Link said.

"Wow! That's so cool! I might be able to go to Russia!" Rena exclaimed happily.

"That's where your favorite dancer came from, isn't it?" Lunamon asked with a smile.

"Yep!"

"Speaking of Russia-" Link tried to intervene, but Melody already did it for him.

"How do you know?" Melody asked with her arms crossed.

Link blushed and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "To tell you the truth...that kinda happened to me a couple times. The first time was when the Digital World first got destroyed."

"Two weeks ago?" Biyomon asked.

"Yeah. Anyway, WarGreymon and I were just lounging around when suddenly...everything went BOOM! Suddenly we weren't in the Digital World anymore! Wanna guess where I wound up?"

"Where?" Otoya asked.

"St. Petersburg."

"St. Petersburg?" Labramon asked.

"St. Petersburg, Russia?" Minako asked.

"South from the Hermitage! On Nevsky Prospekt, to be more precise. Right near the Chocolate Museum!" Link added in.

"THE WHAT NOW?" Everyone yelped, shocked by the last thing that came out of Link's mouth.

"It was too weird!" WarGreymon piped in.

"Did you go back to the Digital World?" Terriermon asked.

"I would've but...I decided to stick around for a bit! I'm fluent in Russian, and I've always wanted to go to the Chocolate Museum! I swear, that place has everything under the sun in chocolate! Lions, chess sets, Vladimir Lenin heads-"

"Lenin? The communist dude who tried to take over the palace of the Romanovs with the Bolsheviks(2)?" Minako asked.

"You're smart too! Yes, that's true! And no, Lenin wasn't really THERE when the Tsar's palace was attacked."

"So, let me get this straight," Melody said with her arms crossed, sounding and looking both perturbed and irritated right now. "While our internet was getting all out of whack and the Digital World was being destroyed, you were in St. Petersburg eating chocolate communist heads?"

Link let out a laugh. "Yep!"

"What's a communist?" Aria asked as she sat next to Syakomon.

"I...don't think you want to know," Yun said.

"Same here," Labramon said.

Melody stood up in alarm. "By God, you're so _STUPID_! Some Digimon researcher you are, wasting time eating chocolate while lots of Digimon supposedly lost their homes and their lives! Have you even considered that other Digimon were practically dying? You pathetic fool!"

"Shimotsuki Melody Onpu(3)!" Yun scolded like she was Melody's mother. "I'm sure he knew about it! There probably wasn't much he could do! I mean, what can a lone man do to defeat a giant Digimon who destroyed the Digital World?"

Yun had a point. Melody, feeling remorseful, slumped back to the ground and moped. "Sorry..."

Yun rubbed her back with her hand.

"A chocolate museum? Sounds awesome!" Riku exclaimed.

"I wanna eat lots of chocolate!" Coronamon said.

"If you did that, then your teeth would get all brown and rotten!" Patamon said.

Kosuke ignored their conversation and was lost in thought. 'I don't care how unhealthy the food is, so long as I have any at all...'

Link stood up. "So, I believe it's time we had this discussion in Chloros Forest, shall we? It's getting dark here and I can barely see a thing!"

"You have a point," Lopmon said.

So, the Digimon Brigade and the others traveled back to Chloros Forest with the help of the previously branded Digimon who helped them. Lunamon glew in the dark since she gains her powers from the moon and managed to light the way, along with some Elecmon, who used their new attack, Sparkling Glow, to light the way as well. They finally left Noir Lake. However...unbeknownst to all of them, someone had been watching the entire scene the entire time!

It was none other than...LadyDevimon!

She watched them all with shock in her bloody red eyes, even after they left. She hid in the trees, keeping herself out of their sight.

"No...no way! This can't be true! My eyes must be deceiving me! I never believed that humans existed until now! But...not only do they exist, but they're ACTUALLY capable of domesticating Digimon and powering them up so much they can defeat an over sized Witchmon? Never in my wildest dreams did something like this ever seem possible! But...even worse! Those...those Digimon! I...I can't believe it! They're still _ALIVE_?" LadyDevimon screamed at that last line. "NO! No no no no NOOO! It can't be! They can't be alive! The MarineAngemon is one thing, but..._ALL OF THEM_? This HAS to be a lie! Master and I killed every single one of them! None of them should've survived the destruction we caused! We didn't even spare the core! Durn! I wish I had one of those cameras and Monitormon so I could've recorded it. But whatever."

LadyDevimon then pulled a walkie talkie out and whispered something into it.

Meanwhile, the Digimon Brigade and the others finally got back to Chloros Forest. They settled back into the longhouse where they had their feast. The Digimon greeted them warmly, like usual. Hokuto, who is still unconscious, was placed in the infirmary with Shurimon and Butterflymon. As much as Kudamon wanted to stay with Hokuto, he had questions he needed to ask Link, so he decided to let Shurimon and Butterflymon watch over him. Shione and Mikuni went back into the infirmary as well. Bucchiemon, Prairiemon, and Unimon also stuck around too. All the kids and their Digimon sat at the long table, with Link and WarGreymon at the center. Link just finished drinking some tea and put the cup back on the table.

"Ah, that hit the spot!" Link said. The kids and Digimon all cocked their heads to one side in confusion...except WarGreymon.

"Link said that when he was in high school, he used to be part of the tea ceremony club," WarGreymon said.

"Boys and tea ceremony clubs? Yeah, right," Melody muttered.

"Alright, now that we've all settled down, why don't you kids tell me a little about yourselves?...or at least what you know about what's been happening so far," Link explained.

Yun decided to go first.

"Well...we all got our Digimon two weeks ago. All on the same day and possibly at the same time. After that, Digimon branded with these things called Dark Emblems started appearing. Dark Emblems are these hexagon shaped tattoos with black stripes and skulls on them that make Digimon go crazy like wild animals," The image of Hokuto's feral and rogue persona appeared in her mind when she said that sentence, but she continued on. "My friends and I call ourselves the Digimon Brigade, and we made it our job to remove Dark Emblems from Digimon whenever we see them. Then we met Witchmon and all sorts of stuff started happening. We found out later that the Digital World was destroyed at one point, which you probably know of, and that Witchmon's served some sort of master who apparently had something to do with it. That's...about it, I guess."

Yun's expression became dejected upon remembering Witchmon's final minutes, which Terriermon noticed, but not in a good way.

"You're not actually regretting killing Witchmon, are you?" Terriermon asked, feeling rather mad.

"Well, only a little bit! You heard about what she went through, right?" Yun said back at him. Link adjusted his mask a bit.

"It seems you kids are dragging yourselves into perilous circumstances," Link said.

Rena slammed her hands on the table, her green eyes twinkling with both fear and anger, which scared Lunamon. "It's not like we wanted to get pulled into all this! And anyway, you owe us an explanation! Why did Kamitsure-kun go all mad a few minutes ago? His eyes were glowing red and he had fangs and claws and everything!"

"Rena-san! Please don't shout!" Lunamon pleaded.

"You'll scare Yun!" Lopmon backed her up with equally pleading green eyes and gentle tugs on her shirt. Everyone was so surprised by Rena's odd display of anger. Even Riku and Coronamon were surprised, since she's normally very docile, polite, and graceful. She's probably scared and at her wit's end.

"Hokuto-kun's NOT a monster!" Yun yelled with her hands on her ears.

Link looked down at his tea cup dejectedly and solemnly, with a grim look hidden behind his purple mask.

"It's a very long and complicated story, but I'll simplify it enough so you all can understand it, for Hokuto-kun's "condition" can't be explained properly without it. Firstly, yes, I am a certified scientist and a researcher, and..."

He dropped the bomb.

"I'm one of the few who created the Digital World."

Everyone's eyes grew so big they looked like they were going to plop out of their faces and roll around on the table like pool balls.

_"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT?"_

Link? Link, of all people, CREATING the Digital World? Nobody could believe this was actually true! But Yun, upon hearing this, suspected that Link HAD something to do with the Digital World, hence his knowledge of Digimon, the D-Chips, and the digivice. But never did she dream that he actually CREATED the Digital World! If Link had said that he created a new species of kangaroo, nobody would've been any more surprised with what they just heard.

"Wow! Did you hear that, Lopmon? He created us Digimon!" Terriermon exclaimed with a smile.

"Humans HAVE given us life after all!" Lopmon said with a bigger smile.

Upon hearing this, pandemonium broke out.

_"HURRAH!"_

It was Prairiemon and Bucchiemon who calmed them all down.

"Everyone! Please! Hush up! Link-sama needs to tell us his story!" Prairiemon scolded.

"Yes! Calm yourselves!" Bucchiemon said.

They listened, quieted down, and sat down. Link, not feeling bothered by this, continued on.

"It all started in 1992, when the World Wide Web was made available to the public. Some colleagues and I were professors at the University of Genoa, which is in Italy, teaching students about computer science and the internet. Those very colleagues were also my best friends. Around that time, we were secretly partaking in an experiment aimed at developing artificial intelligence. Artificial means not made by real or natural means, like how plants naturally grow with lots of sunlight and water. We succeeded for a while, but later, our project was shut down due to our lack of both funds and motivation. We suddenly grew out of the experiment and we led our own lives. However...only two of us continued on with the project. Kamitsure Saruto, my closest friend, and I. We continued on with our own lives at the same time, but in our spare time we'd do more research and make some more discoveries. We ended up creating the Digital World as a result. It was my friend Saruto who gave it that name. He described what we saw as an artificial world made from data...that can be used for all kinds of possibilities. We even saw artificial life in that world. You couldn't believe how excited we were when we made this discovery! After a while, we revealed it to the public, but we got both good and bad feedback from it. Despite this, we still continued on. I was happy with what I saw. So happy, in fact, that I didn't think we needed to do anything more. I was content with what we found. But Saruto...he had other ideas...and I learned of them 12 years ago."

(flashback)

_Link, without his mask, and another man are standing in a laboratory that's full of big computers, chemicals, glass beakers and test tubes,_ _anything you can find in a science lab, you can find here. Link still had his blonde hair, but his face was full, exposed, and beaming with life and vivacity...but not today. His blue eyes appeared shocked and aghast. Both he and his partner wore white labcoats and rubber gloves._ _His partner is about the same age as him and has a scrawny little mop of curly dark brown hair and hazel brown eyes, like caramell. His face was beaming as he looked at his fellow partner with a smile on his face, apparently not caring that Link had shock all over his face, which is hidden by a thick pair of eye protection goggles._

_"WHAT?" A long metal scooping spoon with a spec of white powder in it fell out of Link's hand and clattered onto the floor, making the white powder scatter all over his feet. But Link seemed oblivious to this. "You want to turn HUMANS into DATA and artificial intelligence?"_

_"Just think of the possibilities this holds for humanity, my friend! Look! I've already got the data we need! If my calculations are correct,_ _we may be able to transcend the circle of life and death! We won't have to die! We can become immortal! How awesome would this be if we humans can live on forever as another, more powerful being!" His partner exclaimed happily, beaming with joy, with his arms waving and moving around with him as if he was acting in a comedic Shakespeare play._

_Link, however, had a much different opinion about this matter, and he felt obliged to reveal it._

_"Saruto...I don't think that's such a good idea. Creating artificial intelligence for entertainment purposes is one thing, but...turning humans into data and living on forever? Don't you think that's rather dangerous and risky? And immortality? Saruto, you know very well that we humans can't live on forever. We can't disturb the circle of life. We're not Gods!" Link explained._

_"But we CAN be Gods if we try! Look at all the data we've received from all the research we've done!"_

_"The research YOU'VE done."_

_"I even have plans for how to achieve that goal! All I need is a proper vessel to test them all on."_

_Now Link was becoming choleric. "Do you really believe using human beings as guinea pigs for your experiment will achieve anything? Do you even know the risks? What if said vessel dies from the stuff you could do to him or her? You'd be setting unrealistic expectations on an innocent life!"_

_"Then I'll just find another one!"_

_"Can't you use rats for this kind of experiments? Rats, the rodents? Are you seriously thinking of humanity as nothing more than vessels for your hypocritical ideas? This is crazy, Saruto! You have to understand! Data doesn't have a substance! We do! We humans have solid composition in the form of proteins, amino acids, cells, blood, DNA,_ _RNA, and, most of all, our five senses and our ability to adapt and survive! If you go on with this crazy idea of yours, you're going to destroy everything humanity's done!"_

_"I'll make humanity advance!"_

_"No you won't! What if you turn yourself into data and someone uses an all-powerful anti-virus to delete you? Every single particle of your life and soul will be erased and lost in the depths of eternity! You won't be buried in a grave six feet under dirt! It'll be as though you didn't exist at all! You will have no substance and no solidified form! Are you really willing to risk losing every single trace of humanity's existence just to satisfy yourself? Life isn't some game you can play with and then throw away in the garbage!"_

_"Why you-"_

_Saruto was about to slap Link, but Link successfully grabbed his wrist and stopped him from doing so. Very solemnly and sternly, he shook his head at him. No, it said. Saruto's expression loosened up, knowing that convincing his beloved partner of his plan was useless. He finally relented. Seeing this, Link let go of his arm and continued with his experiment by cleaning up the mess on his boots._

(end flashback)

"...He actually wanted to turn people into computer data? What a freak!" Melody yelled.

"I don't think I can wrap my head around something like that!" Otoya said with her head cocked to one side in confusion, scratching part of her blue hair with her hand.

"You're right. An experiment like that is very risky. He must be crazy if he was convinced he'd really think he'd gain something from such a dangerous plight," Labramon piped in with an austere voice as he lay calmly on Otoya's lap. Mikuni was gently petting him, apparently not paying much attention to what's going on around her (her not being able to hear is also a factor).

"And I thought I was egomaniacal!" Biyomon piped in.

"Nah, you're more vain than egomaniacal," Terriermon piped in.

"Hey!" Biyomon retorted angrily.

"No. Saruto wasn't exactly egomaniacal. He was a little vain, yes, but at the same time, he was still a good person...and my friend. He just has the bad habit of getting so preoccupied with something that he'd completely shut himself away from anything, everything, and everyone around him. He wouldn't even notice that time passed. But I confess that his methods and ideas ARE quite questionable," Link said.

"Wow! He's worse than me! I do stuff while forgetting about everything else too! I always worry about math tests since I'm not good at them, but most of the time I'd be so stuck on my math that I'd totally forget to do my English or science work too. It's awful!" Yun said.

"It's true," Terriermon said. Lopmon looked at him with a disappointed look and whacked him with her paw.

"Ow!"

"Terriermon! Don't say things like that! You'll hurt Yun's feelings!" Lopmon scolded sternly.

"I wasn't trying to!" Terriermon complained as he rubbed his head.

"You've got a valid point about anti-viruses and data being erased completely. One time, I was doing homework on the computer and all of a sudden a really bad virus attacked the computer. Dad had to call a technician to get it fixed, which took a long time, even for him. But we had to start everything over again. All my pictures and homework and data were erased. I had to redo my whole assignments all over again! There was no way to get everything back!" Minako explained.

"That happened to me once, too!" Yun backed her up.

"What else did Saruto-san have planned?" Salamon asked curiously.

"That was pretty much his only ambition. I'm sure he meant well, but still, an experiment like that is just too dangerous. Who knows what could go wrong! I...I thought I'd stopped him that day. I thought I convinced him that his plans were too unrealistic and dangerous. But later...I found out he didn't get the message. I only later found out that he acted on his own, and that...he had a child," Link said, his head drooping a little at the last sentence.

"Hokuto-dono..." Lucero muttered. "What exactly happened to him?"

"I got an anonymous tip saying that Saruto was performing illegal and inhumane experiments in a laboratory near the park," Link looked directly at Lucero as he said this, as if Link was saying that Lucero was the one who gave him the anonymous tip...which isn't possible.

"What I saw...destroyed everything I knew and loved about my friend..." Link said.

(flashback)

BAM!

_Link, now a little older, kicked a metal door down so hard that it clattered onto the floor, causing Saruto to jump. Saruto was sitting on a drum chair standing in front of a big computer, which is next to a two-way mirror. The two way mirror showed...an unconscious child lying in a bed with a lot of cables and cords attached to him from a big machine that looks like those machines that doctors use to check for a patient's pulse, vital signs, and heartbeat. Saruto was surprised, Link was absolutely incensed. Behind Link are Aki, Hokuto's mother, and two other men._

_"Oh! I'm so happy you're here! Why-" Saruto was about to show Link his work, but all he got in return was a punch in the face that made him fall to the ground, just like the door that Link kicked down._

_"Do you realize what you've done, Saruto? I can't believe you'd go this far!" Link screamed as angrily as he were if he was in a screaming contest. Saruto tried to get up._

_"It was the only way...to realize my ambition. I want...to make humanity advance..." Saruto muttered._

_"BY USING YOUR OWN **SON** AS A HELPLESS GUINEA PIG FOR YOUR SELFISH AMBITIONS? You're sick, Saruto! I thought you knew better, but...look what you've done to him! If you continue like this, he's never going to know what it's like to be a real human child! He may never grow up or interact with anyone or go to school! Do you seriously NOT care about your own kid?"_

_"I LOVE Hokuto! But I needed a willing vessel! To me, he's not JUST my vessel!"_

_"Oh, says the guy who wants to destroy humanity with his son's life! And what about your wife? Why didn't you ever have your wife make contact with Hokuto? A mother's love is pivotal to a child's growth, yet you forbade her from having contact with him at all! What about Hokuto? What has he done to deserve this?"_

_"All Aki would do is hinder my progress! If she made contact with him, she'd brainwash him and turn him against me! I won't have my son be taught to hate me!"_

_Link finally exploded._

_"I'M OFFICIALLY DONE WITH YOU!"_

CRASH!

_He grabbed the drum chair and broke the two way mirror with it. Then he leaped into the room where Hokuto is in, which has titanium walls,_ _mahogany book shelves FULL of books, and a table with glass beakers containing all kinds of chemicals in them. Link and another man ran to the bed where Hokuto is in and ripped out most of the cables. Link wanted to rip them all off, but Saruto stopped him from doing so. The two got into a big brouhaha._

_"Stop! Stop it, you two!" Aki tried to break them up, but these two men, once old friends and chums, were going at each other. HARD. They punched, kicked, hit, slapped, pulled, bit, everything._

_"What happened to you, Saruto? What happened to all the happy memories we made together?"_

_"I want to make humanity advance!"_

_"You want to make humanity advance so bad? Which is more important to you? Your family and friends, or your ambitions? Do tell, Saruto,_ _because I think you've finally gone mad!"_

_"Get away from my son! I NEED HIM!"_

_"To you, he's just your worthless guinea pig!"_

_"No he isn't! He loves me...and I love him! You can never understand what it's like to be a father because you don't have a kid!"_

_"So what? Does that make it right for you to use him like this?"_

_"I WILL NOT HAVE YOU CONTRADICT ME!" Saruto screamed louder than even Link did. Despite Aki and the other men's efforts, Saruto still went wild with rage. He then saw a small test tube containing a purple liquid. As Link was about to pounce on him, Saruto grabbed it and..._

_Splashed it in Link's face._

_Immediately, Link's face burned._

"AAAAAAHHHHH!"

_Link felt as if half of his face was thrown into an oven set at 20,000 degrees Fahrenheit. He yelped and screamed like a wild animal, tightly clutching his burning (and now steaming) face. He fell into a crumpled heap. Seeing Link's pain and hearing his screams, Saruto finally felt a small twinge of guilt. How could he have burned his best friend? And the stuff he threw at him!...only Saruto knew how to take care of it._

_"H-Hang on! I'll get something for you!" Saruto, feeling guilty, mixed up a new chemical, dabbed it on some wet cloth, and rubbed it on Link's face. Aki and one of the men managed to free Hokuto from the machine he was hooked up to (though Hokuto himself remained unconscious)._ _After a while, Link's pain finally subsided. Link looked up, with the cloth covering the burnt areas, and saw Saruto looking down at him dejectedly, with pain in his hazel eyes._

_"I...I'm sorry, friend..." Saruto whispered, his voice overcome with sadness and guilt._

_"It's fine. I'm alright now. Thanks...for helping me," Link said rather unsympathetically. But he did feel grateful to Saruto for seeing the error of his ways and making sure the chemical didn't burn the most vital parts of his face. Sadly, their moment ended abruptly when the police came and arrested Saruto. Some paramedics came and put both Hokuto and Link on an ambulance, driving them both to the hospital._

(end flashback)

Yun had tears pouring from her eyes. She tried to hide them, but she couldn't, she was so appalled by what she heard.

"Poor Hokuto-kun...he didn't do anything to deserve all of that! What...what did his father do to him...?" Yun wailed. Lopmon, Terriermon, and Lucero tried to mollify her, but even they were overcome with feelings of dejection and pity for Hokuto.

"So that's why you wear that mask?" Terriermon asked. Solemnly, Link put a hand on his mask.

"Yes. I don't have the money to fix my face, and I'm rather self-conscious about the end result, so I use this mask to hide it," Link said.

"Parents can hurt their own children? How cruel!" Lopmon yelled.

"Yes. It IS cruel. But what Saruto did...is considered by everyone to be the worst case of child abuse ever to be documented," Link said.

"What exactly did Saruto-san do to Hokuto-kun?" Salamon asked.

"Unfortunately, I wish I knew...but I don't. I don't know all the exact details. Not even Hokuto is willing to give us details about it. However, I do know that Saruto was dead set on trying to find a vessel for his plans. Having his own child...was likely the only choice for him," Link said.

"I know. Cruel, right?" WarGreymon said.

"That's so stupid! Nobody should use children as guinea pigs for illegal science stuff! What was he thinking?" Syakomon yelled. Aria looked dejected and drooped her head similar to what Link did.

"But that still doesn't explain why Hokuto went all Michael Jackson werewolf on us earlier!" Melody snapped.

"To be honest, I've seen it happen before, but to this day I still don't know why or how something like this has come to pass. I heard a rumor that Saruto kept all his observations somewhere, like in a book or a computer, but I haven't been able to find anything," Link explained. "But I did visit Saruto in prison once, after Hokuto was released into Aki's custody. He was crying, and he said _'I've turned my son into a monster!'_ through his tears."

"Ummm...Link-dono. This may not help any, but...Hokuto-dono told me that he separated from the Digimon Brigade on purpose because he feels he's not human. Could that-" Lucero didn't get to finish that sentence.

That was because Yun became the one who angrily slammed her hands on the table.

"HOKUTO-KUN'S NOT A MONSTER!" Yun screamed, wild with rage and with flames in her emerald green eyes. Even Link was a little surprised.

"So what if Hokuto-kun went through lots of bad stuff? That doesn't make him inhuman!" Yun, remembering the time when the three ladies were insulting him back at the party, felt as though she were obliged to express herself and drill it into everyone's heads. "I'm sure he doesn't want to be the way he is right now! He's still our friend! To me, he's still that nice, quiet, and kind boy who likes rambling in detail about everything and being quiet and being with Kudamon! Don't ever view him as a monster!"

Everyone sat there, frozen in silence. Nobody expected Yun to rant like that. They expected Melody to be the one who did that, but...Yun? Yun, of all people, openly standing up for someone she knew for only a couple measly days? But they did see something in her eyes: kindness and passion. Kindness for Hokuto, whom she strongly believes is not a monster, and her passion in believing so.

"You tell 'em, Yun!" Terriermon backed her up while throwing his tiny green fist into the air. Kudamon smiled at her from afar, happy that she cares about Hokuto. Link smiled too.

"I'm glad you think that, because he's going to need all of you to show him what it's really like to be human," Link told her kindly. Yun sat down and calmed herself down.

"But...when did your fight with Saruto-san happen again?" Yun asked.

"About a year and a half ago," Link replied.

"But you said you were here two years in human world time!"

"Doesn't mean I said I spent an ENTIRE two years out in another world. I made a few trips back to the human world from time to time so that nobody worries about me or thinks I went missing or got kidnapped. Wouldn't want that happening, now would I?"

"One other thing, Link-san. Why are you in the Digital World anyhow? How did you get in here?" Shunji asked.

"I saw a digital portal in the park once, and I accidentally stumbled into it. This was before the Digital World got destroyed. At first I was quite shocked, seeing the Digital World as like a world of our own, with trees, oceans, houses, and Digimon. But later on, I became very happy. Happy that all of this was created by my hand...along with those of my other colleagues, of course. I wanted to stick around for a while. I wound up in a place called the Meadow of Birth. I'm not sure if you kids know, but that's where all Digimon are born from. They all begin as babies there. That's where I met WarGreymon. He was a cute little Botamon when I first met him," Link smiled at that last sentence, possibly remembering how cute WarGreymon was as a little baby Digimon. WarGreymon blushed.

"Link! That's embarrassing!" WarGreymon pleaded with him, but Link wanted to tell the story. Thankfully, fate was on WarGreymon's side...but not in a way he, or anyone, expected.

"Look! Your bag's glowing!" Isao suddenly edicted, pointing to Link's bag.

He was right. Part of Link's bag is glowing in a rainbow-hued light! The same as it did after Kudamon digivolved into Reppamon! Only this time...the source of the power that let the Digimon re-digivolve to their champion levels and repowered them up would actually reveal itself to them! Small, egg-shaped lights floated out of Link's bag and at the center of the table. They were the size of blue robin's eggs. There are about eleven of them in different colors. Cream white, violet purple, mango orange, crimson red, ocean blue, light lavendar, goldenrod yellow, cotton candy pink, emerald green, light bronze, and sterling silver. The eleven lights all floated into the children's hands like they were destined to belong to them. Nobody knew what was happening, but as soon as the egg-shaped lights landed in their palms, they stopped glowing. Now, they're egg-shaped stones with strange markings on them, and small slits on the top which looks like those things on cell phones where you put cell phone straps on.

The stone that floated into Yun's hand is white, like the trees and egg-shaped lights in Yun's dream, though Yun considered this white to be more along the lines of snow white, like the sceneries described in one of her favorite book, _The Snow Goose_ by Paul Gallico(4). The marking on her stone is in the form of a hollow circle with a smaller, fuller circle in the middle, and four others surrounding it. Yun smiled as she rather liked the marking on her stone. Circles always have been her favorite shape and, as she found out, circles symbolize a sense of harmony, wholeness, and completion. However, unlike Yun, Minako's expression looked a tad dismal upon seeing the symbol on her stone. It's purple and it has a peace sign on it, but with a pointed protrusion on the top pointing right, and on the bottom pointing left. Kosuke's stone is light orange, with a very small circle, a long, upside down triangle pointing down, and two odd shapes on both sides of the circle that resemble wings. Kosuke smirked upon seeing this. Melody's stone is crimson red, like her dyed bangs, and like Kosuke, the symbol on her stone is a small circle with a long triangle pointing down on the bottom of it, but on top of it is an odd shape that resembles a flame and two tiny triangles on both sides of it on the bottom, slightly above the circle. Otoya's stone is blue, like her long hair and like the ocean, with a full circle in the middle surrounding by four shapes that resemble flower petals. Rena's stone is light lavendar, and it has a crescent moon facing the right with a full circle in it. Riku's stone is golden yellow, with a full circle in the middle, bigger than Rena's, four long triangles surrounding it and facing outwards, and in between them are four smaller circles, like the one's surrounding Yun's circle on her stone. It looked like a sun rising into the sky. Aria's stone is pink, like MarineAngemon's fur, which she liked, and in the center of it is a shape that resembles a standard key hole, but with a hollow circle on top filled in with a smaller circle. Shunji looked at his with a confused face, which is odd considering he's usually so laid-back, lazy, and is normally fond of clowning around. His stone is emerald green, like Yun's eyes, with a shape that resembles a boomerang on the bottom of it, a long diamond shape above it, and with two small right triangles on both sides of it. Isao's stone is light brown, like some trees during autumn, and his symbol is a full square with a full triangle on top of it, and on top of the triangle is a small diamond. The silver stone appeared in front of Kudamon, and it showed a small circle on a shape with three points on it and with two odd shapes under it, likely to resemble small wings.

Kosuke decided to bring the subject up.

"What the heck are these?" Kosuke asked. Link didn't answer right away, but Patamon beamed upon seeing the symbol on his stone.

"Hey! I recognize these hieroglyphics!" Patamon exclaimed.

"You do?" Kosuke asked, confused.

"Yeah! This is written in the oldest ancient DigiCode! Oh! I can read it too! This reads _Freedom_!" Patamon edicted.

"Freedom?" Kosuke asked again.

Lopmon and Terriermon caught on, and so did all the other Digimon.

"Oh! Patamon's right! This IS ancient DigiCode!" Lopmon exclaimed, smiling from ear to ear.

"I didn't think I'd still remember it! Now if memory serves me right, Yun, this symbol here...it means _Harmony_," Terriermon explained with a smile.

"Harmony? How can you tell?" Yun asked. She knew that circles meant wholeness and completion, but she couldn't believe something like this was a coincidence.

"I don't really know. We can just read it somehow!" Terriermon said.

"Mina-chan, yours reads _Peace_! Wan!" Salamon exclaimed happily. Minako could already figure this out, and it wasn't because the sign itself was literally a botched up version of the actual peace sign.

"Otoya. You sure got a good one. The sign on your stone means _Faith_," Labramon said.

"Like faith as in religious faith? Cool!" Otoya yelped happily.

"Probably, though personally I don't think religion has anything to do with it," Labramon replied.

"Lunamon. What does this symbol mean?" Rena asked, showing Lunamon her stone.

"It means _Grace_!" Lunamon replied with a smile. "In our world, the moon is considered to be the very embodiment of grace, elegance, beauty, and benevolence."

"Hey! Riku! Yours is _Justice_!" Coronamon exclaimed loudly, taking the yellow stone in his hand and observing it with his gold eyes.

"Hey! It fits me, too! Now give it back! That's mine!" Riku backed him up with a bright smile, though was a little irritated that Coronamon took it so suddenly.

"Aria-chan! The picture on your stone means _Mercy_!" Syakomon said.

"What's mercy?" Aria asked innocently.

"Hmmm..." Syakomon ruminated, hoping to come up with an answer that a seven year old girl can understand. "Now how do I put it...Oh! Do you remember when Unimon turned me into a DigiEgg? Earlier, Unimon said he was sorry and I said it's okay. I was showing him mercy, and I did because I know he didn't mean to hurt me. He was under the Dark Emblem's control. Know what I mean?"

"Yep! I get it now! So if someone does something bad and they say sorry, or if they do it while not meaning to, then I show them mercy? Do I tell them it's okay?"

"If they're truly sorry about it, then yeah!"

"Mama always said that I was merciful."

"What does mine say? I can't read that," Shunji said.

"Oh! You got a good one! That's _Determination_!" Dracomon exclaimed. Shunji smirked a bit at the stone.

"Looks like this'll be interesting," Shunji muttered to himself.

"Isao-kun! Yours is _Strength_!" Bearmon told him with a smile.

Suddenly, Isao stood up.

"Hey! I think I know what these are! They're crests!" Isao edicted happily, holding his bronze stone in his fingers and striking a pose like he's some super hero.

"Crests?" Everyone asked.

"Yeah! The characters in the Digimon anime had them! Maybe these are our crests! Y'know, courage, friendship, love, hope, all those things? These might be part of who we are!" Isao exclaimed.

"I kinda thought that too," Yun said.

Biyomon looked at Melody's red stone. "Hmmm. This reads _Forgiveness_. I think-huh?"

Biyomon was about to say that the symbol on Melody's stone suited her, but she noticed that Melody is looking down on it with a rather grim and somewhat perturbed and angry face. Melody gritted her teeth and clutched the stone in her fist. Her red bangs hung over her head as she looked down at it. Then...

"Pheh!"

She threw the red stone at the wall. Thankfully the wall is soft, and Biyomon saw where it fell, so she flew over the table, grabbed it, and gave it back to Melody.

"Don't throw it away! It's yours!" Biyomon pleaded. But Melody held up her hand at her in a gesture that seemed to scream _'Talk to the hand!'_ Even Yun saw Melody throw her stone and became confused and suspicious. But Link pulled her out of it.

"Those gem stones...they're called D-Hearts," Link muttered.

Everyone turned to look at him.

"_D-Hearts_?" They all asked in unison. Isao, looking rather disappointed, slumped back into his seat.

"Awww! So they're not crests? Boo!" Isao pouted. Bearmon gently patted him on the back.

"It's okay, Isao-kun! Now you know what they are. You looked pretty cool just now too," Bearmon told him reassuringly, which made Isao smile.

"Yes. They're officially called D-Hearts. No, I didn't give them that name," Link said.

"It's true. He named the D-Chips, but not the D-Hearts," WarGreymon backed him up.

"What's a D-Heart?" Riku asked.

"What does it stand for?" Patamon asked.

"The D stands for digital, obviously. The D-Hearts are supposedly fragments of crystalized data from important Digimon who've been destroyed when the Digital World was attacked," Link said.

"Exactly how do you know this?" Kosuke asked.

"Ah! This is the perfect time for another story!" Link said.

(flashback)

_"Agumon! Agumon, where are you?"_

_In a very broken and spotty part of the Digital World, Link searched and searched desperately for WarGreymon, who had de-digivolved into Agumon, but to no avail. It also didn't help that there are MANY spots of unstable data that are so big it'd be very easy to fall into them since most of them in this area are the size of parade floats. Despite this, Link made sure to be scrupulous about not stepping into them,_ _lest he disappear. He didn't want to disappear, and he didn't want to prove himself right when it came to being deleted in the Digital World (he told Saruto in the first flashback). He remembered hearing Agumon scream for help as Link had his back turned. Link tried to save him, but it was too late. He had already disappeared. It also didn't help that right afterward, the mystical veil closed up, meaning Link couldn't go back to the human world._

_It had been about a few days (Digital World time) since Agumon disappeared, and Link had been growing tired. Right as he was about to sit down on a floating rock and rest, he saw that he was in the vicinity of another area up ahead. One that's entirely full, without any destroyed parts or unstable data spots at all! Overcome with joy, Link decided to head over there and take shelter for a while, since he's growing tired by the minute. Thankfully, once he arrived, he saw that the place IS indeed untouched by the destruction. Not one unstable data spot was in the area. Not even the tiniest little one._

_But the area did surprise him. The place resembled a VERY wide and VERY vast meadow, full of lush green trees, beautiful flowers dotted in multifarious colors, little toys for babies and children, like toy cars, ducks, and dolls, and bushes and flower groves full of big eggs that resembled the Easter eggs that young children would paint. Even the sky is totally untouched. The eggs were the things that caught Link's attention as well. There were a myriad of them, and in varying colors. Some were white with red spots, some where yellow with green spots,_ _some had stripes, some had more complex and intricate designs. They were all different from each other. Link smiled as he walked through the place. He felt as if he were experiencing a sense of nostalgia, remembering the times when he was a child when he happily played games with his friends outside or in their neighbor's barn. The area itself did have a sweet and childish feel to it, but it made Link happy instead of perturbed. He had been here before. It was when he first met his partner._

_Right as he was about to remember that fateful day, a small egg suddenly rolled in front of him, causing him to step back a bit so it can roll around some more. The egg is small and turquoise colored, with dark green triangles on it. He expected the egg to roll away, but it didn't. It stayed there. Instead, a crack appeared! Then it got bigger and bigger until finally the shell came off and out came a baby Digimon! A tiny little white thing that resembles a marshmallow with a round head. It has small, beady black eyes and a good naturedly pouting mouth. Link looked the Digimon's egg up on his dark orange digivice and found the Digimon to be named Poyomon. 'A fitting name,' He thought as he saw little Poyomon toddling around, trying to walk, though it has no feet. Then it looked up at Link and babbled cutely._

_"Poyo...poyo!" Poyomon hopped around, smiling happily. His heart felt warm upon seeing the cute, innocent little Digimon. He slowly kneeled down to it and extended its hand out to him. Poyomon hopped onto it and looked into Link's eye with his little black ones. Link smiled and gently stroke the Digimon's soft and slimy skin with his bulky finger._

_"Poyoyoyo!" Poyomon giggled cutely upon feeling the gentle finger stroking his skin._

_"You're a cute little thing," Link whispered softly and gently so as to not scare Poyomon. Thankfully, it wasn't scared. Then Poyomon caught sight of some flowers and hopped out of Link's hand so he can look at them. Link chuckled a bit as he watched little Poyomon play in the daisies. But a sudden gleam from the sun suddenly caught Link's eye, and he turned around to see what it was._

_In a small hole in the ground, no more than about half a foot deep, are some gem stones. The sunbeams that slenderly permeated the trees seemed to reflect off of them. Link looked closer and was surprised. There are twelve small, egg shaped gem stones the size of robin's eggs in all kinds of colors! Cream white, crimson red, mango orange, goldenrod yellow, emerald green, ocean blue, violet purple, light lavendar,_ _cotton candy pink, light bronze, sterling silver, and cobalt blue. Curious, Link gently picked one of the stones out from the whole. It was the blue one, and as he looked closer, it had a strange symbol on it. He couldn't tell if it was an ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic or something in Greek. But he was certainly fascinated by these strange yet sublime little stones. He wanted to look at them some more, but some voices stopped him from doing so._

_"I don't know...I don't think this is over yet," One purring female voice said._

_"What are you talking about? We destroyed them, along with the rest of the Digital World!" A second female voice exclaimed angrily._

_Seeing that they're coming, Link quickly grabbed all the stones, stuffed them in a pocket in his bag, and hid in one of the bushes. He stayed there and watched as two Digimon came out. They resemble Gatomon, but they're starkly different from normal Gatomon. For one thing, their skin is black, black as the grim reaper's robe, their eyes are eerily yellow, their paws are purple with black claws and red stripes, and they have no gold holy rings on their tails. Link looked up their information on his digivice and found them to be BlackGatomon. The two black cats stood under a tree and talked. One looked worried while the other looked rather angry._

_"I don't suppose you've heard, but...have you ever heard the legend?" The first BlackGatomon asked worriedly._

_"What legend?" The second BlackGatomon hissed while cocking her head to one side curiously._

_"The legend that states that if any member of the Holy Guardians or the Holy Council were to be destroyed, a small fragment of their data would be crystalized and turned into a gem stone called a D-Heart," The first BlackGatomon explained._

_"D-Heart? What does that mean?"_

_"Supposedly it's a piece of not just their data, but their holy power as well. I...I honestly don't think we've totally destroyed them, my friend. Maybe we should-"_

_The second BlackGatomon smacked her friend over the head. "Don't talk such nonsense! You were there when it all happened, weren't you? We helped our master destroy every single one of those overzealous Digimon! If you go gatting about this in the inner sanctum, Master most certainly won't be pleased!" The second BlackGatomon yelled. The first BlackGatomon rubbed her injured head with her paws._

_"Y-Yes ma'am..." She muttered while grimacing. The second BlackGatomon crossed her arms._

_"You always were gullible, and Master hates it when his underlings believe every little thing they hear, especially if it's proven not true!"_ _The second BlackGatomon said._

_"W-Well...I just thought maybe I'd tell you in advance in case it DID happen! I mean...who knows?" The first BlackGatomon said._

_"Alright. Enough mumbo jumbo. Now where the heck are we?"_

_"If I had to guess, this is the Meadow of Birth, where all baby Digimon are born. But...it's strange. There's not one digital spot anywhere!_ _It doesn't look like it was destroyed!"_

_The second BlackGatomon gasped. "No! This can't be! The Meadow of Birth actually SURVIVED all that destruction? This can't be!"_

_"Actually, I don't find it all that surprising. The Meadow of Birth is the most heavily protected and heavily guarded place in all the Digital World. It's protected by a very special magical barrier that protects it from all destruction. I don't know exactly how it works or why or how it manages to guard it so well, but it sure is a marvel!"_

_"A marvel? Don't be silly! This place doesn't have any guard Digimon or anything, so how could it survive? Master must be informed of this!"_

_"Actually, the Gizamon already did that."_

_"Nyan!" The second BlackGatomon hissed and balled one of her claws. "It looks like Master's mission was a failure after all. But I won't worry. Perhaps it'll work next time. Alright! Enough lollygagging! It's time we head out to Kiwi Meadow and raid some of their kiwi! LadyDevimon-sama's waiting for us there!"_

_"B-But the Kiwimon have awful tempers!"_

_"So? That doesn't mean they're better at fighting than we are!" After this, the two BlackGatomon finally left._

_Link overheard the entire conversation, albeit unintentionally. He pulled one of the stones, the D-Hearts, out, particularly the orange one._ _He looked at it and ruminated. He found out three things this morning: the Master who those two BlackGatomon are talking about is the one who destroyed the Digital World recently, these supposed members of the Holy Guardians and Holy Council, both of which he does not know about, are either missing or destroyed, and the stones in his hands are the crystalizations of their data and power._

'The D-Hearts...'_ Link thought. He put the orange stone back in his pocket and decided to walk away._

(end flashback)

"...The end!" Link announced.

"So...who are the Holy Guardians and the Holy Council?" Yun asked.

"Oh! I know! They're the Digimon that once protected the very core of the entire Digital World! They're all kind and pure-hearted Digimon whose duty is to protect the Digital World and it's peace and harmony. The Holy Guardians are the holiest and purest of them all, and they keep the Digital World in balance while serving the one who gave them their status. The Holy Council are a class under them, but they're just as important. Whenever there's trouble, they're usually the ones asked to take care of it, though it usually depends on how big the trouble is. They also fight when they need to, though they're not fans of fighting. That's about all I know, I'm afraid," Prairiemon explained with a smile.

"They seem like very respectable Digimon," Kudamon muttered.

"I'm sure they are," Labramon said.

"I wonder if they're still alive somewhere?" Salamon asked.

"Who knows. We Digimon can turn into DigiEggs after we get destroyed, so I don't doubt that they might still be alive," Dracomon piped in.

"They could be! Maybe we should look for them!" Terriermon exclaimed.

"I don't think it'll be that easy," Lunamon whispered quietly.

They wanted to continue their discussion, but someone happened to come into the room. Yun was the first to see who it was.

"Hokuto-kun!"

There was Hokuto, standing wearily before the table with a rather dejected look on his face. Despite this, Yun squealed like a happy fangirl and leaped onto Hokuto, locking him in an embrace. Feeling the need to be with him, Kudamon did the same, though with a more composed demeanor.

"Why...why are you-?" Hokuto muttered.

"I'm so glad you're alright!" Yun cried out happily as she hugged Hokuto. But Hokuto...didn't seem to be happy about being hugged by Yun.

"But...I...I turned-"

"It's fine! I don't care about that. You're still my friend, and I'm happy you're safe!"

"Me too. We were all very worried about you, Hokuto. How are you as of now?" Kudamon explained calmly as he settled himself onto Hokuto's shoulders.

Hokuto then suddenly pushed Yun off of him...and his face became overcome with shock upon seeing the band-aid on Yun's face. Isao found this to be an opportunity.

"Niichan. I'm sorry I called you a monster," Isao said softly, but...much to his surprise, it didn't seem to help.

"I-I-I-I-I...I did that!" Hokuto yelped, pointing to Yun's cheek.

"This? It's alright! It'll heal soon!" Yun tried to sound optimistic and upbeat, but she seemed to feel it felt rather flat. Hokuto fell to his knees, clung to his knees, and sounded as though he was about to cry.

"I...I...I really am...a monster!" Hokuto yelled.

"I said I'm sorry!" Isao said, thinking that the comment was directed at him.

"No! Don't say sorry! You're right! I'm a monster!"

"Thou art not a monster!" Lucero exclaimed, running up to Hokuto with Yun.

"Don't say you're a monster, Hokuto-kun! So what if you went through some bad experiences? I'm sure you probably didn't want this, but...I don't care one bit! You're still my friend, Hokuto-kun!" Yun explained. Although Hokuto calmed down, Yun could tell Hokuto still believes that he's a monster. Kudamon decided to help out.

"She's right. Every human being is special in their own way. Don't think of yourself as inhuman, Hokuto. What happened to you back then isn't your fault," Kudamon told him gently. Hokuto finally relented and stood up, balling one of his small fists.

"Also...I believe you should keep this," Kudamon said, handing the silver stone to Hokuto. "The ancient DigiCode on it reads _Liberty_, which I think is exactly what you need."

Hokuto looked down at the pretty silver stone with his listless cobalt blue eyes. He didn't seem to really be looking at it, but was lost in his mind. But after a while, he put the stone in his pocket. Link got up from the table, and so did WarGreymon.

"Well, I believe it's time for us to be heading home. I'm sure you're all tired," Link said.

"Yeah. We fulfilled our mission, so we wouldn't mind going back to the human world," Rena said. Right then, Shione and Mikuni came into the room.

"We're going home? Yay!" Shione cheered.

"But one thing before we leave for Kiwi Meadow. Citizens of Chloros Forest! What you heard just now has to be kept absolutely secret at all costs! Don't EVER let this important information slip your mouths, not even to your closest friends! This Master's underlings might be wandering around, trying to gather information as they see fit. See to it that you will zip your lips and never let this information come out!" Link edicted.

"Yes sir!" All the Digimon replied.

"Why do we have to go back to Kiwi Meadow?" Shione asked.

"Link said that if we go back to the human world from another area, we might end up in some place different in the human world," Moosemon said.

"But Biyomon, Patamon, and Dracomon are too tired to digivolve to their champion forms again, so we can't fly there," Kosuke said.

"Do you mind if we help?" A voice said, but it wasn't from inside the longhouse.

Link and the Digimon Brigade ran outside to find some Tuskmon, Snimon, and Garurumon standing before the long house.

"As thanks for removing the Dark Emblems, we'd like to take you to Kiwi Meadow, if you don't mind," One of the Snimon said.

"If you're worryin' about us, don't be. We're just fine! Those Dark Emblems don't drain your energy even if you're in battle," One of the Tuskmon said.

"You guys are awesome! Consider this our thanks," One of the Garurumon said.

"We'll help too!" Some Gargoylemon appeared from the longhouse.

"Wow! Thanks everyone!" Minako said.

"Yay! We made new friends! Wan!" Salamon exclaimed happily.

"Since it's so dark, I'll light the way!" Coronamon exclaimed. "Shining Sunbeam!" Coronamon engulfed himself in a low but warm gold light, which permeated the darkness so much that they could see for miles. Some of the Elecmon, with their Sparkling Glow, accompanied them.

So some of the kids got on the backs of the Tuskmon, Snimon, Garurumon, and WarGreymon and traveled back to Kiwi Meadow. But not before saying goodbye to their secondary Digimon and the grateful citizens of Chloros Forest, who exalted them for their heroic and chivalrous deeds. Then, a question popped into Riku's mind and he decided to ask.

"Hey Link! Are you gonna come with us or are you gonna stay here?" He asked.

"There's things I still need to do, so I'll stay here for a while longer," Link replied. Riku didn't look very satisfied, but he accepted Link's answer anyway.

Once they arrived at Kiwi Meadow, the previously branded Digimon dropped them off and walked away. Link and WarGreymon followed them since they decided to stay here. They all used their digivices to go back to the human world. They left Link and WarGreymon behind. They made it back to the park without a hitch. Otoya was the first to see it.

"Hey! We're back!" Otoya exclaimed.

"Wow! Now THAT was some adventure we had!" Riku exclaimed with a smile.

"It was both fun and scary, but I loved it!" Aria said.

"Hey! Look!" Rena pointed to all the Digimon who, much to everyone's surprise (except for Yun and Aria), de-digivolved into their in-training forms.

Kokomon, Gummymon, Nyaromon, Tokomon, Bukamon, and Yokomon have certainly de-digivolved, but the rest of the in-training Digimon are those that most of the kids haven't seen before. One of them is a pint-sized Labramon with small magenta legs, long ears, a long curly tail, cream white skin, and a little piece of hair on his forehead. Another is a little Digimon resembling a tiny orange sun, with a big smiley face and a small yellow flame on his head. Another is a Digimon whose skin is purple, like lilacs, and resembles a drop of water hitting a pond. Another is a green seahorse like dragon with a curly white tail, a yellow belly, black Y-shaped horns with red tips, little green bat wings, and blue eyes. Another is a fluffy beige raccoon with white tipped ears, blue eyes, and a blue and white raccoon-like tail, and the final Digimon is a ball of orange and white fur with red eyes and a big black horn on its head.

"Oh! They all de-digivolved!" Kosuke exclaimed.

"I'm afraid...we don't know all your names. Care to tell us?" Aria asked politely.

"Sure! I'll go first! I'm Tsunomon, Bearmon's in-training form!" The horned Digimon, Tsunomon, exclaimed with a smile.

"I'm Sunmon! Coronamon's in-training form!" The sunny Digimon, Sunmon, exclaimed happily.

"I happen to be known as Moonmon, and I'm Lunamon's in-training form," The purple droplet-like Digimon, Moonmon, whispered timidly.

"My name is Xiaomon, and I'm Labramon's in-training form," The pint-sized Labramon, Xiaomon, said politely.

"I'm Bebydomon, Dracomon's in-training form! Can I have some steak, please?" The green seahorse, Bebydomon, exclaimed.

"And I'm Kyaromon! Kudamon's in-training form!" The little raccoon, Kyaromon, said.

Out of all of them, Moosemon is the only one who didn't de-digivolve.

"I think they de-digivolved because they ran out of energy," Minako said.

"Yer right! Nyan!" Nyaromon piped in with a smile as she hopped into Minako's arms.

"Ah! It is so great to be back home!" Lucero said.

"It's still daytime out!" Gummymon said.

"Does anyone know what time it is?" Yun asked.

Rena looked at her watch. "Wow! It's only 3:57!"

"WHAT? No time passed?" Kosuke asked.

"Nope. The Digital World's different from the real world," Aria told them innocently as if she knew more about the Digital World than any of them.

"Wah! I'm tired..." Moonmon said as she fell into Rena's arms. Rena smiled and cradled her in her arms.

"We'll go home now and you can get some well needed rest. I need it too. Good thing I don't have dance class today," Rena said.

Yun had Kokomon and Gummymon tucked safely in her arms as she saw Rena talking to Moonmon. "She's right. We should get home, or our parents might get worried. I know I need to study for Friday's math test!"

"You gonna study when you get home?" Gummymon asked.

"Yep!"

"You're so very devoted," Kokomon told her cutely. Yun happily nudged them both with her face, making them giggle a bit.

"No way am I gonna fail this week's test!"

So, the kids parted ways and left for home safe and sound. But...unbeknownst to them...

A man leaned against a tree. He had witnessed them come out of the digital portal!

_In the Digital World..._

MoonMillenniummon sat in his inner sanctum, feeling rather impatient as of late.

"Goodness gracious! What in the world is taking Witchmon and Roachmon so long? Could the Digimon at Chloros Forest be tougher than we expected? I wonder if the Digimon at Noir Lake have helped them?" MoonMillenniummon mused to himself impatiently.

But he noticed a dark shadow appearing from one of the caves. Out came a rather dejected LadyDevimon and two BlackGatomon following her dutifully.

"Master..." LadyDevimon said in a wicked but sad-sounding voice.

"LadyDevimon. Where have you been? I've been worried sick about you!" MoonMillenniumon asked.

"At Noir Lake. I had business to do there, but...we bring ill tidings, Master," LadyDevimon kneeled before MoonMillenniummon and drooped her head in an abject manner, which stimulated MoonMillenniummon's curiosity.

"What ever is the matter?"

"It's...about Witchmon and Roachmon. The mission failed. They've...perished," LadyDevimon whispered despondently.

MoonMillenniumon, upon hearing the terrible news, became silent.

"Master. I was there. I saw it happen," LadyDevimon said.

"Why didn't you interfere and help them?" MoonMillenniummon screamed.

"I didn't think I was needed!"

"Exactly...who killed them?"

"That's another thing that's bothering me. This...may be extremely hard to believe, but..._THEY_ killed her."

"They?"

"Yes. The ones we...y'know."

MoonMillenniummon was silent again. LadyDevimon took this as an indication that he didn't know who she was talking about.

"The ones we killed back then! They've returned, Master! With human partners! They killed Witchmon! I saw everything!"

What she got in response...was unexpected.

_"BLASPHEMY!"_

The whole inner sanctum roared and shook like there was an earthquake. Suddenly, a blue lightning bolt shot out of MoonMillenniumon's crystal and hit LadyDevimon, electrocuting her and sending her to the ground in a crumpled heap.

"LadyDevimon-sama!" The two BlackGatomon huddled over to her with worried looks on their faces. LadyDevimon sat herself up.

"As if hearing it from Witchmon and Roachmon wasn't bad enough! Now you're catching their knack for ridiculous lies, LadyDevimon! The ones WE killed? Becoming stronger with human partners? That's the most ridiculous thing I've heard in weeks!" MoonMillenniummon roared angrily.

"B-But Master! I saw everything! The ones we killed have returned!" LadyDevimon pleaded with her master, but he didn't seem to relent.

"You were there, weren't you? We KILLED them with all the powers we had!"

"Yes, I know! But...somehow they've revived and have come back! I can tell the difference between them and normal Digimon! The Gargomon had a black belt strap and gold Indian war paint as opposed to red paint! And the Gatomon's eyes were purple instead of blue! And the Angemon had silver hair and a light blue loin cloth!"

"SHUT UP!"

"Master!"

"I've had enough of this! LadyDevimon, return to your duties at once!"

LadyDevimon, seeing as there was no way to convince her master without solid proof, finally relented and left.

"Yes, Master. I'm sorry..." She whispered and walked away with the two BlackGatomon walking behind her.

"Are you okay, mistress?" The first BlackGatomon asked with concern.

"Yes, I am. Thank you for helping me back there, my faithful friends," LadyDevimon said.

"LadyDevimon! You don't seriously think they've actually returned, have you?" The second BlackGatomon asked.

"I know what I saw! I wish I had solid proof, but I don't! In that case...I'm going to the human world!" LadyDevimon edicted.

"You can't be serious!" The second BlackGatomon exclaimed, surprised by this new development.

"I've seen Witchmon and Roachmon travel to the human world a dozen times before, so I have a good idea of how to do it. I might as well do it right now and prove to Master that they've come back! You'll help me, right?" LadyDevimon said.

"Yes. We'll always help you, mistress," The first BlackGatomon said.

The two BlackGatomon hopped into LadyDevimon's arms as she flew away from the inner sanctum, oblivious to the fact that a Gazimon just ran by.

'I'm so glad...that I have you two by my side. Nobody was ever there for me before, so you're both very precious to me,' LadyDevimon thought as she flew away.

Back in the center, MoonMillenniummon looked down at the ground with his eyes closed, silently mourning.

"Oh Witchmon...Roachmon...why did it have to be you two? First the DarkSuperStarmon, and now you two hooligans. What we had was special...I'm sorry, my children. I'm sorry I couldn't save you. Please...forgive me..." MoonMillenniummon whispered to himself dejectedly, sad that Witchmon and Roachmon are gone. He thought about the little Monitormon that Witchmon befriended. What was he going to tell the little thing?

Suddenly, he was pulled out of his reverie by a frightened and perturbed Gazimon.

"Master! Master!"

"What is it? Speak up!"

"A Digimon has requested an audience with you!"

"An audience? With me? Who is this Digimon?"

"Someone from a place called Witchelny!"

"Let him in!"

Gazimon got out of the way, and a big Digimon with an axe came in.

"Halt! Stop where you are!" MoonMillenniummon yelled.

The Digimon stopped and kneeled before MoonMillenniummon.

"I apologize for intruding and trespassing. I am MedievalDukemon, a Digimon from the world called Witchelny," The Digimon, MedievalDukemon, told him politely.

"Exactly how did you know of this place? Nobody outside my inner sanctum is supposed to know of its existence!" MoonMillenniummon said.

"I overheard one of your Gazimon underlings talking and made him take me here," MedievalDukemon confessed.

"He-He-He threatened to destroy me if I didn't tell him! Please forgive me, Master! I didn't mean to spill the beans!" Gazimon importuned with tears coming out of his eyes.

"It's alright, Gazimon. I don't blame you. I believe it's time for you to return to your duties," MoonMillenniummon told him kindly and mercifully. Gazimon smiled from ear to ear.

"Oh! Thank you, Master! Thank you so much! I shall be forever indebted to you!" Gazimon exclaimed happily and ran off, leaving MedievalDukemon and MoonMillenniummon alone.

"Why have you come?" MoonMillenniummon asked solemnly.

"I've heard that you have taken in one of my citizens. A Witchmon, to be more precise," MedievalDukemon replied just as solemnly.

"Yes. I have. Why do you ask?"

"Well, she had been banished from Witchelny because the citizens accused her of destroying the ancient archives."

"I'm well aware of that. She told me."

"I suppose she has. Anyway, I've been investigating the incident on my own since then, and I found a strange piece of evidence. Some of the books had red lipstick marks on them, and there was a small bottle of lip stick laying at the scene, which I had not noticed before."

"The Witchmon you speak of never did care for wearing lipstick. That I know quite well."

"Indeed. I continued with my investigation, and I have come to the conclusion that the Witchmon you've taken in is most surely NOT the culprit behind the vandalism after all. It was the act of another Witchmon, who held a grudge against her after she beat her in a magic fight. She has been arrested."

"Hmmm. I see."

"Not only that, the archives have returned to their original state. I've tried to find her, but I've had no luck. The Gazimon told me that you have taken her in. I hope you don't mind, but I would like to request your permission to take her back to Witchelny with me."

"You wish to take her back?"

"Yes. I feel very guilty for passing judgment on her. I wanted to help her, but I didn't have the authority. If you would please be so kind, may you send for Witchmon and tell her that she's allowed to come back to Witchelny? I'd like her to know that her punishment has been lifted, and she is free to return home. Everyone is waiting for her."

MoonMillenniummon listened to MedievalDukemon's request intently and went into a pensive state. He ruminated. After a while, he looked at MedievalDukemon with a serious look in his orange and yellow eyes.

"I am sorry, MedievalDukemon, but you are too late. Witchmon is dead. Some Digimon at Chloros Forest killed her," MoonMillenniummon told him without a hint of hesitation or mercy.

MedievalDukemon stood up and walked a few steps back with shock. "What? How...how can that be?"

"I just said! Some Digimon at Chloros Forest killed her, you twit! I would've loved to save her, but I'm stuck her and cannot move," MoonMillenniummon snapped angrily. MedievalDukemon drooped his head down dejectedly.

"What a pity...what a tragedy this is! If only I acted quick enough!" MedievalDukemon exclaimed sadly. But MoonMillenniummon didn't seem to buy it.

"It IS a pity, indeed. But it wouldn't have mattered anyway. Even if you had cleared her name, I wouldn't have given her back to you no matter what!" MoonMillenniummon replied rather forcefully.

"What? But...she is one of my citizens!"

"Who you were so cruel as to abandon without any hint of remorse! That is why I took her in! She was suffering, and I ended it!"

"I didn't want to pass judgment on her, but I didn't have the authority to do otherwise!"

"You're a MedievalDukemon, for the love of Pete! You _CREATED_ Witchelny! You transcend time!"

"That is one of my ancestors, mind you!"

"You didn't show her any mercy, you wicked thing! Your citizens didn't show her any mercy! Do you seriously expect me to believe that you were merciful towards an innocent soul like her yet had the audacity to banish her?"

"The higher ups made me pass judgment on her! I was on HER side, but they weren't!"

"Oh, is THAT your pathetic excuse? You know what, now I'm happy that she's dead, because she won't be going back to your pathetic world!"

MedievalDukemon became incensed. "How dare you say such a thing? You will pay!"

MoonMillenniummon had other tricks up his sleeve. "Not if I can help it! Crystalization!"

A path of light blue crystals appeared from MoonMillenniummon and wrapped itself around MedievalDukemon's foot.

"What? What is this? What are you doing?" MedievalDukemon pleaded. The crystals were now encasing his leg.

"As punishment for your cruelty towards one of my beloved children, you will spend the rest of eternity as nothing more than one of my decorations for my inner sanctum! You didn't show her any mercy, so I will show you none!" Now the crystals encased both of his legs.

"You...You don't understand! Release me!"

"I refuse! It is you who doesn't understand! You don't know what it's like to have been abandoned, betrayed, neglected, abused, and thrown away! You've probably got it easy with your position of authority! Well, it's time for you to suffer for all eternity! Goodbye!"

"Noooooo!"

With that final scream, MedievalDukemon became totally trapped in a crystal. Attached to the very top of the inner sanctum cave with all the other crystalized trespassers. Unable to move. Unable to speak. Unable to break free. Unable to attack, and unable to do anything. It was like he was frozen in ice. Nobody from Witchelny (or anywhere but the inner sanctum for that matter) would know of his fate.

Author's Note: Yay! My second longest chapter yet! I have to admit, I'm quite proud of this one...though I don't think I executed the two flashbacks properly, the ones with Saruto. But this is only the tip of the ice berg! Be sure to stay tuned! I have to go now. I have homework to do. I'll see you all later! Bye-bee!

Footnotes:

1. Michael Jackson was a famous singer formerly known as the King of Pop. Thriller was his 6th album and it was the very first album to use a music video as a means of promotional publicity. Melody is referring to the music video, where it shows Michael Jackson turning into a werewolf at night and chasing his girlfriend.

2. The Bolsheviks were a communist group created by Vladimir Lenin which became the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. In the February Revolution of 1917, the Bolsheviks assassinated all members of the Imperial Family, the Romanovs.

3. Onpu is Melody's middle name. Do Japanese people have middle names?

4. Paul Gallico is a famous American writer who wrote books like The Snow Goose and The Poseidon Adventure, the latter which was adapted into a popular movie in 1972.


	26. Digimon Games

Author's Note: Happy Thanksgiving everyone! My mom and I went shopping for Black Friday earlier this morning! I got the Ouran High School Host Club complete DVD collection, along with the first part of Seirei no Moribito and Squid Girl! Yay! I can't wait to watch them! But I have to wait until Christmas. Okay! Time to work on this! Here's chapter 26 of Digimon: A Seraphic Tale! Enjoy!

EPISODE 26: Digimon Games

What an exhausing and harrowing day it had been for the Digimon Brigade! That adventure in the Digital World surely opened their eyes. From then on, they knew that ABSOLUTELY NOTHING was going to be the same. Once they got to the park, they went home. Yun, Lucero, Kokomon, and Gummymon were the only ones who stayed behind because Yun had to call her parents, ask them to pick them up, and tell them the good news. Yes, they knew of Lucero's absence. Yun had told them the truth, that Roachmon kidnapped him and took him to the Digital World. At first, they didn't quite believe it to be true (Yun had expected as such), but as the day went on, they realized that the Digital World DOES exist, that Lopmon and Terriermon come from there, and that there are disadvantages to having a Digimon partner. They also opposed of Yun going to a new and totally foreign place, but Yun managed to reassure them that everything would be fine, since Yun would be accompanied by her friends and their Digimon. Once the car pulled up to pick them up, they were finally convinced that everything IS alright. Parents worry about their kids, and they wouldn't just allow their kids to go to a Digital World and let them fight dangerous Digimon. Who would? Although their initial worries had vanished, Hisako noticed the band-aid on Yun's cheek.

"Yun! What happened to your face?" Hisako asked with worry in both her face and voice.

"I kinda ran into a tree branch by accident. Sorry!" This was what Yun had told her. Hisako and Teruki didn't say anything more, but, as parents, they could tell that it was a lie. Did Yun get attacked by a Digimon, or did she unknowingly scratch herself too hard? Yun had a slight tendency to do that.

Yun knew that her parents could see right through it. She felt bad about lying to her parents about the scratch on her face, and she didn't want to, either. But if they found out that Hokuto was the one who did it, they'd probably forbid them from ever being friends or having contact anymore. Yun didn't want that to happen. She fervently believed that what Hokuto did was against his own will and that he didn't want to become the thing he turned into. Besides, the scratch will heal soon. Not only that, Yun couldn't wait to go home, relax, play with Lucero, Kokomon, and Gummymon, have dinner, watch anime, read manga, and play video games. Although she could do the first four activities, the latter three she has to postpone and limit because she has the math test on Friday and she needs to study. She had done plenty of studying in Chloros Forest, despite the noise and the commotion of the Digimon (which she tolerated), but Yun didn't want to put it off just because an important mission was fulfilled. But right now, she's just happy to be reunited with Lucero and happy to be home. As dinner was being prepared, Yun, Lucero, Kokomon, and Gummymon sat in Lucero's room. He had changed out of his old clothes earlier and is now wearing a fresh, clean, sleeveless black shirt and a clean pair of beige shorts. Gummymon was on his left shoulder while Kokomon sat contentedly and tenderly in Yun's warm, loving arms.

"So what was it like? What happened while you were alone?" Yun asked.

"It was absolutely horrid! I was chased by some noisome Digimon named Numemon! They accused me of stealing their stock and chased me!" Lucero exclaimed.

"Ugh, Numemon. I know what they're like. They're gross...but NOT as gross as Geremon! They're even worse!" Gummymon piped in.

"It's true. Geremon are much more volatile than Numemon," Kokomon said gently.

"What else happened?" Yun asked.

"I ran into Hokuto-dono as I lost sight of them. Later, we were attacked by a Tekkamon and Link-dono saved us. We stayed with him the entire time until we found thee again," Lucero explained.

"Nice! I'm glad you're safe," Yun said with a smile as she clasped her little hands together.

"We were so very worried about you, Lucero!" Kokomon said.

"I'm well aware of that. I thanketh thee for thy concern," Lucero said that not just to Kokomon, but to Yun and possibly everyone else who went to search for him. But Lucero looked Yun in the eyes solemnly, with something on his mind.

"Something is on thy mind, isn't it? I can tell," Lucero said.

Yun couldn't deny it.

"Yeah. It's about...Hokuto-kun," Yun muttered. Vividly, she remembered Hokuto's drastic and unprecedented transformation and his violent, merciless, and wild animal-like behavior. It scared Lucero and everyone else just as much.

"I'm not one who likes to pry, but I feel so sorry for Hokuto-san. How can his own father use him as a guinea pig for illegal and dangerous science experiments? It's so cruel! I didn't think human parents were capable of treating their own children so insidiously!" Kokomon said, remembering the horrifying things she and everyone else learned about Hokuto through Link. "But I wonder what happened that made Hokuto-san act like that?"

"Me too. Link-san doesn't know himself, and it doesn't look like Hokuto-kun wants to talk about it either," Yun said.

"He must really be traumatized!" Kokomon muttered.

"Could be. He went totally insane! I can't believe he managed to defeat a 10 times larger than normal Witchmon and beat her with her big broom!" Gummymon piped in.

"Thou doth not mean that as a compliment, right?" Lucero asked. Gummymon didn't respond, probably because they could guess what his initial response would be. A compliment, yes. Kokomon shot a look at him, but he didn't notice. Lucero, however, decided to speak up.

"Yun...Hokuto-dono and I have traveled together as thou were searching for me. He...he confessed something to me. He said...that he separated from the Digimon Brigade on purpose," Lucero said.

"I remember you saying that. Did he say why?" Yun asked.

"Yes," Lucero replied quietly, feeling a little dejected upon remembering that memory. "He said it was because, according to him, he's not human."

"He doesn't think he's human?" Gummymon asked.

"Sadly, yes. I've tried telling him otherwise, but he didn't listen. I think his transformation might be why. I believe he knows that there's a feral beast inside of him and that he fears he'll hurt someone," Lucero replied.

Yun looked back at him with a serious expression.

"You're right. He broke down when he saw us at the longhouse. But...I don't believe he's a monster! Not at all! He probably didn't want what he got. I think what his real dad did to him might be part of it, but it doesn't change the fact that Hokuto-kun's a member of the Digimon Brigade, and my friend, and a human being!" Yun edicted quietly at first, then loudly and proudly.

Lucero, Kokomon, and Gummymon all smiled.

"I'm proud of thee for thy unrelenting faith in him. I'm undoubtedly sure that he may very well need thee in his life," Lucero said.

"What a great friend you are, Yun!" Kokomon said with a sweet smile.

"Yeah! I'm with you there!" Gummymon said with a bigger smile than Kokomon's, but it made Yun smile too.

"Oh! Yun! Doth thou have thy white stone?" Lucero asked.

At first, Yun cocked her head to one side, confused as to what he meant by the white stone, but she understood in a few seconds. "Ah! My D-Heart? Oh! It's in my pocket here!"

Yun got her D-Heart out and showed it to them once more. All four of them looked down at the small, white, egg-shaped crystal with the peculiar-looking circle symbol on it.

"Wow! It's beautiful!" Kokomon beamed.

"Pretty!" Gummymon exclaimed with a smile.

"Sublime! Such a jewel must have been touched by angels!" Lucero said, which made Yun smile.

"I guess this is the equivalent of my crest then. The D-Heart of Harmony," Yun said.

"I wonder what harmony means?" Gummymon asked curiously.

"Harmony is mostly defined as consistency, symmetry, and sameness," Lucero explained.

"Right! Yun is always keeping her things in a certain order, so they're in perfect harmony!" Kokomon beamed happily.

"Objects I can organize and keep together just fine," Yun said with a smile, but then her sweet smile faded. "But...people? Not so much."

Yun remembered a day back in 4th grade, where she was made the leader of a group project among some classmates, none of whom were her friends. Yun had struggled to keep everyone in order and make them do their assigned duties, but they didn't listen, ignored her, and did nothing but talk amongst themselves and play games, none of which had anything to do with the assignment at hand. Basically, they made Yun do all the work while they slacked off. Yun at first tried to be a leader and make them do their duties, but later on, she became angry and yelled at them, which made them even more inclined to take advantage of her. Sadly enough, they all got merciless scoldings and a bad grade from the teacher, despite Yun's efforts. Ever since then, Yun developed a complex about becoming a leader and keeping everyone in order, mostly because she felt she lacked a lot of things. One of them was the ability to give proper instructions. She still took speech lessons back then and often didn't find the right words when she wanted to say something, which often gave people the impression that she was either beating around the bush or saying a bunch of baby dribble that nobody understood. Yun absolutely hates being misunderstood (and still does to this day). Another was the ability to influence people into listening to her. Yun often has great ideas for projects and assignments, but most kids would either ignore them, scoff at them, or just laugh at them without giving them a second thought. Of course, everyone's ideas and opinions are different, and people should be open to all opinions and ideas. But hardly anyone ever gave Yun's opinions a second thought and just pushed them all away and went with whatever they themselves came up with.

The painful memory faded when Yun noticed that one of the straps on Lucero's shirt fell over his arm, exposing his right shoulder and part of his chest. Between his shoulder and chest are some small stitches. Right then, Yun remembered the fateful day in which she met Lucero, when she found him limping and bleeding in front of the Wawa and stopped to help him when nobody else would. Vividly, she remembered the pained look in his face and sky blue eyes, the seriousness of his injury, how emaciated and forlorn he looked, his pained voice, the quiet way in which he entreated her for her name, and the way he usurped his bleeding shoulder. Yun, noticing the stitches, finally decided to broach about something.

"Lucero? Don't you have surgery tomorrow morning?" Yun asked.

Lucero, noticing the stitches himself, saw what she meant. "Y-Yes, I am." He put a hand on the area. "But...I must confess, I'm rather scared."

"Scared? Of what?" Kokomon asked.

"The surgery. Isn't it true that they'll cut part of me with a knife and do things to the inside of my body? It would be most painful, wouldn't it?" Lucero explained, feeling rather frightened.

"Oh. You don't have to worry about that. You'll be asleep as they do it," Yun told him kindly.

"B-But...won't I still feel it?"

"Nope! The doctors put you on this stuff called...uhh...I think it was called anesthesia? Yeah! That's it. They give it to you through some kind of oxygen mask and it makes you fall asleep and not feel anything. Absolutely nothing."

"Is...that so?"

"Yep!"

"How do you know?" Gummymon asked.

"Because I had oral surgery back in early February. I had a really bad cavity that needed to be taken care of. They filled in my tooth! Want to see?" Yun explained.

"Oh! Oh! I wanna see! Show me!" Gummymon implored happily.

"Gummymon! Why would you want to see inside someone's mouth?" Kokomon reproved her rather rash brother gently.

"It's okay. Look!" Yun opened her mouth wide. Gummymon, Lucero, and Kokomon (reluctantly) looked at the area where Yun's tooth got filled. They were surprised.

"Ooooh!"

"See?" The three backed away once Yun began talking. "The best thing? I didn't feel a thing! That was because of that anesthesia stuff. I even thought the surgery took only 5 seconds! But only a couple of hours passed. So it's okay, Lucero! You won't feel anything so you'll be fine!" Yun edicted. Lucero sighed and felt a bit more relaxed and reassured.

"I see. I thanketh thee, Yun," Lucero said with a smile.

"Oh! That reminds me! You can't eat breakfast tomorrow morning."

"I cannot? Why?"

"Dad says that if you eat before surgery and they put you on the anesthesia, it makes you throw up. That hasn't happened to me, but I remember the doctor telling me not to eat before the surgery. They'll probably tell you that too. Oh! After you wake up from surgery, you're still a little numb and woozy, so you gotta rest a bit more after it's done," Yun explained again.

"I see," Lucero said.

"Whaaaat? You can't have breakfast? Breakfast is the most important meal of the day! You can't get through the day without a nice warm breakfast! Like bananas or buttered toast or yogurt or pancakes!" Gummymon exclaimed, shocked by Yun's articulate explanation.

"You're most certainly right about that, Gummymon, but what Yun says is true as well. If you eat and go under the anesthesia, you might throw up. You wouldn't want that happening, now would you?" Kokomon piped in.

"Yeah. That's true," Gummymon said. Lucero and Yun giggled once they saw Gummymon go into introspective mode.

Soon, dinner was prepared and they ate to their heart's content. After dinner, Yun decided to find some string for her D-Heart. She thought about it and decided to wear it as a necklace, even though Yun was never really keen on wearing jewelry. But the problem was to find the string and make it so that Yun can put it on and take it off as much as she wants without difficulty. Often, silver necklace chains have the lock on them that's hard to open with small fingernails. Thankfully, Hisako discarded a soft string with two small silver magnets on each end, clipping together when they came close. Yun decided to use it. Even better, the magnets fit right through the hole in the D-Heart without getting caught. Yun put it on without difficulty and was satisfied with how it looked. Even Lucero, Kokomon, and Gummymon noticed.

"Wow! It looks wonderful on thee!" Lucero said.

"Thanks," Yun replied.

"I suppose you're going to wear it a lot?" Kokomon asked.

"Yep! The string isn't all scratchy so I think I can handle wearing something like this," Yun replied.

"It's pretty!" Gummymon said.

Soon, the kids and Digimon got through the rest of the day and went to bed. As usual, Kokomon and Gummymon slept with Yun in her bed, and Yun absolutely loved feeling them as she slept. Somehow, for her, it was easier to sleep if they were around. Plus, she was REALLY tired from her adventure in the Digital World earlier, so falling asleep was a piece of cake for her. The night seemed short, and Yun woke up feeling quite refreshed. But Teruki and Lucero had to leave the house before breakfast since Lucero's surgery begins at 7:30 AM. Oddly enough, Kokomon and Gummymon volunteered to go with them. Yun agreed and let them accompany Teruki and Lucero to the hospital. Yun ate breakfast, played on the computer, listened to some music, and got herself ready for school. For precautionary reasons, she kept the band-aid on her face. It stopped hurting, but Yun still wanted to be careful. Hisako dropped her off and Yun happily bounced onto the blacktop. But the first person she saw was nobody she expected.

"Hokuto-kun!"

There was Hokuto, standing before the blacktop nervously, wearing nothing but a yellow shirt with black horizontal stripes, short sleeves, and a folded white collar, dark blue jean shorts, and black and white sneakers. Yun leaped on him and hugged him, which surprised Hokuto.

"Yun? Uhh...good morning," Hokuto murmured. Right then, the rest of the Digimon Brigade kids (excluding Aria, Isao, and Shunji since they're in different grade levels, Shunji especially since he goes to a high school) appeared.

"Today's your first day here, isn't it? Do you have your schedule?" Yun asked.

"Yes," Hokuto pulled out his schedule and showed it to Yun. It read:

_1st Period: Homeroom. Teacher: Sakaki Sennosuke._  
><em>2nd Period: Art. Teacher: Nozaki Ami.<em>  
><em>3rd Period: Science. Teacher: Manabe Nobuaki.<em>  
><em>4th Period: Health. Teacher: Kanazawa Kaname.<em>  
><em>5th Period: Lunch.<em>  
><em>6th Period: Recess.<em>  
><em>7th Period: English. Teacher: Oginome Momoko.<em>  
><em>8th Period: Gym. Teacher: Kadota Hisashi.<em>  
><em>9th Period: Math. Teacher: Takahashi Yuzu.<em>

Most of the kids, including Yun, beamed.

"Hey! You have the same art, English, and gym classes as me!" Yun exclaimed happily.

"Hm. We share a math class," Melody muttered quietly.

"Cool! You have our health class too!" Otoya and Rena both said in unison.

"But you don't have the same homeroom as us. That's no good," Riku said.

Hokuto didn't say anything.

"So are we gonna have a Digimon Brigade meeting later today?" Otoya asked.

"I've been thinking a lot lately, and I think maybe we will hold one today...if that's okay with everyone, that is," Yun said.

"Can it be at four? I've got stuff to do after school," Kosuke said.

"Yeah. Mom's being a pest and is making us help around the house after school," Riku said.

"Okay! Four o'clock it is!" Yun exclaimed happily.

"Hey. Where's Lucero?" Minako asked.

"He's at the hospital. He's getting his stitches removed this morning," Yun explained.

"Really? I didn't know. Well, I hope he gets better soon," Otoya said.

Hokuto felt a little anxious upon being stuck in the crowd of kids, even though he's well acquainted with them. Melody saw his anxiety and gently put a hand on his shoulder.

"It'll be fine. There are some pests here, but you share a lot of our classes, so we'll help you out whenever you need it," Melody told him gently, though with her usual straight look. Hokuto couldn't help but smile a bit, feeling a little reassured. At first, he was rather afraid of being around Melody. With her wild red bangs, raven black hair, grim black attire, and feral brown eyes, he thought she'd be rather dangerous. But time went on and he saw that she really is a nice person, especially when she's around Yun. He noticed that she's wearing her red D-Heart of Forgiveness around her neck as a necklace, hanging from a thin black string.

It's true. Melody has always been sweet to Yun, whereas she always acts sour toward everyone else (the kids in the Digimon Brigade are a small exception). Melody didn't think that Yun could handle being in the Digital World and was quite surprised when she tried to subdue the feral Hokuto, even after he cruelly (albeit unintentionally) scratched her face. She still went after him and called him his friend. Melody wished she was as accepting as Yun was, though she accepted whatever Yun liked and disliked and had absolutely no problem with it. But as the kids talked happily amongst themselves, a certain unwelcome party crasher began walking towards them with a smarmy and wicked smirk on his face. Nemoto Nenji. It had been a while since he last bullied Yun, but the look on his face meant serious business. Melody saw right away that he was intent on picking on Yun again. She also couldn't help but notice that he might have put on weight, considering how big, bulky, and plump his arms and legs are. His body is no different. Some of the pimple blemishes on his face disappeared, but his wicked face sure didn't. His black shorts hung below his rear end, only covered by his big green and white basketball jersey, and his white basketball shoes are MUCH too big for him. Melody kept an eye on him as he walked, and once he got close enough...

_POW!_

"YOOOWW!"

She kicked Nenji right in the stomach, so hard, in fact, that he walked back a few steps and clutched his stomach. A blazing red flame burned in Melody's brown eyes once she landed safely on the ground with her tall brown boots.

"Ack! Nemoto!" Otoya yelped.

"Hey! What'd you do 'dat for, yo?" Nenji yelled in his usual vernacular speech, which reminded everyone of Roachmon. Maybe Roachmon should've been his partner.

"Don't try to weasel your way out of this one! It's obvious you were planning on assaulting Yun again, you big fat pig!" Melody yelled.

That last line made Nenji choleric.

"What'd you call me?"

"What's the matter, pig? You too lazy to step up? Probably because you're so fat! You probably stuffed your porky little face with all kinds of junk! Are french fries and double pound hamburgers among them?"

"Oooooh!" Some kids who were watching, excluding those from the Digimon Brigade, exclaimed with shock.

Nenji was about to fly at her with a punch, but the bell rang in the nick of time.

_riiiiiiiing_

Saved by the bell, exactly. Right then and there, Melody grabbed Yun by the arm and took her into the school building. Everyone else followed diligently. Thank goodness. The kids prepared to get through the school day.

Unbeknownst to them, however, the Digimon had some plans of their own, and they were going to set them in motion today.

Meanwhile, as the morning went on, Teruki, Kokomon, and Gummymon quietly sat in the waiting room. There were some people in it, mostly parents with kids, one of them being a small baby. Teruki couldn't help but feel happy that Yun wasn't with him. That baby had been crying for quite some time, and he knew that Yun hates the sound of crying babies. Kokomon and Gummymon remained silent, pretending to be toys that Lucero brought with him for comfort, though he's still in the operating room as of now. The clock now read 9:06 AM, the time Yun is supposed to be in art class with her friends. Teruki looked at the plain white walls listlessly, having waited for quite some time since Lucero's surgery started. Something pulled him out of his reverie.

"Ah! My GameBoy!"

A young boy yelped as a small black Game Boy Micro slipped out of his small hands and clattered onto the floor, the game still playing and making sounds. The boy looked to be about nine years old, with dark brown hair and dark blue eyes, wearing a sleeveless grey shirt and a pair of brown jean shorts. His right leg is in a big white cast and he is in a small wheelchair. It didn't look like he was strong enough to walk and be able to get his game. Teruki, feeling a twinge of pity for the boy, gently put Kokomon and Gummymon down on another chair, stood up, walked up to the game console and leaned over to pick it up with his hand. With a smile, he handed it back to the boy.

"I believe this belongs to you?" Teruki said politely as he handed the boy his Game Boy Micro. The boy beamed as the game was handed back to him.

"Thanks, Mister!" The boy said happily.

"You're welcome," Teruki replied. The boy went back to playing his game and keeping himself occupied until his appointment came. Teruki went back to his chair and sat back down.

"Teruki-san's nice, isn't he?" Gummymon whispered quietly.

"He sure is. It's no wonder he's Yun's father. She's very lucky to have him," Kokomon muttered.

Soon, a doctor in a white lab coat came into the waiting room.

"Wakamiya-san? Wakamiya-san?"

Teruki immediately perked up as he heard his surname. He scooped Kokomon and Gummymon into his arms and followed the doctor who called for him.

"So? How did it go?" Teruki asked.

The doctor smiled.

"Very well. He went through the process just fine. If you want, I can take you to the recovery room to see him," The doctor said calmly but with an optimistic tone in his voice, which made Teruki, Kokomon, and Gummymon smile.

"Yes! Of course! Thank you, doctor!" Teruki said with a smile and followed him inside.

Into the recovery room they went, and Teruki found Lucero curled up in one of the hospital beds, covered by a soft white blanket and sleeping on his side, the very heavily tattooed side of his body to be more specific. Kokomon and Gummymon leaped onto the bed while the doctor wasn't looking and rubbed against him. Suddenly, Lucero's blue eyes finally began to peel open. Wearily, he looked at the cute and eager faces of Kokomon and Gummymon.

"Morning!" Gummymon said cheerfully.

"You made it, Lucero," Kokomon whispered gently. Lucero, with his light blue eyes half open, smiled sweetly at them.

"I did...didn't I? I...didn't feel a thing," Lucero whispered in a tired voice.

"How are you feeling?" Teruki asked as he stroke Lucero's cheek with his big hand.

"Still...rather weak," Lucero replied.

"The anesthesia's starting to wear off a bit. But you'll still be a bit tired for a while, so when we get home, you'll need to get some more rest," Teruki told him.

"Breakfast?"

"Yes. We'll make breakfast for you. I'm sure you're hungry."

"We are too!" Gummymon piped in. Kokomon wanted to scold her brother for that remark, but it didn't look like anyone minded, so she didn't say anything.

A few minutes passed, and the doctors decided to evaluate Lucero's condition. Unfortunately, Lucero still doesn't remember anything, but the doctor was quite baffled by his strange dialect. Still, he found Lucero to be in good condition and set to be discharged from the hospital. Lucero felt wobbly as he stood up, so Teruki had to dress him since Lucero is too woozy to do it himself. It didn't look like he could walk upright either. The anesthesia's probably still in effect. They had to put him in a wheelchair in order to get him to the car. Teruki carried him into the back seat and buckled him up. Kokomon and Gummymon decided to stay with him. Teruki drove away from the hospital, happy that everything turned out alright.

Lucero slept through the entire drive, and even after it, too. Teruki carried him into the house and gently put him in his futon. Lucero woke up a few minutes afterward, and Teruki brought him and the Digimon twins a nice, hearty breakfast consisting of lightly buttered toast, banana slices, milk in a plastic cup, and yogurt. Kokomon and Gummymon ate parts of the toast and bananas, leaving the rest for Lucero. In return, he let them drink some of the milk and fed them yogurt by himself since Kokomon and Gummymon don't have hands. After that, Lucero fell back to sleep.

Three hours passed. It's now noon, and Lucero woke up to faint yet slender sunbeams caressing his eyes as if they were telling him _"Wake up!"_ Lucero got up, stretched himself, and decided to stand up. He no longer feels tired, weary, woozy, or anything of the like. He felt refreshed and renewed. Best of all, his right shoulder doesn't feel hard and numb anymore. But just to be sure, he walked out of his room slowly and found Teruki sitting at the dining room table signing some checks and punching in numbers in a calculator. Lucero smiled and approached him quietly from behind.

"Good afternoon," Lucero said. Teruki turned around to find him and smiled.

"Oh! Hey there, soldier. How you feeling?" Teruki asked brightly, rubbing Lucero's blonde hair with his hand, which made Lucero laugh a little.

"I'm feeling much better. I thanketh thee, Teruki-dono," Lucero replied just as brightly.

But Teruki suddenly froze with shock upon hearing Lucero's last sentence. Lucero cocked his head to one side, confused by Teruki's very odd reaction.

"Whatever is the matter? Why art thou so surprised?" Lucero asked.

"Did...you just...call me..._dono_?" Teruki asked in a stiff voice.

"Yes."

"Why..._dono_? Isn't that going...a bit too far?"

"No. It's a respectful term. Doth thou not like it?"

"No, it's not that. It's just...we don't use that term in this day and age, and I don't want people thinking that I'm some weird person who keeps kids as slaves."

Lucero couldn't wrap his head around something like that.

"Where are Kokomon and Gummymon?"

"They digivolved and they're in the backyard playing," Teruki pointed to the back door.

"I see. I thanketh thee, Teruki-dono!" Lucero yelled happily and ran out the back door, leaving Teruki stiff with shock again.

Teruki had absolutely no idea that Teruki-dono was going to become his signature nickname from now on.

Lucero looked around as his bare feet stepped onto the hard deck, looking at the vast greenery around him. The big tree in the back, the smaller trees in the front, the hummingbirds twittering and chattering merrily while flying about, and Hisako's scrupulously raised garden of flowers. He saw Kokomon and Gummymon, now Lopmon and Terriermon, playing in the middle of the backyard.

"Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!"

Lopmon and Terriermon are happily playing rock paper scissors, and it seems Lopmon beat Terriermon.

"Oh! Rock smashes scissors!" Lopmon exclaimed.

"Awwww! No fair! I lost again!" Terriermon whined.

"I'm sorry. May we play another game? It seems you look tired of rock paper scissors," Lopmon told him gently.

"Okay. I was getting tired of it anyway," Terriermon said, then he turned to see Lucero, who just finished putting some sandals on.

"Hey Lucero!" Terriermon waved at him happily, and so did Lopmon. Lucero smiled and ran to them.

"Thou hath digivolved!" Lucero exclaimed.

"Are you feeling alright? Should you be up and about like this?" Lopmon asked, concerned.

"I'm feeling much better right now. I thanketh thee for thy concern, sweet Lopmon. Art thou playing games?" Lucero told her sweetly and gently stroke her with his finger, making her giggle cutely.

"We just finished playing rock paper scissors. Lopmon keeps winning!" Terriermon said.

"Sorry. Oh! May you wish to play hide and seek with us?" Lopmon asked.

"Oh! I'd love to!" Lucero exclaimed.

But they didn't get to start their game. Someone else interrupted.

"Terriermon! Lopmon! Lucero-kun! Wan!"

A sweet voice accompanied by a high pitched "Wan!" caught their attention! Much to their surprise, a happy and energetic Salamon came running into the house through the back gate, accompanyed by a just as jaunty Patamon.

"Salamon! Patamon! Good afternoon!" Lopmon greeted them warmly.

"Hi! How is everyone?" Patamon asked.

"We're doing great! What are you doing here?" Terriermon asked.

"We Digimon are gonna go to the park and play together while the kids are at school today! It's gonna be so much fun! Want to come?" Patamon explained. The floppy eared twins and Lucero beamed happily.

"We'd love to!" Terriermon and Lopmon said in unison.

"Yay! This'll be fun! We're gonna explore and play lots of fun games! Wan!" Salamon piped in.

"But...I do not believe Teruki-dono will let me go out. I returned from surgery three hours ago," Lucero explained.

"Surgery? On what?" Patamon asked.

"He means the stitches on his shoulder," Salamon said. She knew because she saw them once before by accident.

"Oh! I see!" Patamon said.

"I'd love to accompany thee, but-" Lucero wanted to go, but it seemed he might not be able to. But today, it seems fate is on his side.

"I can take you if you want."

It was Hisako, standing on the deck with her car keys on hand.

"Really? Art thou giving me thy permission to accompany them?" Lucero asked.

"You seem to be fine, and I think a little time outdoors will help you, so I don't mind," Hisako said.

Lucero beamed and hugged Hisako happily.

"Oh! I'm so happy! I thanketh thee for thy kindness, Hisako-dono!" Lucero cried out happily as he hugged Hisako, who was surprised when he called her Hisako-dono. And it seemed she's not the only one.

"Why is he refering to her as dono? Isn't that an old reference term from a thousand years ago?" Patamon asked.

"Yep. Mina-chan told me it was used in the Heian Era, often during tea ceremonies. Wan!" Salamon explained calmly, not bothered by Lucero's strange dialect.

Hisako drove Lucero and the Digimon to the park. Yun left her cell phone at home by accident, so Hisako gave it to Lucero in case of emergencies. She dropped him off at the park and drove away. Once they felt their feet touch the green grass, they ran towards the gazebo.

"Everyone! We're here! Wan!" Salamon barked happily.

All the Digimon came out from the gazebo. Biyomon, Labramon, Lunamon, Coronamon, Dracomon, Syakomon, Bearmon, and even Kudamon all came to the park, all wearing eager and playful faces. Patamon couldn't help but notice Kudamon among the Digimon.

"Hey, Kudamon! You're here! I didn't think you'd come since normally you're so civilized and mature and stuff," Patamon said.

"It's perfectly alright. Even I like a little society once in a while, though...to be honest, I am a trifle worried about Hokuto. Today is his first day of school, and I'm afraid he may not adapt to it well," Kudamon confided calmly and solemnly.

"Well, I do not believe there will be any trouble, so long as Yun and the rest of the kids help him out. I'm sure he will adapt somehow. We just need to give it time and believe in him," Lopmon told him with a gentle smile.

"You are right. If they are nearby, then I have no reason to worry. I'm sure everything will come out okay so long as they assist him," Kudamon said.

"Exactly why are we in the park of all places?" Dracomon asked.

"If I remember correctly, it's because its so big and full of thick trees. If someone were to arrive, we can easily hide in the trees and bushes, which can cover all of us up just fine, though from what I hear, hardly anyone comes here. It's easy to be easily spotted if you're not careful," Labramon explained.

"It's true! Isao-kun and I were playing here once, and someone was about to see me so I hid in the bushes as carefully as I could, and they didn't see a thing!" Bearmon explained.

"But you're kinda big, aren't you?" Biyomon piped in. "Wouldn't people be scared if someone saw a big bear wearing a hat running around?"

"That's the point of hiding!" Bearmon snapped.

"But bushes make a rustling noise, don't they? You'll still be spotted! Of course, I highly doubt that anyone would find me a menace!" Biyomon exclaimed in a rather vain tone of voice.

"Any human who has no knowledge of Digimon or no belief in them will surely perceive us all as menaces, and it won't matter who it is," Kudamon chided sharply, which made Biyomon mad.

"Hey! You think I'm a menace, don't you?"

"I'm just saying that it's natural for humans to perceive us Digimon as either illusions or a danger to society, and thus we must keep a low profile, Biyomon. It's only for our safety, though, yes, it must be confessed that you do tend to look before you leap, and that is a flaw that you must learn to fix."

"Why you no good little-!" Biyomon was about to attack Kudamon, but he gracefully dodged her attack. Dracomon and Lunamon stopped her from doing anything more.

"Hey! Don't be mad at Kudamon! He's just tryin' to help ya!" Dracomon implored.

"Yes. Please don't be angry!" Lunamon pleaded. Biyomon finally gave up and relented.

As Lunamon let go of Biyomon, she happened to notice Coronamon looking rather down as of late. Normally, he's so happy and jaunty and energetic and is always bouncing off the walls because of something. It's rare to see him so down and dejected. Curious, Lunamon decided to approach him politely.

"Coronamon? What's wrong? Why do you look so sad?" Lunamon asked.

"Did...we really have to come to the park?" Coronamon asked back, feeling kind of iffy.

"Yes. Why? Do you not like it?"

"No. It's not that. I love it here! But...it's just...if a Digimon were to come around, I'd have to fight it, and I don't wanna set the place on fire like I almost did before," Coronamon explained. Syakomon happened to overhear and decided to join in on the conversation. Lunamon smiled sweetly and gently put a paw into Coronamon's fiery red hand.

"I don't think it's anything to worry about. You simply have to be more careful if you do plan on using your attacks. Besides, me and Syakomon both have water-based attacks, so if anything were to happen, you can count on us!" Lunamon explained.

"It's true! I can make a tidal wave! I've done it before, and it wiped out a whole group of Gazimon! I guarantee it can put out a small fire in no time flat!" Syakomon piped in.

Coronamon smiled again.

"Okay! Thanks!" Coronamon hugged Lunamon happily.

"Oh? Lucero's here," Labramon said.

"Yes. I am," Lucero said.

"Aren't you supposed to be in school?" Labramon asked curiously.

"Y-Yes. I'm supposed to be, but I had surgery today on my shoulder, and the anesthesia made me very tired. But I'm fine now, though I think it's too late to put me back in school as of now," Lucero said.

"Isn't that skipping? It's wrong to skip school," Lunamon asked.

"Not if you have a good reason for it. Like a doctor's appointment or a court date or a funeral," Labramon said.

"Yeah. That's right. Shunji had to be out of school for a while because he had to move to his grandparents' place," Dracomon explained.

"Oh. I see," Lunamon said.

"Though there ARE people who skip school willingly and without reason to do so other than to run around and play and not do schoolwork. Riku says it's called playing hooky!" Coronamon explained.

"I've heard of that! That's bad, isn't it?" Terriermon asked.

"Yep! I may be kinda hyper, but even I know that playin' hooky is bad!" Coronamon said.

"Speaking of playing, what are we gonna play today? Anything fun?" Bearmon asked.

"Well, I was wondering if we can play hide and seek. Wan!" Salamon squeaked.

The Digimon beamed.

"Hey! I love hide and seek! Isao-kun and I play it a lot! I'm in!" Bearmon exclaimed.

"Quite an interesting game. I'll play too," Labramon said.

"Me too! Lemme play!" Dracomon said.

"Can I play? I wanna play!" Coronamon said.

"Oh! Sounds like fun!" Syakomon said.

"I want in!" Bearmon exclaimed.

"Hey! I have an idea! How about we make Lucero find us?" Terriermon piped in.

Suddenly, everyone locked eyes onto Lucero, which made him confused.

"Huh? Why me?" Lucero asked.

"Well, since you're a human, and the majority of us are Digimon, I feel it's only fair that you be the one who finds us first," Labramon explained.

"I suppose that IS fair," Lopmon said.

"But...how do I go about it? I've never played before," Lucero asked.

"Oh! I can teach you!" Bearmon piped in with one of his big paws raised high in the air. "All you have to do is close your eyes and count to 20 slowly. That'll give us time to hide somewhere. You can't peek because that's cheating. Once you're done counting to twenty, you shout, _"Ready or not, here I come!"_ and try to find us!" Bearmon explained with a sweet smile, which made Lucero smile.

"I see. I thanketh thee for thy instruction," Lucero said, which made Bearmon blush.

"Okay! What are we standing around for? Let's get to it!" Coronamon piped in.

"Be sure not to peek! Okay?" Dracomon advised Lucero.

Lucero nodded, closed his eyes, put his hands on them, and began counting slowly. Everyone else quickly ran off to find hiding places. Once he finished, he proceeded to find the playful little Digimon.

However, what he didn't know was that a certain someone was watching him.

Meanwhile, back at school, it is now recess and the kids are outside playing, talking amongst themselves, and having fun. Yun, however, is looking down at some papers vigorously.

"Man! I REALLY need to pass this next test!" Yun exclaimed.

"Will you quit worrying, Yun? You're smart. You'll pass it no problem!" Kosuke said sharply.

"Says you! You've seen my math grades, haven't you? I stink! Hard!" Yun replied just as sharply.

"You do so much better than me! I have a 54 in that class!" Riku exclaimed.

"It's true," Rena pointed to Riku but he didn't seem to hear.

"I wonder if Lucero's gonna make it to the meeting today," Minako said.

"He'll come. I know it. Five bucks says that his anesthesia probably wore off by now," Melody intercepted sharply.

"Yeah. That's true. It usually takes a few hours for it to totally wear off, and I think Lucero-kun will come to the meeting. I don't think he'd want to miss something as important as this," Otoya said.

"I already told Aria-chan, Isao-kun, and Shunji-kun to come today," Yun said.

"Umm...speaking of the Digimon Brigade, where's Kamitsure-kun?" Rena asked.

Yun sprang to her feet and looked around. Rena's right. Hokuto is missing!

"What? You're right! Where IS he?" Yun yelped.

It was Minako who saw it.

"Uhh...guys? I think...I, uh...found him..." Minako pointed to the part of the blackstop that she saw.

In a faraway corner are a group of boys. Yun and Melody recognized one of them immediately. Nenji. Of course someone as fat and rotund as him would stand out among a group of boys. There are about four of five of them, excluding him. Knowing what this meant, Yun and Melody sprang into action.

"Oh no! Could Hokuto-kun be-?"

"Afraid so!"

They were right. Hokuto's trapped in a corner of a fence, surrounded by a group of boys much bigger and stronger than him. He was totally overcome with fear and couldn't move, knowing it was hopeless to fight them off with his small stature.

"Hey you, bumble bee shirt! Is it true you're a Lab Rat?" One boy asked.

"Word on the street is that yer old man made you into his guinea pig for all kinds of science experiments!" Another boy exclaimed.

"Gosh, you're so scrawny! You can break in two!" Another boy exclaimed.

"Spill the beans, yo! What's a Lab Rat doin' in our turf?" Nenji yelled maliciously, with a smarmy smile to match.

"Yeah, Lab Rat! Care to squeak like a rat for us?"

"Lab Rat! Lab Rat!"

Hokuto couldn't speak. He couldn't move. He knew he wouldn't be able to get away. His silence seemed to anger the boys as they grew irritated and hostile.

"What'sa matter? Can't ya talk? Cat got yer tongue, dawg?" Nenji implored.

"Yeah! Come on, Lab Rat! Say somethin'!"

"Say somethin' funny! Spit it out, Lab Rat!"

"Leave him alone!" That was Yun's voice. The boys turned around to find an angered and courageous Yun and Melody standing before them with crossed arms and stern looks on their faces.

"Well lookie here! The punk goth girl and the white faced retard!" Nenji yelled.

"Shut up, you pot-bellied pig!" Melody yelled.

"What'd you call me? Take it back, punk!" Nenji flew at her, but Melody successfully managed to hold him off while Yun grabbed Hokuto. The other boys tried to stop her, but Kosuke, Otoya, and Riku stepped in to help, giving Yun enough time to take Hokuto away from the group.

Hokuto couldn't understand what went on. One minute he's aimlessly wandering around the park, another minute he's surrounded by Nenji and his goons, and the next minute Yun saves him. Everything was happening all at once, he felt inundated. But he didn't understand why Yun stepped in to save him.

"I'll go get a teacher!" Rena exclaimed as she watched the kids brawl and left to find someone that can help ameliorate the situation.

Yun took Hokuto into the school building, out of the black top. Yun exhaled a big sigh of relief.

"That was close!" Yun said. Hokuto didn't say a word, but he was trembling and his face literally screamed fear and dejection. Yun gently smiled and put a hand on his shoulder.

"You okay?" Yun asked quietly. Hokuto calmed down a bit and took a breath.

"Sorry about that. That's just Nemoto-kun and his goons. They're always picking on me and my friends, so they're always on the lookout for more people to pick on," Yun told him gently.

Hokuto did respond, but not in the way Yun expected.

"The word _'bully'_ was first used in the 1530s, meaning _'sweetheart'_, applied to both genders, from the Dutch boel _'lover, brother,'_ diminutive of Middle High German buole _'brother,'_ of uncertain origin and buhle, _'lover,'_" Hokuto said, and went on and on in detail of the origins of the word. Yun didn't mind and let him continue his little lecture. But she couldn't help but wonder if Hokuto's tendencies to go into detailed explanations about everything and anything he hears and see was related to what his father possibly did to him as a child. She couldn't help but wonder.

Meanwhile, back at the park, Lucero had managed to successfully find all the Digimon without a hitch, mostly because some of them picked the lousiest hiding places to hide in (two of them being Dracomon and Coronamon, obviously). Soon, they got tired of playing hide and seek and just decided to play around. Lucero happily and merrily chased the jaunty little Digimon around. They hopped and jumped and ran and spun around and climbed and played to their heart's content. Even the mostly ever so serious Kudamon couldn't help but feel happier and lighter upon engaging in social activity with these jaunty Digimon. Soon, they branched out and decided to play by themselves. Lopmon, Lunamon, and Biyomon made little flower wreaths and necklaces together, though Biyomon mostly put the ones she made on herself and struck fancy poses like she was some super model. They had to admit those flower wreaths and necklaces did look rather grandiose on her, but they didn't dare tell her that to her face, lest she fly into a fiery passion. Bearmon, Coronamon, Terriermon, and Syakomon are running around, chasing each other like they were playing tag. Syakomon mostly hopped since she has no hands or feet to grab things with or walk with, but she didn't mind one bit. Kudamon, Salamon, and Lucero climbed a big, thick tree and sat on one of the hard branches. Dracomon and Patamon are serenely and contentedly sitting in the green grass, building castles with rocks, twigs, and leaves. On the tree, Lucero, Salamon, and Kudamon looked out into the sky, entranced by it's vastness. Labramon slept on a metal bench, lost in dreamland.

"You can see much farther when you're up in the air than when you're on the ground! Wan!" Salamon said.

"That's true! In fact, Kudamon, thou hast put this into use when we were in the Digital World, didst thou not?" Lucero asked. Kudamon smiled with his little arms crossed and nodded.

"You remember. Yes, it's true. We were stuck in a desert, trying to find shelter from the heat. A big, tall rock was there, so Lucero and I climbed it to see further and check if we were getting close to other areas. We only found Noir Lake, but it was better than nothing," Kudamon explained calmly.

"Right. If you go higher, your field of vision increases and you can see more than you can when you're on the ground. Interesting! I oughta do that sometime later! Wan! You sure are smart!" Salamon piped in sweetly.

"You're smart as well, Salamon," Kudamon told her.

"Really? I am? Oh, no! Mina-chan's the smart one! I'm only just learning new things-huh?" Salamon was about to deny Kudamon's praise when she saw something odd. Carefully, she descended from the tree and dashed off to what she saw. Lucero and Kudamon followed. They passed by Bearmon and Coronamon, who are playing pretend sword fight with some long sticks.

"Be careful not to hurt yourselves!" Lopmon advised as she watched them play fight.

"Salamon! Where art thou going?" Lucero asked.

Suddenly, Salamon stopped in front of a big tree with a black mark on it. The bark looks as though it had been charred by flames, but the mark itself is shaped like a perfect circle. Some of the Digimon who were playing noticed it as well, and ran to the tree.

"Now THIS is strange! This wasn't here yesterday!" Salamon exclaimed.

"How do you know?" Patamon asked.

"I saw it! Yesterday we came back from the Digital World, and this wasn't there last I checked," Salamon said. She was right. She saw the tree once she came back from the Digital World with the others, and now there's this big mark on it.

"Wow. You sure are observant, Salamon," Lopmon praised with a smile.

Lunamon turned to look at Coronamon with a stern look in her eyes. "Coronamon! You didn't happen to shoot one of your flames, did you?"

"What? No way! Don't look at me! I didn't even go near there! I didn't use my fire attacks once!" Coronamon flailed around, afraid that Lunamon is thinking that he's the one who put the mark on the tree.

"He's right!" Bearmon exclaimed. "Coronamon didn't use any of his fire attacks today. Not even once."

"It's true as true can be!" Syakomon backed him up proudly.

"It sure wasn't me either!" Terriermon said.

"Me either! Besides, I don't use my Dragon Ember attack unless it's absolutely necessary!" Dracomon backed him up with his own statement.

"It's okay! I know you all didn't do it. In fact...I smell a mystery!" Salamon sniffed the bark and barked (get it?).

"Not only do I smell a mystery, the mark seems to have been made just recently. You can smell the smoke coming off of it," Salamon said as she sniffed the charred spot a little bit.

"Thou art right! I do smell something!" Lucero exclaimed.

Suddenly, it hit Bearmon like an avalanche, and he just HAD to say what he had to say.

"Oh! Oh! I think I might know where it came from!" Bearmon exclaimed.

"You do? Tell us!" Patamon said.

"Spill the beans!" Terriermon implored.

"Okay!" Bearmon began. "See, yesterday when Isao-kun and I got home, we watched TV and I saw something on the news saying that there's been some weird stuff going on at this very park over the past few days. They say someone's been throwing balls of fire at any person who walks by a small rosebush outside the woods."

"How can you throw balls of fire without being burned? Only I can do that!" Coronamon asked.

"Exactly! I think it might be a Digimon's doing!" Bearmon said.

"You may be right. I saw that very same program and I agree with you. No human being can shoot balls of fire without being burned," Kudamon said.

"I think so too. I saw it on the news too! I know! How about we Digimon solve this mystery?" Salamon said, starting to become excited.

"We? Find the culprit? But won't it be dangerous?" Labramon asked, feeling a little iffy.

"I think it'll be fine. Considering the size of the mark, I think it must be a small rookie level Digimon that did this. Oh! I know how to prove it!" Salamon explained, then looked at Coronamon and Lunamon.

"Coronamon! See that big tree over there, the one that's bigger than the others? Use your Corona Flame attack on it!" Salamon told him.

"WHAT?" Coronamon yelled, confused and shocked by what Salamon just told him. "B-B-But I don't wanna set the forest on fire!"

"You won't! After you do it, Lunamon can use her Tear Shot attack to put it out right after it appears," Salamon explained.

"Oh! I get it!" Lunamon balled her tiny hands into fists. "You want to compare and contrast the marks!"

"Exactly! Wan!"

"Wow! You're smart, Salamon!" Patamon said.

"I don't think it's exactly the most subtle approach, but I do find it interesting that you wish to try and pull this off," Kudamon told her with a smile, which Salamon took as a compliment.

Coronamon and Lunamon positioned themselves in front of the big tree. They concentrated and closed their eyes.

"Ready?" Salamon said. "Go! Wan!"

"Corona Flame!"

The helmet on Coronamon's head glowed a yellow color, and a small ball of yellow, orange, and white fire shot out of it, hitting the base of the tree. Thankfully, the flames it left behind aren't serious, though Lunamon decided to put it out.

"Tear Shot!"

The antenna on Lunamon's head glowed in a turquoise light, and a small ripply ball of clear blue water shot out of it, hitting the base of the tree and putting out the flames. Much to their delight, their attacks both made a mark on the tree similar to the one they saw. Lunamon and Coronamon rejoiced.

"Yay! We did it!" Coronamon shouted.

"I put the fire out!" Lunamon cried happily. Once they stopped rejoicing, Salamon looked at both marks carefully, taking in their differences and what they have in common.

"What doth thou think?" Lucero asked.

Salamon turned around with her purple eyes gleamimg.

"I've come to the conclusion that it IS a rookie Digimon!" Salamon edicted with a smile.

"How do you know?" Lopmon asked.

"See the mark on the left? It's slightly smaller and less charred than the one Coronamon made just now. As you can tell from the bark on this one, this tree is a maple wood tree. Their bark is harder and scratchier than the one that Coronamon charred, which makes it hard for flames to really progress unless you set it afire in the right places, which in this case could be higher up, where the leaves are. Not only that, consider the positions of the marks. The mark that Coronamon made is closer to the ground than this one, which makes me think that it's a rookie level Digimon that can either jump really high or fly a little," Salamon explained.

"Hm! That's quite an interesting theory you have, Salamon! I'm impressed!" Labramon praised with a smile.

"Indeed! I did think the position of the marks were obvious, but not the differences between the trees," Lopmon said.

As Salamon basked in their praise, Lucero and Labramon both saw something that caught their eyes.

"Oh! Look!" Lucero exclaimed.

"Footprints!" Labramon yelped.

The Digimon turned to look and much to their surprise, they found small, three-toed footprints in the dirt, leading not very far into the woods. They looked a little faint, but they're there.

"Oh! Another clue to this mystery! Wan!" Salamon exclaimed.

"That reminds me! I wonder if I can smell this Digimon's scent?" Labramon asked himself.

"You can do that?" Terriermon asked.

"Yep! I've done it lots of times before. Let's see if I can do it now," Labramon replied. He raised his big black nose into the sky and sniffed. He smelled nothing. Then he looked at the ground and sniffed.

"Yes. A Digimon was here. I can smell it," Labramon told them calmly.

"So it's true after all! There WAS a Digimon here!" Syakomon exclaimed.

"I wonder if there are any rookie level Digimon that can fly or jump high other than some of us?" Dracomon asked.

"The only Digimon I can think of is an Impmon," Biyomon said.

"Ah, I get you there. Impmon are quite the naughty Digimon. They're always throwing fire balls and jumping all over the place. I think you might be onto something there," Dracomon said.

Biyomon harumped and struck a pose. "Why thanks, Dracomon! You flatter me so!"

"I doubt an Impmon would be the culprit, though it's true that they are naughty Digimon indeed. How about a Gabumon? Would that work?" Syakomon asked.

"Nah, Gabumon aren't very good jumpers," Dracomon said.

"How about a Gazimon?" Lunamon asked.

"Dunno. Their Electric Stun Blast is mostly an electric gas attack," Dracomon said.

"I don't think fire is the only thing that can leave a charred mark on a tree. There's lightning," Lopmon said.

"Yeah, that's true, but I don't think it can be as small as the one we see here. Lightning can cause fires when it can," Patamon said.

"Where do the footprints lead?" Salamon asked.

"Let's follow them," Lucero said.

Quietly and slowly, they followed the footprints. They made sure not to walk on them lest they make them disappear. Much to their surprise, they lead to a small bush with some red and pink buds all over it. Most of them didn't look like they were ready to bloom yet.

"This must be the rose bush where the culprit attacks people," Bearmon said.

"Yes. There's no doubt about it. Digimon odor is all over this thing," Labramon said.

Suddenly, Lunamon's ears perked up and pointed to the sky in alarm. Lopmon noticed.

"What's wrong, Lunamon?" Lopmon asked gently.

"I...I hear something! It's the sound of...flapping wings!" Lunamon exclaimed.

Lucero and the Digimon looked around, confused.

"I don't hear anything," Lucero said.

"We Lunamon are very sensitive to sound, and can hear them from any distance, no matter how far away it is," Lunamon explained.

"It's true! I've seen them in action before!" Labramon said.

"Oh! The sound is coming this way!" Lunamon yelped.

"Should we hide?" Terriermon asked.

"Yes! In that thicket over there!" Kudamon advised. Lucero and most of the Digimon decided to hide in the thicket. Kudamon, Patamon, and Biyomon, however, had other ideas.

"We'll keep watch from the top of this tree!" Biyomon exclaimed.

Lucero and the Digimon waited and waited for the Digimon to come out and reveal itself. Unfortunately, they were distracted by something and did not see the Digimon descend. Patamon, Biyomon, and Kudamon did a little bit, and saw that the Digimon is small and purple. That was all the trio of Digimon saw, however. They needed to get in closer so they could get a better look, but what if they made a sound and the Digimon flew away? They couldn't take that risk.

Unexpectedly, a growling sound hit their ears. Terriermon and Lucero were the first ones to notice...and they were quite surprised when they found the source of the growling.

"La-Labramon?" The two of them muttered fearfully.

They couldn't believe what they saw. Labramon's normally serene and peaceful-looking reddish violet eyes suddenly became big and vehement looking. His golden claws were out, shimmering in faint sunbeams. His curly tail stood up like electricity had gone through it. His pearly and sharp white teeth gritted together, and a ferocious yet faint growl slithered out of Labramon's mouth. Considering the way Labramon looks right now, he does NOT look happy. Not at all. The Digimon were growing tense.

"Uhh...Labramon? What are you-" Lopmon tried to mollify him, but it didn't work. Lopmon didn't even get to finish that sentence.

That was because Labramon leaped out of the thicket and charged at the rose bush with a mighty roar!

"Labramon! NO!" Bearmon and Lucero both tried to grab him, but Labramon outran him.

Labramon dashed toward the rose bush at high speed, growling like a ferocious bear. The purple Digimon saw him too late.

"Wha-?"

_"RAAAAWR!"_

Labramon pounced on the purple Digimon.

"AAAACK! Get off of me, you filthy mutt!" A strange voice belonging to that of a young boy who had strep throat came out from the purple Digimon's mouth. But that wasn't even the strange part.

"Boom Bubble!"

A clear bubble of air shot at Labramon, forcing him off of the purple Digimon. Not wanting to see the purple Digimon get ripped to shreds by a now ferocious and choleric Labramon, Lucero, Bearmon, Dracomon, and Patamon decided to step in.

"Labramon! Come on! Calm down, will ya?" Dracomon wrapped his scrawny arms around the angry dog.

"Calm thyself, Labramon! Thou must not blow our cover!" Lucero yelled, even though it didn't matter, as their cover was already blown.

But something struck Patamon the hardest. The Digimon's attack was...Boom Bubble. Patamon's attack.

Once Lucero and the rest of the Digimon managed to pin the volatile Labramon to the grass, they managed to get a good look at the purple Digimon he assaulted. They were shocked.

The purple Digimon is basically...a purple Patamon!

_"WHAAAT?"_

Well, to be more precise, the purple Patamon has the exact same structure and face as Patamon, only this Digimon's upper body is purple, his lower body white, and he has greenish gold eyes. The purple Patamon scoffed at the group of Digimon.

"Who the heck are you losers?" The purple Patamon asked in a not so friendly tone of voice.

"We should be asking you that!" Coronamon yelled.

"I don't need to answer to you losers!" The purple Patamon exclaimed again.

"You don't have to! We'll do it for you! Feather Strike!" Biyomon got mad and decided to attack the purple Patamon with a flurry of pink arrow feathers. The purple Patamon smirked deviously.

"Evil Fire!" A greenish blue sphere of fire shot out from the purple Patamon's mouth, making the sharp feathers dissipate into charred residue.

"Pheh! Such a lame attack!" The purple Patamon exclaimed.

"My attack is NOT lame! Yours is!" Biyomon retorted angrily.

"LEMME AT 'EM! LEMME AT 'EM!" Labramon growled even more angrily than Biyomon.

"Excuse me, but who are you? And why have you been causing trouble around these parts?" Lopmon asked as politely as she could.

"Is that any of your business, little miss goody-goody two shoes? I ain't answerin' to you!" The purple Patamon exclaimed, not swayed by Lopmon's politeness, though Lopmon didn't lose her composure. But once the purple Patamon laid eyes on Syakomon, he laughed like he heard the funniest joke ever.

"Hey! What's so funny?" Syakomon yelped.

"You! That's what! You're the ugliest Digimon I've ever seen! I'm WAAAAY cooler than you by a landslide!" The purple Patamon yelled while laughing.

Syakomon felt her heart be burnt into two pieces by the purple Patamon's Evil Fire attack and blushed violently. Bearmon, however, was ticked off by the comment.

"You take that back, you phony Patamon! Bear Roll!" Bearmon rolled himself into a ball and rolled toward the purple Patamon. Unfortunately, the purple Patamon quickly flew upward and Bearmon ended up running into a tree.

"OWW!" Bearmon yelped in pain as he hit the tree. Coronamon and Salamon both ran to his aid.

"You okay?" Coronamon asked with concern.

"Yeah. Thanks," Bearmon muttered.

"Hmph! If you're really that desperate in knowing who I am, just so you know, I'm NOT a Patamon! I'm way cooler than all the Patamons in the world! The name's Tsukaimon! Mess with me, and you'll feel my wrath! And yeah, I've been givin' some pesky humans a hard time! Just wanted to let off some steam! That's all! There's nothing wrong with lettin' off steam, is there?" The purple Patamon, now Tsukaimon, explained deviously.

"Not if it means hurting innocent people!" Salamon piped in.

"Pheh! Little goody-goodies you are!" Tsukaimon scoffed.

"You stop hurting people right now! It's not right!" Terriermon yelled.

"Who cares if it's right or wrong? I can do whatever I want, and you can't stop me! Nyeh-heh-heh-heh!" Tsukaimon retorted wickedly.

"Oh REALLY? Take this! Bunny Blast!" Quickly, Terriermon shot little bunny-shaped beams out of his mouth.

"Evil Fire!" Sadly, Tsukaimon's attack knocked them all out.

"GET HIM!" Dracomon yelled.

Now, the whole situation has turned into Operation: Catch Tsukaimon And Put Him To Justice...but catching him was the hard part. Like how Witchmon was in the beginning, Tsukaimon managed to dodge all of their attacks, which is strange because Tsukaimon are supposed to be exactly like Patamon in terms of their flying and walking speed. Lucero and the Digimon chased him all down with all the attacks they shot at him.

"Echoing Bark!"

Tsukaimon blew a full blown raspberry at Labramon upon dodging his attack.

"Dragon Gas!"

As he was occupied, however, Dracomon managed to blow a big breath of hot gas at him, making Tsukaimon feel as if he just smelled the worst odor he ever smelt in his entire life. Tsukaimon quickly covered his nose (if he even had a nose) with his tiny hands.

"Sweet mother of Cleopatra! Your breath stinks, you pot-bellied dragon!" Tsukaimon yelled as his nostrils got assaulted.

"Good! I hope it does!" Dracomon exclaimed. However, Tsukaimon shook the smell off and was about to fly away until Salamon, Patamon, Lopmon, and Terriermon decided to confront him and attack him.

"Holy Roar!"

"Holy Wing!"

"Freezing Snow!"

"Blazing Fire!"

Sadly enough, Tsukaimon dodged all of their attacks, even Salamon's Holy Roar. Tsukaimon laughed.

"Nah-Nah! You can't catch me with those lame-o attacks, weaklings! Nah nah nah nah nah!" Tsukaimon taunted in a wicked sing-song voice as he flew away.

"Coroknuckle!"

"Lop-Ear Ripple!"

"Black Pearl Barrage!"

Not even Lunamon's flurry of bubbles, Coronamon's flurry of fiery punches, or Syakomon's army of black pearls managed to land a decent hit on Tsukaimon.

Kudamon had other ideas.

"Holy Ray!"

Kudamon engulfed himself in a white light, blinding Tsukaimon.

"Labramon! Now!"

_"RAWWWR!"_

On cue, Labramon pounced on Tsukaimon. However, Tsukaimon decided to fight back.

"Sonic Wing!"

His two purple wings glew an eerie black color and out came two black, crescent shaped lights, hitting Labramon in the face. But Labramon wasn't giving up. He basically turned into Hokuto's feral persona! Tsukaimon flew away as fast as he could, but Labramon kept chasing him!

"PHARAOHMON! I'LL KILL YOU!" Labramon growled loudly and vehemently, apparently not wanting to let Tsukaimon out of his sight for even the smallest millisecond.

"Leave me alone, you mutt! Evil Fire!" Tsukaimon shot another ball of fire at Labramon, hitting him in the face.

The Digimon tried as hard as they could to get Tsukaimon, but nothing they did worked. Kudamon tried to predict Tsukaimon's movements and attack him when he let his guard down, but it seemed Tsukaimon outran him.

Finally, Tsukaimon was about to fly away, happy that he somehow managed to outrun the Digimon.

"Wha-ha-ha-ha!" Tsukaimon laughed heartily. "Those weaklings don't stand a chance against the ever-so-awesome me! I'll bet they couldn't take down a rock!"

But what Tsukaimon didn't know was that he is both flying slowly and totally letting his guard down. Suddenly, he felt himself not moving. He opened his eyes to notice that he's not flying any further. He flapped one of his wings as hard as he could, but suddenly he can't go further. That's when he realized it. Something is clinging to his left wing. Tsukaimon turned around to see the culprit who successfully caught him.

Lucero.

Tsukaimon became choleric upon seeing himself be captured by a human of all things.

"What? A human? Lemme go, you flesh bag! I ain't gonna be at your mercy!" Tsukaimon struggled to get free, but it seems Lucero's grip is so strong that not even Tsukaimon can get his wing out of his fingers. He also noticed that Lucero is staring down at him with a rather stern and austere look on his face. Tsukaimon found it rather intimidating.

"Wha...what's with that look on yer face?" Tsukaimon asked.

Lucero didn't flinch. But in a split second, his expression changed! It went from stern and neutral to just downright frightening and intimidating! His blue eyes got big, his pearly white teeth gritted together, his nose wrinkled just a bit, and he looked as though he were about to murder Tsukaimon.

Tsukaimon felt all the strength drain out of his body.

_"EEEEEEEK!"_

Tsukaimon finally relented, though he was rendered frozen with fear upon locking eyes with Lucero's scary face.

"I FOUND HIM!" Lucero yelled for the whole forest to hear.

Not wanting to let Tsukaimon get away, Lucero held onto Tsukaimon while some of the Digimon went into the woods to find something to tie up Tsukaimon with. They found a small green vine and decided to wrap it around Tsukaimon. Not only did they keep his little arms in the rope, but his wings as well! Now he lay on the grass, helpless and exposed to the Digimon that caught him. The only problem is that Labramon keeps trying to pounce on him. Dracomon and Bearmon are trying their best to hold him down, but Labramon won't drop growling.

"Labramon! Will you calm down? We got him!" Dracomon scolded.

"Yeah! He's not gonna hurt anybody now!" Bearmon implored.

"Pharaohmon...!" Labramon growled.

"Who is Pharaohmon?" Lucero asked.

"Pharaohmon's my mega form! Lemme outta this thing! _I_(1) am just too awesome to be tied up!" Tsukaimon broached boastfully, not happy with the fender-bender he's in now.

"Well, deal with it, you self-absorbed, thick-headed tramp!" Syakomon scolded angrily, still incensed from being called ugly earlier.

"Come on! Spill the beans, brat! Why are you antagonizing innocent humans with your attacks?" Coronamon yelped.

"You know that it's wrong to hurt people, right? Why do it? You don't look like the kind of Digimon who'd want to be involved with humans at all! It's strange that you'd want to," Salamon exclaimed as she sat on Lucero's shoulder.

"She is right! What wouldst thou gain from thy transgressions? Thou art much too presumptuous! Thy power is thine to use, yet why must thou use it on humans who have absolutely nothing to do with thee? For what reason doth thou influence thee into antagonizing humans so?" Lucero implored. Tsukaimon found his talk irritating.

"A little superiority and self-satisfaction, that's what! I've been havin' a crummy week so I decided to take it out on the humans! A Digimon needs an outlet for their anger!" Tsukaimon replied sharply.

"But why the humans? They didn't do anything to you, so why bother? Don't you know what your attacks can do if you use them on people? You could hurt them! The repercussions would be perilous! Does that make it right for you to hurt them when they didn't do anything to you?" Lopmon told him gently, but Tsukaimon wasn't buying it.

"So what? Who cares if I hurt them? If they get hurt, then they get hurt! It's their fault for being so stupid and dumb!" Tsukaimon retorted.

"You're the stupid and dumb one!" Bearmon yelled.

"So you bully others just to feel a sense of superiority and self-satisfaction. Quite the naughty Digimon, aren't you?" Kudamon said calmly, which irritated Tsukaimon.

"Who cares if I'm naughty? I'm glad I am, and I don't care what any of you stupid Digimon think!" Tsukaimon yelled.

"We are NOT stupid!" Biyomon squawked.

As Tsukaimon and the other Digimon argued, Salamon couldn't help but notice something odd. On one of Tsukaimon's back feet is a very small but very brownish red scar. Salamon krept a bit closer and saw that it looked rather old. At least a few weeks old. The scar looked as though it had hardened and didn't look as though it had been tended to. Could Tsukaimon have tripped on a thorny tree root and not notice? Or...did someone hurt him?

Tsukaimon finally noticed Salamon staring.

"What's up, pup?" Tsukaimon asked.

"Where'd you get this scar? It looks pretty bad," Salamon said.

That was a mistake. Tsukaimon's greenish gold eyes got big. He hopped to his feet, turned around, and attacked!

"Evil Fire!"

The sphere of fire hit Salamon like a mighty blow.

"WAN!"

Salamon could feel her skin burning as the attack hit her right on target.

"Salamon!" Patamon and Lopmon both tended to her. Tsukaimon used some of the attack on the vine rope so he can break free, which he did. Now all the Digimon are eyeing him angrily as he flew a bit into the air.

"What did you do that for? She was just trying to help! You shouldn't have done that, you spoiled brat!" Patamon yelled angrily.

"She was meddlin' in my business! That mutt is the brat!" Tsukaimon yelped.

"There's a difference between meddling and wanting to help someone! She was only curious, and she is NOT a brat! Cease your transgressions right this instant!" Lopmon scolded like she was Tsukaimon's mother.

"Do you have some dark secret that you don't want us to know about?" Kudamon asked.

That set Tsukaimon off.

"AS IF I'D TELL ANYTHING TO YOU GOOD FOR NOTHING LOSERS! I'm WAAAAY better than all of you by a longshot, even that rabid dog over there! I-huh?" Tsukaimon screamed vehemently until he saw Lucero and stopped. He floated up to Lucero and sniffed him a bit. Then he made a rather contorted face.

"Ewwww! You _REEK_ of Digimon, kid! And it ain't just because of the loser league, either!" Tsukaimon exclaimed, appalled by Lucero's supposed noisome smell of Digimon, which left him flabbergasted.

"What doth thou mean? Explain thyself!" Lucero demanded.

"You might just be-"

"Tsukaimon!"

A low, icy, bone-chilling voice belonging to a girl stopped Tsukaimon from finishing that sentence. All the Digimon, Lucero included, turned to look and saw a human girl standing a few feet away from them. She looks to be about 14 years old, high school age. She has long, straight, raven black hair stretching down to her upper back without one curl in it. Her dark chocolate brown eyes flashed like they belonged to a tiger about to pounce on its prey, matching the scornful and contemptuous scowl on her face. Her skin is extremely pale, snow white, just like Lucero's, contrasting with her all black clothes. A long-sleeved black shirt with a small V on the collar with string on it, a long black skirt with pockets, and black boots. The girl has her hands in her pockets and walked over to the group of Digimon, her scowl unchanging. Tsukaimon beamed when he saw her.

"Nayuki! Gosh, I'm so glad you're here!" Tsukaimon cried out happily, referring to the strange high school girl as Nayuki.

"Zip your lips, Tsukaimon. Why did you come here? Didn't I tell you not to leave the house this morning?" Nayuki asked in a stern tone of voice.

"I wanted to let off some steam, that's all! Besides, these pesky Digimon losers were givin' me a hard time! Especially that rabid Labramon over there!" Tsukaimon explained.

"He is NOT rabid!" Dracomon shouted as he tried to keep Labramon at bay.

Lopmon decided to take the plunge.

"Excuse me. I don't mean to bother you, but may you be this Digimon's partner?" Lopmon asked as politely as she could, even though the girl herself seemed to frighten her a bit with her permanent scowl. Lopmon absolutely refused to lose her calm.

"That's right. What's it to you, rabbit?" Nayuki replied sharply, not losing her calm either.

"W-Well...see, your Digimon has been hurting innocent humans who have been walking by in the past week. Since you're his partner, perhaps you can discipline him and teach him right and wrong?" Lopmon explained, stuttering a little at the first sentence.

"That isn't my problem," Nayuki said.

"That may be, but he should still be punished-"

_POW!_

"Lopmon!"

Nayuki kicked Lopmon in the face and made her fall to the ground. Terriermon and Lucero both ran to her aid. Terriermon and everyone else became absolutely choleric.

"You hurt my sister!" Terriermon screamed.

"So? I decide what's to be done with Tsukaimon, not you bags of data. Also, why aren't you all fighting each other?" Nayuki exclaimed.

"Eh?"

"What? Are you stupid or something? You're all Digimon, aren't you? You're supposed to be fighting each other to the death and killing each other!" Nayuki exclaimed.

This made Lucero mad.

"Digimon are living creatures, just like us humans, animals, and plants! Why doth thou expect them to fight each other and kill each other? Thou hast a Digimon of thy own!" Lucero exclaimed.

"What? Are they yours?"

"No. They belong to my friends."

"Then your friends must be just as pathetic as these fools. You don't get it, do you? Digimon only exist to fight and nothing more. All they are is just computer data."

"Thou doth NOT have the right to decide such things!"

"Oh, really? You're no great prize yourself, kid."

"So what? Digimon are not tools of fighting, nor are they thy slaves!"

This set Nayuki off. She walked right up to him and..._SLAP!_ She whacked him in the face. But Lucero stood his ground and didn't flinch. He looked at Nayuki with the same stern, neutral look he gave Tsukaimon earlier, only there was some more spark in those blue eyes of his.

"Get in your head, will you, kid? Digimon aren't living creatures! They're just data made into monsters whose only purpose is to kill each other! Stop being all goody-goody! Being goody-goody gets you nowhere in life!"

"How doth thou know that? Doth thou believe that being kind and benevolent will only bring sadness and despair upon thee? That is not true! Isn't that why Tsukaimon was given to you? Tsukaimon is thine, is he not? If thou truly believe that Digimon are slaves to be used for fighting, than thy ideals have lead thee astray! Thou art an insidious, nefarious, and wicked person!"

Nayuki turned around.

"I don't care about what you think. I'm done with you weaklings. Come on, Tsukaimon. Let's get out of this rat hole," Nayuki said as she turned around and walked away. Tsukaimon too, but not before blowing another big raspberry, leaving Lucero and the Digimon all alone. But Terriermon saw Lopmon silently shedding tears upon being kicked. Incensed, Terriermon snapped.

"Blazing Fire!"

Tsukaimon saw this and fought back.

"Sonic Wing!"

Both attacks collided and dissipated in the air. Terriermon wished he hit her, but now he couldn't do anything but yell.

"That's what you get for kickin' my sister in the face! I'm gonna hit you next time! Count on it!" Terriermon screamed.

"Whatever," Nayuki scoffed and walked away. Now Lucero and the Digimon are all alone...and enraged.

"Wow! Can you believe her? She thinks we Digimon are nothing but lifeless, heartless, rabid monsters meant to kill each other! That's so stupid!" Dracomon exclaimed.

"I agree. That Nayuki girl is NOT a good person at all," Lunamon whispered, becoming scared.

Lucero gently scooped the crying Lopmon in his arms and held her close, hoping it would mollify her a little. He gently stroke her brown and pink fur, hoping his touch would reach out to her. But he couldn't believe what just went on just now. A purple Patamon wreaking havoc just because he wanted to let off some steam, and a high school girl who's fervently convinced that Digimon are nothing more than heaps of data meant to fight and kill each other? Lucero knew he was NOT going to stand for something like this! Especially since he saw how cruelly both she and Tsukaimon treated them earlier. Nayuki kicked Lopmon and didn't even show one inkling of remorse! Lucero is convinced that the girl draped in all black is certainly down a HUGE quart in the milk of human kindness, if she even had any at all. The kids in the Digimon Brigade are certainly going to want to hear about this, no doubt about that! But what was he going to tell them? Yun would flip out just like Terriermon if she heard about what Nayuki did to Lopmon. She'd strangle her! Lucero clutched Lopmon gently, hoping that what he's thinking isn't true.

Salamon and Labramon, however, both had different thoughts. Labramon seems to know Tsukaimon, which is why he kept calling him Pharaohmon. Do they have some kind of connection? Have they met before? Did they fight each other? Why was Labramon so intent on pouncing on Tsukaimon the whole time they tried to chase him down? Thankfully Labramon is calmed down now, but he would certainly start up again. Salamon, on the other hand, is becoming worried. Unlike Lopmon, she didn't cry upon being attacked by Tsukaimon. Her mind is in another place. The thing that stood out the most about Tsukaimon was the scar on one of his stubby legs. Salamon had seen something like that before...and it didn't look like it had been made by accident at all. Last night, when Salamon and Minako returned from the Digital World, she, as a Nyaromon, happened to be watching the news and there was a story about how a child was rescued from her abusive home and put into state custody. The child had been horribly abused for about two months. The culprit, her aunt, lashed her constantly with a whip and leather belt, deprived her of food when she didn't do what she was told (or if she was just standing around at all), and let her own kids beat her and attack her and do horrible things to her. Salamon was horrified upon learning that adults are capable of hurting children and not showing remorse, but...could that also apply to kids and Digimon?

_'That scar didn't look like it was made by accident. Considering how cruel that Nayuki girl was toward everyone, I wonder if she's...?'_ Salamon ruminated and couldn't help but be lost in a pensive state. Lunamon noticed and snapped her out of it.

"Salamon? Are you okay?" Lunamon asked.

"Y-Yeah. I'm good," Salamon replied.

"But you got attacked by Tsukaimon earlier."

"That's true, but I'm fine. I'll take a bath when I get home. Wan!"

Lucero and the Digimon were all lost in thought, but they were all pulled out of their reveries.

"Huh? What the heck are you all doing here?"

It was Yun's voice. She and all the other members of the Digimon Brigade have arrived.

"Whoa! Hi everyone!" Patamon welcomed them as optimistically as he could.

"What time is it?" Syakomon asked.

"It's 3:28," Rena said.

"Holy cow! We spent three ours playing and chasing around an evil Digimon and didn't know it? Yeesh!" Dracomon exclaimed.

"Wait, back up! An evil Digimon? What Digimon?" Riku asked.

Lucero decided to take the plunge, handing the still upset Lopmon to Yun.

"Yuuun!"

"Lopmon! What in the world? Why are you...crying?" Yun asked as Lopmon wailed into her chest passionately and loudly.

"Yun! I'm so glad you're here! It's awful! Just awful!" Lopmon wailed. Yun, feeling bad for her precious Digimon, very gently caressed her and held her close.

"It's okay. I'm here," Yun cooed gently, trying to calm down her little friend. Lucero decided to tell them.

"Lots of things happened today. It's time that I tell you about it."

Author's Note: Yay! I finished chapter 26! This was a fun chapter to work on! Yeah, it seems fillerish, I know, but I kinda wanted to do this kind of chapter for a long time. Well, I have to go. I have a research paper to work on. Bye-bee!

Footnotes:

1. In Japan, boys use the self-reference terms _"boku"_ and _"ore"_, the latter being rather selfish and boastful. Tsukaimon, however, uses the term _"ore-sama"_, which mostly means _my magnificent self_ or _my most serene highness_. Tsukaimon holds himself in high superiority and is quite arrogant, selfish, thinks he's macho, and has a holier than thou attitude. Men who have these personality traits often refer to themselves as ore-sama.


	27. Salamon's Resolve

Author's Note: I'm ticked off. My mom just quit her job and is going to go to the one my dad is in. IN ANOTHER STATE! And if that wasn't bad enough, my uncle's got a broken arm! Hasn't this family had enough earth-shattering and mind-breaking changes? Sorry. Here's chapter 27 of Digimon: A Seraphic Tale.

EPISODE 27: Salamon's Resolve

"WHAT? No way! You've gotta be kidding me!"

The kids arrived in the park, and Lucero felt more than obligated to recount the tale to all members of the Digimon Brigade. From Labramon's strange outburst upon laying eyes on Tsukaimon to Nayuki's last words. Lucero didn't leave out even the smallest millimeter of detail, not one spec. Once the tale had been recited, practically all members of the Digimon Brigade were aghast with horror.

"So let me get this straight! So some purple Patamon has been causing trouble, and you guys tried to chase him down, and then his partner arrives, tells you all to kill each other, and kicks Lopmon in the face while showing absolutely no remorse whatsoever?" Kosuke yelped.

Dejectedly, Lucero nodded. "I'm afraid this is so. I truly wish this whole thing was a sick joke, but it is not."

"The whole thing was just awful!" Dracomon piped in. "I've seen my share of bad humans, but let me tell you, out of all the bad humans I've seen, that Nayuki girl tops the charts, hands down! I'm still mad for what she did to sweet little Lopmon! I would've liked to spew my Dragon Gas attack in her face, like I did with that horrible Tsukaimon!"

Poor Lopmon indeed, as she clung to Yun tightly, like a scared little child not wanting to be away from it's mother for even the smallest second. She stopped crying loudly, but tears still fell from her pretty green eyes. Yun rubbed her injured friend as gently and tenderly as possible, hoping this would mollify her. Yun couldn't believe what she just heard. A million questions were running through her head like a motorcycle going at 70 miles an hour. Who was this girl named Nayuki? Why did her Digimon, Tsukaimon, do the things he did? Why does she think Digimon are nothing more than packets of data meant to fight each other? Most irritating and importantly of all, why would she have the indestructable audacity to mercilessly kick her precious friend in the face and not show even one hint of remorse or guilt? Yun was so mad at that. If she ever ran into this Nayuki girl, there was no way she was going to let her get away with what she did to her sweet little Lopmon. No she wasn't! Terriermon, too, since he's still quite choleric about it.

"Graaaaah! No way am I ever gonna forgive that girl in black for kickin' Lopmon in the face! I'm gonna burn her to a crisp next time I see her!" Terriermon roared angrily, his heart ablaze with rancor.

"Want me to help you with frying her to a crisp? Maybe we can make her all crispy and black!" Coronamon backed him up.

"Sure! I'll take all the back up I can get!"

"Can we please not talk about burning people please? It's not nice," Salamon told him as gently and politely as she could.

"Why should I be nice to someone who hurts my sister and doesn't say sorry!" Terriermon yelped.

"I agree. Whoever this Nayuki girl is, I think we should slug her," Melody piped in.

"Wow. I didn't think you'd agree so fast," Biyomon said.

"I know how he feels. No way would I let anyone off easy for messin' with me or Yun! Especially Yun! I'd pound them until their teeth fell out!" Melody replied.

"Is Melody-chan always like that?" Isao whispered to Minako quietly.

"Unfortunately, yes. Melody is kind of infamous in our school for getting into fights. She means well, but she still gets in trouble a lot," Minako told him quietly.

"I don't like fighting either. But I'll do it if I really need to, even if I'm kinda small," Isao replied in a whisper.

"I don't recommend it," Minako told him.

Upon hearing Melody's piece of rhetoric, Yun stood up with Lopmon in her hands.

"Yun? Why art thou-?" Lucero was about to ask why Yun looked so determined, and he just got his answer.

"Thank you all for telling us about this. You're all great," Yun said to Lucero and the Digimon with a courageous and determined look on her round white face, her green eyes ablaze with thunderous vengeance. "Normally, I would never approve of this, but after hearing about what happened, there's absolutely NO way I'm going to let this slide! No way! I don't want to let that person get away with what she did to my cute and precious friend! I think we should find her and give her a good spanking!"

Terriermon beamed happily. "Yeah! You tell 'em, Yun! I'm sooo with you there!"

"Count me in! I wanna spank her too!" Coronamon yelped, throwing his tiny fists into the air.

Rena stood up, but for a different reason. "Can we not fight with her please? I mean, I know you're all mad at her and her Digimon for what they did, and I'm just as ticked off about it as you all are, but I don't think fighting with her and beating her up is the answer. What if we get into big trouble?"

Riku stood up with her. "She's got a point. Melody's got a steady reputation for gettin' into fights, and I've gotten into my share of trouble, which I didn't want. Don't get us wrong, we'd love to help you guys teach her a lesson, but not with fists and kicks."

"Riku! Rena! Didn't you just hear what she's like? What if she uses her Digimon to attack us or something? Or an innocent kid? What if these weirdos go even farther?" Kosuke yelped.

"I agree! I've seen what she's done, all of us Digimon have, and she doesn't look like the type who will listen to reason! Tsukaimon, too!" Patamon exclaimed. "Believe me, I don't like fighting either, but I know that if talking doesn't work, then we have to find alternatives!"

"But if we DO fight her, what if an adult sees us and calls the police? We'll get arrested!" Rena said.

"I don't wanna go to juvie!" Riku backed her up with his own piece of concerned rhetoric.

The kids and Digimon drooped their heads down in silence.

"You've got a point..." Syakomon said.

Yun, however, had other ideas.

"Regardless...let's find her and teach her a lesson anyway! I don't care if we have to do whatever it takes to make her learn, I'm not gonna let her get away with what she did to Lopmon! No sir!" Yun exclaimed.

"Spoken like a true friend, Yun-chan!" Aria cheered with a smile.

"What a great friend you are, Yun-san!" Lunamon backed her up.

Shunji smirked while stroking Dracomon's head. "Yun-chan's quite the courageous little girl, isn't she? I'd love to see how she and that Nayuki girl face off."

"Indeed! I think it'll be awesome!" Dracomon piped in.

"But everyone...there's still one more thing we need to discuss," Otoya piped in, ending the discussion about Nayuki.

One glance at Labramon, and they could tell that she wanted to talk about Labramon's outbursts. Labramon stood in front of a big tree and drooped his head down dejectedly, looking guilty about what happened. Seeing this and feeling concerned and worried, Otoya kneeled in front of Labramon and looked at the sad looking dog with her own dark, forest green eyes.

"You okay?" Otoya asked.

"No," Labramon replied softly, though sadly.

"I...I heard you got a little wild today."

"I'm sorry. Really, I am!"

"It's okay. But can you tell me what happened?"

"You kept mentioning a Pharaohmon as you chased down Tsukaimon! Wanna tell us about that?" Dracomon asked.

"Pharaohmon? A Digimon named after the Egyptian king? Ha! Awesome!" Shunji exclaimed with a small laugh in the middle of his sentence, which Yun found irritating.

"Anjo! This is NOT the time to be making jokes!" Yun scolded.

"Labramon. Wouldst thou not tell us thy story of thy strange behavior?" Lucero implored softly.

Labramon finally gave in and dropped the bomb.

"Tsukaimon...Pharaohmon...he...he killed me!"

Everyone looked at each other, then at Labramon.

"He killed you?" Isao asked. Labramon nodded.

"When? How? Why?" Minako asked.

"I...I'm starting to get my memories back! I remember now! I was in my home land, Labrador Kingdom, in the Digital World...minding my own business and playing with my friends when...when...Pharaohmon and his army of Digimon came and took over the kingdom! I remember digivolving to my mega form and fighting with him for a long time. I remember the both of us getting the final blow. But I wasn't sure if I had killed Pharaohmon or not. I died before I could confirm, but he was weak. That's all I knew. But...to think he's here in the human world! I never would've thought that my worst enemy has actually come to the human world and found a partner! A heartless and cruel partner at that!" Labramon explained.

"Do you think maybe you did defeat Pharaohmon?" Otoya asked.

"Back then, I didn't know. But now...I'm sure that I must have lost the battle! I...I don't want to seek revenge against him, but...but my instincts seem to get the better of me. I don't want to growl at him and pounce on him, but my body just acted on it's own, and I couldn't control it no matter what! It seems...I may have to seek revenge after all," Labramon explained sadly.

"How can a body and a mind have different views on revenge?" Shunji asked.

"You've got me," Dracomon replied.

"So you can't control yourself when you see Tsukaimon?" Melody asked.

"I'm afraid so," Labramon replied with his head drooping downward despondently.

"Didn't you growl and try to attack Gatomon once?" Otoya asked.

"I think he's gotten over that, don't you think?" Minako said.

"What? Labramon tried to attack Gatomon?" Yun yelped.

"Yeah. Oh! You don't know, do you? Otoya-chan and I were fighting a Doggymon, and Salamon digivolved into Gatomon. After we defeated Doggymon, Labramon turned into a feral beast driven by instinct. I found out that Gatomon and Labramon are natural enemies, but I think since Labramon's been digivolving, he's gotten over that habit," Minako explained.

"It's true. My body has stopped feeling animosity towards Gatomon, so I'm fine in that department, but...in the case with Pharaohmon, I don't know if I can get over it," Labramon backed her up quietly.

"Do you remember who your mega form is? Is he cool? I wanna see!" Isao implored with a smile.

"Unfortunately, I don't remember. Sorry," Labramon told him. Otoya smiled a bit and rubbed her faithful Digimon's soft head.

"It's okay. We'll find a way for you to control your involuntary outbursts somehow. I know it!" Otoya told him reassuringly, which made Labramon smile.

"Alright then! Shall we begin the meeting?" Yun prompted.

So, thus began the first Digimon Brigade meeting in a long while. They finished their discussion about the recent appearance of Nayuki and Tsukaimon. Now they've moved on to discussing the Digivice's features and the D-Hearts. The button with the magnifying glass identifies other people with Digimon partners. The phone button lets you call people with the Digivice and talk to them like how you use a cell phone, though the digivice itself is rather bulky. The text bubble lets you text people, though Isao and Aria can't do that just yet due to their grade level in school. The camera function lets you take pictures, the button with the letter on it has all saved data on it (like information on other humans with Digimon and saved text messages that haven't been sent), the demisphere with the number sign on it has all listed phone numbers, and the button with the DigiEgg on it lists all the Digimon or DigiEggs one has encountered. The black hexagon button records all the data of the Digimon that were branded with Dark Emblems (this is especially helpful since they can tell who originally had a Dark Emblem and that lets them know that those Digimon can't be branded again once they've already been so). Any Digimon who was branded with a Dark Emblem cannot be branded more than once (thanks to Shione and Moosemon's tip). The button with the door on it opens a digital portal, allowing you go to to the Digital World or to the real world, though this can't always be quick and easy since the mystical veil that keeps the two worlds apart closes up sometimes. The button with two balls and an arrow on it allows you to de-digivolve your Digimon, the button with DD on it has a list of all the Digimon in the world, with DD standing for Digimon Database. The button with the S on it scans the Digimon in front of you and shows it's information, hence the S standing for scan, the video camera function lets you record videos, and finally, the cross hatch button is a map of the entire Digital World and they can use it to pinpoint their own location and others when needed. Everyone found the Digivice's functions to be pretty cool. The slots on the sides of the Digivice are used for putting D-Chips in, but you can only put in one D-Chip at a time.

Then onto the D-Hearts. As Isao pointed out previously, the D-Hearts are basically small, egg-shaped gems that are equivalents to the crests from the Digimon TV series they watched and loved so much. They very likely represent the personality traits and qualities of each individual person, the ones that stand out the best, but Minako just said this is mere speculation on her part, as they won't know what purpose they serve or how they activate until they do. Thankfully, they know which D-Heart belongs to who. Yun has the white D-Heart of harmony. Minako has the violet purple D-Heart of peace. Kosuke has the pale orange D-Heart of freedom. Melody has the rose red D-Heart of forgiveness. Aria has the light pink D-Heart of mercy. Rena has the light lavendar D-Heart of grace. Riku has the golden yellow D-Heart of justice. Shunji has the forest green D-Heart of determination. Isao has the bronze brown D-Heart of strength, and Hokuto has the shiny silver D-Heart of liberty. Some of the kids and Digimon noticed Melody staring down at her red D-Heart with a rather scornful and contemptuous look on her face. Yun and Biyomon both witnessed Melody throw her D-Heart at the wall back at Chloros Forest mercilessly. They wanted to bring it up, but Melody has a reputation for being quite fierce when asked questions she hates, so they backed off...but they still felt curious. Yun remembered that at the beginning of 4th grade, Melody suddenly moved away without telling Yun and came back half way through 5th grade. Yun figured something must have went on in Melody's life, and she couldn't help but wonder what...and why. Could her blatant dislike for her red D-Heart have something to do with it? She couldn't help but wonder.

Someone else was lost in thought too, and it was none other than Salamon. Her suspicions are still crawling around in her mind like a furry catepillar searching for food in a lush and thick forest full of trees and grass. But once she laid eyes on Lopmon, who still looked rather dejected upon being kicked in the face, and took a glance at some small white daisies that happened to be blooming a little ways away from the woods, Salamon put the suspicions behind her and trotted up to Yun and Lopmon with her usual happy and cheery smile.

"Hey Lopmon! Come down here! I wanna show you something! Wan!" Salamon implored sweetly.

Lopmon looked at Yun, and Yun smiled at her, letting her know that she should go with Salamon. Yun gently set Lopmon to the ground and Salamon gently escorted Lopmon to where the white daisies are. Once Lopmon laid eyes on them, she immediately glowed with joy.

"See? Aren't they pretty?" Salamon asked.

"Oh! You're right! They are! What are these flowers?" Lopmon beamed happily as she sat down to get a closer look at them.

"They're white daisies. Mina-chan's mom is planting some in the garden next to the periwinkles," Salamon explained.

"Periwinkles? Isn't that a bright shade of bluish purple?" Lopmon asked.

"Yep! That's true, but they're also a kind of flower, which is just as pretty! Next to violets, they're Mina-chan's favorite flowers! I like them too, since they're all pretty and purple and delicate," Salamon said.

"I should get a look at them someday," Lopmon said with a smile.

"If you, Yun-chan, and Terriermon ever come over to the house one of these days, we can show you!...if they don't wilt before then, that is," Salamon said with her usual smile. Suddenly, Salamon slowly trotted over to Lopmon and licked her face a bit with her small but prickly tongue, which surprised Lopmon a bit.

"Uh...why did-?" Lopmon became confused by Salamon's odd gesture just now.

"You got hurt pretty bad, didn't you? I wish I had seen it coming so I would've stopped her," Salamon said, feeling slightly guilty for not being able to stop Nayuki from kicking Lopmon in the face.

"Oh, no! It wasn't your fault at all! Don't blame yourself. Besides, Tsukaimon used his Evil Fire on you in the same manner, so we're both in the same boat. Does it still hurt?" Lopmon replied with concern, then brought up Tsukaimon's cruel gesture.

"A little, but I can handle it. I'll live! A little fire won't hurt me! Also, I licked you just now because I wanted to get some dirt off your face since her shoes looked kinda muddy, and you being all dirty isn't good!" Salamon replied sweetly.

Lopmon smiled. Salamon's gesture just now was a sweet and well-intentioned gesture of kindness. Feeling warm and fuzzy by Salamon's confession, she hugged Salamon gently, even though her arms are small and stubby.

"Thank you, Salamon. You're such a sweet little thing...and a great friend," Lopmon whispered, happy to have such a good friend in this cute little cream colored puppy with the wide violet eyes that are always hungry for both adventure and knowledge, and the rosy cheeks that give her that sweet appeal.

Yun couldn't help but notice their embrace and smiled at them.

'She's right. Thanks for being a great friend, Salamon,' Yun thought. Minako secretly took a picture of their cute embrace.

Oddly enough, Hokuto and Kudamon also noticed this, and Kudamon had different reasons for seeing this as relevant.

"Did you see that, Hokuto? That's what friends do. Friends help each other, share their secrets, and comfort each other in times of trouble," Kudamon told him quietly.

Hokuto didn't say anything. He just nodded at them.

"You've been getting along quite well with the Digimon Brigade, haven't you?" Kudamon asked.

Hokuto nodded again.

"I see. Why don't you try taking the opportunity to talk to someone here?" Kudamon advised calmly.

Hokuto didn't say anything again.

Unfortunately, the meeting ended, and most of the kids and Digimon left. All except for Yun, Aria, Lucero, Isao, and Hokuto, and their respective Digimon. Aria looked up at Yun with a smile and decided to talk to her.

"Hey Yun-chan!" Aria exclaimed as she gently tugged on Yun's shirt.

"What is it, Aria-chan?" Yun asked.

"I'm gonna be in a school play!"

"Really? What are you putting on?"

"We're doing _Thumbelina_(1), and I'm gonna be the butterfly who helps her escape!"

"A school play? What's that?" Terriermon asked.

"Aria-chan's been talking about it all week. A play is when some people put on a show and act it out. You play parts of characters and do some stuff and everything," Syakomon explained.

"That sounds lovely! I wish you good luck!" Lopmon encouraged with a sweet smile.

"I'm gonna be the toad prince!" Isao exclaimed.

"A toad? Isn't that a frog?" Bearmon asked.

"Yeah, but it's a different kind of frog," Isao said.

"I'd love it if you came to the play and watched me," Aria told Yun as she held onto her hand.

"You want me to come to the play?" Yun asked. Aria nodded vigorously, her brown eyes gleaming.

"When is it?"

"Next Friday, in the cafeteria, at seven!" Aria told her.

Yun began thinking. She had never been to a school play before, and never really felt the need to go to any or be in any. But the look in Aria's brown eyes is so innocent and endearing. She thought about how sad Aria would be if she didn't come. After some thinking, Yun smiled at Aria.

"I'd love to go, but I have to talk to my parents about it and see if I can go or not," Yun told her.

"Okay! Thanks!" Aria said. "My stepmama's making my costume!"

"Mariya-san's real nice!" Syakomon said.

"Mariya-san? Is that her name?" Lucero asked. Syakomon nodded.

"I did what you said and got to know her better, and you're right! She's not Cinderella's evil stepmother! She's nice and pretty!" Aria said with a sweet smile like Lopmon's.

"We're glad to hear that. It's great that thou hast gotten to see that thy stepmother is a nice person," Lucero said.

Aria cocked her head to one side in confusion. "Thy? What's that mean?"

"Thy means your. He's saying it's great that your stepmom's a nice person," Kudamon said.

"Yes. It's true," Hokuto said.

"Where's your real mom?" Isao asked.

"Isao! You shouldn't ask her about something so personal!" Yun scolded.

"Sorry! I didn't know!" Isao said. He didn't mean for the question to be ill-natured, but he was surprised by Yun's reaction. He just asked out of curiosity.

"Please don't yell," Hokuto told her.

"It's okay. Mama's in Heaven. Yun-chan? Do you know what heaven is like?" Aria replied innocently.

Suddenly, Yun was taken aback by Aria's question. Yun certainly believed in heaven, but she didn't know if it really existed or not, and she didn't want to disappoint Aria, who's only seven years old and just an innocent little girl who's going through hard times. After some small agony, an idea popped into her head, but Isao suddenly interrupted before she could speak.

"My mom says that heaven's a beautiful place!" Isao said.

Then Hokuto decided to join the conversation, though in an odd way.

"The modern English word heaven is derived from earlier Middle English spelling, heven, attested in 1159, which in turn was developed from the previous Old English form heofon. By c. 1000, heofon was used in reference to the Christianized _"place where God dwells."_ It had originally signified the words sky and firmament-"

Hokuto belabored on and on about the origin of the word Heaven and it's religious relevance, and having had enough, Lucero put a hand on his mouth to keep him quiet.

"That's not what she meant, Hokuto-dono," Lucero said.

Yun decided to tell Aria about heaven.

"Well, Aria-chan...to be honest, I don't really know what heaven is like for real. But I CAN tell you about what I THINK it looks like or might be like! Is that okay?"

Aria nodded.

"Hmmm...let's see...now what's heaven like? Oh! This is what I think heaven is like!" Yun began. "Like Isao-kun said, it's a wonderful and beautiful place! There are big trees with big fluffy white leaves that smell like sweet honey. There are glowing eggs growing off of them. That's where baby angels come from. The grass is all white and fluffy like the trees, and there are flowers everywhere. Hundreds and hundreds of flowers in all kinds of colors! Pink, blue, yellow, purple, everything! The little baby angels make little necklaces and wreaths out of them and play in them all day, and they never get tired, no matter how much they romp and stumble and tumble and play! And the sky is all pretty and beautiful, streaked with blue and orange and pink, it always looks like both a sunrise and a sunset! The little angels sing songs and play with each other and fly around all the time, bringing happiness to everyone!"

Not only was Aria immersed by Yun's imaginary story, but everyone else as well. Even the down to earth Kudamon was somehow entranced by Yun's recitation of her interpretation of heaven. Aria was so immersed by Yun's story that she suddenly found herself imagining it herself. She found herself in the place with the always multicolored sky, the white trees that smelled like honey, the soft white grass, the ever so jaunty and happy little flowers, and the little baby angels who, as she pictured, had bright, beautiful, flowing hair, sparkling eyes, little white wings, and tiny little bodies, spreading golden powder everywhere and singing in sweet and sonorous voices that sounded like little bell chimes. Among the beautiful scenery, the happy angel children, the sun-streaked sky, the sweet-smelling trees, the soft grass and the glowing eggs, Aria saw a black and ghostly woman-like figure. But the woman wasn't by any means ominous or wicked at all. Quite the contrary, really. Aria found herself smiling happily and running towards the woman like she found someone she loved after being separated for a really long time. Aria was just about to embrace the woman until someone pulled her out of her reverie.

"Aria-chan?"

It was Syakomon, and Aria jumped in surprise upon hearing her voice.

"S-S-Syakomon!" Aria yelped.

"Guess you really liked Yun-chan's story, didn't you?" Bearmon asked curiously.

"Yes...I did...umm...I should be going home now. Thanks for playing with me and telling me about heaven. Bye-bye!" Aria said and decided to leave with Syakomon hopping behind her.

Isao left with Bearmon walking faithfully by his side, leaving Hokuto, Lucero, Yun, Lopmon, Kudamon, and Terriermon all alone. Hokuto decided to use this opportunity to talk to Yun.

"Yun?"

"Hm?"

"Umm...thanks...for saving me and Lucero back in the Digital World."

"Uhh...you're welcome."

"And...I'm sorry...for scratching you in the face. I...shouldn't have done that...and for separating from the group on purpose."

Yun gently put a hand on Hokuto's shoulder and flashed a smile. "It's okay! It'll heal! As for you sneaking away from the group, I figure you have your reasons. But I don't think you should do it again. Okay? It'll be dangerous if you're not careful."

Hokuto nodded, though he didn't smile. Yun looked at Kudamon.

"You were awesome back in the Digital World. You managed to attack Witchmon with invisible attacks!" Yun said.

"Thank you for the praise. It was my desire to help Hokuto and everyone else that made me digivolve, and I'm glad everything's fine, though I still think this isn't over. Witchmon's master may have other Digimon at his wake," Kudamon explained calmly.

"You're probably right. We should still keep a lookout for in case any more suspicious Digimon start running around," Yun said.

"I wholeheartedly agree," Lopmon said.

"I'm getting hungry!" Terriermon said.

"Shall we journey home and have dinner?" Lucero said.

"You bet!" Yun exclaimed happily.

Soon, Yun, Lucero, Hokuto, and the Digimon all went home. As of now, Aria is almost at her house. Syakomon had warp digivolved into MarineAngemon once they turned left because if she had stayed as Syakomon, it would be easier for people to notice her. MarineAngemon hid into Aria's pants pocket.

"I wonder what's for dinner. I'm getting a little hungry," MarineAngemon said quietly.

"Me too," Aria said. Then she pulled out her pink D-Heart and stared at it. MarineAngemon noticed and floated out of Aria's pocket.

"What's wrong?" MarineAngemon asked, feeling a little worried.

"I wonder what being merciful can do to make you digivolve?" Aria asked.

"Who knows. We won't know until it happens," MarineAngemon told her.

"Yes. But...Mama always said I was a merciful girl and that I need to be. I don't get what she means," Aria said.

"Maybe she wants you to be a nice and kind person!"

"Is mercy the same as kindness and niceness?"

"I think so! Remember when Unimon killed me? I wasn't angry at him about it because I know he didn't mean to do it. LadyDevimon made him do it, and he didn't want to do it. I showed him mercy, which means I forgave him for his deed," MarineAngemon explained.

Aria didn't say anything more. MarineAngemon flew back into Aria's pocket and Aria walked back home. She arrived in front of a small brown house. Nothing really special. Just your normal, average house on the block good for housing four people. With MarineAngemon quietly and safely tucked into her pocket, Aria slowly went inside.

Unfortunately, much to her dismay, she was met with VERY cold reception, namely from her father. A tall, lean, bulky looking man in his mid 50's, with dark hair and dark, fierce looking eyes. His face is full of wrinkles, and he has a small but thick mustache with equally thick eyebrows. He also has some side burns on the sides of his head. He looked down at young Aria with a face full of scorn and contempt. He did NOT look happy. Aria could tell, and she felt a cold shiver run up her spine.

"Aria! Where in the world have you been?" Her father asked in a large, loud, booming voice contrary to Aria's normally low, timid, and sweet voice. Just from hearing this, Aria got scared.

"I...I told you this morning. I was playing with my friends," Aria replied.

"Playing with your friends? Aria, you should know better than to wander around and waste valuable time with those commoners! When I tell you to come straight home after school, I expect you to do as I ask and come straight home after school! Nothing good will come out of intimacies and trivialities! Are you really so bold as to disobey me?" Her father scolded angrily.

Aria was getting scared. She didn't know what to say. She wanted to run, but if she did, he would become even more incensed. "Uh-"

"Well? Answer me! Or do I have to-"

"Dad, will you shut up?"

The other booming voice came from Orie, who took Aria by the hand and dragged her away, leaving her father even more choleric.

"Did you just tell me to shut up? How dare you!"

"Quit being so uptight about everything! What's so wrong with playing with friends once in a while? She said she was gonna come back before dinner, and she did! Quit trying to coop us up in the house! If you'll excuse us, we've got homework to do!" Orie exclaimed and took Aria into her (Aria's) room, leaving their father alone.

Aria and MarineAngemon plopped onto the bed and exhaled a big sigh of relief. But MarineAngemon grew concerned.

"Umm...is that your dad?" MarineAngemon asked.

"Yep," Aria replied in a whisper.

"He doesn't look or sound like a very nice man," MarineAngemon said.

"Ain't that the truth! Ever since our real mom died, Dad's getting more and more paranoid about everything! He's finally cracked in the head! He'll try to spank us just for even the smallest mentioning our real mom! He's nuts!" Orie exclaimed angrily.

Aria did hear the conversation, but was lost in a flashback.

(flashback)

_She remembered her real mother._

_To Aria, reliving her memories with her was like nothing else she had ever experienced before. She felt happy, but at the same time,_ _longing. Aria remembered a time when she was about six years old and halfway through first grade. Her class had begun a school picnic in which all the kids and their parents attended. They ate food, played games, danced, listened to music, everything. But little Aria, with slightly longer hair than she has now, had no interest in dancing or listening to music or playing games. She looked for her precious mother, but to no avail until she saw a figure walking up the grassy hill._

_Aria beamed joyfully and ran to her. "Mama!"_

_Aria's mother was a small and mousy-looking woman who always emitted a serene aura. Her hair is very long and curly, with little ringlets sticking out everywhere, not one out of place. Black hair, it was. Just like Aria's. Her eyes are small but gentle and just as serene, dark brown just like Aria's. She wore nothing but a white ruffled blouse, a long light blue skirt, and a white sun hat with a pink ribbon on it._ _In her hand is a small, forlorn basket with food in it. Aria leaped on her mother happily, and her mother laughed._

_"I'm here, Aria-chan. Did you wait long?" Her mother asked in the sweetest of voices, just like Aria's. Aria shook her head vigorously._

_"I see. Well, I'm here, and I brought all the food I cooked. Let's set up, shall we?" Aria's mother proceeded to set up their little picnic._ _She brought out a red and white quilt and set it on the grass. Aria and her mother sat on it and brought out the food. Her mother made crustless and triangle shaped peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, soft chocolate chip cookies, and some small slices of pie packed with grape jam. She also brought bananas, carrot sticks, a bottle of water, some packs of apple juice, a bag of fresh apple slices, and vanilla pudding. They both ate the healthy foods first, then went on to the not so healthy ones. Aria especially liked the pie slices, the bananas,_ _and the cookies. Her mother is a great cook, and Aria knew this very well._

_"Aria-chan? Why don't you go play with the other kids?" Her mother asked as Aria finished a piece of carrot._

_"I will, but not right now. I wanna play with you lots and lots today!" Aria exclaimed happily._

_After they finished eating, Aria played with her mother. They played hide and seek, tag, and airplane ride. Aria enjoyed every single minute of it. After a while, they stopped playing._

_"Exercise is an important part of a young girl's development," Her mother said. Aria didn't quite understand what she said, but since her mom is smiling and that she knows what the word exercise means, she figured her mother said that exercise is good for little girls. Aria then decided to sit down on her mother's lap._

_"Mama? Will you tell me the story again? The one with the pretty fairies with sparkly wings and stars in their hair?" Aria asked sweetly._

_Her mother smiled and began stroking her little girl's thick black hair gently._

_"Since you love it so much, I'll tell you again. Long long ago, in a land far, far away, there was a tiny little village owned by fairies._ _They lived in big pink flowers floating on the water, with lily pads for them to play and jump on. The water in the pond always sparkled under the sun's light. It looked like stars were in the water. The fairies loved to play and fly and hop around on it. They're small, tiny things, smaller than your finger, with beautiful and colorful wings that looked like morning dew. They glew under the sun's rays and made the whole village feel warm and comfortable. One little group of fairies noticed a big white flower floating around in the pond, and since there were no white flowers in their village, they found it strange. Curious, they decided to take a look. When they found the big white flower, they were surprised with what they saw! They saw the most beautiful fairy in the village. She was bigger and taller than them, with long flowing hair with stars on it that glittered in the sunlight. She has eight beautiful white wings, white as snow, and wore a long,_ _trailing white gown with lace and ruffles and embroidery and everything. She was the most dazzling thing they had ever seen. But the fairy knew nothing of their village. The little fairy children decided to teach her all they knew about their peaceful village, seeing that she is not an evil creature."_

_Aria had her eyes closed and listened to the story intently, imagining every single part of it. She could actually see the fairies and the village that her dear mother had described as if they truly did exist. Aria wished that she could go to such a wonderful place and be one of those fairies, happily and merrily flying and singing and playing around, not having a care in the world. With her mother and her wonderful stories, she felt safe and secure. She wished such fun and happy times like this would last forever._

_But in due time, Aria would never be able to play with her mother, eat her wonderful cooking, and listen to her stories ever again. Tragedy struck. And so did her reverie._

(end flashback)

"Aria-chan!"

MarineAngemon's congenial and sweet voice pulled Aria out of her flashback.

"Huh?"

"What's wrong? You were dozing off just now."

"Was I? Sorry."

"It's okay!"

"Aria! Shouldn't you be doing your homework now?" Orie exclaimed. Aria scrambled to her little desk, pulled out two of her schoolbooks and began working. After about 45 minutes, she finished and put them away. Afterward, Aria played happily with MarineAngemon until dinner time.

MarineAngemon said that Aria's father didn't seem like a very nice man, and her suspicions were confirmed when dinner came around.

Aria, Orie, and their father sat at the table solemnly eating. Today's dinner is meat loaf, mashed potatoes, and green beans. Aria didn't like green beans, but tolerated them anyway because if she said that she hated them, her father would get mad, and she didn't want him to be mad. But it wasn't going to matter anyway. MarineAngemon hid under the table, not making a sound. Aria found the silence to be rather eerie and tenuous, so she decided to start a conversation.

"Next Friday, my class is going to put on a school play," Aria said, trying to put on the biggest smile as possible. Her father was drinking some coffee from his mug as she said this.

"Is that so? What are you guys putting on?" Orie asked.

"We doing Thumbelina, and I'm gonna be the butterfly who helps her escape from the toad queen's son!" Aria told her happily.

"Sounds interesting," Orie said.

"It is! We're going to practice tomorrow. I just-" Aria wanted to say that she hoped to be able to remember all her lines, but her father suddenly put his half full coffee mug down on the table, stopping her from finishing.

"There's no need to practice, because you're not going," Her father suddenly said solemnly.

Aria was confused. Was he telling her not to practice or was he saying that she can't be in the play?

"Umm...do you mean not go to practice or not be in the play?" Aria asked as politely and kindly as possible.

"What else do you think I mean! Both!" He yelled.

"But why?"

"There's no point in participating in such useless trivialities. Nothing good will come of it!"

Aria didn't quite know what the words participate or trivialities meant, but from the way he said it, he's saying that acting in plays is bad. Aria didn't understand why he would disapprove.

"But...but I have to be in the play! Our class decided on it! If we pick something to do, then we have to do it! We can't suddenly leave or anything, or it'll ruin the whole thing!"

"You are not going to that stupid rehearsal or play, and that is final!" His voice steadily got louder.

Aria should've stopped there, but she didn't, and that was a mistake.

"My teacher says that it's not easy to pick someone else if they get sick or disappear at the last minute! I have to-"

"SHUT UP YOU BRAT!"

In a fit of anger, the man threw his half full coffee mug right at Aria's head! With a scream, Aria fell off of her chair, down to the floor and against the wall, with a big gash on her head and some moderately warm coffee spilled on her shirt. Her father stood up from the chair and walked right up to her.

"For the last and final time, you are not going to that stupid play, nor will you practice either! If I tell you to do something, your job is to obey me and do it! Do you understand me? I won't tolerate defiance!" Her dad yelled vehemently, not showing remorse for what he just did. Aria clung to her head and tried to get up, but slumped back to the floor. This irritated him.

"Get up! That didn't even hurt!" He yelled, trying to make Aria stand up by pressing his foot on her arm. Finally, Orie stood up angrily.

"That didn't hurt? Are you insane, dad? You just threw a coffee mug at her! How can that not hurt?" Orie yelled as she ran to Aria and helped her up. "And quit being so uptight about everything! It's JUST a school play for God's sake! Why get mad at her for something that's not even her idea?"

"She brought this on herself for choosing to disobey me!"

"By talking about a school play and to participate in it? That's the school's fault!"

With that piece of rhetoric, Orie took Aria away from the dinner table, leaving him alone again. Right then, Mariya, the girls' stepmother, came into the house.

"I'm back!" She called out in a nice voice, but when she came into the dining room, she saw her husband alone and standing in front of a broken coffee mug on the floor.

"Kinzo! What happened?" Mariya yelped. Her husband, Kinzo, looked into the refridgerator and made a face.

"It seems we're out of milk. I'll run to the store and grab some. Dinner's ready if you want some, Mariya," Kinzo said in a low tone and left the house.

When they heard the door slam, Orie and Aria came out into the dining room. Orie held a wet wash cloth on Aria's head. Mariya gasped upon seeing the injury.

"Oh my! Are you okay, Aria-chan?" Mariya rushed to Aria's aid and took care of her.

Mariya held the wash cloth to Aria's head, then proceeded to put some gauze on it. Once it was tightly wrapped around Aria's head, she let go of it. But she looked very worried and decided to ask Aria about it.

"Does it hurt?" Mariya asked softly. Aria nodded.

"Can you tell me what happened, dear?" Mariya asked again. Aria gave in and told her.

"The school play..."

"Oh? I remember you telling me about that. I'll have your costume finished by next Wednesday."

"No. Papa...he got mad...when I talked about it. He told me...not to go, to practice or to the play...but I can't just leave! I have to be the butterfly! Nobody else can have the part! But he...threw a mug at me. Said it didn't hurt, but it did, and still does."

Mariya stiffled a gasp by covering her mouth with her hands.

"What? He did?"

"Yes..." Aria looked as though she was about to cry. Orie came into the room, appalled.

"Why are you telling her about it?" Orie yelped, angry that Aria just told Mariya about what happened.

"It's okay, Orie-chan. I'll handle this," Mariya told Orie in a stern but soft voice, making Orie walk away. Aria shed a few tears in the process. Mariya tried to calm her down by rubbing her back and holding her close.

"Shhh. Shhh. It's alright, Aria-chan. I know you meant well," Mariya crooned sweetly.

"I...I don't get it. Papa doesn't want me to go. But I have to be the butterfly. If I get sick or disappear, the play might be cancelled! My teacher says it's not easy to find someone else to play the part and remember the lines," Aria explained sadly.

"I know, dear. Don't worry, sweetie. I'll talk to Kinzo, and we'll sort this out somehow. I can't wait to see you perform," Mariya told her gently. Suddenly, an idea popped into her head. "Oh! Aria-chan! I was wondering..."

"What is it?"

"I remember you telling me about your friend from 6th grade. Yun-chan, was it?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you played with her lately?"

"Yep. Earlier today. I told her about the play and asked her to come."

"You seem to like her a lot. I'll tell you what. Kinzo has business to do tomorrow, and I have a day off, so how about tomorrow you invite her over here?"

Aria immediately beamed. "Really? I can have Yun-chan come here and play?"

"Yes! Would that be okay?"

Aria leaped out of her stepmother's arms and jumped with joy. "Yay! Yay! Thank you, Mariya-san! You're nice! I should call Yun-chan and tell her!"

As Aria leaped for the phone, Mariya (and secretly, MarineAngemon) ruminated.

_'Kinzo hit Aria with a coffee mug? Why in the world would he do such a thing? And Aria's such a sweet girl! I'm going to get to the bottom of this! Something's not right here!'_ Mariya thought.

_'Tell me what I just saw isn't real! Aria just got beat by her own dad! He's so cruel! No way am I gonna let him off easy! He might be worse than that girl Nayuki we ran into earlier! If he hurts Aria-chan again, I'm gonna give him a mouthful while everyone's away! But first, I should use my Spray of Hearts attack on Aria so she'll feel better,'_ MarineAngemon thought and floated away while Mariya wasn't looking.

Around that time, Isao and Bearmon had also gotten home. Bearmon went a different way because Isao didn't want him to be seen by his mom. His house is smaller than Aria's, painted light green. When Isao walked through the door, he saw his mother at the dining room table reading the paper.

"Hi Mom! I'm back!" Isao exclaimed with a big smile.

Isao's mother is a mousy woman with curly light brown hair and deep blue eyes, just like her son.

"Welcome back, Isao! How was your day?" Isao's mother asked.

"Great! Guess what? I aced my first spelling test and beat some of the other kids in kick ball in gym class today!" Isao exclaimed.

"Wonderful! Congrats! I'm so proud of you, dear!" Isao's mom hugged her son, feeling proud that he's made some noteworthy accomplishments today.

"Oh! Me and my class are gonna put on a school play next Friday. We're doing Thumbelina, and I'm gonna be the toad prince!" Isao told her.

"A toad prince?" Isao's mother laughed when he mentioned that. "I can't picture you playing the part of a toad. Should I make your costume? I should probably get to it right this minute! Oh! We'll be having curry for dinner tonight."

Isao's mother went off to make Isao's costume while he ran into his room and found Bearmon already inside. He had come in through the window, which is big enough for Bearmon to get into and low enough for him to be able to reach it and get in without difficulty. Isao's room is perfectly typical of a little boy's room. The walls are covered with greenish yellow paint, his dresser is white with a lamp and some Pokemon and Digimon cards and games on it, there's some toys and cars on the rug, and his bed is covered with a spread embroidered with multicolored numbers.

"Hey Bearmon! Mom says we're gonna have curry tonight!" Isao exclaimed.

"Cool! I love curry!" Bearmon said with a smile. Isao sat down happily, but as he did, his bronze D-Heart fell out. Isao grabbed it before it could roll somewhere he couldn't reach. It sat peacefully in his palm, and Isao looked down at it somewhat despondently.

"What's wrong, Isao-kun?" Bearmon asked curiously.

"I wonder if the D-Heart of strength really suits me?" Isao asked himself.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not good at lifting big and heavy stuff. I'm good at soccer, but I don't know if that counts as strength. Or does this mean strength as in the strength on the inside? I try to act tough around my friends so they won't hate me, but I'm a big crybaby inside. Dad says it's okay to cry when you need to, but since he went to Heaven...I don't know anymore. I don't really do much for the Digimon Brigade, even though I'm part of their team. I want to be strong, but I don't know how."

"I don't think it's a matter of how you should be strong. I think you should focus on why you want to be strong."

"You think?"

"Yeah? Sorry if I'm bragging, but I'm good at lifting heavy things and breaking stuff into a million pieces. If you want, I can train you into getting stronger for the team."

"Really? You'll do that?"

"Sure! Friends help each other get stronger, don't they?"

"Yep! Y'know...you kinda remind me of my dad, Bearmon."

"Really? I do?"

"Yeah. You're nice and you never do anything bad. You know what's good and what's bad. You're strong too. I wish I was as strong as you or Dad. I also wanna help Mom out since Dad going to Heaven has been tough on her."

"Well, let's be strong together!"

"Yeah!"

Isao and Bearmon high fived and began playing together. Isao was so happy to have a friend in Bearmon, so big yet soft-hearted and friendly. He hoped that he'd be able to get stronger and stay with Bearmon forever.

Meanwhile, around that time, Minako had just arrived home with Salamon trotting happily and quietly behind her.

"I'm home!" Minako announced as she saw her mother, Minagi, reading the paper and Tatsuha, her father, washing the dishes.

"Oh! Welcome back, Mina-chan! How was school today? You're home later than usual," Tatsuha said with a smile.

"It was fine. I was hanging out with my friends. Sorry if I worried you," Minako told him.

"That's alright, so long as we know you're safe. Oh! That reminds me! Minako, a package came for you in the mail," Minagi said with a smile as she put down the paper and showed Minako a small rectangle-shaped box. Minako immediately took it out of her hands and beamed.

"Wow! It's from Uncle Ayato!" Minako exclaimed as she got out a small knife and began prying the box open. Out came a small DVD. Minako immediately squealed like a happy fangirl upon seeing what it was.

"EEEEK! A DVD of _Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva_(2)! I've been trying to find this all year but with no luck!" Minako yelped happily as she lavished the DVD with love.

"Ayato-kun found it online. He knows how much you love those games, so he got it for ya!" Tatsuha said.

"If he ever calls back, tell him I said thanks!" Minako exclaimed. Then she ran into her room with Salamon running behind her.

"Man, Ayato-kun is always forgetting to give us his phone number. Maybe I'll remind him next time he calls," Tatsuha muttered to himself.

Minako sat on her bed, happy that she's finally got her DVD. Salamon became curious.

"You're really happy, aren't you?" Salamon asked.

"I sure am! I've been trying to get the DVD for this since it was announced, but it's so popular it kept on getting sold out, even online! I was never able to get it until now! I saw it in theaters and it was awesome!" Minako explained.

"I know you're always playing those Layton games. Wan!"

"They're so much fun! They really make you think and it helps your brain!"

Salamon trotted around the room some more until she arrived at Minako's desk. She got up on the chair and got a closer look. On the desk is a picture of Minako and her family. Her, her mother, her father, and the little boy. The little boy was being hoisted in the air by a happy Tatsuha, looking very happy to be in the sky. His little hands and arms stretched open trying to embrace the sky, and his pudgy cheeks looked just as rosy as Salamon's. Salamon had forgotten to ask who the little boy was. Seeing this to be a great reminder, Salamon decided to take the plunge.

"Mina-chan? I've been meaning to ask...who's the little boy in the picture?" Salamon asked innocently.

Immediately, Minako's joy and glee ended, and her Professor Layton anime DVD dropped onto one of the pillows. Salamon took note of this.

"What's...wrong?" She feared that she had somehow made Minako mad.

"The little boy? That's...my little brother. Omori Kiyoshi. He was two years old in that picture," Minako replied.

"He's cute! Wan!" Salamon exclaimed sweetly, which made Minako smile a bit.

"Yeah. He sure was," Minako said.

"So...where is he now? I notice he's never around."

Minako sat herself up, even though her head is drooping downward despondently. Her Professor Layton anime DVD lay dormantly next to her hand.

"He's...gone. He died a few months ago," Minako said sadly.

Salamon suddenly beamed.

"Really? I see! But don't worry! Maybe his data went to the Meadow of Birth and he became a DigiEgg!" Salamon said excitedly.

But a second after that, Salamon had wished she hadn't said something like that, as she noticed Minako looking sadder and sadder. Salamon became worried.

"Is that...not true?"

"No. It's not. You don't get it, Salamon. We humans aren't like you Digimon. If you die, you get reformed and turn into DigiEggs. Humans...if we die, we stay dead. We don't get reformed or reborn or come back to life or anything. We're not data. Kiyoshi...he's dead. He's never coming back, no matter how much I want him to. He's gone forever and we can't do anything about it!"

Salamon suddenly felt her ever so vibrant curiosity and exuberance drain out of her body. Salamon realized it now. Unlike Digimon, humans have substance, but even that comes with a price. Digimon can live on forever so long as some powerful anti-virus doesn't destroy them. But humans...their lives are much shorter and more vulnerable. They can't escape death while Digimon can. Salamon never once thought that humans stay dead and never come back and never be reborn. Once she realized this, she realized that she had unknowingly said something insensitive.

"Mina-chan...I'm sorry. I didn't know. I shouldn't have asked! How could I be so-" Salamon apologized sincerely, feeling very rueful about asking about Minako's late brother.

"It's okay. I'm guilty for not telling you earlier. I'm sorry too. Umm...in case you're wondering how he died...we were out on a picnic, and he wandered off. He fell into a river and we didn't notice until it was too late. He hit his head on a big rock and drowned. It wouldn't have mattered because he was only two, and two year olds can't swim. The doctors tried to save him, but...they couldn't," Minako explained.

The room was about to be filled with a sort of melancholy awkwardness until Tatsuha suddenly came into the room.

"What's up, Dad?" Minako asked.

"Sorry Mina-chan, but would you mind going food shopping with me? There's some stuff on here that I don't know about and it's really driving me out of my noggin!" Tatsuha said. Minako regained her composure and got off her bed.

"Sure. I'll go with you," Minako said and decided to get herself ready. As Tatsuha went away, Minako looked at Salamon.

"I guess I'll be going with Dad for a bit. Be good while I'm gone, okay?" Minako said with a smile.

"Okay. But didn't you want to watch your movie?" Salamon said.

"Yeah, but I can wait. Plus we have that math test on Friday and I need to study."

"Okay...and again, I'm sorry for being so insensitive."

"It's fine. Like I said, I forgot to tell you earlier so I'm guilty of that too."

A few minutes later, Minako and Tatsuha were out the door. Salamon was left alone in Minako's room, feeling dejected because of what she heard. On pure impulse, she went into Kiyoshi's room and hopped up to the picture of him on the dresser and smiled.

"Hello, Kiyoshi-kun! I'm Salamon, Minako's Digimon friend! Nice to meet you!" Salamon said to the picture with her sweetest smile, though even she knew it was forced.

However, even though Minako told her about what happened, something else still bothered her. She remembered the toy puppy that she plays with a lot. She heard her parents saying that it belonged to him. She also remembered the conversation Minagi and Tatsuha had. Tatsuha had mentioned hiding every single knife, weight, bleach carton, razor blade, and over the counter medicine. Apparently Minako had done something that scared them so much that they took drastic measures in the form of making sure she didn't have access to all the things Tatsuha listed. That was what Salamon became the most curious about: What did Minako do that was so scary? Could it have something to do with Kiyoshi's death? She couldn't help but wonder.

Her curiosity meter regarding Minako's stunt literally exploded once she went into the living room and decided to watch TV with Minagi.

Salamon sat on the couch next to Minagi, who was channel surfing.

"I wonder if there's anything good on tonight?" Minagi asked herself. Suddenly, she stopped at one channel about to show a movie.

"WHAT? _It's A Wonderful Life_(3) is about to come on? Wow! It's not even Christmas yet they're showing it! I haven't seen that movie in a long time! Maybe I'll watch it right now!" Minagi said with a smile and decided to watch it. Salamon decided to watch too.

But when the movie began, Salamon found herself so immersed in the black and white movie that she failed to notice that time had passed! Finally, the movie ended. Two hours had passed, yet Salamon didn't move. Not once. She was moved by the movie. So moved, in fact, that she flopped to the floor. Minagi saw this and helped her back up. Then she looked at the clock.

"Hmm. I guess the food shopping's taking longer than planned. Oh! That reminds me! I have to go to the post office and mail that letter! Maybe now's a good time to run over there real quick," Minagi said and, after a few minutes, left the house.

Salamon was now all alone. She very slowly walked out of the living room and into Kiyoshi's room. Once she sat down on the fluffy rug and looked at Kiyoshi's picture...she immediately broke down into a paroxysm of tears.

_"BWAAAAAAHHH!"_

No, really. HUGE, round, sticky, ploppy tears were literally pouring out of Salamon's violet eyes. She wailed and cried, so deeply moved by the movie she just saw.

"Su-Su-Such a...a...wonderful...movie!" Salamon wailed as she replayed the entire movie back in her head in a split second. After a good cry, Salamon finally realized it. She finally realized what she wanted to do.

"Now that I saw that wonderful movie, I finally know what I'm here to do! As Mina-chan's Digimon friend, my newly formed mission is to remind Minako of all the wonderful joys of living!" Salamon wailed proudly, resolving to help Minako realize the shortness and fragileness of life. She hopped back up to the picture of Kiyoshi.

"Do you hear that, Kiyoshi? Just you wait! I'm gonna help Mina-chan remember what it means to live! I don't know what she did that scared her parents so much, but whatever it is, it's making her not feel at peace with herself! I'm gonna help her! Don't worry, Kiyoshi-kun! I'll do anything for Mina-chan!"

And thus, Salamon found her resolve.

Author's Note: Here's chapter 27. Still ticked off. Homework to do. Bye.

Footnotes:

1. Thumbelina was a literary fairy tale written by Hans Christian Andersen (The Ugly Duckling, The Little Mermaid, etc.) and published on December 16th, 1835.

2. Professor Layton and The Eternal Diva is an anime movie that was made in 2009 based on the popular games of the same name. It takes place after the game Professor Layton and The Last Specter.

3. It's A Wonderful Life is a movie, or more specifically a Christmas drama, that was released in 1946, directed by Frank Capra. It's based on the short story, The Greatest Gift, by Philip Van Doren Stern.


	28. Minako's Secret

Author's Note: Hello guys. It's me. Some good news. One: I finally re-watched the movie Hoshi o Ou Kodomo! Yay! It was as beautiful as I remember when I saw it back at Otakon! I don't care if people think it's a Ghibli rip-off! I think it's awesome and beautiful! Two: I have the entire first season of Shinryaku! Ika Musume (or Squid Girl) on DVD! I didn't think the second DVD would come out until tomorrow. Oh well! Good thing I grabbed it when I did! Three: One more week and then I'm on winter break! For a month! Well, time to get back to my story. Here's chapter 28 of Digimon: A Seraphic Tale.

EPISODE 28: Minako's Secret

When Yun got home, the first thing she did was wash Lopmon's face. She was still pretty angry about what had happened, but she kept her cool for Lopmon's sake and made sure to clean her little friend up as gently as she could, with some soap and nice cold water. It worked like a charm, and Lopmon didn't feel hurt anymore. Lopmon didn't feel a need to play outside, so Yun decided to stay with her in her (Yun's) room as Lucero and Terriermon played in the back yard. Lopmon helped Yun study for her math test while Yun helped Lopmon feel a bit better by letting the cute, chocolate and pink cotton candy colored bunny rest peacefully in her tender arms, stroking her long floppy ears with her soft fingers. About a few minutes later, Yun got a phone call from Aria of all people! Aria asked Yun if she'd like to come over her house at around 4:00 PM. Yun was a little taken aback at first, since it was on such short notice, but Yun asked her mother if she could go anyway. Hisako said yes, and Yun told Aria the good news. Lopmon overheard and was happy with her. Yun planned to take Lopmon and Terriermon with her. She wanted to play with Lopmon some more, but homework and studies had diverted her away from her precious time with her bunny friend. But Lopmon didn't mind. She knew that Yun was quite vigorous when it came to studying for this test, and she didn't want to get in the way of that, nor did she allow Terriermon to do so. Feeling much better from having Yun's support and tender loving care, which she lavished in, Lopmon decided to treat herself to one of Yun's anime DVDs. _Fancy Lala_(1) it was. Lopmon enjoyed every minute of it, and for a while she had forgotten about the cruel Nayuki and her wicked Digimon, Tsukaimon.

But still, like Yun, Lopmon couldn't help but feel a little pressed by questions regarding the girl in black. Who was she really? Why does she have a Digimon? Why does she make him do the things he did? Why is she so cruel? Why does she believe that Digimon are nothing more than packets of data whose sole destiny is to fight? Lopmon couldn't help but wonder. Soon, the day passed and it is now Thursday. One more day until the big math test, and during homeroom, Yun is sitting at her desk, studying vigorously. Lucero, Otoya, and Riku couldn't help but notice.

"Yun-chan? Don't you think you're pushing it a little? You should relax a bit!" Otoya advised calmly, with a smile.

"Why should I, when the math test is tomorrow? I don't want to fail! I spent most of the afternoon taking care of Lopmon, not that it's her fault," Yun exclaimed.

"I can see why you would. You're a great friend, y'know that, Yun? I wish I had one when I lived in Hokkaido!" Riku said.

"You and Rena-chan are from Hokkaido? I never knew!" Yun exclaimed, surprised by this new revelation.

Riku held his arms akimbo proudly. "Yep! We, the Nobara twins, come from Hokkaido! But to be honest, it isn't really much. Just a bunch of small towns and rice fields. I loved playing around there, but that was pretty much it."

"I'm jealous! I actually want to go to Hokkaido!" Otoya said.

"You do?" Yun asked.

"Yeah! Sapporo has great veterinary schools! Oh! Fun fact: did you know that there's a special breed of dogs called Hokkaido?" Otoya said.

"A Hokkaido dog? My! How very strange!" Lucero exclaimed.

"Who names a dog after a continent?" Yun exclaimed.

"Beats me! I think it's pretty cool!" Otoya said.

"Anyway...you're still antsy about that test?" Riku asked Yun.

"Yeah. Have you been studying?" Yun asked Riku.

"Uhhh...kinda. But I kinda know I won't pass no matter what I do, and Mom's gonna explode if I don't!" Riku said with a sigh.

"You know that cramming is bad, right? Maybe you should go to the Digital World and study! The flow of time is different from the human world's!" Otoya said.

Suddenly, Riku beamed. "Hey! You're right! I can spend days studying in the Digital World! Coronamon can help me! Wow! Thanks for givin' me a great idea, Otoya! You're awesome!"

"I only said it as a joke!" Otoya exclaimed.

Otoya and Riku continued to get swallowed in their fun natured banter while Yun got swallowed in her studies. She couldn't wait to get this test done and over with. Not because she was confident about it. No, quite the contrary. She's _LESS_ than confident about it. She just wants to pass and get it done and over with so she can play with her friends and, later on Friday, go to the movies with Teruki. She couldn't wait to see that movie. Unfortunately, even though Yun is trying to study, her sensitive ears still picked up on some less than encouraging gossip flying around like house flys.

"Wakamiya's staring into her notes like she's Einstein or something!" One of Seiko's clique friends, the blonde haired girl, whispered in a maligned manner.

"She really wants to pass tomorrow's test, doesn't she?" The black haired girl said rather timidly. Seiko crossed her arms.

"Just look at her! She must think she's smarter than the principal! Staring into those papers all proud like that! She should know better than to act all conceited!" Seiko exclaimed scornfully.

_'Yun? Conceited? No way! If anyone's conceited, it's you, Shimizu!'_ Riku thought as he secretly shot a look at her.

The black haired girl groaned. "She's got a point. This math test counts for 30% of our grade, and if I don't pass, my dad's gonna flip!"

"Mizuki Iniki!" Seiko snapped at her black haired friend, Iniki. "You're seriously catching her snotty retard odor?"

"No! I mean it, Seiko-chan!" Iniki stammered. "My grades have been low lately and my dad's being really annoying! He won't let me out of his sight for a second!"

The blonde haired girl groaned too. "I know, right? My parents are the same way. They're always nagging and complaining about every little thing that happens in my life! They wouldn't let me listen to my music after I got a D minus on last week's English quiz! They're all over my older siblings!"

"Tomoka-chan, aren't your siblings, like, really hot?" Seiko asked with her elbow on her desk and her hand on her cheek.

"Yeah, but they're not exactly popular. In fact, they're just like Wakamiya! Total retards, but Mom and Dad are always talking about how smart and wonderful they are! As if!" The blonde haired girl, Tomoka, complained.

"You have Wakamiya clones for siblings?" Seiko asked again.

"Again, yeah. It's really embarrassing to even go to the dollar store with them!" Tomoka groaned.

"Speaking of Wakamiya...those clothes she has on are so, like, totally out of style!" Seiko snickered wickedly, referring to Yun's attire for today consisting of a short-sleeved turquoise shirt with black embroidery all over it and five small, silver, plastic circles on the collar, along with pale brown jean shorts and dark pink socks under those white sneakers of hers. Unbeknownst to Seiko, Mrs. Kamogawa, the homeroom teacher, heard her snide comment since it was so loud.

"It looks like it came out of a homeless person's donation barrel!" Tomoka snickered. Seiko and Iniki suddenly burst out laughing, which caught the attention of Mrs. Kamogawa (along with the other students, including those in the Digimon Brigade).

"That cutie Lucero should know better than to hang out with someone with such disgusting taste in clothes!" Seiko said again, adding to the comments and somehow making Tomoka snort like a pig. Suddenly...BAM!

"Eek!"

Mrs. Kamogawa slammed a big wooden meter stick on their desks, scaring them into being quiet.

"Girls? I understand you're having quite a fun time gossiping, but don't you think you should spend less time gossiping and more time studying? Takahashi-sensei says you have a big math test tomorrow. You don't want to get a bad grade, don't you?" Mrs. Kamogawa said in a sickeningly sweet yet frightening voice, which scared the girls. Iniki was the one who conceded defeat first.

"Yes...we'll get right to it..." Iniki stammered and got her math notes out.

Seiko got her notes out and began working while Tomoka stammered on a problem. Minako happened to stop by and notice.

"Oh! That answer's wrong," Minako pointed out politely.

"Huh? It is?" Tomoka asked.

"Yeah. This is supposed to be two minus six, not two plus six," Minako explained, showing Tomoka the error she made. Apparently she wrote a problem wrong. Tomoka was surprised.

"Oh! Now I get it! No wonder I kept screwing up! Thanks, Omori-san!" Tomoka stammered as she corrected the problem. Minako walked away while Seiko stole a glance at her scornfully.

"What? She helped me!" Tomoka protested.

Yun and the other kids studied whenever they got the chance. In all their math classes they received review sheets so they can review for the test. Lucero and Minako helped whenever kids got stuck on some problems they didn't understand. Yun was so engrossed in her studying that she even did so during recess, which Hokuto, Otoya, Lucero, and Melody noticed.

"You're studying really hard, aren't you?" Hokuto asked.

"I sure am! I really want to pass so I can bring my grade up!" Yun replied.

"Thou art very fervent in thy studies! What a wonderful, commendable, and noble trait to possess!" Lucero said with a smile.

"Indeed," Melody muttered.

"Yun-chan. You should loosen up a bit and relax. My mom says that if you focus too much on one thing and not relax once in a while, you tend to get all wound up," Otoya said.

Yun sighed. "Yeah. You're right. I guess now I can-"

Yun attempted to put her math notes away...but right as she was about to, someone literally ran up and yanked them right out of her hands!

"What? Hey!" Yun yelled as she tried to chase the culprit...who is none other than Nenji, who is laughing maliciously while clinging to Yun's math notes.

"I need those! Give them back, fathead!" Yun tried to grab them, but Nenji evaded her whenever she got close.

"You ain't passin' nuttin', retard!" Nenji taunted wickedly, waving the papers like they're trash. But secretly, Melody and Lucero both snatch the papers back from him, suddenly making him mad.

"Art thou saying that thou doth not wish for Yun to pass the next test? Thy wickedness and effrontery surely shows!" Lucero said.

"Quit talkin' like yer so much smarter than us, girly boy! Ain't ya gunna put on a dress, dawg?" Nenji yelped.

"Maybe you should be the one in a dress!" Melody retorted with a devilish smirk.

"What about you, punk girl? You ain't wearin' a dress! Why don'cha wear one?" Nenji yelled.

"Yeah, Shimotsuki! Why don't you wear a dress? You'd look real pretty in one!" Seiko cried out from the sidelines condescendingly, which Melody caught dead on. She handed Yun her notes.

"Shouldn't you be getting a nose job? It looks like it got hacked in a blender!" Melody snapped, pointing to Seiko's nose, which is shaped like a perfect right triangle. Iniki and Tomoka gasped while Seiko grabbed her nose with her hands.

"How dare you say that about my beautiful nose, you punk goth girl!" Seiko yelled angrily.

"Actually, it's not beautiful at all. I can see some zit marks right next to it!" Riku pointed out, which made Seiko shriek.

"I thought I got rid of those!" Seiko muttered to herself.

Thank goodness the bell rang, because Seiko and Nenji were about to either fly or go on a melodramatic spiel at them. Later, in PE, Yun, Minako, Melody, and Lucero happened to be put into the same team for a kick ball game. They sat together on the stage as they waited for their turns.

"This game is so gonna blow," Melody muttered.

"Blow?" Lucero cocked his head to one side in confusion. "Blow what? Bubbles? Thou doth know that games cannot blow bubbles, right?"

Melody turned to look at him, looking very surprised. "Huh?"

"You...don't get expressions, do you?" Minako asked. Lucero shook his head.

"When someone says something is going to blow, they're really saying it's going to really be bad or stink. For example, if someone says a movie is going to blow, they're saying it'll be a really bad movie," Minako explained.

"I never did get what that meant until recently," Yun muttered.

"But why can't they say it'll be bad? That maketh no sense!" Lucero exclaimed.

"I know, right? I hate it when they use weird words to explain things!" Yun said.

"That's true, but this is the modern world we're living in," Minako said with her arms crossed. Suddenly, Melody let out a barely contained snicker.

"Ha! Look! Shimizu just got whacked with the ball! She broke a nail!" Melody laughed as Kadota began yelling at Seiko, who was just hit with the ball, which caused one of her nails to break, which in turn made her cry, and that made Kadota mad.

"It's not nice to laugh at others' misfortunes," Lucero told her in a whisper.

"Who cares? Shimizu got what she deserved after that little spiel earlier!" Melody retorted. Yun couldn't help but smile. But at the same time, she was lost in thought.

_'I wish I can go home and prepare for my play date with Aria-chan today. Lopmon and Terriermon are looking forward to it,'_ Yun thought as she stared at the kids playing kick ball.

Soon, the day finished and everyone went home...well, almost everyone. Hisako drove to pick Yun up and take her home so she can pack the things she planned to bring to Aria's house. Minako proceeded to walk home.

Minako had no idea that Salamon was onto something she hoped she'd never find out.

At home, Salamon was happily sleeping on the couch, snuggling up to the old puppy toy that had once belonged to Kiyoshi and reveling in it's plushy softness. But she awoke when she noticed Tatsuha pacing around the living room looking worried.

"Where in the world is it? I thought it was here somewhere!" Tatsuha paced around, looking for something. Salamon perked up, curious as to know what Tatsuha is looking for. She followed him around like a baby chick, hoping to find an answer.

"Awww! How could I have lost my video camera?" Tatsuha yelped as he looked through the kitchen cupboards.

Then it hit her. Salamon had seen a big black video camera before. Where? In Kiyoshi's bedroom! Last night, when she was crying over how beautiful and inspiring It's A Wonderful Life was. Feeling obligated to help Minako's kind and friendly father, Salamon decided to speak up, or, in this case, bark.

"Wan!" Salamon barked cutely, which caught Tatsuha's attention.

"Huh? What's up, girl?" Tatsuha asked, confused.

"Wan! Wan!" Salamon beckoned Tatsuha to follow her as she ran to the door that led to Kiyoshi's room. He followed her and watched as she gently scratched the door.

"Huh? Kiyoshi's room?" Tatsuha asked, feeling confused as to why Salamon would want to take him there. But she seemed to be onto something, so he went in. Once he laid eyes on Kiyoshi's old dresser, lo and behold, there was the big black video camera! Tatsuha beamed when he saw it.

"Well I'll be! It's been in Kiyoshi's room after all! Now I remember! We were about to go on that picnic and I left it in here and totally forgot about it!" Tatsuha said to himself, then turned to Salamon with a smile. "You sure are a smart puppy! Thanks!"

"Wan!" Salamon yelped, seemingly telling him 'You're welcome!'

Happy, Tatsuha left the room. What he didn't know was that he left both the door open and Salamon all alone. But Salamon didn't mind. She found Kiyoshi's room to be quite cozy and halcyon. She hopped up on the bed and sat there.

"I wonder if Kiyoshi-kun misses his nice little room? If he's in Heaven, then he can't come back, can he? I'm sure he must miss being with Tatsuha-san, Mina-san (Minagi), and Mina-chan (Minako)," Salamon said to herself, oblivious to the fact that Minagi had just walked through the door. After about a few minutes of taking in the nice, halcyon atmosphere of Kiyoshi's room, Salamon hopped off the bed, feeling quite happy and content.

"Mina-chan should be home by now. I can't wait to show her what I'm planning! Wan!" Salamon exclaimed.

But when she came out of Kiyoshi's room, she looked up to see Minako staring down at her with a shocked look on her face...which quickly turned to anger. Salamon didn't see this to be a good sign.

"You...you went inside, didn't you?" Minako yelped.

"Y-Yes. I-" Salamon admitted that she went into Kiyoshi's room reluctantly, seeing the anger in Minako's face and eyes...which grew. Minako gritted her teeth and her normally calm and motherly violet eyes are now ablaze with anger.

"You idiot! Don't you know you're not allowed to go in there? How could you be so stupid?" Minako suddenly yelled fiercely, which made Salamon very confused and surprised.

"I-I'm sorry! I-I didn't know! You never said I couldn't-"

"Never go in that room ever again! Do you hear me?"

"Okay! I won't! But-"

"Don't talk back to me!" Now Minako was screaming wildly. "No one is allowed in there! Absolutely no one! Not even you! If I ever see you or anyone else go in there again, I'm gonna-"

"Hey hey! Mina-chan! Calm down, will ya?" Tatsuha came onto the scene and split the two up. Both Minako and Salamon looked up at him, Minako with anger and Salamon with confusion. Tatsuha rubbed the back of his head with his hand, his face turning red with embarrassment.

"There's no need to yell at the poor little pup like that. She didn't know better. Besides, it's my fault. I was lookin' for the video camera and found it in Kiyoshi-kun's room. I think I forgot to close the door as I got out," Tatsuha explained, confessing his own unintended transgression, hoping that it would calm Minako down. But it didn't work.

"You shouldn't have gone in there either, Dad! Don't you get it?"

Now, a stern look appeared on Tatsuha's face. "Mina-chan. I understand you're trying to move on after what happened, and I'm glad you're at least trying, but I don't believe getting angry at anyone who goes into Kiyoshi's room is the right way to go about it. Getting all worked up about it isn't going to do any good for all of us."

"But Dad! You don't understand! He's gone and it's-"

Tatsuha put a hand on Minako's shoulder. "I DO understand. I know what you're doing. You're trying to keep us all out of Kiyoshi's room because you want us all to forget about him. Don't lie to me, Minako. I get it. You're still thinking it's your fault that Kiyoshi's gone. You're trying to keep us all out of his room because you think you want to spare us the pain of remembering him. But Minako...you're the one who has to understand! Remembering a loved one isn't a bad thing! We can't spend the rest of our lives feeling bad and sorry and angry at ourselves because of what happened! We have to embrace the life they lived and move forward! Besides, would Kiyoshi like it if he saw you blaming yourself for what happened?"

Suddenly, Minako pushed Tatsuha's arm away in a paroxysm of anger. "Stop denying it, Dad! You know it and I know it! I **_KILLED_** him! I don't deserve to move on!"

After that piece of rhetoric, she ran out into the back yard. Salamon, Tatsuha, and Minagi were all alone in the house while Minako ran off to who knows where in tears. Minagi looked down at Salamon, then up at Tatsuha.

"If you don't mind, I can take the dog out for a walk," Minagi told him in a whisper.

"Would you? I'd mighty appreciate it. I'll make dinner tonight since you've been working so hard," Tatsuha told her with a slightly forced smile.

So Minagi put Salamon on a leash and decided to take her for a short walk. As they walked, Salamon's mind was inundated by a million wild questions running through her head. Why did Minako get mad at her? Salamon never heard Minako say anything about forbidding everyone to go into Kiyoshi's room. Salamon wasn't told that she couldn't go in there. But...why does Minako blame herself for what happened to Kiyoshi? Why did Minako say she...killed him? Was Minako capable of that? _'No!'_ Salamon yelled in her head. _'Mina-chan's a good girl! She's nice and sweet and motherly! No way is she a bad person! Not at all! I don't believe that! But still...why did she look so sad when Kiyoshi-kun was mentioned? Why can't she move on?'_ Salamon thought. She remembered the day Minako invited Yun to her house. Minako talked about how when she grew up, she wanted to become a philanthropist, or those people who participate in those charities that help people, like kids who are hungry, animals who've been abused or abandoned, kids who have also been abused, neglected, or abandoned, and people who've gone through hard times and need a little second chance. To Salamon, Minako seemed like one of those wonderful people who wanted to give life to people, not take lives. Why in the world would she say that she killed her brother? That was very unlike her.

Salamon was about to get her answer, and she was NOT going to like what she heard.

Somehow, they wound up in the park. Minagi sat down on a bench, with Salamon laying right next to her. Salamon looked up and saw that Minagi now looks dejected and somewhat abject. Minagi looked at the things around her listlessly, like there was nothing there. Her head drooped downward, looking down at the green grass.

"You're really lucky to be born a dog, little one," Minagi said. Salamon perked up, hearing Minagi mention the word dog. 'Is she talking to me?' She thought.

"I wish I could be born a dog. Happy, energetic, carefree, and without a single worry in the world. Not only that, dogs have a secret ability that allows them to know when someone's in danger and help them out in that exact moment. I wish I had something like that," Minagi said wistfully.

_'Why would you want that ability?'_ Salamon asked in her head.

Minagi sighed. "These past few months have been hard on us, but it's been hardest on Minako. Since Kiyoshi died, she's become more withdrawn and depressed. She's trying to go back to being the sweet and out-going girl she used to be, but I can tell...she's just trying to put on a front so she can hide her sadness. She's doing it with everyone."

_'Why is she making people think she's happy when she's not?'_ Salamon asked again, in her thoughts. Minagi balled her fists, looking like she was stopping herself from crying.

"I...I just wish we hadn't gone on that picnic. If we hadn't gone, then Kiyoshi would still be here, and Minako wouldn't have had to try to..._kill herself_."

"WAN!" Salamon yelped suddenly as she heard those final words. She yelped so loudly that she almost fell off the bench. Minagi noticed this and quickly grabbed Salamon before she could fall on the ground.

"Oh! I'm sorry, little one. I didn't mean to scare you," Minagi cooed as she placed Salamon back on the bench.

But Minagi didn't know that Salamon yelped because those final words appalled her to the greatest degree. Minako? Minako, the sweet and motherly person who cares about other people, tried to KILL HERSELF? How in the world could that be so? Salamon couldn't believe Minako would do such a thing, especially since Salamon just learned that humans aren't like Digimon when it comes to death. If a Digimon dies, they turn into a DigiEgg and be reborn. When humans die...they stay dead. They never get to be reborn or come back. Still, Minako was the one who told her this, and yet...she actually tried to take her own life?

"Minako and Kiyoshi weren't on good terms that day. Kiyoshi had gotten ketchup all over Minako's bed spread, and she was very angry at him. Kiyoshi didn't quite realize that he did something wrong, so he didn't think much of it. We thought that the picnic would help them make up, but Minako was stubborn and continued to be mad at him. We tried our best to teach the both of them that what they've done is wrong, Kiyoshi spilling ketchup everywhere and Minako being mean to him. Kiyoshi we managed to convince, but Minako? No. She was still mad. But...Kiyoshi wandered off while we weren't looking, and he fell into the river. We noticed his absence and we got worried. We searched and searched, but someone else found him in the river. But...it was too late. He had already passed. The doctors couldn't save him. We all fell apart that day. But...it was Minako who took it the hardest out of all of us. About a week afterward, we noticed that Minako was missing."

Minagi found herself walking down memory lane, and this was one memory lane she hoped never to walk on.

(flashback)

_"Tatsuha! Tatsuha! Did you find Mina?" Minagi ran into the living room wracked with worry as Tatsuha came in through the front door._

_"I looked everywhere! She's nowhere in the house!" Tatsuha exclaimed, also totally inundated by feelings of fear and worry._

_"I'll go ask the neighbors and see if they've seen her!"_

_"I'll look in the basement!"_

_Minagi ran all over her street, asking the neighbors if they saw her. But nobody did. Suddenly, Tatsuha appeared, but with a strange new revelation._

_"Uhh...Minagi? Four of the barbells are missing," Tatsuha said._

_"What? Barbells? Tatsuha! Shouldn't you be worrying more about your own daughter than you should be about your weights?" Minagi yelled,_ _angry by Tatsuha's statement just now._

_"I am worried! Honest to God, I am! But I just noticed it just now!" Tatsuha said._

_Minagi groaned. "I'll go look in Minako's room again!"_

_Minagi ran into Minako's room. Sadly, she wasn't there. Her room hadn't changed much. Her bed spread was missing since it had been thrown away. The ketchup couldn't be removed so they were planning on getting her a new one. Her computer, school books, stuffed animals, and accessories are still in there. Minagi was becoming more and more worried._

_But right at that moment, she did notice something odd. Sticking out of one of Minako's dresser drawers is a small piece of purple paper._ _Curious, she decided to pull it out and read it. She was right to do so, because it held the answer to both Minako's whereabouts and intentions...and Minagi did NOT like what she read. Nonetheless, a flame of courage exploded in her worried heart like an erupting volcano._ _This was her chance to find Minako. She ran out of the room, grabbed her car keys, and found Tatsuha looking around again._

_"Tatsuha! Call the police!" Minagi yelled._

_"The police?"_

_"I know where she is! By the river! Where we had our last picnic! I'm gonna go there now!"_

_"But why would-?"_

_"Don't talk, just pick up a phone and call the police!"_

_Minagi literally leaped into the car and zipped off in a matter of seconds. As she drove, so many questions exploded in her head like the H-Bomb. Why would Minako go there? How in the world did she get there on her own? Did she take a taxi or something? She certainly saved a lot of money in that piggybank of hers, Minagi noticed. What is Minako really planning? Is Minako seriously...going to do what the note says she's going to do? Minagi knew that if she didn't make it in time, Minako would...end up like Kiyoshi. The river's current is VERY swift and fast. So fast, in fact, that not even a 10 year old child, let alone a two year old, would be able to survive unless he or she was a great swimmer._

_After less than 5 minutes _(she unknowingly drove over the speed limit, as it normally takes 10-15 minutes to get to the river by car)_, she made it to the area where she and her family had the picnic. Minagi wanted to stop and remember that horrible day, but she couldn't. Minako was likely to be here, and if Minako did what she planned to do, it was going to be too late._

_About 30 seconds passed and, much to Minagi's ecstasy and delight, she found Minako! Standing right by the river!_

_But much to Minagi's horror, Minako has Tatsuha's barbells duct taped on her body._

_It appeared Minako was having trouble moving. Not surprising since the barbells are so heavy. But Minagi figured it out like it was the easiest puzzle to solve in the world. Minako has barbells duct taped to herself and is trying to walk toward the river. This could only mean one thing and one thing only._

_Minako's trying to drown herself._

_Minagi ran as fast as she could, literally lunging at her at the last minute._

_"EEK!" Minako shrieked as Minagi grabbed her at the very last second. But realizing that it was Minagi who grabbed her, she tried to walk away. But the weights were preventing her from doing it as quickly as she wanted, and Minagi was dead on intent on trying to stop her from throwing herself in the river._

_"Minako! Stop! Stop this right now!"_

_"Get off of me!"_

_"Not on your life!"_

_"I said get off!"_

_"No!"_

_Minako flailed and struggled, trying to pry Minagi off of her, but Minagi was not going to let Minako slip away that easily. Minako proceeded to hit and kick and slap her at every second, but Minagi urged on. Minagi first tried to pry the duct tape off of Minako. Minagi has nice,_ _long, sharp finger nails, and they can surely cut through duct tape, so she found them to be useful and managed to pry one part of the duct tape off, causing one of Tatsuha's barbells to fall off, barely missing their feet, and roll into the fast moving water. Both Minako and Minagi fought and fought until they were both out of breath. Minako being because the weights were putting some unnecessary pressure on her body, and Minagi because she fought so hard. They were both on their knees, about a little ways away from the river. After some gasping for breath, Minako tried to walk toward the river again, but Minagi swooped in and stopped her._

_"You stay right where you are, young lady!" Minagi screamed angrily. Minako tried to push her away, but Minagi grabbed her and held her in her arms, stopping her from going any further. Suddenly, all the motivation Minako had drained out of her body like water in a bath tub._ _Minako fell to her knees yet again, only this time, she erupted into a paroxysm of tears._

_"Omori Minako Ai! You've got some explaining to do! Tatsuha and I have been worried sick about you! I go into your room and what do I find? A purple note saying you're gonna kill yourself because of what happened to Kiyoshi!" Minagi yelled, showing no mercy for the now tear stricken Minako._

_"I...I...I killed him!" Minako screamed. Feeling merciful this time, Minagi hugged Minako tightly._

_"You didn't kill him, Mina! He wandered off while we weren't looking! We-"_

_"YES I DID! Don't you get it? I'm the one who started all this! I'm the one who drove Kiyoshi to his death! I should've made up with him!_ _I should've watched him! But NOOOOO! I was gutsy enough to scream at him and push him away every second! I'm his big sister! I was supposed to watch him and take care of him, and yet...!"_

_"Minako! Don't talk like that! It's not your fault!"_

_"YES IT IS! Stop saying it isn't! You know it and I know it! I killed him! I don't deserve to live!"_

_"Yes you do!"_

_"NO I DON'T! Why aren't you mad at me? Why aren't you blaming me for his death? It's my fault! You should be yelling at me and punishing me and calling me a disgrace to the family!"_

_"It's not your fault, Mina, and you're not a disgrace! Don't say that about yourself!"_

_"IT'S TRUE, MOM! Stop trying to change my mind with false concern and pity! Let me drown myself already so I can go to-!"_

_"If you drown yourself, I don't think I'll be able to move on!"_

_"You're all better off without me! I'm nothing but a cold and heartless murderer who deserves to die!"_

POW!_ Minagi slapped Minako's fragile, tear-stricken face. HARD. Now Minagi was just plain mad._

_"Omori Minako Ai! Don't ever say you're a cold and heartless murderer! Cold and heartless murderers intend to hurt people and not show a hint of remorse! But this isn't murder! This was just a freak accident! None of us intended for this to happen! You know it and I know it!_ _Kiyoshi just didn't know better and wandered off while we weren't looking! It could happen to anyone! None of us wanted this! You certainly didn't want this, now did you? Besides, do you know how heartbroken Tatsuha and I would be if you were gone? We already lost one child already!"_

_"But-"_

_"What about your dreams? You've always talked about wanting to help people and make the world a better place! You've always talked about world peace and participating in those wonderful charities! Would you really want to throw all of your dreams away? You're still so young,_ _Minako! You shouldn't be thinking about death when you have your whole life ahead of you!"_

_"I have no-"_

_"And what about your friends? Yun-chan, especially! Do you know how upset they'd be if you really offed yourself? They'd be bawling their eyes out! Yun-chan especially, being the sweet and sensitive thing she is! You've often told me that she gets lonely real easily and cries a lot when something bad happens. She's autistic, right? Do you know how much she'd fall apart if you really took your life? She'd be so broken she'd blame herself for all time! Maybe even do what you tried to do right this minute! I don't want any more lives being taken! You and Melody-chan and Kosuke-kun are all she's got! If you took your own life, you'd be abandoning her and everyone else you love!"_

_"They'd be-"_

_"And don't you DARE say they're better off without you! That's not true and you know it! If I could, I'd show you an alternate reality with you not in it and show you all the paths your friends and family have taken!"_

_"It'd probably-"_

_"Show us being all happy? Nope! Not happening! What about Kiyoshi? Would he really want to see you blaming yourself and trying to do this while he's up in heaven?"_

_Minako finally fell silent. Minagi finally softened and hugged her daughter tightly._

_"Minako...please...don't do this to me. To us. We already lost one of our own. I'd die if you threw yourself in that river! No, really, I would! Don't ever say it's your fault he's gone! In fact, it's all our fault! We all should've watched him and made sure he didn't wander off, but we failed. We all did. We didn't intend for it to be this way, but it's happened and that's that. It's nothing more than that._ _Minako...don't do this. Please don't. I don't want any more sadness, and neither do you. Don't leave us behind. Don't...abandon everything you love and worked so hard for."_

_Minako wanted so badly to contradict her. She wanted to contradict every little thing Minagi said. But she couldn't. Because it was all true._ _If she had really drowned herself, everything and everyone she knew and loved would be left behind. Her family, her friends, her small but well-loved contributions to the community, everything. Minako did, however, find one of Minagi's points especially noteworthy._

_Yun._

_Yun loved Minako. They were friends. They sort of had a mother and daughter relationship. Yun is the innocent child who makes mistakes and is learning about the world while Minako is the kind mother who taught her right from wrong and helped her stay out of trouble. They were a close knit duo of friends among the quartet that is Yun, Melody, Minako, and Kosuke. Minako knew what Yun is like. Yun is sensitive, cries a lot when something goes wrong, genuinely pure and innocent, and is one of the sweetest things Minako ever knew in her life. Recently, Yun's pet cat had died, and Yun was crushed when she learned of her cruel fate. She cried for days. Minako knew this because she saw Yun have a small meltdown in class and gently escorted her out of the classroom. Yun was so upset it took about an hour for her to regain her composure and get back into the classroom. Minako knew that this was a blatant harbinger of Yun's overall personality. Minako...didn't want to see that happen again. She didn't want to lose one of her best friends. Especially not someone so sweet, gentle, kind-hearted, and innocent. Soon,_ _Tatsuha and the police arrived and took Minako away for a while._

(end flashback)

"Tatsuha was so moved by this that he became a little desperate and hid everything, from razor blades to weights, away somewhere. We were afraid that Minako might do it again. I even went as far as to take a whole week off of work because I didn't want to leave Minako out of my sight. I didn't ever want to go through that horror ever again," Minagi sighed and looked at her watch.

"I believe it's time we go back home, shall we?" Minagi said.

They both walked home, both totally dejected and totally despondent. Minagi because she told Minako's deep dark secret to a tiny puppy, and Salamon because she actually heard it. They went inside the house and settled back in. Tatsuha had found Minako, and now Minako is in her room doing homework vigorously. Salamon decided to play in the backyard...or rather, bawl. Like how she did when she watched It's A Wonderful Life, Salamon cried and cried passionately, heartbroken by what she just heard.

"Mina-chaaaaaan!" Salamon wailed as she hid herself in the garden of flowers. Particularly behind the periwinkles and white lilacs. Two of Minako's favorite flowers. After a good cry, Salamon calmed herself down. But tears still poured out from her big violet eyes.

"Mi-Mi-Mina-chan...doesn't believe she's worthy of living. She thinks she killed Kiyoshi and tried to drown herself because she was so wracked with guilt. In that movie, that man named George Bailey thought the same way. He thought life wasn't worth living and tried to drown himself too! But that angel man saved him and reminded him of all the wonderful things he did for his family and community!" Salamon said, reminding herself of that wonderful black and white movie she saw the day before.

Wiping away the rest of her tears, Salamon stood up on her hind legs, struck a pose, and shot a paw into the sky with a fiery blaze in her violet eyes.

"Now, after hearing of Mina-chan's secret, I'm even more motivated to help her than ever! I'm not JUST gonna be Mina-chan's Digimon friend! I'm gonna be her personal Clarence Odbody! Her guardian angel! It'll be my sole mission to remind her of the wonderful joys of living and how short human life is! I'll be super duper persistent and never let her sadness get the best of her! Not to worry, Kiyoshi-kun! I'll make sure Mina-chan realizes that living is the best gift in the whole wide world! Wan!"

And thus, Salamon took on the job of being Minako's Digimon and guardian angel.

Though for another Digimon, angel is a very unfitting and even inappropriate word to use to describe her.

About a little ways away, around the same time Minagi was having her chat with Salamon, a Digital portal appeared in the town square, where the Wawa is, and out came LadyDevimon and her two faithful BlackGatomon attendants.

"Yes! We did it!" The first BlackGatomon, the timid one, exclaimed.

"So you manipulate the data around you with your powers to create a dimensional rift that allows you to go between worlds! How very fascinating!" The second BlackGatomon, the prim and duty driven one, said.

LadyDevimon descended to the ground, her feet touching the hard and warm asphalt. She was quite surprised by the scenery around her. Her red eyes grew big as she absorbed the new and foreign place around her.

"So THIS is the human world! It's no wonder Witchmon and Roachmon spent a lot of time here! Come to think of it, it IS a tad more sophisticated than the Digital World is. But something still feels rather strange to me," LadyDevimon said.

"Probably because there's hardly a Digimon in sight!" The first BlackGatomon said.

"That could very well be it, my little dear. How about a little exploring? This place is very interesting, indeed!" LadyDevimon said with a smile.

"How about that funny looking place over there," The second BlackGatomon pointed with one of her dark purple claws, right at the dollar store. They couldn't read the sign even though it's big, green and white, but they saw it anyway.

"Sure! Let us go and see!" LadyDevimon said. She and her two faithful BlackGatomon walked into the store casually, like normal people, only...they weren't people at all, nor were they normal. Right as they came in, everyone laid eyes on them and began gossiping, either out of fear, curiosity, or disgust.

"Who in the world is that?"

"My God! She's scary!"

"Whoa! She's hot, man!"

"Isn't it a little early for Halloween? That costume's not very becoming."

"She might be a little messed up in the head, going into a public store wearing something like that!"

"Goodness! Can't she cover up? She's showing too much skin!"

"Indeed. Promiscuity influences the youth, and we've had enough of it!"

Only the two BlackGatomon noticed and became a little worried.

"LadyDevimon-sama, the humans are talking about us, and not in a good way!" The first BlackGatomon said timidly.

"She's right. They don't look too happy with us being in their presence," The second BlackGatomon advised.

"So? They're just not used to seeing someone as wonderful as myself grace them with my presence. They'll come around," LadyDevimon said. Then she noticed something and decided to look. What she didn't know was that a worried customer found the manager and a security guard and told them about LadyDevimon. The first BlackGatomon noticed and scampered back to her mistress's feet.

"LadyDevimon-sama! We have to leave! Nyan!" The first BlackGatomon said.

"Why? We only just got here!" LadyDevimon interjected irritably as she looked at a plastic toy water gun.

"Some strange humans are coming! We have to go!" The second BlackGatomon advised.

"You're the one who suggested we come here!" LadyDevimon snapped back. The second BlackGatomon wanted to argue, but it was too late, as both the manager and the security guard arrived.

"Excuse me, miss," The manager said, which caught LadyDevimon's attention. "Isn't it a little early for Halloween? Why are you wearing a costume in a public dollar store?"

LadyDevimon was slightly taken aback by the manager's deadpan expression and deadpan way of talking to her. "This isn't a costume! This is my normal attire! And what's this Halloween you speak of? I know of no such thing!"

The manager and the security guard looked at each other for a bit, then looked back at her. The customers began talking.

"Does she seriously not know what Halloween is? What a dope!"

"She's stupid to think that she can fool them by playing dumb. Who doesn't know what Halloween is nowadays?"

"Miss. This isn't a costume party. This is a dollar store. You should know better than to walk around in public in a costume, and especially one so...revealing as that. It's not proper conduct around here," The security guard told her sternly.

"So what if it's revealing? I love my attire! And all I'm doing is exploring and observing you humans!" LadyDevimon snapped.

"We suggest you go home and change, or come with us to the precinct. I'm afraid you're not giving off the best impression of yourself here," The security guard told her without mercy.

"Also, pets aren't allowed in here!" The manager said.

"What? The BlackGatomon? They're not pets! They're my friends and faithful attendants! There's a difference, you know!"

"That's not important right now, miss! Leave this store and come back dressed like a normal person, or you'll be spending a day in jail for disturbing the peace!" The manager yelled, beginning to become choleric. So is LadyDevimon.

"How dare you impertinent humans speak to me that way! I refuse to comply with your orders! Nobody tells me what to do!" LadyDevimon yelled. She didn't know that customers were both watching and recording videos or taking pictures of her unintended spectacle with their cell phones. Finally, both the manager and the security guard had enough.

"This is getting old. I'm taking her in," The security guard said.

"Please do!" The manager encouraged happily as he allowed the security guard to take her away. The security guard approached her and grabbed one of her hands.

"Come with me to the precinct, miss! You're under arrest!" The security guard exclaimed as he tried to arrest her and take her out of the store by force. Seeing this as a threat, the two BlackGatomon decided to act.

"Leave her alone, impudent human! Nyan!" The second BlackGatomon scratched the security guard in the face, causing him to roar in pain and let go of LadyDevimon, who decided to fly into the air.

"Don't ever lay a hand on our beautiful mistress! Who knew you'd be so bold and impudent!" The first BlackGatomon hissed.

The security guard, the manager, and all the other employees and customers were stricken with fear as of now once they saw LadyDevimon flying in the air.

"Whoa! She can fly without those special effects!"

"Dude! Record this, will ya?"

"I'm recording the heck outta this!"

"This is gonna make YouTube history!"

"My God she is ugly! Those cats look dangerous, too!"

"I'm definitely showing this to my friends!"

LadyDevimon finally had enough. The two BlackGatomon hopped up and clung to both of LadyDevimon's feet.

"You don't scare me, pathetic humans! Darkness Wave!" A stream of black, ominous energy spilled out from LadyDevimon's mouth and spread all over the floor. Most of the people managed to dodge it so they were safe. LadyDevimon then broke a window and flew out of there.

"Man! She's not human!" A customer exclaimed fearfully.

"I'm gonna have the press know about this!" The manager said as he picked up a phone and punched in some numbers. Unfortunately for them, LadyDevimon and the two BlackGatomon have already escaped and are now flying in the sky. The two BlackGatomon sisters found themselves wrapped in LadyDevimon's arms.

"LadyDevimon-sama! Are you okay?" The first BlackGatomon asked with concern.

"Yes, I am. Thank you for saving me," LadyDevimon told them kindly.

"That's what friends are for! We stick together and help each other! No way was I going to let that pathetic human lay a hand on you and do who knows what to you!" The second BlackGatomon exclaimed, sounding a little cocky but LadyDevimon paid no mind.

"That's right. We have to stick together, no matter what..." LadyDevimon whispered quietly. After she said that, she was suddenly lost in thought. She remembered herself and the BlackGatomon twins as a trio of young, forlorn, and starving Salamon, trapped and shivering in a small snow cave, trying to wait for a terrible and hazardous blizzard to let up. LadyDevimon remembered vividly the loud roar of the wind, the staggeringly deep snow, the cold shivers that made their bodies numb to the core, and the hunger that pained their bodies. Then, she and the BlackGatomon twins flew away.

Around the same time, Yun was preparing to go to Aria's house. She packed some DVDs, manga, and games into a black and red Jekyll and Hyde bag that Teruki got her last year. She made sure to keep her digivice and white D-Heart on her person in case there's trouble. Lopmon, Terriermon, and Lucero all couldn't help but notice Yun's happiness. Yesterday, Aria had called her house and asked her to come over after rehearsals. At first, Yun was taken aback by the call because it was on such short notice. But she had wanted to go to Aria's house despite the math test coming up, so she asked Hisako for permission. Much to her surprise, Hisako agreed to take her and Yun was as jubilant and happy as she was when she got her Digimon. Yun studied hard, so she thought a little break wouldn't hurt. Otoya kept telling her to relax, so she might as well do so. Yun flung her Jekyll and Hyde bag over her shoulder, with Lopmon and Terriermon tucked safely in it. Lucero approached Yun with a concerned look on his white face.

"Art thou sure thou art going to be alright? Doth Aria-dono's parents know of thy plans with her?" Lucero asked.

"Mom says she's gonna stick around for a bit and talk to Aria-chan's parents before leaving me there so I don't see any problem. Besides, I'm bringing Lopmon and Terriermon with me in case there's trouble," Yun told him.

"Not only that, Aria-chan has MarineAngemon, and she's really strong now that the curse is off of her, so no need to worry!" Terriermon exclaimed happily.

"That may be true, but we shouldn't be too cocky or over confident if there's trouble. But I do confess I am looking forward to playing with Aria and MarineAngemon," Lopmon said solemnly at the first sentence, and the second one with a smile. Hisako came into the room and put a hand on Lucero's shoulder.

"There's no need to worry, Lucero. Everything will be fine. Speaking of, Yun, do you have your cell phone on you?" Hisako told him reassuringly, then asked Yun if she has her cell phone.

"Yep! In here!" Yun replied, tapping the front of her bag, showing a red pocket with her phone in it (though she can also use her digivice as a phone. She just hasn't gotten around to using it yet).

"Good. If there's any trouble, let me know and I'll come right away, okay?" Hisako advised. Yun nodded.

"We'll protect her!" Terriermon said as he raised one of his paws.

After a few more minutes, Hisako drove Yun, Lopmon, and Terriermon out of the Wakamiya house and towards the Yukino house. Yun recognized the house right away because she made sure she had the paper with Aria's home address on it on her person. Yun knocked on the door and was greeted by Aria's stepmother, Mariya.

"Oh? Why hello! You must be Yun-chan! Come on in, dear. Aria talks about you constantly!" Mariya greeted her with a warm smile as she escorted Yun and Hisako into the living room.

"She does? Umm...thanks! I-I-I'm Wa-Wa-Wakamiya Y-Y-Yun. Nice...to meet you!" Yun stammered shyly. But her shyness dissipated when Aria came running in happily.

"Yun-chan! You're here!" Aria leaped onto Yun and gave her a nice big hug, which made Yun feel warm inside. Yun couldn't help but think that Aria looked cute in a bright orange dress with some pink, yellow, and light purple flower embroidery on the hemline, white shoes and pink socks. Yun also noticed that Aria is wearing her pink D-Heart of mercy around her neck as a necklace. But she gasped softly upon seeing the large white bandage on the side of her head. That sure didn't look good. Hisako noticed too, but she kept quiet about it since it would be rude to point out something like that when other people are here. Aria soon released Yun as she let her sit at the dining room table. Orie had shown up, though she didn't say anything.

"Yun-chan! This is my big sister, Orie!" Aria exclaimed happily, introducing her sister to Yun.

"He-He-Hello..." Yun stammered again.

"Aria-chan? Why don't you show Yun-chan those cute accessories you made?" Mariya suggested with a smile.

"'Kay! Yun-chan! Come see!" Aria gently took Yun by the arm and led her into her room. Orie followed, leaving Mariya and Hisako alone in the living room. They talked about lots of things as Aria showed Yun some accessories she made. Mostly cheap ones made with beads and some colorful string. Aria then pulled Yun's hand out and put one in it. Yun was surprised to see a small beaded bracelet with a big light purple bead with a painted picture of a pink and yellow butterfly on it. Lopmon and Terriermon, becoming curious, decided to look.

"Oh! How cute! It's a butterfly bracelet!" Lopmon crooned sweetly with a smile.

"Wow! Cool! Did you really make these, Aria-chan?" Terriermon asked.

"Yep! Mama and I went shopping together a lot, and I love making stuff like this so I have a lot of them," Aria said with a smile, then she looked up at Yun. "That butterfly one? It's a present for you, Yun-chan. I made it myself!"

Yun put the bracelet on, feeling touched by Aria's kindness. "It's cute. I love it. Thank you."

"You're welcome!" Aria said.

"Aria-chan's really good at making those little accessories! She says she wants to own a toy store when she's older!" MarineAngemon said.

"A toy store? Awesome!" Terriermon said.

"I mostly want to make these and stuffed animals," Aria said.

"You want to make stuffed animals?" Yun asked curiously.

"Yep! Mama made them, so I wanna learn how to sew and make them too! Oh! Wanna see my favorite?" Aria asked, but didn't give Yun time to answer because she stood up, ran to a small toy box next to her bed, and pulled something out.

Everyone looked at it with deep curiosity in their eyes. In Aria's hand is a very tiny doll, the size of Aria's small hand, in the form of a little fairy with apricot skin, blushing rosy red cheeks, tiny black button eyes, a tiny pink dress, and four small, round, light blue wings.

"Awwww! It's so cute!" Both Yun and Lopmon cooed sweetly.

"Mama made it for me for my 5th birthday. It's my favorite. I sleep with it every night," Aria said. But as she mentioned her mother, she began to look rather despondent. Yun and the Digimon could tell.

"You okay, Aria-chan?" MarineAngemon asked with concern.

"You miss your mother, don't you?" Yun asked. Aria nodded slowly. Smiling a little, Yun put a hand on her shoulder.

"I know how you feel. I lost someone dear to me before Lopmon, Terriermon, and Lucero came into my life. My pet cat, Clarette. She got really sick, and the doctors couldn't save her. But I'm sure your mom and my cat are happy in heaven, watching over us and protecting us," Yun told her softly.

Suddenly, Aria's head perked up, but not in the way Yun expected, especially because of what came out of Aria's mouth right then. "Heaven? Papa says there is no Heaven and that I can't ever say that Mama is there."

"Huh? You can't? Why?" Terriermon asked.

"Papa says Heaven is just a dumb fairy tale and that Mama is dead. Dead dead dead. Dead and never coming back. Ever. She won't ever come back no matter how much I wish and cry and call for her," Aria said.

"That's...a little harsh, isn't it?" Yun asked.

"I agree. Aria's dad is very strict," MarineAngemon told them, though in the back of her mind, she really wished that weren't the case. She couldn't help but relive the terrible memory of seeing Aria get hit with the coffee mug. She wanted to tell Yun about it, but she felt this wasn't the right time.

Yun shared MarineAngemon's suspicions. From the way Aria is describing her father, Yun speculated that he's probably one of those really strict types of people who focus solely on reality, not fiction. The cold and harsh parts of reality at that. Yun remembered the day she first met Aria. Aria looked very pain when she kept saying that her mother is dead and never coming back, instead of in heaven where she's in a better place. She couldn't help but hatch a thought in her head, but as of right now, she didn't want to make this discussion more somber than it already is. She got out her bag and pulled out an anime DVD. _Jewelpet_(2), it was.

"So! Enough of all this sad talk! Wanna watch an anime with me?" Yun asked.

"Oh! I love Jewelpet! Sure! I'd love to!" Aria said.

Hisako had left right then after she told Mariya about some things about Yun, which Mariya took rather well. The DVD player was in the living room, and they decided to play the DVD. Mariya offered Yun some tea, to which Yun declined because she doesn't drink any tea except the tea you find in ShopRite. She did, however, eat some fresh baked cookies that Mariya had cooked the night before. Yun loved how soft and chewey they were, and so did Aria and the Digimon (who kept quiet when Mariya wasn't around). They played in the back yard, read books together (Yun mostly read to Aria because she can't read the big books that Yun reads), watched anime together, and just talked about things. Orie participated too. Yun was surprised to learn that she also knew about the Digimon being real and that she didn't have a problem with it, but once Yun got used to Orie's presence with the Digimon, she realized that Orie is trustworthy after all. But there was something else about Orie that Yun noticed. Yun couldn't help but see that she didn't look like she was at ease. Orie always looked a tad nervous, like she was expecting something bad to happen.

She found out what it was about an hour and a half after she arrived.

Aria had to talk to Mariya about something, leaving Yun and Orie alone in one of the bedrooms as Lopmon, Terriermon, and MarineAngemon happily and merrily played and frolicked in the back yard. Orie spoke first.

"Hey. I'm not being rude or anything, but it's a little weird that a 6th grader would want to be friends with a 2nd grader," Orie told her.

"Uhh...yeah, I..." Yun stammered, a little taken aback by Orie's straightforward attitude when asking that question. "Yeah, I do kind of agree with you, but it just sort of happened. I was taking a stroll in the park and I just ran into her. We talked and...we just sort of bonded. Sorry if it seems kinda weird to you. To be honest, I'm not one who's very fond of little kids. I hate it when they cry and scream and stuff. But Aria-chan's nice so she's...an exception."

Yun couldn't help but think that Orie didn't approve of her friendship with Aria. But that turned out to not be the case.

"She talks about you every single day. Yun-chan this and Yun-chan that. You're all she talks about."

"Is...that bad?"

"No. I think it's great. She's got something to be happy about, and yeah, I don't mind the Digimon. I won't tell anyone, I promise."

"Okay. Do you like Lopmon and Terriermon? They're my best friends! I love them very much!"

"They're cute. Wish I had one."

"Well...who knows. Maybe you'll get a Digimon someday."

This is where Orie changed the subject, and the subject now...didn't sound too good.

"You...shouldn't be here."

"Huh?"

"Don't get me wrong. I'm happy Aria's friends with you. But...just so you know in advance, our dad...he might not think so. Ever since Mom died, Dad's gone wacko. He'll freak out over the littlest things. He might not allow us to invite our friends over here or go over to their houses. It sucks."

"Is he...mean?"

"Mean? That doesn't even begin to describe him!"

"How about...volatile?"

"Volatile?"

"It's a big word for cruel and dangerous and violent."

"Sure. That'll work."

"Does he-?"

Yun wanted to ask Orie another question, but she didn't get to because Aria came back. The Digimon did too. They had a fun time playing in Aria's backyard.

"Yun! Did you know? Aria's back yard has some crocuses blooming by the tree! They're simply lovely!" Lopmon cried out with a smile as she leaped into Yun's arms happily.

"MarineAngemon and I played rock paper scissors! She lost because she has no fingers!" Terriermon said just as happily.

"Hey! So what if I have no fingers?" MarineAngemon retorted, becoming a little embarrassed by the fact that she only has stubby little pink protrusions for arms instead of real hands and fingers.

Later, they went into the living room. Orie too. Mariya decided to talk to Yun.

"So, Yun-chan, I hear you're in the 6th grade. What school do you go to?" Mariya asked politely.

"Oh, I...I go to Fushimi Middle School. I went to Katsura School from 2nd to 4th grade," Yun replied.

"Do you like it there?"

"Uhh...not exactly. Some kids I know are kinda mean, and I've got this huge math test tomorrow so I've been studying over the past week."

"You must be a good student!"

"I try to be, but I don't think it does me any good."

"You say that now, but wait until you get older. You never know when those smarts of yours may take you somewhere wonderful!"

Yun smiled, not because Mariya was praising her, but because she was glad that Aria's stepmother isn't a mean person, like Cinderella's wicked stepmother. Mariya wanted to talk with Yun some more, but...she didn't get to do so.

Because of Aria's dad walking in.

Everyone turned to look when they saw him walk in. Yun was quite surprised. Aria's father is a tall, lean, bulky looking man who looks to be in his mid-50's, with jet black hair pushed backward and sharp, fierce-looking brown eyes. Yun didn't quite make eye contact with him, but she could tell that the look in his face, and eyes, wasn't the kind of look that Aria's brown eyes displayed. Aria's eyes are sweet, gentle, and innocent while the man's...looked very fierce, like a tiger about to leap on it's prey and eat it. His face is literally overloaded with wrinkles, he has a small but thick black mustache under his isoceles triangle nose, he has side burns on both sides of his face, and thick, black eyebrows hung over his eyes like bangs, only Aria's dad didn't have bangs hanging over his forehead. Yun clung to her Jekyll and Hyde bag, Lopmon, and Terriermon tightly. Orie facepalmed in a very blatant 'Oh darn!' fashion. Yun knew right away that this was not going to be pretty. Mariya stood up.

"Oh! Ki-Kinzo! Welcome back! You're home early," Mariya said, trying to put on a smile, but even Aria's dad, Kinzo, could tell that the smile was forced. He looked right at Yun, and she felt a cold shiver run up her spine like a slithery snake.

"Who are you?" Kinzo asked. Yun was about to answer, albeit with trepidation, but Aria diverted his attention toward her.

"Papa! This is my friend Yun-chan! I bro-"

"Quiet! I didn't ask you! I'm asking her!" Kinzo snapped angrily, then turned to look back at Yun, who was becoming quite scared. He's looking at her with blatant scorn and contempt, Yun didn't know how to respond. Ironically enough, Yun's silence only irritated Kinzo more.

"Answer me! If I ask you a question, it is your duty to answer me! Now do it!" Kinzo yelled.

"I-I-I-I'm...Yun," Yun stammered fearfully and shyly, clinging to both Terriermon and Lopmon, who are also becoming both worried and scared.

"Why are you here?" He asked in a booming voice.

"Uhh..." Yun felt her voice box close up. If she told him that Aria brought her here to play, who knows how he'll react! What would he do if she told? Would he beat her or Aria to a pulp? Yun felt as though she were about to have a big anxiety attack (those happen to be very common). Kinzo was about to yell until Orie spoke up.

"I brought her here!" Orie exclaimed. Kinzo turned to look at her.

"I didn't ask you! I'm asking her!"

"Yeah, well that's the truth! I brought her here! She's my friend from school! I thought it'd be nice to have her here for a little while. We were just hanging out!"

Yun suddenly felt some of the fear seep out of her, surprised by what she's hearing and witnessing. Is Orie covering for her and Aria? She couldn't believe it. Even Aria couldn't believe it.

"Is this true?" Kinzo asked.

"Sure is!" Orie replied.

He didn't look satisfied. He turned back to Yun.

"You have no right to be here. Get out."

"Huh?"

"I said get out!"

"Wha...what did I do?" Yun yelped.

"You came here, that's what! Now leave! You are not needed here, you whelp!" Kinzo yelled.

"Kinzo! You should know better than to tell a guest such mean things!" Mariya yelled, very appalled by Kinzo's behavior.

"You should know better than to allow outsiders into our home, Mariya!" Kinzo screamed back.

Strangely enough, Yun didn't budge. She felt scared, but she was looking forward to playing with Aria, and she didn't want to have her play date cut short. She looked right up at Kinzo with anger in her face.

"Sir! All I'm doing is hanging out with my friend! Is that so wrong? Friends hang out together and do things together! What's wrong with wanting to play with someone?" Yun snapped, which made Kinzo furious. He grabbed her by the arm and attempted to drag her out of the house. Mariya tried to stop him.

"Kinzo! Stop! That's enough! You can't do this!" Mariya importuned, trying to help, but he pushed her away and kicked Yun out of the house.

"Return to your home immediately! You are never to come back here ever again, you filthy wretch!" Kinzo yelled and..._SLAM!_ He slammed the door shut, frightening Yun and hurting her sensitive ears.

"I don't like him!" Terriermon shouted.

"You're telling me!" Yun replied.

"He called you a whelp and a filthy wretch! How could he be so volatile? This is outrageous!" Lopmon cried out.

"I know. Orie-chan is right! He IS wacko!" Yun said. She gently put Lopmon and Terriermon down so she can get her cell phone and call Hisako, but...a very startling thing stopped her from doing so.

The sound of yelling. Coming right from Aria's house.

"You stupid little brats! I specifically told you never to invite any person to our house, nor are you to go to theirs? I never dreamed of such audacity! You've disobeyed me!" Kinzo screamed so loud Yun could hear him outside.

"So what? We just invited her here to hang out! It's not like she's some burgalar or robber or anything!" Orie yelled.

"Nonetheless, NOBODY is allowed in here but us! _NOBODY!_ You should've gotten that by now, you wretches! Mariya! I'm disappointed in you! I can't believe you even allowed this strange person to come inside our house!" Kinzo first yelled at Orie, then at Mariya.

"We allowed her to come in because we invited her here! She's a nice little girl! Why did you have to yell at her and put her on the spot like that? She didn't do anything wrong, Kinzo!" Mariya yelled, trying to reason with him. But it didn't work.

"Who are you to disobey me? I'm your husband and you're supposed to do what I tell you! When I-huh?" Kinzo was about to do something to Mariya when he noticed Yun still standing outside the door. Choleric, he burst out and approached Yun, who has her cell phone in her hand.

"Why are you still on our property? I told you to leave!"

"Give me a minute, will you? I'm gonna call my mom and ask her to pick me up!"

"Your parents didn't teach you to walk home from school? Disgraceful! You're, what? Eleven? You're old enough to walk home on your own!"

"But what if some guy came out and kidnapped me? Hold on a sec! Let me call my mom and have her pick me up!"

Vehemently, Kinzo pushed Yun and made her fall to the ground.

"Leave this property right now or I'm calling the police! You shouldn't be burdening your parents and having them do as you tell them!"

"We always do this! Stop yelling, will you?" Yun covered her ears at this point.

"Go on! Leave, you brat!"

It's here that Mariya grabbed Kinzo by the arm and dragged him into the house.

"Kinzo! That's enough! Come back inside!" Mariya shot a sympathetic look at Yun as she dragged a very defiant Kinzo back into the house.

Not wanting to stick around, Yun grabbed her bag, Lopmon, and Terriermon and dashed away from the house. She had no idea where she was running to, but she didn't care. She wanted to be away from Aria's house. Not because of Aria, but because of Kinzo. After about a few minutes, she found herself shivering behind someone else's shed, clinging to Lopmon and Terriermon tightly. Yun fell to her knees and let Lopmon and Terriermon go. But they were both seriously appalled by what had just transpired.

"Lopmon! Did you hear all that? That was just horrible! Absolutely horrible!" Terriermon screamed angrily.

"I know, right? He actually had the audacity to push Yun to the ground and demand that she walk home instead of wait for Hisako-san? This is just absolutely outrageous! What a horrible man he is!" Lopmon screamed just as angrily, thinking the exact same thing that Terriermon is right now. But they did turn to look at Yun and see, much to their shock, that she's trembling violently and crying. The two floppy eared rabbits gasped.

"Oh dear, sweet Yun! Are you alright?" Lopmon hopped onto Yun's shoulder, wrapped one of her long ears around Yun's head, and gently stroke her hair with one of her rosy pink paws. Terriermon leaped on her.

"Don't cry, Yun! We're here! We'll make that man pay!" Terriermon exclaimed.

"I...I...I can't...stop shaking. I...my ears...they hurt..." Yun muttered through her tears. The two floppy eared rabbits persisted and continued to console her...even though something interrupted them in the process.

"Spiral Edge!"

"Boom Bubble!"

Yun immediately stopped crying and stood up, totally alert. Lopmon and Terriermon did the same.

"There are Digimon nearby!" Terriermon exclaimed.

"Awww! What now?" Yun complained, not happy that she was interrupted from her personal wailing. They ran away from the shed and onto an empty street, where they saw two Digimon, both rookies, fighting each other. But that wasn't what surprised them.

As it turned out, not only were there two Digimon there, but standing behind the purple Digimon is a human girl!

One of the Digimon is a purple Patamon with lime green eyes who looked like he had a very mischievous and shrewd air about him. The other Digimon is about the same size as the purple Patamon, with yellow skin, an orange mane, glowing red eyes, four huge black horns protruding from its back, black webbed feet that resemble that of a duck's, and a set of very sharp white teeth, like those of a pirahna. But this Digimon isn't a fish. The girl looks to be about 14 years old, with long, straight, jet black hair going down to her upper back, with dark brown eyes just like Kinzo's. She is wearing all black. A sleeveless black shirt, a black skirt, black lace stockings, and black boots. Yun couldn't believe that the girl was gutsy enough to wear all black on a nice sunny day like this, since she learned in science class that black clothes absorb the sun's heat. As the Digimon fought, they hid behind a tree.

"Yun! Yun! That purple Digimon is named Tsukaimon! He's the one who was causing trouble in the park yesterday!" Lopmon told her in a voice full of shock and worry.

"She's right! That girl in black is that Nayuki girl! She's the one who kicked Lopmon in the face!" Terriermon yelled angrily, which made Yun's eyes grow big.

"WHAT? _She's_ the one?" Yun yelped.

Thankfully, the girl, Nayuki, nor the Digimon didn't hear her. Yun decided to look up both Digimons' info on her digivice.

"Let's see...the one with the horns is Gizamon. His attacks are Spiral Edge, Frog Kick, and Water Cure. The purple Patamon is Tsukaimon. His attacks are Boom Bubble and Evil Fire. They're both rookie levels and virus attributes," Yun said.

"That Gizamon looks like he has a Dark Emblem on him! Oh! I see it! It's on his back, next to one of his fins!" Lopmon pointed to where the Dark Emblem is. Yun got a closer look and saw that Lopmon is right. It's on his orange mane, next to his second fin. But the Digimon keeps hopping around, it was hard for Yun to really see it. But she certainly saw it.

"Come on, Yun! Let's kick her butt!" Terriermon importuned, pulling on Yun's shirt.

"Not yet. Let's see what she does first," Yun advised calmly, though Terriermon wasn't happy with this response.

The two watched as Gizamon and Tsukaimon nuked it out.

"Water Cure!"

"Sonic Wing!"

A jet of fast moving water spat out from Gizamon's mouth, but Tsukaimon flapped his purple bat wings and made two dark purple, crescent shaped lights shoot out of them, intercepting the attack and rendering it to nothing. Gizamon hopped about, trying to land a decent hit on Tsukaimon, but he avoided all of the frog Digimon's attacks. Gizamon then tried to stab Tsukaimon with one of his fins, but Tsukaimon's Boom Bubble stopped him from doing so. Finally, Tsukaimon shot a ball of Evil Fire at him, hitting the Dark Emblem and making it disappear. The red glow in Gizamon's eyes faded away and he regained his consciousness. He looked around, looking very confused.

"Huh? What? Where the heck am I? I shouldn't be here!" Gizamon yelped in a strange, raspy voice as he realized he wasn't in the Digital World.

"I-I've gotta split!" Gizamon attempted to hop away, but Nayuki got out a digilasso and lashed Gizamon with it, stopping him from doing any hopping.

"Sorry, no can do. Your data will be useful to us. Tsukaimon, now!" Nayuki commanded as she tried to keep Gizamon from running, or hopping, away.

Yun realized it now. This girl wasn't going to let Gizamon go, even after she removed the Dark Emblem! She's gonna kill him and absorb his data! _'I can't let her do this! I'm going in!'_ She thought.

"No! No! Noooo! Leave me alone! Have mercy!" Gizamon pleaded, but Nayuki and Tsukaimon approached him with cold looks on their faces.

"Evil Fire!"

Gizamon braced himself, knowing that he's doing to die and have his data be totally absorbed by this pudgy little purple Patamon...or was he?

"Stop it!"

"Double Typhoon!"

With no time to spare, Lopmon and Terriermon both combined themselves into one bunny tornado, quickly hitting both Tsukaimon and Nayuki, causing Tsukaimon's attack to be destroyed and Nayuki's digivice to be knocked out of her hands, clattering onto the ground. Yun leaped out from behind the tree and quickly grabbed the Gizamon. She didn't mind that his black fins were rubbing against her chest a little bit. At this point, she didn't care. She completely shed her despondent and dejected feelings from just a few minutes earlier. Now Yun is totally brave and alert, clutching Gizamon tightly while giving Nayuki and Tsukaimon a scornful look.

"Leave this Digimon alone, you bullies!" Yun yelled angrily.

"Hey! We got here first, so get lost, stinkin' human!" Tsukaimon yelled back.

"YOU get lost, you brutes!" Terriermon yelled.

Nayuki took a glance at Lopmon and recognized her immediately. "Hm! So these little midgets are your partners? Pathetic."

"You're the pathetic one! All you had to do is remove that Dark Emblem and leave Gizamon be! You don't have to kill him!" Yun yelled.

"Stay out of our business, kid! This is our fight, not yours! Why don't you take your little dolls and go about your merry way?" Nayuki retorted.

"Why should we, when I still have a bone to pick with you for kickin' Lopmon in the face?" Terriermon cried out.

"That was your fault for meddling into our private business!" Nayuki said coldly.

"Yeah! You deserved that kick in the face!" Tsukaimon taunted, which made Terriermon mad.

"Blazing Fire!"

"Evil Fire!"

Two fiery spheres collided, turning into smoke.

"Will you brats just go away already? Give me that Digimon so Tsukaimon can absorb his data!" Nayuki commanded. Yun clutched to Gizamon tighter.

"No way am I handing him to you! I know your kind! You're one of those tamers who think Digimon only come here to fight and are nothing more than packets of data! You think this whole thing is some kind of sick game! I know it!" Yun yelled.

Nayuki crossed her arms. "You don't get it, do you? It's true. Digimon are just computer data built for fighting, nothing more."

"Who are you to decide something so horrible?"

"It's not horrible. It's how it is, brat."

"Stop calling Yun a brat!" Terriermon yelled.

"Shut up, droopy ears!" Tsukaimon yelled back.

"Please! Enough yelling! Can't we be civil here?" Lopmon pleaded.

"This isn't a civil affair, droopy ears," Nayuki said to Lopmon coldly, with her arms crossed. "It's survival of the fittest. You should know that by now! You're a Digimon, aren't you?"

Lopmon didn't want to believe what Nayuki is saying about Digimon only being allowed to fight. No, she refused to believe any of it. She didn't have any reason to fight anyone. It's true that neither she nor Terriermon know how or why they've come to the real world, nor do they have any memory of what really happened to them. But Lopmon and Terriermon spent practically all their time with Yun, and the more they got to know her, the more they grew to love Yun's kindness, innocence, purity, and charity. Yun never taught them to hate or fight or anything like that. Yun taught them right. Yun taught them to be good through reading books and watching anime and learning and playing and appreciating the small things that make them happy, like flowers and animals and art. Yun never taught them to fight at all, especially not for any good reason. Yun didn't raise them to be heartless monsters and killers, and the two loved that about Yun. Yun always knew what was right and what was wrong, and made sure to teach them that. Yun didn't believe that senseless fighting was the answer to anything. It's no wonder Lopmon and Terriermon loved Yun so much.

Unfortunately, right as Yun was about to quietly back away, Gizamon suddenly panicked and leaped out of Yun's arms, ripping her shirt just a little bit and making her fall to the ground.

"Gizamon! NO!" Yun tried to get him to come back, but Gizamon was too scared to stick around. That provided the perfect opportunity for Nayuki to get her digisword out and for Tsukaimon to attack.

"Evil Fire!"

Tsukaimon threw his attack at Gizamon, and so did Nayuki with her digisword. Unfortunately, they managed to outrun Yun, Lopmon, and Terriermon, and both attacks hit Gizamon.

_"GIZAMON!"_ All three of them yelled as Gizamon was hit by the two attacks. The Evil Fire singed his entire body while the digisword pierced him through the side, causing him to fall to the ground. He tried to move, but the life drained out of him. His body dissolved into orange particles of data that Tsukaimon attempted to absorb...but he didn't get to do that.

Because Yun and Terriermon have finally had enough.

"YOU IDIOTS!" Terriermon lunged onto Tsukaimon while Yun assaulted Nayuki. The both of them wrestled and flailed around, trying to pry one off of the other. Tsukaimon and Terriermon mostly slapped each other and bit each other while Yun and Nayuki went the extra mile. Yells, hits, kicks, slaps, punches, and bites flew all over the place. Nayuki and Yun rolled on the solid ground, not caring that their clothes are getting dirty.

"You heartless demon! You killed him! You killed him! You freak!" Yun screamed wildly as she tried to punish Nayuki for condoning such a cruel and insidious deed.

"He deserved it for assaulting me earlier! Get off of me, you pathetic fool!" Nayuki slapped Yun in the face right there, but Yun didn't seem to notice, let alone care.

"You're a heartless demon who doesn't care about anyone but yourself! I hate you! You're cruel and heartless and wicked and stupid and dumb and pathetic and abominable! It's no wonder you wear black! That's what your entire body is made of!" Yun yanked on Nayuki's hair as hard as she could. She didn't care if it was hurting Nayuki. She wanted to make her pay.

"That's the ways of the world, brat! Deal with it!" Nayuki kicked Yun in the stomach, but the two rabid girls still went at it. Terriermon and Tsukaimon too...though they were mostly biting each other's ears.

Lopmon was just absolutely frozen in place, totally appalled and petrified by the chaos and discord going on around her. Lopmon wanted to stop the fighting, but what if she got hurt? Or even killed? What if Yun or Terriermon got hurt? She knew they were only fighting them to defend Gizamon's and their own honor, but still, to Lopmon, fighting is wrong! But she didn't know what to do. She didn't know how to go mediate the fighting between them and stop the internecine feud. But how in the world could she ameliorate the situation?

As it would turn out, she wouldn't have to.

"Oh! Yun! Your digivice! It's glowing!" Lopmon yelled.

All fighting stopped as everyone turned to look at Yun's digivice. Much to their surprise, it IS glowing! In a beautiful rainbow-hued light to boot! Terriermon looked up and also saw something that surprised him.

"Look! Up in the sky!" Terriermon pointed to the sky.

No, he didn't see a bird, or a plane, or some super hero about to drop down from the sky and ameliorate the conflict. In fact, what Terriermon saw was Gizamon's data, floating aimlessly in the middle of the sky. But what he noticed was that the data stopped for just a brief moment, then suddenly floated closer, and closer...and closer until it got absorbed by Yun's digivice!

Gizamon's data is actually going INSIDE Yun's digivice!

Everyone was shocked to see this. Once all of Gizamon's data was...preserved, a big white light appeared from Yun's digivice and fell to the ground. The light dissipated to form...a DigiEgg! A little smaller than Gizamon, but it's yellow with orange markings on it. Right then and there, everyone realized what had happened: in response to Yun's anger about Nayuki "killing" Gizamon, her digivice preserved Gizamon's data and turned him into a DigiEgg! Everyone got different looks plastered all over their faces, Yun and Lopmon with absolute joy, Terriermon with absolute confusion, and Nayuki and Tsukaimon with absolute anger. Yun could feel herself smiling. Her digivice saved Gizamon's data! He turned into a DigiEgg. Feeling totally overcome with joy and glee, Yun decided to approach the DigiEgg. Nayuki, however, had other ideas.

"You are not getting that DigiEgg!"

Nayuki tried to grab Yun by the foot, but she successfully avoided it and grabbed the DigiEgg. This is where Nayuki and Tsukaimon REALLY demonstrated their true colors. Nayuki ran up to Yun and...began kicking her.

"YUN!" Terriermon and Lopmon both cried out in alarm. Yun fell to the ground in a crumpled heap, desperately clutching the DigiEgg as tight as she can, even though Nayuki is kicking her with her muddy shoes.

"Give it to me!"

"No!"

"I said give it to me!"

"No!"

"Evil Fire!"

"Terrier Tornado!"

Tsukaimon attempted to set Yun on fire with his attack, but Terriermon successfully foiled his plan and got into a cat fight with him again. Lopmon has finally had enough.

"Freezing Snow!" Lopmon froze one of Nayuki's legs with her attack.

"Please! You must stop this at once!" Lopmon pleaded.

"In your dreams, stupid rabbit!" Nayuki grabbed Lopmon by the ears and threw her to the ground like she was a rag doll and continued to beat Yun, who is still clinging to the DigiEgg.

"You...are...not...getting...this...!" Yun muttered as she gave Nayuki the stink eye, which seemed to irritate her.

"Want me to have another go at her?" Tsukaimon asked.

"Do it!" Nayuki commanded.

Yun braced herself. Lopmon and Terriermon prepared to attack, knowing that Yun would get hurt. Tsukaimon got his attack ready.

"Evil Fire!"

"Holy Wing!"

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a ray of white light shot out from the distance, hitting both Tsukaimon and Nayuki so hard that they both fell to the ground. This gave Yun time to get up and the floppy eared Digimon twins to run to her side. Everyone was surprised to see who had arrived, and Yun was so joyous she had to confirm it.

"Kosuke-kun! Patamon!"

Yep, standing between them and Nayuki are none other than Kosuke and Patamon! Kosuke's hazel eyes were ablaze with both courage and anger, and his messy brown hair stood up like he had been in a strong wind. He wore a slightly messy white T-shirt, some light blue jeans, and a pair of old black and white sneakers. A white convenience store bag hung from one of his elbows, and his orange D-Heart of freedom dangled from one of the handles on his jeans like a keychain. But with his orange digivice in hand and Patamon by his side, his messy appearance was of no importance at all as he caught sight of Yun, Nayuki, and the Digimon.

"Leave my friend alone!" Kosuke demanded angrily as he stepped in between Yun and Nayuki. Tsukaimon spat at the ground.

"Blech! It's my wimpy, good-for-nothing twin!" Tsukaimon scoffed.

"Stop being so mean! Look at what you've done to them!" Patamon exclaimed.

"So what? It's fun to do a little messin' around!" Tsukaimon retorted with a wicked smile on his face.

"Yun! You okay?" Kosuke asked with concern.

"I'm a little messed up, but I'm fine! Thanks!" Yun replied.

"Oh great," Nayuki rolled her eyes as she stood up. "Another pathetic loser with a Digimon."

"You're not exactly a great prize yourself. Now spill the beans! Who are you and why are you causing so much trouble? If you don't answer me, I'll be sure to make you suffer the same fate as that Digimon you killed," Kosuke told her unmercifully.

"Kosuke! Why I never!" Patamon exclaimed, shocked by Kosuke's attitude, even though he knew that it was to threaten Nayuki and lower her guard just a bit. Nayuki, seeing that she is outnumbered, finally decided to concede defeat.

"Alright. You win this time. The name's Ichinose Nayuki. That Digimon came out of nowhere and assaulted me, so I decided to kill it. As of now, my mission is to be strong. Stronger than anyone else here," Nayuki explained calmly and quietly at first, then she pointed her finger at them. "Just so you know, just because I'm giving in this time doesn't mean I'm done with you! You're both weak and pathetic, claiming that Digimon are all friends and all that mushy goody-goody garbage! The next time we meet, I'm gonna take you all down for sure and absorb all your Digimon's data!"

Yun stood in front of Terriermon and Lopmon. "As if I'd let you hurt my precious friends!"

"So you only fight Digimon and absorb their data. Should you really be doing just that? There's more to Digimon than that, y'know," Kosuke told her.

"That's right! Digimon don't have to just fight all the time! We're living creatures too, y'know!" Patamon exclaimed.

Nayuki scoffed at Patamon's last comment. "Digimon? Living creatures? Friends? Don't make me laugh. Oh great. My valuable time's been wasted. Now I'm bored. Tsukaimon, let's get away from the loser league."

"What? But I wanna fry them to a crisp!" Tsukaimon whined.

"Don't waste your breath. It's not worth it," Nayuki said. Tsukaimon, not feeling propitiated, decided to give in and follow Nayuki as the two partners in crime walked away from the scene. Yun, Kosuke, Lopmon, Patamon, and Terriermon are now all alone.

"Wow, Yun. You sure took a beating there," Kosuke said.

"Yeah...and now I'm all dirty!" Yun exclaimed with both relief and dismay at the same time, relieved that the fight with Nayuki is over for the time being, and dismayed because her clothes are covered in dirt and gravel.

"Exactly what were you doing here?" Lopmon asked.

Kosuke held up a small white bag. "I was just on my way back from the dollar store. Got some good stuff for me and Patamon to eat."

"You're lucky we were close by! Otherwise, that mean girl and Tsukaimon would've really hurt you! I'm just glad you're both alright," Patamon said.

"I'm so with you there!" Terriermon said.

"So...what are you gonna do with the DigiEgg?" Kosuke asked. Yun noticed that she's been clinging to the DigiEgg this whole time. She got her digivice out, opened it, pushed the door button, and a digital portal appeared. Yun held Gizamon's DigiEgg over it and slowly dropped it into the hole. The digital portal vanished.

"I think he should go back to the Digital World where he belongs," Yun said.

"You made the right choice, Yun. You were so brave today! You fought with Ichinose-san and made sure she didn't steal the DigiEgg!" Lopmon said, lauding Yun for her bravery.

"I'm kinda surprised you didn't bother using the digishield. That would've saved you some trouble," Kosuke said.

"Believe me, I wanted to, but I was so wrapped up in protecting Gizamon and stopping that Nayuki that I guess I never got the time to use it. Oh! Speaking of, Kosuke-kun! Something awesome happened as I was fighting with Ichinose! Guess what! The digivice has the power to save a Digimon's data after it gets destroyed!" Yun exclaimed solemnly at first, then happily when the digivice was mentioned.

"What? The digivice can do that?" Patamon yelped.

"Yeah! I only just realized it a few minutes ago! Tsukaimon and Ichinose both killed Gizamon, but my digivice seemed to preserve its data, protect it, and turn him into a DigiEgg! How cool is that?" Yun explained.

Kosuke smirked. "That's very cool."

"I didn't think Digimon could reconvert in the real world. I guess now I'm wrong!" Yun said.

"That's awesome!" Patamon said.

"If you want, I can walk you home. I don't have much to do right now," Kosuke suggested.

"You will? Sure!" Yun agreed. Then she noticed Kosuke's D-Heart. "I notice your D-Heart is on your pants."

"I couldn't find long enough string to make it into a necklace, so I thought this would be good enough," Kosuke said.

Patamon settled himself on Kosuke's back while Lopmon and Terriermon both settled onto both of Yun's shoulders. Yun knew this wasn't a romantic situation so she didn't feel at all embarrassed by Kosuke walking her home. They both recognized the route to Yun's house so they didn't feel lost at all. Suddenly, Kosuke stopped.

"Hm? Kosuke-kun, what's up?" Yun asked.

"You look rather dejected. Is something wrong?" Lopmon asked politely.

Kosuke looked right at Yun, straight in the eyes.

"Yun. There's something I've been meaning to ask you," Kosuke said.

Yun turned her head away, feeling rather intimidated by the look in Kosuke's eyes. "Uh...what is it?"

"Back in the Digital World, when we were about to defeat Witchmon, you tried to stop us. After we defeated her, you consoled her. After that, you dropped her DigiEgg somewhere in the real world. Why? Why did you do all that?"

Yun ruminated, trying to think of an answer that would propitiate Kosuke, but it seemed she didn't have to.

"It's because she's kind," Lopmon said.

"What does that have to do with it?" Kosuke asked.

"It may seem trivial to you, but Yun...Yun talked with Witchmon for a bit as we were fighting at Noir Lake. Apparently Witchmon went through some hard times, and was under the belief that humans lived in luxury and didn't have hardship. Yun wanted to understand her and show her some kindness, even though she has been rather cruel," Lopmon explained.

Finally, Yun looked at Kosuke straight in the face.

"She's right. It's true. I...I dropped Witchmon's DigiEgg in this world because...I want to believe that Witchmon can redeem herself and start over. Perhaps maybe she'll find a human partner that she likes," Yun explained calmly.

"But what if she's with a bad person?" Kosuke asked.

"Well...if that happens, then it happens. To be honest, I don't know what'll happen. But I'd like to believe that she can change for the better," Yun said.

"It's nice of you to think of Witchmon that way, even with the stuff she did!" Patamon said with a smile, praising Yun's kindness.

"Eh...I'm still kinda iffy about it. She put a Dark Emblem on me and made you cry!" Terriermon said.

"Well, yes, but that was then, and now Witchmon won't do those things anymore," Yun said.

"How do you know?" Kosuke asked.

"I don't, really, but it's just wishful thinking," Yun said.

After some more walking, Kosuke managed to escort Yun home safe and sound. She asked if he wanted to stay for dinner, but Kosuke declined this time, much to Patamon's shock. Kosuke and Patamon walked away. However...what both kids didn't know was that...a man saw the whole fight with Nayuki and had followed them home. Now the man began following Kosuke home.

Once Yun got inside, Hisako and Lucero both gasped, seeing how dirty Yun is. Yun felt too tired to really want to tell them about what happened, but she felt obligated to do so anyway. The day started off fine, and Yun had fun playing with Aria and MarineAngemon, but Kinzo screwed it up and kicked her out of the house.

"It was awful, Mom! Just downright awful! Aria's dad kept telling me to walk home! He wouldn't even let me call you on my phone and wait for you! He kept saying things like, 'Disgraceful! You're old enough to walk home on your own! You shouldn't be burdening your parents and having them do as you tell them!' He made it sound like I was treating you like slaves!" Yun yelped. Hisako was appalled.

"He actually said that?" Hisako yelped.

"Yeah!"

"Why that no good...! How dare he treat you like this!" Hisako yelled, angry at what Yun had just told her. But Yun was worried about something else, and she decided to tell her.

"Mom...can you please do me one favor?" Yun grabbed onto Hisako's arm and looked up at her with pleading eyes. "Can you please not blame this whole thing on Aria-chan? She's just a little kid. She didn't know something like this was gonna happen, and she probably didn't want it to either. Mariya-san tried to stop him, but he was REALLY persistent."

Hearing this, Hisako softened and rubbed Yun's hair gently.

"It's okay, Yun. I know it's not Aria-chan's fault. She's a nice girl, and stuff like this just happens. But still! Doesn't that man know how high the kidnapping rates are getting these days?" Hisako told Yun gently, then yelled upon remembering what Yun just told her. "Oh! We're having meat loaf tonight."

So Yun ate dinner, took a nice long bath (which irritated Ayaka because she needed to take a shower), changed into her pajamas, wrapped her wet hair in a hair towel, and played with Lopmon, Terriermon, and Lucero. She told him about what had happened.

"So, this Nayuki person thinks Digimon are here only to fight? How wicked and deplorable of her!" Lucero exclaimed.

"I know, right? She's awful!" Yun said.

"She certainly must have a good reason for being the way she is," Lopmon said.

"Good reason? I don't think that's the right way to put it. I still wanted to kick HER in the face for what she did to you!" Terriermon told her.

"Terriermon, you shouldn't speak that way. It's not proper," Lopmon told him with her little arms crossed. Lucero looked at Yun with worry in both his bright blue eyes and his low voice.

"Yun...I suppose this may be rude of me to ask since thou hast had such a hard day, but...art thou going to find her and punish her for her wicked and insidious deeds?" Lucero asked. "I honestly would not want to let this go, hearing about what she did to thee! How dare she treat you so mercilessly!"

"To be honest, I'd really like to know why she's doing these things. But you're right, I'm not gonna let this slide. What she's doing is wrong, and she has to understand that Digimon are just as much living creatures as we are and that she shouldn't treat Digimon like slaves or punching bags," Yun told him.

Lucero gently put a tender hand on Yun's, looking her straight in the eyes.

"If she...ever tries to lay a cruel hand on thee again...I shan't show her any mercy. Thou art right. What she's done to thee, Lopmon, and everyone else is nothing less than deplorable, and she must be disciplined for her transgressions. I cannot allow what's she's done to thee and thy Digimon to run about freely," Lucero said solemnly.

Yun actually didn't turn away when he looked at her. His face may look solemn and serious, but his gaze was kind. Yun could tell right away that Lucero really is sincere and genuine about what he just said, and that it wasn't some facade or trick. She has a complex about people's ulterior motives for something. But...something else stood out to her.

Why does it seem like Lucero...views her as more than just a friend?

Author's Note: Chapter's gotten rather long so I'll end it here. Winter break is here! Yay! See you all later!

Footnotes:

1. Fancy Lala is a magical girl anime created by Studio Pierrot, which aired in 1998, around the same time Card Captor Sakura aired. It's the last of a line of magical girl anime created by said studio.

2. Jewelpet is an anime and toy line created by Sanrio and Sega.


	29. Friends and Enemies

Author's Note: Hey everyone. It's almost Christmas. Here's Digimon: A Seraphic Tale, chapter 29.

EPISODE 29: Friends and Enemies

All the lights were off. The curtains were drawn shut, keeping the warm sun's golden rays from permeating the glass and into the dark and dismal-looking house, prohibiting it from warming the place up and giving it some well-needed light. He simply shrugged, thinking light was unnecessary for right now. The house is very dark as of now, even though one window, in the kitchen, didn't have curtains, so some light managed to break through the glass barrier that is the window and lighten up the place just a little bit. A lonely, shrewd looking man sat in the living room, comfortably on his couch, typing into a shiny dark blue laptop, though in this darkness it looked as though it were black, just like the living room right now. It's too dark to see most of his features, but the blueish white screen of the laptop lit up his face and part of his hair. His eyes are hidden behind a pair of dark sunglasses. Now why in the world would a man want to wear sunglasses in a very dark room? Wouldn't that make it harder to see in such a dismal place? To this person, it was of no problem. He's too focused on his laptop right now. His face lit up blue by the hue of the glowing laptop screen, and his pointed nose looked like a perfect isosceles triangle, though he didn't seem to care for such trivialties as of now. One of his feet tapped the bare wooden floor, up and down, making a rather catchy cadence, like that of the soft tapping of drum sticks on a bongo. But then again, who would use drum sticks on a bongo when they could use them on drums?

The man didn't own any drums, nor any musical instrument for that matter. He didn't look as though he were a very musical person, nor did he look as though he had an inclination or diversion for music anyhow. But he certainly did develop an inclination for something, which is what he's looking up on his laptop. He had heard news stories featuring strange incidents, some of which supposedly involved strange...creatures. He hearkened to the stories he watched on the news very intently, as if he had found his calling. But he didn't want to dive into his own investigation yet. That would've been reckless. He listened for more of them until he didn't feel satisfied with just watching and listening to the stories on the news. So, he had decided to go out and see with his own eyes, hidden by his sunglasses, the strange creatures who have been causing the strange incidents, the first involving the partially destroyed trees in the park and the partial decimation of the construction site not too far off. On a random stroll in the park, he saw a lot of kids and tiny pet-like monsters pop out of a white light which, to them, was called a digital portal. He witnessed them come back to the real world, and this confirmed his suspicions. Kids are somehow domesticating these strange creatures, totally oblivious to the repercussions that would come with it (as he thought).

If his gut was right, he knew where the strange creatures had emanated. But at this point, he had no proof, so he decided to do some research. On another stroll, he saw a blonde haired child with odd purple tattoos playing with some floppy eared rabbit like creatures by pure accident. He had found the home of one of the kids who domesticated these creatures. Just yesterday, he saw a big brouhaha break out between a high school girl draped entirely in black, a young 6th grade girl, the two rabbits and a purple pudgy bat-winged animal. He recorded it with his cell phone and decided to use it as evidence. Evidence to confirm the existence of these monsters and prove that kids are somehow able to domesticate them. Now, he's entirely glued to his laptop, trying to hack into the database of Fushimi Middle School, hoping to find some of the kids who managed to domesticate the Digimon and come out of that hole. As of right now, he didn't have any luck breaking in. He tried everything he could think of, but nothing worked. He did have a couple more options, but he refrained from using them. He didn't plan on using those methods just yet. After a while, he decided to take a break from hacking into the school's database, and minimized the website so he can work on a paper he's writing. An ash tray half full of used cigarettes and a small can of electric blue Gatorade sat on the little table in front of him. He didn't flinch, or turn away from the screen, or speak, or anything of the sort. He didn't even do so when he heard knocking on the door.

"Masaomi-san?" A lady's voice could be heard on the other side of the door, calling out to him. He didn't turn to look, nor did he put his laptop away or answer the door.

"Door's open," He said in a low voice, but enough so that the woman could hear him.

The woman came inside. A rather young woman in her early 20's, with semi-long, wavy maroon hair and amber eyes like fresh new kumquats. She has beige skin with a few tiny, sphere-shaped birth marks here and there, but nothing too big. She wore a plain white shirt under a short sleeved light blue jean jacket, a pair of long beige khaki pants, and black shoes. Over her left shoulder is a big orange purse full of all kinds of things packed inside of it. The woman was taken aback by the lack of light in the house, considering her amber eyes just got big.

"Whoa! Masaomi-san! Turn a light on in here, will ya?" The woman exclaimed as she literally swung open every single curtain in the house and turned on the main lights. The man, Masaomi, didn't flinch when she did. He continued to write his paper.

"Morning, Higashino-san," Masaomi said in a low, monotone voice. The woman put her hands on her hips.

"Mom said you're allowed to call me by my name, Anzu!" The girl, Higashino Anzu, exclaimed. "And it's almost 12:30! I don't know what you've been doing in here, but if you keep all those lights off and work on that computer, you're gonna go blind!"

Masaomi didn't say anything. Anzu sighed.

"You should get out more. It's such a nice day out, though it IS rather humid," Anzu said.

"I hear you're starting your next semester of college soon," Masaomi said.

"That's right. I finally got into that psychology class I've been begging to get into!"

"Good. I'm happy for you."

"You sure don't sound it."

"Sorry."

"Oh! I was just at the dollar store and I saw some of these," Anzu said, pulling out a pack of strawberry banana Blitz yogurt from her bag and placing it on the table next to Masaomi's gatorade. "I know how much you like them, so I got them for you."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome," Anzu then noticed the tray of cigarettes on the table. "You should quit smoking. My high school health teacher says that too much smoking causes cancer and makes your lungs go all black!"

"I'll quit soon."

"You always say that, but you never do!"

"Hm. Glad you got into that class...and that you're getting the knack of living on your own. If you need anything, I'm here."

"Thanks! But I'm still clueless on how to pay bills, sign checks, and all that stuff! It's so complicated! Oh! Speaking of money, I got a job now!"

"Is that so? Congrats."

"Thanks again! It's nothing real big, but it's better than nothing. I'm gonna work as a lunch lady at the local middle school with my mom. Y'know, Fushimi Middle School?"

Masaomi's eyes suddenly grew a tad big behind his black sunglasses. His ears perked up and he raised his head up from his laptop as if he had heard the best news ever. But he didn't crack a smile. Not one. "Fushimi Middle School, you say?"

"Yeah. It'll probably not be the best job in the world, but really, in this economy, anything's better than nothing."

"When do you start?"

"On Monday. Mom's gonna teach me over the weekend. It's a good thing I don't have any classes in the early afternoon."

"Do you have a checking account yet?"

"Yeah. Mom and I made one together, but really, all that money stuff is so complicated it's making my brain turn into jelly!"

"You'll get used to it once you use it as often as possible."

"I doubt I'll be able to remember any of it. Well, I should get back home now. See ya!" With that, Anzu left the house and trotted off next door, leaving Masaomi alone.

Anzu is his next door neighbor who's recently begun living on her own. She's a sophomore in the local community college. Masaomi and Anzu's mother have been friends and acquaintances for many years now, and for Anzu to have Masaomi as a next door neighbor, one whom she can go to for help in case there are any emergencies, this was quite a relief on Anzu's part. Masaomi lives alone, and although he has a job, the place where he works has been laying off people. His hours and pay were cut. But he didn't find it much of a problem. To the average person though, this would be a calamity, especially considering how bad the economy is. At this point, he didn't really consider his current job to be important right now. He has the day off today. Right now, he's too busy working on his laptop. Now that his eyes have adjusted to the light of the living room, which Anzu had turned on earlier, he decided to get back to trying to hack Fushimi Middle School's database, though Anzu just announced that she'll be working there, and to Masaomi, this seemed like a happy accident, as he suspected that the kids who he saw pop out of that white light earlier may be going to that very school. After some ruminating, he decided to try hacking into the school's database again. He attempted some more complicated computer stuff, and with a click and a ping, he managed to get into the database! About time.

He scrolled through the list of students. The database contained pictures of the students, along with some minor information about them, their current grades, their behavior, etc. Their names, beginning with their surname, are listed in alphabetical order. Silently, he scrolled through the long list. He managed to find the list of 6th grade kids and scrolled through it. After some searching, he found some of the kids by their picture, and was pleased with finally knowing a bit of who they are, beginning with their names. Hanemoto Kosuke. Jounouchi Otoya. Nobara Rena and Riku. Omori Minako. Shimotsuki Melody. Only one name stood out to him, however, and his eyes grew big behind his sunglasses just from glancing at the name and picture.

Kamitsure Hokuto.

As Masaomi read, the boy had just been registered into the school's system and his information and picture have just been posted only just recently. Hokuto, in the picture, didn't look too happy. He wore a rather dejected, blank, and listless look on his pale white face. Masaomi had seen Hokuto before. He was surprised that Hokuto would be one of the kids who managed to domesticate a strange creature! But after he regained his composure, he scrolled through the list. Another name stood out to him, though it was mostly because it was foreign: Lucero G. D'Orio. After some more scrolling, he finally found information on the girl who he saw getting into a fight with the high school girl just yesterday: Wakamiya Julia, aka Yun. Her picture made her look as though she were no great prize. Just a girl with short brown hair, striking green eyes, wearing a rather blank look on her face and a tan sweater. He noticed that unlike the others, there's just a tad more information about her posted on the database, like her being autistic, her need for in-class support in certain classes, her scheduled re-evaluation, etc. He copied down all the info he could find on a small notepad and printed the pictures. A printer is sitting in between the kitchen counter and the TV. He closed his laptop, walked to the printer, took the printed papers, put them in a tan folder, and put it in a set of drawers in another room. On the drawer is a small CD in a blue transparent case, with a piece of tape on the front with MC Destroyer scribbled on it with a black sharpie marker. He smirked at it for just a bit, then decided to go for a stroll in the neighborhood.

He locked the front door and walked outside. He glanced at the many houses surrounding him, went down the alley, passed the gas station, passed the Wawa, and went into the park. As usual, hardly anyone went there, so he's the only one there as of now. He continued to amble and stroll through the park, but now his mind is in another place. He remembered some days he spent in college as a young, ambitious man, sitting at a table, surrounded by his best friends, looking at a computer screen litered with strange pixelated animals that seemed to move. They toasted in a college cafeteria and happily consumed the food they made for the occasion. He wondered if he could go back to those days. But no. He couldn't. In his mind, those creatures were the reason why he's where he is right now and he...hated them for it. He hated them for a great many reasons, but it was one very personal reason that cultivated his animosity toward them. He wished he had never been involved with the project. If he hadn't been involved, it wouldn't have happened.

Masaomi lost someone very dear to him because of those creatures.

Not wanting to let his heart be consumed by feelings of dejection and animosity, he decided to leave. A little while afterward, all members of the Digimon Brigade assembled in the big gazebo with their Digimon by their sides. Yun came dressed in a sleeveless beige shirt with a folded collar, bright orange jean shorts, and her white D-Heart of Harmony tucked under her collar. Terriermon and Lopmon sat comfortably on both her shoulders, wearing blank looks on both of their faces. Last night, after Yun cleaned herself up, she texted every single member of the Digimon Brigade, announcing that an emergency meeting is to take place right after school ends (Yun got through her math test). Some of the kids were rather taken aback by Yun's sudden announcement, but from what they could see, she sounded VERY serious, so they decided to go along with it. Now that school's over and most of the kids managed to work on that math test that Yun had been agonizing over, Yun stood in the middle of the gazebo, arms akimbo and eyes ablaze with courage.

"Everyone! May I have your attention please? I hate to bother you all with this, but this is an emergency Digimon Brigade meeting!" Yun edicted like a leader, which was very unlike her, but some considered this a good sign. Riku raised his hand.

"It's about that Nayuki girl, right?" Riku asked.

"You got it!" Yun praised Riku with a smile, then looked at everyone sternly. "As some of you may have heard or seen, this Ichinose Nayuki person is bad news! As far as we know, she's a cold-hearted, cruel, and merciless person who sees Digimon as nothing more than packets of data whose only purpose is to fight to the death!"

"How awful!" Aria exclaimed fearfully.

"You're telling me!" MarineAngemon chided softly, though the stinging pain of having been called ugly by Tsukaimon still lingers in that gold heart of hers.

"Hm. I figured someone like her would turn up one of these days," Melody whispered with her arms folded behind her back.

"You did?" Biyomon asked.

"Yeah. It's not all that uncommon that there'd be people who either hate them to death or think of this whole thing as a game and use their Digimon to hurt others," Melody replied.

"Sadly, that's true, and this person's already done a LOT of hurting," Yun backed her up, remembering what she had been told about Lopmon being kicked in the face, Salamon nearly being burned by Tsukaimon's attack, and when she tried to save Gizamon's DigiEgg even though Nayuki kept kicking her and telling her to give it to her, which she successfully didn't.

"Whoever she is, I don't like her or her Digimon one bit! What she's been doing is wrong, and something's gotta be done!" Patamon exclaimed, feeling a small surge of anger stirring up in his normally kind heart.

"But what can we do? She's a high school freshman, and we're just a bunch of sixth graders," Kosuke said in a low voice.

"Not all of us!" Shunji raised his hand. He's a high school junior, and Aria and Isao are both second graders. Then he looked up at the gazebo's ceiling. "Ichinose, huh? Oh! I know her!"

"What? You do? Seriously?" Dracomon yelped.

"Tell us all that you know!" Patamon yelped with him.

"Now now. I don't really _KNOW_ her, per se, but she's in my history class. She's kinda popular with the boys, but she also has a knack for getting into trouble, and you're right, from what I've heard, she's NOT a nice person. At all. She keeps picking on other kids, namely those in the special education classes," Shunji explained.

"So I guess we're not the only ones who experienced her cruelty," Lopmon said.

"Wow! Who'd have thought a single kid would be so horrible? I swear, the next time I see her and that purple Patamon of hers, I'm gonna fry them both to a crisp! Nobody gets away with kicking my sister and partner and treating them so bad like that! Absolutely nobody!" Terriermon exclaimed with his light green paws balled into fists.

"You've spoken like a true friend, Terriermon!" Patamon exclaimed with a smile, praising Terriermon for caring about his sister and human partner so much.

"While I am glad that we're all on the same page regarding this person's behavior, I don't think approaching it with violence is the best option," Minako advised.

"You do know that in this day and age kids don't listen to reason and don't talk things out anymore, right?" Melody replied sharply.

"That may be, but I'm sure there are other ways we can deal with her," Minako said calmly.

"I highly doubt it. Didn't you hear what Shunji-kun just said? This girl's a real bad egg!" Rena told her.

"She kicked Lopmon in the face! We can't let her get away with that!" Coronamon yelped.

"No we won't!" Bearmon backed him up.

"This girl must be a big fat bully! We should stop her!" Isao backed his partner up proudly.

"Guys! We get it! We have to stop this girl by any means necessary, but getting all violent about it won't solve the problem!" Minako said.

"Well? What do you think we should do, Minako? You're the smart one," Kosuke said.

"Kosuke! You shouldn't put all the decision making duties on Mina-chan! We should all offer our opinions and ideas!" Patamon scolded like he was his parent.

"Patamon's right. Why don't we all think of something?" Yun advised.

"How about we threaten to tell her parents and rat her out?" Otoya asked.

"Eh...I think she'd find out about it and think we're snitching," Melody said.

"I hate that word!" Yun exclaimed.

"Me too," Lopmon said.

"I don't think we should totally put off the idea of just talking with her. Maybe our timing was just kinda bad that time," Salamon said.

"That could be. Oh! Do you all think maybe she knows about what happened to the Digital World?" Dracomon asked.

"I doubt it. She didn't say anything about it and didn't look as though she knew anything about what happened," Lunamon said.

"But Labramon turns all rabid when he sees Tsukaimon! He's even called him Pharaohmon a few times!" Terriermon said. This made Labramon blush a little in embarrassment. Kudamon noticed this.

"I'm sorry, Labramon. We don't mean to embarrass you or anything," Kudamon whispered to Labramon kindly, then looked back at everyone with a stern and solemn face. "As of now, we all don't know who or what destroyed the Digital World and why. I highly doubt that a mere high school girl would even be capable of destroying an entire world with a Digimon like that by a long shot. Speaking of Pharaohmon, Pharaohmon are Digimon that ruled the Digital World during its genesis. They are powerful and baleful, but they do not have any powers that are capable of destroying an entire world."

Yun cocked her head to one side. "What do you mean by genesis?"

"Yun? Have you heard of the Book of Genesis?" Minako asked.

"I remember it was mentioned in that stupid book we read last year called _The Best Christmas Pageant Ever_, but they don't explain what it is," Yun replied.

"The Book of Genesis tells of myths and stories pertaining to God creating the world and the human race," Minako explained.

"Really? So is there such thing as a being much higher than the humans?" Kudamon asked.

"Sort of, but nobody knows if this thing really exists," Kosuke said.

"The Book of Genesis is the first book in the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. It comes from the Latin Vulgate, in turn borrowed from the Greek word that means 'origin' and Hebrew 'In the beginning.' It is said that Moses is the author of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy-" Hokuto muttered to himself, apparently lost in thought, but Riku slapped a hand on his mouth to keep him from talking.

"Okay okay! We get it, brain frame!" Riku exclaimed, feeling rather perturbed by Hokuto's weird habit of going into VERY long and detailed explanations on random things. Yun sighed.

"Well, I think as of now we need to think of a way to discipline this Ichinose person, but I think thinking about it now is going to be a bit too hard," Yun said.

"I agree. Let's take some time to find some solutions on our own before deciding," Minako said.

"I second that! Wan!" Salamon said.

"Phoo! I wanna kick her in the back!" Terriermon whined a little, feeling quite unsatisfied by their decision.

"Okay, now onto a different subject...Oh! How about Link-san and the D-Hearts?" Yun changed the subject.

"I still find it hard to believe that he and some other people actually created us! How very interesting!" Labramon said.

"Is that cool or what?" Otoya said with a smile.

"So humans did create us after all. What a wonderful revelation," Kudamon whispered. Hokuto looked down at him with a rather uneasy look on his face.

"I wonder if he knows who caused the Digital World's destruction," Rena said.

"No, he doesn't. He said so, remember?" Minako told her.

"Ohhh! Now I get it," Rena said, facepalming herself.

Isao looked at his brown D-Heart with a smile on his face.

"Hey! Maybe the D-Hearts can help our Digimon digivolve into ultimate! That'd be so cool, wouldn't it?" Isao exclaimed with a smile.

"That could be. They re-energized our Digimon and made them digivolve back into champion for a bit back when we fought Witchmon at Noir Lake, so maybe they can help them digivolve into ultimate level," Minako explained.

"I wouldn't mind gettin' a little stronger!" Coronamon piped in.

"Now now. Patience, Coronamon. I don't think we can digivolve into ultimate just yet. Let's wait and see," Lunamon told him calmly.

"But what about the symbols on these things? Mine says Grace, but I don't get it," Rena said, showing everyone her light purple D-Heart with the crescent moon shape on it.

"Maybe they're the qualities we possess that help us mature and help the Digimon digivolve further, like in the show!" Yun said.

"That would be wonderful!" Lopmon said with a smile.

"But what do we do to make it happen?" Riku asked.

"I think maybe we have to be put in a situation where we have to synchronize with our D-Hearts, like how the characters in the show did with their crests," Yun explained.

"But what I don't get are the symbols themselves. Harmony, peace, freedom, forgiveness, mercy, strength, etc. I know there's courage, friendship, hope, love, sincerity, and all of those, but the ones we have now...I don't quite get what these have to do with us," Rena explained.

"Shunji, I think your D-Heart symbol needs to be activated by your becoming very determined to do something," Dracomon told Shunji.

"Like be totally focused on something and see it through? Nah, I'm not that kind of guy. I'm never serious about anything," Shunji told his dragon Digimon friend gleefully.

"But you seem to be serious about staying with Ayaka. Doesn't that count for something?" Dracomon asked.

"Yeah, that's true. I love Ayaka, but I doubt that'll activate my D-Heart," Shunji said.

"Well, it's likely that they'll help the Digimon digivolve further, so maybe-" Yun wanted to state her theory about the D-Heart symbols representing something in themselves, but she didn't get to even begin, let alone finish the sentence, because a loud, high pitched, blood curling scream shocked her into covering her ears.

"EEEEK! Leave me alone!"

Literally everyone, Digimon included, stood up and out of the gazebo, shocked by what they just heard. But this was just the beginning.

It was Terriermon who saw the source of the screaming, and he did NOT like what he saw.

"Look!"

There was Nayuki, her face red as a beet, totally choleric and overcome with rancor and anger.

A little four year old girl is crying and wailing and thrashing.

Nayuki's beating her with a stick! And apparently showing absolutely no mercy at all! Some slightly older kids are watching fearfully.

"You stupid, cocky, no good, spoiled little brat! This is what you get for calling me a wicked witch!" Nayuki screamed as she continued to mercilessly beat the poor helpless little girl with that very big and very sharp stick.

"No no no! Stop! Leave me alone!" The girl wailed.

"SHUT UP YOU SNOT NOSED BRAT!" Nayuki screamed even louder than she did.

"Hey! Leave her alone!"

"Stop hurting her, you bully!"

Two of the older kids tried to stop her, but Tsukaimon swooped down and attacked them.

"Sonic Wing!"

"Yeek!"

The two older kids were hit by the attack and knocked unconscious. The kids in the Digimon Brigade were absolutely beyond appalled and horrified.

Not wanting to stand by and watch anymore, Terriermon decided to take action.

"Terrier Tornado!"

In a flash, he successfully hit Nayuki in the back, causing the stick to fly out of her hand and her to fall to the ground, which gave the little girl time to run back to the other group. Tsukaimon saw Terriermon afterward and got mad.

"You hurt my partner! How dare you! Boom Bubble!"

"Bunny Blast!"

Both attacks collided as the rest of the Digimon Brigade members finally decided to step in and confront Nayuki, now that they've seen how merciless, cold, and cruel she is. Nayuki stood up, wiped some dirt off of her face, and looked at them with blazing dark brown eyes.

"Tch! If it isn't the loser league," Nayuki muttered.

"That whack in the back is what you get for being so mean! And for kickin' Lopmon in the face! And for hurtin' Yun! And for being mean to that little girl just now!" Terriermon yelled angrily, satisfied that he finally got his revenge.

"That little brat called me a witch!" Nayuki snapped.

"You ARE a witch!" Melody snapped back with just as much gusto. "You're always hurting others for your own self-satisfaction! Why hurt a little kid who didn't even do anything to you?"

"She called me a witch!"

"All little kids are like that! They don't know better!"

"They should! Their parents must be stupid to let them do as they please!"

"Look who's talking!"

As Nayuki and Melody were arguing, Otoya gently escorted the little girl to the older group.

"You should go back home and tell someone," Otoya told them gently, but it seemed the little girl had eyes on Terriermon.

"Bunny!"

"Come on, Yui-chan! Let's get out of here!"

The group of older kids and the little girl, Yui, ran away in fright while Nayuki and Melody argued. But someone was going to stop their argument, and not for the purpose of compromising and making amends.

"RAWWWWR!"

"Eeek!"

Labramon leaped onto Tsukaimon like a rabid hunter dog as soon as he laid eyes on him, which shocked everyone, though a few of them had a different kind of shock.

"Get off of me!" Tsukaimon wailed as he tried to pry Labramon off of him, but he sure wasn't going to let his prey go. Not for even the smallest millisecond.

"Pharaohmon...!" Labramon growled angrily. Otoya and Lucero both leaped into the scene to pry him off.

"Labramon! Down, boy! Get off of him!" Otoya commanded as she tried desperately to pry Labramon off of Tsukaimon, but it didn't seem like anything worked.

"Thou must cease thy bloodlust! Calm thyself!" Lucero grabbed Labramon by the ears, but he still persisted as if he didn't see or feel anything other than Tsukaimon.

"Boom Bubble!" Tsukaimon attacked, but Labramon didn't flinch. Rena, Lunamon, Aria, MarineAngemon, Minako, and Salamon decided to help Otoya pry Labramon off of Tsukaimon. What the other kids noticed, however, was that Nayuki is looking the other way, apparently not caring about the fact that her Digimon partner's being attacked by another Digimon.

"Go Labramon!" Both Riku and Coronamon cheered.

Not liking Nayuki's reaction to the Digimon brouhaha, Yun and Shunji decided to take the plunge and confront Nayuki.

"Aren't you gonna go save your friend?" Yun asked.

"He's not my friend! He's a Digimon, and he's not my problem!" Nayuki replied sharply.

"You don't even care about your own Digimon?" Terriermon snapped.

"Y'know...he IS your Digimon after all, and since he's your Digimon, you're kinda obligated to take care of him," Shunji told her.

"Who are you to tell me what I should do with my Digimon?" Nayuki snapped angrily.

"And who are you to decide what we Digimon should be?" Dracomon snapped back.

"Yeah, you big meanie! You shouldn't decide what our partners should do with us either!" Terriermon backed him up.

"Just because you happen to raise a Digimon differently from us doesn't mean you should tell us to raise it the same way you do!" Yun told her loudly.

"When will you get it? These things aren't living beings! They're just packets of data! And all they do is fight and nothing more! Get it in your head already, you losers! Don't give me all that cheesy mushy friendship garbage! Digimon aren't friends! If you treat them like that, all they'll do is drag them down! You'll be doing the same thing to them too!" Nayuki snapped.

"That isn't true! Yun doesn't hinder our progress at all! We love her, and she loves us very much! Terriermon and I are very happy to be her partners!" Lopmon edicted proudly.

"A bunch of gutter-brained idiots you are!" Nayuki said.

"No we're not! Digimon are awesome and I love Bearmon!" Isao yelled.

"Isao's awesome and I love him! You shouldn't treat Digimon as lifeless data!" Bearmon told her.

"Shut up, will you? I'm sick and tired of this!" Nayuki screamed.

As of now, Otoya, Rena, and Minako managed to digilasso Labramon and keep him at bay while Aria, Melody, Hokuto, Salamon, Biyomon, Kudamon, and MarineAngemon managed to trap Tsukaimon and keep him at bay as well.

"Let me go!" Tsukaimon struggled.

"Not on your life!" Melody snapped.

This time, Kudamon and Lucero decided to confront Nayuki.

"So you view Digimon as nothing more than packets of data whose sole purpose is to fight? Tell me, Ichinose-san. Why do you do this? Is there something you wish to gain from doing all this? Usually, when people bully both humans and Digimon mercilessly, they have some kind of ulterior motive for doing so, and I can tell you have wicked intentions written all over your face. I believe it's time for you to talk, Ichinose-san," Kudamon told her very calmly and solemnly.

"Thou shalt not gain anything from thy transgressions. Thou hast been blest with a Digimon! Thine and thine alone for thou to raise and care for and befriend, yet thou use him for thy own greedy and insidious deeds! Why? For what reason doth thou mistreat others so at thy discretion?" Lucero interrogated her with the same solemn look, the same one he gave Nayuki back then, when she slapped him in the face, even though he didn't flinch back then. He didn't flinch even now.

"I do it to be strong and nothing else! Being friends with Digimon and having a weak heart won't get me anywhere! Stop trying to change who I am!" Nayuki snapped.

"To be strong, you say? It doesn't sound like that's your sole motive," Kudamon told her, apparently not convinced.

"Dragon Gas!" Again, Dracomon assaulted Tsukaimon's nostrils, if he had any at all, with his attack.

"UGH! Not this again! You smell horrider than ever, dragon butt!" Tsukaimon yelled angrily as he covered his pudgy nose with his small white paws.

"Good! I hope I do, because this is what you get for being so mean!" Dracomon snapped back.

"This is what you get for calling me ugly! Spray of hearts!" Some glowing pink bubbles shaped like hearts popped out of MarineAngemon's mouth and hit Tsukaimon, causing him to feel a little sleepy. Then he finally fell unconscious. Labramon was still growling and howling like a rabid animal, so they still had to keep him from attacking Tsukaimon (even though they themselves wanted to teach him and Nayuki a lesson or two).

"He fell asleep," Aria said.

Finally, Nayuki picked Tsukaimon up, wrapped one of her arms around him like he was some piece of baggage, and proceeded to walk away.

"You've wasted my time yet again. Don't ever come near me or interfere with my plans ever again," Nayuki said as she walked away, leaving the entire Digimon Brigade all alone in the park.

"Wow. I used to rate bullies on a scale of one to Shimizu and Nemoto...but now I think that girl's officially broken that scale...and achieved the title of Worst And Most Heartless Bully On The Planet, hands down," Melody said.

"My goodness, does she wear anything besides black? It's no wonder she's so sickly-looking!" Biyomon whined.

"I wear black and you don't complain about that."

"That's because you look great in black and you love doing your own thing, so I have absolutely no complaints about that."

"Wow. She's mean," Aria said in a low and timid whisper.

"Mean? MEAN? Understatement of the freaking millennium! She beats up Digimon, kids her own age, and even little four year olds who did absolutely nothing to her! She treats Digimon like garbage, saying they're nothing but lifeless packets of data who do nothing but fight, fight, fight, fight! Okay. That's not just plain mean. She's not just plain mean! She's cruel, cold, heartless, merciless, ungrateful, terrible, horrible, selfish, greedy, abominable, appalling, pathetic-!" Riku was about to go on an epic tirade about how...well, horrid Nayuki is, but Rena cut him off by slapping a hand on his mouth in the same manner Riku did with Hokuto earlier.

"Okay okay! We get it!" Rena exclaimed with her hand on Riku's mouth.

Yun did nothing but stare at the trees, deeply lost in her thoughts. She couldn't believe a person like Nayuki even existed, let alone lived in her very hometown. She always thought Seiko and Nenji were the meanest and cruelest people she knew in real life (she doesn't include the dictators, power hungry political figures, and criminals she sees and hears about on the news sometimes). A great myriad of questions rammed into her head like a stampede of angry bull. Why does such a person exist? Who is she to criticize people because they don't raise their Digimon like she does? Why is she so cruel even to a little four year old girl who didn't know better? Why does she so fervently believe that Digimon are nothing but lifeless packets of data created to fight and nothing more? This was what hit Yun the hardest. When Yun received Lopmon and Terriermon for the first time, the thought of raising them to be cruel and murderous monsters didn't even cross her mind. Not even once. Yun had been waiting so long for that day. She wanted so badly to have cute little animal friends whom she could raise and teach right, even though she had long convinced herself it was never going to happen because they weren't real. But it happened. To her, Lopmon and Terriermon are the best things that ever happened to her. The answer to her greatest prayers. Her greatest wish come true. Yun embraced these cute floppy eared rabbit Digimon lovingly. She raised them, fed them, played with them, talked to them, taught them how to read, eat, and appreciate the small things in life. She taught them right from wrong, and they responded lovingly. Yun was so happy when they received her warmly and when her efforts paid off. If there was anything Yun did NOT want to teach them, it's to heartlessly hurt people and act like real monsters. Yun made sure not to teach them to be like that, and she succeeded. Who was she to tell Yun to make them hurt people? Yun refused to believe a thing Nayuki told her. Noticing her distress, Lucero and Lopmon approached her with concerned faces.

"Yun. I can see thou art distressed," Lucero told her in a low voice, sounding very concerned.

"Yeah. I am. Sorry," Yun replied weakly.

"It is fine. Considering what's happened, I'm not surprised thou art in distress," Lucero said. Right here, Lopmon hopped into Yun's warm, loving arms, made herself comfortable, and gently and sweetly rubbed herself against Yun's chest, making Yun giggle slightly. Then, Lopmon looked right into Yun's green eyes with her own green ones and smiled at her, despite what had just went on.

"Yun. You know that I love you very much. Terriermon, too. We both do. We're both very happy to have you as our partner, and we could never ask for anything better. Personally, I believe that what Ichinose-san has been doing and saying is wrong. I don't believe Digimon are meant to fight and only fight. Maybe this is why we came to the real world...maybe we realize there's more to life than fighting. I don't want you to believe what Ichinose-san says is true. You're not that kind of person. I certainly don't believe so. You're the nicest and sweetest person I've met, and I'm happy to be your partner!" Lopmon said with the sweetest smile that had ever been plastered on her cute, slightly pudgy, chocolate brown face. Yun was at a loss for words. Lucero put a hand on her shoulder.

"Lopmon is right. Thou art a pure and kind person, and Lopmon and Terriermon are thy partners. Thine and thine alone. Nayuki shan't criticize thee on how to raise thy partners. They are not her partners. They're thine, and thou raise them the way thou want to raise them," Lucero told her calmly and solemnly. Yun looked at him, then at Lopmon, and smiled.

"I know. I don't believe what she does is right either, and I'm not gonna let her tell me what to do. Besides, there's no way I'll ever mistreat my sweet, cute, cuddly, and adorable little Digimon friends!" Yun cooed sweetly as she gently rubbed her nose against Lopmon's little black one, which made Lopmon laugh a bit. "They're much too important to me! I've waited all my life to have cute little fluffy bunny friends to take care of and love with all my heart, and I'm not gonna throw that all away just because someone else thinks differently! Right, sweetie?"

"Oh yes," Lopmon said. Lucero smiled.

"I am glad. Thou shouldst continue loving thy partners," Lucero told her kindly. Then he saw Terriermon clinging to Yun's leg and looking up at her with pleading eyes.

"Hey! I want a hug too!" Terriermon complained.

"Come on up here, Terriermon! You know I love you too!" Yun gestured him to come up, and with a big, bright smile he did, and both he and Lopmon happily rubbed against Yun and let themselves be embraced by her tender, warm, loving arms. What they didn't know was that Hokuto and Kudamon are watching them.

"Do you see, Hokuto? That's what friends do," Kudamon told him gently.

Hokuto looked rather uneasy. "You're...my only true friend, Kudamon."

"Am I? Well, I do love you, but you shouldn't limit yourself to being friends with just me. Yun's a nice enough girl, and so are the rest of the Digimon Brigade. And don't say you're not worthy of being with them either."

"I...I don't understand. They...should be hating me and calling me a lab rat. Other kids did that."

"These kids are different. They're not rash or judgmental. You should open yourself up to them a little more."

Hokuto clung to Kudamon, feeling just as distressed as Yun, but for different reasons. The kids were about to re-assemble, until Minako noticed someone was missing.

"Uhh...guys? Have any of you seen Salamon?" Minako asked, becoming worried.

"Huh? Is she not here?" Hokuto asked.

"I looked everywhere but I can't find her!" Minako exclaimed.

They all looked around. Minako is right. Salamon is missing!

"You're right! I don't see her anywhere!" Lunamon yelped.

"Let's look around and find her!" Isao said.

"I agree. Who knows. Maybe she didn't go far," Shunji told them.

"Leave it to me! I'll find her through the air!" Patamon said as he flew away to look for Salamon.

Though very worried, they remained calm and tried to look for Salamon. But what they didn't know was that Salamon had an agenda of her own.

She left the park...following Nayuki.

Well, technically she spied on Nayuki and tracked her down using her nose. Salamon remembered the scar on Tsukaimon's leg. She still has her suspicions, and right now, she wants nothing more than to confirm them. Silently and cautiously, she followed Nayuki, who is carrying the still sleeping Tsukaimon in a rather cursory way. She's holding him by the ears like he's some rag doll. This is already a subtle sign of Salamon's suspicion, but not a totally blatant one. Salamon finally saw Nayuki walk into a rather old and worn out house that looks like it's about to fall and break into a million pieces any minute. Most of the tiles on the roof are missing, the door has a lot of marks on it like robbers had broken in lots of times, windows are broken with pieces of glass all over the place, streams of moss and leaves seeped through some of the cracks, covering some of the moldy walls, and a rat is making a hole in one of the walls. The grass around it is also very long and thick, like someone hadn't mown the lawn in quite some time now. Salamon couldn't believe someone would want to live in a house like this. But then again, maybe Nayuki is homeless and sneaked into this as some kind of refuge. People do tend to do that in impoverished places and countries. The house itself didn't look like it was legally owned by anyone. Understandable, since the house looks like it's haunted. But it's not. Salamon very quietly looked around, hoping to see if Nayuki and Tsukaimon were in there somewhere. But as it would turn out, it wouldn't take long.

The sound of booming, vociferous yelling snapped her out of her reverie as she got close to one of the broken windows, which are surprisingly very low to the ground.

"Get up!"

Salamon covered her ears.

"I said get up!"

She didn't want to believe what she was hearing was real, but she needed to see if her suspicions are true or not. With all her mettle assembled, Salamon very silently and slowly creeped up to the broken window and saw what she needed to see...and what she hoped she would never see.

Tsukaimon is against the wall.

Nayuki is beating him and kicking him.

"You worthless beast!" Nayuki threw Tsukaimon against the wall like he was some rag doll. Some fresh bruises formed on his small, pudgy body. "You can't even hold your own against a bunch of weak willed Digimon? Disgraceful! My God, are you pathetic!"

Tsukaimon tried to stand up, but his weak legs only barely held on. "I...I...I'm sorry..."

"Don't give me that excuse!" Nayuki screamed angrily, slapping Tsukaimon in the face. "You're my Digimon and you're to do as I say and never disobey me! You have to get stronger! You must get strong enough to kill them! You can't lose to anyone! I won't allow it! You need to know your place! Being weak gets you nowhere!"

Tsukaimon didn't bother to get up. He didn't bother to fight back, nor did he try to contradict her. He just laid there on the floor, battered, weak, and helpless.

"Tch! Look at you, laying there like you're some sick animal dying on the streets! Pathetic! I can't believe I had to be stuck with a pudgy little weakling like you, who can't even hold his own against ten other rookie levels!"

"I...I'll get...stronger..." Tsukaimon croaked weakly. He struggled to get up, but his tiny legs looked as though they were going to buckle at any moment. Out of rancor and spite, Nayuki spat at him.

"You better. You should be grateful I bother to even keep you with me! It's about time you started earning your keep!" Nayuki yelled. Poor little Tsukaimon didn't even bother to ripe the saliva off of his cheek.

"As punishment for being so weak, you won't be having any dinner tonight. I'm taking your share," Nayuki told him coldly and left the room, leaving a weak and injured Tsukaimon all alone.

Salamon fell into the tall grass, she was so appalled by what she saw. Her suspicions were confirmed right then and there.

Nayuki mistreats everyone. Even her own Digimon.

She's abusing Tsukaimon.

Salamon wished that what she just saw was just a sick, sick joke. An illusion. A horrible specter. But it was as real as the forlorn looking house right in front of her. Nayuki mistreats everybody, including her own Digimon. She thought she was horrible before, but now Nayuki has literally surpassed herself! Salamon wanted to help Tsukaimon and teach Nayuki a lesson, but what if her attacks didn't work and she managed to outdo her? What if she tried to save Tsukaimon and Nayuki managed to kill her? She couldn't take that risk, even though she oh so wanted to so badly. Salamon wanted to cry, but stopped herself from doing so since it'd be likely to catch the attention of either Tsukaimon or Nayuki. Feeling extremely guilty, she left the house. Halfway, Patamon spotted her.

"Salamon! There you are!" Patamon descended to the ground when he saw Salamon, feeling relieved that she's alright.

"Where'd you go? Everyone's worried about you!" Patamon asked with concern. But then he noticed Salamon looking very despondent and dejected.

"What's wrong?" He asked innocently.

"I...I found out...something...really horrible! I-I need to tell everyone about this!" Salamon croaked, trying to hold back tears.

"Come with me. I'll take you to everyone," Patamon told her gently and escorted her back to the park. Minako was the first to lay eyes on the despondent little puppy.

"Salamon!" Minako scooped the little puppy in her arms and embraced her. "I was so worried about you! Don't ever disappear like that on me again!"

"I-I'm sorry. But I...I need to tell you all something! Wan!" Salamon croaked sadly.

Finally, she spilled the beans. She followed Nayuki and Tsukaimon to their home because she wanted to confirm her suspicions...and she got the confirmation, and she felt obligated to tell everyone about it. They were appalled.

"WHAT? SHE'S ABUSING TSUKAIMON?"

"Yes..." Salamon murmured, looking like she's about to cry. "I-I don't understand how people can be so cruel! I really wanted to stop her and help him, but I couldn't. She was saying such horrible things about him too! I-I-I feel so sorry for him! I don't know how or why she turned out the way she did, but whatever she went through, it doesn't justify what she's been doing, to us and to Tsukaimon! Something's gotta be done!"

She was right. Something had to be done about Nayuki. But what could they do? They're just a bunch of kids (sans Shunji, who is in high school) and she's a high school freshman. But then again, from the way Salamon described the scene, it sounded as though Tsukaimon isn't able to digivolve to champion level just yet. Probably because of the cruel and horrid treatment he's receiving. All the other Digimon can digivolve to champion level, and maybe even ultimate if the time is right! But they couldn't believe what they all just heard.

"How horrible! Why would anyone want to go so far as to hurt their own partner? This is just abominably and excrutiatingly intolerable!" Lopmon screeched angrily.

"That's what I say! And to think I thought her kickin' Lopmon in the face and beatin' up Yun was deplorable! This is downright cruel!" Terriermon backed her up proudly.

"Jeez. Now she's surpassed herself," Melody sneered under her breath.

"And to think she has the nerve to tell us that raising our Digimon the way we do is stupid! What does she know?" Rena exclaimed.

"How cruel! No Digimon should ever have to go through such horror!" Lunamon said.

"So...what should we do?" Patamon asked.

"To be perfectly honest, as much as I'd like to rip Tsukaimon out of her grasp this very moment, I don't think we should mess with them right now," Kosuke said.

"But Kosuke! Didn't you hear what Salamon just told us?" Patamon yelped, surprised by Kosuke's indifference.

"Yes, I did. But this person's very hostile and violent. Yes, we're a big group, but if we take Tsukaimon away from her, that'd mean we'd be declaring an all out Digimon war against her. Plus, it doesn't sound like he can digivolve to champion level, and we all can, so it wouldn't be fair. It isn't even any of our business anyhow, so let's just go home and catch some shut eye. Sorry guys, but I'm clocking out," Kosuke explained, then got his things and proceeded to leave.

"Kosuke!" A very disappointed Patamon reluctantly followed him out.

Salamon is right. They shouldn't leave this alone. But as of now, what can they do to help him without declaring war with Nayuki or setting her off even more? Kosuke was a little right as well. Everyone's just tired and frustrated and overwhelmed. One by one, kids left. Yun was just as frustrated and appalled as everyone else, and it pained her that she couldn't just dive in and save Tsukaimon. Sure, he doesn't really like them, but she didn't care about that! She was sure the others felt the same way. But right before she left, she noticed Hokuto looking listlessly at the trees, lost in thought just like she was earlier. Kudamon is contentedly resting on his hat.

"What's wrong, Hokuto?" Kudamon asked.

"I...I'm always being told...that I have to...hate my father. But I can't. He's...all I've ever known," Hokuto murmured softly, but loud enough for Kudamon (and, unintentionally, Yun, Lopmon, and Terriermon) to hear. Soon, some disapproving voices popped into his head, and he didn't like what he remembered.

_"Are you serious? Your father must have done horrible things to you! How could you love someone like that?"_

_"It's very abnormal for a child to feel love for an abusive parent even after they've done horrible things to them."_

_"Hokuto! You shouldn't ever even think about loving that man!"_

_"He did lots of horrible things to you. Don't you hate him for it?"_

_"Come on, kid! That man's nothing but a cruel and heartless beast! Don't fall for all those lies he spits out!"_

_"That man deserved what he got! You should forget about him and move on!"_

His cobalt blue eyes trembled. His thin, tender hands trembled. He remembered it all. Ever since he had been freed from his father's laboratory by Link, practically everyone around him, including members of his own family, kept telling him to do the same thing over and over again: hate Saruto. Forget about him. Saruto's a horrible and heartless man who deserved what he got, and that Hokuto shouldn't feel love for anyone like that, even if he was his father. But Hokuto...couldn't. He never understood why people kept telling him to hate him and forget about him. Saruto...was all he ever knew.

"I can't hate him or forget about him. He...loved me," Hokuto murmured. Kudamon stroke Hokuto's ear with his tail gently.

"I'm sure he did," Kudamon whispered.

Suddenly, Hokuto felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around. It was Yun's hand. Yun looked at him with a sympathetic look on her face.

"Uh...sorry, but I overheard by accident," Yun told him, confessing that she just heard his conversation with Kudamon.

"It...it's okay," Hokuto said.

"Umm...sorry if I shouldn't be asking this, but...you love your father, don't you?"

He felt obligated to answer. "Yes. He's all I've known."

Yun smiled gently. "I...I don't know what exactly happened to you, and if you don't want to say, that's fine. I'm not trying to pry or anything. But when it comes to your dad or Kudamon or anything like that, you should be free to make your own decisions and not listen to people who want to make them for you."

Suddenly, Hokuto became more relaxed. Hardly anyone he knew ever told him anything like this. Everyone around him kept telling him what to do, but he couldn't do what they asked him because the person they keep telling him to hate is all he's ever known and loved. You can't just take a child out of an abusive home and just tell them to do as they're told and forget about everything. It has to happen gradually and slowly. Slightly, Hokuto cracked the faintest of smiles at Yun. Both she, Lopmon, Kudamon, and Terriermon noticed.

"Th-Thank you..." Hokuto muttered.

"You're welcome. If you ever need anything, I'm always around. You have my number on your digivice, don't you?" Yun told him.

"Yes I do."

"Good! You know how to use it now, right?"

"Yes."

"Good! I'm glad."

"Yun...why do you...still like me? Even after I...turned into that?"

Yun knew what he was talking about. She witnessed him turn into a feral beast after Kudamon's kidnapping set him off. Of course she was scared upon seeing the drastic transformation, not once did she believe that Hokuto had become inhuman. The thought didn't even cross her mind, though it must be confessed that she did have some doubts upon scolding Isao for calling him a monster. She refused to believe that Hokuto is anything but inhuman. She smiled at him and put a hand in his trembling one.

"You're my friend. That's why. I'm sure you don't want this...uh, thing inside you or whatever. I know you don't like it, and I get that. It doesn't matter to me. You're still human...and my friend! And Kudamon's beloved partner!" Yun told him.

"It's true, Hokuto," Kudamon told him in a nice voice.

Just a little bit, his smile became larger.

"Thank you," This time, he didn't stutter.

Then Terriermon thought of an idea. "Oh! Hokuto-kun! We're gonna go to the movies later today. Do you wanna come with us?"

"Terriermon!" Lopmon scolded sharply.

"The movies, you say?" Kudamon asked.

"Uh...yeah. We're gonna see Hoshi o Ou Kodomo tonight when my dad comes home from work. We'll be going to the Regal Cinema a little down south," Yun replied shyly, a little taken aback by Terriermon's sudden invitation.

The movies. Hokuto thought about it. He had never been to a movie theater before. Not once. He'd read about them in books, but he never went to a theater full of people staring at pictures on a big screen. But he did feel a yearning for the experience. He wanted to go and see what going to the movies is like. He could ask his mother if she could take him. Just the thought of it made him smile. Kudamon saw this and smiled with him.

"I...I would...love to go. I'll ask my mother if...we can meet you there," Hokuto said.

Kudamon's normally solemn face lit up brightly and he leaped on him joyously. "Oh, Hokuto! I'm so proud of you!"

"Great! My dad says tickets there are 1000 yen each, and we'll be going to the 8:00 PM showing!" Yun said with a smile.

"I have that much in my savings."

"Awesome! Maybe we'll sit together! Oh! Look at the time! I think we should go now. I'll see you tonight! Bye!" Yun waved goodbye and left the park with Lucero, Lopmon, and Terriermon by her side. Hokuto and Kudamon were the last ones to leave, and Kudamon was as happy as a newly blossoming sunflower on a clear, pristine summer day.

"What a wonderful leap you made, Hokuto! No words can describe how proud I am of you right now! This is a great opportunity for you. You'll get to experience what friends do in their spare time," Kudamon said.

"Friends go to the movies together all the time?" Hokuto asked.

"No no. Just once in a while, if there's something interesting showing," Kudamon replied.

Once Hokuto went home, he dropped the bomb on Aki and immediately asked if he could go to the Regal Cinema and watch the 8:00 PM showing of Hoshi o Ou Kodomo tonight. At first, Aki was quite surprised that Hokuto would ask her something like this on such short notice. But at the same time, she was as happy as Kudamon, finally seeing that Hokuto is beginning to open up and try new things. And with Yun, no less! She was also free today, so she decided to take Hokuto, which made him happy. He kept his stipend in a small brown safe box the size of his hands that has a lock on it. Hokuto always kept the key in his school bag. He originally put his savings in a jar, but Kimi and Nene broke it and ripped up all that was inside. Now he takes great care to ensure that his belongings are safe from destructive hands. Much to his ecstasy, he has 2000 yen in his savings, more than enough to buy a ticket and some food. He took out 1600 yen and put it in his pocket. He was so excited, he could barely contain himself, and this is the first time EVER that Hokuto had actually been excited about something!

And to the movies they (Hokuto, Yun, Lucero, Teruki, Aki, and the Digimon) went! Boy, were they going to enjoy themselves.

But a certain someone else, in another world, wasn't doing any enjoying right now.

Link sat on top of a big rock in a desert, watching a spot of data become full and disappear into thin air. He had been thinking. Thinking about everything that had went on. At Noir Lake, where the kids fought Witchmon with much gusto. He never expected them to be so amazing back there. But he never expected to run into Hokuto, let alone witness his drastic transformation again. He had seen the transformation before. Although Link enjoyed the days he spent with WarGreymon, he silently longed and yearned for the happy days he spent in college with all of his friends, the people who created the Digital World and artificial life. He remembered the parties, the get togethers, the toasts, the beer, the sports games, the study sessions, everything. Those were Link's cherished golden days. But those days had long since passed, and he was never to return to them, no matter how much he wanted to. Circumstances prevented those people from ever crossing paths. Link wished that everything could go back to the way things were before. But that was not to be. He stared up at the digital sky, longing, yearning, wishing for days gone by until WarGreymon pulled him out of his reverie.

"Link? What's wrong? You look glum," WarGreymon asked with concern in his deep voice. Link looked at him, eye showing from his mask, then looked back up at the sky.

"The days I spent with my friends in college were happy ones. We did everything together. We shared so many classes together it was uncanny. We were known as the Geek Sheiks. The word Sheik(1) was mostly meant to describe us boys, but the girls adopted it too. I loved the days where we all hung out whenever we had the chance," Link explained, feeling a sense of nostalgia at the moment.

"I'm sure you were all very happy back then," WarGreymon said.

"Yes. We were. This was all before the thought of Digimon even cultivated itself in our heads. Artificial life back then was nothing more than a pipe dream. Who knew we'd be the ones to catapult it into creation," Link said.

"We as in the entire group, or we as in just you and Saruto?"

"We as in the whole group. We didn't meet Saruto until junior year."

"Forgive me for changing the subject, but...speaking of him, didn't his dream sort of...already come true? Y'know, his dream of turning humans into data?"

Link chuckled a bit and rubbed his blonde hair with his hand. "I guess you could say yes, though I don't think he knew a Digital World like this even existed."

"Link. Tell me. Do you still feel Saruto is your friend?"

Link fell silent. He and Saruto were very close, despite Saruto being very different from him and despite the fact that his motives for continuing the pursuit of Digimon were quite questionable. Link sighed.

"Yes. I still do. He always was, and always will be, my friend...even after what he's done."

"What about his son? How has he been faring?"

"From what I've heard, not good. Everyone's been berating the poor boy for taking his father's side, even after what happened to him. I know for a fact that he didn't adjust well to the first two schools he went to. Everyone keeps saying that Saruto's worse than even Bin Laden and that Hokuto should hate him. But he can't do that. He can't live up to everyone's expectations when Saruto was all he ever knew. It's like having Stockholm Syndrome."

"I get what you mean. He just needs a little time?"

"Yes. I've maintained contact with Aki, but the boy...everyone expects him to just up and be normal, but he can't do that either. He doesn't know what's normal or not."

"What's going to happen?"

"I don't know. Maybe I'll go back to the human world and check on them. Maybe stick around for a while."

"Alright."

Link hopped off of the rock and dug through the pocket of his backpack, hoping to grab his digivice. He did...but he felt something else. Something small.

"Huh?"

"What's up?" WarGreymon asked.

"Something else is in here," Link said.

He pulled it out and opened his hand. Much to his and WarGreymon's shock, it's another D-Heart! A cobalt blue one with a diamond shape on the front, and on both sides are two small V shapes facing outward with the open parts facing outward as well. Link couldn't believe what he saw, and neither could WarGreymon.

"Another D-Heart? This can't be! I thought the ones the Digimon Brigade kids got were the only ones!" WarGreymon exclaimed.

"It seems...we may have to go back to the human world after all!" Link said. He got his digivice out, opened it, pressed the door button, and jumped into the hole. WarGreymon followed him.

Back in the human world, it is now a little after 10 o'clock, and Yun, Lopmon, Terriermon, Lucero, Kudamon, and Hokuto all came out of the theater with Teruki and Aki following them. Yun, Lucero, Lopmon, and Hokuto are all teary eyed.

"That was...so...beautiful!" Yun cried.

"I feel as if my heart has been caressed by everlasting sorrow! For what reason doth make my heart feeleth such heaviness, wherein our wish was to simply enjoy ourselves today?" Lucero cried.

"What a lovely yet sorrowful movie! Such a tragic feat! I don't think I will ever forget it!" Lopmon cried.

"So this is what it's like...to see a movie and to feel...emotional," Hokuto muttered through his own tears, not really understanding why he would cry over seeing some moving pictures on a screen.

"That was awesome, wasn't it? Those fight scenes looked real!" Terriermon exclaimed happily, totally contrasting with everyone else's mood right now.

"See, Hokuto? Now you know what it's like to spend time with friends," Kudamon whispered with a smile.

The four tear-stricken ones hugged each other and burst into a big paroxysm of tears, hoping to get all the sadness out. Teruki and Aki didn't mind because they were touched by the movie, and they left the kids and Digimon alone. Aki is just too happy that Hokuto got to experience a normal occurence once in a while.

And speaking of normal occurences, in MoonMillenniummon's inner sanctum, a certain someone's constant absence is starting to become a rather normal occurence, and MoonMillenniummon isn't liking it one bit. He and some smaller Digimon are talking amongst themselves.

"Where in the world is LadyDevimon at? I can't believe she's been shirking her recruiting duties! It's not like her!" MoonMillenniummon bellowed.

"Maybe she's fallen ill?" One of the ghostly Bakemon asked timidly.

"I doubt it. LadyDevimon's not one to let a mere cold keep her down. Merciful goodness, where is she?" MoonMillenniummon said.

A Gazimon happened to notice the myriad of crystals on top of the inner sanctum's ceiling, full of frozen and crystalized Digimon. He saw his master crystalize a MedievalDukemon and became a little frightened.

"Umm...M-Master? D-Did you really have to freeze that MedievalDukemon? I-I mean, maybe he just wanted Witchmon back and wanted to leave with no strings attached," Gazimon stammered.

"Yes, I did have to freeze him. He was cruel to abandon Witchmon when she needed him the most, and anyone who neglects and abuses the innocent for their own personal benefit is the worst kind of creature to ever exist. Not only that, he found our inner sanctum, and it was likely that he'd tell others about it and have it destroyed. I cannot allow anyone who found the inner sanctum to run freely in the Digital World!" MoonMillenniummon explained in a booming voice.

"He's right. Remember those dinosaur Digimon who were here some time ago? They found out about Ghoulmon attempting to take over their home, and threatened to destroy the entire inner sanctum in retaliation," Bakemon explained.

"You're right, Bakemon. I remember that. I made Ghoulmon retreat because there was the possibility that they would follow him to our inner sanctum. The mission failed, but Ghoulmon was wise to listen to me," MoonMillenniummon said.

"I'm changing the subject, but in regards to LadyDevimon, does she really believe that the members of the Holy Guardians and Holy Council are still alive? I mean, we Digimon can't REALLY be destroyed unless we fall into those unstable data spots you made, so do you think-" Gazimon stammered, but he was cut off by Bakemon, who shot a look at him.

"Don't talk about them in front of Master! He doesn't like it!" Bakemon interjected angrily. "You remember, don't you? We wiped out every single trace of them! We made sure that not one trace of their holy data survived!"

MoonMillenniummon remained silent as Bakemon and Gazimon talked.

"I don't doubt you, but there's always a weird possibility for something! You never know for sure!" Gazimon muttered again.

"You're not catching LadyDevimon's recent disobedient odor, are you?" Bakemon asked.

"No! No! Absolutely not! I will always be loyal to Master! He saved me from that earthquake!" Gazimon waved his giant paws around fearfully. Suddenly, the anger drained right out of Bakemon and he looked down at the damp floor with a despondent look on his face.

"Master saved me when all of my friends were purified by a member of the Holy Council. I thought I was going to starve to death!" Bakemon said.

"Ummm...I couldn't help but notice that those two BlackGatomon are always with LadyDevimon. Are they her friends? Because I remember them sticking together like glue before you even took them in, Master!" Gazimon asked.

"Yes. LadyDevimon and the two BlackGatomon come from the same tribe. They were once residents of Cat Kingdom, which we destroyed along with the rest of the Digital World. I don't believe I've told you their story, have I? This may seem rude, but since you two are so faithful and understanding, I'll tell you anyway. I remember it was a crucial time for Cat Kingdom. They needed to go to Gwyneira Tundra for food in order to survive the winter. Unfortunately, a terrible blizzard hit the land before they could finish picking, so they left. But they forgot that they left behind three innocent, helpless Nyaromon. Those three are now the LadyDevimon and two BlackGatomon who serve me. They found some shelter in a small cave, but even that wasn't enough. The blizzard went on for the longest time. Food was scarce. Warmth was but a pipe dream. The snow was getting thicker and thicker. Digimon were growing volatile. They tried to find whatever they could to survive, but they only barely managed to subsist on whatever food and warmth they could find. The Digimon were volatile because of the harsh blizzard, and they shared their food with no one, often thinking they were planning to steal it. The three Nyaromon were treated like nuisances by the other Digimon, deprived of what they needed to survive. It's a wonder I happened to spot them and rescue them. LadyDevimon matured faster than her two friends because of her yearning for love, warmth, and survival. If I remember correctly, I mostly had Lilithmon take care of them since they were girls, and I thought the girls would get along better than I could with them. I take it my experiment worked," MoonMillenniummon explained.

Gazimon held his paws to his face. "Wow! They survived a blizzard? I never knew!"

"Gwyneira Tundra's known for it's hazardous snow storms and self-centered Digimon. I don't think one Nyaromon would've survived, let alone three. It certainly is a miracle you were there to save them, Master!" Bakemon exclaimed.

"Yes. That's true. I strictly advised Lilithmon to treat them as kindly as possible, and she did, thankfully, and didn't let her lustful and manipulative personality get the better of her. I'm most glad of that. I know for a fact that they are grateful, but LadyDevimon...now she seems to think the ones I killed are alive, just like Roachmon and Witchmon did! Lawful heart! Five Digi-drachmas say that some more minions of mine are going to take her side next! I don't approve of such calumny! But I can understand why some Digimon would say such lies. They just want attention. To be wanted and loved and noticed. That I can understand very well. But they don't have to do it by making up such silly stories!" MoonMillenniummon explained.

"Personally, I do have some doubts myself since we Digimon can't really be destroyed, but no matter what, I will always be loyal to you, Master," Bakemon said.

"Good. I think it's time for you two to return to your duties," MoonMillenniummon told them.

"Yes, sir!" Gazimon said and ran out with Bakemon following him.

What they all didn't know was that LadyDevimon and the two BlackGatomon are in one of the many damp caves that connect to the center of the inner sanctum, unintentionally eavesdropping on their conversation.

"He didn't have to tell our life story to those idiots!" LadyDevimon sneered with some anger stirring in her heart (if she had one).

"I'm sure he means well," The timid BlackGatomon told her shyly.

"Master's not one to let anyone be ignorant about what we've all went through, so I don't think it really matters. By the way, what do you plan to do, LadyDevimon? How are you going to prove that they're still alive? You know Master won't believe a word you say!" The arrogant BlackGatomon explained.

LadyDevimon balled one of her big hands into a giant fist. "Master will believe anything as long as there's solid evidence, and since I've seen the Digimon in action myself, I'm going to try to kidnap them and bring them all to him!"

The timid BlackGatomon let out a barely restrained meow. "What? But...my lady! You can't be serious!"

"It doesn't look like they're capable of digivolving to ultimate level yet, and I happen to be a very strong ultimate level Digimon, so I might just be able to outmatch them in strength and power! No normal Digimon can simply lay a hand on me, you know?" LadyDevimon explained.

"That may be, but how will you know that they're really them?" The arrogant BlackGatomon asked.

"You don't see it? They have both physical and mystical features that separate them from the other Digimon. The Lopmon has green eyes, and in all of her forms, her horns are always in the same place. You know how normal Kokomon have three horns, right? One on the front and two in the back? Well, in all of that Lopmon's forms, her horns are always in the same position. Two horns in front, one in the back. That Salamon has purple eyes instead of blue. That Patamon's eyes are brown, and his Angemon form has silver hair and a light blue loin cloth. That Biyomon has a gold holy ring on it's foot instead of a plain silver anklet," LadyDevimon explained.

"Oh! I get it!" The arrogant BlackGatomon exclaimed. Then she remembered something and decided to tell LadyDevimon about it.

"That reminds me! BlackGatomon here was saying that if a member of the Holy Guardians and Holy Council are destroyed, a fragment of their data and power is crystalized and turned into a small egg-shaped jewel known as a D-Heart. Perhaps if we find these D-Hearts, will take them to Master too?" The arrogant BlackGatomon explained.

"Yes! We'll do that too! Alright then! Kittens, let's find us some Digimon!" LadyDevimon exclaimed with a wicked smile and decided to fly out of the inner sanctum.

"Nyan!" The two BlackGatomon followed her out.

Author's Note: Done with chapter 29. Bye.

Footnotes:

1. Link is referring to a silent movie called The Sheik, which aired in 1921 that made one of it's male actors, Rudolf Valentino, catapult into stardom. This is Valentino's most well known movie.


	30. Where Is Lopmon?

EPISODE 30: Where is Lopmon?

On a rather cloudy and somewhat dreary Saturday morning, a digital portal appeared in town and out came Link and a small, pudgy thing with pink skin, red eyes, scrawny teeth, and two sproingy antennae. Thankfully, nobody was passing by so they managed to come out unscathed. It's nice and cloudy out today, perfect for keeping the horrid summer humidity at a low. Link and the small pudgy animal walked around for about half an hour until they stopped in front of a rather large house. It's slightly larger than other houses in the area, made entirely out of thick red bricks that had some chips in them, a maroon front door, many windows on the top and bottom of it, a maroon roof, and a nice front yard.

"Link-san? What's this place?" The small, pudgy animal asked in a strange but high voice like that of a young boy.

"This is my house, Koromon. This is where I live," Link told him with a smile. The Digimon, Koromon, let out a big, toothy smile.

"Wow! This is your house? It's huge!" Koromon exclaimed, awed by the fact that Link owns a house this big. Link laughed.

"If you think this is huge, you should see some of the houses in other countries!" Link said as he held Koromon in his arms, pulled his house keys from his pocket, and opened the door with them. Link literally plopped onto the big lime green couch, so much so that his purple and blue mask slipped downward a little bit. Koromon didn't notice, as he was too busy looking around the house, amazed by everything that he's seeing.

"Your house is so cool, Link-san!" Koromon exclaimed. Link smiled and was about to fall asleep, but Koromon remembered something and had to tell Link about it.

"Oh! That reminds me! Weren't we gonna find the owner of that other D-Heart we just found?" Koromon asked.

"Yes. We will later. I'm just so bushed right now, I want to take a nap. If you want, you can run around outside and explore. If you see the kids, let me know right away," Link told him.

"Okay! Thanks!" Koromon exclaimed. Link left the door unlocked, so Koromon could get out. But right now, Koromon is too busy exploring the inside of the house, awed by all the amazing things Link owns.

About later in the day, shortly after high noon, most of the members of the Digimon Brigade assembled in the park. Shione couldn't come because her parents and older sister are both out, so she has to watch the house with Mikuni. But they did keep her up to date with what's been happening. Today wasn't a meeting day. Just a regular hang out day for everyone, to get themselves and the Digimon out of the house for a couple hours. It also helped that it wasn't sunny or humid today thanks to the thick grey clouds. They're not so thick that rain would come out of them, but just enough to keep the sun from emitting it's excess golden effulgence onto the world below. Right now, Rena, dressed in a sleeveless dark blue shirt, thin black stocking-like pants, and a black ribbon in her long braid, is performing a dance routine in front of the kids, with her boom box playing Maurice Ravel's Mother Goose Suite at a moderate volume (enough so that it wouldn't make Yun cover her ears). Her arms and legs moved gracefully, she spun like a top, her braid flailed and twirled with her movements, and her emerald eyes shone like morning dew, not caring about the cloudy day today. She's bare foot so she could move better. Lunamon's holding onto her red shoes. After a few minutes, her dance ceased, and she gracefully bowed before the crowd, which exploded with applause.

"Wow! That was beautiful, Rena-chan!" Otoya exclaimed.

"That was quite the graceful and well endowed ensemble," Labramon backed her up.

"How perfectly lovely!" Lopmon cheered sweetly.

"Great job, Rena-chan!" Lunamon applauded with a smile as she gave Rena her shoes back.

"Thanks! I think I've finally nailed it down this time around," Rena said as she sat on the grass and put her red shoes back on to her slender, beige-colored feet.

"I'll bet it must be really hard," Dracomon said.

"It is. Trust me," Rena said as she turned her boom box off.

"Are you gonna be a dancer when you grow up?" Patamon asked sweetly, with Kosuke sitting next to him and actually smiling a little.

"She is! In fact, Rena-san told me that she wants to go to Russia and attend the Royal Academy of Dance!" Lunamon explained, her reddish violet eyes glowing brightly with her happy voice. Rena blushed.

"It's true. I want to make it big in the dance industry. But if I don't, maybe I'll open up my own little dance school and teach kids in the community," Rena said.

"Good luck with that!" Otoya told her as she put a hand on her shoulder. "My dad says it's great to dream big!"

"Isn't your dad a preacher in the church?" Dracomon asked.

"Yep! Being a preacher's daughter does have its hiccups, but I don't mind so long as I get to fulfill my dream of being a vet, which he doesn't mind!" Otoya replied.

"Otoya-chan. You used to live in Toyama prefecture before you moved here, right?" Minako asked.

"Yep! There'd been a lot of crimes going on, so my family and I came here to get away from it," Otoya explained.

"That was quite a bold move your family made. It would be perilous to live in a place where crimes happen on a daily basis, though I'm sure the town didn't intend for them all to happen," Labramon praised calmly, which made Otoya stroke his ear kindly.

"I agree. I like it here so I'm perfectly content with where I am now," Otoya said.

Kosuke turned around and noticed Yun drawing in a blue spiral notebook. Terriermon, Coronamon, Salamon, Bearmon, Riku, Lucero, and Isao are all chasing each other and playing together. Becoming curious, he and Patamon slithered to where Yun is and decided to approach her.

"Hi Yun," Kosuke said, smiling a little.

"Oh! Hi, Kosuke-kun," Yun said.

"What are you doing?"

"Finishing up my latest comic strip."

"Can we see it, please?" Patamon asked politely.

"Sorry, but it's not finished yet," Yun said.

"Okay! That's fine," Patamon said. But Kosuke snuck a peek anyway.

"Hmm. You've gotten better over the spring," Kosuke told her. Yun noticed that he saw the strip and immediately closed the notebook, her face turning a tad rosy red.

"You think so? I don't think it's changed one bit," Yun said.

"You want to be a mangaka when you grow up, right? People are bound to see your work, so you're kinda gonna have to deal with people who want to look at your work," Kosuke told her.

"It's fine if people look at it when I'm not around, but I don't like it if they look at it when I'm around. Besides, there's always someone who's better than me at drawing. I'm not saying I want to draw better than someone, I just think I won't ever be good enough to really impress people. People do say my drawings are great, but how do I know they're just saying it just to say it and not hurt my feelings?" Yun said.

"I feel ya. But it's kinda inevitable. You want to be a mangaka, don't you? Then you'll have to step up and work hard," Kosuke said.

"I'm sure you'll be a great mangaka!" Patamon said. Yun smiled a bit. Kosuke sat down next to her, with Patamon on his lap.

"So how've you been over the spring?" Kosuke asked.

"I've been fine. But what about you? I know you've been going through a lot because of your mom," Yun told him.

"Tell me about it."

"I wish there was more I could do to help you out, but you know me, I can hardly do anything useful."

"Really? You brought me food a few times and snuck in some of your allowance just so I could buy some things. That really meant a lot. I really owe you one. Thanks," Kosuke smiled at that last sentence.

"Really? She did that! Wow, you're so nice, Yun-chan!" Patamon lauded Yun for that deed Kosuke just mentioned.

"Oh. Um...you're welcome, though I wish I could do more," Yun stammered. "I-I really did want to come and visit you over spring break, but I didn't want you to think that I was being annoying or stalking you, so I gave you some space and left you alone. People often say, very bluntly, that I'm always pestering them."

"That's not very nice!" Patamon exclaimed.

"It's alright. You meant well," Kosuke murmured. "By the way, did you turn in your piece? The thing for the End Substance and Drug Abuse project?"

"Yep! Yesterday!" Yun replied. "I don't think I'll win, though."

"The other kids can't draw for garbage. I think it's highly likely you'll win based on your skills and presentation alone," Kosuke told her softly. "I mean, you should've seen Shimizu's entry. It looked like it got multicolored ink spilled all over it."

Yun laughed heartily at that comment. "I do agree with you there!"

"Isn't it not nice to laugh at someone?" Patamon asked.

"Believe me, Patamon, Shimizu's NOT someone to be nice to," Kosuke told him sternly. Suddenly, the sound of music caught Yun's ears. She held onto her notebook and walked toward where the sound is coming from. Apparently, it caught the attention of all the kids AND Digimon! They walked toward the gazebo, where the sound was coming from.

They found Melody, singing and playing her beloved guitar, and Biyomon, heartily slapping the bongos with her clawed wings.

_"It is you who helped me see the light,_  
><em>With your pure and gentle heart.<em>  
><em>You are the angel who smiled at me,<em>  
><em>kissing my cheek without a trace of fright.<em>  
><em>You came to me in a time of darkness,<em>  
><em>When all the hope I had was gone.<em>  
><em>The soft, gold light you gave off guided me,<em>  
><em>And warmed me up from head to toe.<em>  
><em>I'll never forget the day we first met,<em>  
><em>You had that dear look in those big green eyes of yours.<em>  
><em>Please, God, grant us a happy end,<em>  
><em>For I cannot live without the angel with the brown hair,<em>  
><em>The green eyes, the white skin, the purest heart of all.<em>  
><em>She came from another world, white wings and all,<em>  
><em>And brought harmony to the discord that is my heart.<em>  
><em>I will always be your friend, never to abandon you.<em>  
><em>We were born on the same earth, under the same stars.<em>  
><em>The red string of fate has tied us together from the beginning,<em>  
><em>Never to be cut, by hatred or by cruel hands!<em>  
><em>I will stand by you forever, don't forget that!"<em>

Everyone gathered around the gazebo to hear the song, and they were all awestruck by it, both kids and Digimon. They didn't just hear Melody's low but striking voice, they heard something else. Passion. Melody always was passionate about her music, but they didn't see, or hear, or feel, the extent of it until now. The lyrics seemed to resonate with everyone's hearts, the way Melody's hands and arms flailed as she flicked that guitar pick on the hard strings like it was nothing, the way her voice was raised at the dramatic parts, and how the guitar strings and bongo beats flowed seamlessly together like a perfect duo. After a final pluck of the string and beat of the bongo, the song ended, and the crowd exploded with applause yet again.

"That was wonderful, Mel-chan!" Yun exclaimed.

"What a lovely, beautiful song!" Lopmon chimed.

"Awecome!" Terriermon said.

"That might just be your best song yet!" Otoya said.

"Very passionate, and very straightforward," Labramon said.

"Pretty..." Hokuto muttered.

"Pretty? It was more than just pretty! It was astonishing!" Kudamon chided.

"Great job!" Aria chimed.

"You should do it again!" MarineAngemon cried out.

"This is so much better than the music we're hearing on the stations nowadays," Minako said.

"That was great!" Isao cheered.

Melody put her guitar away and flicked some of her red hair out of her face. "It's just a little something I've been working on. Nothing too big."

"Thy passion and thy strength surely shows in that song of thine! Thou must surely be proud!" Lucero said.

"I know, right? Melody loves her music! She's better than all the other singers out there!" Biyomon exclaimed.

"There she goes, being vain again," Kudamon whispered.

"You song kinda sounded like _Woody Guthrie_(1) for a second," Riku said.

"Woody Guthrie? Yeah right! How do you know about him?" Otoya asked.

"My dad listens to his music all the time. I can hear it even when I'm sleeping!" Riku replied. Suddenly, Shunji sprang onto the scene, frightening Yun into jumping a little.

"Hm! That's some tune you made, Melody-chan!" Shunji exclaimed with a big smile. Melody became a little irked.

"Can you please not refer to me as _"chan"_? Only Yun gets to call me that," Melody told him in a low but perturbed whisper.

"Come on! We're all friends here!" Shunji cried out happily with his long arms spread out.

"That's true, we are all friends here," Dracomon backed him up, though not as enthusiastically.

"Not really," Yun muttered as she held onto Terriermon. She remembered that she needed to keep her distance from Shunji, despite his insistence that they refer to each other in a friendly and casual manner. Whenever she called Shunji by his first name, Ayaka would snap and yell at her about it. Thankfully, Isao changed the subject.

"I wonder when the Digimon are gonna digivolve into ultimate? That'd be so cool!" Isao said with a smile.

"I wonder what my ultimate form is like," Bearmon said.

"You don't know what you digivolve into, Bearmon?" Isao asked curiously.

"Yeah. I don't remember anything at all," Bearmon replied.

"That's okay! But whatever it is, maybe it'll be super duper awesome and powerful! Oh! I know!" Isao suddenly stood up and began acting like he was in some play. "Maybe you'll digivolve into something cool! Grizzlymon digivolve to WereGrizzlymon! Or...MetalGrizzlymon! Or...Super Duper Awesome Ultimate Bearmon!"

Most of the kids laughed. "I don't think there's such thing as that last Digimon you made up," Kosuke said, barely restraining a chuckle.

"I wonder what I'll digivolve into?" Dracomon asked.

"Maybe you'll be some huge dragon or something," Shunji told him sarcastically but with a smile.

"I know that! Of course I'll be a dragon! I'm Dracomon!" Dracomon said.

"It's true. Dracomon ARE the progenitors of all dragon Digimon after all," Minako said.

"How do you know?" Salamon asked innocently.

"I just looked it up," Minako said, pointing to her laptop.

"You're smart, Mina-chan!" Aria said.

"So...what will I digivolve into?" Bearmon asked.

"Maybe something fierce and dangerous!" Coronamon said. "Like me! Mine will be super duper blazin' hot awesome!"

"No way! My ultimate form will be way better than yours!" Biyomon snapped.

"No! Mine will!" Terriermon suddenly joined in.

"You three shouldn't be so vain. I'm sure you'll digivolve further when the time comes," Lopmon told them.

"She's right. It's fun to wonder what we'll be, but we won't really know until it happens. Good things come to those who wait," Lunamon told them politely and calmly. Terriermon dropped his head down.

"You're right. Sorry," Terriermon said. Lopmon smiled and put a paw on his head.

"It's okay," Lopmon told him gently.

Suddenly, most of the kids and Digimon talked amongst themselves while Melody was about to finish locking her guitar up in it's case. Right when she locked it, someone approached her from behind.

"That song...it's for Yun, isn't it?"

Lucero's low but gentle voice pulled Melody out of her reverie, causing her to turn around abruptly with shock. Her brown eyes grew big when she heard the last part. Lucero stared with his usual sweet smile, but his pale blue eyes seemed very solemn yet curious. Melody couldn't believe it. But since he said it, she felt obliged to confess.

"Yeah. It is. I wrote it just for her. Is that wrong?" Melody stammered, her face beginning to turn just as red as her bangs.

"No, not at all! I apologize if I unlocked thy secret, but I could tell because of the lyrics. Brown hair, green eyes, white skin, a pure and gentle heart. Those are all qualities that Yun possesses. Thou doth truly love her, don't thou?" Lucero explained.

"Y-Yes. Yun's the best thing that ever happened to me. Anyone hurts her, I'll beat them down and bury them six feet under dirt," Melody stammered. Lucero couldn't help but laugh a little.

"Thy feelings truly show in that song of thine. I'm glad thou thinkest of Yun in that light. She truly is a sweet girl, though I wish others would take the time to see the goodness in her also," Lucero said.

Melody rolled her eyes. "Tell me about it! I don't know why, but whenever Yun does something nice for people, they seem to think she has some kind of ulterior motive behind it! Mostly greedy or selfish! I don't get it! Why in the world would people think she has malicious ulterior motive for being the sweet and kind person she is? It's so stupid!"

"I agree with thee," Lucero said. "It's tragic, yes. They're blind to her pure heart and good intentions."

"You should tell that to Nemoto's mom! She thinks she's bullying him and that she's some violent kid who hasn't been raised right or disciplined correctly, crazy nut bag! If anything, she should get a lobotomy!" Melody cried out angrily. Lucero cocked his head to one side in confusion.

"What's a lobotomy?" Lucero asked.

"It's-" Melody was about to explain it to him, even though she only said it to voice her outrage regarding the transgressions that Nenji's mom had displayed against Yun in the past, but she was interrupted by Shunji.

"Hey, look! Isn't that Link-san over there?" Shunji said, pointing to a person running toward them. Everyone turned to look.

Much to their surprise, it is Link! He had changed out of his old clothes and is now wearing a short sleeved, bright yellow shirt with a collar and some white stripes going across the middle, light blue jean pants, and black boots. He panted as he finally arrived in front of the Digimon Brigade. Koromon hopped right next to him.

"Hi Link-san!" Yun exclaimed, surprised like everyone else that he's here.

"I...finally...found you!" Link panted as he struggled to catch his breath.

"Want some water?" Riku asked, having brought a bottle of water with him in case his medication wore off. Link took the bottle, guzzled it down, and gave it back to Riku, feeling refreshed.

"Thanks," Link said.

"So you've come back to the real world," Kosuke said. Link used his arm to rub the rest of the water off of his face.

"Yeah. I'm done with the Digital World for now. But more importantly, you're not going to believe this!" Link said as he dug into his pocket and pulled out...the cobalt blue D-Heart. Upon seeing it, everyone gasped.

"WHAAAAAT? Another D-Heart?" Everyone exclaimed, shocked by this new revelation.

"I know, right? We only just noticed it earlier, and we thought we should tell you about it," Koromon told them. Isao suddenly beamed upon seeing Koromon.

"Hey! A Koromon! Cool!" Isao picked him up and squeezed him a bit. Koromon pushed Isao away from himself and hopped out of his arms.

"This is important!" Koromon cried out.

"Maybe you've had it for a while and didn't notice until now," Terriermon told him.

"That may very well be. It didn't react when we were in Chloros Forest so maybe there's someone else who's meant to have this," Link said.

"May I look at it, please?" Patamon asked. Link smiled and showed him the D-Heart. Patamon looked at it and read the symbol on the crystal.

"The symbol on this reads _Prudence_," Patamon exclaimed.

"What's prudence?" Aria asked Minako.

"Prudence means being careful about what you do and how you handle situations," Minako told her. Aria seemed to understand and nodded.

"So who does it belong to?" Bearmon asked.

"Beats me," Isao said.

Link opened Melody's hand and gave the D-Heart to her.

"For now, you should all keep it and try to find out who it belongs to," Link told them.

"I wonder who it belongs to?" Lunamon asked Kudamon.

"Perhaps it belongs to that girl who Moosemon befriended. Shione, was it?" Kudamon said.

"That could be it!" Terriermon said.

All the Digimon listened intently to what Link had to say, along with the kids. Lopmon happened to be outside of the circle by just a little bit, but she didn't mind. However, a rustle in the bushes caught her attention. She turned around to look at the bush where she heard the rustling. It stopped now, but who's to say that something won't suddenly jump out of there and attack? Could it be a Digimon? She didn't feel a Digimon's presence, but she knew that there were Digimon who could easily hide their presence, so she kept her guard up. She ambled toward it, alert and with her ears perked up into the air. She prepared herself for a potential Digimon attack and decided to attack it back.

Unfortunately, it came before she could even see it.

Something shot out of the bushes faster than she could see, and before she knew it, she felt a pinch in her stomach. She didn't have time to even cry out or attack. It came out so fast, she couldn't even avoid it, even though she expected something to happen. Suddenly, her vision blurred. Her strength began to drain from her little body. Her stubby legs buckled. Despite this, she managed to look down at her stomach and see what had hit her, even though her vision is blurring. Something white and shiny hit her. But that was all she could make out, as she finally fell unconscious, landing onto the green grass. Everything went black. Lopmon could then feel someone carrying her. Sadly enough, nobody else noticed.

It wasn't until about ten minutes later that her absence became noted.

"Hey, has anyone seen Lopmon?" Patamon asked as he noticed the brown floppy eared rabbit's absence.

"Wasn't she here a few minutes ago?" Otoya asked.

"That's weird. I don't smell her scent!" Labramon said.

"Huh? Lopmon's...not here?" Yun asked in a low voice.

Salamon sniffed around. Kudamon and Biyomon both hopped to the highest tree in the park, hoping they could find her from the air. Sadly, no luck.

"She's not here! Wan!" Salamon exclaimed.

"I don't see her here either!" Kudamon exclaimed.

Yun was frozen in place. Dread had taken over her body. Lopmon? Gone? She's missing? Nowhere to be seen? What in the world is happening? How could Lopmon have gone missing? There was no way Lopmon would leave without telling someone about it! There was no way Yun would let Lopmon out of her sight either. How in the world could she have not noticed that one of her beloved floppy eared friends is missing?

"She's not in the park! I can't believe it!" Dracomon yelled.

Out of nowhere, Yun began to tremble violently.

"No...no...no no no no no no!" Yun cried, clinging to herself like she's trying to wrap herself in a force field. Minako and Aria noticed her fear and tried to console her.

"Yun. It's okay. We'll find her. She couldn't have gone far," Minako crooned.

"MarineAngemon, go look around town and see if you can find her," Aria told MarineAngemon solemnly.

"Leave it to me! I'll see what I can do!" MarineAngemon exclaimed optimistically and flew away to find her. But it didn't seem to be helping, as Minako could see Yun's anxiety and fear growing.

"No no no no no!" Yun yelped. Minako, seeing that Yun's about to explode, grabbed her by the elbow and pulled her to her feet. Even Terriermon could notice that Yun's fear-o-meter is about to break. Minako looked at Link and the others.

"Everyone, split up and find Lopmon! If you see anything, text us and let us know!" Minako edicted. "Yun and I will search by the train station!"

"I'll accompany thee!" Lucero exclaimed as he joined Minako, Yun, Salamon, and Terriermon.

"Otoya and I are gonna look by the school!" Kosuke exclaimed. Patamon digivolved into Angemon, hoisted Kosuke, Otoya, and Labramon in his strong arms, and flew away.

"I'll see if she's in the neighborhood!" Hokuto cried out as Kudamon digivolved into Reppamon. Shunji and Dracomon decided to join him as they leaped onto Reppamon's back and flew away. Minako, Salamon, Yun, Lucero, and Terriermon walked away from the park, though they could all see the fear in Yun's face.

"Yun. Everything's gonna be fine. We'll find Lopmon," Minako told her in a kind, low voice, but it didn't seem to be helping. Yun's green eyes are trembling, her hands are shaking up and down, and she could see that Yun's clamming up, trying to keep herself from screaming like a maniac. They all could.

_'Oh no. I think I feel a nervous wreck about to come on,'_ Minako thought.

Exactly, what did happen to Lopmon? Nobody knew it, but Lopmon found herself in a tight spot.

She could feel something hard and cold, like the flooring in the kitchen, only harder. Lopmon very slowly regained consciousness. Her round, green eyes peeled open and her blurry vision slowly cleared itself. She rubbed her head a little because she felt as if something had hit it. She slowly sat herself up as she rubbed her head.

"Ugh...what in the world hit me?" Lopmon muttered as she tried to regain her composure. As her vision finally cleared and her strength came back to her, she looked up to find a sight that made her take a few steps back in aghast.

Steel bars. Small, but thick steel bars standing right in front of her. Small enough so that her fingers can wrap entirely around them, but hard enough to not budge so easily. She looked up and saw a flat ceiling hovering above her. The same for the flooring. She turned around, but more steel bars stopped her from getting away. The sight in front of her made her realize what she was in.

A cage.

It's small enough that a small dog can fit in there, but even so, Lopmon could tell right away that she was in some kind of danger. Not only that, the surroundings outside of the cage are different too. The walls are bright and white, with wooden cup boards covering a good majority of them. Some windows are on the right side of the room. Granite tables are covered with a lot of stuff used for science experiments: test tubes, beakers, hot plates, beakers full of some weird toxic chemicals that she didn't know of, etc. Not only that, there's a huge tube full of some kind of weird green liquid the size of an adult man on the left side of the room, next to a table with a computer on it, some huge computer motherboards, lots of cables, a printer, a scanner, piles of paper, and piles of CDs and floppy disks. This place is full of both science stuff and computer machinery that Lopmon didn't recognize at all. Even though she didn't recognize the place she's in or any of the things she's surrounded by, she sure wasn't liking any of it. But what she did recognize are some small white darts with thin pointed ends and red push-ins. She knew what those were.

Tranquilizer darts.

She had seen some shows with Hisako featuring animals going wild and having to be tranquilized once on TV. The men used special guns to shoot tranquilizers at them to stop them from causing more trouble.

_'Of course! Whoever put me here must have shot one of them at me!'_ Lopmon thought. _'I don't know what's going on, but I have to get out of here! Yun must be worried sick about me! I can't stay here!'_

Lopmon took a few steps back, then rammed herself against the steel bars. Her small body shook a little because of how hard and thick the bars are, but she wasn't going to give up. She rammed herself against the bars two more times. She was about to do it a fourth time when someone came into the room.

"I wouldn't break out of there if I were you," A man's voice said. Lopmon stood up in alarm. It wasn't Link's voice. Link's was lower and richer. Lopmon looked up and took a few steps back upon seeing a man in front of her cage, looking down at her rather scornfully.

The man looked younger than Link by a couple of years, with thin black hair covering his hole head. She couldn't tell what color his eyes were because they're hidden by a pair of dark sunglasses as black as his hair. He wore a short sleeved, dark orange shirt, black jean pants, and brown shoes. The man most surely didn't look very nice at all, considering the look he's giving her. Lopmon couldn't see his eyes, but from the way his voice sounded, she could tell he was showing contempt and scorn. There was no doubt about it. This man must have shot the tranquilizer dart at her and brought her here. Not only that, he knows she can move and talk.

"It's no use trying to play doll. I know what you really are," The man said rather coldly. Seeing this new revelation, Lopmon knew that he knew her identity somehow, and like he said, there was no point in trying to hide it.

"Dare I ask if you're the one who tranquilized me and brought me here?" Lopmon asked, trying to make sure her voice didn't quiver or show any fear.

"Quite a smart monster you are. Yes, I am. Guilty as charged," The man said.

"Tell me. Exactly why did you do it? I haven't done anything wrong, especially not to you specifically. I mean-" Lopmon tried to use this as an opportunity to reason with him. But she was interrupted by a rather unexpected response.

A kick to the cage.

"Kyaah!" The cage clattered as his shoe hit it, and Lopmon made sure she didn't get hit. The cage didn't fall to another side, thank goodness, but behind those sunglasses are eyes ablaze with anger.

"Not to me specifically? Don't make me laugh! You monsters think you're so tough, huh? Thinking you can do whatever you please with whatever human suits your taste! Don't try to deny it, beast! You stole something very important to me! My life's ruined because of you monsters!" The man screamed vehemently, undoubtedly choleric about the thing he's accusing her of stealing. Lopmon, like Yun, disliked people yelling, but she knew she had to do something, so she brought out her mettle and looked at him again.

"Sir, I'm sorry for what's been happening to you. But you must understand, there are good Digimon as there are bad Digimon. I, as an individual Digimon, have no intention of hurting other people. Please release me. My partner must be worrying herself to death because of my absence," Lopmon explained as calmly and courageously as she could, not wanting to cower in fear. But he didn't seem to be buying it.

"What a load of crock. A partner? No intention of hurting others? Don't make me laugh! You Digimon are all the same: volatile, rabid, bloodthirsty, and willing to do anything to survive!"

"I don't know what gave you that misconception, but you must let me go!"

"Why? So you can run around and eat people?"

"No! I'm not capable of eating humans! Why would I want to?"

"You're a Digimon, aren't you? Also, I can't release you. I need you for something very important."

"What might that be?"

"Your data will be useful in helping me develop a special program that will send you abominable creatures back to where you came from, maybe even destroy you completely if I want to! There's no way you'll be able to survive what I have planned."

"You wouldn't dare!"

"I'd dare anything for her! The one you took away from me so long ago!"

"I don't know who you're talking about!"

"Stop playing dumb! I, Hiroya Masaomi, will use your data as a blueprint for my new program, and there will be nothing you can do to stop me. You're trapped, vile creature. I believe it's time I initiate the beginning procedures."

The man, Hiroya Masaomi, wants to destroy all digital life because he thinks Digimon "stole" someone very important to him. Lopmon noticed he refered to that someone as a her. Who was she? Why is she so important to Masaomi? But whatever it is, Masaomi thinks Digimon are nothing more than bloodthirsty killers who survive on murder. Why in the world would he view them as such when it's clear he hardly knows anything at all about her or any other Digimon? Lopmon could tell that he was quite dangerous, and that he's definitely planning on killing her. He walked to his computer and began tinkering around with it for a couple seconds. Then, for some reason, he became perturbed and threw his fist on the desk.

"Darn it! I can't believe I don't have the new version! I'd order it online, but that'll take too much time," Masaomi facepalmed. "I guess I'll have to go all the way to the Best Buy down south and buy it. But it takes 30 minutes to get there! Ugh!"

Masaomi stood up from his desk and was about to walk away, but not before saying his last words to Lopmon.

"I've got an errand to run. Don't let me see you escape, beast!" Masaomi yelled before he left and slammed the door. Lopmon listened as he started his car and drove away.

Right then, she began her escape plan.

"Good! He's gone. This'll give me time to try and get out of here," Lopmon said. She looked at the bars carefully, and thought of some ways to try and break them. One idea popped into her head, and she quickly put it into use.

She rammed her horns, both her small ones and single big one, against the bars. It hurt a little, but Lopmon knew she needed to escape, no matter what, so she kept at it. Bang! Bang! Bang! She rammed her horns against the bars again and again and again. She took a little break so she could regain her strength. As she did, she noticed that the steel bars actually have dents in them. She's a few steps closer to getting out! She went at it again, ramming her little horns against the bars as hard as she could, hoping to at least have them be vulnerable enough to tear them down at the last minute. After a good 15 minutes, she managed to dent the bars well enough to try something else on them. She opened her mouth, big and wide. A glowing blue ball formed in her mouth.

"Freezing Snow!"

With an exhale, a small stream of glittery blue and white powder snow streamed out of her mouth, freezing the crooked bars. Then, she stood up and spun herself around.

"Lop Twister!"

She spun and spun like a drill about to go through some plywood. Her ears rammed against the bars, causing sparks to fly. She kept at it until finally..._POP!_ The bar came off! She managed to break one of them. Seeing that there's more space for her to get out than expected, she squeezed through the opening and pryed herself out of the cage.

"I did it! I'm out of the cage! Now to get outside this house," Lopmon quietly rejoiced in her successful escape from the cage, but now she has to worry about getting out of the house. She saw some windows and decided that those would be the best escape route. One of them led right outside, so she took the chance. She saw a chair and pushed it to the window so she could have a better chance at reaching it. Once she climbed up there, she tried pushing it. It didn't work. She tried pulling it up. At first, it didn't work, but Lopmon perservered and tried to pull it up as hard as she could. After some time, she managed to pry it open!

She slithered out from the window and found herself on the driveway of Masaomi's front lawn. His car's not here, and there's nobody watching, so this was a great time to make like a bug and flee! But not before glancing back at the lab.

"Masaomi-san. I'm sorry, but I must leave. Forgive me," Lopmon muttered as she bowed before the science room and finally made her escape. She was, however, taken aback by the unfamiliar scenery.

"I don't recognize this place, but I couldn't have gone far. I must find Yun! She must be worried sick about me! I'm sure the others are too. I hope they're all alright," Lopmon whispered to herself wistfully. It must be confessed that she herself was scared. She wanted to voice her own frustration, but at this point, she couldn't. Escaping and reuniting with Yun is her number one priority.

When it comes to worrying, all Yun did was worry. Worry, indeed. And look for her. So did everyone else.

"Lopmooon! Where are you?" Minako called out as she and Yun searched behind the MacDonald's.

"Lopmon! Come on out! Wan!" Salamon called out.

"Where are youuuu? Say something!" Terriermon called out.

"Thou shouldst reveal thyself!" Lucero called out.

Sadly, no response. Yun paced around the empty lot, holding herself with her arms looking like she's about to explode. Terriermon noticed and approached her.

"Aren't you gonna call out to her?" Terriermon asked innocently.

"M-M-Mom says it's not appropriate to yell for someone in public places!" Yun wailed.

"Bah, who cares whether it's appropriate or not! We gotta find Lopmon!" Terriermon told her.

Suddenly, Hokuto and Reppamon descended onto the empty lot. Minako ran to them.

"Did you find her?" Minako asked.

"No. We didn't. We've searched everywhere, but I can't find any trace of her. I'm sorry to not be of any help," Reppamon said. Minako stroke his mask with a sad smile.

"It's okay. Anything helps," Minako told him.

"We looked in the construction site too. She's not there either," Hokuto said.

"We've come up with nothing either!" Lucero told him. "Not only that, Yun's about to explode!"

Lucero was right. Yun IS about to explode. Her mind is being wracked with terrible thoughts regarding Lopmon's disappearance. Did she run away? Did she hate her? Was she kidnapped? What happened to her? Why would she do this? Why would anyone want to take her sweet little Lopmon? Is Lopmon scared out of her wits like Yun is right now? What in the world is happening to her? Was someone doing bad things to her? Did someone...already do what they needed to do with her?

"I don't think...we should continue searching," Hokuto murmured.

"WHAT? What do you mean we should stop?" Everyone exclaimed, appalled by what Hokuto just said. Even Reppamon was appalled.

"Hokuto! What in the world? This is Lopmon we're talking about! We shouldn't cease the search!" Reppamon scolded.

"It might be...too late," Hokuto muttered.

"Don't ever say such a thing!" Lucero scolded angrily. "Lopmon is very important to Yun, and if we say we're searching for her, we are searching for her, and we won't stop until we find her! Why wouldst thou even suggest ceasing the search! We won't know if it's too late until we know for sure!"

Finally, Yun exploded. A loud, piercing, vociferous, bloodcurtling scream escaped from her lips. The loudest she ever let out, though she hardly ever screamed in her entire life. Now she couldn't take it anymore. Everyone covered their ears.

"_LOPMOOOON!_ LOPMON, WHERE ARE YOU! Lopmon! Lopmon! LOPMON!" Yun ran away from the empty lot in tears.

"Yun! Wait! Come back!" Terriermon chased after her, leaving the others behind.

"Is she...always like that?" Reppamon asked curiously.

"Yeah. She is," Minako replied.

"What are we gonna do?" Salamon asked.

Suddenly, Minako's digivice beeped and glowed. Beep beep beep. Minako flipped open her digivice and pressed it against her face.

"Hello?" Minako said.

_"Mina! Link-san says he has an idea of what happened to Lopmon!"_ Shunji said on the other line.

"He does? What is it! Tell me!" Minako exclaimed.

_"Apparently there's this guy he knows who hates Digimon and wants to destroy them all. He has a house on Fujiyama Avenue,"_ Shunji said.

"Fujiyama? Isn't that where that liquor store is?" Minako asked.

_"Sure is! Come on! We might have gotten ourselves a lead!"_ Dracomon importuned.

"Alright! I'll be right there. Thanks for letting me know!" Minako said and closed her digivice.

"Hokuto! Reppamon! Go after Yun and make sure she doesn't get lost. Salamon, Lucero, come with me!" Minako told them. Hokuto hopped back on Reppamon and flew away while Lucero and Salamon followed Minako.

"Hokuto...you should never tell someone it's too late until we find confirmation of such," Reppamon told him sternly.

"But we've been looking all day. What if-" Hokuto was about to say something, but Reppamon stopped him.

"All day is nothing! We're just getting started! Don't lose faith, Hokuto! We'll find Lopmon even if it kills us!" Reppamon told him.

Meanwhile, Yun literally sprinted through every part of the neighborhood she could run through, screaming Lopmon's name at the top of her lungs. She didn't care of people watched or gossiped or sneered. She just wanted to find Lopmon.

"LOPMON! LOPMOOON!"

"Yun! Calm down, will ya?"

Terriermon chased after her, but she kept running off whenever he caught up. He was happy that she cared so much, but he wished she'd stop panicking and screaming at the same time. Finally, after a long while, Yun fell to her knees and tried to catch her breath, which gave Terriermon enough time to catch up to her and try to console her.

"Yun..." Terriermon looked at her with his sad, sympathetic navy blue eyes. "You should calm down a little. I'm glad you care so much about her, but I don't think screaming at the top of your lungs will help you any. I'm sure Lopmon's alright."

Despite his crooning, Yun shot an angry look at him.

"How do _you_ know? HUH? How do you know Lopmon's really alright? _YOU DON'T_, THAT'S WHAT! Don't say you're sure about something when it's undoubtedly and categorically clear that you don't know a thing about Lopmon's welfare!" Yun screamed angrily at him and darted off again.

That's when Terriermon realized it. This is another part of Yun's disability. Autistic people love things that are set in stone. False reassurance doesn't work on people like Yun. She was right. Terriermon didn't know a thing about Lopmon's well being as of now, and he only tried to console her and reassure her, even though he knew he didn't know anything about where Lopmon is or what happened to her. It didn't work. Yun hates it when people attempt to give her vague responses to something. She doesn't want to be told that they're sure this and that when they don't know themselves. She knew that Terriermon's intentions were good, and she respected that, but she's too wrapped up in her fear, panic, and worry to really notice. All she wants is to get Lopmon back.

"LOPMOOOON!"

She ran and ran all over the neighborhood, not caring about the fact that she got onto some streets that she didn't recognize. She paid absolutely no attention or heed to this whatsoever. Find Lopmon. That's her top priority, and she burned it into her head. Find Lopmon. Find Lopmon, and make sure she's safe! Yun screamed and cried and yelled for Lopmon, but no response came. She feared the worst, but she persisted and kept on looking. It was slowly turning dark. The sky began to become a beautiful mix of orange, pink, and purple. But Yun didn't care for this. Finding Lopmon was all that mattered to her right now.

"LOPMON! Where are you? Say something! Anything! LOPMOOON!"

"Will you shut your trap?"

There was a response, but it wasn't what she or Terriermon expected, or wanted, at all. They had run into Nayuki, who, strangely enough, doesn't have Tsukaimon with her today. But neither Yun nor Terriermon were in the mood for dealing with her.

"You shut your own trap, Digimon abuser!" Despite Yun's yelling, Nayuki noticed that Lopmon wasn't with her.

"Lose your rabbit? Hm. You're better off without that stupid thing. If you want, I can take her data and-"

_POW!_ Nayuki suddenly found herself being punched in the face! So much so that she even fell to the ground and got a nose bleed. She looked up to find Yun, staring down at her with the most rancor-filled and choleric expression she had ever seen, complete with bloodshot and tear stained eyes! Even Terriermon was surprised beyond compare.

"MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS, DIGIMON ABUSER! I HATE YOU! You have no right to tell me what to do with my Digimon! And don't EVER tell me I'm better off without Lopmon! She and Terriermon are the best things that ever happened to me! Yes, Lopmon's gone missing and I've been looking for her all day! I don't need your help, Digimon abuser! I hate you! You're cruel, stupid, mean, dumb, heartless, pathetic, abominable, miserable, volatile, miserly, horrid, terrible, and downright horrible! Unlike you, I actually love my Digimon and care about them and raise them right and play with them and protect them and treat them right and actually treat them with respect! You don't give a durn about your own Digimon! I heard about what you do! You not only mistreat innocent people and Digimon, you beat your own Digimon just because he happens to be slightly weaker than us! Don't think you're so cool and all that just because you think Digimon are nothing more than balls of data meant to fight and kill each other! You're a big fat bully who doesn't give a durn about anyone but yourself! And if you ever try to kill Lopmon and use her data for your own selfish misdeeds, I'll NEVER FORGIVE YOU!"

With that very long, very loud, very passionate, and very grating tirade and rhetoric, Yun stomped away. Terriermon shot a look at Nayuki.

"That's what you get for being so insensitive!" Terriermon told her mercilessly, then followed Yun. Nayuki brushed the blood off of her nose, stood up, and walked away.

"Whatever. Freak," Nayuki muttered to herself.

On Lopmon's side of the fray, she managed to fly far away from Masaomi's house and had been walking around for quite some time now. She was growing both hungry, scared, and tired, but she continued on, hoping to find Yun and the others.

"I'll attract too much attention if I fly, so I'll walk. But I'm...getting hungry...and scared...No!" Lopmon shook her head. "I can't give up now! I have to find Yun and the others! That's my top priority! This is no time to be complaining!"

Lopmon steeled her courage and continued walking on, making sure there weren't any people passing about. She did see some people passing by, but she made sure to hide and keep out of their sight. Lopmon also tried to keep her ears up in case she were to hear anything suspicious, which she didn't. But even though Lopmon is bravely persisting and trying to walk long distances to reunite with Yun, it must be confessed that she's growing scared, hungry, and tired. She really wanted to voice her frustrations, but she knew very well that if she did, she would attract too much unwanted attention...or worse, attract Masaomi's attention. She didn't want to do that. Not after she worked so hard to escape and make it this far. Lopmon's little stomach growled, her long ears became limp, her green eyes watered, her stubby legs felt as though they were about to give out, and her strength was slowly but steadily leaving her body. Finally, she stopped to take a short break. But she couldn't help but think about the one thing she worried about so much, and it made some tears sneak out of her eyes.

"Yun...you must really be crying your eyes out for me. Oh, how I wish to see your beautiful face and hear your sweet voice this very minute! I'm...just as scared as you are. If only I were safe in your arms this very minute..." Lopmon muttered to herself despondently and wistfully, yearning for Yun's warm and loving embrace and her tender arms.

What Lopmon didn't know was that her wish is about to be granted...and she heard it. The thing she needed to hear.

Yun's voice.

Right when she thought she heard it, she immediately stood back up and raised her ears. It was faint, but she could hear a familiar sound. The sound of someone...screaming. Crying. Calling her name. Lopmon gasped.

"Oh! Oh! It's Yun's voice! It's shrill, but it's hers! I know it! I must make haste and find her! She truly is worried about me!" Lopmon exclaimed as she tried to run. Sadly, most of her strength left her, and she found that she could barely run.

"No! I...I have to reach her! She's worried about me, and I have to...show her that I'm safe!" Lopmon struggled to get herself up and walk. After a few minutes, she managed to walk again, though in a very weary fashion. She wasn't going to let her potential lack of energy stop her from finding Yun. Especially after she finally found Yun's voice, though it was shriller than she knew.

Yes, Yun's voice IS getting shrill, and that's because of her constant screaming.

"LOPMOOOON! WHERE THE HECK ARE YOOOUUU? Say something! Anything! Give me a sign! Lopmooooooon!"

Yun wailed and cried and screamed and yelled with all her might, using all the strength she had in both her lungs and vocal chords. Sadly, she too was losing it. Both her strength and voice are leaving her. She ran and screamed so much that every single rib in her body ached with pain. Her legs finally gave out and she fell.

"Yun!" Terriermon ran to her and tried to help her up, but she was too heavy for him. Yun tried to get herself up, but she couldn't.

"Yun...I think it's time to rest a little. You're pushing yourself too hard," Terriermon told her.

"No! I...I can't rest! The more time we waste, the chances that Lopmon might be gone might increase! I...I have to..." Yun tried to force herself up again, but couldn't. Terriermon could easily hear that Yun's beginning to lose her voice. He grabbed onto her arm.

"Come on, Yun! Take a break for a little bit! It won't hurt! It's not good to run about on an empty stomach and scratchy voice!" Terriermon said, even though that last part was rather inopportune. Yun finally stopped struggling and remained where she was. Terriermon was about to sigh in relief until he saw a light from the sunset being caught by something coming out of Yun's eye. Much to his horror, he recognized it, and it was the thing he hoped never to see coming out of Yun.

Tears.

At first it was just one drop, but then many more came along. They literally poured out of Yun's eyes, sprinted over her cheeks and fell off of her chin.

"I...I'll never...live with myself...if anything happen to you or Lopmon! I...I can't lose the one thing I've been wishing to get for years and years! I've worked too hard and went through too much...I can't lose either one of you now!" Yun cried and finally erupted into yet another paroxysm of tears.

Terriermon knew what she meant. To her, he and Lopmon were the best things that ever happened to her. They were the answer to her greatest prayers, wishes, and hopes. They were what Yun had been working so hard and suffering so much for for who knows how many years. Terriermon knew she was desperate, namely because she had felt lonely and unwanted. He remembered the time Witchmon put a Dark Emblem on him, which caused him to go out of control and scare an already scared to death Yun into a total breakdown. But other things contributed to that as well, like the cars being destroyed, Kosuke and Melody yelling, and the fights going on. Terriermon acknowledged that he did those horrible things, but Yun forgave him anyway because she knew that that wasn't Terriermon. Yun still treated him and Lopmon like they were her babies despite what had happened. Terriermon realized the extent of which Yun loved her two floppy eared friends. If anything were to happen to him or Lopmon, Yun would probably...Terriermon let the thought drift away, as he didn't even want to think about what Yun could potentially do. Even more so when he witnessed Yun's little tirade against Nayuki earlier. That showed how passionate she was about loving her friends and wanting to prove Nayuki wrong. Terriermon wished he could make Yun stop crying, but nothing would work, so he simply hugged her. Yun didn't even bother to wipe away her own tears. Some of them melted into Terriermon's fur.

Then, Terriermon felt something. His whole body tensed, his ears flew into the air, and he leaped off of Yun. Yun stopped crying enough to see what Terriermon's is up and alert.

"What's wrong?" Yun asked in a low voice.

"A Digimon is coming!" Terriermon edicted, gesturing Yun to get behind him, which she did. He mentally prepared himself for an all out battle, possible a big one. Yun regained her composure, grabbed her digivice, and stood up, preparing herself for a potential battle as well. But as it would reveal, there wasn't going to be a battle.

Some bushes rustled, and out came a strange animal. It looked as though it were limping, totally bereft of food and strength. As the creature drowsily came closer, Yun and Terriermon not only sighed a breath of intense relief, but they recognized the creature!

Long, floppy ears, three horns on its head, brown skin, pink markings, green eyes. There was no doubt.

"Lo...Lopmon?" Yun muttered.

Lopmon looked up to find Yun and Terriermon standing a few feet away from her.

"Yun!" Lopmon cried out with a smile. Finally! The time had come! Lopmon had found Yun and Terriermon! All three of them were consumed by an intense feeling of relief and joy, so much so that all three of them broke down into tears, Lopmon included! They finally felt free of all the worry, fear, and anxiety that consumed them, and they decided to finally explode.

"LOPMOOON!"

"YUUUN!"

Tearfully and joyously, Lopmon leaped into Yun's tender arms. The both of them cried and cried as passionately and happily as they could, expunging all the fear, worry, and anxiety that had consumed them before. Yun clung to Lopmon while Lopmon pushed her face into Yun's warm, soft chest, the both of them being completely happy for their reunification. Terriermon hopped onto Yun's shoulder and put his paws on Lopmon's head.

"I...I was so scared, Yun! It was dreadful!" Lopmon cried. She didn't mind the tears coming out of her, and neither did she mind feeling Yun's. She was just happy to be wrapped in Yun's warm, tender, loving arms again.

"I...I'll bet you were! I was so worried about you! We both were!" Yun cried, happy that she could hug and cuddle her favorite bunny friend again, and happy that she's not gone. Lopmon didn't mind that Yun's voice was giving out a little bit.

"I'm so glad you're safe, sister!" Terriermon said, trying to hold back some tears but failing miserably (or happily). All three of them were enveloped in a tearful, poignant moment. Even the others noticed it.

"Whoa! Yun, you found her!" That was Melody, who, along with Link, Biyomon, Hokuto, Reppamon, and Lucero, came onto the scene upon hearing a lot of passionate crying and screaming.

"Lopmon! Thou art alright! What joy!" Lucero exclaimed as he joined into the poignant moment, though not tearfully. Yun just looked at him, tear stained and all, and nodded. Suddenly, a big growling noise was heard. But everyone knew where it came from, and they laughed.

"Ha ha ha! It seems someone's hungry!" Biyomon joked, which gave her an elbow from Melody. "Ow!"

Lopmon blushed and put her pink paws on her brown stomach. "Yes. I must confess I am getting quite hungry. I haven't eaten all day."

Yun stood up, cradling her cute bunny friend in her arms tenderly. "We'll go home and have a nice dinner!"

Reppamon approached them kindly. "May I have the honor of taking you home? I can help you."

"Thanks, Reppamon!" Terriermon said. Lucero, Yun, Lopmon, and Terriermon hopped onto Reppamon's back (Hokuto too) and they flew away. The rest of the kids told everyone else that Lopmon is safe and sound and, with hearts full of ease and relief, they journeyed back home. Lopmon remembered she needed to tell Yun about what happened.

"Yun, I just want to let you know I didn't run away. But it was dreadful! Just dreadful!" Lopmon said. Yun hugged her little friend.

"I'm sure it was. You can tell me after dinner. Let's just cherish the happy moment we're sharing together!" Yun exclaimed happily, though her voice is still raspy. Also, Yun couldn't help but notice how cute Lopmon looked, and was tempted to hear her laugh, so she gently tickled Lopmon's little stomach. She couldn't resist. Lopmon laughed.

"Oh! Yun! Please!" Lopmon laughed heartily upon feeling Yun's gentle and well-intentioned tickle. Then, Yun nudged her cheek against her little friend and held her close, smiling from ear to ear.

"Sorry! I couldn't resist! You're just so cute!" Yun cooed sweetly.

"Hey! Don't I get a little love?" Terriermon asked. Yun hugged him too.

"Of course you do!" Yun nudged him and made him laugh too. Yun's just happy to be reunited with both her floppy eared bunny friends. Lucero smiled upon seeing the bright smile on Yun's face. But his smile faded as he remembered Yun's breakdown earlier.

_'I'm noticing more and more. Yun's...not like the other kids. It's not a bad thing, but to some, it is perceived as such. I wonder why she's the way she is?'_ Lucero thought, drowning into a pensive state.

He isn't the only one ruminating about someone right now.

Link is the only one who didn't immediately go home after finding out that Lopmon is safe and sound. He just turned onto Fujiyama avenue, where he saw a car pull into someone's driveway. A man came out looking quite gruff. Link recognized both the man and the car. He decided to approach him.

"Tch! Took me an hour and a half to find that program! Why does it have to be so tedious?" Masaomi muttered to himself as he pulled out his keys. But he didn't get to unlock his door.

"Masaomi-kun?"

Masaomi jumped a little and turned around to see who called his name. Upon seeing Link, he regained his composure and stood up straight with his arms crossed.

"Hm. It's been a long time, hasn't it?" Masaomi said. But even with the mask, he could tell that Link looked very serious.

"We need to talk," Link told him sternly.

"Alright. Come on in...Akutagawa Wataru," Masaomi told him.

What a surprise! Link's real name is Akutagawa Wataru!

Footnotes:

1. Woody Guthrie is a famous folk musician who often wrote songs protesting serious issues like fascism and harsh conditions placed upon working class people. His famous song is "This Land is Your Land."


	31. A Heart Full of Darkness

EPISODE 31: A Heart Full of Darkness

Reluctantly, Link, or Akutagawa Wataru as it turns out, entered Masaomi's house. He could see that Masaomi didn't consider his visit to be a very happy and noteworthy occasion. The atmosphere became quite awkward and tense, and neither of them didn't like it, though for different reasons all together. Link sat on the couch in front of the little table while Masaomi went into the kitchen and made tea. Wataru could smell the sweet and sensible aroma, but he remembered that he didn't come here to relish his tea. This was serious business. After just a couple minute, Masaomi gently placed a cup full of fresh red tea in front of him. It smelled nice, and the cup looked nice too, with green paint and a gold rim. Masaomi sat on the other side of the table on a stool he pulled out and sipped his tea. Wataru followed suit, and while he liked the tea, he didn't want to forget why he came here.

"Your tea is as nice as ever, Masaomi," Wataru said. Masaomi put his empty cup on the table.

"I know how much you like red tea, so I made it special, Wataru," Masaomi told him.

Wataru put his cup down. "I told you not to call me by my real name. I go by the alias Link now. You know as well as I do that we're no longer friends."

Masaomi raised an eyebrow behind his sunglasses. "We're no longer friends...but do you still remain friends with Hizashino Saruto?"

It's now Wataru's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Saruto? What are you getting at by bringing him up?"

"You have to get over him. He's been dead for a year now. It's his fault that the internet is constantly being monitored by the government," Masaomi told him coldly.

Wataru looked down at his tea cup dejectedly, but he didn't lose his composure, even though Masaomi's words struck him in the heart harder than an arrow shot by an Indian trying to fight to save his people. "I've been over him for a long time now. But that's not why I'm here."

Wataru looked back at Masaomi, straight in the eyes, even though both of their eyes are hidden, Wataru with his mask, and Masaomi with his raven black sunglasses. "Masaomi...tell me. Did you kidnap a rabbit-like Digimon earlier today?"

Masaomi said nothing, but Wataru deemed it an appropriate response. "I thought so."

"You and Saruto have created something that's turned the whole world upside down-"

"Correction: Saruto did most of the work. I had planned on leaving it alone once we made our discovery. But he went too far with it, and had unrealistic expectations in regards to using it to make humanity advance."

"Exactly. He made the mistake of getting too involved with the creation of artificial life, and look what he's done. Now these digital beasts are running wild and wreaking havoc whenever and wherever they please."

"Masaomi...I know what you've been doing. Don't lie to me. You want nothing more than to delete all the work we've done, don't you?"

Masaomi stood up, feeling a hot passion burn in the depths of his heart, if he had one. "She's gone because of them, and they don't deserve to live! I'm in the process of developing a special program that will not only send these beasts back to where they came from, but will decimate them as well. They deserve to go back to oblivion where they belong. You know this better than anyone."

It was Wataru's turn to stand up. "Masaomi! I know you're upset about her disappearance, but taking drastic measures like this isn't going to bring her back! What if she's still there? If you destroy everything me and Saruto worked so hard on, you'll likely be destroying her too! You don't want that, do you?"

"It's both your faults for even creating the digital world in the first place! You need to grow up!"

"You're the one who needs to grow up!"

"I will develop this program! I just need a sample. That's why I attempted to steal one of the monsters."

"Let me guess. You want to deconstruct it's data and use it as a blueprint to develop your weapon against them."

"You win the grand prize. Also, because of you and Saruto being so childish, now young children are interacting with these beasts totally oblivious of the repercussions that could follow!"

"They're well aware of that."

"How do you know?"

"I've talked to them a few times. They're very well-mannered kids who know what will happen if the Digimon run about unchecked."

"They've formed attachments to these monsters, right? They were foolish to do so, as they're nothing more than bloodthirsty beasts!"

"Will you stop, Masaomi?" Wataru pushed Masaomi's hand off of his shoulder angrily. "Understand, Masaomi. We never intended for the digital world to evolve this far, and we certainly didn't intend for all of this to happen as well! Hazuru disappearing, kids being able to domesticate them, letting Digimon come to this world, all of that! It just happened! Destroying everything we've worked on isn't going to solve anything!"

Wataru then turned to the little table, where he saw a CD in a small case sitting on there. On the front of it is a piece of white tape with the words MC Destroyer written in black sharpie marker. His eye grew big, and he grabbed the CD.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Masaomi tried to get it back, but Wataru stopped him from doing so.

"Is this your so-called special weapon against the Digimon?" Wataru asked, his voice growing harsher.

"Will you calm down already? It's not even close to being developed yet! I haven't even started on implementing my data into it!" Masaomi importuned.

"Don't pursue this! If you do, everything will fall apart! You know that, don't you? What about her? What if she's still in the digital world? Don't you want her back?" Wataru exclaimed.

Finally, Masaomi fell silent. Wataru's words hit him like a mightly blow, even though all Wataru's trying to do is stop Masaomi from making his program and destroying both the internet and digital world. With a sigh, Wataru threw the CD to the floor like it was garbage and was about to walk away.

"Link...you have a Digimon, don't you?" Masaomi asked in a whisper.

"Yes. I do. He's a wonderful creature, and I love him as if he were my child. Don't worry, he's tame," Wataru replied.

"What's the Digital World like?"

"It's no different from our world. That's all."

"One more thing."

A minute long pause stopped Masaomi from asking his question right off the bat, but he did it anyway.

"Did you...find her?"

Wataru looked down at his feet with a despondent look behind that purple and blue mask of his, feeling very empty and hollow inside. But he brought out his courage and told him.

"No. I didn't. But I'll continue looking. I won't give up. Just hold on, Masaomi. Don't do anything to the Digital World just yet."

And with that piece of rhetoric, Wataru finally left the Hiroya household, leaving Masaomi all alone in the living room. Masaomi, now feeling both empty and dejected, walked toward a night stand and held a black picture frame in his hand.

In the picture are three people. One of them is Masaomi, looking much younger, livelier, and happier than he does now. His black hair looked thin, but without his sunglasses, smiling malachite eyes shone brightly and a smile just as bright was plastered on his face. Next to him is a young woman with short but curly blonde hair, blue eyes like the ocean, and tan skin, wearing a purple sweater, beige pants, and brown shoes. In between them is a young girl of about eight years old, also with poofy and curly blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Her cheeks are quite plump and chubby, and she's smiling like she's a little angel. On her head is a white hat with a pink ribbon wrapped around it, matching her fluffy white coat and the pink and white scarf wrapped around her neck. A little red flower is in her hair, right above her left ear. Masaomi picked the picture out of the frame and looked at the back of it, where he saw writing on it in black ink.

**Picture taken Tuesday, March 5, 2009.**

**Hiroya Masaomi Tetsuya, age 45.**  
><strong>Hiroya Reiko Natsuki, age 44.<strong>  
><strong>Hiroya Hazuru Hatsune, age 8.<strong>

Masaomi looked right at the little girl in the picture. His lip quivered, and behind his sunglasses, a tear strolled out from his left eye and hung from his chin.

"Hazuru...why did it have to be you?" Masaomi muttered to himself while taking a trip down memory lane...a lane that he didn't want to walk on.

(flashback)

_Masaomi had confined himself to his chamber, the same one Lopmon had been placed in, only this is two years before that. He's working on his computer, his eyes glued to the screen. A woman came into the room._

_"Dear? What are you doing? Come back upstairs. Your food's getting cold," The woman said in a low, concerned voice._

_"I'm sorry, Reiko. But I can't right now. You won't believe what I found! Hazuru's data!" Masaomi exclaimed. "Look! This is Hazuru's consciousness in digital code! She's still alive! It's undeniable!"_

_The woman, Reiko, facepalmed and groaned loudly at the same time, looking like she's about to faint. "Why do you keep doing this?" She wailed angrily._

_"Just wait, Reiko! If my theory is correct, I may be able to turn her data into a solid substance and bring her back to us! It'll take some time, but I just know it! She's still alive!" Masaomi said._

_Reiko gripped a glass beaker on one of the tables, her wedding ring shining under one of the artificial lights._

_Masaomi had been so wrapped up in his work that he failed to consider Reiko's feelings regarding his ambition. About three weeks later, he found a note and Reiko's wedding ring on the dining room table._

_"Masaomi. I loved our daughter just as much as you did, but you should know by now. She's gone. No one can bring her back, and I can't go on watching you try. I'm sorry, but it's over."_

_Reiko had requested a divorce and left him of her own accord. Masaomi didn't protest. He knew why she did it. Everyone believes that Hazuru has died...and that Masaomi had grown mentally ill. Masaomi had been all alone ever since._

(end flashback)

Masaomi put the picture back in the frame, and put the frame back on the night stand. He laid back on the couch and fell asleep.

The dreary, cloudy Saturday finally passed, and a bright, dazzling, sun-shiny Sunday snuck into the town and shined it's golden effulgence on the town. Perhaps this is why the day is called Sunday. The grey clouds went away so the sun can finally shine onto the town happily and without any interruption. Unfortunately, the heat returned, along with mild humidity, which, even if it's mild, is very annoying to the rest of the town. Thankfully, people expected this to happen and managed to install their air conditioners before it was too late, and install them they did. As Yun went around searching for Lopmon, Teruki had put in the air conditioners. One in Ayaka's room, and one in his room. They didn't have central air conditioning, so they had to make do with what they could. Not only that, Hisako put up a curtain in the entrance that links the dining room and the hallway so the cool air won't get into the other parts of the house. It was as much as they could do, but nobody seemed to mind. Last night, Yun, Lucero, Lopmon, and Terriermon did everything together. They watched anime, read manga, played video games, played with each other, everything. This was mostly because Yun was just so happy to have Lopmon back in her arms. Who knows what would've happened if Lopmon hadn't been found. Yun's world nearly fell apart, but now, everything's back in perfect harmony.

Yun woke up to the beautiful, sun-dappled Sunday feeling quite refreshed and rejuvinated, relishing in the cool air that peeped into her room. It must be confessed that she did feel cold because she wore thin pajamas consisting of a sleeveless pink shirt with a red ribbon on the bodice and ruffled shorts, both covered in pictures of flowers, but she didn't mind at all. To her, being cool was much better than being hot and sweaty, so she didn't care if her skin had dots that resembled the ones on basketballs. She felt ready for anything. All the fear, worry, and anxiety that had consumed her very being had all drained away when Lopmon was back in her arms, along with some nice leisurely activities that came when she and the others got home, and some sweet, pleasant dreams. Lopmon and Terriermon still slept soundly as she got out from the bed and got herself dressed. Since it was going to be humid out, Yun put on a sleeveless tan shirt with buttons and a folded collar, and olive green shorts. Just as she was about to leave the room, Lopmon woke up.

"Mmm...morning," Lopmon murmured as she rubbed her eyes with her rosy pink paws. Yun couldn't help but smile at how cute she looked, so she gently scooped the sleepy brown and pink rabbit in her arms and held her like she was a baby.

"Good morning, little Lopmon!" Yun cooed sweetly, then gave Lopmon a quick and tender kiss on the forehead, making sure to avoid her little horns. Lopmon suddenly became up and alert upon seeing Yun's brightly lit face.

"Hm? My, you're quite cheerful this morning, aren't you, Yun?" Lopmon asked.

"Sure am, and it's because I have you with me!" Yun cooed again as she rubbed her nose against Lopmon's head, making her chuckle a little. Lopmon then noticed Terriermon waking up.

"Mornin..." Terriermon murmured. Yun scooped him into her arms and nudged him.

"Good morning, little Terriermon!" Yun kissed him on the forehead as well. Even Terriermon noticed that Yun is radiating joy and glee all over the place.

"Wow. Why are you so happy this morning?" Terriermon asked.

"Because I have you two here with me, of course!" Yun said as she hugged her little bunny friends. Then, Terriermon smiled as he realized what Yun meant. Yesterday, Yun was totally wracked with worry, crying and screaming for Lopmon, so much so that she almost lost her voice. Now, after a good dinner, good sleep, and a good cuddle with her bunny friends, she's back to her old self. Terriermon loved this, and didn't mind her excess cheer and joy today. Lopmon looked at the clock on Yun's night stand and noticed it read 7:08 AM.

"I wonder if Lucero's up yet? He usually gets up earlier than us," Lopmon said.

"Wanna go wake him up?" Terriermon asked.

"Oh! No! We couldn't! Perhaps he still needs his rest," Lopmon advised, regretting mentioning Lucero as of now.

But despite her protests, Yun held her bunny friends in her arms and walked into Lucero's room anyway, hoping to see if he's up and about, ready to take on the day. His room hadn't changed. It was still as plain and empty as ever, having nothing but a closet, a window, and a futon. On the futon he lay, with his blanket scattered around a little, and with one of his long, slender legs sticking out. Yun put Lopmon and Terriermon down on the floor and very slowly tip toed closer to the sleeping boy. How peaceful, adorable, and serene he looked! Yun couldn't help but smile at the sleeping boy, his blonde locks limping and sticking up at places, his starkly visible purple tattoos, the faint yet slender sunbeams on his skin, his long arms and legs spread out and about, and how wrinkled his clothes were getting. He wore a sleeveless black shirt and a pair of bright orange shorts. His golden bracelets and anklets are still stuck to him (at this point, there's no hope of ever being able to remove them, so everyone left them alone) and his tattoos hadn't changed at all.

Out of curiosity, temptation, and on pure impulse, Yun slowly extended one of her arms and very slowly and gently stroke one of Lucero's cheeks with her fingers. She couldn't believe how soft and tender they were. Everyone always said Yun had nice, soft skin (mostly her hands), but if Yun had to rate Lucero's skin on a scale of one to ten, to her, it would be about four hundred light years. Of course, this was a bit of an exaggeration, but to Yun, Lucero's skin was the softest she ever felt. She couldn't help but think that Lucero looked like a cute little angel, sleeping so peacefully and looking so serene and unperturbed. She wished she was like that. But to Yun, Lucero was cute in general, not just when he slept. Normally, Yun is deathly afraid to wake people up, mostly out of fear that they'll snap at her and yell at her in a towering rage. It had happened once when Yun was nine, and she had been traumatized. She had always been scared of waking up both her parents and sister, out of fear that they'll snap at her. But Lucero? No way! He's too kind and pure and sweet to snap at anyone if he's woken up. After a few minutes of soft and adorable cheek stroking, Yun decided to take the plunge.

"Yun. Please don't," Lopmon protested in a whisper.

"Don't worry, Lopmon. I'll be careful," Yun said, then took the mighty plunge.

"Lu-ce-ro. Wakey wakey, tofu eggs and bakey," Yun crooned in a low whisper, deliberately poking Lucero's tender cheek with her finger. He did move a little, but he turned to his side, ignoring the attempt. But Yun didn't give up. She then pulled on it (gently, of course) at least twice. His blue eyes opened a bit and he looked up at Yun wearily.

"Yun...?" He murmured, in a much lower voice than he usually used.

"Hey, Lucero! It's past seven! Rise and shine!" Yun exclaimed.

"Yeah! Wakey wakey!" Terriermon backed her up.

"Please, stop this," Lopmon pleaded. But Lucero lay on his stomach.

"I...needeth five more mineff (minutes)..." Lucero murmured as he attempted to go back to sleep.

Yun looked down and noticed that Lucero's shirt as been pulled up a little, showing his ribs and midriff. Probably because he's rubbing against his futon in a funny way. Terriermon noticed, too. Yun and Terriermon looked at each other and then smiled mischievously at each other. Lopmon facepalmed, knowing that they were planning something, but didn't bother to stop them. She knew they meant well, so she kept her mouth shut. Yun and Terriermon got their hands out, krept closer to Lucero, put their little fingers on Lucero's sides and...

Then he exploded.

"BYAAH!"

Into laughter. Right when Lucero felt the first stroke, his eyes literally shot open and he became alert as a rabbit about to be attacked by a predator...only he's not being attacked. Lucero literally burst into a paroxysm of laughter, trying to pry the mischievous Yun and Terriermon off of him as they playfully tortured his sides and abdomen with their little fingers. His limbs flailed around like he were a jellyfish trying to fend off an enemy, desperately trying to push Yun and Terriermon off of him despite laughing his guts out. After a bit, he managed to find an opening. He valiantly (but gently) pushed Terriermon off of him, wrapped one of his arms around both of Yun's arms and locked them inside, stopping her tickletorture. Right after that, he pinned Yun to the floor face up, with his hands clenching Yun's wrists. Lucero had gained the upper hand. He smirked at her mischievously, as he decided to get her back.

"I have thee now!" Lucero exclaimed, not letting Yun out of his sight. In a flash, he pulled up Yun's shirt a little and gave her his own little taste of playful yet merciless tickle torture.

Like he did earlier, Yun burst out laughing. Unlike Lucero, Yun isn't physically strong, so it was hard for her to try and push him off. Her lack of physical strength made her helpless against Lucero's playful torture. Terriermon got bored so he didn't try to stop him, nor did Lopmon. After a few minutes, someone did manage to put a stop to it just by walking into the room.

"Alright you two, that's enough," It was Hisako. Once they saw her, they immediately stopped and sat back up on the floor.

"A lovely morning, isn't it, Hisako-dono?" Lucero asked.

"It sure is. Yun? I was wondering...would you like to come blueberry picking with me?" Hisako replied, then asked Yun if she would like to go blueberry picking.

Yun cocked her head to one side. "Blueberry picking?"

"Yes! It'll get you out of the house for a bit," Hisako explained. "You like blueberries, don't you? Maybe Lucero, Lopmon, and Terriermon would like some."

"Oh! Blueberries are lovely! I'd certainly like to come," Lopmon exclaimed with a smile.

"Are blueberries really that good?" Terriermon asked.

"Yes! Blueberries are the healthiest food in the world!" Lopmon said.

Yun looked up at the ceiling and ruminated. "Hmmm...I guess it wouldn't hurt to go out for a bit, so I'll go."

"May I accompany thee?" Lucero asked.

"Sure! If you want, you can invite some of your friends," Hisako told them.

Immediately, Yun stood up. "Really? I can? Yay!" She then hugged Hisako. "Thanks, Mom! You're the best!"

She let go and immediately ran out of the room.

"Wait! Yun! It's too early to tell them! We still have time before we leave!" Hisako chased after her, leaving Lopmon, Lucero, and Terriermon alone in the room.

"Does Yun always get so hyper when she's excited?" Lucero asked.

"It would seem so," Lopmon said.

"I don't mind. I love it when she's like that. Her smiling face...seems to glow," Terriermon said. Lucero himself smiled and gently poke Terriermon's cheek.

"It does. I can see it," Lucero whispered.

Lucero decided to get dressed and prepare himself for the day. Although the day's going to be nice and sunny, it'll still be humid, so Lucero put on a short sleeved light blue shirt with green and blue circles all over it and a pair of tan khaki shorts. After about two hours, Yun called all of her friends and asked if any of them would like to come blueberry picking with them, Digimon included. Only Melody, Minako, and Kosuke said they would be able to come. Otoya has to work at the church's Sunday school, Rena and Riku have to do chores around the house under their parents' watchful eye, Aria isn't allowed to go out today (much to both her and Yun's chagrin), Isao has to help his mother around the house, and for some reason, Hokuto didn't answer. She didn't bother to call Shunji because he has plans with Ayaka today, and she didn't want to have to deal with Ayaka giving her an earful about every little thing regarding him, so she left him alone. Normally Yun would never be interested in going blueberry picking, but she thought it would be a nice way to get both herself and Lopmon and Terriermon out of the house for at least a while. Hisako is always telling her that she needs some sun in that white skin of hers, and she hated being told that.

At around 10:30 AM, Hisako, Yun, Lucero, Lopmon, and Terriermon set out to first pick up Melody, Minako, Kosuke, and their Digimon. Yun, Lopmon, and Terriermon sat up front while Melody, Minako, Lucero, and Kosuke all had to squish themselves in the back seat. It also didn't help that they brought their Digimon too. It was cramped, but they tolerated it because once they got to the orchard, they would be able to run about freely and pick all the blueberries they wanted. Nobody noticed, but it was Kosuke who looked forward to it the most. Blueberries are one of his favorite food, and they're the healthiest food in the world. Food is scarce in his home, and his mother does nothing but lay around, drink, smoke a cigarette, and wallow in her self pity every day (as far as he knows), not even bothering to get up and get a job. He found this to be a great opportunity to get all the blueberries he could. Patamon saw the twinkling excitement in his eyes, happy to see that Kosuke is happily looking forward to something. At around eleven, they arrived at the blueberry orchard, which, much to everyone's surprise, is much bigger than they ever expected! The orchard seemed to spread out an entire four miles, totally lined with little blueberry shrubs in perfect rows and columns! The kids got their little pails while the Digimon decided to run around for a bit, away from the sight of other people, like the people at the house where the orchard is. Before they started to pick, Hisako gave a little lesson to the kids and Digimon.

"Now everyone, just so you know, you have to pick the ones that are perfectly ripe and blue. No greens, pinks, pink and green mixes, pink and blue mixes, just perfectly blue. They have to be nice and plump, too. Understand?" Hisako explained.

"Yes!" Everyone replied and darted off in different parts of the orchard to go on their blueberry picking frenzy.

Minako began first, and with Salamon's help, managed to find some particularly plump ones, though they're rather deep in the shrubs.

"Mom's gonna love these! I might have to tell her to bake her special blueberry pie tonight for dessert!" Minako said.

"Blueberry pie? Is it good?" Salamon asked.

"Yep! It's one of Mom's best! If we make it, I'll give you a piece!"

"Oh! I can't wait to try it! Wan!"

Salamon then noticed Biyomon flying over the shrubs and Melody looking at her with a rather perturbed look.

"You COULD help out, y'know?" Melody yelped, starting to get a little mad.

"But it's so dirty here! The plump ones are too deep in the shrubs, and I don't want to scratch my beautiful feathers! I don't want to get dirt in my beak either!" Biyomon complained like a spoiled little girl. Melody grabbed onto her beak and yanked her down to the ground, getting dirt and pebbles in her pink feathers.

"Bagawk! Awww! Now my fur's ruined!"

"In places like this, being dirty is part of the process! You can always wash yourself off when we get home! You're just gonna have to deal with it just like everyone else!" Melody scolded like she was a strict parent. Biyomon wanted to complain some more, but knowing that Melody's temper is NOT a force to be taken lightly, clammed up and complied, picking blueberries from the shrubs quietly. Salamon happily trotted up to Biyomon with a smile on her face.

"If you ever get scratched, I can always lick it and make sure no dirt gets in it!" Salamon suggested.

"Sorry, but I can't let your saliva get on my fur. It's gross!" Biyomon replied.

"Biyomon!" Minako scolded, shocked by Biyomon's rather vain and selfish response.

While Melody, Biyomon, Minako, and Salamon are both arguing and picking, Yun wasn't doing so well on her end. She tried to pick some good ones, but she either ended up dropping them in the dirt, found that they have bug bites on them, or have actual bugs on them. Being the clean and sensitive person she is, she easily freaked out over these things. Not only that, she didn't want to go too deep into the shrubs lest she get scratched. She picked as much as she could, but her pail only has a few blueberries. Thankfully, Lopmon and Terriermon are helping her out.

"Yun! I found some very nice ones!" Lopmon said, showing Yun her paws and ears full of blueberries. She carefully dropped them inside. Terriermon came out with his ears and paws full of blueberries.

"I found some too!" Terriermon exclaimed and was about to put them into the pail, but Lopmon stopped him.

"Terriermon? Some of the ones you picked have pink spots on them. You can't eat those," Lopmon told him and showed him the ones that have pink spots on them.

"Oh," Terriermon drooped his head downward despondently, but Yun put them in anyway.

"It's alright. Even if they're off the tree, they'll ripen soon enough," Yun said. Then she saw Lucero on the other side of the column.

"Hey Lucero! How are you doing over there? Find some good ones?" Yun asked.

"Plenty! How art thou on thy side of the column?" Lucero replied with a smile.

"Not too good. I only have a tiny amount of them," Yun said, looking a little despondent.

"Do not fret, Yun. This orchard is vast like the sky itself, so thou shalt find a great many blueberries!" Lucero explained, talking in his usual Shakespeare talk, which made Yun laugh a bit.

"Speaking of this big orchard, does anyone know where Kosuke is?" Lopmon asked.

Yun and the others looked around, seeing no sign of Kosuke or Patamon at all.

"You're right! Where is he?" Terriermon asked. Suddenly, Biyomon flew in front of them.

"I'll find Kosuke for you! Leave it to me!" Biyomon exclaimed, pressing her balled claws to her chest, then flew away to look for Kosuke. That's when Minako noticed something odd.

"Whoa! These shrubs are totally clean! Not one ripe blueberry in sight!" Minako said as she and Salamon came across a shrub with only green, pink, and bluish red blueberries. Absolutely no pure blueberry at all!

"Someone must be going on a picking spree!" Salamon joked cutely. Melody crossed her arms.

"I think I have a good idea of who that person might be," Melody said.

The only person she could think of is Kosuke, who, as of right now, is on a VERY far side of the orchard, literally grabbing every single ripe blueberry in sight! Not once stopping to see if there are any marks or bugs on them. He picked and picked and picked like he was a crow trying to eat it's food in ten seconds flat. Even Patamon couldn't keep up with how fast he was. Not only that, his pail is almost totally full! Kosuke's picking so fast that Patamon was too late to grab some of the good ones. Then, Biyomon flew in.

"Patamon! You're so far into the orchard!" Biyomon told him as she descended onto the ground.

"Tell that to Kosuke! He's really into this blueberry picking business! He can't seem to calm down! I can't keep up with him!" Patamon said. "Well, not that that's a bad thing...I just think he should loosen up a little and enjoy himself."

"I don't know how he's able to pick every single good one without getting scratched or dirty. It's dreadful here!" Biyomon told him.

"I don't think he cares about being scratched up or dirty. Food's scarce in our house, so I think Kosuke's getting all he can so he can have a good meal," Patamon told her.

Nobody knew how much time passed, but everyone picked and picked to their heart's content. Yun picked a few good ones from a shrub and put them in her pail. She was about to move until someone said her name.

"Yun?"

It wasn't Lopmon or Terriermon, nor was it Hisako, Lucero, Melody, Minako, or Kosuke. Yun looked up and was surprised with who she saw.

"Hokuto-kun!"

Standing before her is Hokuto, wearing a yellow sun hat over his wig of brown hair, along with a big green T-shirt, light blue jean shorts, black socks, and white sneakers. Kudamon sat on Hokuto's shoulders contentedly. A little ways away, they could hear Hisako talking.

"What? Aki? You're here too? Oh my goodness!"

"Hisako-chan! Never expected to see you here! How are you?"

The two women rejoiced over their most recent meeting while Yun decided to talk to Hokuto.

"What are you doing here?" Yun asked.

"Blueberry picking. It was Mom's idea," Hokuto replied, holding his pail. Yun took a peek.

"Awww! You have more than I do! No fair!" Yun said.

"It's quite alright. We've been here since this morning so I suppose it's natural that we've gotten a decent amount. There's still plenty more to go," Kudamon said kindly.

"Yeah, that's true. Why do you wear that hat?" Yun replied, then noticed Hokuto's straw hat.

"Mom put it on me. She says my dark blue hat will absorb too much of the sun's energy, so she gave this to me instead," Hokuto said.

"She's a smart woman. Dark colored clothes absorb the sun's light and convert it into heat, so she made a wise move," Kudamon said.

"Yep! That's true," Yun said.

"Hey! Wanna join us in our blueberry pickin' spree?" Terriermon asked.

Hokuto smiled a bit. "Sure. I'd love to."

Kudamon hopped off of Hokuto's shoulder and onto the ground. "I'll go find some."

Before they knew it, the blueberry picking became a rather fun occasion for all of them. Even the Digimon noticed that the kids are becoming a bit more cheerful because of being outside. Kosuke especially. Patamon noticed that the more blueberries Kosuke would pick, the more he'd smile. He understood this, since food is scarce in the house, but Patamon mostly looked at blueberry picking as a fun activity, and Patamon loved fun things. He's happy to see that Kosuke's happy as well. Melody still retained her gruff exterior, but she's becoming less sour, and Biyomon's learning how to tolerate little messes like dirt in her feathers. After a long while, everyone decided to gather around. The Digimon stayed out of their sight because Aki doesn't know about Digimon, and they didn't want to scare her, so they hid in the orchard again.

"Let's see how much we got!" Hisako exclaimed.

Melody presented hers first. Hisako saw that Melody's amount is almost to the top, only by a few inches. "Wow! You have a lot, Mel-chan!"

Minako presented hers next. "I found some good ones," Minako's batch is slightly smaller than Melody's.

"You sure did! Good job!" Hisako lauded Minako for her effort.

Hokuto presented his batch, which is smaller than both Melody and Minako's. "Pretty good for your first try!"

The more praise Yun heard, the less and less confident she got as she presented her batch, which is smaller than everyone else's.

"I have the least out of everyone..." Yun muttered sadly.

"It's alright. This is your first time here after all, so we'll get more next time. You did pretty good yourself so it's fine," Hisako said.

"Pretty good? Everyone else has way more than I do!" Yun exclaimed, not happy with Hisako's praise.

"Where's Kosuke at?" Melody asked.

"Over here!" Kosuke yelled as he struggled to carry...two pails? Everyone looked at him, shocked by what they saw.

Kosuke has TWO pails, literally FULL of blueberries, right to the very top!

"WHAAAAAAAT?" Everyone except Melody yelped.

"Wow. Somebody sure got carried away," Melody said.

"At this point, I'm glad I got carried away!" Kosuke retorted with a smile. Aki looked at Hisako.

"If you want, I can pay for half of this. It's only 50 cents a pound, right?" Aki suggested. Hisako smiled.

"You will? Thanks! We really appreciate this," Hisako said.

"I have a dollar on me," Kosuke said as he brought out a dollar bill.

The parents and kids went to the house and gave the woman who ran the orchard some money, paying for all of their blueberries, which all were put in separate boxes so everyone has their shared amounts. Hisako dropped everyone off, but not before telling them that they have to wash their blueberries with water so that no dirt or residue is on them. Yun saw that it was almost 2:00 PM when she, Lucero, and the rabbit Digimon came home. For another hour they watched an anime, namely another episode of Les Miserables, read some manga, played games, and in general played with each other. At around three, some knocks were at the door. Teruki went to answer it. Then, he called out to Yun.

"Yun! Two of your friends are here!" Teruki called out. Yun ran to the door to find...Aria and Isao! A second time! Aria is dressed in a small yellow dress with a hood and some string with white cotton balls hanging from it, while Isao has a white shirt with dark blue sleeves and light blue jean shorts. Bearmon and MarineAngemon were right behind them, smiling brightly.

"Hi Yun-chan!" Both of them said sweetly as they came inside.

"Aria-chan! Isao-kun! I thought you two couldn't do anything today!" Yun exclaimed, remembering that Aria was told that she couldn't leave the house and that Isao had to help his mom out.

"Papa's out, so Mariya-san's letting me go out and play. Look! I had Unimon take me here!" Aria grabbed Yun by the hand and took her outside to see Unimon. Lucero, Lopmon, and Terriermon followed. There stood Unimon, quietly looking at the house with a gentle gaze behind that red helmet of his.

"Oh! You're Wakamiya Yun, right? A pleasure to see you again," Unimon bowed before her and spoke in a kind voice.

"Hi! It seems you're all better!" Terriermon exclaimed.

"Indeed, I am! Better than ever!" Unimon bellowed happily.

"Do you want to stay and hang out with us?" MarineAngemon asked.

"I'd like to, but I have some business to take care of in the Digital World. My friends and I plan to drive LadyDevimon out of Mt. Trinity! I already convinced others to join my cause!" Unimon explained.

"Awww. You have to go?" Aria asked, looking sad.

"I'm afraid I must, Aria. But thanks for calling for me. My debt to you has been paid. Now, I must be going now. Take care of yourselves!" Unimon, with a clomp of one of his hooves, opened a portal to the Digital World and flew into it.

"Unimon's cool!" Bearmon said.

"Yeah he is! I wish I had one of those D-Chip things!" Isao said.

Soon, the kids and Digimon went inside and talked in the living room. Yun told them about what had happened yesterday, and about what Lopmon had told her last night.

"So some mean man kidnapped Lopmon and wanted to destroy her? How mean!" Isao exclaimed.

"I know, right? But she managed to escape so now she's safe with me!" Yun told him as she held Lopmon close.

"I can kinda see why he'd want to destroy us, though. We Digimon aren't common in this world, and some people who don't think we're real might think we're here to destroy them. It's not nice, I know, but it's true," Bearmon explained.

"Well, whoever this man is, kidnapping a Digimon is wrong!" MarineAngemon exclaimed.

"It may not seem that way to others. I don't believe this world's laws apply to Digimon," Lucero said.

While Lucero was talking, Yun's mind was in another place. Yun looked at the big bruise on Aria's forehead. She remembered the big bandage that was on it days ago, when she went over to her house and was driven out by Kinzo. She wondered what caused such an injury. But then it hit her. Kinzo was yelling at Mariya and his kids after he drove her out and he sure didn't seem very nice. Could he have...? Suddenly, Terriermon's voice pulled her out of her mind.

"Yun? Yun! Where are you?" Terriermon asked.

"Oh! Sorry! I...I kinda spaced out," Yun confessed. Yun then noticed that Aria is wearing her pink D-Heart of mercy around her neck like a necklace. The same with Isao, only it's around his wrist, like a bracelet.

"Hey Yun-chan. I was wondering...who do you think's gonna digivolve first? If I had to guess, maybe Lopmon and Terriermon will digivolve first, since you're the leader of the Digimon Brigade and all," Isao said.

"Yeah. That sounds likely," Bearmon said.

"Me? Oh no! I don't think that'll be so at all! I mean, I don't even know-" Yun stammered, trying to come up with an excuse as to why her Digimon won't digivolve into ultimate first, but someone finished the conversation for her...but that someone was someone she hoped not to see at this time.

"Bonjooooour!"

It was Shunji, with Ayaka and Dracomon right behind him. He noticed the kids and smiled.

"Oh! Are we interrupting a miniature Digimon Brigade meeting? You should've told me we'd be having one sooner, Yun-chan!" Shunji exclaimed.

"No! We're not having a meeting! Isao-kun and Aria-chan came here on their own!" Yun yelled. Dracomon came into the living room and high fived Bearmon, like the two are best buds. Ayaka shot Yun a scornful look, but she didn't seem to notice. Teruki saw the gathering from the dining room, but he smiled at them, happy to see that Yun is making new friends, even though he's seen the two little kids before.

Yun expected Ayaka to try and drag Aria and Isao out of the house when they entered, but Shunji dragged her into her room where they studied together. It didn't really matter anyway, because Aria, MarineAngemon, Isao, and Bearmon ended up having to leave about fifteen minutes later. Yun felt bad about not having them here longer, but she knew they had their own lives to deal with, so she let them go. She did, however, sigh in relief, thankful that Ayaka didn't do anything insidious or volatile toward them. Yun didn't want such nice kids to see something like that. Not only that, Lopmon, Dracomon, and Terriermon played in the back yard happily. Of course, even that didn't last very long. At around 3:45 PM, Shunji and Dracomon had to leave because Shunji's grandmother needs him for something important. Yun, Lucero, Lopmon, and Terriermon immediately zipped into the basement in fear that Ayaka might go after them in a rage.

But an even stranger thing happened to them later on.

Around the time Yun got home, Minako and Salamon walked into the house with the box of blueberries on hand and gave them to Tatsuha, who beamed joyfully.

"Wow, Mina-chan! You sure got some good ones!" Tatsuha exclaimed.

"Thanks! But some of the others got more than I picked," Minako said.

"Oh, no! This is perfect! In fact, I can make my blueberry pie and muffins with this much!" Minagi said. Then Minako and Salamon dashed into the bathroom. Minako washed her hands while Salamon turned on the faucet in the bath tub and washed her feet.

"Wow! I sure got dirty! Wan!" Salamon exclaimed as she turned off the faucet and began washing her feet.

"That's just how it is in places like that. But it'll be worth it once Mom cooks that blueberry pie. You'll love it!" Minako said as she rinsed her hands clean and dried them with a wash cloth. She then gave it to Salamon, who leaped out of the tub feeling squeaky clean.

"Is it delicious?"

"Very! Everyone I know loves it!"

"That blueberry pie must be like being in heaven! Of course, living life is important too!"

"That's what everyone says! Hey! Wanna watch _Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva_ with me?"

"Sure! Wan!"

Minako and Salamon left the bath room so they could watch their movie. Unfortunately, all the joy and all the motivation Minako had was immediately decimated when Minagi and Tatsuha told her something that would crush her. Minako got the DVD out and was about to leave her room until Minagi and Tatsuha came in.

"What's up?" Minako asked.

"Umm...Mina-chan? We just wanted to let you know that next Sunday, we'll be having a picnic," Minagi said.

Minako's smile faded. She remembered it a little. That day, she and her family were on a picnic too. "A picnic?"

"Yeah. Sorry to decide so suddenly, but we thought it'd be nice to have you get out of the house for a while. If you want, you can invite some of your friends and have them come with us," Tatsuha told her gently.

Just a little bit, Minako's smile came back. "That's nice. Tomorrow at school I'll tell them about it. So...where's it going to be?"

That's where Minagi and Tatsuha drooped their heads a bit. Immediately, Minako realized it, and her smile faded. "It's...going to be _there_? By _that_ river?"

"Well, yes, but we'll be farther away from it this time," Tatsuha stammered.

"You...you've gotta be kidding!" Minako exclaimed.

"It's been two months since then. Some people over there are planning to put wired fences around it so little kids won't get in there and drown," Tatsuha told her, hoping to reassure her. But it didn't. Salamon overheard the conversation and she could tell it wasn't going well despite Minagi and Tatsuha's intentions. Minako drooped her head down sadly.

"I...I'm not interested anymore," Minako whispered as she gently pushed both of her parents out of the room and closed the door. Salamon, knowing this was a bad harbinger, immediately ran under the bed with Kiyoshi's plush puppy in her mouth.

Minako stared at her bed, balling her fists and trying to keep herself from breaking down into a paroxysm of tears like Yun did yesterday. She couldn't believe what Minagi and Tatsuha just said to her. Another picnic? At that river of all places? How could they be so selfish and insensitive? This is what she thought, and she thought it to be utterly indecent that they would have the audacity to be so insensitive as to try and have another picnic by that river, even if they plan to sit farther away from it. A tear slipped out of one of Minako's violet eyes. Then came another. Many more came. Salamon watched as a great many tears whisked down Minako's face, but she didn't know what to do. She'd want to reassure her, but considering the impact that Kiyoshi's death had on her, false and uncertain reassurance probably won't work. Minako finally leaped onto the bed and screamed into her pillows. She bawled and wailed, beating her purple bed spread with her weak fists. In the process, she found herself walking down memory lane...only this was the one memory lane she hoped never to walk on.

(flashback)

_It was mid March. Minagi, Tatsuha, Minako, and Kiyoshi are sitting on a red and white checkered quilt under neath a tree full of plum blossom buds that hadn't bloomed yet. Minagi and Tatsuha were both having small flasks of wine, Minako is sulking angrily while eating some tamagoyaki and little octopus treats from her bento box. Kiyoshi, with his light brown curls dangling all over his face and deep green eyes sparkling with curiosity and wonder, is playing with two action figures, one of Batman and one of Superman. Minagi noticed Minako chomping on her octopus angrily and became concerned._

_"Mina-chan? You shouldn't eat so fast. You'll choke," Minagi told her kindly._

_"I'll be fine!" Minako snapped as she finished eating an octopus and proceeded to eat another. Tatsuha sighed. Little Kiyoshi, becoming bored with his action figures, looked at Minako and decided to approach her._

_He waddled a little as he walked, but little Kiyoshi didn't seem to mind. His deep green eyes literally radiated innocence and joy as he stumbled and waddled toward his beloved big sister. Back then, we wore a long sleeved pale green shirt and dark blue pants. He had taken off his shoes and socks on purpose and left them sitting next to Minako, who had immediately pushed them further away in anger. He liked how the grass felt on his feet. Finally, he got close to Minako and pulled on her pant leg to get her attention._

_"Mina. Play with me?" Kiyoshi asked innocently. Minako shot him an angry look, put her hand on his face and pushed him off._

_"No. Go away," Minako told him coldly and continued to chomp on her octopus treats. But Kiyoshi seemed to have no intention of conceding defeat. He tried ot again._

_"Play with me! Mina!" Kiyoshi importuned, which set Minako off. She pushed Kiyoshi again, this time so hard that he fell to the ground._

_"I said go away, you selfish brat!" Minako yelled, which made Tatsuha stand up._

_"Minako! Don't call Kiyoshi a selfish brat!" Tatsuha scolded as he ran to pick Kiyoshi back up. "Now say you're sorry!"_

_"Why should I? He spilled ketchup on my favorite bed spread! On purpose!" Minako yelled._

_"He didn't know any better! Kids do these things a lot! Besides, we managed to find a new one online, and it'll come in next week! I know you're upset, and Kiyoshi did do a bad thing, but that doesn't make it right for you to push him like that!" Minagi scolded._

_"It took us forever to find that bed spread, and Kiyoshi ruined it!" Minako yelled. Tatsuha tried to mediate the conflict going on between Minagi and Minako._

_"Now now, girls. Let's just sit down and have our picnic, shall we? Yelling's not gonna get us anywhere," Tatsuha told them. Minako gave up and sulked again, this time not finishing her food while Minagi had some muffins. Kiyoshi, apparently aware of Minako's anger but not particularly traumatized by it, gave up and quietly walked away. Kiyoshi looked at the big river, which is about five meters away from them,_ _and walked closer to it._

_"Wutter..." Kiyoshi murmured, mesmerized by the fast moving current and the bouncing water drops._

_Nobody knew it then, but it was going to be the last time anybody ever saw Kiyoshi alive._

_He leaned too close to the riverbank, and one of his little legs slipped and he fell in. He didn't even scream or wail. He didn't make a sound._

_The saddest thing was that nobody noticed he was missing until about seven minutes later, when Tatsuha saw his action figures lying around untouched._

_"Uhh...where's Kiyoshi?" Tatsuha asked. Once his name was mentioned, Minako and Minagi looked at him with confused faces._

_"Wasn't he playing right next to us?" Minagi asked._

_"His action figures are right here! They don't look like they've been played with!" Tatsuha explained._

_Minako looked around, but Kiyoshi wasn't anywhere in sight. Right then, she and everyone else became wracked with worry._

_"Kiyoshi? Kiyoshi?" Minako stood up and yelled, but no response._

_"Oh no! Kiyoshi's gone!" Minagi screamed._

_"Let's split up and look for him! He couldn't have gone far!" Tatsuha stood up with them and decided to search for him. Everyone ran from the picnic quilt and ran all over the place, searching for Kiyoshi. About five minutes passed, and they came up empty._

_Minako searched and ran all over the place, hoping she would find him. She immediately regretted her selfish and cruel behavior from earlier,_ _and now was merciful enough to forgive him for his unintended misdeed. 'How could I be so selfish? I have to find him! I have to find him and tell him I'm sorry! He has to be here somewhere!' Minako's heart was racing, her worry became greater and greater. She was oblivious to the fact that she was about to reach a bridge that crossed to the other side of the riverbank. As she got closer, she heard voices and saw some people on the other side gathered in a big circle._

_"Oh my God! The poor baby! Is he alright?"_

_"Call an ambulance! He's not breathing!"_

_"I saw him floating in the river and got him out as fast as I could!"_

_"Mama! Is he gonna be okay?"_

_"Come on! Breathe, kid!"_

_"Someone call a doctor! He's bleeding!"_

_Minako stopped. She had an idea of what they were talking about. 'No! No! No! It can't be him! Please, don't let it be him!' She ran across the bridge and pushed through the crowd of people. But she was going to regret doing that. Her prayers weren't answered._

_There was Kiyoshi. Unconscious and blue in the face._

_"KIYOSHI!" Minako screamed at the top of her lungs, catching the attention of both Tatsuha and Minagi, who ran across the bridge and saw the horrible sight that Minako saw._

_About a few minutes later, an ambulance came and took Kiyoshi to the nearest hospital. Tatsuha, Minagi, and Minako got in the car and decided to follow it, knowing where the hospital they're heading to is. They sat in the waiting room, waiting and praying for Kiyoshi's safe return._ _Minako couldn't believe this was happening. Nobody could. How could he have wandered off while they weren't looking? They should've watched him and made sure he didn't fall into the river! How could she, or the others for that matter, be so stupid? Minako clenched both of her hands together, squeezed her eyes shut, and prayed. Prayed that Kiyoshi would be saved. Minagi and Tatsuha held each other's hands. The wait was just pure torture for them. Nurses ran to and fro, patients came and went. No Kiyoshi. For a whole two hours. Nobody said a word. Nobody dared to speak even a single utter. Finally, a male doctor in blue surgical wear came into the waiting room, looking very grim._

_"You're the Omoris, I presume?" The doctor asked. All three of them shot up like jacks-in-a-box._

_"Doctor! Is he alright? Is our little Kiyoshi alright?" Minagi begged wildly._

_The doctor looked down despondently. Immediately, Minagi knew what this meant and was about to fall apart._

_"I'm sorry. He's...gone. We couldn't save him. He...suffered a grave head injury as he fell. He...bled to death," The doctor whispered._

_Minako just stood there, silent and appalled. Her violet eyes grew bigger and bigger. Minagi fell to her knees, buried her face in her hands,_ _and exploded into a paroxysm of tears._

"KIYOSHIIIIII!"

_Tatsuha hugged her, hoping to calm her down. But it didn't work. After a while, Minako herself fell to her knees._

_Kiyoshi's gone! Gone forever! Dead! Dead and never coming back! At only two years old! Minako wished that she could turn back time and change everything. If everyone had watched him better, he wouldn't have wandered off. If they were able to save him in time, he could've been saved! If Minako hadn't yelled at him, he would still be here. If she hadn't been so mad, he wouldn't have wandered off. If only she had forgiven him and played with him right then!_

_Then it hit her. Kiyoshi's dead...because of Minako._

_It was all her fault. Kiyoshi's dead because of her._

'He's gone...because of me! I...I don't...deserve to live!'_ Minako thought._

_A week later, she attempted to make herself suffer his fate, only to be stopped by Minagi._

(end flashback one, begin flashback two)

_Kiyoshi's death and Minako's attempt to take her own life had a great impact on the entire Omori family altogether, the latter Minako wasn't aware of until two weeks afterward. Tatsuha was about to come back from work, and Minagi was about to leave for work, all dressed in her office outfit and everything. Minako was calmly and diligently reading a new book in the living room. _Gauche the Cellist_ by _Miyazawa Kenji_(1)_ _it was._

_"Have a good day at work, Mom," Minako said in a rather monotone voice. But she didn't bother to look up and watch her mother leave. She saw her mother leave for work lots of times, so she didn't really think about looking up at her and watching her leave._

_But a few minutes passed. Normally, when Minako is immersed in a book, she would hear her mother's keys rattle, the door close, the car's engine turn on, and drive away. But she didn't. She finally looked up and saw Minagi, staring at the door, balling her fists and gritting her teeth._

_"Mom? Don't you have to go? You'll be late," Minako told her. Minagi closed her eyes, ran to the phone, and punched in some numbers in a fit of anger._

_"Hello? Miyagawa-san? Yes, it's me, Omori. I'm going to have to take this week off. Very urgent family emergency. Yes. Yes. I'm sorry to do this. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Bye," That was all Minagi said on the phone, and then hung up. Minako walked up to her, looking very surprised._

_"Mom? Why'd you take a week off of work?" Minako asked. Minagi looked at her with a sad look. Then, she grabbed Minako and held her close like she was about to lose her._

_"I can't go. I can't. How can I go...and leave you all alone? What if you try killing yourself while I'm away? I can't lose you!" Minagi cried, hugging Minako tight._

_It hit her. Minagi took the week off so she can keep a close eye on Minako, making sure that she doesn't attempt to take her life._

_"I...I don't understand..." Minako whispered._

_"Why I'm considering you more important than work right now? I know what you're thinking, Minako. You're thinking that I shouldn't love you,_ _that you should be blamed for Kiyoshi's death, and that you should be told you're a disgrace to the family. It's not true, Minako! Not at all! We already lost one child! We can't bear to lose another one, especially when I might unknowingly give you the perfect opporunity to off yourself while nobody's looking! I can't let you leave us! You're much more important to me than work right now, Mina! Don't...ever try to take your life. Please..." Minagi explained while crying._

_Minako wanted to contradict her so badly. She wanted to tell her she was in denial, but she couldn't. The whole week, Minagi kept a very close eye on Minako, making sure she didn't try to off herself. She followed her everywhere she went, checked all the shelves for any potential drugs or weapons she could use. Minako gave up on trying to give up on life and continued on for their sake, despite having hard feelings._

(end flashback two)

But now she's reliving her horrors again, lying in the bed with a tear stained face. Salamon stroke her hair, hoping to cheer her up. But it didn't work. Sadly, Salamon decided to leave her alone and walked out of the room. She stopped when she heard Minagi and Tatsuha talking.

"Maybe we should call off the picnic after all. I told you this wasn't a good idea, Tatsuha!" Minagi explained, standing in the dining room with a very serious looking Tatsuha standing in front of her.

"Minagi. I want to do this with her. I want to show her that this whole thing isn't her fault!" Tatsuha told her with a straight face.

"But that place has so many bad memories! What if when we're not looking she tries to drown herself again?"

"Then we'll watch her the whole time!"

"I really don't think this is a good idea. You know how she gets when Kiyoshi or the picnic back then was mentioned! I...I can't ever let her or the two of us go through that horrible day again! It's too painful! Don't you know how insensitive were being toward her?"

"I don't mean it to be insensitive. But you have to listen to me, Minagi. Minako's trying to keep us out of Kiyoshi's room because she wants to be the only one who's suffering the hardest because of what happened. She wants us to forget while she'll be the only one who will remember him and the pain she went through. I want to remind her that remembering a loved one and the happy days we shared with them isn't a bad thing! Minako has to understand that she's not the only one who's sad about his passing and that she doesn't have to bear everyone's burden! She still has so much to live for, and I want to remind her that living life is wonderful! But I think this is the best option."

"Do you really think so?"

"I know so."

Tatsuha hugged Minagi as she cried into his chest. Salamon watched curiously with Kiyoshi's toy sitting in front of her.

_'Thank you, Tatsuha-san. Mina-chan's very lucky to have you for a dad. We have the same goal, and I'll help you realize it, for both Mina-chan, you two, and Kiyoshi,'_ Salamon ruminated.

While Minako is reliving her own pain, someone else's pain is going to be caused by the very thing that should be helping him...and it would crush him. Around the same time, Kosuke and Patamon were walking down the sidewalk, heading for home with two big boxes of blueberries in their hands.

"Wow, Kosuke! You really outdid yourself today! I'm proud of you!" Patamon said with a smile. Kosuke smiled too.

"I know, right? This'll last us a whole month! I'm gonna try making something nice for us tonight!...if I do it right, I hope," Kosuke exclaimed.

"Mind if I help you?"

"Sure. I'll take all the help I can get. Speaking of help, can you open the door for me?"

"Of course! Leave it to me, my friend!"

Patamon happily opened the door for Kosuke, seeing that his hands are full with the boxes of blueberries...but he was going to regret opening that door, because right when he did, both his and Kosuke's noses were brutally assaulted by the most repulsive and most noisome odor to ever get sucked through their nostrils in recent history.

"AAACK! Jeez!" Kosuke exclaimed as he held the boxes in front of his face to keep the smell from entering any further. Sadly enough, he recognized this smell.

Rum.

He removed the boxes from his face to see what was going on, and what he and Patamon saw terrified him. Beer bottles, big and small, are scattered all over the entire living room. One of them is cracked a little, and alcohol is seeping out of it and sinking into the carpet. His mother is lying on the floor, right next to the table with an ash tray overflowing with cigarette butts on it. Kosuke put the boxes on the little table and ran to his unconscious mother, whose scraggly hair looked more tangled than ever.

"Mom! Mom! Get up!" Kosuke shook his mother violently, hoping to get a response. He was grossed out by the fact that her entire persona reeked of alcohol.

"Is she sick?" Patamon asked in a low but scared whisper.

"When was there a day when she wasn't?" Kosuke exclaimed. His mother opened her eyes and gasped a little.

"Mom! You're drunker than ever!" Kosuke yelled. His mother held her head up to get a look at him.

"Ko...suke...?" His mother croaked in a low, barely audible voice. Kosuke attempted to get her up.

"Come on, Mom! You're going to bed right this minute!" Kosuke attempted to hoist her up, but she was too heavy, even with Patamon's help. She didn't seem to notice Patamon.

"Kosuke...? Where...have you been?" His mother asked.

"I went blueberry picking with my friends! Come on! Get up, will you?" Kosuke tried again, but she fell down to the couch again. But this time, she hoisted herself up and managed to stand up without Kosuke's help. She looked at him with a look Kosuke had hardly ever seen before.

Anger.

"Why did you leave? You're my son! You have to stay with me forever! Did you try to abandon me? Are you trying to be like your good for nothing father?" His mother yelled in a much higher voice. Kosuke could tell that this was not going to end well.

"You drank yourself silly!" Kosuke yelled. His mother suddenly grabbed his arm forcefully.

"Don't ever leave me! Don't ever leave my side or my sight! You're my son and nobody else's!"

"Well, I'm not your personal slave!"

Soon, a brawl broke out between the sober Kosuke and the extremely drunk and red in the face woman. Kosuke tried to fend her off, but she was just too strong, even though she's a really thin woman! Patamon tried to help by yanking her hair and shooting a small Boom Bubble at her a few times, but she didn't even notice!

"Kosuke! This is getting out of hand! What do we do?" Patamon yelped, obviously worried about everything that's going on.

"I'm your mother! I did everything for you and this is how you repay me?"

"When have you done anything for me? You don't do anything but sit around and drink booze like a sick homeless person! You don't even care that your own son is starving and in need of decent food!"

This is when his mother did the inevitable.

She pushed Kosuke onto the table, knocking both the boxes of blueberries and the overflowing ash tray onto the floor. The boxes fell first, with all the blueberries falling out. The ash tray came after, falling right on top of the blueberries. The cigarette butts and ash assimilated with the fresh blueberries, contaminating them with God knows what. Patamon tried to stop the items from falling, but it all happened way too fast, even for him. He couldn't react fast enough. Kosuke, feeling what followed, got himself off of the table and was appalled to see the blueberries destroyed by the cigarette butts and ash! All of those fresh, wonderful blueberries! Gone! Gone in a flash! Contaminated! Decimated! Eliminated! His hopes of making something nice, fresh, and healthy were crushed right there. Even his mother stopped to see the crime she committed. She extirpated his precious blueberries! This was the last straw for Kosuke.

"YOU IDIOT!" Kosuke yelled so loud Patamon had to cover his ears. Then..._SLAP!_ He slapped his own mother in the face, so hard that she fell to the floor, though this could mostly be because she's so drunk that she can't keep her balance.

"You ruined everything! I picked those blueberries so we could have something decent in this house to eat since you're too lazy and angsty to even bother cooking a decent meal!" Kosuke screamed in a virulent voice. _"I HATE YOU!"_

With that piece of rhetoric, Kosuke ran away from the chaotic scene and into his room. Patamon followed him...and so did his mother. Patamon got into his room in the nick of time, and Kosuke slammed the door shut as soon as his mother got close. Kosuke fell to his knees and covered his ears sadly, appalled by what's happened. His mother pounded on his door angrily, but Kosuke made no attempt to open it, lest even more chaos happens. Patamon didn't know what to do, so he just sat next to Kosuke and rubbed himself against him.

"You say you picked them with those friends of yours, eh, Kosuke? You should know better than to go prancing around with other people! There's no such thing as pure sincerity in this world! Only deceit! Those friends of yours are big fat liars, deceiving you into thinking they're your friends only to betray you and humiliate you and drag you down and around just to satisfy their own egos! Just you wait! They'll show their true colors soon! I know it! That's what Seiichi did! He just used us up and spat us out, and those friends of yours will do the exact same thing soon enough! Think about it, Kosuke! Have they ever done anything for you? No! No they haven't! Those friends of yours are always dragging you around and bringing you down at their own convenience! They're only stay with you so they can satisfy themselves! You're better off without those parasites!"

Patamon didn't believe what his mother was saying was true, that it was all just drunken nonsense and not truculent temerity. Patamon knew for a fact that Kosuke's friends are the best he could ever have! Yun is shy, but she's gentle and kind, with unfeigned purity. Minako is peaceful, motherly, and intelligent, and always trying to provide solutions that will mediate conflict instead of exacerbate it. Sure, Melody is rather sour, moody, temperamental, and has no shame in displaying audacity and temerity at just about anything she hates, but she cares for her friends, especially Yun, with a passion. In Patamon's mind, Otoya was the eternal optimist, who is always cheerful and always has faith in her friends, even in hard times. Yes, it sounded cheesy, but really, who wouldn't want a person like Otoya in their life? Kosuke accepted her, so why shouldn't anyone else? Rena is graceful, dependable, and humble, letting her actions speak for themselves. Riku is a little hyper and rambunctious, but that's because he has ADHD. He's also brave, happy-go-lucky, enthusiastic, and has a strong sense of justice. Shunji is a bit of a flirt and is overly frippet and a tad lazy, but he knows that when the going gets tough, the tough get going. Aria is sweet, merciful and innocent, Isao is your normal little boy, and Hokuto is a bit too timid for his own good. Patamon didn't find any of these to be problems. Sure they have their quirks, but in this day and age, who doesn't? Patamon did not believe that what Kosuke's mother just said is true. What does she know about them? She's hardly met any of them! Then again, who would want to go into a squalid living room where the air smells of nothing but noisome rum and smoke from the cigarette butts? Who would want to be around such a wastrel like Kosuke's mother, who claims her son should waive his friends? No way was Patamon going to let this go!

Kosuke also wanted to believe that what his mother is saying isn't true, just a bunch of stark and virulent drunken nonsense. But...he couldn't help but notice that his mother actually had a point! During spring break, nobody visited him. Yun told him that she thought she was a bother and that she wanted to give him some space and leave him alone (since that was what she was normally, and very bluntly, told), but how was Kosuke supposed to know whether that was really true or not? They say one can tell if someone's lying by looking in their eyes, but Yun barely made eye contact, even with her friends. Of course, this is mostly because of her disability, which Kosuke knew of to an extent, but...was Yun really telling the truth? Not only that, sometimes, he would receive paper bags full of food and clothes, which Kosuke appreciated deeply, but now he began thinking: were those mostly just indirect ways to show off their wealth while Kosuke is getting more and more impoverished by the day? Also, Kosuke didn't invite anyone to his house, mostly because he didn't want them to see the squalid and noisome state that his house and his mother are in right now. He wanted to spare them the horrible smells and spare them from seeing what a selfish and angsty wretch his mother is every day. But...in the event that they DID come to his house and saw everything, would they decide to not be his friends anymore? Kosuke thought about Yun, Melody, and Minako, and all the happy days and fun adventures they shared together, before Kosuke's father left. They had such fun and joyous times together, even in hard times. He had known them for a very long time, and knew a lot about them. They knew about him too, but only what his home life was like before everything fell apart. They may be childhood friends, but even childhood friends can change drastically when you're not looking. Now, Kosuke's mind is conflicted, with his mother's state eating away at his dignity. Sometimes she couldn't discern him and tell him apart from his father. Kosuke wanted to get away from his house by hanging out with his friends more, but suddenly he found himself becoming indifferent and prefering solitude over society. He fervently and ardently believed that his mother was the cause of all of his pain. But...was she really?

Could his dearest friends really not be as unfeigned and faithful as Kosuke thought?

Footnotes:

1. Gauche The Cellist is a novel and short story by Kenji Miyazawa. Nobody knows the exact date it was published. It has been made into at least three anime films, the earliest being in 1949 (HUH?) and the latest being in 1982.


	32. Rabbit Rhapsody

EPISODE 32: Rabbit Rhapsody

But exactly what was happening to Yun as Minako relived her most painful memories and Kosuke began to question his integrity? Well, it was all quite unexpected really. It all began at 4:00 PM, after Shunji and Dracomon left. Yun, Lucero, Lopmon, and Terriermon were happily playing in the living room, Ayaka was in her room listening to her I-Pod, Hisako was in her room reading a new book she got (she's just as much a reader as Yun is, only her tastes are drastically different from those of her youngest daughter's), and Teruki was calmly and happily sitting at the dining room table, reading the newspaper for a few seconds until the coffee machine went off. Teruki got up, folded the newspaper up, put it on the dining room table, walked to the coffee machine, and poured himself some nice, steaming hot coffee. Sure it was late in the day and he has the day off, but even adults like their fair share of coffee in the late afternoon. Yes, Teruki had the day off from work today and has to go back tomorrow, so he relished in the comfort of his home (and steaming coffee) and was happy to be here. He poured a small bit of milk into it and stirred it with a spoon before drinking it, and what he got was his usual milky coffee taste. He sighed as he finished a good sip. He wanted to drink some more...but something stopped him from doing so.

_"YAAAAAHHH!"_

A loud, piercing scream coming from within the house frightened Teruki so much that he literally jumped and dropped his coffee cup! _CRASH!_ The cup shattered, and all that was left of his precious coffee poured out onto the hard kitchen floor. It's a good thing he's wearing shoes, because the coffee could've burned his foot and the broken pieces would've cut him. But he's not the only one who heard the scream. Hisako sprang out of her bed, dropping the book she was reading. Yun, Lopmon, Lucero, and Terriermon all sprang up from the floor, hearing the vociferous and fear-stricken scream.

"That came from Ayaka's bed room!" Terriermon exclaimed.

Yun, Lucero, Lopmon, Terriermon, Hisako, and Teruki all ran into Ayaka's room, where they saw Ayaka leaning against her closet, away from her window, trembling with fear. Hisako ran to her first.

"Ayaka! What's wrong?" Hisako yelped with concern as she tried to hug Ayaka and mollify her.

"Th-Th-Th-There's a..." Ayaka tried to say what scared her, but she's so frightened and petrified right now she could barely make out any words. Teruki approached her.

"Now now, it's alright. Just calm down. We're here now. What happened, Ayaka?" Teruki told her calmly with his concerned face.

"Th-Th-There's a big giant beast out in the back yard! I'm not kidding! LOOK!" Ayaka screamed.

_'A giant beast? Out in the back yard?'_ Yun thought. Could it be what she thinks it might be? She saw Lopmon and Terriermon's ears both fly upward. It could be! Curious, Yun decided to be the first to look outside Ayaka's window and see what's in the back yard. Lucero, Ayaka, Hisako, Teruki, Lopmon, and Terriermon all followed suit.

Yun recognized it right away.

"It's a Digimon!"

A Digimon, indeed! A rabbit Digimon to be more precise. Yun had seen a picture of it before, so she recognized said Digimon, but the others had never seen anything like it until now! In all honesty, the Digimon isn't really all that big. From a distance it looked rather small. If Yun were to walk up to it, she might have found out that it was no bigger than herself in terms of height, but the rabbit was certainly wider and plumper than her. The rabbit's skin is light pink, covered with darker pink armor with a big grey stripe going over the back and going over it's small helmet. The rabbit's helmet is dark pink, with two grey stripes on each side of it, and a grey diamond on the front. It's two big eyes are striking light green, like jade. Out from it's helmet protruded two long light pink ears with darker pink stripes on it that seemed to stretch down past it's plump legs. On the rabbit's behind is a small, bushy light pink tail. It's feet are nice and big, light pink with the tips being dark pink. It's hands are covered with dark pink gloves with small claws coming out of them. Around it's neck is a dark blue bandana.

_"THAT_'s a Digimon?" Teruki asked.

"Yep, it is!" Yun exclaimed with a smile. "More specifically...now where's my digivice? Wait here! I'll be back!"

Yun raced to her room to find her digivice. In a few seconds, she came back. She pressed some buttons on her digivice and out came a light displaying the Digimon's picture and information.

"That giant rabbit over there? She's called Rabbitmon. She's an armor level, vaccine attribute, mammal Digimon. Her special attacks are Carrot Bomb and Ear Lancer," Yun explained.

"How doth thou know it's a girl?" Lucero asked.

"It says right here that Rabbitmon are girls, and that that one over there is a girl too," Yun told him as she showed him her digivice.

"May I have a closer look see?" Lopmon asked as she hopped onto Yun's shoulder to get a better view of Rabbitmon.

Lopmon and everyone else looked at it from afar. They saw that Rabbitmon doesn't have a Dark Emblem on it, so she's not running wild. That's a big relief considering she's right in the Wakamiya family's back yard, right next to Clarette's cinder block grave near the little pine tree. But they also saw something else. Rabbitmon's big, plump arms are hiding her face, and from the way her body is moving, she looks as though she's hiccuping. But Lopmon wondered if it was something else.

"Notice anything?" Hisako asked.

"The Digimon means no harm. But it looks as though she's...crying," Lopmon said.

"Who the heck cares whether it's cryin' or not? Get it away from here!" Ayaka screamed.

"Calm down!" Teruki told her.

"What do think we should do, Yun?" Terriermon asked.

"What? You're asking Yun about what we should do?" Teruki asked.

"Yeah! We have a lot of experience in fighting Digimon and sending them back to the Digital World," Terriermon told her.

Both Hisako and Teruki looked at each other with shocked faces. Yun has dealt with them before? Hisako remembered that a scuffle went on in the parking lot next to where she worked and in the clearing when Terriermon was going through his depression, but she had never actually seen them fight other Digimon before. Teruki hadn't either.

"I'll go out back and see," Yun said as she ran out of Ayaka's room and decided go to out to the back yard with Lopmon and Terriermon following her. Suddenly, Teruki bolted after her in a hurry.

"Teruki!"

When Yun almost got to the back door, Teruki managed to catch up and stood between her and the door.

"Oh, no you don't! You're staying right in here, young lady!" Teruki exclaimed with a look on his face that looked like a cross between anger and worry.

"But I have to go out there, Dad!" Yun told him.

"Not on my watch, you're not! You don't understand, Yun! What if that thing's dangerous? I can't have one of my children go out there and potentially get beaten by something like that!" Teruki scolded.

"That's why Lopmon and Terriermon are with me! If anything goes wrong, they can digivolve and fight it off! Besides, I've dealt with some dangerous Digimon before! With my friends, too! I've seen Digimon go wild before, and that one out there doesn't look like it's going wild! At least let me take a look!" Yun tried to reason with him, but it didn't seem to work.

"How could you possibly have any experience with dealing with a big Digimon like that?"

"I've seen big Digimon, and the one out back can't be any bigger than us!"

"You are not going and that's final!"

"But someone has to!"

"No buts! Stay inside!"

Yun understood why Teruki would want to do this. He's her father, and it's natural for fathers to worry about their kids and want to protect them from any potential danger. It's in their blood. Not only that, Yun had to admit that Teruki had never actually seen her deal with Digimon before, so of course he wouldn't believe she was displaying candor and of course his argument was rather cogent. But there's a Digimon out in the back yard and she felt obligated to settle the matter, but how could she when Teruki's not letting her? Teruki didn't want his youngest daughter, who is normally easy to scare and is sensitive because of her disability, to put herself in danger. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Hisako, looking at him with a gentle gaze.

"Let her go out, Teruki. She has Terriermon and Lopmon with her," Hisako told him gently.

"But they're too small! She could-"

"Trust her. It'll be fine. This has happened before. Please?"

Teruki was flabbergasted. He couldn't believe that Hisako is actually asking him to give Yun permission to go out and deal with Rabbitmon! But he had to admit, his family consists of a lot of stubborn people who won't let something go until they're satisfied, and once they have something in their head, they have it set on it. Teruki knew that trying to contradict Hisako won't do anything good, so he sighed and finally conceded defeat.

"Alright. You can go. But we'll go with you!" Teruki exclaimed.

Yun didn't react to that. She didn't even scream hysterically and joyfully. She just slowly opened the back door and went out, with Lopmon and Terriermon following her. Lucero, Hisako, Teruki, and Ayaka came out one by one. They walked onto the deck and saw Rabbitmon, still behind Clarette's grave. This time, they got a better look from afar. Yun turned to look at her family.

"I think it'd be best if you all stayed here. If there's too many people, she may think we're trying to hurt her," Yun told them calmly.

Teruki seriously wanted to contradict her, but she had to admit that she had a very good point. Strength in numbers is good, but not if it means stimulating an innocent person into fighting and making them think they're trying to hurt them. Teruki swallowed his worry and stayed back. Yun, Lopmon, and Terriermon all very slowly walked down the steps and onto the grass, tip toeing as they approached Rabbitmon, who is now making noises that sound like sobs, whimpers, and hiccups. Lopmon suspected as such, and her suspicions are confirmed. Rabbitmon IS crying. She's rubbing her big eyes with those big plump gloves of hers. Yun saw this, and wanted more than ever to not scare her, frighten her, or intimidate her. She was less than confident that she'd be able to pull it off, but someone had to, and this was no time to give up. Especially now that she's confirmed that Rabbitmon isn't really dangerous. She did, however, stop in the middle of the yard and whisper to Lopmon.

"Do you sense anything?" Yun asked Lopmon.

"No. I don't sense any wicked intent. I think it's safe to approach her," Lopmon whispered back.

"Thanks. Let's do this as quietly as we can," Yun told her.

Again, they tip toed closer and closer. Yun focused on trying to be as quiet as possible. After about a few agonizing minutes, Yun and her two floppy eared rabbit friends finally managed to get within Rabbitmon's vicinity, even if it's at a slightly moderate distance. Suddenly, a bird loudly flew away from the big tree, ka-kawing as it flew, which made the sad Rabbitmon jump.

"Yeek!"

Rabbitmon covered her head with her arms, cowering in fear and trembling. After a few seconds she calmed down, but gasped when she and Yun finally locked eyes. Yun, knowing that it was too late, decided to act.

"Umm...don't be afraid," Yun told Rabbitmon in her softest voice possible, even if it sounded a bit forced. "We're...not going to hurt you. It's okay."

Rabbitmon looked as though she wanted to run away. But she didn't. She looked at this strange creature standing before her, surprised that she's much less frightening and intimidating than she imagined. She's also surprised that she's exactly her size, albeit a tad shorter and skinner than her. Not only that, Yun didn't look like the type who would want to hurt anyone, let alone have the physical strength to do so. Slowly but surely, Rabbitmon lowered her guard, loosening up and shedding her fear just a little bit. Rabbitmon brought out her mettle and decided to confirm her suspicions.

"You're...not?" Rabbitmon asked in a particularly low but sweet voice, slightly older than Yun's.

"No. We're not. It's okay," Yun said. Rabbitmon looked down and saw Lopmon and Terriermon in front of her, also not looking like they have any motivation to fight. Rabbitmon couldn't help but feel rather relieved.

"Umm...what are you?" Rabbitmon asked, her voice sounding much more lucid and dulcet. "You're not a Digimon, I presume?"

Yun shook her head. "Nope. I'm a human. You're in the human world."

"I am?" Rabbitmon asked herself. "How did I get here? I have no idea!"

Terriermon, seeing that Rabbitmon is indeed NOT dangerous, decided to lower his own guard as well and approached Rabbitmon with a bright smile on his face.

"Hi! I'm Terriermon! I'm one of her partners! Nice to meet'cha!" Terriermon exclaimed as happily as possible, raising his paw up in the air. Rabbitmon, seeing his cheerfulness, actually smiled a little.

"Oh! A fellow Digimon! Umm...hello. I'm Rabbitmon," Rabbitmon said.

Lopmon also realized that she's not dangerous and smiled at her as well. "I'm Lopmon."

"I'm Wakamiya Yun," Yun said, introducing herself?

"Just Yun? No mon at the end?" Rabbitmon asked.

"Nope."

"Oh. Okay. Hello, Yun."

More and more, Rabbitmon became more at ease, and, seeing that Rabbitmon is not dangerous after all, the rest of the Wakamiya family felt at ease as well...except Ayaka, for obvious reasons. But Yun continued to try and engage in conversation with Rabbitmon, since her family is always telling her to practice her socialization skills.

"If you don't mind me asking, why were you crying earlier?" Yun asked politely. Rabbitmon looked up at the big tree and ruminated for a bit, then decided to let Terriermon hop on her head.

"Well...earlier today, I was trying to break up a fight between my good friends. They've been fighting over something silly, and they're just awfully stubborn. It's dreadful. I didn't like it, so I tried to help them make up...but it didn't work. I have no idea why, but all of a sudden, they got mad at me and blamed me for things that were going on," Rabbitmon's green eyes began to tear up a little, and she tried desperately to hide this. "They said to my face that I'm a parasite, that I'm always dragging them down and around at my own convenience, and that I only do nice things for my own self-satisfaction! I have no idea why they would think like that! I don't think and act like that at all! What would I gain from something like that? I'm not selfish or greedy! It's not true!...is it?"

Yun couldn't believe what she just heard, and to think she thought she herself was misunderstood! Why in the world would anyone want to think that someone who's genuinely kind and nice and caring would have some kind of malicious ulterior motive behind it? Sure there are people like that in this world, but most of time they're adults, not young kids. She also knew that Digimon are naturally animals meant to survive and eat food and live their lives like normal animals, albeit in a slightly more civilized and possibly sophisticated way than normal. Yun could see that Rabbitmon is quite taciturn and serene. All she wanted to do was resolve a conflict between friends, not procure it, so why would they accuse her of having ulterior motive behind her kindness and call her a parasite? She could understand if they were just wound up and just wanted to release some anger, but not in that way! Yun crossed her arms and a straight look appeared on her face.

"That wasn't very nice of them," Yun said.

"Yes, indeed. I'm sure they have problems of their own to deal with and that they're just angry, but they didn't have to say it like that! It really hurt," Rabbitmon said.

"Calling a good friend names and yelling at them when all they're trying to do is help is very wrong. I'm sure they have their reasons, but whatever they are, they don't justify what they did," Lopmon told her kindly.

Rabbitmon looked up and saw Lucero, Hisako, Teruki, and Ayaka coming closer.

"Are they your friends?" Rabbitmon asked.

"Actually, they're my family. You...kinda landed in my back yard," Yun told her.

"I did? Oh dear! I'm so sorry! I don't mean to trespass on your property! I-I-I should probably be going now," Rabbitmon tried to hop away, but Yun stopped her.

"Don't run away! It's okay! Umm...would you like to hang out with us?" Yun asked.

"Uh, Yun? What are you doing?" Teruki asked, but Yun shushed him.

"Me? Hang out with you?" Rabbitmon asked.

"Yeah! You look like you need to take your mind off of that squabble you were talking about earlier," Yun told her.

Rabbitmon paced around for a bit in confusion. "Well, it would be troublesome if I went back and they'd still be angry...but what about your family? Won't they be abashed by my presence? Won't they think me dangerous?"

"They did before, but I don't think they think that way anymore. It's okay. Besides, Mom's always telling me to get some sun, so we can play and do what we want out here since you're likely too big to fit through the door, no offense," Yun explained as kindly as she could.

"It's okay. None taken. Well...if you insist, then I'd love to play with you!" Rabbitmon smiled brightly this time. It's around here that the entire family got close to Rabbitmon.

Everyone was taken aback by Yun's ability to tame Rabbitmon, Ayaka and Teruki especially. Lucero, however, didn't find it very surprising. Yun noticed them and decided to introduce everyone to her.

"Oh! I should introduce you to my family! This boy here is Lucero, my friend. This woman here is Hisako, my mom. That's Teruki, my dad, and that's Ayaka, my big sister," Yun explained. Rabbitmon, feeling a little abashed by their presence, bowed politely.

"Um...he-hello! It's nice to meet you! Pa-Pa-Pardon my sudden intrusion! I don't mean to make trouble for you or anything! I..." Rabbitmon exclaimed, stammering and stuttering and being the shy creature she is.

Teruki finally smiled upon seeing that Rabbitmon isn't dangerous after all. He walked up to her and pat her on the head with his big hand.

"It's alright. It's nice to meet you too, dear," Teruki told her in a kind voice, which made Rabbitmon smile and blush at the same time. She couldn't believe that these humans were so nice.

Unfortunately, there is one member of the welcoming committee who isn't so...welcoming and accepting.

"Oh, give me a break! We don't need any more weird and rabid animals in our house!" Ayaka screamed and stomped back into the house. Rabbitmon pouted a little.

"It's alright. She hates everybody," Yun told Rabbitmon.

"Yun? Art thou sure about this? I mean, Rabbitmon is a nice and congenial Digimon, but won't other people see her and make a big scene?" Lucero asked.

"It'll be alright!" Yun exclaimed.

Although Lucero and Yun's parents wanted to question her some more, they realized it wouldn't do any good, so they left it at that.

Teruki went back into the kitchen and cleaned up the broken cup and spilled coffee. Hisako went back to reading her book and Ayaka went back to listening to her music. Throughout most of the day, Yun, Lopmon, Rabbitmon, Terriermon, and Lucero played together in the back yard. They ran around, played games (like tag, hide and seek, etc.), read books (both manga and normal books), and basically talked the day away, though it must be confessed that they played for only an hour and a half. They all relished each other's company and loved the moments they shared together. At one point, both Hisako and Teruki watched as Yun, Lucero, Lopmon, Rabbitmon, and Terriermon happily chased each other around and played together, living the day like it was their last. They didn't believe it at first, but they're seeing that Yun is blossoming, like a newly blooming sunflower fresh under the summer sun's golden effulgence. Yun hardly ever had the opportunity to play with others like that, especially not with kids in this day and age. Yun's disability made her give off the impression that she was introverted and unapproachable, at least in making friends. While Yun did make some friends (Otoya, Rena, and Riku) in the past year, she started to stand out more and more to those who really disliked her, like Nenji and Seiko, who would even go as far as to recruit others to join their cause and bully Yun every chance they got. Not only that, in the past, even school teachers didn't accept Yun for who she was and treated her badly because she, according to them, _"displayed inappropriate behavior and is unfit to be in a mainstream classroom."_ This crushed Yun's self esteem, so much so that she developed self-injurious behavior in the form of hitting herself, slapping herself in the face, or banging her head if she were corrected on something or if she unknowingly caused something to happen and blamed herself. It's become quite a problem, and it still is to this day.

But since Lopmon, Terriermon, and Lucero had come into Yun's life, they noticed significant changes coming to light. For one thing, she's much happier than ever before. Secondly, she's hurting herself less and less, preferring to cuddle with her new bunny friends and comfort herself with them instead of let out frustration by means of self-injury. Thirdly, she's going outside more. Hisako noticed that Yun's getting some color into that white skin of hers. Yun hardly ever went outside, especially on her own, before. She doesn't walk to school out of fear that she might get lost or get kidnapped by a stranger and, considering her lack of physical strength or self defense skills, be unable to fight back, so her parents drive her back and forth to school every day. She hardly ever went out with friends, either because there was nothing interesting to do outside or she couldn't arrange it on her own. This past spring, Yun had especially felt lonely because of her lack of hanging out with her friends. Minako's little brother died, Kosuke's mother's alcoholism is getting worse and worse, and for some strange, unfathomable reason that Yun can't figure out, and still doesn't know, at the beginning of 4th grade, Melody disappeared and came back halfway through fifth, looking drastically different than she looked when she was young. Melody hasn't told Yun why, but Yun could tell it was personal so she left the subject alone. She had always been told that she was annoying and kept pestering people, so she thought it'd be best to give them space, but even then she felt lonely. But not anymore. Lopmon, Lucero, and Terriermon have warmly and happily accepted her and continue to do so.

Even Lucero is noticing something about Yun that others don't realize: that she has some uncanny ability to influence others into remaining true to themselves without even realizing it, both her or them. Lucero didn't know how else to describe it, nor can he explain it. She's certainly influenced him by a long shot, and he was glad of it, for he wouldn't want to be with anyone different. He really liked her, right when she and Hisako saved him from death so long ago. He was sure that Lopmon and Terriermon were happy with being her partners, since she treated them with love, affection, and respect. He wished that Ayaka, and other people, would accept Yun's kindness, but alas, that is not to be.

And speaking of Ayaka, she's seriously not liking the whole Digimon thing, and she certainly proved it at around 5:30 PM. Hisako was just about to start making plans for dinner while Yun remembered something she wanted to show Rabbitmon.

"Oh! That reminds me! I want to show you my treasure box! I'll be right back!" Yun exclaimed as she left Rabbitmon in the back yard and ran into the house with Lopmon, Terriermon, and Lucero following her. Rabbitmon didn't mind waiting a little. Ayaka, however, saw Rabbitmon in the back yard and shrieked from her room. She has finally had enough. She literally stomped out of her room, right through the kitchen, into the back yard, and right in front of Rabbitmon. Rabbitmon was just about to hop away until Ayaka managed to give her a good kick in the face.

"Get out of here, you beast! We don't want you here!" Ayaka screamed angrily, showing blatant and vehement animosity toward Rabbitmon. Rabbitmon covered her nose with her gloves.

"B-But Yun-"

"Who cares what she thinks? She should know by now that she shouldn't be finding random animals on the street and dragging them here so she can keep them! The world doesn't revolve around her, even though she's always having her way! Get out of here and go back to where you really belong, you rabid monster!"

"I'm not rabid!" Rabbitmon tried to reason with Ayaka, even though she had a valid point, but it didn't seem to work.

"Yes you are! Don't deny it! You're just like everyone else in your kind! I heard about your little drama! Maybe your so called friends called you a parasite because it's true! Get over it and quit acting like a drama queen! Can't you take a hint? Get out of here NOW! I don't care if you love Yun! She's not worth wasting your time! She needs to understand the fact that she can't get through life by getting everything she wants and manipulating people into doing so!"

Despite Ayaka's orders, Rabbitmon was frozen in place with shock. Ayaka's actually accusing Yun of being selfish and manipulating people into getting what she wants? How in the world could Ayaka think something like that of her sister? No way has Yun ever displayed nefarious and egregious intent for anything! Anger was growing inside Rabbitmon's heart, and she certainly did not like it. Even more so when Ayaka decided to go back into the house while talking VERY LOUDLY about Yun in a maligned manner.

"That stupid, selfish, spoiled brat! She has everything! She's always getting her way while I'm tossed to the side like trash! Why's she so special? She's not worth anything! Everything goes right for her! She gets to keep wild animals and a kid we don't know while I can't even go out and buy a new shirt! She should just drop dead already!"

That did it for Rabbitmon. Something snapped deep within her, and right away she was completely overcome with rage.

"Lop-Ear Swing!"

She swung herself around like a tornado, propelled herself against Ayaka, and...hit her!

_"AAHHH!"_

Ayaka was hit by one of Rabbitmon's long ears, so hard that she was thrown against the fence! Rabbitmon approached her with a fierce and feral look in her green eyes.

"Don't _EVER_ talk of Yun like that! What do you know about her? You have no right to claim that she's manipulating people and influencing them to ignore you? What proof do you have? None, that's what! And don't EVER claim that what my friends said is true when you don't know a thing about my personal life whatsoever! I am NOT a parasite!" Rabbitmon screamed angrily, just as loud as Ayaka was earlier, only with much more passion and gusto. Ayaka was scared spitless, trembling against the fence. Both their screams attracted the attention of the entire family.

"What happened?" Teruki was the first to bolt out of the house, but it was Yun, Lucero, Lopmon, and Terriermon who ran after Rabbitmon.

"Rabbitmon! Thou must cease thy anger at once!" Lucero demanded.

"Rabbitmon! Stand down! Get away from her right now!" Yun scolded like she was her parent.

Rabbitmon, upon seeing a rather incensed Yun, finally calmed down and gave Ayaka time to run to her parents' side.

"But Yun! She was saying bad things about you, claiming that you're manipulating people into doing what you ask them! It's not right! She doesn't know anything! She kicked me in the nose, too!" Rabbitmon explained, sounding calmer.

"I know you tried to protect me, and I really appreciate it, and yes, Ayaka does have the wrong idea about me, and what she says is bad too. But just because she says something bad does NOT make it right for you to attack her like that! You shouldn't have done what you did. I know you're angry, but I'm used to people saying bad things about me and getting weird ideas about me when they don't know anything. Now I want you to say you're sorry, Rabbitmon," Yun scolded Rabbitmon in a stringent and stern tone, like she was the parent and Rabbitmon was the child. Rabbitmon wanted to contradict her, but she had a valid point. Even though what Ayaka said about Yun did set Rabbitmon off, she knew that attacking her like that was wrong, and even though she was standing up to her, attacking her doesn't justify it no matter what.

"Sorry..." Rabbitmon muttered.

"Thou art a great friend, having faith in her so," Lucero told her as he stroke her ear.

Teruki then turned to Ayaka with a strict face of his own.

"Now Ayaka, I want YOU to apologize to Rabbitmon as well," Teruki told her.

"Me? No way! I'm not apologizing to that thing! It doesn't belong here!" Ayaka screamed angrily.

"SHE!" Yun exclaimed.

"Who gives a durn?"

"Ayaka, go down there and apologize!"

"Dad! That thing is freeloading and not going back to where it came from! Why should we even give a durn about it?"

They wanted to argue some more, but a high, vociferous "MOOOOOO!" stopped them from doing so, along with the ground shaking.

"What was that?" Hisako exclaimed.

In unison, Lopmon, Rabbitmon, and Terriermon's ears all flew upward.

"A Digimon!" they all exclaimed fearfully and ran off to see where it is. Lucero and Yun followed them.

"Wait! Come back!" Yun and Lucero yelled in unison as they chased after them. Hisako, Teruki, and Ayaka decided to follow them too. But as they ran, they realized that they were heading somewhere quite familiar and quite close.

The gas station.

As they got there, everyone in the Wakamiya family (except for Yun and Lucero, as if that wasn't morbidly obvious) screamed as they saw a giant bull about to destroy the gas station! The bull is huge and bulky, almost the same size as the little gas station itself! His skin is light brown, with some scars, stitches, and zippers on parts of his body. Protruding from it's big nose is a gold nose ring, and from it's head protruded two big, sharp, black horns. On the back of it's head is a cloud of pointed brown hair, darker than it's skin, and it's eyes are glowing in a ghostly, bloody red light. A harbinger that a Dark Emblem is somewhere on it's body. It's right hand is a perfectly normal hand while it's left hand is nothing more than a big silver cannon gun that's bound to hurt someone, and on it's feet are big brown cowboy boots. Yun looked up the Digimon's information on her digivice.

"That's Minotarumon, a champion level animal Digimon! His attacks are Earthquake Drill and Bull Fighting Attack!" Yun exclaimed.

"Earthquake Drill? Oh no! I know of that attack! We have to stop him from using it!" Lopmon yelled.

"Yer right! Come on! Let's have a rodeo!" Terriermon exclaimed as Yun prepped her digivice.

"MOOOO!" Minotarumon growled as he prepared to destroy the gas station. The employees and some customers ran away in fear as the giant bull hovered over them.

In a flash, Lopmon digivolved into Turuiemon and Terriermon digivolved into Gargomon and immediately went after Minotarumon. Rabbitmon watched as the twins fought Minotarumon.

"Prevent him from using Earthquake Drill at all costs!" Lucero yelled.

"You got it! Bunny Pummel!" Gargomon ran toward Minotarumon, leaped in front of him and punched him in the jaw with one of his silver gun hands. Unfortunately, Minotarumon's skin proved to be much firmer than it appeared, and Gargomon's arm shook as his gun made contact with Minotarumon's jaw.

"OWWWWW!"

Gargomon fell back to the ground while Turuiemon decided to lay down her own attack.

"Gauntlet Claw!"

"Bull Fighting Attack!"

Minotarumon's silver gun hand and Turuiemon's two gauntlets collided and made sparks fly. Literally. Despite the size and weight difference, Turuiemon held on and tried to make sure Minotarumon didn't do anything that could potentially kill anyone, like use his Earthquake Drill attack.

"Gargomon! Find the Dark Emblem! We might be able to stop him if we find it and destroy it!" Turuiemon commanded.

Gargomon stood on his feet. "I'll do my best!"

Yun and Lucero both wanted to stick around and help them find the Dark Emblem, but Teruki wasn't having it.

"Kids! Come on! We have to get away from here!" Teruki pulled on their arms and tried to drag them away.

"But Dad! I want to help them find the Dark Emblem!" Yun yelled.

"That's not important! We have to leave!"

"It is SO important! It's why he's running rampant!"

Despite their arguing, Gargomon and Turuiemon continued to fight with Minotarumon in the streets, which is preventing cars from going by. After a while, Gargomon managed to get close enough to find a Dark Emblem on Minotarumon.

"Turuiemon! I found it! It's underneath his hair!" Gargomon edicted.

Minotarumon turned around to find Gargomon and attempted to attack him.

"Earthquake Drill!"

"Oh, no ya don't!"

Not wanting to let Minotarumon use this potentially murderous and catastrophic attack, Gargomon quickly grabbed shoved his own silver gun hands against Minotarumon's, giving people time to abandon their cars and run away. Some people stumbled while trying to get away. Yun and Lucero both saw a little kid trip and lay there crying. Not wanting to stand by, Lucero went out first.

"I'll go save the child!" Lucero exclaimed as he ran into the street to save the little kid.

"I...I can't hold on...much longer!" Gargomon whimpered. Turuiemon tried to rip the Dark Emblem off with her gauntlets, but it's not prying off!

"Man! My gauntlet's aren't working!" Turuiemon said.

Soon, Minotarumon broke away from Gargomon and proceeded to attack again. Turuiemon leaped off of him as soon as he moved so she wouldn't stumble and fall.

"Bull Fighting Attack!"

This time, Turuiemon stopped him. This gave Lucero time to give the kid to her family and assist them in getting away.

On the sidelines, Rabbitmon watched the battle, conflicted in regards to whether she should step in and help or not. She really wanted to step in and help. She wanted to save everyone, the Wakamiyas especially, since they've been so kind to her. But Rabbitmon had her doubts. What if she's not strong enough? What if she drags everyone down? What if everyone questions her motive for stepping in? She couldn't take that risk. But then again, peoples' lives are in danger, even more so if Minotarumon uses his Earthquake Drill, which could potentially kill everyone! She didn't want that happening. But what could she do now?

Yun thought of an idea.

"Oh! I know!" Yun pulled out her yellow D-Chip and put it in her digivice.

"Prairiemon! Help us!" Yun muttered. Her digivice glowed in a yellow light, and suddenly, out came Prairiemon!

"Yun? Is that you? Oh, how lovely it is to see you again after so long!" Prairiemon said with a smile.

"This isn't the time for that now! A Minotarumon's running wild! Can you help us out please?" Yun explained. Prairiemon, seeing how dire the situation is, put her greetings aside.

"I'd be more than happy to, since you helped us back at Fionn Village!" Prairiemon exclaimed. She ran toward Minotarumon, who threw Gargomon off of him and prepared to attack the ground.

"Earthquake Drill!"

"Prairie Claw!"

"Gauntlet Claw!"

With their claws, Prairiemon and Turuiemon both stepped in and stopped Minotarumon from doing another Earthquake Drill. Unfortunately, Minotarumon seemed to have enough. He pushed the two female rabbits off of him and ran toward Yun, who is trying to push the family away from the gas station.

"You have to go! We'll handle it here!" Yun advised.

"Not without you! You can't handle this alone!" Hisako exclaimed.

"I've done this before! Now go!" Yun demanded, but nobody was budging.

Suddenly, Ayaka let out yet another bloodcurtling scream.

So did Lucero. "LOOK OUT!"

Minotarumon was right behind Yun, about to attack.

"Earthquake Drill!"

Nobody could move. It all happened to fast. They feared this was the end...but the end didn't come.

"Carrot Bomb!"

Raining from the sky are a myriad of pointed carrots, shaped like icicles, pouring onto Minotarumon and stopping him from attacking Yun and her family. Rabbitmon hopped in between Yun and Minotarumon, ready for battle.

"Rabbitmon! You saved them!" Turuiemon exclaimed.

"I knew you'd come and help!" Gargomon said.

"Bull Fighting Attack!"

"Ear Lancer!"

Rabbitmon managed to stab Minotarumon in the stomach with her long, pointed ears, giving the Wakamiyas enough time to regain their composure and run...except for Yun.

"Yun! Go with them! We'll handle this! Things might get a little rowdy!" Rabbitmon commanded.

"We're counting on you! Thanks!" Yun told her with a smile. Rabbitmon smiled back as Yun ran off with Lucero.

"Prairiemon! You'll be the one to rip the Dark Emblem off of Minotarumon! It's underneath his hair! Gargomon and Turuiemon, help me stall him!" Rabbitmon edicted like she was the leader of some military army.

"Indeed we will!" Gargomon edicted.

"Carrot Bomb!"

Another rain of carrots fell onto Minotarumon like a mighty blow, one of which lodged into the Dark Emblem.

"Gargo Laser!"

"Ninja Kick!"

They managed to make Minotarumon stumble a little. They persisted and kept on attacking so Minotarumon won't use his Earthquake Drill. Prairiemon climbed up Minotarumon's back, finally managing to find the carrot on the Dark Emblem.

"Let's hope this works! I'm putting all my strength in this one! Prairie Claw!" Prairiemon dredged her claw into both the carrot and the Dark Emblem. She pulled and pulled, trying to yank off the Dark Emblem while at the same time, trying to make sure she herself didn't fall off of Minotarumon's back. Finally...POP! The carrot came off, and the Dark Emblem was destroyed! Minotarumon fell unconscious, and Prairiemon leaped off of him in the nick of time. A Digital portal opened beneath the sleeping Minotarumon and he fell in. Turuiemon, Prairiemon, Rabbitmon, and Gargomon managed to defeat him. They all walked back to the Wakamiya house, where they found Yun and Lucero waiting for them.

"Hath thou defeated Minotarumon successfully?" Lucero asked.

"We sure did! It was tough, but it was worth it!" Gargomon exclaimed with a smile.

"It's safe now," Turuiemon said calmly. Prairiemon got a look at Yun's house.

"Oh? Is this your house, Yun? Why, it's so lovely!" Prairiemon exclaimed with a smile.

"You think so? Because I think the houses at Fionn Village are much prettier!" Yun said, then she saw her family and forgot to introduce them to Prairiemon. "Oh! Guys, this is Prairiemon. She's one of my secondary Digimon, who I befriended long ago! It's okay, she has a home in the Digital World!"

"I wonder if Ayaka's going to get the wrong idea again?" Turuiemon whispered to Gargomon.

"Nah. Not this time, I don't think," Gargomon replied with a smile. Yun then hugged all the Digimon.

"Thanks you guys! You're all the best!" Yun lauded everyone for their efforts and lavished them with all the love she could give them. Now feeling tired, everyone except Prairiemon de-digivolved...and Rabbitmon too?

"Oh! Rabbitmon! You're glowing!" Lopmon exclaimed.

She was right. Rabbitmon has been enveloped in a bright pink light. Yun became worried.

"What's wrong, Rabbitmon? Are you okay?" Yun yelped.

The light surrounding Rabbitmon grew smaller and smaller...until it was about the size of Terriermon and Lopmon. When the light dissipated, Rabbitmon...de-digivolved! Now she's a very small pink rabbit, with long ears (though half the length of Terriermon and Lopmon's ears) standing upward, beady black eyes, a red scarf wrapped around her neck, little red shoes, and a set of white and blue headphones with purple four leaf clovers on the ear pads. Everyone couldn't believe what they just saw. The little pink rabbit Digimon sat itself up and looked at everyone with a confused look on her face.

"Kyuu?" She said in a very high, cute voice.

Immediately, Yun beamed and squeezed the little Digimon.

"SOOOOO CUUUUTE!" Yun hugged the tiny rabbit Digimon and rubbed herself against the little one's pink skin, which felt very warm and soft. "Oh! And so warm and fluffy!"

Lucero got her digivice and decided to look up Rabbitmon's de-digivolved form on it.

"She is now _Cutemon_(1), a rookie level, vaccine attribute, fairy Digimon. Her attacks are Ultrasonic Wave and Healing Light," Lucero said.

"It suits you!" Yun told Cutemon.

"Thanks, kyu!" Cutemon said in her cute voice. Lucero then found something next to his foot and picked it up. It's a small pink gem stone shaped like a rabbit's head and ears.

"Oh! Yun! Look! I think this might be a D-Chip!" Lucero exclaimed, showing Yun the rabbit shaped stone. Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon got a look at it as well.

"Hey! You might be right, Lucero!" Lopmon said.

"Wow! That's so pretty!" Terriermon said.

"That's mine, kyu!" Cutemon exclaimed. Yun, touched by Cutemon's...well, cute everything, she squealed again.

"Oooooh! You're sooooo cute!" Yun hugged Cutemon again. But when she finished, Cutemon got a look at Lucero and her black eyes beamed.

"Lucero, kyu!" Cutemon leaped into Lucero's arms and rubbed against him happily, which made him smile.

"Thy fur is so soft! What an adorable Digimon thou art!" Lucero said.

Then, Cutemon leaped onto Hisako's head. Then, onto Teruki's shoulder. Then, in Prairiemon's arms.

"Cutemon are very rare Digimon, so you're quite lucky to have befriended one, Yun! Congratulations!" Prairiemon said with a smile as Cutemon rubbed against her. Then, Cutemon leaped back into Lucero's arms.

"So...what shalt become of Cutemon now?" Lucero asked everyone, then looked at Cutemon herself. "Wouldst thou like to return to thy home in the Digital World?"

Cutemon shook her head. "I'm scared to, kyu. They might still be mad at me, kyu."

Teruki and Hisako looked at each other, smiled, and looked back at everyone else.

"Well, it seems we have a new member of our family!" Hisako edicted.

Yun, Lucero, Lopmon, Cutemon, Terriermon, and Prairiemon beamed and looked at each other, about to scream with joy until someone beat them to the screaming part...only she screamed with dismay.

_"NOOOOOO!"_

After that, Ayaka ran back into the house. Hisako decided to go inside as well.

"I'll start dinner. Would you like to have it with us, Prairiemon?" Hisako asked.

Prairiemon beamed. "Oh! I'd be delighted to join you! But I'm afraid I might be too big to enter your house."

"It's okay. I'll bring it out to you," Hisako told her.

As Hisako, Teruki, and Ayaka went back in, Yun squealed with joy and high fived Lucero.

"I sure didn't expect that!" Lucero said.

"Me neither, but I'm so happy! But then again, Ayaka's probably gonna yell at me every day because of this," Yun muttered.

"Thou shouldst not worry! Without any question, we shall always protect thee," Lucero told her as if he were her chivalrous knight in armor, even doing the pose, which made them all laugh.

"You really do resemble a knight, Lucero!" Lopmon laughed.

"Oh! Even better! A Knightmon!" Prairiemon joked.

"Where's your armor?" Terriermon joked.

"I wonder what's for dinner?" Yun asked.

With a new friend, Yun declared today to be one of the best ever! As if it couldn't get any better, Hisako made a huge batch of pin wheel noodles for everyone, Prairiemon included. After dinner, Prairiemon went back home. Cutemon decided to stay with Lucero since she suddenly grew attached to both Yun and him and because Yun's room is occupied by Terriermon and Lopmon. Finally, after a long but happy day, Yun went to sleep feeling very propitiated, mollified, and happy. She even dreamed the dream again.

Sadly, Yun was oblivious to the fact that tomorrow, the beautiful harmony that had been bestowed upon her was going to be destroyed and decimated in an instant, and it would crush her.

Footnotes:

1. There is no evidence that Cutemon can actually digivolve into Rabbitmon, but I couldn't help notice some similarities between them, so I just thought "why not?" and made it so in my fan fic...and I made Cutemon into a girl too. Yes yes, I know Cutemon is a boy in Digimon Xros Wars, but I thought it'd be more interesting if the Cutemon in my story is a girl so I went with it. And yes, Cutemon doesn't have a level or attribute, but considering the information about him on the net so far, I took some liberties and made her a rookie and a vaccine. Sorry! Hope you don't mind.


	33. The Kinship Is Mercilessly Cut

EPISODE 33: The Kinship is Mercilessly Cut

After being bestowed with a new friend in the form of Cutemon, Yun couldn't wait to tell her friends all about it. Finally, Monday came, along with another school day. Yun literally rushed to get out and get to school so she could see her friends and tell her all about her day...well, after they went blueberry picking, that is. Once she got on the blacktop, she found all her friends together and told them everything that had happened.

"So you have another secondary Digimon partner now? Congrats, Yun! I'm happy for you!" Minako exclaimed with a smile.

"You're so lucky! I wish I had other Digimon partners!" Riku exclaimed.

"Sorry. But I'm sure you'll get other Digimon soon!" Yun told him, hoping to encourage him a little.

"I'll bet that fight with that Minotarumon must have been hard!" Otoya said.

"It was!" Yun exclaimed.

"You're getting better at this. Awesome," Melody actually smiled a bit and gave Yun a thumbs up.

"You can get more Digimon? I didn't know that," Hokuto murmured shyly.

"Oh! I forgot to tell you? Sorry!" Yun said.

"I didn't know you guys fighting rabid Digimon was a regular thing," Shione said.

"You never knew? That's kinda why we started the Digimon Brigade, but I'm sure you and Moosemon will be able to get stronger soon!" Rena told her politely.

"That reminds me! How are you and Moosemon getting along, Shione-chan?" Yun asked curiously.

"Great! I'm glad you asked! Mikuni and I play with him all the time! He's such a sweetheart! He hides in the woods so Dad and Himari can't see him. They NEVER go in that area, so that makes it easier for him to stay hidden! Don't worry, I'm making sure nobody sees him," Shione explained with a bright smile on her face.

"We're happy for you, Shione-chan!" Otoya said. She then turned to Yun. "Yun-chan? Sorry I couldn't go blueberry picking with you yesterday. I really wanted to, though. I could've gotten lots of blueberries and used them to bake stuff for the church bake sale or just for dessert at home!"

"It's alright. Mom says there's still lots of time left before the blueberry harvest ends, so you can still go whenever you can at this time!" Yun explained.

Kosuke noticed that a little ways away from the blacktop, a lot of kids are gathered around.

"Hey. Looks like there's something going on over there," Kosuke said, pointing to the kids.

"Wanna go see?" Rena asked Melody.

"Sure," Melody murmured. The kids ambled over to the crowd to see what was going on. Riku managed to see who was at the center of the circle of kids.

"Is that Kobayashi? What's she bragging about now?" Riku asked.

"Kobayashi Tomoka? That blonde girl in Seiko's clique?" Melody asked.

"Yeah. I see her right there," Otoya said.

She's right. Tomoka is in the center of the circle of kids, apparently showing people her cell phone.

"I'm telling you! It was so freaky! This creepy witch lady dressed in black and white with red eyes made a big scene in the dollar store a few days ago! It was crazy! She had super powers and everything! Look! I managed to record most of it with my cell phone!" Tomoka exclaimed as she showed various kids the footage on her dark red cell phone.

"What? Is this for real? No way!"

"Nuh-uh! That looks so fake!"

"Whoa! Look at that! Black cats attacked the manager!"

"Are you serious?"

"Kobayashi, you didn't just rip something off of YouTube and download it here, did you?"

Tomoka got mad. "NO I DIDN'T! I know what I saw! This is enough proof as it is, isn't it! Look! Here's the part where she flies in the air and makes some creepy wave of darkness appear from her hands!"

"Why didn't you show us this before?" Seiko yelped.

"I wanted to, but my mom took my phone away and I wasn't allowed to use it for the weekend," Tomoka explained.

Even though the crowd was rather noisy, the kids in the Digimon Brigade managed to hear enough to piece together what Tomoka explained. A creepy witch lady? Dressed in black and white? Red eyes? She has super powers? She can fly? She has two black cats as attendants and can shoot some black wave of darkness? Yun knew immediately what she was talking about, but since Tomoka is a part of Seiko's clique, and that Tomoka is VERY vocal and serious about what she's saying right now, she didn't want to attract any unwanted attention. Melody, however, pushed through the crowd so she could get to the center. Once she did, she snatched Tomoka's cell phone from her hand and looked at the footage.

"Hey! Give that back!" Tomoka tried to get it back, but Melody looked at the footage that Tomoka recorded.

It started off as rather shaky, then focused on a rather scantily clad woman dressed in black and white yelling at the manager and a random security guard. Then, a strange black cat appeared and scratched the security guard in the face as the woman flew into the air and yelled _"Darkness Wave!"_ before breaking a window and making her escape. Melody couldn't believe what she was seeing, and apparently neither can a lot of other people.

"No way! This can't be? Is she-" Melody was about to replay the footage again, but Seiko took the phone.

"That's Tomoka's phone, you sourpuss! Oh great, now it's covered in loser germs!" Seiko sneered as she gave Tomoka her phone back. But it seems the crowd has caught the attention of someone else as well.

"Alright, what's going on here?" A rather plump blonde woman asked sternly with her arms crossed.

"Oginome-sensei!" Melody raised her hand and shouted, "Kobayashi's using her cell phone on school grounds!"

"WHAT? Why you-!" Tomoka was about to give her an earful, but the woman, Mrs. Oginome, ambled up to Tomoka and confiscated her phone.

"Haven't you learned by now, Kobayashi? I've told you time and time again NOT to bring your cell phone within the school! It's no wonder your parents keep trying to keep you from using it!" Mrs. Oginome scolded.

"Hey! Give it back! That's not fair!" Tomoka tried to get her phone back, but to no avail.

"Sorry, but since you've violated this rule yet another time, I'm calling your parents!" Mrs. Oginome said and walked away with Tomoka's cell phone in hand.

"Noooo!" Tomoka whined like a spoiled little girl. Soon, the bell rang and everyone went to homeroom...or, not everyone.

Right when Hokuto was about to follow the others and go to homeroom, someone suddenly grabbed him from behind and pushed him against the fence. It was Nenji! Right now, he's looking VERY choleric, his face red like the pimple blemishes on his face. Hokuto's back hurt from hitting the metal fence, but he couldn't break free of his grasp.

"You snitched on me, Lab Rat! Admit it!" Nenji screamed angrily, shaking Hokuto and pressing him against the wall like he's a back scratcher.

"I...have no idea-"

"Dun try to weasel yer way outta 'dis, yo! You snitched, I know it! You told Manabe-sensei that I cheated off of Aizawa in science class last week, didn't ya?"

Hokuto tried to push Nenji off of him, but Nenji's too strong. Thankfully, fate was on his side.

"Over there, sensei!"

That was Yun's voice.

"Thou must go and help!"

That was Lucero's voice and dialect.

"Nemoto Nenji! Get off of him right now!" Mrs. Oginome demanded angrily as she pulled Nenji off of Hokuto.

"He snitched on me! He's a snitch, yo!" Nenji yelled, but Mrs. Oginome grabbed his arm and pulled him into the school.

"I don't know what you're getting so riled up about, but I'm calling your parents too!" Mrs. Oginome showed no mercy or fear as she dragged Nenji into the school building. Yun gently took Hokuto away from the blacktop and escorted him to his homeroom, which is just one door away from her own. She then went into her own homeroom, albeit a little late. Mrs. Kamogawa didn't seem to mind since she heard and saw a little bit of what happened.

"Let me guess. Nemoto pickin' on Hokuto again?" Melody asked gruffly with her arms crossed.

"Yeah. Really, why does he hate him so much?" Yun rolled her eyes.

"Maybe because Hokuto's skinny and Nemoto hates skinny people because he's fat?" Melody asked.

"Who knows. But...I really hate that word snitch! It sounds like a racial slur!" Yun exclaimed.

"I loathe that word also, but I loathe people who try to gain superiority over other people by violence and coercion even worse!" Lucero backed her up.

"It's the modern age, people. Times are changing and we can't do a thing about it," Melody said.

Although Yun hated it, she had to admit that Melody had a valid point. At the same time, she was worried about Hokuto. She heard a little bit of what Nenji was shouting, so she was able to piece together what he was talking about. The good thing is that Hokuto and Yun share the same art class, which is right after homeroom. Not only that, they sit next to each other at the same table, so it gave Yun a great opportunity to talk to him. During art class, the teacher, Mrs. Nozaki, was teaching everyone about artwork from the Edo Period and showing them examples of various works. Yun noticed Hokuto's attentive but dejected look and decided to poke him on the shoulder.

"Hey, Hokuto-kun," Yun whispered. Hokuto looked at her shyly.

"Are you okay?" Yun asked in a low whisper. Hokuto nodded.

"Sorry about earlier. Nemoto hates it when people tell on him," Yun said.

"It's true," Hokuto murmured timidly.

"Huh?"

"I saw him cheating off of someone. I told Manabe-sensei and he got scolded. He knows."

Regardless, Yun smiled and gently pat him on the back.

"It's okay. You were right to tell the teacher. It's wrong to cheat off of someone's work. He deserved that scolding," Yun told him in a whisper. Hokuto smiled a bit. They went back to the lesson. Mrs. Nozaki is showing the kids a picture of the 1608 edition of _Tales of Ise_(1).

"Now, can anyone tell me what purpose ukiyo-e served in this book?" Mrs. Nozaki asked.

Yun raised her hand. "Wakamiya? Do you know?"

"They were used as illustrations," Yun said.

Mrs. Nozaki beamed. "Correct! Excellent! Yes, ukiyo-e first originated..." Mrs. Nozaki went on and on.

After a long morning, recess finally came. Yun was talking to the rest of the Digimon Brigade until Minako said that she had an announcement to make.

"Everyone? Umm...I hope you don't mind me telling you this, but my parents and I are going to have a picnic this Sunday, and they said I'm allowed to invite all of you. Would you all like to come?" Minako asked. Immediately, Yun beamed.

"Sure! I'd love to go! But I'll have to ask my parents first," Yun said.

"Me too," Melody said.

"Oh! Dad told me I don't have to help out with Sunday school for three weeks, so I'm free! I'd love to go! I love picnics!" Otoya exclaimed happily.

"I've never been on a picnic before. I'd love to go! But I'll have to talk to my parents too," Rena said.

Riku sighed. "Five bucks says that they're gonna say no without a doubt. But we'll let you know if they give us permission!"

"I'd...like to go too," Hokuto muttered.

"I as well! Picnics are lovely, are they not?" Lucero said.

Kosuke didn't say a word. Yun noticed that he had been acting quite strange as of late...or, to be more precise, more indifferent and possibly even anti-social, especially since Yun had seem him be so cheerful and alive during the blueberry picking yesterday! She couldn't help but wonder...did his mother do something to the blueberries and make him mad? Not only that, she's noticing that Minako's acting strange too. She smiled when she made the announcement, but she could tell it looked rather forced, and Yun thought she was the only one who was good at making really forced smiles all the time (she doesn't think she can do a natural smile no matter what). Yun understood that Minako's still mourning her little brother and that it's still a sensitive subject for her. Considering how they are right now, Yun decided to give them some space...but in her heart, she really wanted to help them. But what could she do? She then noticed a little flower on a tree that's practically stripped of all of it's leaves and flowers.

Immediately caught in the clutches of it's beauty, she ran to it. The flower is still in full bloom, even though most of its bretheren are gone and have withered away in the May wind. Yun recognized the flower too. It's a plum blossom, complete with petals that are a cute shade of light pink, like Lopmon's ears, paws, and collar. She wondered if Lopmon would like to see it. The she remembered she had her digivice on her, and she could take a picture with it! Yun hadn't used the camera option on her digivice very much, but she did use it enough to know, and remember, how it worked. Carefully she opened her digivice and set up the camera option. She fixated her digivice, and her gaze, onto the lone plum blossom carefully, so she could get a good photo of it. Once she set herself up well enough..._CLICK!_ Yun then looked at the picture and was propitiated with how it came out. She couldn't wait to show it to Lopmon and tell her how it reminded her (Yun) of her (Lopmon). Unfortunately, someone saw her do it, and that someone was someone whom Yun didn't want to deal with.

"Hey retard! What's that you have there?" It was Seiko's voice. Yun turned around and hid her digivice in her pocket.

"Nothing you would be interested in!" Yun stammered as she tried to run away, but Seiko stood in front of her.

"Did you tell your sourpuss goth friend to get Tomoka in trouble for this morning?" Seiko asked in a virulent tone of voice.

"No! What gave you that idea? She did that on her own! You should know better than to accuse someone of something without solid proof!" Yun told her boldly and tried to run, but Seiko stopped her yet again.

"You're such a dirty little liar! You snitched, didn't you?"

"No I'm not! I'm telling the truth! Go away!"

Now, Seiko grabbed her arm, and Yun struggled to push her off of it. Seiko's fingernails dug into her skin, and to Yun, it really hurt.

"You snitch! You did that so you can make yourself look good, didn't you?"

"Let go of me! It's wrong to have cell phones in school!"

"Stop being such a goody-goody, retard!"

"I said get off of me!"

Finally, Yun snapped and pushed Seiko so hard that she not only let go of Yun, but fell to the ground. Yun used this opportunity to run away and make sure she was out of Seiko's sight. What she didn't know was that she passed Melody, who is walking toward Seiko with an angry look on her face. Seiko's two friends found her on the ground and approached her.

"Seiko-chan! You okay?" Iniki asked.

"Oh! Wakamiya just pushed me! She's so violent!" Seiko wailed like a little girl whose candy got stolen.

"Can it, Shimizu! I saw you harassing Yun just now! Just so you know, Yun didn't tell me anything! I reported her on my own! Don't you prissy little dogs know by now? You can't have cell phones on the school grounds! Guess your brains are just as tiny as your scrawny little bodies! You deserve what you got and you have to deal with it!" Melody told them scornfully. "And don't you DARE try to pin this on Yun and claim she's a bully! That just proves you three are nothing but cowards and whiny little pansies!"

"Did you just call us dogs?" Tomoka yelled, but Melody already stormed off and ran to Yun, only this time, she shed her scornful look and looked at Yun's arm with genuine concern.

"You okay? Does it hurt?" Melody asked in a low, soft voice as she looked at Yun's arm.

"A little, but I can handle it. Thanks," Yun said.

"I overheard a little bit. What happened?" Lucero asked, with his face also filled with concern.

"I was taking a picture with my digivice and Seiko accused me of telling Melody to get Kobayashi in trouble. I don't know where she gets these weird ideas, but I can't stand it!" Yun explained.

"I say! She should know by now that what happened happened and that she has to deal with it like everyone else," Lucero said.

"I just told her that," Melody said.

Soon, the bell rang and recess ended. Later, the school day itself ended. The Digimon Brigade kids decided to walk out together, but when they got out onto the blacktop, someone was waiting for them! Only Yun knew who it was.

"Cutemon?"

"Yun-chan!"

Little Cutemon leaped into Yun's arms with her cute pink face looking very worried.

"Yun-chan! There's big trouble, kyu!" Cutemon exclaimed.

Yun, knowing that people might hear her voice and see Cutemon, shushed Cutemon and ran to the other side of the school, where almost nobody goes. Thankfully, the coast is clear. Yun was about to ask her what was wrong, but Otoya suddenly grabbed her and hoisted her into the air.

"Awwww! Is this your new friend, Yun-chan? She's soooo cute!" Otoya exclaimed, beaming at Cutemon.

"You're right! She's adorable!" Rena crooned.

"Hm. Definitely a type of Digimon you'd go for, Yun," Riku said.

Suddenly, Cutemon leaped out of Otoya's hands.

"This isn't the time for that, kyu! There's big trouble, kyu!" Cutemon screamed.

"What's wrong?" Yun asked.

"Some freaky witch Digimon with red eyes and two BlackGatomon friends are wreacking havoc in town, kyu! Last I heard she was going to the construction site, kyu! We have to stop her!" Cutemon explained.

"WHAT?" Everyone except Kosuke and Melody yelped.

"Come on! We have to stop her before it's too late, kyu!" Cutemon importuned with worry in her beady black eyes, pulling on Yun's pant legs.

"Calm down, Cutemon! We have to get our Digimon first!" Yun told her.

"I already told them to meet us here at the school, kyu!"

"You did?" Everyone except Kosuke and Melody yelped. Yun smiled and stroke Cutemon's head gently.

"You're such a reliable Digimon! I love you!" Yun crooned sweetly.

"I'll call Aria-chan, Isao-kun, and Shunji-kun and let them know!" Rena exclaimed as she got her digivice and proceeded to talk to the three Digimon Brigade members who are missing right now. Melody was lost in her mind, and Yun noticed.

"What's up, Mel-chan?" Yun asked.

Melody looked at her with a straight face. "Yun. Have you ever met a Digimon that matches the description of a witch dressed in black and white with red eyes and can use the move Darkness Wave?"

"Yeah! I have! A LadyDevimon! Why?" Yun replied.

"The cell phone footage that Kobayashi recorded...the witch she was talking about...is a Digimon! She really did fly in the air and use her Darkness Wave attack," Melody told her.

"You think so?" Riku asked.

"I know so! Look!" Melody exclaimed as she got her digivice out, pulled out LadyDevimon's information and showed it to everyone.

"See? This is the Digimon in the video that Kobayashi took! You guys didn't see it so I have no actual proof, but she can use Darkness Wave and she certainly looks like a witch!" Melody explained. Cutemon got a look at the picture and her ears perked up.

"Yes! That's her! That's the Digimon that's causing trouble, kyu!" Cutemon shouted.

"Aria-chan, Isao-kun, and Shunji-kun are on their way!" Rena exclaimed.

In a few minutes, the remaining three members of the Digimon Brigade arrived...by dragon.

"Bonjooooour! Traveling by dragon is awesome!" Shunji yelled from atop of Coredramon.

"Uh...Shunji? Don't you think there's more important things to be doing than shouting about how supposedly awesome I am?" Coredramon told him.

Aria caught a sight of Cutemon and hugged her.

"Oooooh! A pink bunny Digimon! Cute!" Aria hugged Cutemon gently and nudged her cheek against her, which Cutemon enjoyed.

"Come on! Let's kick some evil Digimon butt!" Isao proclaimed, shoving his fist into the air.

Cutemon claimed that LadyDevimon and her two BlackGatomon attendants are in the construction site, so they decided to take her word for it and fly there on Coredramon's back. The rookies decided not to digivolve until they got there since if they did it early, it would be likely that they would lose their energy earlier than they want to. Coredramon landed a few spaces away so he wouldn't get caught (even though he's the biggest champion level in the entire Digimon Brigade). The kids and rookie level Digimon slowly hid in the trees so they could hide from LadyDevimon's sight. When they got closer, they found LadyDevimon, her two BlackGatomon attendants, three Digimon branded with Dark Emblems, six Geremon and two Numemon-look-alikes with silver skin, gold teeth, gold wings, and a necklace on their heads knocking down trees and throwing balance beams all over the place!

The three branded Digimon are different from the other ones. The first of them looks to be a wingless Unimon, with black stripes all over its white body, a black helmet, black hooves, and a brown tail and mane. The second one is a yellow frog with leaf-like ninja stars in its hands, a machine-like contraption on it's back and a big leaf hovering over it. The third one is a giant stump with arms, legs, and a face. Rena was groosed out by the winged Numemon with silver skin.

"Ewwww! What are those things?" Rena exclaimed. Riku looked up it's information.

"That's PlatinumNumemon! They're mega levels! Their attacks are Platinum Poop Attack and Platinum Burp!" Riku said.

"The zebra is ShimaUnimon. His attacks are Striped Blaster and Mirage Blaster," Otoya said.

"The giant stump is Woodmon. His attacks are Branch Drill and Woody Smash," Shunji said.

"The frog is...well, Frogmon, an armor level Digimon. His attacks are Hidden Dagger and Frog Bite," Melody said.

"That's right, my beloved servants! Wreak all the havoc you wish! Release all of your frustration!" LadyDevimon commanded with a smile and her eerie voice like usual.

Suddenly, MarineAngemon darted out of the trees and attacked.

"Boiling Water!"

A glowing blue sphere of water shot out from MarineAngemon's mouth and hit LadyDevimon's back. She roared in pain as the burning sensation traveled all throughout her digital body. She was so pained that she fell to the ground, catching the attention of the two BlackGatomon.

"LadyDevimon-sama!" The two BlackGatomon ran to her aid.

"Are you okay?" The first BlackGatomon asked in a concerned voice.

"Yeah, somehow...ugh! I felt like I was hit with fire!" LadyDevimon sneered. The second BlackGatomon noticed that all members of the Digimon Brigade have appeared on the scene.

"Look! Humans!" The second BlackGatomon edicted. LadyDevimon turned around to find them all standing behind her and ready for battle. She stood up.

"Everyone! Cease your attacks!" LadyDevimon commanded, and her servants stopped attacking.

"That's what you get for putting that curse on me back then!" MarineAngemon yelled, satisfied with hitting her in the back with her attack.

"Hm! Well, isn't this interesting. An entire group of kids domesticating Digimon and having the audacity to take me on? I sure didn't see this coming," LadyDevimon said with contempt behind her wicked smile.

"We didn't want you to!" Salamon barked angrily.

"Well, I am rather bored right now, so I guess I'll play with you for a while. It'll waste some time I have on my hand. Now my servants, attack these kids and their Digimon!" LadyDevimon edicted proudly.

All the Digimon digivolved to their champion forms.

"Everyone! I have a plan! Kosuke, Rena, Riku, and Otoya, you all go after LadyDevimon! Hokuto, Isao, Shunji, and Minako, you four go after the three branded Digimon! Aria, Melody, and I will handle the Numemon look-a-likes! Lucero, you go hide somewhere! If she sees you, she might kidnap you! Ready? Go!" Yun proclaimed and everyone set the battle in motion.

Angemon, Seasarmon, Lekismon, and Firamon went after LadyDevimon. Reppamon, Grizzlymon, Gatomon, and Coredramon went after the three branded Digimon. Birdramon, Gargomon, Turuiemon, and MarineAngemon went after the Numemon look-alikes. Dealing with the Geremon didn't prove to be much of a problem. MarineAngemon rendered them unconscious with her Spray of Hearts, and Birdramon, Turuiemon, and Gargomon managed to kill them all with their attacks, turning them into data. It was the PlatinumNumemon that became the problem. Despite that they're bigger and nastier than MarineAngemon, they managed to evade all of their attacks!

"Man! These things are not only gross, they're annoying! Come on! Show me what you got, slimeballs!" Birdramon complained as she shot another failed Meteor Wing at the two PlatinumNumemon, who both dodged it. Turuiemon tried to grab one, but it slapped her in the face with one of it's wings and flew away.

"This is getting us nowhere!" Turuiemon exclaimed.

"Let's try the digilassos!" Yun proclaimed.

Melody gestured Birdramon to let her on her back, and while chasing a PlatinumNumemon, Melody successfully digilassoed it enough to tie around it's wings and render them useless.

"I got him!" Melody yelled.

"MarineAngemon! Go do your thing!" Aria called out.

"Will do! Spray of Hearts!" MarineAngemon shot her attack at it, not only rendering it unconscious, but killing it too. But Turuiemon and Gargomon are having trouble handling the other one. While they were dealing with the PlatinumNumemon, Hokuto, Isao, Minako, and Shunji are dealing with the champion level Digimon who are branded with Dark Emblems.

"Striped Blaster!" A blue streak of thunder shot out from ShimaUnimon's horn, heading right toward Reppamon. Thankfully, Reppamon had a trick up his sleeve.

"Spinning Sky Fissure Slash!" Reppamon did a soumersault right toward ShimaUnimon, ripping through it's attack with his tail blade and knocking it out.

"Gatomon! I'll let you remove the Dark Emblem!" Reppamon told Gatomon, who leaped onto ShimaUnimon, found the Dark Emblem on it's neck, and, with her Lightning Paw, destroyed it.

"That's one down, two to go! Nyan! Let's help them out, shall we?" Gatomon told Reppamon as they ran toward Grizzlymon and Woodmon, who are pushing at each other.

"Maul Attack!"

"Woody Smash!"

Woodmon tried to smack Grizzlymon with his bark arm, but Grizzlymon caught him with his own claws and pinned him against the tree. He saw the Dark Emblem on Woodmon's chin.

"Crescent Dawn!" The crescent shape on Grizzlymon's forehead glowed and the Dark Emblem disappeared.

"Nice one, Grizzlymon! Now let's grab that Frogmon!" Isao cheered.

"Indeed! That thing hops higher than me!" Grizzlymon joked...though it wasn't really intended to be a joke, since Frogmon are known to be great jumpers.

"Everyone! Get your digilassos out! Let's wrangle this frog!" Shunji edicted. Everyone got their digilassos out and tried to lasso Frogmon.

"Leaf Shuriken!" Frogmon threw two leaf shuriken at them, but Gatomon stepped in and broke them all with her Lightning Paw.

"You won't get past us, froggy!" Gatomon yelled.

"Blue Flare Breath!" Coredramon, tired of sitting around, released a stream of blue fire that not only destroyed the Dark Emblem on Frogmon, but destroyed him and most of the forest as well. Frogmon's data converted into a DigiEgg, and most of the trees have been burned to a crisp, leaves and all.

"Coredramon! You could've turned us into fried chicken with that!" Minako scolded. Embarrassed, Coredramon scratched his nose.

"Sorry! I...guess I overdid it," Coredramon said.

Reppamon saw Yun and Melody trying desperately to wrangle the PlatinumNumemon but are failing. Birdramon was close to losing her energy. Reppamon then approached Birdramon.

"Would you like to assist the others in fighting LadyDevimon? I'll switch with you so you can at least save some energy," Reppamon told her kindly.

"Oh, thank God! I was actually hoping you'd say that! Thanks a lot! I'll leave it to you, Reppamon!" Birdramon told him and flew away to assist in the fight with LadyDevimon. Hokuto followed Reppamon and tried to help them. As for those who are fighting LadyDevimon...

"Hand of Fate!"

"Tee Dia!"

"Moon Night Bomb!"

"Fira Claw!"

"Meteor Wing!"

Sadly, even they're having a hard time subduing LadyDevimon. She kept on evading their attacks and fighting back.

"Darkness Wave!"

Angemon stepped in and stopped the attack with his own before it hurt anyone.

"Tell us! Why are you here and why are you making these Digimon wreak havoc?" Kosuke yelled angrily.

"Because I find the human world to be rather interesting! Who's to say a little fun don't hurt?" LadyDevimon replied.

"Well your so-called fun WILL hurt people! Stop doing this!" Otoya yelled.

"She is right! You must repent for your sins! We will show no mercy! Tee Dia!" Seasarmon's many arrows of light tried to attack LadyDevimon, but she fought back.

"Darkness Wave!" Her stream of darkness managed to swallow the arrows of light. Thankfully, the others dodged the attack and managed to evade it.

"Moon Night Bomb!" Lekismon threw five spheres of water at her.

"Fallen Angel's Spear!" A long, black spear formed within LadyDevimon's hand. Long and black, almost the same size as her, with red bat wings on the hilt, a small silver chain hanging off of it, and at the tip is a sharp, bloody red blade with black bat wings painted on it. She swung it in two crescent-like arcs, rendering all the water spheres into nothing but drops of rain falling on the construction site.

"Fira Bomb!" Firamon shot three balls of fire at her, but LadyDevimon stabbed them all with her spear and turned them into nothing.

"Stay still, will ya? Meteor Wing!" Birdramon flapped her wings and made fiery meteors fly out of them, but LadyDevimon made them dissipate into nothing with her spear. But this made her wide open for an attack.

"Hand of Fate!" Angemon shot a fiery fist at her, managing to scrape one of her sides just a bit. LadyDevimon roared in pain as the holy power singed her hip.

"Why you no good-!" LadyDevimon proceeded to attack them with her spear.

"You shall not defeat us! Holy Rod!" Angemon blocked her spear with his staff, and they engaged in an all out battle.

Suddenly, Lekismon found herself unable to fight LadyDevimon anymore, so she descended to the ground in front of Rena. It's understandable, since Lekismon can't fly, but she felt guilty for being unable to help out.

"You okay, Lekismon?" Rena asked with concern.

"Yes, I am fine, though I wish I could've been more useful," Lekismon told her gently. Rena then saw the two BlackGatomon, who are about to hit her and Gatomon, who approached them, with a combined Lightning Kick.

"What about them? Can you try attacking them?" Rena asked.

"I can. Tear Arrow!" Lekismon shot an icy arrow at the first BlackGatomon, rendering her unconscious.

"Sister!" The second BlackGatomon picked her sister up and put her in front of a tree. Then, she looked at Rena and Lekismon with an angry and choleric look on her face. "How dare you hurt my precious sister! I'll never forgive you! Lighting Kick!" BlackGatomon quickly kicked Lekismon in the abdomen, knocking her to the ground. But Lekismon stood back up and attacked her back.

"Moon Night Bomb!" She threw three spheres of water at BlackGatomon. Only one managed to soak her to the bone.

"Need my help? Nyan!" Gatomon stepped in and slapped the arrogant BlackGatomon in the face with her paw. Incensed, BlackGatomon slapped her back.

"You wretched thing!" BlackGatomon screamed as she and Gatomon got into an epic cat fight (really) in the form of howling and slapping each other's faces (guess where we've seen that before).

Meanwhile, Yun and the others are still having trouble containing the PlatinumNumemon. Yun has finally had enough.

"AAAAGH! I can't stand this! I'm calling for my secondary Digimon!" Yun screamed angrily.

"Me too!" Aria backed her up.

"So am I!" Minako exclaimed.

Yun called for both Bucchiemon and Prairiemon. Cutemon already digivolved into Rabbitmon so. Aria called for Unimon, and Minako called for Lynxmon and Nefertimon. They understood that the situation is dire and decided to help them out.

"Love Laser!"

"Prairie Claw!"

"Howling Buster!"

"Rosetta Stone!"

"Aerial Attack!"

Sadly enough, PlatinumNumemon dodged all of them, but after that, he proceeded to throw pink swirlies at them.

"Platinum Poop Attack!"

"Carrot Bomb!"

"Gargo Laser!"

Both Rabbitmon and Gargomon destroyed the pink swirlies with their own barrage of attacks.

"Vacuum Kamaitachi!"

Thankfully, Reppamon's attack managed to hit PlatinumNumemon a few times. But not enough to kill it or render it unconscious.

"Man! Doesn't this thing ever take a break?" Yun yelped.

"Apparently not!" Gargomon exclaimed.

"Goodness! PlatinumNumemon are such horrid creatures!" Prairiemon exclaimed as she tried to scratch it with her Prairie Claw, but it dodged her attack and flew upward. Unimon suddenly saw LadyDevimon fighting with the others.

"Ack! LadyDevimon is here? Grrr! I'm going up and gettin' her!" Unimon flew away from the scene.

"Unimon! Come back!" Aria pleaded, but Unimon didn't listen.

"Gah! You know what? Screw this! We're going after LadyDevimon! Come on, Coredramon!" Shunji exclaimed as he hopped on Coredramon's back, irritated by all the incessant fighting.

"Now you're speaking my language!" Coredramon exclaimed.

Soon, Angemon, Seasarmon, Birdramon, Unimon, and Coredramon surrounded LadyDevimon.

"Give up, LadyDevimon!" Riku commanded.

"As if I could ever do that!" LadyDevimon yelled, with her spear out and ready.

"Everyone, attack!" Kosuke yelled as loud as he could.

"Meteor Wing!"

"Hand of Fate!"

"Tee Dia!"

"Aerial Attack!"

"Blue Flare Breath!"

As they attacked, Kosuke secretly called for reinforcements in the form of Pegasusmon and Pteramon. The attacks looked as though they were about to finally defeat LadyDevimon...or so they thought.

"You ain't seen nothin' yet! Let me show you a little trick I learned! Black Dome!" LadyDevimon yelled as she made some hand gestures and made a black sphere form around her, not only preventing the attacks from hitting her, but absorbing them as well!

"WHAT? Our attacks didn't work!" Angemon screamed, becoming quite choleric.

"Even my all powerful Blue Flare Breath didn't phase her! What the freak?" Coredramon exclaimed.

"Um, she IS an ultimate level, y'know?" Birdramon told them sarcastically.

"We get that," Pegasusmon said.

"Got any other ideas?" Pteramon asked.

"Um, you do realize I'm still here, right? Well, I'm not going to be the only one to give you trouble! I-" LadyDevimon was about to show them something they presumed was going to be much more terrifying and harder to deal with than last time until the arrogant BlackGatomon called out to her.

"LadyDevimon-sama! LadyDevimon-sama!"

She sounded very despondent as she screamed for her mistress, and it actually caught LadyDevimon's attention. LadyDevimon, with her normally eerie, ominous, and malicious red eyes turning very concerned and attentive, descended before the arrogant BlackGatomon, who isn't acting very arrogant right now. In fact, tears are pouring from her yellow green eyes and she looks as though she's going to break down at any moment. LadyDevimon kneeled before her attendant.

"What's wrong, dear?" LadyDevimon asked in a concerned, almost motherly voice that left everyone taken aback.

"Dear?" Otoya asked.

"You've GOT to be kidding me!" Kosuke sneered.

"It's sister! She's badly hurt! That horrid Lekismon and Gatomon got her real good!" The arrogant BlackGatomon explained tearfully, pulling on LadyDevimon's long arm.

LadyDevimon's red eyes grew big with alarm. "WHAT? Take me to her, now!"

"Yes ma'am!" The arrogant BlackGatomon took LadyDevimon to the tree in which she laid her sister in front of just earlier, only now the normally timid and tenuous BlackGatomon had been attacked by not only Lekismon, but Minako and Gatomon as well. LadyDevimon yelped upon seeing Minako, Gatomon, Rena, and Lekismon about to potentially kill BlackGatomon!

"Alright! Do it now!" Minako commanded.

"Nyan! Lightning Paw!" Gatomon flew toward BlackGatomon, with her paw literally sparking with yellow electricity. The timid BlackGatomon closed her eyes, fearing that this may be the end of her...only it wasn't.

"Fallen Angel's Spear!"

Overcome with rancor and anger, LadyDevimon swiftly flew in between her attendant and Minako's Digimon partner, swinging her spear in a perfect and impeccable circle, so much so that Gatomon's attack couldn't get past her. Gatomon was thrown against Minako, who fell to the ground as a result. All the flying Digimon descended to the ground. Everyone (except for those who are struggling to contain the rabid PlatinumNumemon) looked at LadyDevimon, who looked at her injured attendant with a very despondent and concerned look in her supposedly malicious bloody red eyes.

"Oh! Oh! BlackGatomon, my dear! Are you alright? Say something! Come on, kitten! Please don't perish!" LadyDevimon cried, shook her little black kitten friend, and pleaded for her to survive. Even the arrogant BlackGatomon remained silent as she watched LadyDevimon plea like a frightened and desperate mother whose child is sick with a grave illness about to die in her arms.

All of a sudden, she found herself walking down memory lane. Nobody knew of this, and they were oblivious to her lingering pain. She remembered the days she spent as a Nyaromon, at first happily playing and gamboling and hopping with her two comrades, who are now the two BlackGatomon who serve her. But then the trip to Gwyneira Tundra arrived. They did nothing but explore and gambol and meander around with their curious eyes, which turned out to be the greatest mistake they ever committed. Of course, they were still young and had no idea of the things that were to come, but what could they do? Then, the bitterly cold, violent, desolate, and hazardous blizzard arrived and trapped the three of them in the area, left behind by their kin never to be found. LadyDevimon shivered a little as she remembered the cold, desolate, and bitter days they spent trapped in the blizzard, shivering with cold and their stomachs longing for food. But what they really wanted was warmth and love. Even when the blizzard died down, times were tough. They went around seeking help from other Digimon, but they treated the three innocent Nyaromon like they were intruders with intent to steal their food and luxury. It was understandable since normally Digimon are rather cautious and guarded when it comes to wanting to survive cold, harsh winters, but the Digimon the Nyaromon trio had to deal with were quite intractable things, beating them when they had the chance.

But despite the hardships they went through, the trio of Nyaromon had each other. They endured the hardships together, shared happy memories together, rejoiced in their triumphs together, complained together, stayed together, and stood their ground together. The three Nyaromon were as tight as three peas in a pod. They did everything together. They were stuck together like super glue, never to be pulled apart. Of course, LadyDevimon remembered that she was the natural born leader of the three of them, always making the decisions, deciding what was the right thing to do, and making sure nobody got into trouble, which they got into frequently. It wasn't until MoonMillenniummon, as a Kimeramon, saved the trio from their suffering. Around then, she had already digivolved into a Salamon with the two Nyaromon by her side. He put them in the care of Lilithmon, who raised them and trained them to be strong. LadyDevimon remembered that she matured faster than her two friends because of her passionate and strong wish for love, warmth, and strength. But even when she was at her weakest, she never forgot about the well being of her friends, who she promised to take care of. She would die if any one of them were to have something horrible happen to them, and now, she feared the worst.

Thankfully, much to her and the arrogant BlackGatomon's ecstasy, the timid BlackGatomon, who lay limp in her arms, opened her yellow green eyes and looked up at her wearily.

"Mi-Mis...tress?" The timid BlackGatomon whispered weakly. This made LadyDevimon and the arrogant BlackGatomon both smile and cry with delight.

"Oh! My dear friend! You're alright! Oh, I would die if anything were to happen to you, my precious friend!" LadyDevimon wailed as she held BlackGatomon close to her chest. Nobody could believe what they saw. LadyDevimon, a normally purely dark, malicious, and evil Digimon, actually caring for a subordinate like how a mother does for her child? This was really out of context for them! But considering the tears in their eyes, the concern and sincerity she showed for her friend certainly wasn't prevaricated. LadyDevimon and the arrogant BlackGatomon are happy that their friend is alright. They were oblivious to this, but Gatomon is looking at them with a despondent, almost guilty, face of her own. She felt guilty for almost having attacked their friend. She couldn't believe what she was seeing, but even she knew that the genuine, pure, and almost innocent concern they showed for their friend couldn't be prevaricated. She had seen heartfelt love like that many times before.

_'I know they must have went through a lot of hardship to get this far. I'm sure they didn't want what they went through. LadyDevimon and BlackGatomon are supposed to be mean and nasty, but the love I see in their eyes is real. No doubt about it. Minako showed that love to me lots of times, and to Kiyoshi too, even though he's gone. But even so, does that really justify what they've been doing? Should they really continue their life of hurting innocent people and Digimon? Maybe they're misguided and have forgotten what it truly means to feel alive,' _Gatomon ruminated deeply. She lost all motivation to fight. She, like other Digimon, knew that LadyDevimon and BlackGatomon are supposed to be conceived as nefarious and knave Digimon, who know of nothing but malice and evil intentions, displaying them with both their mien and their actions, but...should that really be the case.

Suddenly, LadyDevimon stood up and stared at the kids with anger in her eyes.

"You insolent, contemptible, heartless humans! Look what you've done to my beloved friend! I'll never, EVER forgive you if you ever try to kill her! She's all we have!" LadyDevimon screamed at the top of her voice.

"Shouldn't you be telling yourself that when you're hurting innocent people and destroying everything? They won't forgive you if you keep doing what you're doing!" Kosuke exclaimed.

"He is right, LadyDevimon. I understand that you and your friends have went through a great many hardships before coming here, and we don't condemn you for that. However, you have been seen hurting people and destroying places that are important to the humans. For that, you have to take responsibility and repent, or else you will not be at ease," Angemon told her in his booming voice.

On the other side of the area, Yun, Hokuto, Aria, Melody, Gargomon, Turuiemon, Reppamon, and MarineAngemon are still having trouble containing the rogue PlatinumNumemon, even with the help of their secondary Digimon.

"Can someone help us out here?" Yun yelped.

"Vacuum Kamaitachi!" Reppamon managed to land some hits on PlatinumNumemon, but again, they didn't leave a scratch.

"Come on! We can't handle him like this!" Bucchiemon exclaimed, getting irritated by everyone's focus on LadyDevimon right now. Otoya and Seasarmon decided to help them.

"We'll help you! Come on, Seasarmon!" Otoya said as she decided to run toward them and help them.

"As if we didn't have enough to deal with," Seasarmon muttered.

LadyDevimon, with her two BlackGatomon friends in her arms, flew into the air, hovering above everyone else.

"You humans know nothing about what I went through! It's none of your business! I came here on a sole mission, and that is to-" LadyDevimon was about to spill the beans on her mission, but something stopped her from doing so. A walkie talkie in one of her pockets is hissing, and the arrogant BlackGatomon pulled it out.

"Master? Is that you?" LadyDevimon asked the walkie talkie.

_"LadyDevimon! Where in the world are you? I've been worried sick!"_ MoonMillenniummon screamed on the other line, loud enough for all the members of the Digimon Brigade to hear.

"I have some business I have to attend to, Master! I-" LadyDevimon stammered, a little taken aback by MoonMillenniummon's sudden and very vociferous yelling.

_"Come back to the inner sanctum at once! I have a very important duty that you need to attend to! I don't want any complaining!"_

"But Master, I still-"

_"No buts, young lady! Return to the inner sanctum immediately! I don't know what you and those BlackGatomon have been up to, but this is starting to become very annoying! Now get off your behind and get back here! Come on! Scat!"_

LadyDevimon sighed. "Yes, Master..."

And with that, the hissing on the walkie talkie faded. LadyDevimon put it back in her pocket.

"Unfortunately, it seems my time with you has run out, and I have to return to my humble home. But don't think I'm finished with you just yet! I'm still going to fulfill my mission, and I will do it even if it kills me! But don't worry, pipsqueaks. I have a little present for you to keep you occupied," LadyDevimon told them.

Suddenly, a digital portal appeared, and out came a big stream of Geremon and Dracmon.

"YEEEEK!" Rena screamed.

"Goodbye for now, weaklings!" LadyDevimon flew into the same digital portal. But it didn't disappear right away. PlatinumNumemon saw it and flew away from everyone so it can reach it.

"No! Come back here!" Aria jumped on it and tried to subdue it, but PlatinumNumemon pushed her off and flew right into the digital portal.

"Spray of Hearts!" MarineAngemon tried to attack it, but it was too fast, and the digital portal disappeared.

"NOOOO! He got away!" Yun screamed angrily as she fell to her knees and pounded her fist into the ground.

"Yun! This is no time to be repenting! We've got more Geremon to deal with!" Gargomon told her. Yun digilassoed some and gave Rabbitmon, Prairiemon, and Bucchiemon the honor of destroying them.

"Ewwww! More ugly Geremon! Disgusting!" Rena complained as she digilassoed one.

"As if we didn't have enough to deal with already! Moon Night Bomb!" Lekismon exclaimed as she managed to destroy at least four Geremon and two Dracmon with her most recent attack.

"We cannot let these Digimon run wild! Fira Bomb!" Firamon said as he killed three Dracmon with his recent attack.

"Hey slimeball! You look like puke!" Melody taunted a Geremon and made him mad, which gave Rabbitmon the honor of destroying it with a Lop Ear Swing.

"Star Shower!"

"Missle Storm!"

"Aerial Attack!"

"Boiling Water!"

"Hand of Fate!"

"Tee Dia!"

"Vacuum Kamaitachi!"

Attack names were shouted far and wide. Not wanting to stand by and watch from the sidelines anymore, Lucero snuck up on a Geremon and a Dracmon and assaulted them, trapping them in an arm lock.

"I've captured two rogue Digimon! Thou can destroy them if thou wish!" Lucero exclaimed, which made Yun decide to impale the Geremon with her digisword and Turuiemon maim the Dracmon with one of her gauntlets.

The fight seemed to go on and on. Geremon and Dracmon are insidious, mischievous, and volatile little knaves. One of each was one thing, but an entire crowd of them was basically suicide for anyone who couldn't tolerate poop attacks or devilish pranks. By the time the last Geremon and Dracmon were killed, the sun began to set, and the sky began to turn bright orange, with some tints of rosy pink, midnight blue, and violet iris. It was certainly beautiful and dazzling, but the kids and Digimon are so tired, languid, and worn out right now, they found no point in admiring the evening amber sky as of right now. All the champion levels de-digivolved back into their rookie levels. MarineAngemon did too, so much so that she de-digivolved all the way to her in training form, Bukamon, instead of her rookie form, Syakomon. But then again, Bukamon was happy about being Bukamon since she still feels rather abashed and insecure about her rookie form. The children sat on their rear ends, gasping for breath and trying to regain their composure. They're all tired, irritated, overwhelmed, and just want to go home, eat dinner, and prepare for school tomorrow.

Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon all lay in Yun's arms, tired and limp, drained of all their energy and motivation. Yun also felt drained and languid. She felt as if she had lost at least ten pounds thanks to that annoying PlatinumNumemon! But she did feel content and relived with the fact that nobody got hurt...at least, not fatally, of course. Hokuto was sitting next to her, cradling a dormant Kudamon in his slender arms. Lucero, noticing that Yun looked rather languid, decided to approach her and kneel in front of her.

"Yun? Art thou alright?" Lucero asked in his usual low, sweet voice. Seeing the concern in Lucero's big pale blue eyes, Yun smiled at him a tad weakly.

"Yeah, somehow. I feel kinda bad we had such a hard time defeating that PlatinumNumemon," Yun told him.

"Why exactly didst thou go after him instead of LadyDevimon?" Lucero asked.

"PlatinumNumemon are mega level Digimon. I thought that if he was allowed to run free, he might wreak more havoc than LadyDevimon could...and I thought that since we had a mega level, it might've been easy to take care of him...but I guess I was wrong, wasn't I? How could I be so dumb?" Yun explained, but became a little despondent upon reaching the last sentence. Yun then felt something poking her cheek. It was Cutemon's ears.

"Don't say you're dumb, kyu! You didn't know, kyu! We all didn't know, kyu! Besides, nobody was hurt and he went back to the Digital World, so everything turned out alright in the end, kyu!" Cutemon told her with her sweet smile.

"Yes, but maybe I should've left him alone and went after LadyDevimon instead, even though none of you can fly," Yun told her. Finally, Terriermon got up.

"No. You were right to let us try to handle PlatinumNumemon even though he turned out to be tougher than he looked. I may not remember much of my days in the Digital World, but I know that PlatinumNumemon are very naughty Digimon who love causing trouble and are constantly bragging about how strong they are! Sure it was tough getting him, but we did manage to stop him from getting into town, so that's good, isn't it?" Terriermon explained. Yun smiled and hugged him.

"Yeah, you're right," Yun said.

"I'm sorry I wasn't able to help thee in any way," Lucero told her.

"It's alright. If LadyDevimon saw you, she'd probably think she'd recognize you and try to kidnap you, like Roachmon did," Yun told him.

Unfortunately, even though there are members of the Digimon Brigade who, despite not being able to defeat LadyDevimon or PlatinumNumemon, who feel content with just keeping them out of town and making sure they didn't cause more trouble, there's one who thought the complete and total opposite, and Patamon was the one to notice.

"Kosuke? What's wrong? You okay?" Patamon asked, noticing that Kosuke's hazel green eyes are literally consumed by flames of anger, he's gritting his teeth very tightly, and he's balled his fists very tightly as well. Kosuke looked at Aria, who is standing up and gently cradling a tired Bukamon in her small arms. He stood up and began walking toward her. Patamon didn't like how Kosuke looked, so he decided to accompany him.

Aria innocently held Bukamon in her arms like she was her baby. She then turned around to see Kosuke behind her and looking down at her with a look Aria knew very well: scorn and contempt. Noticing that this was very unlike Kosuke, backed away a little bit. But it didn't work. Kosuke raised his hand and...

_SLAP!_

The sound was so loud it attracted the attention of all members of the Digimon Brigade! Kosuke slapped Aria! So hard that she fell to the ground! Everyone was appalled, including Patamon.

"Kosuke! Why did you do that?" Patamon yelled, angry by the display of rather inappropriate behavior that Kosuke just put on...but this was just the beginning.

"You worthless little wretch! Why didn't you stop that PlatinumNumemon when you had the chance? You had all the chances in the world to get him, yet you just lazed around doing nothing!" Kosuke screamed, like he was Aria's father. Aria's eyes grew big with fear and shock. Bukamon, however, just turned plain mad.

"Hey! Aria tried her hardest to contain PlatinumNumemon, along with everyone else! He was just too much to handle! He was a mega level too! We never had to deal with them before until now! Why blame the whole thing on Aria-chan! She's just a little kid!" Bukamon snapped.

"You're the only one of us who can digivolve into a mega level! You should've been able to defeat it just fine, but noooo! You had to let it get away!" Kosuke screamed again.

"I did the best I could! It outsmarted all of us! And for YOUR information, Aria and I actually TRIED to stop PlatinumNumemon from getting away, but he slipped past us before we could land a hit! You should at least be happy he didn't run off into town and start hurting people!" Bukamon yelled back.

Patamon got in between them. "Kosuke! I know you're upset about all of this, but you don't have to take it out on her! We all tried to do what we could to stop LadyDevimon and PlatinumNumemon from causing more trouble! Sure they got away, but it doesn't mean it's the last time we're gonna see them! We-"

"You stay out of this!" Kosuke yelled. "Yukino, you're just downright useless!"

"She is NOT!" Bukamon yelled angrily.

"That's no way to treat your partner!" Labramon hissed, appalled by Kosuke's sudden change in character. Suddenly, Kosuke walked up to Hokuto, grabbed him by the shirt, and pinned him against the tree.

"You're just as useless as Yukino is, y'know? You have a Digimon who can shoot invisible attacks and bombard enemy Digimon with them! You should've been able to handle the PlatinumNumemon just as much as Aria did, but you didn't do a thing! You just stood around and watched like some mannequin in a store! Your Digimon's supposed to be the smart one, yet if he can't even handle a PlatinumNumemon, then he's just as useless as you are!"

"Blinding Ray!" Kudamon made his body glow, causing Kosuke to cover his eyes and let go of Hokuto. Kudamon stared at Kosuke with just as much anger as Kosuke is showing right now.

"You don't have to make it sound like we didn't try, Hanemoto! Yes, I normally am very intelligent and do possess great strategical ability, and I tried applying some of it today! But it didn't work, and PlatinumNumemon outsmarted all of us! I had never dealt with Digimon like him before, so it was only natural! Besides, PlatinumNumemon are mega level Digimon and so far, I can only digivolve into a champion level! We're all not strong enough to deal with a mega level just yet!" Kudamon explained, quite angered by Kosuke's behavior.

Finally, Minako stepped in, just as angry as he is.

"Kosuke! We ALL failed at trying to keep LadyDevimon, PlatinumNumemon, and all the other Digimon at bay! But just because we didn't do so well today does NOT make it right for you to call people useless and point out their shortcomings right in front of their faces!" Minako scolded like she was his mother, but Kosuke wasn't having it.

"Oh, you're one to talk! Why didn't you have Gatomon digivolve into ultimate level so she could've actually helped us?"

"Why bring that up now? I don't think I've met my D-Heart's requirements yet!"

"Oh, is THAT your excuse? You're the smart one, aren't you? You should've been able to find their weaknesses and use your super powerful computer skills to our benefit, but nooooo!"

"There wasn't any time to use my laptop!"

"You could've found some if you actually used your time wisely, brain grain!"

"What's gotten into you, Kosuke? This isn't like you!"

"You need to quit being such a nag, that's what!"

"I don't know what your problem is, but you need to shape up!"

"You're the one who needs to shape up!"

"No! You are!"

"Stop! Stop right now!" Salamon and Patamon both tried to push their partners away from each other, but their small size and their current lack of physical strength prevented them from doing so. Otoya has had enough too.

"Kosuke! Minako! Knock it off, will you? This isn't-" Otoya tried to break them up as well, but Kosuke kicked her in the stomach!

"Otoya!" Labramon cried as he ran to his partner.

"You stay out of this, you narcissist!" Kosuke yelled, which made Minako even angrier.

"You shouldn't have done that, and Otoya's NOT a narcissist!" Minako screamed.

Everyone was stunned. Appalled. Blown away by everything that's happening. Kosuke exploding into a paroxysm of anger and taking it out on everyone? Minako getting into a fight? Nobody saw this coming. Even Melody, who's so used to seeing Minako being sweet and motherly and Kosuke being quiet and occasionally indifferent, was shocked beyond her wildest imagination and dreams! Even the Digimon were surprised.

But they were going to be even MORE appalled by what would happen next.

Finally, someone couldn't take it anymore.

"CAN IT, YOU TWO!"

Yun, enraged by her friends' inopportune and inappropriate behavior, pushed herself in between them and literally pushed them both away from each other like she their mother. Lopmon, Cutemon, Terriermon, and Lucero were all very surprised by Yun's valiant display of courage. She's just about had enough.

"Stop it right now, you two! Fighting like a gaggle of little kids throwing tantrums is getting us nowhere! Kosuke, Minako's right. Just because we all failed at something doesn't mean you have to call everyone useless and take your anger out on them! On the contrary, we all tried very hard to keep the Digimon at bay, and even though we failed, this won't be the last time we deal with them, so we can do better next time! Minako, Kosuke does have a slightly valid point. Maybe you could've taken a break from fighting PlatinumNumemon with us by going on your laptop and looking up their weaknesses so we could've defeated them easier. I'm not blaming you or anything, but it would've saved you and us a lot of energy and trouble. But fighting like this? This isn't what friends do! Now you both need to-"

Yun was on a roll. Even though Kosuke and Minako repeatedly tried to interrupt her, she kept on going. She knew that leaving the two of them to argue was not going to get them anywhere. They both had good points and Yun made sure to tell them this. She wanted to tell them to shape up and make up, but Kosuke, finally having had enough, stopped her.

"Friends? You call us friends! Don't make me laugh! You're no friend of ours!" Kosuke screamed.

Suddenly, everyone gasped. Even Yun.

"Wha...why is that? What are you saying?" Yun exclaimed.

"You're going too far, Kosuke!" Rena yelled.

"That was mean, Kosuke! Take it back!" Patamon commanded, growing more and more disappointed by Kosuke's growing anger. But he didn't stop.

And he finally dropped the bomb.

"What am I saying? Well, let me tell you! You're no friend of mine! You hardly ever do anything helpful, you're always meddling in people's business, you constantly bug us, you never leave us alone, and you keep us from doing what we want! You don't think of us as friends at all, do you? You're only saying that so you can manipulate us into thinking you're the good person when clearly you're not! You say you do nice things out of the kindness of your heart, but the truth is, it's all for your own self-satisfaction! You only want to make yourself look good, that's it! You're selfish, freedy, and a problem for everyone! You're so caught up in your own desires that you don't even realize you're making trouble for everyone around you! Have you ever helped us with anything? No, you haven't! You're always dragging us down and around at your own convenience! You're nothing but a parasite!"

Yun felt as if the strongest H-Bomb of all had fallen on her perfect, harmonic world. Kosuke thinks she's manipulating him and everyone else? That she's a parasite? That she's useless and only doing things to satisfy her supposedly selfish desires? Where, how, and why did he get such ridiculous ideas? She couldn't understand. What happened to him to make him say such horrible things?

"Wha...what in the world? Why would you even think something like that? I'm NOT like that at all, Kosuke!" Yun screamed.

"Don't lie. You're only with us so you can satisfy your own depraved ego. You're deceiving all of us," Kosuke told her coldly.

"Have you lost it, Hanemoto? What would she gain from doing something like that?" Riku yelled angrily.

"Recognition. That's all. All you want is for everyone to like you, and you're willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen! Stop trying to prevent us from living our own lives and stop making us into your slaves!" Kosuke yelled.

"I DO NOT think of you all as my slaves! I'm not like that! It's not true, is it?" Yun exclaimed loudly, becoming desperate and starting to grow very anxious, looking at everyone with desperation. Terriermon, Lopmon, and Patamon all stood before Kosuke with angry faces.

"I don't know what's gotten into you, but all of those allegations are downright ridiculous! Why in all the world would you think that Yun would do horrible things like that? You have no proof!" Lopmon exclaimed angrily, even going as far as to show her teeth, which she normally never did.

"You've been with her since second grade, haven't you? You should know by now that Yun's not the person you say she is! What's making you think like that anyhow? She's done lots of nice things for you, and not for the reasons you think! She let you into her house for a few hours when your mom had a drunk spell! She gave you food and temporary shelter! How is that all out of a selfish desire?" Terriermon yelled, backing up Lopmon's argument.

"This isn't like you, Kosuke! You've got to stop this at once! This isn't what you normally do! Take back everything you said right now, young man!" Patamon demanded sternly like he was his father.

"Don't tell me what to do!" Kosuke told Patamon.

Then it happened.

"...Yes."

Someone said it, and Yun's heart shattered upon seeing who it was.

"It's...true."

It was Minako.

Everyone is just incensed.

"MINAKO? You're actually _**AGREEING**_ with him? How can you be so heartless and insensitive?" Riku yelled.

"Yeah! You'd never do something like this!" Coronamon shouted, backing up Riku's argument.

"See? Minako knows it, I know it, and you need to get it. Stop trying to meddle into our business, claiming that you're helping us. We don't need your false help! Now get out!" Kosuke demanded.

Yun couldn't believe it. Two of her best childhood friends are actually turning against her and claiming she's a bad person without any solid evidence! Questions kept running around in her head. Why is this happening? What happened to Kosuke and Minako? Why are they saying such horrible calumny? Is it because of what they went through? Is she some sort of scapegoat for their anger? Why would they yell at her of all people? Why would they even think that Yun's doing nice things out of selfishness and greed? When was there ever a time when she did that? Yun wanted to believe that this was all some horrible dream...but it isn't. They were dead serious. Tears began pouring out of her eyes.

"You...you...!" Yun muttered at first, then finally exploded. "YOU'RE NOT THE KOSUKE AND MINAKO I KNOW AND LOOOOOVE!"

With that piece of rhetoric, she sprinted from the area screaming and bawling. Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon all chased after her. Lucero did too, but not before giving him his death stare and a final word.

"You've gone too far this time! What's wrong with you?" Lucero screamed angrily, then chased after Yun. In a flash, others did too.

"Yun-chan! Wait!" Otoya and Labramon both ran after her. Kosuke just hmphed and left. Patamon didn't bother going with him he was so disappointed. Everyone was about to leave until Lunamon noticed something odd.

"Aria-chan?" Lunamon said. Everyone turned to where she looked and found Aria...holding herself with her arms and shaking violently on the ground, her brown eyes big and her teeth grinding together.

"Oh no! Aria! Are you okay?" Rena yelped.

"I don't know what's happening! She won't talk to me!" Bukamon told her with worry in her green eyes. In a flash, Aria screamed and broke into a paroxysm of tears, falling to the ground with her hands on her face.

"Aria! Aria! What's wrong?" Rena shook her but Aria continued to scream and cry like Yun did.

"Aria-chan! Snap out of it!" Patamon pleaded.

"This isn't good!" Biyomon said.

"Hello? Aria! Say something! Calm down!" Melody pleaded. They got a response, but it wasn't anything they expected.

"No! NO! Papa! Please...don't hurt me! I'll be good! I'll be a...good girl!" Aria bawled, her voice unnaturally high, so much so that it didn't sound like it even belonged to her.

"Aria-chan! Come on! Snap out of it! Wake up!" Bukamon pleaded.

"Mama! I...I want...mama! Why did she...have to die...? Why is Papa...so cruel?" Aria said, her voice getting lower and lower.

Finally, after a long while, Aria finally calmed down. Melody took it upon herself to take her home. Shunji, without a word, flew back home on Coredramon. Everyone else parted ways. They are now very appalled and conflicted by everything that just happened. Even the Digimon were surprised and angry with what transpired. But they did realize something: Kosuke's completely changed! But exactly what happened to him? As for Yun, she literally burst through the door right as Hisako was making dinner. She ran to her room, buried herself in her bed, and cried throughout the entire night. She bawled her eyes and broken heart out, she was so despondent. She pounded on the bed, almost pounded her head and face if Lopmon, Cutemon, Terriermon, and Lucero didn't stop her, and screamed into her bed. Despite the bed muffling her noise, Hisako and Teruki came into the room and were shocked.

"Yun! What's wrong, Yun?" Hisako asked with concern in both her eyes and voice.

"Kosuke...he's not Kosuke anymoooore!" Yun wailed. They tried to get more information out of her, but she continued to cry and refused all coaxing and consolation. She didn't want dinner, even though it was another favorite of hers, chicken with Spanish rice and vegetables, like carrots, corn, and broccoli. She laid in her bed the entire night, crying it away. All Lopmon, Cutemon, Terriermon, and Lucero could do was stay by her side and stroke her. Their hearts sank upon seeing and hearing the heartbreak she had to endure.

Secretly enough, another one of the Digimon Brigade is feeling very choleric right now because of what happened, and that turned out to be none other than Melody. She sat in her room on her bed, clinging to a frame containing a picture of herself, Yun, Minako, and Kosuke as kids, the same one she showed Biyomon. She stared at it with a fierce and angry look in her light brown eyes. Even Biyomon couldn't help but think that Melody looked quite frightening.

"Melody? Do you think Kosuke really meant what he said? It's not true, is it?" Biyomon asked, looking worried.

"No. None of that nonsense is true. None of it..." Melody muttered in a low but angry tone. Then some quick knocks came to the door.

"Melody? Dinner's ready!" A woman's voice exclaimed.

"Sorry, but I'll have to skip it! I'm not in the mood!" Melody yelled back. The woman's voice dissipated and Melody is left to stare at the picture.

_'I will never forgive them! I will NEVER, EVER forgive them! I'm gonna teach them a lesson they'll never forget, even if I have to bash their skulls against the wall!'_ Melody thought bitterly. _'Yun...I'm so sorry. I'll fix this somehow! I will! I won't forget this! I'll help you somehow!'_

There was no way Melody was going to let them off easy. The same for someone else...or, some Digimon.

Once LadyDevimon and her two BlackGatomon attendants returned to the inner sanctum, they received a mild scolding, but seeing what had happened to the timid BlackGatomon, MoonMillenniummon let them off and allowed one of his servants to tend to her wounds while she did her important duty, which was find a special stone tablet that spoke of the history of the Holy Guardians and Holy Council, which he proceeded to destroy. Once finished, LadyDevimon and the arrogant BlackGatomon, both out of genuine worry and concern, went to the infirmary, which is nothing more than a part of the inner sanctum consisting of a tiny room with a few beds and a candle-like Digimon acting as a doctor to everyone, along with some fireball Digimon assisting him. LadyDevimon and the arrogant BlackGatomon watched as the candle Digimon gave the timid BlackGatomon, who is tucked snugly in bed, some nice hot soup.

"Her injuries aren't serious, so she should heal in about a day's time. But she will definitely need some rest. DemiMeramon, get me some of that Paulownia herb(2), will ya?" The candle Digimon explained, then told one of the fireball Digimon, DemiMeramon, to grab an herbal remedy.

"Thank you for taking care of her, Candlemon. We really appreciate it," LadyDevimon told the Digimon, Candlemon, kindly.

"It's no problem. But I wanted to ask...do you really think they're still alive? And with humans, no less?" Candlemon asked.

LadyDevimon looked down at her friend solemnly. Candlemon took this as a yes.

"Well, I kinda already had my doubts about the whole thing so there IS a likely possibility, so I believe you. But you shouldn't try so hard to prove it. Not that I'm saying you shouldn't, it's just that you also have to focus on what's important," Candlemon told her kindly. Then a DemiMeramon approached him with a letter in his hands and dropped it in Candlemon's hand. Candlemon read it and threw it at the wall.

"Aww, man! Sorry, but I've gotta run. Monitormon's beaten himself stupid again. I'll let you stay here and look after BlackGatomon. See ya!" Candlemon told her and hopped out of the infirmary with three DemiMeramon accompanying him. LadyDevimon and her two BlackGatomon attendants are now all alone in the infirmary...well, except for some DemiMeramon who are sleeping and lighting the place up with their warm fire. LadyDevimon looked at the scene around her and couldn't help but smile.

"This is what we've been longing for all this time," LadyDevimon whispered.

"Yes. It is," The timid BlackGatomon murmured softly. The arrogant BlackGatomon suddenly kicked the wall.

"I won't ever forgive those wretched humans! They probably don't know a thing about suffering or what we've been through! They don't understand anything!" The arrogant BlackGatomon snarled.

"Calm down, sister. You'll waste your energy," The timid BlackGatomon told her. The arrogant BlackGatomon mollified herself, but she stared at the wall angrily.

"LadyDevimon...you were right. I see what you mean now. They're alive. As things are now, what do we do?" The arrogant BlackGatomon asked.

LadyDevimon looked down at her injured friend sadly, then up at the wall angrily.

"We won't let them off easy! Later, when things are in order, we'll return to the human world and grab one of those Digimon! We'll show one of them to Master and prove to them that they're still alive! After what they did, now I'm more motivated than ever!" LadyDevimon edicted proudly.

"LadyDevimon...let's not do this," The timid BlackGatomon told her in a weak whisper, which shocked her sister and LadyDevimon.

"What do you mean? Look what they did to you!" The arrogant BlackGatomon exclaimed.

"Look around. We have everything we've wanted. Food, shelter, warmth, and love. Do we really need to do anything more? MoonMillenniummon-sama doesn't care if we're weak or strong or anything so long as we're faithful to him. He saved us, and in return we helped him do what he needed to do. Shouldn't we be happy with what we have now? We finally have what we've dreamed of. We can't sacrifice all of this just because they might still be alive," The timid BlackGatomon explained.

LadyDevimon couldn't help but admit that she had a good point. But something else lingered in her mind.

"I know, my dear. I'm just as happy to have all of this as you are, and I know of what's important. But...this isn't just about proving their existence anymore..." LadyDevimon whispered.

They spent the entire day together, cherishing and relishing each other's presence.

As for them thinking that humans have it better than them, they couldn't be more wrong.

Footnotes:

1. The Tales of Ise is a collection of Japanese tanka poems and narratives dating as far back as the Heian period. Nobody knows who the author or the original publisher are, even to this day.

2. Paulownia is a type of flower or tree indigenous to China, Vietnam, and Laos. They're known for their rapid growth and for their usage for the production of hardwood timber.


	34. Betrayal and Understanding

EPISODE 34: Betrayal and Understanding

That night was just horrible. Not just for Yun, but for everyone in the Digimon Brigade. Nobody understood how or why Kosuke suddenly had a change in character. Everybody knew it: he was one of Yun's childhood friends! Minako and Melody knew as well. In the past, he was happy and cheerful, but to an extent, he was kind and caring, always standing up for his friends. But now, he's regressed into an overly critical and judgmental knave, claiming that Yun is nothing but a manipulative creep. Nobody understood how such an idea got into his head! But they did know why he's changed. His situation at home is getting worse and worse. On that very night, he heard the landlord banging on his door and angrily demanding his rent, which didn't lift his mood much. His father had left months ago, and his mother suddenly changed character herself! They saw the signs of his change, but they didn't think it would affect him so much. Kosuke was just angry. Angry at the entire world. Angry that his father left. Angry that his mother suddenly turned into a selfish and angsty alcoholic who sits around the house and doesn't take care of her son properly. Angry that the landlord is his usual insensitive and cocky self. All the anger grew inside of him like a malignant tumor, and finally, it all just popped out into the open.

Not only that, everyone was surprised that Minako even uttered the words of agreement. They didn't know it, but she was actually surprised herself that she not only didn't stand up to him, but that she AGREED with him! How could she be so insensitive and heartless? When Minako got home that night, she immediately regretted it and cried on her bed, like how Yun did. Minako couldn't understand why she took her stress out on Yun like Kosuke did. Yun didn't do anything to deserve all of that! Yun didn't do anything wrong! Minako knew this very well, yet her own stress got the best of her that night. Normally, she would never let anger get the best of her. Minako cried and cried, wishing that she could turn back time and actually ameliorate the situation instead of exacerbate it. Minako's heart sank. She cursed at herself for saying that what Kosuke said is true...when in actuality it's not. She remembered that Kosuke glanced at her angrily, like he was telling her, _"Agree with me, or you're dead meat!"_ When Kosuke was mad, he was DEAD serious. When he gave that look at someone, he's demanding that they agree with them or else the repercussions could be perilous. He was _DEAD_ serious. Minako knew this well and tried not to succumb to him, but she did and hated herself for it. Salamon didn't understand either. She wanted to scold Minako big time for doing what she did, but upon seeing that she knows what she did, she decided not to.

But after crying throughout most of the night, Minako made a silent oath.

_'I can't go on like this. Sitting here and crying isn't going to make things better. I'm gonna get to the bottom of this! I'm gonna give Kosuke an earful and apologize to not just Yun, but to everyone! I shouldn't have done what I did, and I want to fix it! I don't care what Kosuke says! Yun's one of my best friends, and I intend to fix the rift between us!'_ Minako thought as she finally fell asleep.

Soon, Tuesday finally arrived, and the first thing Minako did was look for Kosuke. Today, Minako decided to not wear her purple ribbon or any purple clothes today. She wore a tan shirt with white puffed sleeves and a small white string ribbon on it, black jean shorts, red and white socks, and white sneakers. The only thing she wore with purple on it is her purple choker, which has an artificial purple stone on the middle, with her purple D-Heart tied next to it. Minako adored that choker, and she's had it for a long time, since she was a young girl even. Not once did she ever take it off (except for when she was in the shower and during gym class. She especially didn't want Mr. Kadota seeing it and making a big scene about it, since he has a reputation for doing that with every little rule break and acting all military disciplinarian about it for all time). She kept it on today for good reason. Minako looked around the blacktop for Kosuke vigorously, not wanting to let him out of her sight.

Finally, she found him sitting on the rusty metal bleachers. He's looking up at the sky with a rather scornful face, his brown hair being pushed against him by the wind. He wore nothing but a short sleeved black shirt, slightly ragged light blue jean pants, and black and white sneakers. He didn't look much different than usual. Minako, upon catching sight of him, immediately approached him and put him on the spot.

"Why did you do what you did last night?" Minako demanded. Kosuke didn't say a word, which Minako immediately knew was a harbinger that Kosuke shows no remorse for what he did.

"I can't believe you would stoop so low as to claim that Yun is a manipulative creep! How could you be so insensitive and heartless? And not only that, you actually coerced me into agreeing with you! You know very well that Yun's not the type of person you accused her of being last night!" Minako screamed.

"But it's true, isn't it?" Kosuke said in a low voice, looking up at Minako with scorn. "You agreed with me."

"I only agreed with you because I know that if someone doesn't agree with you, you'll go on a rampage and force them by beating them up! I know that once you get an idea in your head, you'll never let it go, and you'll stop at nothing to make others agree with you! Kosuke, I know your situation at home is rough, and I get that, but that does not make it right for you to take your anger out on the people you love! You should know this better than anyone! I also can't believe you've forgotten all the nice things she HAS done for you! She-"

"She didn't do them out of kindness. She only wanted to show off her wealth and make herself look good."

"Oh, is THAT what you think? You seriously think that Yun's only doing nice things just for recognition? Well, you're wrong!"

"You do it, too! You're always helping out at those charities!"

"Out of the kindness of my heart! Not for recognition! Okay, yes, I DO confess that I do donate to those charities for a desire, but it's for world peace! Not to make myself better than everyone else or out of greed! I-"

Minako wanted to go on an epic tirade, but the bell rang and stopped her from doing so. But she did tell Kosuke one last thing before going to homeroom.

"I refuse to waste my time with you, now that you've turned into a selfish brat."

She had never called anyone names before, not even to her friends, and when she did, it was REALLY rare, and only at times when she was really mad. But she meant it this time, because the Kosuke she's seeing in front of her isn't the Kosuke she knew and loved. Despite the newly formed rift between her and Kosuke, Minako was determined to fix the one between her and Yun. Considering that she knows that Yun is very sensitive to things like this, Minako didn't want the conflict between them to not be resolved, so throughout the entire school day, she tried to apologize to Yun and show her how badly she feels. But...apparently, fate was NOT on her side. First, the teacher gave everyone in homeroom a pop quiz, which took up the entire class time. Minako heard Seiko and her clique gossiping about Yun a few times, and she stood up to them. Secondly, in various classes, Minako was forced into groups for assignments, none of whom had Yun as one of their members. Thirdly, in gym class, Kadota put everyone in different groups for a game, and again, Minako wasn't part of Yun's team. She couldn't believe that fate was actually keeping her away from Yun! Especially since all day Yun kept a solemn and dejected face. She didn't smile. Not even once. Minako felt bad for seeing Yun's expression stay like that all day, and more than anything she wanted to ameliorate the conflict between them, but now she seemed as though she wasn't even allowed to approach her without getting a zero for the day! As if that wasn't bad enough, at the end of the school day, Yun rushed to the car and drove away without giving Minako a second thought! Minako had actually chased after her, but couldn't catch up to her! Minako felt as if her efforts had been stomped on by a giant foot, and she was the evil stinkbug who made the house smell like skunk. But she did, however, receive a text message on her digivice. Hoping that it was from Yun, she opened it. But much to her dismay, it wasn't from Yun, but from Melody instead.

**To: Minako, Kosuke.**

**Subject: Meet.**

**Minako. Kosuke. Meet me in the park at 3:30. I need to talk to you both. Bring your Digimon too.**

That was all it said.

Minako knew that if she got something from Melody, it wasn't going to be pretty. She wanted to decline, but remembering the pain that she caused Yun, she decided that she could do this as a form of repentance and self-punishment, so she texted Melody back.

**To: Melody.**

**Subject: Re: Meet.**

**I'll be there in a few minutes.**

Minako put her digivice back on her pants and raced home to get Salamon, knowing that this was important. What she didn't know was what was going to transpire there. And exactly...what was Yun doing when she got home? The only person (emphasis on person) who found out was Lucero.

Regarding last night, Lucero felt just as angry at the two of them as everyone else did. He also didn't understand why they said the things they did, and he really wanted to teach them a lesson or two, but he couldn't. He stayed with Yun all night, but when he let her out of her sight for a second, she was gone. He had assumed that she went into the basement to draw or play on Teruki's computer. But now, he, Yun, Lopmon, Terriermon, and Cutemon are the only ones in the house. Hisako had to run some errands, Teruki is at work, and Ayaka went to go to a _Mono_(1) concert up north. But Lucero couldn't find Yun or the rabbits anywhere, though he didn't find it to be worrying considering what had happened last night. Yun probably wanted her space. About a few minutes later, he had found her and the bunnies, but in a very unlikely place. He had finished reading one of Yun's books and put it back her room. He picked out another one and decided to read it in his room, but when he entered, he noticed that his closet door is wide open. He remembered closing it this morning before he left for school. He tip toed closer to it, and as he got close, he saw a small pair of white feet peeking out. He got closer and found the so called monster in the closet.

There was Yun, sitting with her knees folded upward, leaning against the wall inside the closet, clinging to Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon tightly, like she was about to lose them to something terrible. Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon are stuck between Yun's chest and legs. Yun looked down at them with absolutely nothing but dejection, despondency, and abject heartbreak. They could all tell that Yun's heart and internal harmony had been thrown into complete discord and destruction because of what Kosuke did, but they couldn't exactly tell to what extent. Not only that, both she and the house were ominously quiet. The house because everyone is away, and Yun because...well, she just went through one of the worst experiences of her life. Of course she'd be rather quiet and shut in after going through what she did. Lucero kneeled in front of the entrance.

"Yun? What art thou doing in there?" Lucero asked gently and softly in his low but dulcet voice, so he wouldn't scare Yun.

He didn't scare her, thankfully, but she didn't answer.

"She's been in here for the past ten minutes," Lopmon told him.

Lucero could tell Yun is suffering, so he decided to try a different approach.

"Doth thou like hiding in small places like this?" Lucero asked.

Again, no answer.

"Doth thou like thinking about things in here?"

Again, no answer. But she did look as though she were in a pensive state, ruminating about everything that's going on.

"I hear thou received a B plus on your most recent math test. That's wonderful. Thy ardent efforts hath paid off," Lucero told her with a smile.

"Yeah. You passed the math test you kept on worrying about. That's something to be happy about, right?" Terriermon told her.

"Terriermon. I don't think you should word it like that," Lopmon told him sternly.

"I was just tryin' to cheer her up," Terriermon said.

"I understand thou dislike loud noises and places. Great choice of coming here," Lucero told her.

There was a long, silent pause. Finally, Yun spoke.

"I'm...trying to sleep," Yun whispered.

"Sleep? But it's day time, kyu," Cutemon told her.

"Why would you want to sleep during the day?" Lopmon asked.

"I...want to be inside the dream," Yun told them.

"The dream? What dream?" Cutemon asked. She is the only one who doesn't know about the dream Yun has been having.

"I want to be in that beautiful place...where the sky always looks pink, orange, purple and blue...the trees are white and full of glowing egg-shaped lights...the air smells of honey, fresh baked bread, roses, and the smell after the rain...where the little flowers on the ground are always blooming...pink, yellow, orange, blue, purple, white...the angel babies are flying around happily, making little flower wreaths and necklaces, scattering their foliage all over the place...the angel boy is singing his song beautifully..."

Lucero, Lopmon, and Terriermon knew what she was talking about. Well, Lopmon and Terriermon never really had the dream and were simply just told of it. Cutemon just now, too. Lucero also had the dream, so he knew exactly what she was talking about. He then remembered something. He noticed that Yun always loved anything that's small, cute, cuddly, and fluffy (like Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon). Her bed is full of stuffed animals and she loved every single one of them, even though Hisako keeps telling her she should throw them out. That's probably what Yun's heart and mind are like: soft, light, and full of warmth. There wasn't a day in which he didn't see Yun either cuddle with her Digimon friends or relish in the softness of her friends, stuffed animals, and bed. This was understandable, considering what she goes through on a daily basis. Kosuke's words were probably like cold, hard knives, cutting up all of the softness and making all the warmth and light dissipate. Lucero smiled at Yun.

"Mayn't I join thee?" Lucero asked.

Finally, Yun looked up at him and scooted over to her left.

Very slowly, Lucero crawled into the closet with her, beginning with his left leg. After some difficulty, he managed to squeeze into the space that Yun gave him. His knees are folded, his hands are on them, and now he's right next to Yun. Cutemon hopped into Lucero's lap and snuggled up to him when he settled into the space. Cutemon probably felt as though she were being suffocated and wanted to breath a little, which was understandable. Yun didn't protest, nor did she say anything that would disapprove of Cutemon's decision. But then again, she didn't say anything at all. Once he and Cutemon settled in, he looked up at the ceiling of the closet and smiled.

"This feels nice, doesn't it? A place all to thyself, without any noise or danger, where thou can hide if danger were to come. I can see why thou hast come here. Silence lets thee sort the thoughts in thy mind out. Perfect for regaining internal harmony," Lucero said wistfully.

"I couldn't have said it any better myself," Lopmon told him.

Yun looked at Lucero as he looked up at the ceiling. She couldn't help but admire how almost radiant he looked, with his blonde hair, his big pale blue eyes, his snow white skin, his kind smile, and his weird purple tattoos. After a few seconds, she looked down at her two floppy eared Digimon partners. Finally, tears slithered out of her eyes.

"He's right..." Yun whimpered sadly, which caught the attention of everyone in the closet.

"He's right. Maybe I...do only do things just to make myself happy and nobody else..." Yun sobbed.

"No! That's not true at all! You're always considerate of others and you always try to help them as best you can! Personally I'd like to beat Kosuke to a pulp for what he did!" Terriermon exclaimed loudly.

"But I can't do anything to actually help them! He's right! I am useless and a problem for everyone! I'm always holding them back and keeping them from doing what they want! People have told me that in the past, and it's all true! I try to keep everything and everyone organized, but all I really do is cause nothing but trouble and throw everybody in discord! He's right! I'm nothing but a parasite! Nenji's mother says so too!" Yun cried.

Suddenly, she felt a hand slip into her own. It was Lucero's. He's looking right at her with a straight look.

"Thou art NOT a parasite. Parasites are bugs that suck the life out of people and people who take advantage of others' kindness without giving them anything in return, living on the hospitality of other people. If thou art really a parasite, then why hath thou given Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon so much love? If thou really wanted to satisfy thyself, then why did thou save me from death and stay with me in the hospital overnight, sacrificing thy usual routine?" Lucero asked.

"He's right, Yun. You could've left Lucero to die in front of the Wawa or left him at the hospital and went back home to your bed. But you didn't. The thought didn't cross your mind, now did it?" Lopmon asked with a smile. Yun shook her head.

"Yep! That was one of the noblest things you ever did! That's NOT what a parasite does!" Terriermon told her empathetically, pounding his chest once with one of his pale green fists.

"Besides, don't you always say you're not good at influencing people?" Lopmon asked, not really meaning it as a bad comment.

"Yeah, because it's true from what I experienced. I can't make people listen to me, nor can I really be a leader. Ayaka's always accusing me of trying to influence Anjo into cheating on her and of trying to have him for myself. But I couldn't do that even if I tried, nor would I want to! Besides, Anjo's not my type! I don't like guys who are overly flirty and lazy and over the top!" Yun explained. "Not only that, I don't even know HOW to ma...mani...what's the word?"

"Manipulate?" Lopmon told her.

"Yeah. I don't know how to manipulate people! How do you do it? I sure don't know how, nor would I want to!" Yun said.

"I'm glad thou thinkist that way, for thou art better off not knowing how to influence people to be bad. Thou hast certainly raised Lopmon and Terriermon well! Thou hast saved me from death! If thou had not come for me, I most surely would have died right there!" Lucero told her.

"He's right. I'm glad to be your partner, Yun. You're not a parasite or a bad person. I don't believe any of that. You think of others before yourself most of the time, and you try to help them whenever you can. You managed to convince Bucchiemon and Prairiemon to never give up and fight Kuwagamon back in Fionn Village. You listened to Cutemon's story and didn't turn her away. You brought me and Terriermon up and made sure not to teach us bad. Isn't that worthy of praise? Yun, I love you and you're my partner. I could never ask for anyone better," Lopmon told her with a sweet smile.

"Me too! Sure you may have your little quips here and there, but that shouldn't decide who you are and what you are! If Kosuke or Nenji's mom or those bullies ever say or do mean things to you ever again, I'll be sure to teach them a lesson they'll never forget! I'm not one who likes to see those he loves get hurt, and I won't let them get away with it! Who cares what they think? They don't see how sweet and nice and wonderful you are! If anything, I think they're just blind to your awesomeness!" Terriermon exclaimed empathetically.

"But I'm not awesome..." Yun muttered. She then felt Lucero's hand on hers, and she looked at him. He smiled at her kindly.

"Yun. If thou wish to cry and let thy frustrations out, then thou should. The choice is thine, and it is thine to make, not mine. Don't ever think of thyself as a parasite. To me, thou art the best thing that ever happened to me. Perhaps this is why I'm alive today. Because of thee," Lucero told her.

At first, Yun wanted to keep quiet because she thought her crying would just annoy them. Other people told her that she should stop crying or complaining or whining, and she did to an extent. But she hates keeping her feelings bottled up inside and letting them get the best of her. If anything, it's why she wanted someone like Lopmon, Cutemon, Terriermon, or Lucero in her life...and she got her wish. Not wanting to hold anything back anymore, she gently put Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon on the floor, leaped onto Lucero, wrapped her arms around him, and passionately, and wildly, cried into his chest. She bawled and cried again, releasing her sadness and frustration. Lucero simply hugged her and rubbed her back with her hands. Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon snuggled up to her, hoping she would feel their warmth and feel the innocent love radiating from their presence. Yun felt it, and she continued to cry. They were oblivious to this, but as Yun cried, Hisako had returned from her errands. Yun cried for a good ten minutes. Then she finally stopped and wiped herself off. She left a big stain on Lucero's overalls, but he didn't mind. Soon after she dried herself off, Lopmon and Terriermon happily and voluntarily hopped into her arms. Smiling, she hugged them and nuzzled them.

"I love you both, my cute little bunny friends," Yun told them. Shortly after, Cutemon made her way into Yun's arms too, and she too received the love from Yun's heart. Lucero then wrapped an arm around Yun's shoulder. Yun then remembered something.

"Oh! That reminds me!" Yun exclaimed as she rummaged through her pocket to find her digivice. "Lopmon, there's something I want to show you."

"What is it?" Lopmon asked innocently as Yun pulled her digivice out. She opened it, went to the Saved Data option, went to the pictures, and showed Lopmon the picture she took yesterday, of the lone plum blossom in the tree.

"Oooh! It's pretty, kyu!" Cutemon cooed.

"How lovely! Is that a plum blossom?" Lopmon said.

"No, that's a peach blossom!...right?" Terriermon exclaimed.

"It's a plum blossom. I saw this at recess yesterday. It was the only blooming flower in the entire tree. The other ones wilted away. It reminded me of you, so I decided to take a picture of it," Yun told her. Lopmon almost found herself in tears, she was so touched by Yun's thoughtfulness. A lone flower in a tree reminded her of Lopmon.

"Oh...that's so sweet of you, Yun. I love it. Thank you," Lopmon said as she squirmed back into Yun's arms, loving the warm and tender hugs that Yun gave her.

"You're welcome," Yun said.

"It truly is beautiful. Nature reminds us of a great many things..." Lucero said with a smile. Then all of a sudden, he seemed to drown in a daydream. Terriermon noticed.

"What's up?" Terriermon asked.

"I...I remember..." Lucero muttered.

"You remember something?" Yun asked.

"Yes. I do. I remember...feeling the same way thou did. That feeling of wanting to be with someone and being embraced by them. Someone let me tell him my troubles and he embraced me, making me feel better. I remember loving every minute of it," Lucero explained.

"Do you remember who it is?" Yun asked.

"No, I don't. But...he was very important to me. That's all I know," Lucero said. Yun then wrapped her arm around Lucero.

"It's alright. It'll all come to you someday," Yun told him, smiling a little.

The two kids and three bunnies stayed in that closet for a good 45 minutes. Hisako noticed them when she went to check on them, and was quite surprised.

"Now what in the world are you doing in there? Come out from under there! You're being silly!" Hisako exclaimed.

Lucero took it upon himself to tell her about it, and upon realizing that she acted a tad insensitive just now, apologized and decided to leave them alone in the closet. Yun still felt heavy inside, but most of the heaviness had faded thanks to Lucero, Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon. However, she still believed that what Kosuke had told her was true. They all knew this, but they kept quiet and shared a quiet but tender moment together.

And speaking of Kosuke...what happened to him, Minako, and Melody during this time?

After receiving the text message, Minako went back home, dropped her things off, and took Salamon with her to the park. She and Salamon had a conversation while walking.

"You tried to apologize to Yun-chan today?" Salamon asked.

"Yes. I tried, but I wasn't able to talk to her all day today! Can you believe it? I really tried, but I failed. I have a lot of homework to do today, so maybe I'll apologize tomorrow," Minako told her. Salamon smiled.

"Well, I'm happy that you're at least trying, and that you know what you did and want to fix it. To be honest, I really want to yell at you," Salamon confessed.

"You can yell at me right now if you want."

"Nah, there'd be no point in it. You already know what you did, so I won't drill it in your head again."

Surprisingly enough, Minako and Salamon were the first to arrive at the park. Minako looked at the time on her digivice, and it read 3:23, so they were early. About a few minutes later, Kosuke arrived...involuntarily.

"Patamon! Quit it already! I don't want to go!" Kosuke yelled as Patamon is angrily hitting him with his wings.

"No! You're going and that's final! Do you understand me, young man?" Patamon scolded like he was Kosuke's parent. Kosuke refused about a million times, but Patamon was persistent and literally dragged him out into the park. Minako and Salamon were surprised.

"Wow. You're good," Minako said. Patamon smiled as he flew over to Salamon.

"You've been giving him some discipline?" Salamon asked innocently.

"Oh, yeah I have! Big time!" Patamon replied proudly.

"High five!" Salamon raised her paw up, and Patamon hit it. Who knew Patamon would be so awesomely obstinate and intractable when needed?

While Salamon and Patamon played, Minako and Kosuke didn't say anything to each other. Minako didn't feel obligated to talk to her new ex-friend, but she did feel happy that Patamon doesn't approve of Kosuke's sudden change in character and inappropriate behavior and is acting like his parent despite being so childlike. About a few minutes later, Melody and Biyomon both arrived. Immediately, Biyomon went to play with Salamon and Patamon.

"How are you all doing?" Biyomon asked, with genuine concern.

"Good," Salamon said.

"Fine. I've been trying to get Kosuke to change his ways, but he's just not having it!" Patamon exclaimed.

"At least you don't approve of what he's been doing and saying," Salamon told him.

"I agree. He went too far," Biyomon said.

Suddenly, their eyes focused on the trio. The tension was rising between them, and it became rather awkward. But Minako spoke first.

"Melody? I'm...really sorry about last night! Please listen! The only reason I said what I did was because it'd stop Kosuke from going on a rampage. You know how he is with wanting everybody to agree with him on something, but I know that I shouldn't have done what I did," Minako explained, hoping that Melody would see the candor in Minako's eyes and words. "I've been trying to apologize to Yun all day, but all these tests and assignments kept me from doing so."

Kosuke crossed his arms. "You don't need to. You have nothing to apologize for. She's just using you."

"Using me? When has she EVER used me for anything? Kosuke, I've had just about enough! I'm not going to let you drag me into your own personal angst and be used against the only person who liked me for who I was!" Minako yelled.

"She doesn't like you for who you are. She's just using you. Using all of us. She's just pretending to-" Kosuke wanted to finish that sentence and get it over with...but he didn't.

_POW!_

Suddenly, a fist flew right into his face! So hard that he literally fell to the ground! That punch came from...Melody. Everyone, even the Digimon, gasped with alarm. As Kosuke sat on his rump, Melody stared down at him with a face full of absolutely nothing but rancor and loathing, her brown eyes ablaze with courage and her teeth grinding together like she's a bear about to eat him.

"You've officially sunk to your lowest levels yet, Hanemoto! You're sick, you know that? Not only do you break the heart of the sweetest and nicest person you've ever met, but you actually have the nerve to claim that she's using us and manipulating us and doing everything just so she could satisfy herself? You've finally done it this time! I'll NEVER EVER forgive you! _NEVER!_ It's time we settled this!" Melody screamed angrily at the top of her lungs. Kosuke wiped off part of his face and pushed Melody to the ground.

"You say that with everybody, Shimotsuki!" Kosuke yelled back, but Melody got back up and the two got into an epic brawl. Minako and the three Digimon were left speechless as the two engaged in a battle of incessant hits, kicks, slaps, spits, punches, scratches, bites, and wrestling.

"She did everything for you! _EVERYTHING!_ And to think this is how you repay her in the end! I should've known you'd be so heartless!"

"She never did anything for me! I'm not in debt to her in any way!"

"Yes you are! You've totally forgotten! In 3rd grade, some kid took your applesauce and spilled it on a disabled kid's shirt and Yun got him in trouble for it and got you another pack of it, WITH HER OWN ALLOWANCE! In second grade, that same kid was yelling at Yun for trying to get on the monkey bars, and you stepped in and stood up to him! On your birthday that year, she got you that Agumon toy you've always clung to!"

"That's nothing!"

"It may be nothing to you, but to Yun, it's everything!"

"Why do you care so much about her? She's useless and is always bugging us!"

"She's the best thing that ever happened to me! She accepted me for who I was, she didn't push me away when I did nice things for her, and she saved me from despair! She kept on trying to help you but you always told her not to come to your house, so if there's anyone who's selfish and cruel here, it's you!"

"She hasn't saved or helped anybody! She's incapable of that! Stop acting like you're her pet!"

"Unlike you, I'd actually do anything to make sure she's happy! That's what friends do! She's made you happy constantly, yet have you ever paid her back? Noooo!"

"She's the reason I'm in the hole I'm in now!"

"Stop! You've got to stop!" Biyomon yelled.

"Ripping each other up isn't going to get you anywhere! Wan!" Salamon called out, but they just kept on going.

"Tell me, Hanemoto! Are you using Yun as your personal scapegoat for all that your mother puts you through?"

Kosuke punched her in the gut when she said that, but she held on and kept on going.

"Get it in your head already! Just because your mother's nothing but an alcoholic who drinks and lies around the house and does nothing but angst and wallow in her self pity every single day does NOT mean that it's right for you to make false accusations about a person's intentions for doing what they do! Especially not those who've actually tried to help you!"

"She wouldn't be able to do anything to help me anyway!"

"You two are exactly alike, you and those parents of yours!"

Melody got a punch in the forehead from Kosuke. "I AM _NOTHING_ LIKE THOSE OLD HAGS!"

"Yes you are! You're both quick to judge and criticize people for being who they are! You need to shape up!"

"Yun needs to shape up!"

"For who?"

Kosuke couldn't understand what she was asking. "Huh?"

"For _who_ does she need to shape up for? She's perfectly fine in my book!"

Finally, Minako couldn't take it anymore.

"Stop it, you two! You can't keep on fighting like this!" Minako exclaimed, trying to get in between them, but Melody pushed her away.

"Stay out of this! You already did your part, so let me do mine!" Melody yelled angrily.

"Do you really think killing yourselves is going to solve anything?"

"Oh, says the girl who tried to throw herself in a river two months ago!"

Minako's eyes grew big. "How...how...how do you know about that?"

"It was all over the news! You tried to off yourself in that river where your little brother died! That just shows that you're nothing but a coward who doesn't see all the good things that have been given to you!"

"Leave her out of this!" Kosuke dragged Melody back.

"Will you stop?" Biyomon pleaded, but it didn't work. Kosuke and Melody just kept on going at it.

"Admit it, Hanemoto! You're jealous of Yun, aren't you!"

"Okay! I admit it! Yes! I am! She has everything I don't! Wealth, friends, and a loving family that cares about her! I don't have any of that!"

"You should be at least thankful that you even have ONE parent who even bothers to stay with you!"

"Who are you to tell me what to do? My mother's worthless and can't do a thing! She can't even keep a job or make dinner she's too focused on herself!"

"At least you HAVE a parent and friends! Yun's your friend! She actually cares about you!"

"Oh, you're one to talk! If you really care about Yun, then why did you suddenly disappear at the beginning of fourth grade? You didn't even give her any phone calls to tell her what happened!"

"Like I had any choice!"

"And who are you to say that I should be grateful for having a parent and friends? You're way better off than I am! You have parents, friends, wealth, and food-"

"MY PARENTS HAVE BEEN DEAD FOR TWO YEARS! I'VE LOST EVERYTHING BACK THEN!"

Finally, Kosuke stopped hitting Melody. His hands fell to his sides, and his eyes grew big as Melody stared at him with that feral look in her eyes. Even Minako and the three Digimon were surprised. Kosuke and Minako did always wonder what happened to Melody after she, according to Kosuke just now, suddenly disappeared at the beginning of fourth grade. They knew something had happened, but they didn't know what, and Melody never told them anything, not even Yun...until now. Melody clung to her left arm with her right hand and looked away from Kosuke.

"Utau-san and Yuzuru-san are..._dead_?" Kosuke asked. Minako put her hands over her mouth.

"You don't know. None of you do. Guess it's time to spill the beans. My house was set on fire two years ago. My whole family died in there! Mom, Dad, my big brother, and my little sister! All dead and buried six feet under dirt! I've been in at least eight foster homes in one year! They claimed to want me and take care of me because they cared, but I found out later that they didn't care about me at all. They only took me in so they could receive benefits! They wouldn't even let me call anyone I love, not even my friends! It's a miracle I even managed to come back here! I've lost my ability to forgive because of those idiots, and I refuse to forget about what they did to me! To me, THAT is using and manipulating someone for their own benefit! I'm staying in my ninth foster home right now. You didn't recognize me, did you? You probably thought I was some punk who was picked off the streets. I didn't really care. I didn't think you'd remember or recognize me anyhow. But Yun...she remembered me. She embraced me and still recognized me as her friend, even though I changed so much! Then I realized it: SHE'S the reason why I'm here today! I went through so much trauma, hoping and praying that I would see her and be with her again, and my wish came true! She's the best friend I could ever have! She accepted me and welcomed me back! If it weren't for that, then I would've probably offed myself! Parasites don't welcome their best friends back after they've been gone a long time! She never abandoned me when I needed her the most!"

Kosuke, Minako, Patamon, Salamon, and Biyomon couldn't believe what they heard. That's why Melody was gone? Her house was set on fire? Her whole family died? She was put in many foster homes that only cared about receiving benefits and not her welfare? The agency that put her up for adoption wouldn't even let her call her friends? Biyomon looked as though she were about to break into a paroxysm of tears, she was so shocked by what Melody just poured out of her mouth! Minako had only one thing to say.

"Does...Yun know about this?" Minako asked in a low whisper.

"No. She doesn't. I can't tell her yet. Not now. If I tell her about what happened, she'll likely..." Melody let that sentence drift away. But someone else...didn't believe a word of it. Literally.

"That's the stupidest, most melodramatic story I've ever heard!" Kosuke exclaimed.

"But it's true! You seriously think I'm making this up?" Melody yelled, angry by Kosuke's sudden caustic comment.

"Please don't!" Patamon tried to keep them apart, but he was unsuccessful. They wrestled each other again.

"You're going to have to tell Yun about it some day! How do you know she's not plotting something against you?" Kosuke yelped.

"Her plans ALWAYS backfire or never work out!" Melody screamed.

Patamon, Salamon, and Biyomon could no longer watch them fight. They all looked at each other and nodded. They were going to end this stupid and pointless squabble.

"I was stupid to think you'd still be the happy and cheerful kid you once were! Now look at you! You're full of skunk puke! You better get it in your head that Yun's not the person you claim she is! I should've known you'd turn into this numb-skulled idiot!"

"Is this why you called me here? So you can tell me how numb-skulled I am?"

"Yes! Yes it is! In fact, I've been planning on pummeling you to the ground since last night! You should know by now that Yun's NOT the person you think she is, and that your mom's frying your brain!"

"You're the one who told me I should be grateful for having a parent in the first place!"

"Shouldn't you be asking yourself who's causing all your pain and suffering? Maybe it's you! Maybe you're making yourself suffer!"

"Why I oughta-"

Kosuke wanted to punch Melody so hard in the face that he'd both knock her teeth out and give her a nose bleed...but he was deprived of that chance because of a very, very, VERY high pitched scream.

_"HOLY ROOOOAAAAARRRR!"_

Out of nowhere, both of their ears were brutally assaulted by a very high frequency sound that went on for a full 15 seconds total! Kosuke screamed and fell to the ground once it finally finished. They both covered their ears, but it was already too late. They were surprised to see who did it.

"Salamon?" Melody muttered.

"Stop all of this fighting RIGHT NOW!" Salamon screamed angrily. Kosuke was just mad.

"Stay out of this, will you? This is our-" Kosuke was about to yell at her, but suddenly...

"Holy Wing!"

Two streams of white light zipped right past Kosuke, hitting him on both sides of his face. It was Patamon, who purposefully attacked him! Kosuke clung to one of his cheeks in pain, but when he looked at his hand...he saw a drop of blood on it!

"You're both acting like a bunch of little babies! All of this nonsense about Yun doing nice things to manipulate people...this is getting way outta hand! If anyone should shape up, it's the two of you!" Patamon screamed angrily.

"That's right! I may be vain, but even I know for a fact that getting all worked up over a silly little thing and throwing a temper tantrum about it is NOT going to get me anywhere! And the same applies to you two also!" Biyomon yelped.

"But Biyomon-" Melody tried to interject her, but Biyomon interjected her back.

"Don't you 'but Biyomon' me! The two of you need to calm down and stay down, that's what I think!" Biyomon told her.

"I'm very disappointed in you, Kosuke! Look what you've become! You're not the nice and quiet and sensitive person who raised me and brought me up! Now you're a bitter and selfish scrooge! Yun-chan is right! You're NOT the Kosuke we know and love! It's okay to be angry, yes, but it is NOT okay to take it out on other people and, even more than that, claim that they're something that they're not! I understand you're all wound up because of your mother, but causing all this damage isn't going to do anything but exacerbate the situation even more! I don't understand, Kosuke! What happened to you?" Patamon yelled.

Finally, Kosuke lost all of his motivation to fight with Melody.

"He's right! This is all getting way out of hand! You shouldn't be fighting amongst each other and accusing each other of being something they're not! Especially not like this! We're all very disappointed in all of you! Now you're going to have to pay for it! From this day forth, we refuse to talk to all three of you until you all kiss and make up! That includes you too, Minako!" Salamon exclaimed.

"What? Why...I...why do I-?" Minako didn't understand why Salamon is suddenly dragging her into the conversation.

"I agree. Kosuke, you should shape up yourself and apologize to Yun for all the mean things you said to her! I absolutely refuse to agree with anything you say until you apologize to Yun!" Patamon exclaimed.

And with that, all three Digimon left their three partners behind. The kids, finally having enough, decided to go home...but much to their surprise, their Digimon didn't come home with them! They had plans of their own.

Back at the Wakamiya house, Yun, Lucero, Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon are playing in Yun's room. Yun is still rather dejected, but she felt a tad better being with her friends. Yun and Terriermon are playing Pokemon games and battling each other...and Yun won.

"Awwww! I lost!" Terriermon complained. Yun didn't rejoice or scream hysterically or laugh out loud or anything. She still kept that solemn look on her face.

"Sorry I beat you," Yun muttered. But in a flash, Terriermon smiled and pat Yun on the back.

"It's okay. It's just a game so it's fine!" Terriermon exclaimed happily. But Yun's mood didn't change.

"Yun? What's wrong?" Lucero asked.

"When we were little...my friends and I used to play Pokemon together whenever we had the chance..." Yun muttered as she found herself walking down memory lane for a little bit.

(flashback)

_In Yun's backyard, Yun, Minako, Kosuke, and Melody, all at least 7-8 years old at the time, were playing together. Yun and Kosuke are playing Pokemon and battling each other...and Kosuke won._

_"Yeah! Ha ha! I won! I won!" Kosuke cheered happily as he rejoiced in his victory._

_"Nooo! You beat me!" Yun complained. Kosuke, then stopping to see Yun's sadness, stopped cheering. He smiled at her and removed the link cable from their GameBoy Advance SPs._

_"It's okay, Yun! You'll be able to beat me someday! You just gotta train your Pokemon more!" Kosuke told her kindly._

_"But you made it to Blackthorn City already! I can't get through the ice cave!" Yun told him._

_"Here! I'll help you with that!" Kosuke told her and decided to help her with the game. Yun smiled upon seeing that Kosuke is willing to help her. Melody is showing Minako some papers._

_"Minako? Can you help me with this? I'm stuck on this one," Melody asked. Minako looked at Melody's paper and smiled._

_"Oh! I can help you with this," Minako told her._

_"You can? Thanks!" Melody said. Finally, Kosuke managed to help Yun get through the cave._

_"I did it! I got out! Thank you, Kosuke-kun!" Yun exclaimed. Kosuke smiled cutely, showing his pearl white teeth. At the same time, Minako managed to help Melody solve the problem she was stuck on._

_"Ohhh! Now I get it! It's no wonder I kept messing up! Thanks Minako!" Melody said. When Minako looked up, she saw someone coming._

_"Uhh...Yun? Your sister's here," Minako told her. Yun gasped and hid behind Melody in fear._

_Ayaka was at least eleven years old back then. Her light brown hair went down to her shoulders and part of it was wrapped in a braid. She wore a white shirt, long blue jeans, red and white sneakers, a necklace with a red heart on it around her neck, and a light purple hat._

_"Yun! Have you been in my room by any chance?" Ayaka asked, not even sounding angry. Just confused._

_"No! You said never to go in there!" Yun exclaimed fearfully._

_"I can't find my nail polish anywhere. Did any of you see it?" Ayaka asked again._

_"No. We don't even like nail polish," Melody said. Kosuke stepped in front of her with a courageous look in his eyes._

_"Sorry, but we haven't seen it or used it! Don't accuse us of something we didn't do!" Kosuke exclaimed, making Ayaka take a few steps back._

_"I was only asking! I wasn't accusing you of anything. Well, thanks anyway. I wonder if I gave it to Kiyomi-chan yesterday?" Ayaka told them and walked away. She was a little annoyed by Kosuke's display of attitude, but she wasn't angry at them. She just wondered if they had seen her nail polish. Ayaka was much nicer back then. Kosuke smiled at Yun and flashed the peace sign at her, which made her laugh and dismayed Minako a bit._

_"Hey! It's my job to flash the peace sign!" Minako exclaimed. Then they went back to playing together, and they enjoyed every minute of it._

(end flashback)

"You'd find this hard to believe, but when Kosuke was little he was just like your typical every day boy. Cheerful, curious, always looking for fun and excitement, and very energetic. But he was still kind and sweet when he wanted to be," Yun explained.

"It sounds like you and your friends spent happy days together back then," Lopmon said. Yun couldn't help but smile a little. But in her now broken heart, she wished that she could go back to those happy days, similar to how Witchmon wanted to go back to her own happy days before she got banished. Yun wished that things hadn't changed so much. But it was life, and life often does unexpected things. Yun was about to ruminate some more until she heard voices coming from the back yard.

"Ow! Biyomon! What are you doing? Stay still! Wan!"

"Patamon! Get your foot out of my eye! That hurts!"

"Sorry! Stop wobbling, will you? We'll fall!"

Curious, Yun decided to amble to the window and open it. Lopmon, Cutemon, Terriermon, and Lucero went with her to see who was out there. Much to her surprise, right in front of the almost wilted tiger lily bush are Salamon, Patamon, and Biyomon (in order, from top to bottom), forming a little Digimon tower and having a rather hard time staying still and keeping their balance. Everyone was surprised, but when they saw the tower of Digimon about to fall in front of them, Yun managed to catch Salamon, since she was at the very top, and prevent everyone else from falling. Patamon and Biyomon, now seeing that it's okay to fly, flew in the air once they saw Yun.

"Hi Yun-chan! Wan!" Salamon exclaimed with a smile.

"What are you three doing here?" Yun asked, confused.

"We're sorry to bother you, but we came to visit!" Patamon said.

"Do you mind if we come in?" Biyomon asked.

"Sure, you can come in," Yun said. Salamon, Patamon, and Biyomon all flew through the window and into Yun's room. Biyomon, like the other two, had no problem flying through the window since the window is almost bigger than her.

"Ohh! This is your room, Yun-chan? It's so cute!" Patamon crooned.

"Indeed! Wan!" Salamon backed him up.

But remembering why they were here, they decided to stop messing around and stand together.

"Dare I ask why you've come here? I suspect you're not here just to visit," Lopmon said. She didn't mean it to sound suspicious or mean. They understood, and had no problem with it. Salamon decided to speak first.

"Yun-chan! We came here because we want to say we're really sorry about what happened last night! I know it's Kosuke and Minako who should be apologizing to you, but we thought we could come here on their behalf and cheer you up at least a little," Salamon explained.

"Kosuke was wrong to say those mean things about you. We don't think what he says is true at all. Ummm...I kinda sort of know why he got all wound up. Two nights ago, after we came home from blueberry picking, his mom got really drunk and spilled Kosuke's blueberries all over the floor. Not only that, her ash tray fell on them and spoiled most of them. All of his hard work was ruined. Then she started shouting all of those things Kosuke said. I'm sure she probably didn't mean it because she was drunk, but it really hit him hard. I've kinda seen the signs of his regression for quite a while now. I never thought he'd go so far, and I don't like it!" Patamon explained.

"We're all aware of the things that are going on in their lives, and we can understand why they'd be so wound up and stressed out, but it doesn't justify what they did, and we're not trying to justify their actions either. What they said and did was wrong! It doesn't matter what caused it, if it's done, then they still have to suffer the consequences," Salamon told her.

"But where are your partners now?" Terriermon asked.

"Kosuke and Melody got into a huge brawl and fought for a long time. We snapped at them and left them at the park. We're pretty angry with them and we left so they could cool off," Biyomon told him.

"Wow. That was cold," Lucero said.

"We thought it was necessary," Patamon said.

"Yun-chan...we really are sorry for what happened. We wish we could've been able to stop it from growing to this extent, but I guess we kinda failed, didn't we?" Salamon said.

"Oh, you shouldn't blame yourselves! I'm sure for a fact that you didn't want all of this to happen," Lopmon told them reassuringly. "We know you don't approve of what's happened, and we appreciate you coming here, but I don't think there was much you could really do."

"You're right. But really, did he have to go so far?" Biyomon exclaimed.

Yun couldn't help but feel more tears come out of her eyes. All the Digimon noticed.

"Oh! Yun!" Lopmon exclaimed as she saw Yun rubbing her eyes.

"You're all so sweet...in coming here and making sure I'm okay. Thanks a whole lot. But...all of what Kosuke said is true, y'know? I really am a parasite. I'm useless and a problem for everyone," Yun said.

"That's not true at all, Yun-chan! Don't say that about yourself!" Salamon pleaded sadly, her violet eyes looking very dejected.

"Yeah! Melody's always talking about what a nice and wonderful person you are! You've always helped her with stuff!" Biyomon told her. She wanted to tell Yun about what Melody told everyone about her life between 4th and 6th grade, but remembering that Melody doesn't want to tell her about it yet, Biyomon decided to respect her decision and keep her beak shut.

"You saved Lucero from dying on the streets! You're always kind to others! You're helping Hokuto-kun come out of his shell. I've noticed!" Patamon said.

Yun wanted to contradict them, but all of a sudden, a true case of speak of the devil happened.

"Wha? Hokuto-kun?"

That was Hisako's voice. All of a sudden, they heard the pitter patter of feet running through the house. In a flash, Hokuto appeared before Yun, with Kudamon wrapped around his shoulder, gasping for breath. Right now he's wearing a short sleeved blue shirt with a picture of the full moon on it, black jean pants, and white sneakers. In one of his hands is a small pink bag.

"So this is why you ran out all of a sudden," Kudamon said. Everyone was surprised, even him.

"Umm...what art thou-" Lucero tried to ask what he was doing here, but Hokuto suddenly looked at Yun with a straight look and showed her the pink bag.

"This is for you! I'm sorry for what happened last night! I wish I could've done something to help!" Hokuto exclaimed in a very loud voice. Everyone was surprised. Hokuto's voice is normally very low. He normally never raised his voice for anything. But now he looks as though he's ready to take on the world. Yun, touched by his very sudden and very unexpected entrance, took the small bag and opened it. She opened it and out came a very tiny plush bird, with red and white fleece skin and a little yellow beak, black dotted eyes and a pink heart on it's chest.

"It's one of Kimi's old toys! She hates it so I thought I'd give it to you!" Hokuto exclaimed loudly again. Yun held the little toy in her hand and almost broke into tears.

"Oh...Hokuto-kun...I love it. Thank you!" Yun said.

Cutemon then noticed that Yun's digivice has fallen open. She picked it up and noticed a button that she hadn't seen before. It was the door button. Out of curiosity, she pressed it. Before everyone realized it, the floor disappeared from under them, and they fell into a digital portal.

"Wha-AHHHHH!"

Yun, Lucero, Hokuto, Lopmon, Cutemon, Terriermon, Salamon, Patamon, Biyomon, and Kudamon all fell into the digital portal. They went to the Digital World!

Kudamon was the first to realize that they arrived, since he woke up first. Soon, everyone woke up and found themselves in an area they had never seen before. The grass beneath them is nice, soft, and green like emeralds, but other parts of the floor looked like Yun's bed spread, pale blue with multicolored flower embroidery all over it in varying patterns and styles. The trees, big and leafy, aren't just green, but are in all the colors of the rainbow! Red, pink, blue, yellow, green, purple, white, they seemed to glow like auroras appearing in the North Pole! Nobody believed such a beautiful thing even existed! Other trees had decorations on them resembling toys fit for little babies, like teddy bears, blocks, and fire trucks. Not only that, there are cubes everywhere. HUGE, soft blocks stacked on each other in threes, reaching up to the trees and are decorated with paintings of cute, cuddly animals and toys. But what was the weird thing?

All the bushes have eggs on them, and there are about a million of those!

Eggs! Eggs, eggs, eggs! Eggs on bushes painted in multifarious colors! The bushes are all over the place. There seemed to be no end to them! The eggs looked like huge Easter eggs, all colorful and cheery. But nobody seemed to mind.

"Wow! What is this place?" Yun asked.

"Eggs? Baby toys? Oh! This is the Meadow of Birth!" Salamon exclaimed.

"Meadow of Birth?" Lucero asked.

"Yep! Is where the DigiEggs come from! When Digimon die, they come here so they can be born again and start their lives anew!" Salamon explained.

"I don't see any unstable data spots anywhere!" Lopmon said. She was right. The place looked perfectly clean and fresh, like it hadn't been destroyed by the Digital World's destruction.

"That's because the Meadow of Birth is protected by a very special magic barrier that prevents it from being destroyed by just about anything and everything. It may not look it, but it's the most heavily guarded place in all the Digital World," Kudamon explained.

"Really? I don't see it," Terriermon said.

"Me neither," Biyomon backed him up.

"The barrier, you mean? Well, it's invisible, and we can't feel it," Kudamon said.

"Wow! These parts of the ground feel like my bed! Only softer and bouncier!" Yun cried out as she jumped on a part of the ground like it was a trampoline. Becoming curious, Lucero, Hokuto, Terriermon, Cutemon, Salamon, and Patamon decided to join her.

"Whee! This is fun!" Lucero yelled.

"You're right! I feel like I'm on a trampoline!" Patamon yelled.

Soon, Lopmon, Biyomon, and Kudamon joined them in their fun and they liked it too. After a while they decided to stop jumping. It certainly lifted off a lot of stress, not just for Yun, but for everyone. They decided to look at the many DigiEggs.

"I've never seen so many before, kyu!" Cutemon exclaimed as she looked at a white egg with blue violet spots on it.

"I wonder if we were here at one point in our lives," Lopmon said as she looked at a pink egg with blue stars on it.

"Maybe we did come here. Wan!" Salamon said as she looked at a light green egg with red hearts on it.

"I wonder if anyone keeps track of all the eggs and babies here?" Yun asked.

"Oh! Look! This DigiEgg is about to hatch!" Lucero called out.

In a flash, everyone ran to the bush where Lucero is standing. They kept their distance so that they won't scare the Digimon that hatches from it. A light blue egg with green diamonds on it is glowing brightly. It blinked a few times, and a crack appeared, followed by another. Finally, out came...

"Pipi!"

A newly hatched Datirimon!

"Awwww! So cute!" Yun, Lopmon, Salamon, Patamon, Lucero, and Cutemon all cooed sweetly. Suddenly, the Datirimon hopped off of the remaining egg shell and onto the bouncy floor. It ambled over to Yun and looked as though it wanted to talk to her.

"Pi! Pipi!" Datirimon squeaked cutely. Yun cradled it in her arms.

"Aren't you a little cutie pie?" Yun said with a smile as she nuzzled Datirimon with her nose, making the little green Digimon laugh.

"Is it a boy or a girl?" Hokuto asked. Kudamon took a peek.

"She's a girl," Kudamon said.

The kids and Digimon sat down and played with the newborn Datirimon for quite a while. Suddenly, Yun found herself feeling dejected again. Even Datirimon noticed.

"Pi?"

"Datirimon...I have to admit, I'm jealous of you," Yun muttered.

Datirimon was confused. "Pi?"

"You're born in a nice and beautiful place like this, and you can play with your friends every day, and you're surrounded by all of this warmth and all of these nice, soft things, you get to play with all of these toys, and you have people who will accept you for who you are. I...I wish I had that..." Yun told her, and the more she told, the more she started to whimper. Everyone could see it. Yun's about to cry again. Yun gently put Datirimon down and tried to push the tears back with her arms...but it seems they're fighting to get out.

"Pipi?" Datirimon didn't understand what was going on, nor anything Yun just said. But even her meager intelligence could tell what sadness was.

"Oh no! Yun, dear! Please don't cry so!" Lopmon and everyone else tried to console her. Even sweet, innocent little Datirimon wanted to make her happy.

As it would turn out in a bit, she wouldn't be the only baby Digimon concerned for a human's happiness.

Salamon saw it first.

"Look!" Salamon called out and everyone turned to look. It took Yun a little while, but she calmed down enough to see what got Salamon so excited.

Sitting right in front of them and looking up at them with curious and concerned faces is a large group of baby Digimon! Yun recognized most of them. Botamon, Conomon, Zerimon, Puttimon, Pururumon, YukimiBotamon, Leafmon, and Pichimon. Others she recognized from TV: Punimon, a cute little red Digimon with three protrusions coming out of it's head and big black and white eyes, Pabumon, a green bubble Digimon with a yellow pacifier in it's mouth, Yuramon, a fluffy white Digimon with a purple face and two purple antennae, Chibomon, a little blue Digimon, and Jyarimon, a little red Digimon. They were quite surprised to see this many baby Digimon right in front of them. None of them said a word out of fear they might scare them. But the Digimon babies didn't look scared at all. In fact, the Punimon hopped in front of Yun, looked up at her and smiled brightly as if she were the most normal thing in the world.

"Hello!" The Punimon said in a cute voice. At first, Yun was reluctant to reply back, but she did so anyway.

"Hello..." Yun replied.

"Why are ya cryin'?" Punimon asked.

Yun fell silent again. She didn't know how to answer, especially not to a baby Digimon who most likely won't understand the situation she's in. But despite her inability to answer, the Punimon hopped on her shoulder and rubbed against her cheek. Datirimon followed suit, and it made Yun laugh.

"Don't cry!" Punimon said.

"Pipi!" Datirimon peeped, seemingly backing Punimon with her inaudible statement. Punimon then looked at the other Digimon babies.

"Everyone! Let's make her happy!" Punimon edicted proudly.

"Puuu!" All the baby Digimon suddenly charged at Yun.

"Wha? No! Wait-" Yun tried to escape, thinking that they were going to attack her, but the gaggle of baby Digimon caught up to her and leaped on her. Strangely enough, they weren't hurting her. Yun suddenly found herself laughing because these baby Digimon are practically all over her body, Datirimon included!

"Hey! G-Get off me! Tha-That really tickles!" Yun cried, trying to get the baby Digimon off of her, but they didn't want to let go they were so passionate about making Yun smile, which they did. Not only that, she wasn't the only one who broke into laughter! Lucero did so immediately, mostly because he thinks the whole situation is quite cute and funny. He didn't bother to stop the baby Digimon, and neither did everyone else. But someone did.

"Children! Let's go back to the meadow, shall we?"

Upon seeing what's arriving, the baby Digimon immediately hopped off of Yun and ran away...except for Datirimon, who stayed next to Lucero for reasons unknown. The kids and Digimon were surprised to see a giant bear heading their way! A big, yellow teddy bear with a big white belly and muzzle, red crescent shaped eyes, and a bandage serving as it's belly button. Hokuto looked up the Digimon's information on his digivice.

"He's Monzaemon, an ultimate level, vaccine attribute, puppet Digimon. His attack is Hearts Attack," Hokuto said, a little surprised by the big bear Digimon.

"He doesn't have a Dark Emblem on him, does he?" Biyomon asked. Kudamon smiled.

"No. Not a Dark Emblem in sight, so it's safe to say that he's perfectly clean," Kudamon said. Monzaemon caught sight of them and quietly kneeled before them.

"Oh? We have guests? How wonderful! Why don't you come to the meadow? The babies love guests!" Monzaemon told them kindly in a deep, rich voice. Seeing the kindness inside this big, cuddly Digimon, they decided to go with him.

They found themselves in the main square of the meadow, which, much to their surprise, is literally overrun with toys, cuddly stuffed animals, DigiEggs, and baby Digimon. But there are other things there too, like a big table, a big white refrigerator, lots of tan colored boxes, and lots of multicolored pillows and cradles. The children, Digimon, and Monzaemon sat a little ways away from the main square so the baby Digimon can frolic happily.

"Oh! So you're humans! I've never seen real humans before! What an honor to meet you!" Monzaemon exclaimed. Nobody said anything, which he found puzzling, but he continued on. "Now, exactly how can I help you? Do you need anything important?"

"No. We...kinda came here by accident," Yun muttered. Cutemon's ears drooped downward.

"Sorry..." Cutemon muttered.

"It's alright. You're still a guest here and we love guests...so long as they have good intentions, of course," Monzaemon said.

"Doth thou take care of the Digimon children here?" Lucero asked.

"Yes, I do. But not my myself. My friend Swanmon helps me most of the time. She's the dearest little thing I know," Monzaemon said. "But for some reason she's taking quite a while coming back here."

"What do you mean?" Salamon asked.

"Well, she said she was going to run and get some strawberries for a dessert she's going to make, but she hasn't come back yet," Monzaemon said, looking up at the sky aimlessly.

"Should we help you look for her?" Lopmon asked.

"You want to help me look? Oh! I would very much appreciate it! Quite honestly, I'd love to go with you, but taking care of the babies is a lot of work, and I can't just leave them here when there are so many!" Monzaemon said.

"We help look! We help look!" Chibomon exclaimed cutely.

"Yeah! We'll help find Mama Swanmon!" Puttimon said.

But as it would turn out, they didn't need to find her. Someone else already did, and that someone else appeared on the scene, sobbing and crying.

"Waaah! Waaah!" A lone Botamon hopped out from the bushes, crying it's yellow eyes out.

"What wrong, Botamon?" Punimon asked.

"Yeah! Why ya cryin'?" Chibomon asked.

"I...I...found...Mama Swanmon!" The sad Botamon cried out, which made everyone stand up in alarm.

"Where is she?" Monzaemon asked.

"By the...by the...playhouse! But...she's huuuurt!" Botamon cried, then wailed loudly at the last sentence. Monzaemon picked up the crying Botamon gently.

"There there, now. Don't cry, little dear. Can you take us to her?" Monzaemon cooed quietly in a soft voice that mollified the crying Botamon just a little bit. Botamon kept whimpering, but he hopped out of Monzaemon's arms and decided to show everyone the way.

"This doesn't sound good. Let's follow him!" Yun advised. Everyone nodded and followed little Botamon. Even the group of baby Digimon that cheered Yun up followed them.

It didn't take long to find this playhouse. They just had to go through a few bushes of DigiEggs. The playhouse itself is what surprised them. It's a big, round, pale purple, two story dome, with lots of drawings and decorations on it, and multicolored protrusions for the babies to hop on. But when the kids and Digimon looked behind it, an injured Digimon lay on the grass, covered in bumps and bruises...and pink poop remains! The Digimon looks like a big white swan with a long curved yellow beak and big white wings, but she has a pointed silver and black helmet on her head, a silver and gold piece of armor between her neck and chest like a necklace, metallic legs, and gold feet. Her wings, pinion feathers, and tail feathers are tipped with grey streaks on the front and back, and her eyes are a dazzling shade of emerald green. But right now she's grimacing in pain, and a big white box fell next to her. Yun, Monzaemon, Lucero, Lopmon, and Botamon ran up to her in alarm.

"Mama Swanmon! Mama Swanmon!" Botamon cried passionately. Yun and Monzaemon decided to lift her up.

"Swanmon, dear! Are you alright? What happened?" Monzaemon cried out.

"I...I was attacked...by Geremon. But I got away..." Swanmon croaked, but as she tried to get up, she felt a jolt of pain run through one of her wings.

"Don't move so much. We'll help you out," Yun told her in a low voice.

"Who...who are you?" Swanmon asked.

"We'll tell you later. Let's fix you up first," Yun told Swanmon in a gentle voice, then looked back at everyone else as she put Swanmon on her back, despite the fact that she's slightly bigger and heavier than her. "Lucero, Hokuto-kun, Patamon, and Biyomon, try looking for some gauze I can use to patch up Swanmon's wounds! Lopmon and Cutemon, you stay here and help me out with taking care of her. Salamon and Monzaemon, you find some water so we can wash her down!"

"On it!" Everyone ran off to do as they were asked.

Yun, Lopmon, and Cutemon carried Swanmon to the square of the meadow, next to the big table, and they laid her down gently. Cutemon and Lopmon both worked together to heal most of Swanmon's smaller cuts and scratches, which worked great thanks to Cutemon's great healing powers. Monzaemon and Salamon came with a big basin full of water and washed her down. Thankfully, the poop droppings came off nicely and with some nice soap water, she came out squeaky clean. Even her armor looked shiny and good as new. Lucero, Hokuto, Patamon, and Biyomon came back with gauze and wrapped it around her bigger wounds, like one on her right wing. They tried to be as gentle as possible, even though none of them had any experience in taking care of a giant bird. But Swanmon endured it silently as she watched the humans and Digimon take care of her. Yun made sure to make Swanmon feel as comfortable as possible, hoping that she wouldn't cause any extraneous pain. Thankfully, Swanmon didn't, and that made Yun happy. Kudamon helped out by keeping the babies occupied while they took care of Swanmon. After a while, she was finally patched up. They sat her down on a big pillow at the table.

"Does it hurt anywhere? Did we make the gauze too tight or too loose?" Yun asked with worry and concern in her green eyes.

"It does hurt a little, but it's nothing you did. I feel much better now than I did earlier. Thank you very much for taking care of me. I really appreciate it," Swanmon said in a kind, dulcet, motherly voice, which made Yun smile a little. Some of the Digimon babies snuggled up to her and she smiled at them sweetly.

"Did you little ones behave yourselves?" She asked them, and they responded with either random baby babble or compound sentences.

Monzaemon sat a little ways away from Swanmon so he could give her space, but when he looked down, he noticed Hokuto looking up at him with a very curious and interested look in his eyes, like a little child wanting to have his favorite toy. Monzaemon, seeing Hokuto's shining cobalt blue eyes, smiled at him and decided to play with him. Hokuto did too. Kudamon watched from afar and smiled upon seeing that Hokuto is attempting to make a friend. He decided to leave them alone and give them space. Swanmon noticed Lopmon, Terriermon, Cutemon, Salamon, Patamon, Biyomon, and Kudamon sitting all around her, and she couldn't help but gasp a little.

"My! You have many Digimon for partners, do you not?" Swanmon asked, looking a little surprised.

"Oh? These little fellows? No, they're not ALL my partners. Only Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon," Yun explained as Lopmon hopped on her shoulder and nuzzled her happily.

"We're partnered with her friends! Wan!" Salamon exclaimed.

"Where are they now? Did you get lost?" Swanmon asked.

"No. They all got into a big fight, and we didn't like the way they were treating each other, so we left them alone so they could cool off. It really got out of hand," Biyomon explained.

"My! That must have been rough," Swanmon said.

"It was!" Patamon said.

"My partner is over there playing with Monzaemon," Kudamon looked over at Monzaemon and Hokuto, who are apparently having a very fun time playing with each other.

"How sweet. Monzaemon is very popular with the children, so I thought maybe he could help me out with taking care of them. He's helped me a great deal and I owe him a lot," Swanmon said. Then she looked at the box of strawberries, which, thankfully, have been spared any chance of contamination and spoiling. "Oh! I know of a great way to repay you all!"

Swanmon waddled over to the refrigerator with the box of strawberries, got some cooking tools out of one of the boxes, and proceeded to walk away from the square.

"But don't you need to rest?" Yun asked, sounding worried.

"It's perfectly alright. I may be hurt, but none of my parts needed for cooking have sustained any collateral damage, so I'm fine in that department. Would you be a dear and wait over there? I'm going to make you all something very special," Swanmon told her and walked off.

Swanmon was gone for a good 30 minutes straight. Salamon, Patamon, Terriermon, and Cutemon played happily with the Digimon babies, running around and playing tag and giving them some well needed exercise. Lopmon found some formula in the refrigerator and gave some to two Digimon babies, a Conomon and a Puttimon. Lucero sat on a giant fluffy cube and played with Datirimon the whole time, showing her some funny faces and making cute hand gestures that made Datirimon laugh. Kudamon sat with Lucero but didn't play with Datirimon. He just watched as Hokuto and Monzaemon played together. He couldn't help but wonder if Hokuto ever had the experience of playing with child's toys. All of a sudden, Swanmon came out with a HUGE plate with white and pink globs of jelly on it.

"Everyone! My special strawberry vanilla jam is ready!" Swanmon edicted.

"Wheeee!" Most of the baby Digimon gathered around. Everyone else gathered as well. But Yun noticed something odd about the jelly.

"Why does it look like this?" Yun asked, pointing out that the white layer is thicker than the pink gelatin inside.

"It's so the babies can eat it without choking," Swanmon told her as she gave her a plate of it.

At first, Yun was reluctant to eat the food given to her. For one thing, she never really liked jelly, even on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Starting when she was seven years old, her sandwiches only had peanut butter and nothing else. But then again, Swanmon, despite her injuries, took the time to make it for her as a harbinger of her gratitude to her and everyone else who helped her. Plus, she noticed that everyone else seemed to love the jelly. Yun didn't want to make herself come off as ungrateful or unappreciative, so she pushed her tastes down into the back of her mind and decided to eat a little bit of it. Right when the vanilla and the pink jelly both melted into her mouth, Yun suddenly found herself in heaven. The vanilla is nice and cold, and the pink jelly had no traces of the strawberry in it even though it's made from strawberries. The jelly is even softer than the vanilla, and very easy to chew and digest. Yun relished in the soft, gooey, and floppy taste. She wished she could have the recipe for this and have Hisako cook it for her! Not only that, Lopmon, Terriermon, and all the Digimon love it. She wished that she could share it with the entire Digimon Brigade, Minako and Kosuke included.

Suddenly, bad memories flooded back into her mind, and despite the awesomeness of the food she's eating, sobs and tears came out from her mouth and eyes again. She tried to push them back, but it seemed they were persistent and didn't want to be held in. Suddenly, all the Digimon noticed and looked at her with worry.

"Yun! Please don't cry so!" Lopmon pleaded, clinging to Yun's arm.

"I-I-I'm sorry. They just...came out all of a...sudden..." Yun whimpered, trying to brush them away. Swanmon and the babies were quite surprised upon seeing Yun crying. Swanmon ambled toward her and put a wing on her back.

"It's alright, dearie. Is my jelly...bad?" Swanmon asked.

"No. It's awesome. I love it. It's just..." Yun wanted to tell her about what happened, but Swanmon had been through a lot already. She didn't want to burden her with her sob story.

"Yun-chan kinda had a really bad day yesterday," Terriermon said. Lopmon elbowed him.

"Terriermon! If she doesn't want to talk about it, then don't force her!" Lopmon reproved her brother for his carelessness, but Yun didn't seem to mind.

"No. It's fine. I...I want to tell you, but...you've been through too much already. I shouldn't be troubling you with-" Yun whimpered.

"It's no trouble at all, uhh...Yun, was it? I don't mind if you tell me, though I don't know if I can help you any. I'm more than willing to listen," Swanmon told her gently. Worried, Lopmon but both of her pink paws on Yun's hand, reassuring her that it's okay.

Yun finally told Swanmon about yesterday and what happened. Yun never really did tell anyone about it because everyone was there when it happened. She did want to tell her parents about it, but she was afraid that they might get the wrong idea and forbid them from ever having contact with each other again, or get into cat fights with the parents. Yun didn't want to believe that they said those things because they really did hate her. She thought that it was because they were all wound up and stressed out because of what's going on in their lives. She assumed it was understandable for them to take it out on her, but...in the back of her mind, she couldn't help but think that they really meant what they said. After hearing everything, Swanmon nudged Yun's cheek with her own.

"Oh my. You must have been quite hurt," Swanmon said.

"Yeah. I still am. I...I don't understand why they'd say it like that. But maybe...it's all true?" Yun muttered.

"No it's not!" Lopmon suddenly yelped.

"I agree with her. I'm offering you my hospitality because you and your friends helped me earlier, and I'm ever so grateful for it. Parasites don't feel gratitude for people who offer them their hospitality. You don't look or act anything like a parasite at all!" Swanmon reasoned kindly, stroking Yun's back with her wing. Lucero, Hokuto, and Kudamon sat next to her and smiled at her.

"Indeed. You don't or act the part. Yun, you've been a wonderful influence on Hokuto. He literally ran out of the house and barged into your house and gave you something of his. He's never done anything like that before. Not only that, I have the ability to tell whether a human or Digimon has good or evil intentions. You have nothing but benevolence inside of you. My senses never lie," Kudamon told her with a smile. Yun looked down at the little toy that Hokuto gave her.

"Thy heart is as pure and good as the jelly that Swanmon hath made for us! I cannot fathom why Kosuke and Minako did what they did, but if thou wouldst go through things of this sort alone, I will share thy injuries without regret. Friends endure hardship together, and they triumph together," Lucero told her kindly.

"I couldn't have said it any better than that," Lopmon said with a smile.

"Pipi!" It seemed Datirimon backed Lopmon's statement, though it didn't look like she understood any of it. Yun wiped away most of her tears and looked at Swanmon with a slightly forced smile.

"Thanks for the food. It's delicious. Again, I'm sorry for-" Yun wanted to apologize to Swanmon again for telling her about what happened, but suddenly, Cutemon stood in front of everyone.

"A Digimon is coming!" Cutemon exclaimed.

Kudamon hopped next to her. "A great many of them too!"

Everyone stood up in alarm. Suddenly, a gaggle of Geremon appeared from out of nowhere!

"Ewwww! Yucky!" A Zerimon yelled.

"Poop Attack!"

"Hearts Attack!"

The many Geremon were about to attack everyone, but Monzaemon stepped in and made giant pink heart bubbles shoot out of his belly and wrap themselves around the pink swirlies, keeping them from spoiling and stinking up the meadow.

"We've gotta stop them!" Yun exclaimed as she got her digivice out.

Lopmon digivolved to Turuiemon, Terriermon to Gargomon, Cutemon to Rabbitmon, and Kudamon to Reppamon. Swanmon looked behind her and saw that the babies are growing scared and looking as though they're about to cry any minute. Swanmon waddled over to the babies and tried to hush them, then she turned to look at Salamon, Patamon, and Biyomon.

"Salamon. Patamon. Biyomon. Can you three help me move the babies somewhere safe?" Swanmon asked.

"Don't mind if we do!" Biyomon exclaimed as she flew over to them. Lucero ran over to them as soon as he saw them.

"I will assist thee," Lucero told them in a whisper as he, Swanmon, Salamon, Patamon, and Biyomon tried to hush the babies and move them somewhere safe. Meanwhile...

"Ninja Fist!"

"Gargo Laser!"

"Carrot Bomb!"

"Vacuum Kamaitachi!"

"Hearts Attack!"

The good thing about this battle is that there are much less Geremon to deal with than yesterday, so the battle wasn't as difficult as they expected. They managed to defeat most of the Geremon and turn them to DigiEggs. Unfortunately, as Reppamon was about to scratch a Geremon, it slipped out of his grasp and gasped upon seeing what the Geremon caught sight of.

"Oh no! Those baby Digimon are in danger!" Reppamon exclaimed.

He was right. Four baby Digimon, a Conomon, a Zerimon, a YukimiBotamon, and a Poyomon are huddled against a fluffy cube, trembling in fear as a volatile Geremon was about to attack them. The other Digimon tried to attack it, but they were assaulted by other Geremon so they couldn't act as quickly as they hoped.

"Look out!" Yun cried out, hoping that the babies would run. But they couldn't. They were too afraid. Yun didn't want them to be killed, so she ran after it.

"Yun! What are you doing! Come back!" Turuiemon called out, but Yun ignored her.

"She's gonna save the babies!" Gargomon exclaimed as he killed a Geremon.

Yun literally leaped on the Geremon and tried to stretch his face as far apart as possible, hoping it'd distract him from hurting the four Digimon babies.

"You leave them alone, you bully!" Yun yelled angrily as she tried to wrangle the wild Geremon with her digilasso. But Geremon flailed and struggled so much that he actually managed to make Yun fly off of his back. He then proceeded to attack her...but he didn't get the chance to do so.

"Dance of the White Swan!"

Swanmon zipped past Yun and pinned Geremon to the ground while cloaked in a white light, then proceeded to pummel him with a myriad of kicks, pecks, and wing slaps, causing him to turn into data! Lucero, Salamon, Patamon, Biyomon, and Datirimon all ran to Yun.

"Art thou alright, Yun?" Lucero asked.

"Yep!" Yun said.

"Look! Swanmon's on fire!" Salamon exclaimed as she saw Swanmon literally beat a Geremon to death. Literally.

"Swanmon! You should stay back! You're still hurt!" Yun advised.

"Yun! Take those four and get them out of here!" Swanmon commanded.

"But you need to rest!"

"Not when the lives of my precious children are at stake! Now go!"

Yun saw that there was no point in arguing with her. She scooped the four baby Digimon in her arms and put them with the others.

The rest of the battle went smoothly. With everyone's help, all the Geremon were defeated and turned into DigiEggs. Finally, it was safe for the baby Digimon to come back out and frolic along the meadow, rejoicing in everyone's victory. Everyone de-digivolved and sat in the square. Swanmon tried to, but pain ran through one of her wings and Yun helped her up.

"Why did you fight when you were still injured? You could've gotten hurt even more!" Yun said.

"I won't...let anyone...lay a hand on my precious children! I'll protect them or die trying!" Swanmon exclaimed. Yun couldn't help but smile as she gently laid Swanmon back on a big pillow. Yun looked away for just a second, when suddenly...

"Oh my! Swanmon and Monzaemon! You're both glowing!" Lopmon exclaimed suddenly.

She's right. Swanmon's chest is glowing and Monzaemon's belly button is glowing. Everyone, even the baby Digimon, watched as a white light came out of Swanmon and a yellow light came out of Monzaemon, both shining brightly and radiantly. The lights danced and mingled with each other in the sky for a minute, then floated away. The white light floated into Yun's hands, and the yellow light floated into Hokuto's hands. The white light dissipated to form a clear, white gem stone in the shape of a swan. The yellow light dissipated to form a yellow gem stone in the shape of a bear's head (or a YukimiBotamon to be more specific). Yun and Hokuto looked at each other with surprise, then down at the gem stone.

"Wow! We got their D-Chips, Hokuto-kun!" Yun exclaimed. Lopmon, Terriermon, and Cutemon both clung to Yun's legs in exaltion.

"How wonderful, Yun!" Lopmon said.

"You're Swanmon's partner now!" Terriermon told her.

"Yay! Yay! Swanmon is friends with Yun, kyu!" Cutemon exclaimed.

Hokuto looked down at his gem stone and didn't quite understand what it was for. Kudamon hopped back onto his shoulder.

"A D-Chip?" Hokuto asked.

"Yes. Yun was telling us about them once. If you befriend a Digimon if you already have a partner, a piece of their data forms this gem stone, signalling your partnership. Monzaemon is your secondary Digimon now. With that, you can call for him when you need to," Kudamon explained. Monzaemon heard this and smiled.

"I'm very honored to be your secondary partner, Hokuto-kun," Monzaemon told him with a smile. Hokuto and Kudamon both smiled back. Biyomon suddenly fell on her tail feathers as a YukimiBotamon lay on her head happily.

"Ahhhh! I'm soooo tired!" Biyomon exclaimed.

"You're tired? You hardly did anything at all!" Terriermon said with a Pichimon clinging to his ears.

"I helped Swanmon take the babies to a safe place!" Biyomon retorted. The kids and Digimon laughed. Yun looked at Swanmon with a smile on her face.

"She does have a point. We should probably be going back to our world now. Thanks for your hospitality, and I'm sorry for causing all of this trouble," Yun told her.

"I should thank you and everyone here for helping me. I'll probably have to take more rest from now on, but I think Monzaemon will help me out, and you helped me save the babies from those Geremon. I'm just happy everything turned out alright in the end. You should come back some time," Swanmon said. Everyone huddled together to go home...but they didn't get to open the digital portal yet.

"Pipi! Pipiii!"

Datirimon bit Lucero's leg as if she were trying to keep him here. She cried and cried.

"I don't think she wants us to leave," Lopmon said.

"That could be. We were the first things she saw after all," Salamon said.

Lucero gently smiled at the little green Digimon, picked her up, and hugged her.

"Don't cry so, little one. We'll come back soon, and we can play together. Thou shouldst stay here and learn a great many new things, get stronger, and become a good Digimon. Will thou behave thyself and wait until then?" Lucero told her as kindly and gently as possible. Little Datirimon didn't want Lucero and the others to leave. But despite the fact that she was just born and the fact that she can hardly see anything through her tears, she calmed down.

"Pi..." Datirimon said. Lucero rubbed his little nose against Datirimon's skin and gently put her down. He stroke the stem on her head with his hand.

"I'll come back soon, little one. Worry not, for we shall come back and play together again soon," Lucero said. Datirimon stepped back as Yun got her digivice out, opened a digital portal, and stepped in it. Everyone else followed suit, and it disappeared. Swanmon, Monzaemon, and the baby Digimon watched as they disappeared.

"Humans are quite amazing, aren't they?" Swanmon asked.

"I believe so," Monzaemon said. Datirimon bawled and made waterfalls of tears, but Swanmon picked her up and held onto her. She too was sad about seeing them go, but she could tell that they would come back one day...and that Yun would call for her one of these days.

All of a sudden, Yun, Lucero, Hokuto, and everyone else found themselves back in Yun's room. All the Digimon, Salamon, Patamon, and Biyomon included, de-digivolved into their in-training forms except for Cutemon. Kokomon, Gummymon, Nyaromon, Tokomon, Yokomon, and Kyaromon. Yun got up and placed all the Digimon on her bed hidden within her many stuffed animals. The first thing they heard was a voice.

"Hokuto! Come back here!"

Yun, Lucero, and Hokuto stood themselves up, and suddenly Aki came bolting into the room, looking as though she ran a marathon. She gasped for breath as Hisako came into the room, then grabbed Hokuto's arm.

"Hokuto! You shouldn't go running out of the house and barging into someone else's! You have to knock and give them time to let you inside first!" Aki scolded.

"I take it he doesn't know?" Hisako asked.

Aki sighed. "Yes. I forgot to teach him how to knock on people's doors when we go out. I'm so sorry!"

"It's alright," Hisako said. Aki then turned to Hokuto.

"Now Hokuto, say you're sorry!"

"Sorry for...what?"

"For barging into this house without permission! You nearly had Hisako thinking you were a robber! This is not the appropriate way to enter someone's house!"

"I...just wanted to give Yun a present and cheer her up!"

"I understand you have good intentions, but you still have to ask for permission if you want to enter someone's house. Now say you're sorry!"

Hokuto looked at Yun reluctantly. "Sorry..."

"It's fine," Yun said.

"Alright then, let's go back home. Kantaro is worried about you!" Aki scolded as she dragged Hokuto out of the room, but before he left, he managed to sneak a smile and a wave at Yun before being dragged out, which made Yun happy. But Yun couldn't help but wonder why Hokuto was never taught to knock on a door and ask to come in someone's house before. Could it be because of what he went through? Suddenly, Nyaromon, Tokomon, and Yokomon popped out of the stuffed animal pile.

"Thanks for letting us cheer you up," Tokomon told her.

"And we're sorry for all of this stuff happenng," Yokomon told her.

"We're gonna leave now. We hope you feel better soon!" Nyaromon said. The three tiny Digimon hopped out of the window and hopped back home.

Yun felt glad that even though a rift is between her and her friends, it didn't affect the Digimon. Meanwhile, Nyaromon hopped back into Minako's room and plopped on her bed. Minako was working on her laptop as she saw her come in.

"Umm...why did you de-digivolve?" Minako asked.

"I visited Yun just now, but we went to the Digital World by accident. Whew! I'm tired! Nyan!" Nyaromon said as she cuddled up to Kiyoshi's plush dog. Minako smiled at her and went back to working on her laptop...but she still had thoughts lingering in her mind.

_'Tomorrow, I'm definitely going to apologize to Yun and be friends with her again! Nothing will stop me, not even Kosuke!'_ Minako thought.

However, despite Minako's silent oath, she would not be able to apologize to Yun and resolve the conflict as quickly as she would hope, because of yet another upcoming tragedy, and it would force Minako to relive the horrible experience and pain that came with Kiyoshi's death, only the blow would destroy her.

Footnotes:

1. Mono is a Japanese post-rock band that formed in 1999.


	35. Gatomon's Goodbye

EPISODE 35: Gatomon's Goodbye

The day passed and Wednesday came. Like she promised herself (and Nyaromon, who has now digivolved back into Salamon), Minako tried to apologize to Yun during school. But like yesterday, fate prevented her from doing so. Assignments and class time prevented her from even being able to approach Yun, not to mention that Yun still had that straight and solemn look on her face. Minako wished that she could turn back time and fix what she did wrong. She didn't care if Kosuke went on a rampage. Yun was her friend, and friends are obligated to help each other no matter what. But still, Minako did what she did and the damage was done...though right now, she's intent to fix the damage she caused and resolve the conflict going on between her, Yun, and Kosuke. Seeing Melody kick Kosuke's butt yesterday hit Minako hard, not just because of what she learned regarding Melody, but because it gave her a big boost in motivation.

For a moment, she had a chance redeem herself during recess.

Minako did manage to apologize to most of the Digimon Brigade members, like Otoya, Rena, and Riku. Otoya and Rena accepted her apologies right off the bat and forgave her, though Riku seemed a bit suspicious. This was also a stark difference between him and Rena. While Rena forgives people for their misdeeds right off the bat, Riku can't just forgive and forget until he sees proof that Minako really is willing to redeem herself for the better. He probably has his reasons, but this motivated Minako even more. She looked over at the other side of the blacktop and saw Yun quietly reading one of her mangas. _Wind Up Tina_(1), it was. Minako remembered that manga well. They were kids when they got it, and they adored it. They read it together, they fangirled over it together, and squealed and cried over it together. Minako was about to turn away when she noticed Seiko and her two friends walking right toward Yun. Seeing this to be a bad harbinger, Minako decided to take action. Yun saw her as well. She put her manga away and was about to make her escape, but she couldn't. Seiko managed to get in front of her before she could run.

"Hey, Wakamiya! What's that you're reading?" Seiko asked with a wicked smile.

"Nothing you'd be interested in. Now, go away!" Yun told her and tried to push her away, but Seiko and her friends got her surrounded.

"Come on, Wakamiya! It's rude to not answer someone's question," Seiko said.

"It's even more rude to meddle in someone's business when you're not needed!" Yun exclaimed as she managed to push past Iniki and try to run. But Seiko had to have one more shot.

"Did you put on weight in the past week? I can see some skin hanging over your pants!" Seiko exclaimed, which made Tomoka and Iniki laugh.

"Shouldn't you be worrying about your own weight? You could really use some meat, or you'll collapse!" Yun retorted.

"Ooooh! She got you!" Tomoka said.

"At least I don't eat junk food every day like a pig!" Seiko yelled.

"Nemoto's a pig," Yun told her. It was mostly to throw her off. Unfortunately, the very person she mentioned heard it, and immediately slammed her against the fence.

"You callin' me a pig, dawg?" Nenji yelled, angry at Yun's comment just now.

"Get off of me!" Yun cried. Seiko and her clique didn't bother to help her. But someone did.

Minako broke in between them and pryed Nenji off of Yun, allowing her an opportunity to escape. Lucero grabbed her before anyone else could and quickly escorted her from the scene.

"Will you idiots shut up and get a life already? Nobody wants to hear you make weight jokes!" Minako told them.

"Oh look! It's the loser egghead!" Seiko said which made her friends laugh.

"Actually, my head's the shape of a balloon. Yours is shaped like a horse's rear end," Minako said sarcastically with her arms crossed, which made Seiko and her friends gasp in alarm. "And you Nemoto, your head is shaped like an elephant's rear end!"

"Why you-!" Nenji attempted to punch her, but Minako avoided his punch and ran away from the scene, running over to a teacher who happened to be nearby.

"Sensei! Nemoto tried to hit my friend!" Minako told her.

"What? Where is he?" The female teacher asked. Minako pointed to where he was, and with gusto, the teacher immediately stomped over to him. Minako couldn't help but laugh a little as she watched the teacher give Seiko, Nenji, and the other girls a good scolding. But she did remember why she did it, and tried to find Yun. But when she tried to approach her, the bell rang.

"Awwww! Am I EVER gonna be allowed to apologize to Yun?" Minako groaned angrily as she walked back into the school building.

Sadly enough, Minako's predictions turned out to be true. She couldn't apologize to Yun during the second half of school either, namely because of Kadota being the militarist gym teacher he is and because of projects that needed working on. And again, Minako tried to catch up to Yun as school went out, but she got to the car without giving Minako a second thought. Minako felt tired and decided to walk home on her own. Once she got into her room, she literally plopped onto the bed and exhaled a big tired sigh. Salamon wasn't in the room so it was quiet.

"Am I ever going to fix this?" Minako muttered despondently. She then noticed that her choker, containing both the artificial amethyst and her D-Heart of Peace (which she tied on herself), is loose and decided to take it off and look at it. She then turned to one of the stuffed animals on her bed. It's a little _Jewelpet_(2) sheep with fluffy cream fur, white inside fur, green eyes, and a green ribbon with a yellow bell on it on it's neck. Minako remembered it well: she got both the choker and the stuffed animal long ago, on her birthday.

(flashback)

_It was January 26, 2008. Minako's eighth birthday. Minako planned to throw a party and invited her closest friends to come. For the occasion, she wore all purple: purple hair pieces in her drooping pig tails, a light purple sweater with violet flowers on it, a dark purple skirt, white stockings, and purple shoes with pink and white flowers on them. Her own birthday party is purple themed too, with purple balloons and purple paper cups, plates, and presents. She even has a purple table cloth and a purple and white birthday cake with Happy Birthday Minako written in purple frosting! There are even purple party hats with blue and pink diamonds on them. But nobody came to the party right now. Tatsuha is staring at the food he cooked, which lay untouched on the table, and Minagi stared at the cake despondently. It had been an hour since the party started, and Minako eagerly stared out the window, hoping that someone would come. But nobody did._

_"Mina-chan? Be patient. I'm sure they'll come," Minagi said._

_"I've been patient for an hour now! Why aren't they coming? I told them to come right after school ended!" Minako exclaimed, not satisfied with having to wait much longer._

_"Maybe they're trying to find your presents," Tatsuha told her, trying to sound enthusiastic, but Minako could tell that even he was starting to lose hope._

_"They're not coming! They're not coming! I invited them, too! Why?" Minako said. She walked away from the window and ambled over to the night stand in the living room. The lamp on it wasn't lit up, but she stared at it._

_She had been looking forward to her very first birthday party for a long time now. Her very own birthday party where she could invite her closest friends and family, receive presents from them, share cake with them, play games with them, everything. Other kids had birthday parties, so why couldn't she? She was very persistent in her wish to have a birthday party. When she was told she could have one, Minako literally bounced off the walls, she was so happy. She even made her own hand made invitations and gave them to her friends. Tatsuha and Minagi handled the relatives. Minako was really looking forward to having the best first birthday party ever!...but now the day has come,_ _and nobody's here yet. Not even her relatives. It's been an hour now, and Minako suddenly felt tears in her violet eyes. Why aren't they coming to her party? Did they suddenly become not interested and decide to leave her out to dry? Did something bad happen? Minako couldn't believe that it was going to come to this. She was about to start crying and fall into despair when suddenly..._

_BANG! BANG! Loud banging was heard at the door._

_"I'll get it!" Minagi exclaimed as she ran to answer the door. When she did, Yun was there, and she literally bolted into the house with her presents in hand! Hisako tried to chase after her, but she was too fast._

_"Yun! Calm down! I'm so sorry, Minagi. She spent the entire hour looking for the present, and she's just so excited I can't get her to settle down," Hisako explained, feeling guilty for Yun's slightly inappropriate behavior._

_"It's quite alright. We're just glad she's here at all," Minagi told her._

_Minako was taken aback when Yun suddenly ran up to her and stopped where she was, gasping for breath. Once she did, she looked at Minako sadly._

_"Sorry I'm late, Mina-tan! One of the presents got lost and I've been lookin' for it. Now I found it, and here!" Yun explained as best she could before giving Minako not one, but two presents! Frozen in silence, Minako slowly took the presents from Yun as she saw the sincere and slightly guilty look in her green eyes._

_"Open it! Open it!" Yun pleaded. Minako saw that one box is small and shaped like a rectangle, and another is a big cube wrapped in light green and red wrapping paper topped with yellow bows. Minako put the big one down and decided to open the small one first. When the wrapping paper was torn off, she found a white box. She opened it, and was surprised to see a choker necklace inside it! The band is purple, and hanging from it is an artificial purple gemstone rimmed with gold lining held firmly in place. Minako remembered that she never told Yun that she really loved the color purple. Perhaps Yun found out on her own. Minako almost cried upon seeing her very first birthday present from a friend._

_"Do you hate it?" Yun asked, sounding worried._

_"No! I love it! Thanks so much, Yun-chan!" Minako leaped onto Yun and hugged her. Then she decided to try on the choker. She got it on without difficulty, but she was surprised to find that the choker is slightly bigger and looser than she expected._

_"Awww! It's too big!" Yun exclaimed. Minako didn't seem to mind._

_"It's okay! I love it anyway! I'll probably fit as I get older, but I'm definitely keeping it!" Minako told her with a bright smile._

_She then proceeded to open the other present. Like the other one, it's in a white box. But when Minako opened it, she found something else inside of it. A little sheep doll!_

_"Oh! This is Fluorite from Jewelpet, right?" Minako asked._

_"You love sheep, don't you? She has your birthday month," Yun told her. Minako hugged the sheep doll and hugged Yun again._

_"Thank you thank you thank you! You're awesome, Yun-chan!" Minako squealed happily as she hugged Yun. Yun, feeling happy by Minako's love for her gifts, rubbed her back gently._

_Soon, Kosuke, Melody, and the others arrived as well. Kosuke's father didn't approve of him going to the party, and it took a LONG time to convince him to let him go, and Melody needed to watch her little sister before her parents took her out for some errands. The relatives got stuck in a big traffic jam coming here, but everyone made it and they partied it up! Minako's birthday party finally turned into the best first birthday party ever!_

(end flashback)

Minako had clung to the choker and sheep doll ever since that day, touched by Yun's kindness and generosity. She spent an hour looking for a lost birthday present and demanded that her parents take her there while screaming like a maniac (as she was told later on). Remembering the happy memory she shared with everyone, she clung to the sheep doll and choker and cried a little. Yun's gesture of kindness had been the best thing that had ever happened to Minako in her early life. It made her realize what a good person Yun was, and now, she felt even more awful for agreeing with Kosuke and hurting her feelings a couple days ago. Suddenly, Minagi came into her room and noticed her crying.

"Oh, Minako! Are you alright? What's wrong?" Minagi asked as she sat with Minako on her bed and held her close.

"Mom, I...I was remembering my first birthday party...and all the nice things Yun and the others did for me. But I feel so awful! A few days ago, Kosuke and I got into a big fight, and we got so mad we took it out on Yun, who was only trying to help! Kosuke's stubborn as usual and won't budge, but...how could I be so stupid and insensitive? I've been trying to apologize, but stuff kept happening and I was never able to do it. Mom, I'm so terrible! What should I do? How could I be so cruel and insensitive to one of the nicest people I've ever met?" Minako cried. Becoming curious, Salamon came into the room and watched them with her big violet eyes. Minagi rubbed Minako's back and smiled at her.

"It's definitely not like you to take your anger out on someone, but I do appreciate you trying to make amends with her. Why don't you go and apologize to her right now?" Minagi asked.

"Right now?"

"Yes. Maybe call her and ask her to meet you at the park or something."

"But...what if she doesn't forgive me?"

"Prove to her that you really want to make amends with her again. I think she'll see that you're still the Minako she knows and loves."

Minako remembered Yun screaming that she and Kosuke weren't the people she knew and loved before running off in tears, and Minako did not want to hear that again, so she looked up at Minagi and smiled.

"Can you take me to the park in a few minutes?" Minako asked.

"Sure. Let me know when you're ready," Minagi replied as she left the room. Minako quickly got her digivice out, composed a text message for Yun, and immediately sent it.

**To: Yun**

**From: Minako**

**Subject: Meet**

**Yun? It's me, Minako. Are you free right now? Would you like to meet me at the park? I have something I want to tell you in private, face to face.**

Minako just finished putting on her shoes and socks when she received a reply.

**To: Minako**

**From: Yun**

**Subject: Re: Meet**

**I'll be there in a few minutes.**

Minako closed her digivice, put it on her pants, and looked at Salamon.

"Salamon? We're gonna go to the park again. Want to come with me?" Minako asked.

Salamon didn't reply with words, but she did follow Minako so she assumed it was a yes. Minagi took Minako and Salamon into the car and drove her to the park. Minako and Salamon leaped out as Minagi left. They saw Yun, Lucero, Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon standing by the gazebo. Yun had on a short sleeved cream colored shirt under a yellow sleeveless one with slightly ruffled cuffs, light brown capris, white socks with pink flowers on them, and her white sneakers. Lucero had on a white T-shirt under those thick blue overalls that he likes so much. Minako immediately ran up to them.

"You came! Thank goodness!" Minako exclaimed as she ran to them.

"What did thou wish to talk with Yun about?" Lucero asked. Minako was about to ask why he was here, but since he and Yun are so close, she decided not to mind. Minako stood up, took a deep breath, and looked Yun in the eyes, though Yun tried to turn her head away.

"I take it you don't want to look at me? That's fine. I don't really expect you to anyway. But Yun, please listen. I...I feel terrible about what happened a few days ago, and I just want to say that I-"

Minako really thought she had the situation in her hands at her control. She was so close to apologizing to Yun. Sadly, she didn't get to do it, let alone finish. Why? Because a digital portal appeared right above them, and LadyDevimon and the arrogant BlackGatomon fell right out of it and right on Minako! LadyDevimon and BlackGatomon got off of Minako, not noticing that they fell on her.

"Ugh! Of all the things Lilithmon had to make me do, she just had to send me to the human world while I was in the middle of taking care of BlackGatomon! She doesn't-" LadyDevimon complained like a spoiled little girl until her attendant, the arrogant BlackGatomon, saw the trio of kids.

"Uhh...mistress? Look," BlackGatomon pulled LadyDevimon out of her anger and showed her the trio of humans. Yun and Lucero helped Minako up.

"Minako! Are you okay?" Yun yelped with concern in her eyes.

"Y-Yes. Somehow...Ow!" Minako replied.

"Okay, this is a rather stupid and rather contrived coincidence, don't you think?" Lopmon asked.

"Yeah. A little too convenient if you ask me," Terriermon agreed with his arms crossed. LadyDevimon saw everyone and crossed her arms.

"Hmph! So we meet again, humans! Personally, I would much rather be at home taking care of my dear sister, who you were so bold as to nearly kill in cold blood!" LadyDevimon sneered.

"We only did it because SHE was gonna attack US in cold blood! You should watch your mouth!" Salamon barked angrily.

"No matter. Now that I'm here, I might as well waste some time and play around with you..." LadyDevimon said casually at first, but then she laid eyes on Lucero, who looked at her with a very confused look in his pale blue eyes. Right as LadyDevimon locked eyes on him, she screamed wildly. Yun hated the noise, but she got her digivice out and texted everyone in the Digimon Brigade, begging them to come to the park, Kosuke included.

"NOOOO! NOT YOU TOO! YOU SHOULD BE DEAD!" LadyDevimon screamed as she tried to grab him, but someone stepped in to stop her.

"Lop Twister!" Lopmon spun herself around in a miniature tornado, stopping LadyDevimon from touching Lucero.

"You will not lay one hand on him, you wicked knave!" Lopmon exclaimed fiercely, with flames of courage dancing wildly in her emerald green eyes. All the other Digimon prepared themselves for a potential fight.

"It looks like I'll be sticking around! I can't wait to see how this plays out! Are you ready, dear sister?" LadyDevimon asked BlackGatomon.

"You bet I am!" BlackGatomon exclaimed, balling her claws into fists. But before they could nuke it out...

"Tear Arrow!"

"Hand of Fate!"

"Vacuum Kamaitachi!"

Three attacks managed to land in between them. They turned to see that all the Digimon Brigade members arrived!...well, almost everyone. Melody and Birdramon, Otoya and Seasarmon, Rena and Lekismon, Riku and Coronamon (who decided not to digivolve since they're in the park, and Coronamon doesn't want to set the place on fire), Aria and Syakomon, Isao and Bearmon, Hokuto and Reppamon, and Kosuke and Angemon. Shunji and Dracomon aren't here.

"Where's Anjo?" Yun asked.

"He says Dracomon got real sick and can't make it, so he told us to fight without him," Rena told her, showing him a text message she got from him.

"You insolent fools! Do you really think reinforcements are going to stop me?" LadyDevimon exclaimed as she raised her arms into the air. "Darkness Wave!"

A black stream of energy shot out of her hands, and, thankfully, everyone managed to evade it.

"Come on! Let's kick her butt!" Isao proclaimed.

Lopmon digivolved to Turuiemon, Terriermon to Gargomon, Cutemon to Rabbitmon, and Salamon to Gatomon. The big Digimon decided to take on LadyDevimon. Gatomon intended to herself, but was slapped in the face by BlackGatomon.

"Gatomon!" Minako yelled.

"You wretched thing! This is what you get for hurting my dear sister!" BlackGatomon growled angrily, which in turn made Gatomon.

"Well, THIS is what YOU get for falling on top of Minako!" Gatomon hopped toward BlackGatomon and slapped her back, leaving a fresh scratch on her face.

"Why you horrid little-NYAAAAN!" BlackGatomon flew at Gatomon, and the two kittens got into an epic...well, y'know.

"CAT FIGHT!" Both Riku and Coronamon cheered excitedly as they saw Gatomon and BlackGatomon scratch, hiss, snarl, slap, kick, hit, and punch each other in paroxysms of anger.

"Uhh...Riku? Shouldn't you be helping out here?" Minako scolded as Gatomon bit BlackGatomon's left ear fiercely.

"Oh. Whoops! Sorry!" Riku said.

"Awww! I wanted to watch the Gatomon sisters beat each other up some more!" Coronamon whined before digivolving into Firamon, who completely lost interest in watching the cats fight like rabid dogs. Meanwhile, Aria and Syakomon are still on the ground, and Aria decided to call on Unimon again since Syakomon's too weak to fight, let alone digivolve into Dolphmon since the place doesn't have any water. Unimon descended to the ground as soon as the light dissipated.

"Let me guess. LadyDevimon is here again?" Unimon asked.

"Yes. Syakomon's too weak to digivolve and there's no water for her to fight in. Do you mind?" Aria asked innocently.

"Do I mind? Are you kidding? I've been waitin' to kick LadyDevimon's butt for months! Let's do it! Hop on, my friend!" Unimon gestured Aria and Syakomon to both hop on, and they did. Unimon flew into the sky to join the others.

"Darkness Wave!"

"Meteor Wing!"

"Hand of Fate!"

"Vacuum Kamaitachi!"

"Gargo Laser!"

"Ninja Kick!"

"Moon Night Bomb!"

"Fira Bomb!"

"Aerial Attack!"

"Tee Dia!"

LadyDevimon and the Digimon Brigade fought long and hard, desperately trying to bring her down. Sadly, she not only managed to evade all of their attacks, but absorb them with her new Black Dome attack. The kids tried to wrangle her with their digilassos, which they did for a little while, but she used her Fallen Angel's Spear to pry them off before the Digimon could land an attack on her. At one point, Turuiemon managed to cling to one of LadyDevimon's legs, preventing her from flying at her usual speed.

"Get off of me, you horrid rabbit!" LadyDevimon sneered as she kicked Turuiemon in the face multiple times with her free leg. Despite the kicking, Turuiemon held on as tightly and desperately as she could.

"Turuiemon!" Yun called out from on Birdramon's back, sitting next to Melody.

"Birdramon! Get her while she's distracted!" Melody commanded.

"Sure thing! Mach Grinder!" Birdramon readied her talons and prepared to take LadyDevimon with them, but LadyDevimon managed to kick Turuiemon off and throw her into the trees.

"Turuiemon!" Gargomon called out as he saw his sister fall helplessly to the ground. Gargomon leaped up with his vulcans in hand, ready to hit LadyDevimon.

"Nobody hurts my sister! Not even you! Gargo Laser!" Gargomon yelled angrily.

"Black Dome!" LadyDevimon surrounded herself with the eerie black light as Gargomon's attacks were absorbed by it. She then appeared with her Fallen Angel's Spear in hand and tried to stab him with it, but he blocked it with his vulcans, giving Turuiemon time to get up and move and Angemon, Seasarmon, and Unimon the opportunity to attack.

"Hand of Fate!"

"Tee Dia!"

"Aerial Attack!"

However, LadyDevimon quickly pushed Gargomon away and surrounded herself with her Black Dome attack.

"Jeez! Is this lady ever gonna kick the bucket?" Kosuke yelled angrily.

"You're telling me! She learned a new move behind my back!" Unimon whinnied angrily.

"Hey Seasarmon. Want to go the extra mile?" Angemon asked Seasarmon.

"I was waiting for you to say that! Otoya, get on Birdramon's back, will ya?" Seasarmon said to Angemon first, then to Otoya.

"Sure thing!" Otoya called for Melody and Birdramon swooped in to get her. LadyDevimon prepared for another attack.

"Don't think you've won just yet! Darkness Wave!" LadyDevimon shot another wave of darkness at Angemon.

"Holy Rod!" Angemon successfully deflected her attack with the spinning of his rod.

After that, he hopped onto Seasarmon's back. Seasarmon looked up at the bright sun in the sky and emitted a warm, gold light. The light then slithered onto Angemon and he became enveloped by the glow as well, but with his rod ready for action. Once they radiated more light, Seasarmon and Angemon made their move.

"Shining Solar Strike!"

"Night Rubix!"

LadyDevimon displayed some weird hand gestures, then all of a sudden, a black cube swallowed Angemon and Seasarmon whole!

"Angemon!" Kosuke yelled.

"Seasarmon!" Otoya yelled.

LadyDevimon put out some more hand gestures, and the giant rubix cube of darkness suddenly exploded. Angemon and Seasarmon fell out, both unconscious and full of bruises and scratches. The damage was so great that they fell to the ground and de-digivolved back into Patamon and Labramon. Birdramon dropped Kosuke and Otoya to the ground, and flew right back up as the two kids ran to their fallen Digimon partners.

"Labramon! Are you okay! Say something!" Otoya wailed, shaking Labramon to make sure he was alive. He opened his eyes and looked at her with a faraway look.

"I-I'm sorry...Otoya. I guess I'm not...strong enough...to take her on..." Labramon croaked sadly, but Otoya held him close with a smile.

"It's okay. You did awesome nonetheless. You should have some rest," Otoya told her friend gently as she slowly laid him against a big tree.  
>Kosuke did the same. Neither he or his Digimon said a word. Patamon's keeping true to his oath to not speak to Kosuke until he realizes the error of his ways and made up with Yun, Minako, and Melody. Kosuke and Otoya stood up and looked at each other.<p>

"So...what should we do now?" Otoya asked. In a flash, they found their answer.

"Come here, you!"

"Get your leg out of my eye, you white furball!"

Gatomon and BlackGatomon are still duking it out like the feral cats they are, only Minako and Rena are trying to break them up.

"Want to go help them?" Kosuke asked. Otoya nodded and they decided to run over there and keep the two riled up cats at bay.

"Spinning Sky Fissure Slash!" Reppamon somersaulted right toward LadyDevimon, hoping to land a hit, but LadyDevimon caught him by the silver tail and threw him to the side like he was trash. Reppamon did regain his composure and prevent himself from falling into the trees.

"Reppamon! Let's fall back for now! She's too strong!" Hokuto proclaimed, worried that they may not win this fight.

"We can't! If we let her run free, who knows what she'll do to the town! I have an idea!" Reppamon told him.

"But what if-"

"Just go with it!"

Reppamon flew over to Lekismon and Firamon, who were planning to land an assault on LadyDevimon but failed.

"Firamon. Lekismon. Do you two have a minute?" Reppamon asked.

"We have more important things to do than sit around talking!" Firamon scolded.

"I know! Just listen! I have a plan!" Reppamon told him to mollify him.

"A plan? What's this plan you speak of?" Lekismon asked curiously.

"Come closer," Reppamon whispered. Firamon and Lekismon got closer and listened in on Reppamon's plan.

"I noticed something about LadyDevimon's two attacks, Black Dome and Night Rubix. It appears she can't move from the spot she's in when she's using those attacks. She has to remain in place when using them. I have an idea. Since LadyDevimon is frozen in place when she uses those moves, we might be able to land some hits on her from behind. If she starts to use those attacks, Lekismon and Firamon, I want you both to throw me at her as I use my Spinning Sky Fissure Slash on her. If we're lucky, we might leave her paralyzed," Reppamon explained.

"Wow! A splendid idea!" Firamon said. "But we can't just shout when she uses those moves. She'll notice."

"I'll throw my Tear Arrow into the air as a signal. Will that work?" Lekismon suggested.

"Yes. That'll do nicely. Now let's move!" Reppamon exclaimed, then the three of them went back to battling. Unimon was about to assault LadyDevimon again.

"Aerial Gallop!"

But LadyDevimon grabbed his horn and shoved him away.

"You're quite persistent, aren't you? Well, you're never going to defeat me, no matter how hard you fight!" LadyDevimon told him wickedly.

"That's what you think, you promiscuous witch!" Unimon exclaimed.

Suddenly, a vein popped in LadyDevimon's head.

"I AM NOT PROMISCUOUS! Darkness Wave!" In an epic paroxysm of anger, LadyDevimon threw about a million Darkness Waves at everyone. Almost everyone managed to avoid it. Unfortunately, Gargomon and Turuiemon were hit, and were sent flying to the ground, interrupting the battle between Gatomon and BlackGatomon.

"Gargomon! Turuiemon!" Yun yelled as she watched Turuiemon and Gargomon de-digivolve back into Lopmon and Terriermon. Lucero scooped them up and ran away from the cat fight. Rabbitmon looked up at LadyDevimon angrily.

"I've had just about enough of you, witch! Carrot Bomb!" Rabbitmon hopped to the top of one of the trees and unleash her rain of falling carrots. Sadly, LadyDevimon stabbed all of them into smitherens with her Fallen Angel's Spear.

"Do you really think a move as silly as that would stop me?" LadyDevimon asked.

"Show me what you got! Lop Ear Swing!" Rabbitmon spun herself into a tornado and threw herself at LadyDevimon, who blocked it with her Fallen Angel's Spear.

"Don't think you're so tough, you rabbit! You're barely any taller than me!" LadyDevimon insulted Rabbitmon in a virulent tone of voice, but Rabbitmon didn't take it to heart.

"So what if I'm short! Ear Lancer!" Rabbitmon tried to attack LadyDevimon again, but she blocked it with her Fallen Angel's Spear again.

The two jabbed at each other with their weapons, hoping to wear each other out. Rabbitmon whacked and slapped at LadyDevimon with her sharp ears, while LadyDevimon deflected every single one of Rabbitmon's attacks with her Fallen Angel's Spear.

As the two fought back and forth, to and fro, LadyDevimon couldn't help but regret not having brought any back up servant Digimon to help her out and stall the Digimon Brigade. She also couldn't help but curse Lilithmon for sending her to the human world just so Lilithmon could take over her duty and win MoonMillenniummon's praise. But she didn't mind being in the human world now. She has a mission to fulfill, and she is determined to fulfill it and prove her suspicion to MoonMillenniummon. She didn't care if she would have to die for it, even though she's stronger than they are. She also wanted to teach them a lesson after what they did to her friend, the timid BlackGatomon, who as of now is still under Candlemon's watchful eye.

_'Don't worry, my sister! I'll destroy these pesky little humans and get my revenge for what they did to you! You'll see!'_ LadyDevimon thought as she finally got tired of dealing with Rabbitmon.

"I think it's time we ended this, shall we?" LadyDevimon grabbed Rabbitmon by the ear and lifted her up.

"Ow! Oww! Owwww! My ear! My ear!" Rabbitmon yelled as she suddenly found herself spinning around in a circle. LadyDevimon is spinning her around by the ear, planning to throw her. After a bit, she pointed to the ground and threw Rabbitmon, causing her to fall to the ground and further interrupt the fight between Gatomon and BlackGatomon. Rabbitmon de-digivolved back into Cutemon. Rena scooped the tired and exhausted Cutemon in her arms.

"You okay?" Rena asked.

"I...I'm fine, kyu..." Cutemon said. She then caught sight of Lucero, who has Lopmon and Terriermon in his hands.

"Rena-dono! How art things on thy end?" Lucero asked.

"Not too good. Gatomon and BlackGatomon are still fighting like rabid cats, and Lekismon is up there! Man! I wish I could help out somehow!" Rena said.

And speaking of Gatomon and BlackGatomon...

"Lighting Paw!"

"Lightning Kick!"

They're both still trying to kill each other. Finally, Minako has had enough.

"Gatomon! Stop!" Minako pulled Gatomon away from BlackGatomon.

"But Minako-"

"Don't waste your energy on this furball! Go and help the others fight LadyDevimon!"

"No! I'm staying!"

Suddenly, BlackGatomon snarled and charged at Minako.

"Cat Scratch!"

Minako tried to move away, but BlackGatomon was too quick, so she only had time to hold up her arm. BlackGatomon scratched her arm real good, leaving three big, fresh gashes on her arm.

"MINAKO!" Gatomon, Lopmon, Cutemon, Terriermon, Rena, and Lucero all screamed as BlackGatomon attacked Minako. Minako clung to her bleeding arm, hoping that the pressure that her hand would put on it would at least control it. This set all the Digimon off.

"Now you've done it!" Gatomon screamed.

"Show me what you got, kitten!" BlackGatomon screamed back. BlackGatomon decided to attack first. But on her part, that was a mistake.

"Cat's Eye Hypnosis!"

Right when she made eye contact with Gatomon, BlackGatomon suddenly found herself unable to move. She fell to the ground, feeling numb and motionless. She couldn't feel her limbs, let alone move them.

"Now everyone! Attack!" Rena commanded.

"Freezing Snow!"

"Blazing Fire!"

"Ultrasonic Wave!"

"Lighting Paw!"

All four Digimon attacked BlackGatomon all at once. She sustained some damage, but not enough to kill her. She did feel weak as a result of the brutal assault. Kosuke ran up to her and held her down.

"You're done for, furball! Now spill the beans! Who's your master and why are you doing what you've been doing? Come on! Spill the beans!" Kosuke yelled angrily.

"As if I'd tell you incompetent idiots anything about my master!" BlackGatomon snarled back angrily.

Kosuke then grabbed her ear and twisted it in a strange angle, causing BlackGatomon to yelp loudly in pain. Everyone gasped a little. They never saw this side to Kosuke before. As if seeing him turn against Yun wasn't bad enough!

"Spill the beans, or I'm having you for dinner!" Kosuke threatened, with a flame of rancor and anger dancing in his eyes.

"Uhh...Kosuke-kun? Shouldn't you calm down a little? I mean-" Otoya tried to reason with him, but it didn't work.

"You stay out of this!" Kosuke snapped angrily, causing Otoya to step back a few steps in fear.

"Ow! Oww! Owww!" BlackGatomon yelped in pain as Kosuke twisted her ear.

"Tell us everything about this master of yours!" Kosuke demanded like he was some gung-ho military general.

"No! You're not getting a peep out of me!" BlackGatomon snarled back.

Suddenly, he put his hand on BlackGatomon's tail and yanked it VERY hard, causing BlackGatomon to howl so loud that it reached the skies! It even caught LadyDevimon's attention. She gasped with horror as she saw what was happening to BlackGatomon.

"SISTER!" LadyDevimon zipped down to save her friend.

"Hey! Come back here, you witch!" Birdramon yelled as she flew after her.

LadyDevimon literally zipped to the ground, yanked Kosuke off of BlackGatomon, threw him against a tree like he was trash, scooped her loyal friend in her arms, and gave everyone a choleric look.

"As if you pesky humans weren't contemptible enough! First you hurt my youngest sister, and now her, too! I'll never forgive you all for this!" LadyDevimon yelled.

Out of nowhere, Lekismon appeared and proceeded to attack.

"Moon Night Bomb!"

Unfortunately, she didn't get to attack.

"Night Rubix!"

Lekismon suddenly found herself being enveloped by a black rubix cube.

_'No! No! I can't be the one who gets caught! I...I have to let Reppamon and Firamon know! I need to...use Tear Arrow!'_ Lekismon thought as she tried to form a Tear Arrow while the Night Rubix was eating her at the same time. Once she saw an opening, she decided to shoot her Tear Arrow out of it.

"Let's hope this works! TEAR ARROW!" Lekismon, praying that Reppamon and Firamon will see the signal, screamed as loud as she could as she threw her Tear Arrow into the sky.

"Lekismon!" Rena yelled.

Thankfully, Lekismon didn't get to stay in the Night Rubix for long.

"Spinning Sky Fissure Slash!"

Reppamon hit LadyDevimon like she was a pin for a bowling game. He managed to throw her against a tree. So hard, in fact, that the Night Rubix dissipated, and Lekismon was freed! Firamon descended to the ground and helped her up. Rena, Riku, and Yun, who descended from Birdramon's back, decided to do the same.

"Lekismon, are you alright?" Firamon asked.

"Yes. I hope you saw my Tear Arrow," Lekismon replied weakly.

"We did. You did well," Firamon told her, which made her smile. But the battle wasn't over yet.

"You weaklings haven't won yet! Dark-" LadyDevimon attempted another Darkness Wave, but she didn't get to use it. Someone covered her eyes and blinded her.

"What? I-I can't see! Release me, whoever you are!" LadyDevimon thrashed around, hoping to throw off the Digimon or person blinding her.

"Minako! Get off of her!" Yun and Gatomon yelled with worry.

It's Minako! She's covering LadyDevimon's red eyes with her hands and trying to keep her from attacking. The Digimon readied themselves as they descended to the ground and decided to attack her, but LadyDevimon managed to pry Minako off before she could. She threw Minako against a tree, causing her to slump to the ground and her digivice to fall off of her pants and roll on the grass a bit.

"You dare try to outsmart me? Well, I guess I'll have to kill you first! Fallen Angel's Spear!" LadyDevimon yelled as she decided to throw her Fallen Angel's Spear at Minako.

"Minako! Get out of the way!" Yun yelled.

Minako tried to find her digivice and use it to make a dome shield and intercept her attack, but much to her horror, it's not latched on her pants anymore! She saw the Fallen Angel's Spear fly toward her. It was coming so fast. She couldn't dodge it. She couldn't move away quick enough. She closed her eyes and held her arms over her face in fear. She thought it was the end for her.

Only...it wasn't.

She heard a piercing, vociferous, high pitched howl like that of some cats getting into a fight. Everyone gasped with horror because of what they saw. Minako very slowly removed her arms from her face and opened her eyes. Much to her surprise, she's not dead! But she was about to regret ever opening her eyes, because she did see who DID take the Fallen Angel's Spear.

It was none other than...Gatomon.

Everyone was left frozen in place with their mouths open wide, like O's. Even the Digimon were appalled with what they saw. Gatomon stepped in to save Minako! But she took the Fallen Angel's Spear! She lay on the grass, helpless and powerless, the Fallen Angel's Spear pinning her to the ground. She has a faraway look in her violet eyes. Minako couldn't believe what she saw. Gatomon took the Fallen Angel's Spear to save her life! Minako suddenly found herself reliving Kiyoshi's death all over again, but only this time, it hit her harder than ever before. He died because Minako didn't let him play with her. Now, Gatomon's going to suffer the same fate because she was in danger! Minako found herself trembling violently.

"Ga-Ga-Gatomon...!" Minako whimpered, about to burst into tears at any moment.

"She...she got Gatomon!" Otoya exclaimed.

"We could be next!" Hokuto exclaimed.

Hastily, LadyDevimon ripped her Fallen Angel's Spear out of Gatomon, whose body began to slowly degenerate into a cloud of purple data. Gatomon looked at Minako with her weak violet eyes. She could see the distress in Minako's own violet eyes.

"Mi...na...ko..." Gatomon muttered as she tried to raise her paw up.

"GATOMON!" Minako ran to Gatomon and scooped her in her arms. Tears literally poured out of Minako's eyes once she saw Gatomon.

"Don't leave me! Gatomon, I'll do anything you ask, but please don't leave me! Anything but that!" Minako screamed hysterically.

"I...won't be gone...forever...you'll see...and...I'm sorry..." Gatomon whispered as Minako witnessed the lower half of her body turn into data. Soon, all of Gatomon dissipated into purple data that floated into the air. Everyone watched as the data floated away.

Minako realized it all too well. Her heart pulsated a million times per second, her body trembled violently, the tears literally came in waterfalls, and her voice became more and more strained. Gatomon is now gone. Gone forever. Because she tried to save Minako.

Minako would never see Gatomon again. She's gone forever and never coming back.

Minako fell apart right there.

_"NOOOOOOOOOO!"_

She officially broke down. She fell to the ground and screamed, wailed, cried, and yelled her broken heart out. First Kiyoshi, and now Gatomon. She lost two of her most precious companions...because of her being the weak person she was. At least, that's what she thought.

The only person who's happy about this whole thing is none other than LadyDevimon, who actually began ABSORBING Gatomon's data!

"Yes! Yes! I did it! I finally did it! Doing this wasn't exactly what I had in mind, but I did it anyway so I should rejoice! Finally! After all these years, I've actually managed to kill a-" LadyDevimon gloated over her victory, proudly laughing and smiling like a drunk person as she took in most of Gatomon's data. But she didn't get to finish praising herself.

"You're wrong."

Yun found Minako's digivice, grabbed it, and raised it in the air.

"YOU'RE DEAD WRONG! NO YOU HAVE NOT!" Yun screamed as loud and as angrily as she could as she raised Minako's purple digivice in the air.

All of a sudden, much to everyone's surprise, the purple particles of data going inside LadyDevimon...suddenly stopped in mid air! Then, they moved right toward Minako's digivice, flying right inside it! Even LadyDevimon was surprised by this new development.

"What? No way! This can't be happening! BlackGatomon! Seize her!" LadyDevimon yelled and demanded that BlackGatomon go after Yun and steal Minako's digivice.

"On it! Nyan!" BlackGatomon ran toward Yun as the last of the data was about to go inside Minako's digivice.

Suddenly, BlackGatomon felt some weight fall on her, causing her to fall to the ground. It was Lopmon, Terriermon, Cutemon, Patamon, Lucero, and Labramon! They leaped on top of BlackGatomon before she could attack Yun similar to how she did with Minako earlier.

"Don't ever lay a hand on her, you knave!" Lopmon yelled.

"Anyone who hurts Yun has to deal with me!" Terriermon backed her up.

"Thou must concede defeat at once! Thou art outnumbered!" Lucero yelled.

"Don't think you've won!" Patamon yelled.

Labramon looked up and saw it.

"Everyone! Look!" Labramon yelled.

Everyone stopped fighting to see what was going on. When Gatomon's data finally finished going inside Minako's digivice, it glowed in a dazzling and magnificent violet purple light. It shone so brightly that LadyDevimon and BlackGatomon had to cover their eyes. The light shone radiantly for a good 30 seconds. Then, the light came out of the digivice and grew bigger until it was the size of Salamon. The light eventually dissipated and out came a pale yellow DigiEgg with many darker yellow stars painted all over it. Yun caught it before it could fall to the ground, and smiled in her victory.

"I did it! I saved Salamon!" Yun exclaimed.

"Wow! Yun! That's awesome!" Otoya exclaimed.

"I can't believe it! A Digimon's data can be saved by someone's digivice?" Melody yelped.

"That sure is something!" Birdramon piped in happily.

"Oh, you think?" Grizzlymon exclaimed.

"That is soooo cool!" Isao added in.

Unimon, Aria, Syakomon, Hokuto, and Reppamon descended to the ground as this happened. Suddenly, LadyDevimon howled angrily.

"Don't get so full of yourselves! This battle isn't over yet! BlackGatomon, on my shoulder! NOW!" LadyDevimon screamed. Without a second thought, BlackGatomon leapt onto LadyDevimon's shoulder, very unhappy with the outcome of this battle.

"You're going to pay for being so cruel! Crescent Dawn!" Grizzlymon tried to attack her, but LadyDevimon dodged the attack. Everyone else went after her, outraged by her cruel, insidious, sinful, and nefarious deed. Yun and the other kids stayed behind, protecting both the DigiEgg and Minako, who has now officially gone into a break down.

The battle seemed to go on for hours and hours. The Digimon tried to attack LadyDevimon, but she either kept on dodging their attacks or kept on fighting back. It was just exhausting and agonizing. Soon, most of the champion level Digimon de-digivolved. Only Unimon and Reppamon were left. Hokuto looked down at the grass, angry with what just happened. Reppamon descended before him, noticing his distress.

"Hokuto? What's wrong?" Reppamon asked. With eyes full of courage and zeal, Hokuto whispered something into Reppamon's ear. LadyDevimon didn't notice anything until someone called out to her.

"LadyDevimoooon!"

It was Hokuto, looking straight up at her with zeal in his eyes.

"You're a promiscuous witch! Your dress looks like it came from the garbage dump! I dare you to stab me with your Fallen Angel's Spear like you did with Gatomon earlier! Your eyes look like rotten tomatoes and you smell like overcooked chicken!" Hokuto yelled as loudly as he could.

Suddenly, LadyDevimon stopped in her tracks. Did Hokuto just call her a promiscuous witch, claim that her raiment came from the garbage dump, that her eyes look like rotten tomatoes AND that she smells like overcooked chicken? That did it for the two of them. LadyDevimon exploded in anger and brought out her Fallen Angel's Spear.

"You wish to suffer that Gatomon's fate? Then be my guest!" LadyDevimon snarled.

"Good! Come at me with all you've got! Nobody's bothering to protect me, so I'm wide open! Come on! Kill me!" Hokuto demanded.

"Fallen Angel's Spear!"

LadyDevimon, with her spear in hand, prepared to kill Hokuto. But...he had a plan of his own. He got his silver digivice out, opened it, pressed the door button, and a digital portal appeared between him and LadyDevimon.

"Wha?" LadyDevimon was about to stop herself from going on, but she couldn't.

"Vacuum Kamaitachi!"

A mightly blow stuck her on the back, causing her to fall into the digital portal and be sent back to the Digital World. The digital portal disappeared right when she got sling shot into it, and Reppamon de-digivolved back into Kudamon. Unimon decided to leave as well.

"Hokuto-kun! That was amazing! You tricked LadyDevimon into leaving the real world!" Otoya exclaimed as she hugged him.

"I didn't really...trick her," Hokuto muttered.

"But you stimulated her into getting angry and managed to have me send her back to the Digital World. I'm so proud of you, Hokuto!" Kudamon said.

"You were really something back there!" Melody gave him a good pat on the back.

"Yeah! Anger really drives people into not seeing everything, doesn't it?" Biyomon said.

Unfortunately, despite the kids rejoicing in their so called victory, there was still one problem that needed fixing.

Minako.

She's still lying on the grass, crying and screaming. Yun tried to mollify her by showing her Salamon's DigiEgg. The noise was making Yun's ears ring, but at this point, she didn't care. She just wanted Minako to stop crying.

"Minako! It's okay! Salamon's right here! Come on! Take it!" Yun told her, but Minako didn't listen or stop.

"It's my fault! Gatomon's dead because of me! I killed her, just like how I did Kiyoshi! It's all my fault!" Minako cried loudly.

"No it's not! Gatomon's not dead! She's right here!"

"She's dead and never coming back!"

"She's in here! Take it!"

"I don't want it!"

"You have to take her! This is your DigiEgg!"

"Gatomon's gone forever and it's all my fault! I should've ended my life back then!"

"Minako!"

Suddenly, Minako found herself seized with anger. She looked at Yun, gave her a choleric look and...SLAP! Hit her right across the face! Everyone gasped.

"Yun!" Lopmon, Terriermon, Melody, Cutemon, and Lucero ran to her. Yun was surprised. Minako actually hit her? Minako would never do something like this! But Minako was consumed by rancor and anger, giving Yun a look that scared her to death.

"DON'T TELL ME THINGS THAT AREN'T TRUE YOU RETARD! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT IT'S LIKE TO HAVE KILLED YOUR OWN BROTHER!" Minako screamed both angrily and sadly, which frightened Yun. But she didn't cover her ears. Salamon's DigiEgg was still in her arms, and she didn't want to let it go. But...Minako just called her a retard! And what did she mean when she said she killed her brother? Yun knew Kiyoshi had died, but what did Minako have to do with it? Minako screamed and cried yet again.

"Minako...Salamon's still alive!" Yun said.

"Will you shut up already?" That was Kosuke who stepped in between her and the now officially broken Minako.

"She doesn't need your false pity! If she doesn't want the DigiEgg, then don't give it to her!" Kosuke yelled, which stimulated Melody into stepping in.

"That DigiEgg happens to belong rightfully to Minako! She needs it! She needs to see that Digimon are different from humans!" Melody yelled as she pushed Kosuke.

"Stop trying to weasel your way into someone else's business!"

"You need to stop claiming that Yun's good intentions are nothing but bluffs!"

"Shut up!"

"You shut up!"

Kosuke and Melody fought again. Yun was starting to become inundated by Minako's crying and Kosuke and Melody's new argument. She covered her ears and put the DigiEgg and Minako's digivice in front of her feet. Finally, someone made Minako stop crying, but in a rather unorthodox way. Lucero walked up behind Minako, straightened his hand, and hit Minako on the neck with it. Suddenly, Minako blacked out. She saw that her vision disappeared and the energy drained out of her body. She stopped screaming, but she collapsed. Lucero managed to grab the now unconscious Minako.

"Uhh...how did you-?" Lopmon asked.

"Just grab a foot. We're taking her home," Lucero said.

Nobody protested. Otoya and Lucero decided to take Minako home while Yun followed them. Rena and Riku stopped Kosuke and Melody from getting into yet another heated fight and took them home against their will. Their Digimon too. Lucero, Otoya, and Yun arrived at Minako's house and put her into bed. Yun, feeling guilty about what happened, gently placed Minako's digivice and DigiEgg next to her. She then ran out of the house. Lucero chased after her. Yun returned home, but she broke down crying yet again, this time because of what Minako just did. Minako actually called her a retard and pushed away her efforts to help her! Lopmon, Cutemon, Terriermon, and Lucero tried to console her and ameliorate her pain, but Yun cried into the night. Again, she didn't want dinner. But Yun did notice something odd. Minako said that she killed her brother.

What did she mean by that? Yun couldn't help but wonder.

Meanwhile, in the Digital World, LadyDevimon and the arrogant BlackGatomon are in the inner sanctum standing in front of a not so pleased MoonMillenniummon and some Bakemon. The timid BlackGatomon joined them, feeling much better.

"LadyDevimon, I am very disappointed in you! Not only do you shirk your duties to pursue some pipe dream, but you actually have the audacity to disobey me! This is very unlike you, but I am afraid I may have to punish you!" MoonMillenniummon exclaimed, castigating LadyDevimon and the arrogant BlackGatomon for their transgression.

"Master, I didn't go to the human world this time on purpose! Lilithmon took my duty and shoved me there! I intended to come back, but-" LadyDevimon tried to explain, but MoonMillenniummon was just not having it.

"No excuses, young lady! To repent for your transgression, you and your two BlackGatomon friends will go on cleaning duty for the next four weeks! Not only that, you will all be deprived of supper for tonight! Speaking of cleaning duty, tonight you will clean the storage room and the latrines. The Numemon and Geremon have been rather decadent in their manners again. The Bakemon and Gazimon will give you the materials you need for cleaning. That is all. You are dismissed. Now go," MoonMillenniummon told her sternly. LadyDevimon, looking very dejected, kept her head down.

"Yes Master," LadyDevimon muttered as she and her two BlackGatomon attendants left the main core of the inner sanctum. LadyDevimon, despite the castigation she received, did not want to give up on her mission.

_'I know it! They're still alive! I saw it myself! I'll go to whatever lengths necessary to prove it to Master, even if it kills me! I managed to kill one of them but didn't get to absorb her data! No matter. There's always next time. I'll definitely prove it no matter what! You'll see, Master!'_ LadyDevimon thought as she and her BlackGatomon friends took on cleaning duty...though they did not take to it well.

Footnotes:

1. Wind Up Tina is a manga by Yui Ayumi.

2. Jewelpet is a toy franchise made by Sanrio and Sega.


	36. Mending A Broken Bond

EPISODE 36: Mending a Broken Bond

If hearing Kosuke say cruel and untrue things about her wasn't bad enough, Minako actually called Yun a retard and screamed at her face just because Yun was trying to help her! Yun cried for almost the entire night. Her heart was broken before, but now the pieces and fragments have just been cruelly stomped on. Of course, Yun could understand why Minako did what she did. She just lost Salamon, and it doesn't look like she believes that she will come back. Digimon are different from humans. Digimon don't really die. Their data just gets re-configured and they turn into DigiEggs and begin their lives anew. Who's to say that Salamon won't come back and not be the happy, cheerful, adventurous, and curious little wide eyed, rosy cheeked puppy she always is? But Yun was very hurt by what Minako said. She could tell that that wasn't why Minako texted her and asked her to meet at the park before LadyDevimon came and ruined the whole arrangement. But exactly why did Minako call her there? Yun didn't know for sure. But for as long as she lived, Yun knew that Minako NEVER let her anger get the best of her nor did she ever scream in anyone's face or call them names, especially not her closest friend! But something else lingered in Yun's mind. It seems there's more to Minako's breakdown than just Salamon being killed by LadyDevimon. Something Minako said bothered her and kept replaying in her mind.

_"DON'T TELL ME THINGS THAT AREN'T TRUE, YOU RETARD! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT IT'S LIKE TO HAVE KILLED YOUR OWN BROTHER!"_

Yun knew for a fact that Kiyoshi had died. It was all over the news. She knew it was an accident. But exactly what did Minako have to do with it? Why did she say that she killed him? If anything, Minako's the type of person to want to give lives to people, not take them, so why would she even say something like that? Could there be more to it than meets the eye? Yun didn't want to pry, but she at least wanted to understand Minako's situation a little better. Maybe Minako was traumatized by Kiyoshi's death? Yun could see signs of this, as Minako used to be cheerful and outgoing, but over the break, she became more withdrawn, quiet, and lonesome. She thought she was seeing changes thanks to Salamon's presence. But it seems that now that Salamon's temporarily gone (or permanently, as Minako thinks), Minako's regressed or reliving the tragic day. But still, her situation doesn't justify what she just did to Yun, and Yun's feelings were still brutally hurt because of it. Lopmon, Cutemon, Terriermon, and Lucero tried their best to console her and mollify her, hating the fact that Yun is so sad and so heartbroken. But Yun closed herself off from everyone that night. She wouldn't even let any of them into her heart, not even her parents. Yun didn't want to tell them about what happened, but they were ungodly intractable and Yun had no choice but to tell them, about both Minako and Kosuke's sudden changes in character. She assumed that they would get mad, cause a big scene, and forbid her from ever befriending them, but strangely enough, they didn't. They didn't even say anything. They just sat with the rabbits and Lucero and tried to console her.

Thursday came, along with another grueling school day for not just Yun, but for everyone. Strangely enough, Minako didn't show up. Neither did Kosuke. She probably assumed Minako was still upset about what happened, but she didn't know what would make Kosuke absent from school. Was he sick? Is his mother keeping him home for reasons Yun couldn't fathom? Yun couldn't help but wonder. She silently promised herself that she would go visit Minako's house and pay her a visit. She brought with her some freshly baked chocolate chip cookies that Hisako had baked the night before for some friends. Hisako made an exception and gave Yun some before she left for school, only Yun wasn't going to use them for herself. Hisako could tell that Yun wanted to give them to Minako despite what happened and, although she did have some feelings of anger swimming around in her heart like a hungry shark, didn't protest or disapprove. But Yun is at school right now and both Minako and Kosuke aren't here.

"Minako-san and Kosuke-san are both absent today. I wonder why?" Lucero said.

"Yeah. Me too. I'll go to her house and pay her a visit after school," Yun muttered as she read more of Wind Up Tina.

"I'll bet she's still upset about what happened," Rena said.

"I can't believe LadyDevimon would be so cruel as to maim Gatomon like that!" Otoya exclaimed.

"She IS a devil Digimon, y'know? I'm not really surprised that she's so evil. But you have a point," Yun told her. Yun was going to quietly read more of her manga until some unwanted gossip caught her ear.

"Omori's not here today, is she? It's not like her," Iniki said, pointing out that Minako's chair is empty.

"Who cares about that loser egghead. She's better off under her little rock anyway. Or maybe..." Seiko said.

"Maybe? Maybe what?" Tomoka asked.

"Maybe she's planning to off herself," Seiko said in a low whisper maliciously. What she didn't know was that Yun heard it, and Yun was nothing short of appalled.

"What do you mean?" Iniki asked.

"I heard this on the news. Two months ago her little brother died, and then she tried to throw herself in a river! It's hilarious how low she's sunk!" Seiko laughed upon reaching that last sentence.

"Is she suicidal?" Tomoka asked.

"Of course she is! Why else would she be absent? Maybe she's planning on-" Seiko wanted to finish that sentence with a crude and caustic suggestion, but she didn't get to do so.

Why? Because Yun kicked her desk. Hard. So hard, in fact, that it almost fell over! Tomoka and Iniki grabbed it before it could fall, but Yun looked down at Seiko with nothing but anger and rancor in her green eyes.

"What do you want, retard?" Seiko yelped.

"Don't EVER say stuff like that about people! Especially if you don't know anything about them! Minako? Trying to kill herself? How could you be so heartless as to even THINK something like that?" Yun yelled angrily. Seiko stood up from her seat.

"But it's true! I'm not making this up!"

"Yes you are! Admit it, Shimizu!"

"You don't get, Wakamiya! Your egghead friend is suicidal! Didn't you see it on the news? She tried to kill herself after her brother died! Pretty pathetic, right?"

"You're wrong! You need to mind your own business!"

"Alright, what's going on here?" Mrs. Kamogawa exclaimed as she stepped in between the two girls. Yun was the first to speak.

"Shimizu keeps spouting crude nonsense about Minako!" Yun yelled as she pointed right to Seiko.

"It's not nonsense! It's true!" Seiko yelled.

"Shimizu, it's not nice to discuss horrible things like suicide in this school. You should learn to keep your thoughts and assumptions to yourself. We don't discuss people's personal lives in such a manner," Mrs. Kamogawa told her sternly.

"But Kamogawa-sensei!"

"Not another word, missy. Go back to your seat and prepare for your next class," Mrs. Kamogawa told her and left. Seiko, unhappy that she took Yun's side and not hers, sat back at her desk, making the fight come to a cessation.

But despite this, Yun couldn't get what Seiko said out of her head. She tried to put it behind her during class, but it just kept lingering in her mind like a virus eating away at a computer's data. Yun couldn't wait for school to end so she could visit Minako and confirm for herself that what Seiko said is nothing more than attention-craving nonsense. She wanted to believe that that was all it was. Finally, the final bell rang and school ended. Yun and Lucero had Hisako take them to Minako's house instead of their own house. Hisako dropped them off, and Yun knocked on the door. Minagi answered it.

"Oh! Why, hello Yun-chan and...um, who are you?" Minagi greeted Yun kindly, but had never met Lucero before so she got confused.

"This is Lucero, my friend," Yun said.

"Hello," Lucero said.

"Come on inside," Minagi said as she invited them inside. Minagi made Lucero a glass of orange juice and Yun had some water. Minagi also brought out some snacks for them. Yun didn't touch them.

"So...how's Minako doing? I noticed she didn't come to school today," Yun said.

"Yes. That's true. She insisted on staying home," Minagi said. Yun looked a little dejected. Her one suspicion was confirmed. But she still needed to confirm that other one. But how could she do it without sounding like she's prying? She didn't want to invade her friend's private life, but she wanted to confirm that what Seiko said is nothing but nonsense. She had to try...and she took the plunge.

"Ummm...sorry if this sounds weird and inappropriate to mention, but earlier today, in homeroom, Shimizu and her friends were saying mean things about Minako. They kept saying that she tried to...umm...kill herself once. I don't know what made her think something like that, but it was pretty awful. Of course, Kamogawa-sensei and I yelled at her about it, but you know how persistent she is when it comes to thinking weird and untrue things about people she hates. I don't think it's true at all. I mean, Minako? Killing herself? That's stupid! She wants to give lives to people, not take them, let alone her own! It was pretty stupid of Shimizu to say something so horrible as that...right?" Yun explained.

Right when she said it, Minagi stopped where she was and froze. Yun saw this and immediately regretted mentioning it.

"Umm...I'm sorry! I wasn't trying to sound mean or rude or anything! I'm just saying what I heard in school! I don't-" Yun tried to convince Minagi that she wasn't trying to pry or make herself sound like she knows anything about it and is trying to rub it in her face, but Yun has a reputation for having everything she says heard the wrong way and misinterpreted the wrong way. Thankfully, Minagi didn't get mad or anything.

"It's okay. I know you don't mean any harm. You're a good girl, and I believe that. But..." Minagi sighed and sat in the living room. Yun sat down next to her. Minagi slipped her hand in Yun's and looked at her with a straight look.

"Normally, I never discuss this with people outside the family, but since you've been such a great friend to her, I might as well tell you since it sounds like you don't know. I wish what Shimizu said really was nonsense, but...it isn't. It's true. After Kiyoshi died, Minako did try to...take her life," Minagi explained in a low and pained whisper.

Yun and Lucero were both frozen in place. Minako actually DID try to take her life? Seiko was right all along! But why, when Minako's dream is to give people a new start in life and find world peace?

"Why? Why would she...want to do that?" Yun croaked sadly. Minagi's head drooped downward.

"She blamed herself for Kiyoshi's death. She kept claiming that it's her fault that Kiyoshi died. They got into a fight before we went on the picnic, and Minako was stubborn about it and wouldn't let it go. After he died, she planned to throw herself in that river. Thankfully, I managed to find her and stop her before she could jump, but...it was traumatizing for all of us," Minagi explained.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know," Yun muttered.

"It's quite alright. Also...Minako actually gave up on the idea...because of you," Minagi told her.

Yun looked up at Minagi. "What? Because of me?"

Minagi smiled a bit. "Yes. I remember overhearing her talking to herself once, saying that if she really did take her own life, she'd be leaving you behind, and that you'd probably blame yourself for what happened. Yun, I'm sorry for everything that's happened between you, Minako, and Kosuke, but she really does love you. You've been such a great influence on her these past years, and I'm really grateful."

Yun suddenly stood up. "Me? Be a good influence on people? No way! That's not true at all! I'm stupid, annoying, a freak, a parasite, a retard, and I constantly cause trouble to people around me! People say so! Nenji's mom says all of that to my face and it's true! Everyone else agrees! I'm a terrible person and a worse friend!"

"That's not true, Yun-chan!" Minagi exclaimed. "You're a wonderful person! You shouldn't think that the mean things others say to you are true. They're not. They just don't see it."

"But...I'm not-" Yun tried to contradict her, but Lucero put a hand on her mouth.

"Don't say it," Lucero told her. Yun, seeing that it was pointless to contradict Minagi, looked at the bag in her hand.

"I'll take these to Minako," Yun said as she walked away from the living room to find Minako's room.

She did, and she saw that the door was open. She walked inside and saw Minako lying face down on her bed, with her purple digivice and yellow DigiEgg-Salamon's DigiEgg-still in the same place Yun put them. It broke Yun's heart to see Minako so dejected, so abject, and so crushed by despair. She gently put the bag of cookies next to her.

"Mom made those. I know how much you love chocolate chip. I...I'm sorry, Minako...for being such a terrible person and an even worse friend. Sorry for being such an annoying pest, not that I mean to be. But Salamon isn't really dead. She's inside that egg. But you don't believe me, do you? You're right. I am a retard, and a big one. I'm sorry for being so. Bye," Yun whispered sadly, then left. She and Lucero left the house and went back home.

What Yun didn't know was that Minako was stuck inside a dream...well, going down memory lane, of course.

(flashback)

_It was about five months after Minako's eighth birthday. Minako had noticed that Minagi had been getting sick a lot lately, often throwing up for having strange cravings for strange foods, like pickles and raspberries. Later, she was told the big news._

_"Huh? You're pregnant? What's that mean?" Minako asked._

_"It means Minagi here's going to have a baby soon. You're going to be an older sister, Minako!" Tatsuha told her with a perfectly radiant smile. Suddenly, Minako herself was smiling hugely._

_"I am? Oh! Oh! Is it gonna be a boy or a girl?" Minako asked excitedly._

_"We don't know yet. I'm currently in my second month. My doctor says I'll be due in December," Minagi told her._

_"Whaaat? December? I don't wanna wait that long! That's too far away!" Minako complained._

_"Well, babies inside mommy's belly need to take their time and grow. If they're out too early, bad things might happen," Minagi told her._

_"Oh! Think of it this way! You'll have a little brother or sister as a nice little Christmas present! How's that?" Tatsuha said._

_"That'd be nice! Okay, I'll wait. But I wanna be the one who names it!" Minako exclaimed._

_Over the next few months, Minako was vigorously and excitedly waiting for her new brother and sister. She was so excited, in fact, that she went on the computer and looked for suitable names on the internet. The task seemed long and perilous, but Minako found a boy name that she became fond of: Kiyoshi. The name is written with the characters for pure and uncorrupted, which is exactly how babies are like. She wanted to know if her little brother or sister would become a good, pure, kind person, so she decided that if the baby is a boy, it would be Kiyoshi. If it was a girl, it would be Kiyoko. But she had a pretty decent list of girl's names she liked: Masuyo, Naoko, Hiromi, Kasane,_ _and Hotaru, the latter being the name of Minako's second favorite Sailor Moon character _(Minako somehow coincidentally has her number one favorite character's namesake, first name and middle name and all)_._

_But then Minagi's due date came, and oddly enough...her water didn't break. In fact, it didn't break until about a month and a half after her due date, right past Minako's ninth birthday! Everyone found this odd. But finally, her water broke and she went into labor. She was taken to the hospital. Minako and Tatsuha went with her, but they had to sit in the waiting room. Almost three hours passed, and the wait was agonizing (and boring, according to nine year old Minako). Finally, a smiling doctor came out with big news, but he told it to Minako first._

_"Congratulations, little missy. You have a new baby brother. You're an older sister now," The doctor told her kindly._

_Tatsuha and Minako rejoiced in a fluffy of joyful screams and cheers. Later, they got to see Minagi and the new baby boy. Minako's heart was immediately stolen by the big, plump baby and his chubby cheeks, his head full of light brown curls dangling all over the place, his small,_ _deep green eyes, his pudgy but tiny hands and feet, and his curling fingers and toes. Immediately, Minako had the boy's name in mind:_ _Kiyoshi. Minagi wanted to name him Tatsuya, but Tatsuha said that sounded too much like him, so they put it in as his middle name, and thus,_ _Omori Kiyoshi Tatsuya was born._

_Sadly, Kiyoshi only got to live for two years, and Minako lost all of her joy and love because of it...that is, until a tiny, cream colored,_ _rosy cheeked, violet eyed talking puppy came into her life._

(end flashback one, begin flashback two)

_This takes place after the battle with Goblimon. Minako and Salamon walked into the back yard where nobody could see them. Minako was quite shaken by what had happened, and she didn't want to believe that a TV show could actually be real! But she touched the little creature, she talked to it, fed it, took care of it, and in return, it protected her from danger. Not only that, the little animal could actually talk!_ _Once they got into the back yard, Minako turned around to look at the peppy little puppy._

_"Wan! That sure was close! But I'm glad you're safe, Minako!" Salamon exclaimed with a cute smile._

_Minako looked at her strangely, which Salamon found odd._

_"What's wrong? Do you not like me?" Salamon asked, starting to look sad._

_"You're...you're..." Minako stammered. Finally, she scooped Salamon into her arms and literally squeezed her._

_"SO CUUUUTE!" Minako squealed as she hugged her new little puppy friend. Salamon didn't mind the hug and rubbed her face against Minako's._ _Soon, Minako put Salamon down._

_"I never knew you Digimon actually exist. I thought it was just a silly cartoon," Minako said._

_"You did? So...we're not real?" Salamon asked._

_"Well, it seems now you are...and I take it you're my...um, partner?" Minako said._

_"Yep! I'm Salamon! I hope we can be friends, Minako! Wan!" Salamon yelped happily, which made Minako smile._

_"If you want, you can call me Mina-chan. My friend Yun calls me that," Minako told her._

_"Mina-chan? Okay! Hello, Mina-chan! Wan!" Salamon barked sweetly again._

_"Y'know, I've always wanted a dog. I guess my wish came true, only you're a Digimon. But that's okay. But I may have to keep you a secret for a while," Minako told her._

_"You do? Why?" Salamon asked innocently._

_"Well, in this world, people don't believe Digimon are real, so if they see a little puppy talking, they might cause an uproar and get rid of you. I don't want that happening. Of course, not everyone might do that, but you never know," Minako told her._

_"But can we still be friends?"_

_"Of course. I never said we couldn't."_

_"Whee! I can't wait to be friends with you! Wan!"_

_Thus blossomed the beginning of a brand new friendship._

_But now even Salamon is gone._

(end flashback two)

Minako finally woke up from her very long sleep. She sat up and found her digivice and the DigiEgg next to her. She then remembered what Salamon told her. Digimon aren't like humans. They don't really die. They just get re-configured, turn into DigiEggs, and begin their lives anew. Minako knew this, yet she remembered going into a breakdown after she saw Gatomon get hit by LadyDevimon's Fallen Angel's Spear...and the horrible things she said to Yun. Remembering that she called Yun a retard, Minako shed a few tears.

"I'm so horrible! Not only do I agree with what Kosuke said about Yun, I actually let my anger and sadness get the best of me and call her a retard! She was only...trying to help! How could I be so insensitive and heartless?" Minako cried as she buried herself in her bed again. "Kiyoshi and Salamon must both be disappointed in me. I'm so sorry, Yun!...Kiyoshi...Salamon...I'm so sorry! I never should've done those things! I've been trying to apologize to Yun all week, and yet I screw the whole thing up! Now...I don't think she'll ever forgive me. Will I ever be at peace with myself?"

Minako remembered the friendship she shared with Yun, and all the memories they spent together. They were happy ones, and Minako always made sure to keep Yun out of trouble and speak for her when she couldn't put her own words together. Minako then remembered what Minagi told her. If she really took her life, Yun would be alone. Yun would most likely blame herself for Minako's potential death and possibly do what she tried to do. Minako didn't want that happening to such a sweet person. Then, she realized it right there: Yun's the sole reason why Minako didn't throw her life away that day! She wanted to avenge Kiyoshi's death by sacrificing herself, but if she did that, then Yun would most likely do what she tried to do, and she didn't want that. She believed that Yun deserves a live better than anyone. Not only that, she found a new friend in Salamon, who actually re-taught her what it means to really live, only Minako didn't realize it then. Salamon was always happy and cheerful about something, even over the littlest things. Minako was like that too. What good is there in dying when you might leave the people you love behind and maybe cause more death? Minako didn't want that. She sat up on her bed and looked up at the ceiling.

"Kiyoshi...Salamon...I'm so sorry. For everything. For causing you all to worry. I...I really do want to live...and peacefully, too. I want to do the things I want to do and I want to apologize to Yun and everyone else for the trouble I caused. I thought that by ending my existence, everyone else would be happy...but no. That's not true. Death only brings sadness, no matter the intent. You two may be gone forever, but I promise I won't disappoint you anymore. I'll apologize to Yun first thing tomorrow after school! I won't let anything stop me from doing so! But...I wonder if I can really do it? What if she doesn't forgive me?" Minako said to herself. But then she began to doubt whether Yun would forgive her or not.

She found her answer, but it wasn't anything she ever expected.

_"You can do it, Mina-chan!"_

It was Salamon's voice. It echoed in her ears. She stood up and looked around.

"Salamon? Is that you?" Minako asked.

Suddenly, a purple light glowed in front of her. Minako looked down to see her D-Heart of Peace glowing in a soft, warm violet purple light. Not only that, the DigiEgg on her bed is glowing in and out. Minako looked at the DigiEgg and ruminated.

"Salamon...? Are you...there?" Minako asked in a whisper.

_"I know you can do it, Mina-chan! I believe in you! You'll definitely be at peace with yourself! Don't give up!"_

Minako walked closer to the glowing egg. She remembered that this was Salamon's DigiEgg, the one she found in the garden two weeks ago. She never thought she would actually see it again. But maybe, just maybe, Salamon really is alive? Minako couldn't let go of this possibility, even though she knew that death is eternal and inevitable no matter what. She krept closer and closer to the egg, and finally...

"Agh!"

It shone brighter than ever before, so much so that Minako had to closer her eyes and put her hands over her face! The room was lit up for one full minute. Soon, the light dissipated, and Minako found it safe to open her eyes and remove her hand and arms from her face. Little did she know that this time, she wasn't going to regret seeing what she saw, and what she saw made her remember everything. The egg shell completely disappeared! Her D-Heart stopped glowing as well.

Sitting on Minako's bed is a tiny, round, white, chilly bear head with two little round protrusions on both sides of it serving as ears. Her eyes are black and beady, but full of life and curiosity. Under it's eyes are two rosy pink blush spheres serving as it's cheeks. Minako remembered: this is Salamon's baby form! This is the creature that came out of the egg in the garden two weeks ago...when they first met.  
>The little Digimon looked up at Minako with her black eyes full of life and a cute smile on her face.<p>

"Hi, Mina-chan. I'm back," The little creature said in a cute voice like Salamon's, only a tad higher pitched.

"Who...are you?" Minako asked.

"I'm YukimiBotamon...the baby form of Salamon," The little white bear head, YukimiBotamon, told her in a cute whisper.

Earlier, Minako felt as though her heart were a chunk of ice. Now, with the sight of Salamon-or YukimiBotamon in this case-looking up at her with her eternally curious and happy eyes, all of a sudden, everything felt warm, melted, and soft, even though the air around YukimiBotamon is chilly. But then again, YukimiBotamon IS a snow themed Digimon after all, so of course she'd feel a little cold. Minako thought that the road ahead of her would never have her footprints on it. Now she's walking on it with gusto. She could feel the warm tears slither down her cheeks. But she smiled. She gently and slowly scooped YukimiBotamon into her hands and lifted her up. YukimiBotamon fit snugly and perfectly into both of her hands, despite being a little smaller than them.

"YukimiBotamon...I'm so sorry. For everything," Minako said, her voice cracking under her sadness.

"It's okay. I forgive you. Are you going to apologize to Yun?" YukimiBotamon told her kindly.

"Yes. I am, and I will for sure. But I don't know if she'll forgive me," Minako replied.

"I think she will. I know you can do it, Mina-chan! You're my friend!" YukimiBotamon told her, she herself beginning to tear up. Minako then embraced her tiny baby Digimon and held onto her for a long, long time. YukimiBotamon didn't mind Minako's embrace.

After that, the two spent literally all of their time together for the entire day and night. Soon, they got tired and fell asleep. Friday came, and Yun didn't expect to see Minako today. But much to her surprise, Minako came!

"Mina-chan! You're here!" Yun exclaimed as she approached her. "Umm...are you okay?"

"Yes, I am. Thanks for worrying about me. I ate those cookies you got me. They were delicious," Minako told her with a smile. Yun and the other kids (except for Kosuke and Melody, who are ignoring each other and have been since their big fight) felt relieved to see her back in school. Unfortunately, there is one person who isn't so happy to see her.

"You're here, Omori? Hm. I thought you went and offed yourself," Seiko said. Minako didn't fly into a rage or start crying like before. Instead, she looked at Seiko with a straight look.

"Me? Off myself? I wouldn't do that. What would I gain from doing something like that? Can you tell me?" Minako asked.

"Uh...I...I don't...know..."

"Hm. I thought so. Oh, your soda's spilling on your skirt."

Seiko looked down and saw that the bottle of soda she's supposed to be drinking is spilling on her shirt because she didn't move from her positon. Now there's a big mark on her skirt.

"AAAAHH! Oh no!" Seiko yelped as she put her bottle of soda down on her desk and looked down at her skirt, which is now covered in soda.  
>Nenji and his flunkies noticed it and laughed.<p>

"Hey look! Shimizu peed herself!" Nenji exclaimed maliciously, and his flunkies laughed loudly in reaction. Seiko's face turned red like a beet and she became incensed.

"No I did not, you fat slob!" Seiko yelled back.

Mrs. Kamogawa gave them both detention. Minako put her bag on her desk...and YukimiBotamon is inside, peeping out from within it! Minako actually brought YukimiBotamon with her to school!

"Are they the mean kids you told me about? Nenji and Seiko?" YukimiBotamon asked in a whisper.

"Yes, sadly," Minako said.

The rest of the school day went smoothly, with YukimiBotamon silently sitting in Minako's bag and watching everything going on. She was quite surprised that Minako went to a place like this, where teachers teach the kids various lessons, where kids listen and don't listen at the same time, where they read books, take notes, and participate in projects. YukimiBotamon had always heard about school, but she often wondered what human school was like. She only had a vague memory of Digimon school, but that was it. Not only that, she had been told a lot about Nenji and Seiko and how mean and cruel they are, but she had never actually seen them. She had always been curious about what they looked like and how they acted, and now she got her wish, and they really were nothing she ever expected! But then again, the only humans she ever interacted with were the members of the Digimon Brigade. That was all, so it was to be expected after all. Despite all the exciting things going on (in YukimiBotamon's point of view), she kept quiet all day to make sure she didn't draw any unwanted attention to herself. She especially didn't want to draw the attention of Seiko and Nenji, who would most likely make a big scene regarding just about anything! Who knows what would happen.

At recess, Minako showed YukimiBotamon to the Digimon Brigade. They felt glad that Minako's come back to her senses, though they did notice that Kosuke and Melody are still straight out ignoring each other and not giving a rat's hat about anything. Yun didn't get to talk to Minako for very long because she had to be called in for something. Minako used this time to apologize to everyone regarding her rather inopportune and inappropriate behavior. Seeing how sincere she was about her misdeed, they decided to smile at her and forgive her, which made Minako and YukimiBotamon happy, though Minako had to confess that they were quite surprised by their ken and didn't expect them to forgive her right off the bat. But they made amends and everything's back to normal...well, almost everything.

When school finally ended, Minako asked Yun if she would meet her in the park after school. Yun agreed, but had to go home to get Lopmon and Terriermon first. It didn't take long. Like last time, Lucero accompanied her. Yun saw Minako sitting in the gazebo playing with little YukimiBotamon happily without a care in the world. Right when she saw Lopmon, Terriermon, and Cutemon, YukimiBotamon immediately hopped right in front of them.

"Lopmon! Terriermon! Cutemon! Hi!" YukimiBotamon exclaimed with a big smile as she let herself be embraced by the three happy bunnies.

"Oh! You're alive! I'm so glad you're alright, my dear friend!" Lopmon cried out with a smile, and it must be confessed that she got a tad teary eyed when she hugged YukimiBotamon.

"So...what Digimon are you again?" Terriermon asked, looking a little confused.

"I'm YukimiBotamon now! Don't worry, I'll be Salamon again soon," YukimiBotamon told him kindly.

"You're so cute, kyu! Brrr! And chilly, kyu!" Cutemon exclaimed, then shivered upon getting rather close to YukimiBotamon.

"Sorry I'm so cold (physically, not personality-wise). I can't help it," YukimiBotamon said.

"It's okay! We're just glad you're back! But I still wanna kick LadyDevimon's butt for what she did to you!" Terriermon edicted.

"Good luck with that," YukimiBotamon said.

"Why don't we go and play?" Lopmon suggested. YukimiBotamon hopped on Lopmon's ear, and the Digimon ran to another part of the park to play together, happy that YukimiBotamon is here. Lucero, Yun, and Minako smiled as they frolicked and played like old friends.

"They get along so well, don't they?" Lucero asked.

"Yeah. Maybe they were all friends back when they were in the Digital World," Yun said wistfully.

"Could be. We had days like that too, y'know?" Minako said. She reminisced and ruminated about those happy days for a bit, then remembered that she needed to do something. She looked at Yun with a straight face.

"Yun, I...I feel terrible about what I said and did both yesterday and a few days ago, and I just want to say that I..." Minako felt as if she were going to choke at the last part, but she spit it out anyway. "I'm so sorry!"

She bowed before Yun and stayed in that position.

"I'm so sorry for hurting your feelings this past week! I shouldn't have done any of that! But I'll admit this: the only reason I agreed with Kosuke back then was so I could stop him from going on a rampage. I'm not sure if you remember, but when he has his mind on something and he wants people to agree with him but don't, he goes nuts. I wanted to stop him from doing anything that would hurt you even more...but I guess it backfired, didn't it? And I'm so sorry for calling you a retard last night! You were only trying to help and I really appreciate it, even though I was lost in my anger and sadness yesterday. I relived Kiyoshi's death and I lost it when Gatomon...got hurt. I got so wrapped up in my sadness that I forgot about everything around me. I know, I shouldn't have done those things. You have every right to be angry with me and to not forgive me. It's fine, but I want you to know how sorry I am, and I want us to be friends again! I don't believe all those mean things that Kosuke said about you are true! I don't believe a word of it!"

Minako expected Yun to go on a tirade or to break down crying. Minako didn't expect Yun to forgive her or to believe what she was saying is true, but she did it anyway in the small hope of winning her heart again. But oddly enough, no sound came out of Yun's mouth. Minako looked up and saw Yun looking down wistfully, even sadly.

"What's wrong?" Minako asked.

"You...don't have to ask me to forgive you. I know it was all because the stress of losing Kiyoshi-kun and Salamon got the better of you. But really, what Kosuke said is true. I am a retard, a parasite, and a problem for everyone," Yun said.

"No! That's not true at all!" Minako exclaimed.

"Yeah it is. I can't do anything helpful for people and no matter what I say I always make them mad. You and Kosuke are both right," Yun whispered.

"We're wrong! It was wrong of us to say those things! Don't believe it, Yun!" Minako yelped.

"I...I do want us to be friends again...but...I'm afraid that if I do, I might annoy you more, hold you back more, and cause you more trouble than ever before. I always do those things, don't I? Everyone else says so. Ayaka, Kosuke, Nemoto, Nemoto's mom, Seiko, everyone. They all agree."

"Well I say screw them! They don't know anything! Yun, you're wonderful! Don't say that you're not!" Minako yelled.

Lucero put a hand on Yun's shoulder. "She's right. Thou art a kind, gentle person who cares about other people. Isn't that enough?"

Lopmon, Terriermon, Cutemon, and YukimiBotamon appeared.

"Yun! Quit your angsting and accept Minako's apology! I can tell she's serious!" Terriermon exclaimed with his arms crossed.

Seeing this, Yun decided to put her negative feelings behind her and smile at Minako, though it must be confessed that she's still traumatized by what happened. It's understandable, really.

"It's alright. I...forgive you, and I want us to be friends again. I'm sorry for being a bad friend," Yun said.

"You're not a bad friend. I was being the bad friend, and Kosuke's being one right now. Umm...do you want to hang out here for a while? We don't have homework. Oh! Umm...do you still want to go to the picnic with me? Everyone else said yes, so-"

"Yes. I'll go with you."

Minako hugged Yun when she said that. Yun smiled and hugged her back. Lucero did also.

"Awww! A group hug!" YukimiBotamon cried out happily.

"Should we join them?" Lopmon asked.

"I say let's do it, kyu!" Cutemon yelped as she jumped on the trio of kids. Lopmon, Terriermon, and YukimiBotamon followed suit.

From then on, they hung out together for a long time. They played with their Digimon, talked about lots of things (like their fond childhood memories, their newest anime, manga, games, the situation with LadyDevimon, etc.), played outdoor games together, watched the scenery together, sat together, everything. Yun and Minako wished that days like this would go on forever.


	37. Another Normal Day

EPISODE 37: Another Normal Day

Yun, Minako, Lucero, Lopmon, Cutemon, YukimiBotamon, and Terriermon played in the park for almost a whole hour by themselves. The Digimon played all sorts of games like tag and hide and seek. Sometimes the kids played with them, and they sure enjoyed every minute of it. They laughed and played and ran around and rolled on the grass and everything. They had never felt so free in a long time. Minako especially. She remembered that she used to play like this with Kiyoshi as he slowly began to grow into a toddler, and with Yun and the rest of her friends when they were just innocent children. Minako wished that days like this would go on forever, but that is not to be. She did, however, feel relieved for finally being able to apologize to Yun and reconcile with her again, though she could see signs that Yun is still traumatized by the mean things that Kosuke said. Understandable, since autistic kids are rather sensitive to these kinds of things (some of them) and tend to stick to certain beliefs and be very intractable regarding them. But nonetheless, Minako was just happy to have her friendship with Yun back and to have fixed it. Not only that, YukimiBotamon is there with her, so she remembered that Digimon are different from humans. She also had to thank Yun for saving Salamon's data before LadyDevimon could absorb it all.

Not only that, Minako isn't the only one who's happy about reconciling with Yun. The Digimon were happy for her and lauded her for her sincere apology. But it wasn't just them. It was Lucero who seemed the happiest regarding this whole thing. When he first met Minako, he could tell she was quite the congenial and civilized character, though with some insecurities hidden deep within the depths of her heart. But when Kosuke and Minako lashed out at her in the past few days, he instantly saw something about Yun that he never saw: Yun lives on the harmony of her unending daily life, including having her friends around. If that harmony is destroyed, then she's destroyed. Sure the pieces would come back together, but it wouldn't be totally complete. There would still be scars. He accepted Minako's apology and gave her the benefit of the doubt, but it broke his innocuous little heart to see Yun so broken and her life and beliefs thrown in great discord. He did not want to see that ever again. Even so, he could tell that Yun's still latching to her belief that she is a problem, despite that he knows that she's not. Still, she's having a great time playing with her friends and the Digimon right now, so he decided to let her be. He didn't want to unknowingly destroy the now slightly restored harmony in Yun's heart. Right now, Yun, Lucero, Minako, and the Digimon are sitting in the gazebo and talking merrily amongst themselves.

"Hey Yun. I'm not sure if you heard the announcements yesterday, but you know that End Drug and Substance Abuse contest that's going on? The winners are going to be announced next Monday over the PA system! Not only that, they added a new prize to the first prize winners: a hundred dollar gift card to anywhere you want to go!" Minako exclaimed with a smile as YukimiBotamon sat contentedly in her arms.

"Yeah, I heard them," Yun said as she clung to Lopmon, who sat contentedly on her lap.

"Contest? What is this contest thou speakest of?" Lucero asked.

"You weren't there when it began so you don't know, do you? The entire school is making us kids submit drawings to this charity that specializes in making sure kids don't do drugs or drink alcohol. The first three winners will receive cool prizes. Most of us wanted to not participate, but they made us all do it against our will," Yun explained.

"The school makes all the kids do it? And against their will? Isn't that a little cruel?" Lopmon asked.

"I think they're just doing it for recognition. You know how Fushimi's reputation is. The teachers are almost always fussing over how great the school is," Minako said sarcastically, apparently not really caring about how great the school supposedly is. "But I know for sure that you're gonna win."

"No, I don't think so," Yun said.

"You don't think so? Yun, your drawing is great! You're gonna win for sure! I know it!" Terriermon backed up Minako's statement.

"Me too. I'm sure you'll win," Lopmon said with a smile.

"I don't know what this contest is like, but I think you'll win, kyu!" Cutemon said.

"You'll win! We all know you will!" YukimiBotamon piped in cutely.

"Stop. You know that's not gonna happen," Yun said.

"Well I know that it will happen, and thou will surely win this contest beyond a shadow of a doubt!" Lucero backed everyone else up. Yun sighed as the majority went against her in terms of who will win the contest.

"If there's two people I know who WON'T win, it's Nenji and Seiko!" YukimiBotamon edicted proudly, without a hint of regret.

"You met them?" Yun asked.

"Yep! I saw Seiko spill soda on her skirt and Nenji making fun of her. They're NOT nice kids, are they?" YukimiBotamon explained.

"Very. Not nice at all," Lucero said.

"I'm surprised you even brought YukimiBotamon to school. You could've gotten in trouble if someone saw her!" Yun told Minako.

"I know, but I thought that since she's in her baby form now, I could hide her in my bag and show her the school, the kids, and everything in it and show her what our day is normally like," Minako said.

"Your school looks nice!" YukimiBotamon piped in.

"Oh no, it's not THAT nice," Yun said.

"I wouldn't mind going to see it, but since I know we'll draw unwanted attention, we won't go," Lopmon said.

Suddenly, YukimiBotamon saw something in the distance and hopped out of the gazebo to get a closer look.

"What's wrong?" Minako asked.

"Someone's coming," YukimiBotamon said.

All of a sudden, a voice fell on their ears. "Heeeey!"

Into the park came Aria, Syakomon, Isao, Bearmon, Otoya, Labramon, Hokuto, and Kudamon!

"Otoya-chan! Aria-chan!" Yun exclaimed as Aria ran up to her and hugged her.

"Hokuto-kun! Isao-kun!" Minako exclaimed as Otoya hugged her.

"We thought we'd find you here!" Otoya cried out happily.

"Were you looking for us?" Yun asked.

"Yes. It was Otoya's idea. She wanted to have some of us together so we can hang out with you and make your day a little brighter," Labramon told her kindly.

"We're sorry about what happened two days ago. I wish we could've been able to stop LadyDevimon from hurting Salamon," Isao said.

Minako smiled. "It's okay. It was kinda inevitable so there wasn't much we could do."

"She's right. We can't digivolve to our ultimate forms yet, and it may be a long time before we do," Kudamon said.

"Yun-chan, Mina-chan...are you okay?" Aria asked innocently.

"Yes, we're fine," Yun kneeled before Aria and rubbed her head of black hair gently, which made Aria smile a bit.

"But really, how could LadyDevimon be so cruel? I would've loved to punch her in the face for what she did!" Bearmon exclaimed.

"I agree with you," Terriermon said. Bearmon sighed.

"I wish I could digivolve to my ultimate form. I would be able to help everyone better," Bearmon said.

"I think you're doing a fine enough job of helping us," Lopmon told him gently as she put her tiny pink paw on one of his big ones. YukimiBotamon hopped onto his head too. Suddenly, Bearmon felt a freezing jolt on his head and jumped.

"Whoa! It's coooold!" Bearmon exclaimed.

"But you're wearing a hat!" YukimiBotamon said.

"So...how have you been, YukimiBotamon?" Labramon asked.

"I'm good!" YukimiBotamon replied back.

"You gonna digivolve back into Salamon soon?" Syakomon asked.

"Probably so," YukimiBotamon replied.

The Digimon broke away from the kids and decided to play with each other, feeling happy that YukimiBotamon is alright. The kids sat on the grass and talked amongst themselves.

"You apologized to Yun, didn't you, Minako?" Otoya asked with a rather suspicious look in her green eyes. Minako drooped her head downward a little.

"Yes, I did. I'm sorry for behaving so badly this past week," Minako whispered sadly. Otoya and the other kids smiled.

"It's alright. We forgive you. If it helps, we'll go to the picnic this Sunday if you want," Otoya told her.

"I've always wanted to go to a picnic," Hokuto said.

"I miss going to picnics. Mama used to take me and Orie-Neechan to those all the time, and her food was the best!" Aria explained.

"Sure, I'd love for you all to come," Minako said.

Just as Yun was about to say something, someone else came into the fray, only it wasn't a person.

"Hey everyone!"

It was a Digimon, and it was none other than Patamon.

"Oh! Hi Patamon!" YukimiBotamon exclaimed as she hopped in front of him as he descended to the grass.

"Hey! You're...YukimiBotamon, right? Salamon's baby form?" Patamon asked.

"Yep!"

"You're back! Yay!"

"What are you doing here?" Isao asked.

"Kosuke needs some time alone, so I thought I'd come here and cool off a bit. I feel so bad about what happened a couple days ago!" Patamon explained.

"It's not your fault. I'm the one who made everything worse, and I'm sorry," Minako said. Patamon smiled.

"It's okay. I forgive you! But Kosuke needs to do his share of apologizing first. I don't like how critical and judgmental he's become as of now," Patamon sighed.

"You don't like it either, huh?" Labramon asked.

"Nope! Not one bit!" Patamon replied.

Yun suddenly remembered something she needed to tell everyone, and she felt that this was the perfect opportunity to broach about said subject.

"Everyone? Do you remember the first fight we all had with LadyDevimon? Right before it ended, someone on a walkie talkie talked to her. She referred to him as Master. Do you think maybe...the Digimon on the other side of the walkie talkie was LadyDevimon and Witchmon's Master?" Yun asked.

"You're right! I remember she got out of the battle because of him telling her to come back!" Syakomon exclaimed.

"Her Master must be really scary," Aria said.

"No kidding, kyu! His voice was so deep and low, kyu!" Cutemon exclaimed.

"But LadyDevimon still didn't say what Digimon her master is, so we still don't know, and we don't have any way of finding out. She probably won't want to spill the beans about her Master to just about anybody," Minako said.

"I agree. Considering the Digimon we've fought, it sounds like the Digimon are very devoted to their master. But...upon hearing it's voice, I sensed...something strange about him," Kudamon explained in a low whisper, which made everyone turn their heads and look at him with their confused faces.

"What do you mean strange?" Bearmon asked.

"Well...normally, evil Digimon are supposed to emit a dangerous, ominous, and malicious aura that shows how corrupted they are. I have the ability to tell whether a human or Digimon have good or bad intentions. Other Digimon have this ability as well, and some develop it as they digivolve. But...I didn't feel anything like that with the so-called master," Kudamon explained.

"What did you feel?" Yun asked.

"Is this Digimon actually good?" Lucero asked.

"No, I wouldn't call him pure good. But I did feel a sense of innocence and wonder about him, but it's mixed with a feeling of ambition and revenge. This Digimon appears to be sort of good, but he seems to be doing things for the wrong reasons. But the tone in his voice when he talked to LadyDevimon...sounded as though it were full of love," Kudamon explained.

"Yeah right! No Digimon like that can ever care about it's servants!" Terriermon exclaimed loudly.

"Is he just a good Digimon who's been misguided?" Lopmon asked.

"It might be so, but at this point, it's too early to tell," Kudamon said.

Yun was suddenly lost in her thoughts, ruminating about Kudamon's story. Questions kept floating around in her head like ghosts haunting an abandoned house. Who IS LadyDevimon and Witchmon's master? Is he a Digimon? Or is he human? Is he evil, or is he just good for the wrong reasons? What kind of Digimon is he? Why is he doing the things he's doing? Why is he letting his servants do as they please? Yun couldn't help but wonder. She did, however, remember Witchmon proudly edicting that her master was her saving grace, the very being that saved her from despair. She also remembered how angry she was when Lucero claimed he was a bad influence on her. Yun remembered Witchmon's lucid but vociferous words as perfectly as day.

_"Don't EVER say that my master is a bad influence on me, you worthless bags of flesh! You obviously don't understand what I've been through! I've been thrown away, neglected, and abandoned by my own kind just because they accused me of a crime I didn't do! Right when I was about to die, my master came and saved my life! He gave me food, shelter, and best of all, love! He's the only Digimon in this cruel world who ever cared about me, even after I was banished from my native Witchenly! I'm happy to do all of this for him! He's the best thing that ever happened to me!"_

_"I could...but I don't...want to forget...my master...and the love he's given me. You may think...he's some heartless villain...but to me, he's...my world...he saved me..."_

She remembered it all. How choleric and incensed she became when he was mentioned in a maligned manner, how weak she was when she yearned for his love and called out to him, everything. Yun could tell right away that Witchmon dearly loved her master, even though she was rather misguided. Yun understood that feeling very well. Yun felt all of the things Witchmon felt, only under different circumstances. She wondered if Witchmon found a human partner who accepted her and is happy with her. Is Witchmon doing okay? Suddenly, she felt a tap on her shoulder. It was Lucero.

"Yun? Art thou alright? Thou seem to be spacing out a whit," Lucero said.

"I...I was remembering Witchmon. Do you remember? She said that her master is the best thing that ever happened to her," Yun explained in a low voice that sounded as though it were yearning for something.

"Yes, I do. Doth thou believe that Witchmon's master and LadyDevimon's master are the same?"

"Maybe. But we don't even know who he even is. We heard his voice, so that's a start, but...I wonder if maybe-"

"YukimiBotamon's acting weird!" It was Syakomon who suddenly screamed, which made everyone stand up in alarm.

She was right. YukimiBotamon is lying on the grass, making a very contorted face and shaking like a leaf. Suddenly overcome with worry, Minako ran to her little white Digimon and held her in her arms.

"YukimiBotamon! What's wrong?" Minako yelped.

"What happened?" Otoya asked.

"We don't know! We were only playing and all of a sudden she started sounding like she got sick! We didn't do anything, we swear!" Bearmon explained.

"It's okay. We don't think it's your fault," Yun said.

"Is she gonna be okay?" Isao asked with Aria looking behind him.

Minako shook her baby Digimon. "YukimiBotamon! Get a hold of yourself!"

Finally, YukimiBotamon opened her eyes and mouth, looking as though she wanted to speak...but she didn't. Suddenly, a white light enveloped her entire body. Everyone saw this, and right away, they realized it.

"YukimiBotamon, digivolve to...Nyaromon!"

She got a little bigger, and she grew pointed ears and a tail. The light dissipated, and out came Nyaromon, the green cat head with pointed cat ears, purple eyes, a three tipped mouth, and the stubby tail with bluish purple stripes on it.

"Nyan!" She meowed as soon as the light went away.

"Hey! You digivolved! Congrats!" Patamon exclaimed as he hugged her.

"I'm one step closer to becoming Salamon again! Nyan!" Nyaromon purred as Patamon and the other Digimon hugged her (gently), rejoicing in her most recent digivolution. Minako couldn't help but wipe a tear out of her violet eyes.

"She's getting there," Yun told her.

"Yes, she is," Minako said, trying not to cry. Suddenly, Nyaromon hopped into Minako's arms and nuzzled against her chest, which made Minako laugh.

"Mina-chan! I'm Nyaromon again!" Nyaromon meowed happily.

Everyone looked at the two of them feeling happy with the poignant reunion between them. It had been a while since they had seen Minako so happy. Yun wondered if Minako was like this when Nyaromon digivolved into Salamon on the day they first met. But nonetheless, it seems Minako's broken heart is finally falling back into place again, piece by piece. She wondered if Minako could finally find peace. Who knows? Maybe this will help Salamon digivolve into ultimate level. But it's a long way from now. When Minako and Nyaromon finally stopped squealing, Otoya remembered something she needed to tell everyone.

"Oh! That reminds me! Everyone, I don't think you've heard, but I've got something I need to tell you all!" Otoya exclaimed.

"What is it, Otoya?" Labramon asked as he cocked his head to one side, thinking that this something might be related to them. Noticing their curiosity, Otoya shook her hands at them.

"No no, it's not about you. Sorry!" Otoya told him and the other Digimon kindly, then turned to the little kids. "It's not about you two either."

"Okay," Aria muttered.

"So? What is it? Spill the beans!" Syakomon importuned.

"As I was going to the bathroom earlier today, I passed by the main office and I heard the teachers talking. Takahashi-sensei's gonna be away for a while because of some illness she got," Otoya explained.

"Is it dangerous?" Yun asked.

"I didn't get it all, but I heard them say that she's in the hospital, so it might be that way. Not only that, starting Monday, we're gonna have to go to-" Otoya wanted to finish that sentence, but she didn't...because of someone calling for her.

"Heeeey!"

Someone ran into the park gasping for breath. It was none other than Riku! He ran up to the kids dressed in a green shirt underneath a dark blue sleeveless vest, long beige khaki jeans, his big white sneakers and black socks. Coronamon was nowhere in sight, which is unusual because Riku and Coronamon are almost always together.

"Rikkun? What's up?" Yun asked.

"You look like you just ran a marathon!" Minako said.

Riku looked up at them with a fiery gaze, like something bad was happening.

"You need to see this," Riku said. "Now!"

Seeing that Riku was quite serious, the kids and Digimon decided to leave the park and follow him. It didn't take long for them to realize that they were going into a well populated part of town...and that there are people all around, screaming and taking pictures or recording videos with their cell phones, and running for their lives. Why? Because three Digimon are duking it out! In public!

"Moon Night Bomb!"

"Fira Claw!"

"Psychic Wave!"

Two of them are Firamon and Lekismon, with Rena watching from the sidelines with her green eyes full of worry. The Digimon they're fighting seems to be the problem. It looks like a giant fiery butterfly almost exactly their size, with black skin covered with shiny red, orange, and yellow armor. It's mouth is funny and red, like that of your typical bug, and protruding out from its back are a set of fiery red and yellow wings. The Digimon flew very fast, almost at the same speed and agility as Firamon and Lekismon, only they're having a hard time defeating it. It's eyes are glowing in a ghostly red light, much ghostlier and more ominous than its wings and armor. It caught sight of some people in front of a building and decided to attack.

"Oh no! Lekismon, over there!" Firamon yelled as he saw what the Digimon planned to do. The couple tried to run, but the girl tripped and couldn't move while the boy went to help her up. Lekismon gasped as she decided to step in.

"Psychic Wave!"

A ghostly purple wave of energy shot out from both of it's armor clad hands, hurdling toward the couple. Thankfully, Lekismon scooped the two of them in her arms and hopped away before it hit the building. Unfortunately, the building fell down and crumbled to the ground.

"Who IS that Digimon?" Yun yelped. Minako got her digivice out and displayed its information.

"That's Shadramon, an armor level, virus attribute, insect Digimon! His attacks are Flare Buster, Psychic Wave, and Serrated Screw!" Minako exclaimed as she read the information and put her digivice back. Rena caught sight of them and ran to them.

"Oh, thank goodness you're all here! This thing's ungodly stubborn and won't keep still! It's destroying everything! Would you mind helping us out?" Rena cried.

"Sure! We'd love to help!" Otoya exclaimed.

"But there are people watching! They're gonna know about this and tell everyone!" Riku yelled.

"It's kinda too late now, is it?" Kudamon asked.

"They'll freak out even more if they see us, so let's take cover while the Digimon fight," Minako said while clutching Nyaromon.

Everyone agreed. They decided to hide behind some trees while everyone else ran for their lives. Lopmon digivolved to Turuiemon, Terriermon to Gargomon, Cutemon to Rabbitmon, Patamon to Angemon, Labramon to Seasarmon, Kudamon to Reppamon, and Bearmon to Grizzlymon. Syakomon stayed in her rookie form because she's still too weak to digivolve to MarineAngemon, but she still decided to join the fight anyway despite her limited mobility. Shadramon saw all the Digimon surrounding him and decided to attack.

"Flare Buster!" Shadramon cloaked itself in flames and spiraled toward the Digimon.

"We have to stop him from destroying the town and hurting the citizens!" Angemon exclaimed.

"We're with you on that!" Grizzlymon backed him up.

"Holy Rod!" Angemon decided to go first and stopped Shadramon from attacking by raising his rod up as a shield, which gave Syakomon, Lekismon, and Reppamon the opportunity to attack.

"Water Screw!" A fast flying jet of water shot out of Syakomon's mouth and managed to hit Shadramon on the side.

"Vacuum Kamaitachi!" Reppamon's scythe tail shook, and Shadramon was suddenly bombarded by attacks he couldn't see.

"Moon Night Bomb!" Lekismon made two spheres of water fall on Shadramon and soak him to the bone, but it wasn't enough to contain him. He broke from Angemon's grasp and flew again. Reppamon, Angemon, and Seasarmon gave chase.

"Tee Dia!" Many arrows of light managed to hit Shadramon, pinning him to the ground.

"I'll see if I can find the Dark Emblem," Turuiemon said.

"We'll help you with that," Lekismon, Gargomon, and Rabbitmon.

The four of them looked around to find the Dark Emblem, but they didn't find any on him.

"It's not on his hands," Turuiemon said.

"It's not on his feet!" Gargomon exclaimed.

"It's not on his face or head," Lekismon whispered.

"It's not on his wings either," Rabbitmon said.

"It's not on his thorax," Seasarmon explained.

"Thorax?" Syakomon asked, cocking her head to one side curiously.

"A thorax is a bug's belly," Seasarmon explained. Syakomon didn't like the word because it sounded rather ugly, but since it was official, she went with it anyway.

"Do you think it may be under his wing?" Grizzlymon suggested? Rabbitmon immediately pulled Shadramon's left wing up and lo and behold, there was a Dark Emblem, though considering how dark Shadramon's skin is, it was a little hard to see.

"I found it! It's under his wing!" Rabbitmon edicted.

Suddenly, Shadramon broke out of the arrows of light and flew away, throwing Rabbitmon off of him. Lekismon and Turuiemon both managed to catch her.

"You okay?" Lekismon asked kindly.

"Yes. Thank you," Rabbitmon replied with a smile.

"Hey Lekismon! Wanna go the extra mile?" Turuiemon suggested while raising her gauntlets like a tough person.

"Now you're speaking my language!" Lekismon agreed while raising her moon gloves in the same manner as Turuiemon. Shadramon flew around restlessly, and then attempted to attack.

"Serrated Screw!" Shadramon spun around like a top and flew himself at Turuiemon and Lekismon, but the two rabbit Digimon had plans of their own. Turuiemon and Lekismon danced a Takarazuka like dance and surrounded themselves with flower petals.

"Waltz of the Flowers!" Turuiemon and Lekismon faced Shadramon and flew the myriad flower petals at him, but it wasn't enough to hurt him. Thankfully, they weren't alone.

"Carrot Bomb!"

"Gargo Laser!"

"Hand of Fate!"

"Crescent Dawn!"

"Black Pearl Barrage!"

"Vacuum Kamaitachi!"

"Fira Claw!"

"Sekkantou!"

Although most of their attacks missed because of Shadramon being difficult, Grizzlymon, Reppamon, and Rabbitmon's attacks all managed to subdue Shadramon enough to make him fall to the ground. Shadramon tried to get up, but Lekismon quickly leaped on him and pinned him to the ground, even though he was struggling.

"Stay down, you intolerable thing!" Lekismon demanded, but Shadramon was clearly defying her.

"We'll remove the Dark Emblem. Lift up his wing," Seasarmon told her. Lekismon did as asked and gently lifted up Shadramon's wing, despite the fact that he was thrashing and flailing like a child throwing an epic temper tantrum. Seasarmon pointed his horn at the Dark Emblem and shot one arrow of light at it.

"Mind if I finish it up? Gargo Laser!" Gargomon shot two bullets from his vulcans and both hit Shadramon, destroying the Dark Emblem. Feeling tired, Lekismon got off of Shadramon so he could wake up.

"Well THAT was annoying! Even more so than Mothmon!" Firamon joked.

"Like a Mothmon to a flame, I presume," Turuiemon joked, which made the Digimon laugh. Shadramon woke up and looked around the town looking very confused. The kids remained hidden so they would be away from other people's sight.

"Huh? Now what in the hayseed am I doin' here? Uhh...can I go now?" Shadramon asked the Digimon looking down at him.

"Sure,"Gargomon said as Shadramon opened a digital portal and flew back in, returning to his home in the Digital World. The Digimon all de-digivolved back into their rookie forms except for Syakomon, who is already in her rookie form, and they returned to their partners.

"You were awesome back there!" Rena exclaimed as she hugged Lunamon.

"But I feel bad we didn't get to save the buildings that Shadramon destroyed," Lunamon said.

"That stuff kinda happens when rabid Digimon come by, and there isn't much we can do," Riku said.

"Hey! At least nothin' got set on fire!" Coronamon joked.

"Awww! I wanted to fight too!" Nyaromon complained.

"It's alright. You'll be able to fight next time," Minako told her reassuringly, which made Nyaromon smile.

"Yun? Do you think maybe we should be heading home? It might be troublesome if people saw us," Lopmon told her.

"She's right. I can already hear people talking amongst themselves right now," Lucero said, listening to the people who stayed behind to watch the epic Digimon fight, which has already gone public.

"Whoa! Did you see that just now? Did you see that?"

"Yeah! That was so awesome!"

"Oh, lord! This can't be true!"

"Tell me they were shooting a movie!"

"This can't be real!"

"I am SO putting this up on YouTube! It's gonna go viral in no time flat!"

"Whoa! Is this cool or what?"

"How can you call monsters destroying buildings and potentially killing us cool? This is a disaster!"

"What are we gonna do? Is this gonna be on the news?"

"It better be! People are gonna see that this isn't some monster flick at all!"

"Look! There's the news people right now!"

The kids turned and saw a white truck with the Sunny Six News label on it.

"Oh no! We've gotta bolt!" Yun exclaimed and ran first with Cutemon, Lopmon, Lucero, and Terriermon trailing behind. Everyone else followed them as well.

"I don't wanna go to juvie! Especially not for this!" Riku complained.

The kids all ran home in no time flat, not wanting to risk their secret getting out...or has it been let out?

Minako was the first to arrive home, since her house was the closest to the area. Nothing around her was destroyed, thank goodness, but she couldn't help but feel happy that Nyaromon didn't digivolve and fight Shadramon. She already lost her once, and she was determined to not lose her precious friend again. She basically spent the entire night with Nyaromon. They watched anime together (Minako and Nyaromon FINALLY got to watch Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva after so long. Minako got tired of not being able to watch her DVD and was happy to have finally seen it, even if she had to eat dinner in the middle of it, which her parents didn't mind), read books and manga together, ate dinner together (while trying to hide Nyaromon from Minagi and Tatsuha), played video games together, looked up stuff on the computer together, and even slept together. But Minagi and Tatsuha both noticed that Salamon was missing (and had been for a while), but Minako simply dismissed it as her going out somewhere or exploring. Minagi and Tatsuha didn't say anymore, but they were still concerned. The little puppy had been gone for the past few days. Had she run away? Minako didn't seem too sad about it either, which is unusual. They were oblivious to the fact that Salamon is actually Nyaromon, and Minako felt very content and at peace with having her by her side again. But for some other people, the day wasn't over yet.

And sadly enough, there was one thing the Digimon Brigade couldn't fix, because they were too late to notice...and it would be on the news tomorrow morning.


	38. Grief

EPISODE 38: Grief

Yun, Lucero, Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon decided to walk home together. They decided not to call Yun's parents and have them pick them up. The rabbits think this might be a good opportunity for Yun to learn her way around town and get out more, which they've noticed she's been doing a lot lately. Sure, they felt a little tired after the fight with Shadramon, but they were alert enough to walk on the sidewalk and get some exercise, which Yun also needed as well. Lopmon enjoyed the walk, mostly because she got to look at the scenery around her. She especially liked the sunset and it's way of making the clouds appear in many different colors, like blue, pink, red, orange, and purple. She had to wonder how the sky could be so pretty. She wondered if Yun's world was like that: full of many intricate and multifarious colors that don't seem to fall in place. Terriermon, on the other hand, was thinking of something else entirely.

"Boooo! I'm soooo hungry!" Terriermon complained. Yun couldn't help but laugh a little.

"Don't worry. When we get home, we'll have dinner," Yun told him.

"I hope it's done before we get home, because I'm ready to chow down!" Terriermon bellowed, apparently not caring about what Yun just said just now, which seemed to irk Lopmon a trifle.

"Now now, Terriermon. Patience. Good things come to those who wait," Lopmon told him kindly, but he didn't seem to buy it.

"Well I'm tired of waitin'! I'm ready for some FOOD!" Terriermon retorted, which made the others laughs.

"You're always thinking about food, kyu," Cutemon said.

"No I don't! I think about Yun and I think about how much I want to beat LadyDevimon and those two BlackGatomon to a pulp and I think about how great it is that Nyaromon is back!" Terriermon explained.

"'Tis a lie! Food is always in thy mind, thou silly thing!" Lucero retorted with a cute smile.

"What'd you say? I dare you to say that again!" Terriermon exclaimed, becoming a little angry. Yun saw that the Wakamiya house is arriving within their vicinity and, much to Yun's delight, a certain someone wasn't standing in front of the house to antagonize them.

"Good! Nemoto's mom isn't here!" Yun muttered.

"Hm? What did thou say just now?" Lucero asked.

"I said that Nemoto's mom isn't here," Yun told him.

"Who?" Cutemon asked.

"Oh! You don't know, do you, Cutemon?" Lopmon said. "Yun has to deal with this mean kid at school on a regular basis. His name is Nemoto Nenji, and he's NOT a nice person. Not only that, his mom bullies her too!"

"WHAT? How horrible, kyu!"

"I agree. It IS horrible."

"Couldn't agree with you more!" Terriermon exclaimed.

"But you've never met Nemoto's mom so how would you know?" Lopmon asked.

"I don't need to have met her to know what she's like! If she's just like her son, then she's just as bad as him!" Terriermon pouted with his arms crossed.

Finally, Yun, Lucero, Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon walked up to Yun's house, opened the door, and went inside, hoping to relax and have some fun before the weekend arrives...but when they got inside, they saw something unexpected. Yun did NOT want to see this: Ayaka, Shunji, and Dracomon are in the living room watching MTV! The most shocking thing? Ayaka and Shunji are KISSING! Really kissing and making out while Dracomon is watching TV...and not liking it. Right when they came in, they stopped kissing and saw them at the doorway. Shunji and Dracomon both raised his hand up at them.

"Hiya, kids! You're back!" Shunji exclaimed gleefully.

"Nice to see you again!" Dracomon said as he greeted them.

"Umm...hi?" Yun said. Shunji leaped off of the couch and dragged everyone inside.

"Hey! Is it true you guys have been fightin' some Digimon lately? No fair! I wish I was there!" Shunji complained.

"Sorry?" Yun muttered. Dracomon looked up at them with a slightly sad face.

"Sorry I couldn't help you with fighting those Digimon. I got real sick and had to stay home," Dracomon said.

"It's quite alright. It wasn't your fault," Lopmon told him reassuringly.

Suddenly, a beeping sound was heard. Shunji recognized the sound as it came from his cell phone, which is in his pocket. He pulled it out, flipped it open, and began talking on it, but not before telling the others to stay in the living room.

"I'll be back! I gotta take this," Shunji told them with a smile as he walked into the other room and talked to whoever it was on the phone.

Seeing that they're all alone with Ayaka, Yun and the others attempted to make like bugs and flee the living room before she could explode at them in a towering rage. Unfortunately, they didn't get to escape, as Ayaka managed to catch up to them and slap Yun in the face. Everyone gasped.

"HEY! What did you do that for?" Terriermon yelped angrily.

"YOU LOW-LIFE PIECE OF TRASH! You just HAD to walk in while me and Shunji were having our fun! You must LOVE ruining my life and making sure all my chances at getting what I want are blown to pieces!" Ayaka screamed angrily.

"How were we supposed to know you were making out?" Yun exclaimed.

"Don't try to weasel your way out of this, you brat! You interrupted our moment! Now he's in the other room because of you!" Ayaka yelled again, showing absolutely no mercy and not letting Yun leave. Thankfully, someone came in to save her.

"Ayaka! Stop it right now!" Hisako stepped in between the two of them and looked at Ayaka angrily. "You don't need to make such a big deal out of something so little! She didn't know! Stuff like this happens!"

"Quit making her look like the victim, Mom! She broke off our kiss on purpose! She's trying to ruin my romance with Shunji every chance she gets! She wants to ruin the one thing I love!"

"No she's not! Just calm down, Ayaka! I'll have dinner ready in a minute, so why don't we just-"

"See? Now you're trying to weasel your way out of this! Don't you get it? She's-"

"Ayaka-chan!" Shunji literally leaped onto Ayaka and gave her a big, cheerful bear hug. "That phone call I got just now was stupid. But I know for a fact that you'll cheer me up!"

Ayaka suddenly shed her anger and smiled at him. Yun sighed with relief and was about to escape, but then the phone rang.

_Ring ring ring ring ring_

"I'll get it!" Yun exclaimed as she ran to get the phone. She picked it up and answered it.

"Hello?"

_"Yun-chan?"_ A low but sweet voice answered her. Yun recognized it immediately.

"Aria-chan! Hi! What's up?" Yun asked.

_"The play...it's been cancelled. My teacher called and told me,"_ Aria said sadly on the other line. Yun's smile immediately faded.

"Huh? It's been cancelled? Ouch," Yun said. "I really wanted to see you perform. I even got permission from my parents."

_"Yeah. Sorry. But...it's not just that. It's WHY it got cancelled that I'm so sad!"_ Yun could tell that Aria was starting to cry.

"What's wrong?"

_"That battle with the fiery butterfly Digimon we had just now...it's on TV! Yun-chan! They said two little kids from my school died because of it!"_

Yun felt as though she were about to drop the phone any minute. Two little kids died because of Shadramon going on a rampage? She couldn't believe this was happening.

"Uhh...thanks for letting me know. Bye," Yun muttered and hung up the phone. Then she bolted into the living room, turned on the news, and waited for some news story regarding it. Dracomon, Lucero, and Lopmon all noticed and became curious.

"What's wrong?" Dracomon asked.

Finally, it appeared. On channel six's Evening News At Six. A lady dressed in orange is standing in front of the remains of a house that had been destroyed because of Shadramon.

"I'm here on 68th Avenue at the scene where the destruction took place. You're not going to believe what just happened. Some fires suddenly appeared out of nowhere and set various houses ablaze. This is one of them. Unfortunately, this is also the place were two young children, both aged seven, died in the blaze. Their families asked that their identities be withheld for safety reasons. Their families are with us right now," The newslady said. The next scene showed a mother crying and mourning for her child, and a neighbor talking about how he tried to save them but couldn't because the fire was much too strong. "But what's the odd thing about what happened? It's about what CAUSED the fires! Eyewitnesses say that a giant fire monster flew around town, shooting flames at anything it laid eyes on. More monsters appeared and stopped it from causing more destruction. Here's some footage that an eyewitness gave us."

The footage showed the Digimon trying to subdue Shadramon, namely Shadramon trying to push through Angemon's Holy Rod and being soaked by Lekismon's Moon Night Bomb. But that wasn't why Yun and the others were frozen in place. They were too late. Two little kids died because of Shadramon and they didn't even notice! They couldn't save them! How could they be so oblivious and unaware of this? Yun suddenly felt strong feelings of guilt and pain overwhelm her. As the news story finally ended, she ran into her room and cried onto her bed. Lopmon, Terriermon, Cutemon, Lucero, and Dracomon all chased after her and found her lying on her bed screaming and crying.

"Yun! Why doth thou cry so? Please calm thyself!" Lucero pleaded.

"I can't believe it! Two little kids died because we were lazy and didn't take care of Shadramon in time! It's all our fault! We should've noticed! We should've been able to save them but NOOOOO! How could I be so stupid and retarded?" Yun wailed as she continued to cry in her pillow. Lopmon hopped on her back and gently stroke her hair.

"Yun. I'm sad too, but I think this happened before we were informed about Shadramon's rampage. I don't think there was anything we could do. We did manage to stop him from doing more damage," Lopmon told her.

"No! No no no! We should've saved those kids! We should've put out those fires! We should've been able to save them! We should never have hidden from the public!" Yun screamed.

"I don't think it'd matter anyway. The news story said that the house where those kids died was REALLY far away from where you guys say you were fighting Shadramon. I don't think you could've made it in time to save them anyhow," Dracomon said.

"BUT WE SHOULD'VE TRIED TO SAVE THEM ANYWAY!" Yun cried. They could tell that she was inconsolable. Not only that, someone else wasn't helping matters.

"Get in here before dinner gets cold, you brat!" Ayaka screamed angrily.

Yun didn't want dinner. Lucero and Lopmon decided not to have some either. They stayed with her. Terriermon wanted to stay with her too, but he got hungry so he ate dinner (much to Ayaka's infuriation). Hisako could tell that Yun is clearly upset with something, and that once Yun is upset, she will NOT get over it (even though she keeps on expecting her to do so). Finally, after a few hours, Yun calmed down and had dinner. But she went back to her room. Oddly enough, Shunji came in and kneeled next to her.

"You're still upset?" Shunji asked. Yun didn't say anything, but he could tell that was a yes.

"Yun-chan. You know we can't save everyone," Shunji told her.

"So? I want to save everyone! Who cares if I can't do it right or if I'm useless or if I'm a problem for everyone? I would've saved those kids in a heartbeat if I knew what was happening!" Yun yelled.

"Hey. Do you remember that horrible earthquake that happened two months ago?" Shunji asked.

"That one? Yeah, I do. I actually felt it when I woke up that morning," Yun replied.

"I looked it up as part of a school assignment once. About 16,000 people died, almost 6,000 injured, and over 3,000 people are confirmed missing. Nobody could save them. No normal human can save that many people. It was inevitable," Shunji told her somberly.

"That's a natural disaster! Nobody can save anyone from something like that! But TWO little kids died just now! TWO! I could've saved them even if my secret got out!" Yun yelled.

"I know you would've. I would have liked to save them too. But the reality is, we weren't informed of it in time, and we couldn't save them. It happens to a lot of people and, being as human as we are, we often don't notice these things. I'm not trying to discourage you or anything, but even if you try hard, you won't save everyone. I know that better than anyone," Shunji said. "You can't fix something that's broken or dead beyond repair."

He stood up and left the room, leaving Yun alone. Lucero, Cutemon, Terriermon, and Dracomon came back to console her, even though she continued to cry. Shunji looked down at the rug with a somber look on his face, something that's quite unusual for him.

_'Sorry, Yun-chan. It happens. You can't save everyone. I can't save anyone either, especially not the person I love who keeps on rejecting my offers to save her,'_ Shunji thought bitterly. He felt the sting of guilt too, but for a different reason entirely. He closed his eyes and pictured a woman being beaten by an irate and choleric man, with Shunji trying to save her but not being able to. Finally, he was pulled out of his reverie by Dracomon.

"Shunji? What's wrong?" Dracomon asked curiously.

"Nothing," Shunji replied.

"You're thinking about her again, aren't you?"

Shunji looked down bitterly. "Yes. I am."

"You're not gonna give up on her, are you? She needs you."

"I know that. But every time I try to take her away from that horrid wretch, she keeps making up these flimsy excuses for why she has to stay with him! Who cares about that?"

"Don't give up, Shunji. I'm sure she'll realize that it's too dangerous to stay with him."

"Yeah. You're right. I've still got some tricks up my sleeve."

After a while, Shunji and Dracomon left the Wakamiya house and went back home. Yun cried herself to sleep despite Lucero, Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon's efforts to console and mollify her. They got tired and fell asleep as well. What a way to end a school week. But it did give Yun an idea of how to start the weekend. Yun noticed that the little blue, purple, and yellow flowers are beginning to sprout in huge numbers in the back yard. She could pick a voluminous amount of them and take them to the site where the two little kids died. It wouldn't be much, but it would be better than nothing, and this could be the least Yun could do to at least put her own mind at ease and show that she does care about them, and say how sorry she is for not being able to save them. It was Terriermon who discovered her plan. At 7:00 AM in the morning, he saw Yun getting dressed early, brushing her teeth early, putting her shoes and socks on, DVRing an episode of Pokemon, going out into the back yard, and picking flowers. Terriermon followed her.

"Yun? What are you doing?" Terriermon asked innocently.

"Picking flowers. We're gonna go on a trip today!" Yun exclaimed.

"A trip?...Oh! To that place?" Terriermon asked.

"Yep. That place," Yun said.

"Let me guess: you're gonna pick lots and lots of flowers and place them there in hopes that the dead kids will see them from Heaven?" Terriermon said. Yun nodded kindly at him.

"That's so nice, Yun. I'm happy for you," Terriermon told her with a smile.

"I still feel bad for not noticing and not being able to save them in time, but I can at least do this much," Yun said as she wrapped all of the little flowers in a white napkin and tied it with a red bow. Yun then pulled out a piece of paper and wrote on it. It's a letter to the dead kids. It read:

_Dear Two Little Kids Who Are In Heaven,_

_I'm very sorry I couldn't save you, or notice the fire in time. Me and my friends did help take care of the monster who did it, but I was too late to save you two. I'm so sorry! You had so much to live for yet had to die because of my negligence! But I did bring you some nice flowers. You probably won't be able to smell them or hold them, or read this letter, but I hope you'll be happy in Heaven. It must be a very beautiful and wonderful place. I wish I could bring you back, but I can't, and neither can all of humanity. This may not be much, but I hope it's at least better than nothing. Please watch over your families, friends, and loved ones and bless them from Heaven._

_With Love,_  
><em>Anonymous<em>

She knew for a fact that they wouldn't be able to read it, but she wrote it anyway. Lopmon and Lucero caught on and read it. Lopmon almost broke into tears.

"Oh! What a kind, selfless, wonderful, and noble thing you're doing, Yun! I'm so proud of you!" Lopmon whimpered as she tried to calm herself down.

"It might not be enough," Yun said.

"I'm sure it will be. Thy pure kindness and caring heart are surely enough to show those who have passed on that thou care," Lucero told her kindly. At around 7:30 AM, they walked out of the house, but not before Lucero left a note.

_Hisako and Teruki,_

_We went to the part of town where the kids died. We're going to pay our respects. We'll be back soon!_

It took a little while for them to reach it since it was so far away, but they did get to see some nice scenery. They saw some nice and colorful houses (excluding the ones that got destroyed by Shadramon), some beautiful and lush gardens, and some animals running around, like birds, squirrels, and rabbits. They saw a stray cat walking by, but Yun didn't pet it. Normally, when Yun would see an animal, she would pet it without hesitation much to Hisako's dismay. But now, the cat wasn't important. She needed to pay her respects to the two little kids who died, and that's what she's going to do.

After a while, they arrived at the place. The house was still destroyed, with the remains and bricks all over the place, but they did see something there that wasn't there before. They saw a small tree covered with pink blossoms planted in a red pot with soil in it, which was placed on the side walk. Surrounding it are lots of teddy bears, stuffed animals, flowers, toys, candlewicks, and signs in multifarious colors. Some signs read 'God, Please Bless Yoshino and Ishin!' and other things. Yun could see that a lot of love and care was put into making this. But she did see something else. Something, or someone, she did NOT want to see: Nayuki. Both Nayuki and Tsukaimon, staring down at it from about five feet away with a look full of scorn and contempt.

"What's SHE doing there?" Terriermon asked.

"I don't know, but it can't be good," Yun whispered. They kept their voices down so Nayuki wouldn't hear them. Thankfully, they didn't hear them. But what she did made everyone so appalled that they couldn't believe that anyone would be so cruel as to do such a thing.

Nayuki spat at the vigil, and then knocked over the tree, breaking the pot and sending it to the ground.

"What a bunch of fools these people are, thinking that those kids deserve something as foolish and meaningless as this! They should know better than to mourn the dead! It doesn't do you any good at all!" Nayuki cried out angrily. "All these stuffed animals, all these stupid flowers, all these worthless and thoughtless signs telling God to bless them! What a big, fat joke! These people are all arrogant!"

"Do you want me to destroy it?" Tsukaimon asked. Nayuki pushed some of her jet black hair out of her face.

"Hmph. Do what you want. I don't care," Nayuki said.

"I'm gonna do it anyway!" Tsukaimon exclaimed as he prepared to attack the vigil.

Terriermon suddenly stormed out of the bushes in anger. Yun quickly gave the flowers and the letter to Lucero.

"Terrier Tornado!" Terriermon spun himself around and hit Tsukaimon, sending him to the ground and successfully stopping him from attacking and vandalizing the vigil. Tsukaimon got up and saw Terriermon and the others looking at him with choleric eyes.

"Tch! It's you idiots again!" Tsukaimon spat.

"Haven't you meddled in our business enough already?" Nayuki asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"What's up with you? You're seriously allowing your Digimon to attack all of these nice things? You should know better than to vandalize something like this in cold blood! These are for the kids who died last night! Who are you to just barge in and even think about destroying it?" Yun yelled angrily, disgusted by Nayuki's blatant and barely disguised contempt and iniquity.

"Putting a bunch of inanimate objects in front of a destroyed house isn't going to do anything. That only shows how cowardly and arrogant you people are," Nayuki spat back.

"So? Okay, yes, it ISN'T really going to do anything, but putting all of these things together for someone who's fallen...it shows that we care for them and wish them well in Heaven! So what if they don't REALLY do anything? We're just trying to pay our respects and share our condolences and offer our prayers!" Yun yelled. Nayuki spat again.

"Respects. Condolences. Prayers. Those are worthless and meaningless words! They serve no purpose except to falsify people's true intentions for caring about someone!" Nayuki muttered, then shouted.

"Why would you even think that?"

"I've had about enough of this kissy-kissy goo-goo talk! Tsukaimon, take them down and show no mercy!"

Tsukaimon flew toward Terriermon and Lopmon, who prepared themselves for battle.

"Sonic Wing!"

Tsukaimon shot eerie, glowing purple crescent shapes at them.

"Double Typhoon!"

Terriermon and Lopmon combined their tornado attacks into one and not only nullified Tsukaimon's attack, but managed to break through it and land a hit on him, causing him to fall to the ground! The kids could only watch as the Digimon fought each other.

"Can we move this battle somewhere else?" Yun asked. "I don't want any of the attacks to hit the items put here."

"Oh, so you care more about inanimate objects placed on a sidewalk serving no purpose than winning a battle against me?" Nayuki yelled, disgusted by Yun's concern about the objects placed there.

"If people see us here, they're going to put us in jail and accuse us of vandalizing this place!"

"So? Personally I'd love it if you were put in jail, because someone like you doesn't deserve to walk this Earth!"

That did it. But not for Yun, but for someone else. The Digimon immediately stopped fighting as they witnessed what transpired.

_SLAP!_

Lucero, totally overcome with anger, not only slapped Nayuki in the face so hard that her nose actually bled (how he managed to cause a nose bleed with just one hit, nobody knew nor could figure out), he also grabbed Nayuki's arm with an iron grip, and flipped her over his shoulder karate style! Nayuki fell on the asphalt, causing part of her shirt to rip. But even she was stunned by what's going on and by the face that Lucero is bearing right now: ABSOLUTE RANCOR AND ANGER. Now HE was showing HER no mercy. Tsukaimon trembled as he watched Lucero give Nayuki an even scarier death stare than the one he got when they first met.

"DON'T EVER CLAIM A PERSON SHOULD NEVER WALK ON THIS EARTH, THOU UNGRATEFUL AND HEARTLESS KNAVE!" Lucero screamed so loud, it actually echoed! He screamed louder than he did at the parking lot where they first met Witchmon. Lucero balled his fists. "I don't know what you went through, why you're like this, or why you've adopted this lifestyle...but I will say this: I will NEVER, EVER tolerate you EVER saying such heartless things about ANYONE! Especially something so cruel as that! A person should be condemned and killed JUST for walking on this Earth? You're officially heartless beyond all help, Ichinose! You don't give a durn about anyone but yourself! You get ticked off at the littlest things! You mistreat kids your own age, big kids, little kids, adults, and your own Digimon! You're always claiming someone has ulterior motive for something, even for being nice and kind! You claim that any act of kindness is just a fabrication that won't do anything for anyone, but let me tell you this: you destroying everything and mistreating people as you please isn't going to do you any good at all! Ironic, isn't it! You probably think you're better than everyone else, but just because you happen to have a Digimon and just because you happen to hate the whole universe for some unfathomable reason, that does NOT mean you have to be a heartless knave and treat everything and everyone around you like garbage! Don't think you're so smart, and you do NOT, I repeat, YOU DO NOT SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT TO ANYONE!"

Everyone was frozen in place. Lucero finally stopped going on his epic tirade, and it was now eerily and ominously silent. Yun closed her eyes and covered her ears tightly, not wanting to hear what Lucero just said, even though he's standing up for her and defending her honor. Tsukaimon didn't bother to continue fighting Lopmon and Terriermon because Lucero's tirade drained all the energy and motivation out of him. Nayuki didn't move because she was so surprised at how far she pushed this kid. Finally, after five whole minutes of silence and absolutely no movement, Nayuki stood up, wiped the blood off of her face, and hoisted Tsukaimon up by the wing with her hand.

"Come on, Tsukaimon. We're leaving this dump," Nayuki muttered bitterly. She and Tsukaimon finally left. Lucero looked at the items, walked over to them, and very gently pulled the tree back up. Seeing that the pot is broken, he made sure to put it up in a position where it won't break again. Thankfully, only a small part of the pot broke, and the soil didn't come pouring out, so the pot managed to stand up and hold out. Yun arranged the dolls and toys so they could look nice and neat, and Lucero gently placed the small bouquet of flowers in front of the stuffed animals.

"Who would be so cruel as to claim all of this doesn't mean anything?" Lopmon asked.

"I agree, kyu. It's not right, kyu," Cutemon muttered.

"I can't let this go. She has to be punished for this," Yun said.

"That is true. We cannot her get away with what she did. But exactly what should we do?" Lucero said. Suddenly, a man came walking up to the vigil on the sidewalk and noticed the broken pot.

"Oh lord! What in the world happened here?" The man yelped, appalled by the state of the tree and the pot. Yun found an idea, and she spilled it out in the open as soon as she thought it.

"Sir, I hate to bother you, but we saw a high school girl kicking the pot and spitting on the stuffed animals just now! We tried to stop her, but she wouldn't listen and just walked away!" Yun explained. The Digimon were frozen in place.

"You don't say! Did you catch her name or what she looked like? I'll report her to the police if you want," The man said.

"Yes, we have it all," Yun said. Without any hesitation, she gave the man all the information on Nayuki she had. She didn't try to cover for her or anything like that. She felt that Nayuki deserves some form of punishment for what she did and that she can't get away with it. It's a good thing the man had a pen and paper on him. He wrote everything down.

"Thanks for yer help, kids. I'll handle everything here. Why don't you all go back home? I'm sure your parents are worried about you," The man said.

"You're welcome, sir," Yun said. She and Lucero left while the man looked at the vigil.

"My word! How could anyone be so heartless as to do such a thing? I sure ain't gonna let this slide!" The man muttered.

It wasn't until five minutes later that Lopmon noticed someone was missing.

"Huh? Where's Terriermon?" Lopmon asked.

She, Yun, Cutemon, and Lucero looked all around, but no sign of Terriermon.

"You're right! He's not here, kyu!" Cutemon exclaimed.

"You don't think...maybe the man who kidnapped Lopmon has Terriermon too?" Yun exclaimed, suddenly feeling an all out panic attack about to come on, but Lucero put a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't jump to conclusions just yet, Yun. We'll find him," Lucero told her gently.

So, the two kids and Digimon looked for Terriermon. What they didn't know was that Terriermon was...following Nayuki.

Like how Salamon did, Terriermon secretly followed Nayuki to an old, forlorn, forsaken house that's in total disrepair. It looked as though it could collapse at any moment. Windows were broken, glass pieces are everywhere, and the grass is REALLY tall. It looked like nobody had mowed it for a long time. He made sure to stay hidden so that Nayuki or Tsukaimon wouldn't spot him. He hid underneath one of the broken windows to hide from their sight...but he was not able to hide from what he would see and hear in the next few minutes.

Nayuki came right into the room, threw Tsukaimon against the wall, screamed wildly, and began hitting him and kicking him. She screamed like a wild animal craving for food. Terriermon couldn't believe what he was seeing. He knew from Salamon's story that she abused him and was quite volatile, but now that he's actually seeing it, now he knows that Salamon was right! Nayuki not only mistreats everything and everyone around her, but she beats and abuses her own Digimon! Possibly on a regular basis! Terriermon could see the pain in Tsukaimon's eyes. He didn't want to sit and watch anymore. He had to do something...and he took the mighty plunge.

"Bunny Blast!" He bombarded Nayuki with a myriad of green lights shooting from his mouth. Once he managed to blind her, he grabbed Tsukaimon, put him over his head (while being mindful of his horn), and flew out of the house in a flash. Nayuki regained her composure and watched as Terriermon used his ears to fly away while Tsukaimon was on his head.

"COME BACK HERE!" Nayuki screamed as she hopped out the window and gave chase. After a while, Terriermon descended to the ground and ran for it. Tsukaimon proved to slow him down a little, but Terriermon couldn't bear to leave him. After another while, he finally ran into Yun and the others.

"Terriermon! Where were you?" Lopmon yelped.

"And...why do you have Tsukaimon on your head?" Yun asked.

"Salamon was right! That Nayuki girl IS abusing Tsukaimon! I saw it and I took him away as fast as I could!" Terriermon exclaimed as he handed Tsukaimon to Yun.

"WHAT?" They all exclaimed, but Yun couldn't help but notice that there were some other voices intertwining with their own just now. Yun turned to look and much to her surprise, there's Minako, Nyaromon, Kosuke, Patamon, Isao, and Bearmon right next to her!

"Whoa! What are you all doing here?" Yun exclaimed.

"We were gonna visit that place and pay our respects to those kids," Isao said.

"Yeah. We heard about what happened," Bearmon told her.

"So...you saw her do it, huh?" Nyaromon asked sadly.

"You bet I did! It was horrible!" Terriermon replied. Suddenly Tsukaimon began squirming out of Yun's arms, but she managed to keep him under control.

"Let me go!" Tsukaimon yelped angrily.

"No!" Yun retorted.

"I said let me go!"

"No! What she's doing to you is wrong!"

"Yeah! Don't you hate her for it?" Patamon exclaimed.

"Uh oh! Look!" Minako exclaimed. Everyone turned their heads to see Nayuki running up the street and finally catching up to them.

"Give him to me!" Nayuki sneered.

"No! He's not your personal punching bag! You leave him alone!" Yun yelled, trying to keep Tsukaimon away from her. Suddenly, Nayuki lunged at her.

"Yun!" Everyone else except Kosuke cried out and tried to pull Nayuki off of her.

"Give him to me! He's mine!"

"No! You're not getting him!"

Nayuki scratched at her like a wild animal, trying to get Tsukaimon back. Thankfully, Minako and Bearmon managed to hold her back. Lopmon took the liberty of freezing her feet with her attack so she wouldn't escape. Normally she would never do this, but this time, she felt she had to. Despite Tsukaimon's struggling, Yun clung to him with all her might.

"You have no right to mistreat your Digimon like this! Look what you've done to him? Don't you feel any remorse at all?" Yun screamed.

"He's MY Digimon, and what I do with him is none of your business, you brat!" Nayuki screamed back.

"We witnessed a crime, so that makes it my business!"

"Give him back NOW!"

"Over my dead body!"

Suddenly, Kosuke kicked Yun's arms!

"Oww!" Yun yelped in pain, so much that she let go of Tsukaimon, who flew to Nayuki's side.

"Evil Fire!" Tsukaimon shot a fireball at Nayuki's feet, making the ice go away.

"Kosuke! Why'd you do that?" Patamon yelled.

"Hm. Now we leave," Nayuki said as she grabbed Tsukaimon and left. Everyone looked at Kosuke angrily.

"What's wrong with you? Why'd you kick Yun?" Terriermon yelled.

"So Tsukaimon could go back to Nayuki," Kosuke said.

"But Kosuke! She's abusing him!" Yun exclaimed.

"He doesn't need your false pity, Wakamiya! This is another thing I hate the most about you! You're always meddling in people's business and sticking your nose in places where you're clearly not needed or wanted! Stop trying to make yourself look good!" Kosuke yelled.

"Hey! Don't yell at her! She was just trying to help!" Isao retorted.

"She shouldn't get away with something like this!" Lopmon exclaimed.

"But we have no right to stop her! If Tsukaimon doesn't want our help, then he doesn't want our help! That's it! Can't you people take a hint? Especially you, Wakamiya! You ALWAYS do this! You always jump into someone else's situation and try to be the hero, but the reality is you can't do anything! You never listen to their opinions and you're always trying to force them to follow your beliefs!" Kosuke yelled.

"I DO NOT!" Yun yelled.

"Kosuke! You don't get it! What Nayuki's doing is wrong and she needs to be stopped! How would you feel if someone kidnapped Patamon and abused him?" Nyaromon exclaimed angrily as she hopped out of Minako's arms.

"That's right! What WOULD you do? Would you jump in and save me, or would you leave me?" Patamon backed up Nyaromon's claim. Kosuke found himself unable to answer. Suddenly, he turned and decided to leave.

"Come on, Patamon! Let's go!" Kosuke exclaimed as he left, but Patamon didn't follow him. Isao looked up at Yun, who looks as though she's going to cry any minute. He slipped a hand in hers and held onto it.

"You okay?" Isao asked innocently.

"Yes. I'm fine," Yun muttered.

"You were awesome back there. I don't think you're a bad person. Wanting to help someone...my mom says that's a nice thing to do. If someone was in trouble, I'd want to help them even if they say they don't need help," Isao told her. "My dad says you should never turn your back on someone who's in danger and needs help."

"But Kosuke..."

"He's wrong. You're not a bad person. I don't think you are, and whoever does is stupid!"

Although Lopmon silently lauded Yun for her bravery and chivalry, she gave Terriermon a rather stern glance.

"Terriermon! Why did you jump in and try to save Tsukaimon? I know you had good intentions, but you could've gotten us in big trouble!" Lopmon scolded.

"She was hurting him and beating him! I had to do something! I didn't want to watch that horrible scene anymore so I stepped in!" Terriermon explained.

"I laud you for your chivalry, but you have to think about what will happen if she found out!" Lopmon said.

"There wasn't any time to think!" Terriermon reasoned, though Lopmon didn't seem to buy it. Minako put a hand on Yun's shoulder.

"Yun. It's okay. I love this part of you. You're always thinking of others and you always listen to other people's opinions. Kosuke's just overexaggerating and letting his angst get to his head," Minako told her.

"But what he said-"

"No no. Don't give us that. You did fine."

The kids and Digimon talked amongst themselves for a while. But the only Digimon who wasn't involved with the discussion was Nyaromon, who looked up at a big tree wistfully and sadly, ruminating and losing herself to her thoughts.

_'I wonder if LadyDevimon and the two BlackGatomon went through the same pain when they were little? I don't know what they went through, but I'm sure it must have been rough. I wonder if they remember what it means to really live and find peace and solace in the little things? I still need to teach Mina-chan that, yes, but...can I really be a guardian angel? To Mina-chan or to LadyDevimon and the two BlackGatomon? I know they must have their reasons for doing what they do, but it doesn't justify what they are doing. The same goes for Nayuki for what she's doing to poor Tsukaimon. But...can anyone find peace?'_ Nyaromon thought.

Thankfully, by a great miracle, both Nyaromon, Minako, LadyDevimon, and the two BlackGatomon were going to find their answer.


	39. Descend, Angewomon! The Angel of Peace!

EPISODE 39: Descend, Angewomon! The Angel of Peace!

So the weekend didn't exactly start off as well as Yun hoped. Who would start the weekend off happily when the night before two little kids died in the midst of Shadramon's destruction? That's not something to be happy about, not by a long shot. Despite Yun's rue regarding not being able to save them, she did feel a little better, and decided to spend the rest of the Saturday playing with Lucero, Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon. She hoped that the two young kids were safe and happy in Heaven and hoped that her prayers reached their families, friends, and neighbors. She did wind up being interrogated by Hisako, Teruki, and Ayaka regarding this morning (they're ungodly persistent) and she spilled the beans. Except for Ayaka, obviously, they were proud of her for doing the noble deeds she did, both giving flowers to the vigil and reporting Nayuki for vandalism. Speaking of Nayuki, Yun couldn't help but wonder if she got arrested by the police? Did they find her? Who knows? Terriermon was the only one who saw her house, and she didn't think that the police would bother taking a statement from a pseudo stuffed animal, so she didn't take the chance. She felt bad, but she didn't want Terriermon to be discovered. So she, Lucero, Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon spent the rest of Saturday watching anime, reading books and manga, playing video games, and playing together. She felt grateful to them for being so caring and supportive, in regards to how they never stopped believing in her.

But then Sunday came around. Yun remembered she wanted to go to Minako's picnic. She remembered telling Hisako about it a few days before, and Minako approved of the idea. Soon, Yun checked her digivice and saw that she got texts from Rena, Riku, Otoya, Isao, and Melody, seeing that they got permission to go to the picnic. It's been decided that Yun, Minako, Otoya, and Isao are going with Minagi and Tatsuha, and Melody, Hokuto, Rena, and Riku are being taken there by their parents. Yun was sad to find that Aria couldn't go. She knew that Aria loved picnics and that she would've loved going. Maybe family circumstances are preventing her from coming. Still, Yun couldn't help but wonder if something else is going on. The kids spent most of the morning getting ready. Yun decided to bring some food, books, and games with her. She, Minako, Otoya, Lucero, and Isao (who managed to make Bearmon de-digivolve into Tsunomon with his digivice) met at Minako's house at 10:00 AM. They left at around 10:15 AM. It's a good thing Minagi owns a van for trips like this, because Lucero decided to sit up front with Minagi and Tatsuha while Minako, Yun, Otoya, Isao, and their Digimon were squeezed into the back seat. They felt a little cramped, but they tolerated it. The Digimon remained silent throughout the entire drive so they wouldn't scare Minagi and Tatsuha, who obviously don't know about Digimon and that they exist.

When they got there, they decided to set up. Melody arrived first, then Hokuto, and finally the Nobara twins. Yun has never sat on a picnic quilt before, and it took her a while to get used to it, which everyone tolerated. The food that everyone brought was enormous. Rena had her mom help her make lots of bento boxes full of delectables for everyone. The same with Otoya, whose mother and older sister helped her. The food was well received. Even Yun found the many foods she never tried before delicious. They snuck some for the Digimon and they all loved it to bits. Afterward, Yun and Riku got out their nintendo DSes and Pokemon games and battled each other, to which Yun won. Melody had brought her guitar with her and decided to play some tunes, all of which were well received. Riku, Isao, and their Digimon (secretly) played tag, chased each other around the field, and wrestled with each other for good old fun. While out of Minagi and Tatsuha's sight, the Digimon played all over the place. Lopmon, Lunamon, and Kudamon, when they felt tired of all the rough housing, sat down, looked at some of the beautiful flora, and made little flower wreaths and necklaces...that, or just plain looked at the scenery around them. Biyomon did play with some of the Digimon, but sometimes they played too rough and she got into fights with them. Then she joined the other three proudly and sat with them, seeing herself as too prim and proper to be engaging in such ribald and inappropriate activities. Minako watched them as she ate a sandwich. She couldn't help but smile at how happy Nyaromon looked as she played with Patamon. Patamon had secretly flown from Kosuke's house and into Yun's bag while she wasn't looking. He thought this would be a great opportunity to get some food for Kosuke, since food is quite scarce in the Hanemoto house as of now, but he still played with the Digimon happily.

"Nyaromon looks quite energetic, doesn't she?" A low voice asked kindly. Minako turned around to find Lucero behind her.

"Yeah, she is. She's always looking for some fun and adventure," Minako said wistfully. Lucero watched as Lopmon decided to play with Nyaromon and Patamon, smiling like she had never smiled before. Lucero turned to Minako and gave her a straight look.

"Forgive me, but Yun and I journeyed to thy house after Nyaromon's...death. We...found out about what thou tried to do," Lucero whispered in a low, solemn voice.

Minako gasped a little. He and Yun know? About her attempt at taking her life? She couldn't believe what she just heard. But seeing as Lucero and Yun now know, she felt obligated to tell the hard truth.

"Yeah. I tried to take my own life once. I was mad at him, and he wandered off while I wasn't looking. He fell into a river and died. I convinced myself it was my fault that he died. If only I had watched him better...if only I hadn't been so mad, he would still be alive today. I was also confused as to why Mom and Dad didn't hate me or yell at me or blame me for his death or cast me away. I thought I was never going to live because of what I did," Minako explained.

"Never, sayest thou?" Lucero asked.

"I thought I could avenge Kiyoshi by...doing it. But I chickened out in the end, even though I was so close," Minako told him.

"Thy decision to chicken out was a great and noble one, for thou knowest that death brings nothing but sadness and grief. If thou truly feelest death to be the salvation for thy soul's peace, and that thy earthly punishment is too much to carry, then thou art wrong. What would thy attempt at thy life and thy eternal silence do for Kiyoshi?" Lucero explained. Minako couldn't help but feel a little taken aback by Lucero's strange dialect. She wondered if he came from a totally different time period in history. Maybe the time of the Romans? Or the Sengoku era? She didn't know. But he summed it up well. But before Minako could respond, Nyaromon suddenly hopped up to her with a flower wreath on her head.

"Mina-chan! Look! Aren't these flowers so pretty?" Nyaromon asked. Minako smiled and picked her up.

"They are!" Minako said.

"Flowers really are pretty! Oh! Look! The sky's pretty too! The sun's shining too! Isn't it nice out today?" Nyaromon exclaimed. "Hey! Wanna play with me?"

"Sure!" Minako went off to play with Nyaromon.

Minako had noticed it for a while, but she hadn't thought much of it until now. She noticed that Nyaromon has been dragging her around and showing her lots of small things that she normally wouldn't notice, like how pretty and sweet some little flowers are, or how nice and warm the sun shines on nice days, how wonderful it is to eat delicious food cooked by your family, how books and anime take you away from the harshness of reality for a while, everything. Nyaromon was ALWAYS vocal about these things, and never stopped talking about them. Minako could tell Nyaromon meant well, but she couldn't help but see that Nyaromon had other reasons for being so passionate about the little things and being so vocal about them. She wondered if...Nyaromon somehow found out her secret and is trying to help her re-learn what it means to live, or show her what she would miss out on if she did take her life. But Minako put this in the back of her mind and played with her Digimon, feeling happy that she's back to her usual cheerful and happy self. They made sure not to go near the river, lest Nyaromon fall in and drown...like Kiyoshi did. Suddenly, a loud shriek caused Yun to cover her ears and run right toward the Digimon. Lucero and Hokuto, concerned, followed her. Yun clung to Lopmon and watched as Hokuto's youngest sister, Kimi, began throwing food at people while screaming at the top of her lungs.

"Yeeek!" Kimi screamed as she threw a sandwich at Melody. Aki tried to control her, but to no avail.

"Kimi! We do not throw food at people! Say you're sorry!" Aki scolded.

"No!" Kimi screamed.

"Say you're sorry right now, young lady!"

"No! She an ugly scawwy (scary) monster!"

Lucero, Hokuto, and Yun watched as Aki carried the dastardly little imp away from the picnic, shocked by what she just said.

"Not the most well behaved child in the world, is she?" Lopmon asked.

"I kept telling Mom that they should've stayed home! They fought in the car for the entire ride!" Hokuto whimpered.

"Perhaps her inappropriate behavior will fade in time," Lucero said.

"I highly highly doubt it!" Yun whimpered as she clung to Lopmon. Suddenly, Kimi slapped Aki and ran back to the picnic quilt again, doing more screaming! Knowing that Yun hates loud noise, both Lucero and Lopmon quickly covered both of Yun's ears. Lucero with his hands, and Lopmon with her big ears. Then they started singing really badly, going "La la la la lalalala!" in really high and grating voices, with Lucero's being the worst! But Yun could see that Kimi's screaming had died down thanks to them, and realized why they did it: to drown it out. Yun, feeling quite secure right now, shed all of her feelings of distress and broke out laughing. Kimi had been taken away again, which made it safe for Lucero and Lopmon to remove themselves from Yun. They smiled upon seeing that their attempt at protecting Yun from the loud noise worked, and Yun stopped laughing.

"Thanks," Yun said.

"You're welcome! We know how much you hate the sound of children screaming," Lopmon said. She and Lucero gently high fived each other. Then, Melody slumped in front of them, looking very grouchy.

"I can't believe it! That little brat gave me ONE glance and called me a monster and started screaming like a psycho maniac! She threw a sandwich at me and got mayonnaise in my hair! I'll never forgive that brat!" Melody pouted angrily, crossing her arms.

"Little kids hate me too, so I feel your pain," Yun told her as she put a hand on her shoulder gently. Kudamon appeared and wrapped himself around Hokuto's neck, settling onto his shoulders like usual.

"That screaming...most unpleasant," Kudamon said.

"I agree with you 100 percent," Hokuto said.

"Hey Labramon! Over here!" Otoya played frisbee with Labramon, and the two of them were enjoying it immensely. Otoya threw the frisbee in all directions, and somehow Labramon managed to catch them all without them hitting the ground. He gave the frisbee back to Otoya once he got a little tired.

"My, playing frisbee does take a lot out of you," Labramon said.

"It does make for some good exercise! Especially on such a nice day like this!" Otoya said with a smile.

"I agree. It does feel good to go out and run around once in a while," Labramon replied.

"And it's healthy, too!" Otoya replied. Then she saw Yun and the others and called out to them.

"Yun-chaaan! Wanna play with us?" Otoya called out. The kids and Digimon looked at each other, smiled brightly, and ran over to Otoya and Labramon. They played merrily and happily, to their heart's content. At another part of the park...

"Hey! Coronamon! That's MY onigiri! Give it back!" Riku yelled as he tried to take a rice ball that Coronamon grabbed out of the blue.

"No it isn't! It's MY onigiri! Rena made it for me!" Coronamon protested. Riku leaped on him and the two got into a wrestling match. Rena was listening to her I-Pod (particularly Susan Boyle(1)'s version of The End of the World) as they argued. She sighed.

"Boys. So undeniably crude," Rena muttered to herself. Biyomon sat next to her.

"I agree. Why do they always get so flustered over very silly and insignificant things? It's most unpleasant!" Biyomon said rather vainly as she ate a baby tomato.

"That's just how they are...well, most of them," Rena told her.

"Yes, that IS true. Hokuto is nice enough. He's definitely not improper and inappropriate like that wicked brother of yours," Biyomon said. Rena shot a scary look at Biyomon that made her step back a little.

"My brother may be impulsive, reckless, hyper, and a little out there sometimes, but if he's definitely NOT a bad person, even though everyone else around him thinks he is! You should know better than to judge people by appearances! If this is about the time he first met you, then you need to get over it. It's done and over with," Rena reproved Biyomon for her rather caustic and inopportune comment about Riku, who is currently laughing it up with Coronamon right now. Biyomon didn't say anything more and continued to peck at her sandwich.

After a while, the kids decided to stop playing, sit down, and eat together with their Digimon. The kids and Digimon sat together and talked amongst themselves while the adults sat together and talked amongst themselves. They didn't bother with the kids and decided to let them have their fun. Yun noticed that Minako has her D-Heart of peace tied right onto her choker.

"Hey! Your D-Heart's on the choker I got you!" Yun said.

"You JUST now noticed?" Minako asked.

"Well, I have for a while, but so much was going on I wasn't able to mention it. It looks nice on you," Yun told her.

"Thanks," Minako said.

"Oh? Yun-chan? You got Mina-chan the choker necklace? I never knew!" Nyaromon exclaimed as she sat on Minako's lap, eating a cookie.

"I never told you? Yun got it for me on my eighth birthday. It's the very first birthday present I ever got from someone outside of my family, and I've kept it ever since," Minako said.

"Awww! How sweet! Gifts from friends are always wonderful! I don't think any person would want to miss out on something so wonderful as receiving a present from a true friend!" Nyaromon said.

"I agree. What a nice thing you did back then, Yun!" Lopmon said. Yun blushed a little.

"But it was so long ago..." Yun said.

"I've never had a birthday party before. I wonder how I can hold one?" Isao asked.

"When your next birthday comes around, you give invitations to your closest friends and invite them to your house. You have to make sure the invitations have your home address on it or else they won't know where you live. You can make your own invitation cards. You can share birthday cake with them, play games with them, all that stuff!" Yun explained.

"Cool! I'll do that next time my birthday comes around!" Isao said.

"Can I be part of your party?" Tsunomon asked.

"Of course you will! No way am I gonna leave you out! But I don't want my other friends to see you or else they might wanna steal you," Isao told him kindly as he hugged his Digimon.

"You have other friends?" Terriermon asked.

"Yep! We play soccer together and go to school together!" Isao explained. Melody suddenly pulled ger guitar out.

"Hey! Anyone want to hear some tunes?" Melody asked.

"Oh! Oh! I wanna listen!" Patamon exclaimed.

"Me too! Nyan!" Nyaromon meowed.

"May I take part in listening?" Lopmon asked politely.

Melody decided to sing the song about Yun that she finally completed. Everybody liked it, even though the song wasn't over yet. But what the kids didn't know was that while they were too focused on listening to Melody's new song, LadyDevimon and her two faithful and loyal BlackGatomon friends appeared in the park a little ways away from them. They hid in the bushes, watching the kids and Digimon from afar with their evil eyes.

"It seems the other brats aren't with them. What a pity, as I think it'd be fun to destroy all of them. Oh well, I guess we'll have to make do for today," LadyDevimon muttered in a low but maligned whisper.

"I am soooo glad to be done with cleaning duty. Those Numemon, Geremon, and PlatinumNumemon have absolutely NO manners at all!" The arrogant BlackGatomon meowed as she stretched herself out.

"Tell me about it. The odor is just utterly putrid, too! Nyan!" The timid BlackGatomon purred. She showed no traces of her injuries from before, so she felt quite better and more energetic than last time, though she still looked rather apprehensive about coming here.

"Should we really be doing this? I mean, won't Master find out and scold us again?" The timid BlackGatomon asked shyly.

"Don't worry. I plan on getting those Digimon and showing them to Master no matter what it takes! He'll be so proud he'll finally see that what I've been trying to tell him is true! Now, I believe it's time to-" LadyDevimon was so lost in her mind as she talked that she failed to notice someone coming up from behind.

"Kitty!"

"AAACK!"

Kimi came up from behind and literally squeezed the arrogant BlackGatomon. Hard.

"Sister!" LadyDevimon and the timid BlackGatomon cried, loud enough for the kids to hear.

"Ooooh! A black kitty cat!" Kimi pet and hugged the arrogant BlackGatomon to the point of suffocation, though she (Kimi) was quite oblivious to the damage she's doing to her. BlackGatomon was absolutely appalled and disgusted by Kimi's behavior, and she got so choleric that she did something no person, or other Digimon, would even dare to do!

"GET OFF OF ME, YOU PUTRID SCUM!" The arrogant BlackGatomon scratched Kimi in the face! Hard. So hard, in fact, that Kimi fell to the ground on her rear end. Kimi felt her face and found blood on her hand. Seeing this, she suddenly burst into tears and began crying and screaming and flailing her stubby limbs around and throwing an epic temper tantrum.

"BAD KITTY! BAD KITTY!" Kimi screamed and bawled, showing no mercy or sign of stopping.

"Don't act so proud, you stupid human!" The arrogant BlackGatomon scolded angrily.

"S-Sister! Don't you think you should have-" The timid BlackGatomon tried to reason with her sister, but the arrogant BlackGatomon was just too choleric.

"She just tried to suffocate me!" The arrogant BlackGatomon yelled, which caught the attention of not just the kids, but the adults as well!

"Oh lord! Kimi!" Aki scooped the crying and bleeding girl in her arms and tried to put a band-aid on her cheek, but Kimi cried and kept on flailing her limbs.

It was Terriermon who saw them.

"Hey you!" Terriermon yelled as he ratted out the two BlackGatomons and LadyDevimon. LadyDevimon, seeing that her cover has been blown, decided that there was no longer any point in hiding.

"You've found me out this time, brats! Now it's time we battle!" LadyDevimon exclaimed as she floated in the air and prepared for an attack. But suddenly Minagi grabbed Minako's arm.

"Minako! Come on! We have to go!" Minagi exclaimed as she tried to take Minako away from the scene. Aki, Tatsuha, Teruki, Hisako, and Otoya's mother (who are the only adults here) tried to do so too. But LadyDevimon caught sight of them and flew in front of them.

"Hey! Out of the way, you witch!" Otoya's mother screamed angrily.

"I will not tolerate you infidels interfering with my mission! Sinful Lullaby!" LadyDevimon exclaimed before singing a rather eerie and ominous-sounding gospel number that lulled all of the adults to sleep. Even Kimi, who was screaming like crazy before, fell under the spell.

"Hey! What did you just do to our parents?" Yun yelled.

"Calm down. I just put them to sleep so they won't interrupt our show. They'll wake up when I choose to lift my spell. No need to get into such a hot tizzy," LadyDevimon said.

"You want us to put on a show? Fine! I LOVE putting on shows! Hey Biyomon! Let's put on a show that'll put LadyDevimon out of business!" Melody exclaimed with her digivice out and ready.

"You got it, my friend!" Biyomon backed her up. Everyone else got their digivices out.

"Hmph! Don't think you're so powerful! I'll still beat you all by a long shot!" LadyDevimon said as she prepared herself for battle. For some reason, only the arrogant BlackGatomon prepared for battle too, not the timid BlackGatomon, but neither side took notice of this.

Lopmon digivolved to Turuiemon, Terriermon to Gargomon, Patamon to Angemon, Biyomon to Birdramon, Lunamon to Lekismon, Coronamon to Firamon, Cutemon to Rabbitmon, Labramon to Seasarmon, Kudamon to Reppamon, and Tsunomon to Bearmon and then Grizzlymon. Only Nyaromon stayed in her in-training form since she's still too weak to digivolve or fight. Since the area is very wide open and spacious, very little trees and bushes, they could fight however they pleased. Yun looked at Gargomon and Turuiemon with fire in her eyes.

"Turuiemon and Gargomon, you two take care of the BlackGatomon and protect our parents! Everyone else will handle LadyDevimon from here!" Yun told them.

"Yes ma'am!" Both Turuiemon and Gargomon said as they circled around the sleeping adults. The arrogant BlackGatomon lunged at them.

"Lightning Paw!"

"Gauntlet Claw!"

The collision of their attacks made sparks fly. Turuiemon managed to stop the arrogant BlackGatomon from landing a hit on the sleeping adults. Gargomon saw this to be the perfect opportunity to attack.

"Gargo Laser!"

But BlackGatomon saw this coming as she kicked Turuiemon and hopped away. Gargomon gave chase.

"You're not going anywhere, kitty!" Gargomon yelled as he chased after the arrogant BlackGatomon, who proved to be faster than him. Turuiemon followed suit. As for everyone else...

"Hand of Fate!"

"Meteor Wing!"

"Tear Arrow!"

"Fira Bomb!"

"Crescent Dawn!"

"Vacuum Kamaitachi!"

"Tee Dia!"

"Black Dome!"

The Digimon all began with an all-out assault, but LadyDevimon used her Black Dome to shield herself from the attacks. Then, she got her Fallen Angel's Spear out.

"I'm just getting warmed up!" LadyDevimon said with a wicked smile.

"Mach Grinder!" Birdramon tried to lunge at her with her talons ready to grab her, but LadyDevimon saw this coming and blocked it with her Fallen Angel's Spear.

"Darkness Wave!" An eerie, black stream of energy poured out of LadyDevimon's mouth and managed to hit Birdramon before she could fly away!

"Birdramon!" Melody called out as Birdramon fell to the ground. "You okay?"

"Urgh...I should have seen that coming! That wicked thing!" Birdramon stood up and attempted to fly at her again. Lekismon suddenly hopped on her nose and leapt toward LadyDevimon.

"Excuse me! I'll handle this!" Lekismon said as she leaped off of Birdramon's nose. "Moon Night Bomb!"

Five spheres of water fell from the sky and almost soaked LadyDevimon to the bone, but she used her Fallen Angel's Spear to pop every single one of them. Then Lekismon grabbed her by the neck and tried to suffocate her!

"Agh! G-Get off of me...you...horrid thing!" LadyDevimon screeched as she tried to throw Lekismon off but couldn't. This gave Angemon the opportunity to attack.

"Hand of Fate!"

Before she realized it, LadyDevimon felt a burning sensation on her exposed left leg.

"AAAAAGH!" LadyDevimon managed to pull it out of the attack before it got destroyed, but it left some pretty intense marks on her leg.

"Wow! Angemon got her by the leg! Yay Angemon!" Isao cheered.

"I take it only angel attacks can hit her?" Otoya asked.

"Yep! But this battle's not over yet!" Yun exclaimed. Suddenly, LadyDevimon grabbed Lekismon by the arm and spun her around. Angemon tried to grab her, but LadyDevimon was going too fast. Finally, she let go, and threw Lekismon at Angemon, who did manage to wrap his arms around her to keep her from falling.

"I-I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" Lekismon asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Angemon said. They were about to fly away, but LadyDevimon had something planned for them.

"Night Rubix!"

A black cube formed around both Angemon and Lekismon. LadyDevimon made some hand gestures, but she wasn't able to complete the attack.

"Vacuum Kamaitachi!"

"Fira Bomb!"

Somehow, Firamon and Reppamon managed to attack her from behind, causing the Night Rubix to disappear, leaving Angemon and Lekismon untouched and unharmed.

"Hey! We got her before she could use the rubix cube of death!" Firamon cried out.

"Come on! We must stop her!" Reppamon said.

LadyDevimon turned around and looked at them. Now she was incensed.

"You DARE interrupt MY beautiful attack? I'll show you ruffians! Darkness Wave!" LadyDevimon screeched as she poured out another stream of black energy.

"Spinning Sky Fissure Slash!" Reppamon slashed through the energy with his scythe-filled somersault and managed to scratch LadyDevimon just a bit. But she grabbed Reppamon by the ear and threw him away.

"Maul Attack!" Grizzlymon tried to attack her from below, but she floated further up, preventing him from reaching her.

"Stun Whip!" A thin black stream of energy formed in LadyDevimon's hand, and she whisked it at Grizzlymon, grabbing him by one of his paws.

"Grizzlymon!" Seasarmon and Rabbitmon exclaimed as they saw LadyDevimon throw him upward and made him fall to the ground.

"Sekkantou!"

"Carrot Bomb!"

Seasarmon's front paw glowed in a sunny yellow light as he charged at her, and Rabbitmon made it rain carrots. Sadly, neither attacks managed to hit her.

"Stun Whip!" LadyDevimon's whip wrapped around Seasarmon's paw and she threw him at Rabbitmon.

"Hand of Fate!"

"Tear Arrow!"

Angemon and Lekismon both tried to sneak attack her from behind, but she turned around just in time and decided to turn the tables on them.

"Night Rubix!" Angemon and Lekismon found themselves trapped in the black rubix cube. LadyDevimon muttered an incantation and made weird hand gestures, and finally, the cube exploded. Angemon and Lekismon both fell to the ground, battered and beaten. They were so injured that they lost all of their energy, and they both de-digivolved back into Patamon and Lunamon. Rena ran to both of them and carried them back to the picnic quilt.

"You two stay right here and get some rest," Rena told them in a kind voice.

"But...but we need to help them! We can't just sit and do nothing!" Lunamon pleaded.

"That's right! If we don't defeat her soon, she'll wreak havoc! Who knows what she'll do!" Patamon backed her up. The two weakened Digimon looked quite worried.

"It's alright. I believe in them. We'll fix this somehow," Rena tried to reassure them, but they didn't seem to buy it. She expected this, since she herself was beginning to question whether the Digimon Brigade could defeat LadyDevimon or not.

"Meteor Wing!" Birdramon fired two more streams of fire at LadyDevimon, but she broke through them with her Fallen Angel's Spear.

"Jeez, lady! Not only do you dress like a promiscuous drag queen, you're strong as heck! Don't you ever take a break? My goodness, you make me want to puke!" Birdramon taunted, weary of LadyDevimon's strength.

"Yeah! You tell her, Birdramon!" Melody cheered.

_'Did that giant piece of poultry just...call me...promiscuous? And a DRAG QUEEN?'_ LadyDevimon thought. Fire burned in her heart, only much more hotly than ever. Her eyes were ablaze with hatred and anger, and she screamed in a high pitched voice that caused Yun and Minako to both cover their ears. Nyaromon suddenly hopped away from the scene.

"HOW DARE YOU CALL ME A DRAG QUEEN! You're gonna pay for that! Darkness Wave!" LadyDevimon was so mad that the stream of darkness that poured out of her mouth was more powerful than ever. Birdramon couldn't fly away fast enough.

"Birdramon! Look out!" Seasarmon hopped in between Birdramon and the attack, causing him to both get hit and be pushed against Birdramon. The both of them fell to the ground. But LadyDevimon wasn't done with them yet.

"Night Rubix!" LadyDevimon trapped the both of them inside the Night Rubix, attempting to destroy them both. That's when Riku made a bold move.

"Riku! No!" Minako tried to stop him, but he was too fast. What did Riku do?

He leaped on LadyDevimon, grabbed her by the leg, and bit her.

"OWWW!" LadyDevimon screeched in pain as Riku dug his teeth into her leg.

"Ewwww! That's so gross!" Yun yelped, disgusted by Riku's most recent attempt at subduing her, despite his good intentions.

"Ouch," Hokuto muttered as LadyDevimon screamed and tried to throw Riku off of her leg.

"Get off of me, you filthy scum!" LadyDevimon flailed around similar to how Kimi did during her little epic temper tantrum. She flailed and kicked around, trying to throw Riku off of her leg. But Riku was NOT going to give up. He continued to dig his teeth into her, hoping to distract her from her attack and free Seasarmon and Birdramon. But the Night Rubix didn't fade, and LadyDevimon has finally had enough.

"Stun Whip!" LadyDevimon used her black whip to scratch Riku's face and hands a million times. She had to scratch herself a little in the process, but she didn't care. She just wanted Riku off!

"No...you...won't!" Riku persisted and kept going...until it happened.

"Night Rubix!"

Seasarmon and Birdramon were both freed by the Night Rubix, but now she's going to use it on Riku!

"Rikkun!" Yun tried to run in and save him, but the cube was too hard and she fell off of it.

"OH NO! RIKU!" Firamon descended from the sky, hoping to both save him and attack LadyDevimon from behind, which he did.

"Flame Dive!" Firamon engulfed himself in flames and singed LadyDevimon's back, pinning her to the ground and freeing Riku from the Night Rubix. Yun, Minako, and Otoya all ran to him.

"Rikkun! You could have gotten killed! You're crazy!" Yun told him.

"That was a really reckless move you made!" Minako exclaimed.

"LadyDevimon's Night Rubix is horrible! You shouldn't have tried to attack her!" Otoya said.

"Well someone had to! I'm sick and tired of losing to that promiscuous witch!" Riku yelled back, not happy with his friends' reactions. But LadyDevimon managed to throw Firamon off and against Birdramon and Seasarmon, who have already been weakened. Rabbitmon tried to attack as well, but LadyDevimon grabbed her by the ears and threw her in the pile.

"Night Rubix!" LadyDevimon finally finished her attack this time. The cube exploded, and Birdramon, Seasarmon, Rabbitmon, and Firamon all lost and de-digivolved back into Biyomon, Labramon, Cutemon, and Coronamon. Melody, Otoya, Yun, and Riku all carried them back to the picnic quilt with Rena. Gargomon and Turuiemon are still chasing after the arrogant BlackGatomon with no luck.

"Man! This is getting out of hand! I wish someone would digivolve into ultimate and defeat that witch already!" Riku complained.

"Me too! I wanna digivolve to ultimate!" Coronamon complained with him.

"We know that, but what else can we do?" Otoya yelped.

Then, Minako noticed something and immediately became overcome with fear.

"Where's Nyaromon?" Minako yelped fearfully.

She's right. Nyaromon's gone missing! LadyDevimon noticed that her other attendant has gone off somewhere as well.

"Where in the world is my dear little BlackGatomon?" LadyDevimon asked as she stopped Reppamon from using a Spinning Sky Fissure Slash.

"Prepare to fall before us, witch! Crescent Dawn!" Grizzlymon tried to attack, but LadyDevimon used Darkness Wave on him and defeated him, de-digivolving him back into Bearmon.

"Bearmon!" Isao ran to him and tried to help him up. He looked at LadyDevimon with an angry look.

"Go away, will ya? Leave us alone!" Isao yelled.

"I would, but I have a mission to fulfill, and I can't just leave when I've made so much progress!" LadyDevimon explained.

And speaking of the timid BlackGatomon, she's sitting near the big river, watching the strong current fly by as the battles went on. She didn't like everything that was going on. She didn't like the fighting or the pandemonium. She didn't like having to deal with all of this. BlackGatomon looked down at the river with a dejected face, doubting whether this is really what she, her sister, and LadyDevimon really want out of life. All she and her friends wanted was warmth, shelter, food, love, and after so long, they finally got it, but is it really worth it to live in such expiatory ways? To live by way of expiation for MoonMillenniummon? Is that really all it should be? The timid BlackGatomon is not the avaricious type, not like her sister or LadyDevimon, so she felt no need to do anything more, but she felt guilty for allowing her sisters to deviate from their wishes and pursue a jingoistic specter and be intransigent and be totally not cognizant about the consquences of their actions. The timid BlackGatomon was lost in her thoughts, in a pensive state until someone pulled her out of it.

"Hello."

The timid BlackGatomon turned around to find Nyaromon looking up at her with the same dejected eyes. The timid BlackGatomon not only recognized that look, but she recognized Nyaromon, not just as a Digimon her friend killed once before, but...she remembered that she used to be a Nyaromon and a Salamon as well.

"What is it?" The timid BlackGatomon asked shyly.

Nyaromon did feel a little scared, but she took the plunge anyway.

"Ummm...listen, you and your friends must have been went through some hard times. I can understand if you're still traumatized by what supposedly happened to you, but is all of this really what you want? Are you really okay with hurting others just to get what you want?" Nyaromon asked.

The timid BlackGatomon paused before speaking. She couldn't help but feel that Nyaromon was right. Unlike her sisters, she's not a very avaricious or intransigent Digimon, despite the fact that she digivolved into a virus version of Gatomon as a result. She never considered fighting and killing to be very cardinal, but her sisters thought differently. She could tell that this little Nyaromon wasn't really condoling with her, as she didn't go through what she (BlackGatomon) did, but she never did feel that she and her sisters had any reason to do what they did. Seeing the sincerity and sadness in Nyaromon's big violet eyes, the timid BlackGatomon conceded defeat.

"You're right. This isn't the right way to go about things. Unlike my sisters, I'm not a fighter. I always watched from the sidelines. But when we were left behind and left in a blizzard to die, we began searching for food, shelter, warmth, and love by whatever means necessary. Our Master saved us, and gave us all of those things. I was so happy that I felt content with just being with him. I didn't feel I needed to do anything more, and he was okay with that. But...my sisters...they thought differently. They do everything that Master tells them to do, often times going too far, just to please him and win his approval. I know why they're doing it though: they fear that if they don't do exactly what they tell him, he'll turn us away and we'd be homeless again. But I know Master, and he's not one to do that with those he saves from death. He told me and some of the other Digimon himself. But my sister and LadyDevimon don't know that. They fear abandonment and they'll do just about anything to win his approval, even if it means trying to prove some pipe dream to be true," The timid BlackGatomon explained.

"Your Master must be a great Digimon, taking care of abandoned Digimon like that. But he destroyed the Digital World, didn't he?" Nyaromon asked.

"Yeah. I confess. We helped him destroy the Digital World. I never did approve of such a dangerous plan, but people never listen to the shy and quiet Digimon. Their opinions don't count for anything, not even mine," The timid BlackGatomon said.

"I don't think you don't count for anything."

"Tell that to some of the Digimon at Cat Kingdom, who always bullied me for being so shy! My sisters and I have stayed together ever since we were babies! I haven't forgotten what's important, but LadyDevimon has! That's why she's digivolved into a LadyDevimon, because she forgot what's important! I can't tolerate her going against breaking her own promise!"

BlackGatomon finally screamed, for the first time in her life since she and her sisters were abandoned by her kin. She never did speak up, because either she was never given the opportunity to do so, or that even if she tried to, other Digimon told her to shut up and hold her tongue, be it quietly or harshly. She was so sick and tired of everything that happened, and she wanted to scream it all out. Finally, this was her chance. Someone is finally willing to listen. Nyaromon listened intently and attentively.

"I'm the only one who remembers everything from when we were first born! All of the happy memories we shared at Cat Kingdom before it all fell apart! I'm the only one who remembers the most important thing: having each other and staying true to ourselves! We wanted to grow up and digivolve into nice Digimon who would help people! But look at us! We're hideous virus types now! LadyDevimon said her dream is to become an Angewomon, the most graceful and motherly of all angel Digimon! We wanted to digivolve with her! We all made a promise that we would all stay true to ourselves and digivolve into Angewomon together! But look what happened! LadyDevimon's a LadyDevimon because she broke her promise and changed herself in the wrong way! My sister and I too! I...I didn't want it to...come to this! I...but I did appreciate what Master did for us! He gave us food, shelter, warmth, and love, even if it's not in the right context! I was so content with having all of these things that I didn't think we needed to do anything more! I didn't want to fight for my place in the inner sanctum! I didn't want to involve myself with any unnecessary fighting! That's why I haven't digivolved! But my sister and LadyDevimon...they're too busy with trying to repay their debt to our Master by recruiting Digimon for his army and trying to prove some stupid illusion to be true to care anymore! They repressed the wonderful memories we shared! I can't forgive them for that! Nyaromon, you and your friends were right to hurt me! I don't want to be like this anymore, and I don't want my sisters to become anything worse! I can't let them continue on like this! All of this fighting is so inane! I'M SO SICK AND TIRED OF IT!"

Finally, the timid BlackGatomon fell to her knees in tears and broke down. Nyaromon couldn't believe what she just heard. BlackGatomon's content with being with her Master and living life to the fullest, but her sisters yearn for repaying their debt to him and do it by hurting others and allowing their hearts to be corrupted. LadyDevimon became overcome with avarice and her other sister, the arrogant BlackGatomon, grew volatile and arrogant. Only the timid BlackGatomon tried to stay true to herself despite not digivolving into the Digimon she wanted to be, and it's likely she wants to stop herself from becoming a LadyDevimon like LadyDevimon has become. Nyaromon felt sorry for BlackGatomon and gently rubbed her paw with her stubby tail.

"Do you want to atone for the choices you and your sisters made?" Nyaromon asked. BlackGatomon looked at her with tear stained eyes for a minute, then nodded.

"I wish I could help you with that. I really do. I don't believe you're a bad Digimon, and I don't think your sisters are bad either. I'm sure you want to live life to the fullest. I'm trying to remind someone of how important life is. She tried to take her own life once because she blamed herself for someone's death, and...it's so sad. I want to remind her that living is wonderful! But unlike us Digimon, once humans die, they stay dead. They can't become DigiEggs or be reborn. You can. Do you...want to restart your life and fulfill your dream? You know, it's not too late. If the time is right, maybe I can help you out," Nyaromon said.

BlackGatomon couldn't believe what she was hearing. This scrawny little Nyaromon is telling her such big things? But she was right. She DOES want to become a beautiful Angewomon with her sisters and remind them of what's important. BlackGatomon wants to live and do what she wants, and she wants her sisters to remember what's important. Perhaps this Nyaromon really can help. BlackGatomon knew why, but she kept silent. She nodded. She then looked Nyaromon in the eyes.

"I know for a fact...that you can purify me and my sisters. Do you want to know why?" BlackGatomon asked.

"Why do you know that I can do it?" Nyaromon asked.

"Because...you're-"

BlackGatomon knew what Nyaromon was and wanted to tell her about it, but she couldn't. Because LadyDevimon caught sight of the two of them and gasped with horror.

"Oh no! Sister!" LadyDevimon swooped downward, slapping Reppamon in the face and keeping him from doing after her. LadyDevimon grabbed BlackGatomon before she could finish what she wanted to tell Nyaromon, and gave Nyaromon an evil stare.

"What are you doing to my sister? Are you trying to turn her against me, you weakling?" LadyDevimon yelled. Minako saw them and gasped.

"Nyaromon!" Minako ran after them.

"Mina-chan! Come back!" Yun tried to stop her, but to no avail.

"Time to meet your end another time! Stun Whip!" Nyaromon was given no time to hop away and escape. LadyDevimon attempted to throw Nyaromon into the river. But someone else ended up taking the hit.

"NYAROMOOOON!"

Minako wound up getting the whip wrapped around her arm. LadyDevimon, in a paroxysm of anger, threw Minako upward and...straight into the river.

"MINA-CHAAAAAAN!" Nyaromon screamed as Minako fell into the fast moving river. Everyone else watched in horror.

"We've got to save her!" Yun yelled.

As for Minako...it hurt to breathe.

Minako found herself trapped. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't swim. She couldn't beat the current. It was too fast. She could feel water streaming into her mouth and filling her lungs up. She needed to get away, but she couldn't. She lost the energy in her arms and legs. She could feel her vision blurring.

_'No! NO! I...I can't die! I just can't! Is this what Kiyoshi felt when he died? Is...this what I would feel if I tried to take my life back then? No! I can't! I still have so much I want to do! I can't leave my friends behind! Kiyoshi! Please...save me! I...I want to live my life! In peace!'_ Minako could feel her eyes closing and her ears ringing. She couldn't keep them open any longer.

But she did, however, managed to see a beautiful, glowing purple light coming from both right underneath her nose and another one coming right toward her. Despite the fact that she's losing consciousness, she could still hear a voice and see the purple light changing.

"Nyaromon digivolve to...Salamon!"

That was all. Everything went black. She felt something pulling on her arm, and she could hear voices.

"Rena-chan? Lucero? Did you get her?"

"Yeah! We did!"

"Minako! Thou must survive!"

"Come on! Let's get her up here!"

"I'll try CPR!"

"Come on, Omori! Live, will ya?"

"Mina-chan! Please wake up! Wan! Please!"

She didn't know how much time passed, but she finally woke up and saw a cream colored mass sitting on her chest. The mass became more lucid the more her eyes adjusted to the light, and the mass became a little cream colored, rosy cheeked, wide eyed puppy with a gold collar. It was none other than...Salamon.

"Huh? Did I...?"

"MINA-CHAN!" Salamon literally leaped onto Minako and licked every part of her face in sheer joy. "I'm so glad we managed to save you in time! You're alright! WAN!"

Minako also saw Yun, Lucero, Rena, Melody, Hokuto, and their Digimon surrounding her. Lucero and Rena were both soaked to the bone. Salamon too. They jumped into the fast moving river to save her! They all looked at her with relieved faces. Even LadyDevimon and the arrogant BlackGatomon stopped to watch, despite their animosity toward it. Minako hugged Salamon.

"You all saved me. Thank you!" Minako exclaimed.

"I applied CPR," Hokuto said.

Minako did feel a little cold from being soaked to the bone, but she didn't mind. Then, she noticed Salamon looking up at her VERY sadly, with big globby tears coming out of her big violet eyes.

"Salamon! Why are you-?"

"Mina-chan...I'm so happy you're alive! I digivolved because your D-Heart of Peace responded to your wish to live! Also...I heard about what you tried to do after Kiyoshi died. I can't believe you would be so stupid as to try and take your own life when your dream is to give lives to people and make world a better, more peaceful place! Don't EVER kill yourself or blame yourself for someone else's death! EVER! It's NOT your fault! Stuff like this happens! It's not something to kill yourself over! I...I saw a movie a few days ago. It's called It's A Wonderful Life, and it's about this man who tried to do what you did because everything was going bad for him, but this guardian angel showed him what the world would be like without him, and he chose to live again! I...I was so inspired! I knew something was bothering you, but I never knew it was something like this! I...I vowed to become not just your Digimon friend, I wanted to be your personal Clarence Odbody! Your guardian angel! I wanted to remind you how wonderful living is, and show you all the wonderful little things you would miss if you went and killed yourself, like Tatsuha's cooking and the pretty flowers and your friends and all the fun adventures we had together! Kiyoshi wouldn't want you to kill yourself because of what happened to him! He'd be really sad! I would be sad, and your friends would be sad too! The world wouldn't be the same without someone as wonderful as you, Mina-chan! Don't ever take your life! Don't ever miss out on something so wonderful as living! You want to be at peace with yourself, don't you?"

Minako remembered the movie It's A Wonderful Life. She watched it a few times with her family on Christmas, and she liked it, but the memory faded as time went on. But she was surprised to see Salamon telling her that living is the most wonderful thing in the world. No wonder she was so vocal about little things like flowers and animals and Tatsuha's cooking and being engrossed in one's hobbies. But Minako couldn't help but smile and hug Salamon. She was right. Minako WOULD miss out on all of these wonderful things if she really did try to kill herself. Salamon would be sad, her friends would be sad, her family would be sad, and Kiyoshi would be sad, even though he's already in Heaven. She thought that by killing herself, everyone else would be happy and better off without her. But Minako could not have been more wrong. Dying won't solve anything. It will only bring more sadness. Minako shed some tears and hugged Salamon.

"You're right. I want to be at peace with myself. But I don't know how. I'm normally very intelligent, but I'm lost in this department. Can you teach me?" Minako asked kindly. Salamon smiled and nodded happily.

"Yes I will! Wan!" Salamon barked cutely.

LadyDevimon made a gauche sound. "Bleeech! So sappy! I'm sick and tired of this kissy-kissy goo-goo talk! Time to fall before my wrath! Fallen Angel's Spear!"

Minako got her digivice out and Salamon got ready. Minako's digivice glowed and Salamon digivolved into Gatomon.

"Lightning Paw!" With a thunderous punch that made sparks fly, she knocked the Fallen Angel's Spear out of the way and into the river.

"You want to be at peace with yourselves, don't you? I'll help you with that! It's not too late! Nyan!" Gatomon exclaimed.

Minako and Gatomon were both ready to defeat LadyDevimon and the two BlackGatomon once and for all.

"We will live life to the fullest, and we WILL find peace! We'll help you find it too!" Both Gatomon and Minako yelled ardently in perfect unison.

In a flash, Minako's purple D-Heart of Peace and her digivice both began to glow in dazzling yet calming violet purple lights. The lights were so bright that LadyDevimon had to cover her eyes in self-defence. The light from the digivice shot into Minako's D-Heart of Peace, and the symbol on it, the peace sign with two curved points on the top and bottom, glew brightly, shot out from the egg shaped stone, and branded itself onto Gatomon, enveloping her in the dazzling purple light.

"Gatomon, digivolve to..."

Gatomon, because of the D-Heart of Peace's power and the purple light, suddenly isn't a little cat anymore! The light got bigger and bigger, until it reached LadyDevimon's size! Gatomon found herself growing bigger and longer, feeling very peaceful in the process. Finally, after a whole three minutes of the D-Heart of Peace's power enveloping Gatomon, the light finally dissipated, and out came a very tall, very dazzling, very stunning, and very beautiful young woman. This wasn't Gatomon anymore! Everyone watched in awe as the beautiful angelic woman graced everyone with her heavenly presence. The beautiful young woman has long, flowing blonde hair that captured the sunlight's golden effulgence impeccably. Her face is covered with a silver mask with little white dove's wings coming off of both wides. Her left shoe looked like it had been donned with feathers, while her right one was a white and black high heel. Her shoes didn't match! But this did not matter to anyone. The woman donned a beautiful white one-piece garment that looked like a combination of a gown and standard white shorts, going slightly above her knees. On the woman's waist are two black belts. Her left arm was covered with a long white glove stretching all the way to her forearm, and she has a golden ankle bracelet on her left leg. The woman's arms have a purple shawl-like scarf wrapped around it, and on her back are eight beautiful, pure, pristine white wings, like that of a true angel.

"...Angewomon!"

The angel Digimon seemed to glow as she stood behind the sun. Everyone watched in awe as the woman graced everyone with her holy presence.

"Wow! Salamon digivolved to ultimate! Awesome!" Isao cheered.

Even LadyDevimon and the two BlackGatomon were surprised by this holy Digimon's entrance. In fact, she was so surprised, that she found herself walking down memory lane...into a memory that she thought she had long repressed.

(flashback)

_In a lush, grassy field full of cat Digimon, Gatomon, BlackGatomon, and Nyaromon all included, three little Nyaromon were playing in a small red sand box merrily._

_"Is it true that the harvest is coming soon? I'd love to go!" The first Nyaromon (who was LadyDevimon) asked._

_"Yep! The Gatomon and Mikemon are all talking about it. They're gonna go to Gwyneira Tundra this time," The second Nyaromon (who was the arrogant BlackGatomon, told her)._

_"I wish I could go, but I can't. Everyone will probably bully me," The third Nyaromon (who was the timid BlackGatomon) muttered shyly._

_"I think we can go! I heard one of the organizers saying they'll bring some Nyaromon with them for training purposes! I hope it'll be the three of us!" The first Nyaromon said._

_"But that won't happen! We're too weak and scrawny to go!" The third Nyaromon said pessimistically._

_"Well, if we don't, we don't. But I still hate that they get to have all the fun and we can't!" The second Nyaromon said. Suddenly, the third Nyaromon looked up._

_"Hey girls! Look!" The third Nyaromon exclaimed. They all looked up and saw an Angewomon flying gracefully over them, smiling like sunshine._ _They watched in awe as she flew over them._

_"Wow. Isn't she beautiful?" The second Nyaromon asked._

_"She sure is," The third Nyaromon muttered._

_In a flash of inspiration, the first Nyaromon hopped out of the sand box._

_"I've decided!"_

_"Decided what?" The third Nyaromon asked curiously._

_"I've decided that when I grow up, I'm gonna be an Angewomon!" The first Nyaromon proclaimed proudly._

_"An Angewomon? Why?" The second Nyaromon asked._

_"They're the most beautiful Digimon in all of the Digital World! They're always doing nice things! I...I want to be like that too! I want to do nice things for everyone!" The first Nyaromon explained, getting excited at the idea._

_"But don't we have to do certain stuff before we digivolve? Some of us might digivolve into Mikemon or BlackGatomon? It's not that common for us to digivolve into something as wonderful as that," The third Nyaromon explained rather pessimistically._

_"I'll do anything to be an Angewomon! No matter what it takes! It'll be my dream!" The first Nyaromon edicted._

_The two other Nyaromon looked at each other, smiled, and looked at their leader._

_"Then we'll become Angewomon with you!" The second Nyaromon said._

_"I might fall behind since I'm weak, but I want to be a nice, wonderful Digimon too. It might never happen to me, but we won't know that until we try, right?" The third Nyaromon said._

_The first Nyaromon then showed off her tail. "I say we make a solemn promise!"_

_"Promise?" The second Nyaromon asked._

_"Yep! A promise that we will all digivolve into Angewomon together! No matter what it takes, we WILL become Angewomon!" The first Nyaromon exclaimed. The other two looked at each other again, smiled, and wrapped their tails together._

_"In the name of the Digital World, we three Nyaromon solemnly promise that we will all become Angewomon together!" The first Nyaromon said._

_"It's a promise!" All three Nyaromon said in unison._

(end flashback)

LadyDevimon was shocked. She had long forgotten that she had ever even made that promise! But now, upon seeing the beauty that is Angewomon right in front of her, she immediately regretted everything she had done and bowed before the beautiful creature politely. The two BlackGatomon sisters bowed before her too. Angewomon, seeing their sincerity, floated in front of them and kneeled before them, smiling beautifully.

"You poor creatures. You went through so much. Do you want to atone for what you've done? Do you want to begin a new life?" Angewomon asked in a kind, motherly voice. LadyDevimon kept her head down, feeling as though she wasn't worthy of seeing Angewomon's holy presence.

"It's alright, child. You can look at me. I don't mind," Gently, Angewomon slipped a hand under LadyDevimon's chin and lifted it up so she could see her face. LadyDevimon finally fell apart.

"We...we made a promise. To become Angewomon together. But...I broke that promise! I...I ruined everything! I've been filling my head with all of these ideas, trying to please our Master and keep him from letting us go...that I totally forgot about what's important! I...I didn't stay true to myself!" LadyDevimon cried, feeling tears come out from her red eyes. Everyone watched as Angewomon graced LadyDevimon and the two BlackGatomon with her holy presence.

"It happens. We tend to focus on one thing and forget about another thing in the process. It's perfectly alright. It's not too late. You can still fulfill your promise to your beloved sisters," Angewomon told her kindly.

"We...we've always stayed together. If any one of them died, then I'd die too! I can't bear to live without them! We went through good times and bad times, and I don't want to forget that! They're MORE than just beloved to me! They're my life!" LadyDevimon exclaimed.

"You love them very much. I can certainly see that."

"I do. I really do."

"Children. I ask you. Do you want to begin new lives? You can still fulfill your promise. I can help you."

LadyDevimon and her two BlackGatomon sisters looked up at her eagerly. "You...can?"

"Yes. Do not worry. You will be able to live new lives and live peacefully."

LadyDevimon looked at her two sisters, nodded at them, and looked up at her.

"Yes. We do want to fulfill our promise. But...will you do us one favor?"

"What is it?"

"If you do purify us...can you please not erase our memories of our Master? He went through great pains to help us and give us what we needed to survive. We don't want to make him think we turned our back on him and be ungrateful for the kind things he's done, even though they're a bit unorthodox."

"It's alright. I will see to it that that is so. Do not fret, my children."

"Thank you...and we're sorry...for the trouble we caused."

"I forgive you."

Angewomon flew into the air, raised her hands to the sky, and made a bright white light appear before them.

"Heaven's Charm!" Angewomon then pointed her hands at LadyDevimon and the two BlackGatomon, who willingly closed their eyes and prepared themselves for purification, and shot a pristine white ray of light at them. The light consumed all three of them. Even though they were singed with pain, they didn't yelp or cry out or wail in pain. They embraced the attack and accepted it.

_'Finally. We can finally fulfill our promise. Thank you, Angewomon...for reminding us of what it means to live...'_ The three of them thought in perfect unison before they finally turned into data, which in turn morphed into two DigiEggs that fell onto the grass. Angewomon smiled beautifully.

_'You're welcome, children. May you be happy in your new lives,'_ Angewomon thought as she scooped the DigiEggs in her arms, opened a Digital Portal, and dropped them into the hole. Suddenly, all the kids and Digimon surrounded her, lauding her for her victory.

"Wow! You're so beautiful and dazzling!" Rena exclaimed.

"You were awesome back there! Do it again!" Isao cheered.

"What a beautiful and wonderful display of power! Lovely indeed!" Lopmon cheered merrily.

"That was so cool! I wish I could do that!" Patamon said.

"Are you awesome or what?" Yun cried out.

"Man, was that cool!" Riku cheered.

"You were on fire!" Coronamon backed him up. Angewomon felt a little abashed by their incessant praise, but she didn't mind. She knew they meant well, so she accepted it. She then looked at Minako, who looked up at her with amazed but touched violet eyes. Angewomon kneeled before the girl, who is half her height and size, and smiled gently at her.

"Minako, my dear partner...I ask you this: will you continue living your life, without thought of sacrificing it? I would be very sad if you tried to do what you did months ago," Angewomon asked kindly.

Without a hint of hesitation, Minako nodded.

"You're...so cool. I'm so happy to have you...for a partner," Minako muttered, feeling tears come out of her eyes. Angewomon gently wrapped her long arms around her partner and held her close, locking her in an embrace.

"I'm happy to have you as a human partner, too. No one can replace you, my dearest Minako," Angewomon said in her kind, dulcet, motherly voice, which made Minako feel warm and soft inside. She couldn't help but shed a few more tears happily.

"Awww! How undeniably sweet! What a poignant moment between Digimon and tamer!" Lopmon said, feeling a little teary eyed. Riku couldn't help but utter a disgusted noise under his breath.

"Blech. And sappy," Riku whispered. Melody just crossed her arms and smiled.

Suddenly, Angewomon began to glow. The light grew smaller and smaller, until finally it dissipated and Nyaromon came out of it, falling into Minako's arms. Nyaromon couldn't help but feel a little abashed by her transformation and laughed.

"Ehehehe. Oops. Guess I became Nyaromon again. I kinda wanted to be Salamon this time," Nyaromon said. Minako hugged her again.

"It's alright. You'll get there," Minako said. Yun put a hand on her shoulder and Minako turned to look.

"Congrats! Nyaromon reached ultimate level first!" Yun said. Minako looked down at Nyaromon for a bit, then looked at Yun with a smile.

"Thanks...and Yun?"

"Hm?"

"In case you wanted to know, yes, I DID try to take my life two months ago. But...I didn't. I chickened out. Because of you."

"Huh?"

"I remembered how much you cherished me, and I thought of how sad you'd be if I really did do it. You'd probably be so traumatized that you'd want to do it yourself, and I didn't want that happening, so...thank you. For stopping me from killing myself."

Now it's Yun's turn to be embarrassed. "WHAT? Me? Stop you from killing yourself? No no no! I-I-I'm not capable of that! Really, I'm not! I don't have that influence on people!"

"Quit being so modest, Yun!" Terriermon playfully elbowed her on the leg as she said that.

"Hey. Anybody up for some grub?" Melody asked.

"Whew! I was getting HUNGRY! Wanna race, Coronamon?" Riku exclaimed playfully.

"Yeah! Me wants FOOD!" Coronamon yelled as he and Riku raced to the picnic table, making Rena, Lunamon, Minako, and Biyomon shake their heads.

"Boys. So undeniably crude," All four of them said in unison.

"I'm getting kinda hungry too," Nyaromon said.

"Let's eat before the food gets cold!" Patamon said.

This time, everyone agreed and decided to eat with them. Soon, the adults woke up from the spell, but they didn't remember anything of it, so they decided to eat with their kids. After a while, at least until 2:30 PM, they all went home, tired from a long long day. But this is definitely a day to remember.

But for a certain someone, tomorrow was going to be the beginning of a long, chaotic, and utterly horrible week that would leave her harmony completely decimated for a while.

Back in the inner sanctum, some Bakemon and a HiVisionMonitormon are talking amongst themselves while sitting in front of MoonMillenniummon, who is being fed digital gruel by a funny-looking bat Digimon with mossy green skin, red and white hair on its chest and head, ugly yellow claws, ugly red eyes, and a dangerously big mouth.

"I wonder what's taking LadyDevimon and the two BlackGatomon so long?" The first Bakemon asked.

"Who the heck knows. I couldn't care less about them anyway. They're so show-offy and they always think they're soooo much better than everyone else!" HiVisionMonitormon exclaimed rather scornfully.

"You think so? I think that one BlackGatomon is kinda cute, and she isn't show-offy," The second Bakemon said.

"Which one?" HV-Monitormon asked.

"The one who's really shy and has a lower voice than her sister," The second Bakemon replied.

"Yeah, ya got a point there," The first Bakemon said.

"Yes, indeed. Where ARE LadyDevimon and the BlackGatomon? They were supposed to be back weeks ago! Where have they run off to this time?" MoonMillenniummon asked as the bat Digimon tried to give him more gruel, but ended up spilling some on the crystal.

"Hey Vilemon! Don't spill anything on Master!" The second Bakemon yelled angrily, referring to the kooky-looking bat as Vilemon.

"Sorry sorry! It was an accident!" Vilemon exclaimed. MoonMillenniummon sighed.

"It's fine. I can still eat it," MoonMillenniummon said. The gruel suddenly dissolved into the crystal and disappeared. "Okay, I'm good now. Vilemon, you're free to go."

"Thanks Master!" Vilemon cheered happily and flew away. But at the same time, a dejected looking Candlemon and one of his DemiMeramon friends came into the room.

"Why do you look so despondent, Candlemon?" MoonMillenniummon asked kindly.

"I...I was worried about LadyDevimon and the two BlackGatomon, so I secretly made my little friend here follow her and watch over her. Turns out, she went to the human world, and...I just found out," Candlemon said. He was so sad, he let the sentence drift away.

"Found out what?" The first Bakemon asked.

But MoonMillenniummon didn't need Candlemon to finish the sentence to know what he's trying to say. He looked down at the ground and turned despondent as well.

"I know. I know. I should've stopped her, but I didn't have the power to do so! I tried to tell ya, but-"

"It's quite alright. Thanks for letting me know. You did a great job anyway. Why don't you go down in the dining den? RedVegiemon's cooking a lovely feast tonight," MoonMillenniummon told him.

"Yeah. You're right. Sorry," Candlemon said and hopped away with the DemiMeramon following him. MoonMillenniummon fell silent. The two Bakemon and HiVisionMonitormon looked up at him sadly.

"So...they're gone?" HV-Monitormon asked. MoonMillenniummon didn't say anything and kept his eyes closed.

"Considering his reaction, I'd say yes," The first Bakemon said.

The trio of Digimon left the center of the sanctum and found themselves in a small cave.

"This ain't right! Our friends are disappearin' and dyin' left and right! Something's gotta be done!" The first Bakemon said.

"I agree. Something's not right here. I have a theory, but it might be kinda risky," HV-Monitormon said.

"What is it?" The second Bakemon asked.

"You know how Witchmon and Roachmon kept on saying that THOSE Digimon are alive when there's no evidence that they are?" HV-Monitormon asked.

"Yeah," The second Bakemon said, then gasped upon realization. "Wait! Are you saying-?"

"Oh yeah. Why don't we go down to this human world and see for ourselves if they're alive or not?" HV-Monitormon asked.

"Great idea! I was waiting for something fun to do, so I'll help you out!" The first Bakemon cheered.

"You're gonna try and record their existence, right? But don't you need a connecting montior to do that?" The second Bakemon asked.

"He's got a point. We need another Monitormon who's willing to help us," The first Bakemon reasoned.

"I know a Monitormon who can help," HV-Monitormon said.

"Uhh...the slow one who's been crying and hitting himself and banging his head against the wall every single day since Witchmon...perished?" The second Bakemon asked, sounding rather worried by this new plan.

"Yeah. Maybe this'll help him out a little," HV-Monitormon said.

Other than the one small part that made the two Bakemon worry a little, they were set on their plan and they intended to see it to fruition!

Footnotes:

1. Susan Boyle is a British singer who is famous for her rendition of I Dreamed A Dream. The End of The World was a song by Skeeter Davis which was released in 1962, and Susan Boyle singed it in her I Dreamed A Dream album.


	40. The Beginning of Discord

EPISODE 40: The Beginning of Discord

Yesterday was a day of victory for the Digimon Brigade. Minako is the first of the Digimon Brigade whose Digimon reached ultimate level, and defeated her opponent with aplomb! Some of the kids did feel a little jealous that she got to be first, but they got over it quickly since in time, their Digimon will soon reach ultimate level soon. Minako didn't rub it in anyone's face, that's good, and was just happy that Salamon came back safe and sound. Well, technically she's still Nyaromon because of all the energy that got sucked out of her when she digivolved into Angewomon, but in time she'll digivolve normally again, and she'll continue to be the happy, cheerful, adventurous and curious little wide-eyed puppy that everyone knows and loves. Everyone was happy for Minako, not just for reaching ultimate level and tapping into her D-Heart first, but for finally realizing that living life is the most wonderful thing in the world. Minako vowed to continue living, for both her own sake, the sake of her friends, and for Kiyoshi, since he likely wouldn't want her to kill herself over him. The kids got through the rest of the weekend happily. Yun, Lucero, Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon did nothing but watch anime, read books and manga, play games, and play amongst each other. It was such a fun day that Yun wished it would last forever! Unfortunately, Yun was blissfully oblivious to the events that would potentially transpire over the week, and it would decimate her for a while.

Monday came and the school week began, but Yun was upbeat and went to school with Lucero feeling cheerful and chipper. The rest of the kids (except for Kosuke, who is STILL ignoring Yun) talked amongst themselves happily. They made a guessing game for whose Digimon would digivolve into ultimate next. But soon, the bell rang and the kids all had to begin school. Yun was looking forward to this day and wanted to get through it happily. Homeroom began nicely, and the kids talked amongst themselves again merrily. It went okay until Mrs. Kamogawa suddenly had an announcement to make.

"Everyone? May I have your attention please?" Mrs. Kamogawa called out, making the stirring kids settle down and face her with expectant and curious eyes.

"I'm sure most of you don't know, so I'll take this time to tell you anyway. Due to some unexplained circumstances, Amou-sensei, your health teacher, won't be here for the next three or so weeks, so until then, all of you will be going to music class," Mrs. Kamogawa explained in a high, lucid voice so everyone would hear. "Also, due to a toxic chemical being exposed and spreading in the 7th grade division, some of you may have to share your classes with the 7th graders until the problem is done and over with. That is all."

But it seemed that for someone, this was something she did NOT want to hear. Yun literally (no, really. Literally) fell out of her chair and fell to the floor!

"OW!" Yun yelped in pain. Most of the other kids laughed as Lucero, Melody, and Mrs. Kamogawa surrounded her.

"Yun! Are you alright?" Mrs. Kamogawa asked.

"Y-Yeah..." Yun muttered. Mrs. Kamogawa then gave a stern glance to the kids who laughed.

"You all should know better than to laugh at someone as they get hurt! What if it was something really serious?" Mrs. Kamogawa scolded.

As Mrs. Kamogawa talked to the kids who laughed, Yun suddenly wrapped her arms tight around herself, her green eyes getting really big with fear.

"Music class? She's GOT to be joking!" Melody sneered.

"Music class? Is it bad?" Lucero asked curiously.

"Is it bad? Music class in itself is pretty bad, but if you have a psycho maniac ultra militaristic disciplinarian teacher like Okui and a bunch of noisy, out of control brats who bang on the instruments and scream on a regular basis, then it's more than just bad! It's downright HORRIBLE! Especially for someone who's sensitive to loud noise!" Melody yelled. Lucero took a step back, surprised by Melody's ardent description of what their typical music class is like. And she was right. Other than math, there was one subject Yun ABSOLUTELY hated, and she had hoped to never have to go through it again.

Music class.

Well, technically music class isn't really Yun's worst subject. Math still beats it by a long shot, but for Yun, it's still a traumatizing thing to go through. She didn't really hate music class in general, though it must be confessed that Yun isn't very good at deciphering and remembering the different music notes and can't play any instruments correctly, not even drums. Yun just has two things that she absolutely LOATHES TO DEATH about music class. The first thing she loathed about it were the kids. Sure, they were the same as in homeroom, but with a few extra ones, and those extra kids are absolutely nothing but crude, unattentive, vociferous, bratty, and disruptive kids who do absolutely nothing but cause trouble, scream ribald things every day, bang on the instruments as hard and loudly as possible, and basically annoyed the teacher to death. But the second thing...was even worse than them.

The teacher, Okui Shigenori.

Okui is a big, buff, bulky old man possibly in his mid to late 50's, with lots of wrinkles and lots of fat on his bones. His belly even protruded over his belt most of the time. He has flat dark brown hair, fierce maroon eyes, and an absolute no nonsense, totally militaristic and disciplinarian attitude. Make a joke at him, and he'll punish you. Ask a simple question that SLIGHTLY has nothing to do with the assignment, he'll punish you. Speak out of turn, he'll punish you. Try to lighten the mood, he'll punish you. Do something that's not related to music class, even if it's something harmless, he'll punish you. PUBLICLY. This guy is the worst teacher in all of Fushimi Middle School. Rumor has it that he was a high ranking gung-ho military officer in his younger days. He always yelled, even when he wasn't doing any scolding. When he was ticked off, he got ticked off REAL good, and he'll do just about anything to punish those who disobey him. Of all the teachers Yun hated, he was the absolute number one. She hoped she would never have to deal with him again, but sadly, fate isn't on her side. Everyone was worried. Not just the Digimon Brigade, but the entire homeroom class. The Digimon Brigade (except Kosuke) worried about Yun since they know how hard he is on her (and everyone else). There's no way Yun can handle even a minute of Okui doing his thing. But music class finally came around.

As if having the extra kids and Okui wasn't bad enough, an entire classroom full of seventh graders cramped the little room even more! Yun had no idea the room could be this cramped and so intolerable. Not only that, Yun was separated from her friends and was trapped within the 7th graders because of Okui. The good thing is that Yun sat in between two particularly nice seventh graders, a pretty girl with long black hair, blue eyes, olive skin and a polite demeanor, and a clean looking boy with messy light brown hair, thick glasses, white skin, and a quiet but helpful personality. Yun was sad that she isn't able to be with Lucero or Melody or Otoya, or even Shione, but she felt satisfied with being with them, who helped her when she had problems. But like usual, there are some bad kids among the seventh graders, one kid in particular who dressed like he was in some heavy metal rock band resembling _Black Sabbath_(1), only this kid was trouble from day one. He repeatedly sassed the teacher, bang on instruments as he pleased, and shouted out of turn every chance he got. Worse than that, Nenji and his buddies actually made friends with him and his lackies! Yun felt music class was NEVER going to end. Later, it did, but not before Mr. Okui made an announcements.

"Alright, you punks! Listen up! Tomorrow we're gonna listen to different types of music, so all of you be sure to bring in a CD of your choosing for tomorrow! Don't be lazy about it!" Mr. Okui edicted loudly.

Yun literally sprinted out of the classroom as the bell rang, and hoped that math class would be better. But nope, Mrs. Takahashi is gone due to illness, and a substitute teacher was teaching...who is just as mean as Mr. Okui, only more prim and proper about it. A rather young lady in her late 20's or early 30's who dressed as though she were going to some grand ball. She wore small glasses, tied her hair in a rather tight bun, and wore starkly red lipstick. She always carried around a white meter stick of some sort, like she wanted to hit someone with it. Yun could guess that, by this woman's demeanor, she acted EXACTLY like a much younger version of Miss Minchin from _A Little Princess_(2), though she was quite different. This substitute teacher, Miss Yakusa (Melody took to calling her Miss _Yakuza_(3) for fun, which the teacher did NOT tolerate), talked really loud and fast, so much so that Yun could barely keep up with what she was saying and writing, and she wouldn't slow down no matter how much kids pleaded.

Thankfully, math class ended and the kids got to continue with the rest of their day. Yun felt better after eating her lunch and talking with her friends at recess, though she wished she could cuddle with Lopmon, Terriermon, and Cutemon and tell them stories that she had made up in her head recently. Another good thing is that in English class, everyone paid attention and was quiet when the teacher talked and when the assignments were given. They were reading a book and Shione was reading out loud to the class, struggling with some of the words.

_"I...I told him...that we...should go to...the...the...gymnashion?"_ Shione muttered. The teacher sighed.

"Okay. That's enough for now, Harima. Thanks for trying," The teacher said as Shione sighed and sat down dismally. Then she looked at the rest of the students. "Now who would like to begin where she left off?"

Immediately, Yun raised her hand.

"Wakamiya? Okay, start from where she left off please," The teacher said. Yun picked up her book and began reading.

_"I told him that we should go to the gymnasium. It's easy to get to, and at this time, there are no teachers or janitors lurking around. He agreed, and we decided to meet there at 8:00 PM tomorrow night."_

Yun went on to read the rest of the page and stopped when the teacher told her to do so. Everyone was surprised. Yun recited an entire page (and a half) in perfect, flawless, impeccable English! Even the teacher was surprised. Soon, the bell rang and they went to their next class. Finally, when homeroom came, Shione approached Yun with a smile on her face.

"Yun-chan! I can't believe you're so good at speaking English! I can't even make out a sentence! How do you do it?" Shione lauded Yun happily. Yun blushed a bit and rubbed the back of her hair with her hand.

"It's not THAT good. There's still a lot more I need to learn. The truth is, my mom says I'm one fourth American," Yun said.

"WHAT? You're an American?" Shione yelped.

"Not entirely! Just a little bit! My grandmother on my mom's side is all American. My mom told me that she married a Japanese man after the she started working at those icky camps during the second World War, and they got married when they got released," Yun explained. "I've kinda been learning English since I was little."

"That's so cool! I wish I could speak English as well as you can!" Shione said. Melody wrapped her arm around Yun proudly.

"You bet! Yun's the best English speaker in all of Fushimi Middle School!" Melody exclaimed.

"Hey! Like I said, my English isn't totally perfect! There's still a lot I need to learn!" Yun tried to mollify them, which they did and decided to let her go.

Suddenly, the PA system made a noise.

_Ping pong ping_

Then a voice came out.

_"Good afternoon, Fushimi Middle School! I'm glad to say that it's time to announce the winners of the End Drug and Substance Abuse contest! Are you ready?"_ The lady's voice from the PA system exclaimed cheerfully. The kids quieted down and looked up as they listened intently.

"Who's gonna win?" Melody asked.

"I dunno," Otoya replied.

Lucero glanced at Yun gently, maybe giving her a signal telling her that she'll be the one who wins. The lady on the PA system began speaking again.

_"Third place goes to eighth grader Akabane Riko! Second place goes to seventh grader Hayashi Kazune!"_

The tension was building. The suspense was building. Nobody could handle the tense and tenuous atmosphere in the school.

"And now, the time has come! I'm happy to announce that the first place winner of the End Drug and Substance Abuse Contest is..."

The kids could actually hear a drum roll sequence banging in their heads. Who's going to win? Who's going to win? Everyone had this on their minds as they waited for the lady to announce the winner.

Then the bomb dropped.

_"Sixth grader, Wakamiya Yun!"_

You'd think that the entire class would cheer and shout and jump around joyfully like happy Elvis fangirls. But only half the class did, and they all leaped on Yun and hugged her and showered her with encomium.

"Wow! Yun-chan, you won! You really won!" Otoya squealed.

"Thy art piece took first prize! Thou hast truly won, Yun!" Lucero cheered happily.

"I expected nothing less from my awesome friend!" Melody playfully slapped Yun on the back.

"Yay for Yun! You did it! You really did it!" Minako exclaimed.

"Awesome, Yun! You won! You beat everyone else by a landslide! Congrats!" Riku smacked Yun on the shoulder.

"Great job, my friend!" Rena said.

"Wow! You did it, Yun-chan! That's so awesome!" Shione exclaimed.

"I...I won?" Yun was so surprised by all the cheering that she didn't quite understand what was going on. Even Mrs. Kamogawa came up to her and smiled at her.

"Congratulations, Yun-chan!" Mrs. Kamogawa told her.

All Yun could do was smile a little. She didn't cheer or shout joyfully.

"Alright everyone! Let's give the winner some space!" Melody pushed everyone off of the surprised Yun. The announcements continued to go on.

_"The winners will pick up their prizes in the library next to the computer lab right this instant,"_ The lady on the PA system said.

"Thou must go and get thy prizes before they're not thine anymore!" Lucero exclaimed.

"Come on! We'll take you!" Otoya said as she took Yun by the hand and literally dragged her out of the classroom, with the rest of the Digimon Brigade (and the other kids who praised her).

The other half of the class...didn't say a word. Their eyes grew big and their mouths nearly dropped to the floor. Dead silence. No cheers. No shouts of joy or praise. Just looks of disbelief. The only thing destroying the silence was the PA system still going on.

_"Not to worry, everyone! All other participants will receive a consolation prize in homeroom tomorrow, and the charities will take the rest of the drawings and put them up on their walls. That's certainly something to be proud of! In other news, boys' soccer practice is cancelled for tomorrow due to coach Miyazaki's absence, and it will resume next Tuesday."_

The cheerfulness of the lady's voice seemed to kill the mood of the rest of the classroom. Soon, the bell rang and everyone went home...well, almost everyone. Iniki and Tomoka noticed that Seiko is looking very dismal.

"Aren't you coming?" Iniki asked with concern.

"Go on ahead of me. I think I'm gonna be sick," Seiko croaked in response.

"Suit yourself," Tomoka shrugged her shoulders and left with Iniki trailing behind her.

But Seiko wasn't sick with illness at all. She was sick...with absolute anger. With her heart full of rancor, she punched the picture on the wall next to her vehemently.

_'I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS! Not only did that stupid, useless, worthless, good for nothing, bone-headed, full of herself retard win the contest that I was supposed to win, I only JUST NOW find out that SHE'S AN _AMERICAN_! I...I will NEVER forgive her! I WILL make her pay for stealing MY thunder, and I WILL make her pay for soiling this school's rightful reputation! She doesn't deserve to even walk this earth!'_ Seiko thought angrily. In the process, she saw a clique of seventh grade girls walking by.

"Man, I can't believe a sixth grader beat me! And as if that wasn't bad enough, we have to share classes AND recess with them! This is so, like, totally unfair!" The first girl complained.

"I know, right? You totally deserved first prize!" The second girl said.

"Yeah, but I don't give a durn about those books. Ugh!" The first girl said.

"This school's a joke!" The third girl said.

Seiko looked at them and suddenly, a flash of inspiration came into her eyes. She approached the girls eagerly.

"Hello!" Seiko said with a smile.

"Umm...hi?" The three girls replied, looking rather confused.

"That girl who won first prize...she's in my classes. Since you hate the fact that you lost to her, maybe you can help me a little," Seiko told them.

The three girls and Seiko talked for a long time after school.

Meanwhile, Yun and her friends lugged her prizes into the car. Yun told Hisako, Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon everything, and they all beamed with joy.

"Wow! Congratulations, Yun! I'm so proud of you!" Hisako exclaimed. Lopmon leaped into Yun's arms and rubbed herself against her.

"How wonderful! You really won, Yun! I knew you could do it!" Lopmon cried happily, smiling hugely and cuddling with Yun. Terriermon and Cutemon followed suit.

"Awesome job, Yun!" Terriermon exclaimed.

"You really won, kyu!" Cutemon said. Even Yun couldn't help but cheer a little now that she was home.

"I won! I really did it! I didn't think I would, but I did! I'm still in shock, I-" Yun unfortunately was cut off.

"Stop acting so full of yourself, you ungrateful brat!" Ayaka screamed angrily as she walked into the dining room holding her school books.

"Hey! Yun's not full of herself! It's not every day she wins a contest, so we're happy for her! Is it wrong to praise someone for winning something?" Terriermon retorted.

"Don't try to defend her. She's just gonna act all awesome and rub it in everyone's face!" Ayaka yelled again.

"No she's not!" Lopmon yelled back.

"Yun is by no means an arrogant and boastful person," Lucero said. Ayaka didn't seem to buy it.

"Yeah yeah. Now get out already! I need to do my homework!" Ayaka scolded as she pushed the kids and Digimon out of the dining room.

"Ayaka! Don't kick them out like that!" Hisako scolded.

But Yun didn't mind. She cheered and jumped and spun around and hopped around joyfully. She never believed that she could possibly win the contest, but she did. Despite some disapproval from Ayaka, Yun continued to bask in her accomplishment and merrily play with Lucero, Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon for a long while. But once she got tired, she decided to read the seven books authored by Takakage Eriko, who is a recently starting author who's creating quite a buzz. Lucero and the Digimon decided to read them as well, seeing that they had nothing to do. The more Yun read the books, the more Yun loved every single minute of it. She read a book by Takakage Eriko once. It was called Starlight, and it was about three friends who found themselves traveling through space and meeting all sorts of alien like creatures while learning new things about themselves. Yun really liked it and found herself a fan of this author. She began her reading spree with the first one on the stack, titled Hummingbird, which is about two friends who come from starkly different backgrounds and home lives trying to play together and appreciate the little things in life as the world changes around them.

Out of all of them, her favorite turned out to be Bellflower, a book about a young autistic girl trying to deal with a tragedy, while at the same time making friends, solving problems, and overcoming hardships. It actually made everyone cry, Terriermon included! Yun finished the whole book within an hour and officially declared it her number one all time favorite book. Terriermon's favorite of them was Phoenix, and Lucero's favorite of them was Bright Eyes. After dinner, Yun got a call from Otoya through her digivice.

"Hello?"

_"Hey Yun-chan! Are you gonna come to the park or what? I've got most of the Digimon Brigade members here to celebrate your victory! Come on over here!"_

Otoya sounded so excited, Yun couldn't help but go, even though it was beginning to get dark. Despite this, Hisako approved of the idea and took them to the park. All of the Digimon Brigade members were there...well, almost all of them. As usual, Kosuke didn't attend, but someone else didn't attend as well. Aria didn't come, and Yun found this to be very surprising. What happened to Aria? She couldn't help but wonder, but at the same time, remembering that horrible memory of her dad kicking her out of the house so mercilessly, she wondered if he was the reason Aria couldn't come. Of course, no parent would ever allow a kid as young as seven years old to go out at night. That's like allowing a kid to be kidnapped by some stranger! But still, Aria's absence was beginning to trouble Yun, and she intended to find out why. She decided to go to her house tomorrow after school...if Kinzo isn't there, of course. The kids celebrated with food, drinks, and lots of fun, though they all made it home by 8:00 PM. Yun fell asleep with Terriermon and Lopmon wrapped in her arms, drifting off into dreamland happily without a care in the world.

Sadly, it was all going to go down on Tuesday morning.

Right when Yun entered homeroom, Seiko immediately began shouting snide and gauche remarks about her, loud and clear for all to hear.

"Ewww! Wakamiya, what's with that outfit? You know that's so seventies!" Seiko yelled. "And what's with your hair? Did you wash it in the sewer or something? You reek!"

Yun, as hurt as she was, ignored Seiko's LOUD comment and tried to get on with her day. Melody, Otoya, Lucero, and Mrs. Kamogawa all dealt with Seiko. But...for some reason, it didn't seem to work. Not only that, Nenji and his buddies are doing it too.

"Hey retard! You swim in a puddle of poop or somethin'?" His lackies laughed out loud when he said that.

"Boys! Get back in your seats right this instant!" Mrs. Kamogawa demanded angrily. But it didn't end. Not even close.

Every chance they got, Seiko and Nenji all harassed Yun and shouted untrue remarks about her loud and clear for all to hear.

"Yous a snitch, yo!"

"Aren't you gonna get a tan any time soon? Your skin is so white, you look like dandruff!"

"Yours white trash, yo!"

"Hey Wakamiya! Is it true you're cracked in the head?"

"Retard! Retard!"

"Maybe you should jump off a cliff!"

The more they insulted her and bullied her, the more people began to join in on their cause, and despite the teachers' efforts, they didn't let up or calm down one bit! As if that wasn't bad enough, Seiko and Nenji are gathering reinforcements in the form of seventh graders! Nenji made friends with the punk who caused trouble yesterday, and Seiko made friends with five seventh grade girls, who look and act EXACTLY like her. Worse than that, Mr. Okui brought in a boom box and made kids play certain tracks on CDs they brought as a way to "study" music. Most of them were rap, hip-hop, heavy metal, and rock and roll CDs played at a REALLY HIGH volume. Yun covered her ears throughout the entire period. She didn't take them off, not once, she was so inundated. Otoya, becoming worried, raised her hand as a rock and roll tune stopped playing.

"What is it?" Mr. Okui asked angrily.

"Umm...would you mind turning the volume down please? Some of us are kind of sensitive to loud noise," Otoya said as calmly and politely as possible, hoping she wouldn't push his buttons. But what she got in response wasn't what she expected or wanted at all. Mr. Okui slammed a fist on her desk, scaring both her and Yun.

"Don't tell me how to run my class, brat! If I wanna play it loud, I play it loud! All you gotta do is deal with it!" Mr. Okui yelled.

"I-I'm not! I just-" Otoya tried to interject, but his booming voice stopped her from doing so.

"We got a back-talker, eh? Detention tomorrow after school! Be there or you'll get a special one way ticket to my room!" Mr. Okui yelled louder, which made Yun cower even more. Otoya, not wanting to push his buttons anymore, kept her mouth shut and complied. But it didn't end there.

"Yeah! This class doesn't run on preferential treatment, retard!" Seiko yelled maliciously, referring to Yun instead of Otoya, who gave her a mean glance.

"Will you shut up already?" Melody yelled.

Yun literally sprinted out of that class once the bell rang, and hoped that the day would get better. But it didn't. During lunch, Nenji and his buddies kept throwing food at Yun. Thankfully, the rest of the Digimon Brigade (except Kosuke, who ignored the whole thing) tried to stop him.

"Will you stop throwing food? That's disgusting!" Otoya scolded.

"The only thing 'dat's disgustin' here is 'dat piece of white trash over there, dawg!" Nenji yelled and threw a thing of ketchup at Otoya, who grabbed it before it could squirt.

"You leave her alone, you pigs!" Riku yelled as he stood in front of her. Soon, one of the teachers noticed and put a stop to the fiasco. Yun and the others were given permission to eat their lunch peacefully in the counselor's room, so long as they throw their trash away properly. Sadly, it didn't stop even there. During recess, Yun thought she was feeling better by talking with her friends. But Nenji and all of his friends suddenly ran up to Yun, pushed her to the ground, and began kicking her before she could realize what was going on.

"Ow! Oww! Owww!" Yun yelped and tried to get away, but they surrounded her and weren't letting her.

"Take this, white trash! Stupid retard! You ain't worth nuttin' so cry like a baby, will ya?" Nenji yelled as he and his friends tried to beat her up.

"Hey! Get off of her!" Lucero yelled as he and the rest of the Digimon Brigade (except Kosuke) stepped in and tried to push Nenji and his friends off of her. Some passing seventh graders joined in too, along with two teachers. But one of Nenji's friends managed to spit at Yun's face.

"That's what you get for winning something you're not fit to win, you stinkin' retard!" The kid exclaimed.

"Shut up, you!" Riku yelped as he pushed the kid off. Otoya kneeled in front of her and gave Yun a napkin so she could wipe the spit off of her face. But it didn't end there.

"Why are you cleaning her up? She's meant to stink, Jounouchi! She'll never be clean like us!" Seiko said.

"What's with all of you today? All day you've been going after Yun, calling her names out loud during class and now beating her up and not giving a rat's hat about it! Why?" Otoya asked as she handed a scared Yun to Melody and one of the teachers.

"She doesn't DESERVE to win that contest! She should go back to the retard room where she belongs! You should know better!" Seiko shouted.

"You're the one who should know better! She worked hard for that contest and won fair and square! So what if you don't win? There's always next time! There's no need to go so far! And get off of our backs already!" Otoya yelled back.

The nurse called Hisako and had Yun taken home, to which Yun protested against because she needed to finish work for her next classes (she hates missing school and making up work), but she had to comply. Once the clock hit 3:30, however, Yun decided she wasn't going to miss her chance at talking to Aria, so she and Lucero both asked Hisako if they could go for a walk. Although reluctant, Hisako let them go since the Digimon will be protecting them. Yun remembered how to get there visually. One of the streets she crossed was the same place where she and Nayuki fought over Gizamon's DigiEgg. Soon, they managed to get there unscathed. They were about to knock on the door when someone called out to them.

"Psst!"

Yun turned to look at the back gate, and there was MarineAngemon, hovering over it.

"Hi MarineAngemon. How've you been?" Lopmon asked as Lucero and Yun walked up to her.

"Not so good. I take it you're here to see Aria-chan? Here, I'll help you," MarineAngemon said as she unlocked the back gate and let them into the back yard, where they saw Aria playing by herself...with the bruise on the side of her head. Once she saw Yun, she beamed joyously and ran to her.

"Yun-chaaaan!" Aria cheered as she hugged Yun. Yun hugged her back gently.

"Hi Aria-chan. How've you been?" Yun asked.

"I'm sorry I couldn't be with you to fight the evil Digimon or say how happy I am that you won the contest. Papa's being mean," Aria said. Yun didn't say anything to reply to this since she didn't want to seem insensitive. But she noticed the bruise on Aria's head and, seeing how dark it is, decided to take the plunge. Yun kneeled in front of Aria so she could make eye contact (intentionally) with her.

"Aria-chan. I'm glad you've been thinking of me and I'm glad you miss me so much, so...I'm sorry to ask if you don't want me to, but something's been bothering me. Exactly...how did you get that bruise on your head? I remember when you invited me, you had a bandage wrapped around your head too. Did something bad happen?" Yun asked, trying to not sound like she's prying.

Aria looked a little reluctant to tell her, but MarineAngemon stepped in.

"You really want to know?" MarineAngemon asked. Yun nodded. MarineAngemon looked at Aria, who nodded at her, telling her that it was okay.

"Papa's running errands so he won't be back until later," Aria whispered to Yun.

"It was horrible! Last week, Aria-chan was talking about the school play at dinner, and her stupid dad kept telling her not to go! She tried to protest, but he threw a mug full of hot coffee at her! And that's not even the bad part! The bad part is that he kept telling her to get up and that it didn't hurt!" MarineAngemon explained, sounding very angry.

Yun gasped and struggled to maintain her balance. Aria was hit with a coffee mug full of hot coffee? And her dad told her it didn't hurt? How could Aria deal with something like that?

"My! How horrible! Are you alright now?" Lopmon asked with concern. Aria nodded.

"Papa said I can't tell anyone about it or he'll get more mad. But it really hurt!" Aria said. Yun put her hands on Aria's shoulders.

"Exactly...when did your dad start being mean?"

"After mama died. He gets mad when I talk about her, and he keeps telling me to get over it."

"That's not very nice, is it?"

"Nope."

A pause. Then Aria spoke again.

"Yun-chan...I don't get it. Why is Papa being mean when Mama is mentioned?" Aria asked innocently.

Poor Aria. Yun thought that what Aria must be going through is pretty harsh. Her mother's dead and her father's doing a 180. She felt bad that she didn't have an answer, and felt obliged to confess.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know why. But I'm glad you told me about this. It's good to talk about your problems," Yun told her gently.

"Papa doesn't think so," Aria told her.

"Well, I think he's wrong. And if something bad happens to you, like if he hits you, you should tell someone about it."

"Papa doesn't want me to."

"So? If he continues doing what he's been doing, it might get worse and you could get hurt even more. You can tell me or your friends or your nice stepmother or a teacher or a friend's parent."

"But what if they don't believe me? What if they think I'm lying?"

"Tell someone who's most likely to believe you. You told me and I don't think you're lying. Not at all. You're not a liar, are you?"

Aria shook her head gently. "Nope. Lying is bad."

Yun nodded. "That's right. If anything bad happens, let me or someone else know. Okay? Don't let what your father says keep you down."

Aria smiled a little and nodded. Terriermon crossed his arms.

"So...random question! How did your mother die?" Terriermon asked, which irked Lopmon and she elbowed him.

"OW!" Terriermon shrieked.

"Terriermon! You shouldn't ask questions like that! It's very personal!" Lopmon scolded.

"It's...okay. I want to tell you. About Mama," Aria said. Everyone got quiet and listened as Aria began to speak.

"Mama...Papa, Orie, and I were going shopping. We came home, but the house smelled really bad, and Mama was on the floor in the kitchen. I thought she was sleeping. Papa made Orie call for an...ambulance? Is that right?" Yun nodded. Aria continued on. "The doctors tried to save her...but they couldn't. Mama was gone, and she's gone forever. We went to her funeral. But since then, Papa's been getting mean. Whenever I talk about Mama or say that we should bring flowers to her or visit her, he'll get mad and yell that Mama's dead and never coming back, and that I should get over it and forget about it. I...I don't know why or how Mama died, but...I was going to the bathroom at night once, and I heard Papa in his room talking. He said something about Mama...killing herself. He said other stuff too, but I don't remember it all."

Yun finally fell on her rear end. She couldn't keep her balance anymore, she was so appalled. Aria's mother killed herself? It was bad enough Minako nearly attempted it and successfully failed, but Aria's mother actually went and did it? Actually leaving her husband and two daughters behind? How in the world could something like this be? Everyone else was shocked too, even MarineAngemon, who held no prior knowledge of this until now.

"What? That's horrible!" MarineAngemon exclaimed. Aria noticed that Yun fell and walked up to her slowly.

"Umm...you okay, Yun-chan?" Aria asked as she tried to help Yun up. Yun stood up and wiped the grass off of her shorts.

"Aria-chan, I...I never knew! I'm so sorry!" Yun cried and hugged Aria, who then hugged her back. Even Lopmon was a little teary eyed.

"It's okay. I've...wanted to talk about it for so long. I just didn't know who to tell, and Papa won't let me talk about Mama, so I'm happy I got to tell you. Don't be sad," Aria told Yun gently. Lucero then noticed a car pull up.

"Is that Yukino-san's car?" Lucero asked. MarineAngemon floated up and gasped.

"Oh no! It is! Yun-chan, Lucero-kun, you've all gotta run or he'll catch you and call the police!" MarineAngemon advised. Yun let go of Aria and decided to leave.

"I'll see you later, Aria-chan! Be strong and take care!" Yun said as she, Lucero, and the bunnies left. Aria waved back.

"Yun-chan's so nice, isn't she?" MarineAngemon said.

"Yes. She's...like Mama a little bit. But I wish...I wish that...Papa would stop being mean," Aria muttered softly but sadly. She held onto her pink D-Heart of Mercy with her little hand and didn't want to let it go.

Yun, Lucero, Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon walked back home. But Yun was still appalled by what she heard, and Lucero grew concerned.

"Art thou alright, Yun?" Lucero asked with concern in his low voice.

"How can any little girl her age go through something like that?" Yun muttered.

"That's so terrible, kyu!" Cutemon said.

"I agree. Not only that, if what she's saying about her father is true, then I'm worried for her safety. Shouldn't we do something?" Lopmon said.

"I'd personally love to pull her out of that house, but that'd be kidnapping, and I can't tell anyone about it unless there's solid evidence that she really is being abused. That mark's been there for a while, and I don't think that's enough to put her dad in jail," Yun explained.

"Well that's just stupid!" Terriermon said.

"You're telling me, kyu!" Cutemon backed him up.

"I know," Yun said. Lucero slipped a hand in Yun's.

"I'm sure she will be alright. Aria looks up to thee, does she not? Perhaps thou can protect her when she needs it," Lucero told her. But then he looked down at Yun's hand, the one he's holding, and stroke it a couple times. He then took it in both of his hands and pressed her palms gently.

"Thy hands...they are small, are they not?" Lucero asked. Yun sighed.

"Yes. Everyone's always telling me I have little baby hands," Yun said, not sounding too pleased, but she did like the way Lucero said it.

Then, he smiled and gently put Yun's hand on his right cheek. The more he felt Yun's tender hands, the more he smiled and relished in their softness.

"Thy hands...they are so soft," Lucero said as he rubbed Yun's hand against his cheek. Yun couldn't help but notice how soft Lucero's cheeks are. She liked the feel of them, and it seemed he loved the feel of her hands. She felt warm inside and couldn't help but smile at him. Then he put her hand down.

"Shall we journey home?" Lucero asked.

"Yep!" Yun said.

But right as they were about to turn on Yun's street, they heard yelling, and Yun did NOT like the sound of it (nor any yelling at all). Slowly and cautiously, they got closer. What Yun saw on her porch...were Hisako and Nenji's mother, screaming like cats and yelling at each other vehemently.

"Get off of my lawn right now, or I'm gonna call the police!" Hisako yelled vehemently.

"Not until you admit that that stupid, disgusting brat you call a daughter is antagonizing my Nenji and should be put in the loony bin!" Nenji's mother yelled back.

"Umm...who is that bony lady?" Terriermon asked. Even he was getting scared.

"That's...Nemoto's mom," Yun replied.

Yun, Lucero, and the rabbits tried to cautiously walk away so Nenji's mother wouldn't spot them. Unfortunately, Nenji's mom turned around to find them walking past, and she immediately tried to run to Yun so she could slap her. Thankfully, Hisako grabbed her and stopped her just in time by the arm.

"You are not gonna lay another hand on her!" Hisako yelled.

"Antagonizing my precious boy again, huh? You don't deserve to walk this earth, you worthless piece of trash! Go commit suicide already!" Nenji's mother yelled vehemently with bloodshot eyes.

Lucero became incensed upon hearing Nenji's mother's comment. She's actually telling Yun to commit suicide? Lucero could NOT tolerate this. But he had to keep his mouth shut and drag Yun away from the situation or else Nenji's mother might lash out at her. But Lucero wanted so badly to hit her and yell at her like he did with Nayuki.

Someone already beat him to it.

"Terrier Tornado!"

Behind her back, Terriermon managed to hit Nenji's mother on the back with his attack, then proceeded to plop onto the porch like a doll. Nenji's mother saw Terriermon on the porch.

"Did you throw that at me?" She yelled.

"No! It wasn't me!" Yun protested.

"You dirty little liar!"

"Get out! Get out of here NOW!" Hisako yelled at Nenji's mother.

"What's going on over there?" A neighbor came out of her house and saw Hisako and Nenji's mother fighting. Hisako then turned to Yun and Lucero, who are terrified.

"Yun! Lucero! Get inside! NOW!" Hisako yelled.

Without hesitation or protest, Yun, Lucero, Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon all ran into the house and right into Yun's room. Yun plopped onto her bed, only this time, she didn't cry. Lucero, however, kicked Yun's bed a little.

"This is intolerable! Just downright intolerable! That woman, whoever she is, hasn't the slightest knowledge of what thou art like! Why in the world would she think that thou art the one antagonizing Nemoto? Not only that, she tells thee that thou shouldst commit suicide and that thou dost not deserve to walk this earth!" Lucero screamed angrily.

"I know, right? She must be cracked in the head or something! Who gave her the idea that Yun is a bully? Nemoto's the bully, not Yun! She should be yelling at him! I'm glad I got her in the back just now!" Terriermon exclaimed.

"But you could've exposed yourself!" Lopmon scolded.

"So? I'd do anything for Yun!" Terriermon said.

"She's so mean, kyu!" Cutemon muttered.

"While I don't approve of you hitting Nemoto's mother, I do agree with you that what she's doing and saying is wrong and she's falsely accusing her of things on no grounds whatsoever," Lopmon told Terriermon as she hopped onto Yun's back and gently rubbed it.

"Nemoto's mom is like that. She's been coming to our house and yelling at us since last year. We've called the police on her hundreds of times, but somehow she always gets out. I hate it. I really hate it!" Yun muttered as she buried her face in the pillows. Lopmon, hearing the sadness in Yun's voice, snuggled up to her and gave her a good cuddle.

"It's alright, Yun. We're here," Lopmon cooed gently so she could calm her down, which she did. Cutemon, Terriermon, and Lucero did the same thing.

"No matter what happens, we shall protect thee," Lucero said.

"Indeed we will, kyu!" Cutemon said.

"If anyone tries to hit you again, I'll smack them down real good!" Terriermon edicted, balling one of his little pale green fists.

"Thank you...everyone..." Yun muttered.

"But...I do wonder...why did Shimizu and Nemoto suddenly gang up on Yun today? They've never done anything like this before. Not that I know of, I mean," Lucero said.

"You're right. It's very worrying. There must be some kind of reason behind this, and I won't tolerate any more of it," Lopmon said to Lucero with a courageous face.

"Do you think it's because Yun-chan won that contest, kyu?" Cutemon suggested.

"Could be, but from the way Yun and Hisako-san described what happened, I take it that there must be more to it than just simple jealousy," Lopmon explained.

"Whatever it is, if they lay a hand on Yun again, I won't go easy on them! Not one bit!" Terriermon said.

Yun smiled a bit, feeling happy and thankful that she has such wonderful friends who care about her and offer her their moral support all the way. She wished she didn't have to go to school and that she could spend her whole entire life with them. But she couldn't, as she has to go to school and deal with whatever's in it until the grade ends. At least summer break is coming up, so she'll be able to play with them a whole lot then. She wished she could stay with them forever. If only she could never go to school and deal with Nenji, Seiko, and their cliques!

Sadly, tomorrow was going to turn out to be the absolute worst day of Yun's life.

Footnotes:

1. Black Sabbath is a famous heavy metal band formed in 1969, where famous singer Ozzy Osbourne provided the vocals for the band.

2. A Little Princess is a book by Frances Hodgson Burnett, and it features an antagonist named Miss Minchin.

3. The term Yakuza is used to describe organized crime syndicates who, unlike most criminal gangs, are very sophisticated and organized with their way of work. The surname Yakusa sounds VERY similar, only differing by one written character.


	41. Harmony Is Dead

EPISODE 41: Harmony Is Dead

Wednesday has come for not just the big kids, but the little kids as well. Unlike the older kids in the Digimon Brigade, whose days are often full of ups and downs and everything in between, the atmosphere in Katsura Elementary School is a bit more mild in comparison. Aria and Isao both sat in their classroom and listened as the teacher presented the class jobs on the bulletin board for all the children to see. The teacher is a pretty young woman with a kind, round face topped with curly caramel-colored hair tied into a drooping ponytail with a pink ribbon and smiling blue eyes. Her skin is light, like peaches, and unlike most teachers, she never dressed in a sophisticated manner. Today, she just had on a white T-shirt with watercolor flowers on it in varying colors, long light blue jean pants, and white sneakers. She put index cards on a bulletin board listing the various class jobs. In Katsura Elementary school, teaching kids from grades two to four, class jobs have been given to kids and they change every three weeks. It's to teach them responsibility, organization, and propriety, and the principal advised that kids should be taught these things at the earliest age possible.

"Alright, everyone! Today's the day we decide our class jobs!" The young teacher exclaimed happily as she listed the jobs on the bulletin board. Aria listened and watched intently. When the teacher said a job, there was some kind of reaction.

**Job: Line Leader:** The person who helps the class line up and stay first in line.

**Reaction:** Only four kids raised their hand.

**Job: Messenger:** The person who takes notes to the main office.

**Reaction:** A good majority of the boys shouting, "Me! Me, Sonomiya-sensei! Me!"

**Job: Morning Salutation:** The person who recites the day's date, writes in the communication notebook, and helps the class say hello to the teacher.

**Reaction:** A good majority of the girls shouting, "Pick me, Sonomiya-sensei! Please?"

**Job: Pet Caretaker:** The person who is in charge of taking care of the class's pet turtle in between classes, like feeding it and cleaning it's cage, etc.

**Reaction:** Both Aria and Isao raised their hands, along with some of the boys.

**Job: Clean-Up Duty:** The person who cleans up messes before, during, and after school.

**Reaction:** Only one person, a girl, raised her hand.

The teacher, Miss Sonomiya, looked at the kids and began assigning the jobs.

"Kohaku-chan, you'll be the line leader," Miss Sonomiya said. The girl, Kohaku, smiled and sat in her seat. "Bin-kun, you'll be the messenger. Rina-chan, you'll do the morning salutation. Aria-chan, you'll be taking care of Poppy. Saki-chan, you'll be in charge of clean up duty. Alright, that's about it!"

Poppy is the pet turtle. Aria cheered upon knowing that she was going to take care of the turtle. She had always wanted to take care of Poppy, but another kid got the job first. Now, Aria rejoiced, now that she's been assigned the job of taking care of Poppy. The morning went by nicely, with Miss Sonomiya, the pretty and kind teacher, teaching all of the subjects, first beginning with social studies, then spelling, math, and art. Finally, lunch came, and Aria ate her lunch with Isao. Recess finally came and Aria decided to jump rope by herself. The kids played and played on the tiny blacktop merrily. Aria was having some fun herself until three young girls decided to approach her.

"Hi," The first girl, a girl with blonde hair and a butterfly hair clip in her hair, said. Aria smiled.

"Hi," Aria replied back, thinking they wanted to be friends with her. But the looks on their faces didn't seem THAT friendly.

"Can we ask you something?" The second girl, who has curly red hair, asked.

"Yes. What is it?" Aria said.

"Is it true you're friends with a sixth grader? One at Fushimi Middle School?" The third girl, who has black hair in pig tails, asked.

Aria was slightly taken aback by the question, but answered honestly anyway. "Yes, I am. Her name's Yun-chan and she's very nice. Why do you ask?"

The three girls looked at each other for a bit, which confused Aria. The red-haired girl decided to be the first to speak this time.

"My big sister shared some classes with her, and she says she's really weird. She says she covers her ears a lot and cries a lot and makes funny noises," The red haired girl said.

"My big sister said so too. She thinks she's stupid and retarded and that people should stay away from her," The pig tailed girl said.

"Should you really be friends with someone like that, Aria-chan?" The blonde haired girl asked.

Aria was quite surprised. She knew for a fact that they were just telling her what their big siblings told them, and that there wasn't really any malice in their voices or tones, but why would anyone want to tell them that Yun is stupid and retarded and advise them to stay away from her? From what Aria knew, their older siblings were in the seventh grade, and she had heard bits and pieces about the toxic chemical incident that's making the seventh graders share classes with the sixth graders for the time being, but why would anyone want to say mean things about Yun, let alone make other people agree with them? Aria knew that Yun was never exactly very popular or well liked, but she did NOT want people to get the wrong idea about her, so she decided to clarify the whole thing.

"Yun-chan's not stupid! Or retarded! She's very nice, smart, and sweet! She knows lots of things and teaches me lots of things that even I don't know. She loves reading and drawing and telling stories she makes up in her head, and they're wonderful stories!" Aria explained as politely as possible. She didn't want to sound like she was insinuating them or accusing them of making things up and they don't know, and tried to be as calm about it as possible without causing a scene. She hoped that she got her message across. The girls looked at each other, nodded, and looked at Aria with slightly calmer faces than before.

"You might be right, Aria-chan. My big sister is kinda mean and loves telling lies, so maybe she's wrong about your friend. My mom says that you should never judge people by how they look," The red haired girl said.

"Me too. My big sister's a bully and I don't like it one bit," The pig tailed girl said.

"But there are people who are kinda weird, so shouldn't we stay away from them?" The blonde haired girl asked, surprised by her friends' reactions.

"You should only stay away from people who want to hurt you," That came from Miss Sonomiya, who happened to accidentally overhear their conversation as she walked by.

"Sonomiya-sensei! Is it okay for a second grader to be friends with a sixth grader? Don't you think that's weird?" The blonde haired girl asked.

"My big sister says Aria-chan's friend is stupid and retarded, but I don't think that's true. Is it?" The red haired girl explained. Miss Sonomiya smiled and kneeled before them.

"I think people should be willing to make friends no matter how old they are or how far apart they are in age, so long as the older person is nice and caring, and you're right Urumi-chan, it's not nice to judge other people by how they look. I don't ever want to hear you all say the words stupid and retard ever again. Those are very mean words," Miss Sonomiya explained as kindly and gently as possible.

"Is it okay to be friends with a grown up?" The pig tailed girl asked.

"It can be, so long as they're not a stranger and they don't hurt you," Miss Sonomiya replied.

"You're a grown up. Are we friends with you?" The red haired girl, Urumi, asked.

"Sure! We're friends here! Now why don't you all go play? I have some things I need to do," Miss Sonomiya replied cheerfully. Isao came up next to Aria holding a basketball.

"What's that all about?" Isao asked curiously.

"Those girls said that some people are saying mean things about Yun-chan," Aria told him.

"Again? Why?"

"I dunno, and I don't like it. Yun-chan's nice! She's not stupid or retarded at all."

"I agree. She's smart and cool!"

Aria is glad that Isao agrees with her. From the day the two met Yun, they could see immediately that Yun is a nice, kind, gentle, and warm hearted person, though they were almost oblivious to the fact that Yun isn't very popular or very well liked. They didn't mind her slightly strange ways and strange rituals. She was nice to them, and they appreciated the things she did for them. Why would anyone want to think that Yun is stupid? Why would anyone want to be mean to her? Both Isao and Aria, being so young and innocent, couldn't help but wonder.

They were, unfortunately (or fortunately, if you can see it in a different angle), totally oblivious to the degree of which people showed that they disliked Yun for reasons they couldn't fathom. Sometimes, the mind if like a piece of artillery. When it's loaded, sparks are bound to fly when a shot is fired, and today, the spark was going to explode into a blaze, and that particular spark...was going to be the things that would happen to Yun.

It was Lopmon who first noticed subtle signs of Yun's distress. Sometimes, when Yun was alone, she would flap her hands up and down in a rapid pace and moan as if she had a big heap of Roachmon's noisome and repulsive garbage thrown all over her. Other times, she would hop around the house and spin around. Lopmon wasn't the only one who witnessed these strange behaviors, but she knew these were because of Yun's disability, and that autistic kids often do these things, only Yun very rarely did them. But last night, Lopmon witnessed Yun performing these strange rituals and looking quite perturbed. Lopmon did remember why: Yun is being bullied. Yun told her and the others about what had happened yesterday once she got home early, and they were appalled by what transpired in school. Lucero and the rabbit Digimon tried their best to console her and give her their gentle moral support, but it didn't seem to be helping. Not this time. This morning, Lopmon was quite reluctant to let Yun go to school, and she wasn't the only one. Hisako, Lucero, Cutemon, and Terriermon tried to keep her at home too, but Yun protested that she needed to go and work on the work she missed. Reluctantly, Lucero and Yun went to school. Lopmon watched as Hisako's car took off with them inside of it. Cutemon noticed Lopmon's distress as she saw her watch out from the window.

"Are you okay, kyu?" Cutemon asked. Lopmon's green eyes became very dejected, and so did her very being.

"I'm terribly worried about Yun. Based on what she told us yesterday, it seems those kids, Shimizu and Nemoto, are growing more and more volatile very quickly. I honestly wish that Yun would stay home with us!" Lopmon said. Cutemon hopped right next to her.

"Me too. I wish she'd stay home too, but she went anyway, kyu. Do you think those mean kids will calm down a little?" Cutemon asked.

"I highly doubt it. Yun says that Nemoto's mother has been coming after them since last year. If that's the case, then that's not something to take lightly. I fear that things might get worse today! I have such a bad feeling! A feeling of gloom and dread that won't go away! Oh, how I wish to be with Yun this very moment and ease all of her troubles! That's why I'm here! To be her friend and companion! I wish I could go and be with her, but I cannot," Lopmon said, feeling quite guilty that she can't go to Yun's school, accompany her and protect her from Seiko and Nenji, lest she reveal her identity and attract unwanted attention, even though in the back of her mind, she didn't care if she'd attract unwanted attention or not. She just wanted to be with Yun. Cutemon put a paw on Lopmon's back.

"I know exactly how you feel, kyu. But I think Yun will be fine. After all, she has all her friends with her, kyu! They love her and they'll surely help her, kyu!" Cutemon said, trying to sound upbeat. Despite her well-intentioned attempt to cheer her up, Lopmon could tell that even Cutemon sounds uncertain.

"I hope so," Lopmon muttered despondently. She didn't have a good feeling about today.

_'I'm certain that Yun doesn't want to go to school, but she must be afraid that if she does, she'll miss more work or show Shimizu and Nemoto that they've won. She must really be in so much emotional distress! Oh, how she must worry so! She must want nothing more than to be in her little utopia and cuddle with me, my brother, and Cutemon at this very moment,'_ Lopmon ruminated sadly.

She's right. Yun actually DOESN'T want to go to school, especially now that music class is here, but Yun missed some work when she got pulled out early, and she really wanted to work on it and not have to fall behind. Not only that, she needed to endure this to show everyone that she was not willing to give up. Besides, she has her friends with her, who are willing to help her with anything (except Kosuke, who is still ignoring her). Lucero held onto her hand during the car ride, hoping this would reassure her. It did a little bit, but he knew very well that Yun was likely about to suffer at least one anxiety attack today. Right when they entered homeroom, Seiko immediately shouted more maligned and malicious slurs.

"More disgusting clothes again, Wakamiya? Yeesh! You need to take lessons on fashion!"

Nenji and his friends joined in.

"You stink like white trash, yo!"

"Go swim in a sewer!"

"Aren't you gonna eat stuff from the trash can?"

"Can it, you crazy nut bags!" Melody yelled angrily, ready to pounce on them at any moment.

"Yeah! Cut it out already! You're annoying!" Riku backed her up.

Despite the insults being continually shot at her like bombs from a bazooka, Yun sat at her desk and tried to read. But soon, it wasn't just name calling anymore. Suddenly, Yun felt objects being thrown at her! Pencils, twigs, stones, even a leftover breakfast sandwich from Wawa!

"Hey! Stop throwing stuff! You're making a big mess!" Rena yelled as she tried to confiscate a pencil from Nenji's hand.

"Shut yer hole, prissy!" Nenji yelled.

"You shut up!" Minako yelled.

"Kids! Calm down right this instant!" Even Mrs. Kamogawa was having trouble containing the troublemakers. The bell rang before she could punish them, but it didn't even matter.

Sparks flew in music class.

It was just awful and downright intolerable for Yun. Mr. Okui was being a heartless disciplinarian as usual, Nenji, Seiko, their friends, and the seventh graders they befriended are being loud, some other kids are banging on instruments, and loud heavy metal music is playing in the boom box. It was so loud that Yun had her ears covered the entire time! She stayed where she was, totally unable to function! Despite her love for hard rock music, even Melody was inundated by the noise.

"Okui-sensei! Can you turn that blasted music off PLEASE?" Melody yelled.

"That's a detention for you too! After school!" Mr. Okui shouted.

"I'm just asking you to turn the music off! It's too loud and some of us are-"

"Don't talk back to me!"

Yun and the others thought it was never going to end...until someone opened the door and took a few steps back because of the noise. Yun saw this as the perfect opportunity. With her ears still covered by her small hands, she literally leaped out of her seat and sprinted out the door as fast as Sonic the hedgehog, though she certainly isn't capable of that kind of speed.

"Wha-? Hey! Come back here, brat!" Mr. Okui tried to go after her, but the rest of the Digimon Brigade (except for Kosuke) ran after her instead. Even Hokuto went after them.

"We'll go get her! Yun-chan, wait up!" Otoya exclaimed.

Sadly, Yun was so fast she literally outran everyone, and they lost her once they reached the gym, where a class was going on with 8th graders.

"Yuuun!" Minako called out.

"Yun! Where art thou? Please come out!" Lucero called out.

"Did you find her yet?" Rena asked Riku, who shook his head.

"Man, Okui's such a hard-butt! I wish he'd quit being so paranoid and abusive all the time!" Riku complained.

"You're telling me!" Melody said.

"Yuuun! Yuuuun!" Hokuto called out.

The Digimon Brigade searched all over the school, and no sign of Yun. Riku went as far as to search on the blacktop. She wasn't there. It wasn't until later that Rena found Yun in the cafeteria, hiding under a desk placed against the wall with her ears covered, her whole body trembling, rocking back and forth nervously, and moaning softly. Rena, seeing how blatant Yun's stress and fright is, gently kneeled in front of her.

"Yun-chan? You okay?" Rena muttered. Yun kept her ears covered with her hands and her eyes closed, not saying anything. Rena expected this, since Yun tends to stay that way for some time when she's nervous. Rena got her digivice out and texted the rest of the team.

**To: Minako, Melody, Otoya, Riku, Hokuto**

**From: Rena**

**Subject: None**

**I found Yun. She's in the cafe under a table in the far bottom left corner of the room.**

Everyone, including Lucero and the lady who came into the classroom earlier, came to where Yun was. The lady decided to try speaking to her first.

"Yun-chan? Are you alright? It's me, Gokou-sensei, your speech teacher. Want to come out? We'll have our session somewhere quiet," The lady, Mrs. Gokou, told her in a soft voice.

It took about a whole hour for Yun to calm down and come out from under the table, but they waited patiently and let her calm down at her own pace. Soon, Yun came out and went with Mrs. Gokou to a little room in the principal's office. She doesn't quite know it, but Yun has been advised to partake in special speech sessions with a speech pathologist, in this case Mrs. Gokou, since she was little because of her disability, though Yun never really understood why until now. Her vocabulary is good, but sometimes she stutters, tends to repeat stuff she's already said, and has trouble thinking of the right words to construct a sentence. Yun did tell Mrs. Gokou once that Nenji should be the one taking speech lessons instead of her, since he talks really badly, to which Mrs. Gokou actually agreed. Thankfully, the sessions calmed Yun down, even though she had to miss all of math and a bit of lunch. Yun didn't mind, since she didn't want to go to the cafeteria anyway. The rest of the kids agreed, and ate their lunch in the counselor's room again (and they made sure to throw their trash away and clean up after themselves properly). At recess, they all sat on the bleachers, and Yun sighed.

"I'm sorry, everyone...for being so weak and defenseless," Yun muttered abjectly, feeling guilty for what's happened.

"Why art thou blaming thyself? Thou art not to blame at all! It's all the discord that's causing all the problems! There's no order in that wretched music class! Thou shan't blame thyself for something that is not thine to control," Lucero told her.

"I totally agree with you! Whoever spilled that toxic chemical should be thrown in jail for all I care, because all of those seventh graders aren't exactly helping the situation here! Shouldn't they go to a different school or something!" Riku exclaimed.

"Fushimi's the only local middle school around here," Otoya told him, looking worried.

"What about that Catholic school that's on the next street?"

"That's been closed since three years ago."

Riku sighed, feeling bad that he couldn't come up with a solution to ameliorate the situation.

"I don't like where this is going. It's not good. Someone should take charge of that class, fire Okui-sensei, and get everyone under control," Hokuto muttered in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear.

"I couldn't agree with you more," Minako told him. She heard the sound of Melody cracking her knuckles with a choleric look on her face and not saying a word.

Yun watched the blue sky above her and hoped that it would calm her down a little, but it didn't. She found it quite indecent that the blue sky would be so insensitive as to be pristine and blue and cloudless, with the sun shining happily down on her like a spotlight, which she did not like. She wished it wasn't so bright today. She wished she could be with Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon. Sure, her friends (except for Kosuke) are with her, but even that has a limit. Her insides are doing back flips and she felt as if all of her white blood cells were bouncing around within her body, causing a constant chaotic scene. Yun decided to look away from the sky and pull out one of the books that she won in the contest, Bright Eyes. But she barely got to read the first page of the first chapter because of Seiko suddenly pulling the book away from her!

"Hey! That's mine!" Yun shouted as she tried to get it back, but Seiko wasn't letting her have it. Also, Yun was shocked to find that Seiko's clique has increased in size! Now there's nine girls, the majority of whom are seventh graders, in it! Lucero snuck up from behind Seiko and managed to take the book back from Seiko and give it back to Yun. At this point, Yun has finally had enough.

"What in the world is WRONG with you, Shimizu? Why are you being so cruel to me? What did I ever do to you that was so bad?" Yun yelped angrily, finally having enough of Seiko's treachery.

"You REALLY want to know? Fine, since you asked so politely. I was the one who was supposed to win that stupid contest, yet you, a white skinned, worthless, show-offy, good for nothing American retard took what was rightfully mine!" Seiko yelled, deliberately and willfully pointing at Yun.

"It was never rightfully yours. Whoever's drawing got their message across the best won first prize. Look, I didn't think I'd win! I only participated because the school made me and because I had no other choice! So what if you didn't win? There's always next time!"

"That's what you think, retard! You didn't deserve to win! You're only doing it to show off and look good!"

"You're the show off! You're always talking bad about people when they didn't do one bad thing to you!"

"Didn't do ONE bad thing about me? Are you kidding me, Wakamiya? You snitched on me and got me in trouble for stealing Takahashi-sensei's nail polish!"

"Stealing is wrong, and you should know that by now! And I didn't snitch, I just simply reported a misdeed which YOU committed, and if you do something bad, you have to face the consequences no matter what! Besides, you brought the whole thing on yourself for trying to steal her nail polish in the first place!"

"Stop trying to make yourself look good, retard! I'm sick and tired of hearing everyone praise you! _'Oh, Wakamiya's so smart! Oh, Wakamiya's so sweet! Oh, Wakamiya's always helping me with my homework! Oh, Wakamiya's such a great friend!'_ What a bunch of garbage! You don't deserve to walk on this blacktop, let alone walk among us pure blooded Japanese!"

"What does being pure-blooded Japanese have to do with what you did?"

"That's another reason why I hate you so much! You're not purely Japanese! You're an American, aren't you? That's why your skin is so white! You Americans are filthy, disgusting, and don't deserve to walk among us Japanese!"

Finally, Melody stepped in between them. "So...you're a racist?"

"So what if I am? I'm very disappointed in you, Shimotsuki. You could've made a great member of my clique, but you made the mistake of following that stupid retarded parasite around like you're her dog!"

"She's NOT a parasite!"

"Yes she is! I mean, look at her! Her clothes look like they've been pulled out of the sewer! Don't you see? She's sucking the life of everything around her like a leech! Don't you think you should be hanging out with better people than her?"

The girls suddenly started chanting. "Parasite! Parasite! Parasite!"

"You take it back, you anorexic turkey!" Melody, completely incensed, finally lunged at Seiko and punched her in the face, causing her to fall to the ground.

"Rena! Riku! Go tell a teacher about this!" Otoya yelled and pushed the Nobara twins into the building, which they obeyed and ran inside.

"Isn't it true, Wakamiya? You're only doing things to make yourself look good! You're using and manipulating other people for your own self gain! How can you live with yourself? I certainly wouldn't-" Seiko tried to do what Kosuke did to her, only she got cut off.

"I HATE YOU!" Yun screamed at the top of her lungs, having finally had enough of all the backlash against her. "I hate you, Shimizu! Your skin looks like tardar sauce, your hair looks like it got rotten gravy spilled on it, your eyes are so googly they look like they're about to fall out of your head any minute, and you're so thin and scrawny I bet a wrecking ball could break you in two! YOU'RE the one who's using and manipulating other people for your own self gain! You're selfish, greedy, bratty, vainglorious, arrogant, self-absorbed, narcissistic, snotty, snooty, cruel, horrid, heartless, and a big fat spoiled brat! I'm not gonna tolerate you making up all those inane lies about me! You don't know ANYTHING! So what if I'm not like everyone else? So what if I happen to be of mixed race? Do you think I wanted all of this? No, I didn't! It's just what I've been born with, nothing more and nothing less! But I do know one thing: UNLIKE you, I am NOT a bad person. I don't tell lies about other people, I don't force people to join my cause if they don't want to do so, I don't be mean to people and call them names and beat them up and start nasty rumors about them if they're being themselves! I've never said one bad thing about you before until now, so why bother picking me of all people? So what if you got in trouble for stealing Takahashi-sensei's nail polish? You brought that on yourself for even thinking about stealing them in the first place! So what if you didn't win? There's always next time, and you should know better than to act all jealous if you won't win something! It's called good sportsmanship! And finally, WILL YOU STOP PICKING ON ME? I don't know where you get all of these crazy ideas, but you need to stop being so judgmental for ONCE! I HATE YOU!"

Seiko, her friends, and the seventh graders she recruited didn't say a word. Dead silence. Just looks of disbelief got painted on their faces. Even Nenji and his friends, who secretly managed to sneak into the group and eavesdrop on the epic argument, were rendered silent by Yun's unrelenting courage. Yun felt bad for being so weak and defenseless, not just as the unofficial leader of the Digimon Brigade, but as a person. She wanted to change herself for the better and learn how to be a leader and take control of the situation and manipulate it to not just her own benefit, but to the benefit of everyone else. Her plans and attempts either always backfired or went totally unappreciated, but with Lopmon, Terriermon, Cutemon, Lucero, and her friends, old and new, she finally found her chance to regain the fragile harmony she had lost. Iniki timidly helped Seiko back to her feet.

"G...Get out. We...don't want you here," Hokuto whispered in a low but fierce voice.

Otoya silently looked at the doors above the bleachers, wondering why Rena and Riku are taking so long. But as the argument was happening...

"Yakusa-sensei! You've gotta stop Shimizu and those seventh graders! They're causing trouble out on the black top!" Rena pleaded.

"Why should I be the one to settle a mess that you brats can fix yourselves?" Miss Yakusa asked, not too happy with the Nobara twins suddenly coming to her for help.

"Sorry, but you're the closest person we managed to reach! Come on! Yun's being picked on by Shimizu again!" Riku grabbed Miss Yakusa's hand and tried to drag her out of the classroom and onto the blacktop.

"Don't touch me, boy!" Vehemently, Miss Yakusa slapped Riku and pryed him off of her arm.

"Riku!" Rena caught her brother before he could fall to the floor.

"I've got no time for such trivial nonsense," Miss Yakusa said.

"This isn't nonsense! Our friend is in trouble and someone's gotta help her!" Rena importuned sadly.

"Why can't that Wakamiya girl help herself? Shouldn't she know better than to use other people to solve issues that she can solve herself?" Miss Yakusa explained coldly.

Rena was appalled. First Kosuke accuses Yun of being a manipulative crook, then Seiko, and now Miss Yakusa, who's only known her for a day and a half? Why in the world is she construing Yun's situation as something like that?

"This isn't about using other people! Why can't you understand?" Rena yelled.

"Lower your voice this instant!" Miss Yakusa yelled back vehemently. "I refuse to get dragged into your childish mischief, and nothing you do will change my mind! That Wakamiya girl can handle it herself, then if she can't, then she's not worth it! Go on! Go back to the blacktop this instant!"

Rena was even more appalled. Miss Yakusa is totally ignoring a bad situation that's likely to explode, not even considering what will happen to Yun if someone doesn't come in and ameliorate the situation, deeming it as childish mischief, and actually saying that Yun is not worth the trouble? It's like she's expecting Yun to be perfectly capable of handling a situation like this! What does Miss Yakusa know? Nothing, that's what. Rena wanted to argue with her, but seeing as it is futile, walked away. But someone else didn't...and he just got hornet red choleric.

"Don't EVER say that a person's not worth it! EVER!"

It was Riku.

"If you really think kids are such noisy little brats, then why did you agree to become a teacher? To act like you're all that and give us some "discipline"? If that's the case, then you need a lobotomy!"

"Riku!" Rena yelled, shocked by what Riku is saying to Miss Yakusa, a teacher.

"You don't know a thing about Yun, you old bat! Not one thing! She's not some retard or someone who's really capable of handling bad situations where people are mean to her! She's the nicest, sweetest, kindest, gentlest, and most warm hearted person I know! She accepted me and became my friend when no one else did! She opened herself to me and didn't judge me! It's like that with everyone else she befriends too! She's smart, too, though she still has some stuff she needs to work on. She didn't mind that I have ADHD and tend to get a little hyper at times! She really does like me, and I'm happy to have her for a friend! If you can't see that everyone is special, the disabled kids included, then you're not fit to be a teacher!"

Riku held absolutely NO remorse for this lady. He didn't care if she decided to punish him. He wanted to let out his frustrations and show her what a nice person Yun is, even though she's not currently in their presence right now. Miss Yakusa, on the other hand, was appalled that a lowly student (in her eyes) had the audacity to yell at her face without any regard for consequence.

"G...Get out! Get out, you wicked boy! Get out!"

"Gladly!"

Riku took Rena's hand and dragged her out of the room.

"Riku! Why did you yell at her like that? You could have gotten in serious trouble!" Rena scolded.

"So? I'd do anything for Yun! Yakuza-sensei doesn't know a thing and is just filling her head with stupid ideas! If she can't see that everyone is special, then she's the one who's not worth it!" Riku replied.

Rena had to admit he had a point. As much as she wanted to scold Riku for being so reckless, she had to agree with him. Every human being, no matter how imperfect they are, is special and always worth something. Yes, they have their flaws, but they're only human. Nobody's perfect, but nobody should be abandoned, betrayed, or left behind because of that. Rena did agree that Miss Yakusa is in the wrong for falsely claiming that Yun should handle the situation herself, that she's using others to solve situations that she should solve, and that she's not worth it. Rena didn't believe any of that to be true. Both Rena and Riku really liked Yun for being the sweet, gentle, innocent, and warm hearted girl that she is. They didn't mind if she had her flaws, problems, and strange ways, they saw past that and saw what she's really like. There weren't many people like her in Hokkaido, where they lived. Rena and Riku liked Yun, and they wanted to continue doing so, and they were appalled by the fact that people actually BELIEVE that Yun is only being kind for some kind of malicious ulterior motive. Who does that in this day and age? They got back to the blacktop to find that Seiko and her clique had dispersed and finally left the Digimon Brigade alone. They did congratulate Yun for telling Seiko off like she did. Sadly, it didn't end there. Yun thought that the school day, and the torture she had to endure, would finally end once she stepped out of the school building. But as she and her friends tried to leave, they were approached by Mr. Okui, who immediately grabbed Yun by the hand.

"Come with me!" Mr. Okui grabbed Yun by the hand and literally dragged her away from homeroom. Shocked and appalled, they all went after him.

"Hey! Let go of her!" Melody tried to pry Mr. Okui's hand off of her, but he's too strong.

"You're tryin' to get away from detention, and I don't tolerate no detention-skippers!" Mr. Okui exclaimed.

"But...but you didn't give me detention!"

"Now I am!"

"What did I do?"

"Shut up, brat!"

"What did I do?"

"You ran out of class! That's what!"

"But Gokou-sensei needed me!"

"Quit makin' excuses! Yer comin' to detention and that's final!"

Yun remembered it right there: her parents. What if Hisako or Teruki are out there waiting for her? How long is the detention going to be? She didn't know. They don't know! If this really is the case, then Yun had to let them know.

"C-Can I at least call my parents? They don't know about the-"

Mr. Okui suddenly grabbed her bag, rummaged through it, and pulled out both her cell phone and her digivice!

"Don't you know that cell phones are forbidden on school grounds?" Mr. Okui yelled.

"I know that, but my dad made me bring it in case of emergency!"

"Quit lyin' you brat!"

"Will you stop? She didn't do anything wrong!" Melody yelled.

"Detention for the rest of you too!"

Seeing that persuading him and reasoning with him is futile, they were forced to comply and go to detention. Yun felt mortified and humiliated, not just because Mr. Okui is basically Mr. Kadota but MUCH worse, and not just because she got a detention for something silly and, on her part, unavoidable, but because her cell phone and digivice are both being taken from her! She needed to call her parents and let them know, but how can she if she's not allowed to leave the classroom or use a phone? Sure, she knew cell phones are forbidden, and often left hers at home since she doesn't walk to school and found no need for it most of the time, but Teruki made her bring it with her in case of emergencies despite this rule, and Yun always followed rules. Now she's being accused of breaking them when it's clear she didn't do anything wrong! But worse than that, Yun, Lucero, Melody, Otoya, Rena, Riku, and Hokuto aren't the only ones who have detention. Seiko, Nenji, their friends, and the seventh graders they befriended (the same ones who frequently caused trouble) are in the room too! Yun found herself sitting right in between Iniki and the kid dressed like a punk, not feeling very comfortable.

Unbeknownst to Yun, the fragile powder keg was going to explode, H-Bomb style, right in this very room.

For about 20 minutes, the room was quiet. Mr. Okui's booming voice made the kids cower a little, telling them to be not just quiet, but perfectly silent, without one little peep. One little peep would probably mean much more trouble than just a detention. But Yun didn't quite understand why Mr. Okui was not only acting the way he was, but why he brought her into detention in the first place! As far as she knew, she hadn't quite done anything wrong. Sure, she ran out before Mrs. Gokou had the time to talk to him about their sessions, but that's because she was so inundated by all the vociferous noise that she wanted to get out of there, and fast. She didn't mean to upset Mr. Okui, nor was she trying to break any rules (though to Mr. Okui, basically anything the kids did was breaking the rules). Not only that, if Yun was really going to get a detention, he should've told her in advance instead of right after school ended. Hisako or Teruki must be worried sick about her by now! Yun couldn't imagine how worried her parents must be right now. And Terriermon, Lopmon, and Cutemon, too! They must be worried also, Lopmon being the most worried. Yun looked at the clock hundreds of times, hoping that this would just end. But time was moving quite slowly, and not at the pace Yun wanted. Sitting in her seat and not being allowed to do anything was boring enough, but if one were to be under Mr. Okui's eyes and within the presence of many enemies, then it would be not just even more boring, but tense and oppressive, too.

_'Okui-sensei's an idiot! Man! What am I gonna do? I'm stuck with all of my worst enemies in my least favorite class in detention of all places, and he's not even letting me give my parents a call and let them know! They must be worried sick by now! Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon, too! I've gotta get out of here!'_ Yun thought. She was getting antsy just from sitting still and getting evil glances from Seiko, Nenji, and their friends, the seventh graders included. Suddenly, a phone rang.

_Ring ring ring riiiiing_

"I'll get it!" Mr. Okui exclaimed as he ran to his desk to answer the white phone.

"Hello?"

Silence.

"Wha? Right now? But I'm runnin' a detention here!"

Silence.

"It's gotta be now, huh?"

Silence.

"Alright alright, just calm down a bit, will ya?"

Silence. _'He's telling someone else to calm down? Yeah right! He can't even keep himself calm!'_ Melody thought bitterly.

"I'll be there in a bit, alright. Just sit tight. Bye."

With that, he hung up. He looked at the kids angrily.

"One of the teachers needs to talk to me about somethin' important! I don't wanna see any of you rough housin' or tryin' to escape, ya hear? I'll be back in a few minutes, and I don't want any noise!" Mr. Okui yelled as he went to the door. He finally left the room.

In a split second, the powder keg exploded, sending sparks flying.

Yun was watching him leave when she suddenly felt something hard knock her off of her desk and pin her against the wall! She then felt a fist push into her stomach before she could realize it.

"YUN!" Her friends cried out.

Two of Nenji's friends pinned Yun to the wall, and he himself punched her in the gut.

"White trash! Retard! It's time you got what you deserved!" Nenji yelled.

"Hey! Leave her alone!" Lucero tried to pull him off, but he punched him and threw him against a chair. Soon, the other male seventh graders, Seiko, and her friends suddenly ganged up on Yun. Only Iniki stayed in her chair to watch the brouhaha explode into a flurry of kicks, hits, slaps, punches, spits, and name calling.

"Your nose is so big, it looks like a clown's big red nose!" Seiko yelled maliciously, with an eerie smile to go with it.

"Yeah!" Her and Nenji's friends backed her up.

"Your hair's so putrid it smells like sewer!"

"Yeah!"

"When's the last time you had a bath? You smell like garbage!"

"Yeah!"

"You've got some big boobs! Maybe you should shake them around! Come on!"

"Yeah!"

"Get off of her you idiots!" Melody pushed through the crowd to try and kick the other kids off, along with the rest of the Digimon Brigade, but to no avail.

They said more awful things, so awful and ribald and offensive that they just can't be mentioned. Nenji then tried to punch Yun in the nose, but wound up hitting her cheek instead. Kids spat at her, pulled at her clothes (one of her sleeves ripped a bit as a result), yanked on her hair, scratched her with their sharp nails, kicked her in all places, and threw all kinds of insults at her. The Digimon Brigade tried to throw them off and protect her, but they were just too strong. Not only that, they were outnumbered too, in both numbers and strength. Nobody saw this coming. Nobody, yet it happened so fast.

At first, Yun didn't quite understand what was going on. It all happened so fast, she couldn't quite comprehend it until the kids surrounded her and began beating her up. She tried to fight back, but they were much stronger than her, and she couldn't even get past them, despite her friends' efforts to help her. The noise, the insults, the punches, the spits, the hits, the kicks, the slaps, the pain, it was all too much for little Yun to bear. She screamed and screamed, trying to make them stop, but they were merciless and kept on going, having absolutely no intention of letting her go. She felt like she was being attacked by wild wolves. They were the hungry wolves wanting to survive, and she was their helpless prey. She tried to get away, but they always caught up with her. Voices and yelling pounded on her ears like drums. At one point, she felt something gross and sticky being rubbed against her mouth. It's Nenji trying to force feed her with a half eaten sandwich he picked up from the trash can.

"Get off of her! Leave her alone!"

"Shut up, preacher's kid!"

"Don't you touch her, you crazy nutbags!"

"White trash! White trash!"

"I'm telling everyone I know about this!"

"You don't deserve to walk among us, you filthy American!"

"Yun! Hang on! I'll saveth thee!"

Yun wanted to disappear. She wanted to get away from all of this. The pain was getting worse, the noise was increasing, and the insults and beatings getting more and more volatile, despite her friends' efforts. She didn't understand why this was happening to her. Why are they being so cruel? Why would seventh graders, who have absolutely nothing to do with sixth graders, want to join in on their cause and be accomplices to bullying? Is Seiko truly racist? Is Nenji the same way? Why in the world would anyone want to go after her? She hadn't done anything! Yun wanted to get away, but she couldn't. She wondered if it would ever end.

She wondered if...the world was better off without her.

Finally, her saving grace arrived in the form of the counselor.

"QUIET DOWN RIGHT NOW!"

Her loud voice made every single child, even the seventh graders, quiet. Yun, seeing this as the perfect opportunity, ran away from the room as fast as she could.

"We'll go get her!" Melody said.

"Yun! Yun! Thou must come back!" Lucero exclaimed as he chased after her.

The counselor lady, not happy with the sight, eyed every single child in the room (except the ones that went after Yun. Secretly, Rena, Riku, and Hokuto packed Yun's things and took them to her).

"I'm very disappointed in all of you!" The counselor lady said.

But it seemed Melody didn't want her thunder to be stolen, and she wanted to be the one to scold them, so she returned with a vengeance.

"You're all a bunch of lunatics who should be locked up in an asylum for all eternity! If anyone's trash here, it's all of you! I'll NEVER forgive you all! ABSOLUTELY NEVER! You all can go rot in jail for all I care!" Melody screamed vehemently with as much passion in her voice as possible. Before the counselor could scold her, Melody sprinted out of the room.

As Yun ran, she stopped to look at one of the clocks. Much to her surprise, the beating had gone on for a whole 20 minutes. It's almost four o'clock! Knowing how dire this is, she tried to run out, but she slipped and fell on the floor. Not enough to sustain any injury, but she felt helpless. Lucero, Rena, and Riku managed to catch up to her and help her up.

"We got your things. Here," Rena told her gently as she gave Yun her things, cell phone and digivice included. Yun clung to them like they were her two rabbit friends. Lucero gently took her hand in his.

"Let's go home," Lucero muttered. Yun nodded in agreement, feeling happy that her pure torture has finally ended.

...Or was it?

The kids decided to leave Yun alone so she could calm down a bit, and Lucero took her out of the school, holding her hand. Yun was happy to be out, though she didn't want to show it just yet. When they walked on the sidewalk, Yun noticed that Teruki's outside of his car, waiting for her. Teruki's here? Isn't he supposed to be at work? Normally, Teruki has work on Tuesdays, so did he maybe get a day off and Yun didn't know it? Yun was, however, happy to see something else with him: Lopmon, Terriermon, and Cutemon. Cutemon noticed her right away and pointed her out.

"Look, kyu! It's Yun-chan and Lucero, kyu!" Cutemon exclaimed.

Yun immediately beamed upon hearing Cutemon call out to her and wanted to run, but she was too tired to do so. But the more she walked, the more she noticed something else that's odd. Teruki turned to look at her, but not with the expression Yun expected. She expected Teruki to be neutral faced until she got there, but on his face right now...looks to be anger. And he certainly showed it.

"Come on, Yun! Get over here!" He yelled angrily. This wasn't a good sign, but Yun walked on anyway.

"Yun!" Lopmon, Terriermon, and Cutemon immediately hopped on her, happy to see her. Yun was happy to see them and cuddle with them, but she wasn't able to show it.

"I-I'm so sorry I-" Yun wanted to talk first, but Teruki interrupted unexpectedly.

"Where were you?" Teruki yelped. Yun, confused by his anger, decided to explain.

"I-I'm sorry I'm late. Okui-sensei-"

"Why wasn't your phone on?"

"Ph-phones aren't allowed in school, and Okui-sensei-"

Yun tried to explain, but Teruki kept on interrupting her. She didn't get why he's so mad. Even Lucero and the rabbits were quite confused and surprised.

"I've been trying to call you for about an hour now! Do you know how worried I was? I've called you at least six times on your cell phone, yet you didn't pick up! I just talked to the principal and had him go looking for you!"

"I-I'm sorry, but Okui-sensei-"

"You had me thinking something terrible happened to you!"

"Something terrible did-"

Teruki shook his head. "I'm disappointed in you, Yun! I've been telling you time and time again to call me and let me know if you have plans or something yet you've left me in the dark all this time!"

"But Dad-"

"Don't you _'but dad'_ me! It's YOUR responsibility to tell me where you are and let me know that you're safe, and it's YOUR responsibility to remember this!"

Lucero got mad too. "Teruki! Will you please listen?"

But Teruki didn't listen. He was overcome with anger. "I can't believe you'd worry me so much!"

"I-I didn't mean to, Dad! I tried to-"

Teruki sighed. "You know what? We'll discuss more of this when we get home! Get in the car!"

Yun was crushed. She was just beaten up, spat on, kicked at, insulted at, and basically everything in between, she had been kept after school against her will on no grounds, and now that she's finally about to go home, Teruki fills his head with strange ideas and doesn't even bother to listen to her and let her tell her side of the story? Yun couldn't understand. She knew she had unknowingly worried Teruki and felt guilty for doing so, but it wasn't even her fault! Mr. Okui kept her in school against her will and wouldn't even let her call them and tell them about it! Really, it was Mr. Okui's fault. But it tore at Yun's heart to realize that she had worried him to the point of making him angry, and if there's one thing Yun ABSOLUTELY hated, it's forgetting things so simple that even a baby can remember and worrying her parents, both of which, to her, are the pinnacle of disgrace. Yun kept on trying to tell Teruki about what happened, but he yelled so much he wouldn't listen, so Yun decided it was futile to even try, and kept quiet and decided to face the music. But the music she was about to face...came from someone else.

Right when Yun came out of the car and was about to walk to her house..._SLAP!_ She was slapped in the face again! So hard that she fell to the ground!

"You horrible, despicable freak! You've bullied my Nenji again! You retarded little beast! I ought to throw you in an asylum where you'd rot forever!" Nenji's mother lunged at her and tried to suffocate her. This time, Teruki pulled her off.

"Get away from her, you witch! How many times do I have to tell you to leave us alone?" Teruki yelled.

"Not until you admit that that daughter of yours is a menace to society and until you admit that you didn't discipline her correctly!" Nenji's mother yelled.

"You don't discipline your own kid right, you bag!" Teruki yelled at her, then at Yun. "Yun! Lucero! Get inside, NOW!"

Yun and Lucero both tried to get inside, but they couldn't.

"YUUUUN!"

That was Ayaka's angry voice. She came out and slapped Yun again, causing her to fall onto the grass.

"Yun!" Lucero helped her up again.

"I can't believe you closed out my homework!" Ayaka screamed.

"She didn't do anything!" Lucero yelled.

"Quit lying for her, you brat!" Ayaka yelled back.

Yelling. Screaming. Shouting. Now it was everywhere. Brutally assaulting Yun's ears and decimating her mind. Seiko and Nenji's cruelty, Teruki's sudden insensitivity and worry that she unknowingly caused, Nenji's mother's treachery and Ayaka's jingoistic and heartless anger, it amassed onto Yun like a truck full of bright red bricks. Tears poured out of her sad green eyes. This was it. She couldn't take it anymore.

She screamed louder than any of them for a whole 10 seconds, and ran away.

"YUN!" Lucero, Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon all chased after her in worry.

Yun didn't know where she was going, but she wanted to get the heck away from all the vociferous screaming and yelling. Far away. Run run run run run. That was all that was going in Yun's head. Run run run run run. She hadn't run faster in her whole entire life, and it felt great, but anxiety still crushed her heart to pieces and her harmony has been decimated. Suddenly, she began remembering the cruel things Kosuke, Nenji, Seiko, and Teruki all said to her. They branded themselves into her brain and heart like an everlasting mark. Yun began to wonder differently this time.

She was finally convinced: what they all said is true.

Yun suddenly found herself in the clearing, where she had her first battle with a Digimon. She walked up to a small tree and began...banging her head against it. BAM! BAM! BAM! She didn't care if it hurt. She WANTED to hurt this time! BAM! BAM! Lucero and the rabbits finally caught up to her.

"Yun! Stop!" Lucero pulled Yun away from the tree, but she pushed him off of her and began slapping herself in the face, crying out as she did so. Horrified by this sight, Lucero tried to subdue her again.

"Yun! Cease! Thou must cease thy behavior!" Lucero yelled as he tried to subdue Yun, but to no avail, though he refused to give up, not when his friend is suffering and crying so much. Even Lopmon, Terriermon, and Cutemon decided to help.

"Forgive me...Freezing Snow!" Lopmon used her tiny blizzard attack to freeze Yun's feet to the ground, preventing her from running away. She tried to throw Lucero off, but he pinned her against the tree. He tightly wrapped his left hand around Yun's right wrist, holding it up so she won't be able to throw him off, and his right hand clung to Yun's chin, forcing her to look him in the face. It pained Lucero to see Yun's tears, but he has had enough.

"Yun! Why are you hitting yourself and banging your head against a tree? I demand you tell me!" Lucero told her, trying to lower his voice so he wouldn't scare Yun even more. She's already went beyond the peak of her fright and anxiety, and she fell apart. She's trying to keep herself from screaming again, but not doing a very good job.

"It...It...It's all true! What they all say is true after all! I...I really am retarded! And a parasite! And a menace to society! And a problem for everyone! I do do things for my own gain! I make everyone mad just by being around them! This is all my fault!" Yun cried sadly.

"No you're not! None of that is true, and none of it is your fault! Not at all!"

"Yes it is!"

"No it's not! Don't ever say any of those things, and don't take it out on yourself either!"

"But it's all true! I need to suffer! I deserve it all!"

"No you don't!"

Finally, Lucero softened, and even he became sad. Yun saw this change and didn't like it.

"Yun...don't do this. Don't hurt yourself because of what's been happening. None of this is your fault. All of this just happened! I'm sure it was inevitable!"

"Dad won't even listen to me! He won't even let me tell him what really happened! I annoy my family too! He thinks I did this on purpose, Ayaka hates me for existing, and Mom gets mad at everything I say no matter how good I mean it! Everyone gets mad whenever I say anything! I really am a menace! I should never have been-"

"Don't!" Lucero HAD to cut her off there. He didn't want to hear what she was going to say because he knew for a fact that it wasn't going to be good.

"Yun? What's wrong? What happened to you?" Terriermon asked, noticing the marks on her and the rips in her clothes. Finally, feeling drained of all her energy, fell to her knees. Lucero wrapped his arms around her and locked her in an embrace, not wanting to let go.

"Yun...I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry...for being so weak...for not being able to protect you..." Lucero whispered sadly, about to cry any minute. For the first time in a while, he didn't speak in his funny dialect. He was too worried to think about that. Yun, feeling warm and soft because of Lucero's embrace, and because of Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon rubbing her back with their paws, finally broke down and cried loudly, and passionately, into Lucero's chest. She stayed there for a long time, though unbeknownst to her and everyone else, they weren't alone.

Teruki followed them and watched them from a distance. After hearing and witnessing that entire scene, he broke down as well, immediately regretting his inopportune anger just moments earlier. How could he have been so insensitive? He's normally very understanding and didn't quite understand why he lashed out at her. After seeing this, he could see that something terrible DID happen to her that must have prevented her, or Lucero for that matter, from being able to call them and let them know where she was and what she was doing. Finally, Terriermon used his Blazing Fire to defrost Yun's feet, and they went back home. More yelling ensued, but this time, it wasn't at Yun. Yun kept herself in her room, but couldn't lock herself in it. A part of the rug is wedged under the door, preventing her from closing it all the way, which allowed anyone to come in at will. Lopmon, Terriermon, Cutemon, and Lucero all did their best to console her, calm her down, and make her happy, and she seemed to understand their intentions, but she wasn't exactly responding to them. They expected this, since Yun's had a VERY rough day. They did, however, feel guilty that they weren't able to help her.

And they weren't the only ones either.

Right after detention was finally called off, Melody ran from the school and to Aria's house. She leaped into the back yard and knocked on Aria's window. Aria and MarineAngemon both answered it.

"Oh! Hi Mel-chan!" Aria said.

"What are you up to?" MarineAngemon asked.

"I-I'm sorry to bother you, but...do you want to come to Yun's house with me?" Melody asked, looking quite pained. Aria and MarineAngemon both looked at each other with surprised faces for a bit, then agreed to come. Since Melody doesn't have Biyomon with her, Aria decided to call for Unimon, who agreed to take them to Yun's house. As they flew there, Melody told Aria and MarineAngemon about what happened, and they were nothing short of appalled.

"WHAT? How horrible? Yun doesn't deserve that kind of horrible treatment, from both kids and teachers!" MarineAngemon yelled angrily.

"Is Yun okay?" Aria asked innocently.

"I don't know," Melody said.

Melody, Aria, and MarineAngemon arrived at Yun's house and Melody knocked on the door. Hisako answered, and Melody asked if they could see her. Unfortunately, Yun doesn't seem to be in the mood for seeing anyone so Hisako had to turn them down. They understood why, since Yun hates loud noises and probably wants some quiet time to herself, so they accepted and left, though they felt bad about not being able to do anything.

"So...I guess I'm no longer needed, then?" Unimon asked.

"No. You can stay and hang out if you want," Aria said, not wanting to make Unimon feel as though he's nothing but transportation. Aria and Melody both went home, both feeling very despondent. Unimon and MarineAngemon played in the woods a little ways away from Aria's home so her family wouldn't see them. Aria sat in the living room with her stepmother.

"What's wrong, Aria-chan? You look sad," Mariya asked kindly as she sat down on the couch next to her.

"I am sad," Aria replied.

"Care to tell me why?"

Aria decided to tell her. "One of Yun-chan's friends came by earlier. She said that Yun-chan was being bullied and beat up by a lot of mean kids at school today. We went to visit her, but she needed some quiet time so we couldn't be with her. Some kids at my school have big brothers or sisters who went to school with her, and they say she's stupid and retarded and weird and that I should stay away from her, but Yun-chan's not stupid or retarded! She's nice, smart, and sweet! She knows lots of stuff and plays with me and tells me stories she makes up! I don't get it. Why would anyone be mean to her? She's nice! You don't think she's retarded, do you?"

Mariya knew who Aria was talking about. Mariya had only known Yun for a while and only met her once, but she could tell right away that Yun was quite a nice little girl. She had to wonder too. Why would anyone want to be mean to her? Mariya put a hand on Aria's shoulder gently.

"I don't think she's retarded at all, and that's a very mean thing to say to someone. You're right, it's not nice to be mean to other kids, but kids can be quite mean. I'm glad you told me this, Aria-chan. You really like Yun-chan, don't you?" Mariya explained gently. Aria nodded.

"Tell you what. Kinzo's got more errands to run tomorrow, so how about after school, you and I go to her house and pay her a visit? I'll make something yummy for you both to eat and maybe we can help her feel better," Mariya said.

"Can we?" Aria asked. Mariya nodded.

"Thank you, Mariya-san. I want to make her happy. She's my friend," Aria said with a smile. While Aria did feel bad that she couldn't help Yun today, she'll at least be able to help her tomorrow.

Of course, that would have to depend on Yun's state of mind, and currently, Yun is NOT in her right mind. She continued to feel agony, even in the dead of night.

She couldn't sleep. She kept tossing and turning in bed. She couldn't concentrate on sleeping. All of the yelling and screaming exploded in her head and she couldn't control it. She tried to go to sleep, but the horrible day and the loud sounds kept playing in her head over and over again. She shed tears and tried to stop herself from crying, but she kept on reliving that horrible day over and over again. She tried and tried, but nothing worked.

In the middle of the night, she suddenly began screaming at the top of her lungs, like she was being attacked. The entire house was forced awake.

"Teruki! What in the world is that?" Hisako exclaimed as she woke up.

"That's coming from Yun's room!" Teruki cried out as he flung his robe on.

Everyone ran into Yun's room to find her flailing around in bed, screaming and crying and hitting herself. Hisako was the first to try and subdue her.

"Yun! Yun, dear! Calm down! It's me, Mom! I'm here, sweetie!" Hisako cooed as calmly as she could, but Yun wasn't calming down.

"I'M SORRY! I'M SO SORRY! I'M SORRY FOR BEING BORN! I AM A PARASITE!" Yun screamed and cried and bawled, not stopping any time soon.

"Yun! Snap out of it! Yun!" Teruki tried to subdue her too, but to no avail.

"I'M RETARDED AND STUPID! STOP YELLING!" Yun yelled, quite oblivious to the fact that she's the one doing the yelling.

"Get over it, you brat!" Ayaka yelled angrily.

"Ayaka! Stop it!" Teruki scolded.

"She's woken us up in the middle of the night over nothing, yet she's acting like it's the end of the world!" Ayaka yelled.

"She's traumatized! How would you feel if you went through something so horrible you wouldn't be able to sleep?" Lucero yelled back, again not using his strange dialect.

Unfortunately, Yun's epic tantrum lasted for an entire hour. Finally, when she calmed down and fell asleep (or cried herself to sleep), everyone else did as well. But everyone had feelings of pain and agony in them. Yun for going through what she did, Lucero and the rabbits for not being able to protect her, Teruki for being insensitive and not letting Yun tell him what really happened, Hisako for being helpless, and Ayaka for being woken up in the middle of the night (she was irritable as usual).

Harmony was officially dead and decimated.


	42. Terriermon and Seiko

EPISODE 42: Terriermon and Seiko

At the crack of dawn, Terriermon woke up to find Yun missing.

He didn't bother to wake Lopmon, Lucero, Cutemon, or the rest of the family since they needed their sleep after Yun woke them up in the middle of the night with her screaming, which he understood perfectly well since it's likely that people who have been extremely traumatized by something bad do something like that. He silently leaped off of the bed and went to look for Yun. He and the rabbits knew about what had happened to Yun, because Lucero took the liberty of telling them about it (Lucero didn't tell Hisako or Teruki because he felt they needed their space because of the worry Yun unknowingly caused them, though looking at the wounds all over Yun, Hisako had quite a clear idea about what happened). Terriermon was just downright incensed because of what Yun had to endure, and he seriously wanted to thrash Seiko, Nenji, and all of their lackies. He didn't care if he exposed himself. He wanted to teach them a lesson they'd never forget. To Terriermon, making Yun cry is the epitome of disgrace, and he refused to let what those horrible kids did to Yun slide. He was NOT going to let them get away with it! After what happened to Yun in the parking lot when Witchmon attacked, Terriermon vowed to never let Yun suffer again, let alone let anyone make her cry (though it's VERY easy to make Yun cry, so it likely didn't matter). He wouldn't care if Lopmon opposed of his plan. He was going to avenge Yun and do whatever it took to give them what they deserve, even if it meant revealing his identity. Sure, he knows he is slightly selfish and a little impulsive, but he's still kind and sensitive, and he tried to be for Yun's sake. He loves Yun very much, and she loves him, Lopmon, and Cutemon too. He knows how important they are to her, and he wanted to repay her by making her happy. He didn't want to let this opportunity slide.

After some searching, he found Yun sitting behind the little couch with her legs crossed and looking down with a dejected and despondent look in her green eyes. Since it's still very early in the morning, Yun is still in her pajamas, a pair of yellow ones to be more precise with no sleeves, long pants, and flower-shaped buttons. Terriermon could see that she's trying to calm herself down, but failing miserably. She looks like glass that's about to break at any moment now. She didn't look as though she really wanted anyone to approach her, but Terriermon, knowing full well that this wasn't the case and that she needs all the moral support she can get, decided to approach her. Gently, of course.

"Hi," Terriermon whispered in his softest voice possible. Yun lifted her head to see her cream-colored, green eared, single horned bunny friend standing in front of her, slowly waving at her. She softened a little.

"Hi. You're up early. You never get up early," Yun whispered back, trying to not be surprised by Terriermon's presence and to not be loud, since people have frequently told her that she's loud. A lot. Most of the time cruelly.

"I noticed you were missing, so I came looking for you," Terriermon said. "Why are you in here?"

Yun looked down again. "I wanted some peace and quiet."

Terriermon wondered whether she was referring to his snoring or to the noise she had to endure yesterday. Probably the latter, since it made her wake up in the middle of the night screaming. Terriermon could see quite well that Yun is still stressed. She has some small bags under her eyes. Did she get any sleep at all, or was she tortured by the terrible and traumatizing memory?

"Can I sit with you?" Terriermon asked gently.

Without saying a word, Yun very gently picked Terriermon up and cradled him in her arms like he was one of her stuffed animals. She made sure not to hug him too tightly or he'll choke. Terriermon didn't mind. Yun felt rather warm, and he liked this. He rubbed himself against Yun's chest, which made her look down and smile at him a little. He tried to make sure he didn't hurt her or make her injuries sting. Last night, when Yun finally calmed down enough, Hisako put some bandages on her and tried to treat her wounds, but she planned on taking Yun to the doctor today. She decided that Yun was NOT going to go to school today. He found this to be a good idea, since he was yearning to spend time with Yun and console her and comfort her and make her happy and play with her. Yun probably did too. Terriermon then gently wrapped his tiny black fingers around two of Yun's small, slender fingers, hoping she would feel the moral support coming out of him. She did, but she couldn't help but shed some tears because of it.

"Terriermon...I...I'm so sorry..." Yun muttered.

"What for?" Terriermon asked.

"For being such a bad person...and a bad Digimon tamer," Yun muttered again.

"You're not a bad person, or a bad Digimon tamer. Not at all," Terriermon told her, trying not to raise his voice out of fear that he might wake the entire house up. "You didn't deserve all those terrible things they did to you."

"Yes I did. Kosuke and the rest of them are right. All I do is make things worse for everyone. I can't even raise you and Lopmon right."

"That's not true. You're doing just fine in raising me and Lopmon. I love you, Yun. Don't say you're bad. You're not bad. Those mean kids are the bad ones."

Terriermon looked up at Yun with sympathetic eyes and put a little light green paw on her tender cheek, the same one that got slapped by Nenji's mom. She no longer felt the pain, but she still felt the emotional sting of it all. Nonetheless, Terriermon's touch felt good, and she held him closer. Terriermon wished that he could heal Yun's pain and ease her suffering. It broke his heart to see Yun so sad. But Nenji and Seiko weren't the only people Terriermon was angry at. He really wanted to yell at Teruki for yelling at Yun and not bothering to listen to Yun and allow her to tell her what really happened. Terriermon was there when Teruki went to pick her up. He suspected that something was wrong since Yun normally comes out to the car on time, but he knew for a fact that Yun would never leave them hanging on purpose. She never stays after school for anything. What would she gain from doing something like that? Terriermon also wanted to yell at the nefarious and insidious music teacher for being a heartless idiot and not doing anything to help her, at Nenji's mom for not seeing how cruel her son is and for accusing Yun of being a bad person when it's clear that Yun is anything BUT a bad person, and, most of all, at himself for not being able to protect her. But felt that Nenji and Seiko were the ones to blame the most, and he was going to give it to them. Hard. But he decided not to tell Yun about his secret plan because he knows that she might scold him for it. He and Yun stayed behind the couch for quite some time. Yun then remembered something.

"Terriermon...would you mind doing me a favor?" Yun whispered softly.

"What is it?" Terriermon asked.

"I...I know I tend to freak out a lot when bad stuff happens to me, and it really hurts. Can you please...not tell me to get over it?"

"Why?" Terriermon didn't ask this out of malice. He was just curious as to why Yun doesn't want to hear the words _"get over it."_

"To me...being told to get over something is like being told that it's not that big a deal or that it's all in my head or that it never really happened and that I should just forget about it forever. But...I can't forget stuff like this! I can't ever forget this, and yet everyone expects me to like it's the most normal thing in the world! They don't understand, but it's insensitive to tell someone to just get over something! I mean, if someone has a disease and is about to die, you can't just tell him or her to get over it and forget about it. It's insensitive! I hate that! They obviously haven't gone through what I went through, so they won't ever understand."

Yun had a really good point, and Terriermon knew it as well. Yun's not one to forget about painful experiences, partly because of her disability and partly because this is her most traumatizing experience so far. Terriermon didn't really expect her to forget about it any time soon considering she woke them up in the middle of the night screaming her head off. Even so, Terriermon understood and put a paw on Yun's hand.

"Okay. I promise I won't tell you to get over it. Take all the time you need. I'm here when you need me. Lopmon, Cutemon, Lucero, and your friends too," Terriermon told her with a smile. Yun nodded and hugged him a bit more. They stayed there for some time, but they were discovered at 7:15 AM by someone they didn't really expect nor want to see.

Teruki got up at around 7:00 AM. He put some coffee in the coffee machine, made himself breakfast in the form of very burnt toast, scrambled eggs, and a glass of milk, and read the paper for a bit. Yesterday, he was very stressed, not just because of Yun staying after school, but because he had a lot to do these past few days and it made him tired and a little cranky. But now he's feeling much better. The only problem is that even though he's feeling better, someone else isn't. As he was about to sit down and watch the morning news, he saw a shadow coming from behind the little couch. He hopped onto the couch, looked down, and saw Yun sitting behind the couch clinging to Terriermon.

"Yun! What are you doing back there?" Teruki asked. Terriermon decided to answer for him.

"She says she wants peace and quiet," Terriermon told him.

"Oh. I see," Teruki replied, but he didn't leave. There was a long pause between them, and Teruki, feeling quite guilty for what happened, decided to talk to Yun.

"Yun...I'm so sorry for yesterday. For yelling at you like that. You hadn't come out of school, and I was starting to get worried. It's only natural for us parents to worry about our children and assume the worst, but that doesn't justify what I did. I'm sorry for accusing you of staying after school on purpose, though you really do have to keep your phone on in case of emergencies," Teruki explained.

"Cell phones aren't allowed in school no matter what," Yun muttered.

"I know. But...I'm sorry, Yun, for being so terrible," Teruki said.

Another long pause of silence. Even Terriermon didn't say anything. He wanted to yell at Teruki for being so insensitive, but after seeing the guilt in his eyes, he decided not to.

"So...do you mind telling me what really happened?" Teruki asked.

Another long pause. Then Yun spoke.

"It's exactly as you said. I stayed after school, kept my phone off, and made you worry. That's all there is to it," Yun muttered.

Terriermon was surprised. Teruki's now allowing her to tell the truth yet she's not going to do it?

"Then how do you explain all of those scratches and injuries?" Teruki asked. Yun didn't say anything.

"Yun, I know you're upset, but there's no need to punish yourself for-"

"Yes there is! I committed the worst, most disgraceful sin in the world! I should be punished severely! Why don't you hit me or abuse me?"

Teruki and Terriermon were both shocked now, but Teruki kept going, not wanting to give up.

"Because good parents don't abuse their children. They love them and care for them."

"I don't deserve any love! What everyone says is right! I'm stupid, retarded, a parasite, a menace to society, and a problem for everyone! You made a big mistake in bringing me into the world! All I do is make things worse for everyone! Why do you even bother caring about me? I annoy you, Mom, and Ayaka too! Why don't you just tell the truth already?"

Teruki was starting to get his anger back. "Yun, don't talk like that. It's not true!"

"Yes it is! Stop denying it already! They're all right! Nemoto, Shimizu, Kosuke, Nemoto's mother, half of my school, everyone! Everything they say about me is true! I'm a mani...mani...pulative creep who uses people for her own self-gain! I really am white trash! You should have aborted me when you had the chance!"

Now Teruki was mad. He slammed his fists onto the top of the couch, which made Yun flinch.

"I'm sick and tired of hearing you talk like this, Yun! None of that is true and you know it! Look, I'm sorry for being so insensitive and I know you had good intentions, but please...stop making a big deal out of something so little!" Teruki exclaimed.

Now Terriermon decided to speak.

"This ISN'T a little thing! Not to her!" Terriermon exclaimed.

Teruki, feeling sad because of what he said, finally sighed, conceded defeat, and walked away. Terriermon looked down at Yun and hopped back onto her head.

"Yun? Why don't you tell him about what happened? He'll understand," Terriermon told her softly.

"No he won't. Telling him's not going to do anything. No one will listen, and you know I'm right. My very existence makes people mad!" Yun said.

Terriermon wanted so badly to contradict her, but he couldn't think of anything more. She knows that he loves Yun, but she's heard enough of that. He thought telling her that again would seem false, so he stayed with her. Soon, Lopmon, Cutemon, and Lucero found them hiding behind the couch.

"Oh my! Yun! What are you doing in there?" Lopmon asked. Yun gestured for Lopmon to come to her, which she did, and now both twin rabbits are in Yun's arms.

Lucero came dressed and ready for school. He put on a short sleeved, green, tan, and blue plaid skater shirt with buttons and a collar under his favorite pair of thick, dark blue overalls and a slightly long-sleeved tan hooded sweater with a zipper and with a black star embroidered on the bottom of it. On his feet are white socks and black and white sneakers. Hisako's not letting Yun go to school today, but he begged her to at least let him go. Hisako was reluctant to do so, but she relented and let him go. Still seeing the sorrow on her face, Lucero's heart sank. He felt awful for being so weak and not being able to protect her. He kneeled before Yun and slipped his hand into Yun's.

"Yun, if I could carry the burden that is thy sorrow, I most definitely would. I shall always be thy friend, for if thou wouldst go through this dark cloud alone, I would share thy injuries," Lucero told her gently in a low voice, not wanting to scare her, which he didn't. Again, Yun told him, Cutemon, and Lopmon to not tell her to get over it since to her, that's a very insensitive thing to say. They understood and decided to hold true to Yun's word. Lucero stayed with her for a few minutes, then left to eat breakfast and get ready. Teruki decided to take him to school, but he needed to talk to Yun and the rabbits before leaving.

"Yun, I will be sure to give thee the work that thou will miss and help thee when thou need it. Lopmon, Terriermon, Cutemon...take good care of her for me," Lucero told them.

"Leave it to us, Lucero!" Terriermon edicted proudly, which made Lucero smile. Finally, he and Teruki left for school. A few minutes later, Hisako looked down and saw them behind the couch.

"Yun, you need to get dressed and brush your teeth soon, because we're leaving in about three hours," Hisako told her.

Yun did as asked and brusked her teeth and got dressed. She put on a sleeveless light pink shirt and black jean shorts. She spent the three hours doing nothing but play with Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon. Little by little, she slowly began to feel better, seeing that her bunny friends respond well to her kindness. Finally, Hisako and Yun left the house to first go to the doctor, and then do some food shopping, leaving Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon alone in the house. Yun didn't bother to take them with her because she didn't want them to be spotted by anyone. She put on her beige jacket before she left because it was starting to get a little cold. As they were away, Terriermon formulated his plan to beat down Nenji and Seiko.

_'Now if what Yun's told me is correct, Nenji is fat with lots of pimple marks on his face and dirty brown hair while Seiko is really skinny,_ _dresses in funny clothes, has light brown hair in pig tails a lot, and is always laughing about something,'_ Terriermon thought as he played some of Yun's video games.

But the thing is, he's not alone in his yearning for wanting to teach Nenji and Seiko a lesson.

Lucero came into homeroom looking a bit dismal. He was approached by Otoya, the Nobara twins, and Shione. Minako is too busy yelling at Kosuke and Melody's sitting at her desk, cracking her knuckles angrily.

"So how is she? Is she alright?" Otoya asked, looking worried.

Lucero shook his head abjectly. "She woke up in the middle of the night screaming. She's nothing short of traumatized."

"Seriously, how could anyone be so cruel? Not only that, I told every teacher I know and they said they'd look into it, but I don't think they're taking this situation seriously!" Shione exclaimed, feeling quite angry. "If only I'd gotten into that detention, I would've been able to help you!"

"It wouldn't have mattered. They got the seventh graders on their side, so we were outnumbered," Riku said.

"What's Minako-dono doing?" Lucero asked.

"Giving Kosuke a mouthful," Rena said as she pointed to Kosuke, who is ignoring Minako's anger.

"Why didn't you help Yun when she needed it? Seiko and Nenji were going nuts!" Minako yelled.

"That wasn't my problem, so I didn't feel that I needed to intervene," Kosuke replied indifferently.

"Kosuke! You saw what happened, didn't you? You should've stopped them or at least told a teacher! Are you still hung up on that stupid idea of yours? I can't believe you!" Minako yelled, angry that Kosuke doesn't feel any remorse for not helping Yun.

"Oh! Just so you all know, we have no school tomorrow or Monday because of a teacher's convention," Otoya told them.

"Good!" Riku exclaimed.

Lucero was about to sit in his seat and study when he heard Seiko and her clique gossiping amongst themselves again.

"Seiko...did you really have to go so far? I mean, it's just nail polish. Really-" Iniki sounded like she didn't approve of Seiko's actions against Yun yesterday, but Seiko cut her off.

"This isn't about the nail polish anymore, Iniki! She's an American! A stupid, worthless, good-for-nothing American walking among us pure blooded Japanese!" Seiko yelled angrily.

"I'm not pure-blooded Japanese. I'm three quarters Italian and a little Dutch," Tomoka said nonchalantly, raising her hand.

"I don't mind Italians or Dutch people, but it's the Americans that I hate the most! They bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki when World War II was at its peak! My great grandmother died back there! Not only that, those Americans put us Japanese, who hardly did anything wrong, in those filthy camps made of horse stalls and poop! Great-grandpa died in those camps and my grandparents had to suffer through all of that horrible nonsense! I'll never forgive them!" Seiko edicted.

"But it was a billion years ago, wasn't it? You can't bring them back," Iniki told her.

"So? I know I can't bring them back, even though I've hardly met them, but I've finally got my revenge! Seriously, I hope Wakamiya offs herself because I don't want to be caught DEAD with an American in my presence!" Seiko exclaimed.

"Didn't she say she's one quarter American?" Tomoka asked.

"Whether she's one quarter or half American doesn't matter! She's still an American nonetheless!" Seiko yelled.

Lucero was appalled, frozen in place. All of that violence against Yun, all of that unnecessary prejudice, all of those horrible things she did to her and put her through...was all because Yun is just one quarter American? Seiko IS a hardcore racist after all! Lucero couldn't believe it at first, but upon hearing Seiko's story, he lost himself. He very slowly walked up to Seiko's desk with a straight but scary look on his white face. Seiko suddenly looked up at him and beamed.

"Oh! Lucero-kun! I'm so glad you're here! I'm so sorry to have to put you through that horrible scene yesterday in detention, but really, Wakamiya deserved what she got! I'm so happy that-" Seiko wanted to try and manipulate Lucero into joining her...but she was unsuccessful.

Lucero suddenly slammed his hands on Seiko's desk, causing Iniki and Tomoka to flinch a little. Suddenly, everyone turned their heads to look, even Mrs. Kamogawa. Then, out of the blue, Lucero's expression changed drastically, from straight and solemn to downright terrifying and frightening. He gave Seiko the same _"I'm gonna murder you"_ look he gave Tsukaimon, and it scared her and her friends...and that's not even the terrifying part! The terrifying part is, Lucero's hands clutched to Seiko's desk tightly.

Then, in a flash...

_CRASH!_

The entire desk shattered into pieces, steel bars and all.

Everyone gasped, with "oohs" and "aahs" flooding the entire classroom. This scared everyone beyond their wits.

"Whoa! Did you see that? He just destroyed a desk!" One kid exclaimed, shocked by Lucero's display of...super strength?

"Doth thou truly loathe Yun simply over something as silly and trivial and insignificant as that? I cannot tolerate thy animosity toward someone who has nothing to do with thy familial ancestry! And DON'T EVER say that Yun should off herself, thou spoiled rotten brat!" Lucero yelled angrily, which made Mrs. Kamogawa pull him away from Seiko.

"Lucero-kun, that's enough! Calm down!" Mrs. Kamogawa pleaded. Lucero wanted to protest, but knowing that he'd get in trouble with the teacher if he did, finally abdicated and returned to his seat, though feeling VERY unsatisfied. Mrs. Kamogawa then looked at the entire class.

"Just so you all know, there's going to be an assembly after school, and attendance is ABSOLUTELY mandatory! The entire school has to come!" Mrs. Kamogawa edicted. seeing that she's quite serious, none of the kids protested. They all decided to drudge through the school day, which wasn't very exciting...until noon.

At around 11:25 PM, Lopmon finished reading one of Yun's books and decided to make herself a small peanut butter and grape jelly sandwich. She hopped into the kitchen, hoping that she'd find Terriermon in there, but he wasn't there.

"Terriermon! I'm going to make us some sandwiches! Would you like one?" Lopmon exclaimed, hoping that Terriermon could come running into the kitchen, but strangely enough, he didn't come.

"Terriermon?" Lopmon looked around. She looked through the entire house. Yun's room, Ayaka's room, Hisako's room, the bathroom, the living room, the basement, the dining room, nowhere in sight!

"Terriermon? Terriermon?" Lopmon was getting worried. She then saw Cutemon sitting on the couch watching TV.

"Cutemon! Have you seen Terriermon by any chance?" Lopmon asked.

"Last I saw him he went out front, kyu," Cutemon replied.

Quickly, Lopmon opened the front door and went outside. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a spec of green and yellow appear. She decided to follow it.

"Wait! Lopmon! Come back!" Cutemon tried to call for her since they were alone in the house, but Lopmon didn't come back. Cutemon, feeling a little despondent, went back inside and locked the door.

It took a while for Lopmon to catch up, but once she passed by the church, she managed to catch up to Terriermon, who was literally running. She pounced on one of his ears and managed to stop him from going any further.

"And where do you think you're going, Terriermon?" Lopmon asked in a stern, motherly voice.

"To that middle school! Fushimi!" Terriermon exclaimed.

"Care to tell me why?" Lopmon asked.

"Why else? To teach Nemoto and Shimizu a good lesson in pain, of course!" Terriermon yelled as he pryed Lopmon off of his ear.

"You can't! You'll reveal yourself and attract unwanted attention!" Lopmon reasoned.

"So? I don't care about that! They treated Yun badly and made her cry, so I wanna beat them down!" Terriermon yelled. He tried to run again, but Lopmon caught him.

"I won't let you!" Lopmon pulled on his ear until Terriermon finally became incensed and pushed her off.

"Get off of me!" Terriermon yelled. Despite his sudden change in attitude, Lopmon continued on.

"Terriermon! Please understand! Violence isn't the answer! I know how upset you are with the way Nemoto and Shimizu treated her, and believe me, I'm just as enraged about it as you are! But revealing yourself to them and getting into a fight with them isn't going to change anything at all! It'll just make the situation worse! Worse than that, they may think Yun sent you to go after him! Haven't you thought about that?" Lopmon importuned.

"Lopmon! Didn't you hear about what they did to her? These kids won't listen to reason at all! Lopmon, I know you don't like fighting, and believe me, if we could talk this out, then I'd love to do it! But in this day and age, kids don't talk things out anymore! They fight it out, and they don't think talking will solve anything! They'll just think they're not taking the situation seriously by talking it out! And worst of all, the teachers didn't do anything to help, and just let those kids pick on her and do all those bad things to her! I'm not gonna let these idiots get away with what they did, and I'm gonna knock it into their brains even if it kills me!" Terriermon explained and tried to go again, but Lopmon pulled on his ear.

"You've got to listen! If you're seen in public, people might hurt you!"

"I don't care! Now let me avenge Yun! Nothing you do is gonna stop me!"

Enraged with Lopmon's opposing view on how to handle the situation, Terriermon thrust her off of him and flew away with his ears serving as wings. Although Lopmon deeply opposed of Terriermon's decision to handle the situation, she felt the same way he did, and she couldn't help but confess that he had a very food point. Based on what they've been told about Nemoto and Shimizu, it doesn't sound like they'd be willing to talk things out and be done with it. Lopmon, too, is enraged by what they did to Yun, and she didn't want them to get away with it either. She understood why Terriermon would be so persistent and passionate about this. When Witchmon first attacked, Terriermon went berserk and nearly hurt Yun. Once he realized his transgression, he repented for it deeply and vowed to never make Yun cry again, let alone allow anyone else to make her cry, especially now that he knows about Yun's disability and why she's so sensitive to certain things. Lopmon did feel proud of her brother for taking a stand and caring about Yun, but she didn't want him to be in danger of being revealed to the public eye. Who knows what Nenji or Seiko would do to him! But she did wish that Terriermon wasn't so persistent. She did, however, feel the same way he did when it came to Nenji and Seiko. Why would they treat Yun so badly when she's the sweetest and kindest person around? She didn't do anything wrong! Lopmon hated feeling so helpless and not being able to help Yun in a way that would make her feel better, even though Yun says that Lopmon, Terriermon, and Lucero are the best things that ever happened to her. She wanted to repay Yun for her unrelenting kindness, purity, and innocence, and to Lopmon, harmony needed to be restored.

"Forgive me, Terriermon...but you're not the only one who's persistent!" Lopmon exclaimed, a few minutes after Terriermon left, and decided to fly herself.

It took him about half an hour to get to Fushimi Middle School, but he made it unscathed. Not only that, noon came and an avalanche of kids piled onto the black top, most of the Digimon Brigade included. Terriermon made sure he stayed hidden in the bushes so he wouldn't get caught by anyone. Although he hadn't seen or met Nenji in person, based on Yun's description of him, he picked him out immediately. Nenji's the boy with really spiky and messy dirty brown hair, slitty dark brown eyes on a squareish face full of pimple remains, and is rather rotund for his age. Today he wore a big messy grey T-shirt with some dirt on it, along with baggy dark blue sweat pants, dirty white socks, and HUGE black and white basketball sneakers. He laughed with a few of his friends, the seventh graders included. Terriermon immediately locked eyes on him.

_'So HE'S Nemoto Nenji, the fat kids who likes beating people up! You better get ready, Nemoto, because Terriermon's gonna beat you to a pulp!'_ Terriermon thought as he readied himself for an epic brawl with Yun's arch enemy, but stopped in his tracks when he saw most of the Digimon Brigade approaching Seiko, whom Terriermon recognized as the skinny girl whose light brown hair is always in two little flouncy pig tails. Seiko didn't notice one bit, but before she knew it, a fist flew right into her face and forced her down onto the asphalt, scratching her palms and causing a nail to break a little.

_'Wow! Nice one, Mel!'_ Terriermon cheered silently as he watched Melody very angrily grabbed Seiko by the shirt and lifted her up, with Shione and Riku watching from right behind her with their arms crossed.

"I will break you, Shimizu! I've always known you were nothing but an anorexic turkey, but now you've proven yourself to be the worst sewer scum that ever walked this earth! You beat up an innocent kid JUST for being a little American? You're sick, Shimizu, and I'll NEVER forgive you, even if you beg for mercy!" Melody screamed angrily.

"Hey! Let go of Seiko!" Tomoka tried to step in, but Melody shoved her off.

"Shut up, Kobayashi!" Melody yelled as she pushed Tomoka back to the side.

"You're terrible, Shimizu! Why beat up Yun just because she happens to be a little bit American? She hasn't done anything to you! How can you be so cruel?" Shione yelled.

"That stupid American retard doesn't deserve to walk among us pure-blooded Japanese, let alone breathe the same air as we do!" Seiko yelled angrily.

"If anyone's the retard around here, it's you! You're sick like a dog, you smell like rotten cheese, and you should go get a lobotomy!" Riku yelled angrily.

"Riku!" Rena scolded as she appeared beside him.

"He's right! If anyone doesn't deserve to walk among us, it's you!" Melody yelled. Having had enough, Seiko pushed Melody off of her.

"You're all a bunch of dipsticks and thick-headed idiots! Why take the side of that stupid American retard and not mine? Her kind bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki! They made us suffer by putting us in those internment camps made of horse stalls and poop!" Seiko yelled.

"Wasn't that, like, 70 years ago? Get over it! And none of that is Yun-chan's fault! None of us were even born then!" Shione explained sarcastically.

"So? Americans are still corrupting this world and none of you are taking it seriously!" Seiko yelled.

"You're getting too full of yourself here, Shimizu," Melody said.

"I'M full of myself? That-"

"Yeah, you're full of yourself. You always go around claiming you're all that and putting other kids down even when they didn't even do anything to you! Quit trying to act like something you're not!" Riku interjected sharply.

"Why else do you think Nemoto calls her white trash? That's what she is and that's what she'll be forever!" Seiko yelled. Melody grabbed Seiko's shirt again.

"Say that again, and you're gonna wake up on life support!" Melody yelled.

Suddenly, Nenji stepped in and pulled Melody off of Seiko.

"You dun know nuttin', yo! 'Dat piece of white trash deserved what she got, dawg!" Nenji yelled, making rather ribald, rap artist style hand gestures at her in the process.

"You should have died in that earthquake two months ago!" Melody yelled, which made the majority of the crowd gasp.

"You's goin' down, foo!" Nenji tried to throw a fist in her face, but Melody intercepted him, grabbed him by the arm, and flipped him over her shoulder. Most of the kids cheered and rejoiced.

"You go, Shimotsuki!" One kid cheered.

"That was awesome!" Another kid exclaimed.

Nenji got up and gave Melody the stink-eye.

"Don't give me that stink-eye! A little advice: don't ever mess with a red belt!" Melody yelled.

"Why you-!" Nenji tried to attack her again, and Melody smirked, as she couldn't wait to kick his butt.

The only problem was...someone already did it for her.

"Terrier Tornado!"

"Whoa! Look out!" One kid shouted.

A green and yellow tornado half his size suddenly hit him on the back and began bombarding him in all directions. The kids backed away and watched as the tiny twister hit Nenji from all sides.

"Ow! Oww! OWWW!" Nenji screamed as he tried to subdue the flying tornado, but it was going so fast it had absolutely no plans on letting up. Kids cheered as Nenji got pounded on by the tornado. Most of the Digimon Brigade, however, watched with worry.

"Is that who I think it is?" Rena yelled.

"It is!" Otoya exclaimed.

Finally, the tornado let up and out came a very choleric Terriermon. Once Nenji saw the green and pale yellow rabbit, he suddenly burst out laughing.

"Bwahahaha! A bunny rabbit? Oh God, my ribs are killin' me, dawg!" Nenji laughed as he found the whole thing funny.

But Terriermon was only getting warmed up. "Bunny Blast!"

A huge barrage of green lights suddenly hit Nenji, causing him to fall to the asphalt in fear. But Terriermon kept going, as he had no plans on showing any mercy. Suddenly, two of his lackies stepped in and grabbed him by the ear.

"Get off of him, you dirty rat!" One kid exclaimed, but Terriermon flew to his arm, bit it, and made the kid yelp in pain.

"OWWW!" The kid yelped as he grabbed his arm.

"Mansuke!" The second lackie yelled, referring to his friend as Mansuke. But Terriermon wasn't done yet.

"Terrier Tornado!" Terriermon again flew himself at them, this time hitting the other kid.

"Hirofumi!" Nenji yelled as he tried to grab Terriermon, but the tiny rabbit was quick and he hopped on Nenji's head and made him fall to the ground. But he was just getting warmed up. The kids cheered Terriermon on. Only Seiko, her friends, and most of the Digimon Brigade watched with fear.

"We've gotta stop him! Everyone's freaking out!" Otoya yelled.

"Yeah, but how!" Rena exclaimed when she noticed Melody smiling hugely while recording the epic brouhaha with her digivice. Rena was just appalled.

"MELODY! Are you seriously recording this?" Rena yelled.

"Heck yeah! I've been waiting for this!" Melody yelled with a big smile on her face. "I am SO showing this to Yun when I get home!"

"Stop recording it!" Rena grabbed Melody's arm, but she pushed her away and continued recording while Terriermon, Nenji, and his two lackies fought each other...and it seems Terriermon is winning.

Terriermon kept on fighting Nenji and his two friends, not bothering to give them time to take a break. Iniki has had enough.

"Somebody do something!" Iniki yelled, which prompted Seiko into taking action. She literally ran to Nenji, grabbed Terriermon by the ear, and yanked him off of his arm, causing Nenji to yelp in pain a bit.

"Whoa! You okay, dude?" Mansuke asked, sounding actually worried.

"Y-Yeah. Somehow..." Nenji muttered. Seiko held Terriermon up by the ears and didn't look too happy.

"Ugh! Look how dirty this thing is! I don't see how-" Seiko wanted to insult Terriermon in public, but Terriermon went all out.

"Blazing Fire!" Terriermon shot a sphere of fire at Seiko, causing her to immediately let go of him. While she did manage to barely dodge it, one of her pig tails got caught in the blaze, and as a result, the end of it is now crispy, black, and emitting smoke. Seiko shrieked.

"My hair! My beautiful hair's been singed!" Seiko shrieked.

"I'm glad it is, because you're not beautiful at all, you spoiled brat!" Terriermon retorted angrily.

"WHAT? IT CAN TALK?" Nenji, Seiko, all of their friends, and the rest of the kids (other than the Digimon Brigade) yelped, shocked by this new revelation.

"Come here, you no good-!" Seiko lunged at Terriermon, but he leaped up and pounded on her head, causing her to fall to the ground.

"I got it!" Iniki tried to grab him as well, but he slapped her with one of his ears.

"Keep still!" Tomoka tried to grab him too, but he shot another Bunny Blast at her. The bullies scrambled to subdue Terriermon, but he's just too fast and too nimble to be caught. Everyone watched as the bullies were losing miserably to a cute little yellow and green bunny rabbit that can shoot fire and turn into a little tornado.

"Uhh...should we put a stop to this?" Lucero asked.

"I...I have no idea," Hokuto muttered in response, to immersed by the fight to do anything.

"No way! I don't want this to end!" Melody exclaimed.

And she isn't the only one.

"Come on, Terriermon! You can do it! Kick their butts! Give those stupid idiots what they deserve! Burn 'em to a crisp!" Riku suddenly yelled angrily, actually swinging his arms and encouraging Terriermon to fight.

"Riku! Don't encourage him!" Rena pleaded.

"You kidding me? They deserve this!" Riku retored back angrily. Although the pandemonium is growing, Otoya could see something brown and pink trying to break through the crowd. She gasped a little, but not loud enough to draw the attention of the bullies.

"Blazing Fire!" Terriermon tried to shoot another fire ball at Nenji, but Hirofumi threw one of his notebooks, causing the fiery sphere to hit the notebook instead, which in turn caused the notebook to turn into ash.

"Nice one, Hirofumi!" Nenji exclaimed.

"Now I don't have to turn in that stupid essay!" Hirofumi exclaimed.

"Stop that thing!" Seiko yelled, angry with the boys for being so indolent. Terriermon was about to lunge on them again, happy to release his anger and give the bullies, in his point of view, what they rightfully deserve.

But the problem is...someone lunged onto him before he could unleash an attack.

"NO!"

It was Lopmon.

"Whoa! There's more of them?" Mansuke yelled.

"Oh no! Lopmon's here!" Lucero muttered to himself, quite shocked by her entrance, but for a different reason altogether. Now they're both exposed to the public eye. Terriermon tried to wriggle out of Lopmon's grasp, but she kept holding on.

"L-Let...me...go!" Terriermon pleaded as he tried to pry himself out of Lopmon's grasp.

"No! We're going home right this instant!" Lopmon told him sternly.

"Lemme land some more hits on 'em!"

"No!"

"Come on! I'm not done yet!"

"No!"

"Wow. That brown bunny's cool!" One kid whispered to his friend, impressed by her persistence and almost motherly attitude. But the bullies weren't having it, as Nenji suddenly grabbed Lopmon by the ear. She shrieked as she was yanked off of Terriermon forcefully.

"Hey!" Terriermon tried to grab her, but Nenji was too fast.

"Who do ya think you are, dawg? You tryin' to make a fool outta me? I'll show you!" Nenji tried to punch her, but Lopmon, seeing this to be a situation where she had to fight back in a split second, decided to do it.

"Freezing Snow!"

Lopmon made a blizzard stream out of her mouth, causing Nenji's arm to be encased in ice like a cast.

"GAAAH! COOOOLD!" Nenji yelled, but a second later, Lopmon threw herself at him, which caused him to release her.

_'So he's Nemoto Nenji, huh? He fits Yun's description perfectly. But that's not important right now! I need to get Terriermon out of here!' _Lopmon thought. She tried to run to Terriermon and stop him from causing more injuries (Mansuke, Nenji, and Hirofumi all got some scratches from having to deal with Terriermon), but suddenly, Iniki and Tomoka grabbed her by both of her ears.

"Seiko-chan! We got one of them!" Tomoka called out.

"Release me at once!" Lopmon pleaded, but Tomoka and Iniki weren't letting her go. Seiko tried to grab her, but Terriermon saw it and quickly pushed Mansuke to the ground, and flew at her.

"You're not laying a hand on my sister!" Terriermon's horn dug into Seiko's back, causing her to fall to the ground again. Out of fear, Iniki let go of Lopmon's ear and ran away.

"Hey! Iniki-chan! Come back here!" Tomoka pleaded, but shrieked as Lopmon slapped her in the face and pryed herself loose.

The epic fight continued. Terriermon continued to give Nenji, Seiko, and their friends a hard time while Lopmon tried to stop him, though it must be confessed that she did help out a little. She used her Freezing Snow attack to freeze Nenji, Mansuke, Hirofumi, and Seiko's legs to the asphalt, preventing them from moving any further. Finally, Terriermon sighed.

"Phew! That felt great! I'm done with you idiots. This is what you all get for being a bunch of cruel, malicious, and spoiled rotten idiots! I hope you all get garbage spilled all over you!" Terriermon yelled, pointing one of his little black fingers at them.

With that final piece of rhetoric, Terriermon has finally had enough of giving them a piece of his mind. Proud of his victory, he walked away with a smile on his face. Lopmon shook her head in disappointment and followed him, not wanting to let him out of her sight. She was going to give him a mouthful when they got home. Mansuke, Nenji, Hirofumi, and Seiko all tried to get away, but the ice on their feet stopped them from doing so. Some of the kids laughed, even Melody and Riku. Then, someone else came into the fray.

"Alright, what's going on here?" It was Miss Oginome, Yun's English and language arts teacher. Mansuke was the first to try to explain.

"Oginome-sensei! Some weird rabbit monsters came and attacked us!" Mansuke exclaimed. Miss Oginome crossed her arms and had a look that said 'rabbits? Yeah right!'

"It's true, Oginome-sensei! We saw them do it! Look! Seiko-chan's hair has been singed!" Tomoka said, pointing to Seiko who is crying and trying to revitalize her hair. Finally, Nenji broke out of the ice. So did Mansuke and Hirofumi.

"Do you really think I'd fall for a flimsy excuse like that?" Miss Oginome asked, sounding very displeased.

"It's true, sensei!" Hirofumi pleaded. Soon, the ice melted on Seiko's feet and she was able to get out. Tomoka ran to her looking worried.

"Seiko-chan! You okay?" Tomoka asked.

"NO, I'M NOT OKAY! Look, my beautiful hair's been singed! Now I'll never be beautiful again!" Seiko whined in a high pitched voice, which seemed to annoy Miss Oginome. She looked at Nenji, Mansuke, Hirofumi, Seiko, and Tomoka with disapproving eyes.

"You never were beautiful from the beginning!" Melody retorted.

"HEY!" Seiko yelled back.

"Not only do you five make a big scene in the middle of recess and using a mere fantasy as an excuse, you also assault another student in detention! All of you, to the principal's office right now! I'm calling the counselor and all of your parents!" Miss Oginome told them strictly as she grabbed Seiko by the arm.

"But sensei-!" Seiko tried to protest but Miss Oginome wasn't having it.

"No buts, missy! I'm sick and tired of this! You are all going to be punished and you are all going to suffer the consequences! I won't let anyone try to make excuses and bail you all out! Now MARCH!" Miss Oginome edicted angrily.

Seeing that she's serious, the kids decided to follow her without protest. Many of the kids who watched cheered, rejoiced, and shouted joyfully.

"You go, Oginome-sensei! You're awesome! It's no wonder you're my favorite teacher!" Riku cheered.

"Finally, we get some justice around here!" Otoya exclaimed.

"But how did Oginome-sensei know about what happened in detention yesterday?" Lucero asked, sounding confused.

"Don't you remember? The counselor walked in on the brouhaha. She probably told the principal and everyone else about it," Melody told him.

"I wonder if that assembly that's coming up is their doing?" Rena asked.

Finally, the bell rang and everyone went inside to resume their classes...well, almost everyone. Nenji, Seiko, Mansuke, Hirofumi, Tomoka, Iniki, and all of the seventh graders who were involved in assaulting Yun in detention were all forced to remain in the principal's office. The principal, Mr. Funakoshi, disciplined them real good, and proceeded to call their parents. Oddly enough, Seiko's parents were the only ones who didn't come...and there was a good reason for that.

What happened to Yun as the epic fight between Terriermon and the bullies was happening?

For starters, they did try to go to the doctor, but the building was closed, so they had to schedule an appointment for tomorrow morning. To take up some of their time, they decided to go food shopping. Yun still felt quite dejected, but did everything Hisako asked and got whatever they needed, like noodles, tomato sauce, dish washing detergent, toilet paper, paper towels, cookies, chocolate pudding, milk, truffles, bananas, apples, chicken, a bag of vegetables, yogurt, place mats, and other things. Yun didn't like the cheesy music playing in the background, but her stress did seem to fade a little bit. It took them a while to get everything they needed, but the trip did succeed in taking Yun's mind off of the terrible memories. They had to wait for a man to finish his purchases before they left, but Hisako got to pay for the stuff she got. But Hisako was only half done when the man suddenly tripped and stumbled.

"Wha-Wha-Wha-Whooooaaaa!"

The man tripped and fell on the floor while holding a big brown paper bag, and the contents spilled all over the floor. It's a good thing that they're all cans of food so nothing spilled. Yun, happening to be there, decided to help him out. She helped the man put the cans in the bag. The man smiled at her and was about to leave, but Yun saw a dollar bill and some coins on the floor and picked them up. Some people, who were watching, thought she was going to steal it and keep it for herself. But the opposite happened.

"Excuse me, sir!"

Yun ran to the man whose canned food spilled all over the place and showed him the money.

"You dropped your change," Yun said.

The man with the short and curly light brown hair was quite surprised by this kind gesture, and so was everyone else. He stood there for a while, the smiled at her and gently took the money.

"Thank you, little miss," The man said in a low but gentle and pleased voice.

"You're welcome. Try to be careful next time," Yun told him. The man chuckled and ran his hand through his head.

"Yeah, I'm quite the clumsy man. Thanks!" The man said and left with his bags in the silver shopping cart, though Yun had to silently admit that she hated the rattling and clattering sound it made. Some of the other customers began talking.

"Wow! Did you see that?"

"I sure did! That was so nice!"

"What a wonderful girl!"

"She could have taken the money, but returned it instead!"

"I wish more kids her age were like that these days!"

"More than that, I wish my kids were like that!"

Yun paid no attention to the well intentioned gossip and went to help Hisako with packing the groceries. Even Hisako couldn't help but compliment Yun's kind gesture.

"Wow, Yun. That's one of the nicest things you've ever done! I'm so proud of you!" Hisako said with a smile, but Yun didn't respond and just nonchalantly helped Hisako with packing her groceries. Hisako didn't mind and continued on. It took them a while to get back, and Yun helped Hisako put the groceries in their assigned places (well, most of them). Finally, Yun decided to relax by reading some manga, watching some anime, drawing, and playing some games. Cutemon was playing in the backyard so she didn't notice that Yun came back, nor did Yun notice her absence until Lopmon and Terriermon suddenly came into her room through her window.

"Lopmon? Terriermon? Why are you coming in through my window...and why are you all dirty?" Yun asked as she put down her manga.

She's right. Both Lopmon and Terriermon had some dirt and leaves on them. Yun decided to take them into the bathroom and give them a well needed bath. It took her about 20 minutes to get them clean and dry, but once they were, they went back into Yun's room. Cutemon came into the room as well.

"Hi, kyu!" Cutemon said.

Lopmon decided to take the plunge.

"Yun...please forgive us! The reason we're so dirty is because earlier today, Terriermon went to your school and fought with those kids who assaulted you! Nemoto and Shimizu!" Lopmon exclaimed, looking as though she were about to burst into tears.

Yun's eyes grew a little big. She didn't say anything. But Cutemon surely reacted.

"WHAT? Terriermon, you said you were only gonna go out and play, kyu!" Cutemon scolded.

"I tried to stop him, but he was so persistent and wouldn't listen to me!" Lopmon explained, then told the rest of the story in detail.

Yun was quite surprised. Terriermon actually WENT to her school and not only stood up to Nenji, Seiko, and their lackies, but actually attacked them in retaliation and gave them a hard time? Yun didn't know what to say, but Terriermon was quite proud and didn't notice the strange look on Yun's face.

"They deserved what they got! I wasn't gonna let them get away with what they did to you! No way! Not on my watch!" Terriermon exclaimed.

"But Terriermon! Now they know that we're not just stuffed animals! They're going to tell everyone about our existence!" Lopmon scolded.

"So? I don't care about that! They can say what we want! It's not like anyone's gonna believe them! They oughta-" Terriermon was about to argue with Lopmon for yet another time, but he suddenly stopped when he found himself being embraced by a tearful Yun. She didn't scream or cry out, but she certainly did sob.

"Oh, Yun, dear!" Lopmon hopped on her and tried to comfort her. So did Cutemon. Terriermon looked up, looking very confused.

"Yun? Did I...do something wrong?" Terriermon asked.

"No...I...I'm so happy...that you did something as wonderful as that for a stupid person like me. Thank you...so much, Terriermon. I'm so happy to have you and Lopmon in my life," Yun muttered.

Yes, she felt VERY grateful for Terriermon's noble deed. Hardly anyone (except for Melody and her circle of friends) ever did something like that for her. Especially if it meant revealing their existence to the world and having people talk about it for lord knows how long. She already loved the two little rabbit Digimon ever since they came to her as a DigiEgg, but now she loved them even more so than ever. She hugged Lopmon too. Cutemon leaped on her and rubbed herself against her cheek, which made Yun laugh a little.

"Please don't cry, Yun," Lopmon said.

"It's alright. I'm so happy..." Yun muttered. Then she let go of the rabbits and looked at Terriermon, feeling a bit calmer. "Terriermon...I really do appreciate you trying to help me. But really, you didn't have to do that. Mel-chan would have done it in a millisecond, and Lopmon DOES have a point. I didn't take you to school because I didn't want you or Lopmon to be discovered by Nemoto and Shimizu, and they love revealing people's secrets to the world."

"So? I didn't care about that! They did horrible things to you, and I wasn't gonna let them get away with it while everyone else did! Friends are supposed to help each other in times of need! That's what you said to Lopmon before she digivolved into Turuiemon, right? There's no way I'm gonna let you suffer while those idiots run scott free!" Terriermon explained, a little surprised by Yun's agreeing with Lopmon, though he knew she meant well.

"Yun, I'm so sorry I failed to stop him! I really did try. I truly did, but he was so persistent and wouldn't listen to me for a second," Lopmon said, feeling guilty for her part. But Yun smiled and didn't mind. She hugged them again.

"It's okay. I'm just happy you two are my partners, and I don't want anything bad to happen to you two. I love you both, my cute little Digimon friends!" Yun exclaimed, shedding some tears again.

Feeling happy that she truly does have friends who care about her despite her flaws, the rabbits decided to play together. They watched more anime, read manga, drew pictures, played video games, and frolicked about in the back yard together. Before Yun realized it, it was 3:15 PM. Ayaka had already come back.

"That's weird. Isn't Lucero supposed to be home by now?" Yun asked.

"I wonder what happened to him?" Lopmon asked.

"Do you think he had to stay after school for something, kyu?" Cutemon asked.

"Well, I'm sure it's probably for something important that the school made," Terriermon said.

Suddenly, there's a knock on the door. Yun jumped a little in fright.

"Yun-chan? You there?" A sweet voice asked. Yun recognized it and, slightly disobeying Hisako's orders, opened it.

"Aria-chan!"

Yep, there was Aria, dressed in a sleeveless blue green shirt with a yellow and red sun on it, tan shorts, and her pink shoes, holding a little black box in her hand.

"Hi Yun-chan! I came to visit! MarineAngemon too!" Aria exclaimed as MarineAngemon sat on her shoulder eagerly.

"Hi Yun-chan! Can we come in?" MarineAngemon asked.

Not wanting to turn them away, she decided to let them in. Aria gave Yun the box and she opened it. What's inside is a nice assortment of food.

"Did your stepmom make this?" Lopmon asked. Aria nodded.

"Mel-chan came by my house yesterday and told me about what happened. We tried to see you yesterday, but you were still in a bad mood. Are you okay?" Aria explained sweetly and innocently. Yun was touched by Aria's innocent kindness and ate one of the foods, which was an egg roll. Yun liked it and hugged Aria.

"Thanks, Aria-chan. You're the best," Yun said as she hugged Aria gently.

Soon, about half an hour later, Lucero and Hisako came back...along with most of the Digimon Brigade and their Digimon. The only ones who were absent were Kosuke, Isao, Bearmon, Shunji, and Dracomon. Among them were Shione and Patamon.

"Hi Yun! Sorry we're late! The principal made us all stay after school for an assembly," Lucero explained.

"You okay, Yun-chan? Mina-chan told us about what happened! I went and told Patamon about it," Salamon said with worry.

"What they did to you was just horrible!" Patamon exclaimed.

"How have you been feeling since then?" Labramon asked.

"My mom made some cookies yesterday, and I thought maybe I'd share them with you," Otoya said as she gave Yun a bag.

"Yun! You've got to see this!" Melody exclaimed happily as she showed Yun the video she recorded with her cell phone. Everyone watched and were quite shocked.

"It was awesome! Terriermon totally beat the life out of them!" Melody exclaimed.

"I don't think that's something to be happy about," Biyomon said, not feeling to good about Melody's sudden enthusiasm.

"Indeed. It's not nice to promote fighting, let alone record it and spread it all over the place," Kudamon backed her up.

"Umm...Yun? Just so you know, Oginome-sensei dragged Nemoto, Shimizu, and their friends to the principal's office and gave them a mouthful. I saw part of it, but I don't know what exactly happened after that," Minako said.

"I heard they got suspended!" Riku exclaimed.

"They better be, because I'm sick of them antagonizing everyone!" Shione said with her arms crossed.

"I'd feel MUCH better if they got expelled!" Melody said.

"That would have been better," Biyomon said.

Yun felt that everyone's presence alleviated her stress. She couldn't help but laugh a bit.

"Thanks everyone. You're all awesome," Yun said.

"We're sorry we weren't able to help you when you needed it the most," Otoya said.

"It's fine. It's not like there was much you could do, but I really appreciate this," Yun said.

"Yun? Would you like to play with us in the back yard? Some time outside would do you some good," Lunamon asked politely, not showing one hint of shyness upon putting herself in Yun's presence.

"I'll be sure not to burn anything to the ground!" Coronamon exclaimed. Yun stood up.

"Sure, we'd love to!" Yun said.

For about another hour, the kids and the Digimon played in the back yard. As Lunamon said, it really did do Yun great good. Otoya then remembered something she needed to tell Yun.

"Oh! Yun-chan! I forgot to tell you! There's no school tomorrow or Monday due to a teacher's convention," Otoya told her.

"Good. I can relax a little. Thanks for telling me," Yun said as Salamon sat on her lap contentedly. Otoya's then cheerful expression changed into a slightly sad one.

"Also, Yun...after you left detention yesterday, the counselor came in and yelled at Okui-sensei. We went to tell the principal about it. You should have seen how shocked he was. That assembly we went to...he showed us a video about a kid being bullied to the point of death, and showed us the article on that kid who threw himself off that bridge in America a year ago(1). I don't think many of the kids wanted to sit through something like that, but...I'm really sorry I wasn't able to help you back there," Otoya explained. Seeing how sincere she is, Yun smiled a bit and gently put a hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay. You tried, and that's great," Yun said.

"She's right, Otoya. It's because of your fervent faith in the school that they decided to hold that assembly, and the fact that you care so much about your friend," Labramon told her. Otoya became a little embarrassed.

"To be kinda honest, I hardly had any friends before I moved here, and I've always wanted to stick up for someone other than myself, so I guess you could say I got a little greedy," Otoya said.

"That's not greedy at all," Labramon told her kindly, rubbing himself against Otoya's leg.

Soon, everyone had to go home. Yun at least felt happy that they came to visit her and waved goodbye to them. As Patamon was about to leave, he saw the white D-Heart around Yun's neck shine a little. Lunamon noticed.

"What's wrong, Patamon?" Lunamon asked politely.

"I...I could swear that I saw...Yun-chan's D-Heart glow a little," Patamon whispered. Lunamon smiled.

"Maybe you did," Lunamon told him kindly.

Soon, everyone left, and Yun, Lucero, Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon are back in the house. Yun and Lucero went into Yun's room and talked.

"Yun...how hast thou been since early this morning?" Lucero asked with worry in his low voice.

"I'm feeling a bit better, though still a little shaken up inside," Yun replied. Lucero looked down dejectedly.

"I...I destroyed Shimizu's desk."

"You did?"

"Yes. Really destroyed. I broke it into a million pieces. I don't know how or why. I was...just so angry with her, I wanted to break her. But I didn't. If I did, I'd get in trouble."

"You were right to not break her," Lopmon crawled into Yun's loving arms when she (Yun) said that.

"I see now. Now I see why thy smile is more hardened than free. It's because of them! Nemoto, Shimizu, and their friends! Their treachery and cruelty preventeth thee from smiling freely and living life as thyself! I cannot and will not allow them to continue their transgressions! I do not understand why being an American is such a big deal to them! Thou did not asketh to be one quarter American! Thou art just born that way! It happens with everyone!"

"I know, and I agree. But they don't see it that way."

"No they don't!" Terriermon piped in.

Suddenly, Lucero found himself lost in thought. _'Why? I don't understand. Why...Why doth my chest constrict so at thy tears? Why doth my chest grow warm at the sight of thy smile? I...don't understand!'_ He thought. He couldn't help but think that maybe...

That thought was interrupted by Cutemon. "Kyu? I hear screaming, kyu!"

"What? Where?" Yun asked suddenly.

"Outside! There's a Digimon! I can feel it! Follow me!" Cutemon exclaimed and tried to run, but Yun grabbed her.

"Wait! I've gotta tell Mom first!" Yun said.

Yun asked if she, Lucero, and the Digimon could go out for a bit and Hisako approved, since she won't be starting dinner until later. In a flash, Yun dashed out of the house with Lucero, Cutemon, Lopmon, and Terriermon behind her. They ran to where Cutemon is leading them, which turned out to be a part of the neighborhood Yun had never seen before. It was close to her house, but Yun had never seen this part before. It was a little ways away from some houses, but this wasn't that was bothering Cutemon.

"No! Nooo! Stay away from me!" A man's voice called out in fear.

They went deeper and found a man cowering in fear in front of a monster clad completely in blue flames. Yun recognized that man.

'That's the guy from the grocery store! He's in trouble!' Yun thought as she whipped out her digivice.

"That's BlueMeramon, an ultimate level. His attacks are Ice Phantom and Sky Blue Flame!" Yun exclaimed. Lopmon saw that BlueMeramon's eyes are glowing red. A Dark Emblem is on him somewhere.

"You think we should stop him?" Terriermon asked.

"Yep!" Yun said.

In a flash, both Lopmon and Terriermon digivolved into Turuiemon and Gargomon. Yun knew that by choosing to save the man from BlueMeramon, she'd be exposing her Digimon to him. She understood the risks, but to her, as of now, those aren't important right now. She has to save him and keep BlueMeramon from getting into town and setting everything on fire. BlueMeramon charged at the man, opening his hand at him and attempting to grab him, but Yun flew at the man and pushed him out of the way. The man calmed down a bit, but gasped when he saw Yun.

"Whoa! You're the girl from earlier!" The man exclaimed.

"You okay?" Yun asked.

"Yes. Thanks...AHH! More monsters!" The man said calmly at first, then yelped when he saw Gargomon and Turuiemon, and Cutemon digivolving into Rabbitmon.

"It's okay. The giant rabbits are on our side," Yun told him, then looked at her friends with conviction. "Turuiemon and Gargomon! Make sure BlueMeramon doesn't use his fire attacks or run into town! Find the Dark Emblem and destroy it!"

"You got it! Bunny Pummel!" Gargomon exclaimed as he managed to smack BlueMeramon across the back of the head with one of his vulcans. But BlueMeramon didn't intend on giving up yet.

"Frost Knuckle!" One of his fists became encased with ice and he managed to smack Gargomon with it, causing him to fly against a tree.

"Gauntlet Claw!" Turuiemon jumped on him and tried to dig one of her claws into him, though BlueMeramon is giving her a hard time. He grabbed Turuiemon by her blue scarf and threw her off of him, which gave Gargomon time to attack him again.

"Gargo Laser!" Bullets shot out of Gargomon's vulcans, successfully hitting BlueMeramon and landing some hits. Turuiemon attempted to attack once again, but BlueMeramon beat her to it.

"Ice Phantom!" A blizzard of bluish white fire shot out from BlueMeramon's mouth.

"Turuiemon! Look out!" Yun called out. Turuiemon only barely managed to dodge it, but as a result, her blue scarf caught some of the flames, and it burned away as a result. Yun took the man by the hand and slowly escorted him away from the scene, but the man looked at BlueMeramon and saw something.

"Umm...I see something under the blue man's armpit," The man said.

"Where?" Yun asked.

"There," The man pointed to BlueMeramon's left armpit. It's a good thing BlueMeramon was holding up his arms, because Yun saw a Dark Emblem underneath BlueMeramon's armpit!

"You're right! Good eyes, sir!" Yun said, lauding him for his sight, which made him blush a bit.

"Turuiemon! Gargomon! The Dark Emblem is under his left armpit!" Yun called out, then looked at the man. "Stay here. I'm gonna help them out a bit."

Yun then ran off, which made the man worry. "No! Wait! It's too dangerous!"

"Gargo Laser!"

"Ninja Fist!"

"Carrot Bomb!"

Turuiemon, Gargomon, and Rabbitmon all persisted and tried to make sure BlueMeramon didn't have time to use any of his fire attacks or be allowed to run loose in town. If he were to use one of his fire attacks in town, the entire city would be engulfed in flames! Yun, nor anyone else, did NOT want this to happen. They fought for quite some time.

"Ugh! I wish I could digivolve into ultimate so it'd be easier to hit him!" Gargomon exclaimed, panting a little and beginning to get tired. Even BlueMeramon is beginning to lose his energy.

"Look! He's getting tired! This might be our chance to remove the Dark Emblem!" Rabbitmon said. Suddenly, BlueMeramon attacked.

"Ice Phantom!" More icy flames shot out from BlueMeramon's mouth. This time, Turuiemon spun around in a tornado like spiral, masterfully using her gauntlets to slice the flames and keep them from hitting her. But BlueMeramon began running toward her angrily. This is when Yun made her move.

At the right moment, she used her digilasso and wrapped it around one of BlueMeramon's feet as he was running, which caused him to trip and fall to the ground.

"Alright! Nice one, Yun!" Gargomon cheered.

"No time to cheer just yet! Get the Dark Emblem off of him!" Yun said.

In a flash, Rabbitmon, Turuiemon, and Gargomon both ran to BlueMeramon before he could get back up. Rabbitmon took the liberty of sitting on his back and tying his hands backward so he wouldn't escape. Turuiemon lifted his armpit up, and Gargomon shot some attacks at it, finally causing the Dark Emblem to break and dissipate. BlueMeramon fell unconscious and the Digimon got off of him. Yun returned to the man and took him out of their hiding spot.

"Great job, everyone!" Yun said to them.

"I wonder how we were able to defeat an ultimate so easily without digivolving?" Turuiemon asked.

"Dunno. But we stopped him from causing trouble so let's celebrate!" Gargomon said.

"WHOA! You talk too?" The man yelped. Yun held onto his arm.

"It's okay! They're not bad monsters. They're my friends!" Yun told him gently. Finally, the man calmed down and sighed.

"Thank you...for saving me another time," He said to Yun.

"I didn't do much. My friends here did most of the work," Yun told him.

"I'm sorry...this is all so dizzying. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about them. I promise," The man told her with a smile this time. "Oh! I almost forgot. Would you mind telling me your name?"

"Sure!" Yun proclaimed. "I'm Yun. Wakamiya Yun!"

The man's eyes grew a little big, and he seemed to take in a breath almost as if he recognized her.

"What's wrong?" Turuiemon asked.

"Umm...forgive me if I'm suddenly prying, but...you wouldn't happen to go to Fushimi Middle School, would you?" The man asked.

"Yeah, I go there. Why?" Yun replied.

"Well, uh...you see-"

"Look! He's waking up!" Rabbitmon pointed out.

She's right. BlueMeramon woke up, but groaned a bit as he did. He sat on his rear end with his legs criss-crossed and rubbed his head as if he were having a migraine.

"Oh no!" The man yelped.

"It's alright. The Dark Emblem's off of him so he won't go wild," Yun told him reassuringly.

"Urgh...what happened to me?" BlueMeramon asked, sounding quite weary. Once he got a good look at his surroundings, he immediately jumped and yelped a bit.

"Oh no! I didn't destroy anything, did I? Oh dear, oh dear! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to cause such a racket!" BlueMeramon stammered, which made the man calm down a bit. Yun ran to BlueMeramon.

"It's okay. We made sure you didn't set anything on fire," Yun told him. BlueMeramon, suddenly feeling guilty for the trouble he did cause, sat on his knees and bowed before them.

"I'm so terribly, truly sorry! I honestly don't know what came over me! I beseech your forgiveness!" BlueMeramon cried, feeling quite remorseful. Yun kneeled before him.

"It's alright. It's not your fault. That Dark Emblem was controling you, and you didn't hurt anyone," Yun told him, which made him look up and smile a bit.

"I must thank you for stopping me. I am in your debt, human," BlueMeramon said very politely, bowing before her.

"I'm just glad you're back to your old self," Yun told him. Suddenly, BlueMeramon caught sight of the man and became curious. BlueMeramon walked up to him and silently examined him a little, which made the man feel a tad uncomfortable.

"Oh! I'm sorry. Forgive my intrustion, but...I couldn't help but notice you feel a little conflicted inside," BlueMeramon told him softly.

"Conflicted?" The man asked.

"Yes. There seem to be problems in your life that you're trying to fix, but they seem to be slipping out of your hands whenever you try to. You're almost at your wit's end. Almost on the threshold of the thought that there may be no hope," BlueMeramon said.

"Hey! That's not a nice thing to say!" Yun scolded.

"I'm sorry. That's just the feeling I got just now. Probably just a bunch of nonsense. If you'll excuse me, I think I'll return to my world, though this place does seem fairly interesting," BlueMeramon said as he backed away and opened a digital portal. He smiled at them. "Thanks again for saving me! I hope to see you all again! I bid you all good day!"

With that, he leaped into the digital portal and it disappeared. Yun looked up at the man.

"Should we walk you home?" Yun asked.

"No, I'm fine. You've helped me enough. You should go back home. Your parents might be worried about you," The man told her.

"Okay. I was just about to do that. Bye! Take care!" Yun said as she waved goodbye to him and left. By this time, Rabbitmon and Gargomon had de-digivolved back into Cutemon and Terriermon. Turuiemon stayed as she was. Yun noticed that Turuiemon looks rather dejected.

"What's wrong?" Yun asked.

"My scarf got burned," Turuiemon replied sadly.

Scarf? This gave Yun an idea.

"Oh! I know!" Yun said as she raced back home with Turuiemon, Cutemon, and Terriermon following her. Right when Yun dashed through the door, she opened the closet, reached up to a box on top of the closet, pulled out a pretty white scarf, took it outside (Turuiemon is too big to fit through the door), and wrapped it around Turuiemon.

"There! Perfect!" Yun said with a smile as she tied the white scarf around Turuiemon.

The scarf felt quite soft, and Yun made sure not to tie it very tight lest Turuiemon choke or suffocate or suffer from early heat stroke. Turuiemon, a little surprised by Yun's gesture, stroke the scarf gently. It wasn't itchy, nor was it very heavy, but she liked the feel of it. Turuiemon always loved Yun, and with this kind gesture, she couldn't help but feel a little warm inside. Happy with this kind deed, she smiled and hugged Yun.

"Thank you, Yun. My wonderful friend," Turuiemon said. Then she de-digivolved back into Lopmon and the rabbits went back inside.

"Whew! I'm hungry! What's for dinner?" Terriermon exclaimed.

"Now Terriermon, you shouldn't think about food so much," Lopmon told him sternly but gently.

"I'm kinda hungry too, kyu," Cutemon said.

Yun was about to go inside, but she couldn't help but think about the man.

'That man...he kinda reminds me of someone. Could he...? Nah! No way! They're nothing alike!' Yun thought as she went inside and closed the door.

The man Yun ran into and saved from BlueMeramon reminded her of someone. Someone she didn't like...and little did she know that her suspicion is true. About a little ways away from Yun's house, but close to Fushimi Middle School, the man from earlier walked into a rather small cream and beige colored house, his house, and sat on one of the big deep blue living room couches. The man is quite tired, and he sighed hugely as he looked up at the ceiling. Something was on his mind.

_'So _SHE'S_ Wakamiya Yun...what a nice girl she is. But...why? Why would my daughter...?'_ The man thought. Suddenly, he remembered a bad memory from earlier today.

(flashback)

_After he came home from grocery shopping, put everything back, and was about to read a book, he got a phone call. He rushed to answer the phone._

_"Hello?"_

_Silence._

_"Yes, this is her father."_

_Silence._

_"Oh! Hello, Funakoshi-sensei! How've you been?"_

_Silence._

_"Huh? No, I never noticed anything."_

_Silence._

_"WHAT? You're kidding!"_

_Silence._

_"Y-Yes. I'm sorry I haven't been here. I was out grocery shopping. Tell me everything!"_

_Silence. The man couldn't believe what he was hearing...and he did NOT like what he was beind told._

_"Oh good lord! I-I'm so sorry, principal! I can't believe I never noticed! Do you want me to come to the school right now?"_

_Silence._

_"No? Alright then. I'm so terribly sorry for this! How could I be so stupid as to not notice anything? Thanks for telling me. I'll definitely ground her tonight!"_

_Silence._

_"It's unlikely she'll comply, but see to it that the problem is resolved. I'll do my part too. Thank you very much. Goodbye."_

_And with that, he hung up._

(end flashback)

The man had felt quite uncomfortable since then. After he got the phone call, he went out for a walk to ease his nerves. It didn't exactly help thanks to BlueMeramon, but he got to see Yun and see what she's really like. Knowing this, he decided to get up, walk into his as of now unknown daughter's room...and unhook her computer. It took him about fifteen minutes to do so, but he successfully unhooked everything, put it all in a closet, locked it, and put the key in a safe box in his room. He locked that up tight, so nobody can get in and steal anything from it. Not only that, he took his daughter's I-pod and bottles of finger nail polish and locked them in the closet as well. He again put the key back into the carefully guarded and locked safe box. After that, he went back into the living room. About a few minutes later, his daughter came in.

"Urgh! My hair's totally ruined!"

If Yun knew who his daughter was, she would be so appalled that she wouldn't even be able to speak, because the man's daughter is actually...Seiko!

Seiko just walked past her dad and didn't seem to acknowledge he was there. She went into her room, and was shocked to find that a lot of her things are missing.

"Hey! My computer's gone! My I-pod and my nail polish too!" Seiko yelped. She ran back into the living room.

"Dad! Where's my computer?" Seiko yelled angrily. The man balled his fists and gritted his teeth together.

"I unhooked it and locked it in the closet," He uttered.

"WHAT? Why did you do that?" Seiko whined.

"Earlier today...I got a call from the school! They say that you've not only mercilessly bullied an innocent girl for lord knows how long, you've recruited seventh graders and bribed them into assaulting her in detention and didn't do a thing to stop it!" The man explained. He then looked at Seiko with angry eyes.

Seiko pouted. "Well, she started it!"

"Even if she started it, and I'm not saying that she did, you continued it! So it doesn't matter who starts it if I have to finish it!"

Seiko scoffed lightly.

"This time, Seiko, you'll be punished for a month!" Her father edicted. "No computer, no I-pod, and no bringing your nail polish and make-up to school! And as for your chores, I still expect you to do them...but you're not getting your allowance. So you can forget about buying new nail polish for the next month!"

Seiko said nothing in response to that, but crossed her arms in defiance.

"Now, go to your room and get started on your homework, young lady!"

"What?" Seiko gasped. "Without my computer to help me?"

"You heard me. You've got two hands and ten fingers. Start putting them to use with a pencil instead of a keyboard. You've spent far too much time making fun of everyone else's flaws and not enough time fixing your own!"

"But she deserved it!"

"Shimizu Seiko Konami! Never EVER say that someone deserves to be assaulted! How would you like it if someone said that you deserve it?"

"But she did deserve it! She won the art contest that I was supposed to win!"

"If you have to blame anyone for that, blame the teachers who judged the contest. That is, if you think you're brave and stupid enough to do that."

"And she's a show-off, practically bragging about how good she is at English!"

"Well, maybe you would be as good at English as she is if you actually TRY!"

"And she's American!"

At this, her father finally stopped and scowled. He knew where this was going. "Seiko, go do your homework."

"Didn't you hear what I just said? She's American! She said so herself!"

"Stop changing the subject! This isn't about what someone else did; this is about what YOU did!"

"But Dad! Those Americans bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki! Great grandma died back then! They've destroyed most of Japan! They're nothing but ruthless barbarians!"

"We're no different from them, Seiko! We bombed Pearl Harbor and killed thousands of people! We mistreated American and Filipino prisoners of war during the Bataan Death March! I can't even tell you about the atrocities we committed in China and Korea!"

"But AFTER that! They put us in those internment camps made of horse stalls and poop! Great-grandpa died because of it!"

"It's not as if that girl's great-grandparents put your great-grandparents to death! Stop placing the blame on all Americans!"

"Why? Don't you?"

"Of course not! They didn't do anything to US! Hating Americans for something from the past won't do anyone any good!"

"Didn't do anything to us? They practically took Mom away from us! Why don't you get it, Dad? Aren't you mad that Mom left us for some fat American guy?"

"Go do your homework, NOW!"

"Mom left because of you! I HATE YOU, DAD!"

And with that, Seiko ran to her room in tears. Seiko's father sighed and sat back on the couch, feeling quite drained of all his energy.

_'Why did it have to come to this? Why? This wasn't what I wanted...what neither of us wanted. Ichika? Tell me...why didn't you take Seiko with you? She'll be much happier with you than someone like me...'_ The man thought sadly, feeling his heart ache painfully. He looked at a picture next to the TV. It showed him, a younger Seiko, and a young woman with long and curly dark brown hair tied in a ponytail and glasses. His eyes began to water a little bit.

"Ichika...Seiko...I'm so sorry..." He muttered.

Footnotes:

1. Otoya is referring to Tyler Clementi, the boy who committed suicide by throwing himself off the George Washington Bridge on September 22nd, 2010, after his sexual encounter with another boy was streamed on the internet by his roommate.


	43. Will The Light Shine Again?

EPISODE 43: Will The Light Shine Again?

Because of the teacher's convention that Otoya told Yun and the others about, there's no school today or Monday, which everyone seemed to be happy about. Yun was especially happy about this because she can either hang out with the Digimon Brigade more, or play with Lopmon, Cutemon, Terriermon, and Lucero all weekend without a care in the world, and nobody would stop her! She would watch anime with them, read manga and books with them, play video games with them, talk with them, and play outside with them, and she wouldn't have one care in the world. But she still has to go to the doctor because her injuries need to be examined, so the morning had to be spent in the doctor's office. Lopmon, Cutemon, Terriermon, and Lucero were left in the house with Teruki and Ayaka (Teruki took the day off today, and Ayaka's home for the same reason Yun is). Lopmon went outside and admired the flowers in the garden, Terriermon and Cutemon chased each other around, and Lucero sat on one of the chairs on the desk, looking up at the bright, pristine blue sky, which doesn't have one cloud in sight.

Lucero had been thinking about Yun and what she went through the past week. Ever since he met her, he could see that all of Yun's kind and noble intentions are perfectly genuine, without any thought of greed or malice behind them. To him, and the rabbits, Yun is a genuinely kind, gentle, sweet, and warm hearted person who cares about everyone and doesn't brag about it or act arrogant at all. That just wasn't her. He could tell right from the beginning that Yun was a kind person, more so when she saved him from death so long ago. The more time he spent with her, the more he grew to understand her and, most importantly, love her. For who she is and for standing up for what's right. Why in the world would anyone want to think of her kind acts and persona as nothing more than ulterior motive for something greedy and malicious? Lucero was quite perturbed by this question. For as long as he knew Yun, he not once saw any sign of malice behind her kind intentions. Who would want to save someone just for some kind of ulterior motive? He was quite mad at Kosuke for saying those mean things to her last week, mad at Seiko and Nenji for bullying her, Nenji's mother for claiming that Yun is the bully, and Teruki for letting his anger get the best of him and not allow Yun to tell him what really happened. Lucero ruminated about everything that had been happening, and believed with conviction that Yun is NOT the person they think she is.

He saw everything. He saw how kindly Yun treated Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon, how selfless and sweet she was when she took care of Lucero when they first found him, how kind she was to Rabbitmon when they first met, how noble it was of her to protect a lone Digimon from Nayuki (Lopmon told him about it), and how brave she was when she stood up to Seiko during recess that one day. He also knew that Yun does have a complex about being useless and not being able to help someone in a significant way. He didn't see her as useless at all. No, not once did he deem Yun useless or a parasite or a menace to society. How could she be? But alas, people don't like her for being who she is and lash out at her because of it. This angered him greatly, and he couldn't understand why anyone would be so maliciously cruel and merciless and insidious toward someone as gentle and kind and sweet as Yun, when she hadn't done anything wrong? Lucero suddenly found himself in a pensive state, trying to think about all the things he found great about Yun: her short dark brown hair like chocolate, her big, round, shining emerald green eyes like dew, her snow white skin, her plump cheeks, her little pointed pixie nose, her small, soft, tender hands (Hisako says she still has baby hands), the sweet voice she used when she was being kind and the shrill voice she used when being angry or brave, her slender fingers, her cute smile (Yun often says she's incapable of smiling for real, but Lucero and the others have seen her do it dozens of times), the way she cheers and jumps around happily when she's happy and excited about something (much to the annoyance of people like Ayaka), everything. Lucero felt warm inside and he doesn't know why.

_'Yun...I don't understand. For what reason doth my chest constrict so at thy tears? Thou hast such a radiant smile, yet it is dimmed by the cruelty of others. Why?'_ Lucero asked himself about a million times since early this week. He couldn't quite understand. But he did, however, have plans for Yun today. He's had enough of seeing her feel sad and so despondent to the point of looking like an empty shell. He planned to take her out and make her happy once she got back from the doctor. Lucero couldn't stand to see Yun be so sad anymore. He wanted only one thing, the thing he wished for the day he met Yun: to see her natural smile, her radiant smile, the one he saw on the tape showing a two and a half year old Yun playing. He wanted to see that on her. He didn't care how he'd do it. He was going to do it and make Yun happy. That's what friends do, right? Make each other happy. Lucero saw that the beautiful light in Yun's heart is dimming quickly, and he wanted to make that light shine again. That sublime, luminous light that came from Yun and only Yun...well, as he thought. He wondered why the world could be so harsh and judgmental to those who are innocent. Suddenly, he was pulled out of his reverie.

"What's wrong, kyu?" Cutemon asked innocently, which caught Lucero's attention.

"Cutemon..." Lucero muttered softly, a little surprised by Cutemon's appearance. Cutemon tilted her head to one side looking a tad dejected and a tad curious.

"Are you worried about Yun-chan, kyu?" Cutemon asked again. Seeing how sincere and genuinely worried she is, Lucero smiled, picked Cutemon up, and held her close.

"Yes, I am. But thou shan't worry. I plan on brightening her day today when she comes back," Lucero told her kindly. Cutemon, thinking that Lucero's skin is quite soft, relished in the feeling and rubbed herself against him.

"You're so nice, kyu," Cutemon said sweetly. Lucero hugged Cutemon gently and kissed her on the head.

"Thou art nice yourself," Lucero told her. He and Cutemon both saw Terriermon walking past them.

"Terriermon? What are you doing, kyu?" Cutemon asked.

"I'm tired of playing outside for right now, so I'm gonna watch one of Yun's anime DVDs!" Terriermon said. Lucero smiled.

"Be sure thou doth not break any of them," Lucero advised.

"I won't!" Terriermon said as he walked through the back door.

Finally, after another half hour, the same half hour in which Terriermon watched Yun's DVD of _Moyashimon_(1), Yun and Hisako came back home. Yun's injuries turned out to be not as bad as anyone thought, and she should be fine. For another hour, she played with Lucero, Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon happily, but for 20 more minutes decided to take some time for herself, sit in the basement, and draw. She drew a rainbow over a white bird with wings whose feathers are in all the colors of the rainbow, and she's proceeding to draw a girl character she made herself.

"The bird has the ability to travel into people's minds and see their _'worlds'_, which are their state of mind. One day, she meets Mako, a shy girl who's being bullied by a girl in a wheelchair. Feeling sorry for her, the bird decides to go into her world and help her out! This will be great! My first full on manga!" Yun muttered to himself. She still knows absolutely nothing about what will make a real manga, but she got so excited with her first story idea that she decided to go on with the draft anyhow. She even wrote down chapter ideas in a notebook that Ayaka had discarded years ago that she (Yun) began using. After a while, she decided to put her story down.

"I think that'll be enough for today," Yun said as she was about to go upstairs, but she saw Lucero coming down them.

"Oh! Hi Lucero. Didn't see you up there," Yun said as Lucero finally came down in front of her.

Now that the opportunity has arrived, Lucero felt a little nervous at first. But seeing that he may not get many chances like this again, he steeled his mettle, balled his fists, and looked Yun straight in the eyes.

"Yun. I was wondering...since we have a four day weekend, I was thinking maybe we could hang out and go outside together. The weather is very nice today, and we could go to a great many places and have fun," Lucero explained as lucidly and calmly as possible, hoping he wouldn't give Yun any strange ideas. Suddenly, Yun beamed.

"Sure! I'd love to hang out with you today, and yeah the weather IS nice today. We have a four day weekend, so we shouldn't waste it!" Yun exclaimed happily, which made Lucero smile.

"Thanks. Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon can come with us if thou wish," Lucero said.

"Yeah! We'll bring them too!" Yun told him happily.

It took them a while to get ready, but they were looking forward to today. Hisako saw that they were quite serious about going out by themselves and she agreed to let them go, so long as they don't get separated and be back before dark. Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon decided to accompany them. Yun brought her wallet with her in case she needed to get something, like food or a new book. At about noon, the five of them left the house and walked into town. At first, all they did was look around and watch the scenery, which they didn't mind. In fact, Yun and the Digimon quite liked it. Yun never was fond of going outside, especially on her own. She was too gripped by fears, like being kidnapped or losing her way (despite living in this town for the first eleven years of her life). Now that she's met Lucero and the Digimon, she's been going out more and more and is loving every moment of it. It was no wonder she was often times bored before she met her new friends. For a moment, Lucero and the rabbit saw the shine in her eyes, even if it was just for a little bit.

After a while, they decided to walk over to Yun's favorite ice cream shop, Asagi's. Since they both had money on them, they decided to get some. Lopmon, Yun, and Lucero all decided to have vanilla, Terriermon chocolate, and Cutemon strawberry. It's a good thing they had money on them. The kids and Digimon got their ice cream and ate at one of the picnic tables next to the shop. The rabbits never had ice cream before, and they decided to try it. Boy, were they mesmerized! They fell in love! Yun's been eating vanilla ice cream her whole life, and not only is it her favorite flavor, it's the only flavor she'll ever eat (Terriermon and Lopmon knew this is part of her disability, sticking to only one thing. She can't eat any peanut butter that's not the Jif brand, no bread that's not Z-Bate, no chocolate pudding that's not Stickee, and no iced tea that's not the ShopRite brand. To her, it's too weird to eat a different brand, and that brand ends up not tasting good. They understood how she felt because they felt the same way). Yun saw that Lucero got ice cream on his nose and gently stroke it off, which made Lucero laugh a little, which in turn made Terriermon laugh. Lopmon didn't scold him this time because she knew that he wasn't laughing out of malice. The ice cream cooled them down and made them feel refreshed.

Next, they decided to go to the library and read some books. Yun doesn't have a library card so she can't take any out, but the librarians allowed them to read whatever book they pleased. Yun read _Out of My Mind_(2), the first two books in _The Magic Tree House_(3) series, and the first few chapters of _Watership Down_(4). Lopmon and Lucero did too. Terriermon read a few _Goosebumps_(5) books and Cutemon read _The Poky Little Puppy_(6). Yun decided that she was going to get these books the next time she and Hisako went to her favorite book store. They then decided to go to the 49 cent store. Yun noticed that Lucero didn't get anything for himself and became concerned.

"Lucero? Aren't you gonna get a little something for yourself?" Yun asked.

"Why dost thou ask?" Lucero asked back.

"Well, I kinda notice you're kinda holding back. You can buy whatever you want. I'm not trying to stop you or the rabbits or anything. I mean, we all deserve a little something once in a while," Yun told him.

She was right. Ever since Lucero came into the Wakamiya household, he almost NEVER asked for anything. As of now, his new room is still quite plain, with nothing but a futon and a closet full of clothes. He didn't bother to get any toys or books or games or anything like that. Yun and the rabbits often wondered why he never asked for anything. In this day and age, your average boy probably couldn't live without at least one awesome toy or video game. But Lucero...isn't like that. Yun understood this and didn't mind, but she didn't want to make it look as though she's depriving him, and the rest of the Digimon Brigade, of the ability to make their own decisions and do what they want. Yun didn't want that. She always gave the rabbits freedom of their choosing and let them do what they want, so long as they didn't cause any trouble. Not only that, as the unofficial leader of the Digimon Brigade (though Yun has never claimed to be a leader in any way), she wanted to give her teammates the freedom of expressing their opinions and showing how they feel about certain situations. She wanted to make them all feel appreciated, listen to them, and make them feel comfortable, though she does feel that she failed horribly at this (Kosuke).

Lucero never did ask for much, and to him, it was mostly because he felt he was indebted to the Wakamiya family enough just for saving him. He felt that if he asked for anything, he would end up growing even more indebted to them and, despite the fact that he really liked them, he didn't want that, though with Yun telling him what she just did, his fears turned out ungrounded. He decided to look around and see if there was anything he'd like. He saw a box containing a multicolored slinky. He saw someone playing with it once, and he thought it looked fun to play with, so he decided to pick it up. On another section, he saw something else. He saw a small pack of hair accessories with little pink rabbits on them. 'Yun would love these!' He thought, and decided to pick them up. He then went into the cold food section and saw a plastic container holding a small slice of chocolate cake. He was about to grab it when someone else laid his hand on it. He looked up and saw that it was none other than...Kosuke!

"Kosuke!" Lucero exclaimed.

"Lu-Lucero..." Kosuke muttered, quite shocked by his presence. Kosuke is wearing a long, blue, short-sleeved shirt and tan pants. His backpack is on his back, and inside it was Patamon, who peeked out.

"Oh! Hi Lucero! How are you?" Patamon said cheerfully.

"I'm good. How art thou?" Lucero replied.

"We're doing good. We managed to scrape together some money to get some more groceries," Patamon said. Kosuke looked rather embarrassed upon hearing Patamon tell them about their situation. Kosuke looked away from Lucero.

"Is...Yun with you?" Kosuke asked in a low voice. Lucero could tell that he wasn't too happy upon mentioning her name, and he could tell that he still had hard feelings. But he felt obliged to tell the truth.

"Yes, she is with me," Lucero said.

"Is she?" Patamon asked, then put his paws on Kosuke's head. "Kosuke! This is a great opportunity! Yun-chan's here, so you should go find her and apologize!"

It's a good thing Patamon understands her, because Lucero was still quite mad at Kosuke for the mean things he said to her in the last week and a half. Lucero felt that this was the perfect opportunity to share some words with him.

"Kosuke? I know thy situation at home is not thy fault, and that thou did not wish for it in any way. I can understand if thou art angry because of it, but...it's not good to take it out on others, especially when they're trying to help thee. Aren't thou happy that someone is willing to help thee?" Lucero asked.

Kosuke clutched his shopping cart tightly and gritted his teeth.

"She's not helping me because she cares! She's only doing it to satisfy her ego! Stop telling me all those lies!" Kosuke yelled angrily and ran away. Patamon flew out of his backpack before he could do so.

"Kosuke!" Patamon called out, but Kosuke didn't come back. Patamon fell into Lucero's arms looking quite dejected.

"I'm so sorry, Lucero! I've tried everything but he's STILL not budging! I honestly don't know why he's so stubborn, and you're right, he's angry because of his mom," Patamon importuned sadly. Lucero smiled at him and stroke his wing gently.

"It's alright. I know thou art trying to ameliorate the situation, and I'm happy that at least thou understand that Yun is not what he thinks," Lucero told him kindly.

"Yeah. Yun-chan's not a bad person. Kosuke's just taking his anger out on her and doesn't know what to do. It's not nice, I know, but I'm not gonna give up just yet! I'll make sure that Kosuke finally understands that Yun-chan really does care about him! I hope you understand," Patamon told him.

"I do, and I thank thee for thy unrelenting kindness. Shouldst thou not accompany him?" Lucero told him.

"Yeah, I should. It was nice seeing you. Tell Yun-chan I said hi!" Patamon said.

"Please be discreet. People are still here, and I don't want thou to be spotted," Lucero said.

"Thanks! I'll do that. Bye!" Patamon said and walked away slowly. Thankfully nobody noticed and Lucero smiled upon seeing that unlike Kosuke, Patamon is at least trying to make Kosuke understand and fix the situation between them. He did wonder why they're so different from each other. Yun and the rabbits returned.

"Did you find anything you like?" Yun asked. Lucero showed her the slinky box.

"Oh! That's great!" Yun said. The two of them went and paid for what they got...but not before noticing how weird and dead-pan one of the cashiers looked and sounded. He talked in a REALLY monotone voice and, to Yun, he almost looked like a fish. Once they got out of the store, they suddenly burst out laughing.

"Bwahahaha! That guy looked hilarious!" Lucero laughed.

"He looked like a fish!" Yun laughed. Even Lopmon couldn't help but chuckle a little despite her knowing that it's not nice to laugh at other people's flaws.

"Fishy, kyu!" Cutemon laughed heartily.

"We should go in there again!" Terriermon said. Once they all calmed down, Lopmon decided it was time to go somewhere else.

"Is there any place else you'd like to go?" Lopmon asked. Yun looked up and ruminated deeply.

"Hmmm...not in particular. There are a few places, but I don't think we can get to them unless we have Mom or Dad take us," Yun said. Cutemon then suddenly had an idea.

"Oh! Oh! Yun-chan! Why don't you fly there, kyu?" Cutemon suggested. At first, Yun was confused and didn't get what Cutemon was talking about, but after about a minute, she got it.

"OHHH! I get it! You're right! Thanks, Cutemon! But I wonder if she'll be able to carry two people?" Yun exclaimed, but starting to show signs of doubt.

"We'll never know unless we try," Terriermon said.

"Very good point, Terriermon," Lucero said.

"We should get out of here first. People might see us," Yun said. Everyone agreed, and decided to go to the back of the 49 cent store. It's a good thing nobody's there, so this gave Yun the opportunity to do what she planned to do. She pulled out her digivice, and her white swan shaped D-Chip. She gently put the D-Chip in the rectangle-shaped slip in her digivice and uttered a chant.

"Oh fellow Digimon friend, hear my voice. I commandeth thee to reveal thyself to me. Appear before me, Swanmon!" Yun chanted and raised her digivice into the air. A white light came out from it and shot into the air. The light came back onto the ground, looking much bigger than before. Once the light dissipated, out came Swanmon! Swanmon looked around, looking very confused.

"Huh? What happened just now?" Swanmon asked in her sweet voice.

"Hi Swanmon!" Yun welcomed her cheerfully, which made Swanmon smile.

"Oh! If it isn't Yun-chan! How have you been since we last met?" Swanmon said, looking quite happy to see them.

"Fine. How've you been? Sorry if I called you while you were busy," Yun said.

"It's quite alright. Monzaemon gave me the day off so I'm perfectly free as of now. Is this the world you live in? My, it's so very interesting!" Swanmon explained politely.

"If you want, you can fly around and see more of it. We'll accompany you," Yun told her.

"Oh! I see! You want to ride on my back and have me fly around this place?" Swanmon asked.

"Is that alright?" Lopmon asked.

"Of course! My wing is feeling much better thanks to you, and I would love to take you on a flying trip! Hop on! I promise I'll be careful!" Swanmon exclaimed, sounding quite chipper and jubilant.

"Can you carry two people?" Terriermon asked.

"Yes, I am capable of that," Swanmon replied.

"If it gets tiring for you, you can tell us you want to stop if you want to," Yun told her.

"I appreciate it, dearie. Now off we go!" Swanmon said as Yun, Lucero, and the rabbits climbed onto her back. Then, after some flapping of her wings, she ascended into the air and took off.

The kids, rabbits, and Swanmon were all awestruck by how small the world looks from the sky. Yun, Lucero, and the rabbits made sure to hold on tight so that they don't fall off, and Swanmon made sure not to fly too hard or too high lest she suddenly feels any pain. Swanmon was also quite surprised by how vast and populated this part of the human world looked.

"Look! There's my house!" Yun pointed.

"Is that it? It's lovely!" Swanmon said.

"Yep! Oh! There's the gas station and the Wawa!" Yun replied excitedly.

"My, your world is quite interesting," Swanmon told her. "And certainly not like our world! Not by a long shot!"

"We noticed," Terriermon said, remembering his experiences in the Digital World.

They didn't fly very far nor very high, and they made sure to stop regularly so Swanmon could take a break, despite her looking quite robust and salutary as of right now. Yun didn't want to tell Swanmon about how her week went because she didn't want to make Swanmon angry or sad, so she kept silent about it. Everyone else already knows about it, so Yun didn't see any point in telling Swanmon about it. They flew all over town and loved the view, despite being so high. After a while, they landed in the construction site.

"Thanks for taking us around town, Swanmon!" Yun said. Swanmon scratched her helmet with her wing in embarrassment.

"It was really you who took me around town, but you're quite welcome," Swanmon said.

"Oh! I have something for thee!" Lucero said as he rummaged through his pocket. He pulled out the container with the slice of chocolate cake in it and gave it to Swanmon.

"What's this?" Swanmon asked curiously.

"It's cake. Chocolate cake. It's very good. Thou can have it," Lucero told her kindly. Swanmon smiled a bit.

"My, how lovely! I am a bit of a cake lover, and a chocolate lover too, so thank you very much. But I think I'll stay in the human world for a while and get to know the place better. Don't worry, I won't let myself be seen by others," Swanmon replied, feeling quite touched by Lucero's kind gesture.

'Reminds me of Moosemon,' Terriermon thought.

"Alright. Bye, Swanmon!" Yun waved as Swanmon ascended back into the air and flew away from the construction site, feeling quite light and happy.

"She's so nice, kyu!" Cutemon said.

"Indeed she is," Lopmon said.

"Shall we journey elsewhere?" Lucero asked. They nodded and got out of the construction site. They decided to walk around the neighborhood some more. As they walked, they took in the nice and idyllic scenery some more until Terriermon saw something that caught his attention.

"Huh? Isn't that Aria-chan?" Terriermon asked.

"Where?" Yun asked.

"There," Terriermon pointed.

About 15 feet away from them, Aria, her sister Orie, and their dad Kinzo are walking into a big white and red house. Both girls are wearing very strange and childish outfits that matched! Both of them are wearing little flouncy white dresses completely dotted with red polka dots, with puffed and ruffled sleeves, a big red ribbon around the waist, along with folded white socks and black tap shoes. For a minute, Yun thought they looked like Shirley Temple without her curly hair, since the dress looked very eerily like the one Shirley Temple wore in that movie whose name Yun forgot(7). But upon seeing Kinzo, Yun froze in place. He couldn't see her, that's good, but Yun could see that Kinzo has a very stern and disappointed look on his face, emphasized by the fact that both of his hands are on the girls' arms, clutching them tightly. Yun recognized that gesture and feeling, and she began to fear the worst. Not only that, both Orie and Aria didn't look happy either.

"What's wrong? Aren't you gonna say hi to them?" Terriermon asked. Yun sighed.

"No. Their dad is with them, and he kicked me out of the house before. Remember?" Yun reminded him.

"Ohhh. I see. Can I attack him?" Terriermon asked.

"Absolutely not!" Yun scolded lightly.

"I wonder why they're in those dresses? They don't look like the type to wear something so bright and flouncy," Lopmon asked herself, looking just as confused as everyone else.

Yun wondered if what Aria said to her was true, about her dad becoming meaner and meaner by the day. Yun wanted to go in and save her, but considering how mad and volatile Kinzo might get if he saw her, she didn't want to take the chance...but she really wanted to.

"I think we should go. He might see us, and it'll be too dangerous to save them," Yun said. Everyone agreed.

Yun immediately felt bad about leaving Aria and Orie with their dad, but what could she do without getting spotted by Kinzo and getting him mad like last time? She didn't want to have to deal with his yelling, but she also didn't want to leave Aria potentially unprotected. Well, she has MarineAngemon, but even that has its limits. Although Yun felt bad, she felt she had to leave. She didn't think what she was doing was the right choice. She couldn't help but think about the bad things Kinzo might do to them if they disobeyed him or did just about anything. Yun shook her head, hoping that MarineAngemon will protect her.

"Yun? Art thou alright?" Lucero asked. She noticed that he and the rabbits are all looking at her with concerned faces.

"Y-Yeah, I..." Yun muttered, trying to regain her composure.

"You're worried about Aria, aren't you?" Lopmon asked. Yun sighed, abdicating.

"Yes. I am," Yun said.

"It's alright. It's good to worry about someone, kyu," Cutemon said.

"I...I want to help her, but...what if I screw up? What if their dad sees me and gets mad at either me or them? What if...what Aria-chan told me is true? I know I shouldn't take that risk, but I really want to! For Aria-chan's sake! I don't want her getting hurt!" Yun exclaimed.

"We understandeth thy pain. Thou art not one to leave a stone unturned or a matter unattended. It's great that thou carest about Aria so ardently. That shows what a great friend thou art...but perhaps thou madest the right choice today. Thou art right, if their father were to see us, the repercussions would be most perilous," Lucero told her.

"You think so?" Yun asked, still sounding dubious.

"Perhaps. I'm sure Aria will understand," Lucero said.

Yun sighed again, and left the area with them. Soon, they ran into someone else.

"Huh? Yun-chan?"

Yun turned around to find Rena, Lunamon, Shione, Mikuni, and Moosemon right behind them, looking quite cheerful and robust today. Rena wore a long blue green dress under a short sleeved white button-up shirt, long white socks, and black slipper-like shoes. Her usual braided hair has a matching blue green ribbon in it today. Lunamon trailed behind her happily. Shione wore her usual purple hat, along with a yellow short sleeved shirt with an owl embroidered on the front, dark blue capris, and pink and white sneakers. Both Moosemon and Mikuni trailed behind her. Mikuni has two little red ribbons on both sides of her hair, along with a sleeveless pink shirt with white stars all over it, tan shorts, white socks, and pink shoes.

"Oh! Hi! What are you all doing here?" Yun asked.

"We were gonna ask you that!" Shione exclaimed at first, then lowered her voice and softened. "Umm...so, how've you been since...y'know?"

"I'm starting to feel a little better. Thanks for asking," Yun said. Then she noticed Mikuni cradling Cutemon into her arms and cuddling her happily. Cutemon didn't mind, but Shione walked up to her.

"Mikuni. What have I told you about asking before doing something?" Shione asked, sounding like a strict parent.

Mikuni pouted a little, then pulled out her cell phone, typed something in, and showed it to Yun.

_'May I cuddle your pink bunny Digimon please?'_ Mikuni typed into her cell phone. Yun smiled.

"Sure!" Yun said cheerfully, which made Mikuni happy.

'Thank you!' She typed again, then went to playing with Cutemon.

"So what are you two doing out and about?" Rena asked politely.

"Eh, just going for walks and enjoying the scenery," Yun replied.

"It's very beneficial to one's health," Lucero backed her up.

"Shione-chan and I are hanging out by ourselves for a while. We're gonna go to Asagi's and have lunch there," Rena told her.

"We were just there! Their ice cream is great!" Yun exclaimed happily.

"Do they have orange ice cream there? It's my favorite," Lunamon asked shyly, but not as much as she was when they first met.

"They sure do, Lunamon," Yun told her kindly, which made Lunamon smile. Lopmon hopped in front of Lunamon and the two struck a conversation of their own. Rena looked up at Yun with concern in her eyes.

"Just so you know, Funakoshi-sensei suspended Nemoto, Shimizu, their friends, and all the seventh graders involved with what happened two days ago while you were gone. Plus, the seventh graders are gonna go back to their part of the school after the break," Rena told her.

"How long are they suspended?" Lucero asked.

"I didn't hear that part, so I don't know...but I still wish they could have gotten expelled instead! But I still hope you come back soon. It's not the same without you," Rena said.

Yun had a hard time believing that last part, remembering the mean things Nenji, Seiko, Kosuke, and everyone else said about her. She still has her doubts about her place in not just the Digimon Brigade, but in the world in general. She wanted to stay in her reverie, but Lucero pulled her out of it, even though his comment wasn't directed at her.

"We thank thee for thy concern and kindness. We truly appreciate it. Thou two art very nice girls indeed," Lucero said.

"I never knew that humans would be cruel to each other. Perhaps they're just like us Digimon," Moosemon said.

"Tell me about it," Shione rolled her eyes. Mikuni gave Cutemon back to Yun. This made Shione remember something.

"Oh! Yun-chan! That reminds me! I hear there's gonna be a special education class in Fushimi once break ends!" Shione exclaimed.

"Special education? What's that mean?" Terriermon asked.

"A classroom for disabled kids, right?" Yun asked Shione.

"Yep. Mikuni's in one that just got started in Katsura, and I heard the principal say there's gonna be one in Fushimi too, which I think is awesome because Mikuni can get what she needs and be close by when there's an emergency. It's kinda a blessing for a lot of people around here. The nearest school with a special ed class is 20 miles away, and that's too far timewise," Shione explained.

"Are all schools with special ed classes that far away?" Lunamon asked.

"Sort of, considering how weird things are for disabled kids these days," Shione replied. Mikuni suddenly began playing with Lucero, and he seemed to enjoy it. Shione walked up to her and gently put a hand on her shoulder.

"It's time to go know, Mikuni," Shione said while signing at the same time. Mikuni pouted for a bit, then went with her.

"Sorry, but we've gotta split. We hope you have a good weekend," Rena told her politely.

"Feel better soon, Yun-san. We hope to have another Digimon Brigade meeting with you," Lunamon said.

"Sure. Also...try to keep Moosemon out of people's sight. He's kinda big, isn't he?" Yun told them.

"Yes, it's true," Moosemon said. Soon, the girls waved goodbye and they left.

"They truly do care about you, Yun," Lopmon said kindly.

"Indeed they do..." Yun muttered, though she wondered if it would be better for them if she didn't exist. Lucero took her out of that thought by putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Wouldst thou like to go to the park?" Lucero asked.

"Sure," Yun said.

"Yay! Time to go play!" Terriermon cheered.

Feeling this to be a great time to exercise and run around, Yun, Lucero, Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon all ran around the park, tumbled around, and played together. Even Lopmon ran around and cheered happily. Exercise is good for the body, and considering all that's been going on, they decided that playing around would be the best way to make the stress go away. They laughed and tumbled and ran and jumped and leaped and everything of the like. Yun hardly ever did anything like this, namely because no one she knew ever wanted to do, another partly because she didn't want to get herself or her clothes dirty, and partly because she hardly ever went out, especially on her own, but she did start to feel better after playing with them. At one point, they even went to the pond, the same pond where she and Riku went to when Coronamon digivolved in order to defeat Mothmon. It's nice and clear, with some flowers surrounding it, some lily pads, a frog leaping on them, some fish swimming around, and some nice rocks. They saw other animals too, like some squirrels and birds. Terriermon saw a rabbit hop into the bushes, but didn't bother to chase it. Despite this, it was quite an idyllic time they spent together. Soon, the sky began to show streaks of mango orange, lavendar purple, and rosy pink. Lucero and Yun sat out in the open and watched the sky change.

"Didst thou have a nice time today?" Lucero asked.

"Yes I did, thanks to you and the rabbits," Yun replied. Lucero could see it. Yun's natural smile was beginning to show.

"Yun...dost thou likest the way the sky looks when sunrises and sunsets appear?" Lucero asked.

"I do. The colors are pretty. Orange, yellow, pink, blue, purple...it's beautiful, and I NEVER say beautiful about anything," Yun said.

"Dost thy inner world resemble this?"

At first, Yun was confused by Lucero's question, but after a minute she figured it out and smiled. "Yeah, it does."

"Yun...if thou couldst create thy own world...what would it be like?"

"I would like it to be a nice, idyllic, kind, warm, and peaceful place, where everyone's flaws and talents are embraced, and where nobody hates each other or feels unwanted because of their flaws and talents...but I know for a fact that that will never ever happen. Especially not with me."

"Why?"

"You know, right? Everything I do is bad in everyone's eyes. I try to be good and considerate and do nice things, but every time I do, they either yell at me or claim I'm doing it for malicious ulterior motive! I hate that! What got that idea in their head? I...I really do want to be a good person and let people be themselves...but I guess I only make things worse and drag everybody down."

Lucero didn't want this conversation to progress, so he interrupted her. "Thou dost not drag me down. Quite the contrary, really. Thou hast saved me from death and brought me to where I am now. Thou hast raised Lopmon and Terriermon into wonderful Digimon. Terriermon even journeyed to thy school and harassed Nemoto and Shimizu! Doth that not count for something?"

"I am glad he did, but he really didn't have to do that."

"But he did it because he truly cares about thee with all his heart. That shows how big an influence thou hast had on them. I truly believe that-"

He wanted to finish that sentence, but the sound of Yun's growling stomach cut him off, which made him laugh a little, but not in a mean and malicious way. Yun saw this and laughed too.

"Sorry about that. Guess I'm a little hungry, but I think I can hold it for a while longer," Yun said. Lucero saw the rabbits arriving and he decided to run to them. Lucero smirked upon having an idea pop into his head, and he ran to Lopmon first.

"Lopmon? Canst thou do me a favor?" Lucero asked.

"Sure. I'd love to. What is it?" Lopmon replied with a smile. Lucero gently lifted up one of her long ears and whispered something into it. Her green eyes got a little big upon hearing what it was he wanted her to do.

"Oh my! Why would you want me to do such a thing?" Lopmon yelped suddenly.

"It's okay. It's not for evil intentions. I...want to make Yun smile, and I need thy help," Lucero told her. Although Lopmon looked quite reluctant to perform the task Lucero wanted her to do, seeing that Lucero knows what he's doing, she decided to comply...but not yet. Lucero walked back to Yun and saw her lying on the grass on her back, stretching out, which is causing her midriff and her navel to show slightly.

This is Lucero's chance.

In a flash, he playfully jumped on her, causing her to be pinned to the grass. Yun tried to get up, but it seemed Lucero wasn't letting her. They struggled for a bit until Lucero finally got Yun by both of her wrists and pinned them, and her, to the grass.

"Lucero! What are you doing?" Yun asked, looking very surprised.

"Thy radiant smile has been dimmed by the cruelty of others...and I intend to see to its return! It is much better to see thou smile and laugh than cry and despair, so I shall grant thee happiness!" Lucero edicted quite proudly, with a sneaky and childish smile plastered all over his face. Yun didn't quite understand what he intended to do, though she knew that he's not doing it to be bad. He then looked at Lopmon graciously. "Lopmon? Do it now, please."

Lopmon, although reluctant, complied.

"Please forgive me, Yun! Freezing Snow!" Shyly, she exhaled a small blizzard which traveled onto Yun's wrists and froze upon contact. Yun felt cold upon feeling the ice trapping her to the grass. Lopmon covered her eyes ruefully.

"Uh...what's going on?" Yun asked. Lucero looked down at her gently, though childishly, and slowly caressed Yun's tender cheek with his left hand.

"The light in thy heart is dimming, and I shan't allow that. With this, I will allow the light to shine again, and I shall do anything to make it shine again, even if I have to force it!" Lucero told her, gently at first, then passionately. Yun could see something in his pale blue eyes, but she didn't quite understand what. She didn't understand what he meant...until she felt something soft and tender on her bare stomach.

The sensation felt quite good, and it caused Yun to let out a laugh. But it wasn't letting up, and Yun soon erupted into a big paroxysm of joyous laughter. Yun felt her entire body tingle and she didn't understand why she was feeling this way at first. She opened one of her eyes to see, and she got her answer. The sensation was coming from Lucero's fingers, which are on her bare stomach, wiggling and dancing on it merrily. Yun tried to get away, but her hands are pinned to the ground because of Lopmon's ice attack and she was rendered helpless at the mercy of Lucero's tickle torture. Lucero smiled like a sneaky thief as he playfully, and happily, tortured and teased Yun.

"L-L-Lucero! Cut it out! That...that tickles!" Yun cried out through her laughter, but Lucero wasn't going to let this chance slip away from his slender fingers. Lopmon finally uncovered her eyes and watched with Cutemon and Terriermon as they saw Lucero on top of a helpless Yun, making her giggle and laugh cutely to his pleasure.

"Oh? Is this what he intended?" Lopmon asked.

"Yun-chan has a cute laugh, kyu," Cutemon said.

"Should we join in?" Terriermon asked.

"Well...laughter does alleviate stress, and Lucero only wants to see Yun happy, so...perhaps we can," Lopmon said with a smile at the end of her sentence.

Lucero tickled Yun's helpless and bare stomach for quite some time until he stopped to caress Yun's cheek with his hand again. Yun tried to look away, her aversion to eye contact getting the better of her, but Lucero wouldn't let her. He smiled at her gently, and stroke her cheek just as so.

"Yun...thou art very cute," Lucero told her in his lowest, softest, gentlest voice possible. Yun could feel the kindness in both his voice and his touch. Soon, she felt fingers wiggling under her chin and she laughed again. After that, Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon decided to join in on the tickle torture, and now Yun was not only totally outnumbered, but totally helpless as she was consumed by her own laugher and the torture executioners that are her friends.

"Quit it, guys! Oh, my ribs!" Yun wailed through her laughter, but the rabbits and Lucero didn't want to stop. They were determined to make Yun laugh and see her happy, so they continued on.

What they didn't know was what was riding through Yun's mind as she was caught up in the well-intentioned fray. To be perfectly honest, it must be confessed that, even though Yun did tell them to quit it and stop, she actually wanted them to continue on for however long they wanted. In short, she loved the feeling of having them tickle her and their fingers dancing on her fragile skin. She relished and found some solace in it all. With others, she didn't like it because they were being forceful and just wanted to tease her for their own pleasure without thought of how she'd feel. It was the same with Lucero and the rabbits, only this time, it was different. They could see why they'd do this: Yun spent the past few days being sad and trapped in the depths of despair, and they saw that this was bad, so they at least wanted to make her happy and hear her laugh again, so they did. Unlike with others, Yun actually enjoyed their tickling her, but for another reason. She felt something warm, soft, gentle, and kind, like some warm and sublime light was pouring out of their fingers and dissipating into her body, filling her with kindness and telling her 'Don't cry. It'll be okay. I'm here.' She didn't feel this with other people as they tickled her in the past. This time, Yun felt it, and she absolutely loved it. She wished that this would go on. Forever.

Finally, after a while, they got tired and stopped. Yun was finally free of their torture and she gasped for breath. Terriermon took the liberty of freeing her from the ice with a spec of his Blazing Fire. Lucero and Yun lay next to each other on the grass. Yun turned around to look at him.

"Thank you, Lucero...for taking me out and doing all of this for me," Yun told him.

Lucero's tender hand slipped into hers, and Yun loved how warm it felt. "The light will shine again. I know it. We'll let it shine again. I shan't let it die."

Lopmon leaped into Yun's arms. "Sorry for causing you all of this trouble. I didn't want to freeze your wrists to the grass, but Lucero made me."

Yun hugged Lopmon and held her close. "It's alright. I kinda needed it."

Terriermon and Cutemon also crawled into her arms, and Yun hugged them both. "I love all of you, my cute little friends."

Cutemon then saw something that caught his attention. "Oh! Yun-chan! Your D-Heart, kyu!"

The rabbits leaped off of Yun and she sat up to see what caught Cutemon's attention. She was right. Her white D-Heart of Harmony is glowing! Brightly, in a pristine white light, like that of the stars at night. Yun didn't dare touch it out of fear that she might burn herself, but she liked the feeling she got from it. It felt warm, loving, gentle, and kind, just like the fingers of those who tickled her just now.

"My, it's so lovely!" Lopmon said.

"Oh! Does this mean we're gonna digivolve to ultimate soon? Man, I so can't wait!" Terriermon cheered excitedly.

"Let's not be impatient, kyu. But why does it glow now, kyu?" Cutemon asked as the light from the D-Heart of Harmony finally dissipated.

"Why did it glow just now?" Yun asked as she held the D-Heart in her hands.

"I...think I know why," Lucero said.

"Do you know?" Terriermon asked.

"Typically, the word harmony means concord, unity, agreement, and friendship. It's also defined as organization, like how Yun likes to keep her things in an orderly fashion. In music, it's the blending of musical tones that flow simultaneously. I think in this case, harmony means unity of mind, soul and heart, knowing what's right, and remaining true to thyself. I think thou hast found it at last, Yun," Lucero told her solemnly.

"Is it really like that, though?" Yun asked, still not quite getting it.

"It's getting dark. Do you think we should go home?" Lopmon asked, noticing that the sky's changing. Lucero and Yun both stood up.

"I believe so. I'll walk thee home, Yun," Lucero told her gently and offered her his hand.

At first, Yun was reluctant to take it because of her aversion to shaking, and holding, people's hands when they ask her to do so. But she felt Lucero's hands, and they were kind and tender, so she held onto Lucero's hand and they walked home...but not before Yun called her parents and told them they were coming back in a few minutes. Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon felt like going home too, so they hopped onto them and watched the scenery change around them. Finally, Yun, Lucero, and the rabbits came home...but Teruki was in the living room watching TV, and Yun didn't want to see him. She looked away when he saw her.

"Hi, kids! How was your little date?" Teruki asked joyfully.

"It was fine, and it was not a date!" Yun replied sharply. Teruki's smiling face changed when he saw Yun's perturbed face. Yun was about to walk past him and go to her room when something on the TV stopped her.

"Whoa! Look! There's a giant monster by where the old Lenox used to be!" A person on TV shouted, which immediately made Yun turn around.

Yun froze in place and her eyes grew big. The monster that they're showing is a giant skeleton that didn't look human. It looked more like that of a dinosaur-like creature, with evil glowing green eyes. The only remaining organs it has are something red within its ribs, and a small orange thing protruding from its back which has a face on it. Yun immediately whipped out her digivice.

"That's SkullGreymon, an ultimate level! His attacks are Dark Shot and Cursed Breath!" Yun exclaimed as she put her digivice away. "Lopmon! Cutemon! Terriermon! We've gotta go and stop it!"

They all nodded in agreement. Yun tried to leave, but she felt Teruki grabbed her by the arm and stopping her.

"Yun! You can't go!" Teruki exclaimed.

"I have to! I'm a member of the Digimon Brigade, and it's my duty to subdue evil Digimon!" Yun replied back sharply.

"It's too dangerous! You'll get hurt! This isn't a game!"

"So? Someone has to stop it, and I'm going to!" Yun ran outside, put Swanmon's D-Chip in her digivice, and called for her. Once she descended, Yun got on her back. Teruki tried to stop her again.

"Yun! Wait!"

"Lucero! Stay with my parents and watch the house, okay? It's likely they'll be after you! Swanmon, to the power plant!" Yun commanded like she was a leader. With the rabbits on Yun's back, Swanmon ascended back into the air.

"YUUUN!" Teruki ran after her, but she outran, or outflew, him. Lucero watched as Teruki walked back into the house sadly.

"Is she still hung up over what I did? She needs to get over it!" Teruki muttered.

Once Lucero heard the words _'get over it,'_ he immediately flew into a rage.

"Don't ever say those words to Yun! That's why she's been avoiding you, because of what you did and because of what you expect her to do afterward! Yun had a REALLY bad day two days ago, and you did nothing to help her! Instead, you made it worse with your yelling and your insensitivity! If you really want to know what happened, then fine!"

With that, Lucero told Teruki everything, leaving absolutely no details out. The more Teruki heard, the more heartbroken and tearful he became.

"To her, being told to get over something is like being told that it's all in her head or that it never happened! To her, it's the most insensitive thing in the whole wide world! How would you like it if you went through something abominably traumatizing and were just told to get over it?"

It's then that Teruki remembered a memory that he thought he had forgotten. When he was ten years old, his father, whom he loved dearly, died from a heart attack. He cried for days, and his older brothers got tired of it, so they said, "Get over it, you crybaby! He was gonna die from the beginning! Cryin' forever isn't gonna bring him back, so tough it out!" He really wanted someone to comfort him, but no one did. He wondered if Yun felt the same way when he yelled at her two days ago. Then he realized it: she did. Yun went through a horrible and traumatic experience, yet he exacerbated it with his yelling and didn't do a thing to help her. He broke down and cried.

"Yun...I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry! I'm such a horrible father!" Teruki screamed behind his hands, which he tried to cover his face with. Lucero, deep in his heart, wanted to comfort Teruki and tell him it wasn't too late, but he felt it necessary to let Teruki feel the pain he caused Yun and repent for his transgression, so he refrained from doing so. The two of them were alone in the living room.

As for Yun, she texted every single member of the Digimon Brigade, Kosuke included, telling them about SkullGreymon's rampage. They all responded and proceeded to join her in the fight. Aria rode on top of Unimon and Kosuke was cradled in Angemon's arms, though he called for Pegasusmon and Pteramon to join him. Aria had a discussion with Unimon.

"Unimon...sorry we defeated LadyDevimon without you," Aria told him kindly.

"It's alright. To be honest, I was beginning to lose hope in defeating her, but I'm some glad she's finally away from Mt. Trinity now. Now let's break some bones!" Unimon replied kindly at first, then winnied loudly as he flew toward the power plant.

None of them realized it, but thoughts were going through both Kosuke and Angemon's minds.

_'I'm so sick and tired of this! When we get there, I'm gonna give Kosuke a mouthful even if it kills me! I won't stand for this unacceptable behavior anymore!'_ Angemon thought.

_'Mom can't be serious! She hasn't seen Yun in a long time, yet she expects me to apologize to her? Who is she kidding? She said that friends do nothing but betray you, use you up and spit you out!'_ Kosuke thought.

But what they didn't know was that the fight with SkullGreymon was going to be tougher than they thought.

Footnotes:

1. Moyashimon is a manga series by Masayuki Ishikawa. An anime was made for it in late 2007.

2. Out of My Mind is a book by Sharon Draper.

3. The Magic Tree House is a series of children's books written by Mary Pope Osbourne.

4. Watership Down is a book by Richard Adams.

5. Goosebumps is a series of children's books written by R. L. Stine.

6. The Poky Little Puppy is a children's book written by Janette S. Lowrey.

7. The movie where Shirley Temple wears a white dress with red polka dots is called Stand Up and Cheer, which aired in 1934.


	44. Shine! Light of Harmony!

EPISODE 44: Shine, Light of Harmony!

It didn't take very long for the Digimon Brigade to run into each other as they flew to the now closed down power plant. Melody, Minako, Isao, Hokuto, Salamon, Bearmon, and Kudamon were all riding on Birdramon, while Shunji, Rena, Riku, Otoya, Lunamon, Coronamon, and Labramon all rode on Coredramon's back. Yun, Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon were on Swanmon's back. Aria and MarineAngemon rode on top of Unimon, with Kosuke, Angemon, Pegasusmon, and Pteramon accompanying them. They didn't try to strike up a conversation as they flew. There was no time for that. There's a SkullGreymon running loose and causing God knows what kind of destruction, and they intended to destroy him no matter what it takes. This is top priority. It took them about 15 minutes to get to the power plant, which is about 20 miles away from their small neighborhood by car.

The power plant used to be quite operational long ago, but it suddenly closed down due to insinuations against the employees regarding fraud and conspiracy. It was replaced by a Lenox, but even that kicked the bucket recently. Despite the closures, the buildings were still in tact...that is, until SkullGreymon destroyed it just now. A huge, frightening thing he is, made of nothing but bones and possibly malicious and dark energy. There's no Dark Emblem on him, but despite this, he's still causing destruction and wreaking havoc. Once the kids arrived, they got a close view of him destroying one part of the building. Rena shrieked.

"My God, that thing is freaky!" Rena shrieked as she clung to Lunamon, quite frightened by SkullGreymon and his appearance.

"This thing will be nothing compared to what we might fight later on!" Riku exclaimed.

"He's got a point!" Coronamon said.

"Are we gonna talk all day or go bone collecting?" Pteramon asked jokingly.

"Go bone collecting, that's what!" Kosuke exclaimed.

Once SkullGreymon caught sight of the kids, most of the rookie Digimon proceeded to digivolve. Lopmon to Turuiemon, Terriermon to Gargomon, Cutemon to Rabbitmon, Salamon to Gatomon, Lunamon to Lekismon, Coronamon to Firamon, Labramon to Seasarmon, Bearmon to Grizzlymon, and Kudamon to Reppamon. Birdramon, Angemon, and Coredramon are already at their champion levels right now.

"Yeehaw! Fight time!" Shunji cheered like a cowboy.

"Uhh...isn't this NOT the time for random cowboy shouting?" Coredramon asked, sounding very cynical.

"Aw, come on! I just wanna lighten the mood a little!" Shunji said lazily, which made Coredramon sigh.

Seasarmon landed the first attack.

"Tee Dia!"

A slew of glowing yellow arrows shot at SkullGreymon, hitting him on the head, but not enough to defeat him. Yun decided to take this opportunity to give a command.

"Anyone who has flying Digimon, attack first! SkullGreymon can't fly so we have the advantage!" Yun exclaimed as she rode on Swanmon.

"You got it!" Melody said. All the flying Digimon proceeded to attempt an all out assault on SkullGreymon, with Swanmon proceeding to attack first.

"Dance of the White Swan!"

"Meteor Wing!"

"Blue Flare Breath!"

"Hand of Fate!"

"Aerial Attack!"

"Star Shower!"

"Missle Storm!"

All the flying Digimon threw their attacks at SkullGreymon. Unfortunately, it seemed SkullGreymon had a trick up his sleeve.

"Cursed Breath!"

From his wide, open mouth came a huge river of yucky looking black energy that not only literally nullified all of their attacks, but hit the Digimon as well!

"NO! Birdramon!" Melody screamed angrily as Birdramon fell to the ground.

"Are you kidding me? My Blue Flare Breath is supposed to rip his external data off and expose his DigiCore! No ultimate level should even be capable of blocking it!" Coredramon complained angrily.

"Maybe this one's got some spitfire in him," Shunji said jokingly.

"Well we've still got a bone to pick with him, so let's keep going!" Pteramon exclaimed.

"We'll help you out! Gauntlet Claw!" Turuiemon proceeded to attack SkullGreymon, but he whisked his hand at her, causing her to fall into one of the big trees.

"Turuiemon!" Yun, Gargomon, and Rabbitmon both cried out upon seeing Turuiemon get beaten like it was nothing. Incensed, Rabbitmon and Gargomon both proceeded to attack.

"Gargo Laser!"

"Carrot Bomb!"

Despite their best attempts, however, the attacks just bounced off of SkullGreymon without leaving so much as a scratch!

"How do you decompose bone?" Otoya yelled.

"Didn't we learn that in science once?" Rena asked.

"Perhaps some fire and water will do the trick!" Lekismon said as she prepared to attack. "Moon Night Bomb!"

"Fira Bomb!"

The attacks hit SkullGreymon on the head, but even that didn't do anything!

"What? It should've made him rust!" Lekismon exclaimed, appalled by how weak her attack was.

"I should have incinerated him from the inside out!" Firamon said.

Then SkullGreymon decided to fight back.

"Dark Shot!" The rocket on SkullGreymon's back shot out from it and headed right toward Lekismon and Firamon, who both tried to fight it.

"Tear Arrow!"

"Fira Bomb!"

But the attacks didn't work and the rocket went right through them. Lekismon and Firamon grabbed Rena and Riku and hopped away, but Kosuke was trapped in the line of fire, having been set down by Angemon once.

"KOSUKE!" Riku yelled. Kosuke tried to run away, but it was coming too fast. He thought he was done for...but he wasn't. He covered his eyes to brace for impact, but when he opened them, he realized he wasn't dead. Someone saved him.

But that someone was a person Kosuke held an animosity against for the past week and a half.

Yun.

She pulled her digishield up and managed to create a dome around herself and Kosuke. Despite the fact that the missle hit them and caused some damage, both Yun and Kosuke were safe for now. A second later, Yun made the dome go down and looked at Kosuke with fire in her eyes.

"Go somewhere safe!" Yun commanded as she ran away. Kosuke, looking quite surprised, did as asked and tried to find somewhere safe where he could take cover.

What he didn't know was that Angemon watched him...and that he had plans of his own, and he was going to execute them right here and now, right in the middle of battle. The other Digimon continued to fight SkullGreymon.

"Tee Dia!"

"Strike Bomber!"

"Mach Grinder!"

"Spinning Sky Fissure Slash!"

"Maul Attack!"

Unfortunately, despite their best attempts, SkullGreymon whisked them away with his hands and tail. Pegasusmon and Swanmon tried to help, but even they were pushed away by SkullGreymon's tail. Turuiemon got out of the tree and landed in front of Yun.

"Are you okay, Turuiemon?" Yun asked with concern in both her eyes and voice as she helped Turuiemon get to her feet.

"Yeah. Somehow. Sorry about that move I pulled," Turuiemon said.

"It's alright. Can you still fight? If you don't want to, you don't have to," Yun told her kindly.

"Thanks for your concern, but I can still fight. We can't let that thing go near any towns or cities! Who knows what kind of havoc it might wreak!" Turuiemon said. Yun pulled out Bucchiemon's D-Chip.

"I'll call for back up," Yun said. Turuiemon nodded and leaped away as Yun called for Bucchiemon. As she did, SkullGreymon attempted to walk away from the destruction.

"He's gonna get away! Coredramon, stop him!" Shunji yelled.

"Bombs away!" Coredramon leaped before SkullGreymon and grabbed onto him, hoping it would stop him from walking. Unfortunately, SkullGreymon seems quite persistent and is quite intent on getting past Coredramon, who also tried to be very persistent.

"You're not getting past me, you bag of bones!" Coredramon sneered as he tried to push SkullGreymon back.

"Everyone, attack!" Minako yelled as she called for Nefertimon and Yun called for Prairiemon next. All the Digimon tried to assault SkullGreymon as Coredramon tried to keep him away from the next town...but one Digimon didn't partake in the assault.

"Ninja Kick!"

"Bunny Pummel!"

"Lightning Paw!"

"Star Shower!"

"Missle Storm!"

"Love Laser!"

"Tee Dia!"

"Fira Claw!"

"Tear Arrow!"

"Spinning Sky Fissure Slash!"

"Crescent Dawn!"

"Dance of the White Swan!"

"Aerial Attack!"

"Spray of Hearts!"

"Meteor Wing!"

They believed that they had gotten him cornered. Unfortunately, SkullGreymon managed to push Coredramon down to the ground, despite the size difference, turned around, and fought back.

"Cursed Breath!"

The stream of dark energy managed to envelop nearly all of the Digimon! Only a few managed to escape. Most of the Digimon who got hit did manage to maintain their champion forms, but Firamon, Lekismon, and Reppamon de-digivolved back into Coronamon, Lunamon, and Kudamon, having been drained of all their energy. Rena, Riku, and Hokuto ran to them.

"Lunamon! Are you okay?" Rena asked as she cradled her injuried partner in her arms.

"Y-Yes...but SkullGreymon...he's too strong!" Lunamon croaked sadly. Rena held her Digimon partner close.

"It's okay. You did great nonetheless," Rena told her.

"Noooo! I wanna fight SkullGreymon some more! Lemme at him!" Coronamon whined as he tried to break away from Riku's arms.

"Sorry, but game over. You're too hurt to fight anymore! He's too strong!" Riku tried to contain him, but Coronamon just wasn't having it.

"I...I think I understand why we were defeated so easily," Kudamon whispered.

"Why?" Hokuto asked.

"Because...this isn't our fight. Not truly. Someone is going to shine here, and they will reach ultimate during this battle, so we needn't interfere anymore," Kudamon replied.

"But shouldn't we at least help them out?" Hokuto asked again, still rather confused.

"Yes, we should, but not yet," Kudamon replied again.

Hokuto didn't like the idea of not being able to help them out more, but since Kudamon is usually always right, he decided to comply and stand in the sidelines for now, though it made his heart ache. But he did, however, notice something odd.

"Where are Hanemoto-san and Angemon?" Hokuto asked.

"You're right. They haven't participated in the battle much. Where are they?" Kudamon wondered the same thing.

They were too far away to see, but Kosuke watched them with a look full of both anger and jealousy as he hid behind a part of the now almost destroyed building.

_'I can't believe I'm not out there fighting with them! I'm not gonna let Wakamiya steal my thunder anymore! I'm going in!'_ Kosuke thought as he tried to run into the fight, but a long golden stick stopped him from doing so. He looked up and saw Angemon looking down at him with a stern look behind his mask.

"Not so fast, Kosuke. You're not going anywhere," Angemon told him in a booming voice.

"Angemon! Why aren't you out there fighting? We can defeat them!" Kosuke yelled, angry with Angemon's decision to stay out of the fight.

"This isn't our fight, Kosuke! I can sense it! This is not our time to shine!" Angemon told him again, raising his voice.

"We shouldn't be wasting our time! We've gotta go out there and fight!"

"You're blinded by rage, and your rage is turning into a desire for power and recognition!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Kosuke, we need to talk! This behavior of yours is just unacceptable, and I won't tolerate it any longer!"

"Why bring that up now? Can't we save this for later?"

"No! It has to be now, Kosuke! I'm very disappointed in you! I understand that what your parents have done is making you stressed out, and I can understand if you're frustrated, but do you really believe taking it all out on Yun is going to change anything? She's not the cause of your suffering!"

"And she hasn't done anything to help me either!"

"You really think that? Well you're wrong! Don't you remember that time we went to her house and she gave you soup? That was one of the nicest gestures I've ever seen her do!"

"None of it is genuine! She's just doing it to make herself look good!"

"Stop it, Kosuke! Once this battle is over, go over to Yun and apologize!"

"No!"

"You _have_ to!"

"I don't _have_ to do anything for her!"

"She understands what the Digimon Brigade needs! Harmony! Balance! Agreement and understanding! Don't you understand? She gets it! Even your own mother gets it! We all need balance in our lives, and the two of you managed to provide it for each other, even when times were tough! Why do you think your mother kept yelling at you to apologize to her earlier today?"

"I'm not giving her any balance!"

"You are, whether you like it or not. She really does care for you, you know? We holy Digimon can sense both sincerity and deceit, and since I've met her, she's shown nothing but sincerity in what she does! She may not be a natural born leader, she may even just be doing it out of necessity, but she knows that the Digimon Brigade does need some structure and balance, and that's what she wants! She doesn't want to domineer over anyone or make herself superior!"

"Yeah right!"

"You think I'm lying?"

"You think I should help someone like her? Forget it, Angemon! She needs to shape herself up and not rely on anyone to do everything for her! She sucks the life out of every one of us like a parasite!"

"She saved your life just a few minutes ago! I believe you owe her one!"

"I don't owe her anything!"

"You can't just cut yourself off from your dearest friends just because of what you're going through!"

"I've done it before and I can do it again!"

"And has that made you any better?" Angemon importuned, not showing any sign of conceding defeat. "Has being angry and taking it out on her helped you at all? Has blaming everyone around you, your mother included, eased your suffering any? No! It hasn't!"

"What else can I do?"

"Stop being angry at all of humanity and help your friends for once! That's the only way they'll respect you!"

"You know that's impossible. I can't fight or do anything for them! Besides, they're just using me! They're gonna spit me out one day!"

"You think? Don't you remember what your mother said? Sure she was drunk when she said them, but she said she was referring to herself, not you! Just because her friends and husband betrayed her doesn't mean it'll happen to you, Kosuke! You're surrounded by wonderful people, Kosuke! Tell me, have they ever lied to you?"

Kosuke couldn't answer that question. He couldn't, though he really wanted to deny it. He really wanted to contradict Angemon, but he could not, because deep in his heart, he had to admit that Angemon is right. Right about everything. His friends didn't lie to him. Not once. He never lied to them either.

"I didn't think so. Get it in your head, Kosuke. They're not using you. You're using them...as your personal scapegoats for your anger. You have to understand, Kosuke! Taking your anger out on the people who love you isn't going to make your suffering end! Don't you remember the happy memories you all shared together? All the wonderful times you had together? Doesn't all of that mean something? You want to fly and be free from your suffering, don't you? You need to free yourself from all of this anger and let others into your life so they can help you and show how much they care for you! You've helped them, so let them help you! Stop being so proud and arrogant about it and help them! Don't you remember when we first met? You said that you hated people like that! You hated people who kept getting wrong ideas and making false assumptions about people and judging them by their cover. But now...you've become one of those people!"

With that, Angemon finally finished. He decided to leave, but not before throwing in another shot. "You really need to think about what you've done and what they've done for you. You're much better than this. I don't hate you. I hate what you've become." And with that, he left.

Kosuke fell to his knees. He didn't know what to do. But he finally had to admit it: Angemon is right. Right about everything. His friends, Yun especially, never lied to him. They never turned their back on him nor did they leave him out to dry or abandon him or even claim they didn't care about him. It was the complete opposite. They helped him, cared about him, came to see him when he wanted to see them, and did everything they could to make him happy. But he was so wound up by his pain and suffering that he took his anger out on them, even when they hadn't done anything wrong. They did everything for him and yet he didn't even thank them! He just wallowed in his own self pity and drove everyone away. It's here that he finally realized it: his anger consumed him and he drove his friends away, which exacerbated his suffering. All of those times he took his anger out on Yun, his mom, and anyone he came into contact with, it only made him suffer even more. He kept on denying it, claiming that other people were making him suffer; his dad for leaving, his mom for becoming an alcoholic, the landlord for being his usual insensitive and cocky self, and at God for giving him this kind of life. But no. Kosuke made himself suffer by not allowing the kindness of others to heal him, especially when times were tough. He even forgot at one point that his mother could actually be sober when she wanted to be.

And she was definitely sober earlier today, when Kosuke came home from the dollar store after his encounter with Lucero.

(flashback)

_After Kosuke left the dollar store, Patamon followed him and kept on interrogating him, even as they were walking down the sidewalk._

_"Kosuke! Why didn't you take this chance to apologize to Yun?" Patamon yelled._

_"I have nothing to apologize for!" Kosuke yelled back._

_"Yes you do! Yun-chan did lots of nice things for you, but you don't even thank her!"_

_Kosuke arrived home and burst through the door. "She doesn't do it because she cares! Just to satisfy her ego! Don't you remember what Mom said? There's no such thing as sincerity in this world! Only deceit! They're only pretending they're my friends, but they're planning on betraying me, using me up and spitting me out in the end...and it's true! What she said is true and has been for a long time! They're all a bunch of parasites trying to suck the life out of me! Mom included, since she got us into this mess in the first place! They're all just dragging me around at their own convenience! Yun especially! She's a parasite!"_

_"Kosuke! You know she was drunk when she said those things! She didn't mean it!"_

_"Yes she did! I know it, and she's right too!"_

_Kosuke wanted to sit down and do his homework, but he had no idea that someone overheard his conversation with Patamon just now. Patamon had gone into Kosuke's room._

_"You...cut off your friendship with them?"_

_Kosuke looked up to find his mother looking down at him with a confused look on her face. Her face doesn't look all flushed anymore. Her hair looks as though it's actually been washed and cleaned. She's actually wearing decent clothes consisting of a white T-shirt with flowers on it and blue jeans. She's actually not drunk for once! Kosuke could tell, since she's been drunk so much. He had actually forgotten that his mother is capable of being sober, and right now, she definitely is sober._

_"Those nice kids...your friends...you cut them off...because of me?" His mother asked in a low, almost pained voice. Kosuke stood up angrily._

_"You eavesdropped on me? You idiot!" Kosuke yelled as he tried to lunge at her, but his mother actually grabbed his arm and stopped him from doing so. She didn't lose her balance or fall over this time._

_"I can't believe you, Kosuke! You're better than this! Why did you stop being friends with those nice kids?" His mother yelled, actually sounding disappointed._

_"You said so! You said that they're not really my friends and that they're just using me for their own benefit!" Kosuke yelled back._

_"I was referring to myself, not you! Yes, I was drunk when I said those things. I know that, and I'm sorry for destroying your blueberries and ruining your life, but just because I've been betrayed by my friends in the past doesn't mean it'll happen to you! Don't you remember that birthday party you had when you invited them here? It was long ago, but I remember! They were the sweetest things around! No children I ever met back in my day were as nice as them! You have a future, Kosuke! Not me! I've lost everything, but you have wonderful people who care for you! Don't turn your back on them!"_

_Kosuke couldn't believe what was coming out of his mother's mouth. She's actually acknowledging her crime and telling him to apologize to his friends? She's actually NOT sitting around, drinking, and wallowing in her self pity for once? He couldn't believe this. He thought it was just some illusion. He wondered why she hadn't noticed Patamon yet (though this is partly because Patamon had hidden himself in the other room...and is watching the conversation go on)._

_"They're not what they claim to be! You hardly met them so how could you know?"_

_"I've seen them come here a couple of times. No person I knew had ever had it in their heart to buy food and clothes for someone in their time of need back in my day! Kosuke...don't stop being friends with those kids because of me! They'll help you! You have a future...are you really willing to throw it all away just because of me? And what about that other girl, Yun? She's the nicest thing I ever saw! Sure it was long ago, but I can tell she's a real sweet little thing!"_

_"She uses people for her own benefit! She only does nice things to satisfy her own ego!"_

_"You really think that? Don't you remember that time that kid ripped one of your Digimon cards and she gave you one of her own? What about that time she helped you stand up to that kid who kept on pushing you off of the monkey bars? Nobody ever did that for me! Not even Seiichi!_ _He's gone because of me, but you don't have to walk down the path he did! You're all I have, Kosuke, and you're all they have to! You can't throw away your future! I won't allow it! Now I want you to go see that Yun girl and apologize! I overheard you saying other stuff too, like how you think she's always getting in the way. That's not true, Kosuke! Now march over there and say you're sorry!"_

_Kosuke scoffed. "You're acting like a parent now, when you should have done so long ago? You're pathetic, you know that?"_

_"That's not important right now! March, young man!"_

_Not only could Kosuke not believe it, nor Patamon, but his mother herself was surprised in her change. Patamon, however, felt happy that his mother is finally taking charge and telling Kosuke to do the right thing. He wondered if she was like this before she became an alcoholic._ _He knew that his mother wasn't always an alcoholic, and she probably was a nice person before Seiichi, Kosuke's father, left, but he had a hard time picturing her as a kind person. Now, he had a clear picture, and it made him happy. Unlike Kosuke, Patamon believed in her and never gave up on her._

'Thank you, Kanako...for becoming a parent again,' _Patamon thought happily. Yes, Kanako is her name. He heard someone on the phone call her by that name though she didn't answer it. Both Kosuke and Kanako argued until Kosuke heard the report about SkullGreymon. This time, Kanako didn't stop him. Why she let him go, he didn't know, but Kosuke didn't bother to continue arguing with her. He thought that was the end of it...but it wasn't._

(end flashback)

Kosuke just sat on his knees, staring into space.

_'Wha...what have I done? Did I...really change into the type of person that I hate so much?'_ Kosuke thought. He had finally realized the error of his ways.

And he wasn't the only one either.

Back at the Wakamiya house, Teruki and Lucero are sitting around, waiting for news about Yun. Lucero paced around, not happy with being forced to stay at home, though he had to admit Yun had a point about SkullGreymon potentially kidnapping him if he had the chance. Lucero knew she meant well, but still. He looked around the house for something to do when he saw something sticking out from one of the drawers in the kitchen. He opened it, though the drawer was old and made a squeaky noise when he did, and found some very old, very worn out crayon drawings. A whole pile of them. Feeling curious, Lucero decided to take a look at them. He couldn't help but notice that the pictures seemed connected somehow. Soon, he found the connection: they were telling a story. Teruki caught him looking, but didn't mind.

"That was Yun's show and tell project back in third grade," Teruki told him.

"These were Yun's?" Lucero asked. Teruki nodded.

"She loved drawing and making up stories even back then. If memory serves me right, I remember having a cassette tape of it somewhere. Now where did I put it?" Teruki told him as he decided to look for the tape. Lucero remembered the day after he first met Yun. He was looking for something when an old cassette tape fell on his foot, the one that showed Yun in the room with the lady.

"Aren't they in the cupboard?" Lucero asked. Teruki opened the cupboard and found the cassette tapes. He pulled out one in particular.

"Here it is! Thanks, Lucero! If you want, we can watch it," Teruki told him with a smile. Lucero nodded and they decided to watch the tape.

Teruki first had to put it in a VHS tape before he could play it. He put it in the VCR portion of the DVD/VCR combo, pushed a button, and fast forwarded through most of it because it showed other kids and their show and tell projects. Lucero wanted to see the show and tell projects that Melody, Minako, and Kosuke made when they were young, but he didn't feel the need to tell Teruki about it. Soon, they arrived at Yun's part, which is almost at the very end of the video.

It began with an eight year old Yun having her name called by one of the teachers. She stood in front of the classroom looking quite excited and eager to begin her show and tell presentation. In her arms are a big pile of drawings. At the time, she wore a sleeveless white shirt with dark blue flowers all over it, blue shorts, little pink shoes, and white socks with purple stars on them.

_"Hi! I'm Wakamiya Yun, and I drew a story! It's called Girl Who Crossed The Rainbow!"_ Little Yun exclaimed in her sweet voice and began her presentation, telling a story by showing them drawings while telling what's happening in them.

Apparently, eight year old Yun's story, Girl Who Crossed The Rainbow, is about a bullied girl who manages to cross a rainbow into another world while trying to escape from the bullies. She meets another girl and they become friends, but the rainbow girl's people don't like the earth girl (as little Yun called them) and want to keep her away. The girls fight back and run away from the bad people. The girls play together, eat food together, talk about things they love, and frolic in the flowers. Soon, the earth girl finds a way back home, but she's become so close with rainbow girl that she wants to take her with her.

_"So earth girl asks her, 'Do you wanna come with me? Earth has lots of pretty things!' The rainbow girl thought and thought and thought until she said to earth girl, 'I don't get why your world is not like mine, but I wanna go! I love seeing new things! You're my friend after all, and friends go places together!' Earth girl and rainbow girl were very happy, and they went to Earth together! After that, the two worlds came together and everyone lived in harmony! The End!"_

Little Yun's presentation received a lot of acclaim, as the entire class clapped and cheered for her, though little Yun felt rather abashed by the many claps and a little frightened by the noise. Lucero was awestruck. Even as Yun was young and unaware of the world around her, she understood. She understood that people can create harmony amongst themselves and work together despite being so vastly different. He wondered if Yun even understood any of it back then. Finally, he stood up with a courageous blaze in his eyes.

"Teruki-dono! Thou must take me to the power plant! Yun and the Digimon Brigade are fighting there!" Lucero demanded with his fists balled up. Teruki nodded at him and grabbed his keys. The two got in the car and raced for the power plant.

_'Yun...please be safe! I'm so sorry I was so insensitive and cruel to you! I'll fix this! I promise!'_ Teruki thought as his car raced on the road. He didn't care if he was going a bit too fast. Both he and Lucero were worried about Yun.

And they had every right to be worried.

"Dark Shot!"

"Spray of Hearts!"

SkullGreymon shot his rocket at MarineAngemon, who tried to block it with her own attack, but it managed to break through it. Aria, Isao, and MarineAngemon both ran as Yun, with her digisword in hand, sliced the digisword a bit and made it fall to the ground. Yun barely managed to get away. Gargomon saw this as he was being flung around while clinging to SkullGreymon's tail.

"Yun! Don't be so reckless! You're gonna get hurt!" Gargomon exclaimed, but Yun didn't hear him.

Yun didn't care if she was being reckless. She didn't care if she was doing stupid things while in battle. She didn't care. She just wanted to protect her friends and prove to them that she's not using them for her own gain. She wanted to do it even if she had to die for it. She raced around, going up against SkullGreymon's attacks while saving her friends one by one. It was tough, but she managed to survive them all. She just saved Prairiemon from SkullGreymon's Cursed Breath.

"Prairiemon! Try to get him from underground!" Yun commanded.

"Roger that!" Prairiemon said as she dug back underground. Yun had another plan, and she was going to go for it no matter what anyone else said. Unfortunately, the battle wasn't going well for just about everyone.

"Hey, bag of bones! Watch out!" Coredramon flew downward and grabbed SkullGreymon, hoping to use him for an epic seismic toss. Unfortunately, SkullGreymon saw his plan, grabbed his throat like he was about to suffocate him, and used his Cursed Breath on him. Coredramon couldn't protect himself against him and wound up getting hurt. He de-digivolved back into Dracomon as SkullGreymon threw him to the ground.

"Dracomon!" Shunji yelled as he ran to his partner with worry. Shunji picked Dracomon up from the ground and held him close.

"Shunji...this isn't our fight. Someone else will shine," Dracomon muttered.

Shunji wanted to ask what he meant by that, but upon further ruminating, he got what Dracomon meant.

"We can't digivolve into ultimate now, can we?" Shunji asked.

"No, we can't. I'm sorry, Shunji," Dracomon muttered.

"It's alright. You did awesome. You deserve a good rest," Shunji muttered.

The battle with SkullGreymon was getting quite tedious for all the Digimon Brigade.

"Man! Is this ugly thing strong or what? We'll never defeat him like this!" Isao exclaimed, not happy with the impending outcome of the battle.

"Can't one of us digivolve into ultimate or something?" Melody sneered angrily.

"I'm trying but my D-Heart's not glowing!" Minako said.

"Nyan! I can't even digivolve into ultimate when I need to the most!" Gatomon snarled, sounding quite disappointed.

"We can't give up now! We have to keep fighting at all costs!" Bucchiemon exclaimed.

"Rosetta Stone!" Nefertimon shot a stone at SkullGreymon's face, but it didn't hit him.

"Cursed Breath!"

Both Nefertimon, Birdramon, and Pegasusmon avoided the attack.

"I'm starting to get tired. Durn, this thing's persistent!" Birdramon muttered.

"Someone's gotta digivolve into ultimate soon! This can't go on!" Pegasusmon said, beginning to sound worried.

"Keep fighting! All of you!" Grizzlymon exclaimed as he and Prairiemon both charged at SkullGreymon.

"Maul Attack!"

"Prairie Claw!"

Both attacks managed to hit SkullGreymon, but he slapped them both with his tail!

"Grizzlymon!" Isao exclaimed as he ran over to Grizzlymon, who de-digivolved back into Bearmon.

"That didn't go too well," Bearmon said.

"Gauntlet Claw!"

"Gargo Laser!"

Turuiemon and Gargomon pummeled SkullGreymon with every attack they had, hoping to persevere and at least tire him out. They dodged all of his attacks and tried to defeat him. Then Turuiemon noticed something very worrying.

"Gargomon! Have you seen Yun?" Turuiemon asked.

"Isn't she down on the ground?" Gargomon asked back.

"She's not down there! I just looked!" Turuiemon exclaimed.

"That can't be good!" Gargomon said.

"What? Yun's missing?" Melody exclaimed.

"All of you, go look for Yun! We champion level Digimon will try to keep SkullGreymon at bay as best we can! Go on!" Turuiemon commanded. The kids and rookie Digimon agreed and decided to go look for Yun. Kosuke too.

"Everyone! Attack with all you've got!" Gargomon commanded. "Bunny Pummel!"

"Gauntlet Claw!"

"Hand of Fate!"

"Meteor Wing!"

"Lightning Paw!"

"Spray of Hearts!"

"Tee Dia!"

"Star Shower!"

"Rosetta Stone!"

"Love Laser!"

"Carrot Bomb!"

"Dance of the White Swan!"

"Aerial Attack!"

Unfortunately, again, SkullGreymon had the upper hand.

"Cursed Breath!"

His attack came so quickly that most of the Digimon couldn't dodge it in time! Only Gargomon, Turuiemon, and Gatomon managed to escape. All the Digimon were hit by the Cursed Breath attack. The armor level Digimon became too weak to fight, and most of the champion levels, Angemon, Birdramon, Seasarmon, Rabbitmon, and MarineAngemon (though she's a mega level) de-digivolved back into Biyomon, Labramon, Cutemon, Patamon, and Syakomon. Unimon was too weak to fight either. In a flash, most of the secondary partners returned to their world. The kids commanded it because if they fought any further, they would most likely die. Sure they could preserve their data, but not in the middle of battle like this, especially if SkullGreymon is intent on absorbing data and destroying everything. Shunji held little hope.

"Gargomon and Turuiemon are too small to defeat a nasty thing like SkullGreymon!" Shunji said.

"What are we gonna do?" Bearmon asked.

Kosuke saw it, and he screamed.

"YUN!"

Everyone looked up to a frightening sight.

Yun is on SkullGreymon's chest! Right in front of his red organ with digisword in hand!

"YUN! GET OFF OF HIM!" Everyone, including Turuiemon and Gargomon, yelled. But Yun didn't listen. She dredged her digisword in the giant skeleton Digimon's organ, causing him to roar in pain. Yun pulled herself off of him, created a digishield around herself, and broke her own fall. Thankfully, SkullGreymon managed to not see her, but he laid eyes on someone else.

Kosuke.

"Cursed Breath!"

Yun was the first to take action.

"KOSUKE-KUUUN!" Yun stood in front of Kosuke and made a digishield appear, protecting them from the cursed breath.

Kosuke was stunned. He couldn't help but notice that Yun became more and more careless and reckless during this battle. Upon seeing her valiant and chivalrous deed another time, he finally realized it: Yun is willingly putting her life in danger for not just his sake, and for everyone else, probably out of obligation to prove to him that she's not doing anything for her own gain. Yun didn't even care about the fact that her arms are hurting, her legs are hurting, her ears are ringing, and that her digishield is likely going to break at any second! Kosuke realized another thing: Yun is easily traumatized and influenced by bad events, and will likely respond to them in careless ways, doing so right now. He couldn't believe Yun was doing all of this for not just him, but for everyone else. But he knew very well that even that has its limits, and that her digishield is cracking. SkullGreymon isn't giving up.

"Yun! Get out of here! Your digishield's about to collapse!"

"So? I'll protect you even if I have to die for it!"

"Don't be stupid!"

"Well I AM stupid! You said so!"

Kosuke gasped. Yun's digishield is cracking more and more. He had to act fast or else the Cursed Breath will break through the digishield and destroy the both of them. The kids and Digimon tried to stop SkullGreymon, but he's just too big and too strong for them to handle. Kosuke yanked his digivice out...but it was too late.

_CRASH!_

The digishield broke. The Cursed Breath hit them. Yun protected Kosuke.

But Kosuke noticed something else. It wasn't just Yun who protected him. Four other figures stepped in. Two of them human, two of them being Digimon. But he was enveloped by darkness and couldn't see them.

So was Yun.

For her, everything went black. She fell unconscious and felt pain surge all throughout her limp little body. Her head was pounding, her fragile ears rung, she lost all feeling, and she drifted off into her own pained thoughts.

_'I knew it...I knew it. Even though I try so hard...it's still not enough. Not enough for me, and for everyone else. I can't...do anything. I can't be useful or of help to anyone. I'm just one big inconvenience to the whole world. I can't even keep an entire group of people organized. All I do is make things worse for everyone. I...'_ Yun wanted to say that the whole world would be much better off without her.

Only someone stopped her from doing so.

"Doth thou truly taketh thy life so lightly?"

This made Yun wake up. In her mind. She recognized the dialect, but the voice sounded much more dignified and much more caring.

"What...?"

"Thou cannot say that thou art better off gone. All humans are special. Thou art very needed in this world. Wake up and see. The harmony that thou wishest for shall happen, and the light will shine again!"

Yun saw a white light, and she touched it. In the process, she heard voices.

"Yun! Yun! Wake up! Wake up, Yun!"

She recognized it. It was...Teruki.

She found herself in Teruki's arms, with Gargomon, Turuiemon, Lucero, and everyone else looking down at her with worried but sympathetic faces. Teruki broke down once she woke up.

"YUN! Oh thank God you're alive!" Teruki exclaimed tearfully as he hugged Yun, but knowing that it was him, Yun pushed him off.

"Get off of me!" Yun pushed him off and tried to walk away, but was caught by Turuiemon.

"You're too injured to go anywhere, Yun," Turuiemon told her. Yun saw that the rookie Digimon are desperately trying to fight off the rabid SkullGreymon.

"Lightning Paw!"

"Boom Bubble!"

"Spiral Flame!"

"Echoing Bark!"

"Holy Ray!"

"Bear Roll!"

"Lunar Claw!"

"Corona Flame!"

"Tidal Wave!"

"Dragon Ember!"

SkullGreymon didn't attack them, but he wasn't phased by any of their attacks, even though they persisted and attacked with all their might. Teruki found this an opportunity to talk to Yun.

"Yun...Lucero told me about what happened. I...I'm so sorry, Yun. I never should have doubted you. I should have been more sensitive," Teruki said tearfully. Yun didn't buy it.

"You didn't need to be. I got what I deserve...and you're all right. I'm just one big problem for everyone," Yun muttered solemnly.

"That's not true! We'd be lost without you!" Gargomon said.

"Lost without ME? No way! You're all better off without me! Everything that Kosuke said is true! I'm nothing but a parasite who sucks the life out of people just to satisfy myself! I can't do anything useful or helpful and I'm constantly dragging everyone down at my own convenience! It's all true! I'm a retarded idiot who's a disgrace to all of humanity!" Yun yelled angrily. "I can't even keep you all organized and act like a leader!"

"So? Nobody's perfect!" Lucero exclaimed.

"Well I need to be!" Yun replied.

"Who said anything about you needing to be perfect? That's not what this is about! Yun...I'm sorry for everything I said to you! I didn't mean all of those things I said! I was just so wound up that I took it out on you and didn't realize it!" Kosuke exclaimed.

"You were right to take it out on me, because I deserve it!"

"Yun! Stop talking like that!" Teruki exclaimed as he hugged Yun again. Turuiemon, Gargomon, Lucero, and all the other kids surrounded them, trying to not let them escape.

"Yun...don't say the world's better off without you. Don't say you're a problem for everyone. I'm sorry I was so insensitive, but...we parents worry about our kids a lot. It's only natural for us to assume the worst. I wish I could help you more! I wish I had known about what had happened to you in school! Don't say that you're a problem. You're not. You've helped me out of despair lots of times," Teruki said.

"Yeah right," Yun muttered.

"Yun...Gargomon and I are happy to be your partners. We love you and wouldn't want anyone else to be our partner. We would be so lost without you. Who's going to draw nice pictures for us and tell us nice stories and snuggle with us?" Turuiemon asked.

"Yeah! Who's gonna play with us and stop me from doing anything stupid and scold me when I do something bad?" Gargomon asked.

"If thou had not noticed me back at the Wawa, I most surely would have died, but I didn't...because of thou. I am indebted to thee, and I cannot allow my debt to be unpaid...if thou were to leave," Lucero told her.

"Not only that, you stabbed SkullGreymon in the heart! That's one of the bravest, most awesomest things I've seen you do! No way would I have been able to do that!" Gargomon cheered, lauding Yun for her brave act earlier.

"And you've saved me. Lots of times. From SkullGreymon twice, and lots more...from my own suffering," Kosuke said.

"Yun...don't leave us. We love you!" The rest of the kids said.

Yun wanted to contradict them so badly, but she found no point in doing so. She never understood why they would care about an eleven year old autistic girl who, in her view, is short, white skinned, one quarter American, retarded, stupid, incapable of doing anything useful or helpful for anyone, amounting to anything, doing nothing but cause trouble, making bad situations worse than they already are, and just about ruins everything for everyone. But she did care about them, just as much as they did about her. She wanted them to be happy, even though her attempts to help them, as she thinks, almost always backfire or turn up underappreciated. She loved Cutemon, Lopmon, Terriermon, Lucero, her family (even though Ayaka doesn't seem to think so), her friends, and everyone she knew and loved. She felt weak, but she got up, dried herself off, and felt a blaze of courage arise in her little heart.

She was ready.

"Everyone, distract SkullGreymon and keep him out of town! Digimon, attack him with everything you've got so he won't be walking out of here! Dad and Lucero, you take cover!" Yun commanded, actually having some authority in her voice.

Everyone agreed.

"Roger that!" Everyone said. The Digimon persisted in their attacks, even though SkullGreymon wiped them out. The kids used their digilassos to try and keep SkullGreymon from walking away, and Teruki and Lucero watched as the kids and Digimon stood up to SkullGreymon. Even Yun, Turuiemon, and Gargomon helped.

Right then and there, Yun realized it: she created the Digimon Brigade mostly out of necessity since they're the only ones who have Digimon, and since they have Digimon, they're obligated to defeat rogue Digimon who wreak havoc and want to destroy everything. Yun knows that she's not a natural born leader, and doesn't want to be something she's not, but she could tell that the Digimon Brigade needed some structure to its system. Someone had to give the Digimon Brigade some structure, and since nobody else was willing to do so, Yun decided to take it upon herself to do so. She didn't want to give them any rankings because she didn't want some of the members to feel inferior to others. She felt she needed to take some charge, though she knew she wasn't quite capable. Most members of the group are either too young (Isao and Aria), too passive (Hokuto and Kosuke), too reckless (Riku), too polite (Rena and Minako), or too lazy (Shunji). That was what Yun wanted: to stimulate balance, agreement, and friendship among her friends and teammates, even though there may be some disagreements and even though they're so vastly different. She saw it in all of her favorite anime. If different people can come together and create harmony amongst themselves, why couldn't she and her friends? Yun hated being a follower, but she knew she wasn't capable of being a leader. Now, with all of this chaos going on, she knew she had to take charge and manipulate the situation to not just her advantage, but to the advantage of everyone else, even though all the rookie Digimon are literally out of power. They all believed in her, and she believed in them. She loved Lopmon and Terriermon with all her heart, and she created harmony amongst them...and she succeeded.

_'This is what I've been looking for! It's not good for people to be disorganized while in the middle of something important, and someone has to give them a boost! I don't think I've done it, but...harmony will be born! I'll make it happen! I'll help everyone remember what's really important!'_ Yun thought as Turuiemon and Gargomon leaped into battle, feeling quite energized.

After that, both her digivice and white D-Heart of Harmony glew in a beautiful, pure, pristine, bright white light. A light shot out from her digivice and permeated her D-Heart, making it glow as bright as the stars in the sky (it's night time right now). The light from the egg shaped stone shot out like a cannon ball, suddenly split into two different lights halfway through, and hit both Turuiemon and Gargomon, simultaneously and spontaneously! Yun's D-Heart symbol, the big circle with four smaller circles surrounding it and one in the big hollow space in the middle, branded itself onto Turuiemon and Gargomon, and once they were branded, the white light enveloped them both. They soon grew bigger and bigger.

"Turuiemon, digivolve to..."

Turuiemon's voice became lower, and the light consuming her grew bigger and bigger until finally, out came a totally different creature! She became quite big and tall, though she still remains a bunny...a HUGE, 20 foot bunny rabbit at that! Her ears are now half the length they were before, with pink at the tips, and the middle of her face is white. She still has her green eyes, and her horns are still in their rightful places (two in front, one in the back). She wore long, pale purple pants with long footsies included, a white scarf is wrapped around her large white neck, her pale brown arms are as big and long as her body, with odd white markings on them resembling stripes and stars. Her torso is bright red, and the two sides of her face are pale brown, but she certainly looked quite graceful and elegant. She even has white shoulder pads matching her big white neck, which has a gold emblem on the bottom of it. Yun recognized this Digimon.

"...Antylamon!"

"Gargomon, digivolve to..."

Gargomon's voice was spared the mercy of getting lower, but he grew just as big as Antylamon. He grew bigger and bigger until finally, out came a different creature as well! He looked much more mechanical and machine-like than Antylamon. He's covered in emerald green armor, from his ears to the bottom of his feet, with his cream colored arms and legs being exposed. His armor is as hard as rock, with the tips of his ears being golden yellow. His face is partially exposed, but his green horn looks to be a force that's not to be taken lightly. His silver and green shoulder pads are harder than Antylamon's, his vulcans are green, red, and silver, his metal shoes are gold and green, some of the triangles on his armor are upside down, and there's a big black machine thing on his back. Yun recognized this Digimon as well.

"...Rapidmon!"

Yun's twin Digimon digivolved into ultimate! Everyone watched as they descended onto the ground...well, Antylamon did. Rapidmon stayed in the air since he can fly. Everyone was quite surprised, even Yun. Teruki and Lucero especially.

"Are they...Lopmon and Terriermon?" Teruki asked. Suddenly, Lucero cheered like an avid Phillies fan.

"THEY DIGIVOLVED! THE LIGHT SHINES AGAIN!" Lucero screamed at the top of his voice not angrily, but happily and joyously. Even Yun couldn't help but crack a big smile as Rapidmon and Antylamon prepared to attack SkullGreymon.

"Would you like to fight him with me, brother?" Antylamon asked in a very calm and lady-like voice.

"I wouldn't have it any other way, sister!" Rapidmon said as he flew toward SkullGreymon, who proceeded to attack.

"Dark Shot!" The rocket shot out of his back.

"Rapid Fire!" Rapidmon shot missles out of his hands, which collided with the rocket, destroying it. Antylamon then swooped in, did some back flips, and kicked SkullGreymon twice in the face before turning her long, big, flexible arms into double-edged axes.

"Treasure Axes!" Antylamon's axe-like hands spun around in a cylinder, landing some great hits on SkullGreymon to the point of knocking him down to the ground! SkullGreymon tried to get up and attack, but he was too weak. Suddenly, Gatomon digivolved into Angewomon!

"Finally!" Minako exclaimed.

"Need some help, my friends?" Angewomon asked in her beautiful voice.

"Sure! We'll need all the help we can get!" Rapidmon replied cheerfully.

"Come on! SkullGreymon must be defeated!" Antylamon said. Rapidmon decided to attack first. He flew into the air and opened himself up, shaping himself in the form of a triangle.

"Tri-Beam!" Lights connected his hands and feet, forming an upside down glowing green triangle, which flew at SkullGreymon, landing a great hit on him.

"Celestial Arrow!" Angewomon created some white energy in the form of a bow and arrow and released the arrow, which hit SkullGreymon's chest.

"Bunny Blades!" Antylamon spun herself around like a tornado, bombarding SkullGreymon with a myriad of blows. Everyone was impressed.

'Wow! They really are awesome! I...I really did raise them well!' Yun thought, even though SkullGreymon wasn't defeated yet. Rapidmon and Antylamon then walked up to Yun, who basked in their awesomeness.

"Yun, our dearest partner and friend...would you like to deal the final blow? We will give you our holy powers, as we deem you worthy of them," Antylamon told her in a kind voice. Yun wasn't at all intimidated by their size.

Yun knew what they were talking about. When Patamon digivolved into Angemon for the first time, he gave Kosuke some of his holy powers, which made his digivice and digisword turn into a real sword full of power. Kosuke obviously has no proper fighting skills, and neither does she or just about everyone else. She wondered what it would be like. She decided.

"Yes. Lend me your power, my beloved friends," Yun told them.

White lights came out from Antylamon's emblem and Rapidmon's horn.

"Yun, I give you my knowledge," Antylamon said as her light enveloped Yun.

"Yun, I give you my power," Rapidmon said as his light enveloped Yun.

Yun didn't grow bigger, but she did come out of the light looking quite different. Her clothes changed. She now has on a sleeveless, white dress-like shirt and white capris, with white shoes, white axes covering her hands that resemble Antylamon's, but only pure white, and a small pair of little white wings. Everyone couldn't believe what they saw. Even Yun couldn't, but this wasn't the time to doubt anything. On impulse, she literally flew toward SkullGreymon, along with her twin Digimon.

"Rapid Fire!"

"Treasure Axes!"

Rapidmon and Antylamon landed some more attacks on him, but they gave Yun the last shot. Yun didn't understand how she was able to fly, or jump really high, or move at a high speed, or suddenly gain fighting skills. Perhaps this is the combined power of Rapidmon and Antylamon. She didn't bother to question it right now, even though she felt it to be too good a bit of a Deus Ex Machina. She spun around, landed on SkullGreymon's chest, and dredged her axe hands into SkullGreymon's chest. SkullGreymon roared in pain as it consumed his entire being. Soon, he felt himself turning into data, which he did. After a few minutes, he turned into purple particles of data. Feeling sorry for it, Yun decided to save his data with her digivice and turn him into a DigiEgg. SkullGreymon's DigiEgg is white with many little orange dinosaur like footprints on it. Yun opened a digital portal and dropped the DigiEgg into it. The portal closed, and Rapidmon and Antylamon's holy powers returned to them, turning Yun back to normal. But suddenly, Yun felt quite dizzy and almost fell. Thankfully, Antylamon managed to make Yun land on one of her big hands, preventing her from falling face first on the ground. Yun woke up to find herself in Antylamon's hand, the latter and Rapidmon who are looking down at her with gentle, sympathetic eyes.

"You were wonderful, Yun," Rapidmon said.

"No, you were wonderful. You digivolved to ultimate," Yun told them.

"And it was you who helped us do that. Only you are capable of helping us digivolve further. Don't say you're not needed, because we need you. We need you to be our friend, and to us, you're the most wonderful person in the world. We've found harmony because of you," Antylamon told her in a kind, dulcet voice. Yun couldn't help but shed some tears, knowing that she truly has wonderful friends. Antylamon then set Yun back onto the ground. Yun was about to walk away when she saw Kosuke in front of her, without Patamon by his side.

At first, Yun became a little scared seeing Kosuke in front of her. Usually, he'd have a stern look in his eyes, like he did when he said those mean things to her. But now, he doesn't have that look. Yun didn't want to look him in the face, but she did anyway, and was quite surprised to see that his hazel green eyes actually look soft, warm, and even remorseful. Kosuke himself looked a bit pained, like he was trying to say something but his voice wasn't letting him. For once, Patamon didn't nudge him or pester him. After about a few more seconds, Kosuke finally got the mettle to say what he wanted to say to Yun.

"Yun, I...I'm so sorry! For...all the mean stuff I said to you...and for taking my anger out on you! For ignoring you when Nemoto and Shimizu were beating you up, and for everything else!" Kosuke bowed before Yun, which made her step back a little, but he kept on going.

"Ever since Dad left and Mom became an alcoholic, I began thinking that the whole world betrayed me. In one fell swoop, I became the man of the house who did all the things a parent did. I had to cook, clean, do chores, and pay the rent. I wasn't allowed to be a kid anymore, and that really hurt me! I've been wanting to go back to the way I was for some time now, but everything just got worse and worse. I should have told you all how I felt, but I've been putting up a tough front for a long time now, and it just didn't seem right to suddenly show weakness by admitting it and, even though you and the teachers have told me that telling people about your feelings makes you feel better, I kept it all bottled up inside until I exploded...forcing myself to unwittingly make you my scapegoat. For all of that, I'm so sorry. I really am. I always loved being your friend. You've always played games with me and helped me when I needed it. The other friends I made back then weren't sincere about it, unlike you, Minako, and Melody. You're not a parasite. In fact, you've helped me lots of times, and I really should have been more grateful. I...I know for a fact that I'm not the overly energetic and cheerful boy I was back then, but...can we be friends again?"

Finally, after quite a long time, Kosuke felt as though a tower of bricks the size of the Empire State Building lifted off of him, and now he almost felt as though he were light as a feather, emphasis on almost. Kosuke finally realized the error of his ways and apologized, but in his heart, there was still doubt. Would Yun forgive him? Would she be so traumatized that she wouldn't be friends with him anymore? Would she think he's lying? Kosuke didn't want to make it sound as though he wasn't being sincere about apologizing. He truly wanted to make amends with Yun thanks to having some sense knocked into him by Angemon and, bizarrely enough, his mother, who actually became sober for once. Yun looked at him for a bit in silence. She then looked down sadly, even wistfully.

"You...don't have to ask me to forgive you. I know the stress of your dad leaving and your mom drinking so much got the better of you, but really, all of what you said is true. I really am a retard, a parasite, and a problem for everyone," Yun said in a low voice.

"I didn't mean any of it! It all just slipped out and I was only taking my anger out on you!" Kosuke yelled.

"But you were still right. I can't do anything useful or helpful for anyone, even you, and no matter what I do or say I always make people mad," Yun replied softly.

"Don't you want us to be friends again?" Kosuke yelped.

"I...I do want us to be friends again, and I know you feel bad about what you did, but...I'm afraid that if I do, I might hold you back more and annoy you more and cause you more trouble than before. I-" Yun didn't get to finish that sentence because of Lucero putting a hand on her mouth.

"Yun! Thou must accept his apology without saying things that are not true!" Lucero told her sternly.

"He's right. Kosuke's kinda serious right now, so shouldn't we just get it over with?" Rapidmon asked.

"I sense sincerity within him, Yun. Will you forgive him?" Antylamon asked kindly.

Lucero took his hand off of Yun's mouth. Yun no longer felt any need to contradict him, though it must be confessed that she might still be traumatized for a while longer.

"It's alright. I forgive you. I'm sorry for being such a bad friend," Yun told him.

"No, I was being the bad friend. Probably the worst kind of bad friend. Let's start over, shall we?" Kosuke replied, smiling a little. The rookie Digimon cheered.

"YAAAAY! We're all friends again! Yahoo!" Patamon and the other Digimon rejoiced and cheered joyously over the newly reformed friendship and hopped on Kosuke's head. "I'm so proud of you, Kosuke!"

Kosuke laughed a little. "Thanks, Patamon...for being so annoying about it."

"There was no way I was gonna let you and Yun be angry at each other forever! No way at all!" Patamon exclaimed. Soon, everyone broke into laughter Antylamon and Rapidmon both de-digivolved back into Kokomon and Gummymon and fell into Yun's arms. Angewomon de-digivolved back into Nyaromon.

"Yun!" The two of them squeaked joyously. Yun hugged them tight and cried a little. Lucero wrapped his arm around her. Cutemon hopped on her head. Melody remembered something important.

"Uh...guys? How the heck are we gonna get home?" Melody asked.

"I can take most of you home by car," Teruki told them.

"There's too many of us, and I think the Digimon are too weak to fly us home," Aria said.

"She's right! Look! That SkullGreymon's Cursed Breath totally ruined my beautiful feathers!" Biyomon complained as she plucked some dead feathers out of her wings.

"Quit complaining, you bird!" Syakomon exclaimed. Dracomon raised his hand.

"I'm kinda hungry," Kokomon muttered.

"Don't worry. We'll have dinner when we get home, even though it's kinda late," Yun told her.

"I've kinda got some energy left. I can digivolve for a bit and take most of you home," Dracomon said.

"Will you be okay, Dracomon?" Gummymon asked with concern in his cute little voice.

"Sure! A little bumps and bruises won't stop me!" Dracomon said. Shunji hugged his dragon friend happily.

"Well, let's get to it!" Shunji said.

Using the last of his energy, Dracomon digivolved into Coredramon. Rena, Riku, Otoya, Isao, Aria, and Hokuto rode with Shunji on Coredramon's back. Teruki drove Lucero, Yun, Minako, Kosuke, Melody, and their Digimon home. This battle was quite tiring...but what the Digimon Brigade didn't know was that they had an audience that watched the entire thing!

Masaomi watched from another building that was a little ways away from the power plant, with binoculars in his hands.

"So those kids ARE involved in the incidents," Masaomi said to himself.

Flying over the scene was Nayuki, who rode on top of a big black dragon. Tsukaimon isn't with her, so it's likely that he digivolved.

"Hm. Looks like those idiots are worth something after all. Those Digimon digivolved into ultimate...while you're far behind them all, Devidramon," Nayuki said with scorn.

"I'm sorry, Nayuki. What do we do know?" The Digimon she's riding on, Devidramon, asked in a very low and ominous voice.

"They're too tired to fight us, so let's wait a while," Nayuki said as she and Devidramon flew away.

Right near the scene, two Bakemon and HiVisionMonitormon were watching and dancing around.

"Yeah! We got some great footage! That battle was awesome!" HiVisionMonitormon cheered.

"Indeed! I can't wait to show this to Master! He's going to have a field day!" The first Bakemon exclaimed happily.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go back to the inner sanctum and show him already!" The second Bakemon said.

"I just hope that Lilithmon isn't there when we get back. She always ruins everything!" HiVisionMonitormon said as he opened a digital portal.

"I feel kinda bad for SkullGreymon though. He was kinda cool," The second Bakemon said, turning a bit despondent.

"He was kinda hard to handle anyway, even though we were the ones who sent him here. Come on! Let's go before the portal closes!" The first Bakemon said as he pushed his brother and HiVisionMonitormon into the portal.


	45. Home Not So Sweet Home

EPISODE 45: Home Not-So-Sweet Home

After the epic fracas with SkullGreymon, HiVisionMonitormon and his two Bakemon friends journeyed back to the inner sanctum, hoping to surprise and wow MoonMillenniummon with the footage they managed to record. They couldn't wait to see the look on his face once they showed him the footage. Would he be surprised? Would he explode into a paroxysm of anger? Would he suddenly fall silent and think for a long while? The ghost Digimon figured the latter would be the most likely, since he tends to do that a lot. They prefered his silence over his displays of anger, but then again, it wouldn't be as exciting if he didn't suddenly jump, not that he can jump since he's stuck in the rock formation and can't get out. The two Bakemon and HiVisionMonitormon ran through the caves happily, as the smaller Digimon, namely Pagumon, Gizamon, Gazimon, DemiMeramon, and some other purple Digimon, watched them.

"Yeah! I can't wait to see the look on Master's face!" HiVisionMonitormon exclaimed.

"I know, right? This is gonna rock the inner sanctum good!" The first Bakemon cheered joyously.

"Indeed it shall, and nothing will stop us!" The second Bakemon said.

It's here that Candlemon, and three of his DemiMeramon friends, ran into them.

"What are you three all so cheery and joyous about?" Candlemon asked curiously. "And more importantly, where have you been? Master's been worried sick about you!"

"We've got something cool to show Master! He's gonna have kittens once he sees what we've got!" HiVisionMonitormon said.

"Has anyone seen that little Monitormon anywhere? We can't find him!" The second Bakemon asked.

"He's in the infirmary again. He beat himself up again," Candlemon told him.

"Not surprised. I kinda figured he wouldn't be of much help anyway. Now come on! I can't wait to see how Master reacts to this!" The first Bakemon said and pushed HiVisionMonitormon and the second Bakemon through the cave. Feeling curious, Candlemon and his DemiMeramon friends decided to accompany them. It took them a while to get through all the caves, but once they got to the center part of the inner sanctum, they literally leaped into it shouting joyously.

"MASTER! MASTER!"

But once they got there, however...

"Awwww! Are you kidding me?" HiVisionMonitormon yelped, very appalled by the fact that a someone they showed an aversion toward is standing right next to MoonMillenniummon.

The Digimon standing next to MoonMillenniummon is a tall, beautiful woman...if you consider dark, evil, and ominous looking appearances and clothes to be beautiful. She has very pale white skin, with gleaming violet eyes accompanied with thick violet eyeliner that might have been applied too much. Her short black hair is arranged in a rather strange style, held together by a big, gold and red crown-like accessory sitting on top of her head. She donned a black and purple dress, apparently not showing any shame for her promiscuity. On her back are four black, bat-like wings, with black and gold whip-like protrusions coming out of her back. Her stockings are black and gold, and her toe nails are sickeningly sharp, painted purple to match her eyes, dress, and eyeliner. Her right hand is covered with gold, and the fingers look quite sharp. The two Bakemon, Candlemon, HiVisionMonitormon, and the gaggle of DemiMeramon were NOT happy to see her.

"Man! What's she doing here?" The first Bakemon complained.

"I'm not just a she! I'm Lilithmon, you incompetent pest!" The dark woman Digimon, Lilithmon, told them in a lady-like but scornful and almost threatening voice. It's like LadyDevimon's, but much more ominous sounding.

"Where in the world were you three? You had me worried sick!" MoonMillenniummon scolded.

"Sorry we were gone so long, but we were in the human world, and we got something awesome to show you! You're gonna be so surprised by what we've got!" HiVisionMonitormon explained excitedly.

"Master, don't waste your time with these foolish hooligans. They're obviously bewitched by some kind of strange nonsense," Lilithmon told him in a rather smarmy voice as she hugged MoonMillenniummon, which made Candlemon grimace.

"Ewww! Gross!" Candlemon complained.

"Master! Please! You've got to see this! It's too awesome to not be seen by your awesome eyes!" The second Bakemon importuned.

"Exactly what is it you want to show Master? Care to explain?" Lilithmon asked, apparently not convinced.

"There's no time to say! Come on, let us show him!" HiVisionMonitormon yelled.

"I cannot allow you hooligans to run about in here and start spouting nonsense! You know very well that Master-"

"Alright, I'll see what you've got," MoonMillenniummon said. Lilithmon was stunned.

"B-But Master! You can't be serious!" Lilithmon said.

"I'm bored to death right now, and maybe this will entertain me some," MoonMillenniummon said. HiVisionMonitormon cheered.

"Yahoo! Alright! Ready to put on a show? Oh yeah!" HiVisionMonitormon said as he set himself in front of MoonMillenniummon, in a position so he can see the footage better, adjusted his satelite dish a bit, then the footage came on.

The recording showed absolutely everything, from SkullGreymon's first rampage to him being destroyed by Antylamon, Rapidmon, and Yun. The Digimon were quite surprised.

"Wait! Pause that!" Lilithmon commanded.

HiVisionMonitormon paused a part of the video where it showed Angemon knocking some sense into Kosuke. Lilithmon gasped.

"Silver hair, a light blue loin cloth? Oh nooooo! This can't be!" Lilithmon screamed.

"Think that's all of it? Think again!" HiVisionMonitormon played the video again at various points, then paused at various points. One part of the video showed all the Digimon attacking SkullGreymon. Another point showed Rapidmon and Antylamon.

"Green eyes, a white scarf, stars on her arms, two horns in front one in the back, upside down triangles, gold and green shoes...No! No no no no! I refuse to believe that any of this is real! But...but...it's as real as me! As all of us!" Lilithmon screamed.

"And that's not even the good part!" The first Bakemon said. HiVisionMonitormon then showed a part of the video where Teruki and Lucero are saving Yun from SkullGreymon's attack.

Once they saw them, both MoonMillenniummon and Lilithmon screamed wildly and passionately.

"NOOOOO! IT CANNOT BEEEEE!"

"But it is," The second Bakemon said.

"They're ALL alive? They're seriously and categorically all ALIVE? This means...oh dear lord! Witchmon, Roachmon, and LadyDevimon were right all along! Not only have they survived the destruction of the Digital World, they've found human partners to help them!" Lilithmon exclaimed angrily.

"I know, right? This is big! Real big! Should we hold a meeting and show this to everyone?" HiVisionMonitormon asked.

"Master will know. Master, what do you think of this?" Lilithmon asked MoonMillenniummon who, unsurprisingly enough, has fallen into complete and utter silence.

"Hm. Not all that surprising. He always falls asleep and thinks when he's confronted with something as big as this," Candlemon said.

"Should we wait until he wakes up?" The second Bakemon asked.

"Yes. For now, let's give Master some space. He's going to need it. Go on, you weaklings! Scat!" Lilithmon commanded as she led the two Bakemon, HiVisionMonitormon, Candlemon, and the DemiMeramon group out of the deepest part of the inner sanctum.

They were right. MoonMillenniummon is in a very pensive state right now, deeply ruminating about the footage that HiVisionMonitormon just showed him.

_'Witchmon, Roachmon, LadyDevimon...you were all right all along. I'm so sorry. Forgive me. I never should have doubted you three. But...this is just downright impossible! I cannot believe that they, he included, are all alive after all the effort I put into destroying, or attempting to destroy, them! I guess I must have made an error somewhere. Must be why I'm stuck in this rat hole. If what HiVisionMonitormon has shown me really is true, then there is no longer any doubt. I must think of a plan, and fast! I cannot allow them to go running about! I have to think of something!'_ MoonMillenniummon thought deeply.

_In the human world..._

The battle with SkullGreymon was quite an eventful and tiring one for just about everyone. Once Yun, Lucero, Kokomon, Gummymon, and Cutemon arrived home, they immediately ate dinner and fell asleep. They slept like rocks, they were so tired, but they slept great, and woke up on a Saturday morning feeling very refreshed and ready for the new day. After hearing about what happened from Lucero, Teruki tried calling the school multiple times, but nobody was present due to the teacher's convention, which angered him. He was going to set his transgression right once in for all, and he was going to stop at nothing to do so, but for now, he had to give up and wait for them to come back. He did, however, have a plan for today, since he has the day off yet again. But at around noon, Yun, Lucero, Cutemon, Kokomon, and Gummymon went to the park to meet with the Digimon Brigade. Well, not exactly meet, since Yun hadn't planned on arranging a Digimon Brigade meeting anytime soon. Rather, they all just wanted to hang out and enjoy the five day weekend, and celebrate Kosuke and Yun's newfound reconciliation. The kids and Digimon all played to their heart's content. Yun, Kokomon, and Gummymon rolled around on the grass and played together, laughing merrily. Lucero and Cutemon watched as the three played together. Lucero had never seen Yun so happy before, and apparently neither did other people.

"That's the first time I've ever seen Yun-chan so happy," Otoya said as she came up to Lucero with Labramon by her side.

"Same here. She looks so much more vibrant than she did a few days ago," Labramon said politely.

Lucero smiled, nodded at her, then turned to look at Yun, Kokomon, and Gummymon. "Yes, she is. I've heard Hisako-dono say that Kokomon, Gummymon, and I have been a great influence on her, though I personally do not believe I am much of an influence on her."

"Are you kidding me?" Otoya asked, looking quite shocked. "You and the Digimon are all she talks about nowadays! Plus she's been going out more! If that's not considered good progress, I don't know what is!"

Lucero then remembered something and looked at Otoya. "Otoya-dono. Thou saidst that thou used to live somewhere else before coming here, am I correct?"

"Yeah?" Otoya replied, sounding a bit confused.

"When thou were sad, didst thou ever have a place to go to or someone to talk to?" Lucero asked.

"Well, my dad's always there to comfort me whenever I was sad, even though he has his little quirks," Otoya began, seeming a bit abashed by Lucero's line of questioning, even though she knows he means well. "But unlike Yun-chan, I didn't have any friends to play with or people to talk to outside of my family when I lived in Chiba. They didn't like the fact that I was a preacher's kid and filled their heads with untrue ideas."

"That's not very nice, is it, kyu?" Cutemon said.

"No it's not. It's not nice to judge a book by it's cover. The same goes for people. Now that I think about it, I went to a youth group in Chiba for a while, but I didn't stay there too long," Otoya explained.

"What's a youth group?" Labramon asked.

"A youth group is a place where young people like me meet and do stuff like play sports or listen to music. Some people have the impression that all youth groups are religious, but that's actually not true. There are some dominantly religious ones, but others are perfectly normal. I go to one here," Otoya explained.

"Ah, I see," Labramon said.

"Anyway, my dad says it's good to always have faith and be true to it, from making friends to making a big decision in life...though back in Chiba, nobody wanted to be friends with me no matter how much I tried, and I thought that having faith was a waste of time for a while. I still kind of have my doubts now, but I'm much happier here than I was in Chiba. Sometimes I wonder if-"

"Don't ever stop believing, Otoya," Labramon told her, cutting off her sentence.

"Huh?"

"Always hold on to your faith in both yourself and others," Labramon said. Otoya kneeled down and stroke Labramon's head, making him smile a bit.

"I'm so happy to have you for a partner!" Otoya said.

Lucero turned around and saw Yun playing and laughing with Kokomon and Gummymon.

"Yun! That tickles!" Kokomon squealed.

"But you're so cute when you laugh!" Yun retorted mischievously.

"Hey! I wanna play!" Gummymon complained as he hopped onto Yun.

Lucero then turned to see Melody, who is watching Yun as she's playing her guitar softly. Lucero decided to start a conversation with her.

"Hast thou finished thy song yet?" Lucero asked.

"Nah, not yet. But...it's been a long time since I've seen Yun so happy. Especially now that I've come back after so long," Melody replied in a low but kind voice.

"What dost thou mean?"

"At the beginning of fourth grade, I disappeared from Yun's life for a while. Some stuff was happening to me," Melody said. She didn't want to go into much detail about it in front of Lucero like she did with Kosuke, but back then she only revealed it because she wanted to prove Kosuke wrong about her having it easier than he does. Lucero seemed to notice this and put a hand on her shoulder.

"If thou dost not wish to tell me, it is fine. I do not pry, and it is thy business, so I needn't interfere," Lucero told her.

"Thanks. I don't like talking about it, and I haven't told Yun yet."

"Why not?"

"I'm afraid that she might...view me the wrong way if she finds out."

"I don't think she will. Yun and thou get along very well."

"Yeah, even though we're so different."

Suddenly, Biyomon shrieked loudly.

"Kudamon! Why did you have to bump into me like that? Can't you watch where you're going?" Biyomon yelped angrily.

"I apologize Biyomon. I was chasing after Coronamon. I wasn't trying to hurt you in any way," Kudamon explained kindly, but Biyomon didn't seem to buy it.

"Please don't be mad at him, Biyomon. He didn't mean it," Lunamon said in her sweet voice, hoping to convince Biyomon to calm down. She did, but she hmphed and flew to another tree.

"Does she always have to be such a drama queen?" Dracomon asked. Hokuto arrived and held Kudamon in his arms.

"She reminds me of Ayaka a little bit," Lunamon said. Hokuto and Kudamon walked away from the scene.

"Hokuto? Dare I ask how you like the Digimon Brigade so far?" Kudamon asked.

"I like it very much. I'm glad to be here," Hokuto said with a smile, which made Kudamon smile.

"I'm glad to hear that. Hm?" Kudamon said. He passed Kosuke and Riku, who are arm wrestling (and Riku is miserably losing), and Shunji, who is laying on the ground sleeping and being lazy like usual, but he noticed something odd.

Aria is looking up at the sky with a rather dejected and faraway look. This is very unlike her, since she's usually always running around or playing. Both Hokuto or Kudamon may not have known Aria for that long personally, but even they could tell that Aria's acting a little out of character. Even MarineAngemon is acting a little strange as she's trying to convince Aria to get up and go play.

"Aria-chan, it's okay. He's not here and he's not gonna hurt you," MarineAngemon importuned, but Aria didn't seem to hear her. Becoming curious, Hokuto and Kudamon decided to approach them. Hokuto kneeled down so he can look at them at eye level.

"Is something wrong?" Hokuto asked gently.

"Oh, it's just you, Hokuto-kun and Kudamon. Aria-chan's just not herself. I'm trying to make her go play, but she won't listen," The little pink fairy said, sounding quite distressed.

"Do you happen to know why?" Kudamon asked curiously. MarineAngemon lowered her head dejectedly.

"I do, kinda. Aria-chan's dad is getting meaner and meaner every day."

"How so?"

"Well, whenever Aria-chan or her sister want to do something like go to a friend's house or get something from a store for themselves, he gets mad and yells. If they fight with them, he hits them!"

"Has anyone done anything to stop it?"

"I want to, but I'm afraid of what will happen if he finds out about me. Mariya-san's doing the best she can, but she works during the day so she doesn't know all that much."

Unbeknownst to them, their voices became so loud that Yun, Kokomon, Gummymon, Lucero, Cutemon, Rena, Lunamon, Minako, and Salamon all heard them. Yun had a bad feeling so she decided to walk up to Aria, who continued to look up at the sky with that faraway look of hers.

"Aria-chan?" Yun asked. This made Aria jump a little and get pulled out of her reverie.

"Wha? Huh? Oh...it's you, Yun-chan," Aria said in a low but sad sounding voice.

"Do you want to come play with us?" Lunamon asked politely.

"It's not the same without you!" Kokomon piped in sweetly.

Aria was about to get up, but stopped when she saw Kosuke and Riku playfully chasing each other.

"You're gonna get it now, Kosuke!"

"Or what? You couldn't get me even if you tried!"

Kosuke and Riku are chasing each other happily, trying to wrestle with each other. Most of the kids smiled upon seeing this, not just because they found it funny, but because Kosuke is ever so slowly returning back to his old cheerful self, the Kosuke Yun knew and loved. Yun smiled at them happily. But there was only one person who didn't see this as a happy thing. Finally, Riku grabbed Kosuke so hard he fell to the ground, causing Kosuke to land right in front of Aria.

"Whoa! Sorry about that, Yukino. I-"

Kosuke attempted to apologize to her, but Aria cut him off...with something nobody expected to hear out of Aria, not even MarineAngemon.

A scream.

Yun covered her ears as quickly as she could when Aria let out that bloodcurtling scream. It was so unnaturally high it didn't sound like it really belonged to her, and as far as Yun or MarineAngemon or anyone else knew, Aria has NEVER raised her voice. Not once in her life. She was always quiet and serene, but now, she's just hysterical, which isn't like her. After she screamed, she ran to Yun and clung to her very tightly, like she was her mother.

"NO! Stop! Don't hurt me!" Aria wailed into Yun's shirt passionately. Riku and Kosuke both got up as they saw Aria run over to Yun. Now everyone was just worried.

"Aria-chan! What's wrong?" Yun asked. Aria cried into her shirt and didn't hear her question. Kokomon hopped onto her shoulder and tried to gently console her.

"Don't cry, Aria-chan. It's okay," Kokomon crooned in a sweet voice, hoping to calm her down. But it didn't help. MarineAngemon tried to follow Kokomon's lead and console her as well, but Aria didn't respond to her either.

"Please don't hit me! I'll be a good girl! I'll be...a good girl..." Aria exclaimed, her unnaturally high voice muffled by Yun's t-shirt. It was then that it hit Rena.

"Uh...Kosuke-kun? I think Aria-chan remembers the day you snapped and hit her in the face," Rena told him. Kosuke remembered and he didn't like the image that came into his mind.

"Oh. I think you're right," Kosuke said. He then kneeled in front of Aria, who still clung to Yun. "Yukino, I'm sorry for hitting you back then. You're not useless or a wretch. I shouldn't have said or done those things."

Aria then suddenly let go of Yun and ran away in tears. "I have to go! Papa's gonna be mad at me!"

"Aria-chan!" The kids watched as Aria ran away from the park. Even MarineAngemon was worried.

"I'll go follow her. Sorry about this! Bye!" MarineAngemon said as she bid the Digimon Brigade goodbye and chased after a frantic Aria. The kids and Digimon were left alone in the park. Shunji woke up because of Aria's screaming.

"Can someone keep it down please?" Shunji grumbled, not happy to have been awoken so abruptly from his nap.

"This isn't like her. I wonder if something's bothering her?" Minako asked.

"You may be right," Lunamon said.

Yun looked down at the grass beneath her. She had an idea of what might be happening. She remembered the day she went over to Aria's house, and the awful memory of Aria's dad, Kinzo, yelling at her and kicking her out of the house and not giving her a moment to call Hisako and ask her to come pick her up. His booming, angry voice echoed in her head and she hated hearing it. Not only that, Aria told her about the time Kinzo smacked her in the head with a mug full of hot coffee. Yun had a really bad feeling in her stomach that she can't seem to shake off. Hokuto noticed.

"What's wrong, Yun?" Hokuto asked.

At this point, Yun felt obliged to tell everyone.

"Guys? I...think I have an idea of what might be happening," Yun said.

She told everyone about the time she went to Aria's house, when Kinzo yelled at her, kicked her out of the house, demanded that she walk home instead of wait for Hisako, and about when Aria told her about the coffee mug incident. Everyone gasped.

"Are you serious?" Kosuke yelped.

"No way! And to think I always thought you had it bad!" Patamon said to Kosuke.

"Why didn't you say so before?" Dracomon asked.

"There was so much going on, I didn't have time to tell you," Yun said.

Melody balled her fists angrily. "If what you're saying is true, Yun...then I wanna knock that guy's teeth out!"

"Me too! I'm so with you there! No kid should have to deal with a parent who beats them up every day! Especially at the age Aria's at! She's, what? Seven? She's the youngest out of all of us! What did she do to deserve all of that?" Riku yelled passionately.

"That's what I wonder..." Yun muttered.

"Parents can actually beat their kids up? That can happen?" Coronamon asked, sounding very confused.

"Yeah, it happens, and parents who don't care about their kids really do exist. It's sad, but it's reality," Otoya said despondently.

"I never knew humans, let alone parents of children, could be so cruel and violent to their own kind. Whoever Aria's dad is, he's a fool to think he might gain something out of antagonizing Aria," Labramon said.

"But what can we do? The police hardly do anything about stuff like this nowadays!" Melody said. Kosuke looked at her for a bit, remembering what Melody told her about her life between fourth and fifth grade during their epic fracas of the century so long ago.

"You're right. Aria-chan HAS been acting kinda strange. She keeps spacing out and looks like she's getting sadder and sadder by the day. I remember that our teachers are going to have meetings with the parents at school weekend," Isao explained.

"Why do they do that?" Bearmon asked curiously.

"I dunno, but if what Yun-chan said is true...then Aria-chan might be in trouble!" Isao said.

"Do you think we should go visit her?" Gummymon asked.

"No. Her dad might see us and go crazy, and I don't want to risk being accused of another crime I didn't do," Riku said, making an X shape with his arms ardently. Yun grimaced a little. He had a point, and it wasn't worth the risk to go in and get caught by Kinzo...but oh, how Yun yearned to save sweet, innocent Aria from her father. But as she would find out later, she wasn't the only one who yearned to save her from her potentially cruel fate.

Soon, everyone went home for the day, even though they went home feeling rather dejected and conflicted. As Yun, Kokomon, Gummymon, Lucero, and Cutemon got home, they saw Teruki out on the front lawn pulling out weeds. He turned to see them and smiled.

"Hi kids!" Teruki put his hand up cheerfully.

"Hi Dad," Yun said softly. Teruki put the rest of the weeds in a big black trash bag and ran up to the two kids.

"After this I'm gonna run some errands. Would you two like to come?" Teruki asked with a smile on his face. Yun looked down at Kokomon and Gummymon.

"No thanks," Yun said. Lucero on the other hand...

"May I accompany thee?" Lucero asked.

"Sure! I just have to put these away and get ready so just wait a bit, alright?" Teruki said as he put the big black trash bag in his hands and put the rest of the weeds in a trash can.

"You're going with him? Why?" Gummymon asked.

"There's some things I want to talk to him about," Lucero told him.

"Yun? Why don't you want to go with him?" Kokomon asked Yun.

"Because I promised that I'd spend my weekend with you, of course!" Yun said with a smile as she gently squeezed her little floppy eared friends.

Once Teruki cleaned himself up and put on some neater clothes, he and Lucero got into the car and drove to various places. First, they went to a car parts shop because Teruki needs some things to fix up his go-kart with. Lucero liked looking at all of the many car parts and all of the things needed to make a go-kart become usable. Next, they went to a hat store because Teruki wants a hat that'll protect him from the heat when he's out working on his go-kart. Lucero found a nice tan one with a fish on it and a cloth on the back that will cover his neck. Teruki lauded Lucero for finding the hat and bought it. Then, they went to the tailor's because Teruki needs one of his new work suits to be tailored slightly.

Normally, kids who go on errands with their parents often find it boring, but not Lucero. He quite enjoyed going places with him. He learned a lot about Teruki as he accompanied him everywhere. For one thing, he's always known that Teruki was quite the cheerful and outgoing man, but when with other people, he's quite courteous and kind, while still cracking a joke here and there. He talked with people like they were his best friends, even with strangers. It's probably an adult thing to get along with other people. He wondered if there was anyone he didn't like. Well, he must hate Nenji's mother for claiming that Yun is a bully and Mr. Okui for being the unruly teacher that he is (he overheard Teruki on the phone trying to contact the school regarding him once by accident) and for allowing kids to run about unsupervised and assault Yun. Lucero saw back then that Teruki really does care for his daughters with a passion, and he wondered if he was trying to redeem himself for being so insensitive a week ago. Not only that, Lucero heard him talking a bit about Yun to someone else on the phone once, and he heard something that confused him. He vowed to ask Teruki about it today, since they're alone...well, not exactly alone since they're out in public.

As they left the tailor's, Teruki noticed a small arcade store and decided to stop there.

"Hey, Lucero! There's a little game place up there. Do you want to go?" Teruki asked. Lucero looked up at the car roof and ruminated for a bit, then smiled.

"Yes. Let us depart," Lucero said. Teruki didn't quite get what he meant, but he took it as a yes and they stopped.

Teruki said it was an arcade, but only part of the store was an arcade. It had other things too, like ping pong and pool tables. Kids and adults alike played on games and looked as though they were really enjoying it a lot. Lucero never saw anything like it and was quite entranced, though it must be confessed that the many colorful lights of the arcades made his eyes throb a little bit, but not too much. He and Teruki went to one of the empty ping pong tables. Teruki quickly got two paddles and a ball and gave a paddle to Lucero.

"Want to play?" Teruki asked with a smirk. Lucero was confused.

"Why doth thou want to play something like this?" Lucero asked.

"It's one of my favorite games! I used to play this with my college friends in between classes. It was fun!" Teruki said with quite a bit of enthusiasm. Lucero smiled and decided to play, but not before Teruki told him about how to play it properly and the rules.

They played a bit of ping pong, though Teruki was quite surprised at Lucero's skill, even though he's just a beginner. Teruki lost to Lucero 20 to 0! Teruki laughed upon his loss, but Lucero looked at himself with quite a confused look, surprised by his strange display of talent.

"Wow, Lucero! I think you've just found your calling!" Teruki said.

"But I'm not talking to anyone on the phone," Lucero replied, thinking that by calling he meant talking to someone on a phone. "And there's no phone around."

"No no no. When someone says you've found your calling, in this context it means you've found something you're really good at, or your special talent," Teruki explained. Lucero smiled again.

"Ooooh, I get it now. Thanks, Teruki-dono!" Lucero told him. Teruki's smile faded a bit.

"Are you ever going to stop calling me dono? It's too weird," Teruki asked, sounding a bit perturbed. He didn't mind if Lucero called him that at home, but Teruki didn't want people to get the wrong idea if Lucero called him that in public, something that Lucero was quite oblivious to.

"But it suits thee well!" Lucero protested lightly.

"Let's go, shall we?" Teruki said as he took Lucero by the hand and escorted him out of the arcade.

They decided to drive back home since Teruki's done with his errands, but not before stopping at Asagi's and getting some ice cream. Well, Lucero got ice cream while Teruki got a chocolate milk shake. They decided to sit on one of the old picnic tables outside and eat it. Lucero ate some of it before ruminating a little. 'This is my chance. I shall ask him right now.'

"Teruki-dono? I...I have something I wish to ask thee, if thou do not mind," Lucero began, a little timidly.

"Sure. Go ahead. I'm all ears," Teruki said with a smile.

"But thou only hast two ears."

"When I say I'm all ears, it means I'm listening."

Lucero wanted to ask, "Then why didst thou not say thou art listening?" but he thought it to be rude, so he decided to tuck that question away in the back of his head. This was his chance, and he wasn't going to let it elude his grasp.

"I...I overheard thee talking on the phone once. Thou were talking about Yun, and at one point, thou said that Yun was...ah...au...auti...uh, what's the word?" Lucero looked up as he tried to remember what it was he wanted to say to Teruki, but he wasn't sure if he was pronouncing it right. Teruki beat him to it.

"Autistic?"

"Yes! That's the one. Exactly...what doth that mean?"

Teruki sipped more of his milk shake before answering.

"You don't know, do you?" Teruki asked. Lucero shook his head. "Hm. I guess now's the time to tell you, since you've been with us for so long. See, Yun has a neurological disorder known as Autism."

"Autism?" Lucero cocked his head to one side a bit, confused by the strange new word, and the two other words Teruki said. "Is it a disease?"

Teruki laughed a bit. "No, it's not a disease. You can't catch it either. You have to be born with it. Now how do I explain it? See, Yun's mind is wired differently from others, meaning she views and experiences things differently and processes information differently from the rest of us."

"Does she?" Lucero asked, not really seeing what Teruki is talking about.

"Tell me...has Yun done anything you found strange?"

"Like what?"

"Like flapping her hands, jumping around, moaning a little, covering her ears when there's loud noise, those things?"

Lucero looked up a bit and ruminated again. He remembered the time the Digimon Brigade first battled Witchmon. Yun had her ears covered when car windows were being broken and when Kosuke and Melody were fighting and when he was yelling at them to stop. Yun did moan a little once Nenji and Seiko's bullying progressed further, and he figured out that it was a harbinger of distress as far as he knew. Yun did jump around a lot when she's happy, much to Ayaka's dismay, and she did flap her hands a lot.

"Yes," Lucero replied.

"See, Yun has difficulty with acting in ways others perceive as "normal." For her, it's hard to talk to people and look them in the eye. As you know by now, she does display some strange characteristics like rocking back and forth and flapping her hands."

"Is that why she's sensitive to loud noise? Like explosions and rap music?"

"Yep. Those, and a lot of other things too."

Lucero got lost in his mind again. He knew right away that Yun was different from other kids, but he never thought much of it. He knew that every human being is different, him included. He thought he was the stranger one and that Yun was only slightly stranger than he was despite how normal she looked. He knows that Yun doesn't like wearing dresses or skirts, that she likes drawing, watching anime, reading manga, and playing games over going outside (which she's doing more often), gossiping, and talking bad about people, but he never thought any of it was bad. Could that be another reason why Nenji, Seiko, and even Mr. Okui were so hard on her when she did absolutely nothing wrong?

"You better finish your ice cream. It'll melt soon," Teruki said. Lucero ate his ice cream, but slowly. In the process, he suddenly thought of Riku. He displays some strange behavior. Is he autistic? He decided to ask.

"Umm...is Yun the only autistic person around?"

"No. There's lots of autistic people in this world. According to scientists, one or two out of every one thousand people have Autism."

"Is Riku-dono autistic too? He displays some eccentric behavior as well, but unlike Yun, he's hyper and impulsive."

"No. Riku has what we call Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD. That's also a neurological disorder, but people with ADHD have poor impulse control and don't always think before they act, and they have trouble staying still or focusing on one thing."

Lucero sighed a bit. It's no wonder Rena has to watch over him most of the time, because he's always running off somewhere. Lucero knew that Riku was a little strange, but he (Riku) and Yun were friends and didn't seem to mind each other's presence. He wondered if maybe they know about their disorders. This gave Lucero another question to ask Teruki.

"Does Yun...know about her...Autism?"

"Sort of, but she only found out about it just recently. I don't think she fully understands it yet. But still, she's come quite a long way."

"How so?"

"See, people with Autism have a hard time reaching milestones that normal people hit when they reach a certain age. Babies normally start talking or walking when they're around one or two years old. Yun walked at that time, but she didn't talk until she was about four and a half years old. But she was still quite smart, and started reading at nine months old! Ayaka couldn't read until she started kindergarten! But it was hard to find good services for autistic children around the time Yun was diagnosed. I think it's time we go home, shall we?"

Teruki and Lucero got in the car and drove back home. Lucero thought and thought about what he just learned. He always suspected that Yun was different from other kids, but nothing prepared him for something like this. He wondered if there was more to Yun's upbringing then meets the eye, considering what Teruki just told him, but he decided he'd bring that up another day. But he still loved Yun and everything about her. She loved him, Lopmon, Cutemon, Terriermon, her family, and her friends all the same. It didn't change one thing about her, and Lucero loved that. Sure Yun has her problems, but she's still her own person. The same innocent, warm-hearted girl who loves cute, cuddly fluffy things and drawing and making up stories and helping her friends out when they need it. She's still the same young girl who saved him from dying so long ago, and speaking of helping friends out, he wondered if her Autism had something to do with how passionate she was about wanting to help Aria despite not being able to do so. He had to laud her for caring so much.

Speaking of Aria, what was going on with her as Teruki and Lucero were spending quality time together?

Aria was at home, lying on her little bed on her side, thinking about what happened today. Orie had gone out, both Kinzo and Mariya are out, so she's the only one at home save for MarineAngemon. Sadly, Aria's poor little heart is in a state of discord. She's trying to regain her equanimity, but isn't quite doing a very good job of it. MarineAngemon saw her stress and decided to sit with her.

"Aria-chan...you didn't have to scream like that. Kosuke apologized for what he did so it's okay. There's no need to be mad at him anymore," MarineAngemon told her as gently as possible in her little dulcet voice, but Aria didn't seem to buy it. Her small hand clutched her pillow.

"He's too much...like Papa," Aria muttered.

MarineAngemon fell silent. She remembered the time Kosuke snapped, slapped Aria in the face and yelled at her for not being able to stop the PlatinumNumemon when LadyDevimon was attacking. Aria did her best, but Kosuke didn't see that and yelled at her. She then thought of Kinzo, who threw a mug full of hot coffee at her when she mentioned the school play and told her it didn't hurt. It's no wonder Aria's afraid of Kosuke right now, because back then, he acted just like Kinzo. But unlike Kinzo, Kosuke showed remorse for what he did thanks to Angemon knocking some sense into him, and she could feel it within him too. Sure, he renounced Patamon's orders for a while, but that was because he was so wound up in his own situation that he didn't care that he was hurting people around him. But he apologized in supplication and has reconciled with Yun, and has attempted to do so with Aria, if she hadn't screamed the way she did. Despite her best attempts, however, little MarineAngemon couldn't bring Aria out of her spell. It's not surprising, considering what she's went through. Her mother's dead, her father's turning meaner by the day, he remarried some woman out of nowhere, and Orie's going away more and more. She wondered if it could get any worse.

"He...wasn't always like that," Aria muttered.

"What do you mean?" MarineAngemon asked.

"Papa...he was nice at times. Nice to me and Oneechan. He played with us and taught us things. He was like every other papa. But Mama...I don't know why, but he would be mean to her sometimes. I wonder if that's why he won't let us talk about Mama," Aria explained in a soft voice. "Does he hate her? Is he happy that she's gone?"

"That can't be it," MarineAngemon piped in. "Nobody should be happy about someone else's death. It's not natural. But telling you to get over someone's death and move on in a very angry voice is not natural. That I know for sure."

"Yes. Papa's always telling me that she's dead and that I need to get over it and move on. But isn't he sad?" Aria said.

MarineAngemon had to agree. Why would Kinzo tell his daughters to forget about their mother? Does he want to shoulder all of their sadness, or does he believe he's the only one suffering and that his daughters aren't affected by their mother's death? Why would anyone want to think something like that? MarineAngemon had a bad feeling in her stomach, but she refrained from telling Aria about it. Aria then got up.

"Papa's home," Aria whispered as she got out of bed and left her room. MarineAngemon followed her and hid in her pocket.

Kinzo came in like usual, looking quite stern and business-like. He had on a burgundy red tuxedo over a white work suit and a black tie. His mustache is as small but thick as ever, and his eyebrows still made a frowning gesture.

"Welcome home, Papa," Aria muttered as Kinzo sat down on the dining room table.

"Mariya will be coming home late tonight. Did you finish your homework?" Kinzo asked.

MarineAngemon was stunned. 'Who comes home and immediately asks their kid about homework?' She thought.

"There's no homework. My teacher didn't give us any. We have a five day weekend," Aria replied shyly. Both she and MarineAngemon expected Kinzo to suddenly fly into a rage and attack her, but he didn't. MarineAngemon sighed in relief, silently so Kinzo wouldn't catch her, but Aria still stood in a rigid stand like she was expecting Kinzo to attack her like a ferocious lion about to attack an antelope.

The house maintained an uneasy peace until dinner time arrived. Kinzo cooked up some soy beans, corn, and rice. Aria ate in a slow and despondent manner while secretly giving some food to MarineAngemon, who floated under the table next to Aria's legs. Kinzo looked at the door with a grumpy and virulent expression.

"I can't believe Mariya's working late tonight. She should quit her job," Kinzo grumbled as he ate a grain of rice. Aria didn't say a word.

"Aria, have you seen your sister by any chance?" Kinzo asked.

"No Papa, I haven't," Aria replied in an almost robotic tone, something that MarineAngemon didn't quite expect.

"You didn't see her at all?"

"No Papa. I was in my room playing."

Kinzo didn't look too pleased, but he continued eating anyway. Aria and MarineAngemon (secretly) too. The atmosphere was growing quite heavy and tense, and none of them liked it at all. Aria masticated her food slowly and didn't bother to complain about how bad the soy beans tasted. She didn't like soy beans, but she held her tongue because she knew for a fact that if she complained about the food, or anything for that matter, Kinzo was likely to freak out, and Aria did not want that happening, so she continued eating. Unfortunately, her wish for some peace and quiet in this house faded once Orie came into the house. Kinzo immediately stood up.

"And where have YOU been, young lady?" Kinzo asked, raising his voice.

"Out," Orie replied as she tried to pass him, but in a flash, Kinzo grabbed her arm.

"I'm asking you a question! Answer me!" Kinzo demanded, his voice rising angrily.

"Mind your own business! Get off of me!" Orie yelled back as she tried to shake him off.

"You've been prancing around with that Senkawa boy, haven't you? Didn't I tell you to stay at home at all times? You've disobeyed me once again!" Kinzo yelled. Aria covered her ears.

"Leave me alone, old man! I'm not your slave!" Orie yelled as she managed to push Kinzo off and walk away. But Kinzo's teeth grinded together and his eyes developed a fierce and feral look. He snapped.

"You are MY child and you will do as I tell you! Come here, you selfish brat!" Kinzo grabbed a brush that happened to be on the desk and chased after Orie. He grabbed her and attempted to drag her into the bathroom.

"Get off of me! Get off!" Orie screamed wildly as she tried to remove herself from her father's clutches, only to be helpless as he threw her into the bathroom, went inside with her, and locked the door. Aria and MarineAngemon got out from the table and decided to hear what was going on. The piercing sound of smacking, screaming, and yelling permeated the entire house.

"You stupid, disobedient little wretch! You dare disobey me?"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"Sorry's not gonna cut it, you no good rat!"

They couldn't see what was going on in the bathroom because the door was locked and they couldn't get in, but based on the sounds that were inundating their little ears at this very moment, it was appallingly blatant that what's happening in there can NOT be good. Aria was frozen in place while MarineAngemon couldn't take it anymore.

"We've got to do something, Aria-chan! We've gotta help her!" MarineAngemon exclaimed, almost looking as though she could break into tears. But Aria didn't move. Her brown eyes were big and trembling, and so was her little body, but she didn't move.

"We...can't."

"Aria-chan! You can't be serious! Why not?" MarineAngemon yelled, surprised by Aria's answer. MarineAngemon didn't bother to lower her voice, but she didn't care, as Kinzo's yelling and Orie's helpless screaming managed to block it out so she didn't think much of it.

"He's a grown up...he could squash me dead. I'm just a...little kid...who can't do anything," Aria whispered sadly.

"Aria-chan..." MarineAngemon muttered just as sadly.

Aria knew this was inevitable. There was no way she could stand up to Kinzo. MarineAngemon had to admit she was right in some way. Aria's only seven years old, and Kinzo's a grown up adult who can do much more than Aria can. What could she do against him? What could she do to stand up to him and help Orie? Nothing. Aria internalized these terrible feelings and convinced herself that Kinzo was an omnipotent figure, an unassailable person who is able to do anything. She knew what he was doing is wrong, but what can she do? Nothing. The beating went on for half an hour, and Orie came out with cuts and bruises all over her body. Kinzo wrapped some gauze around Orie's head and put band-aids on her wounds silently. Before he left, he gave Aria a stern, malicious glance.

"You better not tell anyone about this, or you'll be next!" Kinzo sneered and left, leaving a battered Orie, a scared out of her mind Aria, and a silently enraged MarineAngemon in the dining room.

As for who Senkawa is, Aria took a trip down memory lane...and this was one memory lane she hoped she would never walk on.

(flashback)

_On Friday, Kinzo told the girls that they were going with him to visit a co-worker of his by the name of Senkawa. According to Kinzo, they had to dress properly for the occasion, and Kinzo made them wear those flouncy Shirley Temple-esque dresses that the two girls both hated with a passion, but they kept their mouth shut since Kinzo would likely beat them if they expressed any animosity toward it (or just about anything Kinzo liked for that matter). Yun saw them walking to the Senkawa house, but she didn't say hi to them lest she attract Kinzo's attention and get yelled at again. Aria didn't notice Yun either, as she was too lost in her mind to notice anything at all. MarineAngemon was with her, but she kept hiding in Aria's pocket. Yes, even her flouncy dress has pocket._

_They went inside the house and met a man and his son. A very nice father and son they were, both with dark hair, shining blue eyes, dark complexions, and nice smiles, though it must be confessed that they both looked very surprised when they saw Aria and Orie in those overly flouncy dresses. Aria could see the distaste all over their faces, but she didn't say anything, and neither did Orie._

_"Ah, Senkawa! It's so good to see you!" Kinzo said with a smile as he shook Senkawa's hand._

_"A pleasure. Oh? You have your children with you? This is my son, Tomohide," Senkawa said, introducing his 10 year old son, Senkawa Tomohide, to the Yukino family._

_Aria sat with Kinzo and Senkawa the entire time while Orie and Tomohide went out to play, despite Kinzo telling Orie repeatedly to not go with him and that they're only here for business only, though Orie didn't quite understand why he brought her with him if he didn't want them around in the first place. Aria could tell: it was to make a good impression. Kinzo and Senkawa talked for quite a long time. Aria couldn't help but admire the pretty paintings on the walls, mostly those picturing birds in beautiful farm-like landscapes. She then noticed a small signature written on the bottom of the painting. It read _Senkawa, G._ in perfect hiragana. Aria suddenly found herself speaking._

_"...You painted this, Senkawa-san?" Aria asked softly. Senkawa smiled._

_"You noticed? Yes! When I was young, I was a famous painter," Senkawa explained._

_"It's pretty," Aria said with a smile._

_"Aria! This is not the time to be gatting on about other people's personal lives!" Kinzo scolded lightly._

_"No no, it's fine! I love talking about my art period! As I was saying-" Senkawa tried to tell Kinzo that it was okay, but Kinzo didn't seem to buy it, so he purposefully interrupted him and changed the subject at hand._

_"You wanted to ask about sales?" Kinzo asked, cutting off Senkawa, who looked quite displeased at Kinzo's sudden change in demeanor, but he went with it anyhow. MarineAngemon silently blew a raspberry at him, not happy with Kinzo's reaction to Aria's interest in the painting._

'Uptight much? Aria-chan just said the painting's pretty! There's no need to get all mad about it!'_ MarineAngemon thought._

_After a few minutes, Aria stood up and intended to walk away, but Kinzo stopped her._

_"Aria! Where are you going? Stay here!" Kinzo said._

_"I need to go to the bathroom," Aria replied._

_"Nonsense! We won't be much longer," Kinzo retorted. "Be patient!"_

_"It's alright. Go on. We can't be having any accidents, now can we?" Senkawa said. Aria took this chance to dash away from the living room and do her business. But she didn't really want to go to the bathroom. She wanted to be away from Kinzo and Senkawa, just for a little bit._ _She talked with MarineAngemon._

_"He's just trying to make himself look good, I know it," MarineAngemon said, not pleased by Kinzo's controling demeanor. She then looked back at Aria. "Are you okay?"_

_"No. I don't like it. Why is Papa being so mean?" Aria asked. MarineAngemon looked down despondently, feeling bad that she couldn't come up with an answer to Aria's question, let alone a very satisfying and reassuring one even though her heart yearned for such a thing. Aria looked around the house and saw Tomohide and Orie sitting outside talking and laughing amongst themselves. After a while, she went back to Kinzo and Senkawa._

_"You've taken up too much time, Aria!" Kinzo said._

_"Sorry..." Aria muttered._

_"It's alright. Hey, Aria-chan. You can go out and play with Tomohide if you want," Senkawa said._

_"I can?" Aria asked._

_"No no. That's not necessary. We didn't come here to get our children acquainted with one another. Speaking of which, where in the world is Orie?" Kinzo asked as he stood up and began looking for Orie, leaving Senkawa and Aria alone in the living room. Senkawa decided to speak first._

_"You like my paintings, Aria-chan?" Senkawa asked politely. Aria nodded quietly._

_"They're pretty," Aria muttered, smiling a little._

_"Thanks! I've been painting since I was in high school. I wanted to become a museum curator, but at this point I don't have the money for it._ _That's why I'm working right now," Senkawa said._

_Aria couldn't resist. "My mama liked painting. She liked painting angels and flowers and fairies with sparkly wings and magic wands."_

_"Is that so? How wonderful!" Senkawa exclaimed happily. "You know, when I was your age-"_

_Suddenly, Kinzo stormed in, holding onto Orie's wrist tightly, and grabbed Aria's wrist. "I believe it's time we left now. We appreciate you inviting us here. Good day."_

_And with that, the Yukino family left the Senkawa house. They walked home, but not before stopping halfway. Kinzo looked down at Aria with a face full of rancor and he smacked her across the head._

_"You wretched thing! You ruined everything! You just HAD to mention Kirika, didn't you!" Kinzo yelled angrily. Kirika is the name of Aria's mother, who died. "You should know better than to talk about someone's personal life!"_

_"But his paintings are pretty," Aria said._

_"Don't talk back to me, young lady! I don't care if they're pretty or not! It's not your place to talk while we adults are conversing with one another! You should have known better, you brat!" Kinzo yelled back._

_"Dad, Senkawa's the one who brought it up! Why do you have to be so paranoid?" Orie said._

_"You dare defy me? Come on! We're going home, and you will be punished!" Kinzo yelled and clutched the little wrists of both Aria and Orie and dragged them home...only to subject them both to a beating with his belt once they got there. It's then that MarineAngemon realized it:_ _Kinzo is a man who loves to domineer and claim superiority over other people, and he showed absolutely no mercy. It didn't matter if the kids were telling the truth or not. He always made it sound as though they were lying, and he seemed to really believe that they were lying, even though they're telling the honest truth._

_MarineAngemon realized what Aria and Orie were up against._

(end flashback)

After a while, Aria and MarineAngemon went back to playing. They went back to sleep and prepared for the new day...if only the new day started off right, that is. Sunday came, and Kinzo asked the kids to accompany him on some errands. Mariya has the day off but she slept as it happened. Kinzo got into the car while Orie and Aria slid into the back seat. But oddly enough, Kinzo didn't start the car yet.

"Aria? Will you be a dear and sit up front with me?" Kinzo asked in an almost kind voice, but Aria could tell that there was a hint of malice in it too. She remembered Miss Sonomiya telling her that if someone asks you something but you don't want to do what they ask, the polite thing to say is "No thank you", and Aria memorized this information. Not only that, she had been in the car lots of times to know that she's not ready for the front seat yet. It's not the safest place for a little kid, and it can only be safe to go on once she's at least in middle school, so she decided to put what she learned to the test.

"No thank you, Papa. I'm fine here," Aria replied softly, forcing a smile as she did. Sadly enough, it didn't work.

"Aria. Sit up front with me," Kinzo said again, his voice rising.

"No thank you. I'm good," Aria said. Orie elbowed her.

"Aria! Sit up front, will you?" Orie whispered, appalled by Aria's polite defiance.

"Aria. If I ask you to do something, you must obey me and do as I tell you, now sit up front with me," Kinzo said, his voice turning a bit angry.

"But my teacher says the front seat's not safe for little kids. You have to be in middle school to sit up front," Aria said, hoping this would at least mollify him.

But it only set him off. He burst through the door, ran around the back, opened the door on Aria's side and proceeded to pull her out. It's a good thing Aria had her seat belt on, because she would have easily slipped out.

"Sit up front with me, you defiant little beast!" Kinzo yelled. Aria screamed in pain as Kinzo yanked on her little arm like he was playing a very serious game of tug of war.

"Dad! Let her go!" Orie tried to pull Aria back and close the door, but Kinzo wasn't letting her. Soon, they were all screaming. Thankfully, an angel arrived in the form of a neighbor.

"Hey! What do y'all think her doin'? Leave 'dem poor girls alone!" An old, surly looking man successfully managed to pull Kinzo off of Aria and free her from Kinzo's grasp, but Kinzo was still ablaze with anger.

"What are you doing here?" Kinzo yelled, surprised by the man's presence.

"Don't you know it's not safe to put a little kid in the front seat? The air bags could kill 'em! Didn't nobody teach you 'dat? And there's no need to go all hornet mad over 'dat, either!" The man yelled courageously. What Kinzo didn't know was that some people across the street were watching.

"This is none of your concern, you old bat! This is a family matter, and you stay out of it!" Kinzo demanded.

"I dun tolerate no child abusers! I oughta report you to CPS for causin' a ruckus!" The old man exclaimed. Kinzo stopped and looked at the girls.

"Get out. We'll re-schedule for today. Go on! Get in the house!" Kinzo commanded. The girls took off their seat belts and ran back into the house. Kinzo followed shortly after and left the man alone, but the man didn't seem satisfied.

"I know child abuse when I see it, and I ain't gonna let 'dat man git away with it! No siree!" The man said as he flicked open a cell phone and punched in some numbers. If Kinzo had known what he was doing, he would have snatched the man's cell phone, stomped on it, and yelled at him for a long time, but the man wasn't going to let that happen.

"Hello? Is this CPS? I'd like to report a case of child abuse," The man said on the cell phone.

As this happened, Aria and Orie sat in Orie's room. Orie is fixing up her hair and not looking too pleased.

"You should have sat up front with him, Aria," Orie said in a surly voice.

"But he's right. It's not safe for little kids to be in the front seat," Aria replied.

"So? It would have stopped him from going insane, but you just had to sit there and not budge! You know this is your fault!" Orie scolded angrily and went back to fixing her hair.

Aria was getting irritated now, and she wasn't going to tolerate this any longer.

"Oneechan? Don't you think we should tell someone?" Aria asked.

"About what?" Orie asked back.

"You know. About Papa getting meaner and meaner. My teacher says that if someone's doing something bad to someone else, then we have to tell someone. Yun-chan says we can tell a teacher or a friend's parent or someone like that. You don't want Papa being mean forever, don't you? We should-"

Aria felt that she needed to teach Orie what Yun taught her. Sadly, she was interrupted when Orie stood up angrily, knocking the chair over. She turned around and looked at the now scared Aria with anger in her eyes, just like Kinzo.

"When are you going to get it? Nobody's gonna help us even if we tell them!" Orie snapped.

"You don't know that!" Aria protested.

"Yes I do! Think, Aria! Suppose we DO tell someone! Who are they gonna believe? An adult that they can trust, or a bunch of little brats who don't know the difference between real life and make believe? I've already told four teachers at my school about it and they either accused me of lying or said they were too busy!" Orie snapped again.

"But what about Mariya-san?"

"Mariya? Don't make me laugh! She's not gonna help us! She's just some dirty woman who Dad married so he can make himself look good and make us forget about Mom! And don't tell me that that Yun girl told you it's good to tell someone! She doesn't know what we're going through so she doesn't know a thing!"

"She only wants to help!"

"So what? It's not going to work! Nothing will! Nobody gives a durn about us! Don't you get it? Nobody's going to help us no matter what! It's just the way it is!"

"But you don't want to live with Papa being mean forever, don't you?"

"Believe me, I don't! But what can we do to stop him? We're just a bunch of annoying little brats! He doesn't care about us! He never has, and he never will! Nothing we do will stop him, so we're just gonna have to deal with it for the rest of our lives! Besides, it's not like Mom can do anything to help us! She's dead, and telling someone about what we're going through isn't going to bring her back!"

"I never said that!" Aria yelled angrily. She's had just about enough of people telling her that Kirika is dead and never coming back no matter what, and she's just plain sick of having it smacked into her cranium every single time. Orie balled her fists.

"Aria...understand. I want to go back to those happy days just as much as you do, when Mom was alive! But that's all in the past now, and we can't do anything about it! We're powerless against grown ups! They're allowed to do whatever they want with us while we sit on our butts and put up with it! That's what they want, so that's what they'll get! Mom's gone because of Dad, so don't do anything stupid! Don't tell anyone about what we're going through! You'll just make it worse!"

Angry with Orie's reaction to the whole thing, Aria stomped out of the room, slammed Orie's door, ran back to her room, leaped on her bed, and cried into her pillows. She didn't understand. Why would telling someone about what she's going through make it worse? Aria was told that telling someone about her problems is good. Yun told her so. Why would someone want to contradict that? Her little broken heart is now in further discord.

_'Why? Why does it have to be like this? Why did Mama die?'_ Aria thought sadly. She remembered every detail about her mother's death.

(flashback)

_She, Orie, and Kinzo came home to find Kirika on the kitchen floor surrounded by gas that smelled bad. Kinzo called 911 and had her rushed to the hospital. But it was too late. Kirika was already dead by the time they got home. At first, Aria didn't understand what happened, but after going to the funeral, watching Kirika get laid into the ground in a coffin, seeing some tears in Kinzo's eyes, seeing Orie cry despite Kinzo telling her not to, and hearing people talk, she realized it. Aria would never be able to hug her mother again. She would never go on picnics with her or go on walks in the woods with her or give her flowers she collected or hear her wonderful stories and receive more stuffed animals and eat her wonderful cooking or see her unsurpassable smile or be wrapped in her warm, tender, loving arms ever again. When she was alone, Aria cried her eyes out. _'No more Mama! No more Mama! Mama's gone forever!'_ Aria thought as she cried. Soon, Kinzo took them home. Despite what happened, Aria still remembered her mother and didn't want to forget her. One day, she, Orie, and Kinzo were at the dinner table when Aria brought up something she wanted to tell them._

_"Papa? Are we gonna visit Mama's grave soon?" Aria asked._

_"Why are you asking about that?" Orie asked back._

_"Don't people visit dead people's graves and put flowers on them to make them happy in Heaven? Won't they be lonely?" Aria asked again._

_"Stop worrying about it. We're not going," Kinzo said._

_"But why? Won't Mama be lonely if we don't see her?"_

_"It'll be fine."_

_"Lots of people do it! Why can't we do it? Won't Mama-"_

WHAM!_ Kinzo slammed his hands on the table so much that some of the food spilled onto the floor._

_"Shut up, you brat! When will you get it? She's dead! She's dead and never coming back! Visiting her grave and putting flowers on it is useless and doesn't do anything, you stupid girl! Stop being so ignorant! Nothing we can do will bring her back, and stop acting like you know what's best for her when it's clear that you don't! Forget about your mother! Get over it and move on!" Kinzo screamed angrily._

_Aria didn't understand. Kinzo loved Kirika just as much as she did, so why is he accusing her of thinking she's still alive? Aria knew this,_ _but she would be constantly reminded of it later on. Not only that, later on, Kinzo married Mariya. To Orie, it was clear: he's not allowing them to grieve because he can't handle the fact that his wife died, and he wants his kids to literally get over her death, making it sound like she never existed. Not only that, he wants them to accept Mariya, the new woman he remarried, without any question, which they have a hard time doing. Aria knew that Kinzo was sad in his own way, but did he really have to yell? Does he really believe that Aria and her sister aren't capable of grieving for Kirika? Does he...want to be the only one who's sad about her death?_

(end flashback)

Aria wasn't understanding any of this. She didn't want this to go on. Thankfully, she isn't the only one. Downstairs, Kinzo sat at the dining room table reading the paper as Mariya did the dishes. She heard about what happened at the Senkawas and was not pleased in the slighest. Not one bit.

"If you really wanted to make a good impression, why didn't you leave the girls here with me?" Mariya asked sternly. "And did you really have to put them in those dresses? They're a bit old for that sort of thing, aren't they?"

"Those dresses looked nice on them, and people respond better to co-workers who raise their kids right. Now get back to the dishes!" Kinzo responded sharply. An awkward silence slithered between them like a snake until Kinzo killed it with the snare that is a rather rude question to ask someone like Mariya.

"Mariya? Isn't it about time you quit your job?" Kinzo asked.

Mariya stopped scrubbing a dirty plate when she heard this, she was so shocked.

"What? Me? Quit my job? No way! I can't do that! Kinzo, why would you ask me to do such a thing?" Mariya yelped.

"You would fare much better if you did your duty and became a housewife," Kinzo said coldly.

"Kinzo! I am NOT quitting my job! Don't you know how bad the economy is nowadays? It's a miracle I even have a job so I can bring in some income and make ends me! If I quit my job, we would be in hot water financially!" Mariya explained.

"What I make at my job is enough for all of us. Women are of no use in this society, and you should know better than to be so cocky," Kinzo told her again.

"Cocky? How is keeping a job and making some extra money cocky? I'm only doing this to support the family! You're lucky you didn't get laid off!" Mariya snapped.

"You'd do better supporting this family by becoming a housewife. That's why women exist, don't they? To raise the family and please their husbands? It's their duty, and they shouldn't go against the norm, not even you, Mariya."

"If this was the 1950's, then it would be the norm, but this is the modern age, Kinzo! Gender doesn't decide our future in this day and age!"

"My mother was a housewife, and she performed her duty perfectly, so you should too."

"What about the girls? Do you want them to be little goody-goody housewives when they're older too?"

Kinzo scoffed at her. "Tch! Those brats will never get anywhere in life no matter what. They posess no redeeming qualities, are nothing but an inconvenience to this family, and will never-"

CRASH! One of the plates Mariya was washing fell to the floor. She's just about had it.

"NO redeeming qualities? Kinzo, why in heaven would you even say such a cruel and heartless thing? Those girls have lots of redeeming qualities! They get good grades in school, they're nice to other kids, and their teachers are always telling me how wonderful they are!" Mariya screamed angrily, appalled with Kinzo's behavior. "And what about that girl we had over who you cruelly kicked out of the house? That Yun girl! She's been a great influence on Aria-chan! And she's autistic too!"

"Did you just say autistic? So she's a retard? Good lord, now those brats are being influenced by retards!"

"She's NOT a retard! And don't ever say that the girls are an inconvenience and have no redeeming qualities!"

"It's the truth, and they should know better than to be something they're not! They'll never understand what I went through thanks to Kirika dying! You need to know your place!"

"You need to shape up!"

Kinzo was about to slap her, but Mariya was saved by a knock on the door. Mariya proceeded to get it, but Kinzo stopped her and went to answer it himself. When he answered the door, he saw a young woman standing on the front porch. She has olive skin, short but light and curly blonde hair, and dark brown eyes. She had on a pale blue blouse, a long white skirt, black shoes, brown stockings, small glasses, and little red earrings on both ears. In her hand is a brown suit case.

"Hello. Is this the Yukino residence?" The young woman asked in a sweet voice.

"Yes it is. You have no business here, so leave this instant," Kinzo told her coldly.

"Kinzo! You can't tell people that!" Mariya yelled from inside the house.

"My name is Yokota Misaki, and I'm from Child Protective Services. I was told that there are signs of abuse here, so if you don't mind, I'd like to have a look around," The woman, Misaki, said. She tried to get in, but Kinzo stopped her.

"There's no abuse going on here. This is none of your concern. You're not needed. Leave," Kinzo said.

"But it's my job to-"

"You have no business here, you wretch! Leave before I call the police! Quit your job and take care of your husband! You ARE a woman, aren't you? Stop going against the norm and LEAVE!" Kinzo literally pushed her to the ground and slammed the door.

"I'm divorced!" Misaki yelled despite having the door slammed on her.

"Kinzo! What was that all about?" Mariya yelled.

"This is none of your concern! Clean up this mess and be quick with it!" Kinzo demanded as he left the kitchen. Mariya was just choleric.

_'I can't believe this! He actually believes that Aria-chan and Orie-chan have no redeeming qualities? How could he be so selfish and cruel? It's no wonder his wife killed herself! I'll bet she couldn't stand being with a man like him! And that scene from earlier! I refuse to let this go unnoticed!'_ Mariya thought angrily.


	46. Conflicted Feelings

EPISODE 46: Conflicted Feelings

What Lucero didn't know was that Yun had another reason for wanting to stay home. It wasn't just to play with Kokomon, Gummymon, and Cutemon. It was to find out something about Aria's mother, who, as she was told, supposedly killed herself. Why would Aria's mother, whom she herself described as kind, gentle, sweet, and just as merciful and considerate as Aria, want to kill herself and leave her two beloved daughters behind to a man who is likely to mistreat them and abuse them? Yun just couldn't let this slide under her eyes, and she was determined to find out whatever she could.

While Kokomon, Gummymon, and Cutemon were outside playing happily and merrily amongst themselves, Yun went down into the slightly dusty basement, got on the computer, and began searching for information about Aria's mother. She wondered if it was covered on the news? Could it have been? She decided to look on one of the websites of the morning news. She found the search engine and, feeling very motivated, typed in the words _'Mother Kills Self'_ in the engine. At first, the results were nothing but studies on suicidal people, but she remembered that Aria's mom died before she met MarineAngemon, which was a few weeks ago. Yun decided to scroll down some more. Finally, she found an article titled, _"Young Mother Takes Her Own Life"_ and clicked on it.

It showed a picture of Aria's house, and a lot of info on what happened. Apparently, Aria's mother, whose name is Yukino Kirika, was found unconscious in the kitchen with the gas turned on. Even though she was rushed to the hospital and doctors tried to save her, it was too late. She had been dead before Aria, Orie, and Kinzo came home from their shopping, as Aria told her. The article also said that there was no suicide note or will left behind. This confused Yun greatly. Surely Aria's mother had to leave behind something. Why would she take her own life and leave her young daughters behind? Maybe she figured out that Kinzo was abusive and didn't want to deal with it? Maybe she was tired of being a mother? Yun couldn't help but wonder. But Aria told her that her mother was one of the nicest people in the whole wide world. Why would she leave them behind if she loved them so much? Yun had a hard time picturing a loving mother abandoning her children by taking her own life. She wondered if Aria felt abandoned or left behind. Minako nearly did the same thing, only she scrapped the idea and is now taking life very seriously. Yun closed the article out and was about to leave until she saw Kokomon at her feet.

"There you are, Yun! I've been looking for you," Kokomon told her in her usual cute little voice. Yun smiled, picked her up, and held the little pink blob close to her chest. Kokomon noticed that Yun felt warmer and that her skin smelled somewhat like marshmallows.

"Are you worried about Aria?" Kokomon asked softly. Yun nodded and sat down on one of the big couches.

"I just don't get it. Why would Aria's mother take her own life and leave her daughters behind. It sounds very out of character, and Aria-chan must be so sad! Especially with having a dad like that man around," Yun said.

"I agree, and I feel your pain. It's heartbreaking to know that your friend is suffering and that there isn't much you can do about it. I don't like letting my friends down either, and I hate not being able to help them," Kokomon said.

"Kokomon...if something really bad happened to you, and you thought of taking your life...would you do it?" Yun asked.

"Technically, it's not possible for us Digimon to really die unless something attacks us and we're deleted completely. Of course, you already know that. But I...I would never take my life. There's so much I want to do and live for. If I did, I'd be leaving you, my best friend in the whole wide world, behind, and you'd be so sad if the one thing that made you happiest was gone, right?" Kokomon replied ardently. "I love you too much to leave you behind! I'm happy that we're friends, and friends don't abandon each other. I remember you saying that when I first digivolved into Turuiemon."

Yun smiled and hugged Kokomon again. "You're right. I want to become a mangaka and make it big. I don't want to give up on my dream. It's too important to me...and I'm happy you're here too. You're my best friend too. Gummymon, Cutemon, and Lucero included. But if you four weren't here, I'd probably be miserable."

Kokomon understood what she meant. She knew a lot about what Yun's gone through in her life. It's not easy being autistic and being different from others, but to have to deal with both kids and adults antagonizing you and bullying you on a regular basis with hardly anyone taking it seriously and not giving it a second thought, and having a sister who hates you, Kokomon was surprised that Yun hadn't broken down in a paroxysm of eternal despair. But she knew that she, Gummymon, Cutemon, and Lucero were the lights of hope that kept her going and that she's responsible for helping them digivolve to ultimate despite her lack of confidence and faith in herself. Kokomon couldn't imagine a life without this kind, gentle, warm-hearted girl. She tried to imagine it, but Gummymon came downstairs.

"Hey! Come on! We need more people for our game! It's really nice out!" Gummymon said. Yun and Kokomon smiled and joined him.

That was on Saturday. Now it's Monday, and Yun has finished her research. What she doesn't know is that she's not the only one doing some research. Kinzo went to Katsura Elementary School as part of a parent teacher conference with Miss Sonomiya. Mariya's at work, Orie is with Tomohide, and Aria is at the park. This gave MarineAngemon the perfect opportunity to do some exploring. Like Mariya, MarineAngemon is not happy with Kinzo's increasingly volatile and intransigent behavior, and she was determined to prove to him that Aria is not an object he should be using as a scapegoat for his grief and anger. She searched and searched, hoping to find something, but her search came up empty. However, little MarineAngemon wasn't planning on conceding defeat just yet.

_'Something's not right here. I'm sure Kinzo is suffering in his own way, but just because he's sad about his wife's death doesn't mean he has to take it out on his daughters, let alone use it as an excuse to justify his abuse! No siree! Hey, excuse and abuse. They rhyme! But this is no time for random rhymes! I get the feeling he thinks he's the only one who's suffering and doesn't believe that Aria-chan and Orie-chan are truly sad about their mother's death. I've got to find something that'll prove him wrong!'_ MarineAngemon thought as she searched every nook and cranny of the house. She noticed that one of the rooms is unlocked, one that she hasn't seen before. She decided to go inside.

It's a bedroom, with a bed covered with green and gold pillows and a matching bed spread. There's a small window overlooking the side of the house that leads to one of the neighbors' houses, particularly that of the man who saved Aria from Kinzo in the car and called CPS just yesterday. There are some jewelry hangers with necklaces on them, and a book shelf with a lot of books in it, stacked very meticulously. On a small dresser are some pictures in frames, most of which have Aria, Orie, Kirika, and Kinzo smiling and looking as though they truly are a happy family. MarineAngemon looked at one of the pictures with a despondent look on her face.

"So that's Kirika-san. She looks so nice and kind. I wonder why she died?" MarineAngemon asked herself. As she turned around to look at the book shelf, she noticed that one of the books is a little out of place. A gold one that's protruding slightly. Maybe someone didn't put it in all the way? MarineAngemon found it an object of interest and decided to look at it. As she inspected it, she saw something sticking out from one of the pages on top. A small trace of paper. MarineAngemon tried to pull the book out, but her tiny, stubby, fingerless arms couldn't quite grasp it. Despite this, she wasn't planning on giving up. This could be her first lead, and she was determined to find whatever was inside.

"Come on! Just a little...more..." MarineAngemon pulled on the book with all her might. Finally, after a few minutes, the gold book slipped out and fell on top of her, causing her to fall to the ground.

"Owwww! That really hurt!" MarineAngemon exclaimed as she pushed the book off of herself and dusted herself off.

"Note to self: grow some fingers and find a soft place to fall on before trying to grab something heavy and bigger than yourself," The little pink fairy told herself in spite of her carelessness. She did, however, notice that something fell out of the book. MarineAngemon floated down to the floor and saw that it was a letter.

It read _'To My Family'_ in bold black kanji, marked with a very small heart shape next to it. MarineAngemon very slowly and gently opened it, though it must be confessed that the contents were quite hard to peel out. MarineAngemon saw that the letter inside the envelope is literally seven to eight pages long in length! She was quite surprised. No wonder it was hard for her to get it out at first. Kirika sure has a lot to say, and that turned out to be true, because MarineAngemon read all seven pages. She was sure Aria wouldn't be able to read it, since there's a lot of complicated words in the note, but MarineAngemon was so touched by what the note said that she actually shed some tears.

"Kirika-san...I get it. I totally get it! Aria-chan, Kirika-san truly does love you!" MarineAngemon weeped ardently upon finishing reading the note. Once she finished crying, she dried herself off and formed a plan.

"I need to hide this note! I oughta show it to Aria-chan and Orie-chan later! This is big! I don't think Kinzo knows about it. Good, because he doesn't deserve to know!" MarineAngemon said to herself as she picked up the packet and carried it to Aria's room. It was heavy, but she was quite determined to keep this out of Kinzo's sight no matter what. The note explains everything, and MarineAngemon didn't want it to fall into the wrong hands, especially not Kinzo's rough, bulky hands. MarineAngemon stuffed the packet under Aria's bed and carefully put it back in the envelope. She wondered if other people knew about what was happening.

Some very odd things happen in this world sometimes. Destiny has a way of linking people, often those who have nothing to do with each other in any known way possible physically, together. Yun, MarineAngemon, and another person are linked together by one thing: their genuine concern for Aria's well being. Miss Sonomiya sat in her classroom feeding Poppy, the class turtle, who seemed to be enjoying her hearty meal to her heart's content. She finished meeting with other students' parents and was waiting for another. It turned out to be none other than Kinzo, who came into the classroom.

"Oh! You must be Yukino-san! It's nice to meet you! I'm Sonomiya Ryoko, Aria-chan's teacher," Miss Sonomiya said in her most pleasant voice possible, hoping to lighten the mood a bit, but Kinzo's grumpy expression seemed to make her step back a little as he sat down on one of the student's chairs.

"You asked to meet with me?" Kinzo said.

"Well, I was hoping to discuss some things with you regarding Aria-chan's progress here in school," Miss Sonomiya told him kindly.

"What trouble has she caused this time?" Kinzo asked grumpily.

This took Miss Sonomiya back a bit. _'Trouble? What does he mean trouble? And why did he finish that sentence with _"this time"_?'_ Miss Sonomiya thought, looking very confused, but she smiled and talked to Kinzo. "Oh, she's no trouble at all! Quite the contrary, really. She's one of my best and brightest students. Right now she's helping me take care of Poppy, the class pet."

Kinzo scoffed. "Class pet? You, an adult, are allowing an ignorant child to take care of an animal when she can't even take care of herself? You're quite a fool!"

_'Ignorant? Is this really Aria-chan's father?'_ Miss Sonomiya thought, but she continued on, hoping she could at least mollify him a bit. "Well, here in this classroom we assign class jobs for the students. The principal suggested it. It's to teach them responsibility and organization. We change the jobs every few weeks so we can allow the children to learn new things and implement them as they get older. It's proven to be quite effective. But we're not here to talk about how the school works, are we?"

"Has Aria caused any trouble by any chance?" Kinzo asked.

"No, not at all," Miss Sonomiya said. But the more she talked to him, the more tense and uncomfortable she felt. He's quite adamant about knowing whether Aria has "caused trouble" or not. She began to have some suspicions, but she put them in the back of her mind for now. "She's quite a bright student. She always helps other students when they need it, and she-"

"Helps other students? Hmph! She can't even help herself!"

"W-Well, kids are kids, and they need to develop those skills as they get older. Anyway, just recently she got an 105 on our most recent spelling test. She's quite above average in spelling. But she's quite nice. I think her innocent kindness is one of her more endearing qualities."

"Endearing? Poppycock! That girl has no endearing qualities and never will!"

That did it for Miss Sonomiya. Not once in her young life had she ever come across a parent who actually openly stated that his child has no redeeming qualities. She felt she had to do something, so she took action. "I don't quite know why you're so grumpy, but you should never claim that a human being has no redeeming qualities. All human beings are special and they all deserve a chance at life!"

"Are you contradicting me? Why don't you quit your job and take care of your husband?"

"I'm not married! And you shouldn't say bad things about your child!"

"I'm her father and I decide what she is and what she isn't! You should know better than to teach students that kind of nonsense! You're clearly not fit to be a teacher! Tell me now, Aria's caused some kind of trouble, hasn't she?"

'Why does he think Aria-chan's some kind of problem child?' Miss Sonomiya thought, but she persisted. "She hasn't done anything, just so you know, but some of the boys accused her of stealing their Bakugan toys, which I-"

Kinzo slammed his fist on one of the desks. "She stole a child's toy? That's it! I'm done here!" Kinzo flung his bag over his shoulders and stormed out.

"Wait! Yukino-san!" Miss Sonomiya tried to stop him, but he stomped away so fast she couldn't keep up with him. Miss Sonomiya became quite irritated.

"What in the world is with him? He actually believes that Aria-chan is some kind of problem child? I have a bad feeling about this, and I refuse to let this slip by!" Miss Sonomiya said. She remembered seeing Aria come into school with a big bandage on her head. She had a bad feeling then, and with her very short, abrupt, and quite strange meeting with Kinzo today, her suspicions are as clear as day, and she was determined to confirm them. She left the classroom and went to the principal's office. The principal of Katsura Elementary School is a rather old and surly little man, with many tufts of grey hair all spiraling all over the place like he had been electrocuted. Covering his abnormally small eyes are a pair of thick, round, coke-bottle classes that seemed to hide his eyes.

"Hisamura-sensei. I want you to call CPS," Miss Sonomiya said right as she came in. She didn't even bother to sit down. Mr. Hisamura, the old principal, adjusted his glasses a bit,

"Eh? What's that? CPS? CPS as in Child Protective Services?" Mr. Hisamura asked.

"Yes! I just had a meeting with Aria-chan's father and it didn't go so well. He openly said that Aria-chan is a troublemaker and has no redeeming qualities! Don't you think that's a potential sign of abuse?" Miss Sonomiya explained, beginning to sound a little frantic.

"Abuse? Now don't get your ponytail in a knot. Don't you think you should go home and rest? You seem to be mighty tired," Mr. Hisamura said in a rather monotone voice.

"Don't change the subject! I think Aria-chan's being abused! Don't you remember that time she came into my class with a big bandage around her head? It couldn't have been done by just anything! Even I can tell that something's happening just by looking at it! Don't you think we should do something?"

"There's nothing to do, and you shouldn't meddle in other people's business, Ryoko. It's none of your concern."

"It is SO my concern! As a teacher, it's my duty to see that children are taken care of!"

"You're a teacher and nothing more. We have no authority over something like that, and we should leave it alone."

"But what if something bad happens? Don't you care about a student's well being!"

"I do, but there's nothing we can do to change anything, Ryoko. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go to the chiropractor this afternoon," Mr. Hisamura said as he got up and left the room.

"Sensei!" Miss Sonomiya called for him, but he didn't come back. Miss Sonomiya felt betrayed.

_'Why? Why isn't anyone taking this seriously? Why isn't anyone paying any attention? Someone's got to do something!'_ Miss Sonomiya thought frantically, appalled by the principal's blatant indifference. She wouldn't know, but there are people who are taking it seriously, and one of them is Yun. Yun was in her room playing with Lopmon and Terriermon, who digivolved yesterday afternoon, when she got a phone call. She went to the phone and answered it.

"Hello?"

_"Yun-chan? Is that you?"_

"Aria-chan? Hi! What's up?"

_"Will you come to the park later? I want to play with you."_

Yun could tell that Aria's voice is quivering a bit and that it sounded rather dejected. It didn't sound like Aria was merely asking her to come either. Yun called for Hisako. "Mom! Aria-chan wants me to go to the park with her. Can I go?"

"Sure, dear. Just be back before dinner," Hisako replied. Yun smiled and got back on the phone.

"My mom just said yes! I'll meet you there in a few minutes, okay? Bye!" Yun said as she hung up the phone and put it back.

"What does Aria want?" Lopmon asked curiously.

"I dunno, but it sounded urgent, so let's go and check," Yun said. Terriermon and Lopmon both followed her. Lucero and Cutemon didn't go because at that time, Lucero and Teruki went for a walk.

Yun, Lopmon, and Terriermon decided to walk there. It was a little cloudy, but it wasn't raining, and it felt quite nice out despite the sun not being out, so nobody minded. After a while, the trio made it to the park to find Aria sitting on one of the benches all alone. She put on a small short sleeved white shirt with lots of pink circles in varying sizes all over it, a pair of blue green capris, purple shoes, and white socks. Strangely enough, MarineAngemon wasn't with her. Aria lit up when she saw Yun and ran to hug her.

"Yun-chan!" Aria yelped as she hugged Yun. Yun hugged her back.

"Hi Aria-chan. Where's MarineAngemon?" Yun asked.

"She said she wanted to stay at home. She said she wanted to do some stuff," Aria replied.

"That's very unlike her. Why would she want to stay home?" Lopmon asked.

"Who knows. Maybe she's looking for something important," Terriermon said. Lopmon's green eyes got a little big.

"I think you may be right, Terriermon! That could be!" Lopmon exclaimed.

Yun, Lopmon, Aria, and Terriermon sat down on the bench for a bit as they watched the scenery. Aria suddenly got up and looked at the trees with a solemn look on her face.

"Yun-chan? Do you remember that time we went to the Digital World? When Airdramon took us by accident and we couldn't go back?" Aria asked. Yun found it surprising that she would bring that up out of the blue, but she decided to answer.

"Yeah, I do. That was quite scary, wasn't it?" Yun replied.

"We would have been toast if it weren't for Link-san saving us when we got separated!" Terriermon piped in.

"I'll bet you were quite scared, Aria," Lopmon said gently. Aria paused for a bit, then spoke again.

"No. I wasn't scared. Not at all," Aria muttered.

"You weren't?" Yun asked.

"No. I wasn't scared, even when we were about to be eaten by the Gazimon and DarkSuperStarmon. Do you want to know why I wasn't scared?" Aria explained. Yun nodded, even though Aria didn't see it.

"I wasn't scared because I...I feel safe when I'm with you, Yun-chan. You make me feel safe and loved. Mama did too, but then she died. MarineAngemon does too, but she can't help me because if she does, people will know she's real, though I know she really wants to. I really loved the time we spent in the Digital World, and I would much rather be there...than at home, where Papa is being mean to everyone."

Yun could tell that Aria is slowly and gradually raising her voice. Her little hands are balled into little trembling fists.

"My big sister...she says nobody will believe us if we tell anyone about what's happening. You say it's good to tell someone about your problems, but she and Papa don't think so. Why is that? Why do people think it's bad to tell people about bad things happening?" Aria asked, her voice shaking a bit more. Yun could tell why Aria is saying these things: Kinzo's abuse is likely having an affect on her. She walked up to Aria and kneeled in front of her.

"Some people think telling someone won't do anything, and some don't believe it's a good thing. People are different, and they think about stuff differently too. Some people say it's good to tell people about bad things happening, and some don't. Honestly, I don't think it's right to tell someone to not tell someone about something terrible happening. If you don't tell someone, the hurt will go on and likely get much worse. Is your dad being mean again?" Yun explained. Aria looked down with a contorted face and nodded.

"Yun-chan...I wish you were my big sister. Orie seems to be getting mean too. She says nobody will believe us kids if we tell them about Papa being mean. I don't want to believe what she says, but...I don't want Papa to be mean forever! I don't get it! Why is he being so mean? I don't get it! I...I want Mama back! I want to go back to being happy!" Aria cried out, shedding some tears. Yun could see the sadness in her eyes, and pulled her close.

"Aria-chan...I really wish I could help you. I really do. It hurts to see you so sad. I really wish I could take you out of that house and adopt you as my own. But that's not possible, is it? I honestly believe that you should do whatever you think is right and listen to what your heart is telling you. Listen to yourself, and do what you believe is right. I honestly wish I could take you out of that home, but I don't think anyone will believe me. But I don't care about what they think! You're my friend, and friends help each other!" Yun told her.

"That's certainly true," Lopmon backed her up.

"I agree! Nobody gets away with hurting my friends and sister! I'd like to beat that man to a pulp!" Terriermon piped in.

"Terriermon. You shouldn't say you want to beat people up. I know you care about us, and that's wonderful, but you should never wish to hurt someone," Lopmon told him kindly.

"But Aria-chan's going through bad things, and we can't let him get away with it!"

"I know, and I feel just as strongly as you do, but there's only so much we can achieve at one time."

Yun could feel her heart aching. Oh, how badly she wanted to just fly into Aria's house, yank her out, and adopt her as one of her own. But she knew very well that this isn't possible. After a bit, Yun, the rabbits, and Aria played together for a bit when a voice echoed in the air.

"Yuun! Yuuun!"

It was Lucero. He hopped out in front of Yun panting and gasping for breath like he ran a marathon.

"Lucero! What's wrong?" Yun asked.

"Yun! Thou must come quickly! A Digimon is coming this way! Teruki-dono and I both saw it!" Lucero exclaimed as Teruki arrived.

"What?" Yun and the others yelped.

Suddenly, the Digimon that Lucero was talking about appeared right before them. The Digimon is tall and human-like, but with a pale blue violet fox's flat face, sharp eyes, a pale yellow diamond on its forehead, clawed hands and feet like that of a fox, and wore strange clothes and robes like that of a Buddhist monk, only in varying colors and forms, and with a yin-yang symbol on it's torso. Aria looked up the Digimon's information on her digivice.

"Doumon, an ultimate level. Her attack is Ex...Exor...cism Scrolls?" Aria asked, having trouble pronouncing the word exorcism.

"Exorcism. You got it right," Yun told her as she handed her to Teruki. "Dad! Take Aria-chan to our house!"

"Yes. I'll leave this to you, Yun," Teruki told her with a smile and left with Aria following him. Yun couldn't help but wonder why he let her stay so easily without a fight. Yun couldn't help but smile, but the Digimon, Doumon, didn't.

"You, boy. Come with me, and I will spare the lives of your friends," Doumon said in a low voice.

"I shall never go with thee! Thou art mistaken!" Lucero yelled.

"You're working for that so-called Master of yours, aren't you?" Yun exclaimed as Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon prepared themselves for a potential fight.

"So you choose to defy me and fight. Then so be it. I will take you back by force if I have to! Exorcism Scrolls!" Suddenly, a myriad of red paper talismans came out and shot at them. Yun threw up a digital shield while Lopmon and Terriermon proceeded to take down most of them.

"Freezing Snow!"

"Blazing Fire!"

They did manage to destroy most of the talismans, and Yun managed to save Lucero and herself from the attacks.

"Why do you defy me? It's better if you came with me to my Master," Doumon said.

"Nay, I shan't go with thee!" Lucero yelled.

Lopmon, Terriermon, and Cutemon digivolved into Turuiemon, Gargomon, and Rabbitmon, and they proceeded to fight Doumon.

"Make sure you don't destroy any houses or buildings!" Yun commanded.

"Gauntlet Claw!"

"Gargo Laser!"

"Carrot Bomb!"

"Exorcism Scrolls!"

Turuiemon, Gargomon, Rabbitmon, and Doumon fought and fought for quite a long time. It seemed Doumon shared Yun's wishes of not destroying any buildings and causing any damage, but she still wanted Lucero and persisted. Unfortunately, she proved to be a bit too strong for them.

"Aren't you going to go on a rampage or something? That's what you evil Digimon like to do, right?" Gargomon taunted.

"I have nothing to gain from such uncouth practices. All I want is the boy. Give him to me. My Master wants him," Doumon said.

"Well, you're not getting him! We won't let you! Lop Ear Swing!" Rabbitmon spun her long ears around like a tornado, managing to hit Doumon at points, but Doumon grabbed one of them and threw Rabbitmon at Turuiemon.

"Tell us! Why do you want Lucero so bad? He didn't do anything to you!" Yun yelled.

"That is none of your concern. Just give him to me and we'll call it a day," Doumon said calmly in a civil tone. Yun stood in front of Lucero with courage.

"You're not getting him! I won't let you!" Yun yelled. All of a sudden, her white D-Heart of Harmony began to glow.

On cue, Turuiemon digivolved to Antylamon, and Terriermon to Rapidmon. Doumon tried to attack, but Antylamon managed to hit her.

"Bunny Blades!" Antylamon moved so fast she managed to pin Doumon to the ground. So did Rapidmon.

"Rapid Fire!" Rapidmon shot missles at Doumon and they hit her. She fell to the ground, unable to move. Suddenly, her body began turning into data.

"No! I can't...die here! My Master...needs me!" Doumon croaked.

"Who is thy Master?" Lucero asked.

"M-Moon..." Unfortunately, Doumon couldn't finish that sentence, because she turned into data. However, Yun held her digivice into the air, allowing Doumon's data to go into it and turn into a yellow DigiEgg with a yin-yang symbol on it. Yun opened a digital portal and threw the egg into it. Antylamon, Rabbitmon, and Rapidmon both de-digivolved back into Lopmon, Terriermon, and Cutemon.

"Oh! We didn't digivolve back into our in-training forms, kyu!" Cutemon said.

"I guess it's because we didn't use that much energy as we fought Doumon," Terriermon said.

"That could very well be it," Lopmon said.

"But she almost mentioned her Master's name. She said it was Moon-something," Yun said.

"Moonmon?" Lucero asked.

"No, that's not it. Moonmon is Lunamon's in-training form. No way would Digimon want to serve a tiny little Digimon like that. When I get home, I'll look it up on the computer and see if I can find anything. I should tell everyone else about it too. I think we're finally getting somewhere," Yun explained.

"You're right, Yun. This might be our first lead!" Lopmon said.

"Whoever this master is, I wanna kick his butt!" Terriermon said.

"Could he be the one who destroyed the Digital World, kyu?" Cutemon asked.

"Possibly. Let's go home for now. I'm getting kinda hungry," Yun said as she decided to walk home.

As they got home, Aria left so she could be home before Kinzo, Mariya, and Orie realize she's gone. Yun really wanted to keep her away from that house, but she knew she couldn't, even though her heart ached for Aria's safety. She hoped that MarineAngemon would be able to protect her in some way. But once she got home, she got on the computer and decided to go on some Digimon-related websites and find information on Digimon whose names begin with Moon. She found two: Moonmon, Lunamon's cute and adorable in-training form, and another Digimon she had never seen before in the form of a ghostly two-headed dragon trapped in a crystal.

His name is...MoonMillenniummon.


	47. Takes A Sudden Turn

EPISODE 47: Takes A Sudden Turn

"Eh? MoonMillenniummon?"

The five day weekend has ended, it's Tuesday, and now the kids are back in school. Yun met with most of the Digimon Brigade members in homeroom, hoping to tell them about what she potentially found, emphasis on potentially because at this point, there's no evidence to really back up her fact.

"You think you know this Master's identity?" Rena asked.

"My friends and I battled a Doumon yesterday, and before she turned into data, she nearly said her Master's name. It began with moon. I know for a fact it's not a Moonmon," Yun explained.

"Yeah. I'm with you there. Moonmon's an in-training level, right? No way would an army of Digimon serve a tiny little thing like that," Minako said.

"I agree. An in-training Digimon doesn't have power over a bunch of other Digimon, now does it?" Otoya asked.

"So what made you think this MoonMillenniummon Digimon is their Master?" Melody asked.

"Doumon almost said so and, as I found, only two Digimon have names that begin with moon. Moonmon and MoonMillenniummon. I know I don't have any real evidence to back it up, but at this point, there really isn't any doubt, is there? This could be our first lead!" Yun explained. The kids looked at each other and nodded.

"We believe you," Kosuke said.

"You do? Just like that?" Yun asked, confused by their quick reaction.

"Yep. You may be on to something. Perhaps this MoonMillenniummon Digimon is the one behind all those incidents with the Digimon and telling his servants to put those Dark Emblems on them," Riku said.

"Not only that, we managed to hear his voice too," Hokuto said. "Through LadyDevimon's walkie talkie. Remember?"

"Yes, that is correct. So what should we do, now that we may know of their Master's identity?" Lucero asked.

"Well, at this point, there's no real proof that this MoonMillenniummon Digimon is really their Master, but if what Yun's saying is true, then it may be our first clue. How about we go to the Digital World one of these days and find out?" Minako suggested.

"Oh! Great idea!" Riku said as he snapped his fingers.

"Should we tell Shunji-san, Aria-chan, and Isao-kun about it?" Otoya asked.

"You can leave that to me. I'll tell them when I have the chance," Yun said, though in the back of her mind, she yearned to save Aria from Kinzo. She may be at school right now, but who knows what he's planning.

"Whoever MoonMillenniummon is, I have a gut feeling that he's not gonna be too easy to defeat, especially if he's the one who probably destroyed the entire Digital World weeks ago," Riku said with his arms crossed.

"I agree. Only three of our Digimon have digivolved to ultimate so far. Should we wait until we're a lot stronger?" Rena asked.

"It would be a good idea to get stronger before we plan to fight him, but who knows what we could be doing in the Digital World. Someone has to step up and give him a mouthful," Yun said. Melody cracked her knuckles.

"I'm great at giving knuckle sandwiches!" Melody said.

But before they could finish their conversation, the bell rang, so school had to take priority for the rest of the day. To Yun, this was fine, because since Nenji and Seiko got suspended, school became quite tranquil, even though she just got back. She made up the work she missed thanks to Lucero and Minako's help, and nobody bothered her. It must be confessed that as she went to the bathroom, she passed by the principal's office and heard Mr. Okui and Teruki yelling at each other like crazy. Yes, Teruki asked for a meeting with the principal regarding what happened to Yun, and Mr. Okui wound up getting involved. Even though Yun doesn't like yelling, she smiled at Teruki from afar and walked off.

_'Thanks Dad...for caring about me,'_ Yun thought as she trotted off to the bathroom, feeling quite reassured. She wished she could show this scene to Lopmon, Terriermon, and Lucero, since they'd be happy to see Teruki standing up for Yun. The school day went by rather tranquilly, without any big events or anything. Yun was quite happy about this, since there wasn't a day in her school life that ever was pleasant, especially with Nenji and Seiko to deal with. Thankfully, they've been suspended so they can't come back to school for a while, which made Yun quite happy. What was also surprising was that in English class, Mrs. Oginome congratulated everyone for getting good grades on their most recent English quiz, so tomorrow she's going to let them bring in movies and snacks, and then vote on which movie to watch. Yun never thought she'd see the day, and immediately began making plans to bring some movies in, hoping that at least one of them will be watched. But as of now, her mind was still on Aria, and she secretly hoped that she was faring well in her school.

Speaking of Aria, after hearing her speech, Yun was quite surprised to find that Aria idolized her so much. Nobody ever treated her like a big sister before. Nobody younger than her ever claimed that they liked her or wanted to be with her. Yun has very little experience with young kids, and she was convinced that little kids and babies hated her and cried because she was around. Yun thought she was some kind of scary monster who scared them into crying. She never thought that a day would come when a kid told her that she liked her and felt safe with her...and in a place like the Digital World, no less! Yun remembered very clearly the day she spent in the Digital World with Aria. The harrowing journey, the danger of being attacked by the Gazimon and DarkSuperStarmon, the pain of being separated from Lopmon and Terriermon, everything. Back then, she was cognizant of the fact that Aria did feel insecure in some way, which is why she claimed she wasn't scared when everything happed in the Digital World, but she was not cognizant of the extent of what Aria's home life was like. Her presence propitiated Aria and made her feel safe and secure. Yun was never told that she made anyone feel safe, but Aria's confession almost drove her to tears yesterday. Yun was more determined than ever to help Aria.

Finally, the final bell rang, and the kids decided to walk home. Yun, Lucero, and Otoya decided to walk home together. Labramon came to the school waiting for Otoya like the faithful dog that he is, which Otoya found a bit disturbing.

"Labramon? Do you really have to come to my school and wait for me? People will think you're my slave," Otoya told him.

"It's quite alright. Let them think what they want. You're my friend, and I want to stay by your side no matter what," Labramon said.

"That sure is nice of thee, Labramon. What a faithful friend thou art," Lucero told him with a smile.

"Friends are always faithful to one another," Labramon said.

"Speaking of friends, Yun-chan, are you still worried about Aria-chan?" Otoya asked. Yun looked down despondently.

"I thought so. Um, if anything happens, you're more than welcome to let me know. My dad has a friend who's a lawyer who specialize in stuff like this, so she'd definitely help out," Otoya said.

"That's good to hear," Yun said.

"It's good that you care about Aria-san so much," Labramon said.

"I do. Someone has to, and if nobody's willing to step up, then I will," Yun said.

"What a noble thing you're doing. I'm sure-" Labramon was about to laud Yun for her concern for Aria's well being, but he wasn't able to finish that sentence. He stopped on the sidewalk and suddenly found himself encased by a strange, tingling feeling full of rancor. His whole body shook, every single hair on his body stood up, his eyes began to look all squinty, and he suddenly showed his fangs.

"Labramon?" Otoya asked with worry.

In a flash, Labramon jumped into the bushes.

"RAWR!"

"ACK! Get off of me, you mutt! Boom Bubble!"

The kids recognized that voice. Suddenly, Labramon was knocked out into the sidewalk, where Otoya successfully caught him before he could fall onto the asphalt.

"Labramon!" Otoya yelled as she caught him. Right after that, Tsukaimon appeared.

"Tsukaimon!" Lucero exclaimed.

"Blech! Not you losers again!" Tsukaimon sneered.

"What's wrong, Tsukaimon?" As if having Tsukaimon here wasn't bad enough, Nayuki appeared, with her usual black raiment and scornful look. She's just as annoyed by their presence as Tsukaimon is, and clearly has no intention of forgetting them.

"What are you bums doing here?" Nayuki asked scornfully.

"We were going to ask you that!" Yun yelled. "You're not going around killing Digimon and destroying tributes again, are you?"

"EH?" Otoya screamed as she tried to grab a hold of Labramon, who is growling like a rabid dog as he's trying to pounce on Tsukaimon another time. "She's the one who vandalized that vigil last weekend?"

"Yeah! I saw her do it! I stopped her before she could do any more damage," Yun told her. Now Otoya was mad. She eyed Nayuki angrily.

"How could you?" Otoya yelled.

"You're still hung up over that? Get over it! It's not like putting stuffed animals and candles and flowers in the middle of a street really does anything. It only shows how lowly, stupid, weak, and cowardly you all are," Nayuki said coldly.

"It is not! Stop acting so high and mighty!" Otoya yelled.

"You're the ones acting high and mighty!" Nayuki yelled back.

"Want me to fry them to a crisp?" Tsukaimon asked with an evil smirk on his face.

"Sure. Whatever," Nayuki said nonchalantly. Tsukaimon stormed in to attack while the kids got out of his way.

"Evil Fire!" Tsukaimon shot a ghostly blue flame at the kids. Out of nowhere, however,

"Freezing Snow!"

"Terrier Tornado!"

Lopmon's blizzard attack froze Tsukaimon's attack and turned it into ice, while Terriermon managed to spin around like a top and land a hit on Tsukaimon, sending him flying for a bit.

"Lopmon! Terriermon! What are you doing here?" Yun yelped, surprised by their unexpected entrance. She didn't bring them to school today, nor did she ever do so.

"We saw these two lurking around and wanted to make sure they didn't cause any trouble, so we followed them!" Terriermon explained.

"We're very sorry to surprise you," Lopmon said.

"It's alright. We're glad you came," Yun said.

"Labramon! Calm down, will you?" Otoya yelled as she tried desperately to subdue Labramon, but he's just not having it. Suddenly, her blue digivice began to glow, and he digivolved into Seasarmon! But what scared Otoya is that even as Seasarmon, he's still growling like a rabid dog about to pounce on his prey. Nayuki got her black digivice out.

"You think you're the only ones who can digivolve? Think again!" Nayuki said as she got her digivice out. Suddenly, a ghostly, eerie, malicious, and ominous looking black light came out of the digivice and enveloped Tsukaimon.

"Tsukaimon, digivolve to..."

The black light, or darkness if you were to not really consider the thing enveloping Tsukaimon as he's digivolving light at all, became bigger and bigger until it dissipated, and out came a totally different creature! The Digimon looks to be a black dragon with tattered black wings that are half his size. His ears resemble little bat wings, and on both sides of his long, intimidating face are two bloody red eyes, not those belonging to Digimon who were branded with the dark emblem. Bloody red claws are on both of this Digimon's long arms, and his tail looks to be clad in black metal, black as the raven's wing. To the kids, he almost looked like a dragon version of Devimon, and they couldn't have been more right.

"...Devidramon!"

"Oh lord that thing is scary!" Yun exclaimed, clinging to Lopmon. Nayuki didn't flinch one bit.

"It took him a while, but now he's at your level. Now Devidramon, wreak all the havoc you want. Leave no one alive!" Nayuki commanded.

Devidramon roared. Seasarmon growled. The two of them suddenly rammed each other and began fighting like rabid cats, scratching at each other like no tomorrow.

"Seasarmon! You've gotta stop! Please!" Otoya yelled, but Seasarmon was so absorbed in his fight that he either totally ignored her or didn't hear a word she said.

"Sekkantou!"

"Crimson Claw!"

Both Seasarmon and Devidramon began smacking each other in the face. Nayuki watched as the two Digimon fought like tigers. Suddenly, Devidramon pushed Seasarmon so hard that he made some trees fall over...and on top of a house, no less! This made Yun cover her ears, but she did regain her equanimity enough to become aware of her surroundings. They're in a public area, full of houses and trees! If any damage was to be done...Yun ran to Nayuki.

"Ichinose! You've gotta stop this fight!" Yun yelled as she grabbed Nayuki's arm.

"Don't touch me, you whelp!" Nayuki yelled angrily as she pushed Yun off of her arm. "Why should I?"

"We're in a public place full of people! Didn't you see what Devidramon did just now? He made trees fall on a person's house! Shouldn't we move this fight to a different area so people don't get hurt or die?" Yun importuned.

"That's too much work," Nayuki said. Yun was growing more and more irritated in response to Nayuki's condoning of Devidramon's volatile and chaotic actions.

"So? People could die if they go on like this!" Yun yelled.

"That's not my problem."

"OF COURSE IT IS! If the police finds out, they're gonna put us in jail! Stop Devidramon at once!"

"You have no right to tell me what to do!"

Having had enough of Nayuki's blatant indifference and nonchalance in regards to taking people's lives, Yun got her digivice out. "If you're not going to stop more damage from happening, then I will! Terriermon! Lopmon! Time to digivolve!"

Yun's digivice glowed in a sublime white light, and both Lopmon and Terriermon digivolved into Turuiemon and Gargomon.

"Turuiemon! Gargomon! Stop those two from causing any more damage! We're in a public place, and we need to keep the damage as small and not fatal as possible!" Yun commanded.

"Sure thing!" Gargomon exclaimed as he ran to the two fighting Digimon. Turuiemon, with great agility, leaped onto Devidramon's back, grabbed his ears, and yanked on them hard, causing Devidramon to roar in pain.

"Stop this fighting at once!" Turuiemon commanded. Suddenly, Devidramon took to the sky, flying wildly like Witchmon was when she first met the Digimon Brigade, hoping to throw Turuiemon off. Turuiemon held on tight in hopes that this would help Seasarmon calm down a bit...which, unfortunately, wasn't working.

"Pharaohmon...!" Seasarmon yelled as he tried to fly up and assault Devidramon while not noticing, or caring about, the fact that Turuiemon is on him. But before he could do so, Gargomon leaped on him and smacked him over the head with one of his vulcans.

"Calm down, will ya?" Gargomon exclaimed as he tried to subdue Seasarmon. Unfortunately, even he's having no luck in doing so. Seasarmon tried to throw him off, but Gargomon, despite his handlessness, held on tight.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whooooaaa!" Gargomon yelled as he tried to subdue Seasarmon another time. Finally, Otoya couldn't take it anymore.

"That's it! Enough is enough!" Otoya yelled as she got her digivice out, summoned a digilasso, and began running toward Seasarmon.

"Otoya-dono! Come back at once!" Lucero yelled, but Otoya didn't listen. Once she got close enough, she flung her digilasso at Seasarmon, managing to wrap it around one of his arms.

"Seasarmon, stand down NOW!" Otoya yelled angrily as she attempted to subdue him. Seasarmon growled angrily, but that didn't stop her.

"Calm down! You will obey me, Seasarmon!" Otoya screamed again, which, this time, set Seasarmon off. He flew into the air and managed to rip Otoya's digilasso off of him, causing her to fall to the ground!

"Otoya-chan!" Yun and Lucero both ran to her. "Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah...somehow..." Otoya said. Then a small gleam on the ground caught her eye. It was the D-Heart of Prudence.

"Oh no!" Otoya scrambled upward and tried to get it, but suddenly, it began to glow in a metallic blue color. Before Otoya could grab it, it floated away from her. The glow was so bright that it caught even the attention of both Devidramon and Seasarmon, who finally stopped to watch the D-Heart of Prudence float. However, much to the utter shock and horror of the kids, the D-Heart floated to the person they expected to never ever have a D-Heart. Ever.

Nayuki.

The D-Heart of Prudence floated in front of Nayuki. She grabbed it, and the light dissipated. At first, Nayuki looked quite confused, but she grabbed it anyway. This set Lucero off.

"THOU ART NOT GETTING IT!" Lucero leaped on Nayuki and threw her to the ground so hard that the D-Heart flew out of her hand.

"Otoya-chan! Get it now!" Yun commanded. Without a word, Otoya did as asked and grabbed the D-Heart.

"Got it!" Otoya yelled with a smile.

Suddenly, her hand began shaking. The D-Heart is glowing wildly again, but this time, it's ramming itself against Otoya's fist trying to get out, even going as far as to drag Otoya with it as it moved. Otoya tried desperately to keep it out of Nayuki's grasp, grimacing from the pain as she did though at this point she didn't care about the pain it was causing her. She clutched that D-Heart with all her might, but the pain got so bad that Otoya had to let go.

"NOOOO!" Otoya screamed as the D-Heart of Prudence floated back into Nayuki's hand. Nayuki looked at it with her dark brown eyes and examined it a little bit.

"Hm. I don't quite know what this is, but I guess it's mine, so I'll keep it," Nayuki said as she put the D-Heart of Prudence in her pocket. Yun was confused about something.

"Otoya-chan? Why did you have the D-Heart of Prudence? Didn't Mel-chan have it?" Yun asked.

"Yeah, but she gave it to me earlier today," Otoya replied.

Suddenly, Seasarmon and Devidramon went back to fighting like rabid dogs. Again, Gargomon and Turuiemon tried to subdue them but failed to do so, as Devidramon and Seasarmon kept on knocking them away whenever they had the chance to break them up and ameliorate the internecine situation.

"Tee Dia!"

"Red Eye Beam!"

Both attacks collided, causing a small explosion which thankfully didn't damage any houses, but it did knock down some trees. Despite their desperate attempts to break them up, Turuiemon and Gargomon could tell that their interference was becoming futile. Yun couldn't just stand by and watch anymore.

"WILL YOU TWO BREAK IT UP ALREADY?" Yun screamed angrily, in her highest voice possible. It didn't sound like it even belonged to her.

In response to her ardent yelling, her D-Heart of Harmony began to glow in a sublime white light, enveloping both Turuiemon and Gargomon. The two of them digivolved into Antylamon and Rapidmon once again.

"Time to wrap this up!" Rapidmon said.

"No kidding," Antylamon said as the two of them decided to break the two up once and for all. Antylamon made the first move as she got in between the two rabid Digimon and used her long, flexible arms to force the two of them apart.

"Cease this senseless fighting at once! You have nothing to gain from this!" Antylamon told them in a commanding voice, but neither of them were phased.

"Pharaohmon...!" Seasarmon screeched angrily.

"Anubismon...!" Devidramon roared like a howling beast. Rapidmon decided to deal with Devidramon first.

"Rapid Fire!" Rapidmon only shot one missle at Devidramon so he wouldn't kill him. Thankfully, his attack was so powerful that he managed to successfully knock Devidramon out and unconscious! Antylamon decided to deal with Seasarmon.

"Forgive me, my friend. Spiraling Smack Down!" Antylamon spun around for a bit, then smacked Seasarmon straight on the back of the head so much that she managed to render him unconscious as well. Since they're both champion level, it was easy to defeat them (not turn them into data), and finally, Seasarmon and Devidramon both de-digivolved back into Labramon and Tsukaimon, both feeling very tired.

"Labramon!" Otoya ran to Labramon and cradled him in her arms, her eyes full of worry. Nayuki did the same, only she was indifferent...except with seeing the D-Heart's power.

"So they help the Digimon digivolve to ultimate. Interesting," Nayuki muttered as she stood up while holding an injured and unconscious Tsukaimon in her arms.

Otoya looked up a bit to yell at Nayuki, but stopped when she saw something odd. Nayuki was just a few feet away from her, and the thing she noticed was small, but despite the distance, Otoya's observant green eyes managed to see it. On the right side of Nayuki's thin, slender neck is a scar. A rather thick, bulky, brownish red scar that looks as though it hadn't quite healed yet. Otoya also saw that a very small part of Nayuki's ear is missing. It looks as though it's been chipped or notched. Did something happen to Nayuki that made her come out the way she did, her scar and ear included? Otoya couldn't help but wonder. She didn't dare ask Nayuki about it because it's likely that Nayuki would fly at her in a paroxysm of anger if she did. Nayuki then turned to look at Otoya.

"So this D-Heart thing is rightfully mine yet you didn't bother to give it to me until now?" Nayuki asked in a condescending and nefarious manner.

"We didn't expect it to belong to you, and we don't think you deserve it!" Yun exclaimed.

"Hmph. So be it. You're all still a bunch of idiots who don't know anything about the world. You've wasted my time. Now if you'll please excuse me, I have some business I have to attend to," Nayuki said coldly as she took Tsukaimon and walked away. Upon seeing her disappear, Antylamon and Rapidmon de-digivolved back into Lopmon and Terriermon instead of Kokomon and Gummymon, again because they didn't use that much energy this time. Otoya then felt something stir. It was Labramon.

"Labramon! Wake up!" Otoya pleaded. Labramon slowly opened his eyes and saw Otoya looking down at him with a look full of worry.

"O-Oto-Otoya...?" Labramon croaked quietly, which made Otoya hug him.

"Oh, thank goodness you're okay!" Otoya exclaimed happily, feeling a little tearful that Labramon's alright.

"I...I made those trees fall, didn't I? I'm so sorry...for disobeying you...and for causing this damage," Labramon whispered in a low voice. Otoya shook her head.

"It's alright. You couldn't control yourself, that's all. It happens. We'll have to work on that, though," Otoya said. As Labramon woke up fully, Yun heard the sound of a siren.

"Oh no! Is that an ambulance? We've gotta go! We'll be in trouble if the police find us!" Yun exclaimed.

"You're right! Let's leave at once!" Lopmon said.

The three kids and Digimon ran away from the scene, hoping that paramedics or the police didn't catch them. If the police found them there, they would most surely interrogate them or accuse them of making the tree fall on the house! Yun prayed that there was no one inside, because she already felt appallingly guilty about what happened to those two little kids during the battle with Shadramon. But still, she was quite shocked to find that Nayuki is the owner of the D-Heart of Prudence. _'Why did it have to be her of all people?'_ Yun thought, angry at the fact that it was Nayuki instead of someone else. Why would someone so wicked and nefarious as her have a D-Heart, especially if she displays blatant effrontery and absolutely no remorse for her transgressions and machinations. Not only that, she made Devidramon make the tree fall on the house, but there's no fool proof evidence to prove it, and she won't even have to give any reparations. This made Yun mad. Mad that Nayuki and Devidramon get to get away with their transgressions, just like Kinzo does with beating Aria and Orie. Then it hit Yun.

"Oh! That reminds me!" Yun exclaimed as they got to a safe place and pulled out her digivice. She remembered that there was something she needed to tell Aria.

Speaking of Aria, as the fight with Devidramon was happening, she was sitting in the living room on the couch nonchalantly watching TV, or more specifically the news, with Kinzo. She had a good day at school. She played with the other kids, got to take care of Poppy, did well on some worksheets for her classes, etc. But all of the joy disappeared when she got home, and Kinzo made her watch TV with him. None of the stories on the news right now are very interesting, so Aria decided to drift off into dreamland while keeping her eyes open. MarineAngemon hid behind the couch so Kinzo wouldn't catch her. Aria thought a lot about Yun and how nice she is. She ruminated deeply. If she hadn't met Yun or MarineAngemon, she would be miserable.

From the day they first met, Aria could tell that Yun was a nice person, though not the extent. Their first conversation was nice, and Aria felt as though she could tell Yun anything. The same with MarineAngemon who, despite her small size, has a lot of spitfire in her. Unlike Kinzo, Yun and MarineAngemon let Aria do what she wanted, taught her what was right and wrong, and made her feel safe. Kinzo wouldn't let Aria (or anyone else in the family) do just about anything, especially now that Orie and Mariya are out, leaving her and MarineAngemon alone with Kinzo. In a way, Yun almost reminded Aria of her mother, Kirika, who always protected her and made her feel safe. Aria loved Yun and her strange, fast moving mind, her sweet voice, her gentle demeanor, her love for anything small, weak, cuddly, and fluffy, the love she gave to Lopmon and Terriermon, her soft hands, her wonderful stories, everything. Aria wondered why she received Orie, who's becoming sour and quite pessimistic, as her sister instead of Yun. Being with Kinzo right now left Aria perturbed, but she didn't dare show it lest she suffer at his hands. She could not just see, but feel the rancor coming out of Kinzo, even though right now he's quite calm, doing nothing but watch the news with just as much a nonchalant and indifferent face as Aria, though Kinzo turned to look at Aria, who is spacing out.

"Aria. Get out of dreamland. You should know better than to daydream while watching the news," Kinzo said. Aria didn't say anything and now diverted her attention to the TV, which is showing a report about a toy being recalled because of reports of it making children sick and being contaminated with a toxic chemical. After a short but somber and awkward pause, Kinzo spoke again.

"Aria? Is it true you stole a child's Bakugan toys?" Kinzo asked. This surprised Aria enough to pull her out of her reverie. Why is he bringing up something from so long ago? But she refrained from shouting and tried to keep her voice as low as possible.

"No. I didn't steal anything. Some other kid did that. I don't like Bakugan," Aria replied politely, keeping her voice down, hoping that it would get the conversation done and over with. But much to her dismay, it didn't. He kept going.

"It's wrong to tell lies, Aria," Kinzo said. It didn't matter if Aria really was telling the truth or not. He always made it seem as though they were always lying, even thinking they were compulsive liars. Aria knew for a fact that it's wrong to lie, but she knew full well that she didn't like Bakugan toys, nor did she steal any. What would she gain from something like that? Why would she steal something if she didn't like it? She didn't know how to put that into words, but she stuck with what she said, even though it's easy to refute it since she has no physical proof.

"I'm not lying. I'm telling the truth," Aria repeated. She wondered why Kinzo was so obstinate and intransigent. "Besides, it was long ago."

"Really?" Kinzo asked. Aria didn't like where this was going, so she tried to think of something to alter his train of thought, but it was hard, since pretty much anything she would say would throw him into a rage. If she mentioned Kirika, he'd get mad. If she mentioned Yun, he'd get mad. If she said something that he didn't like, he'd get mad. Aria knew this was bad, but she refused to believe this was an abject situation, so she tried really hard to think of something. Finally, she did.

"Sonomiya-sensei let me take care of Poppy, the turtle. She's cute! I like feeding her. Turtles are nice," Aria said.

"She shouldn't have given you that task. You can't even take care of herself, you're so ignorant," Kinzo said.

Aria didn't know what ignorant meant, but she was surprised by Kinzo's answer. "Why can't I take care of Poppy? I did everything that Sonomiya-sensei asked. I followed the rules, and she says I'm doing fine so far."

"That teacher doesn't know anything. She should quit her job, get married, and learn to take care of her husband. That's why women exist. Women are nothing to this society, and their presence won't benefit anyone. They need to learn to know their place," Kinzo said rather gruffly. "They have no right to form high opinions of themselves. Not even you."

Aria didn't understand what any of those things meant, but from the way he said it, she could tell that he was insulting both Miss Sonomiya and Aria herself. She didn't like what she heard and she wanted to contradict him, but how could she when she didn't know what most of the big words he said meant? And if she did contradict him, it's likely that he'd beat her up. She was about to say something else when all of a sudden the phone rang.

_Ring ring ring ring_

"I'll get it!" Aria said as she ran to the phone jauntily. Once she got to it, she answered it.

"Hello?"

Silence, on Kinzo's part.

"Oh! Yun-chan! Hi again!"

Once Kinzo heard the name Yun, he immediately stood up.

"Really? Wow. That's not good, is it?"

Aria was oblivious to Kinzo walking up to her from behind.

"Okay. I won't-"

Suddenly, Kinzo yanked the phone out of her little hands.

"Papa! Hey!" Aria yelled as Kinzo held the phone.

"If you ever call this house again, I'm going to call the police and have you arrested for stalking us! Stay out of our business, you retarded brat!" Kinzo yelled in the phone, then hung up angrily. Aria was frozen like a stunned deer hearing a loud sound that kept it from moving. Kinzo actually yelled at Yun and called her retarded over the phone!

"I've told you time and time again never to go anywhere near that Yun girl! She's a retard, and this family doesn't go anywhere near pathetic retards!" Kinzo sneered.

That finally did it for Aria. Nobody was going to say bad things about Yun in front of her. Aria right then decided that she was NOT going to stand for Kinzo saying untrue things about Aria, and she was NOT just going to sit and put up with it. She balled her little fists as Kinzo went on a harangue.

"I don't care if she is nice or not, she's retarded, and I will not stand for-"

"SHE IS _NOT_ RETARDED!"

Aria screamed in her highest voice possible, in the same voice she did when she screamed at Kosuke. It didn't sound as though it really belonged to such a sweet person like her, but Aria has decided she's had just about enough, and she is no longer going to tolerate any of this anymore.

"You don't know anything, Papa! Yun-chan is NOT retarded! She's nice and smart and cool! She teaches me things I don't know, she helps me when I need it, she's nice to me, she lets me talk about my problems, and best of all, she makes me feel safe! Why do you hate her so much? What did she ever do to you that was so bad? How would you like it if someone called you a retard? It's not nice to call people names! You should know that! You're a grown up, aren't you? If Mama heard that you were calling my friend a retard, she'd be very mad! Yun-chan lets me talk about Mama! I don't know why you don't want us talking about her! Do you really hate her? Don't you love her even a little bit, Papa? Do you know why Mama died? I'm sick and tired of you being so mean all the time! I hate it! Mama would hate it too!"

MarineAngemon came onto the scene secretly, and was quite impressed. _'Wow! You go, Aria-chan!'_

Kinzo was frozen. Aria is actually yelling at him and telling him off! This is very unlike her, yes, but Aria is officially done with putting up with Kinzo's abuse and being forced to remain silent about every little thing all the time. He balled his fists in the same manner as Aria did just now. What made him the most choleric was that Aria was actually openly talking about Kirika for once. He never tolerated anyone mentioning Kirika by name, or even the most subtle reference to her. He felt that he was the only one who suffered because of her death, and that Aria and Orie didn't feel any sadness for her death.

He thought he knew why Kirika died, and one of those reasons was right behind him, yelling at him and telling him off right this minute.

"I don't get it, Papa! Why don't you like it when we talk about Mama? We love Mama! Don't you love her even a little bit? She did so much for us! She loved us! I loved her very much! I don't like not remembering her, especially the nice and wonderful things she did for us! Why did Mama die? Do you know? Why are you being so mean? Is it because of Mama? That's not-"

Finally, Kinzo snapped.

_"YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO MENTION KIRIKAAAAA!"_

He screamed in a voice higher than even Aria's despite being so deep. He knocked over a vase of flowers, and he looked down at Aria with his most frightening and intimidating face possible, his eyes totally bloodshot. In just one minute, he grabbed Aria by the hair and dragged her into another room! MarineAngemon followed, horrified by what's about to happen and afraid for Aria's safety. In another minute, he scratched the side of Aria's forehead very hard, leaving some fresh wounds. He then threw her against the wall hard, which made a small jewelry box fall and hit her on the head, grabbed a belt from one of the drawers, walked over to Aria, and finally began lashing and beating her with it.

"You're not fit to say her name or call her your mother, you fat, lazy, no-good, heartless, wretched, lying little sack of garbage! You know nothing about her! You'll never understand the pain I'm going through, you heartless beast!" Kinzo screamed as he mercilessly and ever so cruelly beat Aria with his belt repeatedly. Aria cried and screamed and flailed her small little limbs around, hoping to grab the belt and use it against him. Sadly, it didn't work. As if that wasn't enough, Kinzo kicked her and punched her repeatedly. Aria tried to release herself from his clutches, but nothing worked. One kick hit her on the side of her head.

"Papa! Let me go!" Aria screamed with pain.

"You know nothing about pain, so I'll teach it to you!" Kinzo yelled angrily as he continued to beat Aria.

MarineAngemon watched from behind the bed with her arms over her mouth, absolutely horrified by the terrible scene transpiring before her. She thought she was going to cry out, but she steeled herself. This time, it's she who has finally had enough.

_'I can't stand it anymore! I can't just sit here and watch as Aria's gonna get hurt or even killed! I need to stop him here and NOW! I'm going in!'_ MarineAngemon, finally having snapped, floated out and attacked.

"Spray of Hearts!" MarineAngemon shot a barrage of glowing pink hearts at Kinzo. Once he felt the glowing hearts, Kinzo suddenly felt all the energy drain out of him. His vision blurred, his strength left his body, and he lost his balance. He fell to the floor, unconscious. MarineAngemon shot out and floated over to a very battered and injured Aria.

"Aria-chan! Are you okay?" MarineAngemon yelped, horrified by what happened to her. Aria's bleeding on the side of her forehead, her injury there having been exacerbated by Kinzo's kicking and punching and lashing of his belt. Parts of her shirt were torn up, her arms are covered with fresh whip marks, and other parts of her body are turning red, possibly preparing for fresh bruises. If Aria didn't get help soon, it's likely she's not going to last longer. Aria croaked out some sobs, which prompted MarineAngemon to use another Spray of Hearts attack on her, this time to lessen the pain.

"I'm gonna go find someone, Aria-chan! Stay here and don't move! I'll be back in a bit!" MarineAngemon yelped as she tried to reassure Aria and left to find help...but not before shooting five more glowing hearts at Kinzo, hoping to keep him unconscious.

Thankfully, help turned out to be quite close. Yun, Lucero, Otoya, Lopmon, Terriermon, and Labramon got away from the scene, and Yun remembered that she needed to talk to Aria about Nayuki and her theory about the Master being a Digimon named MoonMillenniummon. She did manage to tell her, but the call was cut short by Kinzo's yelling. As they tried to walk back home, they ran into Melody, Rena, and Riku along the way, without their Digimon.

"Hey! Did you see that Digimon fight just now?" Riku yelled.

"We were there," Yun said.

"What happened? The news people are already at the scene," Rena asked, sounding worried.

Yun told them everything, from meeting Nayuki to seeing her get the D-Heart of Prudence.

"WHAT? SHE's the owner of the D-Heart of Prudence?" Both Rena and Riku yelled in perfect unison.

"As terrible as it is to admit, we're afraid that she is," Lucero said.

"No way! She's too heartless to have a D-Heart!" Riku exclaimed.

"We agree. Her cruel ways will likely lead Tsukaimon on the wrong digivolution path," Lopmon said.

"So was Tsukaimon the Devidramon we saw just a few minutes ago?" Melody asked.

"Yeah. He's able to digivolve," Otoya said.

"Hm. This is new," Melody said rather nonchalantly.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Rena said.

"Me too. If Tsukaimon can digivolve into champion level now, there's no doubt he'll be able to-" Yun was about to say that with the D-Heart, he could digivolve to ultimate, but she didn't get to finish that sentence because of a bloodcurtling cry.

"Someone heeeeelp!"

A little pink thing shot out from nowhere and managed to ram into Yun. It was MarineAngemon. Yun was about to yell at her, but upon seeing her with a very tearful and pained expression, she decided not to do so.

"MarineAngemon? Wha..." Yun said, surprised by her sudden appearance.

"Yun-chan! You've gotta come quick! It's terrible!" MarineAngemon cried sadly.

"What ever is the matter?" Lopmon asked.

"It's Aria-chan! She was beaten up! That dumb excuse of a father beat her up BAD!" MarineAngemon cried.

"WHAT?" Everyone yelped in unison.

"Come quick! I'll take you to her! She needs help!" MarineAngemon gestured for everyone to follow her, which they did. Aria's house was close by, so they had no trouble getting there. But when they finally got to where Aria and the still unconscious Kinzo are, they all gasped in horror.

"ARIA!" Yun was the first to run to Aria and cradle the battered little girl in her arms. It's clear from the many visible wounds and marks that she's in bad shape. Yun even saw tears stream down Aria's face. Yun then turned to everyone else.

"Riku! Call 911! Rena! Find some wet towels or bandages or anything similar quick! Otoya and Melody! Help me get Aria-chan out of here once they get what we need!" Yun commanded as she clung to Aria. Lopmon very gently cooled down some of Aria's wounds with a very mild Freezing Snow.

"I'll go get Hisako-dono and Teruki-dono!" Lucero exclaimed as he ran out of the house to drag Hisako, Teruki, and Cutemon over here. Riku got on the phone.

"Hello? I'm on 89 Kin Avenue! I need an ambulance now! One of my friends was beaten up by her dad! You've gotta get here quick!" Riku proclaimed on the phone with a voice full of worry.

"I found a first aid kit!" Rena said as she brought out a box. Otoya and Rena very gently took care of Aria's big wound, the one on her head. Once she was patched up, Yun, Otoya, and Melody all gently carried Aria out of the room and out front. Aria didn't let go of Yun. Not once. In about two minutes, Hisako, Teruki, Lucero, and Cutemon arrived.

"Oh lord! What happened here?" Hisako yelped.

"Aria-chan's been beaten up! She needs to go to a hospital! Riku's already called for an ambulance!" Yun said. Cutemon caught a glimpse of Aria's wounds.

"I can heal her, kyu! Here, I'll-" Cutemon was about to use her healing powers on Aria, but Yun stopped her from doing so.

"NO! If you do that you'll destroy the evidence!" Yun yelled angrily, which made Aria cling to her even more and Cutemon frightened. Yun could feel helpless little Aria cling to her like a baby animal refusing to leave it's mother's side.

"Mama...I want Mama...why did she die?" Aria sobbed, leaving tear marks on Yun's shirt.

Soon, the paramedics arrived to take Aria into the ambulance and take her to the hospital to get professional treatment. Sadly, much to everyone's dismay, Riku's especially, there were no police cars. Couldn't they have sent some officers to arrest Kinzo? Nobody understood why there weren't any police cars around. Yun, the rabbits, and MarineAngemon hopped into the ambulance before it left so they could be with Aria. Everyone else got into Teruki's car, and he drove them to the hospital. They were glad that Aria managed to get there, but when they got there, she was still in treatment so they had to sit in the waiting room. Riku, becoming both choleric and impatient, punched the wall. It didn't leave a mark, but it certainly hurt, even though Riku didn't care.

"Rikkun! Calm down!" Yun advised.

"This is our fault! We should have done something earlier! We should have protected her better!" Riku screamed.

"There wasn't much we could do! Besides, maybe we'll get somewhere this time!" Yun told him.

"If there's anything I hate the most out of everything I hate in the whole wide world, it's stupid parents who beat up their kids and don't give a rat's hat about them, ESPECIALLY if they beat them up just so they can feel some self-satisfaction! I wanna beat that guy to a pulp for what he did!" Riku screamed. He managed to scare a baby so much that he made it cry, but he didn't care, and at this point neither did Yun.

"I know, and I hate abusive parents too, but let's wait and see how Aria fares out first. Maybe the doctors will report it!"

"No they won't! Nobody's gonna do anything about it! They're just gonna write it off as her falling off the stairs, give this Kinzo guy a pat on the back and let him go scott free without any investigation whatsoever! Nobody ever helped me when I was accused of shoplifting back then!"

Yun wanted to reassure him, but in the back of her mind, even she had her doubts.

"He's right. In this day and age, no adult is willing to do much to help us. I know that through experience," Melody said. "And I hate child abusers just as much as all of you. I want to throw him into a death camp and watch him suffer!"

Yun didn't quite get what Melody meant when she said she knew it through "personal experience," but she didn't get to ask about it because Cutemon asked her something.

"Why didn't you let me heal Aria-chan?" Cutemon asked. Feeling guilty for yelling at her earlier, Yun kneeled in front of her and stroke one of her long ears.

"Sorry, Cutemon. I appreciate your wanting to help, but if you healed Aria's injuries, the doctors won't know that she's been abused. It's the first solid evidence we have, and we want to show these people that Aria doesn't deserve to deal with Kinzo's cruelty any longer! She won't last much longer if she's with him," Yun explained as calmly as possible. Cutemon bowed her head and hopped into Lucero's arms. Lopmon hopped on her shoulder.

"You okay?" Lopmon asked gently.

"No. It shouldn't have come to this," Yun muttered.

"I'm sure she'll be alright. If you weren't there, Aria would most likely have died. She's very lucky to have a friend like you," Lopmon told her reassuringly.

"I agree. I know I'm one of the strongest Digimon with you at this point, but there's only so much that even I can do. I know I went a bit too far earlier, but I just couldn't take it any more. If he finds out my identity, then fine! I don't care!" MarineAngemon said.

"But I should have helped her earlier! It shouldn't have come to this!" Yun exclaimed.

"I know. Me too. As of now, I'm just hoping that someone will finally see that Aria-chan can't be with Kinzo any longer," MarineAngemon told her.

"I can't forgive him for this."

"Me either. I most definitely won't! I don't care if he tries to justify it by whatever means necessary, I won't tolerate any more of it, and neither will Aria-chan! Y'know, before she got beat up, she yelled at him for calling you a retard."

Yun's green eyes got a little big. "She did?"

"Yep. She was so brave. She didn't care that it ended up setting him off and beating her up. You've been so good to her, I think you've managed to lay some good foundations in her."

"Oh no, I'm not capable of that. You're the one who's a good influence on her, MarineAngemon."

"Am I really?"

Yun and MarineAngemon talked for a long while until Mariya arrived.


	48. Show No Mercy

EPISODE 48: Show No Mercy

Mariya didn't quite hear about what happened until after she got home from work. She got let out early, and it wasn't as busy at her job today as it was most of the time, so she was feeling quite jaunty and pleasant. She walked home. Her job is close to the Yukino house, so often times she walked there. She enjoyed the walk, watching the scenery change around her, the animals flying or scurrying around hastily to their trees or warrens, people walking by, the sun on her skin, the chilly but slowly warming May air, and the wind in her hair. An amiable person like Mariya relished in these simple pleasures greatly, even though the situation at home is growing quite severe. The good thing, however, was that she had a plan, and currently, she's in the process of developing it and executing it. It'll take a long time, but she planned to get right to it once she got home.

Unfortunately, when she got home, the phone immediately rang. The sound seemed to echo throughout the house as, other than the phone, it was, as of now, eerily silent. Could Kinzo and the kids have gone out? No. Kinzo's car is still here. He must be home somewhere. But Mariya went to answer the phone. If Mariya didn't come home when she did, she wouldn't have been able to hear the horrible news before Kinzo woke up and heard it. The call came from one of the doctors at the hospital, telling her that her youngest step-daughter is there with quite a few injuries, leaving Mariya quite shocked and appalled? Aria's hurt? How's her condition? Is she alright? Is she dying? Worries and fears immediately broke into Mariya's being like a burglar breaking into a house attempting to steal all the jewelry in it. Mariya decided to go to the hospital and check on Aria. Right as she hung up the phone, Orie came into the house, and Mariya immediately grabbed Orie, put her in Kinzo's car, and drove to the hospital.

Aria's hurt! And pretty badly, too! Mariya at first couldn't believe it right away, but in the back of her mind, she knew why: obviously, Kinzo did something to her. Mariya kicked herself for not seeing Kinzo's true nature and for not being there to protect little Aria. She thought about the day she first met Kinzo. He looked gruff, but he came off as quite courteous and kind. She was swayed by his kindness and eventually married him, having no knowledge that he had a wife. Yes, Kinzo purposefully had an affair and left them both, Kirika and Mariya, in the dark about it. After his wife died, Kinzo married Mariya and expected his daughters to accept her right off the bat. Mariya didn't find out about his wife's death until two days after they came home from their wedding, and was quite shocked to find that he had willfully cheated on his wife for her! Mariya was quite angry when she heard this and did confront Kinzo about it, but he kept on changing the subject. Mariya had always wanted to become a parent and start a family, but due to some circumstances she couldn't control, even if she got married, she wouldn't be able to have any children of her own. She thought that being with the Yukinos would be great...until Kinzo unmasked his true nature. _'How could I be so stupid to fall for that? He totally fooled me!'_ Mariya thought as she drove to the hospital, even exceeding the speed limit at one point. At this point, Mariya has finally had enough. She was determined to execute her plan and help Aria and Orie, even if Orie doesn't think there's any hope left.

Within minutes, she and Orie checked into the reception desk and were shown to the room where Aria was being kept in. Mariya and Orie literally rushed into the room to find Yun, Hisako, Teruki, Lucero, Otoya, Rena, Riku, and the Digimon (which she took no notice of) huddled around Aria's bed, where Aria lay down with quite a few bandages on her forehead, arms, and one on her leg.

"ARIA!" Mariya screamed as she ran to hug the broken little girl.

"MARIYA-SAN!" Aria yelled as she hugged Mariya tightly and cried onto her shoulder. All the kids, including Orie, were quite shocked by Mariya's entrance and Aria's reaction to her arrival, though Orie's shock was for a totally different reason altogether. Although Yun and most of the other kids were touched, some weren't, and one of them was about to go on a tirade.

"You freakin' idiot!" Melody screamed angrily at Mariya, who let go of Aria as soon as she heard Melody's shrill, ferocious voice. "Look what you've done! Aria's got a mild concussion and a bunch of whip marks on her arms because of you!"

"Melody!" Yun yelled, appalled by Melody's display of anger. She tried to calm her down, but Melody totally ignored her and continued to go on her epic harangue.

"Where the heck were you when your no good husband was beating the life out of this innocent, helpless little seven year old kid? Oh, let me guess, were you prancing around at bars drinking and letting yourself be surrounded by a bunch of sleazy men while not giving a rat's hat about your own stepkid?"

"Melody, calm down!"

"You're just like all stepmothers out there, only taking kids in just so you can get money and waste it on all sorts of garbage and let your stupid brainless husbands beat up the kids for your own self-satisfaction! I oughta-"

"MELODY! WILL YOU SHUT UP FOR TWO SECONDS?" Yun screamed at the top of her voice, which actually scared Melody for once. Even the Digimon, who tried VERY hard to remain as silent as possible without revealing their identities and causing a scene, were rendered silent.

"Look, Mariya-san's not the kind of person you think! I met her before, and she's very nice! She's not another stereotypical wicked step mother who abuses her kid or lets her husband abuse them! She's not like that! Can't you calm down a little and think? She wasn't there when the beating happened, and neither were all of us, so how would you know? You've hardly met Mariya-san so how would you know what she's like? It's not like all stepmothers are carbon copies of Cinderella's stepmother!" Yun yelled, apparently very disappointed in Melody's inopportune behavior.

"But Yun-"

Yun wagged her finger at Melody like a strict mother. "I talk! You listen! Zip your lips! Zzt!" Yun made a gauche gesture and sound effect in the form of putting two fingers together and making them fly across her mouth similar to that of zipping. Everyone was shocked.

"Wow. That's a first," Otoya said. As long as they knew those two, they always knew that Yun and Melody got along, and they NEVER fought or disagreed about anything. Now Yun is actually disappointed with Melody. Even Melody herself was surprised.

"Look! This isn't the time for blaming people right now! What's important is that we managed to save Aria-chan, even though she has a lot of marks and a mild concussion! This is our chance to put that man behind bars once and for all!"

"Nobody's gonna put him behind bars, Yun! I-"

"Zip your lips! I'm talking!"

"But-"

"BABABABABA!"

Yun made sure that Melody "zipped her lips" and was quite ardent about it. Melody finally abdicated and found it pointless to contradict Yun, who is clearly on fire right now. Melody balled her fists.

"Fine. I'll listen. But before I do, I have one thing to say," Melody muttered grimly, then looked back up at Mariya again, looking quite choleric. "I will never forgive you for nearly allowing your stepkid to die at the hands of that brainless and heartless misogynist!"

"What's a misogynist?" Yun asked Rena.

"It's somebody who beats up women," Rena replied.

"Oh. Interesting," Yun replied, feeling rather fascinated by the new word she learned.

"Don't be mad at Mariya-san!" Aria cried out ardently. "She didn't know!"

"But Aria-" Melody was about to go on her tirade again, but knowing that Yun was staring emerald green daggers at her, she stopped herself from letting anything out and closed herself up before she could let loose the epic hurtful word vomit. Thankfully enough, Mariya didn't seem phased by Melody's hurtful tirade.

"Thank you, children. For looking out for Aria. You're all so kind. I'm so sorry this happened, and you're right, I should have been there to stop it," Mariya said, looking like she's about to burst into tears.

"What are you going to do now?" Riku asked with his arms crossed, looking just as suspicious as Melody is right now, apparently not looking too convinced.

"I'm not going to stand by and let this go on. I have a plan, and with the way things are going, I'm going to go through with it today. It may take a while, but I won't stand for any more of Kinzo's bad behavior," Mariya told them.

"Bad behavior? Understatement of the freaking millennium!" Riku yelled.

"Okay, she gets it, Riku!" Rena scolded. Yun walked over to Aria, who looked rather weak as she clung to MarineAngemon and Lopmon.

"Are you hungry or thirsty? Do you need anything?" Yun asked in a soft voice.

"Apple juice..." Aria muttered weakly.

"Sure. I'll get you some," Yun told her. She rummaged through her pockets, but found no money. "Ugh! I don't have any money on me!"

"I have some," Orie said as she took Yun by the hand. "Come with me."

Orie took Yun out of the room. It must be confessed that Aria looked quite dejected as she saw Orie drag Yun out of the room. They passed through some white hallways and passed some doctors and nurses on the way, but they made it to the vending machine...however, Orie had something to say, as she looked at Yun with a very disappointed look.

"Why did you tell them about what happened?" Orie asked sternly with her arms crossed.

"I didn't tell anyone. MarineAngemon saw it happen and stopped Kinzo from hurting her more. She came looking for us, and we called for help," Yun told her, trying to sound civil, even though it wasn't working.

"You shouldn't have called an ambulance!"

"Someone had to! My friend was getting hurt, so I couldn't just leave her there to suffer or potentially die!"

"It won't matter if she's saved! Nobody's gonna help us anyhow!"

"How do you know?"

"I just do, alright!"

"That's not good enough!"

"You don't get it, Wakamiya! The police aren't gonna arrest Dad! He's untouchable! He always gets his way! Nobody's gonna help us! It's hopeless!"

"Not with that attitude, you're not! Forgive me for putting you on the spot, but you're not exactly setting the best example of a good big sister, you know!"

"What do you mean!"

"Good big sisters teach their little sisters what's right and what's wrong! They protect them from bad people and help them with what they need help on! Aria-chan told me you told her that telling someone about what's happening is bad! Don't you understand? Kids at her age are prone to absorbing everything around them! If they're surrounded by bad people and hear bad things at that age, they'll be bad too! I know I haven't been through something like that, but it happens!"

"Why does it matter to you anyway? Why are you so passionate on helping us when it's hopeless? We're not even your friends!"

"You're not exactly my friend, but Aria-chan is! She's helped us in lots of ways, and we've helped her a lot! I've always wanted to help someone and save them from danger, even though normally I'm too weak and helpless to do so because I'm always being bullied by a bunch of bad kids at school every day! Sure, our first meeting was kinda weird, and yes I'm not the best role model in the world and I don't think I'll ever be, but it's bad to let someone get hurt and not do anything about it! If someone else won't step up and help, then I will! I don't care what anyone says! I'll do it even if I have to die trying! I'll tell every adult in the world about it!"

"Oh, really? Who are they gonna believe, a trusted grown up, or a bunch of snot nosed brats? You know grown ups aren't gonna listen to us!"

"Then I'll make them listen!"

"They're not gonna take it seriously!"

"Then I'll make them take it seriously!"

"It's hopeless!"

"Stop saying that! That's not what big sisters tell their little sisters!"

"How do you know? You don't have any siblings, do you?"

"I only have one older sister. I'm the youngest in my family, but that doesn't mean I can't stand up for what's right, and that also doesn't mean you can't either! If I let Aria-chan go back with that stupid Dad of yours, she's not gonna last much longer, and neither will you! Don't you want to be happy again?"

It's here that Orie finally stopped arguing with Yun. She didn't know how to respond. To be honest, Orie did try her best to help as much as she could. She told whatever adult she could find, but they either accused her of trying to start a scene or were just too busy to really care. Plus, she always stood up to Kinzo, even though it resulted in her getting her own share of the beatings. Like Aria, Orie loved her mother and was sad when she died, even though she kept telling Aria to not cry at her funeral. Orie hated it when Kinzo got mad and began beating them up. She wanted to go back to those happy days, but she eventually gave up on that dream. She thought she could get by in life by dealing with the abuse and expecting Aria to do so too. Yun scoffed.

"I thought so," Yun took Orie's money, put it in the machine, and pressed some buttons. A carton of apple juice with a straw attached to it appeared. Yun grabbed it and walked away, leaving Orie alone. Yun gave Aria the apple juice, which she slurped down heartily. Yun stayed by Aria's side the entire time, not wanting to leave her sight. This was the first time she ever cared about someone younger than her. Yun always hated being around little kids, especially babies, because she was convinced they hated her. Now, Yun wanted to protect Aria like a mother lioness. She didn't want anyone to hurt this innocent, precious little person. Soon, a rather scrawny and grumpy looking doctor came into the room.

"Doctor! Are you gonna file a police claim against that Kinzo guy or not?" Riku suddenly blurted out angrily and expectantly. For once, Rena didn't scold him for speaking out of turn. The doctor adjusted his glasses a bit.

"Thank you all for being so patient. Anyway, Yukino-san's condition isn't as bad as I expected, and if you have her take it easy, she'll be much better. I have nothing else to report. Just be careful from now on. You're free to go," The doctor said rather grumpily. He was about to walk away, but Riku, Yun, and Melody ran in front of him.

"Aren't you gonna file a police claim against her dad? He abused her!" Riku repeated. The doctor didn't look too pleased.

"There's no sign of abuse as far as I can see. I demand that she be returned to her father immediately," The doctor said. Everyone's jaws literally fell to the floor with shock.

"WHAAAAT? YOU **_CANNOT_** BE SERIOUS!" Riku, Yun, and Melody all screamed in perfect unison.

"No sign of abuse?" Yun yelped angrily. "Doctor, she's got a concussion and whip marks all over her arms! You can't get those from just anything! And how can a little kid have access to a whip and know how to use it?"

"I'm sorry children, but there's no solid evidence that she's been abused! She's injured yes, but that doesn't mean she's been abused!" The doctor said, his voice rising. "And how exactly do you know that her father had something to do with it? You don't even have any real proof that he really did abuse her!"

"We saw him do it! You're a doctor! Shouldn't you investigate this a bit more? Don't you think her injuries are suspicious in any way? You have to listen!" Melody screamed.

"I don't have to listen to a bunch of brats. It is my opinion that she be returned to her father at once! Now out of my way! I have a family to return to!" The doctor yelled grumpily as he pushed the kids away and walked out of the room while mumbling under his breath. Yun's hyper sensitive hearing helped her make out what he said. "Goodness! My shift ended hours ago! Why am I always the one who has to work late while everyone else gets off early? Why couldn't someone else investigate this matter? They always throw their cases onto me, yes they do! I don't see why I have to do everything around here!"

Everyone in the room was frozen and silent, unable to believe what they just heard. The doctor doesn't believe Aria was abused! He didn't even investigate further or even think her injuries were suspicious! He wants Aria to be returned to Kinzo while not even bothering to check if Kinzo really did abuse her, which he clearly did! He doesn't think her injuries are good enough evidence! Everyone felt the blood rush to their cheeks. Yun fell to her knees in despair. Orie came into the room.

"Told you it was hopeless," Orie said.

"You be quiet," Melody retorted back in a low but bitter voice.

Soon after that, Kinzo arrived. MarineAngemon's attack had worn off by the time Mariya came to the hospital. He took a taxi here and he came into the room, still as grumpy as ever. Yun, Riku, and Melody all stood in front of Aria, hoping to keep Kinzo away from her.

"What are you brats doing here? You have no business here. Aria, come over here. We're leaving," Kinzo said coldly.

"You're not getting her!" Yun yelled.

"Give her to me!" Kinzo commanded again.

"You're NOT getting her! We won't let you anywhere near her, you heartless child abuser!" Yun yelled again.

"I said give her to me this instant!"

"No!"

"You're not laying one hand on her, you child abuser!" Riku yelled.

"Child abuser! Child abuser!" Melody chanted fervently, pumping one of her fists into the air. Kinzo became choleric.

"I've had enough of this nonsense! Give her to me!" Kinzo tried to usurp Aria, but Yun did it first and she managed to stop Kinzo from taking her.

"Over our dead bodies! No way are we handing her to a stupid, horrid, heartless, brainless, incompetent, good for nothing, misogynistic child abuser like you!" Yun yelled angrily as she clung to Aria tightly.

Kinzo was appalled. "H-How dare you speak to me that way! Don't you know how to respect your elders?"

"Normally I do, but you're the exception! You're not someone who deserves any respect at all!" Yun yelled.

"Yeah! Go to jail already, you piece of garbage!" Riku yelled. Rena wanted to scold him, but Kinzo did it for her.

"Mariya! Orie! Come here right now! We're leaving!" Kinzo demanded.

Mariya looked down at Aria with a pained look, then at Kinzo with a straight one.

"Can you sign the paperwork and pay the bill please? We'll be out in a minute," Mariya told him in a low voice.

"Why can't you do it? You're my wife, so you should do as I ask!" Kinzo commanded.

"She's not your slave, you idiot!" Melody yelled.

"Children, calm down!" Hisako separated Kinzo and Melody, hoping that a fight doesn't break out.

Kinzo was surprised by the overwhelming majority of people in this room who are actually against him. He wanted so badly to contradict them and prove them wrong, even though they're quite passionate about not handing Aria to him. He refrained from saying anything more and left the room to go to the reception desk. Mariya looked at Yun with sympathetic eyes.

"Yun-chan. Thank you for being so supportive. You're a great friend. I know this sounds rather terrible, but right now, I think it's best that you let me handle it. I'll take Aria-chan and Orie-chan home. I won't let Kinzo hurt them," Mariya whispered.

"But he won't listen! What if he-" Yun wanted to say more, but Mariya put a finger on her (Yun's) mouth.

"Let me handle this. I'm just as angry about it as you are, and I'm glad you care so much about Aria-chan. But just listen to me. I have a plan, and I'll make sure it comes to fruition, even if I have to fight for it. I'll make sure all of this never happens again. Leave Aria to me, and I'll make sure she's safe," Mariya told her. Yun wanted to argue with her, but she saw no point in doing it. Reluctant as she was to let Aria (and to a degree, even Orie, despite their argument earlier) go with Mariya, she knew she had to, so she did. Reluctant as Aria was to leave Yun's side, she went with Mariya. MarineAngemon secretly flew into Aria's pocket again and followed her home.

Once they left, the rest of the kids went home too. It was late, so they called for their parents to give them rides home. Hisako and Teruki took Yun, Lucero, Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon home. They came home to find Ayaka and Shunji making out in the living room and Dracomon ignoring it as he's watching TV, but Yun didn't care about that. Once Yun stepped into the house, she literally fell into a paroxysm of passionate wailing. Even Dracomon was surprised.

"Oh! Yun, what's wrong? Why are ya cryin'?" Dracomon asked, looking quite concerned. Lopmon hopped onto Yun's shoulder and tried to console her. Terriermon, Lucero, and Cutemon too, but nothing was working.

"How could that doctor be so durn stupid? Aria-chan was abused, I know it, yet he didn't do one thing about it! We shouldn't have let her go back to that house! We should have fought harder!" Yun cried as the tears streamed down her cheeks like waterfalls.

"Yun, please don't cry so. I'm just as angry about it as you are," Lopmon cooed softly as she stroke Yun's hair, even though it wasn't working.

"Aria-chan? MarineAngemon's tamer? Being abused?" Dracomon asked, sounding confused.

"This is an outrage!" Lucero exclaimed. "Why didn't they investigate further? Isn't it their job to report things of this sort? Why did he claim that her injuries aren't serious enough to warrant an abuse claim against Kinzo?"

"I agree! He should have helped her more!" Terriermon piped in. Hisako kneeled down to Yun's level and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Yun, I know this is hard, and I know how much you care about Aria-chan, and it's great that you do care so much. You're a great friend. But you have to understand, there's some things in this world that can't really be done right away. Technically, there wasn't any proof that Kinzo abused Aria-chan, not that I'm saying he didn't abuse her, but there just wasn't enough evidence to convict him...and you didn't really see him do it, did you?" Hisako whispered.

"No, but Aria-chan was hurt! She was bleeding! Someone had to help her! Why? Why? I don't get it! They should have arrested him regardless! I had to do something!"

"I'm glad you did what you did, but at this point, there isn't much we can do, Yun. Let the adults handle it from here on out, Yun. I'm sure someone will understand."

"There HAS to be! There HAS to be! I don't want to be told that it's hopeless and nothing can be done! Aria-chan's suffering and it'll be my fault if she-"

"Will you quit your whining, you brat?" Ayaka suddenly screamed from out of nowhere, scaring even Shunji. "It's not even any of your business, so quit trying to meddle in other people's problems! You're only doing it just to make yourself look good anyway! Just get over it! She doesn't need your help!"

NOW Yun was choleric. "You think I'm doing this JUST TO MAKE MYSELF _LOOK GOOD_? _NO_! I AM _NOT_! Stop saying that everything I do is wrong! Someone has to do something, and if no one else will, then I will! Aria-chan's my friend and friends help each other! How can you say something so cruel, Ayaka-Neechan? What if one of your friends was being abused? Would you ignore it and let them suffer, or will you step in and help?"

"I don't have any friends!"

"ANSWER ME, AYAKA!"

"Get over it, Yun! Quit complaining about something that doesn't even matter to you!"

"YES IT DOES SO MATTER TO ME!"

"Kids! Calm down!" Teruki separated the two of them to keep them from fighting. Yun has finally had enough.

"Don't even dare tell me that Aria-chan's not worth it because you don't know anything!" Yun screamed. She cried again and ran away from the living room.

"Yun!" Teruki tried to chase after her, but she ran too fast for him to catch up. Not only that, she left the house, even though it's so dark and so late right now!

"We'll go after her!" Lucero said as he, Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon ran out to find Yun.

Oddly enough, much to Ayaka's infuriation, someone else followed them.

It took them a while to find her since it was so dark, but they managed to find Yun in the clearing in the woods where they fought Goblimon. She sat in front of a tree, bawling and wailing loudly and passionately for all, or in this case no one, to hear. Lopmon snuggled up to the crying girl first.

"Yun, dear. Please don't cry. I'm sure Aria-chan knows how much you care about her. Mariya-san too," Lopmon crooned sweetly. Lucero put a hand on her shoulder.

"Thy unrelenting compassion shows how much thou carest about Aria-san so. She understands. I can tell. Thou wishest to save her, right?" Lucero said.

"I-I-I don't get it! It's right in front of them yet those idiots aren't taking it seriously! Why? Why doesn't anyone see it?" Yun wailed passionately.

Terriermon heard the sound of foot steps behind him. He turned around to see Shunji and Dracomon behind him, looking quite serious. Shunji ambled over to Yun and put a hand on her shoulder. Yun only then realized it was Shunji and pushed her hand off of him.

"You shouldn't touch me! Ayaka's gonna get mad and think I'm trying to steal you from her!" Yun exclaimed. For once, Shunji didn't try to convince her otherwise. As Yun calmed down a bit, she noticed something about Shunji that was quite strange: he's not being his usual goofy grade-A lazy self today. He looked at her with quite a straight and serious look. Yun blushed a bit.

"S-S-Sorry you had to see us fight," Yun muttered.

"It's alright," Shunji said in a low, almost somber voice, something that was quite unusual for him, though Yun heard it before. "I think it's wonderful that you care so much about Aria-chan. That shows what a great friend you are. I didn't have any of that when I was your age. I have to admit, I'm rather jealous."

"Really? You didn't have any friends?" Dracomon asked. "I always thought you were the popular type."

"Yes, I was popular with the girls, but they just wanted to use me so they could look good. They didn't want to accept me for who I was. Anyway, look-"

"Don't tell me that Aria-chan can't be saved!" Yun exclaimed.

"I wasn't going to say that. I was going to say that there's actually some hope in saving her. You're that hope," Shunji said.

"Eh?" Yun turned around with a gasp.

"Hope? What do you mean?" Terriermon asked.

"Most of the time, when people live in violent circumstances, they don't always have someone who they can confide their problems to. They don't have anyone to teach them right and take care of them and love them, which makes it harder for them to find help. Yun-chan, I may not have been here to know exactly everything, but I think you might one of Aria-chan's only hopes. She really likes you and looks up to you. I know that much," Shunji told her.

Terriermon crossed his arms. "It's true! Yun-chan's one of the nicest people in the world, and I think everyone should see that!"

Yun, however, didn't agree. "But I couldn't save her from that horrible dad of hers! I really want to save her, but who's gonna believe me? I really am useless!"

"You're not useless at all!" Lopmon proclaimed suddenly. "You stayed by Aria's side and tried your very best to keep her comfortable and safe. Little things like that can really make a big difference. You did that with Lucero, and now you're helping Aria."

"Yeah, but I can't save her from her dad! What if he beats her again? What if he's beating her right this second? I can't stop worrying! I can't stop feeling so helpless! I can't stand not being able to help her when I really want to!" Yun screamed through her tears. Even Dracomon felt bad for Yun.

"You shouldn't stop believing, Yun," Dracomon said. "Don't stop believing. You want to help Aria-chan, don't you? You should do whatever it takes to save her from her suffering. You may even be her saving grace."

Shunji smiled. He didn't try to get close to Yun so he kept his distance. "That's right. I had my fair share of family troubles, and my saving grace was my love for dinosaurs. Look at me now! I can be my lazy bum self because of the awesomeness that's Dracomon!"

Dracomon blushed and scratched his nose for a bit. "Oh no, I'm not awesome at all."

"Not only that, MarineAngemon's with her too. You might just be able to win this fight. You just have to be passionate and keep on believing. Don't ever give up, even if everyone else has," Shunji said.

"I don't intend to...but it just makes me sad that nobody else is stepping up. Even the doctor said there was no sign of abuse when clearly there was! MarineAngemon saw it happen!" Yun said.

"Some people are like that, and yes, it is sad, but it doesn't have to be the end of everything. Lots of people are on your side, right? Use it to your advantage and help Aria-chan so you can win this fight," Shunji said.

"That's right! We won't give up, now will we?" Terriermon proclaimed.

"We'll keep on fighting until we win, kyu!" Cutemon exclaimed.

Lopmon, with a soft smile, gently slid one of her rosy pink paws into Yun's hand, hoping Yun would feel her reassurance. She did. She smiled and stood up. Shunji did too.

"Is there anything we can do to help? I'm afraid we won't be able to do much," Dracomon said. Yun used her arm to wipe away the tears on her face.

"I've...been thinking of a plan of my own. Anjo-san? How far is it from your school to Katsura Elementary school?" Yun asked. Shunji crossed his arms and ruminated for a bit.

"Hmmm...if I had to estimate, it'd probably be 10 miles, so by car it'd take me half an hour to get there. If I go on Coredramon, I could get there within 5 minutes," Shunji said. "Why?"

Despite crying the whole time, Yun saved enough energy to come up with a plan. Since Shunji is with her now, she decided to fill him and Dracomon in, along with Lucero, Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon.

"Ohhh! That sounds like it'll work!" Terriermon said.

"It will if we do everything right," Yun said.

"I always knew you had some tricks up your sleeve. Alrighty! I'll help you out!" Shunji said with a thumbs up and his usual goofy smile.

"Me too!" Dracomon said.

"But if something bad happens, won't the repercussions be perilous?" Lopmon asked.

"Maybe, but at this point, I honestly don't care!" Yun said.

It was getting dark, so they decided to go back home and have some dinner. Yun felt a little better, but not completely. She did, however, set her mind to the plan she was going to execute and, like Mariya, she was determined to see it come to fruition. In the mean time, the Yukino family returned home. Aria expected Kinzo to yell and scream and beat them all up once they got home. Oddly enough, he didn't. He just remained silent and went to his room. Even Orie found this to be strange. She went to her room. Hardly anyone knew it, but Aria's heart and mind were both in discord. Everyone keeps telling her different things. She can't seem to decide which to believe and who to agree with, even though it's been pounding on her brain for quite a while now.

_"I'm glad you told me about this. It's good to talk about your problems. If something bad happens to you, you should tell someone about it."_

_"Don't tell anyone about what we're going through! You'll just make it worse! Who are they gonna believe? An adult that they can trust, or a bunch of little brats who don't know the difference between real life and make believe? Nobody's going to help us no matter what! It's just the way it is!"_

_"If someone does something bad to you or makes you feel uncomfortable, tell someone right away!"_ That was something Miss Sonomiya said in class today.

_"Don't tell anyone about this or you'll be next!_"

Aria didn't know what to do. She didn't know what to believe anymore. Just thinking about it inundated her little head, but she couldn't stop thinking about it. Mariya looked at the battered little girl with sad eyes.

"Aria-chan...are you okay?" Mariya asked. Aria didn't respond.

"Aria-chan...I'm so sorry! I should have stayed home and protected you. I should have gotten off work early. Kinzo shouldn't have done what he did, and I won't let this go on. But...why didn't you tell me this has been happening?"

_'Why didn't you tell me?'_ The question echoed in Aria's mind stronger than anything she had ever heard before. Finally, she snapped. Her little knees buckled, she fell on them, and erupted into a paroxysm of loud, passionate crying.

"Oh! Aria-chan!" Mariya ran to hug her, but Aria pushed her off.

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO BELIEVE!" Aria screamed dejectedly and went on a harangue of her own. "Everybody keeps telling me different things! Tell! Tell! Don't tell! Don't tell! They keep telling me different stuff and I don't know who or what to believe! I don't know what to do! I don't want Papa to be mean anymore! I don't want him to be angry and beat us every day, but I don't want to not tell someone about it and keep it all inside! I want to go back to being happy! I know Mama's gone, but still! I want to tell someone about what's happening! I really really do! But at the same time, I'm afraid that nobody will believe me! People will think I'm lying or that I'm making it up! I don't want that! Why would people say that? I don't get it! I don't want to believe that we can never be happy again! I already lost Mama! I don't want to be hurt anymore!"

Finally, Mariya pulled the crying girl close and held onto her. Aria cried into Mariya's chest. She didn't care that she was staining her clothes with her tears. Mariya didn't mind either. She cried a little too, upon hearing Aria's heartfelt confession and finally seeing not just her physical pain, but her internal pain. She's at that fragile age where she'll absorb anything she learns and learn how to implement it in her daily life. What she wants to do and what people don't want her to do...they're at war with each other in Aria's heart, and she doesn't know which side to support. Mariya knew that feeling. She knew it very well. Aria then looked up at her with tearful eyes.

"Mariya-san...I don't get it! Papa used to love Mama and us! We were happy! Now that she's gone, she won't even let us talk about her! I don't get it! Why did Mama die? I want to know, but he won't tell me! Did she do something bad? I want to know!" Aria wailed passionately. It made Mariya's heart ache to see Aria's brown eyes so full of sadness and yearning for answers. Even MarineAngemon, who is hiding right now, couldn't help but shed some tears. Mariya gently stroke Aria's back.

"You really love your mother, don't you?" Mariya asked in a whisper. Aria nodded.

"Aria-chan? Can I tell you a story?" Mariya asked with a sad smile.

"What kind of story? A fairy story?" Aria asked back.

"No, a story of what I was like when I was your age. It's a little sad, but will you listen?" Mariya told her. Aria nodded. She missed hearing stories, not just fairy stories, and wanted to hear Mariya's.

"You see, when I was little, my father went to Heaven," Mariya began. "I really loved him and my mother. We were so close. We went on picnics and walks in the woods and everything. He loved animals, and I loved what he loved. My mother often said I was a little girl version of him. He loved laughing and telling jokes and making me and my friends happy. I really loved him...but then he got very sick and died. I cried for days. I felt I lost a part of me. My mom was sad too, but she was worse than me. She began doing things she shouldn't have done. I'd like to tell you, but you're too young so I'll tell you more when you're older. All of a sudden, a year after he died, she married another man. I was mad at her, because I thought she hated him and wanted to replace him, the wonderful man who was like sunshine in our rainy days. The new man she married...I didn't like him. He was cruel and was always angry about something. Very controling. He wanted everything to go his way. It was his way or no way at all. I didn't like it at all. I promised myself that if I ever had a child, I would never treat them so horribly, especially not over silly little things like a spilled cup of milk. Soon, he did something very terrible, and I called the police on him. He was arrested, and I was put with another family. They were nice and I liked them, but I didn't want to replace my parents, my father who died and my mother before she turned bad. They understood this, and they gave me all the love they could give. When I got older, I decided to become a parent myself. I wanted to have my own children and take care of them. Sadly, once I left college, I was in a terrible car accident. A part of the car damaged my uterus. That's the organ in the body where babies come from. Because my injuries were so bad, they had to cut it out. As a result, even if I got married, I would never be able to have any babies or children of my own. I was so sad. I cried for days. I thought my dreams were crushed. Then I remembered that there are other kids who don't have families to love them and take care of them. I tried adopting a child, but because I was unmarried, there were some problems and I wasn't able to do so. Then I met Kinzo. I thought he was a nice man. He told me he has two children, and when he wanted me to marry him, I was so delighted. I thought my dream of becoming a mother finally came true."

Aria was immersed with Mariya's story. She lost a parent too? Her other parents were mean to her? She can't have any children because of the car accident? Aria thought she was going to cry again. Mariya is a lot like her, only Aria didn't get into a car accident and have her uterus taken out. That would be gross. Aria hugged Mariya.

"Ouch. You must have been very sad," Aria muttered.

"Yes, I was very sad. I thought that I would be able to have a nice life with Kinzo and you girls. Sadly, it's not to be. He tricked me, and he was cruel to your mother too, by courting me even though he was already married," Mariya said sadly.

Aria's head sprang up. Kinzo courted Mariya BEFORE Kirika died? Aria knew somewhere that there's such thing as men who like to go out with other women even though they're married, and she knew that it was bad. But never did she ever expect that Kinzo did it to Kirika! But in the back of her mind, she could see that Mariya didn't approve of it either. Aria did, however, feel confused about something.

"But Papa's still being mean, isn't he? Why don't you leave?"

"I'd like to leave, but not without you girls. I refuse to leave anyone unless I know for sure that you and Orie are safe. It's been my dream to protect little children from the evils of the world, and I do not want to leave you two with Kinzo any longer. It's not safe. Also, do you know why I never asked you to call me mother?"

Aria shook her head.

"It's because I knew for a fact that you probably didn't want anyone to take your mother's place. Aria-chan, I do want to be a mother to you, but I don't want to replace your mother. I know she must love you very much, and you love her too. I truly understand. I was okay with you calling me Mariya-san because I figured you thought I was Cinderella's evil stepmother and didn't want to be my friend. It's alright."

Aria teared up again. "Yun-chan and Mina-chan told me to give you a chance before judging you. I'm sorry for thinking you were Cinderella's evil stepmama."

"It's okay. It's not easy getting to know someone who's been thrown into your life without warning. It's hard. Very hard. But I'm glad I got to know you and your sister."

Aria decided to tell Mariya something else. "Earlier...Yun-chan called. Papa got mad and called her a retard. I yelled at him. Yun-chan's not retarded! She's nice and sweet and smart! She reminds me of Mama and makes me feel safe! You do too, and thanks for it, but Yun-chan always taught me things and is always nice. She's my friend, and I hate it when people are mean to her! That's why Papa started beating me, because I yelled at him. About Yun-chan and Mama. He said I had no right to mention Mama, but I don't get it. Why? Why did Mama die? Why does Mama make him mad?"

Mariya stroke Aria's hair again. "I'm glad you care about her so much. She really cares about you too. Yun-chan really is a nice girl, and I'm glad you two are friends. As for your mother, I don't know why mentioning her makes him mad. I'm sure he's suffering in his own way. He lost his wife. Men are great mysteries to us women. We don't know what goes on in their heads, but that doesn't mean he's allowed to do what he's been doing, and I won't sit and let it go on. Aria-chan, you just leave everything to me."

Aria smiled again. Mariya truly is a nice person after all. She finally thought that she could trust her...and she was going to test that in the most unexpected way possible.

"Mariya-san? I want to show you someone," Aria told her.

"Someone? What do you mean?" Mariya asked, confused.

"I want to show you her. She's been with me for a long time, and I love her. But promise me you won't tell Papa! He'll get mad. Only big sister knows about her...and will you not get scared please?" Aria explained, looking quite serious.

Mariya was confused and didn't quite understand, but she could tell Aria wasn't planning anything bad, so she smiled. "Alright. I promise I won't tell anyone."

Aria smiled, then looked around the room. She stood straight and erect, and...

"MarineAngemon! Come on out!"

Floating behind the couch, MarineAngemon threw her stubby little arms, if they can be called that, over her mouth. Aria's actually asking for MarineAngemon to come out and reveal her identity to Mariya? What is Aria thinking? MarineAngemon was nothing short of surprised. She couldn't believe that those words actually came out of Aria's mouth! MarineAngemon didn't want to reveal herself out of fear that Kinzo might find her and expose her, or that Mariya might get scared and leave. But she knew for a fact that Aria and Mariya have been growing closer and closer, and as of now, Aria finally feels that Mariya is worthy of her trust.

"MarineAngemon! Please come out!" Aria repeated again.

_'Should I do it? Or shouldn't I?'_ MarineAngemon thought over and over again. She knew that Mariya was a nice person. She had watched her lots of times, and the raw concern and emotion she showed at the hospital proved that she truly did care about Aria and Orie, even though she isn't really their mother. MarineAngemon gulped and sucked up her courage. Perhaps Mariya can be trusted with the secret of MarineAngemon after all. Although she was hesitant, MarineAngemon finally floated out. As soon as she appeared in front of Aria, Mariya put her hands on her mouth.

"Oh my!" Mariya yelped, her hands muffling her loud voice.

"Don't be afraid. She's nice and friendly!" Aria put her hands out so she could show Mariya that she was serious. After a bit, Mariya removed her own hands.

Aria smiled brightly. "Mariya-san, this is my friend MarineAngemon. She's a Digimon!"

MarineAngemon, although shy, decided to speak. "Nice to meet you."

"A Digimon?" Mariya asked, quite surprised by this surprising new development. "Isn't that a TV show? I thought it was make believe!"

"I did too," Aria said. "But she's as real as me and you! Don't worry, she won't hurt us. She hates hurting people."

After a bit, Mariya exhaled a breath and finally calmed down. MarineAngemon got the mettle to speak to her more.

"I-I'm sorry for scaring you. Aria-chan thought you would think I was some kind of scary monster about to eat you, so she hid me for a long time," MarineAngemon told her in her sweetest voice possible, hoping to mollify her a little.

"How long have you had her?" Mariya asked.

"Since Papa remarried you. She was hurt and Orie-Neechan and I took care of her," Aria said. MarineAngemon floated in front of Mariya, smiling brightly. Charmed by this cute little pink fairy, Mariya finally smiled and took the fluffy little thing in her hands.

"Well, this sure is a surprise...but it's nice to meet you too, MarineAngemon. You're so cute!" Mariya said kindly, which made MarineAngemon feel a little more relaxed. Aria smiled too, happy that Mariya welcomed MarineAngemon with open arms (or hands, since MarineAngemon is so small).

What they didn't know was that Kinzo was about to reach his breaking point with the girls.

Kinzo lay on his bed, face down. He wasn't crying. Just dead silent. He let himself be lost in his thoughts. He ruminated deeply about Kirika and her death. He met Kirika in high school. He was her tutor, and she was a junior in high school. Two years after she graduated, they got married. Kinzo didn't exactly have the best life, but he felt that Kirika shone a light in his dark and dim life, a light like sunshine. He wanted to preserve it and keep it. He was afraid to lose it. Unfortunately, because of his fear of losing Kirika, he grew quite controling. He wouldn't let her get a job and kept her in the house a lot to look after the girls. Kirika never complained, especially when Kinzo grew angry and volatile. She just put up with it and presented herself as the docile, gentle housewife she proved herself to be. This was Kirika at her best, when she was being timid, gentle, and considerate. Kirika NEVER raised her voice and just accepted everything. She helped the girls gently and didn't scold them. Kinzo loved this about her. She didn't even crack when Orie became defiant. Orie yelled at Kirika often, but Kirika never yelled back, nor did she ground Orie. Kinzo was in charge of that. But even with everything not going quite as expected, Kinzo loved Kirika and wanted to protect her forever...until he left her alone in the house that day, and came home to find her dead on the kitchen floor.

When he saw Kirika there, he felt his world explode and get thrown into the deepest, darkest, rock-bottom level of the pit of despair. He felt as though he lost everything special to him. His sunshine, gone. The light that kept him going even in his darkest days, gone. The happiness he felt when with her, gone. The happiness she gave him, gone. Everything, gone. Kinzo fell apart that day. So much that he felt that all the love drained out of him. He tried to raise Aria and Orie on his own, but other than sadness, anger and hate began to take control of him. Instead of raising them, he took his anger out on them and used them as scapegoats for his anger. He had suffered a lot, and he thought that Kirika would stand by him forever, but she died, and now he was left with two young girls who were, in his eyes, too innocent to know what happened. The more Kinzo let his anger take control of him, the more and more he filled his mind with strange, almost unfathomable and unthinkable ideas. Aria resembled Kirika in lots of ways, and he became particularly cruel with her because not only was she growing into an image of Kirika, which he wanted to preserve for himself and no one else, but because as he thought, since she was a child, she felt no remorse or sadness for Kirika's death, and neither did Orie. This isn't true, as Aria and Orie were very sad when Kirika died, but Kinzo believed that Kirika didn't mean as much to them as she did him, therefore believing that he's the only one who's suffering when they're out frolicking in play, having totally forgotten about Kirika and the love she gave them. He felt they were being insensitive and ungrateful to Kirika, which he wouldn't tolerate. He snapped when Aria yelled at him regarding Kirika, asking why she died. What would a little child gain from knowing about her mother's death? She didn't care back then, so why bring it up now? Why would Aria, whom he believed was an ungrateful and troublemaking child, ask about her mother, whom she selfishly and indecently forgot about?

It hit him right there. He would never forgive Aria and Orie. He convinced himself he knew why Kirika died, and he wasn't going to take it anymore. He was angry at the whole world...and he would take it out on his girls in the worst way possible.

Before she went to bed, Yun sent text messages to all Digimon Brigade members, telling them to bring their Digimon to school and have them hang around outside so they can be close and that she'd explain later. Wednesday came, and Yun was so excited to tell everyone about her plan that she dropped her red purse on the black top, and everything fell out. Riku, Lucero, and Otoya helped her out. That morning, when Yun saw the Digimon hanging around by the nearby woods and strategically trying to keep themselves out of sight, she told them everything.

"WHAT?" Everyone yelled in unison. "Are you serious?"

"So, let me get this straight," Otoya piped in first. "You want us to go to Aria-chan's school, walk her home, let ourselves be spotted by her dad, and leave when he spots us but stick around the house while he's not looking?"

"Yep!" Yun said.

"And on the off chance that he starts beating her and abusing her, you want half of us to record a video of it with our cell phones and digivices while the other half steps in to save her?"

"Yep!"

"Yun, I always wondered what went on in your head, but this is crazy!" Minako exclaimed. "What if something goes wrong?"

"My plans always go wrong, and this is no different, but this time, having it go wrong is exactly what I want to see happen! I know this is stupid, but I'm so sick and tired of people claiming that Aria-chan's not being abused and that there's no evidence!" Yun used her fingers as air quotes around evidence for emphasis. "If they want evidence, we'll give them evidence! I'm not gonna sit back and let Aria-chan suffer anymore! It's time we put Kinzo behind bars once and for all! I know it won't be easy, but I don't want to sit on the sidelines and watch as my friend nearly gets killed!"

"Yun-chan, I know you care so much about Aria-chan. We do too, and we understand how you feel, but this isn't the right way to do it. It's just too risky," Minako said calmly.

"So? Nobody else will take us seriously if we don't have solid evidence, and this might be the only way we can prove it once and forever!" Yun proclaimed.

Riku put a hand on Yun's shoulder. It made her flinch a little, but she kept quiet. "You've gotta admit, this is way crazier than anything I've ever done, and if I screw up, I might end up going into juvie! But if it can save a good friend of ours, then it'll be worth it!"

"Riku!" Rena exclaimed, appalled by Riku's answer. "You're actually agreeing with her? You can't be serious!"

"Well, I am! I hate a lot of things, but if there's one thing I hate more than anything in the world, it's child abusers! Nobody beats up an innocent kid, especially for their own pleasure! Not on my watch! No way! If Yun-chan wants to save Aria-chan, then I wanna help her out! After all, friends help each other out, right?" Riku explained, looking quite enthusiastic about the idea.

"Riku, you need to understand. There are other ways we can fix it, and something as crazy and dangerous as this isn't one of them!" Rena reasoned.

"Nobody's gonna listen if we use those other ways! That doctor at the hospital let him get away with it while Aria-chan had to suffer! Don't you remember that time I was accused of shoplifting? Nobody bothered to help me! Not even Mom and Dad, even though there was so much evidence that proved I didn't do it! Everybody blamed me, and I'm sick and tired of innocent people being blamed for crimes they didn't do!" Riku yelled angrily.

Everyone looked at each other with reluctant faces...except two.

Melody raised her hand, the one with the silver bracelet on it. "Count me in."

Kosuke followed suit. "I'm in."

As if to copy them, Hokuto very slowly raised his hand. "Me too. I want to help Aria. She's nice, and nice kids shouldn't have to suffer like this. No child should ever suffer."

Otoya rolled her eyes. "Well, if you're all doing it, then I guess I will too. I'm not one to ignore bad situations either, especially if my friends are involved."

Minako and Rena looked at each other which shocked faces. But soon, even they raised their hands in agreement. Yun smiled brightly and hugged all of her friends. "Thank you thank you thank you! I know this may not work, but Aria-chan needs us right now!"

As Yun hugged her friends tightly, the Digimon watched and overheard everything.

"I agree with Minako-san, Otoya-san, and Rena-san. Yun's plan is just too dangerous," Lopmon said.

"Me too. Who knows what could happen to make it go wrong. But I don't like it when someone so young as Aria-chan suffers, so I'll have to do my part in it too," Lunamon said.

"Yes, it is risky indeed, but it certainly shows the kind of person Yun is. She's not willing to let any of her friends suffer, so she'll do anything to help them. I like that in a person," Kudamon said calmly.

"So what are we gonna do?" Patamon asked curiously.

"I dunno. Maybe she wants us around in case Aria-chan's dad gets out of control? I don't want to hurt another human. It's wrong to hurt people," Salamon said, shaking her head a bit.

"Quite honestly, I agree that Yun's plan is quite crude and much too rash, but then again, from what we're hearing about this Kinzo guy, he does not seem like a person you can respect. Beating up his own child? How could anyone be so insensitive and vulgar? Even I know very well that child abuse is deplorable and downright intolerable!" Biyomon exclaimed from a branch she sat on.

"Indeed it is. Personally I have my doubts about whether the plan will work, but it seems everyone else does too, so let's hope for the best. For Aria's sake," Labramon said.

And thus, with this the plan begun!...Well, sort of. School dragged on, and Miss Yakusa was as grouchy and cold as ever, scolding Yun whenever she had the chance. But Yun didn't let this get to her. She was determined to help Aria, and do whatever she could to help her.

Finally, after what seemed to be a long and agonizing seven hours, school finally ended. Once the kids snuck out and met with their Digimon, Shunji and Dracomon (who de-digivolved from Coredramon as soon as he reached the school) met with them. They ran to Katsura Elementary School, which was close by. Both Aria and Isao came out to meet them. Other than her bandages, Aria wore a nice, sleeveless blue green dress, white socks, and black shoes. Aria didn't quite understand why the kids offered to walk her home at first, but it made her feel safe, and she willingly went with them. Isao too. It didn't take them long to walk to Aria's house. The kids surrounded the Digimon so nobody else would see them, which actually worked, partly because the kids managed to camoflage the Digimon nicely and partly because there was hardly anyone around as they walked. Weird, huh? After about 10 minutes, they reached Aria's house and went inside to find Mariya and Orie both in the living room watching TV.

"I'm home," Aria said.

"Welcome back, Aria-chan. Oh? You have friends?" Mariya said, then noticed Yun and the group of kids.

"We wanted to accompany her and make sure she got home safely," Yun told Mariya straight to her face, which made Mariya smile.

"Oh. What kind children you are. Thank you very much. We really appreciate this," Mariya said. The kids were about to leave when Riku noticed something on TV.

"Hey guys! Check this out!" Riku exclaimed. The kids (and some of the smaller Digimon) looked at the TV and gasped at what they saw on it.

Apparently a TV news crew is at the beach recording footage of a very large and very terrifying monster in the middle of the ocean, knocking down surfers and boats alike! The monster looks to be the size of a small cruise ship, with blackish blue and white skin, long tentacle-like protrustions coming out of it, three ugly red eyes, little bat-like wings coming out from both sides of its long head, and sharp white teeth that looked as though they could tear through all kinds of meat. Rena looked up the ugly Digimon on her digivice.

"That's MarineDevimon, an ultimate level. His attacks are Guilty Black, Evil Wind, Ocean Spear, and Darkness Blast," Rena whispered.

"Let's go right now," Aria whispered. This made everyone nod at each other. Yun looked at Mariya.

"Mariya-san? Do you mind if we take Aria-chan out for a walk?" Yun asked.

"Sure. Go ahead," Mariya said. The kids wanted to rush out, but Lunamon's yelling and someone standing in front of them stopped them from doing so.

"KINZO'S HERE!" Lunamon screamed frantically, but it was too late.

Kinzo was at the front doorstep, looking down at them with a look full of absolutely nothing but rancor and vehement hostility. They were surrounded. There was no going back now.

"What are you brats doing here?" Kinzo asked gruffly.

"We're taking Aria-chan out for some fresh air, not that you care!" Melody exclaimed.

"Get off of my property right now!" Kinzo commanded.

"Gladly!" Riku yelled. The kids were about to leave...but then Kinzo lunged at Aria like a lion attacking it's prey.

"COME HERE, YOU BRAT!"

"Yeeeek!" Kinzo usurped Aria's hair and threw her to the floor. The kids lunged at him too.

"Hey! Leave her alone you brute!" Yun yelled as she grabbed Kinzo's hair and yanked on it as hard as possible. Otoya got her cell phone out and began recording a video of the assault. Hokuto did the same. Riku, Melody, Isao, and Kosuke all leaped on him and tried to free Aria from his clutches.

"Mariya-san! Call the police!" Minako yelled. Mariya scurried to the kitchen and grabbed the phone.

However, despite their ardent efforts, Kinzo was just too strong for them all. MarineAngemon watched helplessly as Kinzo threw everyone off of him like they were rag dolls. She hid behind the night stand and got a good view of the scene. Once Aria was freed, she attempted to run, but Kinzo suddenly grabbed her neck and pinned her to the floor.

"ARIA-CHAN!" Everyone yelled as Kinzo's hands were wrapped tightly around Aria's neck.

Aria could barely breathe. She tried to pry Kinzo's big, bulky, bony hands off of her neck, but she was too physically weak against his overwhelming strength. It also didn't help that Kinzo looked at her with his scariest, most frightening look ever.

"You want to know why Kirika died? Fine then! SHE DIED BECAUSE OF **_YOU_**!" Kinzo screamed vehemently.

"Get off of her, you misogynistic freak!" Melody stretched Kinzo's face with her hands. Riku and Yun both struggled to pry Kinzo's hands off of Aria's neck.

"Kirika killed herself because of you, you ungrateful, selfish, insensitive, evil little sack of garbage! She died because of both you and your sister! You took away the only thing that ever made me happy! You took her away from me and don't feel one hint of remorse for it! You're nothing but an emotionless sack of garbage sent by the devil to ruin my life! Kirika killed herself because she hated being around such selfish and ungrateful brats who didn't give a durn about anyone but themselves! I'll bet you're nothing short of satisfied for taking away the only thing that gave you life and made me happy!"

"That's not true! Shut up!" Riku yelled. Finally, even the Digimon stepped in to help...except MarineAngemon, who grew angrier and angrier with every word Kinzo said. Aria found herself unable to breathe.

"Are you happy now? I've shown you mercy before, but this time I'll show you none! You have no right to mention Kirika or even call her mother because you're not worthy of being her daughter, being the selfish, ungrateful little brat that you and Orie are! That's why she's gone! YOU DROVE HER TO TAKE HER OWN LIFE! YOU KILLED HER!"

Despite that Aria is in a really bad situation, she heard every word she said. Kirika died because of her? Aria refused to believe something like that. Aria loved Kirika, and Kirika loved her back. She saw no sign of hatred or animosity toward her during the seven years of her life that she spent with her kind, gentle mother. How can a little girl drive a grown woman to suicide? Aria couldn't understand such complicated things, especially the things Kinzo is saying. Aria would have seen if Kirika did show signs of hatred. Despite that she's so young, Aria knew of hatred and feelings of pain, anger, and loneliness. She knew these things very well. Why is Kinzo accusing her of being selfish and ungrateful? Aria did her very best to thank her mother for every nice thing she did for her, even the smallest thing. Why is Kinzo accusing her of not feeling remorse for her death? Aria cried and cried when Kirika died. Kinzo wasn't letting her do the crying. He's the one not showing remorse. Aria refused to believe that she drove someone as nice and wonderful as her own mother to take her own life. What would she gain from something like that? Nothing. Nothing at all. Aria hardly understood what her dad was saying, but she refused to believe any of it, especially since her friends are fighting so hard to protect her, even though they're failing miserably.

But deep in her heart, she did have some doubts. Sometimes, she would see Kirika look quite emaciated and gloomy. She could tell that Kirika was sad about something...but what? Was Kirika planning on taking her life then? Aria saw the signs, but she didn't think much of them. She only knew that Kirika was sad. She didn't think that adults could be sad about anything. They were grown ups. They were supposed to look all gloomy and sad most of the time. Most of the grown ups she saw did look dejected all the time. But Aria knew that the happiness Kirika emitted when she played with Aria and told her stories and expressed her love to her was nothing short of genuine and real. If Kirika really hated Aria and Orie in the first place, she should have said so. She would have done everything that Kinzo had done. But she didn't. Aria knew very well that her mother would never hate her. Aria wanted to scream, but her airway was being constricted by Kinzo's hands. She tried and tried with all her might to push him off, but nothing worked. He's a big, strong grown up. She's a small, scrawny, weak little girl. She didn't want to believe that she drove Kirika to death. With courage, she tried to use her energy to scream something. Scream loud enough so Kirika would hear her from heaven. Her vision was blacking out, she was losing her ability to breath. She knew she had to do it, and she had to do it now.

She did.

_"MAMAAAAAAA!"_

It made Kinzo snap.

"KIRIKA IS NOT YOUR MOTHER, YOU TRASH!" Kinzo screamed as he threw all the kids off and proceeded to take Aria's life.

Aria closed her eyes, hoping that Kirika, or other angels from heaven, would come down and save her from her suffering.

An angel did come, but not the kind she thought would take her to heaven. A savior appeared.

_"SPRAY OF HEAAAAAARTS!"_

The next thing she knew, Aria could breathe again. She opened her eyes to a strange, almost frightening sight. Kinzo's being attacked by a stream of glowing pink hearts! MarineAngemon's shooting them at him, and at a great speed too!

MarineAngemon is actually ATTACKING Kinzo!...and looking like she's having a lot of fun doing it. Kinzo, on the other hand, is in pain.

"Aaargh!" Kinzo tried to push away all the glowing pink hearts that were making his eyes sting and his skin burn, but MarineAngemon just was not letting up. She didn't want to let up. Every second she shot pink hearts at him. Aria ran to Yun and clung to her. The rest of the Digimon watched from the front doorstep to witness Kinzo suffer at the mercy of a little pink fairy that's twice as small as him.

MarineAngemon didn't stop attacking. Not once. She didn't want to stop. Every single second, she shot pink hearts at him with great force, and Kinzo screamed in pain as they hit him. With every bubble he destroyed, MarineAngemon shot many more at him like a bazooka. Soon, before everyone knew it, the entire room was full of glowing pink hearts! They didn't hurt the other kids and Digimon, but they sure made Kinzo feel as though he were being burned on a grid iron. Her incessant attacks made him scream for mercy, but she didn't stop. Not even to take a break and calm down a bit. Everyone was shocked. As of now, MarineAngemon was basically a demon torturing a hapless man with her green eyes full of rancor and animosity. Finally, after a whole ten minutes, MarineAngemon finally made the pink hearts go away, but that didn't satisfy her still simmering and visible anger. Kinzo yelped once he saw MarineAngemon and intended to vocalize it, but she interrupted him.

"I HATE YOU! You're stupid and heartless and horrid and insensitive and evil, and crueler than a rabid dog! How could you be so cruel and heartless as to not only beat your kids on a regular basis, but actually claim that they're the reason why your wife committed suicide? You're officially reached the rock bottom level of humanity's worst scum ever to exist!" MarineAngemon screamed in her loudest voice possible. Kinzo trembled with fear as his ears were pounded by the little pink fairy's shrill voice.

"G-Get away from me, you beast!" Kinzo yelled.

"I'm NOT a beast, you idiot! I'm MarineAngemon, a Digimon and Aria-chan's best friend! If anyone's the beast around here, it's you for being so cruel to your daughters who didn't do anything wrong! They didn't make Kirika-san commit suicide! I don't know where you got all these stupid ideas, but I know one thing for sure: you're a gigantic hypocrite! Do you really think you're the only one who suffered because of Kirika dying? Stop acting like you're the only one who has it bad, you brute! Your daughters lost a mother, an important part of their family! Why do you think they feel no remorse or don't care about her death? Are you blind or something? You must be, because you're deluding yourself with all these stupid ideas that they're selfish and ungrateful and a bunch of brats who can't tell the difference between real life and make believe! Aria-chan and Orie-chan are the nicest, sweetest, most wonderful kids in all the world! I know that from raw experience! They saved me from dying, and I'm super duper grateful to them! Now it's time I paid them back and save them from a stupid, addle-brained misogynistic child abuser like you!"

Kinzo couldn't believe he was actually being told off by a little pink fairy.

"Y-You don't know anything, you little runt! You don't understand what it's like to have lost someone who made you happy! They don't understand either!"

"Yes they do! Stop acting so arrogant and listen for once! They didn't drive Kirika to suicide! Nobody did! NOBODY BUT YOU!"

"Quit talking nonsense!"

"Oh, is THAT what you think?" MarineAngemon floated behind the couch, picked up a big envelope, and threw it at Kinzo, causing it to hit him in the face with force, exacerbating his already slightly burned skin. Kinzo picked it up.

"What is this?" Kinzo asked.

"What does it look like? It's Kirika-san's suicide note!" MarineAngemon screamed angrily, her voice getting shriller and shriller, but she didn't seem to notice, let alone care.

Kinzo finally silenced himself. He opened the envelope to find a huge packet. _'This is...Kirika's last words to us?'_ He thought.

"Yep! That's right! It's Kirika-san's suicide note! She hand wrote it all on her own! I found it in one of the books in your room! I found it first, so hah! If you really think Aria-chan and Orie-chan are the ones who made Kirika die, then I triple dog dare you to read the entire thing out loud! And don't you DARE pass it off as nonsense, because it's anything but nonsense!" MarineAngemon screamed again.

Kinzo didn't pick up the packet at first.

"What's the matter? Are you too chicken? You're a big fat chicken! Bok bok bok! Bagawk! Bagawk!" MarineAngemon taunted angrily.

"Uhh...MarineAngemon? You can stop now. I think he gets it," Shunji said.

"No! No way am I gonna let this stupid idiot get away with it! Go on, you chicken! Read it! Bok bok booook!"

Kinzo, tired of MarineAngemon's screaming and name calling, opened the packet and read it out loud. It read:

_To My Family,_

_I'll be dead by the time you read this, but I want you all to know about this so you'll know why I did what I did. I'm very sorry, but I have decided to leave this world. Please understand. I'm not doing this to abandon you or leave you behind. In fact, you're all better off without me. I seem to be nothing but trouble and a big burden and inconvenience for everyone. I've known this for a long time, since I was a child really. Anything I do causes nothing but despair and anger for anyone I come into contact with, no matter how well I mean it. My existence is a curse and a blemish to all of humanity. The world no longer needs me. I cannot do anything special, I have not accomplished anything, nor will I ever amount to anything. Everyone has told me this, and as I have found out, it is true. I will never be a light who will shine in someone's dark, dim life. But I do have some words I want to say to you all before you start filling your minds with illusions and untrue ideas about why I died._

_My first thoughts are for Orie. Orie, my first born daughter, I'm so sorry I wasn't the mother you wanted me to be. Whenever you yelled at me or blamed me for things, I never fought back because everything you said is true. I simply accepted what you said to me. I don't want you to grow up into a person who has to be grounded to the earth. You have wings, and you can fly to whatever heights you wish with them. You can do it. I know you can. I know I'm not the mother you want me to be, but grow up to be a fine child, a good person. I know how wonderful you are, and I'm sorry for making you believe that I don't see how wonderful you are. But do me a favor, Orie. Take good care of Aria. She's going to need you later in life. But I love all the things we did together and the memories we made together._

_The same with Aria. Aria, my dearest Aria. I'm so happy to have had children like you and Orie. You both have shining spirits, lights in your hearts that will light up the world like sunshine, nothing I could ever hope to possess or accomplish. You may think I've abandoned you or that I don't love you, but I didn't leave this world for that. I left because I was afraid that if I was a dominant presence in your lives, I would hold you back and stop you from doing what you want to do. I didn't want that to happen. Aria, don't think that I don't love you,_ _because I do love you. I always have and I always will. I loved telling you stories and making you stuffed animals and going on picnics with you, but I was afraid that I would be making your dependence worse by being a dominant presence in your life. I was afraid that I would ruin your life. Aria, do me a favor. Don't ever fill your heart with hate. If you filled your heart with hate, there wouldn't be anymore room for love, and we humans have to always fill our hearts with love, as it's cardinal in getting through life. Aria, I named you Aria for a reason._ _An aria is an expressive melody performed by a singer. You're named after the Conservati Fedele, an aria composed by Mozart. Here are the lyrics of his song, which are also my message to you:_

_Stay and remain faithful;_  
><em>Think how I grieve alone here,<em>  
><em>And sometimes at the least,<em>  
><em>Remember me.<em>

_While I by power of love,_  
><em>Talking to my own heart,<em>  
><em>Converse with thee.<em>

_Aria, do not become a hateful child. Become a kind, good, and merciful child. Always be kind to others. Tend to wounded birds, cry for sickly cows that have to be shot, give injured children a bon bon, and be considerate and merciful to others. You are my only hope. Do not end up like me, who is nothing but trouble to everyone, even you. Shine like a powerful light, and bring hope and sunshine to all! My dear little dove, forgive me for leaving you behind._

_My final message is for you, Kinzo. You say I bring light into your life, but that's not true, is it? You're only flattering me and manipulating me so you can look presentable to others. I've known all along that you were using me as a tool for your own self-satisfaction and a scapegoat for your anger when you felt it necessary. Don't think I'm stupid or innocent. I know about the affair. I didn't marry you so I could become your slave. You think you can't suffer any more than you have, but you can. That's the main reason why I left, so I can show you what it's like to lose someone you love to the highest degree. Also, I know for a fact that you will blame Aria and Orie for my death, fill your head with untrue ideas, and take your anger out on them just because of me. I was merciful before, and I spared you the mercy of having to deal with me later in life, but I will never, EVER forgive you if you ever try to kill my daughters just because I chose to take my own life! I know for a fact that whenever something bad happens to you, you convince yourself that you're the only one who's suffering because it's affected you, and you don't think about how other people feel, and you don't believe that others are capable of suffering. Don't believe that Aria and Orie haven't suffered because of my death, because they lost a mother, someone they considered very dear. Don't ever use them as a scapegoat for your grief and anger. Stop acting like an arrogant, vainglorious, self-absorbed hypocrite. You need to understand that other people are capable of suffering and feeling remorse when someone dies or is hurt. Stop thinking about yourself for once. Stop thinking you're the only one who has it bad. Stop thinking that the world revolves around you, because it doesn't. You're just acting like a little child whose toy got broken. It's not right. Aria and Orie didn't do anything wrong. They're just tiny girls. They don't understand how to kill someone and take satisfaction from it. What would they gain from something like that? Nothing. That's what. Kinzo, I may be a fool, but you're an even bigger one. I do love you, but I will never forgive you if you ever go against my wish. Don't hate them because of me. You're their father,_ _and fathers take care of their children and love them, even when times are tough. Don't give up on life. Go on, and live. I cannot, because I can never be anything that I've dreamed of. I will never amount to anything, but you, Aria, and Orie can._

_This is goodbye, my family. I don't expect you all to forgive me, but I've made my decision, and I have my mind set on it. I hope that I will at least protect you all from heaven._

_With lots of love,_  
><em>Yukino Kirika Himeko.<em>

Everyone except Kinzo and MarineAngemon were teary eyed. Aria broke down and fell to her knees.

"Mama...you're not a burden! You're not gonna ruin my life! I love you!" Aria wailed passionately, having regained her ability to breathe again. Orie cried too, but not as wildly.

"Mom...I didn't mean all of those things I said! I was just angry and needed to blow off some steam! You didn't have to take it so personally!" Orie cried.

"Do you see now? Kirika-san loved all of you, yet she chose to take her own life because she thought her very existence was a problem for everyone, that part I honestly don't believe because to me, all humans are special!" MarineAngemon exclaimed.

Kinzo grinded his teeth and he clutched the packet.

"What is this? Are you trying to play me for a fool? You wrote all of this just to trick me, didn't you?" Kinzo yelled.

"Um, HELLO! I can't write! Look! I have no fingers! Or hands! Or arms! I can't hold any writing utensil right! How could I possibly write something like that when I can't even write a simple compound sentence?" MarineAngemon yelled, waving her stubby little protrusions around in Kinzo's face. Finally, Kinzo stood up, his face red as a beet with anger.

"THIS IS NONSENSE!" Kinzo yelled as he tried to rip the packet up.

"NOOO!" Yun lunged onto him, grabbed the packet, and threw it to Otoya, who managed to save it. MarineAngemon shot some more pink hearts at him.

"It's NOT nonsense! Your wife took great pains to write that, and you have the nerve to claim it's a bunch of nonsense? You really are a heartless hypocrite!" Yun yelled. Kinzo pushed her away and made her fall against the wall.

"Yun!" Lucero and Melody both ran to help her up. The Digimon resisted the urge to help, even though Kinzo already found out about their existence. He then grabbed MarineAngemon and proceeded to choke her in his big fist.

"My wife would never write something so terrible as this, you savage beast! Stop playing me for a fool!" Kinzo screamed angrily as he tried to suffocate MarineAngemon. Aria wanted to step in and save her, but MarineAngemon had other tricks up her sleeve.

"Boiling Water!"

A glowing blue sphere formed in her mouth, and then she shot it at Kinzo, causing it to hit his face. Once it hit his face, pain overcame him.

"AAAAAGH!" Kinzo fell to the floor, his face turning more red and actually steaming a little. But MarineAngemon wasn't finished yet. She shot two more scalding balls of water at him, one at his arm, which burned away part of his sleeve and still left a mark, and one on his leg, also making the clothes dissolve and leaving a second degree burn.

"You've already spurned Kirika's wishes! That just shows what a big fat coward you are!" MarineAngemon yelled.

Finally, Aria couldn't take it anymore. She ran from Yun, grabbed her pink digivice, ran out of the house, put a D-Chip in her digivice, and shoved it into the air.

"Unimon!" Aria yelled at the sky. A light shot out of her digivice and into the now dismally cloudy sky. The light dissipated, and Unimon descended onto the ground. Everyone watched as Unimon gracefully appeared before them.

"Aria! How lovely it is to see you! How-" Unimon at first was happy to see her, but then he saw the marks on her neck.

"Come back inside, you brat! I oughta-" Kinzo yelled, which immediately stimulated Unimon into shoving his horn at his face, which made Kinzo gasp with fear and back away with his hands in the air.

"Did you do this, you humanoid scum?" Unimon growled angrily.

"No!" Aria stepped in between them. "Don't hurt Papa! We have to go to the beach and defeat MarineDevimon!"

The kids and Digimon looked at each other and nodded. Yun decided to call for Swanmon. Kosuke called for Pteramon. Biyomon, Dracomon, and Kudamon digivolved to Birdramon, Coredramon, and Reppamon. MarineAngemon, because of her excessive usage of her attacks, de-digivolved back into Syakomon.

"Now if you'll excuse us," Syakomon said to Kinzo sarcastically. "We have some squid to fry, so stay out of our way!"

Syakomon attempted to hop away, but then turned back around.

"Oh! And before I forget...Tidal Wave!"

Syakomon did not hesitate to throw a huge torrent of water at Kinzo, flooding the living room a little and leaving him drenched with water. The kids got on top of the flying Digimon once they heard police sirens. Once Syakomon was done, she hopped onto Unimon's back with Aria and they flew away.

Aria looked at the battered Kinzo from afar with sympathetic eyes, then at Syakomon.

"Syakomon? Did you really have to attack him so hard? You really hurt him. Is he gonna die?" Aria told her softly.

"Nah, a couple second degree burns won't kill him!" Syakomon said, raising her green head up proudly and showing absolutely no remorse for what she did to Kinzo. "He'll live."

"I never knew that humans would be cruel to their own kind. It's just deplorable!" Unimon winnied.

"So...who's up for going to the beach to fry some squid? I'm hungry!" Pteramon bellowed.

With that, the Digimon Brigade set off to the beach to defeat MarineDevimon while the Yukino family watched them ascend into the sky. Kinzo thought he saw a pink light glowing amongst them for a bit. He did, and it was Aria's D-Heart of Mercy.


	49. QueenWhamon Consquers The Sea!

EPISODE 49: Merciful Heavens! QueenWhamon Conquers The Sea!

It wasn't hard to get to the beach, especially not by flight. Yun knew where it was. It's 3 miles north of the parking lot next to the casino where Hisako works, where they battled Witchmon. Yun normally didn't like going to the beach for a lot of reasons, but now that MarineDevimon is running loose and possibly wreaking havoc, there was no turning back. She knew she and the Digimon Brigade would have to act and take action, especially since the beach is a public place full of people. Yun hoped that someone would send out an evacuation order so people could run away to a safe place in case the Digimon ended up getting into an epic battle and causing a lot of damage (Yun saw more of the news, and much to her surprise, the people in the house that Devidramon and Seasarmon nearly destroyed weren't there, so they were safe, much to Yun's relief). Thankfully, her wish was fulfilled, and Lucero, who rode on top of Birdramon, saw it first.

"Look! People are evacuating!" Lucero exclaimed as he pointed to the crowded streets.

Everyone looked down to see a myriad of people running away from the beach. Police cars and ambulance sirens roared, and people with glowing sticks escorted the crowd away. Yun let out a sigh of relief.

"What a relief! Everyone's getting away!" Yun said.

"Let's not get too relieved. MarineDevimon's still running loose. I can see him," Swanmon said.

"I know, but I'm just glad our fighting won't be able to hurt anyone," Yun told her.

"I'm ready for a fight!" Kosuke said as he rode on Pteramon.

"Who's up for some squid fishing? I think I feel a craving coming on," Pteramon exclaimed.

"You just love making jokes out of bad situations, don't you, Pteramon?" Birdramon asked, a little irked by Pteramon's lack of awareness of the bad situation about to appear before them.

"It lightens the mood a little! Come on, have a little fun!" Pteramon bellowed.

Soon, they managed to make it to the beach, where MarineDevimon is standing in the middle of the ocean waving his giant white tentacles around in a big frenzy, knocking away everything in its path, even though as of right now there isn't anything in his path. As they flew in closer, Cutemon healed Aria's wounds, including the marks on her neck left by Kinzo.

"Thank you, Cutemon," Aria told her politely.

"You're welcome, kyu!" Cutemon replied sweetly.

The flying Digimon remained in the air as the rookie Digimon decided to jump off of them and digivolve.

"Let's fry some squid!" Syakomon exclaimed as she leaped off of Unimon.

Syakomon digivolved to Dolphmon (for the first time in a long while to be more precise), Lopmon to Turuiemon, Terriermon to Gargomon, Cutemon to Rabbitmon, Salamon to Gatomon and then to Angewomon, Patamon to Angemon, Labramon to Seasarmon, Lunamon to Lekismon, Coronamon to Firamon, and Bearmon to Grizzlymon. Kosuke and Minako decided to summon Pegasusmon and Nefertimon for reinforcements. Dolphmon descended into the water first.

"Seriously, I wish I could digivolve into Dolphmon more often. Curse my stupid environmental sensitivity!" Dolphmon mumbled with Aria riding on her back as she made an Aqua Mist barrier appear around them. Soon, MarineDevimon spotted them first. Dolphmon peeped her head out from a part of the ocean.

"Hey ugly! Pulse Blast!" Dolphmon began with insulting MarineDevimon, then shot a ray of watery rings at MarineDevimon. They would have hit him if it weren't for his giant tentacles knocking them all away.

"Oh no!" Aria exclaimed as MarineDevimon made their attacks useless. Dolphmon dove back underwater.

"Let's try an aerial assault first!" Yun said. Everyone nodded. Swanmon, Birdramon, Coredramon, Firamon, Reppamon, Pegasusmon, Nefertimon, Angewomon, Angemon, Unimon, and Pteramon swooped in to attack from above.

"Dance of the White Swan!"

"Meteor Wing!"

"Blue Flare Breath!"

"Fira Bomb!"

"Vacuum Kamaitachi!"

"Star Shower!"

"Rosetta Stone!"

"Celestial Arrow!"

"Hand of Fate!"

"Aerial Attack!"

"Missle Storm!"

Their attacks nearly combined as they descended toward MarineDevimon. Unfortunately, MarineDevimon saw it coming, and spun around in a tornado like fashion, causing his large white tentacles to spin around with him, which in turn deflected all of their attacks. Some of them bounced back and hit various Digimon! Some of Pteramon's missles hit Gargomon, Lekismon, and Grizzlymon.

"What the freak? This is insane!" Birdramon exclaimed.

"You're telling me!" Nefertimon snapped.

"That's impossible! Our combined attacks should have phazed him!" Angemon proclaimed, shocked by MarineDevimon's strength.

"Watch it with the missles, will you?" Grizzlymon snapped angrily as he swam toward MarineDevimon with Isao on his back. "Crescent Dawn!"

"Guilty Black!"

A huge stream of black ooze shot out of MarineDevimon's mouth, heading right toward Isao and Grizzlymon.

"Dive! Now!" Isao commanded. Grizzlymon dove into the water, successfully avoiding the thick black ink. Once they swam to a safe and not so contaminated part of the water, they reached the surface and gasped for air.

"Good call there, Isao," Grizzlymon said.

"That black ink looks dangerous. We should stay away from it as much as we can," Isao told him. The other Digimon, who swam, decided to attack MarineDevimon from below.

"Gargo Laser!"

"Gauntlet Claw!"

"Tee Dia!"

"Tear Arrow!"

"Carrot Bomb!"

"Pulse Blast!"

Sadly, even their attacks didn't phase him, because one of MarineDevimon's tentacles knocked all the attacks, including Turuiemon, away into the ocean!

"Turuiemon!" Lekismon exclaimed as she swam as fast as she could to catch Turuiemon. Turuiemon fell on top of Lekismon, sending them into the water for a little bit, but they reached the surface and gasped for air.

"Are you alright?" Lekismon asked with concern in her voice.

"Y-Yeah. Sorry about that," Turuiemon said.

"It's okay. Those two big white tentacles look dangerous," Lekismon said to Turuiemon gently, then looked up at MarineDevimon's big white tentacles. MarineDevimon looked up at the flying Digimon and decided to attack them.

"Guilty Black!"

He shot more black ink at them. Being as swift as they are, the flying Digimon managed to evade the attack.

"Unimon! Pegasusmon! Reppamon! Distract MarineDevimon while we attack him!" Yun commanded.

"Bottoms up!" Unimon exclaimed as he flew in front of MarineDevimon's face.

MarineDevimon became choleric, though then again, he was already choleric even before the Digimon Brigade arrived. Unimon zipped around MarineDevimon like a fly, further irritating him. His tentacles waved around, trying to smack him down like he was a fly and they were the fly squashers. Thankfully, Unimon, being as observant as he is, saw them coming and made sure to avoid being smacked around by the big white tentacles since he knows full well that they can be quite dangerous. Soon, Pegasusmon and Reppamon joined him.

"Vacuum Kamaitachi!" MarineDevimon suddenly felt pain on his face, and his tentacles went to his face, hoping to ease the pain.

"Now! Everyone! Attack!" Yun commanded.

"Waltz of the Flowers!"

"Dance of the White Swan!"

"Gargo Laser!"

"Celestial Arrow!"

"Carrot Bomb!"

"Pulse Blast!"

"Hand of Fate!"

"Tee Dia!"

"Fira Bomb!"

"Tear Arrow!"

"Star Shower!"

"Rosetta Stone!"

"Missle Storm!"

They thought they finally had him this time. But MarineDevimon had other plans up his sleeve.

"Guilty Black!"

Right as the attacks got close, he spewed out more black ink, causing all the attacks to corrode into black and dissipate into the air. Everyone at the dock gasped.

"WHAT? No way! All those attacks should have killed him!" Minako exclaimed.

"I guess the rules go out the window for this guy," Riku said rather nonchalantly.

Even Aria and Dolphmon, who are the smallest and most adaptable at attacking MarineDevimon without getting spotted, are having a hard time. Dolphmon attacked underwater and on the surface, but MarineDevimon still wasn't budging. Eventually, Dolphmon and Aria got out of the water to breathe a little.

"Jeez! This guy's tough!" Dolphmon said. Aria was about to say something else when she noticed some specs swimming in the ocean. They looked almost human, and they piqued Aria's curiosity.

"Dolphmon. Swim over there for a second," Aria told her.

"Why?" Dolphmon asked.

"I think there are people there," Aria replied.

Without question, Dolphmon swam away from MarineDevimon and toward the specs. As they got closer, Aria could see them more clearly. Much to her surprise, there's three people in the water! They look like they're trying to swim away from the chaos, but MarineDevimon saw them. MarineDevimon swam over to them and smacked them with one of his tentacles, pushing them further underwater.

"Gauntlet Claw!" Turuiemon grabbed the tentacle and dredged one of her gauntlets into it, which made MarineDevimon roar with pain.

"Let's go in and save them!" Aria exclaimed.

"You got it!" Dolphmon backed her up.

Creating another Aqua Mist barrier, Dolphmon and Aria swam to the three people and allowed them to float into the barrier. All three of them didn't look any older than 16 or 18. All three of them are male. Discreetly, Aria and Dolphmon swam to the sand and very gently set the three teenagers on it.

"It's a good thing you saw them! They would have drowned otherwise!" Dolphmon complimented Aria as they swam back to the Digimon Brigade, who are still having a hard time fighting and subduing MarineDevimon.

"Fira Bomb!" Firamon shot some spheres of fire at the giant squid devil monster. Suddenly, one of MarineDevimon's tentacles smacked the fire bombs away!

"Guilty Black!" In a flash, MarineDevimon spewed black ink at Firamon. This time, it actually hit Firamon! Every muscle in his body tensed up, his vision blacked out, his wings gave up, and he suddenly fell into the ocean, much to everyone's shock.

"FIRAMON!" Riku yelled as he grabbed onto the railing while Rena made her hands fly to her mouth. Not long after he was shot down, he de-digivolved back into Coronamon.

"I'll get him!" Yun said as she gestured Swanmon to go down and grab Coronamon before he drowns. But Gargomon saw it.

"Yun! No! Watch out!" Gargomon yelled as he tried to stop Yun from going to where Coronamon is sinking. But before Yun and Swanmon could both reach him, MarineDevimon nearly smacked Yun with one of his tentacles at full speed. Even Swanmon couldn't evade it in time. Thankfully, they didn't get hit.

"Pulse Blast!" Dolphmon's attack managed to hit MarineDevimon's tentacle enough to draw his attention.

"Hey ugly! You're better off on a stove where you turn all crispy and black and get eaten by humans!" Dolphmon yelled, which made MarineDevimon quite choleric. Immediately, Dolphmon and Aria sped through the water away from MarineDevimon.

"Catch me if you can, ugly squid face!" Dolphmon blew a raspberry at MarineDevimon, which prompted him to go chasing after Dolphmon and Aria.

Suddenly, Minako removed her shoes and leaped off of the dock.

"Minako! What are you doing?" Rena yelled as she saw Minako leap into the water without any sign of hesitation at all.

Considering how cloudy and dark it is outside, it came off as no surprise to Minako that the under parts of the ocean were quite dark. Clumps of sea weed floated around in great numbers, and Minako hated the feel of them. She didn't like swimming or going underwater, especially in a place like this, and especially when it's so full of sea weed and litter. But she had to grab Coronamon and save him before he drowns. Fire Digimon are weak against water. Minako knew this well, and it wasn't just because of playing Pokemon either. The underwater ocean wasn't exactly pristine, but Minako kept her eyes open. She wished she had goggles so she could keep the noisome residue out, but she had to make do with nothing at all. Thankfully, Coronamon's body shone in a faint gold light, which allowed Minako to see him right off, though it wasn't going to last if Minako delayed any longer.

With a few more breast strokes, Minako managed to usurp the now dormant and unconscious Coronamon, wrap her under her arm, and swim back to the dock. It took her a while to get back to the dock on foot since one of the wooden stairways is quite long and steep, but Minako didn't let this stop her. Minako managed to get back to the dock totally barefoot with a limp and soaked to the bone Coronamon in her arms. She prepped him over her shoulder and began smacking his back, which made Coronamon vomit some sea water. Minako didn't like the feel of it, but he showed signs of life, and to her, this was enough to confirm that he's okay. Minako handed the now weak Coronamon to Riku.

"Coronamon!" Riku hugged Coronamon tightly as soon as Minako gave him back to him. Coronamon looked up at Riku with weak goldenrod eyes.

"Ri-Riku...sorry. I failed," Coronamon muttered sadly.

"It's fine. He's too strong for us anyhow. But I'm just glad you're safe! You could have drowned!" Riku exclaimed.

"I didn't know thou couldst swim," Lucero told Minako as she pulled a piece of sea weed out of her blonde hair.

"Me either. I never thought you were the swimming type," Rena said as Minako pulled out her purple ribbon and wringed out the last of the water, allowing her soaked, semi-long blonde hair to trail down her back.

"Yeah. I'm good at swimming. In fact, I used to be on the school's swim team, but I quit both the swim team and swimming after Kiyoshi died," Minako explained as she wringed some water out of her hair. Coronamon lifted his head up all of a sudden.

"What's up, little guy? You okay?" Riku asked with concern in his quivering voice.

"I...hear something," Coronamon muttered.

Nobody had the time to ask him what he heard because the source of the sound sped right up to the dock. It was a car! Following it was a police car with glowing and roaring sirens. Out of the car appeared...

"WHAT? Kinzo?" Minako, Lucero, Rena, and Riku exclaimed with shock as Kinzo appeared out of the car. Some police men got out of their police car and chased after him.

"Aria! Where's Aria? Where is she?" Kinzo yelped. The kids couldn't believe it at first, but they almost thought that Kinzo's yelling actually sounded genuinely concerned for Aria's well being. Two police men grabbed Kinzo and tried to subdue him.

"Sir! Calm down!" One police man said as he tried to handcuff Kinzo to no avail. Soon, Mariya and Orie appeared.

"Kids! What are you all doing here?" Mariya asked, sounding quite worried.

"We were gonna ask you that!" Riku exclaimed as he held onto Coronamon, who clung to him weakly.

"Where's Aria? Is she around?" Orie asked.

"Guilty Black!"

"Look out!" Lucero, once he saw MarineDevimon suddenly attack them out of nowhere, pushed Kinzo and the two police men out of the way as the ink splattered all over the dock and made the part that it hit waste away, leaving a big gaping hole that separated him, Kinzo, and the two police men from Mariya, Orie, Minako, Rena, Riku, and Coronamon.

"Whoa! Did you see that?" Riku yelped.

"Are you alright?" Minako yelled.

"Yes! I'm fine, and so are they!" Lucero yelled back.

"We've got to get out of here!" Mariya exclaimed as she tried to take the kids to the car.

"Pulse Blast!" Dolphmon's attack managed to hit MarineDevimon in the face.

It was Orie who saw Aria riding on top of Dolphmon wearing a very brave and courageous expression. Orie let out a bloodcurtling scream.

"ARIA! GET OUT OF THERE NOW!" Orie screamed passionately, hoping that Aria would hear her, but Aria and Dolphmon didn't seem to notice as they were too busy trying to distract MarineDevimon and keep him under control.

"Meteor Wing!"

"Star Shower!"

Both Birdramon and Pegasusmon managed to hit MarineDevimon with their attacks, but he wasn't planning on conceding defeat or abdicating just yet.

"Guilty Black!"

"Pegasusmon! Look out!" Birdramon pushed Pegasusmon out of the way and took the attack. Like Firamon, she fell into the water. But unlike Firamon, Melody was on her back.

"Birdramon! Why'd you take the attack?" Melody yelled angrily as Birdramon fell into the water. Yun and Swanmon saw Birdramon and Melody fall and immediately became worried.

"Mel! Birdramon!" Yun gestured Swanmon to fly over to them and help them. Suddenly...

"Tentacle Smash!"

One of MarineDevimon's long white tentacles smacked Swanmon so hard that Yun ended up falling off! Swanmon spiraled onto the dock, hitting a street light as she did and falling in front of Mariya and the kids. Yun fell into the water, right next to Melody and Birdramon, who now de-digivolved back into Biyomon. Turuiemon, Rabbitmon, and Gargomon gasped.

"Oh no! Yun!" The three giant rabbits tried to swim over to them and save them, but MarineDevimon stopped them from doing so. He is much larger than they are, so they were unable to swim past him.

"Guilty Black!"

"DUCK!" Turuiemon yelled, which prompted Gargomon and Rabbitmon to suck in their breath and swim underwater. Turuiemon followed suit right as the venomous black ink hit the water. They decided to use this as an opportunity and swim underwater so they can reach Yun, Melody, and Biyomon, but it wasn't as easy as they thought it'd be.

Yun struggled to stay afloat, as she isn't quite good at swimming, especially in really deep water. Melody saw this and became worried.

"Yun!" With Biyomon in one arm, Melody swam over to Yun and grabbed onto her. Yun wrapped both her arms around Melody's neck and clung to her.

"You okay?" Melody asked as Biyomon woke up.

"Y-Yeah. Sorry. I forgot that I can't swim," Yun muttered.

"It's alright. It wouldn't have mattered," Melody said. Suddenly, a large, ominous, black shadow loomed over them, and Biyomon saw it.

"MarineDevimon!"

Melody and Yun looked up to find MarineDevimon angrily looking down at them and preparing for an attack. Yun closed her eyes and braced for impact while Melody shot an angry look at MarineDevimon, cursing herself for being so useless.

"Guilty Black!"

They thought they were going to drown once the venomous black ink hit them...but they didn't. The black ink didn't hit them.

"Digishield!" Someone made a digishield appear and managed to make the black ink not hit them. Melody, Biyomon, and Yun opened their eyes to see who it was, and once they saw who it was, they wouldn't have been any more surprised than they were now.

"Aria-chan?" Yun yelped.

Yes, it was Aria who swam over to them and put up her digishield!...and looking quite proud of it too.

"Dolphmon! Get him!" Aria edicted. Dolphmon sprang out from the water like a jack-in-a-box and commenced her attack.

"Dolphin Kick!" With great speed and power, Dolphmon managed to evade MarineDevimon's white tentacles and kick MarineDevimon in the face repeatedly. As she was about to descend, one of MarineDevimon's tentacles proceeded to hit her. Thankfully, she saw it coming, and once it got close enough, she bit onto it and dredged her teeth into it. Hard. This made MarineDevimon roar with pain. Turuiemon, Gargomon, and Rabbitmon decided to do the same thing with his other tentacle.

"How'd you find us?" Biyomon asked weakly.

"Dolphmon found you. Now come on! I'll take you to the dock so you'll be safe!" Aria told them sweetly.

"But what about you? Are you still gonna fight? It's too dangerous!" Yun advised, her voice developing a pinch of worry.

"I want to fight MarineDevimon. Dolphmon's helping me, and I don't want to let anyone down," Aria said as she swam the trio to safety. She got to the sand and advised Melody and Yun to walk up the steps without her. Swanmon wound up going back to the Digital World. Melody held onto the weak Biyomon as she watched Aria run back into the ocean.

"Aria! Come back! It's too risky!" Melody yelled, but Aria didn't listen and leaped into the water. Yun and Melody walked up the wooden steps to find themselves on one side of the dock, the left side. Lucero spotted her and ran to her.

"Yun!" Lucero leaped onto Yun as soon as he saw her and gave her a big hug. "Art thou alright?"

"Yeah. Somehow. Aria-chan saved us! Can you believe it?" Yun exclaimed happily. But Lucero's expression didn't change. His pale face has worry and anxiety written all over it. Suddenly, a scream came out of Melody's mouth.

"AAAAHHHH! KINZO? What the freak are YOU doing here?" Melody yelled angrily once she laid eyes on Kinzo, who was successfully hand cuffed by the two police men.

Back in the ocean, the Digimon were getting farther and father into the ocean, and more problems were arising. The waves became bigger and bigger thanks to MarineDevimon, and it was hard for the Digimon to swim because they were so rough. Not only that, the Digimon that are biting MarineDevimon right now are having a hard time sticking to him. Turuiemon and Gargomon are especially worried.

"I don't understand! Why aren't we able to digivolve?" Turuiemon exclaimed as she kept on dredging her gauntlets into MarineDevimon's big white tentacle as he's waving her around.

"That's just what I was thinking!" Gargomon exclaimed. "Gargo Laser!"

Gargomon's vulcan bullets hit MarineDevimon in the chest as he was being thrown around, but they didn't do much damage.

"Maybe it's not your fight!" Angewomon said. "Celestial Arrow!"

MarineDevimon knocked away her holy arrow with the tentacle with Turuiemon on it. She screamed as she held onto the out of control tentacle. It's then that Angewomon saw it. MarineDevimon's tentacle knocked a local surfer off of his surfing board, causing him to fall into the ocean. The surfer got out of the water, but he was within MarineDevimon's sight and, once he got a good look at the noisome and terrifying monster, he froze in fear, which left him wide open.

"Guilty Black!"

He thought he was squid bait, but Angewomon swooped in and pulled him out of the water just in time. She flew over to the dock on the side where Kinzo, Lucero, and the others are, and very gently placed him down.

"You'd best leave. It's quite dangerous here," Angewomon told the male surfer gently. The surfer wanted to drool over Angewomon's beauty, but seeing that the situation is dire, he followed her orders and ran away. Angewomon then proceeded to help Mariya, Orie, Minako, Rena, and Riku get to the other side. But once she put Riku down, however...

Lekismon saw it but was unable to act quick enough. "Angewomon! Behind you!"

"Guilty Black!"

Seeing the attack and having no time to fight back, she flew in front of the group so she could shield them from MarineDevimon's attack. The venomous glob of ink hit her on the back, which made her roar in pain. Every muscle in her body became stiff. The attack was so powerful, in fact, that it actually caused Angewomon to de-digivolve into Nyaromon. Minako caught her before she could fall into the sand.

"Nyaromon! Are you alright?" Minako yelped as she cradled the weak little cat head in her arms.

"Yeah, I am...but my body won't move. Nyan..." Nyaromon croaked.

"Moon Night Bomb!" Lekismon threw four water spheres at MarineDevimon, which diverted his attention over to her. Lekismon leaped on his head and tried to attack him again.

"Tear Arrow!" She successfully managed to make one of her tear arrows hit him, but it wasn't enough to kill him. One of MarineDevimon's tentacles then wrapped around Lekismon, squeezing her tightly.

"Lekismon!" Rena yelled in horror as Lekismon was wide open for an attack. Coredramon saw it.

"Strike Bomber!" Coredramon swooped in and smacked MarineDevimon's tentacle, which caused it to let go of Lekismon.

"Maul Attack!" From out of nowhere, Grizzlymon assaulted MarineDevimon. Turuiemon and Gargomon finally decided to let go. Reppamon and Seasarmon both flew over to them.

"Turuiemon and Gargomon. Do us a favor. Take the kids back to the dock so they'll be safe," Grizzlymon told them.

"I agree. It's much too dangerous, especially with that venom he spits out," Seasarmon said. On cue, Hokuto, Otoya, and Isao hopped onto both Turuiemon and Gargomon.

"Will do," Gargomon said as he and Turuiemon swam back to the dock to put the kids there.

"Man! Doesn't that thing ever take a break?" Otoya asked.

"He's powerful, so that must be why. But we'll keep going!" Reppamon said as he, Seasarmon, and Grizzlymon went back to fighting the giant squid man monster. Even Angemon, Lekismon, the secondary Digimon, and Coredramon are having a hard time.

"Hand of Fate!"

"Strike Bomber!"

"Moon Night Bomb!"

Unfortunately, all three of their attacks didn't work.

"Guilty Black!"

Only Seasarmon was able to evade the attack. The attack managed to hit Lekismon, Angemon, and Coredramon. Coredramon managed to grab them and bring them to the dock despite being so weak, but once he did, they all de-digivolved back into Lunamon, Patamon, and Dracomon. Shunji was getting irritated now.

"My God, this thing's nuts!" Shunji exclaimed. Pegasusmon descended onto the dock.

"Indeed he is. Even my attacks won't work on him!" Pegasusmon mused.

"Do you think we can win?" Kosuke asked worriedly.

"I honestly don't know," Pegasusmon said. He noticed that Pteramon, Reppamon, Nefertimon, Turuiemon, Gargomon, Dolphmon, and Seasarmon are still fighting him.

"Missle Storm!"

"Spinning Sky Fissure Slash!"

"Rosetta Stone!"

"Bunny Pummel!"

"Ninja Fist!"

"Tee Dia!"

"Dolphin Kick!"

Even their physical attacks didn't work. MarineDevimon proceeded to attack Reppamon with one of his tentacles.

"Tentacle Smash!"

Reppamon did manage to evade the attack thanks to his great speed, but in the process, MarineDevimon managed to snatch someone else. Everyone saw it. Including Aria.

"PAPA!"

Kinzo was coiled in between MarineDevimon's tentacle. Kinzo screamed in pain as he felt the tentacle around him getting tighter and tighter.

"Oh no!" Seasarmon exclaimed as he, Pteramon, and Grizzlymon tried to save him, but MarineDevimon's other tentacle stopped them from doing so. It knocked Pteramon into the ocean. Dolphmon and Aria gasped with horror.

"Dolphmon! We have to save him!" Aria screamed wildly.

"Why should we? He nearly killed you!" Dolphmon yelled back, appalled by Aria's split second decision.

"JUST DO IT, DOLPHMON!" Aria screamed louder this time. Dolphmon was confused. Why does Aria want to save her father, especially after he nearly killed her in what seems to be hours ago? Dolphmon, being the life-loving Digimon she is, decided to heed Aria's command and swim to save Kinzo, even though in her heart she wished she didn't have to.

But before MarineDevimon could attack Kinzo, he gave him a long, intimidating look that scared even him (Kinzo).

"I feel it. Your hatred and anger. You...hate your children. I hate your kind! Your kind should rot in the depths of the ocean!" MarineDevimon sneered angrily and proceeded to use another Guilty Black attack on him. But he didn't kill him.

"Pulse Blast!"

A ray of pale blue circlets managed to strike MarineDevimon square in the face. Sadly, it wasn't enough to force the tentacle to let go of him. But something else happened. The tentacles began squirming and flying around on their own, which opened a door of opportunity for the Digimon. Reppamon, Seasarmon, Grizzlymon, Unimon, and Pteramon grabbed a hold on the tentacle holding Kinzo and forced it down so Aria could climb on it. Aria got her digisword out and, with both great courage and force, dredged it into the sword. So much, in fact, that the tentacle actually fell off! Kinzo fell into the ocean as a result. Dolphmon, although reluctant to do so, raised an Aqua Mist barrier so she and Aria could save Kinzo. They both swam over to him, usurped him, and gently took him back to the sand. Aria took him under the dock.

"You'll be safe here, Papa," Aria told him in her soft, gentle voice. Kinzo and Dolphmon were both surprised by Aria's courage and zeal, but Aria didn't stop to rest. She got back on Dolphmon's back and gestured her to swim back to the scene. Kinzo fell to his knees.

_'Aria...she saved my life...despite what I did to her. What have I...done? Have I really blinded myself to such a degree that I cannot see kindness within my own children?'_ Kinzo thought deeply as he fell into a pensive state, unable to call Aria back. MarineDevimon got further and further into the ocean, and so did the Digimon as well.

"Urgh! Get roasted already, you giant squid!" Nefertimon complained angrily. "Rosetta Stone!"

"My God, even LadyDevimon was easier to deal with than this giant lug! Aerial Attack!" Unimon winnied just as angrily.

"Do you think we should keep going?" Seasarmon asked Grizzlymon.

"Of course we should! We can't afford to let MarineDevimon run loose!" Grizzlymon replied angrily as the two of them decided to continue fighting MarineDevimon. Turuiemon, Rabbitmon, and Gargomon joined them.

Back at the dock, the kids prayed and watched as the battle raged on. Riku was getting irritated.

"Awwww, DANGIT! I can't stand sitting around doing nothing! This is so not fair!" Riku complained.

"Sorry, but most of our Digimon are paralyzed because of MarineDevimon. It was inevitable, really," Rena told him as she held onto a weak Lunamon.

"Urgh...Rena. I'm so sorry for being so weak," Lunamon croaked sadly.

"It's okay. You did awesome anyway," Rena told her with a smile.

Yun was having doubts too. She didn't understand why Turuiemon and Gargomon aren't digivolving to ultimate. It'd be so much easier to defeat MarineDevimon this way. Why aren't they digivolving? Yun kept asking herself this question over and over again. She looked up, hoping she would find an answer. But what she saw...was different.

"Hey guys. Look up there," Yun said as she pointed to the sky.

Something black is flying up there. It's darker than the clouds. At first, nobody thought much of it until it started to descend. That's when Otoya's eyes grew big.

"Oh no! It can't be!" Otoya yelped.

"Gauntlet Claw!"

"Carrot Bomb!"

"Bunny Pummel!"

"Spinning Sky Fissure Slash!"

"Star Shower!"

"Missle Storm!"

"Rosetta Stone!"

"Crescent Dawn!"

"Aerial Gallop!"

The Digimon fought hard, but MarineDevimon still wasn't budging.

"Guilty Black!"

MarineDevimon's attack finally hit Turuiemon, Gargomon, and Rabbitmon, causing them both to be paralyzed and de-digivolve back into Lopmon, Terriermon, and Cutemon. Reppamon saved them from falling into the ocean.

"I'll take them back to Yun. Keep MarineDevimon away from the dock at all times!" Reppamon told Pegasusmon and Seasarmon as he flew back to the dock to give Yun her weakened partners back. Suddenly, Seasarmon began growling. Pegasusmon became confused.

"What's wrong, Seasarmon?" Pegasusmon asked softly. Seasarmon was about to bolt into the air, but Pegasusmon stopped him from doing so by clinging to his long, curly tail.

"You're not going anywhere! MarineDevimon's running loose!" Pegasusmon advised as he tried to subdue the now suddenly feral Seasarmon.

Pteramon was the first to see it, and was the first to give MarineDevimon an advanced warning, which he paid no heed to.

"Hey squid bait! Incoming!" Pteramon yelled. MarineDevimon ignored him, until...

"Crimson Claw!"

A black dragon half MarineDevimon's size descended onto him and scratched his face. MarineDevimon came out unscathed. Everyone yelped upon seeing who came to help.

"Devidramon?" The kids yelped. Otoya saw Nayuki on Devidramon's back.

"Oh no! She's there too!" Otoya yelped. "Seasarmon!"

Finally, unable to control his lust for revenge, Seasarmon kicked Pegasusmon in the face and lunged at Devidramon. The two finally got into a big cat fight. Even the champion level Digimon were surprised.

"Seasarmon! This is no time to be getting into a cat fight with a dragon!" Grizzlymon exclaimed. What they didn't know was that they were all left wide open for an attack.

"Guilty Black!"

Reppamon, Grizzlymon, Pegasusmon, Nefertimon, Unimon, and Pteramon were all hit. Reppamon and Grizzlymon de-digivolved back into Kudamon and Bearmon while Pegasusmon, Nefertimon, Pteramon, and Unimon opened a portal that made them go back to the Digital World. Aria and Dolphmon saw Kudamon and Bearmon fall, and decided to take them back to the dock. Nayuki saw the attack and smirked a bit.

"Hm. That sure saved me the trouble of having to deal with them," Nayuki said as Aria gave Kudamon and Bearmon back to Hokuto and Isao. Yun and Melody were mad.

"Why'd you come here? This is our fight so stay out of it!" Yun yelled angrily, unsure of whether Nayuki heard her or not. As she yelled, Aria and Dolphmon proceeded to swim back into the ocean.

"I have some steam I want to blow off, so stay out of our way!" Nayuki yelled back.

"You stay out of ours! We got here first!"

"Control your dog, will you?"

Seasarmon and Devidramon continued to brawl despite the fact that MarineDevimon is still wreaking havoc. Aria and Dolphmon, knowing that they're the only ones left in the fight, decided to battle on their own.

_'The situation's getting worse and worse! MarineDevimon's too strong! I honestly don't know how the heck I lasted this long! But I won't let this giant squid get anywhere near the dock! I'll take him down without Seasarmon's help! Sorry Seasarmon, but looks like I'm gonna have to hog your glory!'_ Dolphmon said, trying to sound not arrogant with that last thought. She and Aria swam toward MarineDevimon's legs.

"Dolphin Kick!" Dolphmon slammed onto MarineDevimon's legs with her fins, even though they weren't doing anything except getting MarineDevimon's attention.

"That's right! Come and get me, you ugly squid!" Dolphmon taunted as she swam all around him, hoping to make him dizzy.

Meanwhile, Seasarmon and Devidramon are still duking it out like a bunch of rabid cats. Nayuki seems quite unphazed by the epic fight.

"Seasarmon, stop!" Otoya screamed.

"He can't hear you! He's too obsessed with revenge to listen!" Biyomon exclaimed.

Nayuki clung to Devidramon. 'Maybe I can use MarineDevimon as a way to defeat their Digimon easier,' She thought as she noticed Dolphmon and Aria swimming around MarineDevimon.

"Pulse Blast!" Dolphmon nailed one of MarineDevimon's tentacles, but it fought back in retaliation by smacking them out of the ocean. Aria fell onto the sand while Dolphmon was a little ways away.

"Aria! No!" Dolphmon yelled. She then saw Devidramon and Seasarmon flying closer to them.

_'They're getting closer!'_ Dolphmon thought, desperate to think of a good way to stop both them and MarineDevimon. Aria tried to get up, but something stopped her.

"Why?"

A low voice caught her attention. It didn't belong to anyone she knew, not even Kinzo. She stood up and listened closely. In the process, she noticed that MarineDevimon wasn't moving, even though he's looking down at her.

"Why must some parents hate their own children? Why did I have to be at the mercy of my own parents, who don't give a durn about me? Why did they leave me to die? I don't understand! What did I do wrong? Why...don't they love me anymore?"

Aria realized it right there. The voice belonged to MarineDevimon. Aria's heart sank. She looked down at her feet sadly and didn't seem to notice that Devidramon and Seasarmon are fighting right next to her.

"Aria! Get out of the way!" Kinzo yelled, but she didn't listen.

_'Was MarineDevimon...hurt by his family too? Is he sad and crying inside?'_ Aria thought. What she didn't know was that Devidramon and Seasarmon were right next to her.

"Red Eye Beam!" A red ray of light shot out from Devidramon's eyes, which Seasarmon managed to evade in the nick of time.

"Guilty Black!" MarineDevimon shot more ink.

It only took a second for Aria to get pulled out of her reverie.

Both attacks are descending right toward her.

Aria couldn't move. She didn't react quickly enough. She braced herself for impact, thinking it was the end. But as she opened her eyes, it wasn't. Much to her horror, however, someone took both attacks.

Dolphmon.

She lay limp, battered, and broken in front of Aria, with her green eyes barely open.

"Dolphmon!" Aria screamed as she ran to her friend and tried to help her. She then saw Nayuki standing in front of her. When Devidramon got low enough, she leaped off of him. Nayuki stared down at Aria and Dolphmon with scorn as she drew her digisword. Aria shot an angry look at her too, and stood in front of Dolphmon with her hands stretched out wide. Kinzo watched.

"Your Digimon's pathetic, you know that? If you want, I can take it off your hands and load her data," Nayuki said as she pointed her digisword at Aria, who, oddly enough, isn't afraid. Not one bit.

"She's not an it, and you're not getting her! Nuh-uh!" Aria exclaimed angrily.

"Why care so much? That thing's useless."

"She's NOT a thing! She's my friend and I love her! She saved me when Papa was beating me, telling me it's my fault that Mama died! She knows it's not true! How would you like it if I told you that I wanted to throw away someone who helped you when you needed it?"

It's then that Nayuki stopped and drew her digisword back. Nobody knew it then, but something within Aria's words struck a chord with Nayuki. Nayuki took a few steps back and grinded her teeth. Devidramon managed to de-digivolve Seasarmon back into Labramon. Nayuki walked away from Aria.

"Devidramon. Let's go. I'm tired of this place," Nayuki told him as she got on his back. Devidramon put Labramon on the sand gently.

"As you wish," Devidramon said as he flew away. Aria and the others watched her fly away.

"Guilty Black!"

MarineDevimon proceeded to attack Aria again. This time, Aria reacted quickly. She threw up her digishield, which managed to set itself up in time. The attack didn't hit her. Once the shield de-generated, Aria dragged the weak and paralyzed Dolphmon underneath the dock, unaware that Kinzo is watching her with curious eyes. MarineDevimon suddenly went crazy and began attacking seagulls with his tentacles while far into the ocean. Dolphmon looked up at Aria with weak but somber and perturbed eyes.

"Aria...why?" Dolphmon croaked weakly as Aria looked down at her with sad but sympathetic and congenial eyes. "Why did you save me?"

"Because you saved me," Aria replied gently. Dolphmon felt conceding defeat was the best thing to do right now, but didn't quite state it just yet.

"Aria...I'm so sorry I'm such a bad partner. I wish I could do more for you, but I can't," Dolphmon muttered.

"You've done lots and lots. You saved me from Papa. You're my best friend in the whole wide world," Aria told her.

"What I don't get is...why? Why did you save Kinzo? He nearly killed you!" Dolphmon exclaimed, though sounding quite weak. Aria looked at MarineDevimon sadly.

"Papa is sad too...that Mama died. I'm sure he's sad too. Sad about lots of things," Aria said. Aria was never a child who liked strife, even when fighting is needed. She hated the abusive atmosphere in her home, but couldn't help but know why Kinzo was so sad. "Maybe Papa's papa beat him a lot too. Mariya-san says there's lots of kids who have bad families and don't get to do nice things, like play or read or go to school or other things."

Dolphmon could tell that Aria was wiser and more observant than she looked, and perhaps maybe Kinzo did suffer a bit before he became a parent, but in her mind, that didn't justify what he'd done to Aria. Dolphmon, despite her normally docile and life loving personality and nature, knew for a fact that she wouldn't be able to forgive Kinzo for what he did, even if he had some sort of troubled childhood. That's no excuse for volatile and decadent behavior.

"I heard...MarineDevimon's voice."

Dolphmon perked up her ears, even though she technically didn't have any ears. "What?"

"I heard his voice. He kept asking things like 'Why must parents hate their own children? Why did they leave me to die? Why don't they love me anymore?' I think he's sad and crying inside. Maybe he's lonely. Maybe his mama and papa were mean to him too," Aria said. "Can you hear it?"

Dolphmon tried to hear it, but she shook her head. "No. I'm afraid I can't. Sorry, Aria."

"It's okay."

Dolphmon wondered why Aria managed to understand something like that despite being so young. Children watch adults carefully, and internalize their actions depending on the environment they're in and their upbringing. Dolphmon couldn't understand why Aria is still able to remain so kind and caring even though she went through such horrible things. It's no wonder she's so obstinate, even when she saved Kinzo despite Dolphmon's protests against it. MarineDevimon's tentacles slammed into the waves, causing a clamor, but none of them noticed. Dolphmon would never want to show mercy to a nefarious, wicked, notorious, volatile, and downright cruel person like Kinzo...but in the back of her mind, she knew for a fact that she couldn't totally hate him, despite the fact that he not only tried to kill Aria, but willfully and falsely blamed her for Kirika's death when in reality she had nothing to do with it at all. Dolphmon understood that all Digimon and human beings are special, and she didn't want to believe that people could be truly bad. Aria too. She looked at Dolphmon with sad eyes, but she smiled.

"I think I get it now...what Mama means when she says she wants me to be merciful. She wanted to tell me that all people are sad and go through bad things, and that I shouldn't hate people just because they went through bad things," Aria said. She kneeled down to Dolphmon and hugged her tightly. Dolphmon could feel Aria's fervent kindness.

"Aria...you're my friend too, and friends always save each other from danger. Sorry that I can't do more for you. I wish I could be a better partner to you," Dolphmon croaked.

"You're fine the way you are. It's okay. You're my best friend. Thank you...for being my friend. I'll show you and MarineDevimon mercy," Aria told her in a kind, soft, gentle whisper.

All of a sudden, Aria's carnation pink D-Heart of Mercy glowed in a soft, pale cotton candy pink light. Her pink digivice followed suit. The digivice's light shot out and flew into the pink D-Heart. Then, the key hole symbol on the D-Heart flew out of the rose pink stone and branded itself onto Dolphmon, enveloping her within a soft, gentle pink light. Dolphmon, with Aria on her back, floated into the ocean and dove underwater, causing the entire ocean to turn a pale rose pink.

"Dolphmon digivolve to..."

Nobody could see what Dolphmon was digivolving into since she's currently underwater. Nobody could see how big she was getting. But one thing is for sure: the pink light was so dazzling, so bright, and so pristine pure pink that MarineDevimon had to close his eyes with his big tentacles and keep them covered. Everyone watched in awe, even Kinzo, as the pink light enveloped the entire ocean. Soon, it dissipated. A slew of bubbles appeared on the surface, and then falling crests of waves. The sea rumbled as something came out from the surface. Everyone's jaws dropped to the ground as Dolphmon digivolved into a creature so huge, so empowering, and so downright terrifying that she made the kids look like a bunch of ants. Seriously, this Digimon's as big as a cross between a humpback whale and the Empire State Building! Dolphmon is no longer a tiny dolphin. Now she's a gigantic whale, with pale pink skin, a sterling silver helm with some silver cables attaching it to her body, a shining golden crown on her head that's the same size as Aria, and a mouth so huge that it could swallow an entire house with one gulp. She's bigger than even MarineDevimon. About twenty times bigger, even! Her fins and tail fins are perfectly clean, without any holes in them. This Digimon was bigger than even all the orca whales in the world combined.

"...QueenWhamon!"

On her silver helm is Aria, looking like a very tiny pea, with her D-Heart of Mercy glowing radiantly. Everyone watched with awe as the giant pink whale, QueenWhamon, made her astonishing entrance with...well, her gigantic size. What else? Kinzo watched the most ardently, in awe. He couldn't believe that that giant whale was the pink fairy who attacked him and gave him a huge mouthful a few hours before despite her small size. The scene where Aria and Dolphmon saved him replayed in his head over and over again. His eyes became huge, not QueenWhamon huge, but big with shock. He remembered the meeting with Miss Sonomiya, saying to her coldly that Aria possessed absolutely no redeeming qualities and that she'll never get anywhere in life. How could he have been so blind? Aria just did an invaluably chivalrous and valiant deed! She saved him, even though he said and did terrible, horrible things to her. All this time he abused them, not once stopping to wonder if his daughters ever did possess any kindness. He never believed that his daughters, who he believed to be arrogant, ignorant, and selfish, could ever be competent enough to show kindness, especially not after what happened to Kirika. But suddenly, memories came flooding back into his brain. The happy times he spent with them came back to him in full force.

"Kirika..." Kinzo muttered.

Despite the big change in her partner's size and appearance, Aria didn't mind at all. In fact, once the light of her D-Heart of Mercy finally dissipated, she smiled so big her cheeks hurt.

"Aria...your kind heart has helped me reach this size. Do you want to help MarineDevimon?" QueenWhamon asked in a very low, polite, and strong lady-like voice.

"Yes. I do! Let's go!" Aria balled one of her little fists and threw it in the air courageously. With this, QueenWhamon charged at MarineDevimon, who proceeded to attack her.

"Guilty Black!"

"Blasting Spout!" A spiraling jet of highly pressurized water shot out from the crown on her head and managed to render the venomous and noisome black ink to nothing, and then hit MarineDevimon square in the face, knocking him out! The kids saw this and cheered.

"You take him down, QueenWhamon!" Melody yelled.

"Go QueenWhamon! You can do it!" Yun cheered.

"Wow! QueenWhamon looks amazing!" Minako exclaimed.

"Fry that squid!" Riku yelled like a rabid Phillies fan.

"Roast that squid!" Kosuke yelled passionately.

"QueenWhamon! Don't give up!" Otoya cheered.

Hokuto simply smiled and hugged Kudamon. "So beautiful."

Appalled by this new and surprising development, MarineDevimon roared vehemently as he proceeded to slap QueenWhamon in the face repeatedly with his tentacles. QueenWhamon then jumped up a little.

"Queen's Reign!"

QueenWhamon jumped at least two feet above the surface and slammed herself against MarineDevimon, pinning him to the ground and squishing him very hard. If MarineDevimon were human, all of his ribs would have broken, his lungs would stop working, and his heart would stop beating. But it wasn't enough to kill him. Aria clung to QueenWhamon's crown tightly. QueenWhamon then grabbed MarineDevimon by her mouth, shot up into the surface, and dredged her teeth into him, which caused him to roar in pain.

"You better hold on tight, Aria! This is going to be a bumpy ride!" QueenWhamon advised. Aria didn't need to heed her order because she was already holding on to her crown. QueenWhamon then threw MarineDevimon up in the air and let him fall into the ocean. She then began swimming in a circle rapidly.

"Supreme Tidal Wave!"

Aria closed her eyes and clung to QueenWhamon's crown despite her head pounding a little. QueenWhamon swam and swam as fast as she could. All of a sudden, a colossal tidal wave spread out in all directions, consuming MarineDevimon. MarineDevimon felt pain all over his body. He finally abdicated once he realized he couldn't deal with it all anymore. Very slowly, his body dissipated into blue particles of data. Once QueenWhamon saw this, she stopped and calmed the sea. QueenWhamon made sure that the tidal wave she created didn't knock down any docks or houses, which it didn't. Aria saw the data and pulled out her digivice. Aria kept it in the air, hoping that she could save MarineDevimon's data. Before she knew it, the blue particles of data responded to her wish and floated into her pink digivice. Once it was done, Aria smiled.

"You've saved him, Aria. I'm proud of you," QueenWhamon told her.

"I'm proud of you too, QueenWhamon," Aria told her gently.

"Ugh! Uh oh. I think I'm about to-"

All of a sudden, QueenWhamon became enveloped in a pink light. She suddenly grew smaller and smaller. Aria found herself falling into the sea with her. QueenWhamon de-digivolved into Bukamon. Aria, once she regained her equanimity, saw Bukamon flying towards her and grabbed her. Once Bukamon regained her bearings, she let Aria cling to her and they swam back to the dock. Mariya was the first to run over to her and hug her.

"Aria-chan! Oh, I'm so glad you're alright! But look at you! You're soaking wet! Right down to the bone!" Mariya exclaimed as the kids and their Digimon ran over to her with worry. Aria smiled as she hugged a limp but cheerful Bukamon.

"Wow! You and QueenWhamon were awesome back there, Aria-chan!" Yun exclaimed as she held onto both Lopmon and Terriermon.

"I think you might have the biggest ultimate level Digimon out of all of us! I guess big things really do come from small packages after all!" Otoya said happily.

"You go, Aria-chan!" Rena gave her a thumbs up.

"You were awesome. Congrats, little sis," Orie rubbed her hand through Aria's sopping wet wear, but Aria laughed heartily, happy that everything turned out alright in the end.

Melody then saw Kinzo slowly walking over to them. Right then, anger consumed her. She gave Biyomon to Orie, stomped over to him with zeal in her eyes and...

_WHAM!_

She punched Kinzo so hard in the face that Kinzo fell to the ground.

"YOU FREAKIN' HEARTLESS IDIOT!" Melody screamed angrily. The two police officers from earlier grabbed her before she could lay any more punches on him.

"HA! Proof positive! Aria saved your life! How's THAT for a redeeming quality? Of course, you probably don't give a flying durn because you think she's the reason your wife died! Screw you, you misogynistic old man! If it were me, I would have let you get eaten by that giant squid! I will NEVER forgive you! I hope you rot in jail for the rest of your life! You don't deserve to live! I oughta-!"

"Mel-chan! Stop!" Aria stood between Kinzo and Melody. The kids gathered to where Melody is and are quite shocked.

"Aria! You're not seriously defending him, are you? He nearly killed you! He doesn't deserve any mercy!" Melody screamed vehemently. "All child abusers are the same! They don't deserve any mercy from us!"

"Mel! Will you calm down?" Yun yelped. Kinzo is still in his hand cuffs, making him unable to do any hitting or punching or abusing, much to everyone's delight. Much to their surprise, however, Kinzo looked down at the sand sadly, with a very dejected and abject look on his face. Aria looked up at him with sympathetic eyes.

"You're sad, aren't you? About Mama," Aria asked softly. Kinzo gave a slight nod.

"Kirika was my light. She was the best thing that ever happened to me. I had a rough childhood. Nobody ever came to my rescue, but she did. She helped me, and...I was so intent on keeping her close to me that I let my fear of losing her get the better of me. Now I see why she did it. She believed that she could never help anyone, and she thought I was manipulating her. Yes, I admit to having an affair with her, and I should not have done that. Nothing that I experienced will ever justify what I've done to not just her, but to you, Aria and Orie. I...I finally see it now. How could I have been so blind. I...I'm so sorry. I'm a terrible father," Kinzo said.

"Indeed you are, you stupid old man! You deserve to rot in jail!" Melody yelled.

"Do you really think saying sorry's gonna fix everything? You abused them for God knows how long, and you even go as far as to blame them for your wife's death! Don't think you can-" Riku yelled with her, but Aria cut them off.

"Quiet!" Aria yelled, which kept Melody and Riku quiet. Kinzo smiled at Bukamon.

"You've been a great friend to Aria. I'm glad you care about her so much," Kinzo said to her. Bukamon hmphed.

"I do care about her. Someone has to, since you were too stupid to do so," Bukamon said.

"Bukamon. It's not nice to call people names," Aria told Bukamon and set her down on the sand gently. She then looked up at Kinzo with her straightest face ever.

"Papa. It's not nice to hurt people or accuse them of things they didn't do. You're a grown up. You should know better. You have to teach kids those things. You're wrong about Mama dying because of me and about me and Orie not feeling sad. Orie and I did feel sad when Mama died. She's gone forever, and we can never see her again. How can that not make us sad? I...I'm happy you're sorry for what you did, but I don't think saying sorry will solve everything. I don't want you to just tell me you want to change. Show me that you want to," Aria said to him. Kinzo nodded.

"Aria! Don't forgive him! He doesn't deserve it! He needs to-MMPH!" Melody yelled again, but Shunji put a hand on her mouth to keep her from shouting any more ribald and caustic comments. Aria then walked on the seashore and began looking for something.

"Aria-chan! What are you doing?" Bukamon asked from above. Aria looked around some more until she beamed.

She saw a white egg with indigo blue spots on it was cradled back and forth by the waves. Aria ran to it, picked it up, and ran back to the dock.

"Is that MarineDevimon's DigiEgg?" Lopmon asked.

"Aria did save his data, so I think that's a yes," Terriermon replied matter-of-factly.

Aria walked in front of Kinzo, holding the DigiEgg. They stared deeply into each other's eyes for a bit, then Aria extended her arms out.

"Show me that you're truly sorry...by raising the Digimon in this egg!" Aria edicted.

Everyone's jaws dropped to the ground.

"WHAAAAAAAAAT?"

Shunji was desperate to keep Melody's mouth shut, and he kept his hand clamped on her tightly.

"You're seriously giving a DigiEgg to that freak? He can't even raise you right! How do you know he's not gonna abuse him and make him digivolve into MarineDevimon again?" Riku exclaimed.

"Yeah! What if you're makin' a big mistake, Aria-chan?" Bukamon exclaimed, just as shocked about it as everyone else is.

"Show me you're serious about changing by raising this Digimon into a nice and wonderful Digimon. Can you do that for me? If you do, I'll show you mercy," Aria told Kinzo kindly but sternly.

Kinzo looked at the egg hard. He wondered why he wound up changing into the person he did. He thought about all the bad things he did: the affair with Mariya, keeping Kirika in the house all the time and not letting her out, beating up Aria and Orie over little things like talking about Kirika and going to their friends' houses, depriving them of the love and support they've yearned for since their beloved mother died, allowing his anger and dejection to overtake him, filling his head with untrue ideas about Kirika and his daughters, and, worst of all, going back on his vow to be a father.

Child abuse can be quite virulent and contagious, as it comes in cycles. If not stopped, it can continue on and on for generations without end. He couldn't help but envy Aria for being the strong little girl she is. Strong for seeking help when she needed it. Strong for having the audacity to defy him and tell him off for calling Yun a retard on no grounds. Strong for developing a strong bond with Mariya. Strong for having friends (despite the rather odd age difference) like Yun and MarineAngemon. Best of all, she used that strength to her advantage and, despite the horrible things he did and said to her, Aria saved his life and doesn't seem to regret it. Not one bit. He knew that the things he did were terrible and pernicious, but back then, he didn't care. Now, he felt changed. How could he have not only ignored, but denied the fact that Aria and Orie have more than just redeeming qualities that make them special, but the fact that they are kind girls who look as though they can achieve anything despite being so small. Kinzo suspected that he would never be forgiven (as Melody seems to love rubbing in his face), but he took Aria's chance as a beacon of hope. A potential second chance? Could he do it? Kinzo ruminated deeply. Aria is actually asking him to do her a favor, despite it looking quite silly. Digimon? Isn't that supposed to be a children's cartoon? About a day ago, he would have thought something like this to be really stupid, pointless, and do nobody any good. But now that Aria's giving him the opportunity to potentially atone for his transgressions and effrontery and allowing him to make a choice, he thought he didn't want to let this chance elude his grasp.

Despite his hands being in handcuffs, he very slowly took the egg. The police men put their hands on his arm.

"Thank you, Aria. I'll do my best. I'm sorry for everything I've done. I'll go to jail...and I'll raise this little one. I hope you and Orie...have a happy life. Be safe, and good luck to you," Kinzo said.

"You too, Papa," Aria said. Bukamon hopped onto Aria's head.

"You better keep your promise! If you ever break it, I'm not gonna go easy on you next time I see your face!" Bukamon exclaimed. Kinzo nodded at her.

"Take good care of her," Kinzo told her softly.

With that, the police men took Kinzo and the egg, put him in the back seat of the police car, and drove away. Melody finally removed Shunji's hand from her mouth and exploded into an epic paroxysm of all out anger.

"ARIA! WHY THE FREAK DID YOU DO THAT? That heartless idiot can't be trusted with anything! You actually have the nerve to give him a DigiEgg? Why-!" Melody was about to go on another tirade, but Aria stopped her with a glance.

"Mama doesn't want me to hate anyone," Aria told her sternly. "Mama says it's bad to hate people, and we have to always fill our hearts with love."

"If it were me, I'd let him rot in jail for the rest of his life! No child abuser should ever be forgiven! They're all a bunch of heartless and idiotic beasts who are greedy and stupid!" Melody yelled. Yun covered her ears. "Why would you even think about giving a DigiEgg to him? He's not gonna raise it! He's probably gonna throw it away with his trash! I wanna punch him in the gut and make him vomit blood!"

"Melody! Will you calm down?" Otoya exclaimed.

"How can I when Aria's being merciful to a child abuser who deserves nothing more than to rot in jail? I'LL NEVER FORGIVE THEM! EVER! They all deserve to die! You know what, I'm sick of this!" Melody yelled. She took Biyomon and flung her over her shoulder. "I'm going home on my own. Bye!"

"But Mel-chan! It's 20 miles away!" Yun said as she ran in front of Melody.

"I'll take most of you home," Mariya said.

As the kids began talking, Aria and Bukamon watched until Orie got their attention.

"Aria...I'm sorry. For being such a bad big sister. I didn't think there was anything we could do to stop him. I thought it'd be best to just accept everything and deal with it," Orie said sadly. Aria smiled and put a hand in her's.

"It's okay. You didn't know," Aria said. She then saw Kosuke tending to Patamon and decided to walk over to them.

"Hey! I think I can move my limbs now!" Patamon exclaimed as he moved his little arms and legs around.

"That's great. I wonder how we're gonna get home though," Kosuke said. Then he saw Aria walking up to him with a straight face.

"Kosuke-kun. I'm sorry for screaming at you before. When you were being mean to me back then, you reminded me of Papa, and he was always yelling things at me and calling me names and saying I'm useless. You're not Papa, but I guess I didn't think that back then, now did I? Can you ever forgive me?" Aria explained. Kosuke smiled and rubbed Aria's wet hair with his hands.

"Sure. It's alright. I should have been more sensitive," Kosuke said.

"So...how the heck are we gonna get home?" Shunji asked.

"I still have some energy left. I can try digivolving again and flying you all home," Dracomon said.

"But won't you get tired?" Shunji asked.

"Maybe, when I get there, but I think I can make a 20 mile trip. But once we get there, you're all gonna have to walk back home on your own. Is that alright?" Dracomon replied.

"Sure, but you're kinda beat up already. Won't it be exhausting?"

"Yeah, but I don't want to leave you all stranded here."

Shunji chuckled a bit. "That would be a problem, wouldn't it?"

Dracomon laughed with him.

Dracomon digivolved into Coredramon again and took most of the kids home. Aria and Orie got in Mariya's car as she drove them home. The kids were tired and hungry, but they were happy that everything turned out alright in the end...or did it? About a small ways away from the dock, Masaomi Hiroya watched as Coredramon flew away. He adjusted his sunglasses.

"This is going to be very interesting," Masaomi said to himself as he decided to leave.

After they left, Nayuki and Devidramon went back home. He digivolved back into Tsukaimon, but once they got there, Nayuki exploded and took it all out on Tsukaimon.

"NO! NO NO NO NO NO! How could that girl possibly understand how I feel? Why? She knows absolutely nothing about what we go through!" Nayuki yelled as she punched and kicked Tsukaimon similar to what Kinzo did to Aria yesterday. Nayuki is a lot like Kinzo, but unlike him, she's not willing to change. Tsukaimon lay on the floor battered and in pain.

"Why didn't you keep that Seasarmon under control when you had the chance?" Nayuki yelled.

"He was being annoying! I did the best I could!" Tsukaimon yelled back, which resulted in another kick fron Nayuki.

"You can do better than that, you pathetic Digimon!" Nayuki screamed. After some more kicks and punches, she left Tsukaimon alone. She closed the door and fell to her knees. Aria's words echoed in her mind.

_"She's NOT a thing! She's my friend and I love her! She saved me when Papa was beating me, telling me it's my fault that Mama died! She knows it's not true! How would you like it if I told you that I wanted to throw away someone who helped you when you needed it?"_

Nayuki pounded on the floor with her fist angrily. "She's the same as me, yet she's found happiness! I have absolutely nothing! I've lost everything I ever loved! She'll never understand what I've gone through! Never! Nobody will! I can't forgive that little brat for having found happiness in a dark place! Unlike her, nobody came to save me! Nobody! Nobody has and nobody ever will! Screw them!"

Nayuki shows great animosity for the Digimon Brigade. People show animosity toward lots of things. It's common. For Melody, she loathes child abusers. Like Nayuki, she needed to blow off some steam, so she went into the basement and began beating the air out of an inflatable punching bag.

"Child abusers," Melody mused to herself bitterly. "They're the worst, most insufferable kinds of human beings! Aria's a fool to trust that idiot with a DigiEgg! I'll never forgive them! I'll never forgive them all! Not after what they did to me! Not ever!"

Melody continued to beat up the punching bag with all the power she had in her fists. A door creaked open.

"Melody! Dinner's ready!"

Finally, panting a little, Melody decided to stop punching the bag and go upstairs.

"I'll be up in a second," Melody muttered as she plodded up the stairs.

She had yet to find out that she wasn't the only one who had bad feelings about child abusers. Hokuto and Riku sat in their rooms, ruminating and thinking about what had happened.

_'Everyone keeps telling me my dad's a bad person and that he deserved to die. But he didn't do anything to me! He...loved me. They don't know anything. Why would they...think that? Aria's dad is the child abuser. My dad...he's not,'_ Hokuto thought as Kudamon slept soundly on his chest. _'...Or is he? I don't know what to believe.'_

_'I think Mom's starting to become Kinzo. She's so uptight about everything! She won't even let me go to the store on my own! So yeah I'm a little hyper, but is that really a reason to think I'm some criminal? Kinzo's the criminal, not me! When is she ever going to understand!'_ Riku thought as Coronamon slept next to him soundly.


	50. People Who Hate Digimon

EPISODE 50: People Who Hate Digimon

Two weeks had passed since the epic battle between QueenWhamon and MarineDevimon. It was all over the news, but as of now, the buzz has since died down. It is now the first week of June, and there's a distinct warmth in the air, which could only mean one thing: summer is on it's way. Flowering trees all over the place have since lost their pale pink opalescent blossoms, and are now allowing the majestic green leaves to appear on them, welcoming them back from a long sleep. There would be no more beautiful flowers on the trees, especially not the town's beloved cherry and plum blossoms. Soon, the season of appallingly high heat and humidity, mosquitoes, trips to the beach, and toasty days is about to come creeping into the town like a lion about to attack it's prey. Sure, most kids liked it because of summer break (i.e. no school for a couple weeks), which hasn't started yet, but some didn't quite like it. For some, it was because of too many mosquito bites, and for others, it could be the heat, which hasn't come yet.

Mosquitoes and extraneous heat and humidity. Those are the things Yun hated the most about summer. Sure she was looking forward to having a full few weeks off of school and time for herself and time to watch anime, read books, play games, and play with Lucero, Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon, but other times Hisako would want to go to the beach and take Yun with her, much to Yun's dismay as she has an aversion toward going to the beach for many reasons, and Ayaka would spend a lot of time bringing Shunji here, either making out with him or yelling at Yun ninety percent of the time. Yun didn't like that. But within those two weeks, some good things have happened. It's been decided at a preliminary hearing that Kinzo is to be sent to a rehabilitation center up north, much farther than the casinos and the beach. Mariya had initially intended to file for divorce and sue Kinzo for full custody of both Aria and Orie, but after what's happened, she decided that this was the best solution after all. She did get full custody of the girls as a result, and Aria and Orie were quite happy with the outcome, and so were the rest of the Digimon Brigade.

But something else was on Yun's mind: Melody. Yun suspected for a fact that Melody had changed quite a lot since her sudden disappearance at the beginning of fourth grade and return halfway through fifth. Yun could tell that something had happened to Melody to cause her to both disappear and come back the way she did now, but she had no idea that Melody would be so ardent and volatile regarding what happened to Aria, especially with the way she kept on yelling at Kinzo despite Aria's protests. Could something bad have happened to Melody that caused her to disappear? Yun wanted to ask Melody about it, since friends are supposed to tell each other things, but she suspected that it might be a bit of a sour and sensitive subject, so she decided to keep her mouth shut, though her initial and well-intentioned curiosity still poked her in the brain sometimes. Besides, what did it matter? They still get along great despite some small disagreements, and Melody still loves her dearly, even if she's rather moody and reclusive (and unforgiving, as Yun found out recently). But still, Yun wished Melody would trust her enough to at least tell her what happened.

However, right now, Yun had no time to think about Melody or what happened to her, because she, Gargomon, and Turuiemon are at the construction site trying to subdue a branded Boarmon.

The Digimon is Turuiemon's size and took the form of a big pig with a flaming body, coal black hooves, a silver plate in between his brown eyes, a black snout, and red and white tusks. On one of his hooves is a Dark Emblem, and the twin rabbits just managed to gain the upper hand, much to their amazement.

"Nose Blaster!" Two streams of crimson red flame slithered out of Boarmon's nose. Turuiemon swiftly slashed them into bits with her trusty silver gauntlets.

"Ninja Fist!" She punched Boarmon in the face, causing him to fall on his side.

"Gargo Laser!" Gargomon's silver vulcans shot a myriad of bullets at Boarmon, keeping him from standing up. Yun got her digilasso out and wrapped it around all of Boarmon's feet, causing him to look like a wrangled bull.

"That should do it!" Yun said. All of a sudden, Boarmon flailed around a bit, which caused Yun, who is still holding onto the digivice, which is still attached to the digilasso, to get yanked a little and fall on the ground.

"Bunny Pummel!" In retaliation, Gargomon gave the cantankerous Boarmon a good whack on the head, which actually managed to knock him out. Turuiemon gently helped Yun get back on her feet.

"Are you alright?" Turuiemon asked gently.

"Y-Yeah. Thanks," Yun chuckled, sounding a bit embarrassed. "I guess I still need practice on digilassoing."

"You've certainly improved, I can see that," Turuiemon told her with a reassuring smile.

"Hey! Mind if I remove the Dark Emblem?" Gargomon asked.

"Go ahead! It's all yours!" Yun told him. Gargomon looked happy upon being given the task to remove the Dark Emblem. With a couple Gargo Lasers to one of Boarmon's hooves, the Dark Emblem finally shattered and the bloody red glow in Boarmon's eyes finally went away. Yun released the digilasso.

"You did it! Great job!" Yun said as she stood up and wiped some dirt off of her shirt. Gargomon couldn't help but laugh as he put his vulcans on his hips.

"Ha ha ha! Gargomon's saved the day!" Gargomon exclaimed proudly.

"You shouldn't let your pride get the better of you, Gargomon," Turuiemon advised with a kind smile.

"I know, I know, but we managed to defeat a Digimon without digivolving to ultimate. I think we're getting a bit stronger, aren't we?" Gargomon said.

"Perhaps we are," Turuiemon said. Yun couldn't help but fixate her green eyes on Boarmon, who slowly began waking up.

"Look! Boarmon's waking up!" Yun grabbed onto one of Turuiemon's hands and pointed to Boarmon, who staggered to his feet. Yun decided to run to him and try helping him up.

"Are you okay?" Yun asked gently as she helped him up. Boarmon made some rather crude snorty noises, but that's to be expected of a giant pig Digimon.

"Huh? Eh? What happened?" Boarmon asked as he stood up and looked around.

"You were branded with a Dark Emblem and went crazy," Yun told him. Boarmon then looked at Yun and his face turned fierce.

"Hey! What are y'all doin' on my turf?" Boarmon yelped angrily. Yun ran over to Gargomon in fear.

"You're not in the Digital World! You're in the human world!" Yun pleaded, but Boarmon didn't seem to think so.

"I get it now! You's a tryin' to destroy me and take my turf, are ya? Well I'm not gonna sit here and let you do that!" Boarmon roared, which forced Yun to cover her ears. Suddenly, with the clopping of his coal black hooves, he charged at the trio. Gargomon decided to jump in and intercept his attack.

"Calm down, will ya? We were just tryin' to help ya!" Gargomon exclaimed, pushing Boarmon back with his silver vulcans. Boarmon made some small flames come out of his nose as he proceeded to charge at them again.

Yun couldn't believe that the situation made such a drastic change. _'Why does Boarmon think he's in the Digital World and that we're trying to claim his territory? We're not here to do that! He must still be a bit delirious, but still!'_ Yun thought desperately as Gargomon tried to subdue Boarmon yet again. Suddenly, a pale grey cloud of smoke appeared, covering the area they're in. Turuiemon held onto Yun closely so she wouldn't inhale the smoke. Even Gargomon and Boarmon had to cover their mouths and stop fighting. Yun didn't know how much time passed, but she could tell this smoke wasn't natural.

It wasn't until a few minutes later she heard the strong, vociferous squeals of a pig. "REEEEET!" Yun gathered her mettle and looked up from Turuiemon's arms, shocked to find that not only is the smoke clearing, but that Boarmon is unconscious!...and that there's another human looking at them. He's an adult man with short black hair, black sunglasses covering his eyes, and light skin, wearing nothing but a white and dark blue work suit. Boarmon laid right next to him, unconscious. The man smiled as he caught sight of Yun, Turuiemon, and Gargomon once the smoke started to dissipate properly.

"Don't try to run. I already know those monsters are real," The man said in an icy voice.

Yun was quite surprised, but that didn't stop her from visually examining the man and hearing the malice in his voice. "Who...who are you?"

"That's not important right now. You've gotten yourself in quite a sticky situation, didn't you? No matter. I'll be very happy to take this oversized pig off your hands," The man told her.

Yun didn't see any other people with him, so she had to wonder how a single adult man like him could be able to take care of a giant fiery pig unless he had some kind of gadgets that helped him out. But she could tell that this man had other intentions, so she ran up to him fiercely. "No! I'll handle this! I know how to send him back to his world! Let me do it!"

Suddenly, the man smacked Yun! She didn't fall, but it certainly hurt. "This is none of your concern. I'm taking this monster with me whether you like it or not!"

"No!" Yun yelled angrily. "I got to him first! Leave him alone! He's just a little delirious, that's all!"

"Is that your excuse for all the trouble they caused?"

"No, but-"

"You know, those two giant rabbits there...I can take them off your hands if you want."

Gargomon and Turuiemon. Yun could feel the blood rush to her cheeks. She instantly became choleric. "If you think you're gonna get your greedy hands on my friends, then you've got another thing coming! I won't let you get them!"

What Yun didn't know was that one of Boarmon's eyes was open. He watched and listened to everything Yun said. But the man set off another smoke bomb.

"Yun! Look out!" Turuiemon grabbed Yun swiftly once the smoke bomb was set off.

"You kids should know better than to try and tame a feral monster," The man said. It took much longer for the smoke to dissipate this time, but once it did, Yun took the liberty of opening her eyes and seeing if he's still there. Much to her horror, not only is the man not there anymore, but Boarmon's suddenly disappeared too!

"Oh no! That man...he must have taken Boarmon!" Yun exclaimed sadly. Gargomon grinded his teeth.

"Who does that guy think he is? Takin' Boarmon like that and talkin' about us like we're rabid! He doesn't know anything!" Gargomon exclaimed angrily.

"I don't get it. I didn't see anyone with him so how was he able to take Boarmon? I heard a car, but..." Yun said, starting to become quite anxious. But when she looked up, much to her surprise, she saw that she's not the only one.

Turuiemon stared into the distance, looking quite pained. Yun became concerned.

"What's wrong, Turuiemon? Are you okay?" Yun asked gently.

"Him," Turuiemon muttered.

Yun and Gargomon became confused. "Huh?"

"He's the one. The one who...kidnapped me."

"WHAT?" Yun and Gargomon exclaimed, shocked by Turuiemon's confession. "HE'S the idiot who kidnapped you so long ago?"

Turuiemon nodded. "His name's...Hiroya Masaomi."

Now Yun was beyond shocked. Not only did this man take Boarmon (and is likely to have not so nice plans for him) but he kidnapped Turuiemon! This man must be some kind of person who hunts down Digimon and kills them! Yun was sure that the man must really hate Digimon.

It didn't take long for Yun to find out that she was right all along.

Before Boarmon realized it, he woke up inside a huge glass tube, almost the same size as him, albeit a bit bigger. He saw Masaomi, sitting at a desk with lots of papers, CDs, and floppy disks on it, looking quite grim as he typed. Because the giant tube is so cramped, Boarmon was unable to move his legs or stand up properly. He certainly did a lot of pig-like squealing, that's for sure. Masaomi didn't look at the creature as he typed on his computer.

"Hey! Lemme out, you human!" Boarmon snorted angrily, incensed with being bereft of his liberty. He tried to use his hooves to break the glass and run out, but the glass seemed to be impervious to his constant kicking.

"No can do, you giant pig. You're mine now. Say hello to oblivion," Masaomi gibed under his breath. Once he finished typing up what he needed, he pressed the Enter button.

Boarmon was unable to see what Masaomi was doing with his computer, but it wouldn't have mattered, and the knowledge would have been useless considering his dire situation, especially now that the green liquid around him turned a bloody crimson red. In response to this, every single muscle in his body tensed. His entire being turned stiff, his limbs being stultified as a result. Boarmon squealed and roared, importuning for liberty, but his desperate pleas were unheard. Masaomi didn't even bother to watch as Boarmon roared in pain. Then, Boarmon's legs turned to data. Then the lower half of his body, then his fore legs, and finally, his entire being. He dissipated into data, never to return. Masaomi smiled as a CD popped out of the CD carrier on his laptop.

"Good. This Digimon's data managed to implement itself in the program perfectly. But first I need to use it to make a blueprint. I wonder if this might be my chance," Masaomi muttered to himself, looking at the CD and twiddling it through his fingers.

As for Yun, Turuiemon took Yun and Terriermon, who de-digivolved immediately after the battle, home. Once she did, she de-digivolved back into Lopmon. They were greeted by Hisako, who was watering her plants when they got home. Yun felt she needed to tell someone about it, so she immediately told Hisako, Lucero, and Cutemon about it. They were quite shocked. Hisako wished she could help Yun with this dilemma, but this wasn't a situation she knew much about, nor had much experience with, so all she could do is tell Yun to be careful and keep the Digimon at home. Later, Yun, Lucero, and the Digimon sat in Lucero's room after dinner and talked more about it.

"So this Hiroya Masaomi is the one who kidnapped Lopmon so long ago? How utterly deplorable!" Lucero asked.

"That's so mean, kyu! Why would he do that, kyu?" Cutemon yelped angrily.

"I'm not sure, but considering the way he sounded as he took Boarmon away, I think he's the type of grown up who hates Digimon and wants to get rid of them whether they're good or not. I've got a really bad feeling about this," Yun said, sounding a little pained. Terriermon hopped on her head and stroke her hair.

"Not to worry, Yun! Whoever he is, we won't let him lay a hand on you or us! No way!" Terriermon said with a bright smile. "Besides, Lopmon managed to escape so he can't be that smart, can he?"

"That may be, but he's still a grown up, and grown ups really do learn from their mistakes," Yun said. Lucero wasn't sure if she was talking about Teruki (after the incident that caused Yun to stay home from school weeks ago) or someone else, but he could tell Yun had a very valid point.

"I'm very happy to have escaped from Hiroya-san's lab. How horrible it would be if I didn't! I don't believe he's going to give up on us. Not yet, now that he knows we're real," Lopmon said as she crawled into Yun's arms.

"So...what art thou going to do? Art thou going to tell everyone else about it?" Lucero asked with concern in his low voice.

"Definitely! I may not be the only one he might come after, and since they have Digimon, I should let them know about it too. I'll tell them at school first thing tomorrow morning. The others I'll tell right after school," Yun told him with a straight face.

Yun wasted absolutely no time in telling the Digimon Brigade kids (Well, the ones that attended her school) about Masaomi and what happened at the construction site. In the process, she found out that Nenji, Seiko, and their friends are back in school. Their suspension had been lifted, but Yun didn't let this distract her. Once she told everyone, the kids became quite surprised.

"Whoa! Some man took a Digimon you were trying to control and ran off with him?" Riku asked.

"Yep. I don't know how he did it, but I don't think it'll be the last time we see him. I kinda thought I'd let you all know about it since there's a possibility he might come after your Digimon too," Yun explained.

Minako smiled. "We're very glad you told us. Thanks a whole lot! We'd be in hot water if you kept us in the dark about it."

"I wasn't intending to!" Yun said.

"People want to hurt our Digimon?" Hokuto asked, looking quite scared.

"Sort of. But let's keep our eyes open and see if he does anything. I'll be sure to let you all know if anything suspicious goes on," Otoya told them.

"Urgh! I still wish he'd let me handle Boarmon! I could have sent him back to his world if he hadn't ruined everything!" Yun exclaimed, quite frustrated by the fact that Masaomi bereaved her of the opportunity to send Boarmon back to the Digital World.

"Actually, from what you said about Boarmon accusing you of taking over his turf, I kinda think that man stepping in might have been a good thing. You probably wouldn't have stood a chance against him and he probably would have brained you," Rena told her.

"That may be true, but still!" Yun said.

"We've also got other problems to deal with," Kosuke said with his arms crossed, nodding a bit at Seiko's group, who are sitting at the adjacent side of the classroom. Much to their surprise, however, Tomoka is crying and has been since she came in. Despite the fact that they only knew her for a short time, they knew for a fact that Tomoka NEVER cried. Even Seiko and Iniki are surprised.

"What's wrong, Tomoka-chan?" Iniki asked, trying to console the crying girl but to no avail.

"I...I...I'm a geek now! Look!" Through her waterfalls of tears, Tomoka showed the girls her teeth, which are covered with silver bars and multicolored braces. "I have braces!"

"Ouch. Total bummer," Seiko said.

"You're not a geek, Tomoka-chan. Heck, I think your braces look cool! They're rainbow colored, and you have to admit, rainbow colored braces are better than plain old silver braces. My cousin has them so I feel for you," Iniki explained, trying to soften Tomoka's sadness with a euphemism, which didn't seem to work.

"Rainbow colored or not, I have them and now I look like a total geek!" Tomoka wailed.

"You ARE a geek, Kobayashi!" Nenji's friend Hirofumi exclaimed, which made Nenji and Mansuke break into laughter. Iniki shot up from her chair.

"Shut up, you no-brained bozos!" Iniki yelled. Seiko didn't seem to show much of a reaction to Tomoka's new change. She just looked out the window listlessly.

"Five bucks says I'm gonna lose my eyesight and have to get glasses next! I'll look like a geek AND a nerd!" Tomoka wailed again.

Melody didn't say anything. She just kept her arms crossed and put on her almost permanent scowl, though it must be confessed that Tomoka's wailing and whining perturbed her greatly, and she's only barely managing to keep her anger inside, which she wanted to release so badly, but didn't, for Yun's sake and so that she won't get in trouble with the teachers and get a detention or a suspension. She definitely took Yun's story to heart though. School went by rather tranquilly, though at one point Yun noticed Kosuke and Hokuto talking amongst each other, which Yun thought was odd. They weren't particularly close, but they didn't hate each other, so to Yun it was odd for them to be talking, though she did think it was a good opportunity for Kosuke and Hokuto to get along and get to know each other better. At recess, however, Yun found that there was more to their conversation than she thought. Yun was sitting on the bleachers reading a manga when Kosuke sat down next to her with a sort of soft smile on his face.

"Hi Yun," Kosuke said gently, smiling a little. Yun couldn't help but notice that this was quite odd too, considering Kosuke's been aloof and indifferent since his mother became an alcoholic. Perhaps the ice encasing his heart is finally thawing.

"Hi Kosuke-kun," Yun said. "How are you?"

"Better. Um, listen, I know me and Kamitsure-san don't really talk much, but I just want to let you know...his mom is hiring me to babysit their younger kids for the next week or so," Kosuke explained.

"Whoa! Really?" Yun yelped suddenly. "She is?"

"Yep. She's paying me big, too. It'll really help me make some money to buy food and even pay the rent. I start right after school," Kosuke said.

"That's great, Kosuke-kun! Congrats!" Yun exclaimed happily.

"Of course, it's not just that. I'll be walking my neighbors' dogs around. They're paying me big too. That's kinda the reason why I haven't been around much the past couple weeks, because I've been trying to find ways to earn some money," Kosuke added in.

"You're lucky to have found a job in this stupid economy. But aren't you a little young to get a job?" Yun asked.

"Yeah, but babysitting and dog walking? Kids jobs. I can handle it. Besides, anything's better than nothing."

"But I should let you know, Hokuto-kun's little sisters aren't exactly the most well behaved little kids in the world. One of them tried to take Kokomon away, and she threw food at Mel-chan's hair when we were on the picnic. Remember?"

"Thanks for the tip, but I'll be fine. I've dealt with lots of brats, and I really need the money, so I'll take whatever I can get."

"Have you told Patamon yet?"

"Yep. Yesterday. He's cool with it."

"Good, because keep him away from Kimi and Nene. They'll think he's a doll and possibly tear him to shreds."

"Don't worry. Patamon's safe at home. Oh! That reminds me!"

Kosuke rummaged through his pockets, pulled something out, and showed it to Yun. It's a little cell phone charm in the form of a very small, egg-shaped, pale blue bunny rabbit with black eyes, a mouth, no hands or feet, and long ears.

"I saw this in the dollar store once, and it reminded me of you, so I thought I'd get it for you. It's also to compensate for the mean things I said to you," Kosuke said. Yun took the little bunny in her hand and smiled.

"Thank you, Kosuke-kun," Yun muttered happily, which made Kosuke smile a bit more.

"Hey. I still have that charm you gave me. Y'know, the white bird with the rainbow wings," Kosuke said.

"You do?" Yun asked. Kosuke didn't need to say anything to confirm it, because he has it hanging off of his pants, along with his orange D-Heart of Freedom.

"It's the best gift you ever gave me, more so than that Agumon toy," Kosuke said. He then looked up at the blue sky, which is full of white clouds right now. "I wonder if I'll ever be able to fly?"

"You can. I know you will," Yun said. "We're here to help you fly."

Kosuke smiled again, but once Yun turned away, his smile faded. _'Yun. You're always so pure and innocent. But to be honest, I don't know if I will ever fly, considering my mom's trying to keep me to the ground all the time. You don't want to fly, do you, Yun? You prefer being on the ground, in your favorite place.'_

The rest of school went by without a hitch, and Yun decided she was going to walk home from school. Much to her surprise, when she and Lucero both got out, they were surprised to see Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon sitting in a bush waiting for them. The rabbits were quite careful to keep away from the other kids, especially Seiko and Nenji, lest they be found out. The rabbits hopped on their shoulders as the duo of kids walked away from Fushimi Middle School. What they didn't know was that someone was watching them behind dark sunglasses.

Yun and Lucero walked merrily, enjoying the scenery surrounding them.

"It sure is nice out, isn't it? What a lovely day!" Lopmon said with a sweet smile.

"It is, but it won't last long. When summer arrives, it's going to be REALLY toasty, and I hate toasty hot and humid weather! I just know for a fact that you won't like it either, Lucero," Yun said.

"Thou truly thinkist so?" Lucero asked.

"Of course!" Yun said.

"Well, no matter how hot it is, that won't stop me from playing around!" Terriermon exclaimed with one of his pale green paws raised into the air. "I'll bet it won't stop Aria-chan either, now that that Kinzo guy's gone!"

Yun suddenly stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. "ACK! That reminds me! I can't believe I forgot!"

Yun whipped out her digivice, opened it, and began texting.

"Are you telling the other Digimon Brigade members about that man, kyu?" Cutemon asked curiously.

"Yep! They should know too," Yun said. Once she finished, she put her digivice back in her pocket. "We should be getting home. Mom might be worrying about us."

The kids walked away. What they didn't know was that Link, with a small shopping bag in hand, saw them walk away. He smiled a bit.

"It looks like they're doing well. I wonder if their D-Hearts have come into effect yet?" Link asked himself. He looked down at his shopping bag and smiled a bit more.

"Koromon's gonna love the stuff I got him. He's probably bouncing off the walls with impatience by now," Link said as he was about to walk away, but something caught his eye, the one that's not hidden by his mask.

He saw Masaomi walking across the same sidewalk and looking as though he's watching, even stalking, Yun and Lucero. Masaomi looked around for a bit, then went in the same direction they did. Link's smile immediately dissipated.

"Is he...? Oh no! This can't be good!" Link said as he decided to follow Masaomi. Link didn't like the feeling he was getting from seeing Masaomi lurking around, so he decided to follow him.

Yun didn't know what was going to go down...until it happened.

It was Cutemon who noticed it first. Her long, cotton candy pink ears perked up in alarm.

"What's wrong, Cutemon?" Lucero asked.

"I hear something right near us, kyu!" Cutemon exclaimed as she leaped out of Lucero's arms and looked around suspiciously.

"What do you hear?" Terriermon asked, becoming a trifle concerned.

Cutemon looked around, then back at the kids.

"Cover your ears!" Cutemon edicted.

Yun didn't understand why Cutemon ordered her to cover her ears, but since she looked quite serious, she obliged and did as asked. So did the twins and Lucero. Cutemon knew of her sensitivity to loud noise, so she told her to cover her ears in advance. As they would find out, she was right to give Yun advance notice.

"Ultrasonic Wave!"

Cutemon drew in some breath and, in the style of Salamon's Holy Roar, a vociferous, grating sound spilled right out of Cutemon's mouth at a VERY high frequency which made everyone flinch, including the thing that's following them!

Masaomi, with his ears hastily covered, fell to the ground in a crumpled heap in front of them. Once Cutemon stopped screaming, they all got a good look at him. They took a step back.

"WHAT?" They all exclaimed in perfect unison, shocked by Masaomi's appearance. Masaomi staggered to his feet, choleric because of what Cutemon did just now.

"You-You-You-You-You-You-You're that man from yesterday!" Yun yelled. Masaomi tried to regain his equanimity, but he actually failed at it this time.

"So we meet again, huh? Now it's serious! Give me those monsters!" Masaomi edicted.

Both Yun and Lucero knew right away what Masaomi was talking about. Lopmon, in fear, clung to Yun's shirt tightly while Terriermon stayed on Yun's shoulders with a fierce look on his face. Cutemon flew back into Lucero's arms. Yun could tell right away why he demanded that he give them to him, and she wanted to make sure it never happened, whatever it was. She clung to Lopmon.

"Why should I give them to you?" Yun yelled with courage.

"Kids like you shouldn't be associating with those beasts! Now give them to me this instant!" Masaomi demanded again, this time sounding like a very tired and very incensed wolf hunting for food.

"As if I could ever hand my precious friends to someone like you! Don't think I'm stupid! You're trying to kill them, aren't you?" Yun yelled again.

"Those beasts? Friends? Don't make me laugh! These beasts are nothing more than bloodthirsty monsters! They don't deserve to walk this Earth! Now give them to me!"

"NO!"

"Yun! We must make haste and run!" Lucero yelled.

On cue, Lucero and Yun, with their Digimon in hand, ran away from Masaomi. However, Masaomi wasn't planning on letting these kids get away and elude his grasp, so he chased after them. The duo of kids didn't know where they were going, but that wasn't important. They needed to get away from Masaomi as fast as they could. After a couple blocks, Yun immediately began gasping for breath.

"Yun! Thou cannot falter now!" Lucero yelled.

"I'm...not...a...very...good...runner...too...slow..." Yun croaked, panting and gasping for breath between every word. Lucero could see that Masaomi is gaining on them. He needed to think fast and find some place to hide so Yun could catch her breath. After desperate looking, he found something.

He dragged Yun in between two houses and hid themselves behind some beige trash bins that are already full. Yun didn't see how a flimsy cover like this could possibly save them from Masaomi's bewitching grasp. Masaomi came into the area and looked around, not taking the time to examine every little detail. He grunted angrily and ran away. Yun tried to keep her panting to a minimum by covering her mouth with her hand. Terriermon and Lopmon's ears helped them out. Cutemon cautiously looked out from behind the trash cans and saw that Masaomi is no longer there.

"The coast is clear, kyu!" Cutemon edicted. Yun was still gasping for breath and Terriermon gently rubbed her back with his paws. Lucero did the same.

"Good job, Yun," Lucero told her.

"I-I'm so sorry. I stink at running fast. I'm so slow I can't even go a quarter of a block without panting my guts out!" Yun croaked sadly. Lucero helped her up.

"Let's journey back home, shall we?" Lucero said gently. Yun nodded as the two began walking home.

Yun's legs were hurting a little, but she decided to deal with it. She never was any good at running, even as a little kid. Whether it was because her stomach craved sweets 24/7 or her lack of proper exercise, nobody knew, not even Yun, but in every school event or activity that involved running, Yun was always last place. Worse than that, Mr. Kadota often yelled at her about it despite Mrs. Niiyama's protests, and those of Yun's friends. Yun wasn't morbidly overweight, nor was she very thin, like Seiko. Yun did, however, hate the fact that her chest is so big and that her legs are so plump and squishy. Yun preferred walking over running. But right now, Yun suspected that they weren't out of the woods yet. Yun looked around, making sure that Masaomi wasn't following them or stalking them. She and the rabbits kept silent as they walked, hoping that they wouldn't block out any sounds. Of course, Cutemon would be able to hear any sound thanks to her hypersensitive ears (more so than Yun's ears).

Sadly, when they almost got home, Masaomi fell out of a bush, covered in shrubs.

"I have you now!" Masaomi growled like a ferocious and feral lion about to hunt down it's prey. Yun screamed.

"Let's split up!" Lucero edicted.

Yun did as asked and ran away from Lucero and Cutemon with Lopmon and Terriermon in her arms. Yun knew that Masaomi wasn't going to be done with them right away, which is why she kept her guard up and kept looking around, even though Masaomi surprised her. Yun hated the fact that she had to run again. Yun made sure not to turn around and look behind her, though it didn't matter because Terriermon was the one doing it and was shocked.

"OH NO! He's chasing us!" Terriermon exclaimed.

Yun wanted to complain about being the one who's being chased, but she knew it wouldn't do any good so she moaned a little. Then again, it could be because she has more Digimon, and the more Digimon she had, the more interested Masaomi became, and that possibly put his ambition on complete overdrive. Lopmon didn't use her Freezing Snow attack for two reasons. She didn't want to use her attack partly because she didn't want to exacerbate and augment Masaomi's blatant hatred for Digimon any further, and partly because she was just downright scared, even though she knew for a fact that her attack would save them and, with due time, it would melt thanks to the slowly approaching summer air. Terriermon didn't attack because he knew that Yun would scold him if he did and that it would also augment Masaomi's hatred. Yun ran and ran with all her might, using all the meager strength she could muster. She tried to find some way to shake him off but to no avail. Finally, she realized that she's heading toward the church, the same one where Otoya's dad works at. She had seen it up close lots of times before. What surprised her was how big and thick the bushes around it were. She remembered that there's a little tiny clearing within it where she could hide in without getting thorns or leaves on her. It's perfect! With zeal, Yun ran around the church, found the big, thick bushes, and slowly crawled in them. Normally, she's quite averse to hiding in bushes or plants lest she got dirty, but with Masaomi relentlessly chasing her, Yun knew she had to put her preferences aside and take a risk to avoid having one of her Digimon get kidnapped (and likely killed) by him.

She and the two rabbits remained silent, like mice. They watched very silently and cautiously as Masaomi got close to them, taking no notice of them in the bushes. Masaomi paced around, searching and looking for Yun and the two floppy eared rabbit Digimon to no avail. He growled a bit and finally ran off. Terriermon looked up a little to see if Masaomi truly ran away from the scene, which he did. Once the coast is finally clear, Yun, Lopmon, and Terriermon all breathed huge sighs of relief. Yun got out of the bushes, and the rabbits followed suit. Yun dusted off some dirt and a leaf that got in her hair, but it was nothing to freak out about. Yun looked around cautiously for a second look, just in case Masaomi decided to come back. Once she noticed that Masaomi is really gone, she sighed again.

"Thank goodness! I thought he'd never leave!" Yun said cheerfully.

"My! What a persistent man he is!" Lopmon said as she clung to Yun again.

"If he thinks he can try and take us away, then he's got another thing coming!" Terriermon exclaimed, shoving his pale green fists into the air. Lopmon and Yun laughed a bit.

"Shouldn't we tell Lucero that we managed to outrun him?" Lopmon asked. Yun got her digivice out.

"Thanks for reminding me! I should tell him to meet us at the front of the church. After that I'll text Mom and let her know we're coming home. She's gotta be worried about us by now," Yun said.

"I am getting kinda hungry. I hope that guy doesn't go after him too," Terriermon said.

Yun, with Lopmon and Terriermon in her arms, left the bush and decided to walk to the front of the church. Unfortunately, they didn't realize that they weren't close to being out of the woods yet. As Yun opened her digivice and proceeded to text Lucero and tell him where they are, Lopmon suddenly felt a very strong, forceful yank on one of her ears. She screamed as she realized she was immediately yanked out of Yun's loving arms.

"LOPMON!" Both Yun and Terriermon yelled in unison.

Masaomi snuck up on them and grabbed Lopmon! He proceeded to run away, but Yun caught up to him and rammed herself against him, causing him to fall to the ground. She grabbed Lopmon and gave Masaomi a choleric look.

"You leave my friend alone, you idiot!" Yun yelled as she clung to Lopmon like a mother bear. Sadly, Masaomi wasn't done yet.

"GIVE IT TO ME!" Masaomi grabbed Lopmon's ear again and tried to take her back, but Yun wouldn't let him. The two fought like rabid animals. They punched, kicked, yanked, hit, slapped, bit, pulled, and spat at each other with poor, scared little Lopmon caught in the middle. Masaomi kept yanking on her ear like he was playing tug of war while Yun tried desperately to rip Lopmon out of his clutches.

"Get off of her!"

"Get off of me, you brat!"

"Let her go!"

"This monster belongs to me!"

"Stop it! You're hurting her!"

"Who cares?"

"I DO! GIVE HER BACK!"

Yun pulled on his hair multiple times, which made him cry out in pain, but not enough to make him release Lopmon, who's dangling in his hand and being thrown around like a rag doll, which made Yun's heart ache. Masaomi kicked and slapped Yun repeatedly, but Yun proved that she was NOT going to let anyone hurt her friend. No way was she going to tolerate something as awful as this, and there was no way in Heaven she'll ever let this man get away with it and run Scott free. She's not a fighter, but she knew her friend was in trouble, and she knew she had to fight in order to save her. Lopmon wailed and cried for help passionately. Finally, Terriermon had enough and decided to help out.

"Bunny Blast!"

Terriermon aimed right at Masaomi's hand, the one holding onto Lopmon's ear. Finally, he let go. Lopmon almost fell to the ground, but Yun quickly pushed Masaomi aside like trash and managed to get Lopmon back in her arms. But Masaomi still wasn't going to give up. He yanked Yun's hair tightly, which made her cry out in pain. He then proceeded to beat her. Despite that Yun was hurting and enduring all of these terrible attacks, she clung to Lopmon tighter than she ever did before, hoping that she would protect her.

"Give that beast to me this instant, you brat!"

"No!"

"I said give it!"

"No!"

"That monster deserves to die, just like all the rest!"

"Someone HELP!"

"Leave my friend and sister alone, you idiot! Terrier Tornado!" Terriermon flew at Masaomi, hoping to subdue him. But Masaomi slapped him so hard he fell onto the sidewalk.

"Terriermon!" Yun yelled as Lopmon clung to her chest, frightened to death.

"I've had enough! Stop playing around and give them to me! They don't belong in this world!" Masaomi yelled.

"No! They're my friends, and you can't take them from me!" Yun yelled. Masaomi then grabbed Yun's arm and tried to pry it off of Lopmon.

"NO! GET OFF OF ME!" Yun screamed angrily. She proceeded to kick and scream and flail all her limbs around, hoping it would drive Masaomi crazy and give up, since autistic kids are known to drive people nuts with their epic temper tantrums (though not all of them are easily angered). This gave Lopmon time to escape. She hid in the big bushes behind the church. Terriermon tried to get up and help, but he was too weak. Yun screamed and kicked and howled with all her might, hoping that Masaomi would finally abdicate and concede defeat. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case.

"Stop screaming, you brat!"

"MAKE ME!"

"Masaomi! Stop!"

Suddenly, someone got in between Yun and Masaomi. Yun finally stopped screaming and mollified herself so she could properly see who it is that appeared on the scene so quickly. Much to her, and Masaomi's, surprise, it's none other than Link! Link stood valiantly in front of Yun and clutched one of Masaomi's arms. Terriermon ran over to Yun with a chubby face full of worry.

"Yun! You okay?" Terriermon yelped.

"I'm fine," Yun muttered. Link then pushed Masaomi away, which made him walk back a few steps. This allowed Lopmon to return to Yun's side. Link looked at the surprised Masaomi with absolute anger in his exposed eye, the face behind his mask beet red with anger.

"You need to stop acting so childish, Masaomi!" Link yelled angrily.

"Masaomi?" Yun asked. _'Do they know each other?'_ She thought. Masaomi staggered to his feet. Yun immediately clung to Terriermon and Lopmon as he did, thinking he might assault them again. Masaomi wiped some dirt off of his face with his arm.

"You're a fool to let these beasts run wild, Wataru! Don't you get it? They're dangerous! They're bloodthirsty beasts yearning to destroy us all! Haven't you gotten the message yet?" Masaomi yelled back, just as angrily as Link.

'Wataru? Is that Link-san's real name?' Yun thought.

"Masaomi, you need to stop this! Assaulting people with Digimon whenever they pass by isn't going to bring Hazuru back! You know that, don't you? You have to understand! Not all Digimon are bad! You don't need to blame the entire race and destroy all the work we've done!"

_'Hazuru? Who's Hazuru?'_ Yun thought again.

"Why are you being such an idiot, Wataru? These beasts are crossing into a world in which they don't belong! They have to be annihilated and destroyed before they do any more damage! You're letting them do as they please and don't do a thing to destroy them!"

"Because destroying every single one of them isn't the answer! Besides, it's also impossible to destroy every single one of them!"

"Then I'll make it possible! While you sit on your rear-end watching the world go by and not care about anything, I'm gonna make MC Destroyer happen! I already managed to kill a giant pig and put it's data inside it, so it's too late for me to go back!"

This made Yun stand up in alarm. "You KILLED Boarmon? How could you be so cruel?" Yun yelled angrily.

"Me? Cruel? You've got to be joking! Those beasts are the cruel ones! They took my precious Hazuru away! Those monsters are the sole reason why she's gone! You're the one who's cruel, taking their side and not mine!" Masaomi yelled, pointing at both Yun and Link.

"I'm not taking sides! I'm doing research, nothing more! Masaomi, you have to stop being so brash and reckless! None of this is going to do anyone any good, not even Hazuru! Go home and rest!" Wataru commanded as he gestured Yun to stand behind him. Masaomi spat at the sidewalk.

"I take it you don't plan on changing your mind anytime soon," Masaomi muttered.

"No, I don't. Believe me, I'll still search for her. Don't use MC Destroyer. It'll destroy everything we've worked so hard for."

"YOU'VE worked so hard for. I was a fool to partake in such a stupid, useless project! If I had never met you, Hazuru would still be by my side right now!"

Link looked down at the sidewalk dejectedly. "Yes, I know. We feel bad about it too."

"I don't need your false pity. Just go and frolic with those beasts for all I care. Maybe I'll destroy you too."

"I'd like to see you try, Masaomi. It won't work."

"You know what? Forget it. I'm done with you!" Masaomi shouted angrily and finally walked away from the sidewalk. Lopmon suddenly burst into tears and cried into Yun's chest. Yun looked down at Lopmon and tried to mollify her by gently stroking her ear, the one that Masaomi yanked on so roughly.

"Does your ear hurt, sweetie? I'll help you. Sorry I wasn't able to protect you," Yun cooed gently like she was talking to a little girl much younger than herself.

"I-I-It's alright. You...You did just fine," Lopmon blubbered through her tears. Terriermon clung to Yun's hair angrily.

"Nobody gets away with hurting my sister and friend! Absolutely nobody! If I see him again, I'm gonna give it to him good!" Terriermon exclaimed.

Yun looked up at Link, who still stood there like a mannequin. She ambled over to him.

"Link-san. Thanks a whole lot for helping us," Yun told him kindly. Link looked at her and smiled a bit, though Yun could tell that he looked quite dejected.

"You're welcome, and I'm so sorry about Masaomi and what he did," Link said.

"So...he's your friend?"

"He was my friend, but not anymore, and yes, my real name is Akutagawa Wataru, though you can continue calling me Link. I no longer go by my real name anymore," Link told her rather sadly.

"But shouldn't I call you Akutagawa-san? My mom says it's impolite to call someone by their first name if you're not acquainted with them," Yun said.

"It's alright. I prefer Link anyhow," Link said.

"Okay. So is he-?"

"That's Hiroya Masaomi. Me, Saruto, him, and a few others created the Digital World long ago. We worked on the project together, but the three of us were the only ones who really sought to it's completion."

"I take it someone important to him was taken away because of the Digimon?"

Link pulled something out of his pocket and showed it to Yun.

"While you were in the Digital World, have you seen this little girl by any chance?" Link asked in a low, mysterious voice.

Yun took the picture in her hand and examined it deeply. The little girl looked to be around eight years old in age, with short and very curly pale blonde hair arranged in a rather unattractive hair cut, plain blue eyes that didn't look like they had any shine to them, and, considering how plump her cheeks are, how big her hands are, and the way she looked in the little red dress, black stockings, brown winter shoes, and how slightly bulgy her nose is, her dress could be hiding a rather tubby body. The little girl didn't look like anyone who would particularly stand out in any particular way. Yun didn't think she looked rather pretty, but she also noticed something else: the little girl's smile didn't look genuine. The more Yun looked, the more Yun noticed that the smile was merely a facade to hide misery or despair. But this was a picture. There was no way Yun would know that for sure. But one thing is for sure: Yun never saw her in the Digital World before, so she gave the picture back.

"Sorry. I've never seen her," Yun said as she gave the picture back. Link took it out of her hand immediately. "Who is she?"

"This is Hiroya Hazuru, Masaomi's daughter," Link said with a twinge of sadness in his low voice.

"His daughter? I didn't think he'd be the type to be a family man," Terriermon said.

"He dropped out of the project to start a life of his own. But...two years ago, Hazuru disappeared into the Digital World," Link said.

"How do you know she's there?" Yun asked, confused as to how Link would be so sure that she would be in the Digital World when there's no physical evidence proving it.

"Because...Masaomi and I...saw her fall into a digital portal," Link said.

"Huh? You _SAW_ her walk into a digital portal?" Yun yelped.

Link nodded sadly. "We were at the park. Hazuru went off to play by herself. She wound up falling into a digital portal on top of the jungle gym. Masaomi and I tried to save her, but it was too late. Everyone else believed she was dead and that Masaomi went crazy. His wife left him because she believed Masaomi didn't want to accept the truth. If Hazuru were here right now, she'd be about a year younger than you."

Lopmon stopped crying and listened intently, but Yun could feel tears slowly but steadily creeping up into her eyes, begging to come out. Masaomi's daughter, gone! Gone for two years! His wife left him, believing he was mentally ill, along with everyone else! Who knew Masaomi had turned into a poor, wounded bird! Yun did feel sad for what happened to him, but she knew very well that his sadness doesn't justify his hatred for all Digimon and his actions just a few minutes earlier.

"Oh! How horrible it must be to lose a precious daughter! He must be very sad inside," Lopmon said, having calmed down finally. Yun still stroke her ear gently.

"It is. He blames the Digimon for her disappearance. He wants to destroy them all. He bears unrealistic expectations just like Saruto did. I've tried to stop him, but Masaomi just won't budge. He's too wound up in his own suffering to care about the opinions of others. I know for a fact that he'll stop at nothing to make sure his daughter is back in his arms, but he's forgetting that she could still be in the Digital World. If he destroys it, he'll destroy her too," Link explained.

"That's not good, now is it?" Terriermon said.

"No, it isn't," Link replied.

"I...I never knew. I'm sorry," Yun muttered sadly and closed her eyes. Link smiled at her, put a hand in her hair, and stroke it gently.

"It's not your fault. You didn't know, and you didn't do anything wrong. Neither did your friends, both human and Digimon. I don't believe that the Digimon are to blame for what happened. It was just a freak thing," Link said.

"Is that one of the reasons why you've roamed the Digital World for so long?" Lopmon asked curiously.

"Yes. I fell into a digital portal by accident about two weeks after her disappearance, and in the process I met Agumon and befriended him. We managed to go back to the real world, and I told Masaomi about it, but he didn't seem interested. It was also around the time I learned of the digivice's other uses, like having the ability to create digital portals. I've searched and searched for her while conducting my research but I'm come up empty," Link explained.

"You're not giving up, are you?" Yun asked out of the blue. Link removed his hand from her hair.

"No. I'll never stop searching for her," Link said.

"By the way, how did you know Hiroya was gonna catch us?" Terriermon asked out of the blue.

"I was on my way back from the dollar store and I saw him following you. I knew he'd be after the Digimon, so I followed him to make sure he didn't do anything to hurt you. Thank goodness I was there, otherwise you would have been hurt really bad," Link said.

"Yeah. Again, thank you for saving us," Yun said as she bowed politely before him. Suddenly...

"Yun! We hath found thee!"

"You're okay, kyu!"

Lucero and Cutemon leaped onto Yun and hugged her tightly.

"Art thou alright? Hast that man hurt thee?" Lucero asked with worry in his voice.

"Kinda. Lopmon too, but Link-san here managed to drive him off, so we're safe!" Yun told him. Cutemon saw the mark on Lopmon's ear and decided to take it in her little pink hands.

"I'll take care of this, kyu!" Cutemon said as she began healing Lopmon's ears.

"Well, I might as well be going now. You should get back home too. Your parents might be worried," Link told them as he walked away.

As Cutemon finished healing Lopmon's ear, Yun texted Hisako and told her to pick them up in front of the church. They didn't want to walk home this time. Hisako came and picked them up, and Yun told them everything. They were quite shocked, but glad that Yun was alright. It's a good thing Link was there! Yun couldn't thank God enough for having Link save them from Masaomi. She wondered if Hazuru, Masaomi's daughter, knew about how worried and desperate her father is, wanting to see her and hug her again? She couldn't help but wonder. As the car passed the bend, Yun noticed Kosuke walking a lot of dogs, carrying lots of leashes, and while on roller skates! He seemed to be enjoying it too. She wondered if he's finally blossoming after so long.


	51. The Rift Between Mother and Son

EPISODE 51: The Rift Between Mother and Son

"EEEEK!"

"Kimi! Get out of there right now!"

On Saturday morning, Kosuke arrived at one of his new jobs. Aki had to run some errands which might take some time, so she asked Kosuke to babysit her three youngest children. Kantaro had to get his car fixed, the two oldest daughters are sleeping at a friend's house, and Hokuto locked both himself and Kudamon in his room (it was all Hokuto's idea. Kudamon was quite averse to it), so Kosuke was called in. Kosuke didn't mind, since he could make some decent money out of this job. But the problem is, Kimi is behaving quite badly and inappropriately as she usually is, and at the moment, she's up on the stove, yanking little jars out of the top cup board and throwing them at Kosuke, who's trying to subdue the wild little four year old with the brown pig tails and the chubby face.

"Kimi! I've said this a thousand times and I'll say it again! Get down from there right now, and stop throwing stuff!" Kosuke yelled in a demanding, authoritative voice, but Kimi, being the intractable and obstinate little brat she is, firmly disobeyed him.

"No!" Kimi yelled vociferously.

"Get down here now!"

"Big meanie!" Kimi screamed. After that she stuck her tongue out at him, which made Kosuke mad.

"If that's how you want to play it, then take this!" Kosuke quickly lunged at Kimi, who was about to throw a jar of sesame seeds at him. Kosuke managed to grab Kimi's little hand, remove the jar, and gently place it on the dining room table, much to Kimi's infuriation. Kimi, once Kosuke got the upper hand, screamed and cried and howled with great passion and zeal, but Kosuke immediately locked the screaming little girl in his arms.

"You can scream and cry all you want, but no means no. Deal with it!" Kosuke told her, even though he knew for a fact that Kimi wasn't listening at all. She flew her stubby little limbs around, hitting and kicking Kosuke with all her might, though her hits and kicks are so weak that Kosuke was unfazed. Kosuke, with Kimi in his arms, marched into her room, put her on her bed, and kneeled in front of her.

"You're staying right here for ten minutes, Kimi. It's not nice to throw stuff, climb on top of the stove, or hit people. You could have hurt me!" Kosuke told her in his kindest voice possible, though Kimi wasn't having it.

"No!" Kimi exclaimed.

"You're staying right here, young lady!" Kosuke exclaimed in a more austere voice.

"No!" Kimi tried to bolt out of the room, but Kosuke, with great zeal, managed to cut in front of her and make sure she didn't run out of the room and cause more mischief.

"You're in time out now, Kimi! You can't come out until you say you're sorry!" Kosuke edicted.

"No! Big meanie!"

"You're the meanie! You tried to hurt me with those jars you threw! Would you like it if someone threw jars at you?"

"Big meanie! Big fat scawy meanie!" Kimi howled again, trying to get out. Kosuke, however, had the upper hand, and managed to shut the door and keep Kimi in her room. She continued to howl, but she didn't try to break out of the room this time. Kosuke, thinking that Kimi needs her alone time right now, left. As he came into the living room, he saw little Nene, carrying one of her stuffed My Little Pony dolls in one of her chubby little arms and watching him with curious eyes. A tiny boy accompanied her with a finger in his mouth. He has thick, straight black hair, small dark eyes, cute rosy cheeks, and a quiet demeanor. Kosuke walked over to them, kneeled in front of them, and smiled gently.

"Is Kimi in time out?" Nene asked in a low voice.

"I'm afraid she is, Nene. It's best we leave her alone for now. Want to help me clean up the kitchen? It's quite a mess in there!" Kosuke said with a smile.

"Clean up, clean up," Nene said as she put down her My Little Pony doll and followed Kosuke into the kitchen. The little boy followed too. He picked up one of the jars and handed it to Kosuke silently.

"Thank you, Yoshi-kun," Kosuke said to the little boy, Yoshi. It didn't take them long for them to clean up, especially with the fact that all the jars are plastic. Kosuke had to admit, it could have been a lot worse if they were made of glass. Aki was smart to buy plastic jars of seeds instead of glass jars. Once they cleaned up, Nene and Yoshi went back to playing.

Nene eyed Kosuke closely, inspecting every single element and detail about him: his straight but slightly ragged brown hair (blame Kimi for causing it to be a little ragged), his neutral hazel eyes, his skin that is becoming paler and paler every day, his calm and authoritative demeanor, and his kind gaze. Normally, Nene didn't hold much interest in other people, but ever since the incident with Yun many weeks ago, she became calmer and more grounded, even beginning to behave a little better. Then again, she is slightly older than Kimi by at least a couple of years, and she's at the age where she's beginning to know the difference between right and wrong and learning to implement them in her daily life. She's also becoming more aware of how her actions affect people, and how other peoples' actions affect her personally. She clutched her My Little Pony doll, a pale lavender pony with a pinkish purple mane and tail, pale purple eyes, and five white flowers on both sides of it's flank. She walked up to Kosuke and showed him her pony doll.

"Wanna play with me and Blossom?" Nene asked in a low, sweet voice, showing Kosuke her doll, Blossom. Kosuke smiled and stroke Nene's hair gently.

"I'd like to, but I can't right now. I'll play with you in a bit. Why can't Hokuto play with you?" Kosuke told her.

"Niichan never plays with us," Nene told him.

Kosuke knew that Hokuto didn't exactly have the best relationship with his siblings. Yun had told him about it. But he didn't know exactly to what extent. He decided to leave the kitchen, walk to Hokuto's room, and knock on the door.

"Hokuto. It's me, Kosuke," Kosuke said. He heard some rattling noises, and the door opened to show Hokuto in his room. He has on a sleeveless black shirt and a pair of tan capris with puffy pant legs. He's barefoot right now, and he allowed Kosuke into the room. Kudamon sat in the middle of his room, reading one of Hokuto's many books, particularly one on botany. Hokuto adjusted his round glasses a bit before talking to Kosuke.

"Now you know why I keep myself in my room whenever she's around," Hokuto muttered.

Kosuke sighed a bit. "It's a good thing I'm an only child."

"Being an only child isn't always the best thing in the world. Sometimes it can be unhealthy," Kudamon said from afar.

"I hear ya, little guy," Kosuke retorted. He then noticed that Hokuto immediately went back to Kudamon's side with a bit of a far away look on his face. Kosuke crossed his arms.

"Y'know, Hokuto," Kosuke began. "I know you don't exactly have the best relationship with your sisters, but you could at least play with-"

"They're not my sisters!" Hokuto suddenly interjected loudly, surprising even Kosuke. Kudamon wasn't a bit surprised, as he heard Hokuto say this on a practically regular basis. Kosuke was told that Hokuto didn't consider Kimi and Nene to be his sisters, but he thought she was exaggerating it a little. Now he could see it's true.

"But Hokuto, you have to admit that they're-"

"They're not my sisters! They're not! They're not! They're not my mother's children!" Hokuto exclaimed angrily. Kudamon immediately hopped on Hokuto's dark blue hat.

"Now now, Hokuto. Calm yourself," Kudamon cooed softly, which managed to mollify Hokuto a bit, though he still looked quite irritated.

"Okay, so they're your half-sisters, but that doesn't mean you should-"

"Hizashino Saruto married Kamitsure Aki on August 26, 1999. I, Kamitsure Hokuto Shichisei(1), was born on March 8, 2000 from Hizashino Saruto and Kamitsure Aki. Hizashino Saruto died on June 17, 2009 from execution by hanging. Ohki Kantaro married Fukamichi Namie on May 4, 1991. Ohki Airi and Ohki Aiko were born on January 18, 1992, Ohki Nene was born on April 9, 2005, Ohki Kimi was born on December 13, 2007, and Ohki Yoshi was born on March 21, 2009, all to Ohki Kantaro and Fukamichi Namie. Fukamichi Namie died on October 12, 2010 by a malignant brain tumor on the cerebral hemisphere. I am not related to the Ohkis or Fukamichis in any genetic way, so genetically speaking, none of them are my siblings, making Kimi and Nene NOT my biological sisters! They-" Hokuto explained in great detail. Kosuke was surprised. Even Kudamon was surprised too. How did Hokuto know all of these names, dates, and marriages? Kosuke finally cut him off.

"Okay, okay! We get it! They're not _technically_ or _genetically_ your siblings. But you have to accept the fact that they're a part of your life now, and you have to deal with them whether you like it or not," Kosuke told him sternly.

"He is right, you know. Dealing with siblings is a perfectly normal part of a normal family life," Kudamon told him, even though nobody knew whether Digimon could have siblings (if you were to exclude Lopmon and Terriermon). Hokuto still looked a bit irritated.

"I don't see why I have to deal with them," Hokuto muttered bitterly and got swallowed into a book on animals he randomly picked out of his shelf. Kosuke could hear Kimi howling incessantly, but it didn't bother him. Kudamon sighed in a way that made him sound as though he were disappointed by Hokuto's refusal to acknowledge Nene and Kimi as his sisters.

_'Jeez. Who knew Hokuto could be so uptight. But I guess I don't blame him considering what he went through. I have to admit though, being here is much better than sitting around with Mom lying on the floor and smelling alcohol and cigarette smoke all day. I wonder how Patamon's making out?'_ Kosuke thought.

While Kosuke is out at the Kamitsure house babysitting Kimi, Nene, and Yoshi, Patamon is at home, "adult"-sitting Kanako, Kosuke's mother, which is basically doing nothing but watch the house. Really. It's been three hours since Kosuke left, and Patamon tried to entertain himself by playing on the swing in the backyard, watching TV (and actually changing the channels), reading some of Kosuke's books (namely those that he actually managed to keep), reading some of Kosuke's poetry (which is still as somber and despondent as usual), and talking to himself. But despite Patamon's efforts, after a while, the activities became boring, and he couldn't stand being cooped up in a messy house full of beer bottles, cigarette butts, unwashed clothes, and a drunk woman lying on the couch like a dead person all day. Finally, making himself not cognizant of the fact that Kanako is lying on the couch sleeping the day away, Patamon let out a shriek.

"GRAAAAH! I can't _stand_ it! This is so _boring_! I wanna be outside playing around and flying freely! I don't want to be cooped up here all day! Kosuke! Why would you be so cruel?" Patamon yelped angrily, just to let his frustrations out. He knew that Kosuke wasn't being cruel. Based on Yun's descriptions of Kimi and Nene, Kosuke knew that Patamon wouldn't be safe at the Kamitsure house, so he kept Patamon at home. Patamon understood the fact that Kosuke's intentions were good, and he didn't mind that he was keeping him at home for his sake...but still, nobody likes being cooped up in a house for a long time. Especially not in a house full of unwashed clothes, beer bottles, cigarette butts, and smelling like smoke, alcohol, and dirt. Patamon flew into a pile of clothes and crossed his stubby little arms.

"Hmph! Kosuke gets to go out and play with Hokuto and Kudamon while I have to sit here and babysit a grown woman who's perfectly capable of taking care of herself!" Patamon scoffed like a spoiled child. But after a short while, he sighed and plopped onto the pile of clothes.

"I know, I know. I shouldn't be complaining. It's not Kosuke's fault he has to live like this. I know he means well, but I just hate being stuck in a house with nothing to do," Patamon muttered.

Without meaning to, Patamon found himself closing his eyes and ruminating. He thought about the things Kosuke went through because of his dad leaving and Kanako's alcoholism; losing his parents emotionally, becoming the man of the house, taking over an adult's household chores and duties like cooking, cleaning, and paying bills, not being allowed to go out and play with friends and do the things he likes to do, having to come home to a house smelling like alcohol and cigarette smoke every day. That's not something any normal kid would love to do, nor tolerate for that matter. He wondered if Kosuke had to do laundry every day. He wondered if he had to throw away all those beer bottles and squashed cigarette butts every day. He wondered if Kanako even cleaned up around the house.

Then it hit Patamon. He sprang up from the pile of clothes, his brown eyes shining.

"That's it! I'll help Kosuke out a bit! That'll certainly make him happy!" Patamon exclaimed happily.

Patamon zipped around the house, hoping to find something. He found a white chef's bandana and wrapped it around his head, keeping his wings away from the knot. Patamon then sat on the little table and raised his little hand in the air.

"As of today, I am now little housekeeper Patamon, and it'll be my sole duty to clean this house, make dinner, and make sure that Kosuke has some time for some nice childhood play! Kosuke's gonna love coming home to a nice clean house!" Patamon exclaimed to no one in particular, but he liked the sound of it.

And boy was he serious about becoming little housekeeper Patamon. First thing's first, he threw all the cigarette butts in the nearest trash bin. The ash tray was rather heavy, and it was hard for Patamon to hold it considering all the bad-smelling smoke and ash coming from it, but Patamon handled it with utmost care, and he managed to throw away the cigarette butts without difficulty. With a napkin he found on the dining room table, he picked up some other cigarette butts that had fallen on the floor. Some ash stains had to be left behind, but Patamon could tend to those later. Once all the squashed cigarettes were all in the trash, next up was the beer bottles. Kanako was literally surrounded by them. She looked like a very lazy military general surrounded by her soldiers, eagerly awaiting her orders. But beer bottles are inanimate objects, not living things. More than half of them were empty, and some were full. Patamon decided to handle the empty bottles first, one at a time. He remembered that there's a blue recycle bin out in the back yard, so he put the empty alcohol bottles in the bin one by one, silently and scrupulously. Patamon made sure not to make any noise lest he wake Kanako up. The empty bottles were light compared to the half full and totally full bottles. Patamon had a bit of a harder time handling the full beer bottles. He wanted to dispose of them as well, hoping that this would help Kanako keep her mind off of alcohol for a while. Gently, he put beer bottle and beer bottle into the recycle bin gently, without making a sound. Some clatters did happen, yes, but mostly small ones. Patamon wiped off some sweat and felt proud of his accomplishment.

Next is the laundry. The washer and dryer are downstairs and, since Patamon is so small, like with the beer bottles, he carried down one piece of raiment at a time. If he carried too much, he would either fall to the ground or topple over. He'd seen Kosuke do laundry before. Once Patamon gathered a reasonable amount of dirty clothes, he turned the dial on the washing machine and turned it on, which caused water to flow out. Patamon then got out a white bottle of laundry detergent, poured some of it into the machine, and began throwing clothes in there one by one. He made sure not to make the machine be full of too much clothes lest it be overwhelmed by the myriad of clothes, and yes, there are a myriad of them. Once Patamon saw that the machine was full enough, he closed it and decided to move on to something else.

He noticed that most of the house looked quite dusty. The table was dusty (Patamon could see Kanako's handprints on it clear as day), the little couch is dusty, even the TV is dusty! Patamon looked all over the house and found a feathered duster underneath the sink. Perfect! Patamon whisked it on everything he could see was covered with dust. The little table, the little couch, the dining room table, the broken ceiling fan, the drawers in Kanako's room, everything. After he finished dusting, he decided to clean. He saw a spray bottle and some paper towels. He sprayed the little table and washed it clean with the paper towel. He even washed down the windows and the TV (Patamon made sure he sprayed the paper towels, not the TV, since TVs and water, or cleaning substances, didn't mix well). Patamon was growing more and more surprised by how clean and pristine the house is getting, but he didn't let the surprise overtake him, as more cleaning was to be done.

After he washed everything, he decided to work on the dishes. He found some dish washing detergent under the sink, but he emptied the sink out and put the dirty dishes next to him since he didn't want to many any noise, nor did he want the dishes to topple over and break. A sound like that would certainly wake up even Kanako! How horrible it would be if she were to wake up in a drunken rage! Patamon didn't want that, so he tried to be as discreet, quiet, and, best of all, creative, with the dish washing as much as possible. He let the water fill the sink as he sprayed the laundry detergent in and, with some sponges, cleaned every dish one by one, one at a time, with great diligence. It took him a while, but he finally managed to finish the dishes. He looked at the clock, and was surprised to see that five hours had passed since he decided to clean! It would have been shorter if Patamon was a human, that way he could do more things in half the time, but alas, that is not to be. Not only that, Kosuke's still not home. Patamon didn't mind.

Soon, he decided to check on the laundry. The clothes are now wet, so he put them in the dryer one by one. His hands are still pruny because of washing dishes, and having them exposed to more cold water didn't exactly help, but Patamon tolerated it with silence as he put each piece of raiment in the dryer. Once he filled it up, he turned the dial to High Heat, Very Dry, and pressed the grey button. He decided to put some more clothes in the washer. The more and more Patamon did, the lighter and lighter he felt.

_'Wow! Who knew cleaning would be so much fun!'_ Patamon thought. Yes, he's actually enjoying cleaning and being a housekeeper! But cleaning is one thing. Cooking is another. But it's not time for dinner yet, so Patamon decided to put that in the back of his mind. Once the rest of the clothes were in the washer, Patamon flew back into the living room.

And wow! The living room is spotless! The windows are spotless and shining, the furniture is wiped clean of all its dust, the TV is still on but it doesn't look as blurry as it did before, no more cigarette butts, no more beer bottles everywhere, no more horrible smell! Patamon crossed his little arms in admiration.

"Kosuke's gonna love this, no doubt about it! I can't wait until he comes home! But wow, time sure did fly by!" Patamon edicted proudly but quietly, hoping to not wake up Kanako. He did remember that he hadn't been in Kanako's room. Then again, Kanako probably hadn't been in there since she began drinking. Curious, Patamon decided to fly into Kanako's room.

In the middle of the room is a big bed covered with orange and white covers. On the left is a closet. On the right is a bureau of drawers, probably full of clothes. It didn't look like much. In fact, it looked as though someone had taken a lot of things out in a hurry and didn't bother to give them back. Probably Kosuke's father when he left. Patamon decided to pull the closet door. Much to his surprise, not only are there clothes in there, but boxes! Lots and lots of boxes! His curiosity being piqued even more, Patamon decided to try and take out one of the boxes. It turned out to be quite heavy. Soon, the box fell open, causing something to fall out. Patamon braced himself for impact, but found that the impact wasn't as bad as he thought. He expected to find something in one of the boxes, but the things that fell out of the box for real left Patamon's brown eyes huge and his mouth wide open with surprise.

My Little Pony toys! Little multi-colored toy horses! Possibly hundreds of them! Normal horses, unicorns, and pegasi! In all kinds of colors! Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, white, purple, pink! Hair, manes, and tails all in different colors. There are even toy ponies with rainbow hair, tinsel hair, and even stuffed animal ponies! Patamon was nothing short of surprised. What grown woman would want to collect toys directed at little girls? And why collect literally every toy in existence? Some of them looked really old while some didn't look as though they had been touched in years, looking almost brand new. Talk about hardcore. Out of curiosity, Patamon randomly pulled one of the toys out. In particular, a white unicorn with a sea-shell like horn, a red tail with a purple streak with a matching mane, and violet eyes. On the unicorn's flank is a silver crescent moon with many pinkish purple stars. Patamon wondered why a grown woman would want to collect such girly toys like these, even at her age. Perhaps she's had them since she was little? Patamon couldn't help but wonder.

But that wasn't all. Patamon noticed that the box under it is slightly open as well. His curiosity reaching its peak, he decided to open it all the way. Much to his surprise, though he wasn't nearly as surprised as he was earlier, there are lots of notebooks in the box. Some looked really old, with bent spines, crumpled covers, and yellow paper. Some are only slightly recent. Patamon randomly picked out one of the notebooks, and on the front of it are the words Gusty's Bad Day written in bold black marker. Patamon opened it and was surprised to find that it's a My Little Pony inspired story centering around a grumpy pony named Gusty who had a bad day, and some of her friends try to cheer her up a little. Patamon noticed a lot of grammar errors and slightly wooden dialogue, but since the pages looked so old and the writing rather faded, he could tell that Kanako must have written this in her younger days. The more Patamon looked through the notebooks, the more he realized that Kanako was quite the My Little Pony fan, even going as far as writing her own stories about her favorite characters. Of course, not all the notebooks contained fan fiction. There are also diaries as well, with no locks. Patamon randomly picked out one of them and read it. The writing is slightly faded, with a few grammatical errors, but it's still eligible.

_Hanemoto Kanako's Diary  
>Today's Date: Tuesday, May 16, 1982<br>Weather: Sunny_

_I'm so happy! I got an A on my math test! I'm glad I studied really hard! Now mom will get me the new pony toys!_

_Hanemoto Kanako's Diary  
>Today's Date: Thursday, May 18, 1982<br>Weather: Cloudy_

_Argh! I hate Maruyama! He's so mean! I wish he'd stop being a bullee! He put gum in my hair and pushed Mio-chan in the mud and laughed! Good thing Tsujido-sensei yelled at him!_

These are just her earliest ones. Patamon noticed she spelled bully wrong. But the more he looked through her diaries, the more and more he learned about Kanako. She was born on April 23, 1974, making her 37 years old right now. She went to Eiyoh Elementary School, then Hikage Middle School, and Tsurumi High School. She only completed two years at a local community college and married Kawasaki Seiichi, a rich politician from a noble family at 23. She gave birth to Kosuke, written in her diary is Hanemoto Kosuke Tsubasa, on October 18, 1999, at 25 years old. Kanako also wanted to be a writer or a cartoon artist, but according to her entries, she got continually rejected. Producers and publishers claimed her works were too complex for kids or have no point or that her works won't sell or appeal to any audience. Not only that, Kanako asked Seiichi to help her out, but he said no. The producers and publishers didn't even go over her writings or even look them over properly, according to her. They didn't even give her a chance. Kanako persisted and went to every producer or publisher she could think of, but she was met with rejection every single time.

Then things got worse. Seiichi became irate and very critical of Kanako, criticizing and nitpicking at every little thing. He criticized her cooking, her cleaning, her way of raising Kosuke, her clothes, her hair, everything. Every single day. Kanako didn't understand why. Then, no more than a few months ago, Seiichi just packed his things and left. By things, he didn't take just his clothes and his own personal belongings. According to Kanako, he even sold the house and just threw Kosuke and Kanako into a cramped little house on another street owned by the cocky and insensitive landlord whom Kosuke disliked so much. He even took some things Kanako owned and didn't even bother to write her any letters or give them back. Patamon was stunned. Who knew Kosuke's father was so selfish and cantankerous? Patamon felt sad upon reading Kanako's life in her diaries, especially in her final one. In this one, she didn't put her name, the date, or the weather. Just this:

_Sorry, Diary. From this day forth, this is goodbye. My life has officially ended. Seiichi took the future out from beneath my feet. I see no light at the end of the tunnel. You've been a great solace, but I can no longer write. My life is now an eternally black dead end from which I will never come out._

Patamon even found himself tearing up a little, but he snapped out of it once he looked at the clock on Kanako's wall. It read 5:06 PM.

"Oh no! It's getting late! I'll make dinner!" Patamon exclaimed as he put down the diary and flew out of the room. He was in such a rush that he didn't put away the toys or the books properly. He was also oblivious to one huge detail entirely, and it would reveal his secret.

Patamon flew into the kitchen, hoping he could prepare at least something before Kosuke came home. Patamon watched Kosuke cook a few times. Kosuke isn't exactly the best cook, but the meals he did make were at least decent and edible. He did, however, like his curry, which is the only thing Kosuke could really make without any problems. Patamon even knew where the recipe for it was. He found it on top of the refrigerator. It read:

_Six skinless, boneless chicken breast halves cut into strips.  
>¼ cup of olive oil.<br>2 large onions, diced.  
>⅓ cup of curry powder.<em>

Patamon looked in the refrigerator for six pieces of chicken, but to his disappointment, there are only two. Oh well. He might as well use what he has. He decided to take the two pieces of chicken and cut them into strips. He made the cuts as slowly and gently as possible with a knife he found. Once he finished cutting the chicken, he decided to look for onions. Again, there's only one onion, but Patamon decided to use it anyway. With the same knife, he proceeded to chop the onion into bits. He didn't mind that the odor was getting into his eyes and making him tear up. He chopped and chopped the onion into bits with the knife as best he could, until part of the knife cut through one of his little black fingers.

"Ow!" Patamon yelped, causing the knife to clatter on the table. "Ow! Ow! Oww!" Patamon yelped again in pain. His finger pulsated a little, and he could see some blood seeping out of it a little. He quickly found a box of bandages, opened one little band-aid, and wrapped it around his finger. The pain was still there, but he proceeded to get back to cooking...well, he would have, if someone hadn't seen him. As Patamon was about to turn around, something caught his eye. He turned the opposite direction and gasped loudly.

Kanako's standing between the kitchen and the dining room, looking right at him! Kanako saw him move! Now she knows!

Patamon didn't dare speak, even though keeping quiet is futile now that Kanako's seen him. But much to his surprise, Kanako didn't look all that surprised. She looked at him with a rather straight look. Something else also caught Patamon's eye: Kanako doesn't look drunk. Her face isn't totally beet red, her hair looks less tangled than it was earlier, she has on a clean white T-shirt with flowers on it and a pair of long blue jean shorts, and her eyes don't look puffy and disoriented. She's actually sober! But at this point, Patamon actually wished she was drunk so she would mistake him for something in the background. Alas, this is not the case. The two stared at each other for quite a long while, without saying one word. Dead silence. Suddenly, Kanako ambled over to him and gently moved him away from the onions.

"You're doing it wrong," Kanako muttered in a low voice as she picked up the knife. "Watch."

In a second, Kanako began dicing the onions. Following the recipe, she put everything in a little skillet pot, then poured some olive oil and curry powder in it. After that, she put in the chicken and stirred everything for a bit. Then she crossed her arms at Patamon.

"Now we wait until it finishes cooking," Kanako told him. Patamon was still surprised. Kanako just showed him how to cook and acted like it's no big deal. How can she overlook the fact that a little pudgy, bat winged monster is staring her in the face and look so insouciant about it? Patamon decided to take a mighty plunge, knowing that hiding it any longer won't help him anymore.

"You're...not afraid of me?" Patamon asked in a low voice.

"Nah. I've seen worse," Kanako replied in the same low voice. "You're...Patamon, right?"

She knows his name? "Yeah. How did you know?"

"I've heard Kosuke talk to you a few times. Even seen you around, but I was too lazy and drunk to notice, let alone care," Kanako said, like the whole monster-in-your-room thing is the most normal thing in the world. She looked at the curry pot, which is still simmering.

"It's been a long time since I made dinner," Kanako said rather dejectedly. "I'm surprised Kosuke's managed to take all of this on himself."

Patamon felt a twinge of anger at Kanako, but he chose to show it in a calmer, more restrained way. "Kosuke does everything a parent should do. He cooks and cleans and pays the rent. Don't you feel bad?"

Kanako looked down at the floor dejectedly. "I do. Quite honestly, I wish I could be a parent to him again. But I can't. I've failed. Hard. I'm not fit to be his mother anymore. I've failed my own kid and I can't do a thing to help him. All I can do is drink, drink, drink."

"Why do you drink? It's not healthy, y'know?"

"Yes. I know. I drink because...I want to be somewhere else. Some place where Kosuke doesn't have to put up with trash like me," Kanako muttered.

Now Patamon was upset. "You're not trash! Don't say that! No human in this world is ever trash!"

"I screwed everything up by marrying Seiichi. Everything went downhill from there. I really thought he loved me, but I was wrong. He only married us just to make himself look good and so he can have the perfect heir to his fortune. Me and Kosuke proved to be obstacles to him, and he left because of my stupidity. I don't blame him. I am useless and can't do anything after all. Kosuke has every right to hate me," Kanako explained sadly and proceeded to walk into her room.

Patamon followed her. Kanako stopped when she saw all her old My Little Pony toys, diaries, and notebooks all over the floor.

"I-I-I'm so sorry! I forgot to clean those up! I really didn't mean to go through them! Honest!" Patamon pleaded, thinking that Kanako might get mad at him, but instead she kneeled in front of the box and began looking through the pile of toys. Patamon, seeing that Kanako's not angry at him, decided to help out.

"Ah, those were my glory days. I was quite the avid My Little Pony fan girl back in my day. I saw all the specials, all the episodes of the cartoons. Heck, I even saw the sequels that came after it. I even made my own stories about my favorite characters and wrote them down," Kanako explained with a smile creeping onto her face, though Patamon could tell that her weary, tired eyes still looked sad.

Kanako's eyes then lit up a little once she picked up one of the toys. The one she has in her hand is a little white unicorn with a green tail and mane with a crimson red streak in both, and five reddish purple maple leaves on her flank. Patamon noticed that she held onto it and smiled at it for a long time.

"This one is named Gusty. She's my favorite unicorn. She's impatient and grouchy all the time, and she uses her magic to summon the wind and blow everyone away. She was a lot like me back in my childhood years," Kanako said. Patamon showed her the red/purple haired unicorn from before.

"Who's this one?" Patamon asked.

"Moon Dancer," Kanako replied softly.

Patamon then found a pink pegasus with blue hair and two blue lightning bolts on her flank. "Who's this one?"

"Firefly. She's my favorite pegasus."

Patamon found a white pony with pale pink hair and a funny looking pink snowflake on her flank. "Who's this one?"

"Sundance."

He found a pale blue pegasus with pink hair and blue and pink whistles on her flank. "Who's this one?"

"Wind Whistler."

He found a few others, and Kanako named them right away.

"Medley, Posey, Lickety-Split, Moonstone, Twilight, Sunbeam, and Surprise."

_'Wow. She really is an avid fan!'_ Patamon thought, surprised by Kanako's ability to know their names by heart.

"Does Kosuke know about your obsession?" Patamon asked.

"No. He doesn't, though I don't mind if he did find out," Kanako said. Then she sighed. "Y'know, I wanted to be a writer and cartoon maker. Some of the new cartoons that were coming out were kinda stupid and badly executed and pointless. I wanted to make grand, complex stories, with engaging characters, interesting stories, and good messages."

"But producers and publishers rejected you?"

"Yeah. They kept saying stuff like _'Kids won't like or understand this stuff'_ or _'This won't get you an audience'_ or _'This isn't what kids want these days'_ or _'Nobody's going to watch something like this'_ or _'We can't take the risks. It'll be too much for us.'_ I don't really blame them though. I was a fool to think that my stories would be accepted by everyone. Eventually, I gave up on my dream and focused on raising Kosuke."

"You did a good job with that. Kosuke's a nice boy, though he gets kinda temperamental at times."

"I know. I overheard him saying bad stuff about that Yun girl before. I wasn't going to tolerate that."

"I saw you scolding him about that."

"Yes. I may not have seen her much, but I could tell right away that that little Yun girl was something special. Something I never found in my girlhood. I sure didn't have friends like Yun, so sweet and dear and lovable. A real sweetheart, she was. I wonder how she's doing right now?"

"She's doing great."

"I'm glad."

"Maybe we should have them over here some time."

"Y'know, you remind me of Kosuke when he was young."

"I do?"

"Yep. You're cheerful, childish, and friendly, but when the time comes, you're mature and understanding. Kosuke was like that. You're everything he used to be. Kosuke's written all over you. I guess it's no wonder you're his partner."

As Kanako and Patamon cleaned up the mess, a silence creeped between them until Patamon broke it.

"Do you want to get better? I don't think it's too late."

"I want to. I really do. But what else is there to do? My life is at a dead end. I'll never get better," Kanako muttered sadly, her smile dissipating at last. "Not only that, all I do is cause trouble and make things worse for not just Kosuke, but for everyone I'm around. I can't even let Kosuke go out because I'm too afraid of losing him, the only thing that's precious to me. I'm nothing but a parasite."

Patamon remembered that during Kosuke's angry period (as Patamon called it), he said the same thing to Yun. He wondered if maybe Kosuke really didn't say those things to Yun because they were about her. Maybe they were directed at Kanako but he was too wound up to take his anger out on her, so he chose to take it all out on Yun, who did nothing wrong, instead. But Patamon didn't want to believe the things Kanako is saying about herself.

"I don't think you're a parasite, or a bad person. Not at all. But I do think you should stop drinking and be a mom to Kosuke again. He needs you right now. He wants to be a little kid again," Patamon told her.

Kanako had to admit that he had a point, though people would think she's crazy for getting advice from a little pudgy, guinea pig-like animal with wings. Once the boxes were put back in their places, Kanako stood up.

"Watch the curry, will you? Kosuke will be home soon," Kanako said as she sat on her bed. Patamon decided to leave...though that turned out to be a mistake. Kanako looked under her bed and...pulled out a bottle of rum.

Finally, the curry was ready! And right on cue, too, because Kosuke just walked through the door!

"Whoa! What the freak?" Kosuke yelped when he saw the house. It's totally spotless! The windows are clean. Everything's been dusted. The piles of dirty clothes have been taken out. All the empty beer bottles and squashed cigarette butts have been thrown away. Everything's pristine and spotless! He wondered if maybe he walked into the wrong house, since Kanako is usually in the living room doing nothing all day. Patamon flew in front of Kosuke jauntily.

"Welcome home, Kosuke! I hope you don't mind, but I cleaned the house while you were gone. I even made curry for dinner!" Patamon told him, smiling hugely. Kosuke looked at the small plates of curry on the dining room table, smiled at Patamon brightly, and hugged him.

"You really are the best friend I could ever have, Patamon!" Kosuke exclaimed. Patamon didn't mind being hugged by Kosuke. He loved this. With that, Kosuke and Patamon decided to have dinner together. Kosuke took a bite of Patamon's curry and was surprised.

"Wow! This is actually good!" Kosuke exclaimed.

"Thanks. There weren't enough ingredients that I could use so I just used what I had," Patamon told him modestly, blushing a little.

"Did you do all of this yourself?"

"I tried to, but I messed up a few times. If you can believe it, your mom helped me."

Immediately when Patamon said it, Kosuke's smile faded away. Patamon could see the drastic change in his expression, already realizing that something is wrong.

"I-I'm sorry! I'm not trying to make you mad! Yeah, she found me out as I tried cooking dinner," Patamon explained.

"It's alright. People make a lot of noise in the kitchen so I guess it was inevitable," Kosuke muttered. Patamon could tell there was some bitterness in Kosuke's voice. Once Kosuke and Patamon finished dinner, they decided to sit in the now finally clean living room and watch some TV. Kosuke channel surfed until something caught his eye.

"Oh! A Martin Luther King documentary! And in English, too! Sweet!" Kosuke exclaimed as he kept the channel on.

The TV showed a late showing of a man standing at a podium edicting a very long speech. They were about half an hour late in watching it, but they got to the beginning of his speech. Patamon noticed some odd things about the documentary.

"Kosuke? Why's it in black and white?" Patamon asked.

"The video was shot in the year 1963, and they didn't have color videos or high rez technology like we do now," Kosuke explained calmly.

"Why is that man's skin dark?" Patamon asked innocently, not meaning it as a derogatory comment.

"He was born that way. America, back in that day, didn't like it when white people and colored people co-existed, and the colored people always got the short end of the stick in just about everything. That's why Dr. King made that speech, in the hope that everyone will put aside their differences and live in harmony," Kosuke explained.

Patamon went back to the video, and noticed how strong and booming the man's voice is. He could also feel passion. Strong, blazing passion.

_"Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood."_

Patamon wondered if maybe the man also felt grounded and trapped by the chains of "racial injustice" as he says. Patamon certainly knew from experience that Kosuke is trapped to the ground by the chains put on him by his mother, who chose to wallow in her self-pity instead of move on and be a proper mother to Kosuke, the poverty that has come with it, the lack of food, and the obligation to pay rent to the cocky and insensitive landlord who always banged on their door in a cantankerous and virulent mood. Patamon wondered if Kosuke wanted to have wings. Humans don't fly, but Kosuke wants more than anything to fly. Maybe this man also wanted to fly, and help his people fly. He is talking about freedom after all. Freedom from the chains of racial prejudice.

_"I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day."_

Patamon couldn't help but wonder if people actually took his wonderful, passionate speech to heart. The speech hadn't ended yet so the documentary had yet to show of it's effects. Patamon also noticed something else about the man. Something nobody else could see, or even imagine. At one point in the video, Patamon could have sworn he saw wings on that man. Especially when he got to his many "let freedom rings."

_"This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning,_ 'My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrims' pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.'_"_

The more Patamon watched the documentary, the more he became immersed with it. All kinds of images squirmed through Patamon's head: the man giving the speech having wings, spreading them out with aplomb and flying high into the heavens, with his beloved people joining forces and following him, yet he gets shot down by a cruel person. However, his sacrifice was not in vain. The remaining groups carried his body into Heaven and sought for a better, more free world. Well, this is just Patamon's perception of what happened. The man got assassinated and the racial prejudices slowly dissipated. Once the documentary ended, Kosuke and Patamon decided to go out and play a little. They haven't done that in quite a while. They played for about a few minutes until they saw two girls approaching them.

"Oh! Kosuke-kun!"

"Hi, Kosuke-kun! What's up?"

Minako, Otoya, Salamon, and Labramon have arrived, looking quite cheerful and jaunty. Minako has on a short sleeved pale green T-shirt with a white and yellow flower on it and the words "LIFE IS GOOD" embroidered on it in dark blue yarn and beige khaki shorts. Otoya has on a short-sleeved button up red shirt over a short-sleeved white shirt with dark blue stars all over it, an aqua green skirt, and sandals. Salamon and Labramon stood by their tamers dutifully. Kosuke and Patamon smiled and ambled over to them.

"Hi, Minako and Otoya," Kosuke said with a smile.

"Hi! How are you all doing?" Patamon asked jauntily.

"Quite well, thank you very much," Labramon told him with a smile.

"I was just at Otoya's house. Her family is awesome. They baked cookies for the church bake sale and let me have some," Minako explained.

"They were delicious! Wan!" Salamon piped in happily.

"I'll bet they were," Kosuke said.

"I'm gonna go on a date with Akira-kun tomorrow! Yippee!" Otoya exclaimed happily.

"Akira-kun?" Patamon asked.

"He's this seventh grader Otoya's all head over heels with. Y'know, that handsome guy with the brown hair and the mole under his right eye?" Minako explained.

"Ah, I get you," Kosuke said.

Labramon turned his head away when Otoya mentioned Akira, something that Patamon happened to notice, but decided not to bring it up. Otoya then calmed herself down.

"Oh! That's right! Don't you have to study for Monday's test? Sorry if this sounds rather rude, but I remember you didn't exactly get the best grade on the last one," Otoya said with concern.

"Yeah, I know. I'm gonna study right after this, though I don't know if it'll help any," Kosuke said.

"I can help you out if you want," Minako told him reassuringly.

"Mina-chan's great with helping people study!" Salamon piped in.

"That's very true," Labramon agreed.

"Don't you have to get home? Won't your parents be worried? Besides, Mom's here and I don't think she'll want anyone here," Kosuke told her, worried that Kanako might be drinking again and might see them and drive them away.

"It's fine. In my house dinner doesn't start until seven, and I have plenty of time," Minako told him.

"I can help you out also. I'm really good at science," Otoya said.

"That's also true," Labramon agreed.

Kosuke felt a little hesitant about letting Minako, Otoya, and their Digimon into the house despite the fact that Patamon single-handedly managed to clean it up all by himself and get rid of all the beer bottles, the cigarettes, and the noisome odors they gave off. But he has a backyard, and if they could study out there...Kosuke smiled.

"Okay. Then let's do it! We can study in the back yard. Mom never goes out there," Kosuke told them jauntily.

"Yep! It's great back there!" Patamon added empathetically.

"Then let's go! Wan!" Salamon barked happily.

Unfortunately, they didn't even get to go inside first, because before they knew it, Kanako was at the doorway, looking quite red in the face and looking like she's about to fall over any minute. Even more unfortunate, they all saw a look in Kanako's eyes that they did NOT want to see: anger. It's clear that she's drunk right now despite the fact that she's not holding a beer bottle in her hand.

"What do you...burglars think yer doin' here?" Kanako growled like a lion about to attack it's prey. Patamon stepped in between her and Kosuke.

"Kanako-san! Stop! It's just Mina-chan and Otoya-chan, Kosuke's friends! They're not burglars!" Patamon tried to reason with her, but it didn't work as Kanako stumbled out of the doorway and proceeded to approach them. Kosuke kept Otoya and Minako behind him as she tried to assault them.

"Get out! Get out right now! You don't belong here!" Kanako growled again.

"So this is what a drunk person is like," Labramon mused to himself quietly. Salamon, Minako, and Otoya were getting scared.

"Run," Kosuke whispered to them. Without any hesitation or final words, the two frightened girls took their Digimon and quickly ran away. Kanako fell to the ground as they did, having lost her balance. Kosuke and Patamon both watched as Minako, Otoya, Salamon, and Labramon all ran from his house. Kanako tried to stand up, but Kosuke pushed her to the ground again.

"YOU IDIOT!" Kosuke yelled angrily. "And you wonder why I never invite anyone here, because you keep driving them away and acting like they're about to kill us! When are you going to stop focusing so much on yourself and think about others and what you've done to them? Of course you won't, because you prefer wallowing in your own self-pity over being a parent to your own kid! Dad left because of you!"

With that, Kosuke angrily stomped back into his house.

"Kosuke!" Patamon went after him, but Kosuke slammed the door and wouldn't let either Patamon or the drunk and somnolent Kanako inside.

Kosuke jumped into his head, buried his face into the only pillow that he has, and screamed passionately in it. He was sick and tired of it. Sick of Kanako getting drunk and driving his friends away whenever they stopped by to do just about anything. Sick of having to clean up her messes. Sick of having to take care of her when she should be taking care of him. Sick of the fact that his dad abandoned them and didn't give them a second thought. Speaking of his dad, Kosuke couldn't help but remember the day. The horrible day in which their life fell apart.

(flashback)

_It was six months ago, and it started when Kosuke came home from school. He walked home, and he was almost there until he saw a scene that looked very strange to him. His dad, a rather tall but bulky man with curly light brown hair, a slightly shriveled up face, piercing eyes, and a very authoritative demeanor, was outside, holding two metal suitcases and walking toward a white limousine and Kanako had both her hands around one of his arms, trying desperately to keep him in their old house. Old because this is the place where Kosuke used to live, a nice white house with a porch, big yards front and back, three stories high, and full of big rooms. His dad kept giving Kanako an angry and supercilious look while Kanako looked as though she were about to cry any minute._

_"Seiichi! Please reconsider! You have to stay!" Kanako pleaded._

_"I've made up my mind and I'm not going to change it! I'm leaving this rat hole and I refuse to have anything more to do with you, you wretched piece of trash!" Seiichi yelled angrily._

_"What did we do wrong? Please, tell me!" Kanako yelled as she tried to drag Seiichi back into the house, but Seiichi exploded into a paroxysm of anger and threw Kanako against the wall, dropping one of his suitcases as he did, which prompted Kosuke into running toward them._

_"This isn't about what you did! It's about what I did, and I married scum like you! You're the lowest of the low, and I refuse to associate myself with street scum like you! I can't believe I thought you could help me prosper! My reputation nearly fell to ruins because of you!" Seiichi yelled angrily._

_"Get off her!" Kosuke yelled as he tried to yank Seiichi's arm off of Kanako. Seiichi finally let go of Kanako, but he pushed Kosuke onto the sidewalk._

_"Kosuke!" Kanako exclaimed in a timorous voice as she ran to help him up._

_"I thought that by marrying you I could get some more power! More ways to connect with all the world's property! More ways to reign supreme! But now I realize you're all just a bunch of low-life weaklings who will never amount to anything! You're all just going to drag me down at your own convenience!" Seiichi yelled, staring at them superciliously, which made Kosuke mad._

_"Who are you to decide that, Dad? We didn't do anything wrong!" Kosuke yelled._

_"And you, boy, are never going to inherit any fortune of mine, so don't waste your breath!" Seiichi yelled. "I thought you would be the perfect successor, but you have this piece of scum written all over your face, and I know for a fact that you'll never prosper either!"_

_This did it for Kosuke. He kicked Seiichi in the leg and nearly made him fall._

_"Is THAT why you gave birth to me? Just so you could just throw money on me and force me to run whatever stupid company you run? Well touche, because I wasn't planning on following your dirty footsteps anyhow, nor will I ever!" Kosuke screamed._

_Seiichi spat at the sidewalk. "I can't believe a stupid stripling like you even has my blood running through your veins! I should never have made this stupid mistake of getting involved with the whole ungrateful lot of you! You're all on your own from now on! Oh, by the way, I've sold this house and bought you guys a nastier lookin' house on the next street. Consider it my final farewell gift to you, not that I care!"_

_The limousine driver honked a few times, and Seiichi, carrying both of his suitcases in hand, walked right in. The white limousine sped away, leaving an absolutely choleric Kosuke and a heartbroken and appalled Kanako sitting in front of their house which, apparently, is no longer theirs! Neither Kosuke nor Kanako could believe that it was actually happening! Seiichi married Kanako because he wanted power, but Kanako never achieved her dreams so now he disowns her and deems her useless and worthless! Seiichi had a son so he could bequeath him with his fortune, but Kosuke didn't turn out the way he wanted, so it seems Seiichi has disowned him as well._

_The house they were forced to move into was absolutely nothing like their old house. It's small and dingy and cramped, with not a lot of space. Kanako had tried to make ends meet, raising Kosuke and working two jobs. But soon, she succumbed to the temptations of alcohol, spending all her money on bottles of rum instead of food, bills, new merchandise, or rent to pay the cocky and insensitive landlord with. Kanako drank and drank until she lost both jobs and her motivation to do just about anything, even so much as to walk and raise her kid! Kosuke felt betrayed. Betrayed by his dad for having ulterior motive for marrying Kanako and having him and being dissatisfied with what he got, betrayed by his mom for choosing alcohol over him, and the entire world._

(end flashback)

Kosuke shook his head as he tried to do his homework and study for Monday's science test. He didn't want to let those unpleasant memories fill his head and take up his study space, even though the painful memory left a huge impression on him. Finally, Kosuke finished his homework, and he found inspiration for a new poem. It took him about half an hour to finish it because he needed to find the right words for it, but he wrote it. It read:

**Drunk**

_She is forever drunk,  
>She lies around the floor like junk,<br>Sitting around in a funk,  
>Looking like a street punk.<em>

_All she does is lay around,  
>Like a corpse on the ground,<br>The ground in which she is bound,  
>Looking as though she never heard a sound.<em>

_She abandons her own kid,  
>Like the trash covered by a lid,<br>Smelling like squid,  
>Never taking a bid.<em>

_She is the cause of my pain,  
>The painful memories lingering in my brain,<br>Trapping me to the ground with her chains,  
>Putting on me a giant strain.<em>

_Oh, how I yearn to fly,  
>High in the sky,<br>I almost want to cry,  
>Because I will likely die.<br>All I ask is...why?_

Kosuke felt proud of the poem, though it reminded him of some bad things. Suddenly, he heard a small knock on the door.

"Kosuke?" It was Patamon. Kosuke plodded over to the door and let a very concerned and dejected Patamon inside.

"Hey, little guy. Sorry for scaring you back there," Kosuke muttered remorsefully. For Patamon, not his mother, whom he held no remorse for.

"Kosuke? Did...did you really have to yell?" Patamon asked.

Kosuke was about to reply, but his digivice suddenly started beeping.

"What's up?" Patamon asked.

"Hang on a sec. I'll check," Kosuke flipped open his digivice and, much to his surprise, it's a text from Minako!

**To: Kosuke**

**From: Minako**

**Subject: Study solution?**

**Hey Kosuke! I have an idea of how you can study! We'll meet you at your backyard tomorrow morning at 10:00 AM!**

Kosuke and Patamon looked at each other with confused faces, but they nodded and walked through the rest of the day.

Footnotes:

1. Shichisei means seven stars. Hokuto means north star or Big Dipper, so Hokuto Shichisei literally means Seven Stars of the Big Dipper.


	52. Time Off From Home

EPISODE 52: Time Off From Home

Saturday zipped by, and Sunday eventually came around. Oddly enough, it's quite a rainy day! Huge, thick, dark, ominous-looking grey clouds hung over the town like a bucket that had been knocked over, pouring out all the water that's in it. Rain crashed down like garbage being loaded into a garbage truck, coming down in sheets that seemed to laugh at umbrellas and rain coats. There's no thunder or lighting, but the swift and merciless pounding rain wasn't going to let anybody get through it's myriad powerful little water droplets unscathed. Huge puddles formed at the end of every driveway or street corner. Balled up drops of water fell from leaves and flower petals, even though they themselves were being harassed and bombarded by the bullies that are the voluminous droplets of water pouring from a rather very angry sky. People scurried around their houses, making sure their houses didn't flood.

If there's one thing Kosuke hates, it's rain. He mostly has quite an aversion to it because it keeps him from getting out of the house, which means he's stuck with Kanako all day. As of right now, she's still sleeping in her bedroom as sober as can be. She hadn't had any drinks since she drove away Minako and Otoya yesterday, but Kosuke was still incensed with her because of what she had done. Kosuke loves his pristine blue sky, cloudless and without one ugly smear. Sadly, the big bad grey clouds have arrived to literally rain on his parade for real and now show not just him, but anyone any mercy at all. Kosuke wondered if Minako was going to come by his house to tell him about the solution she found to his studying problem. One good thing about the rain is that it actually gave Kosuke time to do some early morning studying. Patamon helped him out a few times too. Patamon was flying around happily when he felt some water drop onto his head. He looked up and gasped.

"There's water coming through the ceiling!" Patamon exclaimed, which stimulated Kosuke into looking up at it in alarm, just as appalled by it as Patamon.

"Awww, confound it all! They could have at least fixed this place up before we were forced to move in here!" Kosuke complained angrily as he left to run into the kitchen. He pulled out some duct tape, a piece of card board, and a rather tall stool. He placed the stool under the spot where the water is leaking, stood on it, and put the card board on the hole.

"Patamon, would you mind holding this while I put the duct tape on it?" Kosuke asked.

"Sure! I'd love to!" Patamon replied jauntily, happy to be able to have something to do for a change. Like Kosuke, he also doesn't like being cooped up in the house all the time.

Happily, Patamon flew upward and put his little black hands on the card board, holding it in place as Kosuke let go of it and proceeded to put the duct tape on it. Once it was on, Kosuke pressed on it deeply with his hands so it will be nice and secure. Kosuke and Patamon both let go and stopped to see if water would permeate through it and fall onto the floor. Thankfully, not one drop came out.

"Yay! It worked!" Patamon cheered. Kosuke flashed a smile. The two of them high fived each other. Kosuke went and put the stool away. Patamon then remembered something Kosuke just said.

"You say you were forced to live here. What do you mean by that?" Patamon asked curiously as Kosuke returned.

"My parents and I used to live in a bigger, much nicer house on the next street. If you can believe it, we were kinda wealthy before Dad up and left. He felt we were too stupid to continue living in that house, so he sold it and threw us here like garbage," Kosuke explained.

Patamon stopped flying and he descended onto the table in response to his feelings of dejection. "Oh. That's horrible."

"I know. Stupid, right?" Kosuke mused. "My old room was much better and much nicer than what I have now. We actually had a really nice back yard too."

"What was it like?"

"It had some swings, and lots of open space for us kids to run around in. There was this big tree we'd climb on and play games around. If you can believe it, I used to love climbing trees and seeing the world from high up. I wasn't afraid of heights at all."

"I think I can see why."

"You're right. Even back then, I had a desire for freedom. Yun and Minako aren't climbers so they chickened out most of the time. I really do miss that back yard."

"I'll bet you do."

"It's raining really hard out. I don't think Minako's gonna come in this weather. I would actually like to see her try though."

"But isn't it kinda slippery out? I wouldn't want her to get hurt coming here."

As it would turn out, Kosuke and Patamon both found their answer. A second after Patamon said that, a knock was heard at the door. Kosuke stood up and ran over to answer it. As he opened it, the rain howled and poured in at full force with great power, along with some wearing a big purple rain coat stumbling inside, sopping wet. Kosuke removed the rain coat and stepped back with shock.

"Minako? Salamon?"

Yes, Minako and Salamon actually came to Kosuke's house despite the horrid weather! Minako, despite how sopping wet her jacket looks, came in dry, with her blonde ponytail perfectly dry and supported by her usual purple ribbon. She came in wearing a long sleeved violet red shirt with a small V-neck and a white piece of cloth filling it up, black jeans, and purple rain boots that matched her coat. Salamon was tucked in Minako's arm underneath her coat, so she's dry as well. On Minako's back is her big purple backpack.

"By God, Mina! You actually came to my house on foot in this horrible weather?" Kosuke yelled, shocked by the fact that Minako is actually gutsy enough to not only suggest going through pouring rain, but actually pull it off. Minako smiled brightly.

"Yep! A little rain won't stop me from fulfilling my promise!" Minako said cheerfully. Kosuke, still stricken dumb with disbelief, scratched his hair a little.

"Jeez. You're crazy," Kosuke mused.

"I know," Minako replied, not phased by Kosuke's comment.

"It was all her idea! I didn't think we could go out in this weather, but she kept on insisting that we come anyway! Wan!" Salamon piped in, dumbstuck herself.

"I'll bet it was tough getting here," Patamon told her.

"Actually, it wasn't all THAT though. I watched the weather early this morning, and I made sure to check which areas had the worst cases of flooding," Minako explained as she placed her backpack on the couch.

"But what about your parents? Aren't they worried?" Kosuke asked with concern.

"They're still sleeping right now. They both worked really late last night, so they came home dead tired. Besides, I found out this rain's not gonna last long. It'll be gone by noon, but it'll let up by at least 9:30 AM. My parents don't get up until late in the afternoon when they work late at night, so it'll be fine!" Minako explained as she got her digivice out.

"It's true. Once they work late and fall into bed, they sleep like hibernating bears, and NOTHING can wake them up! Not even a rain storm! Wan!" Salamon piped in with a smile.

"Wow! You sure are sneaky, Mina-chan!" Patamon said with his little arms crossed.

"Nobody said I was one hundred percent goody two shoes," Minako said.

"So what was it you wanted to talk to me about? You said something about a way to help me study?" Kosuke asked.

Minako snapped her fingers with delight. "Yep! I've been thinking about it a lot, and based on some research I did, I suggest that we should go to the Digital World!"

"The Digital World? To study?" Kosuke asked, confused.

"Yes. As you know, the time we spend in the Digital World barely has any effect on the passage of time in the real world. Think about it! We could spend months in the Digital World and not a minute would pass! It would be as though we never left!" Minako explained, looking quite happy and enthusiastic about what she's suggesting.

"You're right. Whenever we came back from the Digital World, not much time passed," Patamon said.

"Exactly. Since the passage of time in the Digital World doesn't have much effect here, I thought it'd be a great place to study! Don't worry, the Digimon will come with us in case something bad happens," Minako explained again.

"You're always one to properly prepare for stuff, Minako," Kosuke said, smiling a little.

"Yep! When it comes to trips or picnics or anything like that, Mina-chan's no slouch! Wan!" Salamon piped in cheerfully. Minako threw on her backpack.

"If you want, we can go right now!" Minako said.

"But does the digivice work indoors? And how will we know if that mystical veil thing is open or not?" Kosuke asked. He remembered the time Yun told him about what happened to her and Aria in the Digital World when Airdramon attacked, and Yun made sure to tell them about the mystical veil.

"Yun said it works indoors just fine. As for the mystical veil...honestly, I'm still trying to find out more about it. I don't quite know when it'll be open or not, but there's nothing wrong with trying, is there?" Minako said, still a little dubious about the mystical veil herself. Kosuke got his digivice, books, notebooks, and D-Heart.

"Well, you're here now, so I guess there's no turning back. I say let's go for it," Kosuke said.

"Okay! I'll come too!" Patamon said.

Minako and Kosuke both held onto each other's hands, opened their digivices, pressed the door button, and waited for a digital portal to appear. Thankfully, one appeared right beneath their feet, and they fell in, with Salamon and Patamon joining them. They didn't feel scared this time, and they kept their eyes closed as they fell into the Digital World patiently, even though it must be confessed that Patamon and Salamon clung to both of their tamers with dear life as they cowered in fear, though they refused to vocalize it.

Although they didn't expect to do so, they realized, without opening their eyes, that they landed on something soft. Kosuke, Minako, Patamon, and Salamon all opened their eyes to a very strange yet enthralling sight. They landed on a place full of soft orange sand, but it was what was on them that surprised them. Coral reefs! Huge, shining, mandarin orange coral reefs. They were all awestruck by the sight. The reefs stood tall and dignified, their little wiggly leaves being carried by the wind. They looked exactly like trees, looking as though they're saying "I've gone far beyond the sea, so I'm closer to heaven than you are!" Kosuke was the first to speak upon being stricken dumb by the sight.

"Aren't coral reefs supposed to be underwater?" Kosuke asked.

"This is very illogical and makes absolutely no sense, but nobody really said that real world rules had to apply to the Digital World. But I HAVE to say...they're beautiful!" Minako exclaimed.

"Oh! Oh! I know this place! This is Topaz Reef!" Salamon yipped as Kosuke sat down on a nearby rock.

"Topaz Reef?" Kosuke asked.

"Yep! I remember coming here once before! It's far into the Net Ocean, and it's one of the most popular rest stops for under sea Digimon, or anyone in general. Unfortunately, it's too small and compressed for Digimon to inhabit, so there's nobody who lives here," Salamon explained cheerfully.

"I can see why it's called topaz. It's beautiful," Kosuke mused.

"Do you see any digital spots, Mina-chan?" Patamon asked curiously.

Minako looked around cautiously.

"I see a couple over there, but they're far away. There's some in the ocean, but they look like they're reforming," Minako explained, using her index finger to point to the places where she sees the unstable digital spots.

"We'd better avoid those," Patamon said.

"That'll be easy, since we're here to study and all. This place is perfect!" Kosuke exclaimed with a bright smile as he opened one of his books. Minako sat down on another rock and opened her laptop. Thankfully, the weather in the Digital World right now is nice and sunny, without a cloud in sight, and the ocean is as calm as a sleeping baby and flat as hardwood floors.

"This will give me time to do more research," Minako mused happily.

"Hey Patamon! While Mina-chan and Kosuke-kun study, wanna play?" Salamon asked sweetly.

"Sure! I'd love to! I've been so cooped up in the house all day, I didn't think I could last much longer! Come on! Let's play!" Patamon replied jauntily, which made Salamon happy.

Neither Kosuke nor Minako brought any watches with them, so they're not able to tell how much time passed, but they didn't mind, since once they got back to the real world, no time would pass at all. Kosuke studied diligently and silently, Minako searched for answers on various parts of the Digital World, some she managed to find and some she didn't, and Salamon and Patamon played merrily and happily to their hearts' content. They chased each other around, wrestled each other playfully, climbed the huge reefs (or in Patamon's case, flew) and pretended to be lookouts on a ship, searched for pretty rocks and sea shells, and made sand castles with the wet sand using their findings as decorations. Minako and Kosuke looked at them and saw how happy they are.

"We used to play like that, didn't we?" Minako asked.

"Yeah we did," Kosuke replied.

"Want to join them?"

"I guess there's no harm in taking a little break."

Minako and Kosuke got up and decided to join them.

"Hey! Can we join you two?" Kosuke asked.

"Sure! Come on down, friends!" Patamon gestured happily.

Minako, Kosuke, Salamon, and Patamon all played together happily. They chased each other around, wrestled with each other playfully, climbed the big reefs and pretended to be lookouts on a big ship, looked for rocks and sea shells, made sand castles, everything you do on a beach, they did. Minako or Kosuke didn't bring any swim suits so they couldn't go in the water, but they didn't mind. They weren't particularly interested in going in the water anyway. If they came home wet, their parents would think that they were out in the rain and scold them severely (well, Kanako wouldn't notice if she was drunk, but Minako's parents surely would). Minako and Kosuke laughed heartily.

Kosuke couldn't remember the last time he was this happy. For so many months, he was forced to take on all of a parent's responsibilities. He cooked meals, paid the rent, cleaned the house, everything. Kosuke felt so bogged down by every one of these tasks, and his simmering feelings of hatred and anger against those who betrayed him so cruelly, that he no longer felt that he could be a child or even have a childhood. Not only that, these feelings of hatred spilled out in currents at those he loved and he didn't realize it until it was bashed into his cranium by Angemon, who managed to help him come to his senses. Kosuke had lost all hope and thought he could never be a child again. Thankfully, this isn't the case. Ever since Patamon came into his life, Kosuke finally began to realize what he had lost. Ever since his dad left and his mom turned to alcohol to take her away from reality, Kosuke focused too much on himself and began losing his ability to care for others and be nice to them. Patamon managed to remind him of who he really is. At first, Kosuke didn't know why, but then it hit him: Patamon is literally everything Kosuke was when he was a child: jaunty, cheerful, friendly, and at some points, kind, understanding, and with a heart of gold. It's no wonder Patamon was his partner, because he's everything Kosuke was and always wanted to be. Kosuke wondered if maybe Patamon was the kind of person he's yearned for all his life, everything a person should be. Patamon scolded him and treated him like a normal parent would if he did something bad, but he never talked down to him or treated him like he wasn't worth anything, like his dad did when he decided to leave. Kosuke couldn't be happier, and he finally realized it: Patamon is the best thing that ever happened to him.

For Minako, it was another story. Since she knew from experience that Melody was the closest to Yun in terms of friendship, she remembered that she was the closest to Kosuke when they were younger. Back then, Minako was pretty much the mother figure of their little quartet even before the Digimon Brigade came around. She made sure they didn't get into trouble (though it must be confessed that Minako did cause her own share of mischief), she made sure they didn't get into any fights, taught them the right things to teach, and kept them all in line, especially when it was important to do so. Sure, they made sure to give her time to be a kid of her own, which Minako appreciated greatly, but over the years, she realized that their little quartet was crumbling and drifting apart because of things going on in their lives. Kiyoshi dying, Melody disappearing, Kosuke's father leaving, and Kosuke's own temporary regression, all of those things led to the quartet eventually drifting apart. Minako always was a rather altruistic girl and always made sure to give her friends space when needed (Yun did the same), but even she was too locked up by her sadness to care about what happened. She wondered what she would have done if Salamon hadn't come into her life. Or Yun. Or just about anyone who cared about her or is important to her. Sometimes, Minako wished to go back to the happy days where they played and jumped around and watched cartoons and read books and told funny jokes together. Now, Minako felt as though those days have finally returned thanks to the Digimon and the Digimon Brigade, and even she couldn't be happier. She wondered if she finally found peace with herself.

Salamon and Minako were happily wrestling in the sand when Salamon's cream-colored ears perked up in alarm.

"What's wrong, Salamon?" Minako asked with concern.

"I hear Digimon talking! In the ocean!" Salamon exclaimed.

"Where?"

"Right over there!"

Salamon pointed to the area in which she heard the voices. Minako gestured Salamon to be quiet, which she did, and decided to very slowly tip toe to the ocean a little. She took her shoes and socks off so she wouldn't get them wet, and she liked the feel of the Digital World's ocean water, which felt no different than the ocean at home, but like Salamon said, she heard voices.

"Do ya see that? Those are humans!"

"Wow! What a surprise! I've never seen real humans before! I always thought they were just an old Digi-folk tale!"

"I guess they've shown themselves to us at last."

"So what should we do?"

"Well, they don't look ferocious or volatile, and they're a lot smaller and scrawnier lookin' than I imagined, so I guess it wouldn't hurt to meet them and say hi. But we still have to be careful. Who knows what could happen."

"Isn't that a bit risky, though?"

"Yeah, I know. But still, let's see how everything turns out."

"Look! I see other little Digimon with them too! Wow! They've actually domesticated Digimon too!"

"Is that a bad thing or a good thing?"

"I dunno."

Two male voices spoke to each other from underwater, but Salamon and Minako, with their ears perked up, managed to hear it as lucidly as though they were listening to their favorite music. Finally, two heads poked out from under the sea. One of them looks like a shark clad with sea blue armor, with an upside down grey triangle on the tip of it's head and three grey rectangles above it. It's eyes are sea blue and it's teeth looked quite ferocious, though the Digimon didn't sound as though he was going to use them. The second one is a big bluish purple sting ray, with red eyes, not glowing Dark Emblem eyes, a pale yellow marking on it's head, and two long antennae. Neither of them have glowing red eyes, so they don't have Dark Emblems, which Minako found most reassuring. Soon, Kosuke and Patamon saw them and immediately became alert.

"Mina! Look out!" Kosuke yelled as he ran over to them.

"Boom Bubble!" Patamon shot out his attack, which Salamon noticed.

"Holy Roar!" Salamon, which her high pitched attack, managed to knock away Patamon's attack and scare the two Digimon back into the water.

"What the freak? Those Digimon were about to attack you!" Kosuke exclaimed.

"No they weren't. They weren't going to hurt us. We heard them talking just now. Besides, they don't have any Dark Emblems on them, so we don't have to fight them," Minako explained as calmly as possible. Salamon, seeing some shadows underwater, was relieved to see that they're still here. She decided to have them come out.

"It's okay! You can come out! We won't hurt you! Sorry about Kosuke-kun just now. He tends to do things without thinking sometimes," Salamon told them gently, hoping that they'd come out. Kosuke was a little irked by Salamon pointing out one of his flaws, but he knew it wasn't out of malicious intent, so he kept his mouth shut.

Cautiously, the two Digimon poked their heads out again. Minako and Kosuke got their digivices out and looked up their information.

"The shark-like one is Tylomon. He's an armor level sea animal Digimon. His attacks are Torpedo Attack and Hydro Wave," Minako said.

"The giant sting ray is Mantaraymon. He's also an armor level sea animal Digimon. His attacks are Tail Booster and Torpedo Agility," Kosuke said.

"Umm..." Tylomon muttered first. "H-Hello."

"Hello!" Patamon exclaimed cheerfully. "Sorry we scared you just now. Kosuke thought you were trying to hurt us. I guess I did too. We hope you're not too mad."

"It's...fine," Tylomon muttered again. "You're humans, right?"

"Yes. I'm Omori Minako, and this is my friend Hanemoto Kosuke," Minako explained kindly and softly.

"See? I told you their names didn't end with mon!" Mantaraymon exclaimed at Tylomon.

"Yeah yeah, I know," Tylomon retorted rather sarcastically.

"What are you two doing here?" Kosuke asked with his arms crossed.

Mantaraymon decided to ascend onto the surface a bit more, showing more of his body. "We were just gonna do our usual pit stop business here, but then we saw you. It's okay. We don't live here so you're not trespassing or anything."

"We kind of guessed that," Kosuke said.

"Mantaraymon and I are having a race to see who can reach this place first without any breaks, and I won!" Tylomon explained. Mantaraymon ducked his head back into the water in shame.

"Aw, come on, Mantaraymon! Don't get all angsty! There's always next time!" Tylomon told him.

"But you always beat me!" Mantaraymon replied, which made Kosuke, Minako, Salamon, and Patamon break out laughing merrily.

"You guys are funny," Patamon said.

"Pteramon would have a fit if he saw you guys," Kosuke muttered to himself. Mantaraymon and Tylomon stopped squabbling.

"So...what are you humans doing here?" Tylomon asked politely.

"We came here so we can study in peace. There's some stuff going on in our world and we thought we could take some time away from it for a little while," Minako told them just as politely.

"What kind of stuff?" Mantaraymon asked.

"Rain. Lots and lots of rain," Kosuke said.

All of a sudden, Minako had an idea.

"Oh! That totally reminds me! If you don't mind me asking, have you heard of a Digimon named MoonMillenniummon?" Minako asked the two aquatic Digimon.

Mantaraymon and Tylomon looked at each other with confused faces.

"MoonMillenniummon?" Mantaraymon and Tylomon asked, sounding quite confused.

"He's a Digimon like you two, only he's supposedly really strong," Minako explained again.

Tylomon and Mantaraymon looked up at the digital sky as they ruminated and thought deeply about Minako's question. It was Mantaraymon who decided to respond.

"I've never met one, but there have been tales that have been passed down from ancient times about MoonMillenniummon. The elders down at my hometown tell them all the time, and I remember them telling a story about a MoonMillenniummon. If my memory serves me right, MoonMillenniummon is a soul Digimon that exists within a Millenniummon's inner world. Millenniummon is MoonMillenniummon's pre-digivolved form. They say that after a Millenniummon was defeated, it's dark spirit overtook him and caused him to undergo a dark digivolution, which resulted in him becoming MoonMillenniummon. Because he's a spirit Digimon, he doesn't have a fixed form, even though he often takes the form of a HUGE crystal. Because he's a soul and doesn't have substance, he's immune to physical attacks. The elders once said that MoonMillenniummon has the power to open rifts in time and space! There has never been a Digimon capable of even defeating a MoonMillenniummon throughout history. That's all I know, I'm afraid."

Minako, Kosuke, Salamon, and Patamon all looked at each other with surprised faces. If this supposed Master really is this MoonMillenniummon Digimon, then as they are now, they obviously have no chance against him! Minako could tell that a Digimon like this was dangerous, but to have the power to open rifts in time and space and be immune to all physical attacks, and the fact that NOBODY in all of history has ever defeated a MoonMillenniummon? Just the very thought almost made Minako fall onto the sand. Even Kosuke was distressed.

"Does he...have the power to destroy the entire Digital World?" Kosuke asked.

"To be honest, there hasn't been any record of one being capable of destroying the Digital World. Ugh! Just thinking about the Digital World's destruction makes my head pound!" Tylomon exclaimed with a grimace at the final sentence.

"Oh lord, don't make me think about it!" Mantaraymon exclaimed.

"We're sorry. We didn't mean to frighten you or anything. You see, one of our friends has a suspicion that the Digimon who may have destroyed the Digital World may be this MoonMillenniummon character, but we have no real evidence yet. We do know that we've met a lot of Digimon who contributed to the Digital World's destruction, and the Digimon who destroyed the Digital World is their master," Minako explained.

"If you don't want to tell us anything or don't know, that's fine," Salamon piped in. Tylomon hopped closer to the sand.

"It's alright. Our memories of that day are kinda fuzzy, but I definitely remember a Leviamon attempting to destroy our kingdom once!" Tylomon said.

"He got most of us, but the elders managed to defeat him and banish him far away!" Mantaraymon said with a smile, even though he technically doesn't have a mouth.

"I know, right?" Tylomon said.

"Do you know if this Leviamon said anything about working for a master or someone like that?" Patamon asked.

"Nah, he didn't say anything about working for anyone. This one was a wild creature," Mantaraymon said.

"But we have run into some little knaves who definitely worked for a so-called master. They keep putting these things called Dark Emblems on innocent Digimon and make them go crazy!" Tylomon explained.

Minako began thinking. Patamon noticed.

"What's wrong, Mina-chan?" Patamon asked.

"If this MoonMillenniummon character really is this master they serve, then why does he have a bunch of Digimon working for him when he's supposedly very capable of doing everything himself?" Minako asked herself.

"I heard one of them saw that their master is trapped in some kind of huge rock formation and can't get out because he used up too much of his power, but they still didn't say whether their master is a MoonMillenniummon or not," Tylomon explained.

"Guess they're pretty good at hiding things, aren't they?" Kosuke said.

All of a sudden, Mantaraymon leaped out onto the sand right in front of Kosuke, which frightened Kosuke a little into taking a few steps back. Mantaraymon looked up at Kosuke with smiling eyes.

"You humans are kinda cool! Can we be friends?" Mantaraymon asked innocently. Kosuke smiled a bit and put his hand on Mantaraymon's head. It felt quite slimy and slick, but nice, cool, and soft so Kosuke didn't mind.

"Sure. I'd love to be friends with you," Kosuke said.

"Yay! We made some new friends!" Patamon cheered happily.

Minako and Salamon looked at Tylomon, who looked back at them with a curious look on his face.

"So...you cool with that? I mean, if you don't want to, that's fine," Tylomon stammered. Minako shook her head and smiled.

"I don't mind if we became friends. You seem like a nice Digimon, so it's okay," Minako said, which made Tylomon smile a bit.

"Hm! My very first human friend! I never thought I'd see the day!" Tylomon exclaimed happily. Minako then had an idea.

"Oh! I have an idea!" Minako said. She pulled out a D-Chip from one of her pockets and put it in her digivice.

"Fellow Digimon friend, please appear before me. Butterflymon, respond to my prayers!" Minako said as she prayed for Butterflymon's appearance. A purple light shot out of her purple digivice and into the sky, then back onto Topaz Reef in the form of Butterflymon, who then woke up looking very confused.

"Oh? What's this? Where in the world am I?" Butterflymon asked herself in her confused but pretty voice. She then saw Minako and Salamon, and she smiled.

"Minako and Salamon! How lovely it is to see you both again! It's been a while, hasn't it?" Butterflymon said.

"It sure has. Sorry if we called you at a bad time," Minako said.

"Oh, not at all! In fact, you called me at a great time! I was forced to deal with that mischievous little Toucanmon and had to sit through his incessant whining and complaining. You've actually saved me," Butterflymon explained.

"I'll bet it must be tough," Salamon said.

"Indeed it is," Butterflymon agreed. At the same time, Kosuke had called for Pegasusmon, who just gracefully descended onto the ground.

"Hello, Kosuke. It's been a long time," Pegasusmon said in his kind voice.

"It sure has been," Kosuke told him.

"I see you're doing well. How wonderful," Pegasusmon said as Patamon decided to hop on his head.

"Wow! You guys can call for other Digimon too? I never knew!" Mantaraymon exclaimed with surprise.

"You have other Digimon friends? Interesting," Tylomon said, not as surprised as Mantaraymon is.

Suddenly, the entire island shook. A vociferous rumbling sound echoed in the skies, causing even the water to look very disturbed. Kosuke and Patamon both clung to Pegasusmon, who ascended into the air as soon as the rumbling started. Minako and Salamon both clung to Butterflymon who followed Pegasusmon's lead. Mantaraymon and Tylomon shot back into the water.

"What is that?" Butterflymon yelped.

"Is it an earthquake?" Kosuke asked.

"No! Look! I see something over there!" Pegasusmon whinnied in alarm. Everyone looked in the direction where he pointed.

What Pegasusmon saw couldn't be more disturbing. At first, it was a big horn coming out from the ocean, but that horn turned out to be connected to something bigger, as the thing it's attached to appeared out from the sea under falling water. Once the water spilled back into the ocean, it unveiled a ferocious Digimon. The Digimon has a furry orange face, hands, and feet, but the rest of his body is a smoky blue sea grey. On his forehead is a long white horn, and on the top of his mouth are two huge teeth, bigger than the rest of his teeth which look as though they're the size and thickness of big steel bars! They looked very slick and sharp, very capable of gnawing through even the hardest, thickest steel. On his back is a orange, white, and green shell with three big horns coming out of the green part, along with a long orange tail, and in one of his hands is a huge silver hammer, with one end being flat and the other end being slightly shaped like that of a grim reaper's scythe! His eyes are glowing red, which meant one thing: a Dark Emblem is on him. Kosuke looked up the Digimon's information.

"He's Zudomon, an ultimate level. His special attack is Vulcan's Hammer!" Kosuke said as he pulled out another D-Chip and decided to call for back up as Zudomon roared viciously and loudly.

"Let's make sure he doesn't reach Topaz Reef!" Pegasusmon exclaimed.

"I agree!" Mantaraymon said.

Soon, Pteramon descended in front of everyone wearing a rather smug smile on his face.

"You rang for a handsome mechanical pteradactyl?" Pteramon asked.

"We need your help taking down that Zudomon over there!" Kosuke said.

"Will do!" Pteramon said.

Zudomon roared again, splashing water everywhere.

"Come on! Let's digivolve!" Patamon exclaimed as he hopped off of Pegasusmon.

Patamon digivolved into Angemon, and Salamon digivolved into Gatomon and then into Angewomon. Pegasusmon, Pteramon, Mantaraymon, Butterflymon and Tylomon remained as they are. Zudomon roared a third time as he tried to knock Pegasusmon, with Kosuke on his back, out of his way, but Pegasusmon swiftly flew away.

"I'll distract him! Tylomon and Mantaraymon! Since you two can swim underwater, try and see if you can find a Dark Emblem!" Pegasusmon said in a commanding voice as he dodged another one of Zudomon's attacks.

"Yes sir!" Both Tylomon and Mantaraymon obeyed his command and dove underwater in a flash. Angemon and Angewomon decided to attack first.

"Hand of Fate!"

"Celestial Arrow!"

Those attacks would have hit Zudomon if he hadn't suddenly swam out of their way and made them (the attacks) hit the water. Zudomon angrily and ferociously swung his hammer around, hoping to knock out Pegasusmon, who kept zipping around him like an annoying house fly. Kosuke clung to Pegasusmon tightly. The more Pegasusmon flew around, the more choleric the volatile Zudomon became. Butterflymon and Pteramon decided to attack.

"Butterfly Serenade!"

"Missle Storm!"

A rain of missles and glowing butterflies hit Zudomon, causing him to cover his eyes, which gave the Digimon just a little bit of time to look over his big body and find the Dark Emblem.

"It's not on his shell!" Minako said as she rode on Pteramon's back.

"Gee, you think?" Pteramon retorted.

"It's not on his head!" Angewomon called out.

"It's not on any of his arms either!" Angemon exclaimed.

"It's not on his chest also," Pegasusmon said before Zudomon uncovered his eyes and roared again, splashing water all over the place.

"Uh, Kosuke?" Minako asked, looking quite pained.

"Yeah?"

"DUCK!"

"Vulcan's Hammer!"

Ferociously, Zudomon threw his hammer at him and Pegasusmon like a boomerang. Thankfully, Pegasusmon swooped downward and dodged it in the nick of time. The hammer fell into the water, and Zudomon stammered around, looking for it angrily as he howled like a hungry werewolf.

"Thanks for the advanced notice!" Kosuke yelled out.

"No talk! Fight Digimon!" Minako yelled back.

"Torpedo Attack!" Little mini Tylomons shot out of Tylomon's mouth, hitting Zudomon in the face.

"Torpedo Ray!" Mantaraymon rammed himself against the volatile, truculent beast, causing him to fall back a few steps.

"What have you got?" Angemon yelled out.

"We found the Dark Emblem! It's on Zudomon's left foot!" Tylomon yelled out for them to hear.

"On the top or bottom?" Angewomon yelled.

"The top! We should be able to get it off! Lemme just-" Mantaraymon had a plan, but he wasn't able to execute it right off the bat because an angry Zudomon used one of his free hands to smack Pegasusmon out from the sky, causing Kosuke to fall off of him.

"Kosuke!" Angemon swooped down to try and save him, but even he could tell that he wouldn't be able to make it in time.

Kosuke screamed and squeezed his eyes shut. He wished he could fly so he could save himself. Sadly, he doesn't have wings, nor will he ever have any. If that wasn't bad enough, he isn't exactly the best swimmer. Kosuke thought this was the end of him, but...

"Torpedo Ray!"

Instead of falling into water, he found himself falling on something soft and slimy. He opened his eyes and, much to his and everyone else's relief and ecstasy, he's on top of Mantaraymon!

"You alright there, buddy?" Mantaraymon asked.

"I sure am! Thanks!" Kosuke said with a smile.

"Hang on tight! We're going in!" Mantaraymon advised. Kosuke clung to Mantaraymon and closed his eyes as the giant purple sting ray Digimon descended under water and sped right toward Zudomon, who didn't seem to notice him coming. Angemon and Pteramon both managed to pull Pegasusmon out of the water. Once Pegasusmon came out, he shook himself around, trying to get all the water off of himself, which me managed to splash on Angemon and Pteramon a little bit. Pteramon didn't rust or anything so he's just fine.

"You sure took a dive there," Angemon said.

"Remind me to learn how to swim before I get knocked into water by a giant sea Digimon," Pegasusmon retorted with gratitude. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. Now let's keep that Digimon away from Topaz Reef, because he's heading there right now!" Minako told him as she pointed to Zudomon, who is now slowly plodding through the thick ocean water right toward Topaz Reef, which is now totally unprotected. Butterflymon, Pegasusmon, and Tylomon all swooped in front of him.

"We won't let you pass! Butterfly Serenade!"

"Star Shower!"

"Hydro Wave!" A thin but bright shock wave of blue energy shot out of Tylomon's mouth, combining with Butterflymon's attack and hitting Zudomon square in the face. But that wasn't the end of it.

"Tail Booster!" Underwater, Mantaraymon dredged his sharp tail slightly above Zudomon's foot. After a few seconds, he zipped away from him as fast as he could and ascended onto the surface.

Zudomon suddenly felt every single muscle in his body tense and feel like a thousand needles dredging themselves into every single fiber of his body. Zudomon suddenly found himself unable to move. He fell backward and howled in pain. Mantaraymon saw Angewomon right as he came onto the surface.

"Angewomon! Heads up!" Mantaraymon flung himself at an angle which caused Kosuke to be flung right toward Angewomon, who managed to catch him.

"Tylomon! Now's our chance! Let's attack him while we can! Everyone else, return to Topaz Reef! We'll take it from here!" Mantaraymon commanded proudly.

"Are you sure you can do it?" Minako asked.

"Of course!" Tylomon said as he and Mantaraymon both descended into the water and swam up to Zudomon's left foot, which has a small Dark Emblem on it.

"Tail Booster!"

"Torpedo Attack!"

Thankfully, both of their attacks made the Dark Emblem shatter into a million pieces. They smiled at each other, high finned each other since they have no hands, and swam back to the surface and onto Topaz Reef. Angemon and Angewomon both de-digivolved back into Patamon and Nyaromon. Zudomon slept in the middle of the ocean, looking as though he didn't want to wake up. Minako hopped off of Pteramon and ran over to the two undersea Digimon with a smile on her face.

"You've really helped us. Thanks so much!" Minako exclaimed happily as Nyaromon hopped next to her.

Mantaraymon blushed a little. "We're just glad we could help. Besides, Topaz Reef may not be totally inhabitable, but it's important, so we felt we had to protect it."

"We're glad you did! Nyan!" Nyaromon piped in cheerfully. Kosuke gave Mantaraymon a high five, though Kosuke was the one who did the hitting since Mantaraymon's fins could knock him down onto the sand. All of a sudden, Patamon shrieked.

"Tylomon and Mantaraymon! Look! You're both glowing!" Patamon exclaimed.

Confused, the two of them looked around themselves, and they saw that Patamon is right. They are glowing! Both of the symbols on their foreheads glowed, but in different colors. Tylomon's up side down triangle glowed in a bright sky blue light, while Mantaraymon's glowed in a soft indigo light. Then two balls of light both floated out of the two Digimon, danced around in the sky for a bit, then descended before Minako and Kosuke. The sky blue light fell into Minako's hand, and once the light dissipated, out came a little blue shark shaped gem stone that shined like a sapphire. The indigo light fell into Kosuke's hand, and once the light dissipated, out came a little indigo sting ray shaped gem stone that shined like amethyst. Nyaromon, Patamon, Butterflymon, Pegasusmon, and Pteramon watched with awe.

"Wow! I think you just got their D-Chips!" Patamon said.

"D-Chips? What are those?" Tylomon asked.

"They're pieces of your data that take the form of a stone if a human who already has an assigned Digimon partner bonds with you," Pegasusmon explained kindly.

"Since when did you know about D-Chips?" Kosuke asked, crossing his arms and sounding quite suspicious.

"Since that time you got my D-Chip. I remember one of your friends explaining them, so I decided to keep that knowledge in mind," Pegasusmon replied. Minako and Patamon both couldn't help but laugh a bit.

"I guess we're secondary partners now," Minako told them.

"Wow! This is great! We're kinda partnered with humans now! Yippee!" Mantaraymon cheered happily and started swimming around in circles.

"Don't make yourself dizzy, Mantaraymon!" Tylomon advised with concern, which made everyone laugh heartily. Once they stopped laughing, Pteramon decided to speak.

"So do you wanna stick around for a while? I've got some cool jokes I wanna tell you!" Pteramon said.

"We'd like to, but we can't. We have to go home," Kosuke told him.

"But the Digital World's time doesn't affect the passage of time in your world, does it?" Butterflymon asked.

"Yes, that's true, but we still have our own lives to live, and we don't want to make our friends and family worry in case a lot of time does pass in the human world," Minako explained as she cradled little Nyaromon in her arms.

"That's very true, yes. We don't want to get in the way of your lives, so if you want to leave, you can. We won't stop you, but be sure to come and visit sometimes," Pegasusmon said.

"Awww! You're all leaving already? Come on! Watch me and Tylomon race!" Mantaraymon complained as Kosuke got his digivice out.

"We'd like to, but we have stuff to take care of at home. Maybe next time, okay?" Kosuke told him.

Tylomon sighed. "Sure. Next time. Have a safe trip home!" Then he looked back at Mantaraymon. "Hey! Wanna race back to the continent?"

"Oh, you're so on!" Mantaraymon exclaimed. Then, with lightning speed, the two of them zipped away from Topaz Reef as fast as torpedoes. Literally, since they both have attacks named after torpedoes.

Minako and Kosuke both got their digivices out and said their goodbyes to Butterflymon, Pegasusmon, and Pteramon. They opened their digivices and pressed the door button. A digital portal appeared underneath them and they fell in. Again, they weren't scared. However, this time, they fell on something hard. They both woke up to find themselves back in Kosuke's living room.

"What time is it?" Kosuke asked.

Minako looked at the clock. "It's 7:56 AM."

Nyaromon looked out one of the windows. "It's still raining llamas and goats outside."

Kosuke stood up to look for Patamon, but he found that Patamon had de-digivolved back into Tokomon. Kosuke smiled and picked up the little white Digimon with his hands.

"That was a lot of fun! Let's do it again some time!" Tokomon squeaked happily.

"Yeah. Definitely," Kosuke said.

Minako looked at her backpack, and something hit her.

"Oh! That's right! I can't believe I totally forgot!" Minako exclaimed as she rummaged through her bag and pulled out her laptop.

"What's wrong, Mina-chan?" Tokomon asked.

"Kosuke! I forgot to tell you! Earlier yesterday, I was surfing the net and I found that this website is holding a poetry contest! You can submit one of your poems and everything! I think you can still do so. Hang on, let me check," Minako said as she opened her laptop and began typing on it really quickly.

In response to this, Kosuke ran to his room, pulled out his little poem book, and back to the living room all within five seconds. In that very short time span, Minako opened up the site's web page.

"Good! You can still submit!" Minako said.

"Can I see it?"

"Sure," Minako moved away so Kosuke could sit down and look at it.

Once Kosuke laid his eyes on the web page, he felt as though a very promising door of opportunity had been opened just for him to enter, and he immediately knew for a fact that he was not going to let this chance slide. The deadline isn't until next month, but Kosuke immediately skimmed through his poem book and tried to decide which poems to submit. Once he read through the entire thing (which was within 5 measly minutes), Kosuke finally decided. Oh, yes. He knew very well which poems he decided to submit, and submit them he did! He typed them into the submission board (It has a limit of five poems per competitor) and pressed send. Once he found that the poems were sent, he closed out the web page and gave Minako her laptop back.

"I'll bet this is what you've been waiting for, isn't it?" Tokomon said.

"Oh yeah! If this can get me closer to my dream, then I'm willing to take any opportunity I can get," Kosuke said, flashing a confident smile.

"Do you really think they'll accept entries written by a little kid though?" Nyaromon asked.

"Who knows. The site didn't say anything about an age limit," Minako told her.

Considering how hard the rain is falling, Kosuke kept Minako and Nyaromon in the house for a while longer. At least until the rain stops falling so hard. Kosuke took Minako, Tokomon, and Nyaromon to a rather private part of the house that not even his mother would bother going into: the basement. It wasn't exactly the best, but it wasn't squalid or dingy or anything like that. Just a plain little room that doesn't have much in it aside from a sub pump, a few old cleaning products, and an old table that can fit up to six kids. They decided to pass the time by telling each other things. They talked about the Digimon, the present, the past, the future, the things they liked and disliked in the past few weeks, things that recently happened, everything. Like with earlier, Minako, Kosuke, Nyaromon, and Tokomon enjoyed every minute of it. Sometimes, they played around on Minako's laptop. Minako showed Kosuke lots of things, like pictures she took, pictures she editted and photoshopped, videos on YouTube she found (both funny and heartfelt), pictures of long ago that she downloaded onto her laptop just recently (namely lots of childhood photos her dad took), etc. They listened to music and browsed other websites too, and they all enjoyed every minute of it.

It went on for hours, but they were so immersed in their time together that they failed to notice that time had passed. However, they were able to tell how much time had passed once they heard that the rain is letting up. Even in the basement, they could hear the rain pounding and assaulting their house. Nyaromon was the one who noticed and pointed it out.

"Hey! I think the rain's stopping!" Nyaromon exclaimed.

Minako, Kosuke, and Tokomon looked up and listening closely. They didn't hear anything.

"You're right, Nyaromon. I don't hear it anymore," Minako said.

"Do you think the rain stopped?" Tokomon asked curiously, looking up at Kosuke with his round, beady black eyes.

"Let's go check!" Kosuke edicted.

He, Minako, Tokomon, and Nyaromon ran up the stairs and dashed to the nearest window. How surprised they were! The rain has totally stopped! It's still a bit cloudy, but the sun is managing to win the fight with the thick grey clouds, and some of it's golden effulgence permeated those wicked and insidious clouds, signalling the clouds' surrender. The street and sidewalks are darker than usual, completely wet because of the rain. Some spots had huge puddles on them. Leaves and twigs were scattered all over the place. But Kosuke saw a woman walking her dog happily, which obviously meant that the rain has finally subsided.

"Took long enough," Kosuke said.

"What time is it?" Nyaromon asked.

This time, Tokomon looked at the clock. "Wow! It's almost 12:30!"

"Jeez! Four and a half whole hours?" Kosuke yelped.

"It would seem so," Minako said with a smile.

Kosuke was about to say something, but the sound of footsteps stopped him from doing so. Minako noticed, and Kosuke put one of his fingers in front of his mouth, gesturing everyone to be quiet, which they did. They quietly hid behind the kitchen counter, since Kanako hadn't been in there since her meeting with Patamon. Silently, Kosuke, Minako, Tokomon, and Nyaromon all peeked out from behind it so they could see what's going on. Much to Kosuke's surprise, Kanako is up and about! She actually has her hair up, and is dressed! Well, she threw on a slightly old white T-shirt with a vase of red poppies on it, a pair of blue jean pants, black socks and dirty black and white sneakers. In her hand is a small red purse. Kanako didn't even go into the kitchen. She just walked out of the house. Once she's gone, Kosuke spoke.

"That's weird. Mom never dresses up or goes out," Kosuke whispered.

"Do you think we should follow her?" Minako asked.

"Oh yeah. I want to make sure she doesn't buy any more bottles," Kosuke said.

Secretly and cautiously, the two kids and Digimon snuck out of the house and followed Kanako while making sure to hide occasionally so that she wouldn't see them. To Kosuke, just the thought of Kanako getting dressed, being sober, and going outside was quite a very peculiar and strange thing to him, since Kanako hadn't gone out in months as far as he knew. Especially not after she began turning to alcohol to relieve herself of her sadness. For a minute, Kosuke almost couldn't discern her since he's so used to seeing her drunk and doing nothing but lay on the floor in a drunken mess. Not only that, throughout the entire walk, Kanako did not look behind herself. She kept on looking and walked forward. No looking back. It was as if she finally found something in her life and decided to put her past behind her. Of course, Kosuke didn't dare give himself false hope. He had been betrayed before, and he wasn't going to have to go through it again.

Surprisingly, they managed to follow her without being caught and find out where she's going without any difficulty at all. However, much to Kosuke's dismay, Kanako was just going to the bank that's a little ways from the main road. Kosuke sighed and left right as he saw Kanako go in, which confused Minako and the Digimon.

"You're not going to see what she does?" Minako asked with concern in her voice.

"I already know what she's going to do. She's just going to take money out of her savings so she can spend it on more alcohol. It's really no surprise to me anymore," Kosuke said.

Minako thought about contradicting him, but she assumed that it would just bring out his bad side, so she and the Digimon left with him as well. It's a good thing the rain stopped. Minako and the Digimon couldn't be happier. Kosuke knew that his mother had money secretly saved in some account, but he assumed that she didn't use it for anything but alcohol. He wished he was older so he could withdraw money from there on his own, but this wasn't the case. Feeling dejected, Kosuke kept his head down and walked away. But he and Minako stopped once they saw something else. They saw Otoya walking happily with a boy. The boy was a bit taller than her, and he looked to be about 12 or 13 years old in age. He has long pale brown hair and hazel green eyes, just like Kosuke's but just a bit more brown than green. He has a long diamond cut jaw, olive skin, a thin complexion, and quite a handsome appearance. Labramon stayed by Otoya's side the entire time.

"Look. It's Otoya," Kosuke said, showing Minako the couple.

"Hey! You're right! Should we say hi?" Minako asked. Kosuke nodded, and Minako waved her hand.

"Hi Otoya!" Minako called out, which successfully caught the attention of Otoya and her boyfriend.

"Mina-chan! Kosuke-kun!" Otoya called out happily and waved back. Minako and Kosuke ran up to them.

"What are you doing out here on this icky day?" Minako asked.

"I'm on a date with Akira-kun here! This is my new boyfriend, Narumi Akira! He's in the 7th grade! Akira-kun, these are my friends, Hanemoto Kosuke and Omori Minako!" Otoya chirped happily, introducing them to each other.

"Hi. It's nice to meet you both," The boy, Akira, said in a slightly cracked voice. He really does sound like he's finally hitting puberty.

"Hey," Kosuke said.

"Same to you," Minako said with a smile.

"We're on our way to the ice cream shop right now! Akira-kun loves pistachio, just like me!" Otoya said.

"That's wonderful. I hope your date goes well," Minako told them.

"You two seem like nice kids. Otoya's lucky to have people like you in her life, right Otoya-chan?" Akira said to Minako and Kosuke, then to Otoya with a kind smile.

"Of course! By the way, I hardly ever see you two walking around together. What are you doing out here?" Otoya asked kindly.

"I was just helping Kosuke study for tomorrow's test," Minako told her.

"I see. Well, I hope you pass, Kosuke-kun! If you ever need help, you're more than welcome to ask me!" Otoya said as she wrapped her arms around Akira's right arm.

"I really hate tests, so I know exactly how you feel," Akira told him. Otoya looked at her watch and gasped.

"Oh! Akira-kun, we better get going!" Otoya said.

"Yes, Otoya-chan," Akira replied. Minako, Kosuke, and the Digimon, Labramon included, thought that his voice just then sounded rather monotone. Otoya didn't notice.

"It was great seeing you two! I'll see you at school tomorrow! Bye!" Otoya said happily as she and Akira walked away. Kosuke and Minako were about to do so when they noticed that Labramon stopped in his tracks.

"What's wrong, Labramon?" Nyaromon asked.

"Something about that boy...isn't right," Labramon muttered.

"You think?" Kosuke asked.

"His feelings...aren't genuine. I can sense it," Labramon whispered rather ominously. Kosuke, Minako, and the Digimon all looked at each other with confused faces until Otoya called out to Labramon.

"Labramon! Come here, boy!" Otoya called out.

Like any faithful canine companion, Labramon silently ran toward Otoya, leaving Kosuke, Minako, Tokomon, and Nyaromon all alone.

"What did Labramon mean when he said that Narumi-san's feelings aren't genuine?" Nyaromon asked.

Minako and Kosuke looked at each other again, then back at the Digimon.

"Who the heck knows," Kosuke muttered as they decided to walk back home.

The Digimon didn't know it, but both Kosuke and Minako had an idea about what Labramon meant, but decided not to reveal it.

The two kids and Digimon decided to go back to Kosuke's house for a bit...but when they got there, Kosuke immediately grimaced when he saw another thing about the house he didn't want to deal with.

The landlord.

He's a rather scruffy little man in his late 30's, with long black hair tied in a ponytail, a long face, cocky-looking brown eyes, and a very disagreeable and fierce temper.

"Aw, shoot! The landlord!" Kosuke mused angrily.

Right now, the landlord is angrily banging on the Hanemoto door.

"Hanemoto! Hanemoto, you come out here right now!" The landlord yelled, sounding very incensed. He then turned around and saw Minako and Kosuke a few feet away. He immediately walked up to them and put Kosuke on the spot right away.

"Hey kid! Where's your no-good mother at?" The landlord asked with a touch of vanity in his voice.

"The bank, last I checked," Kosuke replied gruffly.

The landlord crossed his arms and gave Kosuke the stink eye. "You ain't lyin' to me, are ya?"

"No! Why would I?" Kosuke yelled back.

"Look, kid, I ain't playing games here! I need the rent right this minute!" The landlord exclaimed gruffly. He then noticed Minako and gave her the stink eye.

"Ah, now I see! Yer too busy prancin' around with yer little girlfriend here to care about payin' me any of my rent! Think she's so much more important than rent, eh? Well you've got another thing comin'!" The landlord said.

Minako got mad. "Hey! I'm not Kosuke's girlfriend! I'm just his friend, and who are you to act all cocky?"

"Look, I'm the landlord of this here place, and since you're my tenant, you're obligated to pay me my rent whenever I see fit, and you're far behind already! I should have kicked you out months ago!" The landlord edicted rather proudly. "Don't gimme that _'my mother's too drunk to care about making or paying any money'_ garbage like that either! That ain't no excuse!"

"You think EVERYTHING that happens to me is an excuse! Quit acting all high and mighty! Money doesn't grow on trees, y'know? And in case you haven't noticed, we don't have much, so quit giving us a hard time!" Kosuke yelled, becoming rather choleric.

"Me, give you a hard time? You haven't paid me any rent lately, and I work real hard to keep this place afloat, and I need that rent to make a living, so quit actin' like the world revolves around you!"

"Sir, please stop! Kosuke doesn't think that!" Minako tried to mollify him, but it didn't work.

"You shut yer trap, prissy! This ain't any of yer business so get outta my way!" The landlord yelled.

Suddenly, something flew at him and hit him square in the face! Not enough to hit him, but enough to make him walk back a few steps. Not only that, it felt rather soft and crinkled. It fell into his hands right after it hit him. The landlord looked down at his hands and saw that in his hands is a pile of money the size of a small notebook! Minako and Kosuke turned around to find Kanako, staring daggers at the landlord, with fire in her eyes. She walked past Minako and Kosuke and right up to the landlord, giving him some good stink eye.

"There's your rent. It should cover the rest of the past few months too. Now stop giving them a hard time and leave," Kanako told him in a quiet but very austere and stern voice. The landlord, surprised by her temerity, decided to keep his mouth shut and leave with the money in his hand. Kosuke was quite surprised by Kanako's courage and audacity. Perhaps that was why she went to the bank earlier, to use the money to pay off the cocky and insensitive landlord. Kanako shed her courageous expression and looked at Kosuke with kind eyes.

"Sorry about that, Kosuke. You okay?" Kanako asked in a low voice. Kosuke nodded. She then handed him a small white bag. Kosuke opened it and found some frozen dinners, snacks, small vegetable bags, and other essentials inside.

"The snacks are for you. I'll make dinner tonight. I have to run some errands right now. I'll be back soon," Kanako told him, then turned to look at Minako.

"You're...Omori Minako, right?" Kanako asked. Minako silently nodded.

"Sorry I kicked you and your friend out yesterday. It was wrong of me," Kanako said as she finally walked away to do whatever errands she needed to do. Kosuke, Minako, and the Digimon were all speechless. It was Tokomon who broke the silence.

"Kosuke? Did you see that? She was great! Y'know, I think she might be improving!" Tokomon said.

"Yeah! She didn't act all drunk! Maybe she-" Nyaromon almost said, but Minako put a hand over her mouth.

"Shh! People are coming!" Minako said.

She's right. Two women are talking amongst each other and walking past them.

"Are you going to participate in next Saturday's city wide yard sale?"

"Oh, yes! I have so much stuff I want to sell! I bet I could make some good money off of them!"

"Let's hope this year will be better than last year."

"I couldn't agree with you more."

Kosuke's eyes widened as he listened intently to the two women.

"A yard sale?" Kosuke whispered to himself. If next Saturday is the city wide yard sale, then Kosuke would be able to sell some things and make money! Kosuke ran back into the house with Tokomon, leaving Minako and Nyaromon alone.

"Kosuke!" Minako called out, but he didn't answer.

"Maybe he wants to sell some stuff and make money?" Nyaromon asked.

"Probably. He'll do anything to get out of any situation he's in," Minako replied, sounding a little surprised.

What Kosuke didn't know was that Kanako's first errand wasn't exactly what one would call an errand, especially when it comes to the place she was going.

In her glory days as she called them, Kanako loved going for walks. The beautiful scenery, the peace and quiet, the time given to you to think and lose yourself. Kanako used to love this. But ever since she had become drunk, she didn't find pleasure in such trivialties anymore. But now, with this open opportunity, she decided to go out for a walk to someone's house. She was quite surprised that she forgot that she used to love doing things like this. It also helped that the after rain smell calmed her wonky nerves. She wondered why she ever stopped doing things like this in the first place. But right now, she remembered that she had something to do, and she set out to do it, and this time, she wasn't going to succumb to the temptations of alcohol, and she wasn't going to drink it or let it screw up her brain again. When she's drunk, she hardly knows that she's doing anything. But when she's sober, she sees and remembers the damage she caused, and it made her feel guilty and despondent. But what made her feel worse was that she felt she could never fix the damage she caused. Kanako convinced herself that she's incapable of fixing mistakes, only causing them and exacerbating them. But right now, this was one thing she wanted to do, and she wanted to do it right.

After a good while, she arrived at her destination: the Wakamiya house. It had been a long time since she had been here. The last time she was here was when she took Kosuke here to play with Yun a couple years ago. She was quite surprised with the fact that the house hadn't changed since then. At first, Kanako was a little hesitant upon knocking on the door. Who would answer it? Would anyone remember her? Would they think she was some salesperson and slam the door in her face? Kanako couldn't help but wonder, but she didn't want to let her fears get the best of her. She balled her fists, steeled her courage, and decided to go for it. She plodded up the sidewalk, on the porch, and right in front of the door. She balled her fist again and tried to knock on the door. At first, she felt herself be frozen with fear, but she silently and courageously squashed the fear down into the deepest, darkest, alcohol-infested part of her soul, and gave the glass door some good knocks with the little strength she had. At first, nobody came right off the bat, but a minute later, someone did. Hisako answered the door, and was surprised upon seeing Kanako.

"Oh! Ka-Ka-Kanako!" Hisako gasped, covering her mouth a little. Kanako didn't say anything right then, though it must be confessed that she was happy upon seeing someone remember her and her name. After a bit, Hisako calmed down.

"Would...you like to come in?" Hisako asked politely.

"Yes. Thank you," Kanako muttered as she walked into the house.

Hisako escorted Kanako to the dining room table and gave her a blueberry muffin.

"These are very good," Hisako said as she gave her the blueberry muffin and went back to the kitchen. "Do you want anything to drink?"

"Orange juice, please," Kanako whispered, albeit loud enough for Hisako to hear. Hisako poured some orange juice into a small plastic cup and set it down in front of Kanako. With a blueberry muffin in hand, Hisako sat down away from Kanako. They're both on each end of the table.

An awkward silence creeped up in between them. Kanako didn't touch her blueberry muffin and orange juice, and Hisako awkwardly ate hers. Even after she finished, she didn't say anything. The silence went on for a good five minutes until Kanako finally got the mettle to break it with her slightly raspy voice.

"It's...been a long time, hasn't it?"

"Y-Yes. It sure has," Hisako muttered, sounding a bit cautious.

"How have things been at work since I left?"

"A little dull. It's not the same without you."

"How have you been?"

"Good."

"It sure was icky out, wasn't it?"

"Yes, it sure was. Our basement nearly flooded, but Yun saw it early and had Teruki fix it before the water got out of the utility room, so nothing got wet and nothing important was ruined."

"Ouch. It's a good thing he did."

"We're just lucky that Teruki's good at fixing sub pumps."

Both Kanako and Hisako talked in hushed, slightly uncomfortable voices. No, they didn't hate each other. They were just very surprised by each other's presence, especially because of how long it's been since they've spoken to each other. Finally, Kanako looked Hisako in the eye.

"Yun...your daughter...how is she?"

"She's doing very well. Right now she and a friend of hers are at the park playing. It's been a year since you saw her, right? Do you want to see a picture of her?"

"Sure," Kanako whispered. Hisako went into the kitchen, pulled out a little photo book, pulled a picture out, ambled back to the dining room table, and gave the picture to Kanako.

The picture showed Yun standing next to Melody, flashing the peace sign and smiling happily, which made her cheeks turn rosy. Yun was dressed in a blue kimono with pink cherry blossoms all over it, while Melody was dressed in a dark green kimono with red birds on it. The picture was taken at the town's local festival. Melody looked a little sour in the picture, but Yun looked as though she were having the time of her life. Kanako smiled a bit at the picture.

"They sure have grown," Kanako muttered.

"That was taken when Melody returned. When the festival came around, Yun begged to invite Melody since every year they went to that festival together...at least, until Melody disappeared. It made me cry a little back then...to see her so happy."

"I can tell. Do you know what happened to Melody?"

"Sort of, but not all the details. Yun doesn't know anything, and I don't plan on telling her about it yet. I'm afraid she might get the wrong idea."

"I don't think so. She's a nice little girl, isn't she? I don't think any new information about Mel will change a thing about how she feels about her. If anything, I think she's the one influencing her...and all of us. You see it, don't you?"

"See what?"

"That uncanny ability to influence others. I've seen it in effect, and lord, does it do good. You're quite lucky to have a kid like her in your life."

"She doesn't think so."

"Really?"

"Yeah. She still has self-esteem issues."

"Kosuke's getting some too, thanks to yours truly."

Hisako didn't say anything in response to that. Another awkward silence followed, but it was shorter than the last one.

"Hisako...I'm sorry. About everything," Kanako muttered as she decided to eat the blueberry muffin.

"Oh. Don't say that. None of it is your fault. I'm sure you're traumatized by what happened," Hisako told her kindly with concern in her voice.

"Yeah, I am. Kosuke...he hates me. I don't blame him though. I'm the one who ruined everything."

"That's not true. Seiichi was wrong to hurt you, and on no grounds, no less."

"I...I want to stop drinking. But I don't know how. Whenever I try to, the alcohol seems to take over me. I know it doesn't help any, but I don't know what else to do. Besides, I already caused a lot of damage I can never fix."

"I think you can fix it. If you want, I can help you."

"Kosuke...his life is ruined because of me. He shouldn't take on all of my responsibilities. He's too young."

"I know. If you ever need anything, just ask me and I'll help however I can."

"Actually, there's one thing I want you to do for me," Kanako rummaged through her purse and pulled something out as she finished her blueberry muffin.

She ambled up to Hisako and placed the thing in front of her. Much to Hisako's surprise, it's a My Little Pony toy. A pure, pristine white pony toy with long, straight, pale pink hair, small sky blue eyes, and a strange assortment of red circles, triangles, and hearts on both sides of her flank arranged in a circular pattern.

"Wha-"

"Her name's Sundance. She reminds me of Yun a little. She's brave and kind, though klutzy and people are always angry at her."

"B-But Yun doesn't play with these."

"I know, but can you at least give it to her? It's to let her know that I still remember her...and that I hope she can help Kosuke find freedom and spread his wings."

Hisako was quite surprised. Kanako wants Yun to have a My Little Pony toy, something she doesn't play with, as a way to ask her to take care of Kosuke? What does Kanako mean by spread his wings? But Hisako did remember one thing: back in the old days, Kosuke and Yun were also quite close. Yun always helped Kosuke and made sure he didn't get into trouble, and in return he stood up to those who picked on her and played with her. Times seemed turbulent now, and Hisako thinks that Yun has collected enough toys and stuffed animals (even throwing away the ones Yun doesn't play with anymore when she's not looking), but she didn't want to disappoint Kanako, so she took it as Kanako sipped the orange juice.

"Sure. I'll let her know," Hisako said with a smile.

Kanako smiled again. "Thanks."

"You're welcome."

"I really do miss the happy times we shared together."

"I'll bet you do."

"If you can believe it, when I was a girl, I was quite the rabid pony fan."

"I'll bet you were."

"This may seem kinda random, but...if Kosuke were a pony, he would be a pegasus, no doubt. Namely Firefly. She was a daredevil, always flying around looking for adventure and freedom. I'll bet he wants nothing more than to leave this horrid world."

"I remember he was quite mischievous back then."

Once Kanako finished her orange juice, she stood up.

"Thanks for listening to me. I appreciate it," Kanako said quietly.

Hisako stood up as well. "You're welcome. Like I said, if you need help, you're more than welcome to tell me."

"Sure. I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for the muffin and orange juice. You should be a baker."

"Oh no, I can't bake stuff that good."

Kanako ambled to the door and waved goodbye to Hisako, and Hisako waved back. Kanako left the house and walked away, lost in her thoughts.

_'Now that I think about it, the kids seem to remind me of a lot of the ponies. Sundance and Yun are a lot alike, but then again, Yun seems to like unicorns and pegasi just as much. Medley and Twilight are kinda like Yun. Oh, Minako is definitely Wind Whistler without a doubt. Kosuke's a combination of Firefly and Gusty. Melody's all Gusty and Twilight the pegasus,'_ Kanako thought. She couldn't help but chuckle a little at her comparisons.


	53. Early Cramming Gone Digital

EPISODE 53: Early Cramming Gone Digital

"What? Kosuke-kun's mom came here and wants me to have this?"

About an hour after Kanako left, Yun, Lucero, Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon came home from their play date in the park, and Yun only just heard about what happened earlier. Hisako gave her the My Little Pony toy, though Yun is obviously quite surprised by what Hisako just told her. Even Lucero and the rabbits were surprised.

"Yes. She says it's to thank you for being his friend...and she wants you to take care of him," Hisako said kindly.

"Wow. What a wonderful thing she did. Yun, it seems someone else cares about you after all!" Lopmon said happily, with a cute smile glued all over her chubby little chocolate brown face.

"I guess she's way more than just a drunkard after all," Terriermon proclaimed with his little green paws on his sides.

"Terriermon! What a thing to say! Thou shan't recite such calumny!" Lucero scolded sternly, giving Terriermon an austere look that made him run behind Yun's leg. No, Lucero didn't give him the "I'm going to break you" look he gave Tsukaimon and Seiko.

"What's calumny?" Yun asked.

"I think it means malicious lies," Hisako said.

"That's a funny word, kyu," Cutemon mused.

Yun looked down at the My Little Pony toy resting contentedly in the palm of her little hand. It's true, Yun never played with My Little Pony toys, nor did she watch any of the cartoons (though on websites she visited she read that the most recent series is quite good. She wondered if it would ever come to Japan one day), read the comics, or watch the direct to DVD specials (which, she read, were supposedly very horrid, bland, dull, lifeless, and overly saccharine, reeking of crass commercialism). She never immersed herself with it, though she did like the pony in her hand, white as snow with pale rosy pink hair and sky blue eyes just like Lucero's. She was sad that the pony toy wasn't a pegasus-she prefered pegasi-but she didn't want to be ungrateful or unappreciative-which she always tried to be-so she kept it.

"Thanks, Mom," Yun muttered.

"You're welcome," Hisako said.

Yun ambled to her room, with Lucero and the rabbits following her.

"What art thou going to do with it?" Lucero asked curiously, his sky blue eyes wide and bright.

"I'm gonna put it in my little treasure box," Yun said.

"Treasure box?" Terriermon asked.

"Yep! Want to see? I'll show you," Yun said.

She looked under her bed and pulled out a bronze wooden box with a painting on the top showing a grey and white hummingbird happily flying in a forest caressed by a beautiful rosy pink, violet purple, and mandarin orange glow. Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon happily hopped onto Yun's bed, overcome with curiosity and eagerness. Lucero just slid on there, without having the need to jump. Once Yun got it out, she placed it in front of them and gently pryed it open. It made a slight squeak, but nothing that would hurt Yun's ears. Lucero and the rabbits became surprised by the contents of the box. There's lots of little trinkets in here! One of the trinkets is a flat purple stone the size of a 100 yen coin with a white peace sign painted on it. Another is a little toy bird made out of white wood with it's wings painted in all the colors of the rainbow with a little red string hanging from it. Another one is the little blue egg-shaped bunny that Kosuke got her recently. Another is a little necklace featuring a pure white, long eared puppy-like creature with round blue eyes and rosy cheeks, along with a little yellow star next to it, both hanging from a little silver chain. Another is the bracelet that Aria gave her. Three of those trinkets are brooches, one in the form of a bouquet of red roses with gold stems, another a heart shape with a pale pink heart shaped stone in the middle surrounded by silver, and another a pale blue butterfly with a darker blue body. The final trinket is...a little toy Lopmon!

"Wow! They're all so pretty!" Terriermon said. Lopmon pulled out the purple stone and smiled.

"Oh! May I take a guess?" Lopmon asked cheerfully.

"Sure," Yun replied.

"Did Minako give you this?"

"Yep! In second grade!"

"I can certainly see she did," Lopmon said as she put the stone back. Terriermon pulled out the little wooden bird with the rainbow wings.

"Did Kosuke give you this?" Terriermon asked.

"Yep. In the fourth grade as a thanks for giving him a super rare Pokemon card. I had extra so I gave him the other one, and in return he gave me that little bird," Yun explained.

Lucero pulled out the necklace, which Yun saw immediately.

"Oh! That's my Cinnamon necklace! Mel-chan gave that to me in third grade for going to her birthday party once," Yun explained.

"It's...very cute," Lucero muttered with a smile as he looked at the necklace lovingly for a few seconds, then put it back.

"So...are all these things stuff that people gave you?" Terriermon asked.

"Yep!" Yun said.

"Oh!" Lopmon exclaimed, taking note of the very tiny toy version of herself. She picked it up and let it sit in her rose pink paws in between her little black fingers. She was quite surprised at how very closely it resembled herself, and how small it is! "It's me! How cute!"

Yun chuckled a bit. "If you can believe it, Rikkun gave that to me."

"Riku? He did?" Lopmon asked, curiously.

"Yeah! I remember when I was little, I got into collecting the old Digimon toys, and I really wanted a Lopmon toy, but it was so rare and I could never find it...but Rikkun said he had two and gave one to me. This happened around the time I first met him," Yun explained.

"Awww! How sweet!" Lopmon cooed.

"I know, right?" Yun said as Lopmon gently put back the little toy.

"What? You have a toy version of yourself, Lopmon? No way! I want one too!" Terriermon complained.

"It's okay. You have a toy," Yun said.

"Do I have a toy me, kyu?" Cutemon asked.

"I dunno. I'll have to check," Yun replied as she gently put the My Little Pony toy in the box, sealed the box shut, and put it back under the bed. Cutemon then noticed Yun's digivice beeping.

"Oh! Yun-chan! Your digivice is beeping, kyu!" Cutemon proclaimed.

Yun pulled out her digivice and saw that it really is beeping. Yun opened it and, to her surprise, it's a text from Kosuke!

**To: Everyone**

**From: Kosuke**

**Subject: Last minute studying?**

**Hey everyone! Want to meet behind the school building tomorrow morning and go to the Digital World for some last minute studying?**

"What? Kosuke wants us to go to the Digital World to study?" Yun yelped.

"My, what a strange idea Kosuke-dono has thought up. I wonder what he wishes to do," Lucero said.

"Well, the passage of time is different in the Digital World than here, so maybe it might not be such a bad idea, so long as we tag along, which might be rather risky. I don't want to be spotted by Nemoto and Shimizu," Lopmon explained. Terriermon hopped onto Yun's head.

"I say we do it! Maybe it'll be fun!" Terriermon said.

"Can I go, kyu?" Cutemon asked.

"Hang on! I haven't decided yet!" Yun proclaimed.

"She's right. Let's think about this first," Lucero explained calmly.

They decided to think about this by getting through the rest of the day. Yun, Lucero, Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon sat in the living room to watch more of Yun's anime DVDs, Yun studied some more, had dinner, and did her homework (she had to ask for Lucero's help a few times). However, once she finished, she made her decision. She texted Kosuke back, and in a few seconds, she got a reply. Kosuke told her to meet behind the school building at 8:15 AM, since it's five minutes before school starts, and nobody goes behind the school building at that time. Lucero and the rabbits were surprised at Yun's decision, but decided to let her go through with it anyway. Yun did, however, suggest that Lucero stay in the human world in case one of Witchmon or LadyDevimon's old friends decide to kidnap him and take him away. Lucero didn't want to leave Yun, but since she was thinking about him and that Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon will be with her (plus the fact that Lopmon and Terriermon can digivolve into ultimate level), he decided to obey Yun.

The day went by quickly, and Monday came. Yun noticed that it was warmer than usual, so she decided to throw on some summer clothes. She put on a sleeveless beige shirt with two buttons and a collar, and a pair of olive green shorts. Summer is coming, after all, so she thought she should dress appropriately as well. Much to her surprise, however, only a few of the Digimon Brigade members came. Kosuke, Melody, Isao, Otoya, Patamon, Biyomon, Bearmon, and Labramon. They all got texts from the other members. Minako can't come because she doesn't like the idea but let them go anyway, and because she has a report to work on. Rena and Riku couldn't come because they're both grounded for some reason they couldn't tell them (they weren't even allowed to use a phone and didn't have time to tell them why). Aria can't come because she's too small and doesn't like breaking rules (according to her) and because the school is too far from where her school is. Hokuto has a doctor's appointment today, and Shunji's sick with the flu.

"Ouch. Looks like everybody's in hot water today," Bearmon said.

"Awww. I'm sad the rest of them can't come. It'd be so much fun if they came!" Isao said, feeling a little sad that the rest of the Digimon Brigade can't come.

Yun found Isao's presence to be an interesting topic, so she decided to bring it up. "Sorry if this sounds rude, but exactly why did you agree to come with us? I mean, you're not in our grade, and we're just going so we can find more time to study for our test today."

"I kinda figured, but you're gonna go to the Digital World, and I sure don't wanna miss that! I made sure to sneak out extra early, and I know some short cuts that'll help me get to school faster," Isao explained jauntily.

"Yes, but Bearmon will de-digivolve into Tsunomon once we leave. Won't you be late?" Yun asked.

"It'll be fine! I've done this lots of times!" Isao said.

"And won't your mom worry?"

"Nah. She thinks I went to school already. I always walk to school."

Yun didn't feel it was right to drag Isao with them despite his reasoning. Sure he has Bearmon by his side, but he's still just a kid. Kids want to go on big adventures and experience new and exciting things. She didn't want to bore him or put him in unnecessary danger. Not only that, she's not the only one who thinks so either. Otoya, Kosuke, and their Digimon looked at each other with apprehensive faces. Only Melody didn't think much of it.

"I think you should let him come with us. He did manage to get this far after all. Besides, if anything goes wrong, we'll protect him," Melody said rather insouciantly.

She sort of expected Isao to make some snarky comment like, "Hey! I don't need protecting! I can take care of myself! I want to be strong!" But Isao made no such comment, or any comment for that matter. He just looked up at one of the green leafy trees with a somewhat yearning and wistful look in his eyes. Yun looked at Melody and smiled a bit.

"Okay. You're right," Yun said. She wasn't totally disappointed. Everyone has their opinions, and sometimes, one has to listen to others. She knew this well, and made no protest against it. She looked at Isao with a kind face. "You can come with us, Isao-kun."

"Really? Yay! Thanks so much!" Isao leaped on Yun and hugged her. Yun was taken aback by Isao's unexpected gesture, but she rubbed his back anyway.

"But we won't be going on any dangerous adventures, will we?" Lopmon asked.

"No. They're just gonna study while we play around. I don't mind a little social activity much, so long as nobody's rough with me," Biyomon said, actually not sounding vain for once.

"I just hope we don't run into more branded Digimon or that master's evil minions," Patamon said. "I've had enough of them!"

"I agree. But enough lollygagging. Let's get to it!" Kosuke said as he got his digivice out.

Otoya, Melody, Yun, and Isao all followed suit. The Digimon made sure to hold onto their tamers lest they get separated as they go to the Digital World. They all pressed the door button and closed their eyes. The ground below them disappeared, and they fell in, floating through the shiny world of ones, zeroes, grid lines, and neon colors. They kept their eyes closed as they floated, even though there was really no need to do so. After what seemed to be a short while, they finally landed on solid ground. They opened their eyes and became quite surprised by what they saw.

The part of the Digital World that they landed in looked like a cross between a barren desert complete with sand and rocks, and a tropical paradise, with tall, huge palm trees with long, thick green leaves that loomed over them like a thick grey rain cloud hanging over the city. They certainly blocked away the huge digital sun shining in the sky, and provided lots of shade that seemed to go for miles. Not only that, all the palm trees were literally loaded with food! Every single fruit under the sun. Bananas, apples, grapes, cantelopes, even kumquats! But the place wasn't entirely spick and span. Some places had huge rocks on them, some had digital spots. The biggest one was the size of a pillow, and that was on one of the big rocks. Some digital spots dotted the trees like dew, while some looked like puddles on the barren orange sand.

"Wow! This place looks like it came out of a blender!" Bearmon exclaimed.

"Yeah. It looks like a cross between a vast desert and a tropical paradise!" Terriermon agreed.

"It's kinda hot here, isn't it? The sweat is going to ruin my feathers!" Biyomon moaned a little. Melody paid no attention to this at all.

"Yeah, it is rather hot, but there's lots of shade so there shouldn't be anything to worry about," Yun said.

"Oh! I recognize this place! This is Fruitful Desert!" Labramon exclaimed.

Otoya smiled and crossed her arms. "I can see where it gets it's name."

"Exactly. I remember someone telling me about this place once. A caravan of Digimon settled here many years ago, hoping to start a new life. The sand here isn't really desert sand. If you can believe it, it's actually very fertile, and it's dominantly called Odhra Sand. It's the only known sand that allows plants to grow. The trees are called _Pompona_(1) Trees," Labramon explained.

"That's so cool! But I thought that plants could never grow with sand. My mom says only dirt can give them the stuff they need to grow," Isao explained. Yun kneeled next to him and smiled.

"The correct term would be nutrients. Isao-kun, do you know how plants grow when put in dirt and water? It's like how we need to drink milk so our bones can be strong and we can grow taller," Yun explained.

"Yep! Mom told me that too!" Isao said.

"But here in the Digital World, things are different," Lopmon said with a smile.

"Indeed they are! I swear, I'm going to have to start writing a compare and contrast paper about the differences between the human and Digital World!" Otoya said.

"We better keep away from those digital spots over there," Melody said, pointing to the big pillow sized hole on the rock.

"Yes. Bucchiemon told us that if we fall into them, we disappear for good," Lopmon explained.

"How scary!" Isao shivered a bit, clinging to Bearmon. Patamon flew over to him and stroke his hair a bit.

"All we have to do is stay away from them, so we'll be fine as long as we're careful," Patamon told him. Isao stopped shivering and let go of Bearmon.

"Yeah. Mom is always telling me to be careful about a lot of stuff," Isao said.

Kosuke sat down on a slightly smaller, flatter rock and opened one of his books. "Let's just get to studying, shall we?"

"Yeah. I agree," Yun said as she sat down next to him and opened one of her books. Melody and Otoya followed suit, while Isao and the Digimon decided to play amongst themselves.

Well, it was mostly Terriermon, Patamon, Isao, Labramon, and Bearmon doing the playing. Lopmon, Cutemon, and Biyomon sat down under one of the big leafy trees and talked amongst themselves. The boys happily chased each other around, played hide and seek, wrestled with each other, and played pretend battle while being scrupulous to not come into contact with the big digital spots on various parts of Fruitful Desert. The older kids studied diligently and silently, staring at their books deeply, hoping that this last minute knowledge will help them pass the test. Kosuke wanted to pass this time because he failed the last one, and he did not want to fail this time. If he failed again, it would really hurt his grade, and he didn't want his grades to drop. Besides, he already knew who to blame for his slightly dropping grades. Isao and the Digimon played and the older kids studied for about what seemed to be half an hour. Unfortunately, they couldn't finish because Biyomon's feathers began ruffling on their own and the ears of both Lopmon and Cutemon perked up. Bearmon noticed this.

"What's wrong, you three?" Bearmon asked. When they saw the three Digimon looking very strange, Isao and the other Digimon stopped playing, and the older kids put their books away.

"A Digimon's here, kyu!" Cutemon proclaimed.

"I'll take a look and see where it is!" Biyomon said as she flew high into the air. Once she got to a considerable height, she used her pale blue eyes to scan the entire area around her, hoping she'll see the Digimon that stimulated her body into tensing up a bit. After some close on-looking, Biyomon saw something black hiding behind one of the palm trees, carrying what appear to be multicolored balloons.

"See anything?" Melody called out.

Biyomon didn't respond. She did, however, cover herself in flames and shoot herself at the Digimon at full speed with great force.

"Holy Blaze!"

"Be careful! Don't burn the trees!" Yun advised, but Biyomon didn't heed her warning, as she already hit the Digimon.

"OWW!" A slightly high pitched voice yelped wildly as Biyomon knocked the Digimon out and into the open. Thankfully, her flames didn't get onto the trees so nobody had to worry about a potential fire.

They did, however, manage to see the Digimon that Biyomon attacked just now. They were quite surprised. The Digimon in front of them is a small, black furred, chubby little animal Digimon with a chubby white face, big, wide green eyes, and a big tooth protruding from it's mouth. On it's head is a limp red elf hat, on it's hands are two red gloves, and on it's feet are little red booties. It has a rather thin black tail, and the insides of it's ears are pure white. In one of it's hands are a set of multi-colored balloons with weird faces drawn on them, smiling creepily. Blue, red, yellow, green, and purple. Melody looked up the Digimon's information on her red digivice.

"That's Opossumon, an armor level, vaccine attribute, beast Digimon. Her attack is Mad Ballon Bombs," Melody said as the Digimon, Opossumon, struggled to her feet. Otoya couldn't help but be charmed by the Digimon's adorable appearance.

"Awwww! She's sooo cute!" Otoya cooed sweetly.

"Umm...are you okay?" Yun asked the Digimon, ignoring Otoya's cry of cuteness.

Unfortunately, Opossumon brushed the sand off of her fur, put on an angry expression, and attacked!

"Mad Balloon Bomb!" Three of Opossumon's multi-colored balloons shot out of her hand. Lopmon and Terriermon were the first to react.

"Double Typhoon!" They combined their tornado attacks together to make one, and they managed to knock out at least two of the balloons.

"Spiral Flame!" Biyomon attacked again, only this time she used another attack to nullify the other balloon bomb. But that was just the beginning.

"Mad Balloon Bomb!" This time, five balloons were thrown at them. This time, Yun reacted quickly.

"Digishield!" Yun threw up a digishield, which managed to make the balloon bombs dissipate. Once both the balloons and the shield dissipated, Opossumon looked at them with shock. Yun approached her a bit with Lopmon and Terriermon by her side.

"Umm...hello. Are you-" Yun tried to talk to the Digimon, since she could tell she wasn't branded with a Dark Emblem, but Opossumon just wasn't having it.

"Who do you hooligans think you are, trying to steal our precious food and claim it for yourselves?" Opossumon yelled in a shrill voice.

"We're not here to steal your food! Honest! We came here by accident!" Yun replied.

"Don't think you can weasel your way out of this! I know what you're here for, and I'm not gonna let you sully our wonderful home! I demand you leave this instant! I've already called for reinforcements so you won't stand a chance!" Opossumon exclaimed angrily.

"Will you please listen? We're not-" Kosuke tried to reason with her as well, but she just wasn't having it.

"Now why should I listen to a bunch of petty thieves trying to steal our food and make us starve?" Opossumon yelled.

"_CAN_ Digimon starve?" Otoya asked Labramon, who shook his head. Isao suddenly gasped.

"What's wrong?" Bearmon asked.

"More Digimon are here!" Isao proclaimed.

He's right. Three more Digimon appeared by Opossumon's side, all of which are much bigger than her! One of them is a creature heavily clad in gold and silver armor, with a pair of striking gold metal wings. Blue hair is protruding from it's gold and silver helmet. The second Digimon is a creature that looks like an orange haired kangaroo, with red boxing gloves, a blue and black helmet, red shoes, white stripes, and a little blue stuffed animal in it's belly pocket. The final Digimon is a giant owl, with a brown body and wings, a white head, white and yellow feet, a white metal tail, and a pair of silver goggles on it's face.

"That dragon Digimon is Maildramon, an armor level! Her attacks are Iron Press and Lightning Spear!" Yun said.

"That kangaroo Digimon is...well, Kangarumon, also an armor level. His attacks are Jumping Jab and Hop Step Punch," Otoya said.

"That owl Digimon is Owlmon, another armor level. His attacks are Midnight Sniper and Infared Eye," Kosuke said.

"Opossumon, are you sure these are the thieves? They don't look as though they can do much," Maildramon said in a lady-like voice, sounding very doubtful about the kids.

"Sure I'm sure! They're the thieves! I know it! We must stop them at all costs!" Opossumon yelled, not happy with Maildramon's reaction.

"We don't tolerate unwelcome trespassers!" Kangarumon exclaimed confidently, displaying some jabs with his big red boxing gloves.

"We suggest you leave this place at once!" Owlmon said.

Yun held onto one of Melody's arms. "Let's go somewhere else."

"Mad Balloon Bomb!" Opossumon threw some more balloons at them.

"Boom Bubble!"

"Echoing Bark!"

"Karate Fist!"

Patamon, Labramon, and Bearmon negated the attacks this time.

"Please! Listen! We mean you no harm! We have not come to steal your food!" Labramon importuned.

"Don't think I'm gonna listen to that poppycock!" Opossumon said.

"Opossumon! Calm down! Shouldn't we listen to what they have to say first?" Maildramon advised kindly, but Opossumon just wasn't listening at all.

"Why should we listen to a bunch of no-good thieves and bandits? We have to fight to keep our stock safe! If you won't agree with me, then fine! I'll do it myself!" Opossumon said.

"If you want a fight, then fine!" Melody said as she got her digivice out.

"No! Please! Don't fight! We didn't come here to fight them!" Yun importuned loudly.

"Yun! These guys won't listen to a thing we say! We have to fight them!" Melody told her.

"No we don't! If we fight them, we'll just make everything worse! Let's not make a scene!" Yun exclaimed.

"She is right. Nothing good will come out of fighting them. They're only trying to protect their home, and we can't get in the way of that," Lopmon told them.

"Infared Eye!"

"Mad Balloon Bomb!"

Both Owlmon and Opossumon attacked.

"Holy Blaze!"

"Holy Wing!"

Both Biyomon and Patamon stopped the attacks from hitting the kids.

"Opossumon. Calm down right this minute! Let's be civil here!" Maildramon advised, but Opossumon hit her in the face (though she didn't seem to feel it) and proceeded to get into a big brouhaha with Biyomon.

"We're not thieves! Why do you have to be so vulgar and uncivil?" Biyomon yelled.

"It's you who's vulgar and uncivil! Leave this place at once!" Opossumon yelled back.

Biyomon pecked at Opossumon incessantly while Opossumon proceeded to try and rip out Biyomon's feathers, which set her off greatly. Yun, Lopmon, Otoya, and Labramon have finally had enough.

"Stop! Stop fighting right now!" Otoya and Labramon pulled on Opossumon while Yun and Lopmon tried to pry Biyomon off of Opossumon despite the fact that Biyomon is still a level lower than the cute and cuddly possum Digimon.

"Jumping Jab!"

"Karate Fist!"

All of a sudden, Bearmon and Kangarumon engaged in battle. Fists flew at each other in flurries. Soon, an all out brouhaha exploded...well, only for just a second.

"Wool Grenade!"

Out of nowhere, two torpedos hit some open areas between the kids and Digimon, leaving them flying all over the place. Once the dust faded away, the kids and Digimon got up and saw another Digimon looking at them with a very austere and disappointed expression. The Digimon is...a sheep! A black sheep covered with soft, fluffy, cotton candy pink wool with yellow eyes, big red ram horns, and a set of silver guns on the top of it's back. Yun looked up the Digimon's information on her digivice.

"That's Sheepmon, an armor level. Her attacks are Wool Grenade and Silence of Rams," Yun said. The austere Sheepmon walked over to them and shook her head.

"What is wrong with you all today? Look at you! You're all acting like a bunch of brainless hooligans fighting over children's toys! Don't you know that's a very uncivil way to welcome weary travelers who have traveled afar?" Sheepmon explained in a high but very dignified voice. Owlmon, Kangarumon, and Opossumon all stood up with alarm.

"Sheepmon! Are you blind? These are the thieves that have been stealing all of our food!" Opossumon yelled.

"We were just trying to stop them from stealing any more!" Owlmon backed her up.

Sheepmon sighed. "Have you all forgotten? These creatures here are humans, and humans are not the thieves."

"Humans?" Kangarumon asked curiously, sounding confused.

"Yes! Haven't you heard the legends? Humans have created us and given us life! Is this really how you repay your creators?" Sheepmon told them sternly. "Besides, the Bakemon are the ones stealing our food."

"Oh great, more back talk again! How do you know Bakemon have been stealing our food? You have no proof!" Kangarumon exclaimed.

"I saw them with my own eyes, and I even tried attacking them, but they're immune to physical attacks," Sheepmon said. "But more importantly, stop all of this ridiculous fighting at once! I can see that these humans don't mean us any harm. Come now, can't you be sensible enough to at least listen to them?"

"She's right. You were wrong to act so childishly," Maildramon said.

Otoya sighed. _'At least someone understands,'_ She thought to herself. Unfortunately, Opossumon exploded.

"Why do you two have to be so difficult? You know what? Fine! I'm not listening to you anymore!" Opossumon yelled.

"No! Wait!" Sheepmon tried to stop Opossumon from attacking again, but she was too late.

"Mad Balloon Bomb!"

"Terrier Tornado!" This time, Terriermon flew himself through not just the bombs, but at Opossumon as well, and actually managed to hit her with great force!

But Melody gasped when she saw the direction in which Opossumon was heading.

Right toward the big rock with the pillow sized digital spot.

If Opossumon fell into it...

"WAIT!" Melody decided to take action and ran full speed toward the unconscious Opossumon. Melody sprinted with all her might, and once she got close enough, she extended her long arms as Opossumon flew against them. Once Opossumon was in her arms, Melody clutched her tightly and closed her eyes. Melody realized too late that she made a mistake. Now that she's grabbed Opossumon, she tripped, and was about to fall into the digital spot with her.

"MEL!" Yun yelled, but it was too late to try and grab her...for Yun, that is. Someone else did it for her. Melody and Opossumon both fell on something hard. It was cold yet smooth. They cautiously woke up to find themselves on Maildramon's face! Melody and Opossumon both regained their equanimity and removed themselves from Maildramon's face. Everyone watched with awe as both Melody and Maildramon performed very valiant, altruistic, and chivalrous deeds! Even Opossumon realized it: Melody saved her despite the fact that Opossumon had assaulted them so mercilessly just minutes before! Melody got up and let Opossumon go, but not before giving her a good scolding.

"You've gotta be more careful! If you fall into one of those digital spots, you won't make it out alive!" Melody scolded. Opossumon shed all of her feelings of anger and hatred and finally lost the need to attack them.

"You...saved me," Opossumon muttered.

Melody then turned to Maildramon. "And you saved me."

"I just happened to be there, that's all," Maildramon told them.

"Wow! That was quite a move you made there, Mel!" Kosuke said with his arms crossed.

"Did you see that? That human saved Opossumon!" Owlmon said, pointing one of his wings at Melody and Maildramon.

"Perhaps...they're not the thieves after all," Kangarumon said, feeling remorseful for his own actions earlier. Sheepmon smiled and walked to the kids.

"You all must be very tired. Would you like to come to our home. We'll throw a wonderful feast for you as thanks for saving one of our own," Sheepmon told them with a smile. Otoya couldn't help but hug Sheepmon.

"You're sooooo cute, and we'd love to be there!" Otoya cooed happily as she squeezed Sheepmon. Sheepmon is a bit bigger than her, so she didn't feel as though she were being suffocated. She didn't mind. She could feel Otoya's love in her warm arms.

The four Digimon escorted the Digimon Brigade to the main part of Fruitful Desert, which is full of fruit-filled Pompona Trees, other Digimon, and HUGE houses made entirely of rocks! The four Digimon took them to the biggest one. The inside didn't look like much. It was just full of rocks made to resemble chairs, tables, and beds, with a few merchandise embellishing them here and there. Some fiery Digimon and candle Digimon lit up the place. Yun looked up their information and found them to be called DemiMeramon and Candlemon. A friendly bunch they are. They roasted some of the food and left others alone for everyone to eat. Some in-training level Digimon, namely Tokomons, Nyaromons, and little blue and white Digimon played around happily. The blue one is called DemiVeemon, Otoya found out. One of them began playing with Terriermon happily. Opossumon flew over to the kids and bowed before them deeply. So did Kangarumon and Owlmon.

"We're so sorry! We're so deeply sorry for the transgressions we committed! Please forgive us!" Opossumon wailed.

"It's okay. You were trying to protect your home. We totally understand," Yun told them kindly.

"We did have good reason for being so volatile. Lately some scoundrels have been stealing our food over the past month or so. After our home got destroyed, we strived to regain what we lost, and we finally did. It pains us that others wish to deprive us of our most valuable stock. We only wanted to make sure nobody stole anything this time. We just got sick and tired of it," Owlmon explained sadly.

"But even though we were trying to protect our village, it doesn't justify what we did to you. We should have listened to you, and for that, we are truly sorry," Kangarumon said.

"Yeah! You SHOULD have listened!" Melody snapped.

"Mel! Zip it!" Yun scolded. Melody crossed her arms and pouted a bit.

"It's fine. We kinda dealt with similar situations like this before, so it's no biggie. Besides, it's natural for someone to want to protect their beloved home. If someone was stealing my stuff, I would have done the same thing," Otoya explained.

"And I would have protected you just as much as they tried to do," Labramon said.

"Exactly...why did you come here, anyhow?" Owlmon asked.

"Well, since the passage of time in this world is different from ours, we kinda thought we'd come here and study for our test today before we take it. It was kind of a last minute thing, and we thought going to the Digital World would be perfect, since not a minute passes in the real world when we're in the Digital World," Kosuke said.

"Is the real world really that different from ours?" Opossumon asked curiously.

"Not totally different," Terriermon said as the little DemiVeemon hopped on one of his long ears and played around with it happily.

"Everyone! The feast is ready!" A Digimon called out and everyone chowed down.

Melody had a few pieces of shish-ka-bob before she saw Opossumon looking at her with sad eyes.

"What?" Melody asked rather gruffly.

"Umm..." Opossumon muttered timidly, but steeled up the mettle to finish what she had to say. "I...I want to thank you for...saving me earlier...and I'm sorry for what I did. I should have let you tell your side of the story."

"Yeah! You should have!" Biyomon piped in.

"Biyomon. Zip it," Melody said.

"But she attacked us!" Biyomon complained.

"For a good reason, yes. Now zip it and eat," Melody handed her a shish-ka-bob and kept her quiet. Opossumon wasn't offended this time. Opossumon did, however, notice the silver bracelet on one of Melody's wrists.

"That's a pretty bracelet you have. I don't think I've seen anything like it," Opossumon said. Melody looked down at her silver bracelet gruffly.

"This? Yun gave it to me," Melody said. Maildramon sat next to Biyomon.

"My, that's quite a hair style you have," Maildramon said. Melody twiddled pieces of her red hair between her fingers.

"I kinda like it," Melody muttered.

"Me too. It suits you!" Biyomon piped in this time, without making another snide comment.

"Exactly...why did you save me?" Opossumon asked.

"I just don't like it when Digimon are about to fall into those holes. They'll die if they go into those, and Yun would have a fit if she saw you fall in," Melody explained.

"Even so, that was very noble of you despite what we've done," Maildramon said kindly.

Otoya sat in between Sheepmon and Owlmon, with Labramon on her lap. Sheepmon noticed a little gold cross necklace around Otoya's neck, along with her blue D-Heart of Faith.

"What's that gold thing on your neck?" Sheepmon asked.

"Yes. Care to tell us?" Owlmon asked.

"Oh? This? It's my cross necklace. My dad makes me wear it a lot. He says it'll be useful, but I don't see how," Otoya explained.

"It looks stunning," Sheepmon said.

"It certainly does," Kangarumon said. He sat next to Owlmon.

Once the feast was finished, everyone went about their own way. Yun and Kosuke decided to sit down and study amongst themselves, Isao and the Digimon played, Melody hung out with Opossumon and Maildramon, who grew to like her, and Otoya and Labramon hung out with Sheepmon, Owlmon, and Kangarumon.

"You say your father is the pastor of a church? What's a church?" Sheepmon asked.

"A church is a place where people go to meet and worship God together, though I don't know if God exists or not," Otoya explained.

"Is this God a being higher than even you humans?" Kangarumon asked.

"Possibly," Otoya said, her face getting a little red.

"My! How very interesting! I had no idea there was a being even higher than the humans!" Owlmon exclaimed.

"I'm also surprised you're able to partner with Digimon so strongly," Sheepmon said.

"I'm quite happy to be Otoya's partner, just so you all know. She is a wonderful girl, and I love her very much. That is why I vow to protect her and stay by her side, even if it costs me my life," Labramon said.

"I-I'm not wonderful at all! No way!" Otoya exclaimed modestly.

"Why do you deny it? It's true," Labramon asked curiously.

"No it's not!" Otoya argued. Kangarumon and Owlmon laughed a little.

"Why do you two laugh?" Labramon asked sternly.

"Yes! It's not nice to laugh at others!" Sheepmon scolded again.

"Sorry. It's just...the two of you really do get along," Owlmon said.

"Yes. You two are practically made for each other," Kangarumon said.

"Well...I do love Labramon. He's one of the best things that ever happened to me," Otoya said as she stroke Labramon's head gently, which made him smile a bit.

"One? What do you mean by one?" Sheepmon asked.

"Well, Labramon's not the only best thing that ever happened to me. Everyone in the Digimon Brigade makes me happy, and I'm happy to have them all for friends," Otoya explained.

"It is true," Labramon piped in.

"Exactly why is that?" Kangarumon asked.

"W-Well, you see-"

Otoya felt a little embarrassed about telling some Digimon about her past, but thankfully, the opportunity to do so was interrupted and taken away from her...but not in the best context or way possible.

"STOP! THIEVES!"

A Digimon yelled angrily, which prompted everyone to run outside in alarm. Some citizens of Fruitful Desert are fighting off a gaggle of ghost Digimon!

"Those are Bakemon, champion levels! Their special attacks are Zombie Claw and Poison Breath!" Isao said as he read the information from their digivices.

The group of Bakemon prepared to attack.

"Poison Breath!" All eight of them spewed ugly black liquid from their mouths, and the Digimon stepped in to help.

"Lightning Spear!" A lightning bolt shot out of Maildramon's head.

"Mad Balloon Bomb!" Opossumon threw some more balloons at them.

"Freezing Snow!"

"Boom Bubble!"

"Spiral Flame!"

"Ultrasonic Wave!"

Although they attacked as hard as they could, the Bakemon weren't entirely affected. They did, however, manage to frighten them enough to make them drop their food. Kangarumon, Owlmon, and Otoya took the honor of giving the food back to the Digimon.

"Did you silly little ghosts really think you could get away with our precious stock so easily?" Kangarumon yelped angrily. The group of Bakemon cackled with laughter. Otoya got her digivice out.

"I think it's time to digivolve!" Otoya said, but Sheepmon got in front of her.

"Wait! I think you should let us handle this," Sheepmon told her.

"But why? You said they're immune to physical attacks, and we can't just sit here and watch!" Otoya reasoned, becoming quite worried.

"She is right. Let us help you," Labramon told her.

"I'd love for you to help, but we've caused you enough trouble already. Consider this our apology for giving you such a hard time earlier," Sheepmon said.

But regardless, Melody and Isao both yanked out their digivices. "No way are we just gonna sit back and watch! We're here now, so we might as well help you fight off these ghosts!" Melody exclaimed.

"I agree! I don't like it when other Digimon are fighting and we can't help! You ready for some ghost busting, Bearmon?" Isao exclaimed.

"I'm ready!" Bearmon yelped.

"I'll fight too!" Terriermon piped in, although Yun was quite reluctant to let him fight.

Sheepmon sighed as the other Digimon marched into battle. Labramon came first, and digivolved into Seasarmon, Biyomon to Birdramon, Patamon to Angemon, and Bearmon to Grizzlymon. Only Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon stayed in their rookie forms. Yun wanted to obey Sheepmon's orders, but she also didn't want to sit and do nothing while the others fight them off. The three rookies decided to fight, though they also decided to not digivolve since they felt the rest of Digimon, both the citizens of the village and the Digimon Brigade's, were enough. The kids decided to get their digilassos out and try to lasso some Bakemon. Otoya managed to lasso three.

"I got some!" Otoya called out and gestured Seasarmon to attack.

"Tee Dia!" Arrows of light hit the three Bakemon and turned them into data. But they noticed too late that three other Bakemon were about to attack.

"Infared Eye!"

"Hop Step Punch!"

Owlmon and Kangarumon literally hopped in (or, in Owlmon's case, flew) and kept the Bakemon away from Otoya and Seasarmon, even though their attacks weren't enough to really kill them, especially not Kangarumon's. Seasarmon helped them out and with another Tee Dia, turned the other Bakemon into data.

"Thanks for your help," Seasarmon told them kindly.

"Consider it payment for treatin' you so bad earlier," Kangarumon said.

"Meteor Wing!"

"Hand of Fate!"

"Crescent Dawn!"

"Lightning Spear!"

"Mad Balloon Bomb!"

Birdramon, Angemon, Grizzlymon, Maildramon, Opossumon, and various other Digimon managed to take down a good number of Bakemon. Melody tried to lasso one of them, but it got out and nearly tried to strangle her.

"Mel!" Opossumon stepped in fast, and threw some balloons at it, which frightened it enough to let go of Melody.

"Mad Balloon Bomb!" With a few more balloons popping and exploding, the Bakemon turned into data. Melody smiled a bit and wiped some dirt off of her face.

"Thanks," Melody said.

"Now we're even!" Opossumon told her with a smile and a flash of the peace sign. Yun managed to lasso a Bakemon, though she had a hard time forcing it to sit still. Thankfully, Lopmon and Terriermon all had the upper hand.

"Freezing Snow!"

"Blazing Fire!"

Their attacks turned the lone Bakemon into data, and Yun breathed a sigh of relief.

"Jeez! Don't these things ever take a break?" Yun moaned a little.

"Probably not, but let's keep fighting! Who knows what kinds of trouble they're gonna cause next!" Terriermon explained. Yun nodded at him and ran back to the brouhaha.

Both the Digimon Brigade and the citizens of Fruitful Desert fought with the growing number of Bakemon with all their might. The Bakemon themselves were quite difficult, not allowing both the kids and Digimon proper control of them, but the citizens managed to gain the upper hand and subdue a voluminous amount of them. Maildramon saved Melody from a Bakemon trying to attack her from behind, and Sheepmon saved Otoya from being dragged away by one while she took the honor of destroying it with her digisword.

"Poison Breath!"

"Digishield!" Otoya threw up a digishield and protected some of the smaller Digimon from a Bakemon's attack.

"Are we done yet?" Birdramon complained.

"Almost! There's just a few more to go! Just hold out until then!" Grizzlymon advised.

"Awww, come on! I'm sick of ghost busting!" Birdramon whined, but knocked out a Bakemon trying to bite her leg.

"Wow. This really does feel like GhostBusters," Angemon said.

"Can we not make any worthless references to ghost related cartoons, please?" Kosuke yelped.

"Get away, evil ghosties!" Isao yelled as he sliced at some Bakemon with his digisword, though not very well. Grizzlymon came and helped him out a little.

"Crescent Dawn!" Grizzlymon defeated the Bakemon that were giving Isao a hard time. Isao smiled at Grizzlymon greatly.

"Thanks Grizzlymon! You're awesome!" Isao exclaimed. Grizzlymon smiled back.

"Don't mention it," Grizzlymon said.

"Ultrasonic Wave!" Cutemon, with her high pitched howl, managed to defeat more Bakemon and blast out their ear drums, even though technically they didn't have ears.

It took them a while, but once the last Bakemon was finally defeated, the Digimon Brigade sighed with relief, and the citizens of Fruitful Desert rejoiced in their victory. Only Bearmon de-digivolved immediately after the battle.

"Hurrah! Three cheers for the Digimon Brigade for aiding us in stopping an act of larceny on our home!" Owlmon cheered.

"Hurrah!"

"Oh!" Otoya suddenly gasped.

"What's wrong, Otoya?" Seasarmon asked.

"Look! They're glowing!"

Otoya is right. Five Digimon are glowing! Maildramon's top horn glowed in a yellow light, the tip of Opossumon's hat glowed in a silver light, Kangarumon's helm glowed in a pale brown light, one of Owlmon's wings glowed in a dark brown light, and Sheepmon's horns glowed in a pale cotton candy pink light. Soon, all the lights floated away from them. Three of them landed in Otoya's hands, and two of them settled contentedly into Melody's hands. In Melody's hands are two gem stones. A gold Omega sign, and a silver balloon shape. In Otoya's hands are three gem stones. A pink lamb with thick wool, a brown kangaroo, and a dark brown owl. Birdramon saw the gem stones despite her large size and was ecstatic.

"Hey! Mel! You know those D-Chips Yun was talking about? I think you just got some!" Birdramon said.

"Hey! You're right!" Melody exclaimed.

"So...are we your partners or something?" Maildramon asked as she and Opossumon both approached her.

"You're both my secondary partners now, so it seems," Melody said, smiling a little. Otoya cheered and jumped all over the place like a happy Elvis fan girl.

"Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes!" Otoya squealed happily as she hugged Kangarumon, Owlmon, and Sheepmon. "You three are my secondary partners! Woohoo! I'm so happy!"

"So...should we be happy about this?" Owlmon asked cautiously. Sheepmon smiled.

"I think we should!" Sheepmon said.

Both the Digimon Brigade and the citizens of Fruitful Desert celebrated, though it must be confessed that Yun covered her ears with her hands and was rather intimidated by the noise. Cutemon mollified her gently, and the lop-eared rabbit twins were going to celebrate too...if it wasn't for Terriermon's ears perking up suddenly and the fact that a strange, eerie, and ominous feeling zipped right through his body as though he had been zapped by lightning. He turned around suddenly and saw a strange, red, intimidating creature shoot a red beam of light at him.

"Boogey Beam!"

Thankfully, Terriermon reacted quickly. "Blazing Fire!"

Both attacks collided and dissipated upon contact, which caught the attention of everyone else. Once the cloud of dust dissipated, out came a very frightening Digimon. He's red, with red and purple bat wings, has evil yellow eyes, has black markings all over his body, and in his left hand is a coal black, tri-pointed pitch fork. Small horns protruded from his head. A wicked smile was painted on his face.

"You meddlesome brats managed to defeat my army of Bakemon? Hm, very interesting," The red, imp-like Digimon cackled with the smile on his face. The citizens of Fruitful Desert backed away in fear while the Digimon Brigade's faces turned to anger.

"You tried to attack us just now, didn't you?" Yun yelped angrily.

"Hm. Yes I did. So?" The red Digimon replied insouciantly.

"Who are you?" Terriermon asked.

"Ah! I just LOVE introducing myself, you see! Since you asked politely, I'll tell you. I am known as Boogeymon, and it's very nice to meet you...if this were in a nice setting, that is," The red Digimon, Boogeymon, exclaimed happily.

"Boogeymon?" Both Kosuke and Otoya looked at each other with confused faces.

"As in...the boogey man?" Isao asked Bearmon.

"Wow. That's just stupid," Angemon said.

All of a sudden, both Melody and Birdramon exploded into a paroxysm of laughter, leaving everyone, even Boogeymon, looking quite confused.

"Bwahahahaha! Oh! This is too good! Boogeymon? My God, that's the stupidest name for a Digimon I've ever heard!" Melody laughed heartily and loudly.

"Tell me about it! Oh, my ribs! Do I even have ribs? Ha ha ha!" Birdramon laughed.

Boogeymon exploded into a paroxysm of anger. "SILENCE! I don't know WHERE this boogey man business came from, but I will not have you insult me with such calumny!"

His pitch fork glowed in a bloody red light, and he threw it like a baseball bat hitting a ball. The light shot out from his pitch fork straight for Fruitful Desert. "Dimensional Warp!"

Yun, Isao, and their Digimon saw this and ran toward it.

"NO!" All five of them got hit by the attack. All of a sudden, everything turned black. They could hear screaming, but it faded away. They had no idea what happened to them.

Footnotes:

1. Pompona is the Roman goddess of plenty and fruitful abundance. Her name comes from the Latin word, pomum, which means fruit, and which refers to orchard fruit.


	54. Lingering Sadness

EPISODE 54: Lingering Sadness

Bearmon was the first to wake up after being hit by Boogeymon's Dimensional Warp attack. Upon waking up, he noticed that his fur was just covered with sand, so he shook it all off like a dog shaking water all over the place after finishing a bath. He also noticed that his arm was slightly bruised and his upper back hurt a little, but the sand broke his, and their, fall, so it's likely they didn't sustain any fatal or life-threatening injuries lest they fell on some big, jagged rocks. Bearmon saw a few tall rocks, but they were far away, so it's likely they didn't fall onto them or hit them. Bearmon stood up, wiped some sand off of his fur, and looked around. He began to sweat a little since his fur is so thick, but he paid no mind.

"Wow. It doesn't look like we're in Fruitful Desert anymore. Who was that Digimon, and what's happening to Fruitful Desert?" Bearmon asked himself with worry. He looked around and saw Yun, Lopmon, Cutemon, Terriermon, and Isao lying near him. He decided to run up to Isao first. He put his big, bulky paws on Isao's small shoulders and shook him gently.

"Isao? Isao! Wake up! You've gotta wake up!" Bearmon pleaded quietly. Isao grimaced a little, but not enough to wake up. To Bearmon, though, this was a suble harbinger that showed that Isao is alive, and this is enough for him. For now, anyway. Bearmon did, however, fear some more grunting noises. He turned around to find Yun opening her eyes and waking up.

"Urgh...wha? What in the world?" Yun murmured. Bearmon ran up to her with delight.

"Yun-chan! You're okay!" Bearmon said as he proceeded to help her up. But as he tried to make her stand up, Yun felt a throe of pain travel all through her back.

"Ow! Ow ow ow!" Yun yelped in pain as she fell back down on the sand.

"Your back hurts?" Bearmon asked sadly. Yun rubbed it with one of her hands, though she could tell it wasn't working.

"Kinda. But I think I can go on," Yun said as she stood up again. She did feel another jolt of pain strike her back, but it wasn't as bad as before because she made sure to get up slowly. Bearmon helped her out.

"That sure was some surprise, wasn't it?" Bearmon said.

"Indeed it was! Do you think maybe that Boogeymon creature might be working with this so-called Master?" Yun asked.

"Maybe, but we still don't know yet, so we still have to confirm it," Bearmon said. Yun turned to find all three little rabbit Digimon lying on the sand. She very slowly ambled to them and cradled all three of them into her warm, loving arms.

"Lopmon! Cutemon! Terriermon! Are you all okay?" Yun yelped, hoping that they were alive. Thankfully they are, because once they heard Yun's slightly pained voice, all three of them woke up instantly, which made Yun squeal with relief.

"Oh, thank the lord! You're alright!" Yun cried out as she hugged them.

"What happened to us exactly?" Lopmon asked. Terriermon leaped out of Yun's arms.

"We were attacked by some weird Digimon named Boogeymon! Remember?" Terriermon exclaimed, balling one of his pale green hands into a little fist.

"Oh! I remember, kyu! He sure was scary, kyu," Cutemon said, her long pink ears drooping a little in a sad way.

"Where are we?" Bearmon asked. Yun put her hand above her eyebrows and looked around on all sides.

"I have no idea. Maybe that attack took us away from Fruitful Desert. I just hope we're not too far away," Yun muttered.

Cutemon's ears perked up again. "You're right, kyu! We're not far away after all, kyu!"

"Do you hear something, Cutemon?" Lopmon asked with curiosity in her sweet voice.

"Yep! I hear voices coming from over there!" Cutemon proclaimed, pointing east. "Mel-chan, Birdramon, and Angemon are among them! I know it! We just have to keep walking this way, and we'll be back in Fruitful Desert!"

"Great! Thanks so much, Cutemon!" Yun slowly kneeled before her and stroke her pink head with her hand, smiling sweetly, which also made Cutemon smile. "I'm so glad we have someone like you in the Digimon Brigade!"

"I'm glad I could help, kyu," Cutemon cooed sweetly.

"Well thank goodness for that," Bearmon said. "We better get moving soon. Who knows what Boogeymon could be doing to the Digimon right now!"

"I know. Why don't-" Yun was about to say something, but a loud wail stopped her from saying what she wanted to say. Bearmon turned around to find Isao, wailing and covering his face in his sleep.

"Isao!" Bearmon yelled as he ran over to the flailing child.

"Isao-kun!" Yun and the rabbits followed him. Yun decided to shake Isao first.

"Isao-kun! Isao-kun! Wake up!" Yun pleaded. She did get a response, but it wasn't what she, or anyone, expected.

"D-D-Dad! Dad! Please! Don't go! Don't leave me!" Isao cried out passionately in his sleep, seemingly not cognizant of the fact that he's trapped in the confines of a dream.

What he said made Yun and everyone else confused. 'Isao-kun's dad?'

"No! Please! Don't go! Don't die! I...I need you!" It broke everyone's heart to see that tears are actually streaming out of Isao's eyes, which are squeezed shut right now. Finally, Yun has had enough.

"WAKE UP!"

Yun's vociferous voice finally pulled Isao out of his dream and made him open his midnight blue eyes. "Whoa!"

Once Isao woke up, he looked around himself, surprised to see that he's not in his dream anymore. "Wha...what happened?"

"You were having a nightmare. Are you okay?" Lopmon asked with concern, putting her small rosy pink hand in Isao's tender one. Isao smiled a bit.

"Yeah, thanks to all of you," Isao said.

Bearmon noticed the tears. "You're crying."

Isao cocked his head to one side at first, looking confused until he touched his face. Bearmon's right. His face is wet with tears. Upon seeing, and feeling, this, Isao quickly rubbed them away from his eyes in a hurry.

"Sorry about that. I won't cry anymore!" Isao said as he finished rubbing the tears away. Yun tried to help him up, but her back acted up again, only this time with full force. It kept her from getting up.

"Oh! Yun, dear! Are you alright?" Lopmon asked with concern upon seeing Yun grimace with pain.

"K-Kinda. My back...I think I fell on it really hard," Yun croaked out.

"I can help you with that, kyu! Healing Light!" Cutemon pulled the back of Yun's shirt up gently, and put both hands on Yun's bare back. A soft pink light came out from Cutemon's tiny hands. Yun could feel the warmth of Cutemon's healing power, and the pain disappearing. It took about a minute and a half, but after a while, Cutemon stopped and Yun stood up straight without feeling any pain.

"Wow! I feel better! Thanks, Cutemon!" Yun said with gratitude, which made Cutemon blush a bit. Bearmon helped Isao stand up.

"So are we gonna go back to Fruitful Desert or not?" Terriermon asked.

"Yes we will!" Yun said.

"Do you think maybe your Digimon can digivolve? I don't think Bearmon can since he already did, and I think your Digimon can cover more ground if they do, since they didn't digivolve earlier," Isao suggested.

"Great idea!" Yun cried out happily as she ruffled Isao's hair with her hand, which made Isao laugh. Yun got her digivice out.

"Oh! Oh! Can I digivolve into Rapidmon? I'll be able to fly you guys there without a hitch!" Terriermon exclaimed happily, jumping up and down as he did.

"Now now. Patience, Terriermon. We don't know if Yun's digivice will help us digivolve in this kind of circumstance," Lopmon advised kindly.

"What does circumstance mean?" Isao asked Yun with curiosity in his midnight blue eyes. Yun crossed her arms and ruminated for a bit, then she spoke again.

"If you're trapped in a big hole and don't know how to get out, then you're in a bad circumstance. Does that make sense?" Yun explained. Isao smiled brightly.

"Yep! I get it! Boy, you sure are smart, Yun-chan," Isao told her, smiling brightly. Yun blushed a bit.

"Oh, no, I'm not smart at all. Lucero and Mina-chan are much smarter than me," Yun said.

"That may be, but you're still very intelligent in your own way," Lopmon told her reassuringly.

"Yeah! You taught us lots of cool things!" Terriermon piped in.

"She did. But let's get to Fruitful Desert first!" Bearmon reminded them.

Yun got her digivice out, put it in her hands, and closed her eyes. She wished for a reaction, but nothing came. A few minutes passed, but neither Lopmon, Cutemon, or Terriermon digivolved.

"Awwww! Are you kidding me?" Yun complained angrily. Lopmon shook her head.

"I guess we can't digivolve after all...unless we're in a bad situation," Lopmon muttered sadly.

"Man! This bites! I can't believe we can't digivolve when we need to do so right now!" Terriermon cried out angrily. Isao's head drooped downward a bit.

"I guess my idea won't work after all," Isao murmured sadly. Bearmon put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay. Stuff like this just happens," Bearmon told him.

"Yeah. Well, since we can't digivolve right now, we better make do with what we have and get moving while we still can," Yun said as she put her digivice away.

With this, Yun, Isao, Lopmon, Cutemon, Terriermon, and Bearmon began walking east. Cutemon kept her ears wide and open so she could continue hearing the distant voices she heard earlier, hoping that they'll last long enough for them to follow them and reach Fruitful Desert, though she did wish that either Lopmon or Terriermon could digivolve. Nobody saw why they couldn't. Perhaps digivolving only happens under certain circumstances. Nobody liked this, but they couldn't complain about it, as they knew that complaining wouldn't help, so they marched onward. The digital sun rained it's excessive warmth and blazing golden effulgence on the small group, making their skin turn a little red, sweat a little, and feel very slightly thirsty. Yun cursed herself for not having brought a bottle of water with her, or even a few, but there was no way she could have known they were going to get into a situation like this, so it was inevitable. Despite the heat rising, nobody complained about it...except for Terriermon.

"AGH! Why does it have to be so hot?" Terriermon yelped angrily.

"It's the desert, kyu. Of course it's going to be hot, kyu," Cutemon told him. Lopmon didn't say a word. Yun noticed that Isao didn't say a word either. She knew that little kids were very likely to complain about excessive heat and humidity, but she found it odd that Isao didn't. She did, however, notice that Isao looked rather dejected. Seeing this to be strange, she decided to snap him out of it.

"Is something wrong, Isao-kun?" Yun asked gently.

"Huh? What?" Isao asked, a little confused.

"You look sad."

"Oh. Yeah. I...sorry, I..." Isao stammered. He didn't know what to say.

"Want to talk about it?" Yun asked. Isao looked up a bit.

"If you don't want to, that's fine," Yun told him. Isao then looked up at her.

"No. I...I want to talk about it," Isao told her quietly. He held onto her hand and clung to it gently.

"My nightmare. I...I dreamt about my dad going away," Isao murmured.

"Your dad?"

"Yeah. I miss him."

"Where is he?"

Isao stopped and looked down at the sand. Since he stopped in the middle of his tracks, everyone else stopped to.

"He's...in Heaven."

Everyone's heart sank upon hearing this. As if it wasn't bad enough Aria had to deal with a parent drying, now Isao too?

"Oh...I'm sorry. I didn't know," Yun said sadly.

"It's okay. I never did tell you," Isao replied.

"How did he die?" Terriermon asked. Lopmon gave him a whack on the head.

"Ow!" Terriermon yelped in pain.

"I told you not to ask sensitive questions like that!" Lopmon reproved her brother for being so careless, but Isao decided to answer them anyway.

"Mom says he had something called cancer. He...got really sick. Medicine didn't help. The doctors couldn't save him, but they tried really hard to do so," Isao replied. "It's been three months now. It's just me and my mom now."

"Oh," Yun muttered. "I'll bet your mom's pretty sad too."

Isao looked up at Yun when she said that. "Actually, she's not sad anymore."

"What do you mean?" Terriermon asked.

"At first she was sad. She cried a lot. But after a while, she's been acting like nothing's ever happened," Isao explained.

"Lucky," Terriermon said.

"I don't feel lucky," Isao replied.

"Why not?" Terriermon asked again.

Isao let go of Yun's hand. "I know Mom has her reasons, but I'm not happy all the time like she is, like I'm supposed to be. She always wants to do stuff like throw a football or go get ice cream or go bowling, and I do like all those things, but sometimes I just don't want to do all that stuff 'cause I'm sad."

Yun thought a little about Aria. _'At least he's faring better than she did,'_ She thought, remembering the pain Aria went through in not just losing her mother, but her father who lost himself in his grief and turned it into rancor toward his daughters.

"I think maybe your mom's trying to move on, Isao," Bearmon said.

"Move on? Like forget about Dad?" Isao asked.

"No. I don't think that's it. She probably thinks that maybe your Dad will be sad if she's sad all the time while he's gone, and knows that there are more important things than being sad all the time," Bearmon explained.

"Is being sad a bad thing?"

"No. It's okay to be sad and to cry, but it's not okay to do too much of it, especially for the rest of your life."

Isao looked down at his feet, looking a bit dejected. Yun saw this, kneeled down to his level, and put a hand on his shoulder, which got his attention.

"If you want to cry, you're allowed to. I'm sure you miss your dad a lot, and I'm sure your mom does too," Yun told him gently. Isao turned to look at her with a surprised face.

"I want to cry sometimes, but some people say that crying is for crybabies and sissies," Isao told her.

"Who told you that?"

"My friends at school?"

"Aria-chan's not one of them, right?"

"She's my friend but she doesn't say that. These boys I play soccer with say it though."

"To you?"

"Just once. They said crying is for crybabies and sissies, and that they won't play with kids like them. I don't cry in front of them, but I do it at home."

Yun thought for a minute that maybe Isao's trying to join a crowd that he shouldn't. She didn't know that Bearmon and the others are thinking the same thing. Both she and Bearmon looked at Isao.

"Isao-kun. I want you to listen very carefully. These boys you're playing soccer with...they don't sound like they're very nice. If they tell you things that don't make you very comfortable, then you shouldn't listen. You shouldn't try to be something you're not, especially something that others, like mean kids, want you to be, and especially if they want you to be something you don't want to be just so they can look cool for bad reasons. You shouldn't limit yourself to the opinions of others, save for parents and teachers who want you to be happy and do the right thing. Find out what makes you you. If you try to put up a front all the time, you won't be happy. You should find the strength to be yourself no matter what," Yun told him.

"That's right. I like you the way you are, Isao, and you should too. You should be whoever you want to be, not what mean kids want you to be. If you want to cry because you're sad, then you should do it. It's good to let your sadness out. If you want to be nice to other kids, then you should. You're nice to me and I like that about you," Bearmon said. "Plus you're good friends with Aria-chan, and she likes you a lot, so you should continue being friends with her."

Isao looked down and ruminated. Ever since his father died, Isao did find himself in a state of grief and sadness, but he remembered that the boys he met mocked him for being sad and he wanted to prove to them that he was strong, so he played soccer with them and hung out with them a few times in school. Isao tried to keep an upbeat attitude all the time, even though he didn't like it, and he let out his grievances at home, so he at least didn't keep them all bottled up inside all the time. But still, he missed his dear father and he didn't like his mother's drastic mood change. He didn't tell anyone, but he put up a front for the Digimon Brigade as well. He didn't want to be scared, and he loved being with them, and he didn't want to be a burden to them or not be useful to them. He thought that being sad and crying in front of them would make them call him a crybaby. Now Yun is actually allowing him to be himself? Isao smiled a bit and looked at Yun and Bearmon.

"Thanks. I'll do that," Isao said. They smiled a bit.

"Let's go back to Fruitful Desert, shall we?" Bearmon said as he took Isao by the hand. They walked on again despite the heat. Yun, feeling a little bored and suspecting that Isao was too, decided to start a conversation.

"Hey Isao-kun."

"Yeah?"

"Your dad...what was he like? Did you like him?"

Isao beamed. "Yep! He's a cool guy! He's nice and funny and awesome and loves everybody! He always played soccer and football with me in the backyard and in the park, and he always took me to our favorite food places or got me new toys when I did well in school or soccer or just about everything. His favorite color is blue, his favorite food is chocolate. Wanna know a secret? Sometimes, when mom wasn't around, he'd secretly give me a piece of candy to eat before dinner as an extra treat for doing well on tests. But not all the time. She'd get mad if she caught me eating candy before dinner. Dad says sweets make you smile, and it's true! But he got angry sometimes too. He got mad when I broke his phone by accident once. I didn't mean to, but he was mad. Mom said he was having a really bad day and had to be left alone. I cried a lot then, but he said he was sorry, though I have to admit I was still kinda mad at him. But after a while, I forgave him and we're back to being buddy-buddy again. Adults are so weird, aren't they?"

Yun nodded. "Yep. They make things too weird sometimes."

"That's true! Like one minute they'll be nice and listen to you, but then they get mad and don't listen to a thing you say and twist it up so they give you the wrong idea!" Terriermon piped in excitedly, referring to the incident with Teruki. Lopmon didn't say a word, nor did she scold him about it. Lopmon knew very well that sometimes adults don't stay true to their word and act up when they don't need to. Yun laughed a bit.

"Isn't that the truth!" Yun laughed a little.

"Isao-kun? Do you have any hobbies? Things you like to do?" Lopmon asked politely.

"I'm glad you asked! I love playing soccer, and I love collecting Pokemon and Digimon toys, games, and cards! I don't have all of them though, and Mom says stuff is getting kinda expensive so I can't get all of them. Expensive means it costs a lot of money," Isao explained, beaming.

"Yep. That's true," Yun said with her arms crossed.

"Anyway, when I'm older, I wanna be a star soccer player! Or if I can't do that, maybe I'll be a fire man, or a comedian! Hey! Wanna hear some jokes a kid in school made up?" Isao palavered happily.

"Sure! I love jokes! Go ahead!" Terriermon cheered, feeling happy that the mood has been lightened a little. Lopmon smiled a little too.

"Okay! Why did the football coach go to the bank?"

"Why?"

"To get his quarterback!"

Everyone laughed out loud.

"That actually makes sense!" Lopmon giggled happily.

"Another one! Where did the fish get his money?"

"Where?"

"The riverbank!"

More laughter.

"How do sheep get clean?"

"How?"

"They take a baa-aa-aa-th!"

More laugher ensued. Then Yun raised her hand. "I heard this one on TV once! Why did the man put the clock under his desk?"

"Why?"

"Because he wanted to work overtime!"

Laughter filled the barren desert, and the kids, despite the dire situation they needed to tend to once they got back to Fruitful Desert, were happy to laugh some stress off and lighten the mood. Sadly, the mood got killed by an oncoming stampede of Digimon, which Cutemon noticed before anyone else did.

"Everyone! Run!" Cutemon yelled. Immediately when they saw a cloud of dust and some brown and green creatures running toward them, the kids and Digimon ran behind a big rock that's much taller than them. They did, however, manage to get a good look at the stampeding Digimon, and none of them had Dark Emblems on them. Isao got his digivice out.

"What are those things?" Bearmon asked.

"They're Jagamon, ultimate levels. Their attacks are Potato Smash and Potato Charge," Isao said.

Yun became irked. "Those things? Potatoes? No way!"

"It's the truth, Yun," Lopmon said.

Bearmon turned around and yelped.

"OH NO! We're cornered!" Bearmon screamed, which caused everyone else to turn around. Much to their horror, a small group of Jagamon have them cornered against the rock! They don't have Dark Emblems on them, but the kids could clearly see that their expressions had nothing but anger in them, and that they were quite intent on hurting them.

Finally, their digivices reacted. Lopmon digivolved into Turuiemon, then into Antylamon. Terriermon digivolved into Gargomon, then into Rapidmon, Cutemon to Rabbitmon, and Bearmon to Grizzlymon.

"Yay! They digivolved!" Isao cheered.

Yun didn't want to fight the Jagamon, but she could tell that as of now, this isn't a time to reason with them. The Jagamon made the first move.

"Potato Smash!" The Jagamon shot rocks from their bodies. Rapidmon, who flew into the air, made his move.

"Rapid Fire!" He shot two missles from his hands, which managed to destroy a few of the rocks.

"Ear Lancer!"

"Bunny Blades!"

Both Antylamon and Rabbitmon both managed to slice the rest of the rocks. The Jagamon began charging at them, but Grizzlymon rammed himself against them.

"Maul Attack!" With his great strength, Grizzlymon rammed against the Jagamon, managing to knock them off of their feet. Grizzlymon approached one of them and made it cower in fear.

"Alright, you mongrels! Speak up! Why are you assaulting us?" Grizzlymon demanded in a booming, authoritative voice. The Jagamon put their forelegs over their heads in fear and trembled. Yun could see that they were scared. Yun wanted to try and comfort them, but Antylamon beat her to it, using one of her big fingers to gently stroke the hard Jagamon's skin.

"Do not cower so. We won't hurt you. But will you please tell us why you attacked us just now? We won't be mad, we promise. If it's something we did, then we're very sorry," Antylamon told them in her kind, mature, lady-like voice, which prompted one of the Jagamon to speak up.

"P-P-P-P-Please have mercy on us! We didn't want to attack you, but Boogeymon and Phantomon made us do it! We were only acting on their orders!" The Jagamon leader cried out sadly.

"Boogeymon?" Yun recognized it. It's the Digimon who sent them here and are attacking Fruitful Desert. She decided to press them a bit on this subject. "What is he doing?"

"He-He and some of his minions took our village hostage, and he wants us to bring Fruitful Desert to the ground! We don't want to do it! Really, we don't! But Boogeymon and Phantomon are too strong for us! They said that if we didn't do as they said, they would kill all of our family and friends or make them members of their army! They even told us to exterminate you, even though we don't see any reason to do so!" The Jagamon leader confessed, crying as he did.

Rapidmon was a little irked upon being assaulted by them, but once he heard the story, he decided to forgive them. "We're glad you disagree with them. In fact, maybe you can help us! We're actually on our way to Fruitful Desert right now!"

"Help you?" Jagamon asked. "We-We-We'd honestly love to, but our village is at stake! If Boogeymon sees that we've disobeyed him, our friends and family will be hurt!"

"But more Digimon will be hurt if we don't act now. Besides, do you really think this Boogeymon character would be the type to keep his word?" Yun asked them gently.

The group of Jagamon looked at each other, nodded, and looked at the kids.

"Okay. We'll help you defeat them, since you seem to be very strong," Jagamon said.

"Hop on my back, Isao! We'll make it to Fruitful Desert in no time!" Grizzlymon commanded with a smile. Isao climbed on his back happily and cheered.

"You bet! Come on! Now that we've digivolved, let's get to it!" Isao cheered. Yun and Rabbitmon both hopped onto Rapidmon. Rapidmon, Antylamon, and Grizzlymon, at the best speed they could go, sped all the way to Fruitful Desert. Finally, they managed to get there, but what they saw was horrifying.

The trees were stripped bare of both their leaves and fruit! The fruits have either been stepped on or had some kind of strange toxic chemical thrown on them, contaminating them from both inside and out. Some DigiEggs are scattered around, and a thick cloud of dust is just dissipating. Big rocks have been knocked into pieces, both small pieces and huge chunks, leaving big stumps behind. Some Digimon are unconscious. Yun managed to catch sight of Melody, Otoya, Kosuke, Biyomon, Patamon, and Labramon on the ground, along with some summoned Digimon. Maildramon, Opossumon, Sheepmon, Kangarumon, and Owlmon are among them, along with Pegasusmon, whose wing is injured. Yun ran over to them.

"Kosuke-kun! Mel-chan! Otoya-chan! Wake up! Please tell me you're alive!" Yun pleaded as she shook them and got scared upon seeing the injuries they've sustained. Melody was the first to react, and she was NOT happy.

"I survive all those battles, and I get defeated by a stupid chunk of rock!" Melody complained angrily as she clung to her right arm, which is bleeding a little.

"Ugh! My feathers are all dusty!" Biyomon whined.

"Ouch! Yun-chan? W-We're okay," Patamon muttered. Yun was relieved to find that they're alright.

"Oh my! Those wounds look terrible! What happened to you?" Lopmon asked as she tended to Otoya, who has a big scratch on her leg.

"They happened!" Otoya yelled, pointing to Boogeymon and a small ghost-like Digimon draped in a grey and red hood and cape, with only eerie blue eyes shining through the hidden part of his face. On his red hood is a grey skull picture surrounded by three odd shapes. In his hand is a long, gold scythe that looks as though it has been well used, and hanging from his other hand is a silver chain with a black ball on the end, which has a gold eye painted on it.

"That's Phantomon, an ultimate level! His attacks are Shadow Scythe and Diabolic Star!" Yun exclaimed. Rabbitmon decided to get their attention.

"Carrot Bomb!" A rain of carrots fell onto Boogeymon and Phantomon. Phantomon managed to cut some of them with his scythe, and Boogeymon caught a few with his pitch fork and even ate two of them. They then looked down at Yun, Isao, Rabbitmon, Antylamon, Rapidmon, and Grizzlymon, who are all ready for battle.

"It looks like we have some uninvited guests. Shall we give them a welcome party, Boogeymon?" Phantomon asked Boogeymon in a very low and very eerie voice that sounds as though it would make shivers run down anyone's spine. Boogeymon smiled wickedly, clutching his pitch fork tightly.

"Yes, my friend! Let's!" Boogeymon said as he took the liberty of attacking first.

"Ruby Eye!" Two red beams of light shot out from both of his eyes.

"Diabolic Star!" Phantomon swung his chain around in the air in a lasso-like style as it glowed in a black light, then threw it at them.

"Tri-Beam!" Rapidmon positioned himself in a triangle-like formation and a pale green beam of light shot out from him, causing Boogeymon's attack to dissipate.

"Bunny Blades!" While spinning in a rapid tornado-like fashion, Antylamon managed to knock the ball and chain back at Phantomon, which hit him on the forehead.

"Hey! That's no fair!" Phantomon complained.

"Calm yourself, Phantomon. These Digimon won't be able to defeat us that easily!" Boogeymon advised calmly. The two evil Digimon were quite oblivious to the fact that they had let both their guard down and themselves wide open for an attack.

"Grizzlymon! Go get 'em!" Isao commanded while still riding on top of Grizzlymon.

"Crescent Dawn!" The crescent shape on Grizzlymon's forehead glowed brightly, and a blue beam of light shot out from it, actually managing to scratch Boogeymon and Phantomon, who didn't have time to evade it all the way.

"Who are you to gain the upper hand?" Boogeymon screamed angrily.

"And who are you to terrorize these innocent creatures who did nothing wrong?" Antylamon asked back in a calm but austere tone of voice, not happy with what has transpired in Fruitful Desert. A Jagamon helped Otoya and Labramon up as they talked.

"I'm merely following orders! Our Master told us to seize whatever small Digimon villages we can find and convert all of their citizens into members of his army!" Boogeymon replied.

"Tell us! Who's your Master?" Yun yelled.

"Is this any of your business? Go die already! Shadow Scythe!" Phantomon swung his scythe in an arc, which shot out a large form of black and purple energy in the shape of a crescent.

"Digishield!" Yun threw her digishield up, which managed to block the attack.

"Potato Smash!" The small group of Jagamon shot rocks from their bodies. Phantomon stepped in and trapped all the attacks into an orb of energy he created.

"You incompetent dolts! Why are you helping them? You've disobeyed us!" Phantomon yelled.

"We're sick and tired of you ordering us around! We're not your slaves!" One Jagamon screamed back.

"Do you not care about the fate of your town and your worthless families?" Boogeymon retorted wickedly, but the Jagamon didn't back down.

"Yes! Yes we do, but we also care about these Digimon here! Don't go bullying anyone anymore!" Another Jagamon yelled, and the entire group attacked them again.

"Potato Smash!"

This time, back up arrived.

"Lightning Spear!"

"Star Shower!"

"Rapid Fire!"

"Bunny Blades!"

"Crescent Dawn!"

Boogeymon managed to escape the attacks, but Phantomon took the blow. He roared in pain as the Digimon's attacks consumed him from both inside and out, and he dissipated into particles of indigo data that floated away. Boogeymon clutched his pitch fork, becoming quite choleric.

"Stand down, now! You're outnumbered!" Antylamon told him.

"Yeah! We can beat you easy!" Rapidmon yelled.

"Care to pay for the damage you caused our town?" Maildramon chided as Opossumon helped Melody and Biyomon up.

"Grrr! I'll back down for now. But I won't forget this!" Boogeymon sneered as he flew away.

"Awww! He got away! We could have taken him down!" Isao exclaimed, a little sad that they didn't get to defeat Boogeymon.

"It's alright. I don't think this will be the last time we see him," Yun said.

"Ouch!" Kosuke yelped as he and Patamon plodded over to Yun.

"Are you okay?" Yun asked as she tried to keep him steady.

"Yeah. My leg's a little banged up, but I'll live," Kosuke muttered.

"By God! These guys just came out of nowhere and wiped us all out within minutes! I still can't believe we even lost to them!" Melody whined a little.

"Well, Boogeymon's a champion level and Phantomon was an ultimate level, and Yun, Isao, and their Digimon got separated from us so I guess us losing was rather inevitable, but at least we came through in the end!" Biyomon told her reassuringly while dusting off her feathers.

"Come on inside. I'll take care of you all," Opossumon told them kindly and escorted the kids and Digimon (except for Antylamon, Rabbitmon, and Rapidmon) inside one of their houses.

As it turns out, Opossumon is quite experienced in the medical field despite her cute and innocent appearance, and managed to treat the wounds of all the kids and Digimon. It took them about a while to fix up everybody, but they managed to get everyone all patched up and well fed. The kids weren't injured that badly, and no bones were broken, so they could still move around to an extent.

"We're very sorry you had to go through such a horrible ordeal," Owlmon told them.

"It's quite alright. None of us could tell that they were coming so I suppose it was inevitable," Labramon said. "But at least Yun, Isao, and their Digimon managed to defeat Phantomon in the end, so it's not all bad."

Otoya smiled and stroke her friend's fur. "I agree."

Antylamon saw the group of Jagamon leaving the village and approached them.

"Are you all going back to your village?" Antylamon asked gently as she kneeled before them. The Jagamon group smiled at her.

"Yes we are. Thanks a whole lot for taking the time to understand us and help us. We're going to go home and take back our village. We'll fight all of Boogeymon's minions and we'll never give up!" The Jagamon leader replied.

"Would you like some assistance? We can help you if you want," Antylamon told them kindly. Jagamon shook his head.

"Thanks, but no thanks. You've done enough for us already. We'll take on this task ourselves. We hope you take care," Jagamon said and left the now tattered Fruitful Desert with his group. Rapidmon came up behind her.

"I still wish we could have defeated Boogeymon too. Do you think he's in cahoots with Witchmon or LadyDevimon?" Rapidmon asked.

"Probably so, but we have no definite proof yet. However, I do not feel that it'll be the last time we see him, so let's still keep our eyes open," Antylamon said.

Right after she said that, both she, Rapidmon, and Rabbitmon all de-digivolved back into Kokomon, Gummymon, and Cutemon and trotted back into the house. Yun saw them, and immediately the Digimon lit up.

"Yun!" Kokomon, Gummymon, and Cutemon all leaped into Yun's warm, loving arms. Yun laughed as she held onto them.

"Looks like you've used up a lot of energy there, huh?" Yun said with a chuckle.

"Yes, we did. But it was worth it!" Kokomon piped in sweetly.

"Hey! Are we gonna eat soon? I'm getting kinda hungry," Gummymon asked. Yun could actually hear his stomach growl.

"I'm getting rather hungry too," Kokomon said. Kangarumon came into the room.

"There's still some food left if you want some," Kangarumon told them.

"But I thought Boogeymon and Phantomon destroyed it all," Gummymon said.

"Isn't it the only food you have left? I mean, you worked so hard to make it, but now it's all been destroyed. You should save what you have for yourselves," Kokomon told him kindly.

"It's quite alright. Besides, we still have plenty of seeds, so we can always grow more. In fact, this season is the perfect time to plant some more seeds! Plus, consider it a thank you from us for at least stopping them from causing more destruction," Kangarumon said. Yun and the Digimon nodded and decided to eat with them. The food filled them up nicely. Soon, it was time for the Digimon Brigade to leave and they were about to leave until Sheepmon, Opossumon, Maildramon, Owlmon, and Kangarumon approached them.

"Should you really go?" Opossumon asked, clasping her red gloved hands together and making a cute, pitiful puppy eyes face.

"We'd love to have you stay here a while longer," Maildramon said.

"We'd like to, but we can't. We have obligations in our world we have to take care of," Otoya said.

Owlmon looked at everyone. "It's true. Even humans have responsibilities they must tend to, and we shouldn't get in the way of that."

Maildramon nodded. "You're right. Don't let us stop you."

"We're sorry we couldn't save your village," Yun told them ruefully, feeling a little dejected that they couldn't save Fruitful Desert from Boogeymon and Phantomon.

"It's quite alright. It could happen to anyone. Besides, it's not as bad as it was when the Digital World got destroyed, so you could say we've gotten quite lucky," Sheepmon told them with a smile. "We hope you have a safe journey home!"

"Bye!" The kids and Digimon waved goodbye to the grateful citizens of Fruitful Desert, opened their digivices, opened a digital portal, and walked into it.

Before they knew it, they were back to where they started. Behind the school, and nobody saw them come out of the digital portal! Like Kokomon and Gummymon, the Digimon de-digivolved. Biyomon to Yokomon, Patamon to Tokomon, Labramon to Xiaomon, and Bearmon to Tsunomon. Xiaomon hopped on Otoya's shoulder.

"That was quite the adventure!" Xiaomon piped in.

"Yeah! Let's do it again!" Isao cheered.

Yun began to look worried, and Yokomon saw it. "What's wrong, Yun? You look worried."

"We're at school, and the Digimon are here..." Yun muttered.

Gummymon suddenly beamed. "Oh! Oh! Yun! Can we stay with you and watch you live out your school day?"

Yun gasped. "What? No way! Shimizu and Nemoto are gonna see you! The teachers will catch you!"

"Don't worry! We'll be super duper extra careful to make sure nobody sees us!" Gummymon piped in with a big smile on his face.

"Isn't that rather dangerous? I don't want anyone thinking I'm some scary monster!" Yokomon piped in.

"Yes. I don't agree with this idea either," Kokomon backed her up.

Melody looked at her cell phone. "The bell's about to ring, so I don't think there'll be much time to send them back, and it'll be too dangerous to send them home out in the open and in broad daylight."

Yun sighed. "Alright. You can come. You can fit in my bag so nobody will see you."

Melody looked down at Yokomon with her arms crossed. "I'm definitely not bringing you into school. You're too big. Someone will definitely notice you and make a fuss."

"You do have a point," Yokomon said. "I wasn't really interested in going in there anyway, but I will hang around a little just so I can check things out."

"We'll head on back, too," Tsunomon said.

"I better go now. Bye!" Isao said as he waved to them and ran off with Tsunomon hopping behind him.

"Hey! Wait for me! Don't run so fast, Isao!" Tsunomon cried as he chased after him.

"Isao and Tsunomon are great together. They're so energetic," Tokomon said with a smile.

"Yeah," Kosuke said. Soon, the kids squeezed the small Digimon in their bags and kept them in there so nobody would see them. Soon, the bell rang, so school began. Yun, Melody, Kosuke, and Otoya, with their Digimon in their bags, ran into school.

Meanwhile, in MoonMillenniummon's inner sanctum, MoonMillenniummon is sleeping in his rock formation while Candlemon, a very delirious looking Monitormon who's bawling his pixelated eyes out, and two DemiMeramon are sitting in front of them. Candlemon is scolding Monitormon.

"Didn't I tell you to quit hitting yourself on the head? I know you're upset about Witchmon, but this isn't the way to go about it!" Candlemon scolded, but Monitormon, delirious as he is, kept on crying and cowering and covering his TV-sized head with his hands in fear. The DemiMeramon looked dejected just from looking at him.

"He's hopeless, Candlemon. He's just too stubborn to change his ways," The first DemiMeramon said, looking quite despondent.

"I agree. There's just no helping him," The second DemiMeramon said, shaking his head. Even Candlemon became dejected.

"He's just sad. He lost the only Digimon who accepted him and didn't treat him bad. I'd probably feel the same way. Maybe Witchmon or Roachmon or LadyDevimon too," Candlemon said. Suddenly, the two DemiMeramon became alert.

"What's up?" Candlemon asked.

"Someone's coming," The first DemiMeramon said. Out from one of the tunnels came Boogeymon, who looked the same as he did earlier.

"Boogeymon! You said something about going to Fruitful Desert with Phantomon...wait, why isn't Phantomon with you?" Candlemon asked, then became apprehensive when he noticed Phantomon's absence.

In a paroxysm of anger, Boogeymon screamed and dredged his pitch fork into the ground. The scream and the force combined were so powerful that it woke up both Monitormon and MoonMillenniummon.

"EEEP!" Monitormon squeaked sadly.

"Can you keep it down please? I'm trying to catch some sleep, even though I have plenty of it!" MoonMillenniummon bellowed, feeling a little crabby because of his sudden wake up call.

"Those blasted creatures! They destroyed Phantomon and thwarted my plan to seize both Fruitful Desert and Potato Parlor!" Boogeymon yelled.

"Creatures? You don't mean just Digimon, right?" Candlemon asked.

"You won't believe this! These bags of bones called humans commanded Digimon to do their bidding and somehow managed to beat us! They destroyed Phantomon and I was powerless to stop them!" Boogeymon explained angrily.

"Humans? Awww, not you too!" Candlemon complained. The two DemiMeramon looked at each other with confused and shocked faces while little Monitormon continued to cry. MoonMillenniummon closed his eyes and didn't say a word.

"I WILL avenge Phantomon and take down those blasted humans, even if it kills me!" Boogeymon bellowed angrily.

"I wouldn't go about it so recklessly if I were you. The Digimon they have...wait!" Candlemon was about to say something, but then remembered that MoonMillenniummon is watching and looked up at him.

"You don't mind if I tell him, do you, Master?" Candlemon asked.

MoonMillenniummon fell silent. He didn't say a word. But he did nod a little, which, to Candlemon, was a yes. Candlemon looked at one of his DemiMeramon friends.

"You tell him!" Candlemon told the first DemiMeramon. The little glowing ball of fire floated up to Boogeymon's left ear and whispered something into it. Right when Boogeymon heard it, he literally flew up so hard and fast that he hit the inner sanctum's ceiling, which is full of Digimon encased in ice! He didn't hit any of the ice crystals, but he fell back down with just as much force.

"Uh...you okay?" The second DemiMeramon asked.

"That HAS to be a lie! It HAS to be!" Boogeymon yelled.

Candlemon shook his head. "I'm afraid it's true, Boogeymon. HV-Monitormon's got proof. Now where is that fellow anyway?" Candlemon mused as he hopped away to look for HiVisionMonitormon. The two DemiMeramon stayed behind to look after MoonMillenniummon, Monitormon, and Boogeymon, who has become quite choleric.

"Master! You aren't seriously going to believe this ridiculous calumny, are you?" Boogeymon yelled.

Again, MoonMillenniummon didn't respond, which only irritated Boogeymon even more.

"I think it'd be best if we left him alone," The first DemiMeramon told him.

"Yeah. Whenever one of our own is gone, he gets all silent and doesn't say a word for a LONG time. Hey! Do you wanna go watch Lilithmon take over Shimmering Grove?" The second DemiMeramon explained.

Boogeymon was quite surprised, not by just what the DemiMeramon are telling him, but the fact that MoonMillenniummon isn't doing anything! He did know that MoonMillenniummon is unable to do anything because he's trapped in the rock formation and is unable to break himself free, but he could at least respond to one of his questions! Seeing that communicating with MoonMillenniummon is futile, Boogeymon finally abdicated and conceded defeat.

"Alright. I'll go to Shimmering Grove with you. Lilithmon is always so amusing when she gets fired up about something," Boogeymon said as he followed the two DemiMeramon out of one of the caves, leaving alone a pensive and silent MoonMillenniummon and a heartbroken and possibly mentally destroyed Monitormon.

MoonMillenniummon ruminated deeply. _'This is getting out of hand. The DarkSuperStarmon, Witchmon, Roachmon, LadyDevimon, Doumon, and now Phantomon. My beloved children are falling one by one, and there's not a thing that I can do about it! Why do I have to be stuck in this abominable rock formation when my children are being swayed by this nonsense and getting killed one by one? WHY? They shouldn't have to die because of what I've done! I'm supposed to protect them, yet I can't even do that! I suppose destroying the Digital World was a mistake after all. How could I be such a fool?'_

MoonMillenniummon was quite inundated by everything that's going on. The sudden appearance of humans (who he is still obstinate enough to not believe that they exist), the sudden deaths of the abandoned and neglected Digimon that he adopted, and all the pandemonium going on both in the inner sanctum and outside of it. He wished that he could do something. This was what hurt him the most: being stuck in the rock formation unable to do anything or break free while his children are falling like flies one by one. It just broke his heart (if he even has a heart). He loathed those who abandoned the Digimon who he took in, those who betrayed them, left them behind, and cast them aside like trash when they needed their caretakers the most. He took them all in, and wanted to raise them and have them feel the love that they've been deprived of. He loathed himself for being so weak and so useless, not that it was his fault. Something went wrong as he destroyed the Digital World, and it resulted in him being trapped in the rock formation and becoming MoonMillenniummon as a result. He was not, however, willing to concede defeat. He wasn't going to let more and more of his children die.

He looked down at the crying Monitormon, who continued to slap his hard TV face incessantly. The screen on his face made static as he kept on hitting himself. It made MoonMillenniummon's heart sink. Two swirls of blue energy slithered out of his crystal, slid down to the bawling Monitormon, and wrapped themselves around him, preventing him from hitting himself any longer.

"Monitormon. Please. Stop hitting yourself. It's not going to do anyone any good. Witchmon wouldn't want to see you like this. Please, don't cry. You're making me sad too," MoonMillenniummon told Monitormon gently, but the little TV Digimon just wasn't having it.

"W-W-W-Witchmon is dead! She's dead and never coming back!" Monitormon bawled loudly. MoonMillenniummon closed his eyes again, his attempt to mollify the bawling Monitormon having been in vain.

"She will come back. She just won't be one of us anymore. Perhaps she will be happier in her new life. Maybe she will find the happiness that she had been deprived of for so long," MoonMillenniummon whispered again. He wondered if Monitormon would ever return to his old self again.


	55. The Chains Keep Him Earthbound

EPISODE 55: The Chains Keep Him Earthbound

Other than Salamon, who back then was YukimiBotamon when she went, none of the Digimon partnered with the Digimon Brigade had ever gone to school before. Lopmon and Terriermon did to an extent, but the closest they've seen and been to was the blacktop, and not under the very best circumstances either. No Digimon had ever been inside Fushimi Middle School until now. Seeing as there was no other option for them, Yun, Melody, Kosuke, and Otoya kept their Digimon in their bags in secret, hiding them from the rest of the kids and making sure nobody outside of the Digimon Brigade caught sight of them, kids and teachers alike. Minako, Rena, Riku, and Hokuto were the only ones who found out, and it must be confessed that they were all quite shocked about it, but after hearing about the situation, they sighed and decided to help them keep the in-training Digimon a secret. Riku did, however, throw in some final words.

"And you wonder why I never go to the Digital World before school. To think I always thought I did stupid things!" Riku said to them rather bluntly, not happy with the fact that the Digimon are now in Fushimi Middle School. It wasn't as though Riku was very choleric with them and told them off. He was just disappointed since Yun was the one who enforced the rule that prohibited anyone from finding out about the Digimon unless their discovery was accidental, in the case of Yun's family. Yun figured this would happen though. Kosuke cursed himself for even thinking of the idea, but it's too late to angst about it now, so the four of them had to make do. They did, however, feel confident about today's test and hoped that their digital studying paid off. Another good thing is that nobody discovered the Digimon. It must be confessed that some of the kids and teachers did interrogate Kosuke, Melody, and Otoya about their injuries. Even though they didn't want to lie, they knew they had to, so they did, with varying excuses.

"I fell off my bike," Kosuke said, remembering the old red bike that his father got for him for his tenth birthday, which they had to sell in order to pay for some food and clothes. Nobody outside of his family knew this, however.

"I ran my arm against a cinder block while practicing karate. It didn't quite go well, as you can see," Melody said without one hint of remorse. She looked like the type who could lie her way out of anything considering how sour and moody she looks on a regular basis, but Melody is actually quite honest. It's just not in the best context.

"I was helping my sister cook, and I cut myself with a knife by accident," Otoya said. She felt the most guilty about lying about her injury, but she knew she had to in order to protect the Digimon.

Luckily for them, both teachers and kids actually believed them and let them go. Kosuke, Otoya, and Melody were relieved that they actually bought their stories, though they still felt bad about it. In a way, they could see that the kids and teachers who interrogated the three of them looked quite suspicious and didn't believe them totally. Adults have a way of knowing when a child is lying most of the time. Sometimes they just don't really care or fail to take notice. Nonetheless, they managed to get through the rest of the day. Not unscathed, however. Nenji and his friends acted up in art class again, throwing supplies and splattering paint over people and making various kids cry. Nenji made fun of Tomoka for having braces again, to which she did not take well. What surprised them, however, was something new that happened at school recently. Apparently, according to Mrs. Kamogawa, the school's budget has been cut, so they had to shut down music class. As a result, Mr. Okui got fired, which made not only Yun but many children absolutely ecstatic. Some even cheered loudly and jumped for joy. But the school had to shut down health class also, which resulted in Mr. Kanazawa being laid off, which made some kids sad. As a result, history class has begun. Even new text books arrived, and the teacher, Mr. Kazanari, is a very nice young man, with a head full of fluffy pale brown hair, stunning green eyes like Yun, and a very sensible and gentle demeanor. Yun found herself loving history not just because of Mr. Kazanari, but because of the fact that all members of the Digimon Brigade are sharing it with her! No Nenji or Seiko or their clique members in sight! Yun knew for sure that everything was going to be great in history.

But it was the Digimon who were the most surprised. Cutemon went back home after the bell rang since she would be easily noticed, and Yokomon mostly remained outside, so it was just Kokomon, Gummymon, Tokomon, and Xiaomon who hid in their partners' bags, watching everything happen around them as the day went by. They were quite surprised. This gave them a great opportunity to see what their partners' typical school days are like, and boy were they surprised beyond their wildest dreams! They got to see first hand the lessons that the kids are taught, the kids outside of the Digimon Brigade, and what they deal with on a regular basis. Of course, they were quite appalled upon seeing the very ribald and egregious behavior of Nenji and his two friends and the catty Seiko and her clique. Thankfully, they kept themselves silent and hidden very tactfully so Nenji, Seiko, and their friends (or anyone outside of the Digimon Brigade in general) wouldn't see them, which proved to be successful. During lunch, the kids gave some of their food to the Digimon so they wouldn't be hungry. Since Yun brings a lunch box (NOT a bento box) to school every day, Kokomon and Gummymon relished the food, while Tokomon and Xiaomon weren't totally impressed with the cafeteria food, but it is better than nothing at all, so they ate what they were given. Not only that, like everyone else, they were intimidated by Mr. Kadota (Yun, Melody, Otoya, and Kosuke didn't lock the Digimon in their lockers and let them run about a little. They all hid behind the bleachers, which had been set up for something that came later) and his sort of militaristic ways, though even they had to admit he's MUCH better than Mr. Okui, who they haven't met but heard of because of the kids talking about him, and from the way Mr. Okui sounded, they'd take Mr. Kadota any day.

Finally, after some more classes, the bell rang once, and all the kids in school flooded out of the building. The Digimon Brigade met up with each other and decided to walk home. Yokomon returned to Melody and hopped into her arms happily.

"Wow. I had no idea this is what you go through every day, Otoya," Xiaomon told her as he sat contentedly in her warm, loving arms.

"Well, we kind of have to. It's the law," Otoya replied.

"That Nemoto kid is a lot fatter than I imagined him to be. He's pretty mean, isn't he?" Tokomon said.

Kosuke and Riku all rolled their eyes. "You're telling us!" They said in perfect unison, which made Rena chuckle a little.

"So I take it your injuries are because of some Digimon brouhaha that happened?" Rena asked kindly.

"Yes! Oh, you should have seen it! We were studying so quietly when these two Digimon named Boogeymon and Phantomon attacked us out of nowhere! Not only that, they were hard to beat too, even with all the secondary Digimon that Melody and Otoya-chan managed to befriend!" Yokomon explained.

"Huh? You got more secondary Digimon?" Hokuto asked timidly.

"Yep! I got three while Mel-chan got two," Otoya said as she pulled out her three D-Chips and showed them to everyone.

"No way! FIVE D-Chips at once? Awww! No fair!" Riku complained.

"Well, I am glad you all are alright, though I wouldn't recommend doing this again," Minako told them.

"Yeah. I certainly learned my lesson. Note to self: if you ever want to go to the Digital World, do it after school!" Yun said.

"I don't think that's what she meant, but I think it counts," Kokomon said with a sweet smile.

"Why do you have to go to something as boring as school? It doesn't look very exciting," Gummymon said.

"I know. I don't really like school either, but I have to go. We all have to. It's the law. In this town, it's a grave offense to not allow a kid to go to school without a good reason," Yun explained.

Riku sighed. "I agree. As much as I hate school, I don't want to wind up in juvie. I have enough on my record, and none of it is even my fault to begin with! Besides, Mom would never let me skip school, even if I get sick!"

"You don't skip school, do you, Riku-san?" Xiaomon asked.

"Nah. I may be ADHD, but I'd NEVER go that far!...though other people think otherwise," Riku replied.

"That's not very nice, isn't it?" Gummymon asked.

"Nope! Not a bit!" Riku said empathetically. "I do have to admit though, I wish I could have gone with you to the Digital World. You guys must have had such an awesome adventure! Too bad me and Rena were grounded."

"For what?" Gummymon asked.

"Something stupid. Mom kept yelling at me for spilling my video game collection all over the living room after she cleaned it. It was an accident! I just wanted to play Final Fantasy XIII on my XBox and it was too deep in my collection! Not only that, she kept yelling at Rena for _"setting a bad example and allowing me to do as I please"_ as she says. She didn't do anything wrong!" Riku explained.

"Ouch. Your mom must be really uptight," Yun said.

"She is. About every little thing. This one time, Mom cleaned the entire house, and Dad was watching TV while eating a bagel, and oh boy, you should have seen her flip out. It was just bizarre!" Riku explained again.

"Big ouch," Gummymon said.

"But you have to admit, mothers care about their children and want them to grow up into good citizens, so I'm sure your mother means well," Xiaomon said.

A pained look appeared on Riku's face. _'Yeah right. As if she'd ever care about me. All she cares about is making herself look good,'_ Riku thought rather bitterly. Rena looked at him with a concerned look on her face. She could tell what Riku was thinking. They are twins after all.

"Hey Yun? Did you tell Kosuke about the time his mom went to your house?" Kokomon said, which made literally everyone, even Kosuke, stop in their tracks with shocked faces.

"You're right! I totally forgot!" Yun told her two little blobby friends, then looked at Kosuke. "Kosuke-kun, sorry I forgot to tell you, but my mom told me that yesterday your mom came over my house!"

"Seriously? She did?" Otoya asked, holding onto Xiaomon like any protective mother would.

"Yep! I didn't see her though. I was out playing with Lopmon, Terriermon, and Lucero when it happened, but Mom said that she wanted to give me one of her My Little Pony toys. Mom said she told me to help you find freedom and spread your wings," Yun told Kosuke.

"Sounds like his D-Heart," Otoya said with a mischievous smile to Rena.

"Speaking of Lucero, where is he anyway? Why didn't he walk home with us?" Tokomon asked curiously.

"Mom and Dad scheduled another doctor's appointment for him. It's to see whether his skin is healing up and whether he's gotten any more of his memory back," Yun told him.

"Has he?" Hokuto asked.

"Not really. He said he has a vague memory of someone important to him, but he doesn't remember who it is or their name or anything like that," Yun replied.

Kosuke didn't say a word. He couldn't believe what Yun said was true. His own mother, the lifeless, careless, worthless, pitiful, unreliable, negligent, miserable, and hapless alcoholic who does nothing but drink, smoke cigarettes, lay around the house, and wallow in her self-pity, actually went to Yun's house and gave her one of her My Little Pony toys, even though they're so important to her? Kosuke nearly thought that Yun was talking about a completely different person. It must be confessed that even the nice things she DID do yesterday didn't change his heart about her. Yes, she paid the rent. Yes, she made dinner for once. Yes, she got him and Patamon some snacks. But Kosuke knew all too well that it wouldn't last. Yes, she could be sober sometimes, but only for very short times. One day she'll be cooking dinner, the next day she'll have Kosuke do it because she's too sick to do so. One day she'll be smiling happily and telling Kosuke to invite his friends over, the next day she'll growl at them and tell them to leave while waving a beer bottle at them in a paroxysm of anger. Kosuke absolutely hated this, and he was convinced that Kanako was never going to change no matter what. Oddly enough, all the kids walked to Kosuke's house, and something was odd about it. It was Yokomon who noticed.

"Huh? Kosuke-kun, you have guests," Yokomon told him.

Kosuke pulled himself out of his reverie and became quite surprised. There's two people in front of his house! A man and a woman. The man looks to be in his late 40's, with brown hair and hazel eyes, like Kosuke. He had on a short sleeved pale yellow shirt with some small pale blue stripes on it, brown khaki shorts, grey and black shoes, and tall white socks. His skin is rather dark, like he had been in the sun for quite a long while. The woman is a bit younger and thinner than him, with lots of beautifully curling dark blonde hair that caught the early summer sunlight and deep, luminous, dark brown eyes that seemed to smile. She had on a white blouse and a medium-length lavendar skirt, along with dark brown stockings and black shoes. Kosuke stood in awe, unable to speak.

"What's wrong?" Melody asked rather gruffly.

"Aunt Mei...Uncle Jiro," Kosuke muttered.

The couple caught sight of the kids and immediately beamed.

"Oh! Kosuke!" The two of them exclaimed happily. Kosuke got a hold of himself and ran over to them.

"Aunt Mei! Uncle Jiro!" Kosuke exclaimed back.

Everyone was stricken dumb. "WHAT? They're your aunt and uncle? I didn't think you had any other relatives!" Otoya exclaimed.

"I kinda knew. He said that they pay his bills every once in a while," Yun told her. Kosuke actually smiled a little when he saw them, and they smiled back.

"Kosuke! You've gotten tall!" The man, Jiro, said cheerfully.

"It's very nice to see you! Oh? I see you have friends," The woman, Mei, told him politely, smiling nicely.

"Yep! These are my good friends," He introduced every single one of them by name. Yun and Hokuto, being the shy and taciturn children that they are, didn't say anything. Mei and Jiro didn't mind.

"It's nice to meet you all," Mei and Jiro told them.

"So what are you two doing here? You haven't been here since before Dad left," Kosuke asked.

Mei and Jiro looked at each other with rather serious expressions. Not serious as in grim and dark. Kosuke could tell by the looks on their faces that this was quite serious indeed.

"Kosuke-kun. See, Mei and I...you know how we've been trying to look for a new house these past few months?" Jiro asked.

"Yeah. But you guys are rich, aren't you?" Kosuke said.

Mei chuckled a little. "Yes, that may be, but even rich people like a little change in scenery once in a while. Anyway, we managed to put down an offer on a house right in this very neighborhood."

Kosuke's eyes got big. "Wow? Seriously?"

"Now now. No need to get excited just yet. We haven't heard anything back from the real estate agent just yet," Jiro said holding his hands up so Kosuke can calm down a little. Now Jiro looked quite serious.

"Kosuke...we're sorry about what's been happening to you. We're sorry we haven't been able to do much for you even though we've been trying so hard. We want to ask you...if the chance comes that we get the house...would you like to...come live with us?" Jiro asked, sounding quite serious indeed.

Kosuke was stricken dumb again. His Aunt Mei and Uncle Jiro want Kosuke to come live with them? Once they get the new house? Kosuke couldn't believe any of this was even real. He felt as if he found the perfect opportunity. The chains that kept him earthbound are finally able to break, and he could fly away from the horrid conditions he's in and spread his wings to freedom! Even the kids seemed excited.

"Kosuke! You should say yes! You can be a little kid again and not have to take care of your mom!" Yun proclaimed, smiling happily.

"This is perfect for you! You should go for it!" Otoya suggested, beaming like the sun in the sky.

"Do it, Kosuke-kun! Do it! You won't have to deal with all the rum and the cigarettes and the smells anymore!" Riku cried out cheerfully.

"Now now. We don't have the house yet, and this is Kosuke's decision," Jiro told them, which managed to mollify them a little.

"Yeah. You're right. Sorry if we went kinda overboard," Rena told them with a smile.

Jiro put his hands on Kosuke's shoulders and looked him in the eyes. "Kosuke, you don't have to decide right now. We just thought we'd let you know. You should really think about this. You're more than welcome to tell us when you're ready."

When he's ready? By all accounts, Kosuke considered himself ready for anything. Anything except having to deal with Kanako for even a minute longer. He kept thinking about the great things that can happen if he were to live with Mei and Jiro. No more booze! No more cigarette butts all over the place! No more noisome and repulsive odors! No more cocky landlord! No more paying rent! No more cooking! No more cleaning! No more housekeeping! No more taking care of Kanako! No more having to deal with her drunk spells, hangovers, and bouts of self-pity! He can be a kid again! He pictured it all: himself smiling happily, playing with his friends, enjoying a nice, clean house with no rum in sight, a backyard to play around in, bike riding, skate boarding, poetry writing, and best of all: more time to both play with and take care of Patamon! Kosuke could finally grasp the freedom he had been yearning for so long. He yearned for freedom of all things, and this might have been his last chance to grab it and finally break away from the chains that kept him bound to the earth for so long! As far as Kosuke knew, he was NOT going to let this chance slip away from his hands. Kosuke so desperately wanted to say yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!

Unfortunately, to him, an unwanted guest bereaved him of the heavenly opportunity in the worst way possible.

"Mei? Jiro? Wha...what the heck are yer doin' here?"

It was Kanako. Totally drunk. Red in the face, unkempt hair, dark circles under her eyes, the dirty bath robe, occasional hiccups, a raspy voice, and a half empty beer bottle in her hand. All blatant harbingers of her state of mind as of now. All of heaven's glow dissipated when Kanako appeared outside the house. Kanako was on her knees, trying to stand up but failing miserably. Jiro ran over to her and tried to help her up.

"Kanako? My goodness, you drank yourself silly! Here, I'll-" Jiro tried to help her, but Kanako angrily swung the beer bottle at him, making him back away.

"Don't touch me, you idiot!" Kanako yelled in a raspy voice, causing all the kids to back away a bit.

"Wow. Now THAT is a drunk person right there," Melody whispered sarcastically to Yokomon, who looked very appalled and disgusted. Nobody noticed, however.

Kanako panted, looking very choleric. "I...I know why yer here. Yer tryin' to take my boy away! I ain't gonna let ya do that! Not on my watch!"

"Kanako! You need to stop this!" Mei importuned, grabbing Kanako by the arm. "You're not in any condition to take care of him. We just want to help. You need help too. We found a facility that specializes in helping alcoholics get back on their feet, so if you could just-"

Kanako swung the beer bottle at her too, but Mei successfully dodged it. "Seiichi talked you into doin' this, didn't he? You're trying to take away the only piece of happiness that I have, aren't you? I won't let you do that!"

"Seiichi has nothing to do with this! Kanako, you have to understand-" Jiro tried to reason with her, but Kanako just wasn't having it.

"Kosuke's MINE and mine alone, ya hear? Mine! He's MY property, not yours, so keep your grubby hands off of him! I'm the only thing he's got in this world and handin' him over to you will just make him turn sour!" Kanako nearly stumbled back to the ground, but she somehow managed to keep her balance despite how drunk she is.

Property? Kosuke was now beyond appalled. _'She thinks of me as...property? Nothing more?'_ Kosuke couldn't believe his ears. His mother just called him property, sounding as though she thinks of him as more of an object for her self-pity than a human being! Despite Kanako's ardent efforts, Jiro and Mei still tried to subdue her. Yun became frightened and covered her ears. Kokomon and Gummymon hopped on her head. No one noticed.

"Kanako! Look at yourself! You're in no condition to be taking care of a child!" Jiro told her frantically.

"Don't tell me what to do, you brainless idiots! Get out! GET OUT NOW, AND NEVER COME BACK!" Kanako screamed angrily, swiping that beer bottle at the two of them like she wanted to hit them with it. She didn't even give them time to take a breath or make a decision she just kept swinging that beer bottle at her. Riku and Melody both stepped in and grabbed onto the rabid Kanako.

"Quit it, lady! You'll hurt someone!" Riku proclaimed.

"The drink's frying your brain!" Melody yelled as she tried to pry the bottle out of Kanako's hand.

"I'll call the police!" Otoya exclaimed as she got her cell phone out and called the police.

"Get off of me, you mongrels!" Kanako yelled as she tried to pry Riku and Melody off of her, but like her, they were persistent and didn't give up.

"No way are we letting you run amok!" Riku told her sarcastically.

In the end, Jiro and Mei decided to leave after all, but not before leaving a few final words to Kosuke.

"You still have our number, right? Let us know when you're ready," Mei told him before they finally left.

When they were finally out of sight, Kanako finally calmed down. Riku and Melody both got off of her. Kanako panted and panted like she had been running a marathon.

"Nobody's...ever...gittin'...my boy. Nobody! I won't let anyone take him! Off with you, you stupid conspirators!" Kanako panted.

Unfortunately, this wasn't the end of it. Kosuke handed Tokomon to Hokuto, plodded up to Kanako, and...

_WHAM!_

"YEEEK!"

Kosuke actually punched her in the face and sent her to the ground! Both Rena and Yun yelped loudly as he did. Kanako stumbled back to the ground, looking up at Kosuke with a confused face. Everyone was shocked and appalled. Kosuke is looking down at her...absolutely choleric, with a face filled with absolutely nothing but rancor.

"I AM NOT YOUR PROPERTY!" Kosuke screamed louder than he ever had. Quite passionately, too. "This is why I hate you! And you wonder why I want to get away from you so bad! You keep trying to keep me away from the outside world! You always want me to be your prisoner! Well, get over it! I am NOT your slave, and I REFUSE to deal with trash like you any longer! I actually WANT to go with Aunt Mei and Uncle Jiro, because they can give me everything that you're too stupid to give me! You never cared about me! You only think of me as your personal nanny or nurse forced to take care of you for the rest of our lives! You wonder why Dad left, because he didn't want to deal with trash like you!"

"Kosuke! What a thing to say!" Tokomon yelled angrily, appalled by Kosuke's behavior. Everyone besides them were rendered speechless. Even Kanako was speechless, staring at him with wide eyes.

"You only wanted to make yourself look good yesterday, didn't you? You only made dinner and got me snacks and paid the rent so you can satisfy yourself, not act like a real parent for once! I should have known to never put my faith in a piece of garbage like you! You're the chains that keep me to the ground, and you keep me from flying! You're the reason I'm in this rat hole in the first place!"

"Kosuke! Shut up!" Rena screamed at him hysterically, but he didn't listen. He just continued on with his epic harangue.

"I hope you die or rot in jail or something, because someone like you doesn't deserve anything life has to offer! I HATE YOU!" Kosuke screamed angrily and dashed away.

"Kosuke-kun! Come back!" Minako chased after him. The other kids ran back home...except for Yun.

Despite how frightened she was, by both Kanako's drunk spell and Kosuke's very inopportune hatred, she couldn't help but feel bad for this woman. Kokomon and Gummymon too. Kanako was silent, sitting on her knees, staring at the ground with huge eyes. Yun could hear the faint yet ominous sounds of sirens heading this way, which prompted her to act. She kneeled in front of Kanako, who managed to get a good look at her once she did.

"Umm...Kanako-san?" Yun muttered softly, but made her voice lucid enough for Kanako to hear. Much to Kokomon and Gummymon's surprise, Yun is actually making eye contact with Kanako, someone she hasn't seen in a very long while! Kanako didn't flinch, nor did she lash out at her despite her totally drunk state right now.

"The toy you told Mom to give me...thank you. For giving it to me. I'll take good care of it," Yun told her with a smile, even though it was rather forced. Kanako lifted up her hand a little. It shook, but she managed to caress Yun's cheek with it. Normally, Yun would be frightened and back away, but she thought that if she backed away, Kanako would get mad, so she stayed where she was.

"Wa...ka...miya...Yun? Yun-chan?" Kanako muttered.

"Yeah. That's me," Yun replied softly again.

"Wow. You're...still...cute," Kanako told her.

Now this made Yun stand up in alarm. "Me? Cute? No way! I'm NOT cute at all!"

Suddenly, Kanako grabbed Yun's wrist. She didn't try to stand up, nor did Yun try to help her up.

"Yun-chan...I'm sorry...I'm such a mess. Do...Do me a favor, will ya?" Kanako croaked. "Please...take care of Kosuke. Help him fly. He needs to spread his wings."

Yun understood what she meant, but she felt she had to answer her back. "I'll...try. But you're his mom. Shouldn't _you_ be the one to help him fly?"

Yun hoped in her heart that Kanako didn't take it the wrong way and fly into a passion. Thankfully, to her relief, she didn't. Yun didn't feel she was needed anymore so she left Kanako all alone as the police cars got closer. Yun was quite surprised that Kanako actually remembered her despite it being so long. Yun certainly remembered Kanako well, even though it was long ago. She remembered that Kanako used to be quite a cheerful, merry woman full of sunshine and warmth, with a pink and white daisy face and smiling eyes, though Yun could tell even back then that something was wrong. Yun never met Seiichi (To Kosuke, Yun is blessed to not have met him), since for some reason he was always never around whenever Kosuke invited friends to the house, so she didn't know what he was like, but she did feel that his leaving Kanako and Kosuke behind on no solid grounds was quite reprehensible.

Someone else, however, was beginning to think differently.

"Kosuke! Stop! Come back!"

Minako, Hokuto, and Tokomon both chased after an incensed and heartbroken Kosuke. After a long run, they stopped him at the train station. Despite being out of breath, Minako managed to catch up to him and grab him before he could run any further. Hokuto, with a very disappointed Tokomon in his arms, caught up with them soon after. Once they caught their breath, Kosuke tried to run away again, but Minako stopped him a second time.

"I know you're upset. Believe me, I know, but yelling at your mother isn't going to solve anything!" Minako scolded sternly.

"She's not my mother anymore! That woman only views me as her property and nothing more! You heard her say so! You were there just now! Now I see why Dad left, because she's become nothing but trash!" Kosuke yelled.

Tokomon leaped out of Hokuto's arms and actually bit Kosuke's leg.

"OWWW!" Kosuke yelped in pain as Tokomon bit his leg. Tokomon got off of him and looked at him quite angrily.

"You should never call someone trash! Every human being is special, though flawed!" Tokomon scolded.

"All she does is drink drink drink! She doesn't give a rat's hat about me or anyone else but herself! She only cares about how miserable and angsty she is! She does nothing but angst and wallow in her self pity every single day and leave me to fend for myself just so she can feel satisfied!" Kosuke yelled back.

"Oh REALLY? Then what about yesterday, when she paid the rent and cooked dinner and apologized to Mina-chan for mistreating her?" Tokomon yelped.

"None of it was real! She only did it to make herself feel good! She only did all that just so she could satisfy herself and nothing else! That's how she is and that's how she always will be!" Kosuke yelled.

"Now I get it. Kosuke, you're going to hate me for saying this, but I feel it has to be said here and now. Do you want to know what I'm going to say? Then here it is: you've turned into an _exact replica of your father!_" Tokomon screamed.

"I HAVE NOT!" Kosuke screamed back, incensed to have just been compared to his good for nothing father by his friend, his Digimon partner, of all people (or Digimon).

"Yes you have! Sure Kanako shouldn't treat you the way she does, and I'm sure she has her reasons for being the way she is, but that does NOT make it right for you to treat her the way you did! You're so much better than this, Kosuke! You told me once that you'd much rather die than turn out like your father! You hate people like him! You said you wouldn't judge people right off the bat or treat them bad because of who they are or anything like that! But now...now look at you! Not only have you turned back into the person you were when you fought with Yun-chan, you've turned into the exact type of person that you hate!" Tokomon told him very loudly and angrily.

It's here that Kosuke stopped screaming. He didn't want to believe it or admit it, but he was obliged to do so: Tokomon is absolutely, positively, and categorically right about everything. Kosuke's turned into his father, the very person he hates! When Tokomon's words hit his brain right on the mark, Kosuke realized it: he's turned his back on his own goal. His goal was to never be the hateful and cruel person that Seiichi is. Kosuke promised himself that he would be kind, sensitive, accepting, and wise. But now, he's turned into the volatile and hateful beast that Seiichi is. Minako put a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't get me wrong. What she did today was rather unnecessary, and she could have hurt someone. But you treating her the way you did...do you know what behavior like that can do? To both kids and adults? If you continue treating her the way you do, she'll just drink even more and come out worse. Don't you want things to be back to the way they were? You shouldn't lose hope!" Minako told him.

"She...She's your mother!" Hokuto blurted out suddenly, which was a surprise to everyone. "I-I-I think...you should love your mother and look past her flaws! Don't live a life of hatred and animosity!"

"Hokuto-kun? That's...the first time we've ever heard you speak up about anything," Minako muttered.

"People...People say my dad is the most horrible person in the world. They say what he did to me is wrong. But...they have the wrong idea! My dad never treated me bad! He loved me very much despite his flaws! Sure he wouldn't let me leave my room and put me through some weird tests, but he had his reasons for doing those things, and I'm sure he meant well!"

Finally, Kosuke fell silent and let the anger drain out of him like a waterfall. He realized it now: his mother isn't the chains that are keeping him bound to the earth and bereaving him of flight. It was a different thing entirely: his hatred. His rancor. His animosity toward a woman who's trying hard, but has fallen into despair and despondency so much that she feels drinking will help her escape reality. Kosuke forgot that his mother actually was a normal person. A human being. He wondered who he took after the most. Seiichi or Kanako? Kosuke needed the answer, because he doesn't want to turn into a clone of Seiichi, nor does he wish to fall into the same rock bottom level of the pit of despair that Kanako has fallen into because of what happened to her. But this didn't stop him from being angry at Kanako for what she's done. No, he can't let this go. Tokomon, having shed his own anger, trotted over to Kosuke and looked up at him with a dejected face.

"Kosuke. Let's go home," Tokomon told him gently. Feeling remorseful, Kosuke scooped little Tokomon in his arms and decided to walk back home. He didn't even bother saying goodbye to Minako and Hokuto, whom he left behind at the train station.

Minako looked at Hokuto. "Hokuto-kun? What kind of tests did your dad put you through?"

The response she got was something she didn't expect. "Joan Crawford is an American film actress who was born on March 23rd, 1905 and died on May 10th, 1977 at the age of 72. She was voted the tenth greatest female star in the history of American cinema by the American Film Institute, though two of her adopted children alleged that she abused them. Christina Crawford wrote the book Mommie Dearest as a tell-all memoir..."

_'Okay, how does he go from speaking up a little about his dad to talking in detail about an actress who died 40 years ago?'_ Minako thought, looking quite shocked by Hokuto's sudden change (though Yun would normally find this to be unsurprising, since she's had to deal with his random spouts of incredibly detailed information on just about anything on an almost near regular basis. The same for Aki), though she did manage to notice that there was a small, thin thread of connection between Hokuto's first outburst and his sudden dictonary-like word vomit. He said that his dad loved him even though he kept him in a room all the time and performed weird tests on him, and that everyone else thinks he's the worst living human in the world who deserves to be viewed as nothing but worthless scum of the earth. Minako remembered that her mother read Mommie Dearest once, and when she was finished, Minako asked to read it. Crawford's adopted children claimed that their adoptive mother abused them on a regular basis, especially over nothing. Minako couldn't help but wonder if Hokuto has a very different perception of child abuse than the rest of the world, considering how out of touch he is with the world in general.

Kosuke and Tokomon went home to an empty house. Kanako had been taken away by the police. Kosuke wondered what would happen to her, but decided not to talk about it. It's then that Tokomon hopped in front of him suddenly.

"Kosuke. I want to show you something. Come see," Tokomon told him and gestured him to follow him. Kosuke did as asked and followed him.

Kosuke and Tokomon went into Kanako's room, a place Kosuke had never been into before. He didn't really see any reason to go in there, so he never did until now. Tokomon managed to squeeze into the closet and show Kosuke the boxes. Kosuke walked up to the closet, unstacked the big boxes, and opened each one. One box contained every single My Little Pony toy that Kanako collected since she was a little girl. The other box contained Kanako's notebooks and diaries.

"I was cleaning once, and I found these. You should read the diaries. They'll give you an idea of what your mother was like when she was a little girl. It might be very helpful," Tokomon told him without hesitation.

Kosuke didn't say anything back. He looked through Kanako's first diary and began reading it. Tokomon decided to leave him alone and left the room. Kosuke suddenly became so immersed with Kanako's old diaries that he read every single one of them in a span of five hours! After he finished reading Kanako's final diary, he rushed to make dinner, which wasn't much. He reheated some leftovers from yesterday, which he and Tokomon enjoyed. Then Kosuke went to look at more of Kanako's notebooks, which contained stories that Kanako herself wrote about her favorite My Little Pony characters. Some of them even contained stories and characters that Kanako made up herself, which had nothing to do with My Little Pony or any other cartoon Kosuke watched or heard about. To his surprise, there are a lot of them, and they're actually really good, with a few grammar errors here and there. Finally, at about 10:00 PM, Kosuke fell asleep. He slept so much that he failed to hear the sound of police men taking Kanako back into the house.

Tuesday morning came, and Kosuke woke up to find himself still in Kanako's room, surrounded by notebooks and a few My Little Pony toys that had been scattered around. Kosuke scrambled to his feet in alarm and ran into the living room to find Kanako, who is sober, and Patamon, who digivolved just this morning, watching TV together! Rather insouciantly at that, which Kosuke found to be a very strange and peculiar sight. Patamon noticed Kosuke and smiled at him.

"Good morning! Your breakfast is in the dining room. Kanako-san made scrambled eggs and waffles with maple syrup for you," Patamon told him cheerfully. Kosuke was quite speechless for about a minute.

"Th-Thanks..." Kosuke ambled into the dining room and consumed his breakfast. After a bit, he walked off to school, leaving Kanako and Patamon all alone in the house...for about an hour, at least. Suddenly, the phone rang and Kanako went to answer it.

"Hello?"

Silence.

"Yes. This is Hanemoto Kanako."

Silence.

"What? Really? Thanks. I'll be there as soon as I can."

Silence.

"Thank you so much. I'll meet you there. Bye."

Kanako hung up the phone quickly.

"What's up?" Patamon asked.

"I'm going to a job interview," Kanako told him.

"A job interview?"

"Yes. I applied for a job last week, and I just found out my first interview is in another two hours. I'm going to get ready. Will you look after the house while we're gone?" By we, she meant Kosuke and herself.

"Sure," Patamon nodded.

It took about 45 minutes for Kanako to get prepared, but Patamon was quite surprised by how she came out! She looked absolutely stunning! Her hair is clean and straight, with a few curls here and there. She put on some nice clothes consisting of a pale yellow blouse, a long white skirt with lace under it, purple shoes, tall white socks, and a small garnet necklace. Kanako's sober right now so she's in good condition to be in a job interview. Soon, Kanako left the house, leaving Patamon all alone.

After a few hours, Kanako came back, changed out of her nice clothes, and put on some more house appropriate clothes consisting of a black T-shirt and blue jean pants. She sat back on the couch and watched TV. Two hours after that, Kosuke came home.

"I'm back," Kosuke said to Patamon, not to Kanako.

"Welcome home," Both Kanako and Patamon said in unison.

Kosuke stopped in his tracks upon seeing the two together again, but after a few minutes, he stomped into his bed room. He could hear the opening and closing of a door. Then Patamon flew into his room in high spirits.

"Hey Kosuke! You're not gonna believe this!" Patamon exclaimed.

"What?" Kosuke asked.

"Earlier today, Kanako went to a job interview! She told me so! She said she applied for a job last week and today was the interview," Patamon told him happily.

Kosuke, on the other hand, didn't look happy. He took his poem book and sat down on his bed.

"Her? Applying for a job? Yeah right!" Kosuke exclaimed rather harshly. Again, Patamon looked very disappointed.

"Kosuke. I know you weren't there so I can understand why you don't believe me, but can't you at least give Kanako-san a chance? I mean, she really is trying, so you should give her at least some credit," Patamon told him with his stubby little arms crossed.

"I already gave her chances, and she's trashed them all. There's no hope for her," Kosuke scoffed as he left the bed room, leaving Patamon alone and looking very despondent.

"Kosuke..." Patamon muttered sadly.

Kosuke went down into the dirty basement, found some boxes, and began opening them.

"Saturday's the yard sale. Maybe I'll find some things that'll sell for a decent amount," Kosuke muttered to himself as he pryed open every single old box he could find.

To his surprise, there are a lot of things he could sell, and for quite a lot of money at that! Of course, he didn't realize HOW much money until the day of the yard sale.


	56. Another Step Toward The Light

EPISODE 56: Another Step Toward The Light

Kosuke spent the entire week trying to find items he can sell for the yard sale. A little at a time, because he had to still go to school, deal with Kanako when she got drunk, help Patamon, and do some household chores. He managed to find some things he thought he never had. Patamon helped him out a little. On Thursday, he found out that Yun and her family are participating in the yard sale, so he called them on the phone and asked if he could join them. They said yes and allowed him to join, which made both him and Patamon happy. Kanako had absolutely no knowledge of this and continued to be oblivious and not cognizant of the fact that Kosuke is going to participate in this Saturday's yard sale.

On Friday, he came home from school and spent half an hour looking for more things. He found a few things that didn't look as though they'd been touched, so he picked those out. After that half hour, he and Patamon decided to take a break and go for a little walk in the fresh air. It was a nice, warm, sunny day outside, with the golden sun shining it's heavenly effulgence on the world. Birds of all kinds flew and twittered all over the place, spreading their little wings out and gliding toward their destinations. Kosuke couldn't help but look at them and stare at them for quite a long time. Patamon noticed this and pointed it out.

"You should take up bird watching," Patamon suggested with a smile on his pudgy little face, his pale brown eyes lighting up.

"You think I should?" Kosuke asked.

"Yep, since you like birds and flying and all," Patamon told him cheerfully.

Kosuke smiled a bit and stroked Patamon's wing with his hand, making Patamon smile just a bit more.

"Sure. I could do that. It's better than taking care of her after all," Kosuke said to him. Patamon figured out that by her he meant Kanako. While he did understand how he felt, he wished he could have worded it better since he made it sound as though he doesn't view Kanako as his mother anymore.

Kosuke and Patamon found themselves across the street from the little food place. Kosuke stopped and stared at it for a while.

"What's wrong?" Patamon asked with some concern in his sweet voice.

"That food place...it sure does bring back memories," Kosuke muttered.

"How do you mean?" Patamon asked again.

Kosuke looked down at his feet, feeling a little guilty even though he hadn't done anything recently. But he steeled his mettle and looked at the store with a straight face.

"One time, about a month after Dad left, I..." Kosuke let the sentence drift away at first, but continued on. "I...tried to shoplift from that place."

"WHAT?" Patamon was so surprised he nearly fell off of Kosuke's shoulder. But he did manage to regain his balance and climb back onto Kosuke's head.

"You? Shoplifting?" Patamon yelped.

"Yeah. I know. Stupid, right? But...back then, Mom had completely devoted herself to alcohol, and there wasn't any food in the house. I remember that day as though it were yesterday," Kosuke explained as he took a rather unpleasant trip down memory lane.

(flashback)

_Kosuke, having already become tired of Kanako's uselessness and sick of his lingering hunger, searched everywhere in the house for some money. Even just a little would help him. He searched and searched. He left no stone unturned. He searched through every crack and cranny in the tiny house that he and his alcohol-loving mother were thrown into against their will, but Kosuke turned up empty. Absolutely no money was in the house. Kosuke cried a little, but he decided to go outside and go for a walk, hoping his hunger would dissipate and that his mind would be cleared. Before he searched for money, he searched for food. He was so hungry. He still was hungry. He searched and searched for anything edible, but again, nothing. Not even any leftovers._

_Poor little Kosuke didn't want to accept the circumstances he was just thrown into. It had been a month now, and already he was sick of it._ _Sick of the drinks. Sick of the cigarettes. Sick of the repulsive, noisome odors and aromas that came with those two. Sick of Kanako not being a proper mother to him anymore. Sick of her doing nothing but sit around the house, drink, smoke, and wallow in her self pity. Sick of being hungry. Sick of being so desperate for food. Sick of yearning for food while his friends enjoyed warm, home cooked meals every day. He didn't hate them for it, but he became quite jealous of them. His stomach growled loudly, which made him feel quite embarrassed, but he ignored it, repressed his lingering hunger, and continued on._

_Suddenly, he found himself at the little food store. He hadn't intended to come here, but by some unknown or unfathomable force he couldn't explain, he did. Food and temptation were now surrounding him. Kosuke found himself unable to escape. There's only one employee in the store as of now, and nobody else but him and himself. No other customers. Nobody else. Kosuke finally realized the thing that made him come here:_ _hunger. His stomach turned around on it's side, yearning, begging for food. Kosuke knew he had no money on him. He didn't find any in his house, but he really needed it. He wanted something to eat. Something! He didn't care if it was junk food or healthy food. He didn't care if it was going to be bad for him. He just needed food! Something to fill his stomach and keep it from growling for just a little while, nothing else. To him, the smallest amount of food would be more heavenly, enriching, and fulfilling than any riches he would receive, though Kosuke wouldn't mind getting those riches for himself along with any food he could get his deprived hands on._

_Hungry Kosuke plodded through the aisles, looking and looking in all directions, taking note of all the food surrounding him. To Kosuke, it looked as though every single piece of food on the shelves were saying to him, _"Eat me! Eat me! Come on, eat me! You know you want to!" _Kosuke covered his ears, thinking the voices and temptations to be real. He wanted food so bad! But he knew for a fact that shoplifting was wrong. It IS wrong. He doesn't want to do it, but he has no money on him, and he's downright desperate. He needed something to eat or he felt he could die right there at any moment. Kosuke speed-walked through the rest of the aisles, hoping more walking would take away the temptation and ease his lingering hunger. But it didn't. Not even a mite. Kosuke thought he was going to die._

_Then he saw it. A banana! A lone, pure, pristine, golden banana in the fruit section. The very last one! Impeccably curved, newly fresh, and without one trace of unripe green or totally sweetened brown in sight. It sat in a lone box looking very lonely. Kosuke couldn't help but keep his eyes on it. He stared and stared at the lone banana, wondering if he should do it. Take it. He knows that shoplifting is wrong and that it could throw him in jail if he did. He wanted to do good deeds, but right now, he didn't feel as though good deeds were doing anything for him in return. He thought that all the things he did were in vain, no matter how well-intentioned he meant it to be. He then started thinking about the nefarious crime. _'It's just one little banana,'_ Kosuke thought. He didn't think anyone would miss a lone banana. They can always re-stock them. His stomach growled once again. _'Surely they won't really care about one little banana,'_ Kosuke thought. He had to admit, bananas are healthy and good for potassium, and Kosuke learned in school once that people can get sick if their potassium levels are appallingly low. Not only that, Kosuke's pants pockets are big enough to hide a little banana of that size, so he could easily get away with it, and it doesn't have a price tag. Kosuke slowly reached out to it with his hand and tried to grab it._

_He froze. Without knowing why, he froze. He didn't understand why he suddenly froze up. He needed the banana so bad, yet his body wasn't letting him! His stomach growled yet again, but even that didn't make Kosuke unfreeze. Kosuke began to panic. _'What's wrong with me? I need food bad! Come on! Let me...take it! I have to have it! My stomach's killing me!'_ Kosuke thought frantically. He found himself unable to move, beading with sweat despite the cold weather. Unfortunately, little did he know that his inability to move or react quick enough was a huge mistake, as it left him wide open._

_"Hey! Get away from that, you punk!"_

_A big, bulky male employee caught Kosuke and screamed at him. Then he grabbed Kosuke and slapped him square in the face! So hard that he fell to the ground. The male employee looked at him with quite a choleric expression._

_"Ya thought you could get away with shopliftin' in my store, eh? Not on my watch! Don't think you're so sneaky!" The employee yelled angrily._

_Kosuke tried to get up while giving the man his own stink eye, which the man found very insulting._

_"Are you accusing me with that look of yours? Don't blame me for what you did! You brought this on yourself! Now come with me!" The man yelled again. He then forcefully grabbed Kosuke by the arm, yanked him off the floor, and took him to another room. A plain little room with a desk, a computer, some stacks of paper, and a black phone. The man picked up the phone and looked at Kosuke, who balled his fists and looked down at his feet in humiliation, even though there's no one else with him._

_"What's yer number, boy? I'm callin' yer parents," The man told him._

_Kosuke made a contorted mouth sound. "Pheh! Good luck trying, because you're not gonna be able to contact them."_

_"Don't play games with me, you punk!" The man scolded angrily._

_"I'm not lying! My dad up and left a month ago and I dunno where the heck he is! All my mom does is drink, smoke, and lay around the house!_ _She's too busy drowning herself in her misery and wallowing in her self-pity to care about her own kid!" Kosuke yelled back._

_"I ain't runnin' a charity here!"_

_"Don't you think I know that?"_

_"Don't think tellin' me some dumb sob story will get me to let you run off scott free!"_

_"It's the truth! You know what? Keep your stupid banana! I don't want it!"_

_"So you try to shoplift just a few minutes ago, and now you say you dun want it? Hah! Don't think I see what you're trying to pull!"_

_"I'm not trying to pull anything! I've changed my mind!"_

_"Don't think changin' yer little mind is gonna talk me into lettin' you run off wherever you please!"_

_The man is clearly persistent and convinced that Kosuke is trying to escape and not feel remorse for his actions. Kosuke did feel remorseful._ _He really did. He wished he hadn't tried to steal the banana, but he was so hungry. He needed food or he would fall on the floor and die. The man wasn't buying or believing anything Kosuke said, truly convinced that Kosuke is some nefarious little kid trying to steal food for fun._ _After a huge argument, Kosuke finally abdicated and gave the man his number. Like Kosuke said, getting Kanako to answer is VERY difficult._ _The man called her at least eight times, and only the eighth time did she answer. Still, she was quite drunk. The man talked to her, but Kanako was too drunk to really listen, but wound up taking Kosuke home anyway. The man didn't look as though he felt quite satisfied with having to deal with them. Kosuke shrugged, feeling quite humiliated._

(end flashback)

"Ouch. That must have been humiliating," Patamon told him with concern in his brown eyes.

"It was. Yeah, I know. Shoplifting is wrong. I learned my lesson the hard way back then. But...I was just so hungry. I needed something to eat real bad," Kosuke told him.

"I can understand. Poor people tend to do bad things when times get really tough, and since you've learned your lesson, and considering what you've been going through, I think I know why you did it. I won't hold it against you though, since it's in the past and all," Patamon said.

Kosuke cracked a smile. "I'm glad. You're all that I have right now. I don't want to lose you."

"You won't lose me," Patamon told him kindly, forgiving Kosuke for his desperate transgression from so long ago.

"I think we should get going. Shall we?" Kosuke said. Patamon nodded, and the two walked away.

Soon, Saturday finally arrived. The morning was nice and cool, with the deep blue sky slowly making way for the yellow and orange sky. The sun is slowly waking up, and it's effulgence hasn't quite reached it's maximum quite yet. Ayaka helped Teruki set up the tables out front while Hisako, Yun, and the rabbits began putting price tags on everything. Lucero, having just thrown on some raiment consisting of a short sleeved red shirt with black sleeves and a yellow star on the front and bright blue jean shorts, looked quite confused.

"What art thou doing at this early a time?" Lucero asked, yawning a little and looking quite tired.

"Morning, Lucero! We're going to have a yard sale today!" Yun told him cheerfully.

"A yard sale? What is that exactly?" Lucero asked again.

"It's when we take a lot of our old stuff, sell it, and make some money!" Yun explained.

"People can do that?"

"Yep! We've been doing it since two years ago. I have lots of old stuff I can sell! Maybe I'll make some good money off of it! Anyway, today's the city wide yard sale, so the whole town will be participating."

"Is that so? Will we see how they fare in this event also?"

"Yep! Mom says if the customers stop coming we'll go around and see what other people have."

Lucero, now cognizant of what's going on, became a little excited about it. "Mayn't I help thee?"

"Of course! Mom needs a little help organizing so maybe you can help her with that. I'll stay here and put price tags on everything," Yun told him happily.

"I thank thee for thy suggestion," Lucero bowed before her and ran off to find Hisako. "Hisako-dono!" He yelled loudly as he ran away to find her.

"Wow. He sure is easy to excite, isn't he?" Terriermon asked, looking a little confused.

"I don't think that's the right way to put it. Perhaps he's easily swept up in new things once he learns about something new, which isn't a bad thing. It just means he's intent to learn and help out," Lopmon told him with a sweet smile as she put a small, orange, circle shaped price tag on an old Neopets toy.

"Maybe he thinks this'll be fun, kyu!" Cutemon said as she put a price tag on an old painting.

Yun grabbed a box of old stuffed animals and walked out of the house with it. She slowly but diligently put every stuffed animal on a small, round, white table one by one, arranging them in a neat and proper position while Ayaka helped Teruki set up an old entertainment system that hadn't been used in a long time.

"Dad? Am I setting this up right?" Ayaka asked.

"Yep! You're doing great!" Teruki told her cheerfully and gave her a thumbs up, which actually made Ayaka crack a slight smile. "By the way, when you're done, would you please help me find some more things?"

"Sure thing," Ayaka replied.

"Can I help too? What do you need to find?" Yun asked.

"I know I have that old book on computer fixing somewhere in the basement, but I haven't been able to find it. Can you help us out, too?" Teruki explained.

"Sure! I'll help you, and I think I know which one you're talking about, too!" Yun exclaimed excitedly. Ayaka shot a scornful look at her.

"We don't need your help! Just go and organize your stupid stuffed animals already! It's not like anyone's gonna buy them anyway," Ayaka said rather bluntly.

"Ayaka!" Teruki scolded again as both he and his two daughters went back into the house to look for the book. After a few minutes, Yun found it.

"Found it!" Yun exclaimed as she held the little floppy book in her hands. The book is called _The Complete Computer Repair Book, Second Edition_, which was published back in 2000. The pages are a little bent and floppy, but they're still readable.

"Hey! Can we sell this stuff?" Ayaka asked as she showed Teruki some things she found, which are some old computer games.

"Hey! We haven't seen these in a long while! I think we can!" Teruki exclaimed happily, which made both Yun and Ayaka happy.

The entire Wakamiya household was as busy as a group of bees trying to give honey to their queen bees. About an hour before the entire town was ready to open up it's yard sale day...

"Hey! Sorry I'm late!"

Kosuke and Patamon, both carrying boxes, ran in front of the house.

"Kosuke-kun! You came!" Yun greeted him happily and took the box that Patamon is holding. Patamon gasped for breath heavily.

"Jeez! Who knew yard sales would be so much work?" Patamon panted.

"Well you came just in time! We're just about to open up!" Terriermon told him happily. Soon, Lucero and Ayaka saw him, both with varying reactions.

"Kosuke-dono! Thou hast come!" Lucero greeted him cheerfully.

"Yun? Why's your friend here?" Ayaka asked quietly, though Yun could tell that there was a hint of rancor in her low voice.

"He's going to sell his stuff with us. Mom and Dad already said he's allowed to," Yun told her. Ayaka just went back into the house.

"Wow. She didn't yell this time," Lopmon said.

Yun sighed. "Thank goodness."

"So what do you have in there, kyu? Can we see, kyu?" Cutemon asked curiously.

"Sure. Want me to set up now?" Kosuke replied with a smile.

"Of course! There's an extra table over there by mine," Yun pointed to a small, empty table that had just been set up by Hisako.

Kosuke and Patamon went over to it, opened their boxes, and unloaded everything. Yun, Lucero, and the rabbits were all surprised by the things Kosuke pulled out.

"WOW! You had that kind of stuff even though you're poor?" Yun yelped.

"Apparently so! I didn't discover these until earlier this week, and I think they belonged to Dad. He probably didn't pick them up when he left, so I guess their only good use is to be sold for some cha-ching!" Kosuke explained cheerfully.

"My! They would indeed! I can certainly see it!" Lopmon said, smiling so big her little brown cheeks turned a little rosy pink, which Yun found to be cute. Yun turned around and saw Hisako stacking some old books on her table. Yun ran over to her and looked confused.

"Mom? Why are you selling your Stephen King books? Aren't they your favorites?" Yun asked. She knew for a fact that her mother loved reading Stephen King books. She even said her favorites are The Stand, Carrie, and The Shining.

"They're rather old and drafty, and I don't feel like carrying them around anymore. Besides, I have them on my Kindle now," Hisako told her with a smile.

Yun felt satisfied with this answer and left, though it must be confessed that Yun never understood the purpose of a Kindle. Sure, it's new and high rez technology, but for her, nothing can beat the book and it's paper pages. She prefers to hold a real book in her hands instead of a little slab of titanium with a bunch of words in it. Soon, everyone's stands were set up. Teruki's table has some old computer parts, some old computer games, the computer book, lots of records from the 70's and 80's, a pair of shoes that are too small for him, some shirts he stopped wearing because they shrunk a little, some brown drum sticks, an old fan, and some race car parts he stopped using. The entertainment system is just behind him. Hisako's table has a lot of old paintings, a big stack of old books she doesn't read anymore (even her Stephen King books), an iron, some shirts, some dresses she stopped wearing, some pants, some skirts, an old carving of a soldier from the Civil War dated 1865, some records from the 80's, some gardening tools she stopped using, some old plates, some old utensils, and some cooking mittens she stopped using. Ayaka's table has a HUGE stack of clothes, her old cell phone, her old I-Pod (she got new ones), some old head phones, a stuffed animal she wants to get rid of, lots of old shoes (both sneakers, high heels, and dance shoes), lots of hair accessories she doesn't wear anymore, jars of nail polish, and a jar of old eye liner. Yun's table has lots of stuffed animals she doesn't play with anymore, some old games for the GameBoy Color and GameBoy Advance she doesn't play with anymore, some old clothes she outgrew long ago, the two Neopets toys she's never touched, some old VHS tapes, some DVDs she doesn't watch, some books she doesn't want anymore, and a music CD she randomly found out of nowhere.

But it was Kosuke's table that not only got the attention of the Wakamiya family, but customers as well. Kosuke has a huge gold clock that was made in 1934 as said on the bottom of it, some records from the 60's, some high quality jewels, some old tuxedos that are way too big for Kosuke as of now, some shiny watches, a big, thick, book about financial literacy, and lots of top hats that look as though they were made long ago but still look brand new, like they were never touched! Slowly, customers came to the Wakamiya house, along with other houses on the street that are having yard sales. At first, they looked at the stuff that was laid out, but more customers came and bought things. Some teenagers bought Ayaka's old cell phone and I-Pod for big money, which made Ayaka quite happy and jubilant. Another customer bought two of Hisako's old paintings for 3000 yen! A young man bought some of Teruki's records, Hisako's old copy of The Shining, and four dresses from Yun's table for 5000 yen! Teruki, Hisako, and Yun split the profits. Teruki got 2500 yen, Hisako got 1500, and Yun got 1000, which was fine with her. Two women bought two of Hisako's old dresses for 4500 yen. Some kids bought two of Yun's old games for 300 yen, which was fine with her, since they're old games after all, and they don't sell for that much anymore.

One customer, however, caught Yun's interest. A woman and her young daughter came up to the driveway and began looking around. Yun couldn't help but notice that the little girl looked rather odd. She looked very young, with thick black hair tied in little pig tails with pure white bows, and big, luminous, light brown eyes. The little girl looked very thin, and her head is always tilting to one side, her left side to be more precise. She almost looked like a little stick figure if she had been wearing thinner clothes. The little girl had on a pretty red dress with no sleeves and some matching red ribbons on it, along with white folded socks, and little matching red shoes like Dorothy's from The Wizard of Oz, only not as shiny and glittery, and they're certainly not magic either. The little girl has a big, pink and white daisy face, plump cheeks, a good-naturedly dainty little mouth, and a tiny pixie nose. The little girl looked at Yun's stuffed animals with great interest, inspecting and examining every single one of them with her pale brown eyes. Yun couldn't help but look at her for a while, even though she knew it was impolite to stare. Soon, the little girl pulled out one of Yun's old stuffed animals, a pure white bunny rabbit with an intensely fluffy body, beady black stone eyes, a pink yarn nose, and a blue ribbon underneath it's head.

"Masane-san! I want 'dis one!" The little girl said as she showed the big, fluffy bunny doll to her mother, whom she referred to by her first name for some odd reason.

"It's a little too big for you, isn't it, Eriko?" The woman, Masane, said to the little girl, Eriko, who looked very enthusiastic about owning this big rabbit.

"I want 'duh bunny!" Eriko chirped happily in a high voice and ran to Yun.

"Hewwo! How much ith 'dis?" Eriko squeaked cheerfully, which seemed to frighten Yun a little until Masane came into the fray.

"I'll pay for it, dear. May we purchase this?" Masane told Eriko, then talked to Yun.

"Sure," Yun said with a smile.

Masane rummaged through her wallet to look for some money while Eriko looked at Yun with her big, pale brown eyes. Eriko then suddenly smiled brightly, like a newly blossoming sunflower.

"Yun-tan!"

"Uh?"

"Will 500 yen cover it?" Masane asked, handing Yun some money.

"Yes. Thank you very much!" Yun said as she took the money, looking very surprised. Not just by the purchase, but because of the fact that this little girl somehow, by some unfathomable reason, called her by her signature nickname!

"Here you go, Eri-chan," Masane said as she gave Eriko the bunny, and then picked her up back in her arms. "Let's get back now, shall we?"

"But Masane-san...I wanna talk to Yun-tan!" Eriko protested while holding her new bunny. Masane seemed to ignore her protests as she strapped her in the car and drove away.

Yun just sat there with shock. Lucero walked up next to her.

"That was weird," Lucero said.

"Yeah..." Yun said.

"Dost thou knowest her?"

"No. But...how in the world does she know me? Nobody who's not acquainted with me is supposed to know of my nickname!"

Yun searched her memory, but couldn't find anything about the little girl who just called her by her name. But she sure is going to remember her from now on, and not just because of how physically odd she looked either. Kosuke, on the other hand, was on a roll. A woman walked up to Kosuke and looked at the records with a friend.

"Look, honey! These's records are from 1960!" The woman said to her friend.

"You're right! You should get them!" The man told her. The woman pulled out some money and handed it to Kosuke without even asking about the price.

"Here. This is yours. Thank you! Yeek!" The woman said as she left, squealing happily with her purchase. Kosuke looked at the money she put in front of him and was shocked. 7000 yen! For some records from the early sixties no less! Kosuke couldn't help but think that angels are smiling down at him this very moment. Ayaka, however, looked quite shocked herself.

"WHAT? How can a kid like you get 7000 yen for some useless records from a billion years ago?" Ayaka yelped angrily.

"Ayaka! Zip it!" Yun scolded, disappointed with her treatment of Kosuke.

"You zip it, brat!"

"Alright, that's enough," Hisako mollified her two daughters before they got into a fight that could potentially scare away customers.

Thankfully, much to everyone's joy, not all the customers were people they didn't know. The Wakamiyas' kind next door neighbor, Sakaki, purchased some more of Kosuke's records and one of Hisako's dresses for 2000 yen! One of the teachers at school purchased another dress from Hisako for only 500 yen. Soon, Isao had arrived with his mother trailing behind him.

"Yun-chan!" Isao called out as he ran over to her.

"Hi Isao-kun!" Yun said happily as she walked over to the excited little boy. "What are you doing here?"

"Goin' to the yard sales with my mom. Oh! Mom, this is the girl I told you about! Wakamiya Yun-chan!" Isao said to Yun at first, then dragged his mom over to Yun and introduced her.

Isao's mother is a rather small woman, with short but very curly auburn hair, dark brown eyes, and a dainty smile. She didn't look very prim or proper as of now, but nobody minded. The woman smiled at Yun. "It's nice to meet you, Yun-chan. Isao talks about you a lot."

Yun, being the shy and taciturn person she is, only responded in a low voice. "Hi. Nice to meet you too."

Then Hisako came around. "Oh? Are you Isao-kun's mother?"

Soon the two women began talking amongst themselves. Isao saw some of Yun's old games and immediately gained interest in them.

"Oh! Is that Pokemon Red? I've been wanting to get that for a while now!" Isao exclaimed.

"You have? It's kinda old, isn't it? I thought you'd be more into the newer games for the Nintendo DS," Yun said, a little confused by Isao's interest in an old game from the early nineties.

"Yeah, but sometimes I wanna see what old stuff is like too. Besides, my cousin gave me his old blue GameBoy Color, and I don't have any games for that, so I want this! Is that okay?" Isao explained. Yun smiled a bit. Isao then rummaged through one of his pockets and pulled out a 100 yen bill.

"Is this enough?" Isao asked.

Yun took the bill with a smile. "Yep. It's all yours."

"Yippee! I bought something all by myself!" Isao cheered as he danced around while holding the old Pokemon Red game in his little hands.

"I take it Bearmon's at home?" Yun asked.

"Yep. I see Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon aren't here. I can see why. Too many people around," Isao said.

'He's observant, isn't he?' Yun thought to herself. Isao then looked up at Yun with his big, midnight blue eyes.

"Hey! I want to tell you something really cool! There's this new girl in our class who reminds me of you a lot," Isao explained.

"Really?"

"Yep! Sonomiya-sensei says she's from the special ed class and is in our class as part of some inclusion thingy. I don't know what that means. Her name's Nozawa Anri-chan. She has red hair, green eyes, freckles, and is really nice, like you are."

"How nice. Did you talk to her?"

"A little. She doesn't talk much, but she played with me and Aria-chan, so she has to be nice!"

"Maybe you should be friends with her."

"I sure will!"

After a while, Isao and his mother left, having gotten what they've wanted. Soon, two women approached Kosuke and looked at his table. The woman then noticed the jewels.

"Oh! Look at these!" The woman showed her friend.

"Oh merciful heavens! These are rare jewels, indeed!" The other woman exclaimed.

"Boy? How did you have access to jewels like these?" The first woman asked curiously.

"I don't know. They happened to be in my basement, so I thought I'd sell them," Kosuke said.

The two women began whispering amongst themselves, but not in a malinged way.

"The boy has super rare diamonds, sapphires, and rubies that even I don't have!"

"I know! No person I know has ever had access to such pristine jewels such as those! For that matter, who would be so careless as to leave them with a child?"

"Well, he's right to sell them. I think we should buy them. I know a jeweler who can make great jewelry out of them."

"Yes! We should! Better to take them off his hands now than have someone not so trusting have them."

The first woman approached Kosuke with a smile.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to purchase the jewels," The woman told him. Kosuke smiled and handed her the jewels.

"Sure," Kosuke said. The woman then pulled out a small white bag and handed it to Kosuke. The two women smiled and left. Kosuke wanted to see what was inside, but seeing that another customer is coming, put the bag away. Some kids bought some of Ayaka and Yun's old clothes. A man bought one part of Teruki's entertainment system for 4000 yen. A parent bought her child Yun's old neopet toy for 200 yen. A woman walked up to Kosuke's table and eyed the gold clock.

"My, this is such a nice clock you have! I'm sad you're giving this away," The woman said.

"I have other working clocks at home, so I don't need it. Plus, I found it in my basement. Do you want it?" Kosuke explained.

The woman smiled and gave Kosuke another white bag.

"Yes please. Thank you very much. You have a good day now," The woman told him and left. Again, Kosuke didn't open it so he put it back in his pocket.

Inside the house, Lopmon, Cutemon, Terriermon, and Patamon are watching the people come and go with interested eyes.

"Wow. Business is booming," Lopmon said with a smile.

"You're right! I wish I could do something like that," Terriermon said.

"But those white bags Kosuke got...they look kinda suspicious, don't you think?" Patamon asked, eyeing the two white bags Kosuke received from the women.

"I wonder what's in them, kyu," Cutemon muttered.

"I do feel sad that we can't be out there helping them, but we cannot afford to draw any unwanted attention to ourselves, so we're safe in here," Lopmon said, feeling a little dejected and guilty about not being able to help Yun and the others lest she and the other Digimon wind up revealing themselves.

Soon, another familiar customer approached Yun's table, and Yun lit up upon seeing who it is.

"Otoya-chan!"

"Hi, Yun-chan!"

There she was, Jounouchi Otoya, with her boyfriend Narumi Akira, walking on the driveway. Otoya looked quite pretty in her choice of raiment today, a short sleeved, pale yellow shirt under a sleeveless light brown vest, blue jean shorts, red socks and black shoes. Yun noticed that Otoya's hair has been arranged in two thin, long braids and that Labramon is by her side as usual.

"You braided your hair?" Yun asked.

"Yep!" Otoya flipped one of her braids out of her way. "You like them?"

"Yeah. They look cute on you," Yun said.

Otoya's cheeks turned a little red, but it's out of joy and gratitude, not out of embarrassment. "Thanks! Oh! This is my boyfriend, Narumi Akira-kun! Akira-kun, this is my friend Wakamiya Yun-chan!"

"It's nice to meet you, Wakamiya-san," Akira said politely, making a bow.

Yun tensed up a little. "H-Hi there, Narumi-san..."

Otoya looked at Yun's merchandise. She pulled out a shirt and beamed.

"Wow! You have stuff like this? I always wanted a shirt like this!" Otoya beamed happily, holding up a short sleeved pink shirt with red watercolor roses and green watercolor painted leaves on it.

"It's my favorite, but I outgrew it last year. My mom says I can't wear it anymore," Yun explained.

Otoya then suddenly yanked out 1500 yen. "Here! I'll pay you this much!"

Yun became surprised. "1500 yen? But...isn't that a bit much?"

"Nope! Not to me! I've been saving up for a shirt like this for a long while, and I'm willing to pay anything for it, so here you go!" Otoya explained quite enthusiastically. Yun knew that when Otoya has her mind on something, she'll never change it unless something forces her to, so she smiled, took the money, and gave the shirt to her.

"Thanks," Yun murmured shyly.

"No, thank you! I'll take real good care of it! Yay yay yay!" Otoya cheered and jumped around happily, making Akira laugh a little. Then, Lucero approached Yun.

"Wouldst thou likest to take a break? I can handle things for thee as of now," Lucero asked.

"Are you sure? I mean, you've never done this before, so..." Yun replied, feeling a little reluctant to let Lucero take over.

"It's quite alright. Thou needst a break once in a while, dost thou not? I think I hast a good idea of what to do here, so thou shan't worry about me," Lucero told her with a smile.

Yun decided to smile too, albeit reluctantly. "Okay. But if you get tired and change your mind, let me know. Okay?"

"I shall do that," Lucero nodded. Yun decided to go back inside with the money she earned. Lucero began talking to Otoya and Akira, but Otoya noticed Labramon following Yun.

"Labramon! Where are you going?" Otoya called out to him, but he didn't listen. Otoya found this to be strange. Usually the only time he wouldn't listen to her is if he disagrees with her about something or was consumed by his intense hatred for Tsukaimon and his bloodthirsty lust for revenge. As far as she knew, Tsukaimon and Nayuki aren't around.

Yun went inside and showed her earnings to the Digimon, Labramon included.

"Wow. You sure made a lot, Yun-san," Labramon told her kindly.

"Yeah! Much more than last year...wait! Labramon? What are you doing in here?" Yun exclaimed, only just finding out that Labramon followed her into the house.

"You're usually always with Otoya-chan. Why aren't you with her now?" Terriermon asked with his arms crossed like an austere parent.

Labramon drooped his head down dejectedly. Yun found this to be a rather disturbing harbinger.

"What's wrong?" Yun asked gently as she stroke Labramon's head.

"Narumi...he's not what Otoya believes him to be," Labramon told her quietly.

"What do you mean? Is he...hiding some evil dark side or something?" Yun asked again.

Labramon nodded grimly.

"How can you tell?" Lopmon asked, her curiosity having been piqued.

"We holy Digimon can sense sincerity and deceit from all things, and Narumi...is chock full of deceit. Nothing he does for Otoya is for her and her alone. Especially not to make her happy. That I can tell. I sense a wicked and insidious thing within the boy, but Otoya...does not believe me. I tried to tell her, but she brushed me off. I have a feeling...that he will do something horrible to her and there will be nothing any of us can do to save her from the pain!" Labramon explained, becoming a little tearful at the end. "I am her partner! I'm supposed to save her from all danger, but I cannot save her from this upcoming tragedy!"

Narumi? A bad person? Labramon senses that Otoya's boyfriend, that nice and polite boy, to be a bad person? Yun at first had a hard time believing it herself, seeing how happy Otoya looked when she was around him, but Yun did remember watching a lot of TV shows and movies about domestic violence, boyfriends deceiving their girlfriends and husbands beating their wives. Was Otoya going to have the same thing happen to her? What's going to happen? Is Labramon's suspicion true? Yun couldn't help but wonder. Yun kneeled down before Labramon and looked him in the eyes.

"I'm glad you told me this. You're worried about her, and that's okay. If anything ever happens to Otoya-chan, and if I ever see Narumi-san doing something bad or anything like that, I'll definitely do something about it. Don't worry, Labramon," Yun told him reassuringly, but Labramon shook his head grimly.

"I'm afraid it's too late for us to save her. Damage has already been done to her in the past, she told me, but I'm afraid that the damage that will be caused...can never be reversed," Labramon said.

"What's going to happen, kyu?" Cutemon asked.

"I don't know. I cannot predict the future, but I do know that Narumi is manipulating her. His heart is full of iniquity and deceit! Chock full of it!" Labramon told them sadly.

Yun wished she had some way to reassure him, but alas, she didn't. Suddenly, Otoya came into the house.

"Labramon. What are you doing in the house? Akira-kun and I have to go," Otoya told him.

"We'll see you later," Labramon told them and walked back to Otoya's side. Akira and Otoya finally left the Wakamiya house, smiling happily.

"Do you think what Labramon said is true, kyu?" Cutemon asked. Yun couldn't answer. All she did was put her money in her little blue wallet. As she was about to come out, Ayaka found her.

"Come back out here, you brat! Nobody's gonna do everything for you, ya know?" Ayaka yelled angrily, but Yun just walked past her, not even acknowledging that she was there. Terriermon sure did, and he stuck his tongue out at her. Ayaka failed to notice this and walked after Yun.

"Wow. She still hates Yun-chan, huh?" Patamon asked.

Lopmon nodded grimly. "It is sad that this is so."

About two more hours passed, and more stuff had been sold to various customers. After a while, Yun saw two more familiar customers.

"Rena-chan! Rikkun!"

"Hi Yun-chan!"

Both Rena and Riku came to the Wakamiya house by means of their father. Rena had on a nice pale green dress with some smocking on the bottom hem and puffed sleeves. Riku has on a sleeveless camoflage shirt in colors like mossy green, beige brown, black, golden yellow, and seaweed green, along with beige khaki shorts, black and red sneakers, and white socks. A band-aid is on his left knee.

"I see you're taking part in this yard sale too. Nice!" Rena said.

"We made some good cash! Did you family participate in the city wide yard sale?" Yun asked.

"Yep! We only just closed up, but Mom actually let me sell some stuff and make my own money! Normally she never lets me do that! I managed to sell some old games I don't play anymore!" Riku explained happily.

"That's great!" Yun said cheerfully. Rena noticed Kosuke and became confused.

"Kosuke-kun's with you?" Rena asked.

"Yeah. He asked if he could sell stuff with us, and we let him," Yun explained.

"Hm. I think I can see why," Rena said politely.

"Oh! That reminds me!" Riku ran to get his father and dragged him over to Yun. "Dad, this is the girl big sis and I were telling you about! Wakamiya Yun! Yun-chan, this is my dad, Nobara Michitaka!"

Riku's father, Michitaka, smiled a bit. "So you're Wakamiya-san. It's nice to meet you. I've heard so much about you from the twins."

Yun tensed up again. "H-He-Hello, sir."

"She's kinda shy, in case you didn't notice," Rena told him. Soon, Michitaka left to talk to Teruki and Hisako. Kosuke sold another one of his old records.

"I take it Lunamon and Coronamon aren't with you?" Yun asked.

"Yeah. They'll attract too much attention, so we had to keep them at home. Our mom's at work right now, so they have the whole house to themselves," Rena explained.

"Won't Coronamon get all hyper and go crazy?"

"Yes, normally, but Lunamon's pretty good about keeping him in line so it's fine."

Riku looked through some of Yun's things and found some GameBoy Advance games and the music CD.

"Whoa! Can I buy these? Please?" Riku asked, handing Yun a 500 yen bill.

Yun took it and handed Riku the items. "Sure! Here you go!"

"Thanks, Yun-chan! Oh! Hey! Wanna hang out with us this afternoon? Dad says he's gonna take us around town and look at other people's yard sales before they close up!" Riku explained enthusiastically.

Yun ran over to Hisako. "Can I go?"

"Sure, dear. Just take your phone with you and leave it on," Hisako replied with a smile.

"Yay! Thanks, Mom!" Yun hugged Hisako and ran inside to grab Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon. Yun then asked Kosuke if he'd like to come and he said yes. He just finished selling the rest of his items. Yes, Kosuke's the first to sell ALL of his items! Kosuke got Patamon from the house and took him out. Lucero decided to join them too.

It's a good thing Michitaka has a van, because Yun, Lucero, Kosuke, Rena, and Riku, along with the four Digimon, came with them. Michitaka drove them all over town, looking at various houses and the merchandise their owners were selling. Some were big, but didn't sell anything that piqued anyone's interest. Mostly baby things and toddler toys that nobody really wants unless they have a baby arriving soon. Yun did, however, manage to find a DVD of Aladdin and managed to pay 100 yen for it. Rena found some nice hair accessories and bought some with her own money. Riku got some rare games for the Sega Genesis for cheap, and he's always wanted to play his Sega Genesis, but games haven't been around for it anymore since it's so old. Kosuke bought some clothes (that actually fit him since he's gotten rather thin because of his slight lack of food consumption), some games, old game consoles nobody wanted (like the GameBoy Color and an old Nintendo DS model), some books on varying subjects, some kitchen utensils, all for really cheap! He even had to buy a bag in order to carry it all. The Digimon seemed to love all the activity going on since it's so lively out, but they made sure to be silent so that they don't attract any unwanted attention to themselves.

Kosuke had to admit, he had never felt so alive before. He almost felt as though he were back with his old friends, going on fun little adventures and playing everywhere, only right now all he's doing is looking at people and their merchandise. He felt as if he had finally achieved a little bit of freedom, emphasis on a little bit. Before, Kosuke felt that he could never go outside and do things like this anymore because Kanako and her seemingly incessant drinking took up so much of his time and childhood. Kosuke thought that he could never be himself or go outside or hang out with his friends or be a little boy ever again. But now...for just a little bit, he felt the chains come off of him for just a little while, and he had not only his friends to thank, but Patamon. It was Patamon who reminded him so much of himself from his childhood by his childish and friendly nature alone, and not only was Patamon kind, but ungodly obstinate and parent-like whenever Kosuke did something bad. To Kosuke, Patamon did everything Kanako should have done for him: teach him right, scold him when he did something wrong, be persistent when he wasn't willing to do something he didn't want to do, and make him learn from his mistakes. Kosuke still feels guilty about yelling at Yun so many weeks ago, knowing that the only reason he did it was that he felt he couldn't contain his animosity towards Kanako anymore and just exploded and wound up using Yun as a scapegoat for his anger when she did nothing wrong. But now, Kosuke felt that he could actually go back to the cheerful and friendly child he was when he was young, if only for a little bit.

Finally, city wide yard sale ended at around 1:00 PM, and Michitaka dropped him off at his house.

"Thanks a whole lot. I really appreciate it," Kosuke said.

"No prob! Let's do this again next year!" Riku piped in.

"And the year after that!" Lucero piped in cheerfully.

"It sure was fun! I second the notion!" Rena said.

"Hope everything goes well for you from now on, Kosuke-kun. Bye!" Yun said before Michitaka drove away. With the car going away, Kosuke and Patamon snuck into Kosuke's room through the back.

"That yard sale sure was a lot of fun! I wouldn't mind doing it again too, even though I couldn't help you guys out," Patamon said rather cheerfully.

"It's okay. I had a lot of fun too," Kosuke said with a smile.

"Oh! Open those white bags you got," Patamon suggested.

Kosuke pulled out the white bags and decided to open up the small one first. But when he opened it, however...

"WHAT? 200,000 yen?" Kosuke suddenly yelped loudly.

Yes! The golden clock from the 1930's sold for 200 US dollars!

"Wow! Kosuke, that's awesome!" Patamon exclaimed, smiling brightly.

"The other bag!" Kosuke rummaged through his pockets the get the bigger white bag. When he opened it...he screamed.

"WHAAAAAAT? 100,000,000 YEN?"

Yes! By some insane yet heavenly stroke of pure, pristine luck, the jewels that Kosuke sold gave him 100,000 US dollars! How could he have known?

"That's amazing! You can buy a new house with that kind of money!" Patamon proclaimed again.

Kosuke was so amazed and overjoyed that he literally began cheering and jumping around his little room like a very happy Phillies fan who's high on sugar.

"Yay yay yay yay yay yay yay yay YAY!" Kosuke cheered and screamed and cried, feeling happier than anything in the world!

"Who the heck knew that Dad's constant forgetfulness could make us rich again! Woohoo!" Kosuke yelped.

"What do you mean?" Patamon asked.

"Well, if there's one thing about my dad that everyone hates, it's that even though he's filthy rich, he forgets things. A lot. He'll leave super important and super expensive stuff in places and won't even know it until it's too late, or he never realizes it at all until someone tells him. Right now, I'm super duper happy he forgot all these things, because now we can finally turn my life around! Heaven is finally smiling down at me at last! Our luck has changed, Patamon! We won't have to live in constant poverty anymore!" Kosuke explained, getting louder by the minute.

Kosuke then grabbed Patamon's little hands and began spinning him around in happy circles. Patamon, feeling happy that Kosuke is finally beyond happy for the first time in a long while, joined him in the celebration. But Patamon then noticed a sober Kanako standing in front of the doorway.

"Kanako-san?" Patamon asked, which made Kosuke stop spinning and cheering. Kosuke's happy and jubilant expression immediately turned to scorn once he saw her.

"Don't you ever knock?" Kosuke yelled suddenly, which frightened Patamon a little.

"I can hear you screaming all the way in the living room," Kanako told him in a deadpan and insouciant voice.

"I thought you didn't care about stuff like that," Kosuke told her.

"You...participated in the yard sale? Without my permission?"

"Yes! I did, and I made a ton of money from it too! I'm gonna spend it on stuff we actually NEED, like food and clothes, not booze and cigarettes like you do."

"What did you sell?"

"Is that any of your business?"

"I said what did you sell?"

Patamon, not wanting the fight to escalate, decided to intervene. "We found some stuff, like a gold clock, some records, and some jewels. We have no need for them, so Kosuke managed to sell them."

Kanako's eyes grew big and she stepped back a bit. "Those...those were Seiichi's things!"

"Good, because we don't need any trace of him in this house anymore!" Kosuke yelled.

"Ko-Kosuke! You don't understand!"

"I do understand! If there's one thing Dad was good for, it's leaving important stuff behind! As for you, don't you dare come near the money I made! It's MINE, not YOURS, so stay away from it! I'll be the one using it, not you!"

"Kosuke!" Patamon scolded.

Kosuke thought his animosity towards his ex-father couldn't get any bigger until he stomped into the living room to find the TV on. A news woman is standing in front of a courthouse.

_"I'm here in front of the courthouse were ex-politician Kawasaki Seiichi has just had his preliminary hearing. The court says that there is more than enough evidence to prove that Kawasaki-san was, in fact, the partner in crime with Ichiki Lenders in the recently exposed cocaine trafficking scandal, in which all of it's members have used children as drug mules to do their dirty work. Kawasaki-san has been given a sentence of 10 years in prison and a 500,000 yen bail for early release,"_ The news woman said. _"It seems Kawasaki-san has been making back door deals with Ichiki Lenders for years now. The actual estimate has not yet been confirmed."_

Kosuke jumped again.

"YEEEEEAAAAAAAHHHH! Take that, you thick-headed scum! This is what you get for being the scum of the earth! WOOHOO!" Kosuke yelled louder than ever, jumping around happily. Both Patamon and Kanako were speechless. Kosuke jumped around until his digivice started beeping.

_Beep beep beep beep_

"Kosuke! Your digivice!" Patamon advised, which mollified Kosuke into getting out his digivice.

"Hello?"

_"Kosuke! You there? It's me, Otoya!"_

"What's going on?"

_"A rabid WereGarurumon is attacking the bank! You've gotta get here quick!"_

"I'm on my way! Just sit tight!"

Kosuke put his digivice in his pocket and looked at Patamon.

"Come on, Patamon! We've got Digimon butt to kick!" Kosuke yelled and began running away from his house.

"On it!" Patamon digivolved into Angemon, scooped Kosuke in his arms, and flew to the town square. Kanako was speechless as she watched the two of them fly away.

"Digimon...?" Kanako muttered to herself.

Suddenly, she found herself walking away from the house and following them.

It didn't take long for Angemon and Kosuke to find the out of control Digimon, the WereGarurumon. WereGarurumon is a pale blue wolf with darker blue stripes on parts of his body. He has a ginormous brown shoulder pad strapped to his left arm, blue pants on his hind legs, big pink nails on his feet, and brown belt straps on his hands and knees. A picture of a white skeleton is branded on his left knee, and sharp white teeth donned his big mouth. He already destroyed the drive through and people are running away. Yun, Turuiemon, Gargomon, Minako, Gatomon, Rena, Lekismon, Otoya, Seasarmon, Riku, and Firamon are trying to subdue the rabid wolf, whose eyes are glowing in a bloody red light: a Dark Emblem is somewhere on his body.

"Moon Night Kick!"

"Fira Claw!"

"Gauntlet Claw!"

"Bunny Pummel!"

"Lightning Paw!"

"Tee Dia!"

Although most of the attacks managed to hit WereGarurumon, they weren't enough to subdue him.

"Wolf Claw!" With his large claws, WereGarurumon attempted to attack them.

"Angel Rod!" Thankfully, Angemon put Kosuke down on the ground and managed to intercept the attack with his golden staff, giving Kosuke time to approach the rest of the team.

"Kosuke-kun! Thank goodness you're here!" Minako said, feeling quite relieved.

"Took you long enough!" Riku exclaimed.

"Let me guess. He appeared just now, didn't he?" Kosuke said.

"Unfortunately yes. We need to get him out of here. We can't risk anyone getting hurt by this, and more houses and buildings will be crushed if he wreaks more havoc!" Yun said.

"She's right. People already know about his appearance," Rena told him with a worried look.

"Let's try and drag him to the construction site. Minako, can you try having Gatomon digivolve into Angewomon?" Kosuke asked Minako.

Minako got her digivice out. "I'll try, but I don't know if it'll work."

"Let me digivolve already!" Gatomon meowed.

In response to the wishes of both Minako and Gatomon, Minako's purple D-Heart of Peace allowed Gatomon to digivolve into Angewomon. Yun apparently thought the same, and her D-Heart of Harmony helped Turuiemon and Gargomon to digivolve into Antylamon and Rapidmon.

"Let's move, people!" Firamon said.

Angemon, Angewomon, Antylamon, and Rapidmon both managed to grab all of WereGarurumon's limbs before he could cause more damage. It must be confessed that some people watched in awe as the Digimon lifted the angry and volatile WereGarurumon into the air and proceeded to fly away with him.

"I'll lead you all there. Follow me!" Seasarmon advised, which prompted the Digimon to follow him. Antylamon noticed a Dark Emblem on WereGarurumon's left foot.

"I found the Dark Emblem! It's on WereGarurumon's left foot!" Antylamon told them.

"Wow. That was quick," Angemon said as WereGarurumon struggled to break out of the quartet of Digimons' clutches.

"Is it just me, or are some goons putting Dark Emblems in the weirdest of places on Digimon nowadays?" Rapidmon asked.

"Maybe they just don't want us to find them that easily," Angewomon said.

"That could be it, since they're getting more and more crafty," Riku said.

"Enough talk! Let's get him to the construction site where he won't take any human lives!" Otoya yelled.

Throughout the entire thing, WereGarurumon howled and cried and struggled, hoping to break free from the Digimon, but they were obstinate and persistent, not intent on letting WereGarurumon run loose and break free. When they finally made it to the construction site, WereGarurumon finally broke free and proceeded to attack.

"Wolf Claw!" He lunged at the kids, but the Digimon swooped in to stop him.

"Rapid Fire!"

"Bunny Blades!"

"Heaven's Charm!"

"Tear Arrow!"

"Fira Claw!"

"Tee Dia!"

All the attacks managed to hit WereGarurumon and leave some injuries on him. But being the obstinate and intractable wolf that he is, he continued to lunge at them.

"I think it's time you got some rabies shots, you rabid wolf!" Firamon kicked the volatile WereGarurumon in the face with his two back legs.

"Nice one, Firamon!" Riku cheered.

"Wolves are quite the volatile creatures, aren't they?" Lekismon asked as she punched WereGarurumon in the jaw, which prompted Angewomon to wrap her arms around WereGarurumon's arms, preventing him from using them. WereGarurumon proceeded to kick his hind legs around like a child throwing a temper tantrum.

"They sure are!" Seasarmon jumped on one of WereGarurumon's legs. Antylamon and Angewomon both managed to wrap their arms around the big bad wolf's other leg, the one with the Dark Emblem on it. Angemon decided to have the honor of removing the Dark Emblem.

"I hope you don't mind me taking the liberty, but I must for your sake, young wolf. Amazing Grace!" Angemon's hand glowed in an orange light, but all he did was touch WereGarurumon's foot, which managed to make the Dark Emblem shatter into pieces and dissipate. WereGarurumon fell unconscious. Otoya pressed a button on her digivice, and a digital portal appeared beneath WereGarurumon, causing him to fall inside and return to the Digital World.

Antylamon de-digivolved back into Lopmon, Rapidmon to Terriermon, Angewomon to Salamon (all three of them didn't use that much energy), Lekismon to Lunamon, Firamon to Coronamon, and Seasarmon to Labramon. Only Angemon stayed because he decided to take the kids and Digimon home.

"I wonder why the others couldn't come?" Lunamon asked. "We could have taken down WereGarurumon much easier."

"Mina-chan said since we could digivolve into ultimate there was no need for their help. We did manage to handle it pretty good," Salamon said.

"Yeah. Plus from what I heard, Melody is sick with somethin'," Coronamon said.

"That was awesome! Keep up the good work, fellow Digimon!" Riku exclaimed.

"Oh, you bet we will!" Coronamon gave Riku a thumb's up. Lunamon sighed a little.

Angemon dropped them off at the park, where nobody was at right now. Then he de-digivolved back into Patamon. The kids and Digimon decided to talk amongst themselves. Patamon almost joined them, but he turned around and saw Kanako looking at him with a curious expression. Becoming concerned, Patamon flew over to her.

"What's up?" Patamon asked.

"Is that...what Kosuke has to deal with every day?" Kanako asked.

"Kind of, but not every day."

Kanako sighed a bit.

"I think...he feels much happier fighting monsters than sticking around with me."

"Don't put yourself down so much."

"I'm going to go back home. Take care of him, alright?" Kanako said.

Patamon gave her a thumb's up. "Will do!"

Kanako decided to walk back home on her own. She wanted to bring Kosuke with her, but after seeing how happy and jubilant he looked, both earlier today and when she saw him talking to the rest of the Digimon Brigade, she decided to leave him alone and give him his space. Kanako already knew that Kosuke hates her, and she didn't want to exacerbate it by taking him away from his friends, the people who made him the happiest he's ever been. It took her a while to get home, but she managed to get home.

But what she didn't expect was what would happen once she did. When she arrived, she noticed that the door is open and unlocked. She remembered leaving it closed and locking it tight. She also noticed a black car. They didn't have a car. Seiichi took it when he left. Immediately fearing the worst, Kanako ran inside and was shocked.

There's a man dressed in black rummaging through the house!

And Kosuke's bag of 100,000,000 yen is in his hands!

"HEY! GET OUT YOU THIEF!" Immediately going into rabid drunk woman mode despite the fact that she isn't drunk right now, she lunged onto the burglar just like any wolf would do to it's prey.

Kanako and the burglar hacked at each other's throats like rabid animals. Punches, kicks, slaps, spits, bites, and scratches came in huge flurries. Both were very obstinate and had no intention of abdicating. Kanako wanted more than anything to get the bag of money out of the robber's hands.

"That's my son's cash! Give it back!" Kanako tried to grab the money, but the robber managed to keep her away from it by pressing his hand against her face.

She did, however, manage to grab onto his face mask and pull it off.

Right then, she got a good look at the robber's fully exposed face. It isn't anyone she recognized. He's a rather lean man about her age, with frizzy brown hair and dark eyes, and with a small goatee and mustache. But they only looked at each other for two seconds. Kanako tried to grab the money, but the man took off. The man leaped into the car and started it. Kanako lunged at him, but the man had already locked his doors.

"STOP! THIEF!" Kanako jumped on the car, trying to stop him, but the man drove off. Kanako fell onto the sidewalk and failed to stop the man from getting away. She got a quick look at the license plate, but she continued to holler.

"Come back here, you stupid idiot! THAT'S MY SON'S MONEY!" Kanako yelled angrily.

Finally realizing that she had failed to save Kosuke's hard earned money, she fell to her knees, buried her face into her hands and cried. Kosuke earned that money fair and square! He finally found something that made him happy, but now it's gone! Gone! Slipped right out from underneath her nose! Kosuke's money is gone! Taken away!

It was her fault. She was convinced that Kosuke would blame her for what happened.

Kanako cursed herself for failing to save the money. But this was just the beginning.


	57. Spreading My Wings To Freedom

EPISODE 57: Spreading My Wings to Freedom

After Kanako finished crying, she called the police. She told them about what happened and gave a description of what the robber looked like. Kosuke came home to a house surrounded by police cars and glowing red and blue sirens. Some neighbors who came outside to see what was happening began talking amongst themselves. Seeing how many people there are, Patamon immediately began playing doll and kept silent throughout the entire thing. Soon, the police left with their glowing police cars, and the neighbors returned to their houses. Kosuke looked up at his mother, who immediately became extremely dejected and despondent.

"Mom?" Kosuke muttered, with a touch of concern in his voice for once. But it wasn't enough to mollify Kanako, as she ran into the house, leaped onto her bed, and began crying into her pillows. Kosuke and Patamon ran after her.

"Mom! What happened!" Kosuke yelped.

"Kosuke...your money...your hard earned money...was stolen!" Kanako screamed through her pillows. "Your 100,000,000 yen!"

Kosuke was aghast. His 100,000,000 yen? Stolen? Kosuke couldn't believe it at first. Nothing of his had ever been stolen before, save for most of his things that Seiichi gave away when he left (Kosuke wasn't there when it happened, but he heard about it from Kanako afterward). Kosuke worked so hard to get that money! Now it's been stolen! Gone! Stripped right out from under his nose! He couldn't believe that the beautiful, heavenly luck he received suddenly disappeared just as easily as it appeared. He had been betrayed yet again by fate, and once again, he could feel the chains trying to bind him to earth yet again. But this time, he realized something else. This is the first time he's ever seen Kanako cry. Hysterically, at that. The only times she did that were when she felt REALLY REALLY bad or guilty about something. She actually feels remorse for what happened! Kosuke could feel it, see it, and hear it through her screams and her tears. Patamon also. Kanako feels remorse, and she's not even drunk right now!

"I-I-I-I'm so sorry Kosuke! It's all my fault! I tried to stop him! Really, I did! But I failed! Failed harder than anything I've failed at until now! I REALLY AM TRASH!" Kanako wailed and screamed hysterically.

"It's not your fault!" Patamon told her, flying up to her and trying to reassure her. "He was probably too strong for you! It happens to a lot of people! How could you have known?"

"I should have been able to stop him! But I couldn't! Kosuke! You're right! You and Seiichi are absolutely right! I really am trash! I really am a parasite who sucks the life out of everything around me! How can I live with myself? I REALLY AM TRASH! I SHOULDN'T EVEN BE LIVING!" Kanako screamed.

"Stop saying that stuff, Kanako-san!" Patamon scolded angrily, not happy with Kanako's sudden change in character. Patamon had to admit that this is the first time he's seen her act hysterical without being drunk.

Kosuke said nothing. He didn't yell at her. He didn't make any caustic comments about her like he usually did. He didn't call her any names and try to exacerbate her sadness and her suffering any more. He remained silent. He realized it right there: this is Kanako right now. The mother he yearned to see for so long now. The woman who tried to make her son happy. She tried to stop the robber, subvert his nefarious and insidious transgression, and save Kosuke's money, the money he worked so hard to earn, but failed despite her ardent efforts. No longer was this woman the wastrel who forced Kosuke to live in squalid conditions and malinger so he could take on her responsibilities. He no longer found her reprehensible for at least trying to atone for what she had done. Kosuke, not wanting to see his mother cry anymore, went back into his room.

Kosuke wanted to believe that this was all a dream, a nefarious illusion that would disappear and reveal Kanako to be the reprehensible and selfish wastrel whose caprices and constant bouts of self pity bereaved Kosuke of his life, his childhood, his dignity, his persona, and his freedom. He didn't want to be betrayed again. But it wasn't a dream. The woman Kosuke thought he lost long ago is extant. She's still here. She's just suffering, just like he is. Her suffering caused her to be buried deep into the rock bottom level of the supposedly bottomless pit of despair. Kanako had not been extirpated or expunged at all. She was just so sad that she buried herself in alcohol, wanting to get away from everything she thought she had done wrong and all the trouble she was convinced she caused, and he realized why she came out at last: Patamon. It was Patamon who brought not just Kosuke out of his shell, but Kanako as well. Kosuke had filled his heart with such animosity and rancor against Kanako, blaming her for everything that had gone on in his life, that he failed to believe that the mother he yearned to see for so long was extant, still alive within the shell that was drowned in so much alcohol. He wondered why he hated both his mother and himself so much. He was about to ruminate some more until his digivice beeped. It's a text message from Yun.

[b]To: Minako, Kosuke, Melody, Otoya, Rena, Riku, Aria, Isao, Hokuto, and Shunji

From: Yun

Subject: Digimon Brigade Meeting

Meeting tomorrow at the park at noon! Be there! Important things must be discussed![/b]

Kosuke closed his digivice and his eyes and fell asleep.

He didn't realize that his orange D-Heart of Freedom, which is sitting on his pile of dirty clothes right now, is glowing in a warm, orange light, just like the sunset.

And with a morning sunrise came Sunday, and what a morning it is! Lucid and pristine blue sky, warm pre-summer breezes, and birds and animals twittering and squeaking like crazy, enjoying the beatified morning. But Kosuke spent the morning writing poetry, eating breakfast that Patamon made, comforting Kanako, and doing homework. At noon, he and Patamon left for the Digimon Brigade meeting. Since most of Kosuke's clothes were dirty, all he had to throw on is a short sleeved mandarin orange button-up shirt and a pair of olive green jean shorts. Kanako offered to do his laundry today so Kosuke didn't mind. Kosuke and Patamon walked through town and arrived at the park right at noon.

"Hi Kosuke-kun!" Yun greeted him cheerfully, waving her arm around. Every single member of the Digimon Brigade came. Yun, Lucero, Lopmon, Cutemon, Terriermon, Minako, Salamon, Otoya, Labramon, Rena, Lunamon, Riku, Coronamon, Aria, Syakomon, Isao, Bearmon, Hokuto, Kudamon, Shunji, and Dracomon. Kosuke was the last to arrive.

"You're late," Melody said rather gruffly.

"Yeah! You're usually never this late!" Biyomon piped in.

"Do you really have to say that? He has his reasons," Otoya said.

"Sorry I'm late. I had stuff to do," Kosuke said.

"It's okay. Everybody's here so we can get started," Yun said.

Lucero began the meeting with a raise of his hand. "Methinks that Digimon are becoming more and more known to the public eye, especially with the damage that has been going on lately. The news was showing WereGarurumon attacking the drive through of the bank, and now the authorities have deemed it off limits now."

"I know. I walked past it as I was coming here. Police cars were surrounding it and everything," Rena told him to back him up.

"It might be harder and harder to keep our presence a secret now that Digimon are appearing in public places. What if the man who kidnapped Lopmon saw it all? He might use that program he's developing and destroy us all!" Lunamon explained, becoming a little timorous just by thinking about the potential repercussions of the Digimons' presence. Yes, she and everyone else knew about what happened to Yun and her Digimon because she told them all about it in school once.

"That's very true, and we don't want any more damage to be done. We especially don't want more human lives to be taken by the Digimon. Not after what happened because of our battle with Shadramon," Minako explained calmly.

Yun drooped her head down a little. She remembered that terrible day, the story on the news about the two little kids dying because of Shadramon's rampage, the vigil, Nayuki trying to destroy it, everything. Yun wished to never have to go through anything so horrible and insidious as that ever again.

"I've been thinking...since three of us Digimon Brigade members can digivolve into ultimate, and that their evolutions are capable of flight, I have a plan. Perhaps, whenever there's Digimon appearing in public places, we can move them to a safer, more secluded area so that way no lives will be lost, both human and animal," Minako explained.

"That sounds like a great idea, Mina-chan!" Yun exclaimed.

"It sounds as though you've really thought about this," Lopmon said with a smile.

"I have," Minako said as she pulled out her laptop and began typing into it. "I've been looking all over the place to find some uninhabited areas so we can fight the Digimon without causing any damage or unnecessary bloodshed. Of course, the Digimon will always be different depending on our ability to handle them, but we have to always be careful of the environment we're in. The construction site is one example. We've battled Digimon there a few times."

"Me and Aria have," Melody said, raising her hand. Aria followed suit.

"Yeah! Remember when we fought that silly Kokatorimon? You digivolved into Birdramon that time, too! It was awesome!" Syakomon said.

Biyomon crossed her arms. "Yes, that was my crowning moment of digivolution, though I must admit roasting chicken isn't really most prefered cup of tea."

"Really? Because you're pretty good at roasting," Dracomon piped in.

"Anyway, the construction site has only just recently been abandoned. A radio tower was meant to be built there, but funding ceased, and workers got laid off, so the project was left in the dark. There haven't been any casualties there as far as I'm concerned. The abandoned power plant is a good example too, since nobody goes there either. If there are any aquatic Digimon, we can fight them as they're in the water, and we can't let them get to town," Minako explained.

"Did we do well at that?" Aria asked innocently.

"Considering how awesome your Digimon was, I think we did rather awesomely," Shunji told her, flashing a smile.

"Yeah! You two were awesome back there, no doubt about it!" Dracomon told her.

"Yes. We did wonderfully back there. Since then, I've tried looking for more secluded places where we can take violent Digimon to in case they appear in public places. So far, I've only managed to find three others within 20 miles, not including the construction site and the abandoned power plant. Yun? Do you remember the place by the mall where the horse racing track used to be?"

"Yep! I sure do! My parents and I pass it all the time whenever we go to the mall!" Yun replied.

"Me too!" Otoya piped in.

"Us too!" Rena and Riku piped in again.

"As of now, nobody owns that track of land, so we can use that for fighting Digimon. I also managed to find a great big meadow by Amamiya Avenue that's at least the size of a big mansion and golf course combined, so we can use that too," Minako explained.

"I've seen it. It's HUGE!" Salamon piped in.

"There's also a lot of wetlands a little ways from the casinos up north. We can use those also," Minako said.

"Wetlands?" Aria asked.

"Wetlands are land areas that are saturated with water to a point where it takes on characteristics that distinguish it as it's own distinct ecosystem. Wetlands are primarily made up of hydric soil, which support aquatic plants. Wetlands occur on every continent except for Antarctica, and the study of-" Hokuto was about to palaver on some more, but Kudamon put a paw on his mouth to keep him quiet.

"I think they get the idea, Hokuto," Kudamon told him.

"They're big grassy areas with water, but not enough to make it into an ocean," Labramon explained.

"Oh, I get it now," Aria said.

"I've seen one of those! Somewhere in the woods! Bearmon and I played in it once," Isao exclaimed.

"Yeah. It was a lot of fun, but I think it's too small to fight Digimon in," Bearmon said cheerfully.

"Exactly," Minako said.

"So should we try fighting Digimon in those areas from now on?" Otoya asked.

"I'm afraid so," Minako replied.

"But what if the Digimon's too big, too powerful, too heavy, or too tough for us to move?" Coronamon asked.

"There may be nothing we can do but make sure it doesn't destroy any homes or damage any more of the town than it already has," Minako said.

"Coronamon's right. The Digimon that are appearing are getting more and more powerful. Maybe even more powerful than me, and my champion level form is the biggest Digimon around physically," Dracomon said.

"Only you're trumped by QueenWhamon, who can't even fly," Shunji told him sarcastically.

"That's what I mean!" Dracomon exclaimed, a little irked by Shunji's inopportune sarcasm.

"Don't worry. I'm sure there'll come a time when we all digivolve to our ultimate forms. In fact, I can feel that at one of us will be able to do so today," Kudamon said.

"Really? Who? Who? Come on, spill the beans!" Isao importuned excitedly.

"But Kudamon doesn't have any beans. There's lots of beans. Soy beans, kidney beans, jelly beans, green beans-" Hokuto said again, but Lucero put a hand on his mouth this time.

"Thou dost not need to go into another bean-related lecture again when it's used in a totally different context!" Lucero told him.

"What does dost mean?" Aria asked.

"It means do," Yun replied. Aria smiled, feeling satisfied with her answer.

"You sure have done your research, Mina-chan," Yun said.

"Yeah! I couldn't do all that stuff even if you paid me!" Terriermon piped in.

"Well, someone has to, or else we won't have the advantage," Minako replied with a smile.

"I do wish there was more we could do to help out," Yun said.

"Us too," Otoya said.

"It will only be a matter of time when the enemy learns about us and catches on to what we're doing," Labramon said.

"Come on, little puppy! Don't jinx us now!" Riku scolded.

"Doesn't he have a good point?" Rena asked.

"He kinda does," Bearmon said.

"Oh! By the way, speaking of the incident with Shadramon and the two little kids, do any of you know if the police managed to find Nayuki yet?" Otoya asked.

"I didn't see anything on the news, so I don't think so," Kosuke said.

"She hasn't been at school for a while, so she probably knows the police are on to her," Shunji said. "By the way, you guys don't know about this so I'll tell you. Some teachers are looking to try and expel her after they caught her yanking out a disabled kid's ventilator last week."

"WHAT? SHE DID THAT?" Nearly all the kids and Digimon yelped, appalled by what they just heard.

"No way! She's actually cruel enough to yank out a kid's ventilator when it's basically their only hope of life? My goodness! How can anyone be so insidious? That girl WILL pay for her machinations! Yes, indeed she will!" Biyomon exclaimed angrily.

"She should go to juvie," Melody piped in at last. She didn't say anything throughout the entire meeting.

"Oh! That reminds me!" Yun exclaimed. "Otoya-chan? Do you remember when Seasarmon and Devidramon were fighting, and they destroyed that one house? It was on the news yesterday! They said that the people who lived in it were away when it happened, so they're safe!"

"Thank goodness for that!" Otoya said, feeling quite relieved.

"Alrighty! Today's Digimon Brigade meeting is adjourned!" Yun edicted.

Since the kids still had some time on their hands, they decided to stick around and play with their Digimon. This went on for about an hour and a half. After they finished playing, they decided to take Kosuke home first, since he's going through a lot.

Nobody could have predicted the madness that would happen once they arrived.

It was Kosuke who first heard it.

"Get out of here right now, Seiichi! I'm not going to become part of your stupid scheme! You're supposed to be in jail!"

Seiichi? Kosuke's dad is...here?

"I'm not leavin' without you or that stupid kid of yours! If I'm going down, you two are going down with me!"

That's Seiichi's voice. Kosuke could discern it from a mile away, even among a huge crowd of people. He hadn't seen him in months, yet...he's actually here? The kids stopped to see a big man being thrown out of the house by Kanako and getting into a big argument. The man is none other than Seiichi, Kosuke's dad who abandoned them many months ago. The kids stopped to witness their brouhaha.

"I am not going to let you drag me and Kosuke down to your level! We're better than that! You've dug your own grave, so you brought this on yourself!" Kanako yelled angrily.

"If you hadn't been so stupid, I would have prospered without the help of Ichiki Lenders! But you had to go on and on about dreams instead of being the perfect little wife I wanted you to be! Not only that, you've put ideas into Kosuke's head! You're the reason why Kosuke stopped being the heir I wanted him to be!"

"If you really hate me so much, why do you still have your wedding ring?"

Seiichi looked down at his finger and saw a diamond ring on it. He hastily ripped it off of his finger.

"You're right! Here! Keep it! I don't need this trash! You've already deprived me of a good heir to my fortune!"

He angrily threw the ring at Kanako, and it bounced on the sidewalk, landing at her foot. But Kanako didn't seem phazed.

"You can keep your money, because we don't need it from a lecherous freak like you, and Kosuke wouldn't want to use it for anything! Especially not for any stupid crime scheme you want to drag him into! Just get out and never come back!"

At that moment, Seiichi saw Kosuke. Their eyes grew big for a second, then Seiichi turned back to Kanako.

"Why do you want me never to come back?" Seiichi said in a rather suspicious voice that made both the kids and Kanako confused. "You're contradicting yourself, Kanako! _You're_ the one who used Kosuke's 100,000,000 yen to bail me out of jail earlier today!"

Kosuke's eyes grew bigger than anything he had ever felt before. Kanako was just choleric.

"I did no such thing! Your stupid lawyer robbed my house and bailed you out on his own accord! You confessed just a few minutes ago!" Kanako screamed, denying any of Seiichi's allegations. Kanako then saw Kosuke and gasped.

"Kosuke! Don't listen to him! I didn't bail him out, I swear!" Kanako screamed hysterically.

"Yes you did! Stop trying to make yourself look good, Kanako! It's over! You're the reason Kosuke will never have a life! Now that I've been exposed, every person in the whole world is going to scapegoat their anger onto him, and there's nothing you can do about it, you low-life piece of trash! Thank you so very much for helping me get out of jail. That's the only thing you're good at: stealing everyone's dignity just so you can satisfy yourself and myself. You always have been quite the obeisant little slave when it came to me, you little coward!"

_SLAP!_ Kanako whacked Seiichi in the face, but he didn't seem phazed.

"Stop spouting all of those lies, Seiichi! I wouldn't free you even if I was paid to do so! You're the coward, blaming all of your misery on other people and doing anything you please to get out of it!"

Finally, that did it for Kosuke.

"Patamon! Sick 'em!"

"Boom Bubble!"

A sphere of hot air managed to hit Seiichi's face, causing him to fall back a few steps. Seiichi gasped when he saw Kosuke and Patamon standing before him with angry, fiery looks in their eyes.

"So the only reason you gave birth to me was just because you wanted some spawn to inherit your fortune which you gained through criminal means! Well, you know what? Screw you, Seiichi!" Kosuke yelled, actually NOT referring to Seiichi as his father. "I refuse to stoop down to your level! I'm not going to let you drag me down and around at your own convenience! I'm in control of my own destiny, and I won't let anyone scapegoat their hatred against you onto me, because I'm cutting all ties with you!"

"That's right, old man! Kosuke may be your biological son, but he's not what you are, so back off!" Patamon yelled.

"AHHH! That thing can talk?" Seiichi cowered in fear upon seeing Patamon speak.

"Look at you! Who's the coward now, Mr. I love using people and manipulating them for my own personal gain? Why don't you just run on home like the little crybaby you are!" Kosuke sneered angrily.

"Yeah! Go away! Kosuke's not bad!" Yun chanted.

"What do you know?" Otoya yelled angrily.

"Go away! Go away!" Melody chanted.

Soon, everyone followed suit.

"Go away! Go away! Go away! Go away!"

Seiichi was appalled. These kids are actually on his side! Seiichi grabbed his things.

"You're all a bunch of incompetent pests! Drive, Matsumoto! Drive!" Seiichi got into his white limo and the driver quickly drove off. Kanako slowly picked up the wedding ring. It must be confessed that she still has her own wedding ring, given to her by Seiichi long ago.

"Wow. Your dad's a real nut," Melody muttered.

"Good thing we drove him away!" Biyomon piped in, apparently not caring about the fact that Kanako is watching.

But it didn't end there. Kosuke's anger hadn't dissipated. Kosuke plodded over to Kanako and..._SLAP!_ He slapped her right in the face, so hard that she fell to the ground.

Everyone gasped, aghast.

"KOSUKE! Why did you do that?" Patamon yelped angrily, shocked by Kosuke's behavior.

"YOU LIED TO ME! You claimed that we were robbed, but...you actually stole my 100,000,000 yen and used it to bail that scum of the earth out of jail, the place he deserves to live and rot in for the rest of his life?" Kosuke yelled, becoming quite incensed.

"Kosuke! No I didn't! Seiichi only did it to make me look bad!" Kanako importuned.

"Will you shut up and listen for once?" Patamon tried to reason with Kosuke like he always did, but he's just not budging.

"You should have known that releasing him isn't going to do anything for the world! If you weren't so blinded by self-pity, you would have been able to realize that! Are you seriously willing to ruin not just your life, but everyone else's, just so you can get back some stupid pipe dream?" Kosuke screamed.

"Kosuke! Will you stop?" Patamon yelled again, but he didn't listen.

"You know what? Seiichi's not the only one who dug his own grave! You are! You really are a parasite who sucks the life out of everything around you! How can you live with yourself? All these months you've deprived me of a life, a childhood, and my freedom! I'm sick and tired of you doing everything for that scum! You don't care about anyone but yourself! You oughta-"

"KOSUKE, SHUT UP!" Patamon screamed louder than even Kosuke did, managing to clamp Kosuke's mouth shut with his little paws. He was about to scold him, but suddenly the ground shook. Everyone except Kanako teetered. Kosuke was oblivious to the fact that his D-Heart fell off of his pants and onto the sidewalk.

"What was that?" Riku yelped.

The door was open, and the TV could be heard. The news talked of a Digimon rampaging in the power plant that SkullGreymon attacked before.

"A Digimon's attacking again!" Biyomon proclaimed.

"Come on! Let's get to it!" Dracomon exclaimed.

"I'm right with ya, pal!" Shunji edicted as he got his digivice out.

Dracomon digivolved into Coredramon, let the kids and smaller Digimon hop on his back, and flew away, leaving Kanako behind.

Kanako very slowly picked up the two wedding rings and Kosuke's D-Heart, walked into the house, and put them on her desk. She saw an untouched bottle of alcohol sitting on the couch that hadn't been opened. Kanako, seeing this to be the perfect opportunity to drown herself in her misery, decided to pick it up. But then it hit her. She had been successful at being sober for about a week, the longest time she had ever spent without alcohol, and it did great things for her. She managed to go to the bank and pay rent, see Hisako and make amends with her, remember the memories of her supposedly glorious childhood, her love of My Little Pony toys, the happy days she spent with Kosuke's friends when they were younger, and everything that was important. Kanako actually waived alcohol and it did her more good than alcohol and smoking itself. Alcohol was the reason why Kosuke hated her so much, because she chose to drink drink drink. Kanako thought she lost everything, including her ability to be a mother, because of what she had done. But it wasn't what she had done. It was what Seiichi had done, and the choice she made.

She remembered Patamon. She knew for a fact that he was what Kosuke really needed, but she had no idea that Patamon would actually take the time to understand her and encourage her to keep on moving forward, even when Kanako believed that there was no light at the end of the tunnel for her. She had lost all hope, but Patamon managed to bring it back. Patamon listened to her, understood her, didn't judge her, and didn't deem her to be a bad person because of the choices she made, unlike Kosuke who scorned her, blamed her for everything that happened, and disowned her. Patamon helped her become sober for a long while, and good things came out of it. Patamon's encouragement helped Kanako test herself to see if she could be sober...and she succeeded. She couldn't quit now. She couldn't let Seiichi get away with manipulating Kosuke into believing those lies. Kanako didn't bail Seiichi out of jail. His lawyer, she found out, barged into the house yesterday, stole Kosuke's hard earned money, and used it to bail him out himself! If there's anything Kanako didn't want, it's to have Kosuke believe a lie that Seiichi planted in his head. Kanako looked down at the bottle in her hand. She became angrier and angrier. Her hands shook. Finally, she screamed and threw the bottle at the wall.

_CRASH!_

The glass bottle shattered into pieces, and alcohol oozed out into the carpet, but Kanako wasn't done yet.

"IT'S ALL _YOUR_ FAULT! It's YOUR fault my son hates me! You forced me to deprive my son of a chance at a better life! You always had control of me! You know what? I'm officially done with you! From this day onward, I will no longer be your slave! You're the reason I'm in the hole I'm in now! I'm going to turn my life around and prove to Kosuke that I did NOT bail that scum out of jail or use his hard earned money, and there's absolutely NOTHING you can do to stop me! Screw you, alcohol! We're through!" Kanako screamed louder than she ever did in her life.

Finally, Kanako realized it. She was NOT going to let Kosuke live a lie. She wasn't going to let Seiichi get away with what he did. Kanako decided that she was going to atone for this and everything else the alcohol forced her to do, even if it meant dying for it! But before she could act, the phone rang. Not wanting to sound like a raving mad woman, Kanako mollified herself before answering the phone.

"Hello?"

Silence.

"Yes, this is Hanemoto Kanako."

Silence.

"What? I did? I really did?"

Silence. Kanako could feel tears in her eyes.

"Oh, thank you! Thank you so much!"

Silence.

"I don't start until next week? Okay. Thanks for letting me know. I have a lot of things I need to do before then, so it's perfect. Yes. Thank you so much! I'll do my best! Bye!"

Kanako hung up the phone, but she wasn't done with it. The TV is still talking about the Digimon at the power plant, and Kanako felt that she had to let someone know. She punched in some numbers and waited for an answer. Someone did.

"Mei! Jiro! It's me, Kanako! You've gotta come to the abandoned power plant up north! It's an emergency! Don't ask questions, and don't call the police either! You HAVE to come! You HAVE to!"

With that, Kanako hung up the phone. She threw off her bath robe, revealing a white T-shirt with a dog on it and blue jean shorts and threw on some old sneakers. She grabbed some money, the two wedding rings, and...

Kosuke's D-Heart of Freedom.

"I have to get this to him at all costs! Yes! This will be my atonement!" Kanako said as she got out of the house and saw a taxi coming by.

"TAXI!" Kanako screamed to get the taxi's attention.

Nobody had any idea what Kanako had planned.

Meanwhile, the kids managed to get to the power plant. The Digimon attacking it has a tan humanoid body covered by a silver metal mask and black pants with orange and yellow flames painted on them. The man has spiky dark blue hair, and all around his body are thick silver chains. Kosuke looked up the Digimon's information on his digivice.

"That's SkullMeramon, an ultimate level! His special attacks are Metal Fireball, Flame Chain, and Flame Chain Maximus!" Kosuke said.

"Okay, he should NOT be called SkullMeramon! He's not even made of bone!" Melody said.

"Forget that stupid stuff! We have to take him down!" Coredramon said.

Everyone digivolved. Lopmon to Turuiemon, Terriermon to Gargomon, Cutemon to Rabbitmon, Salamon to Gatomon, Patamon to Angemon, Biyomon to Birdramon, Lunamon to Lekismon, Coronamon to Firamon, Labramon to Seasarmon, Syakomon to MarineAngemon, Bearmon to Grizzlymon, and Kudamon to Reppamon. SkullMeramon laid eyes on them and immediately attacked.

"Metal Fireball!" Out from his mouth shot a half metal, half ghostly blue fire ball.

"Gauntlet Claw!"

"Bunny Pummel!"

Both Gargomon and Turuiemon intercepted the attack, forcing it to hit one of the abandoned buildings. But Turuiemon and Gargomon both felt immense burning sensations on their metal hands.

"AAAAGH! HOOOOOT!" Turuiemon and Gargomon both yelled in pain.

"That can't be good," Yun muttered, a little irked by what just happened.

"Be careful not to get any third degree burns!" MarineAngemon advised.

"Will do!...if he doesn't shoot fire at us, of course," Grizzlymon exclaimed.

"Flame Chain!" SkullMeramon threw one of his chains out and at the kids.

"Angel Rod!" Angemon managed to intercept the chains with his rod, then attacked. "Hand of Fate!"

SkullMeramon skillfully dodged the attack and managed to drag Angemon's rod and Angemon down to the ground.

"Angemon!" Kosuke yelled.

"I'm okay!" Angemon yelled back.

Lekismon eyed SkullMeramon and leaped upward to attack.

"Fire is weak against water, so let's see how water based attacks work! Moon Night Bomb!" Lekismon made TEN watery spheres appear in the air. Yes, ten! With one flick of both her arms, she made the spheres fall on SkullMeramon like a rain storm. But all they did was make steam come off of him.

"WHAT? But it should have worked!" Lekismon exclaimed. Her water attacks didn't work!

"Flame Chain!"

"AGH!"

SkullMeramon threw his chain at Lekismon, making her fly toward another abandoned part of the power plant.

"Lekismon!" Rena ran over to her partner.

"Okay! If water attacks don't work, let's see how fire does!" Birdramon said as she ascended into the air. Everyone heard what she said, and they all gasped with horror.

"BIRDRAMON, NO! WAIT-!"

But she didn't hear them and threw her attack at him anyway.

"Meteor Wing!"

Oddly enough, SkullMeramon didn't dodge it. Instead, the attack went into his body, and he glowed in a ghostly, fiery blue light. All of a sudden, he grew bigger! Now he became the size of the school! Melody gave Birdramon a scornful, choleric look.

"Nice job, you big chicken! You just made SkullMeramon even more invulnerable! Fire attacks only make him bigger and stronger, you stupid, brainless dunder head!" Melody screamed angrily. Birdramon flew higher out of guilt.

"Oh no," Birdramon muttered, but Melody threw a tantrum.

"If we lose, I'm holding you responsible and I'll never forgive you!" Melody yelled.

"Dangit! Now I can't use my Blue Flare Breath on him because it's a fire based attack!" Coredramon complained.

"Flame Chain!"

"Sekkantou!"

Seasarmon made the chains fly in another direction and managed to land a hit on SkullMeramon's arm, but it wasn't enough to defeat him.

"Metal Fireball!"

"Tee Dia!"

Seasarmon and SkullMeramon's attacks collided, while some of Seasarmon's arrows of light managed to hit SkullMeramon just a bit.

"Let's try using energy-based attacks!" Yun suggested.

Lekismon plodded over to Turuiemon. "You ready for our joint attack?"

Turuiemon nodded with a smile.

"Waltz of the Flowers!"

"Carrot Bomb!"

"Crescent Dawn!"

"Spray of Hearts!"

"Vacuum Kamaitachi!"

"Hand of Fate!"

"Tee Dia!"

SkullMeramon got hit by the attacks and fell on his rump, which made the kids cheer.

"Yay! We made him fall on his butt!" Isao cheered happily.

"Don't celebrate just yet! He's not dead!" Kosuke told him. Like they predicted, SkullMeramon got back on his feet.

"Let's call our secondary Digimon!" Yun said and began rummaging through her pockets. But she didn't feel anything.

"Oh no! No no no no NO!" Yun rummaged through all of her pockets, but found nothing. The same with Minako, Kosuke, Melody, Otoya, and Aria.

"OH NOOOO! I LEFT MY D-CHIPS AT HOME!" Yun wailed.

"I did too!" Melody said.

"So did I!" Otoya cried.

"Aaaagh! Why did we have to forget our D-Chips at the worst possible time?" Kosuke complained.

"Watch out!" Aria called out.

"Flame Chain Maximus!"

SkullMeramon pounded both of his fists into the ground, causing a myriad of silver chains to fly out of the ground and wrap themselves around the Digimon.

"Cat's Eye Hypnosis!" Gatomon tried to paralyze him, but the chains were too fast, and she got caught in them too. The only Digimon who managed to evade SkullMeramon's attack were Angemon and MarineAngemon. Coredramon was trapped by the chains, but since he's so big, he is unable to be lifted by them.

"Get off me, you metal zombie!" Firamon yelled.

Suddenly, the chains threw the Digimon back to the ground. Angemon and MarineAngemon both decided to take this opportunity to attack SkullMeramon.

"Hand of Fate!"

"Spray of Hearts!"

Alas, a chain split through their attacks. But Angemon intercepted it with his rod again.

"MarineAngemon! Help the other Digimon! I'll hold him off!" Angemon told her.

"Got it!" MarineAngemon flew over to the other Digimon and tried to restore their strength with her attack while Angemon and SkullMeramon fought it out.

"Where...is...he?" SkullMeramon bellowed in a deep but ominous and angry voice.

"You have no reason to come here! Go back to your own world, you wicked creature!" Angemon commanded, but SkullMeramon didn't listen.

"Give him...to me!" SkullMeramon nearly smacked Angemon with one of his fists, but Angemon quickly flew away.

SkullMeramon began throwing whips of chains at him, but Angemon managed to either evade or block them all. The rest of the Digimon managed to free themselves from the chains as MarineAngemon used her Spray of Hearts to help them regain their strength.

"I don't get it! Why can't I digivolve into ultimate?" Gatomon asked herself.

"I know, right? Why can't we digivolve when we need to the most?" Gargomon yelped angrily, cursing his inability to digivolve right now.

"It's because it isn't your fight," Reppamon told them.

"Huh?" The Digimon asked, confused.

"What do you mean this isn't our fight? We have to stop SkullMeramon!" Birdramon exclaimed.

"True, we're obliged to stop SkullMeramon, but our inability to digivolve into ultimate as of now is because someone will shine today, and it will not be those who are already capable of digivolving into ultimate as of now. The one who shines the brightest will digivolve in a matter of time," Reppamon said.

"That makes no sense at all!" Firamon said.

"But who's going to digivolve into ultimate?" Seasarmon asked.

"Let's find out!" Reppamon said as he charged at SkullMeramon again.

"Spinning Sky Fissure Slash!" Reppamon threw himself into somersalt mode and began spinning right toward SkullMeramon, who continued to fend off Angemon. SkullMeramon let Reppamon hit him, but Reppamon was thrown off of him.

"AGH! It burns!" Reppamon wailed in pain as a burning sensation sweeped through his metal tail.

"Note to self: don't make contact with SkullMeramon's skin as it is very very very hot," Grizzlymon said, becoming quite irritated.

"Sounds easy enough!" Rabbitmon said as she launched an attack. "Carrot Bomb!"

Right as they made contact with SkullMeramon's skin, they all melted into goo and dissipated, steaming as they did.

"Oh great! He's an oven, too!" Rabbitmon complained.

"Gargo Laser!" Gargomon shot pellets at SkullMeramon, but none of them even phazed him.

"Hot Metal Punch!" SkullMeramon punched Gargomon in the face, sending him flying.

"Gargomon!" Yun ran over to Gargomon, who fell against an already destroyed part of the power plant and struggled to get up.

"Are you okay?" Yun asked gently as she tried to help him up despite his heavy size.

"Somehow...ugh! I can't believe we can't digivolve into ultimate! This is so not fair!" Gargomon complained as he got up, though he is clearly in no condition to continue fighting.

"I agree. We could defeat him so much easier that way," Yun muttered. 'I take it someone else will be able to digivolve to ultimate since, according to Reppamon, this is where they shine. Please, make it quick!' Yun thought in unfeigned desperation.

Unfortunately, despite the Digimon's best, most ardent efforts, SkullMeramon is just too obstinate and intractable to be subdued. The huge, volatile creature threw chains and metal fire balls in every direction. Firamon, Birdramon, Gatomon, and Turuiemon got hit by the attacks, but the rest of the Digimon decided to continue holding him off, even though they knew it was futile.

"Hand of Fate!"

"Carrot Bomb!"

"Tear Arrow!"

"Tee Dia!"

"Vacuum Kamaitachi!"

"Crescent Dawn!"

Angemon, Rabbitmon, Lekismon, Seasarmon, Reppamon, and Grizzlymon tried their hardest to subdue SkullMeramon, but nothing worked. Suddenly, a chain was thrown, and it was heading towards Kosuke.

"KOSUKEEEEE!" Angemon zipped in between the chain and Kosuke, becoming wrapped by the shackles and thrown to the ground.

"Angemon!" Kosuke ran over to Angemon, got his digivice out, turned it into a digisword, and tried breaking the chains. But it seemed the chains couldn't be broken so easily. Kosuke hacked at the chains with his digisword with all his might, but they're quite tough, and not a scratch was on them.

"Break! Break! BREAK!" Kosuke screamed and hollered as he desperately tried to free Angemon, who tried to free himself from the chains as well. Angemon suddenly gasped.

"HOUDINI!" Angemon screamed.

"Say wha?" Kosuke yelped, confused by Angemon's sudden random shouting.

"Kosuke! Stand back! I'll free myself! Go help the other Digimon! I'm going to try and pull a Harry Houdini(1)-esque escape!" Angemon told him.

Kosuke thought that Angemon was nuts, but seeing how dire the situation is, he nodded and left Angemon there to free himself.

Yes, the situation is dire. Firamon, Birdramon, Gatomon, Turuiemon, and Gargomon were all defeated by SkullMeramon thanks to another Flame Chain Maximus attack he just used on them just now, and as a result, they all de-digivolved back into Coronamon, Salamon, Lopmon, Biyomon, and Terriermon. Riku, Yun, Melody, and Minako all ran to their partners and carried them away from the scene.

"You okay?" Yun asked her tired and exhausted little rabbit friends.

"Yes. Oh, how I wish I could have digivolved to Antylamon!" Lopmon replied weakly.

"I know, right? This is so stupid!" Terriermon complained again.

"I sure am glad Lucero didn't come with us," Yun muttered to herself. Lucero had decided to go back home since it was likely that the Digimon would be after him.

"Urgh! Why does he have to be so strong? I couldn't use any of my attacks!" Coronamon yelled.

"It couldn't be helped. Fire attacks make him stronger," Riku said.

"Sorry for making him stronger. I didn't know," Biyomon croaked weakly, but Melody didn't say anything in response.

"What do we do know?" Salamon asked.

"I'm afraid to say this, but we might as well wait to see who can digivolve into ultimate today," Minako said.

"Uhhh...guys?" Riku asked, his face aghast with surprise.

"What?" Yun asked.

"Angemon's...pulling a Houdini," Riku pointed to Angemon. The other kids turned to look, and their jaws fell to the ground.

Yes. Angemon is actually freeing himself from the chains! It must be confessed that he did use his Hand of Fate attack mildly a couple of times, but Angemon managed to wriggle himself out of the chains and fly back into battle.

"Hot Metal Punch!" SkullMeramon managed to punch Seasarmon in the face, causing him to de-digivolve back into Labramon.

"Labramon!" Otoya managed to catch Labramon before he fell onto the ground.

"Urgh...not my best performance," Labramon muttered.

"It's okay. You did fine nonetheless," Otoya told her tired and exhausted partner reassuringly, which seemed to make Labramon relax a whit.

"Tear Arrow!"

"Vacuum Kamaitachi!"

"Crescent Dawn!"

"Carrot Bomb!"

Lekismon, Rabbitmon, Grizzlymon, and Reppamon both attacked SkullMeramon, but none of their attacks managed to phaze him.

"Metal Fireball!"

Like how a baseball player hits a ball with his bat, Angemon whacked the ball with his Angel Rod and looked as though he had hit a home run.

"Home run!" Rena exclaimed.

"Strike Bomber!" Coredramon whacked SkullMeramon with his tail, not feeling any of the heat coming from SkullMeramon's body since the big blue dragon's body is made entirely of thick, blue scales.

"Hot Metal Punch!" SkullMeramon punched Coredramon so hard in the jaw that he fell to the ground and de-digivolved back into Dracomon within five seconds.

"Dracomon!" Shunji ran over to Dracomon and helped him up.

"Sorry...for being so weak," Dracomon murmured sadly. Shunji hugged Dracomon tightly.

"It's alright. It couldn't be helped. But don't worry, you'll be able to digivolve to ultimate soon. I promise. Perhaps now's just not the right time," Shunji told him reassuringly, even though he himself suspected that defeating SkullMeramon was becoming a lost cause. He had to admit, the remaining champion level Digimon were getting tired.

"My goodness! This Digimon is one tough cookie!" Lekismon said.

"You're telling me! I wish one of us could digivolve into ultimate already!" Rabbitmon said, feeling quite tired.

"Nobody said this was going to be easy!" Grizzlymon piped in, not willing to abdicate after coming this far.

"We cannot let SkullMeramon run amok! It's our duty to stop him, so let's keep on fighting no matter what!" Reppamon told them reassuringly, though it must be confessed that even he was becoming rather dubious about subduing SkullMeramon, who is still as volatile and vitrolic as ever.

"Reppamon's right! Continue fighting, everyone!" Angemon edicted in a booming voice full of authority. The Digimon and SkullMeramon caused another fracas yet again.

The Digimon fought for what seemed to be hours. The remaining champion level Digimon tried their very best to contain the volatile and intractable SkullMeramon, who clearly doesn't have a Dark Emblem on him, but even their valiant efforts proved to be futile. SkullMeramon finally managed to knock Lekismon against Reppamon with his Flame Chain, and forced them to de-digivolve back into Lunamon and Kudamon. Grizzlymon and Rabbitmon tried to assault him while he was distracted, but SkullMeramon activated Flame Chain Maximus and threw them around like rag dolls. After a while, he threw them at the building, making them de-digivolve back into Cutemon and Bearmon. The kids wished they weren't so helpless. They wished there was something they could do, but they left their D-Chips at home so they couldn't call for any good reinforcements, even though they wanted to so badly. Now, only Angemon and MarineAngemon were left.

"Boiling Water!"

"Hand of Fate!"

"Flame Chain Maximus!"

Being the agile Digimon that they are, Angemon and MarineAngemon successfully managed to evade the attacks...almost successfully. One of the chains wrapped around Angemon's leg.

"Angemon!" MarineAngemon called out in alarm.

SkullMeramon hung onto his chain and flung Angemon against a building, releasing him from the chains.

"Angemon!" Kosuke ran over to Angemon, who was caught underneath some rubble. The rest of the kids and Digimon decided to help Kosuke free Angemon, who surprisingly enough didn't de-digivolve back into Patamon.

"Angemon! Don't worry! We'll save you!" Kosuke said as he took some rocks off of Angemon. The rest of the kids and the rookie Digimon helped out too. Finally, Lopmon removed the last of the rocks.

"Angemon! You okay?" Kosuke asked with concern in his hazel eyes.

"Yes. I am, thanks to you. But my wing...it appears to be hurt," Angemon replied.

Kosuke was relieved to see that he's alright...but it wasn't to last.

"Flame Chain!"

Kosuke was the first to see, and he reacted...by doing the same thing that Angemon did.

He flew towards the chain and let himself be wrapped by them.

"KOSUKE NO!" Angemon yelled as he fell to the ground, trapped by chains.

Kosuke found himself unconscious. He could feel the heavy metal suffocating his entire being. He couldn't move his limbs. He felt bound to earth and felt as though he couldn't break free, no matter how hard he tried. He felt as though he were actually living his poems. His feelings. The negative feelings of isolation and abandonment he always felt, the feelings he poured into his poetry.

_'Is this what it's like...to be earthbound? To be chained to the ground, unable to fly and embrace freedom? Why? Why does it have to come to this? Martin Luther King managed to fly to great heights, even though he was shot down by the assassin. Why? Why...can't I fly? God. Dr._ _King. Please. Give me wings. Let me fly. I don't want to...be earthbound anymore! I want to...be free!'_

Suddenly, he felt the chains being removed.

"Kosuke. You're free."

That was Angemon's voice.

Kosuke opened his eyes a little, and he looked up to find Angemon and all of his friends smiling at him. Kosuke was just barely conscious, but he saw everyone. He tried to stand up, but he fell to his knees. He closed his eyes again.

_'God. Dr. King. Please, grant me freedom. Dr. King? What were you thinking...when you wanted white people and colored people to co-exist in harmony? Did you want them...to be free too?'_ Kosuke thought. He began remembering the documentary, and Dr. King's speech.

_"Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair."_

_"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: _'We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.'_"_

Kosuke had no idea that his wish was about to be granted...and it was.

It was Otoya who screamed.

"What? What?" Kosuke yelped.

"Kosuke-kun! Your back! You...have wings!"

Kosuke turned around. Otoya's right! He DOES have wings! Pure, pristine white wings, like those of a dove! Humans cannot fly, yes, and Kosuke could tell immediately that it was his digivice reacting to his wish that made the wings appear, but they're here! Kosuke actually has wings! Wings! On his back! Kosuke thought he was dreaming, but he wasn't. He knew this for sure.

_'Wings? Are these really...wings? Oh my God! Wings! Wings! I...I really have wings! God has granted my wish after all!'_ Kosuke thought as he tried to stand up. Angemon helped him with a smile on his face.

"Your wings are beautiful, Kosuke. Use them," Angemon said.

Kosuke was about to, but something else caught his attention.

"KOSUKE!"

It was...Kanako.

She stood beside the broken building, panting heavily. Kosuke was shocked. Kanako is actually here? He couldn't believe it at first. Kosuke then noticed what was in her hand.

His D-Heart of Freedom.

"Kosuke! Heads up!" Kanako threw the D-Heart at Kosuke with gusto.

Kosuke stood up, ran toward the D-Heart, jumped in the air, and caught it with his hand. Suddenly, Kosuke realized he was floating in the air! He's actually flying!

'I'm really flying! I really am...flying!' Kosuke thought.

His triumph was short lived, however. Just for a while.

"Flame Chain!"

SkullMeramon flung his chain at Kosuke, which made him fall to the ground.

"Kosuke!" Both Kanako and Kosuke ran to his aid. Kanako, becoming choleric upon seeing this crazed Digimon wreaking havoc, decided that she's had just about enough of standing by while her son got her. She stood in between Kosuke and SkullMeramon, giving him a very incensed and fiery look in her eyes. SkullMeramon felt insulted by this display of courage.

"Move it, humanoid scum," SkullMeramon told her coldly.

"No!" Kanako cried.

"I said move it!"

"No!"

"Out of the way!"

"You're not laying a hand on my son, you mad man!"

Kosuke finally realized it right then. For so long now, Kosuke longed to be free. Free of everything. Free of his responsibilities. Free of Kanako and her constant drinking, believing that she's the reason his whole life fell apart. But Kosuke finally realized it: it wasn't Kanako he needed to be free of. It was his hatred. His rancor. His animosity. Kosuke had vowed to never be like Seiichi, who abandoned them when he said they proved to be obstacles getting in the way of his ambition toward more and more political prosperity. Kosuke had been so consumed by his hatred against Kanako that he failed to realize that he was becoming the exact person he hated so much. Patamon told him so, and he didn't believe it back then. Melody told him so, and all Kosuke did was punch her when she said that. But they were right. Kosuke had not fulfilled his promise. He began re-thinking things. Kanako cried hysterically when his money was stolen. Would someone who would bail his good for nothing father out of jail really do that? Would someone who worked so hard to atone for her transgressions and actually try to stop the thief really do something as cruel as that? Would Kanako...really want to chase some pipe dream? Kosuke realized another thing: Seiichi really had lied to him. Seiichi said that Kanako bailed him out with the money he earned, but Kanako was quite clear about not wanting Seiichi in her life. How could Kosuke have been so cruel, accusing her on no grounds? Kosuke felt a tidal wave of remorse consume his very being. More so when Kanako looked at him with a smile.

"Go on, Kosuke. Fly. Fly as high as you can," Kanako told him. But suddenly, SkullMeramon grabbed her.

"Mom!" Kosuke flew after her.

_'I really am free! God! Dr. King! You've granted my wish!'_ Kosuke thought as both he and Angemon flew after Kanako, who is trapped in the volatile SkullMeramon's clutches.

_"Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi! From every mountainside, let freedom ring!"_

_'I'm free at last! Free at last!'_

_"Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty-"_

"I'M FREE AT LAST!"

That came from the heart, and it caused Kosuke's D-Heart of Freedom to glow in the warm, blazing color of the sunset. The mandarin orange light shot out from his digivice and into his D-Heart. The winged symbol on Kosuke's D-Heart shot out of the gem stone, and onto Angemon. Everyone was amazed, stricken dumb by the revelation, and by the wonderful light that bedazzled them. Even SkullMeramon was surprised. So surprised, in fact, that he dropped Kanako. She fell to the ground, but she wasn't hurt. Rena and Riku helped her up. Angemon became consumed by the warm, orange light, and he sure enjoyed it immensely.

"Angemon, digivolve to..."

Angemon only got a little bit bigger. He didn't reach SkullMeramon's size, but as everyone would soon find out, he didn't need to. Angemon was consumed by the orange light for a few minutes. When the light finally dissipated, out came a different creature! Yes, it was Angemon, but a different kind of Angemon. He is covered in both silver and shimmering dark orange armor, with eight silvery white wings donning his back in a graceful, beatified way. His left arm is covered in dark orange armor, and his right arm is free, with a glowing, pale orange sword appearing from a machine on his wrist. Some golden veils with Digicode inscribed on them are wrapped around his body. His hat is quite tall, with a silver cross on it. Kosuke thought he saw the mighty lord himself descend before him in the form of his partner, he was that awesome.

"...MagnaAngemon."

"FINALLY! HE DIGIVOLVED!" Melody screamed while jumping up and down.

"Took long enough!" Riku exclaimed.

"Yay! He did it! He did it!" Rena and Otoya cried out as they hugged each other and jumped up and down. Their Digimon danced around too.

"Wow! Is MagnaAngemon cool or what?" Terriermon exclaimed with a big smile on his face.

"Yes! He is! But...why is his armor orange? Shouldn't it be purple?" Yun said with a smile herself, but was confused. She knew for a fact that normal MagnaAngemon have purple armor, not orange.

"Who cares what color it should be? He's digivolved, and now he can finally defeat the metal Frankenstein!" Isao cheered joyfully, jumping up and down like an overly happy Phillies fan.

But the celebration wasn't entirely that welcoming.

"Flame Chain Maximus!"

"MagnaAngemon! Look out!" Kosuke called out.

SkullMeramon swung his many chains at them. Immediately, MagnaAngemon grabbed Kanako and Kosuke and flew into the air. Kanako looked quite confused by this strange turn of events.

"Are you...Patamon? No way can you be him! You're too civilized and God-like!" Kanako said.

"No one said I had to look the same all the time," MagnaAngemon told her in a kind, fatherly voice. He then looked at Kosuke with sympathy, even though his eyes are covered by his really tall hat.

"Kosuke. Use your new wings well. Fly as high as you can. You distract him while I land the final blow. Don't worry. Your digivice will help you do the flying, since it's the reason why you have your wonderful wings," MagnaAngemon told him.

Kosuke didn't even hesitate. He smiled and nodded at MagnaAngemon.

MagnaAngemon gently set Kanako back on the ground and flew. Kosuke did too. At first, he was afraid. Afraid that he might lose control, do something stupid, or fall and crack his head open. But he stayed in the air. He didn't fall. Kosuke tested this by doing a few cool flying tricks and maneuvers, and to his surprise, he didn't crack. MagnaAngemon is right. The digivice is helping Kosuke. Kosuke, seeing the weirded out but still very vicious and choleric SkullMeramon staring up at him, decided to do what MagnaAngemon told him to do.

"Hey Frankenstein! You smell like roast beef that got left out in the sun for too long! You need to stop playing around with loose electrical wires!" Kosuke taunted, which made SkullMeramon lunge after him.

"Do not mock me, you humanoid scum! Flame Chain!" SkullMeramon growled angrily and threw his chain at Kosuke, who, surprisingly enough, managed to dodge the chains like he already became a flying expert! Of course, it must be confessed that it's his digivice that's doing the flying since his wings come from it, but to Kosuke, it didn't matter one bit, because he's fulfilled his greatest, most heartfelt and beloved childhood dream. Flying. Kosuke felt light as a feather. All those months of being trapped in the chains of despair have finally vanished, and Kosuke is now able to fly...and is enjoying every minute of it, even if it's not in the best circumstances.

_'I really am flying! I'm finally free at last! My friends...my mom...MagnaAngemon...I have to give them credit. They've helped me make it this far. I finally understand. I've been trying to find freedom myself, and didn't let my friends help me because I was too proud and stubborn to accept their help, and wound up like Seiichi because of it. They helped me. My beloved friends...they've not only helped me achieve freedom, but Patamon...scratch that, MagnaAngemon, who is SO COOL, also. I'm so happy! This is what it's like to feel freedom! Both on the outside and inside too, and I'm loving every single minute of it! WOOHOO! Hallelujah to infinity!'_ Kosuke thought as he did a few loop-de-loop flying tricks to distract the already choleric SkullMeramon, who became more and more volatile the more Kosuke evaded his chain attacks.

"Now you've done it! Flame Chain Maximus!" SkullMeramon summoned an array of flailing chains from the ground and they shot right toward Kosuke.

"Kosuke! Look out!" Kanako screamed from the ground, but MagnaAngemon swooped in just in time with his glowing orange sword in hand.

"Excalibur!" With one swing of his glowing orange sword, MagnaAngemon managed to nullify all of the chains and break them into a voluminous amount of pieces, which only exacerbated SkullMeramon's anger.

"Hot Metal Punch!" SkullMeramon charged at MagnaAngemon, but he found out too late that that was a big mistake.

MagnaAngemon held his sword up in the air and made it glow in a warm light resembling the sunset. He slowly spun it in a circle. "Gate of Destiny."

The circle formed fully, then turned into a round, golden gate which opened up. SkullMeramon saw it too late, and he tried to stop himself, but he couldn't. He tripped over a brick from one of the broken buildings, and it caused him to fall into the heavenly gate. There was no turning back. SkullMeramon roared, but he couldn't get out. Once he was absorbed by the power of the heavenly gate, the gate closed forever, and it disappeared into thin air. Both Kosuke and MagnaAngemon both descended onto the ground, welcomed by the joyous appaluse and exaltions from the entire Digimon Brigade.

"Wow! You were awesome back there! You still are awesome!" Riku cried happily.

"Yeah! Do it again! Do it again!" Coronamon importuned happily, jumping up and down.

"My! You look so dazzling! I wish I was like you!" Lunamon said with her little pale purple hands clasped together, her big eyes wide and smiling bright.

"Man, were you great back there! I can't wait for the day I digivolve into ultimate! I'm kinda jealous, but that's alright! I'll get over it. But still, you rocked!" Dracomon exclaimed.

"You did it! You really did it!" Yun cried out, with Terriermon and Lopmon in her arms clutching her chest. MagnaAngemon and Kosuke smiled at everyone, happy with the applause, but MagnaAngemon looked down at Kosuke.

"Kosuke. You realized that you needed to be free of your hatred and pride, and allow others to help you through your ordeal. That's what made me digivolve just now. Your friends and mother helped you, and you helped me. Now do you see it?" MagnaAngemon told him in a kind, fatherly voice which made Kosuke feel warm inside, like the light his D-Heart of Freedom emitted. This was what Kosuke wanted: a father. A kind father who teaches him right, gives him advice, scolds him when he does something wrong, and allows him to do things when he wants. Seiichi wasn't any of those things, but MagnaAngemon was, and is, that kind of Digimon. Kosuke felt grateful to have Patamon in his life.

"You know, MagnaAngemon...maybe you should be my father instead of Seiichi. You're way better than him by a long shot. Thanks," Kosuke told him, which made both MagnaAngemon, Kanako, and everyone else burst into laughter. Even Kosuke couldn't help but laugh. Kosuke felt so good. He finally felt the burden of responsibility and early adulthood be lifted from his body and spirit. It was as though heaven, in the form of MagnaAngemon and his friends, lifted the burden off of him as a way of telling him that he is no longer earthbound, or bound by the premature burden of early adulthood.

For a minute, not everyone was celebrating.

"Oh my God!"

Everyone turned around to find Mei and Jiro, both with shocked and frightened faces, looking up at MagnaAngemon with fear.

"Aunt Mei? Uncle Jiro? What are you two doing here?" Kosuke asked as he ran over to them, looking quite surprised himself. Kosuke's wings had disappeared right then so he was unable to fly, but as of right now, Kosuke didn't think about them.

"Wha...What is that thing?" Jiro exclaimed timorously once he laid eyes on MagnaAngemon. Kosuke saw this and immediately became defensive, knowing that his secret just got revealed.

"Don't be afraid," Kosuke told them gently but defensively. "MagnaAngemon's our friend. He saved us. He won't hurt you."

As if to back up what Kosuke is saying, MagnaAngemon bowed before them on one knee, like a knight serving his king.

"My humblest apologies for frightening you so, but please, do not be alarmed. I am a friend, and Kosuke is a wonderful child," MagnaAngemon told them in his kind, dignified, fatherly voice. Upon hearing this, Jiro and Mei finally calmed down a little, especially after seeing that not only are Kosuke and Kanako okay with his presence, but the rest of the Digimon Brigade as well.

"Kanako...you called us here for this?" Mei asked.

"What?" Kosuke yelped as he looked at Kanako. Not out of anger, but out of confusion. "YOU called them here?"

Kanako, without hesitation, nodded proudly. "Yes. I did call them here on purpose. To see you and how wonderful you and MagnaAngemon are together. Kosuke...I'm very sorry about everything I've done to you. I really am. I know for a fact that I'm not the best person in the world, and I'm willing to take all responsibility for all of my and Seiichi's transgressions as well, even though I want to have no part in anything that he does. Kosuke...you have my permission to choose to live with them...if you wish," Kanako told him gently but in a dignified way.

Kosuke smiled. "Thanks. And by the way...you've already made up for it...by giving me my D-Heart when I needed it. Also...I'm sorry for accusing you of giving Seiichi my money."

Kanako hugged Kosuke. "It's alright. I had no physical proof so I guess it was natural for you to believe Seiichi."

She then let go of Kosuke but put both her hands on both of his shoulders. "But I do want to tell you something."

Kanako then looked at Mei and Jiro, pulled out the two wedding rings, and gave them to them. "These wedding rings are made of pure, pristine diamond. The rarest kind in the world. The two of them together would sell for at least 10 million US dollars."

"Whoa! Seriously?" Kosuke yelped.

Kanako smiled at him. "Yep! I was yelling at him before...and I was manipulating him into taking off his wedding ring. He forgets important stuff all the time, and I realized he still had his wedding ring, even though he said he wanted nothing more to do with me, so I took advantage of that and made him get rid of it. To be honest, I'm glad the robbery happened, because it brought Seiichi to me afterward, and it gave me the perfect opportunity to wrap him around my finger."

Kosuke smiled bigger than ever. His mother actually manipulated Seiichi into forgetting the materialistic value of his wedding ring, which he supposedly never took off?

"Wow. She's good," MagnaAngemon whispered comically, smirking mischievously upon hearing it.

Kanako looked at Kosuke again. Kosuke spoke again. "I'm sorry...for hating you. For blaming you for everything that's happened in the past few months."

"It's alright. You were right about most of it though. I've made my mistakes, and I don't want to make anymore," Kanako said. She then turned to Mei and Jiro. "Mei. Jiro. I'm sorry for yelling at you back then. You've really gone out of your way to help us, and I really do appreciate it now. I know for a fact that you don't approve of Seiichi's behavior and what he's done. You're not like him, and I understand that. I was too stubborn to give Kosuke a good opportunity to be a kid because I was afraid of losing him...but now, I know that I have to let him go, even if it means losing him. I should have let him go long ago."

"Exactly why are you giving us these two wedding rings? You can sell them for a huge amount of money, if what you're saying is true," Jiro asked.

"I know...but I don't trust myself with money. I'm afraid I'll spend it all on booze again, and I don't want to do that, so I'll give them to you. I know for a fact that you'll handle it better than I can," Kanako told them. "Also...that facility you told me about...I've decided to commit myself to it. I want to get back on my feet. I also heard back from a lady at a restaurant. I got the job. It's close to the facility so it'll be perfect."

"You got a job? That's wonderful, Kanako! Congratulations!" Mei told her with a cheerful smile. "We also wanted to tell you and Kosuke that we got the house we wanted."

"Congrats," Kanako said. She then turned to Kosuke. "Kosuke. Do you want to go live with them? I give you my permission to do so, since you're probably tired of taking care of me."

"It's only if you want to, Kosuke. If you don't want to, you don't have to. It's your choice," Mei told him.

Kosuke closed his eyes for just a minute. Then he opened them and looked at Mei and Jiro in the face.

"Yes. I'll go live with you. But only on two conditions."

It's here that MagnaAngemon de-digivolved into Tokomon. Kosuke lovingly picked him up and showed him to Mei and Jiro, who became a trifle frightened by him.

"Don't be afraid. I won't hurt you. Kosuke's my friend!" Tokomon told them kindly. Kosuke looked down at him lovingly, and Tokomon did the same.

"This little guy here...he's been with me for a while now. Almost a month. He's one of the best things that ever happened to me. He's the reason I'm here right now. If he hadn't helped me, I'm sure I still would have become like Seiichi: hateful and defiant. I don't want to let him go, so I want to take him with me. He's my friend and I love him very much," Kosuke explained lucidly and calmly, which made Mei and Jiro look at each other with confused faces.

"It's true. I've seen what he's like. He's a wonderful little thing. He's helped me come out of my shell," Kanako backed him up with a proud smile, which made Tokomon smile in response. Jiro and Mei looked at Tokomon, then at each other. They smiled, nodded, and looked back at Kosuke.

"Okay. He can come with us. What's the other condition?" Mei told him.

Kosuke looked at the Digimon Brigade with a smile. "I...I still want to be able to go to Fushimi Middle School and hang out with my friends. They've also played a huge part in helping me come out of my shell, and I'm grateful to them for staying by me, even though I was so bad to them before. Can I stay with them? Please?"

Jiro and Mei looked at each other again, then at Kosuke.

"Sure. In fact, that's the reason why we bought the house. It's close to your school, so you won't have to transfer out," Jiro explained.

Kosuke smiled and hugged the two of them.

"Thank you! Thank you! I promise I'll be the best I can be!" Kosuke said, squeezing Mei, Jiro, and Tokomon tightly and lovingly. The Digimon Brigade ran up to him and exalted him.

"Isn't this wonderful, Kosuke? You can be a kid again!" Yun said.

"Your luck has finally changed!" Lopmon told him, smiling happily.

"You can fly, Kosuke!" Tokomon told him.

"It's a good thing we don't need to throw any goodbye parties!" Riku cheered.

"Yay! No goodbyes!" Coronamon piped in.

"Oh! That reminds me!" Kanako said as she rummaged through her pocket for something. "Kosuke. I want you to have this."

She took Kosuke by the hand and put something in it. Kosuke looked down to see that it's a My Little Pony toy! A hot pink pegasus with ocean blue hair, blue eyes, and two blue lightning bolts on both sides of her flank.

"Her name's Firefly. She's a real daredevil who loves flying. She's a lot like you, Kosuke...and I want you to have her. I know it's really girly, but...think of it as a goodbye present from me," Kanako told him in her low voice.

Kosuke didn't think it was girly at all. He clutched the pink pegasus in his hand and looked up at Kanako.

"I'll take good care of her. Thanks, Mom."

Kosuke couldn't be happier. He's surrounded by his family and friends. People who love him very much. Kosuke had totally forgotten about his friends until the incident with Yun, and he totally forgot about how great his mother really is until just now. Kosuke finally realizes that he has friends and family who truly do care about him, and it was Tokomon who mostly helped him realize that.

However, for someone else, her faith in her friends would be tested...in some of the most traumatizing ways.

Around the time MagnaAngemon was destroying SkullMeramon, Akira stood alone in the park, looking at a picture of him and Otoya with a rather scornful look. In the picture, he and Otoya are smiling brightly, though right now, Akira is staring down at the picture with cold, condescending eyes, and a stone-like expression. He then put the picture in between his hands and...

_RIP!_

He ripped it in half. He let the two halves of the picture float aimlessly onto the grass.

"That stupid girl is so naive. The naive ones are always the most fun to screw around with," Akira muttered maliciously, smirking a little.

People would realize too late that Labramon would soon be right all along.

Footnotes:

1. Harry Houdini was a stunt man and magician who's quite well known for his daring escapes, though I can't find anything on whether he escaped shackles or chains or not.


	58. Who Should I Believe?

EPISODE 58: Who Should I Believe?

Kids can be strange creatures sometimes. Every one of them is different in one way or another. A child can be shy and reserved, silly and excitable, friendly and cheerful, reserved and studious, bold and energetic, or refined and polite. They're all different in some way, even though they're in a fragile point in their lives where they start to become their own entity. It depends on either their upbringing, their environment, the people around them, or things that influence them, like objects or mainstream media. Kids can either be kind and accepting or cruel and intolerant depending on what happens to them in life. The Digimon have learned quite quickly that the humans are no different from them in terms of behavior sometimes. While there are kids who hate going to school for obvious reasons like bullying or schoolwork or teacher's dirty looks (like the song) or anything like that, some kids, for very personal reasons, love going to school, and Jounouchi Otoya happens to be that kind of girl.

The Monday morning after the epic fight between MagnaAngemon and SkullMeramon, Otoya and Labramon played in the back yard merrily and without a care in the world. They did this every morning since Otoya became close-knit friends with Labramon, and, to Otoya, it both gave her some good exercise and helped her get ready for the day. They say that running around sometimes helps children concentrate better. Whether this is true or not is uncertain, but Otoya and Labramon loved playing outside together. They did all sorts of things. They chased each other around, played hide and seek, threw frisbees, and just generally ran around and rolled around in the dirt. For today, Otoya threw on a white short sleeved shirt underneath a dark brown vest and dark blue jean shorts. She decided to put her hair in two long pig tails today because the heat is getting stronger, and if it's put up, then she won't feel sweaty. But rain or shine, Otoya always loved getting ready for school and going to school. She's the kind of girl who always looks on the positive side of things, even in the darkest, most bleak of situations. She had desires like every other girl, but she's also kind too. She cares for her friends, tends to the smallest of injured creatures, cries when sickly animals have to be put down (like a pet cat she had when she was nine, who got sick from kidney failure like Clarette, Yun's cat, only it wasn't because of old age), and always looks for the best in things, though fate hadn't been kind to her in early years. But now, she felt ready for anything, and lived every day like it was her last.

Even as he was a little baby Digimon, Labramon could tell that Otoya was trying to forget feelings of sadness from her past, but he also knew right away that she was quite the nice girl. With her face full of sunshine, her stunning green eyes, her friendly and graceful but slightly silly demeanor, and her sunny outlook on life, Labramon wouldn't have found someone better. He liked her right away and became her friend, which, he noticed, to Otoya, was the best thing that ever happened to her. Labramon had been told that because she was a preacher's child, Otoya was ostracized by other kids in her other town before she moved because they were under the misconception that preacher's kids do everything their preacher fathers do, like they're overly obeisant to them or show totally devoted servility, which is untrue, and that Otoya didn't have any friends she could be with or connect with, which he found out was traumatizing to her because she didn't understand why her being a preacher's kid was so bad to them. But that was all he knew, nothing more. He suspected that there was something else, but it didn't look like Otoya trusted him enough to talk about it, which, to him, was understandable, so he didn't press her. He just stayed by her side and remained her friend, which, to Otoya, was all she could ever ask.

Cheerful Otoya and merry Labramon played for about 20 minutes, then decided to stop.

"Wow! That sure got some weight off my bones!" Otoya said as she wiped some sweat off of her forehead.

"Physical exercise is good for the body," Labramon told her.

"Indeed it is. Maybe sometime later, we'll invite Yun-chan over here and give her some outdoor exercise since she says she doesn't normally go out much," Otoya said. She knew for a fact that Yun hardly ever went out on her own (though she knew she had been thanks to the Digimon), and Otoya wanted to take her out, but there was hardly any time for them to hang out together privately.

"She hasn't been here, has she?" Labramon asked.

"Well, she has been here once, but not for very long. It was about two months after we became friends in the fifth grade, after I moved here," Otoya explained with a smile. "You should have seen how happy I was when she came over. I nearly bounced off the walls!"

Labramon already knew why Otoya would be so happy because of a friend coming over. "I'll bet you were."

"Yep! I sure was! Nobody ever came to my house to play in my home town because they thought that I was a slave to my dad and didn't do normal things other kids did."

"They shouldn't have judged you so hastily and so rashly."

"I agree. But I'm happy here in this town! I was so happy when Dad told us we were moving, because honestly, I couldn't stand my home town in Chiba. I hated it! I really wanted to get away from that town. When he told us we were moving, I literally bounced off the walls and cheered like I was on crack! I couldn't wait to make a fresh start, make some friends, and finally get some joy in my life, and I finally have it! Thanks to the Digimon Brigade and you, Labramon!"

Labramon's pale yellow, pink striped cheeks turned rosy upon hearing Otoya's straightforward confession. "You're my friend and partner, and I'm obliged to protect you and remain by your side." He then cocked his head to one side in curiosity. "So...what do you think of the other kids?"

"Oh! You really want to know! Sure! As you already know, Yun-chan was my first friend upon moving here. I had science, math, and social studies with her last year. I helped her out with some work. She was a little shy at first, but when she saw that I liked Pokemon and other anime she liked, she and I just leaped into conversation! I really like her! She's nice and sweet and awesome, though it really baffles me that people think she's being nice out of malicious ulterior motive! That's just not right at all! Mina-chan's nice too. She helped me with some work too, and she said she really liked my long hair. She's nice and polite and smart! Kosuke-kun and I played basketball together at recess once and that's how we connected. He needed someone to play with and nobody was willing to play with him, so I volunteered. He has his faults, but he's nice and sensitive once you get to know him. I didn't befriend Mel-chan until Yun-chan befriended her, and, to be honest, I was a little scared of Melody. I thought she was going to be a bully or a troublemaker, but the way she got along with Yun as if she were a long lost friend she was searching for...it touched my heart! I know, I shouldn't have judged her, but I didn't say anything so I got around. And the way she stands up for Yun-chan, oh! I'm so jealous! Nobody stood up for me when I lived in Chiba, so I do envy Yun-chan a little, but not to a hateful degree. It's bad to be jealous of someone in a hateful and mean way. Rena-chan and Rikkun-"

Labramon wanted to hear more of Otoya's rambling, but a teenaged girl slightly older than Otoya came out into the back yard. She has medium length curly black hair and deep blue eyes. She looks to be about seventeen or eighteen years old in age. She had on an ocean blue short sleeved blouse, a long white skirt, and black shoes.

"Otoya! Can you help me with the laundry?" The girl called out.

"Sure, Maiko! Be right there!" Otoya shouted back to the girl, Maiko. She looked back at Labramon for just a second. "Time to go inside."

Labramon nodded and followed Otoya and Maiko inside. Otoya helped Maiko take some clothes out of the dryer and folded them up while Maiko set up the washer and put some dirty clothes in there. Labramon watched with curiosity as the two worked like a team.

"I swear, I don't know how many more robes Dad can use in such a short time! He dirties them up so easily! We're running low on detergent!" Maiko complained as she put another black preacher's robe in the washer.

"Hey, Neechan. Are you doing anything this week?" Otoya asked as she folded a black preacher's robe and put it on a neatly folded pile.

"Well I have chem lab tonight so I won't be home until around seven, and Naoshi's coming home from Hokkaido this Friday so I'll be hanging out with him all day, but the rest of this week I'm free. Why?" Maiko explained.

"I want to invite one of my friends over. Is that okay?" Otoya asked again.

"One of your friends? Why don't you invite all your friends?" Maiko asked back.

"I don't know what their schedules will be for this week," Otoya replied.

"You should ask them all to come over instead of just one. Won't having just one of them over be a bit dull?" Maiko said.

Otoya thought about it a little, then smiled at Maiko. "Okay. I'll ask them."

"Be sure to ask Mom or Dad before you ask them. You know how Dad is with other people, especially boys. By the way, how are things with you and that Narumi kid?" Maiko told her.

Otoya smiled brightly as she folded the last robe and put it on the pile. "Things are absolutely wonderful!"

Maiko and Otoya then put the piles of robes in their father's closet. They then trotted into the kitchen, where three other people are waiting for them. A man in his early fifties is sitting at the table reading the morning news paper. His hair is dark but thinning, and his green eyes have lost their shine. He has on a pale blue short sleeved shirt, a pair of beige pants, and dark brown shoes. A woman a trifle younger than him is making scrambled eggs. Her hair is slightly shorter than Maiko's, and her dark blue eyes have also lost some shine. She had on a simple magenta blouse, a dark brown skirt, and black shoes. A boy exactly Maiko's age is sitting across from the man eating some buttered toast. He has the same hair color as Maiko, but it's short and slightly spiky. He has the same dark blue eyes as her too. He is wearing a short sleeved white baseball shirt with red stripes and the number 12 embroidered on it along with a pair of long blue jeans and a pair of white and red baseball sneakers.

"Good morning, Mom, Dad, and Seijuro-Nicchan!" Otoya piped up merrily. Everyone turned to her and smiled.

"Good morning, girls," Their father said with a smile.

"Mornin'!" Seijuro said as he scarfed down a piece of toast.

"Seijuro, you shouldn't eat so fast. You'll choke," The mother told him as she gave some scrambled eggs to everyone. Otoya saw that her father finally put down the paper and began eating, so she decided to take this opportunity.

"Hey Dad? Can I ask you something?" Otoya asked.

"Sure. What is it?" Her father replied in a low voice.

"Since you're not doing anything this week, I was wondering if maybe one of these days I could invite my friends over here," Otoya said.

Her father's eyes grew a little big. Otoya saw this and immediately thought the worst. 'Oh no! That must mean no!'

But her fears turned out to be ungrounded, as he suddenly smiled brightly. "Of course you can. You've been wanting friends for so long. I can't wait to meet them. How about this Thursday? We're all free that day, and I can have Noriko make some snacks."

Otoya beamed immediately and leaped on her father. "Thank you thank you thank you! I promise we'll be super careful around the house!"

Her father smiled brighter this time when Otoya hugged him, and soon after, she let go of him and consumed her breakfast. Seijuro finished, and he grabbed his baseball bag.

"Otoya-chan? Need me to drive you to school?" Seijuro asked.

"Nope! I always walk to school. Remember?" Otoya proclaimed happily.

After finishing breakfast, Otoya got prepared for school. She put in her school books, notebooks, and a book she planned to read in her free time. She put in her blue and yellow pencil case, her lunch box, and some folders. She hoisted it over her shoulder and ran out the door.

"Bye!" Otoya exclaimed as she ran out. Soon after she did, Seijuro did the same.

"See ya later!" Seijuro called out to the car and drove away from the Jounouchi house.

Now, only the father, Noriko, and Maiko were in the Jounouchi house. Maiko had gone to her room to do some early morning studying, leaving Noriko, the mother, and her husband in the living room.

"Oujiro, I'm surprised you approved of Otoya's request so quickly. Usually you hate it when people come over," Noriko told him.

"I don't hate it when people come over. I want to see Otoya's new friends. Do you remember? Back in Chiba, nobody wanted to be friends with her because of me, and she was traumatized," The father, Oujiro, said. Noriko looked down at her hands.

"Yes. I remember. One time she yelled at you about it," Noriko muttered.

"I want to see what Otoya's new friends are like. I only pray that none of them are like that boy Narumi," Oujiro replied.

"You still don't like Narumi?"

"No. There's something about him that's very disagreeable, and Otoya has already disobeyed me by continuing to rendezvous with him. She needs to learn to exercise better judgement and not be so naive. A girl her age must not be exposed to the trials of having a boyfriend that early. Who knows what kind of disappointment it will bring her! It will not do her any good."

"That's true, yes, but we can't tell her who or who not to trust. She needs to find that out on her own."

"Yes. I only pray that God protects her. Perhaps this is a test. A test for Otoya to prove to us that she can show better judgement."

"Must you always turn everything into a sermon?"

Suddenly, the phone rang.

Ring ring ring ring

"I'll get it," Oujiro muttered as he got up and answered the phone.

"Hello?" Oujiro asked. Then his eyes grew big and he hung up. He put his hand on his forehead and sat down on one of the chairs in the dining room, looking very pained.

"Oujiro? Was it one of them again?" Noriko asked as she ran over to him.

"It seems no matter where we go, people like them still follow us," Oujiro muttered in response.

"It seems Otoya's not the only one who needs to exercise better judgement," Noriko said as she looked at the phone. Labramon perked his head up in curiosity.

'Are they having trouble?' Labramon thought.

Even the happiest of families have their problems, even after they move. Unfortunately, or fortunately if one were to look at it from a different angle and context, Otoya is quite oblivious to this. She walked happily through town, relishing in the scenery. The pretty houses, the bare trees that are slowly having green leaves pop out of their brances, little flowers that appeared here and there, some animals like birds, rabbits, and squirrels flying or hopping around from place to place, Otoya loved seeing all of this. After about a few minutes, she saw someone and beamed.

"Good morning, Mel-chan!" Otoya called out with delight.

There came Melody, wearing nothing but a sleeveless magenta shirt, black jean shorts, and a pair of small brown boots. Her phoenix red digivice hung from her shorts and, as Otoya saw, her D-Heart is nowhere in sight. Today, Melody didn't look very sour or moody. She just has a straight look on her face.

"Mornin' Otoya," Melody said in a low voice.

"Oh! You're actually not wearing all black!" Otoya exclaimed. She knew for a fact that Melody wore black all the time, and that she seldom wore any other colors (except for maybe red and brown on rare occasions). Melody didn't seem to find the comment derogatory and flipped her hair out of her face.

"Summer's coming. Black clothes absorb the sun's heat, and I don't want to be all hot and sweaty, so for this season I only wear a little bit of black," Melody told her.

"Hey! Wanna walk to school with me?" Otoya asked excitedly.

"Sure. Whatever. Yun has Hisako drive her to school so I usually walk to school alone, but I guess I don't mind walking with you," Melody told her rather insouciantly, but Otoya didn't mind and became happy nonetheless.

"So how have you been?" Otoya began with a smile.

"Better. My cold from last week is finally gone," Melody replied insouciantly.

"I'm glad."

"Getting sick sucks."

"I feel you."

"Your D-Heart."

"Huh?"

"It looks nice on you. It matches your hair."

Otoya looked down at her blue D-Heart of Faith, which is wrapped around her neck hanging from a white string along with her cross. Otoya smiled at the compliment.

"Thanks, but I don't think faith really suits me."

"Why is that?"

"I'm always told that I have to believe in myself and other people, but it never did me any good. I didn't have any friends at my home town, and one time, this one person became my friend and I truly thought she was my friend. But as it turned out, she only befriended me because she was dared to by some kids who threatened blackmail her. I slapped her in the face, yelled at her, ran away, and cried. I'd been betrayed because I put my faith in her and I hated myself for being so gullible."

"People these days are getting better and better at manipulation, so I know exactly how you feel."

"Now enough of my angst. How's Biyomon doing?"

"The usual. Being her vain self, complaining about everything. I don't mind, because she's nothing like Shimizu."

"I agree."

"How's Labramon."

"Good. Oh! Do you have any free time this Thursday after school?"

"Yep. You want to invite me over?"

"How'd you know?"

"Considering your sob story, I just guessed."

Otoya became irked. "Sob story?"

"I'll stroll on over. I don't have anything much to do anyway."

Otoya forgot her anger and smiled. "Great! I want to invite the others too."

"Sure. I don't think they'll mind."

They were almost at school until Otoya happened to turn around and catch a glimpse of a black and white figure. Otoya recognized it right away as quickly as it, or she, disappeared.

Nayuki.

Melody stopped in her tracks. "What's up?"

"I just saw Ichinose just now," Otoya said.

"Ichinose? Where?" Melody asked as she began looking around.

"She just left."

Melody didn't see her, but she walked on.

"Let's ignore her. It's a waste of time," Melody said. Otoya followed her.

"Yeah, you're right," Otoya said.

"Hey!" Minako spotted them and ran over to them in delight.

"Hi there!" Otoya greeted her happily.

"You and Mel are walking together? That's new," Minako said, a little confused by the fact that Otoya's walking with Melody of all people.

"Is that wrong?" Melody asked.

"No, but you usually never walk with anyone," Minako told her.

"Otoya's fine with me. Yun has Hisako drive her to school so I've got no one to talk to on my walks," Melody replied.

Minako smiled. "I see. Oh! I should let you all know, Kosuke won't be in school for the next few days because he has to move in with his aunt and uncle."

"Isn't it wonderful that he gets to live in a better house now?" Otoya asked with a smile.

"Indeed it is. He really needs it," Minako said.

"School's just around the corner. Come on," Melody told them and ran ahead.

"Wait for us, Mel!" Minako and Otoya chased after her.

School began like usual, but an interesting thing happened in art class. The teacher, Mrs. Nozaki, announced that from this day forward, some new friends will be joining them. As the kids would soon find out, the new friends are actually kids from the newly formed special education class taught by Mr. Kazanari. Right as she said that, most of the kids immediately began complaining.

"What? The special eddies are joining us? No way!" One kid whined.

"So the school cuts off health and music, but makes room for a bunch of retards who will never amount to anything? This sucks!" Seiko complained loudly.

"Can it, Shimizu!" Yun scolded.

"This is stupid!" Another kid complained.

"We already have one retard in here who's bad enough, yo!" Nenji proclaimed loudly, not hesitating to put Yun on the spot and point his big index finger at her.

"Shut up, Nemoto!" Melody yelled.

"Children! Quiet down, please!" Mrs. Nozaki told them in an authoritative voice. "It won't be so bad. We'll still hold class like usual. Oh? They're here already. Come on in!"

Mrs. Nozaki gestured them to come inside. Mr. Kazanari and eight kids total came into the room. Four girls and four boys, all of different ages and grade levels. One fifth grade girl and one sixth grade boy are in wheelchairs. Yun thought that the girl might have cerebral palsy. She also saw that the fifth grade boy has Down Syndrome, along with the sixth grade girl. The seventh grade girl, the eighth grade boy, and the seventh grade boy are walking just fine and don't look like they have any physical disability in any way, but the kids could tell that there's more to them than meets the eye. For some reason, the eighth grade girl wouldn't come in, as she kept crying and wailing. It must be confessed that some of the kids, Yun included, covered their ears because her crying is so high pitched.

"Will someone shut her up?" Seiko screamed angrily.

"You shut up! You're not making this any better!" Riku yelled back as the boy in the wheelchair wheeled right next to him.

The girl with cerebral palsy wheeled up to Shione, who didn't mind being in her presence. The seventh grade girl sat in between Yun and Hokuto while the eighth grade boy sat next to Yun on the other side. The seventh grade boy sat next to Melody. The sixth grade girl sat next to Otoya. The boy with Down syndrome sat next to another boy, who looked a little weirded out by his presence. Despite the increased tension among the students who are quite averse to having the kids from the special education class, Mrs. Nozaki continued on with a lesson about origami art and it's history. The kids suddenly paid close attention. Yun could tell that the ones who didn't want the kids from special education here seem to think that learning about origami is better than having to deal with them. Yun did pay attention as well, but for a totally different reason. Other times, she inspected the two kids she's sitting with.

She couldn't help but notice that the girl looked quite cute, with short but very poofy and curly pale caramel brown hair and wide and interested hazel green eyes. Her skin, to Yun, looked just like freshly cleaned ivory. The girl has on a red dress with a white bodice and a dark blue ribbon on it, and a pink cherry blossom accessory is in her hair. The eighth grade boy is very tall, which Yun didn't find very surprising, with flat dark brown hair, dark blue eyes, and lots of freckles going across his nose. He has on a sleeveless white shirt with the words _Embrace Life And Happiness_ written on it in blue, a pair of dark brown jean shorts, and big red and blue sneakers. Yun could tell that the boy didn't look very comfortable. Whether it was because of her or the fact that he's in a totally different environment, she didn't know, but she kept silent out of fear that she might say something inappropriate that would either draw unwanted attention to herself or cause one of the kids to start making a scene. Mr. Kazanari escorted the eighth grade girl back to the special education room as he told Mrs. Nozaki. As Yun saw, almost all of the kids looked rather timorous, except for the two kids with Down Syndrome and the sixth grade boy in the wheelchair, all of whom looked quite happy. Unfortunately, the uneasy piece didn't last, as Nenji and Hirofumi began making fun of the kids.

"Hey, Nenji! Look! I'm a retard!" Hirofumi snorted, moving and waving his body around in a contorted way. Some of the kids at their table laughed.

"Duh buh wuh buh," Nenji went along with Hirofumi and began acting like drunk idiots. Mrs. Nozaki immediately shot a scornful glance at them.

"Nenji! Mansuke! Stand up please!" Mrs. Nozaki commanded. Mansuke stood up, but Nenji didn't.

"Nenji! Stand up right this minute!" Mrs. Nozaki commanded again, but Nenji, being the defiant, obstinate, and intractable kid he is, crossed his arms defiantly and sat there.

"Get up, will you?" A kid elbowed him timorously.

"Shut up!" Nenji snapped back. Mrs. Nozaki immediately stomped over to them. Yun and, surprisingly enough, the boy and the girl sitting next to her on both sides, all covered their ears.

"Nemoto Nenji! If you don't stand up right this minute, I'm sending you to the principal's office! You should know better than to make fun of other kids!" Mrs. Nozaki demanded angrily.

"Why should I be the one sent to the principal's office, yo? I din' do nuthin' wrong! 'Dem retards should go back to the retard room where they belong!" Nenji proclaimed rather proudly.

Melody stood up and slammed her hands on the desk hard. So did Yun and Lucero.

"Thou hast no right to speak of them in such a malinged manner!" Lucero bellowed.

"Say that again, and you'll wake up on life support!" Melody backed him up.

"Just listen to Nozaki-sensei, will you?" Yun backed them up also. Nenji finally stood up, but not in the way Mrs. Nozaki wanted.

"You should go with them, ya piece of white trash! Yer just as much a retard as 'dey are, yo!" Nenji yelled, becoming choleric.

"Who are you to tell me what I should be?" Yun yelled.

"Kids! Calm down! Let me handle this!" Mrs. Nozaki held her hands up to mollify the kids, though it didn't seem to be helping any. But regardless, she forcefully took Nenji by the arm and yanked him out of his seat. "You're coming with me to the principal's office, and I'm having him call your mother!"

"Lemme go, ya old hag!" Nenji screamed as he tried to get away from Mrs. Nozaki's clutches, but to no avail. Riku leaned over to the boy next to him.

"Don't worry about him. All he does is spout a bunch of nonsense and wants to make himself look good," Riku whispered to him and smiled mischievously, which seemed to make the boy smile with him.

Yun and the two kids she's sitting with uncovered their ears cautiously. It must be confessed that the sixth grade girl started crying a little, but not loudly like the girl from earlier who was taken back to the room. Otoya gently and kindly comforted her, and so did Rena. The girl looked at Yun nervously.

"You...don't like...loud noise either?" The girl asked nervously. Yun couldn't help but think that the girl has quite a cute voice.

"Yeah. I don't like noise, his yelling included," Yun told her. The girl seemed to relax a little, and so did the boy.

"He...called you white trash. That's not nice," The girl said, her voice less tenuous this time.

"I know."

"Are you...autistic?"

"Yeah?"

"I am too, and so is Eisen."

"Oh. Nice."

"I'm...Kamina Ushio."

"Wakamiya Yun."

"Yamagishi Eisen."

Yun seemed to connect quite well with the kids Ushio and Eisen who, to her surprise, are both autistic to some degree. She does, however, see that they're both nice, gentle, and innocent kids, and Yun didn't judge them. Neither did the rest of the Digimon Brigade. It must be confessed that Seiko and Tomoka did make fun of the kids, but Otoya and Shione shushed them. Iniki just shrunk into her seat and didn't do anything but fold origami very sloppily. As the kids would soon find out, the special education kids were going to be involved with a lot of their classes. The two kids who are in the same grade as them shared a lot of their classes. They soon noticed that the boy in the wheelchair has a one-to-one assistant, a woman who looks to be in her mid-30's. She helped the boy with some of his work and helped him focus, which Seiko and her friends found very unnerving, so they decided to draw attention to him by calling on Mrs. Takahashi.

"Takahashi-sensei! Why does that kid over there have a woman helping him? It's not fair!" Tomoka called out first.

"She cheats for him!" Seiko piped in. Mrs. Takahashi walked over to them with crossed arms.

"While some of you are able to do your work just fine, others need a little help, and there's nothing wrong with that. There's a difference between cheating and having a little assistance, so pay no mind," Mrs. Takahashi told them, but Seiko didn't seem satisfied.

"Come on! They don't deserve to sit among us normal people! They'll never be as good as us, and they'll never amount to anything!" Seiko yelled, which made Yun snap.

"Will you loudmouths be quiet over there? Some of us are trying to do our work!" Yun bellowed angrily.

"Shimizu. Kobayashi. Either do the work quietly, or go to the principal's office. What's it going to be?" Mrs. Takahashi told them sternly, with an austere look on her face. Tomoka sat back down and worked on her sheet in embarrassment, while Seiko just crossed her arms and sat back down. Behind their back, Yun stuck her tongue out at them for just a second. Riku did the same.

"What a bunch of attention-seekers, always trying to ruin everything for everyone," Riku muttered.

"You're telling me," Otoya whispered in response.

"There's no talking in class, kids!" Mrs. Takahashi warned in an authoritative voice.

Like usual, Yun finished her worksheet early, gave it to Mrs. Takahashi, went back to her desk, and read a new manga she got before the yard sale called _Kamichama Karin_(1), though it must be confessed that Yun didn't feel very comfortable. Not because of the manga, no, but because she helped stimulate Mrs. Nozaki's need to throw Nenji into the principal's office, and since Mrs. Nozaki planned to call his mother, Yun knew for a hard as stone fact that Nenji's hysterical and over-indulgent mother is obviously going to go after her beyond a shadow of a doubt. Yun really didn't want to deal with Nenji's mother and get slapped in the face again for something that she didn't do. She wondered if she could hang out with someone and wait until Nenji's mother leaves. She decided to bring the subject up at recess and told everyone about it.

"Oh yeah. She's gonna maul you," Melody said.

"Do mothers even do that nowadays?" Riku asked Rena, looking confused. "And to think we thought our mom was bad!"

Otoya raised her hand. "Oh! Hey, Yun-chan! Do you want to walk home with me? My house is a little ways into town, and Labramon and I might take a walk outside after school, so it'll be perfect!"

Yun smiled. "Sure! I'd love to! Thanks, Otoya-chan!"

Secretly, Yun got out her digivice and texted Hisako and Teruki about it. They approved, and allowed Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon to meet her outside of school (while trying to avoid the other kids, of course). The rest of the school day went by smoothly this time, and Yun, Lucero, and Otoya decided to walk home together. When they were further away from the school, Lopmon, Cutemon, Terriermon, and Labramon popped out and greeted them happily. Lopmon and Terriermon leaped into Yun's warm, loving arms.

"Yun!" They cheered as they leaped onto her.

"Hello, my little friends! Sorry to make you wait!" Yun said as she hugged them.

"We only just got here so it's fine!" Terriermon said with a smile.

"How was your day, Yun?" Lopmon asked.

"A little rough in the beginning, but it was fine," Yun said.

"Shall we return to your house, Otoya?" Labramon asked.

"Yep!" Otoya replied.

"Where is thy house, anyway?" Lucero asked.

"It's just a little ways into town, near the church where Dad works at," Otoya replied.

"That must be nice, kyu," Cutemon piped in.

Yun, Lucero, Otoya, Lopmon, Cutemon, Terriermon, and Labramon walked away from the school and to Otoya's house. Much to their surprise, however, Otoya's house is not too far away from the school! Just three and a half blocks down from it!

"Wow! Thy house is this close to the school? Why did I not knoweth of this?" Lucero asked, looking quite surprised.

"It's cute, kyu!" Cutemon piped in.

Suddenly, Oujiro, Otoya's father, came out of the house.

"Hi Dad! Look! I brought some friends with me!" Otoya said cheerfully as she ran over to him. Oujiro smiled.

"Ah, I see. How wonderful," Oujiro said. "By the way, can you do me a favor, Otoya?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"I have some things I need to attend to, and everyone else is out, so would you mind running some errands for me? Here's a list."

Oujiro handed Otoya a piece of paper detailing the things he needs. He also gave her 2000 yen in cash.

"Sure. I can do this. You can count on me, Dad!" Otoya said as she put the list and the money in her pocket.

"I'm glad. I have to leave now, but I'll be back in an hour. Please be careful," Oujiro said as he got into the car and drove away.

"Okay! Bye!" Otoya waved to him as he left.

"Is that thy father?" Lucero asked.

"Yep!" Otoya replied.

Everyone saw that Lucero's expression totally changed. Now he looks dejected.

"What's wrong, Lucero?" Lopmon asked curiously, her green eyes slowly becoming consumed by worry.

"He looks...pained by something. Troubled. Like something's bothering him," Lucero muttered despondently.

"Really? I didn't see any signs of stress," Otoya said.

Suddenly, Yun's digivice beeped. Yun pulled it out, and to her surprise, it's a text from Hisako!

**To: Yun**

**From: Hisako**

**Re: Nenji's mom**

**She's gone. You can come home now.**

"Huh? She's gone already?" Yun asked.

"I dunno. Considering the kind of person she is, I doubt she'd want to leave if her son told her something she didn't want to hear," Terriermon said.

"Yes, that could be true. But if what Hisako-san says is true, then maybe it's safe," Lopmon said.

"Well, we won't know until we try, so why don't we go back home?" Cutemon said.

"Do you mind, Otoya-chan?" Yun asked.

"No, I don't mind at all. Oh! Are you free this Thursday? I want to invite you and the other kids over to my house for a get-together," Otoya replied.

Yun smiled. "Yep! I'm free, but I'll have to ask Mom about it when I get home. Is that okay?"

"Sure. My dad's kinda uptight about this stuff to, but he gave me permission so it's okay!"

"Okay! I better get going now. Thanks for walking with me. Bye!" Yun said as she took Lucero by the arm and happily walked away. It must be confessed that Yun felt rather bad about leaving Otoya and Labramon behind since they took the time to walk outside with her, but Yun knew that she couldn't stay out on her own for long. Besides, if Hisako said yes, she could go to Otoya's house on Thursday after school! She hoped that Hisako would say yes. Otoya and Labramon waved a temporary goodbye to them as they ambled away.

"So I take it we should go on these errands now?" Labramon asked.

"Now that we're alone, I think we should," Otoya replied. She and Labramon walked into town to pick up the things Oujiro needs.

One of the things Oujiro said he needs is printer paper. Otoya knew that the only place in town that sells printer paper is the little dollar store next to the food place. She picked that up (and it happened to be the very last pile in the aisle), along with a new set of pens with black ink, and a new fedora hat. Next, she and Labramon went to the food store. Pets aren't allowed in there so Labramon had to stay outside. Otoya picked up some bread, a pack of coffee beans, butter, a pack of blueberries, a pack of strawberries, and pancake mix. Otoya did, however, pick something up that wasn't on the list. Right as she passed by a small section with some movies and DVDs on it, Otoya laid eyes on one and squealed happily.

"EEEK! No way! _The Prince of Egypt_(2)?" Otoya squealed happily as she yanked the DVD off of the shelf and examined it's glory with her beaming green eyes. Some people did look at her strangely, but only for a few seconds. Otoya then mollified herself as she needed to finish the errands. She didn't want to go over-budget, so she checked the prices of the food, the DVD, and the money she has. The DVD costs 500 yen, and the rest of the items are cheap too. Otoya calculated it in her head and found that she would still have 250 yen leftover! Otoya, happy with the fact that she's slightly good at mental math solving, decided to pick up the DVD. But before she decided to pay for them all, she decided to get a treat for Labramon since he's been so good to her. Then she saw it: a small, blue dog collar with a gold bell on it with the letter L written on the collar in English and silver ink. Otoya saw that it costs 100, so she picked it up. She also picked up a small can of Arizona iced tea. She went to the register, paid for her purchases, and merrily skipped out of the store with an ever so radiant smile on her face. Even Labramon couldn't help but notice how radiant and joyous she looked, her face smiling like sunlight.

"Wow. You're looking very radiant, Otoya. Did shopping go well?" Labramon asked.

"Yep! I found a movie that I've been trying to find for so long! Look!" Otoya pulled out the DVD and showed it to Labramon.

"The Prince of Egypt?" Labramon asked.

"Yep! I was over at Mina-chan's house once, and she and I watched it together. It was awesome! I've been trying to find it, but with no luck. Dad doesn't like ordering things online unless it's things that we really need, and my siblings don't have credit cards yet, so they were no help, but now I found it! Yipee!" Otoya explained and jumped around joyfully. Then she suddenly stopped. "Hey! I have an idea! How about we watch it together when we get home?"

"That would be most wonderful!" Labramon said with a smile on his face.

"Oh! I got you a little something, too!" Otoya said as she pulled out the collar and showed it to Labramon. Labramon examined it and sniffed it a little, and smiled.

"It's lovely. Thank you, Otoya," Labramon said with a sweet smile.

"You're welcome! I had a little money left over, and I thought you would like a little something for yourself since you've been such a great friend to me in the past month," Otoya told him cheerfully.

"How very thoughtful of you," Labramon said.

"Wanna head home now? I really want to watch my new movie!" Otoya asked.

"Sure! Let's race there!" Labramon suggested.

"Oh, you're on!" Otoya said as she and Labramon raced away from the town square, though they calmed themselves down enough to check if there are any cars coming and make sure they didn't get run over.

Otoya never did get to race and run around with other kids back in her other home town, so she was happy that Labramon suggested that they race home. To be honest, Otoya was happy with just having Labramon in her life. Yes, Otoya still did feel a little insecure about things that happened in her home town and wished she could forget about the pain, loneliness, and isolation she had to endure. She didn't understand why to them, being a preacher's kid was so bad. It's not like preachers are servants of the devil or anything. Even Otoya knew this to be true despite the fact that she only started to understand her father's job and what he did only just a couple years ago. She knew her father's job seemed tough at times, but she didn't think it was any different from other jobs kids' parents had. Considering how bad the economy is right now, to Otoya, she had to admit her dad was lucky to even have a job at all. But still, she wished that she had friends in her home town, though she is certainly happy with her life here. She has the Digimon Brigade and Labramon, and as of now, they made her the happiest, and reminded Otoya that things do get better after a while. Otoya couldn't be happier, and she thanked God or whoever it was that brought Labramon to her for giving her his blessings.

Unfortunately, things were going to turn bad for Otoya in a mere matter of minutes.

Just as they were about to pass the next bend...

"OW!"

Someone bumped into Otoya! So hard that she fell to the ground and dropped her bag!

"Otoya!" Labramon ran over to her as soon as she fell. "Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah, I...HUH?" Otoya felt some pain in her back and rubbed it with her hand as she got up, but as she did, she saw the person who ran into her, and it made them all frozen with fear.

"I-I-Ichinose?"

Yes! Lying on the sidewalk is Nayuki, who is trying to get up. Otoya saw that her black digivice is just a little ways away. Despite that she initially had an aversion towards this girl, she didn't want to leave her digivice lying in the street, so she plodded toward it, picked it up, and walked back to give it back. Nayuki, however, became incensed when she saw the digivice in Otoya's hand.

"Give it back, you thief!" Nayuki yelled angrily as she snatched the digivice from Otoya forcefully.

"Hey! I was only giving it back to you! Sheesh!" Otoya snapped back as Nayuki put her digivice back in her skirt pocket.

"I can't believe I bumped into a stupid, naive little idiot like you! You should have gotten out of my way!" Nayuki sneered.

"How was I supposed to know you were going to come flying at me? What are you even doing here?" Otoya yelped.

"Mind your own business, you featherbrained fool!" Nayuki snapped.

Labramon approached Nayuki with a stern look on his face. "If someone does something nice for you, you have to say thank you in response."

Nayuki turned away from the faithful dog. "I have nothing to thank you for!"

Otoya then noticed the pack of printer paper on the sidewalk.

"Ack! The printer paper!" Otoya ran over to it, picked it up, and put it in the bag. She looked into the bag again, and sighed in relief. Nothing is broken or squashed.

"Why do you need printer paper?" Nayuki asked.

"My dad needs it to type his sermons," Otoya replied.

For some reason, Otoya's reply made Nayuki's eyes grow a little big in response. "Sermons? So...your old man's a preacher or something?"

"Why so curious? Don't you hate trivial stuff like this?"

"Answer the question!"

"Sorry, but I don't feel the need to answer to you."

Nayuki balled her fists. "Fine then!"

"I notice Tsukaimon's not with you. Why is that?" Labramon asked curiously.

"Is that any of your business, you mutt?" Nayuki snapped angrily.

"He's not a mutt!" Otoya yelled.

Nayuki gave Otoya a scornful look. "Do you really think he's your friend? Get over it! Friends don't exist, especially sincere ones! They're nothing more than an illusion meant to toy with your mind! You think they're your friends, but behind your back they gossip about you and say all sorts of nasty stuff! They're just using you! They'll just use you up and spit you out!"

"How do you know that? You don't know much about my friends, so you have no right to jump to conclusions like that," Otoya told her calmly.

"It's the truth! You'd best break off all ties with that dumb Digimon Brigade right now."

"No way! They're the best thing that ever happened to me!"

Nayuki spat at the sidewalk crossly. "You really think that? You're ungodly naive and gullible, you know that?"

"No I'm not!"

"Those friends of yours are just a bunch of traitors. How do you know they're not plotting to betray you behind your back? You shouldn't put so much faith in them. All they'll do is use you up and spit you out, and you'll be useless to them."

"Stop spouting that nonsense!" Otoya yelled passionately.

"If you want to avoid a fight, I suggest you leave," Labramon told her with a small growl.

Nayuki simply shrugged. "Sure. I'll leave. I just wanted to blow off some steam anyway. This is a waste of time."

With that, Nayuki flipped some of her raven black hair out of her face and walked away, leaving Otoya and Labramon alone. Otoya looked down at Labramon, who became calm.

"Wow. This is the first time you didn't flip out and turn into a bloodthirsty wolf, Labramon!" Otoya told him with a smile.

"I think it is merely because Tsukaimon wasn't with her," Labramon said.

"That could be, but I sure am glad we avoided a fight. Oh! We better get home. Dad has mass this Sunday and I better put this paper in the printer. We can't have church without any sermons, right?" Otoya said.

"That's true," Labramon said. It must be confessed that Labramon did attend church a few times. Otoya managed to sneak him inside while nobody was looking. Labramon liked the sermons, but he did feel that some of them were too somber or too joyous. As they walked, Otoya opened her can and began drinking the tea. Suddenly, Labramon stopped.

"What's wrong?" Otoya asked.

"I hear people yelling over there. It doesn't sound good," Labramon said.

"Is it bad? Should we go and see where it's coming from?" Otoya asked again.

"We should," Labramon replied in an austere voice. Otoya nodded and followed Labramon.

The yelling came from a rather woodsy part of the neighborhood just two blocks away, not in the same direction the school is, but further down. As they got closer, the yelling became more and more lucid. If Otoya had known what she was getting into, she would not have known about what was really going on, but nonetheless, she was going to regret going there. But then again, if she didn't, then she wouldn't have known the truth. Finally, they were able to make out the yelling.

"Narumi! You're a real sick and evil idiot, you know that?"

A girl's voice was among them. She mentioned Akira. This made Otoya's skin crawl a trifle, as she got closer. Much to her shock, Akira and another girl are in someone's back yard! An opening in the bushes helped Otoya see them, and it was big enough for her to walk through, but she chose not to do so. The girl is quite choleric, and Akira looks quite stone-faced, like he doesn't care about the fact that he's being yelled at by some random girl. The girl looks to be about his age, with semi-long, frizzy black hair and dark brown eyes. She's wearing a sleeveless baby blue tank top, a dark blue jean skirt, and some sandals. There's a small band aid on her chin, and she's quite incensed. Considering the way she's yelling at him, Otoya didn't think she was some girlfriend who loved him dearly, but something about this gave her an ominous feeling.

"Saki, I-"

"Haven't you done enough damage to people already? As if hurting my feelings wasn't bad enough! I knew you were bad to the bone before, but now you've gone too far! Now look at you! You're using an innocent girl who's much younger than you and manipulating her just so you can make me jealous and make me want you back!"

Otoya was appalled. Is what this Saki girl saying true? Otoya didn't want to believe it. Akira had always been kind to her. He took her out on dates, he accepted her for who she was, he didn't judge her, he didn't say that being a preacher's kid was bad. Surely this was nothing but a dream! 'Please let this be a dream! Please, please, PLEASE let this be a dream!' Otoya thought desperately. She prayed that this was just an illusion.

Sadly, it wasn't. Her prayers weren't answered.

"I...I do want you back, Saki. That preacher's kid means nothing to me. She's just a naive idiot."

Otoya literally felt her heart sink. Her eyes grew bigger than anything. Akira told Saki that she means nothing to him! At all! He even called her a naive preacher's kid! Otoya felt as though a giant rock had been thrown at her heart, shattering it into a million pieces that would likely never come together again.

"Yeah, I never should have hooked up with that stupid girl. You're way better than that freak chick, Saki. I mean, she's the daughter of a preacher! I'll bet she reads the Bible every day and spouts stupid nonsense about it at home! She's naive, gullible, goofy, featherbrained, and downright useless. She's stupider than a fly."

Otoya felt another blow. She almost fell to her knees, but she didn't.

"That's EXACTLY why you're NEVER getting me back, Narumi, because you do nothing but use people for your own gain! I already fell for your schemes before, and I'm not going to fall for it again! Besides, all you do is use people! You don't try to fix your own flaws and mistakes and make yourself better than that! That's the reason why I hate you and will never be your girlfriend again! Why do you have to be so stubborn and thick headed?" Saki yelled angrily.

"What has being decent ever done for me? Nothing! My dad keeps trying to get a job, but everybody rejects him!"

"Isn't that because your dad was involved in that drug ring?"

"My mom's no good either! She-"

"Stop making excuses! You brought everything on yourself! Stop trying to make yourself look good by manipulating and using other people for your own self-satisfaction! You wonder why I brought you out here! I thought I'd knock some sense into you after I JUST found out about you hanging around that girl you're using! But now I see you'll always be a stupid, stubborn mule!"

Otoya felt her whole world break. Akira betrayed her! He did nothing but use her and spit her out, like Nayuki just said earlier! He called her a preacher's kid! He said she's stupid, naive, gullible, goofy, featherbrained, downright useless, and, worst of all, a freak chick! He thinks she fits the stereotype of preacher's kids: reads the Bible every day, talks about God at home, lives in an overly religious household and serves her dad on a regular basis! Why hadn't Otoya been able to see it? Labramon did, but she didn't believe him. Why hadn't Otoya seen this from the beginning? Sure, he's in the seventh grade and Otoya's in sixth, but still! Why had she allowed herself to fall for his egregious machinations? Why did he betray her? Why did she even think about being her girlfriend when he was planning on using her as a tool to make his ex-girlfriend jealous and win her back?

Why did she...have faith in him?

This was what made Otoya the most choleric, that she put so much faith in him when she could have spared herself the pain and agony and found out about the truth, the truth to who Akira really is. Finally, unable to deal with standing around listening to them anymore, she snapped.

She stomped on over to Akira, who didn't notice her, and poured all of her Arizona iced tea all over his head!

"Hey! Wha-What did you-?" Akira finally noticed her and yelped as the cold tea seeped into his clothes and made him sopping wet. Saki laughed at him.

"Awww! My clothes are ruined!" Akira whined. He looked at Otoya, who is staring at him with angry, tear-stained eyes and grinding teeth.

"You used me...you betrayed me! If I had known you were a sick, sick dog who uses people for his own self-gain, I would never have hooked up with you in the first place! Do you think it's funny that you used me as your personal magnet for your ex girlfriend? Do you think it's funny to make fun of me after all the nice things I did for you? I HATE YOU! I hate you I hate you I hate you I hate you I hate you I HATE YOU! I hope you fall off a cliff and die! I wish I never met you or put so much faith in you! I thought you'd be different from the kids at Chiba...but now I see you're just the same as everyone else! You know what? WE'RE THROUGH! I HATE YOOOOUUUUU!" Otoya screamed louder than she ever screamed in her entire life.

Finally, in a paroxysm of both rancor and dejection, she threw the empty can at Akira's face and ran away bawling.

"Wait!" Saki tried to call for her, but she had already run away. Labramon growled at Akira angrily. Then, all of a sudden, he lunged onto Akira and bit his leg.

"OWWW!" Akira yelped in pain as the dog's teeth dug into both his pants and leg for just a little bit. Labramon let go of him, picked up the bag with his mouth, and ran away to chase after Otoya, leaving Saki and Akira alone. Saki gave Akira another mouthful.

"NOW look what you did, you brainless fart! It's your fault the dog attacked you!" Saki yelled, but Akira didn't seem to notice.

Otoya ran back home. She ran right past Seijuro, who nearly bumped into her.

"Whoa! Otoya! What's wrong?" Seijuro yelped as Otoya ran past her. Labramon came into the house right after as he gently put the bag down on the floor. A minute later, Otoya's screams could be heard, through muffled a bit. Seijuro and Labramon, both concerned, decided to go into Otoya's room. They found her on her bed, bawling and screaming into her pillows. Seijuro, overcome with concern, ran over to her.

"Little sis! What's wrong?" Seijuro asked. Otoya saw him through her tears and hugged him.

"Niisan! I never should have put so much faith in Narumi! I should never have trusted him! He used me! He wanted to get his ex-girlfriend back so he thought it'd be funny to use me as a tool to do so!" Otoya wailed into his shirt. Labramon hopped onto the bed and rubbed himself against Otoya, even though he knew it wouldn't heal the pain in her heart.

"WHAT? He used you?" Seijuro yelped angrily. "Why that little idiot! I wanna punch his lights out!"

"His ex-girlfriend is already doing it so you don't have to," Otoya murmured sadly. Seijuro shed his anger and wrapped his arms around his little sister.

"Oh God...I'm so sorry, Otoya. I had no idea! I can't believe this happened to you!" Seijuro cried.

"Me either!" Otoya cried, but harder. "Now I see why Dad didn't want me to go with him! Maybe he knew about who he really was!"

"Nah, I doubt it. He's a little uptight about everyone," Seijuro said.

"He's going to blame me, I know it. He'll say it's my fault and that I brought it on myself! Fine! Let him blame me! I deserve it!" Otoya cried.

"No he's not! It's not your fault! How could you have known he was really a manipulative freak? He probably hid it real well! Lots of bad boys do that in this day and age, so lots of girls go through this. You had no idea!" Seijuro tried to reassure her, but even he knew that it wasn't going to work.

_'No. Labramon tried to warn me...but I didn't listen! How could I be so stubborn and stupid? I'm so sorry Labramon! I'm so sorry I didn't listen to you!'_ Otoya thought as she cried again.

Soon, Oujiro, Noriko, and Maiko came home to see Otoya in bad shape. Being as persistent as they are, Otoya knew that she couldn't keep it a secret from them even if she wanted to, so she told them about what happened. She didn't leave out any details. Everyone was shocked.

"Are you serious? Oh lord, I can't believe it!" Noriko said.

Maiko cracked her knuckles. "Tell me where this guy lives! I'll knock his lights out! Nobody gets away with messing with you! No one! Not on my watch!" Maiko sneered.

"Dad, please don't say it's Otoya's fault. She didn't know! The guy was really good at hiding it! There was no way she could have known!" Seijuro told Oujiro.

"I understand. I'm sorry that this happened to you, Otoya, and I wish I could make the pain go away. I will not let him get away with what he did. But...I hope this will teach you to exercise better judgment and grow up a little," Oujiro told her.

"Yes, father. I'm so sorry..." Otoya murmured sadly. She expected Oujiro to say something like that.

"Dad! Can we please save the sermons for church? We all know it's that Narumi kid you're really mad at! Don't try to heap the rest of the blame on her!" Seijuro told him.

"I'm not blaming anyone. I'll...work on my sermon for Sunday," Oujiro said as he got up from the table and went into his study.

Otoya didn't blame him. She didn't need to. She knew he was going to twist something into a sermon no matter what, but this time, she felt that she really deserved it. Oujiro was already against their hooking up, yet Otoya disobeyed him. How could she have been so stupid and defiant. Even though Oujiro didn't blame her, she blamed herself and punished herself for being so gullible as to fall for Akira's trick and wind up as his tool. Noriko and Maiko made dinner, but Otoya wasn't in the mood for eating. She just went back to her room. Labramon was just as heartbroken as she was, only for a different reason. He was mad at himself for not doing anything to stop Akira, nor could he really do anything to help her. Sure he knew, and he knew it was understandable that Otoya didn't believe him, but still. He could have done something to at least lessen the pain! He could have saved her from the pain, but he didn't. Really, he couldn't, but Labramon still held himself reprehensible for what happened. He walked to Otoya's room, hopped on her bed, and laid down next to her.

"I'm sorry, Otoya. I wish I could have been able to save you from the hurt. But I couldn't," Labramon whispered sadly.

"It's alright. I don't think you would have been able to anyhow. I'm sorry for not listening to you. I should have," Otoya whispered back, feeling as though her heart is nothing but a big chunk of ice.

"It's only natural for you to brush me off since I'm but a mere Digimon, so I understand," Labramon replied.

"But...you would have saved me."

"No. I don't think I would have."

They were silent for a while until Otoya spoke again.

"It's happened before."

"Eh?"

"This isn't the first time I've been betrayed."

"Was this back in Chiba?"

"Yeah. About a year before we moved, some girls approached me and wanted me to be friends with them. They were a clique, so I was so happy to have been their friend. We did lots of things together and it made me happy...but then I found out that the only reason that they hung out with me was because they were threatened to by their leader. If they didn't hang out with me, their leader was going to tell everyone about their deepest, darkest, secrets and ruin their reputation, so they had to do it. I found out because I overheard them talking. One of the girls said that I was putting a stain on their reputation. Another one said that I look like garbage. The other one said that I should hang myself. Wanna know what I did? I threw my lunch at them, told a teacher, and got them all suspended for three weeks. But they stepped on my heart so I didn't forgive them. I cried so hard. How can anyone be so cruel? Why do I...have to go through all of this? I don't understand. Is it really so hard to see that I'm a normal girl just like them? Why is it so bad that I have a preacher for a father?"

Labramon didn't know how to answer her or to heal her wounds. He felt so terrible for not being able to help his partner, who raised him and treated him so kindly. Labramon didn't understand why people would be so cruel to such a nice, bright, friendly, cheerful, and kind-hearted girl like Otoya, who did absolutely nothing wrong. Sure she's a tad gullible, but everyone is, and she made a mistake that wasn't even her fault. Akira was just really good at hiding his true persona. Making mistakes is part of growing up. All Labramon did is rub his face against Otoya's, hoping that she'll understand that he's here when he needs her. Otoya was touched by Labramon's kindness, turned around on her bed and hugged him.

"You're the best friend I've ever had, Labramon. You won't betray me...will you?" Otoya cried in a soft voice.

"No. I will never do that. You're my partner, and partners don't betray each other or leave each other behind. That is a terrible thing to do, and I will not sully my friendship with you," Labramon replied. Otoya shed more tears, but this time they were tears of joy. She's still grateful to have someone as wonderful as Labramon.

The door suddenly creaked open. Otoya looked up a bit and saw Oujiro with a mug in his hand walking over to her. Otoya laid her head back down and looked at Labramon.

"Otoya. I made some hot milk with honey, your favorite," Oujiro said as he placed it on her desk. "I'll leave it here for you."

Oujiro then sat next to her.

"You know...you're allowed to punish me if you want. I deserve it. I disobeyed you, and I should be punished for it. I never should have dated him. I can understand if you don't want me to invite my friends over this Thursday anymore," Otoya said. Oujiro only smiled and stroke Otoya's head of hair with his big, bulky hand.

"No. I won't punish you. You did nothing wrong. It was a silly mistake. Anyone can make it. These days, boys are losing their integrity, and growing into fools if not brought up correctly. I'm sorry...that my presence in your life has made you feel detached from the world. I think it would be better if I wasn't a preacher," Oujiro said.

Otoya suddenly sprang up. "Don't blame yourself, Dad! You didn't do anything! I'm the one who let him use me, so it's my fault!"

Oujiro wrapped his arms around Otoya tightly. "Danger is always lurking, but it doesn't have to dominate our lives. As for your friends...you can still invite them over. Isn't that why you wanted to move so badly? To make a fresh start and make some friends? To get away from those who slandered us before? I know it's hard, Otoya...it's hard, and I wish I could heal your pain. I'm sorry I'm such a bother...you're not a stupid idiot, and never forget who you are. Never forget about the people who truly do care about you with all their heart."

"Dad...you're not a bother. No you're not..." Otoya muttered. Otoya knew what he was talking about. She DID meet people who truly did care about her with all their heart. It was the Digimon Brigade. They embraced her and didn't judge her, even though they're so different from one another. They didn't care that she was a preacher's daughter. They liked her, and they loved her cheerful and sunny demeanor. Nobody thought she was a freak. Otoya didn't forget about them. Not for a bit. She also didn't forget that if there's one thing that she loves about her Dad, it's that whenever there's a problem, he's always understanding and he's always there for her. He always cheered her up when Otoya was sad, whether it was from bad scores on tests or scraped limbs or bullies giving her a hard time. Oujiro did turn his head to see a thick book on Otoya's shelf. It was _The Hunchback of Notre Dame_(3). Oujiro walked over to it and picked it up.

"Oh. Sorry. I know you don't want me reading it, but it's just so interesting. I saw the Disney movie and it's great. I only made it up to chapter four through. I made sure not to lose your page," Otoya told him.

"It's alright. I understand, though the content in this book is rather unsavory for a child your age. You should stick to watching the Disney movie," Oujiro said. "Do you want dinner? Noriko's still heating it up."

"Sure. Can you bring it up here please?" Otoya replied. Oujiro smiled, nodded, and left the room. Otoya picked up the mug and drank the honey flavored milk. She loved the thick, sweet taste. Labramon held his head up to watch.

"Do you like milk with honey?" Labramon asked.

"Yes. It makes the taste of milk less bland and dull. Do you want some? I can give you the rest," Otoya said.

"Sure. I'd like to see how it tastes," Labramon said. Otoya gave Labramon the mug and, carefully holding it with his paws, drank the rest of it down.

"It really does taste good," Labramon said as he handed the mug back to Otoya.

"Isn't it?" Otoya said, smiling a little.

"So...do you still want to watch Prince of Egypt?"

"Hmm...maybe after dinner we can. It'll take my mind off of stupid Narumi. I'd rather watch the story of Moses and how he opened the sea than mope over my broken heart for a million years."

Labramon laughed a little. "Sometimes a good fantasy can take us away from a cold reality."

"That's why movies were so popular during the Great Depression!" Otoya exclaimed, smiling brighter this time.

Oujiro brought Otoya's dinner to her. Otoya ate half of it while she gave the other half to Labramon, who enjoyed it quite well. After they finished, they decided to watch The Prince of Egypt in the living room. They were quite immersed with the movie and enjoyed it immensely. Right after the beginning, Maiko and Seijuro sat down with them to watch it with them. They enjoyed it too. By the end, everyone was in tears, including Seijuro and Labramon! Even Oujiro caught a glimpse of the movie. Otoya began to feel just a bit better. She did her homework, played with Labramon for a bit, then went to bed. So did the rest of the family.

Well, almost the rest of the family.

At 11:15 PM, Labramon suddenly awoke to a creaking sound.

Thinking that someone might have broken in, he very slowly crawled out of Otoya's bed, descended onto the floor, and ambled out of the room. The house was dark as the night, with a few lights on outside. Labramon looked around closely. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary, nor did anything break or wake up the entire house. But he could tell that someone was awake. Labramon cautiously plodded through the house, taking care not to wake anyone up. Suddenly, a shadow caught his attention.

However, much to his relief, it is nobody but Noriko, wrapped in a bath robe, walking out of the house. Labramon sighed in relief, but he did wonder why a grown woman would wake up before midnight and leave the house. Curious, he decided to follow her. He wasn't sure if going out in the night was safe, even for a grown woman, so he decided to follow her and keep a close eye out in case any night prowlers or stalkers came after her. Thankfully, nobody did. Labramon saw that Noriko is heading for the church. Noriko walked into a church lit up by the flames of a myriad of candles. At the end of the church, Noriko and Labramon both saw Oujiro, sitting on a pew, clutching a cross ornament and praying deeply. Noriko approached him while Labramon hid behind a pew further away.

"Oujiro...what are you doing here?" Noriko asked. Oujiro didn't move from his position, but he opened his eyes. Noriko saw that a copy of the bible is next to him.

"I am asking for God's guidance. I sense that hardship is on our way," Oujiro muttered.

Noriko folded her hands together anxiously. "You're not thinking about those hateful phone calls we've been getting for the past few weeks now, are you? It's all a bunch of gossip. They're only saying those things just so they can drive us out of town."

"I know. It is sad, that they claim that we're doing horrible things when we're not. But what can we do? It's likely that their allegations will be our downfall," Oujiro said sadly.

"You know that's not true, Oujiro!" Noriko suddenly exclaimed, swinging her arm just once. "Those claims are false! If someone calls for the police, they won't find any evidence! We can't let a bunch of idiots drive us out of town! We've already been driven out of Chiba because of similar circumstances, and I refuse to leave and put my family in more danger because of this! We came to this town so we can make a fresh start. For everyone."

"False allegations know no bounds, Noriko. You know that," Oujiro said sadly.

Noriko sighed. "Oujiro...please. Tell me you're not giving up. Don't give up. Our kids need us."

"No, I'm not. But if something like that happens again...we may not be able to get what we want," Oujiro replied.

Labramon became curious, though he didn't move a muscle. _'What drove them out of town? Did the people there accuse them of commiting a crime? What crime could these nice people possibly commit? I see no reason to accuse them,'_ Labramon thought. For as long as he'd been with the Jounouchi family, he saw that they're kind people who care about not just their family, but their community as well. He didn't see any reason to hate them.

"Oujiro...people love your sermons. People love the Sunday school and the bake sales and everything. We've worked too hard to get this far, and we can't give up just because people are accusing us of a crime we didn't do, let alone even be capable of commiting. I'm sure the community will understand. We're not...what some people think. Don't you remember? Back at Chiba? Our kids were deprived of friends and a good life there because of those allegations. We can't give up. You shouldn't give up either."

Oujiro didn't move. Noriko decided to leave and go back to the house. Oujiro and, oddly enough, Labramon stayed. Oujiro sat on his pew, looking very dejected.

_'No matter what I do, those allegations still follow us. Why? Why can't my family and I have the life we've been searching for? Please, God. Don't take it away from us. I'll do anything. Please, let my family have the happy life we've been yearning for. Don't take it all away from us,'_ Oujiro ruminated desperately. Suddenly, he felt something rub against his robe.

It was Labramon, who looked up at him with sympathetic eyes. It broke Oujiro out of his prayer. Oujiro smiled and gently pet Labramon's head.

"My, what a good dog you are. You've done Otoya a lot of good. I was right to take you in. You've been so wonderful. I've never seen Otoya so happy before. Thank you for being a good friend," Oujiro told him. Oujiro then stood up from the pew and looked at the candles.

"My family and I...were persecuted by some people in Chiba. They accused us of starting a cult and hurting children, even though they have no evidence claiming so. The Jounouchi family does not seek God's approval through means of violence and coercion. What would we gain from something like that? I have never approved of such practices. It's because of those allegations that my children were ostracized by their peers for so long. I hoped that by coming here, we can make a fresh start and finally have the happy life we've been searching for. But...I guess persecution knows no bounds," Oujiro explained in a stern but sad voice.

Labramon became confused and turned his head to one side. _'What's a cult?'_ He thought.

"I am only one man. I cannot solve all the world's problems, but I...I feel so bad that my family has to suffer so much just because of someone's false claims. Otoya has just suffered from betrayal yet again because of it, and I cannot allow this to go on. Sometimes I wonder if maybe...I should quit my job and work on something else that's not God's work. I still have my faith, but prayers aren't always answered, and he doesn't always listen to us or help us. But...I still want to do good for everyone," Oujiro said.

Oujiro rubbed Labramon's head again gently.

"Sorry to bore you with another silly sermon. Shall we head home? I presume you were quite worried," Oujiro told him.

Labramon nodded and followed Oujiro back home, though there are lots of thoughts in his mind. _'What's a cult? Did people in Chiba accuse them of starting one? Is it bad? Why would anyone want to accuse such nice people of starting something bad?'_

Labramon had yet to discover that Akira's betrayal was but the beginning of something worse.

Footnotes:

1. Kamichama Karin is a manga by Koge-Donbo.

2. The Prince of Egypt is an animated movie created by DreamWorks that came out in 1998. It adapts part of the Book of Exodus, particuarly the birth of Moses up to where he parts the Red Sea.

3. The Hunchback of Notre Dame was a book published in 1831 by Victor Hugo.


	59. A Familiar Allegation

EPISODE 59: A Familiar Allegation

Tuesday morning hadn't quite come just yet.

The sky was still a very dark deep blue, almost black, like the ocean at night. A few of the brightest stars still decorated the ever-lightening morning sky. The moon also still weakly shown but was slowly being swallowed by growing dawn, which was still trying the reach the town.

Everyone was either still sleeping or getting ready for work...well, almost everyone. But exactly who would be crazy enough to go out at this early morning hour unless they were just heading off to their jobs?

At the park, somewhere in the woods, Nayuki sat behind a tree, with Devidramon, who could look as though he blended right in with the darkness considering his dark colors, though his claws stuck out. Nayuki, oddly enough, didn't have on any black clothes on. All she has on at the moment was a rather dirty gray shirt with a few rips on it and an old pair of jeans with a lot of dirt and grass marks on it. One of the sleeves on her shirt was sagging down because it had been ripped at the shoulder somehow. Her hair was a tangled mess In Nayuki's hand was her black digivice.

Devidramon peeked at Nayuki a little anxiously, something that's wasn't quite normal for him, even as a Tsukaimon. Devidramon's red eyes glowed in the black darkness, just a bit, showing that he was there, but not enough to attract any attention. He did, however, feel rather hesitant about something, and he decided to bring it up, something that felt quite unnatural for him.

"Nayuki...are you sure you want to do this? I mean, people are still after you. You could very well-" Devidramon tried to speak his concern, but Nayuki immediately cut him off.

"Quiet! People will hear you!" Nayuki snapped rather loudly.

"Your voice is louder than mine!" Devidramon hissed back, barely remaining a whisper.

"Don't talk back to me!" Nayuki stood up in rage, "And I'll be fine. With a little make up made by yours truly, I'll be able to change how I look so the police won't be able to tell who I am."

"Since when did you know how to use make up, much less make it?" Devidramon asked.

"Since when did you start speaking your thoughts when you should be wise enough to know your place?" Nayuki retorted bluntly as she ripped the already tattered sleeve off of her grey shirt.

"Look, I'm just saying that I really don't think you should go along with this plan. There are so many holes in it. For one thing, I really don't think those dirty clothes you found in some dumpster are going to disguise you very well. Secondly, the police all over town know who you are and are looking for you, so unless you get some kind of plastic surgery in the next hour or so, they'll still find out who you are, whether you're disguised or not. Thirdly, do you really think it's a good idea to go after that blue haired girl just because her dad is a preacher?" Devidramon asked.

Normally, he wouldn't care about other people, but considering that Nayuki is apparently planning something very risky and dangerous, Devidramon didn't want Nayuki to go along with it because of the potential repercussions it could create. Nayuki, in her mind, knew that Devidramon had a point, but she ignored it for the sake of her pride.

"To me, preachers are the worst kinds of adults! They think they're all that with a bunch of holy items and cheesy melodramatic speeches and that their preaching inspires people, but that's all a bunch of garbage! The only way they get their title is through corruption, nothing more! I already had to deal with a stupid preacher foster dad before, and he didn't give a rat's hat about me, not that I care! I'll make that stupid little girl realize that life isn't all fun and rainbows," Nayuki said as she removed one of her shoes and flung it against an innocent tree.

"Is it really necessary, though? I mean-"

"Yes! Yes it is, Devidramon! People in this world need to realize that nothing good is going to come out of anything! This whole world is full of deception and corruption and garbage trying to hide under a facade of peace and prosperity! I'll bash it into their thick-headed skulls even if it kills me! I hate people who love life so much! Especially that blue haired girl with the rabid dog Digimon! She doesn't look like she even knows the meaning of hardship thanks to that preacher father of hers! I wonder if she's just as thick-headed and naive as him? Maybe she's helping him manipulate the community into thinking that the world will be a better place if they join him!" Nayuki was all but shouting at this point.

"And exactly what do you plan on gaining from this plight?"

"What does it matter? Stupid, oblivious, naive idiots like her need to understand that nothing in life is ever easy for anyone! I'll make her realize it even if it kills me!"

"You want revenge?"

"What's wrong with that?"

"Um, newsflash, but her preacher father didn't do anything to you. That other one did. What makes you think he's the same as the other one?"

"They're all the same! A bunch of crooks who manipulate people into being their slaves!" Nayuki yelled.

_'Devidramon will never understand. He's so dense. Kids like that blue haired girl make me feel the sickest of all! Why does she have the nerve to be all happy and full of sunshine when the rest of the world around her is full of deception and corruption? That's right! It's because she's a preacher's kid that she's so naive and gullible, and I absolutely hate naive, gullible, sunshiny girls who don't even know the meaning of the word hardship and think that believing will help! I'll make her kind pay for slandering me so long ago!_' Nayuki thought as she put on some red questionable looking goop that looked like blood on her face a little bit. She put some on her arms too, and on the shoulder with the ripped sleeve.

"I wish I had some eye drops though. It'd make my crying more realistic," Nayuki muttered more to herself than Devidramon.

Devidramon shook his head. "This won't end well."

"I heard that!" Nayuki snapped back.

Nayuki applied some more of her own hand made make-up, until she finally felt like she looked like an injured person. She picked up her digivice, opened it, punched in a few slect numbers, and talked into it.

"Hello? I-I'd like to...report a crime." She said weakling, her voice trembling, making her sound like she could barely talk.

Not one of those fools would even know what was happening until it was too late.

Otoya had absolutely no idea that a beautiful morning would rapidly turn into a terrible evening.

It truly was a beautiful and radiant morning, both on the outside and the inside as well...on the inside of the Jounouchi house, that is. At first, it was just bustling. Noriko made breakfast like usual, Oujiro drank his strong, early morning black coffee and read the paper like usual, and Seijuro rushed around the house like a cheetah, yelling something where his baseball bat was or some other object of importance as he rushed from one end of the house to the other, and back again. This went on for several minutes and Maiko, Otoya, and Labramon took note of Seijuro's anxiety more and more until Maiko was fed up with it.

"Will you calm down a bit, Sei? You look like you're about to explode," Maiko said to him rather bluntly. Seijuro had sweat streaming down his red face as he panted hard.

"I can't find my baseball bat!" Seijuro whined in between gasps.

Otoya thought for a bit, then looked at him. "Did you try looking in the basement?"

"Will do!" Seijuro literally sprinted into the basement, quick as a race car. Maiko and Otoya looked at each other and laughed a little. Even Labramon couldn't help but stifle a laugh as best as he could. As soon as Noriko handed out breakfast, Seijuro came back looking calmer but at the same time radiant with happiness.

"You're right! It was in the basement after all! Thanks, lil' sis! I owe ya one, big time!" Seijuro said cheerfully as he playfully messed up Otoya's hair with his hand, which made Otoya laugh. He sat down, ate some bacon, and slurped down a big glass of orange juice so fast one would think that he was late for school.

"Jeez, Niisan. Are you always so hungry in the morning?" Otoya asked.

"As a horse!" Seijuro joked happily, which made Noriko and Oujiro laugh merrily.

"Hey Otoya. Did you hear anything back from your friends about Thursday?" Maiko asked with a smile.

Otoya immediately beamed with joy, "Yep! They all got permission from their parents so they'll all come!"

"Wow! That's wonderful. I better start doing some food shopping. I'd like to try out some new recipes after I get home from work tonight," Noriko said with a bright, shining smile.

After Otoya finished breakfast, she and Labramon, with his brand new collar happily wrapped around his fluffy neck, ran upstairs. Once they got up there, Otoya cheered and jumped around in delight.

"Yay! Yay yay yay! My friends are coming over this Saturday! I'm so happy!" Otoya cheered happily as she hugged Labramon, who looked and acted just as happily as she.

"How wonderful! I'm so happy for you!" Labramon said happily.

"Things are finally looking up! Finally, my prayers have at least been answered when it comes to having good, true friends! I'll make this the best first friend get-together I've ever had in my whole entire life! Of course, I'll give you credit since you're one of the main reasons I've made it this far," Otoya told him as she let go of him.

"I take it you've gotten over Narumi?" Labramon asked.

"Yeah. I deleted the memory. I need room for at least some joy, don't I?" Otoya said.

"Yes. Yes you do," Labramon said, "You most definitely deserve it considering all you've been through."

"I wouldn't go that far," Otoya said. "I don't want to sound all stuck up and conceited."

"You? Stuck up and conceited? Otoya, you're anything but stuck up and conceited! Don't put yourself at that level!" Labramon objected rather abruptly, but Otoya shrugged it off and smiled.

"I know. I just don't want people thinking that I think I'm better than them just because my father's a preacher. I wonder if maybe that's why the kids at Chiba didn't like me back then."

"People are known to jump to conclusions rather thoughtlessly and tend to stick to them on no grounds. Oh! By the way, Otoya, can I ask you something?"

"Sure. Go ahead. I'm all ears!" Otoya said with a smile.

Labramon sighed a bit, and then looked Otoya in the eyes. "Do you happen to know what a cult is?"

Suddenly, Otoya's smile immediately dissipated. Labramon became concerned at the sudden mood change.

"Oh! I'm sorry. I'm not trying to hurt your feelings or anything. It's just that I overheard Oujiro-san and Noriko-san talking, and they said that they left Chiba because some people accused them of starting a cult, which, from the way they said it, sounds like a rather bad thing. Of course, I don't believe you're involved in any insidious schemes of any kind. I was just...curious," Labramon explained, hoping that he didn't unknowingly hurt Otoya's feelings. Otoya sighed a bit.

"To be honest, I've asked Mom and Dad about it too, and they wouldn't tell me anything. They just said that I shouldn't worry, but yeah, we were persecuted back in Chiba. They said something about us manipulating them or brainwashing their children and hurting them, but none of it is true! We can't do that stuff! Not at all! I don't know how or why they got those stupid ideas in their head. We're not the kind of family that hurts people or uses them for our own pleasure! No way! That's so stupid and wrong! But that's another reason kids wouldn't be friends with me, because they thought I was helping Dad brainwash or hurt people. It really hurt," Otoya explained rather sadly.

"I don't believe any of that. I know for a sure fact that you and your family would never partake in such insidious crimes. Aren't churches supposed to bring people together and provide refuge for the broken?" Labramon told her lucidly.

"Yeah. Dad said so too, but when I was little, I had a bit of a hard time believing it. I still have a hard time believing in it, and in other people too. I...I have to confess, I'm a little afraid of being betrayed."

"Because of what happened in Chiba, or because of Narumi?"

"Both. Dad says that God puts us through trials for a reason and that they're always worth it, but until now, I never believed that they would do me any good. He kept telling me to have faith, but...I don't know if faith will ever do me any good anymore."

"But you have the D-Heart of Faith! Surely it was given to you for a reason," Labramon objected.

"But why? Why do I have the D-Heart of Faith?"

Labramon didn't answer her. He didn't need to, because Noriko's voice stopped him.

"Otoya! Come down here! You're going to be late!"

"Coming!" Otoya grabbed her school bag and walked down the stairs. The whole family unit was gathered in the living room, and they were about to part until a knock was heard at the door.

_Knock! knock! knock!_

Everyone stopped to hear it.

"Who could that be?" Otoya asked Labramon, who shrugged a little.

"And at this hour, no less?" Maiko said.

"I'll get it!" Oujiro said as he plodded over to the door and answered it.

Much to the family's surprise, however, standing on their porch were two male police officers! Both of them had olive skin and flat black hair hidden under their hats. They both donned midnight blue uniforms with their shiny gold badges on their chests. At their waists are all the essentials needed for a police officer: a Taser, a gun, a baton, and a walkie-talkie. Otoya saw them and immediately she felt as though her stomach began doing back flips. Labramon simply cocked his head to one side. The whole family looked surprised seeing two police officers at their door in the morning. Oujiro, however, kept his cool and smiled at them.

"Good morning, officers. Is there anything I can do for you?" Oujiro asked calmly.

"Hello, sir. We're sorry to barge in on you like this," The taller officer said. "I'm Nakazawa, and this is my partner, Miketsukami. We hope you don't mind, but we've heard some reports that something happened here. Mind if we take a look around?"

All members of the Jounouchi family except for Oujiro looked at each other with anxious faces.

"Come on inside. I'll prepare you some tea since you took the time to come here," Oujiro said as he allowed the two officers to come inside.

The smaller officer, Miketsukami by his nametag, immediately saw Labramon and ran over to him with delight.

"Wow! That's some dog you have there! Is it a new species or something? That's so cool!" Miketsukami exclaimed happily, but Nakazawa yanked him by the arm and pulled him away from a rather surprised Labramon, muttering something about "dang rookies…"

"Miketsukami! How many times do I have to tell you? We're here to conduct an investigation, not drool over house pets!" Nakazawa scolded his younger partner, and Miketsukami immediately felt ashamed. He turned back to Oujiro. "Pardon my partner. He's a rookie and has only just entered the force."

"That's quite alright," Oujiro said.

Otoya didn't like the look of this. Noriko looked down at her. "You should all go to school now. We'll handle things here."

"But Mom-"

"No buts, dear. We'll handle this. Don't worry."

"How can we not worry?" Maiko asked in a pained whisper.

"Let's just go. There's no point in sticking around," Seijuro said as he walked out the door. Seeing that Seijuro had a good point, Otoya and Maiko, both reluctantly, followed suite and began the walk to school.

Even as she went out the door, Labramon could tell that Otoya looked quite pained, and so did the rest of the family. After they left, Labramon sat on the couch and listened in on their conversation. Miketsukami began looking around while Nakazawa talked to Oujiro and Noriko as they made tea.

"So what brings you here, officers?" Oujiro asked as the tea began to simmer.

"We've heard some reports saying that some kids were injured and coerced into joining a religious group that was supposedly held here. Do you happen to know anything about it?" Nakazawa asked.

"No. I know of no such thing, and I most certainly don't condone it either. God doesn't approve of injury or coercion, nor do I, nor does the entire family. Surely you understand," Oujiro said as he poured the tea into a small cup.

"Hey, I've heard you preach a few times. You're good!" Miketsukami said as he looked around in the living room.

"Thank you, officer," Oujiro said with a smile. Labramon could tell that smile was simply hiding pain. He could also tell that this wasn't going to end well...

Immediately when she entered the black top, the rest of the Digimon Brigade flocked over to her, noticing her sad expression.

"What's wrong, Otoya-chan? You look sad," Yun asked with concern in her sweet voice.

"Did something happen?" Hokuto asked.

Otoya sighed and told them about Akira and the police officers.

"WHAT? He USED you to make his ex-girlfriend jealous?" Rena yelped, appalled. Otoya nodded. Riku cracked his knuckles.

"Is he still around! I wanna beat him to a pulp!" Riku exclaimed, making a fist to prove his point.

"But he's in the seventh grade. There's no way you'll be able to get to him," Melody told him with her arms crossed.

"Yeah, but we can't let him get away with messing with our friend! No way!" Riku proclaimed.

Minako put a hand on Otoya's shoulder gently. "We're sorry that happened to you. If you ever need to talk to us about anything, feel free to do so."

Otoya smiled a bit. "Thank you...for being such great friends."

Yun hugged Otoya suddenly, but Otoya didn't mind. She loved this.

"How cruel he is to have used such a nice person such as thyself! He shalt not have any mercy from me! Methinks that all decency is leaving this world!" Lucero suddenly proclaimed.

Yun rolled her eyes. "Tell me about it."

"By the way...you said something about police officers coming to your house this morning? What's up with that?" Rena asked.

"I have no idea, but I'm really worried," Otoya said. "This isn't the first time it's happened. My family and I were hated in Chiba mostly because they kept accusing us of starting a cult. I don't even know what that is, but I can tell that it's something bad!"

"A cult? Isn't that-" Riku was about to explain what it is, but Rena slapped a hand on his mouth. Lucero did so with Hokuto in case he was about to go on another impeccably long and detailed lecture about it.

"That's not good at all! Why in the world would they accuse you, one of the nicest people in the world, of starting a cult of all things? You don't look like you're capable of doing that!" Yun exclaimed with concern.

"That's what we told people back in Chiba, but they still didn't believe us. I don't know why people would think that, but my family doesn't approve of stuff like that, nor do I," Otoya said. Yun put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I know. You're a nice person. No way would your awesome family start something as horrible as a cult! Besides, there isn't any solid evidence about it, so maybe the cops will understand and get off your case," Yun tried to reassure Otoya, but Otoya could tell that she didn't sound so sure. Despite this, she smiled away because of Yun's genuine kindness.

The bell rang and all the kids trotted off into Fushimi Middle School. Unfortunately, what the kids didn't know was that Tomoka overheard little pieces of their conversation and went to tell Iniki and Seiko about it in homeroom.

"Do any of you know what a cult is?" Tomoka asked curiously as she met with the other two girls.

"Huh? Where'd that come from?" Seiko asked as she put her hair up into a pig tail.

"I heard the loser league say it out on the black top," Tomoka replied.

"A cult? Oh! I saw something about it on the news yesterday! From what I heard, apparently it's some kind of overly religious thing in which people form groups in churches and worship God by hurting children and brainwashing people," Iniki explained.

"Ew! That doesn't sound good at all!" Seiko said, looking quite disgusted.

"I know, right?" Iniki said. "And doesn't Jounouchi's family come from the church?"

"Jounouchi? That blue haired girl who's happy all the time, right?" Tomoka asked.

"Ugh! Don't get me started on her! She thinks she's all that just because her family runs a stupid little church! Maybe her family's secretly part of some evil cult or something!" Seiko exclaimed.

"I also heard that her boyfriend used her and dumped her," Tomoka added.

Seiko suddenly snorted. "Seriously? Bwahahaha!" She burst into laughter. "Oh, that's so good! Serves her right! She doesn't deserve to get a boyfriend, nor should the rest of the loser league!"

"I wonder if I'll ever get a boyfriend? I'd love someone who's nice and handsome," Iniki muttered under her breath.

"Don't press your luck, Iniki-chan," Seiko said.

Uneasily, Otoya trudged through the school day wracked with worries swirling around in her head like moths around the light of a street light. Thoughts like '_Why did the police officers come to her house in the first place?'_ and_ 'Are they going to accuse them of a crime they didn't do? Are they going to arrest members of my family?' _and the most of all;_ 'What's going to happen?'_

As much as Otoya wanted to concentrate on school, her mind just wouldn't stop thinking about her family. Otoya and her family had already been persecuted before just for being a church family. Otoya had already been through a life of hardship and isolation before. She wanted more than anything to never go back to those terrible, lonely days in Chiba ever again. She wanted to move away from Chiba, start fresh, make some friends, put her past behind her, enjoy life, and live every day like it's her last. She yearned for the chance and she finally got it. She didn't want it to suddenly come crashing down around her again over one thing. But then again, she didn't want to get her hopes up. She didn't want to have faith that everything would be ok. She didn't think it would do any good to hope and pray and wish and have faith when it was possible that God would turn his back on her prayers. She didn't want any more false hope, nor did she want to let this heavenly chance at a better life slip between her fingers like sand.

Finally, school ended, and Otoya decided to walk home from school alone. But before she got further away from the school...

"Hello! Excuse me!"

Someone then approached her. To Otoya's surprise, it was Akira's ex-girlfriend Saki! Her hair was in a high pony tail and she was wearing a sleeveless pale green top, a blue jean skirt, and brown sandals. Otoya could see some tiny gold earrings on both of her ears. On her head was a bright purple hat.

"Umm...hello," Otoya said, a little surprised by her sudden appearance.

"You're...You're Jounouchi-san, right?" Saki asked.

"Yes," Otoya replied.

"I...I'm sorry for bothering you like this, but I really need to talk to you," Saki said.

"Sure. What is it?"

"I...I just want to say..." Suddenly, Saki bowed her head before Otoya. "I'm so sorry!"

Now Otoya was surprised.

"I-I'm so sorry for everything that Narumi has put you through! Please understand, I didn't find out about it until two days ago. I saw you and him hanging out, and I knew right away that he was manipulating you and using you to get me back. If I had known he was going to hook up with you sooner, I would have been able to stop him and save you from that hurt, but with us being in different grades and all, I guess it was inevitable. He's done some damage to me too, and I've decided to cut off all ties with that sick idiot! But...he's already hurt you! I'm so sorry! I should have stopped him when I had the chance!"

Otoya was surprised again, but this time out of joy. Akira's ex-girlfriend did try to save her from getting hurt, even though she did wind up getting hurt in the process. Otoya sighed. At least someone saw her and at least tried to save her, even though it didn't go so well. Otoya smiled at the purple hatted girl.

"It's okay. You did your best, and that's fine with me. I should have known what he was truly like by myself," Otoya told her gently.

"You're not mad at me for being a slacker?" Saki asked.

"No, not at all. There was really no way you and I could have known what he was really like," Otoya told her again.

Saki scratched her head. "Well, he IS really good at hiding his true self, so he fooled the both of us. I am never getting a boyfriend ever again."

"Not one like Narumi," Otoya said and laughed a little.

"But...again, I'm sorry I didn't stop him. It was wrong of him to use you like that. He uses everyone for his own self-gain, even his no good family. But...you shouldn't give up. I believe you'll find a guy who will definitely love you...and for who you really are," Saki told her.

"Thanks for the encouragement," Otoya replied.

"No prob. I'm Matsumae Saki by the way. I've been to your church a few times. Your dad's a great preacher. Plus your older brother's really cute!" Saki said with her hands behind her head.

"You think so? Thanks. I'm Jounouchi Otoya," Otoya told her, happy to see that Saki is a genuinely nice person, not like Akira. "I've seen you roller skates to school a lot. Do you do that every day?"

"Yep! Not today though. I have to get a new pair. Roller skating is fun! Especially if you want to go places on them! You should try it sometime. It gets you to school a lot faster than walking. Plus my mom says it's healthy as long as you're careful and don't fall and have on some safety gear," Saki explained.

"I'm not that good," Otoya said. "I always fall with things like that."

"With lots of practice you'll be a great skater. Oh! Dang it! Look at the time!" Saki said with a smile, and then looked at her watch. "I have to get ready for hockey practice! Ugh! Mom's gonna kill me! I hope we can be friends, Otoya-chan! See ya!" Saki waved to Otoya and ran away.

"Bye, Saki-chan! Thanks for your kindness!" Otoya cried out with a smile as Saki ran away. Otoya wasn't aware of the fact that Labramon appeared at her side until he spoke to her.

"Thanks for your kindness? That sounds a little contrived, don't you think?" Labramon asked, causing Otoya jumped with surprise.

"Labramon! Did you just get here?" Otoya yelped suddenly.

"Yes. Sorry if I scared you. She seems nice. You should be friends with her," Labramon told her. Otoya calmed down a bit and smiled sweetly.

"Yeah, she really did try to stop Narumi from using me more, and she doesn't approve of what he did, so I should do that," Otoya said. "By the way, did those officers...?"

"They left at around nine. Nobody was arrested," Labramon said, knowing where her question was going.

Otoya exhaled another sigh of relief. "Thank the lord! I've been worrying about Mom and Dad all day! I'm glad nothing went wrong. So shall we head home?"

"Yes! Let's!" Labramon said with a smile as he and Otoya joyfully walked home.

They had no idea that the cops would be back with a vengeance, and all the joy would be ripped from them as quickly as it appeared.

As soon as Otoya and Labramon could see their house, they stopped, frozen in their tracks in shock.

Red and blue lights on top of police cars with police sirens screaming all around as neighbors curiously watched, whispering to each other.

"What the-? Labramon! You said that they left!" Otoya yelled suddenly.

"They did, I swear! I saw them leave with my own eyes!" Labramon exclaimed.

Suddenly, three people came out of the Jounouchi house. Two police men, not Nakazawa and Miketsukami from before, and a very dejected Oujiro, his hands behind his back being lead away.

In handcuffs.

For a few seconds she stood there, stairing, in shock. Nothing was registering completely. Her dad, in handcuffs…? Why would they…the cult thing, was that it? Her mind processed the facts slowly until it clicked.

And then Otoya felt her world shatter into a million pieces around her.

"OH NOOO! DAD!" Consumed with fear, Otoya ran over to her dad and the officers taking him away, completely ignoring the officers telling her to stay back.

"You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you. You have a right to an attorney-" A big, bulky officer said as he dragged Oujiro out of the house, but Otoya ran in and stood in the way, surprising him so much that he stopped.

"Get off of him! Leave him alone!" Otoya flung herself against the officers suddenly, but she wasn't able to free her dad.

"Otoya!" Noriko yelled as she came out of the house and witnessed the event. In a paroxysm of desperation, Otoya clung to the arm of the big, bulky police man, who looked down at her with scorn.

"Get off me, you brat!" The man yelled angrily, and begain shaking his arm a little, but Otoya didn't give up.

"Please! Let him go! He didn't do anything wrong! Honest! You have to understand!" Otoya importuned desperately, but the man suddenly smacked her with his free and sent her sprawling to the ground.

"Otoya!" Maiko grabbed her as soon as she fell to the ground. Labramon ran over to the officer and pulled on his pant leg with his teeth, but the man kicked him off.

"Get off me, you mutt! Tch! This must be what a cult is really like!" The man scoffed angrily as he put Oujiro in a car.

Otoya heard the word and her eyes grew big. "A cult? No! We're not part of a cult! Honest!"

"Otoya. Calm down. We'll get out of this somehow," Oujiro told her calmly, but Otoya didn't buy it.

"Dad! Tell them you didn't do anything wrong! We didn't do anything wrong! Why are they doing this to you?" Otoya pleaded as she tried to reach him, but another officer stopped her from doing so.

"Step away from the car, miss!" The officer said.

"Otoya. Be strong for the family. Have faith," Oujiro said as another officer closed the car door, jumped in the car, and drove away rapidly.

Otoya angrily broke out of the other officer's grasp and tried to chase after the car, which sped away far faster than she could run.

"Dad! DAD! DAAAAAD!" Otoya screamed, and tried to run after the car.

But the car was far faster than her, after all, it was a car. As tears began to blur her vision her running became clumsy as she grew tired, and she tripped and slip on the cold merciless pavement.

Labramon and Maiko ran over to her. Otoya got up to see that the car had left, while the other police cars were still present.

Otoya couldn't believe it. Oujiro's been arrested because they think he started a cult with no proof! Again! Why did this always happen, why was it always them? What did they do, they never started a cult they never did anything wrong! Why? Why? Why? Why-why-why-why-why…

And finally the first tears came forth. Otoya wailed as tears streamed down her cheeks, not caring who saw anymore. And finally words came. She begain screaming at the sky, at no one in particular except maybe whatever God gave her this fate…

"WHY? WHY WHY WHY? WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE US? WHAT DID WE DO TO DESERVE ALL THIS?" The words flew from her lips before she could stop them, not that she cared anymore. She didn't can about anything anymore other than that her world had been shattered and her father was gone…

"I know. Dad didn't do anything wrong! We have to make them understand!" Maiko said suddenly, and she tried to help Otoya up.

Suddenly, Otoya slapped Maiko's hand away and ran off. Labramon chased after her, leaving Maiko and the rest of the family being interrogated by the police force.

Otoya couldn't believe it. Every little piece of happiness she thought she finally managed to grasp a firm hold on had suddenly been mercilessly ripped from her leaving her with baren cold nothing! Her Dad! Arrested! Likely to be accused of starting a cult! Otoya thought that she and her family had finally escaped all the pain and hardship brought on by those false allegations, but now they're back, and with full force! Otoya found herself leaning against a tree, panting for breath, while Labramon managed to stop her from running anymore.

"Dad's been arrested! My dad, Oujiro, the most wonderful preacher in all the world, arrested! This can't be happening! It just can't be!"

"But it is! It really is!" Otoya wailed as she felt another wave of tears coming on.

"Get a hold of yourself, Otoya! Surely the police will understand!" Labramon tried to reassure her, but Otoya wasn't buying it.

"No they won't! They didn't understand back in Chiba, so what makes you think they'll understand here?" Otoya yelled fervently.

"Why? Why? Why is it always us!" Otoya screamed as she begain to hit the tree as hard as she could, "What did I ever do! What did dad ever do! What kind of fate is this! Why can we never be happy? What faith is there if god condemns us to this!"

Labramon drooped his head down, feeling quite guilty that he can't do anything to help or reassure Otoya. He knew of the hardship that she and her family had suffered. He knew how much Otoya wanted to get out of Chiba and start a new life. He understood how much she suffered, even though he could only have an idea of what she went through. Even from birth, Labramon knew that he came to the human world to protect and be a friend to his partner, and he really grew to love Otoya in the mere month he spent with her. Her sunny outlook on life, her cheerful and kind nature, her warm heart, and her glowing radiance. It just broke his innocent little heart to see it all get swiped out from under his nose as quickly as it had appeared. He became even guiltier because he reassured Otoya that the police left as soon as they came, but now they came back and have just arrested Oujiro! Yes, Labramon does have no control over what happens in people's minds. Nobody does. It's likely that the police supposedly found some more eyewitness accounts (Labramon overheard one of the officers saying that someone accused Oujiro and was hurt by him and his "cult") and decided to act, but still. Labramon felt bad about giving Otoya false hope, even though he knew that he wouldn't have been able to know that they'd come back. Labramon rubbed his head against Otoya's body, wishing that he could at least cheer her up some way, anyway…

Suddenly, he felt an ominous jolt of energy through his body that made his hair stand up as his danger sense began screaming at him with full force.

"Otoya! Look out!"

"Wah?"

In a flash, Labramon pushed Otoya onto the street. Out of nowhere, the tree next to them exploded! Nobody saw it, but Labramon could tell that a Digimon had done it. Both Otoya and Labramon both tried to get up.

"Otoya! Are you okay?" Labramon asked with concern dappling his sweet voice.

"Yes. Thank you..." Otoya smiled at her faithful companion for saving her, even though she was just bawling a few minutes ago. As quickly as his gentle eyes appeared, they disappeared and turned into feral slits, as Labramon suddenly became overcome with bloodlust and an insatiable thirst for vengeance. He eyed the Digimon angrily, growling as he glared at it.

Otoya could tell that the only Digimon who can make Labramon act like this had just appeared before them and Otoya didn't hesitate to get up and prepare herself for what was going to inevitably happen next when she saw who it was…

Nayuki and Devidramon. Both of them looked down at her with scorn. Otoya threw a digilasso on Labramon in case he were to suddenly lunge at Devidramon

"Did you attack me just now?" Otoya yelled in a demanding voice, attempting to keep the sadness out of her voice.

Nayuki insouciantly hopped off of Devidramon's back and onto the street, though she did stumble a bit as she did. "Yep, it's not good to leave yourself open to attack like that. You're really stupid, you know that?"

"Cut the garbage! I already have enough on my plate right now so leave us alone!" Otoya yelled, louder this time.

"Like having your worthless pawn of a father get arrested for starting a cult?" Nayuki retorted.

Otoya's eyes grew big. How did Nayuki know about this? Did she see him get arrested? Did Devidramon see it and tell her about it? Or did she...? Otoya couldn't believe it.

"How do you know about that?" she demanded.

"Doesn't matter. There's nothing you can do to change it, y'know. He's going to get arrested, and you'll all go down with him. It's your reality, and you can't change it. You need to understand that nothing in life ever goes your way, no matter how badly you want it to," Nayuki told her coldly.

"I know for a fact that not everything goes the way I want it to! Stop telling me what I already know!" Otoya shouted, trying to suppress the sudden urge to cry again.

"No, you don't know, you stupid idiot! Don't go around thinking your worthless dad will be saved, because he won't. The reality that exists now is the definite one and the end-all. You can't change anything because it's how it is. You should know better than to do something you're not even capable of doing."

"Who are you to decide that? You're not God, so how would you know?" Labramon started to act up, but Otoya tried relentlessly to keep him restrained, even though she knew that it wasn't going to last long at this rate.

"It's just the way it is. We're all victims of a cruel world, and you're no different, so quit acting like you're all that and accept the fact that the world doesn't revolve around you!"

That did it for Otoya. How dare that little…after what had just happened not five minutes ago…

She let go of her digilasso and got her digivice out. "I HAVE HAD ENOUGH!" She screamed, causing Nayuki to raise an eyebrow, "I normally don't like fighting, but if you want a fight, then fine! Let's battle!"

A blue light eminated from her cerulean blue digivice and it wrapped around Labramon.

Labramon digivolved into Seasarmon and immediately lunged at Devidramon, hell-bent on ripping the demon to shreds. Devidramon used his long arms to push Seasarmon off of him, but even he knew he couldn't keep him off for long, not when he was like this.

Seasarmon ferociously tried to jab at him with his long horn, but Devidramon bit it with his large, sharp teeth and kept him from making a direct hit on him. Seasarmon did, however, managed to scratch him in the face and keep him pinned to the ground, unable to fly. They were like two dogs getting into a fight, only Seasarmon was much smaller than Devidramon.

Devidramon and Seasarmon fought and fought like rabid animals. They clawed, they bit, they scratched, they kicked, they rolled around on the street (surprisingly enough they didn't run into any houses or knock anything but a few trees over. Partly this is because the street they're on is quite wide, and there aren't many houses within their range thankfully). Devidramon bit Seasarmon's tail, but Seasarmon retaliated by biting part of Devidramon's wing, which made him roar in pain. Otoya watched with horror.

_'Why did I say we could battle? This isn't right!'_ Otoya thought.

She wanted to stop Seasarmon, but she knew that his insatiable and uncontrollable bloodlust and thirst for revenge overrided her commands, so it was futile...but she knew she had to do something! What if it got even more out of control than it already is? She was about to run, but Nayuki suddenly grabbed her by the shirt and pushed her against a tree, pinning her there.

"You're going to stop them from fighting, aren't you?" Nayuki yelled, looking very choleric. Otoya tried to pry Nayuki off of her, but her grip was too tight.

"Get off of me, you Goth!" Otoya yelled as she tried to pry Nayuki's hands off of her shirt, but she just wouldn't budge, and Otoya was far too weak to change that.

"This is what I hate the most about you preacher's kids! You're all so durn thick-headed, never wanting to listen to anyone but yourselves! You didn't listen to a thing I said, did you? This is reality, and it can't be changed!"

"Why are you so sure about that? You're not even doing anything so you're no better than me!"

"Stop trying to change what is!"

"You stop telling me what I should and shouldn't be! You don't even know me!"

"I know you're a preacher's kid, and preachers are the people that I hate the most!"

"Why? What did my dad ever do to you?"

"Shut up, you dunderhead!"

"You shut up, you cruel and abusive Goth!"

"Think about it for a second! Those "friends" that you have...how do you know that they're only around you so that they can make themselves look good? How do you know they're not plotting to betray you and spit you out and then laugh at you as your-"

_SLAP!_ Otoya, in a fit of anger, slapped Nayuki in the face, which finally managed to make her let go of her shirt.

"Stop saying that! You don't know what my friends are like, so stop making up those ridiculous lies!" Otoya screamed in rage.

Nayuki stumbled to maintain her balance as she clung to her stinging red cheek.

"I don't know what kind of grudge you have against me or my friends or life or what! But I'm not going to listen to those lies you're spitting out or tolerate you telling me what I should and shouldn't be or be a scapegoat for your personal anger!"

And at that moment, Seasarmon and Devidramon decided to take it up a notch.

"Crimson Claw!"

"Sekkantou!"

They still hacked at each other, only now they were using their powers. Both Digimon managed to dodge the other's first attack.

"Tee Dia!"

"Red Eye Beam!"

Both attacks missed, and they ended up knocking down two more trees. Some birds flew away, and some rabbits and squirrels and other small animas scurried away in fear. Some people came out and fled from their houses in fear as the fight progressed.

"We have to stop them before they destroy everything!" Otoya said.

"Why should we? Let them wreak havoc. If they hold back, then they won't be satisfied," Nayuki told her coldly and insouciantly.

"But people and animals will die if they-"

"Why do you care so much? They're going to die anyway, so what's the point of delaying the inevitable?" Nayuki said emotionlessly.

"Who are you to decide that? You should never say something like that!" Otoya said in shock.

"It's the truth. That's all there is to it. Accept it."

"But people will DIE!" Otoya wanted to cry.

"That's not our problem. It's their fault for getting in the way!"

Otoya was about to punch Nayuki despite her objection to fighting, but Seasarmon suddenly slammed into the space between the two girls by Devidramon, who finally decided that he'd had enough of being pushed around by Seasarmon.

"Crimson Claw!"

But Seasarmon wasn't going to go down that easily.

"Tee Dia!"

Arrows of pure light formed out of thin air and they flew at Devidramon. Some he dodged some hit him enough to make him roar in pain. Afterward, Devidramon flew at him again, only this time, Seasarmon didn't stop him. Otoya and Nayuki couldn't stop him (nor did Nayuki want to for that matter). Someone else stopped them.

Two actually.

"Vacuum Kamaitachi!"

Both Digimon were hit by invisible waves of energy, pushing them back and onto the ground.

"Spray of Hearts!"

A slew of glowing pink hearts circled around both Digimon and rendered them not just unconscious, but tired enough to force them both to de-digivolve back into Labramon and Tsukaimon. Both Otoya and Nayuki saw this, and had both with different reactions. Nayuki reacted with shock and anger, and Otoya with joy.

"What? How-?" Nayuki yelled suddenly but was abruptly cut off.

"Aria-chan! Hokuto-kun!" Otoya exclaimed.

Both Aria, Hokuto, MarineAngemon, and Reppamon came onto the fracas and managed to stop the fighting. The two stood there as the dust cleared to revile Aria wearing a pale orange and pink shirt pale pink hearts embroidered all over it, along with a pair of pale blue jean shorts and pink shoes. Hokuto had on a light beige hat a short sleeved blue and dark blue striped shirt, and a pair of beige khaki shorts, and black and white sneakers. Otoya ran over to them and hugged them both in relief.

"Otoya-Neechan! Are you okay?" Aria asked in her sweet voice.

"Thank goodness you both are here!" Otoya said, looking as though she's about to tear up.

"We heard the noise from our streets, so we came to help out," Hokuto said.

"Is everyone alright?" Reppamon asked.

"We are, thanks to you," Otoya said.

Reppamon exhaled a sigh of relief. "I'm glad we made it in time."

"Hey!" MarineAngemon yelped when she saw Nayuki, who spat at the street.

"Ugh. Disgusting," Nayuki said under her breath, but MarineAngemon heard it and was NOT going to let Nayuki off the hook.

"Who do you think you are, letting your Digimon cause destruction like that? Don't you know that there's people living here, and that if you let him run loose like that, they'll all get killed? They're not like us Digimon, y'know! Quit acting like this is your territory and you own this area!" MarineAngemon scolded harshly, being the hot-tempered little pink fairy that she was. Nayuki became disgusted at the sight of her and turned away.

"I'm sick and tired of being lectured all the time! You're all a bunch of thick-headed idiots who don't know anything about the world! Why don't you all crawl into a hole and die already! I can't believe I wasted my time with you! Tsukaimon, we're leaving!" Nayuki yelled and turned to leave.

"You don't have any right to say that!" Reppamon cried out angrily.

"Yeah? Well I'm saying it anyway so hold your tongue!" Nayuki yelled. She then saw Tsukaimon struggling to get up and fly. "Move it, Tsukaimon! I'm not going to be your mode of transportation!"

Without a word, even a snarky insult or a funny face to make to annoy the kids, Tsukaimon flew toward Nayuki and followed her out, swaying a little in the air.

Little MarineAngemon, noticing that Labramon is still lying on the street, decided to fly over to him and help. Otoya, Aria, Hokuto, and Reppamon, who just now de-digivolved back into Kudamon, ran over with her to help.

"Spray of Hearts!" MarineAngemon spit out three glowing hearts, all of which hit Labramon and helped restore his energy. Soon, he woke up and was able to get to his feet.

"You sure took a beating. Are you okay?" MarineAngemon asked; now back to her sweet voice.

"Yes. Thank you," Labramon said. Otoya hugged him and he relished in the hug.

"What was going on back there? Did Ichinose-san assault you?" Hokuto asked with concern.

"Yeah. Right out of nowhere she started attacking us, and saying a bunch of nonsense about how we can't change reality and that the world doesn't revolve around me or garbage like that," Otoya explained.

Aria noticed how red her face was. "Have you been crying?" She asked innocently but with a twinge of worry and concern in her little voice.

"You have, haven't you?" Kudamon added, being the observant young Digimon that he is.

Otoya, knowing that she couldn't hide it, began tearing up. "Yes!"

With a wail, she leaped onto Hokuto, hugged him, and cried into his chest. At first, Hokuto looked quite surprised, as he has never had to experience this before and didn't know how to react really. But seeing how sad Otoya is, he decided to relax a little and wrap his thin, slender arms around her.

"M-M-M-My dad has just been arrested! The police think he started a cult and is hurting children, but it's not true! It's not true! They're wrong! They're wrong!" Otoya cried.

"It's been awful. One thing after another," Labramon piped in sadly.

"Goodness. How much hardship can one person handle at one time? I'm sorry it's happened to you, Otoya-san. I hope everything turns out well in the end," Kudamon said. Both Aria and MarineAngemon hugged Otoya too, hoping that they'd be able to comfort her somewhat and let them know that they care for her and were worried about her.

Despite Kudamon's reassurance, however, Otoya did not believe that everything was going to turn out well in the end. It didn't back in Chiba, so she had no reason to believe that it would now.

In short, she had lost her faith.

She didn't dare say it to Kudamon, however, because she knew that he meant well, and she didn't want to contradict him or disappoint him, so she kept her mouth shut.

After a while, she decided to go back home. Hokuto, Aria, MarineAngemon, and Kudamon were reluctant to let her go by herself because they could still see the police cars, and it was likely that the police would interrogate her for hours. Otoya reassured them that she'll be fine and continued on, but Hokuto and Aria still looked a little apprehensive about it.

Otoya did get interrogated by the police officers, and she answered them as honestly as she could (not that any of them would likely believe that she was being honest to begin with) and still ardently kept her belief that her father was innocent. At around 8:00 PM, the officers finally left, and the police cars drove away.

Seijuro plopped onto the couch with relief. "Phew! I thought they'd never leave!"

Noriko hung up the phone. She had been talking on it earlier.

"What did they say?" Maiko asked.

"They won't let us see him in jail, but he's calling his attorney, and they're already trying to plan out a court date," Noriko explained.

"A little fast, don't you think?" Seijuro asked.

Maiko fell silent as she sat down on the couch with Seijuro, who sat up when she sat down.

"They won't really convict him, will they? I mean, there's no solid evidence!" Seijuro asked.

Noriko walked into the kitchen with a dejected look. Otoya didn't bother to hear her answer because she and Labramon left for her room. She sat on her bed silently with Labramon looking up at her. A few minutes passed and Noriko walked into the room. She saw the dejected look on

Otoya's round face and sat down next to her.

"Otoya..." Noriko whispered softly as she began stroking Otoya's hair with her slender hand. "I know it's hard. It's hard for all of us."

"What did we do...to deserve this? What did we do that was so bad?" Otoya asked in a bitter voice.

"I don't know...but I'm sure for a fact that Oujiro will convince the police that they're wrong. All we need to do is have some faith," Noriko said with a forced smile.

Something snapped in Otoya's head. "Have faith? Have faith?"

Suddenly, she stood up in rage and began to all but yell at Noriko. "What has having faith ever done for us? Nothing, that's what! Having faith didn't get me any friends in Chiba! Having faith didn't get you your old job back! Having faith didn't convince everyone in Chiba that we're normal people just like them! Even after all of that, you're still dumb enough to tell us to have faith? Can't you take a hint, Mom? They're never going to understand! The police are going to throw Dad in jail on no grounds and we can't do a thing about it! And stop trying to reassure me when even you know that it's hopeless! Don't try to sugarcoat it for me! I'm not stupid! I know when we're in trouble and that we can never fix! I gave up on having faith long ago! It's never done anything for me or for anyone in this family! Faith will never save us!"

With that, Otoya ran out of the room, with Labramon right behind her. Noriko didn't bother, because she knew that what Otoya just said was true.

Or...is it?

Sometimes, destiny has a way of playing the right cards for people, especially when times are hardest. What happens when, in the most unexpected ways, you get the answer you've been searching for?

Around the time Otoya saw Oujiro getting arrested, Link and WarGreymon jumped into the Digital World to do some more research. They landed in a vast, barren desert with absolutely no life on it. No cacti, no plants, nothing. Just sand, sand, sand, and some of rocks. Lots and lots of rocks. It looked as though it went on for a thousand miles.

"Jeez. You'd think we'd land somewhere nice for once," WarGreymon said as he scratched his head with his claw. Link pulled out a laptop and began typing into it. Curious, WarGreymon took a peek. On the screen was a digital map of the human world, and another digital map of the Digital World.

"You still working on this?" WarGreymon asked.

"Yes. It's not finished yet, but it will be soon. Thanks to our regular trips to the Digital World, and to other parts of the human world and back, I think I might have every location between the two worlds nailed down. When I'm finished, I'll tell the kids about it so that they'll know where to go and where to leave if they want to get back to their home," Link explained.

"That's pretty cool. Hey! Remember that time we landed in Germany during a showing of _Phantom of the Opera_? We landed right on the guy's face!" WarGreymon explained jokingly, laughing at the last part.

Link laughed too. "Yeah. That was pretty hilarious. But the security guards and actors didn't think so."

Suddenly, something caught WarGreymon's eye. He hid behind a big rock, and he pulled Link with him.

"What's up?" Link asked in a whisper.

"Shh! Look," WarGreymon pointed to part of the desert. Link could see something small and grey coming their way. Link got his digivice out and closed his eyes.

_'Digivice, turn WarGreymon invisible,'_ Link thought. Immediately, WarGreymon disappeared and blended into the rock! Despite not being able to see him Link knew he was there.

Link hid behind the rock cautiously, but the grey thing got bigger and bigger until it passed the rock. A lone blue-grey Gazimon ran past the rock and scurried off into the distance, looking quite happy.

"Yes! Yes yes yes! I think I finally have what Master needs! He'll be so proud of me! I'd best return to the inner sanctum this very minute!" The Gazimon said in a strange, raspy voice as he passed the rock. He was oblivious to the fact that Link and an invisible WarGreymon saw him run by and heard him.

"Should we follow him?" Link asked WarGreymon.

"You just read my mind. Let's do it," WarGreymon replied.

Since WarGreymon was invisible, it's likely the Gazimon won't spot him. Link kept a close eye on the Gazimon while making sure not to do anything that would likely cause it to spot him. Thankfully, the Gazimon seemed too happy to really notice, let alone care.

But the thing that irritated Link and WarGreymon the most was how far the little thing was going. It seemed to take them hours. It might have, and probably did.

The digital sun was about to set when the Gazimon stopped in front of a big rock. Link and WarGreymon hid behind another big rock close by, and the invisibility spell broke. WarGreymon appeared. Link got his digivice out.

"Sorry, big guy, but you're gonna have to deal with this for a while," Link said as he opened his digivice.

"Not a problem," WarGreymon said.

Link pressed a button, and WarGreymon de-digivolved back into...a little black creature with yellow button eyes the size of Link's hand. The little black Digimon hopped into Link's backpack and squeezed himself into a safe spot.

"Good, Botamon," Link said to the black Digimon, Botamon.

Once Botamon settled in, Link saw that the Gazimon is still there, trying to lift up the big rock. After a few minutes, he managed to lift it and made it fall on its side. Underneath it is a medium-sized hole that wasn't surrounded by sand. Link made himself invisible with the digivice and crept closer to said hole. Once the Gazimon saw that it was open, he leaped into it. So did Link.

Suddenly, it was dark. Not too dark, but almost so. Link saw that the tunnel he leapt into was quite wide, and it went in two directions. The walls were lined with small torches, with the flames making the tunnel as bright as it possibly could be. The Gazimon jumped to the bottom of the rock, pulled on the handle, yanked on it, and closed the entrance shut. The Gazimon went down part of the tunnel without noticing Link. Link, seeing this, decided to follow him cautiously.

It took them a while to get there, but they made it to the center part of what Link began to call the underground caverns, and his jaw dropped. The center part of it was enormous! Humongous and wide, and very spacious save for the giant blue crystal containing a dark blue ghostly two-headed dragon spirit with red and yellow eyes in the very middle of the crystal.

And the crystals! There were lots of crystals of all sizes on the ceiling containing frozen Digimon, forever frozen in a horrifying beautiful prison. All over the walls are holes and tunnels of all kinds leading who-knows-where.

Link immediately became suspicious. _'Is that two-headed dragon the Master?_' Link thought suspiciously.

The Gazimon from before ran up to the dragon in the crystal and smiled at him.

"Master! I'm back!" The Gazimon said.

"You sure took your sweet time," The dragon spirit told him in a low but booming voice.

"My apologies, Master MoonMillenniummon. It took longer than we expected, but after much trial and error, I finally managed to find something that might interest you greatly!" The Gazimon exclaimed with a smile as he pulled out a black and purple stone and showed it to the dragon in the crystal, MoonMillenniummon.

_'MoonMillenniummon? So he's their Master,'_ Link thought as he watched them.

"Now what stone is this again?" MoonMillenniummon asked.

"This is what we Gazimon call a Smoky Onyx. They're used primarily for dark magic, and their magic is quite potent. I think they'll be more useful than the stones we've been using to make Dark Emblems with. I was hoping that maybe Diaboromon can examine it and see if it's any good since more and more Digimon are becoming immune to Dark Emblems," Gazimon explained.

"Hmmmm. Interesting," MoonMillenniummon eyed the little ball of fire with eyes next to him. "DemiMeramon, summon Diaboromon at once!"

"Yes sir!" DemiMeramon exclaimed and flew away. Suddenly, two ghost Digimon and a black TV-like Digimon appeared.

"Did you say a Smoky Onyx?" One ghost Digimon asked. "Oh! I know what they are! Their magic is very powerful and hard to contain!"

"You know about these, Bakemon brothers?" Gazimon asked with sudden curiosity.

"Yep! Our bretheren used to make them before they all got whipped by a member of the Holy Guardians!" The second Bakemon said, his voice souring at the mention of a member of the Holy Guardians.

"Speaking of which..." The little TV Digimon looked up at MoonMillenniummon. "Hey, Master? Do you remember that Digimon called Wisemon? Y'know, the one who saw all of us destroy the Digital World, the Holy Guardians, and the Holy Council?"

Link's eyes grew as big as they possibly could and he had to suppress a gasp. _'What? This crystalized dragon destroyed the Digital World? And it's guardians?'_ He thought with shock.

"Yes. What about him, HiVisionMonitormon?" MoonMillenniummon asked the little TV Digimon, HiVisionMonitormon.

"Do you think the curse on him really worked? I mean, you didn't really take into account the fact that only he can never leave his book thingy," HiVisionMonitormon said. "I-I-I mean, I'm not saying it won't work or anything!" HiVisionMonitormon stuttered, trying to make sure that he hadn't messed up.

"I know. I've thought much about it myself, but I do feel that the curse I've placed on Wisemon will prevent him from starting up a rebellion and taking me down. He can never leave his book, nor is he allowed to say the names of the one we killed. That much I know," The crystalized dragon said. "Of course, I am the one who both planned and carried out most of the Digital World's destruction. It's likely that both Wisemon and AncientWisemon will not be able to overthrow us."

"Okay! That's fine with me! I was just curious since we haven't seen him and all," HiVisionMonitormon said.

Suddenly, a DemiMeramon flew into the room with a walkie talkie. This isn't the DemiMeramon that sent for Diaboromon earlier.

"Master! Lilithmon wishes to speak with you!" DemiMeramon exclaimed as he floated up to MoonMillenniummon with the black walkie-talkie.

"What is it, Lilithmon?"

A few moments silence.

"Huh? What was that? I can't hear you."

More silence except for the crackling of the walkie-talkie.

"Oh. So...he's perished too."

Again, more silence.

"Alright. Thanks for letting me know."

The walkie talkie hissed, and the DemiMeramon floated away.

"Oh great! Who kicked the bucket now?" HiVisionMonitormon yelped angrily.

"It was SkullMeramon," MoonMillenniummon whispered.

"WHAAAAAAT?" Gazimon, HV-Monitormon, and the two Bakemon screamed. "NOT HIM TOO!"

"He was like a big brother to me! He always helped me! Why did he have to fall?" Gazimon screamed angrily and sadly at the same time.

"Well, there isn't much we can do now," The second Bakemon said.

Feeling satisfied with what he heard, Link crawled out of the tunnel, found the rock, opened it, and returned to the night time desert. He let his invisibility spell break.

"I...I have to let everyone know about this!" Link said as he pulled out his digivice to go back to the human world...but when he did, there were a few beeps and… a digital portal didn't appear.

"WHAT? No no no! Don't close on me now, mystical veil!" Link screamed angrily. After a few minutes, he calmed down.

"Tch! I should have expected this. Oh well. I guess I'll have to stick around for a while," Link said as he walked away from the rock.

It was going to be a long night…

Author's Note: Credit goes to RandomReviewer257 for proofreading and improving on this chapter. Your help is always appreciated!


	60. A Reason To Keep On Praying

EPISODE 60: A Reason to Keep On Praying

A deep, dark, ominous shadow seemed to loom over the Jounouchi family. As if the persecution they had to endure in Chiba wasn't bad enough, it basically followed them all the way to their new town and got Oujiro arrested! Otoya knew that the whole town was going to know about it and likely turn against her and her family…again.

What had they done to deserve such senseless persecution? Otoya didn't see anything that deemed being a preacher's kid so bad, nor anything that made her dad come off as such a suspicious person deserving arrest. It just wasn't fair!

Otoya cried herself to sleep that night, knowing that the happy life she finally had was as good as gone. As her tears dripped soundlessly onto her pillow she couldn't help but think how she had finally thought she managed to grasp something good in life, only to be helpless to watch as it slipped through her fingers and into a bottomless pit, never to be seen again. It was as if fate mocking her, telling her that she didn't deserve it, taunting her with happiness before snatching it away and laughing as she cried before repeating the process again. And she never learned. Just when Otoya thought she finally got what she wanted, it was all destroyed, crumpled up, and thrown into the bin that is named hatred. And fate simply laughed as she tried to salvage something.

Otoya gave up on having faith. Why should she have faith when fate itself loved to torture her so? Faith was worthless, and so was her D-Heart. After all, had it helped evolve Labramon? No! Faith was stupid.

Faith was pointless.

She didn't believe that the police would see that Oujiro isn't the evil person those so-called anonymous eyewitnesses claim him to be. Why couldn't they understand that it was a lie? That the "anonymous" eyewitness wanted to hurt them? They had no proof yet they just judged and hurt and took and destroyed. And all on one account!

Adults were stupid.

With that thought Otoya cried even harder. And she cried untile her nose was running and her eyes were red and her pillow was a mess with a mixture of mucus and tears, and even then she kept crying into the late hours of the night.

She firmly believed that the small flower happiness she had had watched bloom had been ripped up by the roots and she was forced to watch as it withered into a brown dried-up worthless piece of nothing. She couldn't deny that the prejudice was a very real thing anymore. She wondered if this was some kind of vengeance for something she and her family did in the past. But what did they do that was so bad they deserved this?

It broke Labramon's small heart to see Otoya so dejected, so angry, so heartbroken, so betrayed, and just downright depressed about everything that's been happening. He wished there was something more that he could do for her besides sit by her side and try and look OK. He wished and wished for a way to do something, but nothing came to mind. He simply wished he wasn't so…useless with things like this. He wished he didn't feel so helpless. But what could he do? Reassurance wouldn't work because to Otoya, it would just be false hope, and Otoya knew that. Labramon knew that he can't control what happens to people, or what goes on in a person's head. There wasn't any way to know that Oujiro would be released or imprisoned. But Labramon wished that he could do something! Anything! He knew that if people at school found out about what happened to Oujiro, it would detract from Otoya from everyone else, and make them think of her as a preacher's kid, and one that they would think started a cult of all things! And then everything would be even worse. What those kids had been doing to Yun…that was more that enough proof!

He wished he could do more for her, but it made him heartbroken to know that he just couldn't do anything in this situation!

_'Grrr! Why does it have to be her who has to go through all of this? She didn't do anything wrong! None of them did! What did they ever do to deserve this? I don't see any reason why they have to go through such senseless and utterly discriminatory prejudice! I don't understand!'_ Labramon knew that barking and growling about it wouldn't do anything, so all he did was stay by her side as Otoya cried the night away…

On Wednesday, Labramon woke up to find Otoya preparing to go to school with a strange look on her face that just didn't belong on her usually bright face. An abject expresson was on her face, one of complete and utter hopelessness and defeat. He found this to be quite unsettling.

"Otoya? You don't have to go to school if you don't want to. You don't have to make yourself suffer," Labramon told her worriedly.

"I'll go anyway. It's likely that everyone will turn against me, so I might as well accept my punishment," Otoya told him almost emotionlessly. Labramon hopped off of the bed and in front of Otoya.

"Punishment for what? You didn't do anything wrong! None of you did!" Labramon barked passionately.

"Punishment for having faith when I know it doesn't do anything for me!" Otoya snapped back, "I was a fool to believe that praying and having faith would save me from despair! All it does is bring despair to me!"

"Not all the time! Not all prayers are in vain! Otoya...understand. Being part of your family isn't a bad thing. I don't believe that your family did anything wrong!"

"But everyone else thinks we're bad just because we happen to work in a church!"

"That's their problem! They don't understand how wonderful you are! And what about the rest of the Digimon Brigade? They won't turn against you! I know they won't! I sense unfeigned sincerity all over them! They're not like Narumi!"

Otoya didn't say anything to him after that. She wanted to contradict him, but she couldn't, so she left the room, leaving Labramon alone. Noriko saw Otoya coming downstairs and walked in front of her.

"I think you should stay home from school today, Otoya. I don't want you to get stressed out by this mess," Noriko told her, noticing the worrying expression on Otoya's face.

"I'm going to school! I might as well face prejudice and accept it than run away from it when I know I deserve it," Otoya said, barley keeping her voice below a shout.

"Otoya! That's crazy talk!" Seijuro exclaimed.

"Yeah! Since when did you go all sour on us?" Maiko asked, looking just as appalled as Seijuro was.

"Since I found out that having faith and hoping for something that will never come brings nothing but sadness!" Otoya exclaimed, angry at their ignorant responses.

"Otoya. Don't talk like that. It's true that not all prayers are answered, but we can't give up! They haven't given Oujiro a sentence just yet. He's probably talking to his attorney right now!" Noriko told her sternly.

"Yeah, probably! You don't know for sure, do you? Stop trying to give me false reassurance! It won't work anymore!" Otoya yelled angrily.

With that, she stomped out of the house. She didn't even bother to eat breakfast. No one bothered to stop her. They knew that reassuring her wouldn't work. They weren't sure if they could hope for anything good to happen themselves really. Otoya stomped all the way to school. It was cloudy today, and getting worse every second, so her feelings matched the darkening weather. The first person who saw her on the black top was Yun.

"Otoya-chan!" Yun ran over to her with concern in her eyes. "You look sad. Are you okay?"

Even Otoya couldn't deny it. Her sweet voice, her kind green eyes, her genuine concern, they all oozed sincerity. Otoya hugged Yun and cried a little. Melody, Rena, Riku, Lucero, and Minako walked up to them soon after.

"Wow. You don't look so good," Melody said.

Otoya told them everything.

"Oh no! Seriously? Oh gosh, I...I'm so sorry..." Yun exclaimed loudly, but then whispered upon

seeing Otoya's dejected face.

"Your dad, that nice preacher? Arrested? No way! This has got to be some kind of mistake!" Rena said.

"There's no solid evidence that your father started a cult. They can't just arrest him, can they?" Minako asked.

"I'm afraid they can," Riku muttered.

"Rikkun! What are you saying?" Yun yelped.

"Hast thou any faith?" Lucero yelped, just as shocked as Yun was.

"These days, the police jump on any calls they get from victims or eyewitnesses. With or without evidence, they'll do anything to put people behind bars. It's the truth. Believe me, I've been there," Riku explained, apparently not surprised by what's transpired.

"You're not saying we should give up, are you?" Melody yelped angrily.

"No. Not at all. Since when did I ever give up? I'm just saying that justice has been twisted over the years as corruption sets in. But you know what I think? I think some realist is trying to make you and your family look like idealists, Otoya," Riku said to the group at first, then to Otoya directly.

"Idealists?" Otoya asked, curious.

Unfortunately, Riku never go answer as they were interrupted.

"Hey look! It's the cult girl!" Seiko's voice called out, startling them all. And then Nenji and his friends joined her in the taunting.

"Cult girl! Cult girl!" The group of boys taunted angrily. Just as angrily, Riku, Lucero, and Yun stood up to them.

"Will you idiots shut up?" Yun screamed.

"Thou knowest nothing!" Lucero yelled to back her up.

"Hey Cult girl! What's it like to have an old geezer in jail? I'll bet he's brainwashing the prisoners and making them join!" Nenji yelled maliciously.

"Maybe you should be the one in jail, you fat pig!" Riku screamed angrily, temper lost imediatly.

"Take it back, dawg!" Nenji yelled as he was about to lunge at Riku.

"Break it up!" A teacher suddenly stormed into the soon-to-be fight and managed to stop Nenji attacking Riku.

Right then, the bell rang loudly, and all the kids stormed inside. Almost as though that was a cue, as soon as they ran in, a light rain began to fall. By second period, it was practically pouring! Rain, rain, and more rain. Obscuring the view out the window, slicking the roads, all that was missing was the a flash of lighting and a distant boom of thunder. The ominous rain continued to come down in sheets, making a strong pitter-patter sound on every surface available outside the school, from sidewalks to the school's roof.

Otoya loved the rain right now, because it matched her mood perfectlly. There's no thunder or lightning, so no blackouts occurred, though Otoya had to admit, she wished there was a blackout so it could match her mood even more perfectly. Most of the kids complained about it since they couldn't go outside for recess when it's raining. But while it did put a stop to the kids going outside, it didn't stop them from throwing all kinds of insults and calumny at Otoya. Not even Mrs. Kamogawa could subdue the kids for long. And soon it was out of control.

"Hey Cult girl! Are you planning on brainwashing all of us? No wonder you're so unpopular! You'd be way more popular if you weren't the daughter of a stupid preacher and a criminal!" Seiko exclaimed virulently. Some of the girls laughed at the comment.

"Can it, you shriveled up chicken!" Melody yelled, leaning out of her seat threateningly.

"Kids! Kids! Calm down right this minute!" Mrs. Kamogawa yelled all the while as she tried to subdue Nenji, who kept throwing pencils and rocks (_'Where does the boy get so many blasted rocks?'_ Mrs. Kamogawa kept thinking) at both Yun and Otoya.

"Shut up, you fat lady!" Nenji retorted viciously, before hurling a rock at Yun, who ducked almost casually, growing far too used to this kind of thing.

"Cult girl! Cult girl! Cult girl!" The boys chanted incessantly loud.

"Quiet!" Riku screamed, temper flaring.

Unfortunately, they didn't quiet down. They just got even louder.

"Cult girl! Cult girl!" some chanted.

"What's wrong, cult girl? Are you too busy praying to fight back? Quit acting like you're all that!" A random girl in Seiko;s group yelled, electing cheers form the others

"Cult girl! Cult girl!" the chanting simply grew louder.

"Your dad must be a real joke to go this far!"

"Cult girl! Cult girl!" Louder and louder still…

"You preacher's kids are such weirdoes! I'll bet you'd do anything for that criminal dad of yours! Stop acting like you're so much better than everyone else!"

Their ugly words echoed in Otoya's head over and over again.

So many voices, so many faces, all distorted with malice and cruel joy at her expense…

She didn't want them to register in her brain.

Louder and louder still…

She hoped that ignoring them would make them stop, but it only make them more volatile.

Cheers and jeers and worse and worse insults each time, each stinging like a slap to the face…

_They didn't know anything._

Her friends screaming at them to stop, random people simple watching and not helping…

They knew nothing about her father or her family life, so why?

Melody was getting out of her seat, Yun shrank in her seat but held onto a rock Nenji had thrown earlier, Riku brandishing a text book like it was a weapon as the tension built up. Up, up, up, and soon ready to break into a full on fight with the odds against them so much…

"Cult girl! Cult girl!" they chanted as seeing a challenge, some begain to get up, while others watched from the side lines, waiting for the fight that was sure to come at this rate…

Finally, she couldn't take it anymore. She snapped.

"Cult girl! Cult gir-"

"ENOUGH!" Otoya screamed as loud as she could as she shot up from her seat, freezing the soon-to-be fight on the spot. As she stood, she pushed her desk over sending it toppling to the floor with a noisy clang, earning everyone's undivided attention. Yun covered her ears in reflex at the noise, but still watched.

Otoya then stomped up to a stunned Seiko and pushed her to the ground violently!

"Otoya!" Mrs. Kamogawa yelped as she ran over to her, but Otoya pushed her away as well.

Towering over Seiko now she let the dam loose: "YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING! You don't know anything about me or my dad or my family life or anything! Do you really think I wanted to be a preacher's kid? Huh? Do you? No! No I didn't! It's just happened to me, and I can't change it! What makes you think I want to be all that? I've NEVER wanted to act like I'm all that or claim that I'm better than everyone else! Why in the world would you even think that?What would I gain from something like that? Stop filling your heads with a bunch of lies! Not only that, I don't even know what a cult is, so what makes you think that my family would take part in something as insidious as that? And furthermore, my dad is INNOCENT! _INNOCENT!_ You don't know anything about him! If anyone acts like they're better than everyone else when they're clearly not, it's you, you wretch!" Otoya screamed angrily, louder than she ever screamed in her entire life. Panting, the room was silent for a few seconds before:

"Yeah! You tell her, Otoya-chan!" Yun cheered, surprisingly being the first to recover.

"Shut up, you retarded white trash!" Nenji yelled almost reflexively at Yun.

"You shut up, you obese cow!" Riku snapped back, which made Nenji beet red in the face.

"Just because someone happens to be a preacher doesn't mean that they're evil or involved in cults. What makes you think that? Otoya's just like the rest of us. A preacher is just another occupation. It's really no different from being a firefighter or a teacher or a scientist or a doctor or anything like that. Stop acting like it's the worst job in the world," Minako explained calmly as Iniki helped her up.

"How do you know that, Omori?" Seiko yelled suddenly, outraged. "Haven't you heard all the stories on the news? Practically all preachers are involved with cults in some way!"

"Not all of them. Get your facts straight. Most of them happen in America, though not always, and more people leave than stay anyway. Besides, most of us Japanese aren't Christian, not that being Christian is a bad thing, of course. You're not a Christian, are you?" Minako explained.

"No."

"Then you have no right to say that you know that preachers are always involved with cults when it's clear that you have no knowledge of such matters whatsoever."

"Stop making yourself look good!" Seiko yelled, trying to salvage the situation.

"I'm just stating facts. There's a difference between stating facts and saying something out of spite."

Seiko looked like she was going to yell some more, but then, the bell rang, and everyone went to their classes.

In the hallway Lucero intercepted Yun and pulled her aside to talk.

"It really does trouble me so. Who told the police that Otoya-dono's family was starting a cult?" Lucero asked Yun in a worried whisper. Yun drooped her head down in dejection.

"I have no idea, but whoever it is, they need to be put to justice for doing this!...but we don't know anything about who they are or what they look like," Yun explained sadly, and left to class.

Once sixth period was over, Otoya got signed out of school by Noriko. They were given the opportunity to visit Oujiro in the precinct, and Otoya jumped on the opportunity. Besides, she couldn't wait to get out of school (Especially with that had happened. She didn't want to meet Seiko or Nenji on the way out) and see her father (who she firmly believed was innocent). She, Maiko, and Seijuro were taken out of school so they could visit him. Otoya couldn't be happier to see him in all her life. Though reality quickly dampened her mood…

But fate has a way of tying both things and people together, and sometimes, the most unlikely of people find the answers to problems.

By seventh period, the rain finally stopped, and the whole town noticed this. Both Rena and Riku noticed this as they walked home from school, since they weren't getting soaked.

"Jeez! A puddle here, a puddle there. The rain sure came down hard!" Riku said.

"Yeah, no kidding," Rena said. They had forgotten to bring their umbrellas with them so they were glad that the rain stopped before school ended. Their mother would have had a conniption fit of epic proportions if they had come home soaked to the bone from rain water. Thankfully enough, she wasn't home. Only Michitaka was home, and he was taking a nap, soaring softly. Riku went in his room and was greeted by a very happy Coronamon.

"Riiiikuuuuu!" Coronamon yelped as he leaped onto his tamer and laughed.

"How's my favorite Digimon partner?" Riku asked as he hugged Coronamon.

"Man! The rain seriously drowned my day! It was so boring! I couldn't do anything!" Coronamon complained. Riku laughed a little and set him down.

"Sorry to make you do this every day. I know how much of a bummer it is to be stuck in the house all day every day," Riku told him.

"I know you mean well, so I don't mind so much," Coronamon said. "Oh! There was somethin' on the news today! I heard your mom and dad watching TV! They were sayin' stuff about Otoya-chan's dad getting arrested for something stupid! I think they said...he started a cult or something?"

Riku crossed his arms. "So you heard about it too, huh? Somehow I don't think just anyone would want to frame Otoya for something like this. I think someone might have a reason to do this, maybe a grudge."

"You think?" Coronamon asked.

"Yeah. Something about this just isn't right to me," Riku said as he walked into the kitchen.

He then saw something that caught his eye. A small, silver, palm sized tape recorder with a record, a play and a delete button on it and a yellow strap hanging from it.

"Wow! Never thought I'd see this thing again!" Riku said as he picked it up and held it in his hands. Coronamon saw it and became curious.

"What's that thing? A game console?" Coronamon asked innocently.

"Naw! This thing's called a tape recorder! You press a button and it records everything you say! I remember using this for a school project last year, but Mom kinda got mad at me for it. I wonder if it still works?" Riku explained. He saw the record button and pressed it.

"Testing! One, two, three! Testing! Space Raiders is awesome!" Riku said.

"My heart's on fire for Riku!" Coronamon piped in. Riku pressed the stop button, and then pressed the play button.

_"Testing! One, two, three! Testing! Space Raiders is awesome! My heart's on fire for Riku!"_ The tape recorder repeated the message perfectly, down to Coronamon's comment in the background, if a little static filled.

Riku and Coronamon both looked at each other with big smiles on their faces. "It works!"

Then, an idea shot into Riku's head like a lightning bolt. "Hey! Wanna go on an adventure with me?"

Coronamon immediately liked the idea and jumped. "Sure! I'd love to! What for?"

"I'm gonna see if I can track down this realist who got Oujiro-san thrown in jail," Riku said as he left the kitchen.

"Really? Oh! Can I help?"

"Sure, buddy! Hang on just a sec!"

Riku ran into Michitaka's room as he just got up from his nap. "Hey Dad! Can I borrow that tape recorder that's on the table?"

"Sure," Michitaka replied rather dully.

Riku threw his fist in the air in victory and ran out of both the room, and the house, in a flash.

It didn't take long for the Jounouchi family to reach the precinct. It was just a block away from the school. With a bit of prodding, they managed to sit in a room at a table with Oujiro, along with a bunch of other people visiting other prisoners, while some security guards watched nearby, just in case.

"So what did your attorney say? Will he help us?" Noriko asked, sounding very worried.

"Yes. He says we might be able to win. There's no solid evidence, and as I've been hearing from others, the supposed witness who accused me has been disappearing a lot, so her testimony might not be credible," Oujiro explained.

Otoya's head drooped downward. 'Why does he sound so sure?' Otoya thought sadly.

"Are you going to go to court or something?" Seijuro asked.

"Yes. The trial starts this Friday," Oujiro explained.

"Friday? That's two days away! Don't the police need more time to investigate? And isn't that a little short notice?" Maiko yelped suddenly.

"I thought so too, but then I thought, _'the sooner we wrap this up, the better.'_ Perhaps the police understand that I am innocent after all," Oujiro said.

"So who's this witness? Did they tell you?" Maiko asked again.

"I'm afraid that information is confidential. They haven't told me about it for fear that I might influence any future testimony," Oujiro replied.

Otoya didn't say anything. All she did was look around the room. She looked at people who were visiting either relatives or friends who were being held there. An old man and his son were talking, and the son doesn't look too happy. A couple was hugging their daughter, tearfully saying goodbye as though they didn't want to separate from her and leave her alone. The daughter doesn't look any older than sixteen! What did she do to get thrown in here? Two men were talking happily, like they're at a popular hangout instead of a jail. A mother and her five year old daughter are visiting a man who looks quite abject and guilty about what he did.

Otoya thought about all the crimes she knew were possible that could easily throw a person in jail: robbery, battery, kidnapping, abuse, drug possession, drug trafficking, murder, extortion, burglary, or destruction of property. All of this engendered an oppressive and ominous air, she felt, around not just her but the entire Jounouchi family. She wondered if becoming a preacher or being born a preacher's child was a crime as well, since everyone else but the Digimon Brigade seemed to say so. Her family's voices faded into the distance.

The Digimon Brigade...Otoya may have lost her faith in escaping the cruelty of those who considered both her and her family evil because of their involvement with the church, but she did remembered that her faith did bring something that she's always wanted: friends. Good friends. True friends. Unfeigned and non-judgmental friends who accepted her for who she was, embraced her, considered her to be just as a part of them as they are to her, and best of all: they didn't stereotype her. They didn't mind that she was a preacher's daughter. They accepted her as a normal girl and knew it to be true.

Otoya couldn't have been happier. She felt happy to not just have them, but Labramon. Labramon made her happy too, because Otoya finally found a friend of her very own. A friend who accepted her, embraced her, looked up to her, played with her, did everything possible for her, and was always faithful to her. He didn't betray her, not once, nor did the rest of the Digimon Brigade. Sure, Labramon has his possibly insatiable bloodlust moments at times, but it didn't mean he intentionally disobeyed her, nor did it really get in the way of their friendship.

At first, Otoya was cowed by Labramon's faithfulness, thinking that it was possibly an act and that he would betray her. She didn't understand why he was so devoted to her. But now she did...and she was right to have faith in him and the Digimon Brigade. They stood up for her when Nenji, Seiko, and the others bullied her, and they comforted her when she was sad. Otoya couldn't have been more grateful to God despite the trials she's going through right now.

She even remembered the day it all started...when she was paired up with Yun in fifth grade.

(flashback)

_It had been a week since the fifth grade started. Otoya, whose long hair hadn't grown out yet as_ _back then it was still at her upper back, was in science class. She sat next to Yun, who she could_ _immediately tell was different from other kids. Otoya could tell that Yun was almost always lost_ _in her thoughts except during class, and that she didn't act or talk like the other kids. This was_ _something other kids found odd._

_"Wow. I can't believe Jounouchi is sitting next to Wakamiya."_

_"What a bummer. She's the last person anyone would want to sit next to."_

_"She's always thinking about stupid things and throwing tantrums about little things!"_

_"She can't even talk right!"_

_"What a freak."_

_"Poor Jounouchi. I feel so bad for her."_

_"The new kids always get the short end of the stick."_

_Otoya ignored their gossip and didn't say anything. The teacher began talking to the class._

_"Alright kids! Let's begin our group project!" The teacher exclaimed. She arranged everyone_ _into groups. Otoya, Yun, and two other girls had been assigned to the same group._

_The project was to make a presentation about the different types of leaves, their arrangements,_ _and their effect on nature. Yun was assigned the task to get a maple leaf from the front desk, but_ _she kept bringing the wrong ones._

_"That's not a maple leaf, stupid! That's just a plain leaf! Go get a maple!"_

_Yun looked quite confused, like she didn't know what a maple leaf looked like. She kept coming_ _back, but the other girls yelled at her._

_"Stop stalling and get a maple leaf already! Why do you have to be so stupid?" One girl_ _screamed angrily._

_Otoya was getting tired of seeing Yun get yelled at, especially since Yun looked like she was_ _going to cry any minute. Otoya finally stood_ _up._

_"I'll get it," Otoya said as she was about to leave._

_"But it's Wakamiya's job to get the leaves!"_

_"Nobody said we all had to do one job. It's a group project," Otoya told her calmly. Otoya went_ _to the front desk, got a maple leaf, pasted it on the board, and gave Yun a purple marker._

_"Yun-chan? Would you like to write down info about each leaf?" Otoya asked with a smile._

_"Y-Yeah!" Yun piped in. The two other girls groaned in disbelief and disappointment. But they_ _did manage to get an A on their presentation, so everything went fine._

_About a week later, the science class had to work on a worksheet. Otoya noticed that Yun was_ _looking at her answers. Otoya covered her paper with her hand._

_"You can't look," Otoya whispered quietly, trying not to scare her. Yun looked a little confused,_ _but one girl stood up._

_"Akanishi-sensei! Wakamiya's copying off of Jounouchi!" The girl exclaimed loudly with her_ _hand up._

_Otoya and Yun both looked puzzled and confused. The teacher, Mrs. Akanishi, took Yun's paper_ _away and took her out into the hall. Otoya noticed that Yun looked quite shocked, like she didn't __even know that she was doing something wrong. Overcome with curiosity, Otoya finished her __worksheet, put it into the bin at the front desk, and snuck a peek at the two of them, who were __talking in the halls. Yun looked quite sad and pained._

_"I told you to study! You should know better than to copy off of someone else's work!" Mrs._ _Akanishi reproved._

_"Why are you...mad? What did I...do?" Yun asked. Otoya could hear genuine fear and confusion_ _in her voice._

_"Yun! Did you not listen to a thing I just said?" Mrs. Akanishi yelled, louder this time. "Looking_ _at someone's answers on both worksheets and tests is wrong! Didn't anyone tell you that?"_

_"No. No one-"_

_"You have to understand. This isn't kindergarten! This is real life! Nobody's going to do_ _everything for you! You have to learn to study and know these things yourself!"_

_"What?"_

_Otoya didn't understand. Most people she knew already knew that cheating was wrong, but Yun_ _looked as though nobody really told her that cheating was wrong. Could that be true? She also_ _sounded as though she had a hard time coming up with the right words to talk to Mrs._ _Akanishi. Mrs. Akanishi seemed quite disappointed that Yun didn't seem to be listening to her_ _(which she did. She just didn't understand, being autistic as she is) and sighed._

_"Go back inside. You're done, but don't expect an A on this one."_

_"But-"_

_"No buts! I said go back inside!"_

_Yun ran back inside and threw herself at her desk. The other kids (except Minako and_ _Kosuke) began gossiping._

_"She's cheating again."_

_"She doesn't look guilty about what she did at all!"_

_"Does she even know that it's wrong? She must be stupid to think that she could play dumb and_ _get away with cheating!"_

_"What a freak."_

_"Maybe she's doing it to get attention."_

_Otoya didn't find out the real answer until recess. While she played by herself, she noticed that_ _Yun was on the benches, crying. Normally, when kids are sitting on the benches the whole time,_ _it means they're being punished and that they're not allowed to play out on the black top. Otoya_ _found her crying rather unsettling, and decided to walk up to her. Nobody said that talking to_ _kids on the bench was against the rules, so she decided to take the chance._

_"Hi," Otoya said. Yun stopped crying and looked at her, not in the eyes but at her._

_"Hi," Yun muttered. "Are...you mad at me?"_

_"No. Not anymore. Why? Did you think I was?" Otoya replied._

_"I...I don't get it. Why is looking at someone's paper bad? Nobody said it was!" Yun asked sadly,_ _with tears coming out of her eyes. Otoya, feeling bad, sat down next to her._

_"Nobody told you?"_

_Yun shook her head._

'Oh. That explains it. She probably doesn't understand,'_ Otoya thought. She put a hand on her_ _shoulder._

_"Looking at someone's answers on a test or worksheet is a form of cheating, and everyone says_ _that cheating is bad. The teachers always tell us to study for stuff," Otoya told her._

_"I...I don't know what study means! I thought looking at someone else's paper was studying!_ _Nobody's telling me what the word study means! I don't get it!" Yun cried again, louder this time._

_Otoya's eyes grew big again. Yun doesn't even know what the concept of studying is, even though_ _she took notes in class and did great on spelling tests (she shared an English class with her)?_ _This totally explains it! It's no wonder Yun always looked so sincerely sad and pained when_ _she got scolded, because she doesn't know what studying is! She doesn't know what cheating is!_ _Everybody knows what those things are, but for some it might be harder to figure out. Someone_ _might have to tell them about it so that they'll know. Otoya was about to tell Yun about what she_ _has planned, but a teacher spotted her._

_"Otoya-chan! What are you doing here? Go back to the black top and play. You're not in trouble,_ _so you can't be on the bleachers with the kids in recess time out," The teacher said. Both Yun and_ _Otoya looked sad._

_However, Otoya wasn't going to let her discovery go unnoticed. She saw that Yun often played_ _with Minako and Kosuke. She knew who they were and what they looked like, and they_ _shared the exact same science class with her, so she approached them and told them what she_ _thought._

_"I see what you mean. When I see her parents today, I'll tell them about it. Maybe it'll help._

_Would you like to play with us?" Minako said._

_"Sure!" Otoya smiled._

_Minako did as she promised and told Hisako and Teruki about what Otoya told her. Otoya didn't_ _find out until much later, but Hisako and Teruki took this to heart and decided to have Yun_ _practice studying in the form of playing pretend school. They would play in a pretend classroom,_ _tell Yun things like "This will be on the test, so study!" and they helped her study, which was_ _basically remembering the things she was taught and learning to keep them in her brain. They_ _even gave her little pretend tests and work sheets so they can show her how studying really_ _works. They asked her all kinds of questions and Yun needed to answer them._

_"What's two times three?"_

_"Six!"_

_"Correct! What two cities were bombed during World War II?"_

_"Hiroshima and Nagasaki!"_

_"Good! What's the only bug that glows?"_

_"A firefly!"_

_"Wonderful! When did the Muromachi period begin?"_

_"Ummm...1336?"_

_"No, Yun. It started in 1337."_

_"Oh."_

_It wasn't easy. But that wasn't the only thing that brought Yun and Otoya together. The more_ _time they spent together, the more they realized they have a lot in common. They both love_ _anime, manga, and games, they both hate math, they're both victims of bullies, and they love_ _animals! Both Yun and Otoya became quite comfortable around each other. Later, Minako,_ _Melody, and Kosuke became friends with Otoya. Later, Rena and Riku joined in. Otoya finally_ _found what she had been wanting since the beginning of her school life: friends. Right then and_ _there, she found them, only back then, she didn't realize how awesome they'd turn out to be._

(end flashback)

"Otoya?"

Oujiro's voice pulled Otoya out of her reverie.

"You've been quiet," Oujiro said.

"Yeah. You okay?" Seijuro asked.

"I-I'm fine. Sorry," Otoya muttered, looking away.

"I know it's hard now, my child, but it will all be gone soon. What's important is to never let go of your faith. Never forget who you are, and don't let others tell you what they want you to become just because they're not satisfied with you. You are your own person. Don't ever let anyone change that," Oujiro told her kindly.

A security guard put his hand on Oujiro's shoulder. "Visiting hour is over, sir."

Oujiro stood up. "Yes, sir. My family, I will see you all in court on Friday."

The security guard escorted Oujiro out of the room while the rest of the Jounouchi family went out. Otoya was lost in thought again, but this time with a smile. _'Maybe having faith isn't a bad thing after all. It gave me the friends I've always wanted, so maybe...I can be who I really want to be.'_

Before she left, something caught one prisoner's eye.

"Hey! Did you see that?" She exclaimed suddenly.

"See what?" The girl's father asked.

"That little blue haired girl's necklace! It glowed for a second!" The girl exclaimed again.

"What? Under the sunlight?" The mother asked.

"No! By itself!" The girl prodded again.

The father shook his head. "Have you been putting off taking your schizophrenia meds again?"

"No! I swear I saw it with my own eyes!" The girl proclaimed.

"Stop making up these lies!" The mother yelled. "That's what got you in here in the first place!"

"I'm not lying! Why don't you believe me?"

Only the girl saw Otoya's D-Heart of Faith glow for a bit. Otoya didn't even notice…

About much later, Nayuki and Tsukaimon went into the woods in the park for a little change of pace and scenery. Nayuki leaned against a tree with her arms crossed and eyes closed while

Tsukaimon looked around.

"Wow. They actually bought it. I'm surprised," Tsukaimon said.

Nayuki opened one of her eyes. "Why? Did you really think my disguise was that bad?"

"No. I just thought it wasn't going to be very convincing."

"But it was."

"Not only that, they didn't even recognize you. The police must be more dim-witted than I thought they were. Ha!"

"You're telling me. They're all a bunch of fools."

Tsukaimon stopped flying and descended onto the grass. "Nayuki? I was wonderin'...exactly what do you have against preachers anyway? Besides all the stuff you mentioned about her to the blue haired dimwit before?"

"Why the sudden curiosity? I thought you hated stuff like that."

"Normally I do, but...I don't see any reason why you'd want to go after any preachers, namely this one."

"You really want to know, huh?"

"Kinda."

Nayuki sighed. "Fine. After that stupid man was arrested two years ago, I was thrown into foster care. I was adopted by a preacher and his family. But the guy was a total idiot. He preferred his own kids over me. They got closets full of clothes and got away with everything. But I only got two shirts and a skirt that was three miles too wide, and he yelled at me about every single little thing. He always loved his kids, but yelled at me and treated me like garbage. He didn't even scold them when they kept on doing bad things to me, and the oldest was at least 20 years old! Can you believe it? Not only that, he kept manipulating people into believing he was this great man who did all sorts of nice things for his community, but I found out he was trafficking drugs and hurting other kids for his own benefit!"

"Just like the guy who tricked your mother into marrying him." (This was who Nayuki means by _'that stupid man.'_)

"Indeed!" Nayuki spat at the grass and continued. "He even tried to use me as his drug mule and scapegoat for his anger! I defied him and ran away. That's why he gave me back to the facility. He was even worse than the guy my mother married! If any human makes me sicker than anything in the world, it's people like him!"

"Ouch."

"I know. I know for a fact that all preachers get their titles through corruption and money, nothing else! Their biological kids probably have it easy, indulging in all the possessions and pleasures their preacher fathers give them while others suffer under them and don't get squat! Someone needs to get it into their thick skulls that the world doesn't revolve around them! They probably don't know one little thing about hardship! Their preacher fathers are probably brainwashing them into thinking they're all that while other kids don't deserve to even be in their presence! Who cares about God? Who cares about worshiping or coming together to pray? Praying, believing, and having faith doesn't do anything! All it does is bring despair and disappointment! I swear, these people make me sick!"

"But was getting that guy arrested really necessary?"

"Yes! When are you going to get it, Tsukaimon? All preachers are a bunch of phonies! They're all fake! Their wives and biological kids are a bunch of fools and brainless puppets who think they have it better than everyone else! They need to understand that the world doesn't revolve around them! I'm glad that preacher got arrested! That blue haired girl is so stupid and naive it makes me sick to my stomach! It's kids like her that I hate the most! Kids who just love everything because their parents give them everything they want! I'll bet she was real popular because she was a preacher's kid! Tch! Well, she's getting her just deserts, and I'm glad I made that call! All I had to do was accuse her dad of hurting me and coercing me into joining a cult that doesn't exist! It felt great! I'll bet he'll get a life sentence! If that happens, I'll be the happiest person ever! I hope he gets a life sentence, because people like him and his kids don't even deserve to walk this earth, they're so stupid and corrupt! Can you believe it was so easy to fool the police like that? They're a bunch of fools just like the rest of them!"

"Are you really going to get some satisfaction for getting a guy arrested for something he didn't do?"

"Of course I am! You wouldn't understand because you've never gone through what I did, Tsukaimon. You're a Digimon so you don't get to suffer through things like this."

Tsukaimon, behind Nayuki's back, threw a scornful look at her. She's abused her since day one, and she actually has the audacity to claim that Tsukaimon, or all Digimon for that matter, don't know what it's like to suffer? He didn't dare say this to her though, out of fear that she might beat him up… again.

"Maybe once I'm done with giving her father a life sentence, you can kill her Digimon and absorb it's data so you can digivolve into ultimate. They'll be nothing but stepping stones."

Tsukaimon was about to say something, but someone interrupted him, and it wasn't Nayuki.

"Wow. You officially achieved a higher plain of hypocrite!"

Nayuki, shocked that someone actually overheard their entire conversation, got her digivice out

and turned around to see who it was that said that.

It was none other than Riku and Coronamon.

"I always thought you were twisted before, but after hearing all that, I'd say you're officially cracked in the head! You're beyond twisted, you know that?"

Nayuki, overcome with anger, got her digisword out and pointed it at Riku, who, oddly enough, didn't even let out a squeak. He just remained calm, like it had happened to him the times before. Even Coronamon was a little surprised at this.

"How long have you been hiding in that bush?" Nayuki yelled.

"Since you and the purple Patamon first arrived. Well, actually, five minutes before to be precise," Riku replied both insouciantly and courageously. Coronamon's was surprised that he wasn't scared of the fact that a digisword was being pointed so close to his head, but he knocked it out of Nayuki's hand anyway.

"Leave Riku alone, you self-absorbed bully!" Coronamon yelled angrily.

"You should know better than to eavesdrop on someone's conversation, you brat!" Nayuki exclaimed venomously.

"And you should know better than to frame someone for something they didn't do! I can't believe you'd be so selfish as to get Otoya's dad arrested just because you have a grudge against all preachers! That's beyond arrogant and self-absorbed, you know that?" Riku yelled back. "I'm gonna tell the police about this, and they'll throw you in juvi where you belong!"

Nayuki picked up her digivice and laughed. "Ha! You? Tell the police? Why would they believe you? For one thing, you have no proof!"

"Oh. Don't I?" Riku said very calmly but at the same time wickedly. He pulled out the silver tape recorder and pressed the play button.

_"All I had to do was accuse her dad of hurting me and coercing me into joining a cult that doesn't exist! It felt great! I'll bet he'll get a life sentence! If that happens, I'll be the happiest person ever! I hope he gets a life sentence, because people like him and his kids don't even deserve to walk this earth, they're so stupid and corrupt! Can you believe it was so easy to fool the police like that? They're a bunch of fools just like the rest of them!"_ Nayuki's slightly distorted voice emitted from the speakers to a horrified Nayuki.

"You...you recorded ALL of that?" Nayuki screamed, finding her voice after a second.

"That, and your entire conversation, including the part about your mother marrying some drug dealer who abused you or something. Let me tell you something, Ichinose Nayuki. You may think you're saving the world and showing everyone that you're some kind of hero of justice, but getting every single preacher in the world arrested just because of something as silly and ridiculous as a stupid grudge from long ago, then you're way off the ball. That's not justice, that's just being a thick-headed idealist. To think I thought you were some kind of realist before," Riku told her coldly.

"Evil Fire!" Tsukaimon shot a greenish blue fireball at him.

"Coroknuckle!" Coronamon, however, managed to make the fireball dissipate thanks to his flurry of flying punches.

"Drop the charges. Tell the police that you did it just to get attention. I won't let you off the hook for trying to blame something as stupid as this on one of my friends," Riku told her, but Nayuki wouldn't budge.

"Who are you to tell me what to do, you spoiled brat?"

"Me? Spoiled? Yeah right! I'm anything but spoiled! My parents hate me! Rena gets spoiled by them!" Riku said bitterly.

"You don't know anything what I went through to stay out of my business!"

"My friend is caught in the middle of it, so that makes it my business!"

"No it doesn't! Shut your mouth!" Nayuki shouted, losing what little patience she had.

"You shut your mouth! I'm GOING to tell the police about this!"

Finally, Nayuki snapped, "NO YOU WILL NOT!" she streaked, and lunged at Riku.

"Coronamon! Heads up!" Riku threw the tape recorder at Coronamon before Nayuki lunged at him. Tsukaimon tried to grab it, but Coronamon managed to keep it from his small hands. Nayuki tried to pin him to the ground and claw him, but Riku, being a male, naturally had more strength than the scrawny Nayuki, and managed to push her off.

"Coronamon! Make a ball of fire appear in your hand!" Riku commanded.

"Why?" Coronamon asked, confused.

"Just do it!" Riku yelled.

Coronamon, becoming a little confused by Riku's change in behavior, did as asked and made a ball of fire appear in his free hand. Riku looked down at Nayuki with a very scornful look on his face.

"I'm not going to let you get away with this. If you won't let me tell them about what you did, then I'll do what you did and frame you for something you didn't do! If you don't drop the charges, I'll have Coronamon set the whole forest on fire, and you'll be the one they'll blame!" Riku yelled.

Everyone gasped with horror. Even Coronamon almost dropped the fire in shock. Riku? Telling Coronamon to start a fire? Coronamon wondered if this was really Riku.

"WHAT? Are you insane?" he cried.

"You wouldn't dare!" Nayuki proclaimed as she got back on her feet.

"I'd dare anything for my friends! Not like a stupid, self-absorbed, and naive little hypocrite like you would understand that!"

"You're trippin', kid!" Tsukaimon piped in.

Now Coronamon was getting anxious. "Riku! Please don't make me set the forest on fire! We'll both get in trouble!"

But Riku didn't listen, instead, he said in a cold voice; "I'm going to say this one more time, and I expect you to obey me! Drop the charges! Tell the police you did it to get attention."

"Why do you even care so much about that stupid blue haired girl? She doesn't know a thing about hardship! Her kind has it easy, getting everything they want through their parents' corruption! They don't deserve to walk this earth!" Nayuki yelled.

"Do you really believe something as stupid as that? You know that's not true. Quite the contrary, really. Otoya's gone through a lot of hardship. People didn't even want to be friends with her because they either thought she was a slave to her dad or because they thought she was part of some cult. I care about her because she's one of the very few people who didn't immediately write me off as a bad kid right off the bat just because I happen to have ADHD. I know how she feels. I know what it's like to be hated because of a stupid stereotype. I know what it's like to feel lonely, isolated, and hated by everyone on no solid grounds. In case you don't know, you think she's happy all the time because she thinks she's all that...but that's not true. She smiles in the face of hardship because she's grateful to even have friends and be alive in this world."

"That's a bunch of garbage!" Nayuki screamed angrily.

"Shut up! It's the truth!" Coronamon piped in.

"So what's it gonna be, Ichinose? Are you gonna continue living your life like a crazy idealist, or are you going to do the right thing and turn yourself in?" Riku asked.

"Turning myself in...Is the last thing I'll ever do, and I will NOT let a brat like you change who I am!" Nayuki suddenly flung herself at Riku.

The two broke out into a full-on brawl. Nayuki punched Riku, who slapped her back, and then she bit his arm as hard as she could. Yelping in pain, Riku pulled Nayuki's hair back so she couldn't bite him again, while she kept on trying to scratch him. Riku's sudden cry prompted Coronamon to take action.

"Riku! Hang on! I'll save you!" Coronamon made his ball of fire disappear and tried to run to the two fighting kids, but Tsukaimon flew in front of him, blocking the way.

"You're gonna have to go through me first, you overgrown hamster! Let's settle this!" Tsukaimon exclaimed wickedly.

The two of them then cried out their digivolutions and were consumed by light. As the light cleared, the lion-like Firamon and black demon Devidramon stood in their places. The tape recorder hung from Firamon's neck by an expanded strap, possibly due to Coronamon's digivolution. While Riku and Nayuki were fighting among themselves, Firamon and Devidramon decided to do the same.

"Crimson Claw!"

"Fira Claw!"

Their claw attacks collided, and neither of them managed to hit the other as they canceled each other out, though they then stood there, claws locked. Devidramon had an advantage, naturally being on two legs, while Firamon had to stand in a position that was difficult for him and yet keep his ground at the same time. Firamon, being pushed back at an alarming rate and almost flipped onto his back, broke to lock and flew into the sky. Devidramon growled and flew after him, intent on finishing this quickly.

"Flame Dive!"

Letting out the attack, Firamon suddenly dived-bombed Devidramon, completely covered in blazing fire. Devidramon didn't, couldn't, react in time as Firamon crashed into him and slammed him onto the sidewalk he had maneuvered over in his ascent.

"Why do you serve this vile human? She beats you to a pulp every day and doesn't treat you with respect, much less kindness! How can you tolerate this?" Firamon hissed into Devidramon's ear.

"Mind your own business, kitty!" Devidramon bellowed as he managed to kick him in the stomach with his clawed feet, pushing Firamon off of him.

Landing with ease, he shook his head and looked up at Devidramon, "Is this really what you want? Hurting others isn't going to do you or Ichinose any good!"

"You don't know anything so shut up!" Devidramon tried to throw himself at Firamon, but the winged fire lion managed to instead latch onto Devidramon's arm, which made Devidramon roar in pain.

"Red Eye Beam!" Streams of red energy shot out from Devidramon's eyes at the lion. Firamon, not wanting to get hit, let go and flew away from Devidramon. Thankfully, the beam's aim was off completely, and didn't hit any trees and simply scorched the grass, which made Firamon sigh with relief.

Meanwhile, on the ground, Nayuki and Riku were still fighting. Nayuki had stopped trying to bite Riku, but she had instead grabbed an empty, discarded plastic bottle and was trying to beat him upside the head with it. Riku dodged a clumsy swing and suddenly punched her in the gut. She gasped and, not knowing how to properly take a punch, dropped the water bottle and doubled over. Riku then managed to wrestle her to the ground so she was face-down with one of his knees on her back, and grabbed Nayuki's arms so she couldn't move, like he was a police officer subduing a robber trying to get away.

"You're not gonna get away with this! I won't let you! Don't think you're some hero of justice, because throwing preachers in jail just because you hate them isn't justice!" Riku sneered.

"You don't know anything!" Nayuki yelled.

"Is this really what you want?"

"Yes! It is! Stop meddling in my business!"

"I'm meddling because you brought an innocent kid into it and I want to get her out of your web of hatred!" Riku said, his voice rising again.

"She's not worth it, that blue haired girl! Why bother being friends with her? For that matter, why do you care so much about something as cheesy, melodramatic, and hypocritical as friendship?"

"You think friendship is hypocritical? Give me a break!"

"Who says friendship is hypocritical?" Firamon asked Devidramon, who only shrugged in response.

"Get off me you fiend!" Nayuki tried to throw him off and managed to get a hand free. She was going to hit him, but someone stopped her.

"NO! STOP IT!"

Someone grabbed her hand. Much to the surprise of both Nayuki and Riku, the person who stopped them from fighting anymore is the person who's caught up in this whole mess!

Otoya.

As quickly as she appeared, Labramon stormed onto the scene, consumed by his bloodlust for Devidramon.

"Labramon! Stop! Come back!" Otoya tried to stop him, but he was too fast. Riku and Nayuki both stood up upon seeing Otoya. Devidramon saw Labramon running toward him like a bloodthirsty wolf and decided to retaliate.

Almost casually, he half turned to the charging Digimon and, faster than Firamon, or anyone, could react; he raked his claws across Labramon's stomach. Labramon made a strange, almost gagging sound, as the attack threw him aside. He fell to the ground, unconscious, and data freely escaping the long gashes in his stomach.

"Labramon!" Otoya, Riku, and Firamon all yelled in shock.

"You…you…" Firamon growled, rage flaring through him.

"Fira Claw!"

Firamon attacked Devidramon, slashing his flame-covered clawes down Devidramon's back. Devidramon howled in pain, but Firamon wasn't done yet. He then grabbed the roaring Devidramon's tail in his mouth and began to fly. Devidramon yelped as he was suddenly carried into the air painfully by his tail. He begain to thrash, but suddenly Firamon jerked his head and threw him as hard as he could above him.

Flapping his wings frantically to stop himself from falling, he glared at Firamon…who wasn't there.

"Flame Dive!"

Devidramon heard the cry and turned to look above him…only to roar in pain as the fiery comet that was Firamon impacted with his head, forcing him down to the ground. With a resounding crash, dirt, cement, smoke and bits of fire was thrown up as the Firamon plowed the two of them into the ground. Leaping back, Firamon ignored the injuries he had taken from the impact. He had dived faster and harder than her should have, and had taken minor injuries like cuts and bruises, but nothing too bad. And Devidramon…

Devidramon had been on the receiving end of a face full of fire and claws, and on the bottom when they hit the ground, taking most of the impact.

And it showed.

As the last of the smoke cleared, Firamon saw a very injured Devidramon. Cuts, bruises and burn marks covered his entire body, epically his face. One of his wings was bent at an unnatural angle, while one of the bat-like wings on his head was partly missing. Breathing hard, he was forced to support himself with both hand on the ground. Devidramon looked up at Firamon, reviling a long gash that forced the eyes on the left side of his face closed, and glared.

"Y-you…you…" Devidramon forced out between pants, "y-y-you...no good...no good-" But Devidramon never got to finish his curse at Firamon for at that second he fell forward, unable to support himself. Light covered him as his large form shrunk and turned back into a pathetic looking Tsukaimon.

Otoya at some point has run to Labramon and scooped him into her loving arms.

"Labramon! Are you alright? Wake up! Please!" Otoya said sadly to Labramon's closed eyes.

Firamon de-digivolved back into Coronamon once he saw the limp and unconscious Labramon in her arms and ran over to them.

"He's breathing, so he's okay," Coronamon said hpefully when he saw Labramon's chest rising up and down.

Otoya sighed with relief. "Thank goodness."

Someone else, however, wasn't so enthusiastic about Labramon surviving Devidamon's attack.

"Just leave him to die! He's not worth it, and neither are you!" Nayuki sneered as she picked up Tsukaimon. Riku shot a scornful look at Nayuki.

"Do you really care so little about a Digimon's life? Or even life in general? How could you? No wonder you're so twisted, because you don't give a flying freak about everyone else but yourself!" Riku yelled angrily.

"Yeah! Life is wonderful! You shouldn't be so cruel as to tell someone to die and that they're not worth it!" Coronamon backed him up.

"Stop. Both of you," Otoya told them softly but sternly, which made them both quiet.

Nayuki looked at the sky with an angry look in her eyes. "You all care too much. That's why you're all so weak and pathetic. You care too much about stuff that's not even worth caring about. You all need to fight for yourself and only yourself. That's the only way you'll survive in this world. Stupid garbage like friendship and faith will only make you even more weak and pathetic than you already are."

With that, Nayuki turned on her heel and walked away.

"Come back here!" Coronamon was about to run after her, but Riku stopped him by putting a hand on his arm.

"Let her go. She won't be free for long anyway," Riku told him. Coronamon was shocked by Riku's decision, but decided to obey anyway.

"O...Otoya..." Labramon croaked weakly. Otoya hugged him in response.

"Labramon! You're okay!" Otoya cheered with a smile as she clung to him.

"So...Otoya-chan. How did you see all of that?" Riku asked solemnly.

"I was on my way back from the precinct and I saw you and Ichinose yelling at each other. I saw that you...recorded her conversation on a tape recorder," Otoya confessed. Coronamon suddenly remembering, slipped the recorder off his tail and gave Riku back the tape recorder.

"I made sure to protect it," Coronamon said as Riku took the recorder.

"Thanks, little buddy. You were awesome back here!" Riku rubbed Coronamon's head with his hand with a smile, and Coronamon chuckled sweetly in response.

"So...it was Ichinose who was the witness..." Otoya muttered at first, then looked at Riku with solemn eyes. "You weren't really going to have Coronamon set the whole forest on fire, were you?"

Riku crossed his arms proudly. "No way! I only said it because I thought it'd scare Ichinose into telling the truth and turning herself in for accusing you. I also...wanted to show her what it would be like if she were framed for something she didn't do. But I wasn't actually going to do it, y'know? I'm too scared to do something like that," Riku said, loudly at first, then softer.

"Who knew you were so crafty, Rikkun!" Coronamon piped in with a smile.

Riku flashed a big smile himself. "Did you like my performance? It was awesome, wasn't it?"

"You...did all of that for me?" Otoya asked.

Riku turned solemn again. "Yeah. I suspected it was Ichinose from the very beginning, cause she's a jerk and all, but I needed proof, so Coronamon and I took a little stroll here because usually she and her Digimon show up here around this time. I wasn't going to let you be the victim of a crime you didn't do. Believe me, I know what it's like to be accused of something you didn't do with no good evidence. I...I can't stand it when innocent people are persecuted for things that they didn't do."

Otoya was both touched and flabbergasted. She knew that her friends cared about her to an extent, but she had absolutely no idea that any one of them would care about her to this extent. Riku? Tracking down the culprit, fighting with them, and going as far as to threaten to set a whole forest on fire (not that he actually would, but still) and frame it on her just so he can get her to confess to her crime and turn herself in? Otoya never knew her friends would be this kind and compassionate about her circumstances...or at all for that matter! Otoya could feel tears of joy coming out of her eyes.

She knew right away. She was right to have faith in her friends. They were, in short, amazingly kind people.

"Eh? Your D-Heart is glowing!" Coronamon suddenly shouted, pointing at Otoya's D-Heart.

Otoya looked down to see that Coronamon is right. Her blue D-Heart of Faith was glowing! Not to a point where it'd hurt her eyes or wake up Labramon, but it's glowing! It glowed softly for about a minute, and then the cerulean blue light disappeared as quick as it had come.

"I think...it responded to your faith in your friends," Labramon croaked out, breaking the silence.

Otoya stood up and looked at Riku. "Thank you, Rikkun. For being such a great friend."

Riku blushed a bit.

Otoya smiled again. "Wanna come over to my house? I'll ask Yun-chan, Mina-chan, and Rena-chan to come too."

"Sure!" Riku said.

"Can you help me with Labramon? I don't think he's in any shape to be doing any walking."

"Leave it to us, Otoya-chan!" Coronamon said as he, Riku, and Otoya both proceeded to carry Labramon to their house.

Oddly enough, nobody was at the house. Otoya a note on the dining room table. Noriko said she was at a meeting with Oujiro's defense lawyer, Maiko was invited to a friend's house, and Seijuro decided to do some shopping for tomorrow's get-together.

Otoya found this to be a great opportunity. She laid Labramon on the couch and begain to take care of him while Riku used his digivice to call Yun, Rena, and Minako. Why she chose to call them in particular he didn't know. Within a few minutes, Yun, Lopmon, Terriermon, Minako, Salamon, Rena, and Lunamon came to the house. Lunamon and Lopmon both saw Labramon on the couch patched up with gauze that Otoya found, and immediately they ran over to him with concern written on their faces.

"Oh my! The poor thing! What happened to him?" Lunamon exclaimed.

"He got attacked by Devidramon. He's okay. He's just sleeping for now. I suggest we give him some space," Otoya told her surprisingly calm.

"I see. How sad. I wonder if their bloodlust for each other will ever fade away. It sounds like it's getting out of hand," Lopmon said in her soft voice, feeling bad that Labramon had to go through this whenever Tsukaimon was around.

"He looks like he took a pretty good beating," Terriermon said with his little arms crossed.

"So what did you want to talk to us about?" Minako asked.

Otoya, Riku, and Coronamon all told them everything. Rena was the first to scream with horror.

"WHAT? Riku! You confronted Ichinose and threatened to set a forest on fire? How can you be so reckless and rash? I swear, I might have to detain you or something!" Rena screamed angrily, appalled by Riku's "behavior." Yun covered her ears in fright, and Lopmon and Lunamon raised their paws at her.

"Rena-san! Please lower your voice. Yun-chan hates yelling, and you'll wake up Labramon," Lunamon told her kindly but with a twinge of courage in her normally timid but sweet voice.

"Yes. Please calm down. I'm sure he had a good reason for doing so, reckless it may be," Lopmon said.

"Rena! Will you chill? I wasn't actually going to do it! No way would I do that! I'm too chicken to take that risk! I only threatened her because I thought it'd make her confess to framing Otoya-chan and make her turn herself in. I wasn't going to let her get away with what she's been doing!" Riku explained as calmly as possible.

"Besides, after last time, no way was I going to use my fire attacks willy-nilly!" Coronamon backed him up. The kids had been noticing that Coronamon had become more careful about using his fire attacks in places where there's lots of trees and grass, so they silently praised him for learning his lesson, Rena and Riku included.

"I know you had good intentions, but there are other ways to do it, Riku! Why can't you understand?" Rena cried out again.

"Well it's done and over with!" Riku said, brushing her off a bit, but Rena, being the stubborn, and possibly overbearing, older sister that she is, refused to let it go.

"If someone saw you making that threat, they'd report you and get you arrested! You already have a record as it is! I-" Rena was about to go on a speech about what she thought he did wrong, but Yun threw a hand over Rena's mouth and stopped her from talking.

"We get it! He gets it! Please! Let it go!" Yun cried out angrily. Rena, seeing that Yun was quite serious, finally stopped.

"Sorry. I just...don't want you to get in trouble or even get hurt," Rena told him in a softer voice this time.

"It's alright. I understand. Besides, after this I'm gonna hand this tape recorder over to the police. I managed to record the entire conversation! It's the best evidence I have!" Riku said as he showed everyone the tape recorder proudly.

"So Ichinose-san was the one who made the call and got Oujiro-san arrested?" Salamon asked innocently.

"I wonder why she would do such a terrible thing," Lopmon said.

"Me too. Oh, it makes me shudder just to think about it!" Lunamon backed her up.

"I can play it for you if you want," Riku said.

"Sure! Please! I want to evaluate it for myself and see if it's legitimate evidence. Play it!" Minako begged eagerly. Riku smiled and pressed the play button.

Everyone listened in on the recorded conversation between Nayuki and Tsukaimon. Otoya gasped when Nayuki got to the part where she explained why she hated preachers so much. Once the recording stopped, everyone was appalled.

"How utterly appalling! This is just intolerable! Just downright intolerable! Why would anyone go so far as to claim that preacher's kids are immune to all hardship?" Lopmon said angrily.

"I agree! She doesn't know anything! Man, this girl must love making up weird stuff in her head and sticking to it no matter how ridiculous it sounds! I may be a little reckless myself, but even I know better than to jump to conclusions and fill my head with stuff that's not true, especially if it's about my friends!" Terriermon piped in, balling his little pale green fists.

"Wow. To think I used to think Mina-chan had depressing views on life before. Wan!" Salamon said, looking quite dejected upon hearing the recording. Minako didn't retort back because she knew it was true and that Salamon didn't mean it to be a derogatory comment.

"This sounds like pretty good evidence to me. You should give it to the police, Rikkun. I'm sure they'll believe you. If you want, we can go with you and back you up," Yun suggested.

Riku smiled. "I appreciate it, but I think I'll do this on my own. If they still won't budge, then I'll call you over."

"The police station is a little ways from the school, right?" Yun asked Minako.

"Yes. It's just a few blocks away, but they're on the same street," Minako explained.

"It's great to have help when it's close to you! Wan!" Salamon piped in with a smile.

Otoya became dejected. Yun and Lunamon both saw this and ambled over to her with concern in their eyes.

"Are you okay?" Yun asked gently.

"Is there anything we can do for you? If there is, then you're more than welcome to tell us," Lunamon told her with a smile.

"Sorry. It's just...why in the world would anyone think that I have it better than everyone else just because I'm a preacher's kid? I just don't understand why people are so quick to get the wrong idea on something so stupid and silly. I just...don't get it," Otoya muttered sadly. Yun sat next to her and put her hand on Otoya's.

"I know how you feel. People get the wrong idea about me all the time. Nemoto's mom hates my guts because Nemoto keeps telling her that I'm the bully instead of confessing that he's the bully. I really hate that. Not only that, I make weird noises, I'm sensitive to a lot of loud noise, and I do have some weird habits that people are freaked out by, like flapping my hands and repeating stuff that I hear. In fact, ninety percent of the time I say something, but people misinterpret it as something totally different or something really bad! It just makes me want to scream! They make it sound like I'm speaking in a totally different language...or full of cuss words, no less! Not only that, my big sister hates me. She thinks I'm the favorite who gets all the attention and everything I want while she gets ignored. She thinks nobody cares about her and that they choose to leave her alone, but really, she gets mad at everyone and pushes them away. I think she needs to learn the difference between being ignored and pushing people away," Yun explained kindly.

"Yeah, it's true. Nobody seems to like what Yun says," Terriermon piped in, not meaning it to be a derogatory comment. Lopmon didn't reprove him this time because even she had to silently admit that what Yun said about herself was true at times.

"I've been to Rena-san's dance class a lot since we first met, and some of the older girls at school say she's stuck up and mean, only dancing better than them to make them look bad. But that's not true. She dances better than them because she works really hard. She's very dedicated and passionate about dancing, which I think is wonderful because she's doing what she loves best without a care in the world. There's a vast difference between being stuck up and being passionate, and I think they need to realize that. I must confess that I've done a little dancing myself, which I think is perfectly elegant," Lunamon explained.

"It's so strange how people are so easily blinded..." Otoya muttered. "I...I really feel so blessed...to have friends like you."

"Friends are supposed to help each other. That's what they're for. Yun told me that, and I follow it through all the time," Lopmon said with a smile.

"Yep! Friends stick together and help each other out, even in hard times!" Coronamon said with his fist pumped into the air.

"Don't you all think that sounds a little cheesy?" Minako asked.

"Who cares if it's cheesy? It's true! Wan!" Salamon piped in sweetly with a smile on her rosy cheeked face.

"Speaking of cheesy, if this was an anime..." Riku suddenly went on and on about friendship and how cheesy it would be if it were poorly executed in certain anime. The whole conversation made everyone laugh, even Otoya, who truly did feel quite blessed to have not just these kids and their Digimon, but the rest of the Digimon Brigade in her life.

Unbeknownst to them all, Labramon opened his eyes and watched everything from the couch.

_'The extent to which friendship can go is boundless and limitless. I can feel their unfeigned love._ _It's infecting me, but in a good way. Otoya...you were right to have faith in them. And me. I can_ _feel the love you have for me. It makes me feel...stronger,'_ Labramon mused silently as he fell back asleep, feeling happy about the liveliness going on in the room right now. He didn't mind at all. He didn't even complain about the noise. He loved the noise. Because Otoya was finally laughing.

Love…Labramon says that Otoya's makes him stronger. It was just meant to be symbolic and encouraging, but Labramon didn't realize just how true that was…

Author's Note: Credit goes to RandomReviewer257 for proofreading, beta reading, and improving on this chapter. Your help is always appreciated!


	61. God's Messenger, The Faithful Cerberumon

EPISODE 61: God's Messenger, The Faithful Cerberumon!

True to his word, Riku ran over to the police station and handed some police officers the tape recorder, submitting it as evidence for the upcoming trial. At first, the police officers looked quite confused by Riku's audacity, but seeing as he was willing to come forth with what he knew, they accepted the evidence and gave it to the investigator looking into the case. Riku couldn't help but feel a little proud of his accomplishment and walked home feeling quite happy. At the Jounouchi house, Otoya spent most of that Wednesday taking care of Labramon, whose injuries weren't totally severe, but they did keep him from moving around a lot, so he had to be careful about walking around lest his little body be overcome with pain. Otoya kept him in her room and tended to him, even after Noriko, Maiko, and Seijuro came home. Otoya stayed with Labramon for the entire night. They even watched the stars together, silently but joyously.

"Labramon?" Otoya asked with a whisper as she and Labramon looked at the beautiful stars from the window on her ceiling.

"Yes, Otoya?" Labramon replied back.

"I was wondering...why did you choose me as your partner? I mean, I'm not saying I'm ungrateful or anything. I just...you'd be much better off with someone else. Someone more capable of helping you and taking care of you."

Labramon ruminated for a bit, then responded. "I don't know how I ended up in your room that day, but since you were the only person there, I took to you rather quickly...and I couldn't be happier. I'm happy to be your partner, and I wouldn't change it for anything else in the world."

"But you got hurt because of me."

"So? I'm still alive, aren't I? Besides...maybe this is God's work."

"Huh?"

"Maybe he found me and chose me to be your partner because he knew that you really needed a special friend who understood you and didn't judge you or stereotype you. Otoya...we're friends, aren't we? We always will be."

Otoya smiled as she gazed at the stars again.

"Yes. We will be. Forever..."

Soon, Thursday, the day of the get-together at Otoya's house, came crawling in. Otoya ate breakfast with her family (except Oujiro, who is still in prison), got ready for school, and kissed a still weary Labramon goodbye as she trotted off. She wasn't totally upbeat considering what's been happening, but something in her heart told her that she needed to be optimistic today. She wondered what it was that made her feel slightly jaunty today. Even Melody, who saw her trot by, looked surprised by Otoya's sudden change in demeanor, even though it didn't look too obvious to others. Melody, a little unsettled by this, decided to approach her.

"Hi," Melody said in a rather monotone and straight voice. Otoya stopped and smiled at her.

"Hi!" Otoya chirped. "What's up?"

"You're...upbeat," Melody muttered, looking a little unsettled.

"Does it bother you?" Otoya asked.

"Yeah. You shouldn't be upbeat considering all that's been happening to you, and besides, your going to your dad's trial tomorrow, right? Aren't you afraid that the police might arrest him?" Melody asked rather bluntly, but Otoya knew for a fact that Melody is always blunt, so she didn't take it personally.

Otoya had to admit, Melody had a good point. Her smile did fade a little. "I know. I know things haven't been good with me this week, but after seeing Labramon fight so hard for me yesterday, I realized something."

"What is it?"

Otoya was about to answer, but Nenji's two friends, Mansuke and Hirofumi, saw her and began shouting at them.

"Hey look! It's the goth punk and the cult girl!" Mansuke taunted.

"Throw in the white-skinned retard and you get a freak sandwich!" Hirofumi backed him up.

Soon, the two began chanting. "Cult girl! Goth girl! Freak shows galore!"

Melody shot a look at them, stomped over to them, and grabbed Mansuke by the shirt. She looked him straight in the eye and didn't show any mercy. "All that stuff you're hearing on the news? It's all a load of crock! You should know better than to be so stupid as to make a big deal out of something that isn't even true! Say that again, and you're going to wake up breathing through a tube!"

"Get off me, you punk!" Mansuke yelled. Angrily, Melody threw him back to Hirofumi.

"Mel-chan! Please don't!" Otoya tried to make sure Melody didn't do anything that would get her in trouble. Thankfully, she didn't need to, though Melody felt very unsatisfied.

"Ebisu! Maruoka! What do you brats think you're doing? Shouldn't you be heading off to school? Quit makin' a big fuss! People are sleeping over here!" An old lady shouted. "Do you want me to call yer parents again?"

Ebisu is Mansuke's surname, and Maruoka is Hirofumi's surname. As soon as they saw the old lady, they immediately became timorous.

"Aw man! We gotta split!" Hirofumi exclaimed timorously and ran off with Mansuke trailing behind him. Melody and Otoya both looked at the old lady with admiration.

"Thanks, Ono-san!" Otoya said with a smile. Melody flashed a thumb's up. The old lady, Ono, did the same.

"Not a problem, girls. Those boys are always making trouble. But they won't get past me! No they won't! Now you'd best run along, or else you'll be late," Ono told them cheerfully.

"Sure! Have a nice day!" Otoya waved at her and trotted off, with Melody trailing behind her.

"You too, girls!" Ono waved back.

Once she was out of sight, the two girls talked amongst themselves.

"Ono-san's awesome, isn't she?" Otoya asked.

"Yeah. She is," Melody replied insouciantly. "I...I used to live with her once."

"Really? You did?" Otoya asked. She knew about Melody's situation a little bit because Minako filled her in on it once. "Did you like her?"

"Yep. She's great. Let me do what I want. But I only stayed with her for a month. The court later decided she was uneligible to continue being my foster parent because of her age. That's just stupid! I would have loved to stay with her!" Melody explained.

"Sorry for prying, but who do you live with now?" Otoya asked. She hoped that Melody wouldn't feel hurt by her asking this question. Thankfully, Melody didn't look as though she were.

"This family called the Hanabusas."

Otoya didn't say anymore after that. Melody did throw in something else.

"Don't tell Yun about this. Okay?" Melody asked. Otoya could tell that she looked quite serious, so she nodded in response.

The two of them finally arrived at school, along with the rest of the kids. Right as they walked through the door, the first thing they heard was Riku complaining. They did, however, notice that Kosuke is back in school, and looking quite good.

"Awwww man! I can't believe Mom's not gonna let me go to trial and testify!" Riku complained.

"Huh? You were supposed to?" Yun asked, looking quite confused.

"The investigators wanted him to, but Mom is dead set on not letting him go," Rena told them a little sadly.

"Why? He provided an important piece of evidence," Lucero asked, just as confused as Yun. Earlier, Riku had told the rest of the Digimon Brigade of his brouhaha with Nayuki and the evidence he managed to get because of it.

"Mom keeps thinking that all Riku's gonna do is yell like a maniac, cause trouble, and basically screw up the entire trial with his presence. Can you believe it?" Rena explained with some contempt in her voice. Not for Riku, but for her overbearing and overly judgmental mother.

"She seriously thinks that all I'm gonna do is scream all over the place and cause an uproar! I can't believe Mom's so blind! I can be quiet and calm when I need to be!" Riku yelled.

"Shh!" Mrs. Kamogawa shushed them from her desk. The kids decided to lower their voices so that they don't get her angry.

"That's horrible," Hokuto muttered.

"Not only that, she doesn't even believe that I gave them important evidence! She keeps complaining at the police station, trying to talk them into giving it back thinking it's some kind of nonsense that I gave them as a prank. Good thing the police were cool about it. They didn't give it to her, not even just to listen to what I recorded. They said right to her face, _'This piece of evidence is very imperative to this case, and we cannot hand it to you.'_ It was awesome. But then she went on to yell at me, point out my flaws and tell me what a stupid little liar that I am. She thinks I lie! I NEVER lie! I only do it when I really need to! She also said that I'm manipulating the police and that I should have been locked up ages ago and that I clearly don't know the difference between right and wrong. I do SO know the difference between right and wrong! I know robbery and kidnapping is wrong! I know skipping class and playing hooky is wrong!" Riku explained loudly.

"Atrocious! Why would any mother want to tell their child such calumny so cruelly and mercilessly? Thine evidence must have been very important if the police wanted to keep it. Thou shouldst have been allowed to testify for Otoya-dono's sake! Is thy mother always so cruel and verbally abusive?" Lucero asked, angrily at first, but he calmed down.

"What does verbally mean?" Yun asked Minako.

"Verbal means using words. If someone's calling you names, then they're verbally abusing you. If we're talking, like we are right now, that's verbal communication," Minako explained.

"Oh. I see. Thanks," Yun replied.

Rena sighed. "Yeah. She is. At first, she was pretty shocked when we found out Riku was diagnosed with ADHD only three years ago, and instead of trying to understand his condition and help him, the first thing she thought was meds! She immediately put him on meds and began criticizing him for everything he did. She even believes that criminals have ADHD and is convinced that Riku's gonna do something bad and get thrown in juvie. I don't know why she's so uptight, but I'm getting really sick and tired of it. Dad is too, but he can't argue with her."

Everyone could tell that Rena looked pretty pained when she talked about her mother and her constant uptightness. Even Riku looked rather sad.

"I don't believe a word of it," Yun piped in courageously.

Riku smiled, finally. "Thanks, you guys. You all are awesome. I'm so glad I have friends like you. I didn't have any when me and Rena lived in Hokkaido. Otoya-chan? Didn't you say once that you're grateful to have these guys here as your friends too?"

Suddenly, everyone turned to Otoya in curiosity. Otoya didn't mind. In fact, she smiled.

"Yesterday, when Riku told me he threatened to set a forest on fire just so he can persuade Ichinose into clearing my name...I realized something. You all know that I never had any friends back in Chiba, right? I remember one time when this one group of girls said they wanted to be friends with me. I was so happy. We did lots of things together. But then I found out that the only reason they were friends with me was because their leader blackmailed them into doing so, lest she reveal their dark secrets to the school. That made me lose all of my faith and stop putting it in other people. I didn't think any good friends existed...until I met Labramon and all of you. You have all been so kind to me, even though I didn't see why you would want to do so. At first, I thought you all were trying to trick me at first, but...I got over that once I saw how awesome you all were. I'm sorry for thinking something so horrible," Otoya explained.

"It's alright. We understand," Melody said in a slightly monotone voice.

"You all accepted me. You all embraced me. You all treated me like a normal girl and accepted me as such. Best of all, you didn't judge me based on my dad's occupation or think I was a living stereotype. I...I'm so blessed to have met you all," Otoya explained, tearing up a bit.

"Not once have I ever thought thou were an obeisant child of a preacher. It's wrong to judge people without seeing who they are on the inside," Lucero said with a smile.

"That's true," Yun backed him up.

Riku sighed. "If only our mom would change her attitude."

"And a certain someone else, too," Kosuke said with his arms crossed. He had just been informed of what was happening with Otoya and Nayuki's involvement in it.

"I know who you mean," Otoya said. "Nobody's ever done kind things for me outside my family. I certainly never had anyone who would threaten to set a forest on fire just so they could convince someone to clear my name!" She made sure to whisper this so Nenji, Seiko, and their posses wouldn't hear it and make a big fuss over it.

"It just goes to show how awesome having friends can be!" Riku edicted proudly.

"Before I knew who you all are...I didn't really put any faith in you. I never did. Even after I became friends with Labramon. I didn't even put any faith in him because I thought he would betray me. But...after a while I realized that I was right...to put my faith in all of you. You're all the best friends a girl can ask for," Otoya said. "It was stupid of me to put my faith in Narumi when I found out he was only using me."

"I'll never forgive him. For using you, I mean," Melody said gruffly, cracking her knuckles a bit.

"Now now, let's not beat anyone up," Yun advised calmly.

Hokuto suddenly found an urge to talk to Kosuke.

"How's your new house?" Hokuto asked in a low whisper.

"Awesome! It's huge! I have my own room now, and it's a lot bigger than the last one! There's a huge backyard that Patamon and I just started playing in. Plus, it's a billion times nicer than that old shack me and Mom used to live in. The best part? It's only on Mikazuki Ave! Just five blocks away from the school, a little ways from the village," Kosuke explained cheerfully.

"I'll bet you love it a lot," Yun said.

"You bet I do! I can finally be a kid again and not have to do anything until I'm older! Thank God!" Kosuke exclaimed.

"You should show us some time," Minako said.

"I definitely will. Plus they're cool with Patamon now, so I don't need to worry about that," Kosuke added in.

Soon the bell rang, and everyone went to their classes. Nobody had any idea of what was going to transpire later on. The first half of the school day went by rather pleasantly, if one were to exclude the fact that Nenji, Seiko, and their posses continued to call Otoya _"cult girl"_ though she ignored them and continued on with a jaunty attitude. Then, when lunch came around...

_BOOM!_

The entire school started shaking, like an earthquake had occurred! Some kids fell off of the long chairs in the cafeteria. A lot of the food fell onto the floor, some of which fell onto the kids. Most of the kids screamed in fear.

"What was that?" Riku yelped as he tried to help Rena up.

"That wasn't an earthquake, was it?" Otoya cried out.

"I sure don't think so!" Minako exclaimed.

A myriad of teachers came in and began escorting everyone out of the building.

"Everyone! It's an emergency! Evacuate the building calmly!" One male teacher said, but the building began shaking again. It dissipated faster than the first time. After the shaking stopped, the kids quickly exited the lunchroom and went outside. The Digimon Brigade followed, but tried to keep a close eye on the outside of the school to see what's going on.

Smoke! There's smoke a little ways away from the left side of the school, where all the kids are exiting from. There's even smoke coming from the roof! Soon, the sound of a real life fire drill echoed in the air. But the thing that caused the minor destruction wasn't a fire or an earthquake at all.

It was Hokuto who saw it first.

"Devidramon!"

Soon, all the kids, the Digimon Brigade, included, looked up in alarm.

"Whoa! Is that a giant black dragon?"

"No way! That can't be real!"

"That is so cool!"

"Did that thing fire some kind of energy beam or something?"

"Come on! We gotta get outta here before it kills us!"

The Digimon Brigade was shocked, frozen in place. Devidramon, with Nayuki on his shoulder, is flying right above the school! Both of them are looking down at it with willfully blatant rancor and scorn.

"What's HE doing here?" Yun yelped, becoming quite frightened.

"I dunno, but whatever it is, it can't be good!" Kosuke exclaimed.

"We have to go get the Digimon!" Rena exclaimed.

But as it would turn out, they didn't need to go get them. They went to go get their partners!

"Everyone!"

Excluding Dracomon, Bearmon, and MarineAngemon, all the Digimon came! Lopmon, Terriermon, Cutemon, Salamon, Patamon, Biyomon, Kudamon, Lunamon, Coronamon, and even Labramon, who is limping!

"Labramon!" Otoya yelled as she ran over to the grimacing Labramon.

"I...I saw him...flying toward the school. We all did. I...had to warn you...before it was too late," Labramon croaked.

"Labramon! You need to go back home! You're too weak to fight!" Otoya advised in a worried voice, but Labramon tried to stand up.

"Otoya. Let me digivolve and fight him! My time has come! Please! Have faith in me!" Labramon pleaded persistently.

Otoya was confused. Labramon, despite the pain he endured, wants to fight? Otoya knew that if she let Labramon get hurt again, it wouldn't be pretty. But she also knew that once Labramon laid eyes on Devidramon or even felt his presence, his bloodlust and yearning for revenge would never be controled. Otoya knew she had to disagree with him.

"We tried to stop him from coming here, but he just wouldn't listen!" Coronamon explained.

"Yes. He's in too much pain. He'll get hurt!" Lunamon agreed with him.

"I'm sorry Labramon, but you have to go home. You're already-" Otoya tried to tell him, but right when Labramon laid eyes on Devidramon, his feral instincts immediately took over, and he leaped out of Otoya's arms despite the pain.

"I suppose we should fight?" Lopmon asked.

"We have to!" Terriermon said.

Yun got her digivice out, and so did everyone else. "Yes. Let's keep them away from the school!"

Labramon digivolved into Seasarmon first. Then Lopmon digivolved to Turuiemon, Terriermon to Gargomon, Cutemon to Rabbitmon, Salamon to Gatomon, Patamon to Angemon, Biyomon to Birdramon, Kudamon to Reppamon, Lunamon to Lekismon, and Coronamon to Firamon. Devidramon spotted them and dove down to fight them. As he descended to the ground, Nayuki leaped off of him. Seasarmon attacked first while the kids tried to hide in a place where they can't be seen by the teachers and the evacuating kids.

"Tee Dia!"

Many glowing arrows of light formed next to Seasarmon, and they all flew at Devidramon, who smacked them away with his large claws and wings.

"Red Eye Beam!" A red beam of energy shot out from Devidramon's eyes, but Seasarmon stood his ground against it. He didn't even dodge. This gave the other Digimon the perfect opportunity to surround him and attack.

"Waltz of the Flowers!"

"Meteor Wing!"

"Hand of Fate!"

"Gargo Laser!"

"Carrot Bomb!"

"Fira Bomb!"

"Vacuum Kamaitachi!"

Unfortunately, Devidramon fought back.

"Red Eye Beam!"

He swung his red eye beam in all directions, managing to make all the attacks that intended to hit him dissipate. All of the Digimon were aghast with shock.

"That's impossible! We should have been able to hit him!" Rabbitmon exclaimed.

"Perhaps Ichinose has trained him constantly!" Reppamon said as he decided to fly into a revolving somersault and attack Devidramon. "Spinning Sky Fissure Slash!"

Devidramon swung his big arm at Reppamon, knocking him out like he was an annoying fly. Reppamon fell onto the school roof, but he managed to get back on his feet. Seasarmon, however, didn't stop to even take a break.

"Energy Ray!" A light shot out from Seasarmon's golden unicorn horn and shot at Devidramon, but the devil-like dragon saw it coming and fired another red eye beam.

"Red Eye Beam!"

Both attacks collided and caused smoke to appear. It wasn't enough to cover everything, as it dissipated rather quickly, but the Digimon took this as an opportunity to attack Devidramon while he's distracted.

"Angel Rod!" Angemon smacked Devidramon over the head with his giant golden staff.

"Lightning Paw!" Gatomon punched Devidramon in the jaw with her little paws despite her small size.

"Ninja Fist!" Like Gatomon before her, Turuiemon punched Devidramon, but this time in the torso.

"Bunny Pummel!" Gargomon smacked Devidramon on the back with both of his vulcans.

"Tear Arrow!" Lekismon threw an icy arrow at Devidramon, who smacked it away with his claw. Lekismon was shocked.

"What? How? It should have hit him!" Lekismon exclaimed.

"Fira Claw!" Firamon tried to burn him with his flaming claws, but Devidramon headbutted him before he could land a hit, causing Firamon to skid on the street a little.

"Mach Grinder!" Birdramon descended to the ground, hoping to grab Devidramon while he was distracted and get a hold of him so that they could defeat him, but Devidramon saw her and attacked.

"Red Eye Beam!" His attack managed to hit Birdramon enough to make her fall next to the school. She didn't destroy anything, thank goodness, but if she had fallen on the school, the whole building would have fallen to pieces.

"Birdramon!" Melody called out with concern. Kosuke is shaking his digivice angrily, but to no avail.

"Dang it! Why is it that whenever we fight certain Digimon at certain times, none of the rest of us can't digivolve into ultimate when we need to the most? I mean, we could really use MagnaAngemon's help right now!" Kosuke edicted angrily.

"I know. Not only that, our D-Chips are at home again!" Yun said.

"Plus Seasarmon's acting like a rabid pit bull!" Riku said as he noticed the drastic change in Seasarmon's behavior.

Seasarmon is the only one who, despite his injury, didn't dare to even take a break or regain his bearings, his lust for revenge is so insatiable. Both he and Devidramon continued to hack at each other. They hit, bit, kicked, slapped, clawed, and everything else in between. The Digimon were getting scared. Turuiemon was the one who decided to take the plunge and break the two apart. She leaped in between Seasarmon and Devidramon and put both her hands on their faces to keep them apart.

"Seasarmon! You must calm down! You don't have to fight him alone! Besides, you're still injured!" Turuiemon told him kindly but sternly, but he didn't listen.

"Stay out of this! This is MY battle! Out of my way!" Seasarmon growled angrily and knocked Turuiemon to the side with his paw with great force. Turuiemon screamed a little as she fell onto the street.

"Turuiemon!" Yun yelled timorously, shocked by Seasarmon's sudden personality change. Gargomon saw it too, and he was NOT going to let anyone get away with treating his sister like that.

"Seasarmon! Snap out of it already! Bunny Pummel!" Gargomon wanted to smack Seasarmon over the head with his vulcans, but the giant golden lion used his fore legs to kick Gargomon before he could even raise his arms up.

"Wow. When it comes to me you don't even care about your friends. Pretty unusual, don't you think, Seasarmon?" Devidramon asked maliciously, with a toothy dragon-like smile to match his own share of bloodlust.

"I only care about destroying you, Pharaohmon!" Seasarmon bellowed and tried to pounce on Devidramon again, but the big black dragon managed to grab Seasarmon by his tail.

He decided to fly high into the air while pulling on Seasarmon by the tail. Once he got high enough, he swung Seasarmon around like he was a lasso. Seasarmon tried to get away, but Devidramon was just too strong. Soon, Devidramon had enough and threw Seasarmon to the ground. The Digimon saw that he was heading right toward the school.

"I'll get him!" Angemon said as he decided to fly toward Seasarmon to save him.

"Me too!" Birdramon said as she followed Angemon.

Angemon managed to grab Seasarmon, but he was still too heavy for Angemon to handle so they fell again. Thankfully, Birdramon, being as big as she is, managed to provide a cushion for Angemon and Seasarmon with her back. They managed to stop Seasarmon from destroying the school! But it wasn't over yet.

"Crimson Claw!"

Devidramon, incensed by Angemon and Birdramon's interference (and so is Seasarmon), he descended downward so he could attack him again.

"Oh, no you don't! Moon Night Kick!" Lekismon, as quick as a cheetah, flew in front of Devidramon and managed to kick his claw away.

"Thanks, Lekismon!" Angemon said as he's trying to control the very angry Seasarmon.

"Don't mind if I do," Lekismon said.

Gargomon ran over to Devidramon and proceeded to attack him. "Gargo Laser!"

The myriad of bullets did manage to leave some marks on Devidramon, but not enough to knock him out. Devidramon became incensed.

"Red Eye Beam!"

Shocked by Devidramon's retaliation, Gargomon didn't have time to dodge the attack. But someone saw it and took action.

"Gargomon!" Turuiemon leaped in front of Gargomon, prepped her gauntlets up in front of her, and managed to take the attack, keeping Gargomon safe.

Devidramon persisted and continued to fire his beam. Turuiemon, just as persistent as the black devil dragon himself, continued to block the red energy beam with her gauntlets, even though it must be confessed that she won't be able to hold on for much longer.

"Thanks a lot, Turuiemon!" Gargomon said.

"Gargomon! Go now! Take care of Seasarmon! I'll try to handle Devidramon!" Turuiemon told him.

"Aye aye, sister!" Gargomon used his arm to make a sailor's salute and ran away while Turuiemon finally managed to make the red beam dissipate.

Like a ninja, she leaped into the air, jumped onto a tree branch, did a few loop-de-loops, and flew over to Devidramon to attack him.

"Gauntlet Claw!" With her trusty silver gauntlets ready, Turuiemon descended before Devidramon and tried to attack him.

"Tail Smash!" Devidramon whisked his tail at Turuiemon and knocked her to the ground! Gatomon saw it and gasped.

"Turuiemon!" Gatomon yelled. Then she eyed Devidramon and charged at him.

"Cat's Eye Hypnosis!" Gatomon tried to hypnotize him, but Devidramon flew into the air before she could.

"Can someone help us out here?" Birdramon yelped, apparently having a hard time subduing a very volatile and angry Seasarmon, who is just obstinately trying to break free from their clutches.

"Seasarmon! Calm down! You're still hurt!" Gargomon wrapped his arms around Seasarmon, trying to keep him from running into battle so recklessly. Unfortunately, Seasarmon finally broke free...in the worst way possible.

"Tee Dia!" Arrows of light rained down on Birdramon, Angemon, Rabbitmon, and Gargomon!

"Take cover!" Birdramon flew over them and took most of the arrows, which resulted in Seasarmon getting away.

"Birdramon!" Melody called out in shock. Not wanting to stand by anymore, she ran over to the injured Birdramon, who, as a result of Seasarmon's obstinate defiance, de-digivolved into Biyomon. The rest of the kids followed her.

"Biyomon! You sure took a good beating," Melody said bluntly as she carried Biyomon in her arms.

"Sorry, Mel..." Biyomon croaked.

"This is bad! Seasarmon's completely out of control!" Yun exclaimed.

"You're telling me!" Hokuto said.

Angemon, Turuiemon, Lekismon, Firamon, Seasarmon, and Reppamon decided to go after Devidramon, who is flying around the area like crazy.

"Moon Night Bomb!"

"Hand of Fate!"

"Vacuum Kamaitachi!"

"Sekkantou!"

"Fira Bomb!"

Like usual, Devidramon evaded all of their attacks. As Lekismon was about to jump and lay another one on him, Devidramon grabbed her face with his big claw.

"AAAGH!" Lekismon screamed as she tried to pry Devidramon's big claw off of her. He pinned her to the ground. Lekismon struggled and flailed, but Devidramon just wouldn't let go.

"LEKISMON!" Firamon, Angemon, and Turuiemon both screamed as they tried to descend to the ground and save her.

Devidramon's claw squeezed Lekismon's face hard. Lekismon tried to pry him off, but he's just too strong. Gatomon saw this and decided to take this opportunity.

"Cat's Eye-" Unfortunately, right as she was about to try and paralyze Devidramon, a mighty blow struck her on the back of the head right as Turuiemon, Firamon, and Angemon managed to cling to Devidramon in order to pull him off. Gatomon fell unconscious, enough to de-digivolve back into Salamon, and the kids gasped in horror once they saw who it was.

Nayuki.

She hit her with a digi-hammer that her digivice made.

Salamon did manage to wake up and get herself to her feet, albeit weakly, but Nayuki eyed her scornfully.

"Now, allow me to destroy you so Devidramon can load your data, you useless weakling," Nayuki said wickedly. Salamon growled at her, wanting to attack, but Minako, not wanting to see her partner get destroyed another time, ran over to them.

"NO YOU WILL NOT!" Minako grabbed Salamon before Nayuki could hammer her to death.

"Get off of her!" Angemon yelled as he yanked on Devidramon's arm, the one clinging to Lekismon's face. Both he, Turuiemon, and Firamon tried to get him off of Lekismon, seeing that she's in indescribable pain. Seasarmon pounced on Devidramon enough to pry him off of Lekismon! But it wasn't enough, as the pain forced Lekismon to de-digivolve back into Lunamon. Not only that, Angemon found himself pinned underneath a Devidramon who has just been pounced on by a rabid Seasarmon. Firamon and Turuiemon had been knocked off as well.

"Lunamon!" Rena ran over to Lunamon and picked her up before she could sustain anymore damage.

"Lop-Ear Lancer!" Rabbitmon smacked Devidramon over the head with her long, spinning ears, but it wasn't enough to knock him out.

"I...can't...breathe!" Angemon croaked.

Gargomon and Turuiemon saw this. "Uh oh! We have to save him!"

But as Gargomon and Turuiemon were about to run over to Angemon and save him, Devidramon successfully grabbed Seasarmon's horn, pushed him off, and eyed the two giant rabbits, along with Firamon who descended to help.

"Black Fire!" A stream of inky black and smoky blue fire managed to hit Gargomon, Turuiemon, and Firamon. They all felt as though both the outside and inside of their bodies were being roasted all at once. Once the flames diminished, they all de-digivolved back into Lopmon, Terriermon, and Coronamon as they bounced on the asphalt.

"Lopmon! Terriermon!" Yun cried out.

"Coronamon!" Riku cried out.

Both kids ran over to their defeated Digimon. Nayuki saw this and looked at them with scorn.

"Just let them die. It's not like they're worth it anyway," Nayuki told them cruelly.

"Who are you to tell us what we should do with our Digimon!" Yun cried out angrily as she clung to Lopmon and Terriermon, who in turn clung to her like little baby animals yearning for their mother's warmth.

"Do you make a living off of killing Digimon and having Devidramon absorb their data? You're heartless!" Minako yelled, choleric by what Nayuki tried to do to Salamon.

"It's not heartless. It's survival of the fittest. Quit acting like Digimon have civil rights. They don't. They're just data," Nayuki said.

This was the last straw for someone.

"You think they don't have rights just like the rest of us?"

It was none other than Otoya.

Behind them, Devidramon managed to knock out Angemon, Rabbitmon, and Reppamon with another Black Fire attack, causing them all to revert back to Patamon, Cutemon, and Kudamon. Now, only Seasarmon was left. He and Devidramon hacked at each other like dogs in a dog fighting ring just like before. Otoya balled her fists, gritted her teeth, and gave Nayuki her own scornful look.

"How can you say such terrible things about Digimon? So what if they're made of data? They're still living beings! Of course, you don't care one bit about all Digimon, not even your own! Why can't you understand that there's more to life than being a thick headed idealist who tries to put people in jail just so you can satisfy a petty grudge!" Otoya yelled angrily, which made Nayuki choleric.

"You say I have a petty grudge against preachers? You're the one who needs to understand! Stop thinking that the world revolves around you just because you have it easy being a preacher's daughter! You don't know ANYTHING about hardship and sadness! ANYTHING!"

"You seriously think I have it easy and that I don't know anything about hardship? That's where you're wrong, Ichinose! I don't know where you're getting all these ideas, but you need to shape up! I've NEVER had it easy because I was a preacher's kid! Nobody wanted to be friends with me in Chiba because they all thought preacher's kids did everything their fathers told them, like go to church every day, read the Bible or help out every day! My family was persecuted because the townspeople accused us of starting a cult!"

"Then all the better! Stupid, naive idiots like you don't deserve happiness! I hope your stupid father gets a life sentence, because phony people like him don't deserve to walk this earth, let alone breathe the same air as we do! Preaching about garbage like friendship and faith won't get anyone anywhere! All it does is prove that you're nothing but idiots who can't face reality and choose to do it by manipulating people and hurting kids that you brainwash!"

"My dad doesn't do any of those horrible things! You have no proof!"

"I don't need proof! The police here are easy to manipulate so I thought I'd satisfy myself by getting your stupid dad thrown in jail!"

"Wow. And to think I thought Shimizu and Nemoto were thick-headed," Rena said to Lunamon, who looked quite dejected after hearing all of this.

"My. How terrible," Lunamon whispered in a low voice so that Nayuki wouldn't hear her and fly at her in a paroxysm of anger.

"You really are stupid, you know that?"

"You're the stupid one, preaching about garbage like friendship and faith!"

"What's wrong with friendship and faith, huh?"

"Don't you get it? God, you're so gullible and thick-headed! These stupid kids and monsters around you! Look around!" Nayuki spread her arms out wide in response to her tirade. "They're not really your friends! They're just manipulating you and using you for their own pleasure!"

"No we're not!" A majority of the kids screamed angrily, appalled that Nayuki would even say such a thing, let alone in public.

"You're stupid to have faith in each and every one of them, including that rabid dog of yours! How do you know they're not plotting to betray you or spit you out once they're done with you?" Nayuki exclaimed with fire in her eyes.

"I know from experience that they won't betray me. Rikkun threatened to set a forest on fire just so he can force you to clear my name. Yun-chan and the others consoled me when Narumi confessed that he was using me. Labramon stayed by my side, even though he technically has no reason to do so. I...I didn't believe in them at first. But...after a while, I realized that I was right to have faith in them, and that there are such things as true, good friends after all. You could never understand how important my friends and family are to me," Otoya told her calmly and lucidly but sternly, with some fire in her own blazing green eyes.

Nayuki, feeling quite insulted by Otoya's genuine faith in her friends, scoffed at her by spitting at the street.

"Eww! Gross! Don't you know it's disgusting to spit in public?" Biyomon jeered with a disgusted face in response to Nayuki's rather ribald gesture just now.

"Shut up, you piece of chicken! I can do whatever I want whenever I want! You're not the boss of me!" Nayuki yelled.

"I am NOT chicken!" Biyomon squawked angrily.

"Yes you are! Chicken chicken chicken! Bok bok bok bok! Bagawk! Bagawk!" Nayuki taunted back, which made Biyomon even more choleric.

As Otoya and Nayuki argued, Seasarmon and Devidramon continued to fight each other like rabid dogs. Devidramon bit Seasarmon's horn, but the golden creature used this as an opportunity and shook Devidramon off of his horn by thrashing around like a flailing fish. Seasarmon then proceeded to jump on Devidramon, but the black devil dragon used his long claw to push onto Seasarmon's face and throw him onto the street. The entire Digimon Brigade was quite surprised that not once did they damage the school.

"Let's see if your slave mutt really is a faithful companion of yours," Nayuki said to Otoya coldly, then turned her head to look at Devidramon. "Devidramon!"

Devidramon looked at Nayuki while trying to keep Seasarmon at bay. "Yes?"

Nayuki grabbed Otoya by the shirt and forced her in front of her. "Use your Crimson Claw on this brat here!"

"WHAAAAAAAAAT?" Everyone screamed, even Seasarmon. Nayuki wants a Digimon to kill a human? In broad daylight? Nobody could believe it at first.

"You wouldn't dare!" Both Lopmon, Riku, Biyomon, and Melody all screamed, looking very blatantly and visibly outraged by Nayuki's cruelty.

"Yes I would. Come on, Devidramon! Don't show any mercy!" Nayuki exclaimed.

"WE WON'T LET YOU!" Yun was about to run to Nayuki and pummel her, but Nayuki suddenly grabbed her digivice, showed it off, and all of a sudden, every single one of the children and Digimon were trapped in a rainbow-hued dome of light in which they couldn't get out. All the kids and Digimon tried to push their way out, but nothing worked.

The rookie Digimon even resorted to using their attacks.

"Freezing Snow!" Lopmon's powdery ice attack froze part of the dome, but it didn't break.

"Blazing Fire!" Terriermon shot a red and orange sphere of fire at it, but it didn't even leave a dent.

"Sledge Crash!" Salamon repeatedly rammed herself against the dome, but all she received in response were jolts of pain.

"Boom Bubble!" Patamon shot five spheres of air at the dome, but none of them made a crack.

"Holy Blaze!" Biyomon covered herself in flames and flung herself at the dome, but not even that worked. She tumbled onto the ground once she failed. "Awwww! I can't believe it didn't work!"

"Bullet Whirlwind!" Kudamon spun around in a little tornado and rammed himself against the dome, but that didn't make a crack either.

"Tear Shot!" Lunamon shot a sphere of water at it, but it didn't work. She tried another attack. "Lunar Claw!" Her glowing black and purple hands scratched at the dome, but her fingers hurt afterward, and it didn't leave a scratch, so she gave up.

"Corona Flame!" Coronamon shot a ball of fire out of his forehead at the dome, but it only left smoke. No marks or cracks. Coronamon became choleric. "Why can't we get outta this thing?"

"It's no use! It doesn't look like anything can work on it!" Minako said, looking quite worried.

Despite efforts being futile, Riku, Melody, Yun, and Lucero all pounded on the dome, trying to get Nayuki's attention.

"Let us out of here, you heartless witch!" Riku yelled.

"Thou shan't put our friend in danger! Dost thou not knowest of the repercussions thou couldst cause?" Lucero screamed angrily.

"If you ever hurt her, I'll never forgive you!" Melody edicted angrily.

"I hope the police do catch you, because you deserve to go to jail!" Yun screamed, not caring if what she said hurt Nayuki's feelings or not.

"Sorry brats, but this thing won't let you out unless I say so! Quit acting like rabid dogs and behave already!" Nayuki scolded mercilessly, treating them like rats in a labyrinth. She then gave Devidramon an angry look. "Devidramon! What are you standing around for? I said kill this naive brat! NOW!"

Fearing what would happen if he disobeyed, Devidramon finally decided to fly at Otoya, who remained trapped because of Nayuki's grip on her shirt.

"Crimson Claw!"

Otoya immediately feared the worst and braced for impact. She knew what would happen. She would die and leave all of her friends, family, and the happiness she worked so hard to earn behind. No more friends! No more family! No more church! She would never know if Oujiro was cleared of the false charges or not! She would never be able to spend time with her family and beloved friends anymore! Labramon especially! She would never see him digivolve to ultimate level, or even mega level if that day were ever to come! Otoya wanted to get away, but Nayuki just would not let her go. Not only that, there was no time for her to dodge!

It was the end for her...or was it?

"OTOYA!"

A booming voice echoed in the sky. Then came a piercing sound, and a very pained roar. Then the sound of something big falling in front of her. Otoya saw that she's alive! But for a minute, she was going to regret opening her eyes once she saw who took the hit for her.

In front of her lay...

"SEASARMON!"

Devidramon is on top of an unconscious Seasarmon, with his claw dredged into his side, the side that's not already badly wounded from the last brouhaha he had with the black devil dragon of evil. Otoya, having finally had enough of being Nayuki's pawn, slapped Nayuki's hand and ran over to Seasarmon. Devidramon, seeing Otoya's unfeigned tears, finally pulled his claw out of the fallen golden lion.

"Seasarmon! Wake up! Please! Don't leave me! You're the best, most loyal friend I've ever had! I was right to have faith in you!" Otoya importuned and pleaded tearfully, not caring about the waterfalls of tears that were pouring out of her green eyes.

But it seemed fate decided to smile on the two partners. Seasarmon opened his eyes and gazed up at Otoya, both wistfully and happily, which told Otoya that Seasarmon is both alive and okay. Not only that, Otoya noticed something else. No longer did Seasarmon's eyes contain the volatile expression of hostility, rancor, bloodlust, and the insatiable lust for revenge. Yes, Seasarmon's eyes are that of the kind, gentle, faithful, and always loyal little dog that always stayed with Otoya. The same one that comforted her with his very presence when she was sad. The same one who Otoya played frisbee with when they had time. The same one who fought his insatiable thirst for revenge at that very moment just because she was in danger. The very same one who...revived, restored, and engendered Otoya's faith in not just him, but the world in general. Seasarmon's serene countenance and unfeigned benevolence, along with the unfeigned benevolence of all members of the Digimon Brigade, consituted for all of the sadness, isolation, hardship, and persecution that Otoya was forced to endure. In the end, Otoya knew right then that all the suffering that had laden her for so long was all worth it. The Digimon Brigade's ken and acceptance was just immeasurable. Ineffable. Impeccable. Otoya finally believed, firmly, that God had given her what she always wanted in the form of the Digimon Brigade and Labramon.

Nayuki, however, thought differently. VERY differently.

"Hm. Seems your Digimon is devoted to you after all, not that I care. But why do you care so much about him. He's worthless and pathetic! Just let him die! He's not worth your time or life!" Nayuki exclaimed.

Otoya balled her fists.

"He's not worthless or pathetic!"

Finally, not wanting to stand by and let Nayuki boss her or her friends around, she stood up and faced Nayuki proudly while putting a hand on her ocean blue D-Heart of Faith.

"Even with his flaws, Seasarmon is the best thing that ever happened to me! Because of what I went through, I never thought I would ever have any friends, especially not sincere ones. But moving here proved to be a great choice, because being in this town and with these kids showed me that kindness does exist, even if it's in the weirdest, most hard to find places! I prayed every night before bed, asking God to give me one special friend! Just one would be enough, be it a person or an animal! It's one of the reasons why I want to be a vet, because animals are pure-hearted and innocent. But God not only gave me one friend, but a whole bunch of them! Labramon and the Digimon Brigade are all the best things that ever happened to me! I lost all my faith before I met them, but after seeing how awesome they all are, I finally realized that having faith isn't always a bad thing! You can't just pray! You have to act! You have to make your prayers happen! I...I believe in Labramon! And my friends! And my dad! And that he's innocent of the false crime that you accused him of committing! Yes, it's cheesy, contrived, and melodramatic! I know! But who cares? In the Book of Exodus, Moses led his people, the Hebrews, out of Egypt because they were being treated like slaves! Even though bad things happened to him and his people, not once did they give up on their faith, because it's what got them this far! I will continue to hold onto my faith in my friends! I have full faith in my friends, and everyone who managed to help me get this far in life! My faith brought me here, and I'm PROUD of it!"

At that moment, Otoya's ocean blue D-Heart of Faith burst into a beautiful, stunning, dazzling, crystaline, ocean blue light. Seasarmon's eyes shot open, and he became consumed by the warm but cool blue light. He felt his most recent wound disappear, and he felt rejuvinated, even though his other wound didn't heal. Everyone had to close their eyes, the light was so bright. Even Nayuki and Devidramon. Not only that, the dome that Nayuki created used to entrap the rest of the Digimon Brigade shattered and dissipated into pieces! Even though she had to cover her eyes, Otoya could see what this meant.

_'Seasarmon...my faith in you is helping you digivolve! I'm so glad! I'm so glad that you're my partner! My wonderful, faithful, most awesome, most kind partner!'_ Otoya thought happily, shedding some tears.

"Seasarmon, digivolve to..."

The dazzling blue light got bigger and bigger. The light grew to exactly Devidramon's size. Slightly smaller than the school, yes, but still quite big. Once the light reached it's maximum size, it dissipated, and out came a very different creature! Seasarmon has now turned into a huge, pure, pristine white dog-like creature with three heads, complete with fangs, dazzling ocean blue eyes, golden hair tied in a Native American style, everything! He's long, lean, and white, looking much more gentle than Seasarmon. His legs are long and slender, with huge golden claws on the bottom of his feet, along with a few extra claws above them. His tail is long, with a golden sun stone at the end, and two rings on it. One is gold and solid like metal, the other is blue and soft, like a bracelet made by Indians. Wrapped around the three necks are blue, white, and gold collars, all with different stones on them. The center head's collar has a blue, oval shaped stone with the symbol of Faith on it. The head on the left's collar has a golden sun on it. The head on the right's collar has a lighter blue stone in the shape of a rain drop. To top it all off, wings donned his back. Beautiful, pristine, beatified gold, silver, and white wings, at least 10 feet long in length.

"...Cerberumon!"

None of the kids could believe their eyes! Seasarmon was already beautiful, shiny, and dazzling before, but now he looks even better and shinier than ever! He could almost look as though he could glow. If it was night time, he'd definitely light up an entire cave with his very presence. Everyone became flabbergasted, either out of shock or joy. For Otoya, Cerberumon is the most dazzling, most beautiful, most beatified, most heavenly, and most God-like creature in all the world. He emitted true sanctity. Some of the kids, however, looked very surprised, and not totally in a joyous way. Minako looked up Cerberumon's data on her digivice and was surprised with what she found.

"No way! This can't be!" Minako exclaimed.

"What is it?" Hokuto asked curiously.

"Cerberumon are supposed to have black skin and silver claws!" Minako said.

"Yeah! And he has to look waaaay more ferocious than that!" Riku piped in. "And he's not supposed to have wings either!"

"Could he be a recoloring or redesign or something?" Yun asked.

"Possibly, but I certainly don't remember there being a Cerberumon like this in the database or any of the Digimon websites I've been to!" Minako said.

"Who cares? He looks absolutely awesome!" Terriermon piped in.

"Wow! Absolutely beautiful! How very heavenly!" Lopmon said, smiling so big that her cheeks puffed up.

"Heavenly indeed! He looks as though he's God's faithful steed himself!" Lunamon said, smiling big herself.

"Holy cow! Wicked!" Coronamon piped in happily.

"Man, is that awesome or what?" Kosuke exclaimed cheerfully.

"You go, white Cerberumon! Wan!" Salamon piped in happily, hopping up and down.

"Go get'em, kyu!" Cutemon chirped cheerfully.

Unfortunately, not everything goes as planned, even as a Digimon digivolves into ultimate. Right as the white winged Cerberumon laid eyes on Devidramon, his feral demeanor returned, and he pounced on Devidramon like a wolf.

"Aw man! Even at ultimate level he still wants revenge!" Rena exclaimed, shocked by the fact that even at ultimate level, Cerberumon is still consumed by an insatiable yearning for revenge. Devidramon fought and fought, but Cerberumon was just too strong.

Nayuki became flabbergasted. With anger. Seasarmon digivolved into Cerberumon with the help of Otoya, whom she fervently and ardently believes does not even deserve to have a Digimon, let alone live and breath the same air as she does, while Devidramon gets the shaft in terms of digivolving after she's worked so hard? Nayuki couldn't believe this, and it wasn't because she thought that Cerberumon, in all of his heavenly glory, looked quite appalling and insulting to her. Why does he have the insensitivity to look so white and heavenly and amazing when he doesn't even deserve it? Nayuki remembered forcing Tsukaimon to kill more than his quota of accessible Digimon, just so he can load their data, get stronger, and digivolve to his highest level. They got last place in digivolving to champion. Nayuki was NOT going to let Devidramon get last place in digivolving into ultimate. Anger and hatred didn't just fill her heart, if she even had a heart. It filled her very being.

"Devidramon! You cannot lose! I won't allow it! You don't deserve to lose! I...I order you to digivolve! Digivolve! NOW! You better digivolve or you'll be coughing up blood by my hand next time we get home!" Nayuki screamed angrily, holding her digivice up once she saw Cerberumon pinning Devidramon to the street successfully.

In response to her fervent hatred, both her digivice and her D-Heart of Prudence digivolved in an evil, ghostly, ominous black light that enveloped Devidramon.

"WHAT? Oh no! Not him, too!" Riku yelled, angered by the fact that Devidramon is reaching ultimate too.

"Devidramon, digivolve to..."

Oddly enough, instead of getting bigger, he got smaller, to the size of an adult man. When the black light dissipated, out came a totally different creature...and this creature was nothing that anyone ever expected! Everyone, even Cerberumon, became flabbergasted in varying reactions. The Digimon Brigade with shock, Nayuki with both shock and anger. Devidramon is no longer Devidramon!...literally! Instead of an evil black dragon with wings, long arms, evil red eyes, and a ferocious demeanor, he's a mummy! Literally! He's no longer a dragon, but an adult man Digimon! He no longer has his wings, and is no longer a dragon. His entire body is wrapped in white bandages. On his long arms don black claws. Under one of his arms is a big black and brown crutch that, if looked at from a different angle, could resemble a rifle! On his head is a long purple bandana that stretched down to his knees. On his elbows, torso, and knees are black belts. Metal silver braces covered his feet. His face may be covered, but his evil eyes and wicked smile were not hidden by bandages in the least.

"...Mummymon!"

"Did...that really just happen?" Hokuto asked, looking very confused.

"Wow. Isn't this...one of the strangest digivolutions I've ever seen," Kudamon muttered in shock.

All of a sudden, Riku, Melody, Coronamon, and Biyomon all burst into a paroxysm of laughter.

"BWAHAHAHAHA! Are you serious? A winged dragon turning into a mummy? My God, this is ridiculous!" Riku laughed loudly, looking as though he could fall onto the street.

"That's the stupidest digivolution I've ever seen!" Coronamon laughed.

"Indeed it is! What happened to his wings? Did he shed them or are they wrapped under his many bandages?" Biyomon laughed.

Melody found herself shedding tears of laughter. "Wow! That's the lamest digivolution in the history of Digimon kind! Bwahahaha! Oh, my ribs! Oh, the lameness! Oh, the gosh-darned idiocy!"

Nayuki found herself red in the face with embarrassment after seeing the kids and Digimon laugh. Not only that, she herself was surprised. Why did Devidramon, a huge, cool, ferocious, winged black dragon (in her point of view), suddenly turn into a small, weak, scrawny, cooky looking mummy with a big mechanical crutch? Nayuki found this unexpected digivolution to be very insulting.

"WHY DID YOU DIGIVOLVE INTO SOMETHING AS LAME AS THAT! YOU WORTHLESS PIECE OF TRASH!" Nayuki screamed angrily.

"He's not trash!" Otoya piped in.

Even though Mummymon isn't Devidramon, he still had some tricks up his bandaged sleeves, as he raised both of his arms at the heavenly white Cerberumon, who proceeded to lunge onto him.

"Snake Bandage!" Streams of white bandages shot out from both of his arms, wrapping around every part of Cerberumon's body. His wings were bound to his back. His legs were tied together, and his mouth was shut. But Cerberumon wasn't going to let this scrawny little mummy gain the upper hand, so he used his claws and teeth to rip the bandages off. What he didn't know was that as he was ripping up the bandages, Mummymon used his bandages to swing from tree to tree like Tarzan swinging on vines. Once he was right behind Cerberumon, he got his crutch...wait, scratch that, the crutch IS a mechanical rifle! He aimed it right at Cerberumon.

"Cerberumon, look out!" Otoya called out with worry.

"_Black Rock Shooter_(1)!" A myriad of glowing black orbs shot out from the giant rifle, heading right toward Cerberumon. However, Cerberumon immediately turned around and used his long wings to block all of the orbs.

"Emerald Blaze!" A bright stream of light green fire shot out at Mummymon.

The kids immediately gasped. 'If those flames hit the trees or the school, the whole town's gonna be set on fire, and the Digimon are too weak to digivolve!' Otoya thought. She thought it was the end for the town, too...or was it?

"Magic Water!"

A huge spiral of water that sparkled underneath the sun managed to put out the Emerald Blaze attack and leave Cerberumon soaked to the bone, much to everyone's surprise.

"Crescent Dawn!"

A white light hit Mummymon on the back, causing him to fall off of the tree.

"Hanging Twister!"

A tornado trapped Mummymon inside of it, causing him to be blown around.

"Strike Bomber!"

Coredramon descended before Mummymon and slapped him with his tail. If Coredramon and the other Digimon are here, then that must mean...

"Anjo! Aria-chan! Isao-kun! Shione-chan!"

Yes! Shunji, Coredramon, Aria, MarineAngemon, Shione, Moosemon, Isao, and Grizzlymon are all here! They ran onto the scene once Coredramon pinned himself on Cerberumon to keep him from going crazy again.

"Sorry we're so late!" MarineAngemon said.

"We're glad you came anyway!" Kosuke said with a smile.

"It was tough getting here," Grizzlymon said.

"We had to wait until school got out before we could run here and help you," Isao explained.

"You wouldn't believe the traffic we had to sit through! We saw kids and teachers evacuating like crazy!" Moosemon piped in.

Kosuke looked at his digivice and was surprised. "Whoa! We seriously spent three and a half hours fighting Ichinose?"

"It would seem so!" Shunji said with an impish smile.

"Oh! Is that Labramon's ultimate form? How pretty!" Aria asked as she pointed to Cerberumon, who is trying to break out of Coredramon's clutches.

"Easy there, fella! No need to get all feral on me!" Coredramon told him.

Nayuki was just shocked. So shocked, in fact, that she didn't even notice her digivice fall out of her hand. Otoya saw this to be a great opportunity and decided to seize it. She walked up to the digivice, picked it up, opened it, and found the de-digivolution button. In a flash, Mummymon de-digivolved back into Tsukaimon. As he did, Cerberumon seemed to calm down also. Otoya put her digivice back.

"I de-digivolved Tsukaimon so he won't cause any more trouble. You should leave," Otoya told her sternly but calmly.

For once, Nayuki didn't disagree with her. She didn't even insult her back. She just ambled over to Tsukaimon silently but angrily. She picked him up by his wing like he was a rag doll. She gave Otoya the final scornful look of the day.

"Screw God. He hasn't done anything for me, so why should you or I or everyone else believe him? He doesn't exist. I hope you're happy. Oh, wait. Then again, I honestly hope your dad gets a life sentence. You're all still a bunch of thick-headed idiots."

And with that, she walked away.

"Well screw you, you heartless witch!" Riku yelled.

"Riku! That's enough!" Rena scolded.

Once Tsukaimon was out of sight, Cerberumon finally calmed down. He shed his feral persona and looked down at Otoya with his gentle eyes. Coredramon let him go, and Otoya smiled at the sight of him.

"Wow. Cerberumon...you're beautiful," Otoya said.

"Your unrelenting belief in me has helped me digivolve to this level. I truly do thank God for making you my tamer. I'm sorry that my body still yearns for revenge. I guess even upgrades have their drawbacks. But I am glad...that you're alright...and that your faith has been restored," Cerberumon told her in a kind, dignified, fatherly voice. It's here that Grizzlymon and Coredramon de-digivolved back into Bearmon and Dracomon.

"Yeah...and my faith couldn't have been restored without you or my good friends," Otoya said. Cerberumon smiled, but right after that, he was consumed by a blue light. He grew smaller and smaller. Even smaller than he was supposed to be! As the kids would soon find out, instead of de-digivolving into his in-training form, Xiaomon, he de-digivolved right into his baby form, with yesterday's wound included!

"Paomon!" Otoya ran over to the tiny, dumpling like Digimon with the floppy magenta ears, Paomon. The kids and Digimon ran over to them and immediately became smitten by the cute little Digimon.

"AWWWWW! SO CUUUUTE!" Yun, Lopmon, Biyomon, Minako, Salamon, Aria, MarineAngemon, Shione, and Patamon cooed sweetly but loudly. Very gently, Otoya scooped little Paomon in her hands and held him close.

"That injury you got still hurts, huh?" Otoya asked.

"It...would seem so. I'm...getting rather hungry," Paomon said in a high voice, like that of a little nerdy boy. He did smile a little, which made Otoya smile. She rubbed her nose on Paomon's head, which made him laugh a bit.

"I love you, Paomon," Otoya whispered gently. Paomon loved how Otoya's cheeks felt, so he relished in their softness and the love that they emitted.

"I love you too, Otoya," Paomon said.

"Oh! That reminds me!" Otoya exclaimed as she looked at her friends. "Are you all still up to going to my house today? It's after 3:30 right now, so..."

"Of course we are!" The Digimon Brigade exclaimed happily, which made Otoya and Paomon smile. Moosemon drooped his head downward.

"What's wrong, Moosemon?" Shione asked gently.

"I take it I can't accompany you, can I?" Moosemon said sadly. Shione rubbed his nose gently.

"I'm sorry. You're just too big. But don't be sad. There's always next time," Shione told him.

"Yes. I am rather noticeable, so me not going will be a wise decision," Moosemon said.

"Besides, Mikuni likes you a lot so you can play with her."

Moosemon smiled again. "Yes, that's true."

Moosemon went on home while the Digimon Brigade and their Digimon went to Otoya's house. Because some of the Digimon looked rather big and noticeable, most of the kids decided to de-digivolve their Digimon. Yun, Minako, Kosuke, Aria, and Hokuto left their Digimon alone while Rena, Riku, Shunji, and Isao de-digivolved their Digimon back into Moonmon, Sunmon, Bebydomon, and Tsunomon. Yun still cooed over the sight of the cute Digimon she barely saw.

"You're all so cute!" Yun cooed sweetly.

Moonmon blushed in Rena's arms. "Oh no. You know that's not true. I'm not cute at all."

"Yes you are!" Sunmon piped in cheerfully, his little yellow flame flickering brightly on his orange body. "She thinks I'm cute too!"

"That's silly! Quit bragging, Sunmon!" Tsunomon piped in.

"Is there gonna be steak at your place, Otoya?" Bebydomon asked, which made everyone laugh.

"Yes, there will be steak," Otoya told him with a smile.

"Yippee!" Bebydomon did a back flip and landed in Shunji's arms, which made him laugh.

"You never stop thinking about steak, do you?" Shunji asked.

"I don't think about steak all the time! I'm just hungry!" Bebydomon said.

"If you want, I can roast it!" Sunmon exclaimed happily, smiling brightly.

"I am rather hungry myself, so I wouldn't mind," Moonmon said with a cute smile, which Rena found to be cute as well.

The kids and little Digimon all went to Otoya's house. The get-together had begun! Noriko did find it a little strange that the kids all had little stuffed animals with them, but she didn't think it was a problem so she didn't question them. The kids did lots of things together. They ate lots of good food (the Digimon relished in it's sheer goodness), they played together, they watched Prince of Egypt together (a lot of the kids and Digimon cried), and celebrated Otoya and Paomon's sort of victory. Otoya truly felt blessed to have such great friends standing by her. Paomon too. He truly felt blessed to be Otoya's partner. But there was another hurdle that they need to get over.

That's tomorrow's trial.

Finally, Friday came. Otoya asked to attend the trial, to which Noriko, Maiko, and Seijuro agreed. They all went. Otoya even snuck Paomon in a little backpack. The trial was held in a small courthouse only 10 miles away from town. Once everyone was seated, the trial began. The defense lawyers and prosecutors talked about witness testimony (Nayuki and Riku were both not present, Riku because his mother forbade him to go to trial and testify), presented evidence (including the taped recording that Riku gave to the police), and made Oujiro answer questions that the lawyers asked him. Noriko, Maiko, and Seijuro were called up also. Even though they got there at an early hour (about 8:30 AM), the trial seemed to go on for hours and hours without end. It must be confessed that Otoya thought she was going to die from excessive boredom, but Paomon reminded her that this was important. Otoya also noticed something else. Other people, namely those who attended Oujiro's church, were called to the stand, and Otoya was surprised to find at how many of them actually supported the Jounouchis and hoped that Oujiro would be cleared of the charges.

"Perhaps your family made a wise choice in moving here," Paomon whispered very quietly so that nobody would hear him.

Otoya couldn't help but smile. "I agree."

Finally, at 2:15 PM, the verdict was handed down.

The judge, a rather small woman with long black hair and blue eyes, looked at the jury with expectation. "Has the jury reached the verdict?"

A man in his mid thirties stood up, representing the people, holding a piece of paper in his hand. "We have, Your Honor."

Otoya could feel the tension rising in her entire being. The verdict is going to be handed down! Oujiro's going to be declared either guilty or not guilty! If declared not guilty, he can be released! If declared guilty...Otoya shook her head. She didn't want to think about him possibly going to jail for something he didn't do. She had to have faith in him. She had to believe that he truly is innocent. She clasped both of her hands together tightly and squeezed her eyes shut. Paomon did too, but he clasped his big magenta ears together like they were hands. As he would notice, the entire Jounouchi family began praying for Oujiro's innocence, even Oujiro himself.

_'God! Please! Please make the jury declare Dad not guilty! I'll do anything! Please! Please, just give us this one chance at having a better life! Please! I beg of you! I beseech you! I...I can't lose hope or faith!'_ Otoya ruminated and prayed intensely.

The man representing the jury began to speak as he opened the paper. "Based on the evidence and the testimony that was presented today, we, the jury, find Jounouchi Oujiro, pastor of the Japanese Christian Church of Little Tama-no-Minato..."

Otoya could hear her heart pounding. The verdict is going to be handed down in a second! Otoya prayed harder than ever while keeping her ears open.

Finally, the verdict was handed down.

"...Not guilty."

Otoya opened her eyes in a flash. Everyone did...and the entire Jounouchi family cheered joyously. Pandemonium broke out.

"Good. Court is adjourned," The judge said as she thrust her gavel down on her desk and made everyone leave the courtroom. Once they got out, the entire Jounouchi family cheered joyously.

"You're innocent, Dad! You're free! You're cleared!" Otoya cheered happily as she hugged her father tearfully.

"Finally, this mess is over!" Seijuro exclaimed as he leaped onto Oujiro.

"Thank God they didn't send you to jail over nothing!" Maiko said.

"Dear...I'm glad this is all over," Noriko said gently as she wiped a tear from her eyes. Oujiro smiled.

"God has smiled down on all of us. I definitely think we should say grace at dinner tonight," Oujiro said. The kids laughed.

"Oh, you bet we will! In fact, we should order take-out for the occasion!" Seijuro exclaimed. Maiko slapped his arm.

"Come on, Sei! We're eating some real food!" Maiko scolded.

Otoya and Paomon smiled at each other and played with each other all day after that. Otoya and Paomon both couldn't believe that the whole cult mess is finally over! They celebrated joyously. Soon the rest of the Digimon Brigade found out about it through Otoya's text, and they went to the park to celebrate. Paomon's wound still bothered him, but he paid it no mind at all. Otoya was just happy to finally have her father back, her friends, and the life she's always wanted.

Fortunately, or unfortunately if one were to look at it from a different angle, Nayuki's plan had been subverted...and she did NOT take it well. She took it all out on Tsukaimon. She threw him against the wall and kicked him repeatedly.

"WHY? Why why why why why? My plan to throw that beast in jail is ruined! They actually found him not guilty! That stupid blonde brat must have given the police the recording! I should have had you roast him when we had the chance!" Nayuki yelled, choleric at how hard her plan fell to pieces. "Not only that, you had the nerve to shame me by digivolving into the lamest Digimon possible! You should have digivolved into something cooler than Devidramon! With wings! Fangs! Claws! Not that scrawny excuse of a dead man!"

"I can't...control how I digivolve..." Tsukaimon muttered, but Nayuki spat at him.

"Stop making excuses, you worthless piece of trash! Why did I have to be stuck with a worthless, ridiclously lame little Digimon like you?" Nayuki screamed.

How sad, the extent to which hatred can rise. Is there ever an end to the cycle of hatred?

Footnotes:

1. Yes, this is a reference to Black Rock Shooter, the Vocaloid song sung by Miku Hatsune.


	62. Roar of the Dragons

EPISODE 62: Roar of the Dragons

"Man! I still can't believe Mom wouldn't let me go to court and testify!" Riku complained as he and Coronamon walked into the house. Riku then slumped onto the living room couch, pouting slightly. They had just come back from Otoya's house on Friday, celebrating Oujiro's release from prison. Riku was happy for them, after then whole Nayuki incident, why shouldn't he be, but he still wished he could have had the opportunity to testify in order to make Oujiro's release more apparent

"Well, look on the bright side! The tape recorder was accepted as valid evidence, and it managed to clear Oujiro-san of the false charges!" Coronamon told him cheerfully, hoping to brighten up his mood a bit.

It did. Riku smiled and rubbed Coronamon's fluffy red head with his hand playfully, "Yeah. That's true. Thanks, little buddy!" Riku told him with a big smile.

Coronamon then remembered something. Riku wasn't allowed to do a lot of things because of his mother. Even when Riku did do nice things or not cause trouble, his mother would freak out and criticize him over the littlest things. Coronamon saw this all the time, and even when Rena stood up for him in retaliation (which also angered their mother further), he found it rather unsettling, so he decided to bring it up.

"Hey, Rikkun?" Coronamon asked.

"Yeah?" Riku answered.

"I was wonderin'...does Rena-chan stand up for you a lot? Y'know, when kids are being mean or when your mom's being mean? Stuff like that?" Coronamon asked curiously.

Riku's smile faded. Coronamon, being who he was, immediately thought that he offended him.

"Oh! Uh...I'm sorry. If you don't like talking about it, that's fine. I was just curious, that's all. You don't have to-"

Riku smiled again, a little sadly this time, and ruffled Coronamon's hair again. "It's alright. I don't mind. In fact, I never did tell you much about my past, now did I? You wanna hear it?"

Coronamon nodded as he sat down next to Riku.

"Well, Rena has always been there for me. She's always sticking up for me whenever I need it, even though most of the time, I don't really need her to help me. She's the reason the police back in Hokkaido cleared me of the shoplifting charges. Yeah, we fight a lot of the time, and sometimes, there are times when we can't stand each other! But that's what siblings are supposed to do! And, he's the only person who ever really understood me. She didn't think I was some stupid criminal. Okay, yeah, I confess, I was a little annoying when I was little, and I do remember causing a heck of a lot of trouble back in the fourth grade. I think that's when Mom started getting all critical and nitpicky. I remember my teacher back then complained about me a lot and yelled at me a lot...and at Mom at lot!" Riku explained.

"Was Takako-san always like that?" Coronamon asked.

Takako is Rena and Riku's mother. He had heard Michitaka refer to her by her name lots of times, especially when the two of them fought (which was mostly over Riku).

"No. Not from what Dad or Rena told me. But then again, I don't really remember a day when she wasn't all uptight. I don't think Mom ever did want to understand my condition or learn more about it other than the nonsense that she's making up in her head. She put me on meds from day one. She thought that dosing me with pills would cure me of my so-called bad behavior. I think she still does think that. Not only that, I didn't have many friends back in Hokkaido, which just seemed to convince her I was bad."

"You didn't?"

"Nah, though I think I made a few in third grade, but I don't know what happened to them when I started fourth. I think I know why though. Dad says I used to be REALLY impatient. Like, always cutting in line, talking during class, and basically not paying much attention and running out on to the black top whenever I felt like it. Those were all when I was really little, though the cutting in line still kinda persists. I...I don't think Mom understands that I really do want to change myself for the better and improve my behavior. Dad knows it, and he even lets me go to Wawa on my own when he wants errands done! He even gives me an allowance after I do chores or homework! Even when I pass a test! But Mom's still not budging, no matter what I do or try."

"I'll bet it must be sad," Coronamon muttered.

"It was. Not having any friends was sad. Having all your good intentions be mistaken as bad is sad! Having a mother who doesn't believe that her own kid can change for the better is sad! But I have to admit, you and the rest of the Digimon Brigade are the best thing that ever happened to me. To be honest, I'd much rather be in the Digital World instead of here."

All of a sudden, an idea hit Riku, "Hey! Coronamon! Wanna go to the Digital World?"

"Oh yeah! Let's do it!" Coronamon pumped his little red fists into the air happily at the idea.

"Give me a sec so I can get my digivice," Riku told him and ran into his slightly messy room.

To his credit, it wasn't as messy as it used to be, but was still rather messy. Some clothes still stuck out from half closed drawers, with mangas and random colorful video games for a Gameboy or a DS system scattered over his bed and dresser. Two pairs of sneakers and mismatched socks were scattered all over the floor. But despite the mess, Riku clearly remembered where his digivice was. Sometimes, kids with ADHD have the ability to remember even little details that most normal people don't even notice, let alone have any awareness that such things even existed. He remembered that his schoolbooks are black and that he put his yellow digivice on them, so he went to check his desk, and low and behold, his digivice was on top of his bland schoolbooks, and the brightly-colored device stuck out like a sore thumb. Riku grabbed the small device and ran back into the living room.

Looking around the room for a second, Riku told Coronamon, "Let's do this outside so nobody in the house sees us."

Coronamon did a sailor salute and replied, "Aye aye, captain!"

Riku and Coronamon dashed outside into the backyard so they could make a proper exit and arrival without disturbing the house residents. The backyard had a high wooden fence and the door to said fence was locked, limiting the chances for anyone to see them, unless they were in a balcony, and none of the nearby houses had such a thing.

"Alrighty!" Riku happily declared, "Let's begin our first completely random trip to the Digital World!"

"Yeah!" Coronamon piped in.

And with that he pushed the "Door" button with a "click" sound.

For a few seconds, nothing of interest happened. And then…

All of a sudden, the ground below them disappeared, replaced with a blue-green glowing "hole" with countless ones and zeros floating about. Riku and Coronamon fell as soon as the portal completely appeared beneath them.

While ones and zeros surrounded them along with specks of gold light, breaking up the seemingly endless sea of blue-green. They floated aimlessly in the gravity less "in-between" world for several minutes, letting the almost invisible current pull them along. Finally, Riku and Coronamon finally "landed" (which was more like suddenly appearing somewhere with gravity suddenly taking control, almost sending the two of them sparling to the ground) into a random part of the Digital World.

The area around them was relatively wide open, yet rocky with cliffs on one side, rising higher up before flattening again so many feet up. They noticed that the ground below them consisted of not dirt or grass but grey rock, with no sign of any plants other than a few wiry looking brown-green bushes growing in small cracks here and there. Around them, they could see mountains in the distances, some taller, but many of them level with their current height. The area they landed in looked like part of a big mountain (probably the top) despite being so wide open. Coronamon noted with passing interest that could see some small caves underneath some rocks, about as big as he was when he was Firamon.

"Wow! It looks like we're on top of a mountain! Look! I think I can see a big forest from here!" Riku exclaimed as he looked over the edge of one of the cliffs. Coronamon ran over to him and saw Riku was right. A huge forest stretched out below them, stretching almost beyond the horizon. Coronamon stared at the vast forest with awe.

"You're right! How neat!" Coronamon exclaimed. They continued to stare at it in awe, but an all too familiar feeling zipped through Coronamon's body: a Digimon was close to them! And very close, if Coronamon's senses were accurate. And, worse, Coronamon could tell that this feeling wasn't anything good, as suddenly the air was charged with electricity, and Coronamon's fur stood on end as the feeling rapidly grew in strength. He heard a "whoosh" as something leapt up behind them… He turned around faster than Riku, but he didn't get a chance to see the Digimon leaping up behind them. Only an attack.

"Lightning Blade!"

"Rikkun! Look out!"

Coronamon the all but tackled Riku out of the way and managed to avoid a blade of sparking steel blue lightning being thrown at their heads. Riku was about to ask Coronamon why he did that, but one look upward and he saw the source of the attack. A blue, four-legged Digimon stood valiantly on top a large rock so he towered above them. Clad in jet-black armor, his blue tail and blue and while face stood out. A jagged helmet covered his face with yellow markings under his eyes and an equally jagged yellow and silver blade stuck out of the top of the helmet. Said blade still crackled with blue electricity and his grey claws shone against his black legs, and the large Digimon looked down at them with disgust, with stormy red natural eyes, not the soulless glowing eyes belonging to Digimon branded by a Dark Emblem. Coronamon glaired at the Digimon as it dawned on him. Natural, soulful eyes, which meant…

"Whoa! That's Raidramon, an armor level! His attacks are Thunder Blast and Lightning Blade!" Riku exclaimed as he looked up the Digimon's information on his digivice.

The armor clad Digimon, Raidramon, leapt from his perch on the rocks and approached them ferociously, prompting Coronamon to stand protectively in front of Riku.

"Why'd you attack us just now? Explain yourself!" Coronamon demanded.

"No trespassers are allowed on our territory! You are fools to try and claim this as your own! This is Dragon's Den, and we will not let you have it!" Raidramon exclaimed angrily. Riku stood up and held his hands up in a gesture of peace, hoping to calm Raidramon down.

"Dude! Chillax, will you? We're not here to take your territory! Honest!" Riku said, but Raidramon didn't seem to listen or care.

"Shut up! Don't try to throw me off with those ridiculous lies!" Raidramon yelled.

"We're NOT lying!" Both Riku and Coronamon yelled in unison.

Raidramon didn't let up. "Well, if you refuse to leave, then we'll make you leave! Commandramon!"

All of a sudden, a small dinosaur like Digimon with pixelated blue skin in different shades and tints, almost like some weird blue camouflage, dressed in military clothes, holding rifles popped up from one of the caves. And another. And another. And another…and suddenly there were four of the strange military-like dinosaurs. Two Commandramon stood next to Raidramon on either side. Riku looked up their information.

"Commandramon, a rookie level virus attribute. Their attacks are DCD Bomb, Strike Claw, and M16 Assassin," Riku said.

Coronamon was getting fed up with these Digimon. "Will you quit overreacting and listen?"

"You! Shut up before we knock you off the cliff!" One Commandramon exclaimed.

"Yeah! Get out of our home before we make you go!" Another Commandramon yelled.

"If you hooligans don't leave right this minute, then prepare for a trip to oblivion! Commandramon, ready?" Raidramon prepared himself for battle, and so did the four Commandramon, who aimed their rifles at them.

"Gimme your best shot!" Coronamon said.

"Please! Listen! We're not here to take territory! We don't even know how to do that!" Riku said.

"Now you're asking for it!" Raidramon said as he prepared for an attack.

"No! Wait!" Riku tried to stop Raidramon from attacking, but he didn't listen.

"Lightning Blade!" The steal blue lighting formed around the gold and silver horn once again, and Raidramon swung his head down to launch it, sending it slicing towards them in a blade-like wave of cracking energy…

"Flame Fist!"

All of a sudden, a shower of flaming spheres shot down at Raidramon's attack, its force enough to send the two attacks into the ground in a huge plume of smoke and dust as the two canceled each other out. As the smoke cleared, a large bipedal blue and red figure landed before the two of them. As soon as the smoke cleared, Riku and Coronamon immediately thought the worst. Descending in between the human Digimon duo and the dragon Digimon was another dragon Digimon, with blue skin (very similar to Raidramon in color) and a while stomach. He was wearing red, flame-patterned armor that covered his hands, upper legs and chest, and feet. A long, sharp blade extended out of the top of his red helmet, along with sharp-looking claws connecting with the hands and feet of the armor. His blue tail swished angrily and beneath his helmet a set of blazing red eyes glared at Raidramon and the small army of Commandramon, which made Riku and Coronamon realize that the Digimon wasn't on Raidramon's side…

"Raidramon! Commandramon! Haven't you hotheads done enough damage already? You need to stop being so uptight toward everyone, even weary travelers!" The fire armor Digimon scolded.

…Or not…

"Who are you to talk, Flamedramon?" Raidramon yelled back, appalled that one of his kin is apparently siding with Riku and Coronamon, "They're here to steal our beloved territory! We cannot allow them to take what they please!"

"Yeah! That's right!" One of the Commandramon piped in randomly.

Flamedramon sighed. "That again? Come on! We haven't had intruders in three months! Besides, look at these two! Do they look like they're even remotely capable of taking a piece of land to you?" Riku and Coronamon both smiled brightly, and Riku even waved.

"Quit backtalkin' us!" Another Commandramon exclaimed, also appalled by Flamedramon's behavior. "It's quite obvious they're one of MoonMillenniummon's minions! There's little doubt about it!"

"Flaming dragons, why are you all so thick-headed and stubborn?" Flamedramon yelled, making some streams of fire come out of his nose. He then pointed to Coronamon. "Look. That Digimon over there is a Coronamon. They're known for their very pure hearts and very firm sense of justice. Why would any Coronamon want to side with someone as insidious as MoonMillenniummon?"

_'MoonMillenniummon?'_ Riku thought, recognizing the name, _'That's the Digimon Yun thinks_ _might be the ringleader of the Digital World's destruction! If what he's saying is true, then...does_ _that mean-?'_

Raidramon and all of the Commandramon looked at each other.

"Y-You do have a point..." One of the Commandramon said hesitantly as he lowered his riffle a little.

"But what about that other creature? He's obviously one of MoonMillenniummon's minions!" Raidramon exclaimed, determined to keep the situation in his favor.

This made Riku mad, so he decided to step into the fracas. "Hey! No I'm not! I don't even know this Digimon you're talking about! I'm not a Digimon! I'm a human! I have no super awesome powers like you do!"

"He's got a point," Coronamon piped in.

The Commandramon squadron gasped. "A human?"

"T-th-th-That's impossible!" Even Raidramon looked shocked. "Humans don't exist! They're just a myth! A mere legend to tell to Baby levels!"

Flamedramon crossed his arms and raised one of his barely hidden eyebrows.. "Oh, really?"

"But...but still! How do you know he's not one of MoonMillenniummon's minions?" Raidramon exclaimed.

"Do they LOOK like they even know him? I mean, come on! None of you even have any solid proof that they are with him, and they look pretty honest about not knowing him. Besides, usually Digimon sided with MoonMillenniummon tend to digivolve into dark Digimon, like how a Salamon, if influenced by the power of evil, can digivolve into a BlackGatomon and then into a LadyDevimon, instead of a Gatomon and Angewomon" Flamedramon explained.

"Yeah, That happens! We fought a LadyDevimon once to!" Riku piped in.

Raidramon and the Commandramon group looked at each other, and then whispered amongst each other. After a few minutes, they looked back at them. Finally, Raidramon let out an annoyed sigh and said, "Alright. We apologize for our rudeness. But don't try anything funny, or else we won't show you any mercy!" Raidramon said before turning and abruptly leaving by leaping up some rocks. The Commandramon looked amongst themselves in confusion, but in the end decided to follow Raidramon out, (but simply running into some hidden caves instead) leaving Riku, Coronamon, and Flamedramon alone. All three of them sighed; Riku and Coronamon with relief, but Flamedramon with exasperation. He then turned around to look at Riku and Coronamon.

"I must apologize on their behalf. Sorry to get you wrapped up in all of this inane melodrama. Our-" Flamedramon was just about to talk to them until Riku suddenly hugged him, smiling brightly.

"Holy cow! You're a real life Flamedramon! You're sooooo awesome! The way you jumped right in with your Flame Fist attacks and told them off like you were their parent...that was awesome! Thanks a whole lot for savin' us! You're my favorite Digimon from season two of the anime! I always loved it when you used your super awesome Fire Rocket attack, and I wish you'd used it back there, but still you're so awesome, on TV and in real life! I can't believe I'm actually meeting a real life Flamedramon, one of my all-time favorite Digimon!" Riku palavered loudly and happily, making Flamedramon look quite confused and baffled by Riku's constant idolizing.

Coronamon jumped up and down. "Yeah! You were on fire back there! Blazing, even!"

"Uh...I have no idea what you're talking about," Flamedramon said, referring to Riku telling him that he's his favorite Digimon from season two of the anime. Riku finally decided to let go of Flamedramon and showed his hands to him.

"Yeah, I kinda figured you wouldn't know what I'm talking about, so I'll just leave it at that. But you're still wickedly awesome! And seriously, thanks for saving our butts back there," Riku told him, still keeping his smile. Once Flamedramon regained his equanimity, he looked at them again.

"I can tell you're quite grateful. You seem to be honest young folks, so perhaps I'll take you under my wing for now. But I was wondering, why did you come to the Digital World in the first place?" Flamedramon told them and then asked, "Why are you in the Digital World anyway?"

"We've actually been in the Digital World before, but this is the first time that just me and Coronamon came. We were…ah, kinda bored, so we thought we could come here so we can have a little fun, to go on an adventure of epic proportions!" Riku explained.

"We weren't trying to hurt anyone. Honest! We just wanted to stroll around a little," Coronamon said.

Flamedramon cocked his armor-clad head to one side. "I don't think the Digital World in general, let alone this place, is the nicest place for a little stroll."

Suddenly, a growling sound came out of Coronamon's stomach. Riku laughed upon hearing it, which made Coronamon blush.

"Ha ha ha! Guess we didn't have much to eat, huh?" Riku laughed heartily, which made Coronamon look quite irritated.

"Hey! Quit laughin'!" Coronamon snapped back.

Flamedramon couldn't help but notice that the chemistry between them is quite pure. _'They get along so well, like they're brothers. I wonder if this is how a human and Digimon become partners? I wonder if this is why humans are so talked about in the myths and legends. Perhaps it is so.'_

Flamedramon broke the tension with his voice. "I have some food in my place if you want to eat. Come with me."

Riku and Coronamon stopped arguing, looked at Flamedramon with expectant expressions, looked back at each other, smiled, nodded, and ran over to him. Riku, Coronamon, and Flamedramon walked down the mountain and onto a rather flat but still rocky mountain path. Along the sides were many caves were small blue dragon-like Digimon played. Many stopped what they were doing to look at the trio, but many ignored them once they saw that Flamedramon was with them. Riku recognized all of them.

"Wow! You've got Chibomon, DemiVeemon, Veemon, and Commandramon here! Awesome! Is this a Digimon home for dragons or something?" Riku asked as he made himself excited over the many little dragon Digimon romping around, playing on the rocks.

"Yes. This is called Dragon's Den. It's been our refuge since our original home got destroyed, along with the rest of the Digital World. We did our best to make it like our old home, though it has its drawbacks. But we're happy here," Flamedramon replied without stopping, "Unfortunately…" he continued, his tone becoming bitter, "there have been some looters working for MoonMillenniummon, trying to take our territory and use it as their own."

"MoonMillenniummon? Who's that?" Coronamon asked curiously.

"I've never seen him, but from what I've heard, he is the ringleader behind the Digital World's destruction," Flamedramon said. "Some of his minions said so."

Suddenly, Riku stopped in his tracks, frozen in place with shock. A Digimon named MoonMillenniummon really is the cause of the destruction and utter decimation of the entire Digital World? He couldn't believe it at first. Yun's suspicions are right after all!

"A MoonMillenniummon...really destroyed the Digital World?" Riku asked.

Flamedramon drooped his armor-clad head downward. "I'm afraid it is the truth. We've had to deal with his minions a few times, but we've managed to drive them from our territory and fight them off."

Coronamon raised his hand. "Was a Witchmon or a LadyDevimon among those minions?"

Flamedramon's eyes widened. "...Yes. We managed to drive them away. Have you fought them before?"

Coronamon crossed his arms and puffed out his chest. "Yep! It was hard, but we managed to fry them to a crisp! You see, our friends and I had to deal with them too, and lately we've been trying to find out who their Master is. Our friend Yun-chan says that one Digimon she fought said that her Master's name started with Moon, and we think this MoonMillenniummon guy might be him! Now that you say it is him, then she was right after all!"

"My. How interesting. Are you friends here now?" Flamedramon asked, a little surprised by their knowledge.

"No. It's just me and Rikkun right now," Coronamon said.

"Do you know anything else about this MoonMillenniummon guy?" Riku asked, regaining his own composure and calming down a little.

"Not much. He's been recruiting a lot of Digimon to join his cause. His minions keep taking over populated Digimon territory and claiming them as their own without any regard for their inhabitants. I'm a little surprised myself that we managed to hold out for this long," Flamedramon said.

"Man! I can't wait to tell my friends about this! They'll be so psyched! About this whole MoonMillenniummon thing, I mean," Riku said excitedly.

"I wouldn't try battling him if I were you. If he's capable of destroying the entire Digital World, then you're better off not messing with him," Flamedramon said.

"I get what you mean," Riku told him. "Besides, only a few of our Digimon can digivolve into ultimate. Coronamon hasn't reached ultimate just yet."

Flamedramon smiled a bit and was about to tell them that his home is close by until all of a sudden, a big blue and white dragon Digimon walked up to them. His body was massive and bulky with muscles, though he lacked wings of any kind. Two off white horns protruded from the back of his head, with another from the top of his snout in-between his nostrils. Long sharp claws the size of a butcher's knife were on his white hands, and wicked sharp teeth made up for the lack of wings. His Crimson red eyes only looked more menacing with the scare that ran over them as a thick blue tail twitched a little behind him. The blue V that decorated his white stomach easily show what evolution line he belonged to. Riku looked up the dragon Digimon's info on his golden digivice.

"Whoa! He's Veedramon, a champion level! His attacks are V-Nova Blast, Hammer Punch, Magnum Punch, and Cutting Shoot!" Riku said in amazement.

"Hey Flamedramon! You up to your old tricks again?" The big blue dragon Digimon, Veedramon, called in a gruff voice as he walked over to an irritated looking Flamedramon who shook his head upon his arrival.

"Come on, Veedramon. Don't start. You know that Raidramon and the Commandramon are as uptight as usual," Flamedramon said.

Veedramon laughed heartily until he laid eyes on Riku. "Hah? Who's this small fry?"

Suddenly, Riku beamed and suddenly exclaimed; "WOW! YOU'RE SO COOL! You look so wicked and awesome! I'm kinda surprised you're not an ExVeemon, y'know, the other digivolved form of Veemon. But oh well! I don't mind! You're just as cool as him anyway!"

"HAH? How does this small fry know about Veemon or ExVeemon?" Veedramon asked Flamedramon. Flamedramon held up one of his armor-clad hands.

"Don't ask. Let's just go to my place and eat," Flamedramon said.

Veedramon looked down at the excited Riku with a smile. "Well, I dunno who you are, but...I like yer style and enthusiasm, small fry!"

After a few more minutes of strolling and walking, Riku, Coronamon, Flamedramon, and Veedramon arrived at Flamedramon's den, but they didn't go inside considering how big and bulky Veedramon was. Flamedramon went inside, grabbed some things, and came out. In his hands were what looked like heads of lettuce in strange colors, like reddish brown or maple leaf orange or ruddy brown. He placed them in front of Riku and Coronamon.

"What are these? They look kinda gross," Riku said.

"Oh! I know!" Coronamon piped in, raising his hand. "This is called meat lettuce! They taste like stuff like chicken or meat or beef jerky!"

"You got it, small fry," Veedramon said with a smile and gave them a thumb's up. Flamedramon took a bite out of a yellow one.

"They're not gross. They're actually very good for us growing dragons. I don't know if their nutrition applies to you humans, but you should try one," Flamedramon said.

"Thanks for the food!" Coronamon yelled as he grabbed a thing of meat lettuce and literally ripped off a huge chunk of it.

"Myaaah! Soooo good! This one tastes like chicken! My fave!" Coronamon exclaimed happily. Riku smiled and decided to take a ball of meat lettuce and eat part of it himself. He took a bite and, once it was in his mouth, his taste buds were assaulted by the familiar taste of hamburger meat.

"Hey! These are great! This tastes like my dad's burgers!" Riku exclaimed happily.

"I know, right?" Coronamon asked with a big smile, along with some meat lettuce residue on

his face. The two of them laughed at each other merrily, which made even Flamedramon and Veedramon crack some smiles. They were about to eat and chat some more until a single high-pitched scream of sheer terror rang though the air, making everyone stop. Riku was about to ask what that was but suddenly…

A huge explosion rocked the earth beneath their feet, as dust was shot into the air farther down the trail and terrified screams rang out.

"Someone's attacking again!" Flamedramon exclaimed, shooting to his feet even as the last of the shock waves rocked the ground.

"Come on! Let's go and see!" Veedramon told him. Riku and Coronamon stood up as well.

"Mind if we help you out?" Riku asked.

"Sure! We need all the help we can get! Now follow us!" Flamedramon commanded. Coronamon and Riku high fived each other and then followed Flamedramon and Veedramon down the path.

Almost losing his balance several times as more explosions continued to shake the ground every few seconds, Riku was forced to go slower than the two larger Digimon. He and Coronamon noticed that Flamedramon and Veedramon had stopped running, and were simply looking at whatever laid ahead of them. Riku soon found out why.

Craters of varying sizes and long claw marks marred the rocky landscape, dens were caved in and rookie and in-training Digimon were running away from two Digimon brawling in the shallows of a lake.

A blue serpent Digimon with a white stomach and yellow head was currently trashing wildly and roaring painfully at a grey mechanical winged Digimon, (also lacking legs), it's three pronged mechanical arms were gripping the blue serpent's neck tightly.

"The big black metal dragon is Gigadramon, an ultimate level! His attacks are Genocide Gear, Gigabyte Wing, and Guilty Claw. The sea dragon that's being choked to death is Seadramon, a champion level. His attacks are Ice Blast and Water Breath," Riku said, looking up the two Digimon, "HEY! Let go of him!"

Riku looked over to see that Raidramon was running towards the lake, the Commandramon following behind as best as they could, the blade on his helmet already crackling with the steal blue electricity of a Lighting Blade.

But then Seadramon abruptly stopped screaming as his bright red eyes suddenly glowed red, and Gigadramon let go of him, leaving a freshly branded Dark Emblem on his neck. Seadramon without a word, turned toward the Digimon on the shore and roared, causing Raidramon and the Commandramon to stop running just as they reached the shore of the lake.

"Aw crud…" Raidramon muttered before leaping out of the way as the Seadramon attempted to bite the black-armored Digimon. The farther away Commandramon simple turned and ran, lacking the same grace Raidramon had.

Raidramon landed on some rocks higher up and immediately yelled: "GIGADRAMON! YOU TRAITOR! How dare you brand one of our own? You're going to pay for it now! Lightning Blade!"

The cracking energy shot at Gigadramon, who almost lazily turned to look at it. His strong helmet deflected the attack and showed no sign of ever even being attacked. Gigadramon then looked down at the regrouping Commandramon who were ready to shoot their attacks at him. He stared at them without a word, completely unfazed by the rising number of guns being pointed at him.

"Tell us! Why did you betray us and join that insidious MoonMillenniummon? You won't gain anything from serving him!" Flamedramon yelled, hoping to persuade him to explain, but Gigadramon simply turned and flew away without a word.

Angered by arrogant Gigadramon's actions, Flamedramon attacked. "Flame Fist!"

His spheres of fire hit Gigadramon, but he didn't even flinch. He just flew away, leaving behind an out of control and very feral Seadramon to continue smashing anything that moved.

As if this was a signal, Seadramon stopped smashing the defenseless rocks surrounding his lake and turned towards Riku, Coronamon, Firamon, and…

Riku looked around to suddenly notice that Veedramon had disappeared. Brushing it off, Riku turned to see that Seadramon had opened his jaw and blue-white freezing energy had gathered within it.

"Scatter!" Flamedramon yelled, sprinting to the left, while Coronamon ran to the right, expecting Riku to be behind him and Riku…

Riku froze. He didn't know why, but as he looked into fanged the jaw of the possessed Seadramon, something made him stop. He couldn't move, even as Seadramon roared "Ice Blast!" as reared back to launch the freezing attack…

And in that moment, Riku knew he was going to die.

The second after Coronamon dove to the right to get out of the way, he knew something was wrong. Riku hadn't followed him. Coronamon hadn't worried about Riku getting out of the way, he was a fast boy. But as Coronamon looked over his shoulder to make sure that Flamdramon had gotten Riku out of the way, he felt his heart stop.

Riku hadn't moved.

Riku was just standing there, frozen in terror, looking at Seadramon as the serpent fired the blast of energy at him.

And Coronamon couldn't stop him.

That didn't mean he wasn't going to try though.

Coronamon turned without completely stopping and ran for Riku as fast as he could…

Terror filled his entire being as time seemed to slow down and the icy energy that would surely kill a human like Riku seemed to move so slow and yet no matter how fast he ran, he also ran far too slowly to reach Riku in time to save him and yet he ran and ran and ran even though it felt as though he was never getting any closer to Riku as that ever-so-slow yet unstoppable energy grew closer and closer to Riku and yet he never got any closer…

Finally, as Coronamon continued to run, he screamed.

"RIKU!"

_'I…I can't move…'_ Riku thought.

Seadramon reared back his head as the energy in his mouth reached its peak…

_'Why can't I run? I don't want to die…'_

With a roar of "Ice Blast!" Seadramon launched the freezing energy at Riku...

_'I'm so stupid, thinking I can do this…I'm just a kid, in over his head…'_

The icy energy hurled itself towards Riku, freezing the very air around it as the blond boy closed his eyes...

_'Coronamon…I'm sorry…'_

"Magnum Punch!"

Riku's eyes shot open just in time to see Veedramon punch Seadramon's head from above ("How did he get up there…?" Riku asked himself) with enough force to make Seadramon's head slam into the ground, sending up chunks of earth. This also had the effect of cutting of the needed energy to keep the attack going. The result was the attack losing energy and dissipating to the point that by the time it hit Riku, it did little more than blow back his hair and chill his skin.

"…what…?" was all Riku could bring himself to mumble as he watched the dust cloud grow before slowing beginning to settle…

"RIKU!"

Without time to even trying register who was shouting his name, suddenly Riku found himself being tackled by a blur of red. Riku found himself rolling head-over-heels for a few seconds down a small ledge and away from the fighting, before the momentum of the tackle ended enough for him to sit up…

"Riku! What happened back there?" The red blur, now identified as Coronamon, all but yelled at him, "Why did you suddenly freeze up! You could have been injured or killed Riku! What happened?"

"I-I…I…" but he couldn't bring himself to answer as his mouth felt so dry and he couldn't even swallow properly…

This seemed to irritate Coronamon even more, "Well, tell me! What happened? Did Gigadramon do something to you or what? Because I need to know! We can't have you freezing up out there again, we might not be able to save you and you'll get killed! You're just a human Riku! A champion level attack like that would kill you in seconds! Do you understand Riku? Do you-"

"YES!" Riku suddenly screamed, shocking Coronamon into silence, "Yes! I get it! I know that if I get hit I'll die! I'm just a weak human, I can't do anything to help like you can! I'm sorry, I'm sorry but that's just how it is! You're so strong and amazing and powerful but I'm so weak and I can't do anything to help!" and with that, the boy's rant dissolved into sobs.

Coronamon was shell-shocked and couldn't believe what he was hearing. Was that why Riku froze, because he felt useless and weak?

"Riku…" was all he could mutter as the sounds of distant fighting echoed throughout the valley, almost smoldering Riku's sobs with their noise.

"Thunder Blast!"

A crackling blue bolt of lightning shot out from Raidramon's mouth and surged towards the Dark Emblem on Seadramon…only for the serpent to dive under the crystal water so that the attack only hit his red tail.

"Dang it!" Raidramon growled, stopping and looking down at the clear water of the lake. Several seconds went by of uneasy silence until Seadramon exploded out of the water, roaring as blue-white freezing energy gathered in his mouth…

"Darn it…!" Raidramon started as he turned to run to the left, but Seadramon was already ready to fire…

"DCD Bomb!" The four Commandramon threw their bombs at Seadramon's head, which exploded on contact and made the Ice Blast attack miss Raidramon by a large margin as Seadramon's head was forced to the side. But other than that, there was not visible damage to the hard yellow head of Seadramon.

Seadramon's maw opened again, this time spinning water forming within his jaw…

"Fire Rocket!"

Flamedramon engulfed himself in flames and threw himself at Seadramon, attempting to hit the Dark Emblem and end the battle then and there. But Seadramon turned towards him and shot his attack off early, and though it wasn't as powerful, it still knocked back Flamedramon so that his Fire Rocket attack was extinguished and his claws only scratched the Dark Emblem.

Flamedramon made a "tch" sound but didn't have time to reply as the Seadramon opened his mouth wide and attempted to eat Flamedramon, who's eyes widened in shock as the serpent's black mouth drew closer to him.

"Magnum Punch!"

Out of nowhere, Veedramon suddenly delivered a devastating uppercut to Seadramon, knocking the flailing blue serpent back into the water.

Veedramon landed on the ground, and stared at the water, waiting for Seadramon to appear again.

"You think that did it?" H asked, not looking away from the water.

"Unlikely," Flamedramon said, also taking up a defensive stance, "I doubt that did more than make him madder than the Dark Emblem already has, and maybe it gave him a headache. Other than that, I think we're going to see a very made sea dragon very soon…"

"What?" Raidramon exclaimed, looking at Flamedramon like he had gone mad, "What do you mean that that didn't hurt him? Of course it did! It was Veedramon's Magnum Punch! I'll be amazed if he gets up at all!"

"You really don't know anything do you?" Flamedramon replied as the four Commandramon also ran up, their work of defending and evacuating the weaker Digimon done.

"Eh? What are you saying?" Raidramon asked, confused then angered by his counterparts words, "Are you calling me stupid? 'Cause if you are, we can settle this here and n-"

"Cool it Raidramon, Flamedramon knows what he's talking about, unfortunately." Veedramon cut it, stopping the rapidly and untimely approaching conflict, "Beating that Seadramon will not be that easy."

"Why? He's only a Champion level and there's three of us! Two of us are Armor levels and you're a Champion! Plus there's the four Commandramon here to provide backup! How could we lose?"

"Because, that Seadramon is the guardian of this mountain and has protected the path up to our main village for years, and thus, his power has grown far above his level." Flamedramon replied evenly.

"Eh?" was Raidramon's reply.

"It means," Veedramon started, turning towards Raidramon, "That he's more powerful than a Champion. He's actually just below Ultimate in terms of power."

"Oh...Crud" Raidramon muttered, suddenly feeling less sure.

Flamedramon was about to educate Raidramon some more, until their moment of rest was suddenly shattered as Seadramon decided to appear once again.

"Yes…crud indeed" Flamedramon said, nodding his head.

Coronamon just looked worriedly at the sobbing Riku, chewing on his lip as he tried to think of something, but nothing came to mind. Finally, not being able to see his partner and friend in such a state any longer, he decided to act.

"Riku…Riku, please snap out of it, we need to help! Digimon are getting hurt, and we need to help stop this. Riku, you need to get ahold of yourself and stand up and fight!" Coronamon sighed as Riku didn't even seem to notice him, but he kept talking anyway, "Riku… you're stronger than this, I know you are! So what if you froze up, everyone gets afraid, even I do. Heck, especially I do. Every time we have to fight, I'm so scared that someone will get hurt, that you'll get hurt Riku. And so what if you're a human! You're stronger than I am Riku! You saved Otoya's father and got Nayuki onto the path to being brought to justice! So get up Riku, and there are still so many bad and evil people out there, who want to hurt people like Otoya and only you can bring them to Justice! Riku, please, I can't do anything without you. I can't Digivolve or anything like that; I need your strength to do anything Riku!"

Coronamon breathed in and out to calm himself; he had gotten carried away and not even noticed. He looked back at Riku's curled form and noticed that the sobbing had stopped. But other than that, there was no real change it Riku's state. Coronamon sighed again.

"Do you…really mean that?"

The question was barely audible, and if the noise of the battle hadn't suddenly died down (which Coronamon just noticed) he never would have heard it. But Coronamon turned around rapidly to see Riku uncurling himself and looking at Coronamon with pleading, hoping, eyes.

"Yes!" Coronamon exclaimed, almost too quickly, "Yes it is! It's your strength that makes me so strong you know."

A few moments of silence followed before Riku suddenly stood up, wiping his face with his arm, before looking at Coronamon, a new fire burning in his eyes. He opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off as they heard Seadramon's distance voice call out "Ice Blast!, and a second later, a huge explosion rocked the ground beneath them.

As the shaking subsided, Riku looked towards the direction of the sounds of resumed fighting, and suddenly seemed to make up his mind about something.

"Coronamon…" he said without turning, "Like you said, Digimon are getting hurt all because that Gigadramon joined MoonMillenniummon…I want to…"

Riku paused, thinking of what to say next. What did he want? But he already knew the answer to that question; after all, it was his dream. He decided not to say it, because as of now, there are more important things to do right now.

Flamedramon swore as he was wacked by a large red-finned tail and was send flying out of the dissipating could of mist. He managed to flip himself around midair and land on his feet in a three-point stand, but that didn't make his side feel much better. He winced as he shifted his body out of his stance and send waves of pain from his side.

Apparently, the mist-cover resulting from his fire attack hitting Searmon's ice baised attack wasn't as great of an idea as it had seemed like at the time. Flamedramon had learned that when he tried to surprise Seadramon, banking on the mist giving him coverage. It didn't. Seadramon could see easily in the mist, and Flamedramon had ended up being walloped when he leapt up to try and destroy the Dark Emblem.

There was a yell and suddenly Raidramon's black body came flying out of the mist, right at Flamedramon's head. Ducking so that Raidramon didn't unintentionally behead him, Flamedramon noticed the mist swirling as two dark shapes became visible. Just then, the mist was forced away as a huge blast of energy shot from the smaller form, the heat from Veedramon's V-Nova Blast making the mist dissipate.

Unfortunately, Seadramon twisted around the blast and charged at Veedramon, fanged mouth agape in a wordless battle cry.

"M16 Assassin!"

The four Commandramon decided to make their presence known once again as they open fired on Seadramon. While the much large serpent didn't take any notable damage, a lucky shot in a glowing red eye caused him to recoil and stop his charge fortunately. Unfortunately, Seadramon was not happy about being hit in the eyes, and then opened its mouth to fire at the Commandramon.

"Electric Bite!"

The gathering icy energy dissipated as Seadramon roared in pain as a very mad Raidramon leapt over the surface of the lake bit hard into his red-finned tail that was sticking out of the water. Thrashing, the Seadramon flung his tail and roared in pain as electricity surged through him and tried to fling Raidramon off his tail to no avail. Finally fed up with the pain, the Seadramon turned and tried to simple bite Raidramon off. But Raidramon let go of his tail so causing the serpent to bite his own tail.

Landing gracefully on a rock near the shore, Raidramon snickered as the enraged Seadramon let go if his own tail and howled in pain. But his laughter was cut short as suddenly the less-than amused Seadramon charged at him and head-butted him, hard. Raidramon went flying over the surface of the lake with a grunt, to stunned to land properly. Seeing this, Flamedramon tried to catch his friend as he landed, but Raidramon's momentum was too much, and sent the pair careering into a cliff face.

The Seadramon looked at the dust cloud that arose from the two Digimon's impact, and was about to launch an attack in their direction, when movement in the corner of his glowing red eye caught his attention.

A small blue and white Veemon was trying to pull his trapped leg out from under a rock, wincing as the movement caused him a great deal of pain, but he knew that he would be feeling worse if he didn't get out of here soon…

He froze as it felt as though his digital blood turned to ice as he noticed that the possessed Seadramon was glaring at him. He couldn't move anymore. And even if he could, his leg was still caught he was helpless, an easy meal…

And even in his possessed rage-driven state caused by the Dark Emblem, Seadramon knew this. So he acted.

"Water Breath!"

The attack cry was the declaration of death to the poor Veemon, who could only stare in shocked horror as a former protector launched the deadly spiraling jet of water at him…

And no one could help.

"NO!" Flamedramon screamed as he saw what was happening, but he was still pinned by the dazed Raidramon and even if he wasn't he was so far away, even Raidramon couldn't make it. And Veedramon could only stare from the other side of the lake, far too far away to help, and none of the Commandramon where nearly fast enough to make it.

No one could do anything to stop the attack, and no one could reach the Veemon in time.

So the attack impacted with Veemon's small form unhindered, consuming it and obscuring it from view in a matter of seconds. The poor weak Rookie level had no defenses, no protection, no way to survive the water on his own…

But he wouldn't need any of that.

Everyone just stared in abject horror at the swirling pillar of water were the innocent Veemon had been before. There was no way that the Veemon could have survived. Everyone knew that. Which was why Flamedramon was already planning ways to avenge Veemon's potential death. So it was needless to say that everyone was quite surprised with what had happened.

As the water dissipated from Seadramon's attack, a golden translucent glow was exposed. The glow was actually a golden dome-like shield that surrounded the Veemon and…

"Riku?" Flamedramon breathed in shock.

Standing there protectively in front of the shocked Veemon, arms outstretched, was Riku. A look of pure determination was etched onto his face as his golden digivice remained in his hand, producing the gold shield as he held it up proudly.

Seadramon, enraged at seeing that his target hadn't been killed, attempted to bite, and hopefully eat, the annoying blue creature, and the strange one that had somehow protected him. But, when his large head hit the shield, the D-Heart of Justice flashed briefly, and Seadramon found his head being repelled back by the gold shield. Catching himself, he glaired at the boy and let a low growl escape his throat.

And just as quickly as it had appeared, the shield disappeared back into the glowing D-Heart, and Riku then snatched it out of the air, before gripping it hard as his hand fell to his side.

"It's not fair…"

Riku's voice was just above a mumble, and with him looking down at his feet, it made it much harder for him to be heard. But the sudden silence allowed his words to be heard clearly.

"It's not fair you know. Not fair to be picking on someone who can't fight or defend. I've seen that happen a lot lately, heck, I've been there before, and one of my best friends is bullied a lot you know, and because of that…" Riku's voice suddenly took on a much darker tone, "Because of all that…I…I…" And then Riku's head shot up and his voice rose to almost a yell as he exclaimed: "I won't let that ever happen again!"

And then the D-Heart exploded with light, which seeped through Riku's closed right hand. At the same moment, Firamon, practically emitting an aura of sheer power leapt from the top of a cliff face over Riku's head were he had been hidden, letting out a battle cry, flying towards the Seadramon, towards the Dark Emblem, claws outstretched and jaw open.

Without hesitation, Seadramon opened his jaw, and gathered the swirling ice energy within quickly.

"Ice Blast!"

Firamon didn't even tried to doge, and instead met the attack head on, flames beginning to appear around his body. But if he was trying to form a Flame Dive attack, he didn't have time, as the freezing attack the collided with him, causing a huge explosion of steam. Flamedramon and a newly conscious Raidramon (who had moved off of Flamedramon) looked at the steam cloud with worry.

"Come on kid…" Raidramon muttered to himself more than anything.

Riku, on the other hand, didn't look worried in the slightest.

"That…won't work on us!" Riku yelled, thrusting the glowing D-Heart Of Justice forward as it glowed brighter than before, and the warmth grew until it burned his hand slightly, but Riku didn't care about the pain.

Because he could help Firamon like this.

And right as those words left Riku's mouth, Firamon soared out of the cloud steam, up and above Seadramon's head with ease. Flairing out his wings, he was able to stay high above the blue and white serpent waiting…

"GO FIRAMON!"

Riku's sudden command had been yelled at the top of his lungs. The D-Heart of Justice flashed and glowed so bright it was painful to look at and emitted such heat that it would burn off the hand of whoever was foolish enough to try and so much as touch it, but it only burned Riku's hand.

And Firamon followed the command faithfully, spiraling downwards towards the possessed Seadramon's head.

"Crimson Beast-King Dive!"

And then the flames were back, but they were different. They were crimson red and instead of just covering his body, they formed around him, forming a large crimson lion made of flames around his body, which also spiraled downwards towards the Seadramon.

Acting quickly, the Seadramon released another Ice Blast at the attack Firamon, but the

freezing attack immediately disappeared into steam on contact, not even so much as slowing down the charging lion.

And then the crimson lion impacted with the serpent, crimson flames exploding outwards along with dust and rock and steam. And the Dark Emblem exploded into a million shards instantly as the Seadramon fell back into the lake with a splash.

The impossibly bright light from the D-Heart finally died down and Riku felt himself wobble before falling backwards…

Only to be caught by…Raidramon?

"Don't worry, Flamedramon's got Coronamon," Raidramon said as he supported Riku's weak body with his side.

And that was true, as Riku could now see Flamedramon carrying a very tired Coronamon in his arms. Coronamon gave a lazy wave to Riku, who could only smile and return the jester.

Riku sat up on the bed that he had been laying on, looking at the recently acquired D-Chips with Coronamon sleeping on the bed next to his. The two D-Chips in his hand were a small red orange flame with three points, while the other was a thick, sky blue V shape, Flamedramon and Veedramon's D-Chips, respectively.

He smiled as he remembered that it had taken a while to tell the two dragons what D-Chips were, and what they did. But after he explained, they seemed to like the idea. Raidramon hadn't liked the idea, and said how glad he was that he wasn't tied to a puny human before walking away.

Riku sighed at the memory. It was pretty obvious why he didn't get a D-Chip for Raidramon, really, but he didn't mind. He preferred Digimon with fire abilities anyway. Raidramon was never really his favorite Digimon, even in the anime or games. He looked at his bandaged hand, the one that had held the D-Heart. It had been badly burned, but nothing too bad. The pain had been worth it, he had helped Firamon (though exactly what he did was still a mystery) and saved that Veemon. And Flamedramon had given him some special medicine…

Unwrapping the bandage, Riku was happy to see that the burn was almost gone. Flexing his hand, he felt almost no pain, and his hand didn't even feel that stiff. Man, that was some powerful medicine.

"Um…"

Riku looked towards the timid voice, and a saw the Veemon he had saved poking his head in. The Veemon had been so happy and praised Riku for saving him. It had been a little weird, but it was nice having someone appreciate you.

"Yes?" Riku asked, looking at the small blue dragon Digimon.

"Well…someone wants to see you," the Veemon replied, looking behind him at whoever wanted to see Riku no doubt.

"Who?" Riku asked, confused.

As his question, a larger black and blue Digimon walked in silently, Raidramon. Raidramon stopped in front of Riku's bed, and simply looked at him silently for a few seconds, thinking. Riku saw the Veemon leave, but didn't pay much notice. What did Raidramon want?

"I…just want to say," Raidramon started, looking like he did not want to be saying this, "that…you're ok I guess. Nothing special really, but…if I had to…I guess I wouldn't mind fighting alongside you." And with that, he turned and walked out of the cave without another word.

Riku was silent as he looked were Raidramon had been, a small smile on his face.

"That guy…I don't know what to make of him." A sleepy voice said next to him.

Riku looked over to see Coronamon rubbing his eyes and sitting up, a sleepy look in his eyes as he used one hand to support himself. He looked at Riku, and just shrugged at his unasked question before yawning and getting out of the bed.

"Well, are you coming Riku?" He asked, motioning to the exit.

"Yah." Was Riku's reply as he got out of the bed and followed Coronamon out.

The Dragon's Den had repaired itself nicely, and almost looked completely normal as all the ice had melted long ago. There had amazingly been no casualties, and only a few injuries. Everyone was still mad and confused about Gigadramon's actions, but not many dwelt on the subject, and no one could do anything at the moment.

Walking out into the sun, Riku saw Veedramon standing next to Flamedramon, waving them over. Riku and Coronamon looked at each other, before walking over to the two dragons.

"Hey, Coronamon, Riku! Feeling better?" Veedramon asked good-naturedly.

"Yup!" Was Coronamon's reply, while Riku nodded his head.

"That's good. And Riku, I can assume your burn is gone?" Flamedramon asked, looking at Riku's hand.

"Yah, that medicine worked like a dream!"

Suddenly, the little Veemon appeared before them.

"Hi," Veemon said.

"Hiya!" Coronamon piped in cheerfully.

"Do you like being his partner?"

"Riku? Yeah! He's awesome! I love him!" Coronamon proclaimed happily, pounding his fist on his furry, puffed out chest.

Veemon looked up at the clear blue sky wistfully. "I wonder if I'll ever get to have a human partner someday..."

Riku smiled at him, ambled over to him, kneeled in front of him, and rubbed his big blue head with his hand.

"I know you'll find a human partner soon!" Riku said.

"I...I want to try being strong first...before I get a human partner. I'm weak now, but I want to be a big, good, strong dragon Digimon who will help everyone!" Veemon said with a smile.

Riku smiled too. "You go for it!"

"What do you plan to do next?" Flamedramon asked.

Riku then got out his digivice and looked at the dragon Digimon. "I think it's about time me and Coronamon clocked out. We gotta get back to our home world." Riku replied, remembering how they never told anyone were they were going.

"I get that, gotta go home to your family? Well safe travels!" Veedramon said happily, laying a large clawed hand on Riku's shoulder.

"Yeah, or our friends will get all worried about us," Coronamon backed him up.

"You'll come visit, won't you?" Flamedramon asked, a little sad to see Riku and Coronamon go.

Riku flashed him a thumb's up. "Of course we will! We'd never leave our friends hanging!"

Coronamon flashed a thumb's up too. "Have a good day!"

Riku opened his digivice and was about to press the door button, when suddenly...

"NOOOO! WAAAAIT!"

A cloaked figure ran into Riku so that he fell onto his back. When he got up, he saw what hit him.

"What the-? Link-san?"

"You know this human?" Veedramon asked, looking a little put-off at Link's entrance.

"Yeah! He's helped me and my friends a lot!" Riku said as Link got up and gasped for breath.

"Hiya, Link-san! Didn't expect to see you here!" Coronamon said happily. Once Link regained his breath, he immediately put his big hands on Riku's shoulders and looked him in the eye.

"Riku! Boy, am I glad I ran into you!" Link said.

"Yeah! Really!" Riku retorted.

"You need to hear this! I was just heading out of this big desert, and...I saw it! I saw the Digimon who destroyed the Digital World! His name is MoonMillenniummon!"

"Are you serious?" Riku yelped suddenly.

"Yes! WarGreymon and I managed to find his secret base, but I'm afraid I can't remember where it is. Anyway, I overheard a conversation hehad with his servants. Not only is he the reason the

Digital World was destroyed, he recruited Digimon just for that purpose! He also sealed away the only Digimon who has any memory of the destruction! A Digimon named Wisemon! He didn't say where he is, but they're also planning on making a new and improved Dark Emblem!" Link explained frantically.

"Seriously?" Coronamon yelped.

"Yes! Tell your friends about this! They need to know!" Link persisted as Riku pried his hands off of him.

"Sure I will! But aren't you going to come with us? Coronamon and I are just about to leave," Riku asked.

Link finally calmed down. "I'm afraid I can't. I still want to stick around and gather more information. I want you to pass along this message for me since you happened to be here. Is that alright?"

Riku balled his fists. "Of course! You can count on us, Link-san!"

"Yeah! We'll let them know!" Coronamon said.

Riku opened his digivice and pressed the door button. A digital portal appeared.

"See ya later, dragon Digimon!" Riku said as he waved goodbye to the dragon Digimon.

"Farewell!" The dragon Digimon bellowed back as Riku and Coronamon leaped into the digital portal.

They appeared back in their back yard with Coronamon de-digivolving into Sunmon.

"Wow! Let's do that again sometime!" Sunmon chirped happily as the yellow flame danced merrily on his little orange body. Riku stood up and looked at him.

"So Yun-chan was right all along. This MoonMillenniummon is the guy who destroyed the Digital World! He's the one Witchmon and all of those other Digimon serve!" Riku said.

"Are you gonna let the Digimon Brigade know? You should. Link-san said so," Sunmon said.

Riku got his digivice out. "Oh, I will!"

Riku immediately typed out a text message and sent it out. It read:

**To: Yun, Minako, Kosuke, Melody, Otoya, Rena, Aria, Hokuto, Isao, Shunji**

**From: Riku**

**Subject: Digimon Brigade Meeting**

**Digimon Brigade meeting tomorrow at the gazebo at 10:00 AM! I've got something big to tell** **you all! BE THERE!**

"You think it'll get their attention?" Sunmon asked curiously.

"It should! It has to! They have to know!" Riku exclaimed as he closed his digivice.

Sunmon smiled again. "This is gonna be big! Oh! Ya hungry? I'm getting a little peckish."

"Sure. There are some popsicles in the freezer. Let's have those!" Riku said as he invited cheery little Sunmon into the house.

"Mmmm! Yummy! I love popsicles! Can I have the orange-flavored ones?"

"Oh yeah!"

Riku and Sunmon happily ran into the house. They couldn't wait until tomorrow morning. Riku was just itching to explode and give away the information that Link told him to pass onto them. It really was going to be big!

Note: Credit goes to RandomReviewer257 for beta reading and improving on this chapter.


	63. Under The Same Moonlight

EPISODE 63: Under The Same Moonlight

Saturday morning had finally come for the Digimon Brigade, along with the long awaited meeting. Nothing of interest had happened, no Digimon attacks, or major drama, or anything worrying. And this morning seemed to be falling into the same (recent) peaceful pattern. The sun shone brightly, gaining strength every hour, and birds chirped happily as within the park children were beginning to arrive.

But, just after the eighth hour of the morning, about two hours before their meeting began, the start of a series of events that would change their ideas and plans began.

A single gold and brown bird sat perched on a branch, whistling and twittering to any nearby potential mates. Several other birds in the vicinity were mimicking his actions, all hoping for a female to approach them. Finally, the gold and brown bird twittered happily as a yellow female landed next to him, investigating his appearance and song. Opening his black beak to sing again, he was cut off as there was a flash of light less than three feet from their tree. Startled, the two birds, along with any others close by, let out alarm calls and few away from the strange unnatural blue-green light with all the strange white figures floating withing the seemingly endless expanse.

A Digital Portal had appeared.

Two figures emerged from the glowing portal, one noticeable smaller than the other, the larger snake-like one also flying. The small white furred creature adjusted his ocean blue armor on his forehead so he could push a lock of his long, silvery-white hair back into place. Twitching his lion-like tail, he gripped the blue sword in his hand tightly with hand, which was also armored with the same material that was on his head.

"So…this is the human world…I guess it really does exist…" muttered the large flying snake in a deep voice, looking around. His body was long and sleek, colored a silver-white with red and gold band covering his body like the pattern of a snake. A gold flame-shaped jewel flashed as it was flicked in the light with the slight natural sway of his body in the air. Silver wings stand in place of ears, and they twitched slightly as his sharply contrasting green hair that ran on the back of his head rubbed against the sensitive appendages.

The two strange creatures looked around carefully, cautiously, and closely. The small white Digimon clad in blue armor looked in one of his hands. In his hand was a small, egg-shaped stone that was pale blue in color, like the sky. A raindrop with two comma-like shapes on either side of the raindrop.

"Sweet! We made it to the human world!" The blue armor-clad creature exclaimed in a young boyish voice, "I know for sure that my partner is here! I know it!" The small creature proclaimed happily.

"How do you know that for sure?" The flying snake asked curiously.

"This thing will glow if my chosen partner is nearby! I've seen it do it before!"

"Not in this world, that is."

"It'll react when he or she is close! I know it will!"

The flying snake sighed. "Alright. We'll go looking around. But try not to be too excited and reckless. We have to hide ourselves carefully to avoid being caught by humans who might think of us as a threat."

The silver Digimon waved his hand at the flying snake, brushing him off. "Yeah yeah, I know! But where's the fun in that? Alrighty, I'm gonna find my partner and I'm gonna find him or her here in this world! Let's try lookin' over there first!" The blue armored creature pointed to the train station and dashed off over there. The flying snake shook his head and sighed.

"Goodness. Does he ever stop being so hyper? There has to be a limit to his regular sugar intake. If he does have a partner, I hope they don't run a candy store or any place called _Sugarcube Corner_(1) or something like that. He'll be absolutely unstoppable!" The flying snake grumbled as he quietly flew over to his friend, who immediately began running around all over the place, looking both ways excitedly every few seconds.

This took place at around 8:00 AM. Within five minutes after that, every single Digimon Brigade member sans Rena, who Riku told about his adventure beforehand, minus what link told him, everyone got Riku's text message. There were mixed reactions to the rather sudden message. Some thought that Riku was getting worked up over nothing, while the pthers didn't really know if the boy was to be taken seriously or not. But nobody had ever been so insistent about having a Digimon Brigade meeting be arranged before with a good reason, so they all responded and told him they'd be there.

Usually Yun would decide when Digimon Brigade meetings would be (not that she wanted to arrange them all the time. Out of necessity, it was usually she who decided Digimon Brigade meetings, though she did allow others to arrange for them if necessary. The opportunity was never really there until now), but she decided to let Riku decide it this time, since, from the way the text message sounded, it looked like Riku had a lot to tell them, and, knowing Riku, he'd probably go on and on about it until he's satisfied, usually at the price of leaving everyone either irritated or bored to death.

At about 9:45 AM, most of the kids had arrived. Yun, Lucero, Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon were the first to arrive. Melody and Biyomon came afterward. Then came Minako and Salamon, Kosuke and Patamon, Aria and MarineAngemon, Isao and Bearmon, Shunji and Dracomon, Hokuto and Kudamon, Otoya and Xiaomon (whose wounds are still bothering him), and Riku and Sunmon. Rena and Lunamon arrived last, just a minute before ten because of chores she had to attend to at the house. With a short sleeved white button-up dress, a white hat with a little pale lavender flower on it and white shoes with lavendar bows on them. Yun had to admit Rena looked quite cute today.

"Is everyone here?" Kosuke asked.

Riku counted everyone, feeling revlived when he saw that everyone had actually come. "Okay! Everyone's here! Alrighty! Let's get Riku's first ever Digimon Brigade meeting started!" Riku cheered happily.

"Yeah! We've all got something huge to tell you all! You're not gonna believe it!" Sunmon piped in happily.

"What did you want to talk about? You sounded pretty serious from the way your text looked," Melody asked.

"It better not be about anything silly!" Biyomon piped in.

"Let him talk already!" Patamon reproved Biyomon for her rather caustic comment.

"So, yesterday Sunmon and I went to the Digital World on a whim. We just wanted to have some fun. We wound up in this place called Dragon's Den. We fought a branded Digimon and I got some D-Chips! Look! Aren't they awesome!" Riku explained jubilantly, showing off the two D-Chips.

"Oooh. How nice. We're happy for you," Xiaomon said.

"But that's not what this meeting is about. See, as Sunmon and I were about to leave, Link-san ran into us! He told us that he managed to find the Master's base in a desert or something! And wouldn't you know it, this Master is named MoonMillenniummon!" Riku explained with great emphasis on the last part.

Some of the kids and Digimon gasped. Some looked at each other with confused faces. MoonMillenniummon? Is what Riku is saying true? Did he really run into Link? They almost couldn't believe it at first. Riku looked right at Yun, who became a frightened upon seeing Riku look at her with such foreign seriousness in his fiery green eyes. Whatever had happened at the Dragon's Den, it changed Riku.

"Yun-chan! You were right all along! This MoonMillenniummon guy IS the Digimon who destroyed the Digital World!" Riku shouted.

Yun was speechless, though this was mostly caused by Riku's shouting.

"I think you scared her with your shouting," Terriermon told him.

Riku backed away. "Oh. Sorry. I didn't mean to. But still, you were so right all along! Link-san told me that he saw some of his minions talking to him, and they said some other stuff too, like how he sealed away the only Digimon who knows he did it! Some Digimon named Wisemon or something like that, and that one servant is making some sort of new and improved Dark Emblem!" Riku explained again.

"Yeah! Those were his exact words!" Sunmon backed him up.

"Whoa. That's pretty serious stuff," Melody said gruffly.

"Is Link-san here in the human world now?" Minako asked curiously.

Riku shook his head. "Nah. He said he needed to stick around and gather more information. Maybe on this MoonMillenniummon guy."

"What he says is genuine. I can tell," Kudamon stated.

"I can too," Xiaomon said.

"How come it took us this long to find out who destroyed the Digital World? I mean, he destroyed the digital world! How come no one knew about him?" Otoya yelped suddenly.

"I think it's because the Digimon we fought who served him were really good at keeping secrets. I don't think they'd be the types who go around shouting their Master's name willy nilly. If they did that, then people would try tracking him down and destroying him. Kinda like how that guy who was the ringleader behind 9/11 is still on the run. What was his name again?" Rena explained calmly, but began rambling upon mentioning 9/11.

"Osama Bin Laden?" Melody asked. "Yeah. I know. But he's not on the run. He kicked the bucket early last month!"

Rena snapped her fingers. "Yeah! That's him...wait! He _died_? Already?" Rena yelped upon hearing of the cruel dictator's death just now.

"Yeah! It's all over the news!" Melody snapped.

"Can we please stop talking about dictators and get back on topic please?" Minako asked. "I don't like talking about those things."

"Yeah, and you're right, I don't think anyone would want to talk about their Master in public. If anyone found out about him, he'd probably wipe them out with his freaky powers and stuff," Riku said.

"Considering the information we have about him now, it's likely he won't show any mercy to us…" Minako said.

"Do you think he has a good reason for destroying the Digital World?" Salamon asked Patamon.

"I highly doubt it, considering what we know about him," Patamon replied.

"What do we know about him anyway?" Terriermon asked randomly, but was ignored.

"Well, whoever this MoonMillenniummon guy is, we'll take him down and make him pay for destroying the Digital World!" Isao exclaimed as he cracked his knuckles.

"But we're not strong enough to defeat a huge mega level yet," Bearmon said.

"He's right," Dracomon piped in. "We're still too far behind in our digivolution to even think about taking him down, even though the current circumstances are quite dire. We still need to think about this some more, and wait until we get stronger."

"You have a point," Shunji said.

Lopmon looked up at Yun with a smile. "Wow, Yun! Your theory and suspicion came true after all! Isn't that wonderful?"

"Yes, indeed! Riku-dono was right to go to the Digital World on a whim, though methinks the coincidence feels a trifle contrived, if thou were to think about it," Lucero told her with a beaming smile.

Yun did smile a little, but she didn't say anything, which the rabbits and, oddly enough, Lunamon, found a bit unsettling, but they decided not to bring it up since Riku began talking again.

"So now that we finally know who Witchmon's Master is, I think we should try and find his hideout!" Riku proclaimed.

"His hideout?" Hokuto asked timidly.

"Yeah! All evil villains in anime have some kind of secret hideout where they do their thing, right? Well, maybe he's got some mysterious secret base where he does all of his planning! We oughta find it!" Riku exclaimed. "Link-san said something about it being in a desert or someplace like that, but he says it's so big it'd be hard to find it."

"That's true," Otoya said. "Deserts are pretty hard to navigate."

"And we probably shouldn't look through an entire desert for a long time. We could dehydrate," Minako said, backing up Otoya.

"It's true! You always have to drink a lot of water, especially in super-duper hot places! Wan!" Salamon piped in.

Lopmon nodded in agreement, and so did Xiaomon and Lunamon. "That's true, indeed."

"I say let's hold off on finding the guy's hideout for now. Our Digimon are still kinda weak, this desert place must be huge as heck, and he must be too powerful for us," Kosuke said, raising his hand. "All in favor of holding off on finding his hideout, say I."

Everyone raised their hands.

"Can we at least keep an eye on his minions?" Aria asked.

"Yeah! This guy must have a lot of servants or minions if he's capable of destroying the entire Digital World!" MarineAngemon piped in.

"I say let's do that. We're getting better at finding Digimon, so we should at least keep a close eye out," Shunji said.

Riku clapped his hands proudly. "Alrighty! Meeting done! Now let's hang out!"

"Not for too long. I have dance class at 2:30," Rena said.

"You have dance class on Saturdays? I never knew," Yun said suddenly.

Rena sighed. "It was my mom's idea. She gets so pushy sometimes."

The meeting was then adjourned, and the kids and Digimon played together merrily. Rena and Lunamon, being observant as they are, noticed something odd about Yun: not once did she say anything during the entire meeting. They knew for a fact that she was very shy, and that they knew that it was mostly due to her disability, but she was hardly ever silent. They even heard people tell her to her face that she's very loud sometimes...and rather cruelly, at that. Yun sat in the gazebo playing with Lopmon happily while the other kids and Digimon played around happily. Rena and Lunamon looked at each other, seeing that they're on the same page, and decided to walk to the gazebo.

"Hi Yun-chan and Lopmon," Lunamon piped in first, which caught the attention of Yun and Lopmon.

"Hi Rena-chan and Lunamon. How've you been?" Yun asked.

"Good. Thanks," Lunamon said as she plodded over to Lopmon.

"It's quite a lovely day, isn't it?" Lopmon asked with a smile.

"Yes it is," Lunamon said.

Rena sat down next to Yun, which made her smile.

"You look cute today, Rena-chan," Yun told her gently, which made Rena smile but blush a little.

"You think so? Thanks," Rena said as she adjusted her hat a little. "I really like this hat. It's nice and light, and it doesn't make my hair frizz."

"I think you look cute too!" Lunamon piped in.

"So do I," Lopmon said.

"Hey, Yun-chan. I noticed you didn't say anything during the entire meeting. Why is that?" Rena asked. Yun looked away and out of the gazebo seemingly at the horizon.

"Well, Rikkun looked so hyped up about what he heard, I didn't really feel the need to say anything. He looked like he was having a lot of fun talking about what he heard, and you all looked at him like he's some awesome leader-type figure, something I can never be. I thought it'd be rude to take away his spotlight, and I didn't want to do that, so I decided not to talk," Yun explained. She then looked at Rena with her emerald green eyes. "Is that wrong?"

Rena shook her head lightly. "No. Not at all. You always have an opinion about something so I thought it was a little strange. I know you like letting people say what they think and stuff like that, and that's what I like about you. You don't try to hog all the glory and the spotlight, and you don't take credit for things you don't do. My mom tends to do that sometimes and it gets rather annoying. If there's one thing I hate, it's people who act like they're all that by taking credit for things they didn't do or try to hog everyone's glory when it should be shared."

Yun chuckled a little. "I agree. If I ever were a leader, I definitely wouldn't be that kind of leader. I have to admit, I sure was surprised that my suspicion turned out to be right. My theories are usually always wrong!"

"I don't think they're always wrong. You knew for a fact that Riku wanted to learn from his mistakes and change himself for the better, and he's been doing that a lot. Mom doesn't think so, but she's too busy being blinded by her stupid delusions."

"Is your mother always so...uptight?"

"No. Not that I remember. Dad said she was pretty nice before, and at first she did try to understand Riku's condition, but I think his bad behavior when he was little made her give up at some point. I always stick up for him, and I often did so back when we lived in Hokkaido."

"I take it people didn't like you because of it?" Yun didn't mean for this to be a derogatory comment. She was just curious.

"Unfortunately, yes. Kids didn't like either of us, Riku for being so hyper and troublesome and me for looking out for him a lot. I did yell at Riku a few times because of it. Kids didn't want to be friends with me because of him, and that really made me sad. But they don't understand what it's like, so I kind of get why they didn't want to be friends with me. They probably thought I was his mom or something, but I'm still a normal girl just like everyone else. I love dancing, listening to my music, roller skating, going to the beach, playing darts, reading books, and other things."

"I hate the beach. Mom's always making me go with her, but I don't like it."

"Why?"

"The waves are always hit me too hard, the sand is always burning my feet even with sandals on, there's always crying babies and bratty kids running around screaming, my skin gets red whenever I'm out for too long, I can't swim to save my life, Mom always wants to sun tan for hours on end, there's always seaweed floating around, and even though I like my bathing suit, I don't like it when people look at me weirdly."

"I know how you feel. I'm glad I got to be friends with you, Lunamon, and everyone else. Sometimes, whenever I had to look after Riku, I constantly worried my butt off about whether I could ever have time for myself. But I know for a fact that Riku didn't ask to have ADHD, and I know that he hates it too."

"I hate being autistic myself, so I get it."

"I often wondered if I could ever have birthday parties or go out with friends or be a normal girl. But now...I don't think that way anymore. It's not nice. I'm happy that I'm here with everyone, you and Lunamon included."

"Speaking of birthdays, yours is June 13th, right? I wish I hadn't missed it. I would have gotten you a present or something," Yun said. She had been told of Rena's birthday yesterday during the celebration of Oujiro's release, and Yun felt quite miserable about not knowing about it until then, after she missed it.

"It wouldn't have mattered. Mom doesn't allow us to throw birthday parties. She thinks Riku's going to ruin everything and cause trouble and, as she says, _'shame the Nobara family name'_ or something, which I think is stupid."

"Does she think that about everything Rikkun does?"

"Sadly, yes," Rena's head drooped down a little. "I just don't understand why she's so critical and nitpicky and all perfectionist-like because of Riku's ADHD. I mean, he's not a criminal. She makes it sound like he's all bad news and that he doesn't know the difference between right and wrong, and she thinks he shows no remorse for things he does. None of that is true. I saw how you've influenced him, and I saw how desperately he's trying to change, and I really believe he's showing progress."

"I do too. He's a lot calmer now than he was last year. By the way, is it true you're younger than me?"

"When's your birthday, Yun-chan?"

"February 4th."

"You're older than me and Riku by four months!"

"But I'm shorter than you!" Yun blushed a bit upon learning that she's four months older than Rena.

"Riku's younger than me by five hours," Rena said.

As the two girls talked amongst themselves, Lopmon and Lunamon stayed close by, quietly talking among themselfvs.

"Do you like Yun-chan, Lopmon?" Lunamon asked innocently.

"Yes. I do. Very much. Terriermon and Cutemon, too. She's the best thing that ever happened to me, and I would never trade her for anything else in the world," Lopmon replied with a sweet smile, which made Lunamon smile. "Do you like Rena-san?"

"Oh, indeed I do! She's perfectly wonderful! But I have to admit, I was quite afraid of her at first, when I hatched. But she didn't force herself onto me and let me get over my fear on my own. I think that's what drew me to her."

"I wasn't afraid of her at all, and neither was Terriermon when we first hatched. I didn't see any reason to be."

"I wish I was as brave as you, Lopmon."

"You've been brave quite a few times. When we first met, you barely said a word to anyone except Rena-san, but now you can talk freely with everyone. Not only that, you've fought lots of Digimon with us and even saved us a few times. I think you've made great progress."

"Maybe I have."

Lucero and Melody noticed that Yun and Rena had been talking for quite a while, so they wound up taking note of it.

"When did they get so close?" Melody asked rather gruffly.

"Who knows? But I don't think there's anything wrong with conversing among friends once in a while," Lucero said.

"Yeah. Besides, Rena-chan's pretty and nice, so I think they're great with each other!" Biyomon piped in.

Melody continued to look at them. "Yun's come a long way. Especially since I've been gone for a year."

"Come a long way, sayest thou?" Lucero asked again.

"Yeah. Before, Yun would only hang out with me, Minako, or Kosuke. Any other kid either hated her or just didn't want to near her. But now, she's made lots of friends. It almost makes me a little sad, to see how far she's come. I wonder if she doesn't want to be friends with me anymore..." Melody said wistfully.

Lucero and Biyomon have seen the two of them interact a lot, so they saw no sign of their friendship ever deteriorating, not even for one little millisecond.

"I don't think that'll happen. Yun-chan loves everyone she's friends with, especially you. Considering how she is and what she's been through, I think to her, all of her friends are precious to her, and she has plenty of love for everyone, including you!" Biyomon piped in, flapping her wings a little as if to emphasize her point.

"That's true. Yun is not the type to discard people when she feels tired of them. She loves every single one of her friends, and she gives them all of the love she has. She's often told me that thou art very important to her, so don't say that she doesn't want to be friends with you anymore just because she's making more new friends," Lucero told her with a smile.

Melody smirked a bit as well. "Yeah. No way is she like that."

Soon, they decided to stop hanging out and go home. Yun, Lopmon, and Terriermon decided to walk home with Rena and Lunamon, whom Rena just de-digivolved into Moonmon to make sure she doesn't stand out as much in public. Riku already went ahead of them with Sunmon by his side, so they didn't feel a need to accompany him. Yun liked walking with her friends. She hardly ever did this much, so this made her happy, and so did Rena. They reached a traffic signal and blended in with a small crowd of people as they watched the cars go by. As soon as the traffic signal turned into a white person walking, everyone walked across the street...well, almost everyone.

"Oh!" A small old lady tripped and fell in the middle of the street. Her grey cane fell to the ground with a clatter catching the attention of both Rena and Yun. They ran over to her in worry.

"Are you alright?" Rena asked as she wrapped one lady's arm around herself.

"Oh dear. It appears I'm having trouble keeping my balance," The old lady said as Yun wrapped the lady's other arm around herself.

The two girls walked slowly so that the old lady can keep up with them, even after the traffic signal changed. Some horns bleated in the air, (Yun was suddenly glad Melody wasn't with them), but not for long. They finally made it to the other side of the street, and Rena helped the old lady back on her feet.

"Here you go," Rena told her as she helped wipe off some asphalt that got on her (the old lady's) dress. The old lady smiled gently.

"Why, thank you, little girls. That was very nice of you to help me. You're both so graceful," The old lady said.

"You're welcome," Rena told her politely.

"You two have a good day," The old lady said as she waved and walked away quietly.

"Take care!" Rena waved at her too. Moonmon peeked out from Rena's purse and smiled up at Rena.

"Wow. That was a very kind and noble thing you both did!" Moonmon told her sweetly.

"Well, we didn't want to just leave her there," Rena replied.

"Yes. Oh, how terrible that would have been!" Lopmon exclaimed.

"Is anyone hungry, cause I'm gettin' a little hungry," Terriermon asked.

Yun gently poked him in the nose. "Don't worry. When we get home you'll get a nice little snack."

"I love snacks!" Terriermon piped in happily.

The two girls were barely passing by the gas station when they saw a little girl trip and fall on the sidewalk. The girl got up, but as soon as she saw the bloody scratch on her knee and began crying loudly. Yun covered her ears reflexively while Rena ran over to her and kneeled over to her.

"Are you okay?" Rena asked gently, trying to calm the little girl down.

"I hurt my knee!" The little girl wailed incessantly.

Rena looked into her purse and pulled out a napkin and a small Band-Aid. She gently dabbed the napkin on the girl's knee, which softened the girl's sobbing a little. Rena opened the Band-Aid, removed the white backing, and very gently pressed it onto the girl's knee. Rena smiled as she did.

"There! All better!" Rena chimed sweetly.

The girl smiled a bit, though tears still snuck out of her eyes. "All better. Thanks, nice lady."

"You're welcome. You should go back to your mother now. She must be worried about you, and try not to run so much. Okay?" Rena told her kindly, in a motherly voice.

"Okay! Bye bye!" The girl cheerfully waved at Rena and scurried back to her mother.

"Are you always so well prepared for stuff like that?" Terriermon asked.

"I usually keep them on me if Riku hurts himself," Rena replied.

"Wow. You're good," Terriermon told her. Rena blushed a bit.

Yun saw her house, so she decided to leave Rena and head home. Rena and Moonmon quickly walked back home themselves. She got home a little before one, with just enough time to get ready for her dance class. Running up to her room, Rena packed her dance clothes and pale purple dance shoes, a bottle of water, a few cereal bars, and Moonmon in her dance bag. Moonmon fit snugly in her bag, and she found out she had a lot more space to move around than initially anticipated. Rena prepared herself tactfully, double-checking to make sure all of her things were in her bag and that she didn't forget anything. At around 1:45 PM, Takako drove Rena to dance class. Unfortunately, the tension between them was quite immense, especially so when Takako started talking.

"I really don't understand why you chose to do this," Takako said rather sternly. Rena, hoping not to anger her, decided to answer as honestly as she could.

"I love dancing," Rena replied.

"Will loving something get you a steady job or a professional career in life? Will it get you a husband or a good home?" Takako prodded again. Rena was a little put off by Takako's sudden line of irrelevant questioning.

"Isn't it a little early to be thinking about that stuff?" Rena asked back.

"Answer the question!" Takako suddenly snapped. Moonmon, hearing this, cowered and shrunk further into the bag.

"I don't know. But I'm sure something will happen eventually," Rena responded as best she could.

Takako calmed down and sighed. "I just want you to have a secure future. I don't want you to end up like Riku."

Immediately Rena tensed, not liking where the conversation was going. Even Moonmon couldn't help but bite her lip a little in anticipation. "Do you still think Riku's going to be some criminal? Mom! Get over yourself! Riku's not gonna be a criminal, nor does he want to be! He really does know the difference between right and wrong and he's been making great progress! Why can't you see that-"

Before Rena could finish, Takako cut her off, "Don't talk back to me, young lady! You're not his mother, now are you?"

"But I'm his sister, and unlike you, I don't criticize him for every little thing he does, even when he does something nice! I just don't get it, Mom! Why are you so uptight and nitpicky when it comes to Riku? It's like you hate him just for being ADHD! Don't you see that he can be nice and good when he wants to be? He got a B on his most recent math test and what do you do? You yell at him about how lazy he is in his studies! How is getting a B on a math test lazy? That's wonderful!"

"Who are you to decide what I should do with him?"

"I'm not! I'm just saying you should shape up and loosen up a little for his sake and mine! Not only that, even after we made friends you won't even let us invite him to the house! Why do you always think Riku's gonna ruin everything if people come over? It's not like he's gonna freak out, run around screaming like a maniac, and throw stuff everywhere!"

Rena could practically feel her mother's anger rising. She could see her grinding her teeth and her thin hands clutching the stirring wheel until her knuckles turned white. Suddenly, the car stopped, almost causing Rena to fall over despite the fact that she has her seatbelt on. They had arrived at  
>the dance studio, and Rena got out.<p>

"We're here. Get out. I'll have Michitaka pick you up at five. I don't want to hear any more of this!" Takako all but growled.

"You never want to hear anything about Riku that isn't in your deluded brain!" Rena shouted before slamming the door and stomping into the studio and into the changing room.

Lots of girls, both young and old, were in the changing room. Rena didn't pay much attention to them as she was too swallowed up in her frustration to notice them. She threw off her clothes and changed into her dance clothes. Looking in the mirror she smoothed her black top and re-adjusted her blue shorts. Pulling up her white stockings, she fixed the lavender shoes so they wouldn't fly off, (there had been a bad incident with one of the other girls shattering a mirror like that), and looked in a mirror as she adjusted her hair. Moonmon peeked out from her bag and could see Rena's frustration as she changed silently with an air of _'don't talk to me'_ around her. But she also noticed something else. Some older girls were glaring at Rena from the other side of the changing room, and, as far as Moonmon could tell, their glares didn't look good. She even heard them talking amongst themselves.

"What's she all riled up about?"

"Tch. She thinks she's too good for the rest of us."

"She doesn't even notice that we're here. She's so stuck-up."

"She must think she's so much better than us."

"Who does she think she is, that Nobara chick?"

Rena didn't notice, let alone care about the gossip going on. She did, however, soften once one young girl approached her. The girl was about Rena's age, maybe younger, with slightly frizzy dark brown hair and matching dark brown eyes. Slighly tan skin was decorated with a small assortment of dark brown freckles, and she looked a little awkward in her white top and black shorts dance outfit.

"Is something wrong, Nobara-san? You look frustrated," The girl said in a timid but nice voice. Rena sighed as she opened a bottle of water and drank from it.

"Sorry, Nako-chan. My mom's been talking bad about my brother again. I just can't stand it! I wish she'd stop being so critical and nitpicky and all perfectionist about Riku! It's driving me up the wall!" Rena complained.

"Sorry to hear that. I know how you feel. My aunt is like that with everybody. She's been like that ever since she got started up on the chemo," Nako said.

"Ouch. How is she?" Rena asked.

"She's doing fine, though she still complains to no end," Nako replied with a smile, which made Rena smile.

Once the rest of the girls in Rena's group changed, they went into a typical dance room with a hard wood floor and wooden bars to grip on with tall floor-to-ceiling mirrors on a wall. Two women stood at the front of the room. One woman, in her early fifties, had frizzy brown hair and matching eyes. The girl next to her, who is much younger than her, probably looking no older than seventeen years old, had very short reddish brown boy cut hair with blue, almost violet, eyes. Rena brought her bag into the room, so Moonmon watched everything through a crack in the zipper.

One thing about the younger girl Moonmon (and everyone else included) noticed was that the red-haired girl has no arms! Her long sleeves are tied in big knots. Some of the older girls, namely the ones who gossiped about Rena before, became disgusted at the sight of the red-haired armless girl and immediately began whispering amongst themselves in a maligned and malicious manner.

"I still can't believe that stubby over there is choreographing our routine!" The oldest girl whispered to her friend.

"I know. I don't care if she is Sakura-sensei's daughter. We need someone who can actually choreograph, not some freak with no arms!" The other girl said, though her voice got a little loud to the point where Rena heard it.

"Can you keep quiet over there? Sakura-sensei's trying to talk," Rena reproved them, then turned to stare at the boom box sitting next to the red-haired girl's feet.

The woman, Mrs. Sakura, clapped her hands once. "Alright, girls! Let's get started! Hiyori? Cue the music please."

With a nod, her daughter, Hiyori, used one of her dance shoes to press the play button on the little boom box. Soft music blared softly in the background, with the girls in their positions and ready to dance and feel the music. Moonmon recognized the piece perfectly. It was Maurice Ravel's Mother Goose Suite. She heard it many times before. A soft yet melancholy piece it is, and currently, the girls were all dancing in a soft and melancholy way, while both Mrs. Sakura and Hiyori were supervising them and correcting them on their movements, which as of now was elegant but rather minimal. This isn't a dance that required back flips or cartwheels, which is why Hiyori choreographed this, which also proved to be advantageous on her end, because Hiyori, lacking arms, can't do back flips or cart wheels. Soft pieces and minimal dances like this suited her best. Moonmon couldn't help but watch as she became immersed by both the beautiful music and the girls' dancing.

Moonmon had watched Rena practice many times, even though Rena herself knew it was a group dance. Moonmon, as Lunamon, even participated in the dancing even though she didn't know the routine herself. But seeing all of those solo practice sessions made Moonmon realize how very dedicated and passionate Rena was with her dancing. She practiced by herself even though it was a group dance that everyone had to take part in. Moonmon watched the very slow but swift and elegant rhythm of the girls' bodies, their slender arms and legs, and the way some girls with longer hair twists twirls and shifts from side to side as they twirl like the toys on a music box as they're spinning. Moonmon thought she was really seeing a V of geese dancing on a clear, pristine pond of water with their wings spread out far and wide.

But the performance didn't go exactly as expected. Sometimes Hiyori made them stop and told them to start over again. Some girls' rhythm wasn't exactly in sync, some looked rather stiff as they danced, and one even fell down and knocked into another girl. Some girls laughed, but Mrs. Sakura eyed them and made them return to their positions. Some were a bit too loose and wound up doing tricks that weren't in the routine. To Moonmon, the only one she noticed performing the dance almost perfectly was Rena. Very few of her movement or rhythm out of sync, and she never tried to add her own _'twist'_ into the routine. Then again, it didn't need to be, as there was very little movement needed in the routine in the first place. On a scale of one to ten, Moonmon firmly believed that Rena achieved a ten.

_'It's no wonder the other girls don't really like Rena-san, because she's nailed the routine down_ _like it's nothing. But that's because she's been practicing and practicing like the passionate and_ _dedicated girl she is. But I see no sign of arrogance or superiority in her dancing. Not at all. I_ _see nothing but grace, elegance, benevolence, and freedom. It's like dancing is her freedom, the_ _only way she can truly be herself. That's what I love. Rena loves dancing, and I'm happy that_ _she loves it. I wonder why people think she's stuck up? She isn't doing anything wrong. She's just_ _doing what she loves doing, nothing more. What perfectly exquisite and elegant dancing you're_ _doing, Rena-san! I believe in you! Keep it up!'_ Moonmon thought as she peeked out from Rena's bag. She felt happy to be Rena's partner. It was true that Rena emitted grace from all angles, not just in her dancing and near perfect cadence, but in her very being as well.

Unfortunately, the dancing did not last. Finally, Mrs. Sakura turned off the music. Hiyori had left after the first hour because she needed to work on homework. Mrs. Sakura clapped her hands twice with a smile.

"Great job today, everyone! Let's call it a day. I'll see you all on Monday!" Mrs. Sakura exclaimed.

Relieved, all of the girls crowded into the changing room to change and go home. Rena helped one little girl take off her dancing shoes. In the process, she saw Yun's big sister, Ayaka, talking with some other girls. Rena and Ayaka go to the same dance studio together, but they're not in the same grade level so they're often separated. Rena was the first to change back into her normal clothes. As the chatter from other girls filled the room, Moonmon found it safe to talk to Rena as she drank from a bottle of water.

"You were just perfectly wonderful and elegant out there, Rena-san," Moonmon whispered sweetly. Despite the noise, Rena heard her friend perfectly, and she smiled.

"Thanks, but it's nothing to brag about," Rena told her as she grabbed the bag and headed out to wait in the lobby for her parents and Riku to pick her up.

But as she came into the lobby, she saw Hiyori sitting sideways on the bench, using her feet to type onto a black laptop. Well, not her feet entirely. Tucked between her big toe and long toe is a small metal stick with a circle at the end, and she was using the end with the circle on it to type into the computer keys. Rena also saw that she looked quite frustrated, persistently pushing the stick into one key without much success.

"Come on, you stupid contraption! Save my paper already!" Hiyori complained. Rena smiled and plodded over to her.

"Is something wrong?" Rena asked curiously.

Hiyori looked up at Rena with some surprise in her blue-violet eyes, but calmed down once she registered the fact that it was her to begin with. Hiyori and Rena interacted a few times, and they got along great whenever they had free time to kill together. "Hey. Sorry. My computer's being dumb because earlier my dad spilled a bit of coffee on it, and I'm trying to save my paper, but this button just refuses to cooperate, and I can't use a mouse so clicking on the save option is out of the question," She replied rather bluntly.

"Mind if I help you?" Rena asked again.

Hiyori sighed relief. "Please!"

Rena turned the laptop around so she can use it. She saw the File option at the corner and clicked on it with the built-in mouse. She clicked on it, found the "Save As" button, and clicked on it.

"What's your paper called?" Rena asked.

"You can just call it Sakura Trig Paper," Hiyori told her insouciantly.

Rena typed in the name that Hiyori suggested, looked at the location it was going to be posted in, the desktop, and clicked Save. She checked to make sure it showed up on the desktop, and lo and behold, a small paper icon titled Sakura Trig Paper appeared on the desktop. Both Hiyori and Rena looked relieved.

"Thanks, Rena-chan. You really saved my butt on this one. This thing's due on Monday by e-mail, and if I didn't save it, I'd probably get a big red F for sure," Hiyori told her with a bright smile as she watched Rena turn off the laptop.

"You're welcome. I can put this away for you if you want," Rena told her as she carefully held the laptop in her hand.

"My bag's over there. It's green and blue. Here, put this in, too?" Hiyori used her foot and metal stick to point to her bag, then gave Rena her metal stick, which Rena took. Carefully, Rena put the laptop in first, then the metal sick. She made sure to zip the bag up tightly so that nothing would fall out of it. Rena then slowly and gently put the bag over Hiyori's shoulder.

"You're a big help, Rena-chan. I owe you one big time," Hiyori told her with a barely restrained smile.

"It's no biggie. I'm just happy to help. I'll bet it must be hard with your situation and all," Rena told her with a smile while blushing a little in embarrassment. She didn't mean for her last comment to be derogatory, and Hiyori saw this as well.

"Trust me, it is."

"I'm kinda surprised you're able to dance, let alone choreograph at all."

"Years of practice, though it's not my only ambition in life."

Rena wanted to continue the conversation with her older friend, but an unwanted interruption stopped her from doing so.

"You better keep away from stubby over there, or you'll lose a limb too!" One older girl with slightly spiky hair jeered, and her three friends laughed. Rena didn't lose her cool, but she was quite appalled by their rather inappropriate behavior.

"I'm not gonna lose a limb because I happen to be friends with someone who did," Rena told them.

"You better be careful, Hitomi! You might catch her snobby, stuck-up odor!" One girl with a long pony tail told her friend Hitomi, the 'ringleader'. Hitomi crossed her arms and took a few steps toward Rena and gave her a look full of scorn and rancor with a smile to go with it.

"Listen, squirt. Just because you like people who are different from us doesn't make you the center of attention. Quit thinking you're so much better than us just because you happen to be good at dancing!" Hitomi told her scornfully.

"I'm not trying to be better than anyone. Where'd you get that idea? What makes you think I'm some stuck up kid who likes to hold herself superior to everyone else? I'm no different from the rest of you," Rena retorted calmly and politely, but Hitomi's eyes grew big and she took it the wrong way.

"See! You're talking like the arrogant and stuck-up snob you are! Quit acting all cocky!" Hitomi suddenly yelled, scaring Moonmon and some of the younger girls.

Now Hiyori stood up in alarm. "Aren't you the one who's arrogant and cocky?"

"Who are you to talk, little Miss Armless Retard?" Hitomi exclaimed, which made her friends laugh, but Hiyori stared daggers at Hitomi quite vehemently.

"Just because I don't have any arms doesn't mean I'm not human. What, do you think I'm some kind of alien sent from Planet Snob to eat your brains?" Hiyori asked sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

All four of the older girls gasped. "Planet Snob?"

"Besides, we all have some kind of disability in one way or another. I'll bet you all have one and don't even know it! Maybe it's swimming through your bloodstream or eating at your internal organs this very minute! Oh! Wait! I know. You all have something called Terminal Snob Syndrome. It's when poor judgment eats away at your brain and makes you all snobby and stuck up, acting like you're so much better than everyone else just because you happen to look like the perfect little super models all the agencies want to deal with," Hiyori said, her tone growing dark.

"You...You...You're a retard! We're way better than the two of you by a long shot!" Hitomi yelled.

"Kanda-san!" Mrs. Sakura yelled upon hearing Hiyori and Hitomi argue, and she did not look pleased. The other three girls froze in place.

"Aw, shoot! Sakura-sensei heard us!" Another girl whispered timorously.

Now it was Mrs. Sakura's turn to stare daggers at Hitomi. "In my office. Now."

"But-"

"Now, young lady!"

With a big groan, Hitomi walked with Mrs. Sakura into the office. Rena saw some headlights blinking from outside. Knowing that they belong to Michitaka's car, Rena straightened her bag a little.

"Thanks for helping me. I've gotta run. I'll see you on Monday!" Rena said as she waved goodbye to Hiyori, who smiled at her when she left. Hiyori waved too, though her balled up sleeve slumped a little.

Rena leaped into the car and put on her seatbelt. It was only Michitaka in the car. No Riku in sight. Rena thought that Takako must be scolding him right now over something stupid. Thankfully, the drive with Michitaka was much more pleasant than the one with Takako.

"Rena? I'm sorry things with Takako haven't been going too well. She's still her stubborn self as usual," Michitaka said.

Rena rolled her eyes. "You're telling me. Well, you're understanding Riku a little better, so I'll at least give you credit for trying."

Michitaka smiled. It was true. Ever since Rena told him about how well Riku went to Wawa and back about a month ago, Michitaka made more of an effort to believe in Riku and praise him when he did something right, and help him with things he can't do. Unlike Takako, Michitaka did not criticize him over everything, though he did scold him a few times. Unlike Takako, Michitaka had always tried to understand and make do with Riku's ADHD, trying to cope with it while Takako chose to not cope with it at all. "Thank you, Rena. I'll cook dinner tonight so Takako can have a break."

They got home safely, and they had dinner together. Takako was in a foul mood as usual, talking to Michitaka about Rena's so-called "defiance," but he didn't listen, and neither did Riku or Rena (who simple rolled her eyes). After a few minutes of listening to Takako complain, Rena finished dinner and ran into her room with Moonmon in hand.

Rena exhaled a big sigh of relief. "Man. I thought I was never gonna get out of there."

"You really don't like it when Takako talks about you or Riku-san like that, do you?" Moonmon asked innocently. Rena picked Moonmon up and plopped onto bed with the little soft, plushy purple Digimon laying on her chest.

"It just drives me up the wall. I'm so sick and tired of Mom complaining about every little thing. I'll bet if she saw Hiyori, she would come up with a hundred reasons why I shouldn't be friends with her," Rena said.

Moonmon suddenly smiled upon hearing Hiyori's name. "Speaking of that girl...she's nice, isn't she?"

Rena smiled in response. "Yeah, she is."

"I wonder how she's able to dance even without any arms?"

"Me too. But she's good at it for sure."

"There's no doubt about that."

There was a moment of silence before Rena simple stated:

"I wish I had someone like her back in Hokkaido."

"Really?" Moonmon asked curiously.

"Yeah."

"How long have you been at that dance studio again?"

"Well, I've been dancing since I was six, but I only started coming here a week after school started, after I moved here. If you want, I can tell you about how I met her."

"Is that okay?"

Rena nodded and told Moonmon the story of how she became friends with Hiyori…

(Flashback)

_Rena moved into Tama-no-Minato before she entered the fifth grade so this happened a week_ _after she started going to Fushimi Middle School. Her parents had been looking for a dance_ _school to put her in, and this happened to be the one, and today was her first day of dance_ _lessons. Rena was a little disappointed that the lobby wasn't nearly as big as the last dance_ _studio she went to, but it was good enough so long as she got to do what she loved best. Rena did_ _like how the lobby looked, but two things surprised her. One thing was that other than other than_ _one other person, the lobby is completely empty. The girls are already in the changing room._

_The other thing that surprised her was that the red headed person was sitting sideways on a_ _bench, eating her lunch. Normally seeing a person eat their lunch was nothing to look at, but_ _Rena was surprised to see that the girl was eating lunch with a fork in between her toes! Upon_ _further inspection, she saw that the girl had no arms. Her long sleeves were tied into big knots._ _The girl stopped eating once she saw Rena looking at her with was very short and boy cut, and_  
><em>her eyes were such a shade of blue, they looked almost violet. She was a long sleeved white shirt<em> _underneath a light brown sweater vest and a pair of grey sweat pants with the words EAGLE_ _embroidered on them in white felt patterns. Rena, once over the initial shock, suddenly realized_ _she was staring._

_"Oh! Sorry! I didn't-" She was about to go into the changing room, but the girl stopped her._

_"Hi. You new here?" The girl asked in a blunt but casual manner, which actually stopped Rena_ _in her tracks. Rena turned around nervously and attempted to talk to her._

_"Hi. Y-Yeah. Today's my first day of dance class," Rena replied a little stiffly. The girl smiled._

_"Do you know who your teacher is?"_

_"Yeah. A person named Sakura Mayaka-san."_

_The girl's violet eyes grew big. "Hah. She's my mom. You'll like her. She's kinda monotone, but_ _she knows what she's doing at least."_

_Rena felt herself becoming calmer upon conversing with this strange girl a bit more._

_"I like your shirt. It's cute. Butterflies," The girl said, using her fork in between her toes_ _to point to Rena's pale blue shirt,which had pink and yellow butterflies on it._

_"Thanks. It's my favorite," Rena replied, blushing a little._

_There was a small pause between them until the girl spoke again._

_"I take it you're wondering why I have no arms?" The girl asked._

_Rena cocked her head to one side in confusion._

_"It's alright. I get asked that a lot, and you've got that look on your face, so I'll tell you," The girl_ _said._

_Rena suddenly raised her hands up. "It's fine. Mom says it's not good to ask people about really_ _personal stuff so-"_

_Suddenly, the girl's mother saw Rena and approached her._

_"Hello! You must be Nobara Rena-chan. It's nice to meet you. I see you've met my daughter_ _Hiyorin here. Oh! You better get changed, because we start our first lesson in 15 minutes," Mrs._ _Sakura told her kindly, then ran into the studio._

_"It's actually Sakura Hiyori," The armless girl, Hiyori, told her while flashing an impish smile._ _Rena found herself smiling as well._

_Rena didn't quite know why, but she came to like the strange, armless girl and her funny_ _personality and ramblings. Before lessons started, after the break, and after class ended, it_ _suddenly became routine for Rena to talk to this girl and keep her company. She didn't bring up_ _the subject of why Hiyori has no arms again during this time, but Rena could really feel a bond_ _forming between her and this girl, despite their being so far apart in age. Rena suddenly decided_ _that Hiyori is officially her first friend. Unfortunately, their relationship also caused Hitomi and_ _her friends to take notice and make fun of her because of it._

_Ever since the beginning, Hitomi and her clique gossiped about Rena amongst themselves_ _or harassed her when they had the chance. Rena didn't quite understand why they were so_ _bothersome. What had she done to them that was so bad? She didn't know them. She practiced_ _her dancing nonetheless and found herself being praised by Mrs. Sakura a lot for her dedication,_ _determination, passion, and grace. Rena didn't see why it was so bad for her to be naturally_ _better than others. She never did consider herself better than anyone, but the other girls got the_ _wrong impression that she did. They claimed she was stuck-up, snobby, and that she considered_ _herself too good to be hanging out with them. This hurt Rena quite a lot, but she held it in_ _because she needed to focus on what she loved most: dancing. Besides, she made her first friend_ _since she moved, so that didn't bother her._

(End flashback)

"...So Hiyorin is your first friend in all of Tama-no-Minato?" Moonmon asked.

"Yeah. Kind of. Yun's my second so Hiyorin's my first. I didn't mind the fact that she has no arms. I've told Dad about her once because I knew Mom wouldn't like it, and he said it was great that I made a friend despite the age difference," Rena replied.

Moonmon smiled.

"Buuuut!" Rena suddenly said, waving her hand a little. "That doesn't mean I love you any less, my cute little Digimon friend!" With that, Rena hugged Moonmon, which made the purple Digimon laugh.

Rena remembered then that something else drove her to love Hiyori: her determination. Even though she had no arms, occasionally she choreographs their routine and did it with a lot of dexterity and gusto. She loved that about her. Even without arms, she could still do what she wanted to do and isn't held back by her lack of arms or hands, and keeps going towards her goals.

Rena wondered if she could ever be like her.

One of the bullies taunted that Rena could lose a limb if she hung out with her. Nobody knows how precious something really is until it's gone, and Rena was going to realize that...far sooner than anyone would ever think.

Sometimes, destiny has planes for us that are blessings in disguise, and we may not realize that until the very end.

Two people in the dance studio were going to have their lives changed in the strangest ways possible, and sometimes those ways were not very pleasant...

Footnotes:

1. Sugarcube Corner is a sweets shop featured in the cartoon show My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic.


	64. Spadamon, The Little Blue Hero!

EPISODE 64: Spadamon, The Little Blue Hero!

On that very same Saturday, shortly after the Digimon Brigade meeting ended, Ayaka had spent a large portion of the morning doing her homework (all the while grumbling "Stupid, lousy, teachers…" or similar insults) before growling and slamming the schoolbook closed, no longer interested in the subject. Just as quickly she let herself fall onto her bed before calling Shunji. When she got voice message she simple glared at the phone as though it had wronged her before flinging said phone onto another part of her bed.

Rolling over so she was on her back, Ayaka let out a dramatic sigh as she looked up at her celling letting boredom take over. After a few minutes of doing nothing in particular, she jolted as her phone rang. She quickly snatched the phone up to see the caller ID saying that it was Shunji, so she answered the call.

"Shunji! Where have you been!" Ayaka asked, a little more forceful that needed.

"Sorry, we had a Digimon Brigade that went on longer than planned and…" Shunji started, but Ayaka cut him off.

"Shunji, this whole Digimon business is really getting on my nerves! Don't you think you should get out of it?" Ayaka asked with barley hidden aggravation.

"Nope, I'm happy this happened, Ayaka! You wouldn't believe how long I've been waiting for something as awesome as this to happen! I have my own little Digimon partner and we can save the world and stuff! How great is that?" Shunji explained happily.

"But don't you think it's ruining our chances to have some alone time together?" Ayaka all but whined to Shunji.

"You think so? I don't. Don't get me wrong, Ayaka-chan. I'm not saying that I prefer Digimon over you. Really, I love you just as much as I love Dracomon. You're my girlfriend, and Dracomon's my special little friend. There's nothing that'll keep me from loving you." Shunji told her sweetly in an attempt to pacify Ayaka.

"Yeah, but it's that brat's fault for dragging you into this whole childish thing!"

"You mean Yun-chan?" Shunji sighed a bit. "I already told you, Ayaka-chan. She didn't drag me into this. Heck, I don't think she even knew that I even liked Digimon, much less was partnered with one! I sure never told her, nor did I tell you, so it's technically impossible for her to have known beforehand unless she spied on me or something...and she's, like what? Eleven? How can an eleven year old know where I live? She's also never been to either my old or new house."

Ayaka sighed herself, "You have a point." Ayaka muttered, admitting defeat.

"Besides, I love this! You and Dracomon and saving the world are much better than having to deal with my Dad! Oh God, I _know_ you'd hate him. More so than Yun-chan, I'd think!"

Ayaka couldn't help but smile a bit. "Your Dad must be pretty bad."

"He is. Trust me."

But Ayaka sighed again. "But still. Don't you ever want to leave? I mean, I don't think this whole Digimon thing is going to do you, or us, any good."

"Abandon Dracomon? No way! No way would I ever wanna do that! I wouldn't do that if the whole world got destroyed! Besides, I already have a digivice, so that alone seals the deal for me!"

Ayaka managed to successfully resist the urge to shout, _"Then destroy your digivice or something!"_ out of fear that it may prompt Shunji into getting angry, or even breaking up with her. She didn't want to lose Shunji's trust. Not after she lost the trust of a lot of people as well. She did find it annoying that even after all of this weirdness that he supposedly got _"dragged"_ into, he still continues to extol Digimon, and his partner, to this day.

"I...I wish we could spend more time together. My life is just terrible," Ayaka muttered softly more to herself than to Shunji.

"Actually, from what I've seen, you've got it easier than I do," Shunji said happily.

"But Mom and Dad hate me! They always take that brat's side instead of mine! She's always been manipulating them into taking her side and getting her what she wants while ignoring me like I'm trash!" Ayaka exclaimed loudly.

"They don't ignore you. I've seen it. They're a lot better than my parents by a long shot."

"It's not just my parents either! My best friend has been in a coma since freshman year, all of my old friends moved away, this one pack of girls keep spreading ridiculous gossip about me to every single person they know, and the all teachers have it in for me! I swear, high school is awful! I don't know how you managed to survive even sophomore year! Not only that, Mom and Dad keep getting mad at me for my grades! Yes, I know I have a lot of D's and F's, but it's the teachers' faults for being idiots!"

"You've been studying, right? 'Cause that can go a long way," Shunji meant this to be a reassuring response, but it seems Ayaka didn't take it that way.

"I have! But it's all so hard! That tutor lady is no help either! She doesn't know squat about exponents or quadratic equations or whatever! And any help I do get is always late! The teachers are always talking to other kids and don't give a rat's a…hat about me!" Ayaka retorted, (barley controlling her _'Language Issues'_ her teachers kept going on about), frustration rising even higher.

"Will you hang on a minute, Gran?" Shunji called out, apparently talking to his grandmother. "Sorry about that, Ayaka-chan. Gran's giving me a bit of a hard time. I've gotta go. I'll call you back later, okay?"

Ayaka felt herself deflate a little at the fact that Shunji was hanging up, but she was still frustrated. "Alright. See ya soon." She heard herself say to Shunji.

"Bye."

With that, Shunji hung up, and so did Ayaka after a few seconds.

Ayaka threw her cell phone on her zebra-themed bed spread and watched it bounced on the soft and plushy spread. She then fell face-up onto the bed spread herself, and staring up at the unlit light on her ceiling as she had done so many times before. Her curtains were open, and sunbeams permeated her hot pink room. She wondered if anything was ever going to go right for her.

_'Why does my life have to be so terrible? Why does Yun's have to be so great? She's got it way better than I do! She somehow convinced Mom and Dad to let not just a bunch of animals, but some Amurican brat who we don't even know into our house! She gets better grades than I do and actually has friends! I don't have anyone but Shunji, and I'm losing him to this whole Digimon weirdness!'_ Ayaka buried her head into her pillow and resisted the urge to scream, _'It's her fault for dragging him into it anyway! Why did my friends have to leave? Why did Kiyomi have to be in that stupid coma of hers? She had everything planned out. Her dreams, her career, everything. I have nothing left. I can't do anything special. My parents ignore me like I'm trash. Why couldn't it have been...me in that coma? They wouldn't miss me,'_ Ayaka thought miserably.

Suddenly, a soft knocking sound permeated Ayaka's room and her thoughts.

"Ayaka? It's me. Can I come in?" It was Hisako's voice.

Ayaka's anger had already begun to boil down to self-loathing, but she still felt her rage flare at the interruption. But she sat up on her bed and managed a monotone, "Sure. Whatever."

Hisako quietly and gently came into the room, though the door made a high squeaking sound as it did. Ayaka expected Hisako to be angry, but Hisako was calm, content, but a little bit dejected. She wanted to retrogress on her bed some more, but she didn't upon seeing Hisako's slightly sad face. Hisako, seeing Ayaka sitting up on her bed, decided to sit next to her, ignoring her glair.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but I just thought I'd let you know. Kiyomi-chan's mother called while you were sleeping this morning," Hisako began, her voice laced with barley hidden sadness.

Immediately, Ayaka sat up straighter.

Kiyomi? The comatose Kiyomi? Her friend Kiyomi?

All of a sudden, Ayaka's prior rant was forgotten in light of thid new event. Why would Kiyomi's mother call? Was she alright? Did she wake up? Did she get worse? Did she…

No, not that, never that.

But Ayaka was dying to know anyway.

"What about Kiyomi? What's up?" Ayaka asked.

Hisako's head drooped down a little in dejection. "Her mother...she said that...the hospital gave her a call yesterday and...They say that Kiyomi's condition...has taken a turn for the worse."

Ayaka's eyes widened. Kiyomi's condition...deteriorated? Immediately her mind, naturally pessimistic, assumed the worse.

"Is she...going to die?" Ayaka asked, her voice almost quivering.

"They don't know yet, but she said the doctors are doing everything they can to save her," Hisako replied.

Ayaka's heart sank yet again. Not only was she losing Shunji to the Digimon, now she's possibly going to lose her only best friend to her coma! She couldn't bear to handle this horrible news, so she silenty threw on some sandals and grabbed the bag of her desk.

"I'm going out," Ayaka said as she brushed past Hisako and stomped towards the door. Hisako stopped her.

"But don't you have to study for your algebra test? The teacher says you have to pass this one or else you'll be in danger of failing for the year!" Hisako told her with a worried tone in her voice. She meant to try and motivate Ayaka, but this caused her rising emotions to make her turn on her.

"Well, I'm sorry I'm not perfect like that little brat you love so much! But do I look like I care?" Ayaka shot back, her voice full of spite. "So just ignore me like you always have and go back to caring for that brat Yun! It's nothing new so don't even act like you care." And with that, she left…or would have if Hisako hadn't grabbed Ayaka's arm, stopping her from leaving.

"Ayaka! You know we don't think of you that way! We don't spoil her! If only you'd-" Hisako tried to persuade her, but Ayaka yanked her arm away.

"Get off me! Stop denying it, Mom! You treat her like a princess and ignore me like I'm trash! All you do is criticize me and yell at me for everything! You don't care about me! Stop pretending that you do!" Ayaka retorted, her voice growing louder until she was screaming.

"We do care about you! We really do! We just-"

"Since when did you care about my existence? You never did so before! Now I'm gonna lose one of the few people who cared about me! You tell me my friend's about to die and then tell me I need to pass a stupid math test! That just shows you don't care about me at all!"" Ayaka cut her off again before running out of the house.

Hisako didn't follow.

People bustled around town all over the place, each hurrying to get somewhere else, so Ayaka blended in with the crowd. Her face was absolutely calm, she looked at no one that passed her, so no one ever even thought that she felt any different. No one knew that she was currently screaming inside her mind, wishing for everything to disappear, or go away.

Ayaka did bump into some people rather rudely, but she ignored the mummers and kept walking, not caring. Her whole world felt like it was caving in, the trust and faith she had placed in her parents decaying at a disturbing rate. She hated Hisako who she believed didn't see the problem and simply kept telling her to try harder. God dang it she was! She never got good grades in the first place, so with her friend in a coma it only made sense that they would fall! But noooo, her mom didn't care about that! She didn't care about how much Ayaka was hurting, but she couldn't have her precious Yun ever feel even slightly sad.

Ayaka all but slammed into a man beside her in frustration, ignoring his cries of indignant rage as whatever he was drinking spilled all over his clothes, and kept walking, not even truly noticing the dirty glares sent her way.

She kept walking.

After a while, Ayaka had walked over to the park without noticing, so she found a bench and sat down. The walk hadn't really helped her turmoil of emotions calm down. It still felt like she was in a small room that was filling with water, trapping her, making it harder to breath, drowning her. Sighing, she got her bag out, opened it, and pulled out an old newspaper article. She looked sadly at the off-white pages and where the black ink was smearing and fading. The paper was from last year, but Ayaka refused to lose it. It was a reminder. A morbid one at that, but a reminder still. The front page of it read in bold black letters, _"Man Beats Young Girl Into Coma"_ and the article below went into detail about how a young girl named Mikado Kiyomi, who was then fourteen, fell into a coma after an extended family member lost his temper at a party and beat her up violently.

The now comatose girl had been friends with Ayaka since the fourth grade, and they had been great friends. They did everything together, ever since they were kids. Ayaka loved her like a sister, and Kiyomi loved her back. But then…this happened. Ayaka gripped the edges of the paper tighter and bit her lip. She didn't understand. Why did this have to happen to Kiyomi, who, in her point of view, was, no is, one of the sweetest, kindest, most understanding and accepting girls in the whole world? To Ayaka, Kiyomi was a rare breed of friends who she thought were all but extinct.

Why did someone as nice as Kiyomi have to be in a coma? What did she do to deserve something so horrible and painful?

Why did it have to be her? Kiyomi had a future! Lots of dreams and ambitions. Ayaka knew this because she and Kiyomi talked about them a lot when they were kids. But the thought that plagued Ayaka the worst was:

_"It should have been me."_

"Kiyomi-chan doesn't deserve to be in a coma! I do! Mom and Dad don't care about me. They only care about my stupid schoolwork and Yun, who doesn't deserve anything! Why does Yun have lots of friends and have everything go right for her when I have none and everything goes wrong for me? It's not fair!" Ayaka thought angrily, tears of rage threatening to spill.

It was Kiyomi's coma that had caused Ayaka to hate the world. Her other friends moved away, and they had lost contact. Some betrayed her and went on to do bad things, things that even Ayaka didn't want to consider. She didn't understand why people were leaving her behind. First it's Shunji for the Digimon, and now Kiyomi might die because of her deteriorating condition!

"Kiyomi-chan..." Ayaka could feel tears coming out of her pale blue eyes, as her rage collapsed into sadness, and she wiped them out with her slender arms.

She didn't want to cry, but she did, and whenever she was alone, she did quite a lot of it. She wondered if she would ever find a special someone ever again. She wondered if everyone was going to leave her behind or betray her or not give a rat's hat about her. Ayaka didn't want to be...alone. Ayaka wanted to be lost in her sadness, but something rather unpleasant yanked her out of her self-pity.

"Well, look here girls! We have a little crybaby in our presence!"

An icy but gossipy sounding voice yanked Ayaka out of her thoughts and made her stand up in alarm. Four teenaged girls, all looking to be about her age, and all dressing quite promiscuously, stood in front of her, preventing her from leaving. They all crossed their arms and stared at Ayaka like she was something pitifully beneath them that was nothing more than a mere play-thing.

"Come on? Aren't you gonna cry now? Come on, crybaby! Cry! Wah wah wah!" Another girl taunted again in a sickening sing-song voice, which made the other girls laugh wickedly and Ayaka's anger rise.

"Shut up! I wasn't crying!" Ayaka yelped angrily.

"Stop the innocent act already, prissy!" The 'ringleader' of the girls, who had curly hair that was died a absurd shade of pink, and a face full of hastily put on makeup.

"Shut up you pink-haired weirdo! Besides, you shouldn't be playing around in your mommy's makeup! You look like a skank!" Ayaka snapped back.

"Ooooh!" The girls gasped.

"It must really suck to be you, being a guy chaser and all," The ringleader spat back, regaining her composure quicker than Ayaka expected.

"I'm not a guy chaser!" Ayaka yelled.

"But you managed to manipulate an awesome person like Anjo-kun into being your boyfriend!" she exclaimed.

Ayaka's eyes widdened. "I didn't manipulate him! He came onto me! He asked me to be his girlfriend and I accepted! Get off my case, will you?"

"We'll get off your case if you agree to stay away from him!"

"Why should I? He likes me! Is that so wrong?"

"What's wrong is that you're not only a loser, but an idiot who can never accomplish anything! Get over yourself! Don't think you're so special just because you tricked Anjo-kun into loving you. All you're doing is using him for your own gain! Stop being such a parasite. All you do is suck the life out of everything and everyone around you. You wonder why everyone hates you," The ringleader explained wickedly.

"How can you live with yourself, you pushy witch?" One of her lackeys exclaimed.

"You're all the parasites, not me! Get off my case and leave me alone! What I do isn't any of your business!" Ayaka yelled as she tried to break free of the girls, but they kept getting in her way, not allowing her to leave.

"You snitched on me, so that makes it my business!" The ringleader grabbed Ayaka's arm suddenly, digging her painted fingernails into her flesh, making Ayaka wince a bit.

"I didn't snitch! The teacher found out on his own and kept questioning me about it! I didn't want that to happen!" Ayaka yelled as she managed to pry the girl's arm off of her.

"Stop playing the victim!" Another girl yelled.

"Yeah! Stop the innocent act and admit that you're a worthless guy chaser!" Another girl exclaimed.

"Aren't you the one who chases guys and steals boyfriends?" Ayaka exclaimed suddenly, immediately putting the ringleader on the spot. "Didn't one guy catch you and another guy at a bar once? You know it's against the rules to drink under twenty-one!"

"That wasn't me!" The ringleader yelled.

"Then why does Takeda-sensei keep on yelling at you about it? I can hear him from all the way in D Wing!" Ayaka yelled suddenly. But what happened in response threw not just Ayaka, but all four girls off guard.

"Then why does Takeda-sensei keep on yelling at you about it? I can hear him from all the way in D Wing!" Another voice attempted to mimic Ayaka's, malice dripping from the higher-pitched voice. The girls all looked at each other with confusion at first, then the pink-haired ringleader immediately gave Ayaka an angry look.

"Are you trying to make me lose my cool?" The ringleader yelled.

"Are you trying to make me lose my cool?" The voice mimicked again.

"It's not me, you idiot!" Ayaka yelled.

"It's not me, you idiot!" The voice mimicked yet again.

A blonde-haired girl clung to a pigtailed girl, "What's going on? I'm scared..."

"This has to be some kind of joke!" The pigtailed girl whispered timorously.

"Nice work, Pipismon! You found us some prey! Very good job!" A higher pitched but wicked and evil voice whispered.

"Oh my God! That definitely was not me, I swear!" Ayaka yelled, she herself becoming scared.

There was a high-pitched shriek and a flap of wings as a blue and red creature flew out of the tree to Ayaka's left in an explosion of leaves. The group of girls screamed at the sight of the large blue and white bat-like creature flying towards them on its red leathery wings.

Backing up, Ayaka knew enough about Digimon to know that that was what she was looking at. Ignoring the girls running past her, she gulped as she saw it land on silver scythes that served as feet, and saw that it's hands and swishing tail. It wasn't a tall as her, but she wasn't much taller than it so that she didn't have to tilt her head to look into its gold eyes. It bared it's fangs at her, laying it's large ears back slightly as it released a strange hissing sound, causing Ayaka to back up a few more steps. She was so focused on the bat creature, that she almost didn't notice the girls scream again until they ran back over to her.

"Oh my god! There's another even uglier one!" Ayaka heard the pink haired girl shriek.

Whirling to her right (but keeping an eye on the large bat) she saw what they meant. The other creature was smaller (only coming to about her mid-thigh) and a dark green color with a large sickly purple flower on its head. Three long, poisonous looking claws were on the end of each of its hands, and its black eyes glinted evilly as it chased the other girls back over to where Ayaka was.

She may not like Digimon, but she knew just how dangerous they were.

The group of girls decided to huddle behind her, deciding that she knew what she was doing since she seemed the least afraid.

Ayaka wished that were true.

"You're the ones who are ugly, but you'll definitely satisfy our insatiable appetite!" The plant Digimon exclaimed in a voice disturbingly like that of a little girl.

"Shouldn't we serve them to Master MoonMillenniummon, Alraumon?" Pipismon asked the plant Digimon, who was apparently named Alramon.

"No! I want them for myself!" Alraumon exclaimed, almost whining.

The girls, excluding Ayaka, looked at each other fearfully, then at Ayaka. The pink haired ringleader grabbed onto Ayaka's arm and shoved her towards the two Digimon.

"If you really wanna eat someone, then eat this chick! She's a loser who chases guys, steals boyfriends, goes to bars while underage, and is a master manipulator! BYE!" The ringleader shoved Ayaka in front of the Digimon while she and her friends ran in between the two confused Digimon, screaming.

It's rather pointless to say that Ayaka was not pleased.

"I AM NOT! COME BACK HERE!" Ayaka screamed angrily as she watched the clique run away in fear. Pipismon and Alraumon looked at each other with confused faces, then Alraumon just shrugged.

"Well, it's better than nothing I suppose," Alraumon said.

Ayaka turned around to look at them and felt her rage crumble into fear. She doubted that she could make it past them; the other girls had just had dumb luck.

And then, without warning, Pipismon charged at her.

Fear override every other feeling she had been having today, and adrenalin coursed through her veins as she saw Pipismon's scythe hand come towards her, ready to slice though her flesh as easily as they would paper…

Ayaka didn't think, she simply acted.

With a wordless cry of fear, Ayaka turned and jumped up onto the fence, using it to pull herself up. Pipsimon, who had been aiming at her stomach, couldn't stop himself and crashed into the fence, an inch below her feet. When he hit the fence, his head stapped upwords, pushing Ayaka's feet upward. Again, simply acting, she used the suddenly avaible platform and pushed off,

clearing the fence and landing on her back.

"Get her!" Alraumon schreaked to Pipsimon, who was already standing up.

The order shook Ayaka out of her shock at what she had just done, so she did the only thing she could do.

She ran.

"Nemesis Ivy!"

Long poisoned purple vines reached out towards Ayaka.

With a scream, Ayaka made a sharp left and towards the first cover she saw; a half-finished neighborhood.

"Let's get her!" Pipismon exclaimed as he took to the skies. "Crazy Sonic Blaster!" A translucent sonic wave shot out from Pipismon's mouth.

Ayaka heard the attack before she saw it, so she hid behind a house, and the attack shattered a window above her as a result, causing someone inside to scream in fear as Ayaka covered her head. She knew she had some cuts now, but she didn't bother to look at them and simply ran.

Ayaka ran as fast as she could. She couldn't believe that she just ran into two Digimon, who now wanted to eat her! She suspected right from the beginning that Digimon weren't good creatures. She was surprised Yun was able to tame three of them and make them into her friends! Now, because of that pink-haired girl offering her up as a potential appetizer while fearing for her own life, Ayaka's been chosen as their prey! She hated her life right now, but she definitely didn't want her death to be in the form of being eaten by two Digimon! Two ugly and stupid Digimon, at that. After some running, Ayaka stopped to catch her breath. Gasping she attempted to slow her heart which felt like it would explode at this rate…not to mention the burring in her legs and side.

"Gloomy Dust!" A cloud of purple, powdery dust suddenly flew towards Ayaka, but she had begun to run as soon as she heard Alraumon's voice so close to her.

_'I can't let these ugly as heck freaks eat me! I am NOT gonna be their dinner! No sir!'_ Ayaka thought in her head as she tried desperately to run away from said Digimon.

Turning a corner, she looked back and felt relief to see that the tow hadn't even turned the same corner yet…they were slow. Maybe, just maybe, she could get out of this…That train of thought was abruptly abandoned in favor for the sudden explosion of pain Ayaka felt as she ran straight into a wall. Muttering some things that would make her teachers slap her, she stood up quickly, and turned towards her left, ready to run down the connecting ally…

And froze as she saw none. Quickly, she turned right, only to see a stone wall, no alleyway. Suddenly feeling frantic, she looked up and down the alleyway for another way, an open door, a fire escape, anything…

But there was nothing. She was trapped.

"Can we split her two ways? I'd like a piece of this scrawny, ugly thing for myself!" Pipismon proclaimed wickedly, which angered Ayaka.

"I AM NOT UGLY! You're the ones who are ugly!" Ayaka screamed angrily.

"You're ugly! You don't look like you're useful or worth much to the world. We can at least spare them your uselessness," Alraumon taunted.

She felt that everything and everyone that made her feel accepted was being taken away from her. Her parents because of Yun's mere presence and disability, Shunji because of Dracomon and the rest of the Digimon Brigade, her old friends because of their moving away, and her best friend Kiyomi for being stuck in the coma and possibly on the verge of death! Ayaka didn't want to believe that all hope was lost, especially since Alraumon and Pipismon were advancing toward her with their sharp, saliva-covered teeth showing, but she felt a wave of despair wash over her suddenly and she wanted accepted defeat.

But, a small part of her didn't want to die. Which was probably why she closed her eyes and screamed as the two pounced onto her.

Oddly enough, her demise didn't come, because of another voice.

"Aurora Blazer!"

The shout (which sounded like it was from a young boy) was accompanied by a sudden increase in light which Ayaka could see through her closed eyes. Opening them, she winced back and covered her eyes partly at the sudden assault of what looked like an aurora borealis impacting with the two shocked Digimon. With a yelp, Ayaka was barley aware of the two Digimon which had been attacking her letting out screams of pain and she covered her eyes from the resulting explosion and dust. Looking up she was just in time to see a furry white creature in blue armor jump out of the smoke and dust and land infront of her, a small blue sword held in one hand.

"Whaddo y'all think you're doing? How can you be so cruel, pickin' on an innocent human like that? I'm gunna make you pay!" The furry armor clad Digimon yelled at the two Digimon, who were picking themselves up.

"Who are you? This is our meal you're bereaving us of!" Pipismon sheaked.

"The name's Spadamon! Don't forget it! You oughta leave right now, or you'll be chopped into pieces by my hand!" The little white Digimon, Spadamon, yelled courageously while doing a pose with his little blue sword.

Alraumon laughed wickedly. "Do you really think a runt like you can defeat two awesomely powerful Digimon like us? You're pathetic!" Alraumon taunted. Spadamon, however, smiled impishly.

"You think I'm alone?" Spadamon then looked up at the sky. "Quetzalmon! NOW!"

"Freezing Wave!"

Pipismon and Alraumon only had time to widen their eyes as a huge silver serpent-like Digimon with oddly green hair dove down from over the tops of the builds and unleashed a sub-zero energy wave on the two of them.

"Pipismon! Alraumon! Haven't you done enough damage already? You won't gain anything from hurting innocent Digimon or humans! You must pay for your egregious transgressions!" Quetzalmon scolded in a low voice, rearing up so that he looked down on the tow of them.

Alraumon was less then pleased, "Out of the way! We have a meal to consume!"

"Not on my watch! Espada Azul!" Spadamon's sword glowed blue-white, and he leapt towards Alraumon.

"Nemesis Ivy!" Alraumon threw her vines at Spadamon, who simply slashed them to pieces with his sword.

"Crazy Sonic Blaster!" Pipismon shot more sonic waves, but Spadamon was ready. Without even slowing down, he slashed outwards and released a small energy way from his sword, dispersing the sonic waves.

"Quetzalmon! Help me out here!" Spadamon yelled, jumping back from a poisonous cloud..

"You got it!" Quetzalmon descended before a bewildered Alraumon an before she could react, wrapped his tail around her tightly, picking her off the ground. Alraumon felt Quetzalmon's tail squeeze the life out of her. Her vision blurred, as her airway constricted, and she could feel her heart beating faster than normal. Quetzalmon paid no attention to this.

"You won't be consuming anything after this. Freezing Wave!" Quetzalmon shot another wave of energy at her, finally making Alraumon dissipate and turn into a cloud of purplish green data, which Quetzalmon absorbed without hesitation. He looked over to see Pipismon and Spadamon still fighting.

Not for long though.

"Crazy Sonic Blaster!"

"Espada Azul!"

The two attack collided causing a cloud of dust to erupt from the impact. Pipismon watched the cloud carefully, his tail swishing in anticipation for that puny white creature to appear again…

And suddenly, his tail stopped swishing as it was grabbed and violenty yanked backwards. With yelp, Pipismon had just enough time to see that Spadamon had somehow gotten behind him, grasped his tail (avoiding the scythe at the end) and thrown him over his shoulder, into the wall where he slumped down onto the ground.

Stunned from the violent impact, Pipismon didn't have time to get back up before a light blue blade was held at his throat. Looking up, he saw Spadamon glairing down at him, fire blazing in his eyes.

"Your days of cruelty are over, bub! Holy Blade!" Spadamon's sword glowed white before in one swift motion, Spadamon cleanly slit the Pipismon's throat, causing him to instantly dissipate into data, not even having a chance to scream.

Ayaka watched the entire battle with shock on her face. These Digimon just saved her life! How did they know? Where did they come from? Did they follow her? Did they know about Pipismon and Alraumon's rampage and insatiable hunger? Ayaka had no idea. But what she did know was that she had been saved...for now. But at the moment her hatred for Digimon was coming back with full force and she wanted nothing more to do with those two freaks…

"Hey there! Sorry about scarin' ya like that! You okay? I sure am glad we managed to save ya in time!" Spadamon said happly as if he hadn't just killed someone.

Ayaka could feel her face turning warming up, and she turned around while crossing her arms.

"You...You didn't have to save me. I could have handled them," Ayaka said, her head held high even though she wasn't making eye contact.

"You? Handle them? No way. We saw you running away from them like a mouse," Quetzalmon responded rather bluntly.

This made Ayaka even more embarrassed. "You saw that?"

"Yeah. That's how we found ya. Oh! And this helped us too!" Spadamon said as he pulled out the light blue stone with the strange symbol carved on it. As soon as he pulled it out, it began to glow in a weak pale blue light. It only glowed for a few seconds before the meek light dissipated, but. Spadamon beamed.

"This is what's called a D-Heart! It's a piece of my data that turned into a gem stone. This symbol here? It means Empathy. It also helps me find my human partner. Since it's been glowin' whenever yer around, that means yer my partner, Ayaka-chan!" Spadamon explained, then smiled brightly at the last sentence.

Ayaka, however, was not smiling. She felt like her body was filled with lead, as a numb sensation filled her. Her, Having a Digimon partner? And then she tasted bile in her mouth when she realized something else. "How-How do you know my name?"

"We overheard those rather promiscuous girls confronting you earlier. We didn't mean to eavesdrop, but we were in the area so, well, it was inevitable," Quetzalmon explained a little sheepishly.

And then the numbness exploded into sheer anger and denial

"NO! No way! I will NOT be involved with this ridiculous Digimon business, and I am NOT and will NEVER be your stupid partner! That stone of yours must be broken or something! It's bad enough my boyfriend and my stupid brat of a sister have Digimon, but I will have no part of this! You're on your own!"

Spadamon's eyes turned sad. "But you're the only one that this reacts to, so you're my partner! It won't react to anyone else!"

"Yeah, well, screw you! I'm not gonna be dragged into this Digimon ridiculousness, and I will NOT be your partner! I already have enough trash in my life to deal with, and I don't need any more dragging me down!"

And with that, Ayaka stormed off, not even bothing to thank them for saving her life. The two watched her leave the allyway before exchanging looks. And then Spadamon ran after the angered girl, while Quetzalmon flew back into the sky.

Ayaka hoped to be rid of them forever, and put the whole incident behind her, but it just wasn't going to happen. When she noticed Spadamon silently following her, she let out a groan before storming off into the crowd and trying to lose him. It didn't work.

She walked to every place she could think of. Fushimi Middle School, Katsura Elementary School, the video rental place, the little pizza place next to it, the dollar store, heck, she even ran back through the park, everywhere she could find. But Spadamon continued to follow her, not trying to talk to her, but still following her like a lost puppy.

And with such a strange creature (one with a weapon at that) following her, it made people talk among themselves, pointing and stairing. Ayaka ignored them as best as she could, after all, it was nothing new.

"Whoa. Do you see that?"

"Yeah! What is that thing?"

"Awww! It's so cute!"

"That girl doesn't look too happy about it, though."

"She hates it. I can see it all over her face."

"Man. If that thing's following her around, then she's screwed."

"Record it, will ya?"

"I'm recording it!"

Ayaka let out a small growl as more and more people begain to talk. But she kept walking, ignoring the voices, the stairs, the pointing and how she was slowing having more and more space around her. Finally she had it when she noticed other people following her.

Breaking out into a sprint, she pushed people to the sides until there were no more people around. Turning, she saw that Spadamon was still following her, loyal as ever. Grinding her teeth, she turned on him.

"Why do you keep following me, you brainless ball of fluff?" Ayaka yelled at a confused Spadamon who only blinked his eyes in surprise.

"I'm yer partner, that's why!" Spadamon responded, as though it was the most obvious thing in the whole world.

"No I am not! Now you listen to me, you stupid idiot! I want absolutely NO part of this whole Digimon business! I am not your partner, and I never will be! I don't care what that stone of yours says! You must be stupid to think a stone is talking to you! You need to go to an asylum! Get out of here and go back to where you belong! People are talking about us and staring at us and recording us with their cell phones! I'm already the center of unwanted attention enough as it is!" Ayaka explained.

"Who cares?" Spadamon said.

Now THIS made Ayaka choleric.

"I CARE! My life's already garbage because of my sister being the brat she is, my friend being in a coma, my boyfriend leaving me for you useless monsters, school because of my grades, and my parents being the brainless idiots that they are! I don't need any more crap to deal with, especially a useless, worthless piece of garbage like you! I already have enough to deal with, and I don't need you making it any worse than it already is! Can't you take a hint? Leave me alone NOW!" Ayaka screamed again. With that, she whirled around and left.

This time, Spadamon didn't follow her.

Quetzalmon descended next to him and watched as Ayaka angrily stomped away. "Are you sure _she's_ the one you're supposed to be partners with? Because I seriously don't think someone like her will be good for you," Quetzalmon asked in a concerned manner. Spadamon silently pulled out the D-Heart of Empathy and stared at it with wistful blue eyes before responding.

"She's the only human this reacts to. Nobody else. Now I see why it reacts to her, and I'm the only one who can help her," Spadamon said more to himself that Quetzalmon.

"But you saw how she treated you! She's just atrocious! I say you go for another human. A much nicer, more accepting human partner," Quetzalmon said. Spadamon clutched the D-Heart before turning to Quetzalmon with his hands on his hips.

"Nobody said that all human partners had to be nice and friendly! Besides, my D-Heart reacts to her and her only, nobody else! Believe me, I've tried it, but she's the only one it responds to, so that means I have to do whatever it takes to win her over and help her find what she needs!" Spadamon exclaimed, determination in his eyes. Quetzalmon sighed, there was no way he could stop him now…

"This won't end well..." Quetzalmon muttered as he flew away.

Fearing that Spadamon may have followed her again, Ayaka went to the last place she thought she could take refuge in: the library. She never went to a library for anything, but she figured it would keep Spadamon and Quetzalmon away from her so walked through the large double doors and proceeded deeper into the complex. She found a large desk near the center so she sat down with a sigh before laying her head down using her arms as a pillow.

Before she noticed what she was doing, she found herself glaring at the books. They were so perfect and neat, perfectly aligned and shaped. Unlike her, where she was a messy, disorganized slob that everyone expects to be perfect. Closing her eyes, she felt herself slip into a dream...

(Flashback)

_Five years ago, three girls all around ten years of age stood infront of a red swing that hung_ _from a tree branch with slightly worn rope. The three girls had set their bikes by a tree as they_ _stood by the swing in front of the woods as they looked at each other. One girl with dark_ _brown curly hair tied into two pigtails looked nervously at another pigtailed girl who had black_ _hair tied in little braids. The final child had simple straight black hair who was simply tapping her foot with annoyance in_ _her hazel eyes._

_"It's almost noon," The curly haired girl said anxiously as she looked at her watch._

_"We're still a little early, so I'm sure she'll be here, Miyu-chan," The girl with the black braids_ _reassured her friend Miyu kindly._

_"How can you be so sure, Kiyomi-chan?" The girl with the straight hair asked curiously._

_"I know Aya-chan well, and she's never late for our bike rides," The girl with the little black_ _braids, Kiyomi, told her friend again. Then, she heard the ringing sound of a bike horn. "Oh!_

_She's here!"_

_The other girls perked up as they looked down the street to see a light-brown hair girl riding a_ _purple bike waving to them as she rod closer. Once she was close enough she dismounted her_ _bike and walked it closer, panting slightly, but with a smile on her face._

_"Sorry I'm late, girls! I had to clean up my room," the brown haired girl explained._

_"You're not late! You're right on time, Ayaka!" Miyu told her empathetically, which made Ayaka_ _smile._

_"I knew you'd make it, Ayaka-chan! I have so much I want to tell you!" Kiyomi exclaimed happily_ _as she hugged Ayaka tight._

_"Super special handshake time?" Ayaka asked curiously, with a big smile on her face._

_"Yep!" Kiyomi said as she let go of Ayaka._

_Ayaka and Kiyomi started their 'super special handshake' with hand motions similar to the patty_ _cake game, with tapping their hands together first, then pressing them on their chests in an X_ _shape, then twirling each other around once, ending with a fist bump._

_"Friends, friends, forever! We always stick together! Live each day to the max, live it like it's_ _your last!" Ayaka and Kiyomi chanted as they did their _'super special handshake'._ The straight_ _haired girl looked envious._

_"I wish I had someone I could do a super special handshake with," The straight haired girl said_ _enviously._

_"It's okay, Chiyoko-chan! I'm sure you'll find a super special best friend soon!" Kiyomi told her_ _friend Chiyoko._

_"So where are we gonna ride to today?" Ayaka asked as she got on her bike again. The girls_ _followed suit._

_"We're planning on riding all the way to Katsura!" Miyu exclaimed as she got on her bike._

_"That's a great idea! Mom's always telling me to go out more, so this'll be perfect!" Chiyoko said_ _as she put on her helmet._

_"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's ride to Katsura!" Kiyomi proclaimed happily, as she took_ _off first._

_"I'll race you there, Kiyomi-chan!" Miyu exclaimed as she rode up to Kiyomi._

_"Come on! No racing! It's dangerous!" Kiyomi said._

_"Yeah! Mom will kill us if she sees us riding too fast! We'll get grounded!" Ayaka said._

_Miyu rolled her eyes and rode normally, "Alright. No race."_

_The quartet of cheery, giggly girls talked and chattered amongst themselves as they rode on their_ _bikes, gazing at the scenery, feeling the wind in their hair (and helmet), and feeling the weight_ _come off of their legs thanks to their bikes. On their way to Katsura Elementary School, Chiyoko_ _was telling the rest of the girls about something funny that happened to one of their classmates._

_"...and then she said to the teacher, _'Why do I need to get a good grade in math when I know it's not going to help me become a superstar or a model?'_ Then sensei gave her a big lecture on how_ _math helps everyone! At lunch after that, Kirie-kun sneezed so hard, he scared her into making_ _milk come out of her nose!" Chiyoko explained, which made the girls laugh happily._

_"Wow! I wish I could have seen that!" Ayaka exclaimed._

_"Yeah. She totally deserved that. She's mean to everyone and I just hate that! I wish she'd get_ _off her high horse and shape up already. My Mom tells my big brother that all the time," Miyu_ _groaned in agreement._

_"Aya-chan? Do you remember that time when she saw you and your sister playing and she called_ _her a retard right to her face?" Kiyomi asked._

_"Yeah! I do! Grrr! I'll never forgive her for that! What does she know about me and my_ _sister? Nothing! But you should have seen what I did to her after that! I yanked out one of her_ _accessories and threw dirt at her face!" Ayaka exclaimed angrily, but allowed pride to fill her_ _words as she continued to talk._

_"I'll bet she got a real face full!" Chiyoko said._

_"Indeed she did, and I'm glad I did it, even though I did get grounded for a day because of it. But_ _it was worth it, because she got grounded for a week! I saw her parents yelling at her in their_ _backyard and it was awesome!" Ayaka said._

_"I do wonder why she's so mean..." Kiyomi muttered to herself._

_"Oh! Hey Kiyomin! Are you doing anything this Saturday?" Ayaka asked suddenly._

_"No. Why?" Kiyomi asked back._

_"Would you like to come over my house on Saturday? I'm not doing anything, and Mom and Dad_ _don't have anything planned other than watching over Yun-chan, so would you like to come and_ _hang out for a bit?" Ayaka asked. Kiyomi lit up._

_"Sure! I'd love to go! But I'll have to ask my parents first," Kiyomi replied._

_Ayaka and Kiyomi laughed together like true best friends. Like their handshake signified, they_ _stuck together, lived each day to the max and like it was their last. There wasn't anything they_ _didn't do together...but fate is cruel._

(End flashback one, begin flashback two)

_Ayaka had just started her freshman year of high school two weeks before. She noticed that_ _Kiyomi hadn't been returning her calls and checked her cell phone regularly…or at all._

_"I wonder what's wrong?" Ayaka asked herself, worried. Yun, who was ten at the time, saw_ _Ayaka's sad face and stopped to approach her._

_"Has Kiyomi-chan replied back yet?" Yun asked innocently. Ayaka shook her head._

_"No. It's been two days now! Something's not right," Ayaka said as both she and Yun entered the_ _dining room._

_It was Yun who noticed it first._

_Teruki was reading the paper...with a very dejected and appalled expression._

_"Dad? What's wrong?" Yun asked innocently. Teruki didn't answer, but Yun peered into the_ _newspaper. The headline read 'Man Beats Young Girl Into Coma,' and she looked at pieces of_ _the article as best as she could._

_Then she saw the name._

_Mikado Kiyomi._

_"Aya-Neechan," Yun said as she felt sorrow begin to well up inside her. She pulled on Ayaka's_ _shirt and pointed to the paper. Ayaka saw the headline and the name in the article._

_"What? What? WHAT? WHAAAAT?" Suddenly overcome with insatiable curiosity and fear,_ _she literally snatched the newspaper out of her father's hands and read the entire article._

_She couldn't believe what she read._

_Kiyomi had been beaten up by a relative two days ago._

_Now she's in a coma at Tama-no-Minato General Hospital._

_"No. No. No. No no no no no! No! No! NO! NOOOO!" Ayaka screamed as she read the paper_ _over and over again, hoping that this was some other Kiyomi. Some other girl who isn't her best_ _friend. But it wasn't. The name Mikado Kiyomi was all over the article. Ayaka literally felt her_ _heart break into pieces. But she didn't want to give up just yet._

_"Mom! Dad! Take me to the hospital! I want to see her NOW!" Ayaka screamed hysterically, __wanting desperately to check if Kiyomi really was trapped in a coma._

_It took them an hour to get ready, but they dropped Yun off at school first, then drove Ayaka to_ _the hospital. It took them about 15 minutes to get there, and Ayaka knew that she was skipping_ _school. But she didn't care about school. She cared about Kiyomi and her well-being. She didn't_ _want to believe that what the newspaper article said was true. Once they got to the hospital, they_ _checked in at the reception desk and were allowed to go see Kiyomi._

_What Ayaka saw scarred her for life._

_There Kiyomi was, lying on the white hospital bed, her body limp and seemingly lifeless except_ _for the slow rise and fall of her chest. Differing tubes and wires were attacked to her body,_ _monitoring different vital organs. White medical cloth and bandages covered her arms, hiding_ _the scars and bruises and cuts from view, but Ayaka knew they were there. One side of her face_ _was bandaged with the sanitary white cloth, and yet there were still several purpling bruises_ _on the visible parts of her face, to the point where one cheek was swelled up to almost twice its_ _normal size, the bruised skin sharply contrasting with her almost deathly pale skin._

_Ayaka had frozen at the sight. It was horrible to look and she wanted to be sick but refused to._ _Why would anyone do this to her? It was sick, it was horrible…_

_It was wrong._

_And yet Ayaka could do nothing._

_No one knew if she would ever wake up, no one knew if the girl would die. The doctors said that_ _they had her stabilized, but that could change in a heartbeat. And even if she woke up, the head_ _trauma she suffered could easily cause permanent amnesia._

_Something within Ayaka broke that day, something just as important as one's lung or heart._ _Something deep within in the very depths of her mind and body. Something that no median or_ _doctor could treat, something that you couldn't even tell had happened until it was too late._

_Ayaka's very emotional balance had been shattered, and yet, no one even noticed…_

(End Flashback)

Ayaka felt herself crying into her arms, but she didn't care anymore, _'Kiyomi-chan...my life ended because of what happened to you. I can't ever be kind to anyone but Shunji thanks to you being in a coma. Nobody likes me anymore. My parents care more about Yun than me, the school hates me because I can't be like everyone else, and I'm losing Shunji to those disgusting Digimon! Why? Why did it have to be...you?'_

Ayaka still didn't understand why it couldn't, wasn't, her who was in the coma. If she was in a coma, she wouldn't have to deal with her supposedly horrible life. Perhaps Kiyomi had it easier than she did…

And then, it made sense. Ayaka felt a sinking horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach as she realized something.

She was jealous, jealous, of Kiyomi for being…comatose. For being able to escape life while leaving Ayaka behind to deal with everything.

Ayaka wondered if she...hated Kiyomi for this.

Note: Credit goes to RandomReviewer527 for improving and making changes to this chapter. Thanks again!


	65. Disaster Strikes!

EPISODE 65: Disaster Strikes!

Sunday came around, and it's the perfect day for Yun, Lopmon, Terriermon, Cutemon, and Lucero to hang out and play together!...Well, it would be if it weren't for Ayaka screaming at Hisako and Teruki early in the morning over something Yun wanted nothing to do with. They went outside in the backyard, but even that didn't provide them refuge from Ayaka's yelling. Yun's hypersensitive ears heard everything, even things she didn't want to hear. She wanted to block it out, but she couldn't no matter what she tried. Terriermon became quite irked and irritated as he crossed his little arms.

"Ugh! Does she really have to make such a ruckus in the morning? It's driving me up the wall!" Terriermon complained.

"But thou dost not know how to climb the walls," Lucero said.

"It's an expression, kyu. When someone says they're being driven up the wall, it means they're getting really angry, kyu...and as of now, I think I'm gonna climb the wall too, kyu!" Cutemon explained, then wailed angrily as she tried to cover her own long ears.

"I simply do not see how anger is associated with climbing walls," Lucero piped in, he himself getting irritated.

Lopmon could see Yun covering her ears in vain and decided to help her out. She gently hopped on her shoulders and placed her big pink and brown ears on Yun's hands.

"Is this better?" Lopmon asked in her dulcet, gentle voice. Immediately, she could see the stress fade from Yun's round, white face.

"Thanks, Lopmon..." Yun mumbled. She didn't seem to really be talking to the pink and brown rabbit, but Lopmon accepted it anyway as she knew her efforts to mollify Yun paid off, if only for just a little bit.

Lucero then noticed that the noise died down.

"Methinks the yelling hast ceased," Lucero said.

Terriermon plopped onto the grass. "Took long enough! I don't think I could handle more of her screeching and whining and yelling and angsting!"

Lopmon removed her ears from Yun's, and Yun removed her hands from her ears. Both of them could notice that Ayaka's vociferous yelling has finally ceased.

"Me either," Yun piped in with a small laugh.

About a couple hours after this, Teruki went to work and Ayaka went to Shunji's house. Hisako didn't do much except sit out on the back deck and read a few books. This is how she usually gets over anger, though it is a VERY slow process for her. The kids and rabbit Digimon decided to use this time to watch some anime, play some games, and read some books together. It wasn't until about noon that Lucero heard some knocks on the door. Lucero decided to answer it. He beamed with surprise upon opening it.

"Rena-dono! Riku-dono!" He exclaimed happily.

Yes, Rena, Riku, and their Digimon have arrived at the Wakamiya house. Rena is wearing a pale yellow dress underneath a little white short sleeved jacket, a matching white hat with a green leaf embroidered on it, white socks, and black shoes. Riku is wearing a short sleeved red shirt with white bordering on the collar and sleeve cuffs, a pair of olive green capri jeans, sagging white socks, and black and lightning blue sneakers. A small band-aid is on his nose, covering some of his freckles. Lunamon and Coronamon jumped up from behind them and bowed before Lucero politely.

"Morning! What's up?" Riku exclaimed happily while waving a little.

"What art thou doing here?" Lucero asked.

"We were kinda bored, so we thought we'd drop by and hang out for a bit. Mom finally let us out, so we thought we'd take this chance," Rena said.

"You don't mind, do you? Or is this a bad time?" Lunamon asked rather timidly.

Lucero shook his head excitedly. "Oh! No! It's quite alright! Please, come inside!" Lucero gestured for them to come inside and they did.

Yun and the rabbits all saw them and beamed with excitement.

"Rena-chan! Rikkun!" Yun leaped on them happily and hugged them. Riku and Rena both returned the hug.

"Lunamon!" Lopmon approached Lunamon happily and hugged her too. Both of them looked quite happy.

"Hey! Coronamon!" Terriermon gave Coronamon a fist bump.

"How's it going?" Coronamon asked.

"Great!" Terriermon replied jubilantly.

"So what brings you here?" Lopmon asked curiously.

"We were bored so we thought we'd drop by," Rena told them.

"I'm glad you did," Yun said with a smile. "Wanna hang out here for a bit?"

"Sure! We'd love to!" Riku exclaimed.

Hisako found out about their visit thanks to the noise they made, but didn't mind one bit. The kids and their Digimon decided to watch some anime, read manga, play games against each other (Again, Yun beat Riku in a Pokemon battle), and looked at funny things on the computer for two hours. The Digimon then went outside to play amongst themselves while Hisako continued her reading in her room. Lopmon and Lunamon chased each other around and admired little flowers and watched as squirrels and birds twittered and hopped all over the place. Terriermon and Coronamon played tag, climbed the big tree, and basically rolled around on the grass. Riku and Lucero joined in on their fun. Yun and Rena sat on the deck. Lopmon noticed them on the deck and looked at them.

"Do you want to come play with us?" Lopmon asked.

"We'll play in a little bit. Rena-chan needs to talk to me about something," Yun called back. Lopmon seemed to accept the answer and returned to playing with Lunamon.

"Hey, Yun-chan? I was wondering...you said once that your parents found out that Lopmon and Terriermon were real by accident, right? Exactly how did it happen again?" Rena asked curiously.

"Well, I was at school when it happened so I don't really know, but Lopmon told me that she and Terriermon were watching Dad work on his go-kart when Mom told him that I got beat up by Nemoto. They were so shocked that they screamed and fell out of the window. Then Ayaka found out and she wasn't too happy about it. When I got home, she yelled at me while holding them by their ears, which got me mad because I didn't want her to be treating them like rag dolls. But Mom and Dad let me tell them about how I found them and they let me keep them. I thought they weren't going to let me keep them or even give me time to explain, but they did. Why? Did your parents find out about Lunamon and Coronamon?" Yun explained, then wondered if Rena asked because her mom and dad found out.

"No. We made sure to keep them a secret, but I think Mom is getting suspicious. She knows that me and Riku stay in our rooms a lot and yells at us about it. I think it might be getting harder to keep the Digimon a secret," Rena said.

"I know, especially considering the damage that other Digimon have done to town lately. The bank is still closed because of what that WereGarurumon did! Mom and I passed it the other day, and all the damage and the DO NOT CROSS signs are still there," Yun explained.

"Yeah. Not only that, if left unchecked, more and more people will die from the destruction."

This made Yun feel dejected. "I know. There isn't much we can do about that. The Digimon just appear out of nowhere and start attacking. I wonder if it's hard for the police to get people evacuated?"

"Well, the branded Digimon aren't known for giving us advanced noticed when it comes to their appearance, so I think it might be."

"I just wish that there was more we could do to help both the people and the Digimon. I don't want more people to die, but I also don't want people thinking that all Digimon are bad, like Hiroya-san."

"The guy who kidnapped Lopmon a while back? Yeah, I agree. But we're just a bunch of kids, so there isn't much we can do, other than remove the Dark Emblems and preserve as much of town as possible. By the way, I saw something on the news earlier today. Apparently some high school _ganguro_(1) girls were attacked by two Digimon at the park yesterday."

"Seriously? I never knew!"

"Someone managed to catch some footage of the Digimon and they showed it on the news, so I managed to get their data. See?" Rena showed Yun the data of the two Digimon on her lavendar digivice. The first Digimon she showed was Alraumon, a rookie level, virus attribute, plant Digimon, whose attacks are Nemesis Ivy, Gloomy Dust, and Hungry Hand.

"Ewww! It looks like an evil Palmon!" Yun exclaimed.

"I know, right?" Rena said as she showed Yun the other Digimon, Pipismon. It's an armor level, data attribute, mutant Digimon. His attack is Crazy Sonic Blaster.

"Speaking of hiding Digimon, I didn't hear anything about it from the others, so I'm surprised they managed to hold out for this long."

"Me too. But I think Mom is getting suspicious. If she finds out about Lunamon and Coronamon, she'll freak out like no tomorrow! She'll think we disgraced her by keeping a bunch of monsters and throw them out no matter what we tell her. She doesn't listen to reason. She only trusts her own gut and brain, which I think aren't very helpful. It's bad enough she thinks Riku is a disgrace to the family because of his existence, which I don't think is true at all!"

"Your mom thinks that?"

Rena sighed. "Yeah. She's SUCH a perfectionist, it's unbelievable! Especially when it comes to Riku! I swear, she's convinced that if she even takes Riku outside or invite people over, he'll start freaking out or throwing things or throw a tantrum or make people think she's a bad person. I mean, sure he did those things when he was little, but he doesn't do them anymore! He's really shown a lot of progress in the past three months, even before we met the Digimon! She won't even let us invite you over to our house! She's so convinced that Riku's all bad that she won't even give him a reward even after he gets a good grade on a test or cleans his room or eats the rest of his dinner! It's so stupid! I'm really getting sick and tired of it!"

Rena then sighed. "Sorry to make you hear me complain. Lunamon hears me out a lot, and she's heard it before so I don't want to pummel her big ears with it again. I just need to get this out."

"I understand. It must be hard," Yun said with a smile.

"It is. Trust me. I mean, it just makes me mad that she believes that Riku's gonna be a criminal just because he has ADHD. People with ADHD aren't criminals! They're just kinda hyper and have a hard time focusing. Not only that, she focuses too much of her attention on me. She wants me to be her perfect little person by buying me lots of frilly dresses and signing me up for after school lessons and all of that stuff. But when will I have time for myself? I'm not perfect, and she shouldn't expect me to be. Besides, I don't want to be a socialite or go to fancy private all girl schools. I want to be myself and dance and be a dancer."

Yun cocked her head to one side in confusion. "What's a socialite?"

"I asked Dad that once, and he says it's a person who goes to a lot of fancy rich people events and does nothing but entertain and be entertained," Rena replied.

Yun both shuddered and shrugged at the same time. "Ugh! I don't think I could handle all of that."

"Me either. What will I get from something like that?"

"Can you get anything from being a socialite?"

"I have no idea," Rena said. Soon, both girls broke into laughter.

Suddenly, Lunamon's ears perked up in alarm. Lopmon saw this and became confused.

"What's wrong, Lunamon?" Lopmon asked.

"I hear someone talking, and it's not any of us here either!" Lunamon said.

Lucero saw Lunamon's ears fly up and shushed Riku and the rest of the Digimon. Cutemon's ears perked up right afterward.

"You're right! I feel someone approaching, kyu!" Cutemon proclaimed.

"What's up? Is a Digimon coming?" Riku asked, looking confused.

Immediately fearing the worst, Rena and Yun leaped onto the back yard in alarm with their digivices out and ready.

A minute afterward, a blue and white furry Digimon appeared into the backyard by hopping the fence. It looked around the backyard with curious ocean blue eyes.

"This must be her house! Yes! Now I know where she lives!" The Digimon said. Rena looked up the Digimon's information.

"He's Spadamon, a rookie level(2) weapon Digimon. His attacks are Aurora Blazer, Sugar Pound, and Espada Azul," Rena said.

Spadamon immediately saw the two girls and approached them casually, like they were people he would approach on any other normal day.

"Say, I was wonderin'...do you know if a tall girl named Ayaka lives here?" Spadamon asked.

Yun was very confused and taken aback by the furry Digimon's very straightforward and honest question. How in the world does he know Ayaka's name? Has he seen her before? While very dubious of this Digimon's credibility, Yun decided to answer. "Y-Yeah. Wakamiya Ayaka. She lives here, and I'm her sister."

Spadamon rejoiced. "Woohoo! I was right after all! Oh! Yer her sister? Sweet! Hi, I'm Spadamon! It's nice to meet'cha!" Spadamon held out his hand happily, but he didn't get a handshake. Just a question from a very confused Yun.

"How do you know about my sister?" Yun asked.

Spadamon laughed a bit. "I din' know she was your sister. Yesterday me and my buddy Quetzalmon saw her gettin' chased by an Alraumon and a Pipismon so we decided to save her, though I do wish she thanked us for it. But she's my human _partner_!"

Now THIS left Yun aghast. "WHAT? I...uh...how is she your partner? She doesn't have a digivice, and she hates Digimon."

"And who are you to decide she's your partner?" Riku asked rather suspiciously.

"My D-Heart here glows whenever she's nearby! See?" Spadamon showed them the pale blue D-Heart.

"WHAT? _D-HEART?_" Yun snatched the D-Heart and looked at it. Everyone else peered at it as well. "No way! There's supposed to be twelve of them! How long have you had this?"

"Since I hatched from my DigiEgg. I always knew it was mine. Sorry. I don't mean to get you all frightened or anythin'. I'm just tryin' to find her so I can be her partner. It only reacts to her, nobody else," Spadamon explained after seeing the shock on all of their faces.

Rena kneeled before the fluffy Digimon and smiled at him. "We appreciate your honesty. But see...Ayaka's not exactly a person you'd want for a partner. She doesn't like Digimon, and she has a very short fuse."

"I know. But the D-Heart reacts to her and nobody else, so she's gotta be my partner! It can't be anyone else!" Spadamon repeated rather empathetically.

"She has a lot going on in her life, so you should probably give her some time and space," Rena said. Spadamon looked down at his sword, then back at Rena and smiled.

"Okay! That's fine with me!" Spadamon said. The rest of the Digimon approached him with smiles on their faces.

"So! You're new in town, huh? Hi! I'm Terriermon! Wanna be friends?" Terriermon held out one of his little pale green paws, and Spadamon gripped it kindly.

"Yeah! I'd love to be friends with you!" Spadamon piped in.

"We're gonna play Digi-Wrestling! Wanna hang out with us for a bit?" Coronamon asked kindly.

Spadamon jumped. "Count me in!"

The male Digimon and Cutemon played with Spadamon happily, and Spadamon felt quite happy to be so quickly accepted by this strangers. But Lucero walked over to Yun, Lopmon, Lunamon, and Rena, looking just as confused as they are.

"How does he knowest Ayaka-dono so? And why does he hath a D-Heart in his possession? Weren't there supposed to be only twelve?" Lucero asked with confusion written all over his pale, round face.

"I have no idea," Rena said. Yun then showed the pale blue D-Heart to Lopmon and Lunamon.

"Do you know what the symbol on this means?" Yun asked. Lunamon took it and decided to decipher it.

"Ah! I see now. The symbol on this translates to _'empathy,'_ as far as I can tell," Lunamon said.

"Empathy?" Lucero asked.

Yun shrugged. "That is one thing I KNOW for a fact that Ayaka is VERY incapable of!"

"But I wonder why we never learned of this existing D-Heart until now. It's so strange, and why in the world did we not know of Spadamon's existence?" Lopmon asked out loud.

"More importantly, why does Spadamon think Ayaka of all people should be his partner? Oh lord, I don't even want to imagine them being together! She'd flip out and think I told him to pester her about it or something!" Yun exclaimed, becoming quite timorous at the thought of Ayaka holding her responsible for Spadamon's existence.

"You're right. I don't think Ayaka is one who would treat him well," Lopmon said.

"Well, after we defeated Witchmon, the D-Hearts all reacted to you, so perhaps it is the same with Ayaka-dono," Lucero said.

"Yeah, that's true. Link-san found them all, but the D-Hearts found us and trusted themselves to us," Rena said, remembering the meeting with Link in Chloros Forest after the epic Battle of Noir Lake.

Yun put a hand on her head and grimaced a little. "I think I feel a headache coming on..."

"Do you need medicine, kyu?" Cutemon asked with concern.

"I think maybe we should go on a little stroll," Rena said. She then walked over to Riku and the male Digimon, who stopped playing their game of Digi-Wrestling and are laughing amongst themselves.

"Hey everyone! You want to go on a stroll with us?" Rena asked.

"Sure!" Everyone, including Spadamon, piped in happily.

"I'll go ask Mom first," Yun said as she ran inside to find Hisako, staring at her book like usual.

"Hey, Mom? Rena-chan wants to take us out for a walk around town. Can I go?" Yun asked.

"Sure. Just leave your phone on and be back before seven," Hisako replied rather insouciantly. Yun figured that Hisako is still rather upset because of Ayaka's inopportune screaming this morning, but she accepted the answer anyway.

Once Yun got her shoes on and turned her cell phone (and digivice) on, she, Rena, Riku, and Lucero all left the house and went into town. It must be confessed that they brought the Digimon with them. Cutemon decided to stay behind so someone other than Hisako could look after the house while Ayaka and Teruki were gone. Lopmon and Terriermon stayed on Yun's shoulders. Rena, Riku, and Lucero all held onto Lunamon, Coronamon, and Spadamon in order like they were stuffed animals that they won in a contest held in a carnival. It must be confessed that Lucero didn't really take too kindly to holding onto Spadamon like he was a stuffed animal, but he knew he had to in order to avoid getting weird stares from other people.

"Thou art heavy," Lucero muttered.

"Sorry about that, dude. I'd love to walk around and spare you the pain, but since you say people will watch, then I don't wanna get caught," Spadamon explained.

After a few minutes, they made it to the park. The kids put down the Digimon so they could relax. The Digimon ran around the empty park happily while the kids decided to talk amongst themselves in the gazebo. The Digimon decided to talk to Spadamon.

"So have you been in the Digital World for very long?" Lopmon asked curiously.

"Nah. Just since yesterday morning," Spadamon replied, scratching the silver fur on his head.

"You said you have a buddy named Quetzalmon. Where is he?" Coronamon asked curiously.

"He's flyin' around the human world. Said somethin' about studyin' it and learnin' more about humans that way," Spadamon replied proudly with his arms crossed. "He's been with me since I hatched from my DigiEgg! You could say he's like a dad to me!"

"That must be nice," Terriermon said. "So why'd you come to the Digital World?"

"I heard about humans and how Digimon have been makin' friends with them, so I thought, _'if they can be friends with humans, then I can too! There must be someone out there who'll be my partner!'_ so I decided to go with Quetzalmon. It was tough tryin' to find an open Digital Portal without thinkin' it's a digital spot where you fall in and get deleted forever. Blame the guy who destroyed the Digital World for that. Everyone's in a hot tizzy tryin' to avoid them spots."

"Do you know anything about the Digital World's destruction by any chance?" Lunamon asked.

Spadamon looked down at his big armored feet. "No. Nothing. Some Digimon I saw talked about it, but I don't remember anything. Even from before it got destroyed. My memory's fuzzy, and so are a lot of other Digimon's."

"Ours, too. We know exactly how you feel," Lopmon told him with a smile as she put a hand in his big one.

"But we do know that a Digimon named MoonMillenniummon is the one who destroyed the Digital World! Riku and I heard it from this guy we know named Link-san!" Coronamon piped in.

"I've heard the name, but it didn't stand out to me much," Spadamon said.

"We've only just learned this new piece of information, so there isn't much else to go on, but it's certainly better than nothing at all!" Lunamon said with a smile at the last sentence.

While the Digimon talked amongst themselves, Yun, Lucero, Rena, and Riku decided to talk amongst themselves as well.

"So...what are we going to do about Spadamon?" Rena asked.

"We have enough Digimon in our house so I can't take him. Ayaka will flip out if we did, and it's bad enough she thinks I'm the reason the Digimon are coming here in the first place," Yun explained.

"Thou hast a good point. We shan't augment her anger or exacerbate the stress of the family anymore than we already have," Lucero explained calmly.

"Exacerbate?"

"It means to make something worse."

"Well, he did say something about having a Digimon friend, so maybe we should leave him alone and let him do his own thing? I mean, it's not like he's a bad Digimon out to hurt anyone. He seems nice and friendly enough," Rena explained.

"And we can't take him in ourselves either. Mom will flip out like crazy if we do!" Riku said.

"Yeah. We definitely can't leave him with you two considering how suspicious your mother is getting," Yun said.

"All in favor of letting Spadamon go on his own way, raise thy hands and say I!" Lucero edicted as he held his hand up.

"I!" The kids recited. Suddenly...

"Whoa! Hey there everyone!"

A high pitched voice caught their attention. They turned around to find Isao standing in front of the gazebo! His auburn hair is as frizzy and slightly unkempt as ever, but he has on a black shirt with an orange sun on it, blue jean shorts, and big sneakers.

"Isao-kun! Hi!" Yun exclaimed.

"I didn't know you all were here!" Isao said.

"What are you doing here? Aren't you a little young to be going out by yourself?" Rena asked.

"Yeah, but Mom's been a little sick, so I thought I'd go out and get some stuff for the house. Since Dad's been gone, Mom's been working real hard, and I feel bad that I can't do much to at least help her out, so I'm gonna get some stuff to make her feel all better!" Isao edicted happily. "I even brought my whole allowance with me!" Isao rummaged through his pocket and took out 2000 yen.

"Awww. How sweet. What a nice boy you are!" Yun chimed sweetly as she rubbed Isao's hair.

"Where's Bearmon?" Riku asked.

"He's at the house looking after Mom," Isao said.

"If you want, can we accompany you? I don't want people thinking your going around unsupervised," Yun asked kindly.

"Sure! I'd love for you to come with me!" Isao exclaimed.

The kids and Digimon decided to accompany Isao to the food store. The Digimon all decided to hide behind the store so that they wouldn't get spotted by anyone or make the customers and employees scared and run for their lives. Yun, Lucero, Rena, and Riku watched as Isao looked at everything in the store and walked down aisle after aisle looking for the things he wanted. He came across a carton of orange juice, a small pack of bread, and one cup of Oikos yogurt.

"Why are you buying breakfast food, Isao-kun?" Yun asked curiously.

"Mom hasn't eaten breakfast for a while, even though she told me breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so I thought maybe I'd make her a nice little afternoon breakfast. There's nothing wrong with that, right?" Isao explained.

"No, there isn't," Lucero said.

"I have experience in making chicken noodle soup, so maybe I can go over your house and help you with that. Is that alright?" Rena suggested.

"Sure! I'll need all the help I can get," Isao said.

Soon, they made it to the register and Isao dutifully paid for the things he bought. The orange juice costed 500 yen, the bread 250 yen, and the one can of yogurt 50 yen, so Isao has a lot left over. Isao decided to lend the rest of his money to Rena so she could buy a can of light chicken noodle soup. She still got a lot of it left over, and she gave what she got in return back to Isao. They left the store feeling quite satisfied.

"The Digimon are here, right?" Isao asked.

"Yep! They hid behind the store so nobody can see them," Lucero told him with a smile.

But when they arrived at the back of the store, they saw the Digimon hiding behind some empty trash cans with trepidation, looking as though they're watching something. Not only that, the sound of passionate and ardent yelling permeated the air.

"What's wrong?" Isao asked.

"Shhh!" Lunamon shushed them as she pointed to what they were watching.

The kids kneeled down behind the trash cans to observe a rather frightening sight. Two teenagers, a guy and a girl, are yelling at each other like crazy, blatantly looking quite incensed. The girl is rather thin and curvy, her body being hidden by a rather thin black dress. The guy is obviously dressed like a jock, with a brown and white leather jacket with a school insignia being embroidered on the chest part with black thread, black jean pants, and green and white untied sneakers. Both of them are yelling at each other angrily. Yun could see that the girl has fresh bruises on her left arm and right leg. They sure didn't look pretty and, based on what the conversation is about, she could guess why.

"Why din'cha come back to me? I'm the only one ya got!"

"I'm sick and tired of being your personal punching bag! My friends were right! You're an abusive jerk, and I want nothing more to do with you!"

Yun, seeing that this situation could explode, nudged Rena gently with her elbow.

"Call 911," She didn't say it, but she made her hand into a phone shape and mouthed it so Rena could understand. She did. Rena pulled out her cell phone and dialed 911. The ex-couple continued to fight and argue and yell at each other.

"They ain't got nothin' on me, girl! They're just jealous that you got a boyfriend as awesome as me while they don't!" The guy yelled.

"Boyfriends don't beat up their girlfriends over every little thing! You freak out even when I'm talking to my male cousin!"

"I thought you was cheatin' on me!"

"Well, you know what? I wish I DID cheat on you, because I don't deserve what you've been doing to me! I'm sick and tired of it! You can go to jail for all I care, because I refuse to have you beat me up on a regular basis!"

The jock suddenly grabbed the girl's arm and pinned her against the wall. "Yer MY girlfriend, and you do as I say!"

The girl, despite the bruising on her body, managed to push him off. "And that's exactly why we're breaking up! This will be the last time that you EVER touch me, you brainless brute!"

However, someone else caught Riku's eye, and to him, it was horrifying. Right next to them is a trash can with a lid on it. But it was what was ON the trash can lid that made Riku shudder with fear. It's a big cinder block. Big enough for a guy like the supposedly abusive jock to hold up in the air with his two hands on his own without effort. Would the jock get so mad that he'd pick it up and throw it on her, or would he push her on it. Riku kept his focus gazed on both the arguing couple and the cinder block. He didn't want the argument to escalate into something fatal. He didn't even pay attention to Rena who is whispering on her cell phone.

"What are ya gonna do wit'out meh, huh? You ain't got nuttin'! Your Ma's gone, yer dad do nuttin' but work, and 'dem people you call friends ain't friends at all!" The angry jock exclaimed.

"I'd much rather suffer a life of eternal loneliness than deal with a brainless, heartless idiot like you! You know what? You're just like your big shot father you hate so much! Just go and leave me alone!" The girl, finally having enough, decided to leave.

Unfortunately, she had no idea that the jock's anger finally reached the point of explosion. Riku saw it. He saw everything...and his fears were confirmed.

As the girl walked away, the jock grabbed the cinder block.

Seeing what this meant, Riku felt his entire body move. He literally dashed from where he was hiding at full speed.

"RIKKUN! NO!" Coronamon yelled, but it was too late. The girl turned around in fear to see the jock with a face full of absolutely nothing but rancor and anger, holding a cinder block over his head.

"I AM _NOT_ LIKE MY OLD MAN! YOU'RE MINE!"

The girl fell on the street and thought she was dead...but she wasn't. She heard a raspy scream, a frightening howl, and something hard clattering on the street. She opened her eyes to find Riku valiantly wrestling with the jock with a mad man. The other kids and Digimon came out of their spot in worry. Riku and the jock wrestled at each other like dogs in a dog fighting ring. After a while, Riku managed to pin the guy down to the street on his stomach and kept his arms behind his back like he was a police officer subduing a very defiant robber. Riku returned the angry expression that the jock had, only it wasn't full of hate. It was full of justice.

"Get offa me, small fry!" The jock tried to struggle, but apparently Riku is just too strong and too jaded to let the guy go.

"Oh my God!" The girl exclaimed as Rena and Yun gently helped her up.

"Do you really think hitting her with a cinder block is going to make her your slave? Do you seriously think she's nothing more than your slave and punching bag who should always do whatever you say and never complain? Get a lobotomy, will you? The world doesn't revolve around you, nor can you make it so by hurting innocent people and acting like you've got it bad! I am NOT going to let you get away with this!" Riku yelled angrily.

"Riku!" Rena yelled, appalled by Riku's thoughtless and reckless act just now. Lunamon's ears floated up again.

"I hear sirens coming this way," Lunamon said. The girl was just too shocked to really pay attention to the fact that some furry monsters are standing next to the kids.

They all waited for the police to come while Riku continued to struggle with subduing the abusive jock. After a few agonizing minutes, the police finally arrived. Some officers handcuffed the jock while another one gently shooed Riku off of him.

"We'll take it from here. Thank you," The officer told him kindly as he helped the jock to his feet. Coronamon could tell that Riku did not look satisfied.

Another officer saw the kids and approached them. The kids made sure to cling to their Digimon so they could give off the impression that they were stuffed animals. The officers seemed to buy it.

"You kids were quite brave back there, calling us and making sure it didn't end in a bad way," The officer said.

"Th-Thanks..." Yun muttered shyly as she hid behind Lucero while clinging to Lopmon and Terriermon.

Riku was the only one who noticed it, but the girl looked at him and smiled as she was escorted into a different police car. Riku couldn't help but smile at her as well. After a few minutes, both police cars drove away, leaving the kids and Digimon alone. Suddenly, Rena was the first to speak...or in this case, yell.

"RIKU! Why the freak did you jump in there like that? You could have been seriously hurt, or even killed!" Rena screamed angrily, sounding a bit like Takako, which Riku found both confusing and appalling.

"I had to do something, sis! I wasn't gonna watch and let that guy beat her with a cinder block! If I just watched, then I'd be just as responsible for her potential death as he'd be!" Riku yelled back.

"He's got a point..." Yun muttered as Lopmon and Terriermon used their big ears to cover Yun's ears, as she hated the sound of yelling.

"That guy must have been, what? Sixteen or seventeen years old? You're eleven, Riku! He's much stronger than you! You'd be as dead as the girl he was yelling at!" Rena continued angrily.

"So? I wasn't gonna let him go scott free!"

"But still, you should have stayed back!"

"And let the girl die? NO! I wasn't gonna let her die! How would you like it if you saw someone about to kill someone? Wouldn't you want to make sure it didn't happen so they would live? If you did nothing but watch, you'd be just as responsible as the person doing it!"

"But that doesn't mean you have to recklessly dive in there and put your life in danger!"

"Someone had to! If I hadn't done it, she would have died, and I would have had to live with it for the rest of my life! I don't want to live feeling full of regret!"

"The paramedics would have helped her!"

"But what if she suffered a serious brain injury? It wouldn't matter, Rena! If I stayed back and watched, that'd be going against the most basic form of justice!"

"Riku-"

"WILL YOU_ STOOOOOP_?" Yun finally screamed louder than both twins. She was getting tired of all the yelling and the screaming and the fighting. She wanted to go on a tirade herself, telling Riku that he should be more careful and Rena that she should be proud of Riku for saving her despite his recklessness in doing so, but she didn't get to do so, because Spadamon saw something that caught his eye.

"Hey! Riku! Yer D-Heart's a glowin'!" Spadamon exclaimed as he pointed to Riku's golden D-Heart with one of his big hands.

Everyone turned to look. Spadamon is right. Riku's D-Heart IS glowing! In a warm, golden yellow light, like sunshine. It didn't shine very blindingly, but it was bright enough to make everyone feel warm and fuzzy inside. Even Riku couldn't help but feel it. The glow managed to make Rena's feelings of anger and overbearance dissipate. Unfortunately, the glow was not to last. It was nice, but after a few minutes, it dissipated. Coronamon broke the silence with his voice.

"I know why it glowed just now," Coronamon said rather solemnly, which is quite unlike him considering how he's usually very loud, hyper, and cheerful.

"Why is that?" Spadamon asked.

"Riku has the D-Heart of Justice. To him, letting that girl die is a severe injustice to not just him, but to everyone. He didn't want to sit back and let the girl die, even if it meant putting his own life at risk. He didn't want to live a life with a regret, so he jumped in and saved her. To him, letting someone get hurt and not having any justice in his heart is the most disgraceful thing to ever have to deal with. I'd do the same thing, because I believe justice needed to be done, even if I needed to do it in rather unorthodox ways," Coronamon said.

Riku smiled and rubbed his nose with his hand. "I couldn't have said it better myself, buddy."

Rena, finally having calmed down, looked at Riku with concern in her eyes. "I-I'm sorry, Riku. I know you were only trying to help, and I'm glad you stopped the confrontation from getting worse. I'm really proud of you for at least helping her, but...you have to understand-"

"I do understand, Rena. I really do. But sometimes waiting around while someone gets hurt isn't the answer! Someone has to take a stand! If I don't, then who will? Nobody! Nobody took a stand for me back in Hokkaido, now did they? I figure if nobody will stand for me, then I'll stand for other people who need help! I'm not gonna sit around and pretend nothing happened!" Riku said.

"You were awesome back there! I wish I was as brave as you!" Isao chimed happily.

"Riku, I..." Rena continued, quieter this time. "I know how you feel. If someone's in trouble, I don't want to leave them behind either. I want to save people too...but there are other ways to do it. Safer and less dangerous ways to do it."

"I know. But sometimes being safe about it just won't work. I'd want to do it in a safe way too, but if a situation got that bad, then you just _have_ to jump in! I wasn't gonna let him beat her up! No way!" Riku told her solemnly.

Lucero noticed that Yun is looking quite apprehensive. He put a hand on her shoulder and looked at the Nobara twins with his pale blue eyes.

"I'll take Yun and the rabbits home. She might need some time and space. Wouldst thou be able to go home on thy own?" Lucero asked.

"Sure. We're fine, dude," Riku said as he waved at him.

"Sorry for the trouble," Rena said.

"It's quite alright. Worry not, my friends," Lucero said.

"Can I go with you?" Isao asked as he approached Lucero.

"Yes. Come now. Goodbye," Lucero allowed Isao to come with him and waved goodbye to the Nobara twins, Lunamon, Coronamon, and Spadamon, who decided not to go with them. Riku noticed this.

"So what are you gonna do, little guy?" Riku asked.

"Eh, I'm gonna hang around here for a while. Is that alright?" Spadamon asked.

Rena smiled. "Sure. We don't mind at all."

The two kids and three Digimon decided to walk away from the back of the store.

It's true. Rena did feel the same way as Riku. If someone were in trouble, she'd save them, too. Her own sense of justice was tested today, but in a way, it would prove to be her downfall.

They crossed the street and decided to go into the Wawa for some snacks. Rena did have some money on her, so she got a big cookie for both Lunamon and Coronamon so they could split it (the Digimon stayed outside), a small Jolly Rancher candy for Riku, and a small chocolate peanut butter cup for herself, wrapped in gold wrapping paper. They made their purchase and left. At the corner of her eye, Rena saw an old lady panting and putting her hand on the back of a car as she tried to cross the street.

All of a sudden, the sound of screeching tires and car horns pulled everyone out of their reveries.

From down on the pike, they could all see something frightening.

A car is swinging from side to side, out of control.

_SCREEEEEEECH! SCREEEEECH!_

Rena could see very well that the car's being driven by a drunk driver. But what frightened her the most was the direction in which the car is heading.

Right towards them.

The old lady stood up and was about to cross the street.

The car is heading right toward her.

_'Oh no! I have to save her!'_ Rena thought desperately as she felt her body move.

"Oh no!" Spadamon yelled.

"Rena! Come back!" Riku yelled, but Rena didn't listen as she ran toward the old lady.

"LOOK OOOOUT!" Rena, with great gusto, pushed the old lady out of the way, managing to save her from the incoming car, even though the old lady fell in the middle of the street as a result.

Everyone watched as Rena fell into the line of fire. They were all frozen. Even Rena was frozen, like a deer caught in headlights. She had no time to move. She did attempt to move in the direction that the old lady fell in, but there was no time.

The car is coming right toward her.

Closer, closer, and closer until finally...

_CRASH!_

A scream scared Riku into squeezing his eyes shut and clinging to Lunamon and Coronamon, clutching them with his arms and holding them close to his chest. The sound was so loud it scared them into cowering in fear. Even Spadamon clung to Riku fearfully. Riku didn't dare open his eyes, but he did hear the sounds of people talking, crying, or yelling.

"Oh my God!"

"Someone call an ambulance!"

"Whoa! Did you see that?"

"There's a girl in there! Someone get her out!"

A girl? Riku couldn't believe it. He knew he couldn't avoid it. Very slowly but shakily, both he, Lunamon, and Coronamon opened their eyes timorously. Lunamon and Coronamon turned around from Riku's chest so they could see what happened. They were about to regret opening their eyes, as the sight before them was something that would be branded into their brains for the rest of their lives.

A shiny red car crashed into the back of a silver car, the same one the old lady was using to help herself stand up. The front of the red car looked like an accordion, as it got squeezed up really good, so much that the front of the car even opened upward. Large shards of glass, from both the headlights, the paint on the car, and the windows fell all over the place. The silver car moved forward because of the impact, and as a result it hit the unlit streetlight, causing it to bend a little and the front window to fall to pieces. The sound of sirens echoed in the air, along with scared people's screaming and crying. But it was what Riku, Lunamon, and Coronamon saw caught between the front of the red car and the back of the silver car that left them so appalled that they thought they were dreaming.

But it wasn't a dream. It was real.

A small, solitary foot protruded from between the two cars. A black shoe and a now dirty white sock. Riku could see tints of red on it, not the red from the car. Once he saw it, he recognized it right away.

Everything fell apart.

He needed to scream...and he did. _"RENAAAAAAAA!"_

Footnotes:

1. Ganguro is a term used for Japanese girls who died their hair bright colors, tanned their skin, and used lots of make up to stand out among their peers.

2. As of now, Spadamon doesn't have an assigned level. But he looks like a rookie, so I'll classify him as such.


	66. A Limb For A Life

EPISODE 66: A Limb For A Life

At first, Riku thought he and the three Digimon were stuck inside some horrible dream. He ardently and fervently wished that this was some kind of cruel dream. But this isn't a dream. It's real. He smelled the smoke. He saw the car hit the other one, even though he, Lunamon, Coronamon, and Spadamon all closed their eyes afterward. He heard the loud crash as the vociferous sound pounded on their ears mercilessly. He saw Rena save the old lady's life despite the danger.

Rena often scolded him on how his actions could cost him his life if he wasn't careful. Now it seemed Rena contradicted her own words. Riku saw what she meant.

Especially now that Rena is pinned between the two cars!

Lunamon covered her eyes and screamed upon seeing the horrible sight, right after Riku yelled Rena's name. Spadamon just stared in shock, unable to fully register and comprehend what happened. Coronamon saw...something else.

"Rikkun! Look!" Coronamon pulled on Riku's shirt and pointed to the red car.

The driver, a man in his late forties who clearly looks like he had too much booze to drink, stumbled out of the driver's seat and attempted to run away.

Riku laid eyes on him as soon as he appeared. HE'S the reason why Rena's life is in danger! His fear and sadness turned into blazing hot anger and rancor. Right as the man saw what happened and tried to get away, Riku literally dashed toward him and lunged on him. He pushed him so hard he fell in the middle of the street! Riku, with eyes full of anger and hate, grabbed the drunk man by his shirt and began shaking him like he was a rag doll.

"YOU DID THIS! YOU HURT MY SISTER! YOU STUPID BRAINLESS DRUNK SHELL OF A MAN! I'M NOT GONNA LET YOU GET AWAY WITH THIS! IF MY SISTER DIES, IT'LL BE ALL YOUR FAULT!" Riku screamed louder than he ever did before as he slapped the man in the face about a million times. So hard, in fact, that he even gave him a nosebleed.

Lunamon finally regained her equanimity and ran toward Riku after seeing him punch the life out of the drunk man. "No! Riku! Stop! You'll hurt him!"

Riku pushed Lunamon off despite her efforts. "I DON'T CARE! I WANT TO HURT HIM! THIS IS WHAT HE GETS FOR KILLING RENA!"

"Stop!" Soon, a police officer managed to subdue Riku, yank him off of the poor, helpless drunk man, and push him aside as he helped the drunk man up and handcuffed him. But Riku was NOWHERE near done yet. He continued to go on an epic harangue which scared even Coronamon and Spadamon.

"HE'S THE REASON MY SISTER'S GONE! THROW HIM IN JAIL! MAKE HIM ROT FOREVER IN PRISON! HE DOESN'T DESERVE ONE SPEC OF MERCY! MAKE HIM PAY FOR WHAT HE DIIIIID!" Riku screamed LOUDLY again. Soon, ambulances and more police cars arrived.

The drunk man seemed to hear him. "I...I...I din' do nuttin', yo!"

Riku was incensed. "YOU KILLED MY SISTER YOU HEARTLESS BEAST! YOU-!"

Riku wanted to yell at him, but like usual, someone stopped him. The one person he least expected but always stopped him from doing anything stupid.

"Riku..."

It was none other than...Rena.

Some paramedics got her out from between the cars and immediately they wrapped all kinds of gauze and other medical things around her leg. She lay on a stretcher underneath a big blanket. Riku, Lunamon, and Coronamon, upon hearing her sweet voice, ran over to her with nothing but genuine concern and worry in their almost tear-filled eyes.

"Rena!" All three of them cried out. Riku held onto Rena's hand. So did Lunamon, who had to hop onto Riku's shoulder to reach her.

"Rena, I...I'm so sorry! Please, please don't hate me for this!" Riku cried passionately. He could feel the tears pouring out of his eyes.

"What are you sorry about? Did you really think you'd know about a drunk driver wreaking havoc all over the place? It's not your fault. I wanted to save the old lady," Rena whispered gently.

"Rena! Please be alright! Don't go!" Lunamon pleaded with tears streaming out of her eyes.

"I'm not going anywhere...except the hospital. I'm not dead yet," Rena said weakly. One paramedic put a hand on Riku's other shoulder.

"Sorry, boy. We've gotta take her. She needs help right quick," The paramedic said to him as he gestured the others to take Rena into the ambulance.

"Wait!" Riku grabbed the paramedic's arm. "Can I go with you? I want to stay by her side!"

The paramedic gently pulled Riku's arm off of him. "I'm afraid you can't. She needs treatment quickly. That injury she got was pretty bad, so we need to act quick."

Riku literally felt his heart sank. He did, however, catch the name of the hospital on the side of the ambulance as it closed. The big blue and white sign on it read _Tama-no-Minato East General Hospital_. Riku made sure to seriously brand this into his mind as he watched the ambulance ride away with it's sirens roaring in the town air, which is currently in an uproar. Spadamon, feeling quite frightened and apprehensive because of what happened, decided to run away while Riku and the others weren't looking.

"Tama-no-Minato East General Hospital..." Riku muttered.

"Is Rena gonna be okay?" Coronamon yelped.

"Oh, this is terrible! Just simply, truly, awfully, dreadfully downright terrible! Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness! What are we going to do? She better not die!" Lunamon cried out while running around in circles like an overly worried mother.

Riku balled his fists tightly and looked at the two Digimon with a fiery blaze in his emerald eyes.

"We're gonna go to the hospital! Follow me, gang!" Riku yelled as he ran away from the Wawa. Lunamon and Coronamon looked at each other at first, then followed suit.

The Digimon could tell that with the way they're going, they're heading back to the house, not the hospital. They wanted to question Riku about this, but considering how hyped up he is right now, they decided not to. It took them about a minute and a half to reach a pale yellow house. Riku, seeing that both his mother and father's cars are in the driveway, literally burst into the house by kicking the door, literally scaring the wits out of both Michitaka and Takako, who both happened to be in the living room.

"MOM! DAD! We need to go to Tama-no-Minato East General! NOW!" Riku screamed as soon as he burst through the house, which made Michitaka and Takako leap from the couch in alarm.

"Riku? What in the world? Where's your-" Michitaka was about to ask him where Rena is, but a bloodcurtling scream stopped him from doing so, and it came right out of Takako's mouth.

Takako literally fell on her rear end upon catching sight of Lunamon and Coronamon, now fully exposed. She pointed to them right away, looking downright horrified beyond her wildest dreams.

"WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE THOSE HORRID BEASTS? THEY'RE REAL!" Takako screamed like a hysterical woman, but Riku paid absolutely NO attention. Soon, Michitaka noticed and gasped.

"Oh! Riku, tell us-"

"No time! Rena's in Tama-no-Minato East General Hospital! She got in a car accident!" Riku yelled as soon as he laid eyes on Michitaka, who gasped again upon hearing this new information.

"What? How-"

"We were at Wawa getting some snacks and this drunk driver came around the corner driving like crazy and Rena pushed an old lady out of the way so she wouldn't get hit but she herself got hit instead! The paramedics took her to Tama-no-Minato East General Hospital and WE NEED TO GET THERE _NOW_!" Riku explained both loudly, passionately, and very fast, not even giving Michitaka enough time to either register or comprehend any little thing he just said.

"Riku! How do you explain-" Takako tried to interrogate him about Lunamon and Coronamon, but Riku was just not having it.

"Don't ask questions! Take me to hospital now!" Riku literally ran into Michitaka's room.

"O-Okay! But let me get ready!" Michitaka said before suddenly having a pair of shoes, socks, and a set of car keys literally getting thrown at him.

"Shoes! Socks! Car keys! Wallet!" Riku literally rummaged through Michitaka's room finding everything he could find. Takako was just appalled.

"Riku! How dare you go through your father's things?" Takako yelled, but Riku, like usual, paid absolutely no attention. Michitaka finished putting his socks and shoes on.

"I need my credit card-"

"CREDIT CARD! Check book!" Riku threw his father's credit card and check book at his face. Once Michitaka got everything in order, Riku grabbed onto his father's hand and literally dragged him out of the house.

"Riku!"

"You! Drive!" Riku yelled at his dad. Takako noticed that Lunamon and Coronamon are following them and was not having it.

"We are not letting this beasts-" Riku interrupted her by pointing at her.

"You! Sit in front and keep mouth shut! They're coming with us!"

"Why, I never-"

"COME ON!"

Michitaka didn't have time to scold Riku because he had never seen Riku so passionate and so...loud about anything before. Not only that, Rena is in the hospital! Michitaka knew right away that this was a bad situation, so he got in the car and started it. Takako sat in the front while Riku, Lunamon, and Coronamon sat in the back seat. But that didn't stop Takako from being the nitpicky and perfectionistic person she is. She immediately glared at Riku angrily through her thin glasses.

"Do you realize how inappropriately and atrociously you're behaving? We're gonna have a talk about this-"

"NO TIME! QUIET! DRIVE DRIVE DRIVE!" Riku yelled, cutting off his mother for yet another time. Takako finally gave up, though she was not going to let this go.

"Riku's scary today..." Lunamon whispered timidly to Coronamon, a little cowed by Riku's drive regarding Rena's accident.

"You're telling me," Coronamon whispered back.

Riku is too busy bouncing in the back seat to calm down. There was no hope in calming him down. Even Michitaka knew this. Michitaka drove fast but not too fast. He had never seen Riku act this way before, though after calming down a little, he could tell he was quite worried about Rena's safety. Michitaka is also worried, and he knew that if Riku's worried about her, then it must have been really bad. He wanted to know what Lunamon and Coronamon were and why they were here, but Michitaka knew that the safety of his daughter came first and that he really wanted to know if she was okay. What surprised him was where he knew where the things he needed to go to the hospital were. His car keys, his shoes, his wallet, his credit card, and his check book. How Riku knew where they were, he didn't know. He knew for a fact that kids with ADHD pay attention to detail, especially when it's usually not needed. He had to admit, that made things a bit easier despite all of the yelling that pounded on his ears in the process. What he didn't know was that in the back seat, Riku literally texted every single member of the Digimon Brigade in angry silence, telling them about what happened.

It took them about fifteen minutes to get to Tama-no-Minato East General Hospital. Immediately as Michitaka pulled into a parking spot, Riku unlocked his car door, opened it, and literally dashed out. Coronamon and Lunamon followed him as soon as he got out. Takako tried to go after him, but he was too fast for her.

"Riku! Come back here and wait!" Takako yelled, but Riku didn't hear, nor did he pay any attention. Again.

Riku literally burst through the door and dashed right in front of the reception desk, panting as he looked at the surprised lady behind it.

"May I help you?" The receptionist lady asked.

Riku gasped in between breaths. "Name...Nobara...my sis...hit by car...came here...by ambulance...I'm her...brother...mom and dad...here with me...she here?" He struggled to make out his sentence but he did try to get out as much as he could.

The lady seemed to get it and picked up the phone. "Oh. You're family? Alright. Let me check," The lady said and punched in some numbers as Michitaka and Takako came afterward.

"Yes. Yes. Okay, thank you," The lady said and then hung up the phone. She then looked at Michitaka, who clearly looked worried.

"Um, forgive us for the unexpected intrustion. We're the Nobara family and we heard our daughter was hit by a car and transferred here. Do you know if she's alright?" Michitaka asked with a very worried voice.

"I just told her all that," Riku said to him.

"I just called the doctor looking after her. She's in surgery right now. The doctors are doing all they can to save her. I'll let them know that you're here," The receptionist said as she pointed to the waiting room.

Michitaka gently put a hand on Riku's shoulder. "Let's go sit down and wait."

Riku didn't look satisfied, but he sat down on one of the chairs anyway. He sat next to Michitaka because he didn't want to sit next to Takako, who clearly looked quite disappointed and incensed with him. He didn't care. He just wanted to make sure they got the message and to see if Rena is okay. He didn't want to wait, but he knew he had to, especially now that he just heard that Rena is currently in the operating room going through surgery. Coronamon and Lunamon both sat in front of him, hoping that their company would reassure him. But it didn't.

Michitaka looked down at Riku, who clearly looked very distressed. Truth be told, he is surprised by the presence of Lunamon and Coronamon, who can talk and walk and move around like normal humans despite being monsters. He wanted to interrogate Riku about them, but considering how bad the situation is right now, he didn't feel any need to do so right now. He could see the sadness, worry, and distress all over Riku's face. He knew that Riku cared about Rena to an extent, but not to a point where he'd literally drag his own parents out of the house, give them the things they needed to get to a hospital and pay the bills (Michitaka still kept on wondering how Riku knew where his absolute essentials were), and force them to drive there without even giving them any time to even comprehend or register the situation. To Michitaka, this proves that Riku really does care, even if it's in a rather unorthodox way. This proved that Riku truly loved Rena and truly worried about her safety. Michitaka no longer felt angry. He smiled at Riku, though Riku didn't notice. He put a hand on his yellow hair and stroke it gently.

"You did great, Riku. I'm proud of you," Michitaka told him in a kind whisper. Riku didn't even turn around.

"If she dies, it'll be all my fault. I should have been able to protect her," Riku said in a bad attempt at whispering.

"I don't think there was much you could do. But you told us about what happened and dragged us here. To me, that's one of the bravest and most noble things you've ever done," Michitaka told him.

"Tch!" Riku scoffed, not buying Michitaka's praise. "It sure won't be if Rena dies!"

Finally, Takako could no longer contain her rage as she stood up in alarm and stomped in front of Riku. "You insolent, unmanageable child! Do you realize how atrociously and inappropriately you've behaved? Not only did you nearly rip the house apart, you dragged us all here against our will without even giving us a say or caring one bit about our feelings! And these beasts!" She angrily pointed to Coronamon and Lunamon, who hid behind the furry red hamster. "How long-"

"Takako!" Michitaka stood between Riku and Takako, clearly disappointed in his wife's demeanor. "That's not important right now! He did what he felt he needed to do! Besides, shouldn't you be worrying about Rena's safety instead of Riku's behavior?"

"If she dies it really will be his fault! He did absolutely nothing to help her!"

This made Michitaka choleric. "I won't tolerate you talking like that! We won't know if she'll make it through surgery or not, so just calm down and wait! We're in a public place so let's be civil here!"

Takako, angry with Michitaka's siding with Riku, finally relented and sat back down, though, like Riku, she did NOT look one bit satisfied. Michitaka shed his anger and looked at Riku with worry.

"I'm sorry, Riku," Michitaka said.

"We...We...We're sorry for...all of this trouble..." Lunamon muttered shyly but boldly, which made the trio gasp with shock, but not as much shock as before. Riku decided to talk this time.

"The drunk driver...he tried to get away. But I wouldn't let him. I leaped on him and yelled at him and tried to give him a piece of my mind. Rena stopped me while she was on the stretcher. That man...he shouldn't get away with it! He's gotta be punished! He's gotta be! He needs to pay for what he did!" Riku explained, crying a little at the last sentence.

Michitaka wrapped his arm around Riku and pulled him close. "I know. I feel the same way. But you did great nonetheless. Now, we just wait and pray."

"I hate waiting," Riku whispered to himself.

As soon as he said that, Yun, Isao, Lucero, Lopmon, and Terriermon all burst through the door. Riku saw them and cried.

"YUUUN!"

"Rikkun!"

Riku literally leaped on her and gave her a big hug. Yun hugged him back.

"We got your text! Is it true? Did Rena-chan really get hit by a car?" Yun cried as she let go of him. Riku cried a little and nodded.

"She...She's in surgery right now..." Riku whimpered. "How'd you get here?"

"Swanmon! Is Rena-chan alright? How did it happen?" Yun yelped.

"Was it bad?" Isao asked innocently.

"Yeah. We...saw the whole thing," Riku sobbed sadly. Lucero hugged him gently.

"Thy compassion and worry for thy sister's welfare is pure and unfeigned. Dost thou thinkist thou shouldst share in her injuries?" Lucero asked. Riku nodded. Isao saw Lunamon and Coronamon and made a shocked face.

"I...I take it they got found out?" Isao asked. Riku nodded, though he didn't seem to really pay much attention. Takako, seeing the other kids there, immediately walked up to them.

"Who are you kids and why are you here?" Takako asked in a dour voice and tone.

"We're his friends! We got his text just now! He told us about what happened!" Isao explained.

"Friends?" Takako asked.

"Is Rena-chan gonna be alright?" Yun yelped suddenly.

"Why do you care? You have no business in involving yourselves with us!" Takako told them.

Michitaka facepalmed. "Takako! Please don't start!"

_'SHE'S Rikkun's mom? No wonder they hate her so much! She's got Miss Minchin written all over her face!'_ Yun thought, remembering the old, dour, and overly nitpicky school headmistress from her favorite book.

Takako sat back down, not wanting to get Michitaka angry with her again. Riku wanted to punch her for her inopportune and caustic comment, but he didn't want to make either of them mad so he contained his anger, even though he really wanted to express it. Riku said that he hates waiting. As he and the others would find out, the wait turned out to be very long. An entire hour passed. Yun, Riku, and Isao didn't bring anything to entertain themselves with. No books, no games, nothing. Isao did, however, go to a vending machine and use some of his stipend to get a bottle of water for Riku, who chugged it down real good considering how hard he ran and how passionate he was to get his parents to the hospital. Once Riku felt that he could breathe now, he told everyone, his parents included, everything so to pass the time. From the minute Rena saw the drunk driver to when she got taken here by the ambulance.

"So Rena-chan saved the old lady?" Yun asked.

"Yeah. I think she did. I dunno," Riku replied sadly.

"That was pretty noble of her," Lucero said.

"It won't be so noble if she dies because of it," Riku said.

"So she brought it on herself. I should have known that she would be so stupid!" Takako muttered to herself angrily. Both Yun and Riku heard it, though they didn't yell at her about it out of fear that she might go on a tirade.

Riku sat hunched over in his chair and put his face in his hands. He prayed so hard for God to save Rena's life. _'God! Please! Please don't take my sister away! Don't let her die! She's all I have! She's the only person in this family who accepts me for who I am! Please! Please don't take her away! I'm begging you! I beseech you!'_ Riku thought desperately and ardently, feeling more tears in his eyes. Yun, Lucero, Isao, Lopmon, Terriermon, Lunamon, and Coronamon all couldn't bear to see Riku so dejected and so abject. Coronamon especially, since he's his partner. Coronamon knew for a fact that Rena was his rock, his other parent or, more specifically, a parent who believed in him and did not criticize him for everything he did right or wrong. She praised him when he did something right, she reproved him when he did something silly, she did scold him when he did something wrong or careless, but she didn't do it all the time. Unlike Takako, who chose to believe that Riku's ADHD will make him develop criminal tendencies, Rena saw the progress Riku made and didn't put him down on a regular basis. To Riku, Rena was his guardian angel, though they still acted like typical siblings: fighting over silly things and making up when they needed to the most.

Riku thought that things were finally looking up for him...but now Rena's in surgery, and he doesn't know whether she's going to die or not! Riku, more than anything, didn't want to lose Rena. To Riku, losing Rena would mean losing the only person who ever accepted him and praised him and believed in him. Sure he had Coronamon and the Digimon Brigade, but losing Rena...he didn't want to think about it. He wondered if God would decide to take her as a form of punishment. He wondered if he was being punished for his carelessness, his occasional recklessness, his ADHD, or even his very existence. But he didn't want to think about it. He didn't want to believe he was being punished for being alive. Riku prayed intensely and ardently for Rena's safety. He didn't want her of all people to be taken away from her. All of a sudden, he found himself lost in his mind.

That was only for a little while. All of a sudden, a middle-aged male doctor came into the room wearing a white lab coat. He approached the Nobaras with a half-smile on his face.

"Are you the Nobara family?" As soon as he asked, Riku literally leaped out of his chair and hopped right in front of the doctor.

"Doctor! Is she alright? Tell me she's alright! Tell me she's alive!" Riku wailed.

"Riku! Mind your manners!" Takako scolded, but like usual Riku paid no attention.

"Is she...okay?" Yun asked timidly.

"Well, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that your daughter made it through surgery. She survived," The doctor said.

Immediately Riku was bombarded by the biggest wave of relief he ever felt. As soon as he heard the words _'made it through surgery'_ he jumped in the air and screamed happily.

"SHE'S ALIVE!" Riku screamed, hugged Yun, and spun her around, not knowing that he surprised her.

"She's alive! Thank God she's alive! Hallelujah!" Riku screamed. Lunamon and Coronamon danced happily behind Lucero and Michitaka.

"She's okay! Hooray!" Lunamon and Coronamon cried out, though their voices were drowned out by Riku's joyful and jubilant screaming. The doctor didn't notice them.

"Riku! Calm down and stop your screaming!" Takako scolded yet again. She didn't even notice Michitaka crying a little. Once Riku calmed down, however, he saw the doctor frown a bit.

"Yes. She made it through surgery...I wish I could say she made it through unscathed, but we had to sacrifice something in the process," The doctor said.

Riku didn't dare say anything. He thought he knew what the doctor meant. The doctor proceeded to explain everything.

"Rena's left leg was caught in between the two cars. It got smashed up pretty bad. Broken and shattered completely. It was hanging off of a shred of skin when the paramedics found her. We tried our best to reconstruct it, but...it's been shattered beyond the point of repair, so unfortunately...we had no other choice but to...amputate it," The doctor explained grimly.

_Amputate it?_ Riku was standing there, stricken dumb. So was everyone else, including Takako. _'Rena's left leg has been...amputated?'_ Riku thought. He knew what the word amputate meant, but he needed to make sure this wasn't some dream.

"Amputate...means to cut it off, right?" Riku asked. The doctor nodded grimly.

All of a sudden, the reality of this hit Riku. If Rena has no left leg, then she likely won't be able to dance anymore!

"You...You're lying, right? You're lying! Of course you are! You have to be!" Riku's voice started off shaky, then pained and desperate as he clung to the doctor's coat, crying. "You're lying! You're lying! I know you are! Please! Please tell me you're lying! Rena dances with that leg! Dancing's her life! If she's lost that leg, she'll never be able to dance again! She'll never get over it! PLEASE! Please tell me you're lying!"

"Riku! Doctors never lie!" Takako yanked the hysterical Riku off of the doctor, who still continued to look grim.

Now, Riku realized it. This truly isn't a dream. It's real.

If Rena's left leg really had to be amputated, then...

"How much did you...remove?" Yun asked timidly but boldly.

"Not the entire leg. Just the spot below her knee. Her shin's been spared, that's good. But everything else...the damage was too severe to fix, so he had no choice. I'm sorry. But she's in the recovery room now. You can visit her. I think she's awake now. I'll go and check," The doctor said and left.

Riku felt his entire being become consumed by the blazing fires of both anger and regret. He's happy that Rena's alive, yes, but at the cost of her leg! Her dancing leg! The leg she dances with on a regular basis! Rena's been saved, but she'll never be able to dance ever again! Her left leg! Gone! Shattered beyond repair because of the car accident! Riku, in a paroxysm of anger, screamed and pounded on the wall! Takako became irritated but Yun grabbed him despite the noise. Lunamon and Coronamon followed suit.

"Rikkun! No! Stop!" Yun yelled as she tried to calm him down, but it wasn't working. Riku felt the pain in his knuckles, but to him, it's nothing compared to the pain Rena will feel once she learns that her leg's been removed.

"I should have been able to save her! She doesn't deserve to lose the one thing that's precious to her! Why couldn't it have been me? I can't do anything special, yet my legs are fine!" Riku yelled angrily.

_'Yes. You're incapable of ever distinguishing yourself from others,'_ Takako thought crossly.

"It's not your fault! It's that drunk driver's fault!" Coronamon piped in.

"Don't blame yourself! You had no idea it would happen!" Lunamon cried, with tears coming out of her own eyes.

"Besides, she didn't lose her entire leg! Maybe she can still dance!" Yun exclaimed.

"No she can't! It doesn't matter if part of it or her entire leg is gone! Do you know of any dancers who lost a leg? No! You don't! Rena's gonna be no different, and dancing is her life!" Riku yelled.

"Keep it down, Riku! Yelling about it won't change anything!" Takako yelled, looking quite irked by Riku's sadness.

The doctor returned. "She's awake and in the recovery room."

Right as he heard this, Riku zipped away from the family and ran into the hall, passing a nurse who saw him and yelled, "Please don't run in the hospital!"

Riku didn't care. He needed to see Rena. He wanted to see her. Coronamon and Lunamon ran after him. Riku knew where the recovery room was. He was in a bike accident once, and they had to reconstruct one of his toes because it got smashed up hard. He was lucky then. It didn't get amputated. But Rena...he couldn't bear to tell her the horrible news. Once he saw the sign on a door that read recovery room, he literally burst through the door.

"RENA!" The first thing he saw was Rena, sitting in a big white hospital bed, with gauze wrapped around her head and wearing nothing but a greenish blue hospital gown. Lunamon and Coronamon hopped into the room afterward, and they saw that Rena is awake and alert, and she happened to see Riku at the door. Riku saw some small scratches on her face.

"Riku?" Rena croaked a little shakily.

Seeing Rena awake made Riku cry joyously. "Rena..." He managed to whisper. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore and leaped on Rena tearfully. So did Lunamon and Coronamon.

"Rena! Thank God you're alive!" Riku cried as he hugged his big sister.

"We're so happy you're at least alright!" Lunamon cried.

"Hooray! You're okay!" Coronamon yelped.

Rena was so surprised she was rendered speechless. Riku, upon calming down a little and seeing Rena's surprised face, decided to let her go. Lunamon and Coronamon did the same.

"Oh! S-Sorry to jump on you like that! We didn't mean to...frighten you," Riku said, trying to lower his voice to a whisper but failing miserably in doing so. Rena smiled and chuckled a bit.

"It's okay. I'm glad I'm alive too," Rena told him gently, which made Riku exhale a sigh of relief as he sat down on a nearby chair next to her bed. Rena then saw Lunamon and Coronamon and her smile dissipated.

"Umm...I take it Mom and Dad found out?" Rena asked. Riku's smile vanished and nodded sadly.

"Yeah. Sorry," Riku said.

"She found us out," Coronamon said. Lunamon's head and ears drooped downward dejectedly.

"It's alright. I figured they'd find out sooner or later, so I guess it couldn't be helped," Rena said gently.

"Um...so...how are you feeling?" Riku asked shyly.

Rena put a hand on her head. "Kinda woozy. The doctor says it's because of the anesthesia, and that I shouldn't eat much for a while." Rena did look a bit somnolent, but not enough to fall back asleep.

"I've been there," Riku said.

"Where are Mom and Dad?"

"I think they're still in the waiting room talking to the doctor."

Rena then looked at her right arm, which is wrapped in a considerable amount of gauze. "I sure took a beating, didn't I?"

"You sure did! Even though you nearly died you saved that old lady from gettin' hit! And to think you keep tellin' Riku to not be so reckless!" Coronamon piped in. Riku couldn't help but gently smack Coronamon on the side of the head.

"Ow!"

"You shouldn't say stuff like that."

"No. He's right," Rena said. "But this time was an exception. Someone needed to save that old lady, and that drunk driver was coming at her fast. There wasn't time to call for help, so I..."

Riku put a hand on hers. "It's alright. I'm just happy you're alive. Man! I don't think I'd be able to live without you!"

"Me too!" Lunamon piped in.

"Me three!" Coronamon said.

Rena chuckled happily, touched with how much Riku, Lunamon, and Coronamon care about her. "Me too."

"Do you need anything by any chance? You hungry or thirsty?" Riku asked.

"I am kind of thirsty, but the doctor said I shouldn't eat or drink for a while," Rena said.

Despite the fact that Rena is alive, to which they're all very happy about, Riku couldn't help but notice that Rena didn't mention her leg. He wondered if she doesn't know about it. Based on Rena's slightly somnolent demeanor and the fact that she hasn't mentioned it yet, it's likely that she doesn't know, and truth be told, Riku wanted to see how bad Rena's leg looked. Rena then decided to scratch her left leg with her other one.

That's when she noticed. She didn't feel any toes. Just something flat.

"What?" Rena asked out loud. That's when Riku saw it. Rena truly doesn't know!

"That's weird. Why can't I feel my toes?" Rena asked herself and was about to pull up the blanket. Seeing this, Riku immediately lunged onto Rena horizontally, landing on her legs.

"Riku!" Rena shouted suddenly.

"I don't think that's a good idea!" Riku said.

Lunamon and Coronamon looked at each other with anxious faces.

But Riku's attempt to make Rena not notice didn't work...but in a different way. A way that made both Rena and Riku know that something's wrong. Both Riku and Rena felt it.

"Why...don't I feel you pressing down on my leg?" Rena asked, becoming very confused and apprehensive. It's true. If someone lunges on someone, they're supposed to feel pressure in the area that's being pressed on. Rena felt this lots of times because she's had to deal with Riku a lot.

Only this time...Rena didn't feel pressure on her left leg. Riku didn't either.

"I...I have to see!" Rena exclaimed suddenly and tried to pull the blanket off.

_'Oh no! If she finds out she's gonna flip!'_ Riku thought as he grabbed onto the blanket. "It's not a good idea!"

Now Rena was getting mad. "Riku! What are you hiding? Let me see!"

"No!"

"Come on! Let go!"

"You let go!"

Now the twins are fighting over the blanket. Riku tried to press himself onto the blanket as much as possible so it'd be impossible for Rena to pull it off, but right now it wasn't working. Back and forth they yanked on the blanket. Rena was getting her strength back thanks to the anesthesia wearing off. Lunamon watched timorously as Coronamon decided to step in and help.

"Let me see it!" Rena yelled angrily.

"No! You can't! I won't let you!" Riku yelled.

"Just let it go!" Coronamon yelled.

"You don't even know what you're trying to hide!" Rena yelled.

Suddenly, both Riku and Coronamon yanked on the blanket so hard that they literally fell off of the foot of the bed, landing on the floor! They weren't hurt, and they managed to stand back up once they got a hold of their equanimity, but it was quickly lost as they saw what he wanted to hide underneath Rena's hospital blanket. Lunamon literally gasped out loud. Rena laid eyes on it. They all did. What the doctor said is true.

Rena's lower left leg is gone!

All that's left is a flat stump slightly below the knee. On the flat part of the stump is a line covered in black stitching.

Everyone was rendered speechless, including Rena herself. For a whole minute...until Riku broke the deadly silence.

"Oh my God..." Riku croaked in a shocked voice. He figured it would be bad, but he didn't imagine it would be like this! Rena truly does have no toes! No foot! No left ankle! Nothing below her left knee! Lunamon saw it and began sobbing quietly.

"What...What happened? Why is my leg...?" Rena asked.

It was Coronamon who spilled the beans.

"The doctors said they amputated it because it got beat up real bad when you got hit. It-" Coronamon said sadly, which made Rena's eyes grow huge with alarm and shock. Riku immediately clamped his hand onto Coronamon's mouth.

"Don't tell her, you idiot!" Riku yelled. Soon, Riku and Coronamon got into a fight while Rena was left to deal with the mighty blow that killed her heart.

Her left leg is gone! Rena thought she was dreaming at first, but she felt it. It was real. No left leg! No more dancing! No more walking gracefully! No more prim and proper movement! Rena had always been praised by people for her graceful way of walking and her posture when she did just about anything, dancing including. But now her left leg is gone! Her dreams of going to the Royal Academy of Dance! Gone! Killed in the car accident just like her leg! She even remembered the insult Hitomi gave her. Hitomi said that if she hung out with Hiyori, she would lose a limb.

Who would guess that that particular insult came true!

"You've got the biggest mouth!" Riku yelled as he slapped Coronamon on the side of the head.

As the fracas was going on in the recovery room, Isao, Lucero, Yun, and the Digimon talked amongst themselves while Michitaka and Takako talked to the doctor.

"People's body parts can be removed? I never knew!" Terriermon said.

"Oh, Rena-san must be so sad! I feel so horrible for not knowing about this sooner!" Lopmon whispered tearfully.

"Well, we're just happy that she's alive. Thank goodness for that," Yun said.

"Yes. We should at least be happy about that," Lucero said.

"But Rena-Neechan loves dancing, doesn't she? She'll flip out if she-" Isao was about to say the same thing Riku did, but something very unexpected cut him off and frightened Yun into covering her ears.

A VERY high pitched, bloodcurtling scream.

It scared even Michitaka, Takako, and the doctor!

"That's coming from the recovery room!" The doctor exclaimed.

"Rena-chan!" Yun yelled. She was the first to run there. Lucero, Isao, and the others followed them.

They made it to the recovery room, but they were welcomed by a terrible sight.

Rena is bawling and screaming and crying her heart out in bed. Her left leg really has been amputated!

Riku clung to Lunamon and Coronamon sadly as he watched his heartbroken sister scream like no tomorrow.

"What's going on here?" Takako yelped. Michitaka immediately saw the stump coming from Rena's hospital gown and fell to his knees.

"THIS ISN'T TRUE! THIS ISN'T REAL! SOMEONE TELL ME THIS ISN'T REAL! SOMEONE TELL ME I'M DREAMING!" Rena wailed and cried and bawled like no tomorrow.

Everyone wished this was a dream, that this was just a horrible specter of an illusion mocking them and messing with them. But alas, this is not the case. The car accident, the surgery, the amputation...

It's all real.


	67. The One To Blame

EPISODE 67: The One To Blame

Everyone came into the room to find Rena screaming, bawling, and crying like no tomorrow. They understood why she'd be doing this, though. Her leg has just been amputated. If this is the case, then it's likely she won't be able to dance again. Yun, very cowed by Rena's screaming, covered her ears and went outside. Riku, Lunamon, and Coronamon followed her. They stayed close to the door in case Rena stopped, which she likely won't considering what's happened. Yun saw that Riku looks much more pained than she does. Lopmon decided to be the one to speak to him.

"Were you trying to hide Rena's injury from her?" Lopmon asked kindly.

Riku nodded grimly. He even cried a little. "I...I knew she'd flip out. I wanted to spare her the pain of finding out!"

Yun uncovered her ears and gave Riku a kind, sympathetic look. "I know you meant well, but I don't think it would have mattered. The doctor said Rena-chan's leg was beat up pretty bad in the accident, so if it got amputated permanently, then she would have found out regardless."

"I know. But...she dances with that leg! Dancing is her life! She might never be able to dance again!" Riku cried.

"This is horrible...just horrible!" Lunamon sobbed.

"It's all that stupid drunk driver's fault! People should never drink and drive!" Coronamon yelled as he punched the wall with his fiery fist.

"If I had known what was happening, I would have had Swanmon take her and the old lady out of the way. But then again, none of us knew that the guy would be drunk while driving. We can't see into the future, y'know?" Yun explained.

Rena's screaming continued despite the efforts of the doctor and Michitaka. Riku understood perfectly why she would scream so much. Riku had seen her dance lots of times. He didn't like admitting it, but she was really good at it. She danced gracefully with swift movement and impeccable posture, like a swan flying on a pond. He saw all too well that above anything else in the world, Rena absolutely loved dancing. To Rena, dancing was her life. She used it to get away from the problems she had in life, like Takako's constant perfectionism. Riku saw all too well that Rena would NOT take it well if dancing was taken away from her. Then again, Takako never did approve of Rena taking dance lessons, but let her do them anyway to pass the time. But now...with Rena's bottom left leg gone forever thanks to that stupid drunk driver, she may never dance again! Riku wished he could turn back time. He wished he could have been the one who had to lose a limb. He never did think his arms and legs had any special talent, yet they're just fine! Riku wished that he could take on Rena's burden and take on her sadness. Rena doesn't deserve all of this sadness!

Someone else, however, thought differently. Takako remained in the room as the doctor and Michitaka tried to subdue the crying girl, who just found out she lost her leg. Takako didn't even cover her ears with her thin hands, yet looked very, very perturbed and choleric. Rena's incessant and high-pitched screaming was getting to her, and she did not like it. Unlike Riku, Takako wasn't sad for her. She felt absolutely no sympathy, mercy, or pity for her daughter. She never had any for Riku, who in her mind is the biggest disappointment to ever hit the face of the earth, and she didn't have any for Rena now. Why should she be so ungrateful as to cry over the loss of her leg when her life is the one thing she should care about? Takako had VERY different views on the situation. She never did approve of Rena going to dance lessons. She thought it was nothing but a waste of valuable time. She didn't want her precious, _"perfect"_ daughter to be like Riku, who had to be cursed with ADHD and be such a troublemaker. Rena did, however, prove to meet Takako's expectations. Takako is a woman who wants everything to go her way at all times. She won't tolerate any disobedience, defiance, or anything of the sort, even over little things. Now that Rena was in the accident, Takako didn't even blame herself or cry. She thought only one thing, and was determined to let it out, especially now that Rena's screaming is finally making her want to explode.

And she did.

_POW!_

By slapping her in the face with an angry look.

It actually made Rena stop screaming, but she was just overcome with shock. Her own mother just slapped her! Yun and Riku ran back into the room upon hearing it and were shocked. Even the doctor and Michitaka were shocked. Rena looked at Takako with scared, confused eyes, but Takako had no mercy, sympathy, or pity. At all.

"MOM! Why'd you do that?" Riku screamed angrily.

"Takako! What in the world was that for?" Michitaka yelled angrily.

"Stop that crying, you wicked, ungrateful brat! You brought this whole thing on yourself! I can't believe my perfect daughter would be so stupid as to save an old lady from a car accident and lose her leg in the process! You should be grateful that you're even alive! Now look at yourself! You're acting like a crybaby over a lost leg! Now you can't dance anymore! Don't act like you've got it worse than everyone else in the world! You've got it easy! Now look at yourself! You're setting a terrible example for the Nobara family by acting the way you are right now! You've got some nerve, spiting me like this! Not only that, you two brats had the audacity to take in those horrid beasts and leave us in the dark about it for God knows how long! How dare you repay me for your many years of care by keeping these beasts a secret from me and letting yourself be so careless and utterly selfish as to lose a leg!"

Everyone was shocked. Rena just lost her leg and Takako doesn't even care about that? Takako's actually yelling at her and calling her a disgrace just because she was caught in an accident that she couldn't do anything about? AND she claims Rena _intentionally_ lost her leg to _spite_ her of all things? Everyone was angry. Riku especially. Rena couldn't yell at her, she was too shocked. Rena lost her leg and Takako's calling her selfish? This was just downright intolerable for everyone.

"Takako! Are you insane?" Michitaka yelled as he tried to calm her down, but Takako pushed him off.

"I wasn't talking to you, Michitaka! You're too soft! Let me handle this!" Takako yelled, but Michitaka persisted.

"Do you really care so little about your own daughter's welfare?" Michitaka yelled.

"She brought this whole thing on herself! She should know better than to be so selfish and reckless like that disappointment Riku!" Takako yelled.

Michitaka was about to go on a tirade of his own, but someone else already did it for him. Someone he never expected.

_"RENA IS NOT SELFISH OR A DISGRACE!"_

It was none other than...Lunamon.

Takako gasped loudly upon seeing Lunamon hop on the foot of the bed, literally staring daggers at her with her violet eyes. Nobody ever saw this before, especially not on a Digimon as shy, quiet, graceful, and timid as Lunamon. Now Lunamon was literally exploding with anger.

"I don't know why you have the audacity to care so little about your own daughter's welfare or claim that your own kids are going to go down a criminal path just because they have a disability they've never wanted, but there's a difference between being selfish and being kind, and saving an innocent old lady from a crazed drunk driver is NOT SELFISH! Okay, yes, Rena did jump in and save her when no one else did, but someone needed to! If she didn't, then who would? Yes, she lost her leg in the process, but saving that old lady was the best thing she ever did! It's called being kind, selfless, and noble! She knew that old lady wouldn't survive, so she took a risk, and she made it out alive! After hearing you go on that tirade, I can clearly see what kind of a person you are! You're the one who's selfish! You want everything to go your way! You'll even go as far as to raise your kids and put unrealistic expectations on them so that they'll be your perfect little pawns for you to use! You care more about your name and reputation than you do about your family! You scorn those who don't come out the way you do! You believe people take pleasure in disobeying you and think they spite you! You shouldn't be so needlessly cruel to Riku! He's NOT going to be a criminal! He never wanted his disability! It just happened by pure chance! If any of your kids does something you don't like, you automatically call them disappointments, yell at them over things that weren't even their fault, and try to force everything on them while trying to save your own skin for no good reason! I don't care if you think I'm wrong!"

Takako was just choleric now. She's being told off by a little urchin. "Why you-" But Lunamon cut her off with gusto.

"Now don't you _'why you insolent, unmanageable, disagreeable creature'_ me! You may think you're so awesome and God-like! You may think you're so great with your position of authority and unrealistic perfectionistic views, but that's not the way to either deal with kids or live life! You're the one who's insolent, unmanageable, and disagreeable! Rena-san saved an old lady even though she lost her leg! How can you say that that's selfish? Earlier today, Riku saved a young girl from being beaten by her abusive boyfriend and got him arrested! That's not selfish, that's noble and chivalrous, reckless as it may have been! Your twisted delusions have led you astray! I don't care if you think I'm an appalling little urchin who doesn't deserve to thrive in this world! Want to know what I think? I think you're the most deluded and most selfish human being on this earth! Rena and Riku had good reason for hiding us from you and Michitaka-san! They knew that you would never approve of us, but at this point, I don't care anymore! Rena-san is the best thing that ever happened to me! She's nice, kind, graceful, polite, gentle, and motherly! Sure she does get a little overbearing at times, but it's never to the scale you've broken! Yes, I say _broken_ because if there was a scale for your plain of perfectionism, it would shatter ten times over! You may think she's become a disappointment because she did something out of a chivalrous act of kindness, but to me, Rena-san is the most chivalrous, most graceful, most lovely, and most wonderful tamer I've ever had! To me, she will always be wonderful despite her flaws and peculiarities! You may think you're devoid of any flaws or shortcomings or peculiarities, but we all know for a fact that your only flaw, shortcoming, or peculiarity is the thing that's shaped you into what you are now! You're whiny, selfish, disagreeable, insolent, unmanageable, nitpicky, overcritical, overzealously perfectionistic for all the wrong reasons, and, worst of all, you're downright cruel! You don't listen to anyone but yourself! When it comes to things you hate, you think you know best but in reality you know absolutely nothing at all! We especially hate that you treat Riku so cruelly just because he has ADHD! He knows full well the difference between right and wrong, but you think he's all criminal because of his ADHD! You won't even praise him when he does do something right, even so much as raising his grade on a test! I certainly hope you do an upper crust 180 soon, because I've had it up to here with your intolerance, and I refuse to tolerate it any longer!"

Everyone was in shock. Even Takako was rendered speechless. Rena finally stopped screaming. Lunamon's actually walking up to a human she hates and giving her a piece of her mind? Actually yelling at her at the top of her lungs, right in front of the doctor? Lunamon, the sweet, shy, soft-spoken, and graceful little Digimon who barely spoke even one sentence every once in a while, going on an angry tirade like that of MarineAngemon so long ago? Rena couldn't believe it at first. But one thing's for sure: she may have lost her leg, but she didn't lose Lunamon, her partner. The Digimon who always believed in her. But still, the loss of her leg overtook her, and she cried again. Softly this time, which caught Lunamon's attention.

"Oh! Rena-san! My dear, sweet Rena-san!" Lunamon, back to her timid but kind self, waddled over to the crying Rena and tried hard to console her and comfort her.

"It's okay, my friend. Don't cry. I'm here. Shhh," Lunamon cooed in a dulcet, coaxing voice, though it didn't work. Nobody said anything. Yun had her ears covered the entire time. Coronamon, however, was very happy with Lunamon's stand for what's right.

"Nice job, Lunamon! Who knew you had some fire in you!" Coronamon said as he swung his fist a little.

"I'll...go get the crutches," The doctor said as he left.

Nobody said anything through the rest of the visit. Yun, Lucero, Isao, and their Digimon decided to leave the hospital so that their parents won't worry about them. The doctor did give Rena a pair of crutches, and he gave a card with a name and phone number on it. He said that the man whose number is listed is a master at producing prosthetic legs. He also arranged for physical therapy a few weeks from now, here in the hospital. Takako said Rena doesn't need a prosthetic leg, as they could be expensive and take too much time to make, but the doctor said generic ones can be made in six hours or more and made from generic materials as well. Finally, at around 7:30 PM, the Nobara family, the Digimon included, left the hospital. Rena cried throughout the entire ride. Lunamon, Riku, and Coronamon both tried to console her, but it didn't work. As of now, she's just inconsolable, and this irked Takako greatly.

"Rena! Stop that crying right now!" Takako snapped.

"Takako! Will you stop?" Michitaka snapped back.

"We're going to talk about this whole incident when we get home!" Takako snapped back.

Rena is in no mood for talking, nor will it be likely that she'll ever be. Once they got to their house, Riku gave Rena her crutches, as they had been thrown into the trunk. Rena took them and walked with them. Michitaka used the keys to get into the house, and Rena literally sped into the house, into her room, threw herself on the bed, crutches included, and screamed into her pillows. As of now, her dancing career has finally ended. Riku and the Digimon went after her.

"Wait! We need to talk!" Takako yelled.

Michitaka put a hand on her shoulder angrily. "No, Takako. It's you and I who need to talk."

Lunamon, hearing this, decided to stop and eavesdrop on their conversation, even though she knew it was wrong.

Now it's Michitaka's turn to be rather choleric. "Takako! That creature is right. I've had just about enough of you trying to take control of everything! Haven't you learned anything in these past few months? Rena didn't mean to lose her leg! It just happened! She had no control over anything whatsoever!"

"But she brought it on herself! She should have stayed out of the car's path!"

"It wouldn't have mattered, especially since they said that a drunk person was driving it! He could have gone anywhere or hit somebody, no matter who or where it was!"

"Michitaka! You're actually taking the side of that ungrateful brat who repaid me for her years of care by becoming like Riku and losing her leg? Those two spited me and take great pleasure doing so!"

"REPAID YOU? SPITED YOU?" Michitaka screamed, almost at the level that Lunamon went to earlier. "Why do you think they should repay you? You didn't care for them! You never have once you learned that Riku had ADHD! You need to understand, Takako! Being overcritical and perfectionistic isn't going to do you or anyone else any good! Not once today did you even show one little ounce of motherly love for any of your kids today, especially since Rena just lost something that made her happy!"

"Made her happy? Dancing can't make people happy! It's a waste of time!"

"You think EVERYTHING's a waste of time! You even said that getting a cheap prosthetic leg is a waste of time! Do you want Rena to go around looking like she came out of a blender alive?"

"She brought it on herself! It's her own fault for being so selfish!"

"How is saving an old lady from certain death an act of selfishness? Maybe that creature is right! You're the one who's selfish! You always want everything to go your way! You scorn Riku and put all of your wishes on Rena just because she was born normal! You don't even give him a reward when he does something right! He's made so much progress and you don't even notice, let alone care!"

"None of it is real, Michitaka! He's only doing it to trick me! Besides, they brought in those monsters without my consent and didn't think about how it would affect me!"

"Trick you?" Michitaka threw his face in his hands and paced around the room for a minute. "Why in the world would he or anyone want to trick you? Are you seriously so blind that you can't even see that Rena and Riku are flawed just like the rest of us? We're all flawed, Takako! All of humanity is, and we can't change that! You can't change that! Especially not by criticizing everyone for everything!"

"Someone has to!"

"Oh, really?" Michitaka crossed his arms. "How would you like it if someone called you a disgrace just because you were flawed? Huh? How would you take it? You'd want to prove them wrong, right?"

"I refuse to hear any of this!"

"Well, you're hearing it and I'll make you hear it because I'm sick and tired of you thinking you're so much better than not just your own kids, but me as well! This isn't the reason why I married you! Now you are going to be a mother and comfort Rena!"

"Why should I? She's become a disappointment now!"

Michitaka knocked a chair over. It clattered on the floor, frightening Lunamon.

"Why must you be so stubborn? You really are an overzealous perfectionist who doesn't care about anyone but herself!"

"Michitaka! How dare you defy me!"

"I'm defying you, and I'm glad of it! Takako! You need to shape up now! Seriously, what happened to you? This isn't who you used to be. What happened to the good old days, when we went to dinner together and went to Kyushu together? What happened to...you?" Michitaka's voice softened at the last sentence.

"You don't understand, Michitaka. Taking control is the only way you're going to survive in this world. Otherwise, you'll end up being controlled by a corrupt society," Takako murmured.

"Scorning Riku and Rena just because things happened to them isn't going to help anything or anyone. Not even you. Please, call the man and ask for a prosthetic leg for Rena. She needs to walk again. You're her mother. Don't you care even a little about your own children?"

There was a pause for a few seconds, but Takako broke it with her insouciant voice. "I'm going out. You'll handle dinner."

She opened the door and left. Michitaka, feeling very drained, sat on a chair at the table and buried his face in his arms. Like Lunamon, he just couldn't take Takako's perfectionism and intolerance anymore. He wondered if it was his fault for being such a bad father. Like Takako, he used to be critical of Riku, but only at the normal fatherly level. Whenever he did something wrong, he scolded him. Don't all parents do that at one point in their lives? However, he did try to understand Riku's disability, learn how to cope with it, and try to accommodate Riku's needs while trying to help him at the same time. He didn't judge him like Takako did. He didn't want to. He didn't believe that kids with ADHD become criminals. They're just hyper, have trouble focusing, and often speak without thinking. It doesn't mean they're bad. But he did blame himself for not being a better father, for not helping Riku when he did need him. Yes, he did agree with Takako that it was wrong of them to hide the two creatures for who knows how long, and not tell them about it, but he knew that they had their reasons for it. Michitaka was originally thinking of making Rena and Riku get rid of them, but after hearing Lunamon's angry tirade about how bad and insensitive and uncaring Takako is, he changed his mind. He held his head up.

_'I'm so sorry, Rena...Riku...I'll fix everything this time. I promise. I'll make it up to you,'_ Michitaka thought. He found the card and picked up the phone. Lunamon watched closely. Michitaka punched in the numbers and waited for an answer. After four rings, one did.

"Hello? Is this Matsushima-san? Yes. Hello, my name is Nobara Michitaka. I would like to place an order for a prosthetic leg, if you would be so kind. Yes. Oh, you heard? Okay. Can it be cheap and quickly made? No, nothing fancy. Just something we can afford and receive quickly. My wife's rather parsimonious when it comes to money. Yes. Below the knee. The shin's safe. I take it it must take a while to make them. Oh? Really? You'll have it sent here by mail by tomorrow afternoon? Oh! Thank you so much! I really appreciate this! What's your address again? I'll mail you the check," Michitaka pulled out a notepad and a pen and wrote down the man's mailing address. "Oh. That's just perfect. Thank you for your time. I'll mail that check first thing tomorrow morning. Thanks again. Yes. Sure. Goodnight. Bye."

With that, Michitaka hung up the phone and was about to turn around, but he saw Lunamon and gasped a little. Lunamon did too. They stared at each other for a bit, then Lunamon decided to gather the mettle to speak.

"He-He-Hello..." Lunamon squeaked in her timid voice.

Michitaka calmed down a little and regained his equanimity. "Hello."

"Um...I'm very sorry to have scared you and everyone else earlier today," Lunamon said, feeling a bit more relaxed.

So did Michitaka. "It's okay." Michitaka had to admit, he found it weird talking to a monster, but she seems nice enough, and didn't think she was dangerous in any way considering her timid nature, so he decided to continue the conversation. "So...what are you exactly?"

"A Digimon."

"Digimon? Isn't that a cartoon?"

"That's what I hear. But I'm real, so..." Lunamon let the sentence drift away.

"How long have...Rena and Riku hidden you both?"

"About a month and a half. But...please understand. We truly mean no harm. We come in peace. To be honest, we have no idea of why or how we came here. But Rena-san and Riku-san have raised Coronamon and me since we were but little eggs, and we couldn't be happier. I don't believe what Takako san said is true. Rena and Riku are wonderful people, even with their flaws, and I would never want better partners than them. They've taken great pains to bring the two of us up, and I'm ever so grateful for it, though I'm technically Rena-san's Digimon. I care about her very much, and she cares about me. I only wish I could have digivolved so that I would have saved them myself, but I couldn't for some reason. I'm sure for a fact that you care about her and Riku-san also. Please...I beg of you, don't be angry at them. Rena and Riku, I mean. They're wonderful twins! Earlier today, Riku saw a couple fighting, and the man was about to hit his ex-girlfriend with a cinder block. Riku stepped in and saved her just in time and managed to get him arrested. If it weren't for him, the girl would surely have died! We saw the whole thing. Riku definitely knows the difference between right and wrong. I can tell has quite the sense of justice. Coronamon, too. I...I know this is strange, and you probably think I'm some appalling little urchin who shouldn't be here. I do agree with you that I technically have no place in this world, but Rena-san opened herself up to me, and I love her very much. Please, please don't be angry with her because of what she did or because of me. We all didn't mean for it to happen. Normally, I...I would be too scared to do something like this, but I feel that I'm obligated to tell you all of this since you're her father and all, and since my identity has been revealed to you, there's no point in my trying to hide. I no longer wish to hide."

Michitaka's eyes grew big. Those two Digimon have been in their house for a month and a half and they didn't know it? They must be better at keeping secrets than they thought. But nonetheless, Michitaka seems to understand that Lunamon isn't a volatile or ferocious thing either. It's also clear to him that whatever the reason, Rena truly loves this little thing, and this little thing loved her as well. _'Rena sure raised her well,'_ Michitaka thought. Michitaka felt himself smile as he kneeled down and stroke Lunamon's head with his finger. Lunamon would have back away, as she normally does when she's approached by someone she's afraid of, but this time, she didn't. She didn't back away. Not even a little bit. She embraced Michitaka's touch firmly.

"You really love her, don't you?" Michitaka asked in a kind, low voice.

Lunamon blushed a bit. "Y-Y-Yes. I do. She loves me, too. I am only sorry that Takako-san is the way she is."

"Me too," Michitaka said.

"Are you...angry that we are here?" Lunamon asked shyly but curiously.

Michitaka closed his eyes and shook his head. "I was originally, but after seeing your little performance, I changed my mind. I see now that you're not ferocious monsters. I certainly see why she loves you so much, little one. Uh...Lunamon, was it?"

"Yes. Coronamon is the furry red hamster who belongs to Riku-san," Lunamon explained.

Michitaka then stood up and picked up the phone.

"I'm going to order us a nice big pizza. Would you mind telling them?" Michitaka asked with a smile.

Lunamon couldn't believe her eyes. Michitaka's actually telling her to tell the others that he's ordering a pizza despite what happened! Lunamon could see what this meant right away: she and Coronamon have been accepted into the Nobara household! Michitaka defied Takako yet again! But this time, Lunamon felt proud and smiled brightly.

"Yes! I will, Michitaka-san!" Lunamon chirped happily as she hopped into Rena's room to tell them that a pizza is coming!

Yes, a pizza did come about ten minutes later. Riku and Coronamon, being the pizza lovers that they are, chowed down. Michitaka only ordered plain cheese pizza. Lunamon had a piece herself, and she enjoyed it's warm, gooey, drippy softness, but she noticed that Rena hadn't come out of her room. It's understandable, since today she just lost not just her leg, but her dancing career. Lunamon felt terrible for not digivolving then and saving her. She wondered why she couldn't digivolve right at that moment and use her agility to leap into the scene and save both Rena and the old lady. Lunamon, having finished her pizza and leaving the crust behind (she didn't take too kindly to the crust), decided to return to Rena's room. Unsurprisingly, Rena continued to lay in her bed crying. Her crying is softer now than it was earlier, but Lunamon could still hear it with her big, sensitive ears.

"There's pizza outside if you want some, Rena-san. It's very good!" Lunamon said.

"I'm not hungry," Rena replied sadly.

Lunamon became dejected upon seeing this poor, sad figure lay on the bed crying her eyes out continually. Lunamon didn't pester Rena to eat because she knew it wouldn't do any good. Instead, she simply hopped next to Rena and laid down next to her, gently stroking her messy light blonde hair with her little claws.

"I'll never dance again...the one thing I love is gone forever, never to come back!" Rena whimpered sadly.

"That can't be true. I'm sure you'll be able to dance again," Lunamon crooned, but Rena didn't buy it.

"You're sure, huh? Do you know any ballet dancers who have prosthetic legs? Huh? Do you?" Rena asked angrily.

Lunamon didn't, and she had to admit it. "Well, no, but-"

"Exactly! There aren't any ballet dancers with prosthetic legs! I'm sure for a fact that I won't be one now that dancing has been taken away from me! Now I won't be considered graceful by everyone again! Sorry for sounding a bit arrogant, but people have always complimented me on my posture and my way of walking. They always called me graceful. But now, with my leg gone, I'll probably fall all over the place and look like I have a limp!"

Lunamon wished she didn't feel so helpless. She wished she could help Rena in some way. She rued not being able to digivolve into Lekismon and save both her and the old lady with her agility. Why couldn't she digivolve into Lekismon and save Rena and the old lady when she had the chance? She couldn't help but wonder. But all she did was stay with Rena for the rest of the night.

Monday arrived, and Lunamon woke up to find Rena already dressed, ready for school, and using her crutches to leave the room. She has on a tan shirt with short, white, puffy sleeves and a long black skirt that easily covered the stump that was her left leg. Lunamon, upon seeing Rena try to leave, immediately sprang out of bed and ran over to her with concern.

"Are you going to school? You should stay home and rest," Lunamon advised, but Rena glared at her.

"I'll be fine! Don't worry about me!" Rena snapped and left the room.

Thankfully, Lunamon isn't the only one who's worried about her.

Rena managed to make it to the dining room where everyone is having breakfast, although Takako continued to rant about the Digimon, obviously wanting nothing to do with them.

"...they're leaving right this minute!" Takako proclaimed, then turned to see Rena sitting down next to Riku at the table. Michitaka just put down a plate of french toast and a cup of orange juice in front of the still dejected Rena.

"You're not thinking about going to school, are you?" Riku asked with worry.

"I am, and I'm going," Rena said.

"You don't have to push yourself so hard, sweetie. You just lost your leg yesterday. I think you should stay home and rest," Michitaka told her kindly.

"I'm going to school!" Rena exclaimed.

"Dad's right. You should stay home. Fushimi's not exactly known for crowds making way for people with crutches, and they'll penalize you for lateness unless you have some kind of note on you, and I don't think there's much time to make one now. Besides, Nemoto and Shimizu are gonna make fun of you! I don't want that happening!" Riku told her.

"I don't care! I'm going!" Rena retorted.

"But Rena-" Michitaka wanted to keep her at home, but Takako interrupted him.

"Let her go to school. It's not like staying home will benefit her much," Takako said sharply.

Michitaka decided not to argue with her. As Rena ate breakfast (though it must be confessed that Rena's too sad to eat, but she did so because she knew that a bad day would get worse if she didn't have a full stomach), Michitaka wrote down a note for the school to look at. As soon as Michitaka finished preparing her lunch, at 7:20 AM, Rena tried to dart out of the house, but Michitaka quickly stopped her.

"No way are you going to school this early!" Michitaka said. "We'll wait a little longer. I won't have you out in the open this early in the morning."

"I've walked to school before, and I'm doing it again!" Rena said.

"You barely know how to use your own crutches!" Michitaka argued. It had only been a day since Rena got them and she barely used them.

"I'll use them now! I can practice on my way there!" Rena snapped back.

She had a point. But he wasn't going to let Rena go alone. "Would you mind if Riku and I accompanied you?"

Rena abdicated at this point. "Sure. Whatever."

Oddly enough, Riku managed to get ready earlier than expected, so he accompanied Michitaka and Rena to school. Lunamon and Coronamon watched from the backyard as Rena began practicing using her crutches.

"Oh, how I fear for her so!" Lunamon said. "She's been nothing but sad all day, and I feel so horrible that there's not a thing I can do for her!"

"I agree. Man! If only that drunk driver stayed off the streets!" Coronamon complained.

As it would turn out, getting to school wasn't exactly easy. Rena did use her crutches, but sometimes they wouldn't come up properly, or sometimes they would stick to the sidewalk and make her fall. Thankfully, Riku and Michitaka saved her from hitting the sidewalk and hurting herself. She got back up and used them again. Fall and back up. Fall and back up. This was how it was for the next fifteen minutes. Then, at exactly 8:00 AM, they made it to school on foot, and not everyone was there yet. Michitaka decided to use this opportunity to give the note to the principal, Mr. Funakoshi, so he can let the teachers know of Rena's current situation. Soon, kids began pouring into the school black top.

It was Otoya who first noticed Rena and literally ran over to her.

"Rena-chan! Oh, thank goodness you're okay! Rikkun told me about what happened! Are you-?" Otoya was about to hug her until she saw that Rena has no left foot.

"Oh my gosh! That looks painful!" Otoya exclaimed.

"It is," Rena muttered sadly.

Soon, Melody arrived and noticed, but unlike Otoya, she remained rather stone faced about it.

"Big ouch," That's all she said.

In order, Kosuke arrived, then Hokuto, Shione, Minako, and Yun. All of them had varying reactions.

"Whoa! That must really hurt!" Kosuke exclaimed, shocked by what happened.

Hokuto didn't say anything, but he did back away a little in fear.

"That happened to you? I can't believe it!" Shione yelped.

"Oh. How sad. But we're glad you're alright," Minako told her. Yun hugged Rena tightly.

"Rena-chan! I'm so sorry this happened to you! I wish I could have done something!" Yun wailed.

"I don't think there was much anyone could do," Riku said sadly.

But not all attention was kind and caring. Soon, other kids crowded around Rena to see the stump that is now her stultified left leg.

"Whoa! Your leg got cut off!"

"Did it hurt?"

"That looks so gross!"

"It looks like my mom's meat loaf!"

This angered the Digimon Brigade so they stayed close to Rena to block the kids off.

"Leave her alone!" Yun exclaimed.

But the comments went from caring and kind, to inappropriately curious, and then to downright insulting. Nenji pushed through the crowd, pushed Rena to the ground, and got a better look at the stump.

"Ey yo! Look at 'dis, y'all! Little miss prissy Nobara here's lost her leg!" Nenji exclaimed, gesturing for Mansuke and Hirofumi to come and look.

"Man, is that the grossest thing I've ever seen!" Hirofumi exclaimed.

"Can it, you fat slob!" Melody yelled angrily as Yun and Otoya helped Rena up.

Yun suddenly heard a click sound, and when she turned around, she found the source of it and it made her choleric. Seiko's holding her cell phone up, taking a picture of Rena's leg. Yun, consumed by anger, ran to Seiko, grabbed her phone, and threw it at the ground.

"Hey! That's my cell phone, you retard!" Seiko yelled.

"You shouldn't take pictures of people's shortcomings!" Yun yelled back.

"What's it to you, retard?"

"It's none of your business! Quit being so cruel and insensitive!"

"Hey look! First it's white trash, then the cult girl, and now the legless priss!" Mansuke exclaimed, which got everyone laughing.

Melody immediately lunged at him, but before she could do anything, the bell rang, which made everyone run to class. Rena knew that most of the kids at school would see her as some grotesque little monster with a deformed body thanks to her dearth of a leg, but at this point, like Otoya, she didn't care. She figured that this could be a kind of punishment for saving the old lady and being so reckless. Rena could hear insults being thrown at her from both sides of the school.

"Legless monster! Cult girl! White retard trash!"

The rumors about Otoya hadn't quite dissipated even though Oujiro has been cleared of the charges, so they not only continued to insult Rena, but Otoya and Yun as well. She didn't bother to stand up to them. Even she considered herself ugly and worthless because of her dearth of a leg, and what she has of it now has been stultified. Being as persistent as those naughty, ribald kids are, the insults continued all throughout the day, despite the efforts of the teachers and the Digimon Brigade. Since most of the kids shared classes with her, they offered to help carry her books when they went to their classes together.

When Rena's fourth period, gym class, arrived, she realized she had a problem. If she didn't have her leg, then she won't be able to participate in gym class! Rena felt awful for not realizing this until now, but she knew there wasn't much she could do, so she sat on the bleachers and watched the class play dodge ball. Before the game started, Miss Niiyama, the female gym teacher, sat next to Rena and talked to her.

"I heard about what happened. I'm sorry," Miss Niiyama told her. Rena didn't say anything in response. She just stared down at her stultified stump. Miss Niiyama, seeing the sadness all over Rena's face, put a hand on her shoulder.

"Before I came here, I taught at a school for amputees and came up with ways for them to participate in sessions like this so that they won't be left out. You shouldn't lose hope, Rena-chan," Miss Niiyama told her. She wanted to reassure her, but it didn't work.

"But I'll never be able to dance again!" Rena snapped angrily.

"You don't know that," Miss Niiyama said.

"You don't know any ballet dancers who have prosthetic legs, now do you? It's impossible!" Rena yelled. Suddenly, a soft red ball came flying at her, hitting her in the face.

"Watch it, you legless beast!" The kid who threw the ball at her yelled while two of his friends laughed. This angered Miss Niiyama as she got off the bleachers and approached the two of them.

"All three of you! In my office right now!" Miss Niiyama tracked them down and made them all follow her to her office.

Rena knew for a fact that she'd be excused from gym until she got some kind of prosthetic or something, so participating in gym class is out of the question. But even as she changed her clothes, the insults continued.

"Did you hear? Nobara-san was in an accident and lost her leg!"

"It looks so ugly and gross!"

"I know, right? It looks like it got hacked by a blender."

"I wouldn't want to lose my legs and have them look like that."

"Ew! I don't even want to think about it!"

Rena didn't bother to stop them or stand up to them. To her, there was no point in doing so. They wouldn't stop regardless. Kids these days are persistent and will stick to anything like glue, no matter how much people try to make them stop what they stick to.

Things got worse at lunch time.

Nenji and his lackies threw pieces of their undesired food at not just Rena, but Otoya and Yun. Angered by this, they decided to take their lunch and leave the cafeteria so they can eat quietly in the counselor's room. But on the way, they ran into Seiko, who just exited the bathroom. Seiko smirked maliciously and crossed her arms.

"Well well, if it isn't the white retard trash, the cult girl, and now the legless beast!" Seiko exclaimed. The girls tried to ignore her and pass by, but Seiko's insults continued.

"You really look like a messed up monster, you know that, Nobara? I hated you before because you're stuck up, but now I have more reason to do so! Don't think you can snap up some cute guys with that ugly, repulsive stump you call a leg! Guys don't like people with no arms or legs who fall all over the place!" Seiko sneered maliciously.

"Shut up, you fat pig!" Yun yelled angrily.

Now THIS made Seiko choleric. "I AM NOT FAT!"

But the trio of girls didn't listen as they made it to the counselor's office. Despite the fact that it's quiet and that she's supervising, Rena didn't touch her lunch. Yun noticed and became concerned.

"Shimizu's wrong. You're not a monster. You didn't want this, now did you?" Yun told her, trying to reassure her, but it didn't work.

"She's right. They're all right. I...I'm a freak now! It's bad enough I can never dance again! Now everyone thinks I'm some freak chick trying to get attention!" Rena cried.

"No they're not! You're still our awesome Rena-chan!" Otoya told her, but not even this, nor the counselor's reassruance, worked.

The insults and bullying would have continued at recess if it weren't for Rena being signed out of school by Michitaka. Riku stayed behind, but he didn't mind. Michitaka took Rena to the hospital again, this time to check on her leg. The stitches came out clean, though the stump itself is still swelling a little. The doctor simply said that the swelling will go away in a few weeks and they'll take measurements to see if the prosthetic leg that Michitaka ordered will fit. Apparently, from what Michitaka heard, the prosthetic had already been made beforehand for a girl about Rena's age in the same situation, but the girl died shortly after the man finished it, and it had been laying around for a while. He already knew about the girl's measurements, so if they're lucky, they'll check Rena's to see if they match, even though Michitaka found that the prosthetic leg already arrived in the mail. Rena didn't say a word throughout the entire visit. The visit took about an hour and a half, then Michitaka took Rena home. Rena did nothing but lay in bed once she got home. Even Lunamon couldn't help her in some way. But when Riku came home, Rena had a thought in her head, and she just had to tell Michitaka, so she got on her crutches and found Michitaka in the living room.

"Dad! I want to go to dance class today," Rena edicted.

Michitaka was so shocked he literally dropped the remote control onto one of Riku's myriad game consoles. "What? Dance class?"

"Are you out of your mind, Rena? They won't let you dance!" Riku said.

"I don't care! I want to go anyway. If I miss this session, my grade will drop," Rena said.

Michitaka put both hands on both of Rena's shoulders with worry. "Rena. I know this is hard for you, and I understand how you feel about everything that's been going on, but this is too much. You shouldn't make yourself suffer like this."

"Yeah, well I might as well do so since it's my fault I lost my dancing career anyway! Please, let me go!" Rena persisted.

"No way are you going! Those girls will give you a hard time!" Riku said.

"What difference does that make? They've given me a hard time before just because I happened to be more devoted to dancing than they were, and they thought I was stuck-up!" Rena argued.

Michitaka and Rena argued for five minutes, then he finally relented, much to the chagrin of Lunamon, Coronamon, Riku, and even Takako! As Rena got ready, Lunamon talked to her.

"I don't think you should do this, Rena-san. You should stay home and rest. The doctor says it'll be weeks before the swelling goes away," Lunamon said.

"I'm doing it, and you can't stop me. I might as well face my punishment instead of run away from it," Rena said.

"Punishment for what? You only did what you thought was right!" Lunamon argued.

"For being so reckless as to jump in and give up the only thing that I ever loved! I'll never be graceful again, so I might as well accept my punishment and live with it!"

"Even if it means getting picked on by those girls?"

"Yes! It's not like they'll change anything."

Lunamon, not happy with Rena's change in demeanor, hopped next to her. "Then if you're going, then I'll go with you."

"Why? They'll find out."

"Let them find out about me. I don't care about them. I care about you, Rena-san," Lunamon told her boldly, which surprised even Rena.

"Fine. You can come," Rena said insouciantly.

Yes, Lunamon didn't care if Hitomi and those other girls found out about her. She didn't care if she was exposed to the world, her identity getting revealed. But she did, however, care about Rena, her welfare, and her safety. Lunamon could tell right away that Rena's lost all hope already. Rena doesn't believe she'll ever dance or be graceful again. In regards to grace, Lunamon was concerned. _'I don't think Rena's definition of grace is right. I wonder if she understands what it really means, and that it's what she really needs?'_ Lunamon wondered whenever Rena brought up the subject. Lunamon didn't bring it up herself because she thought it was too early. For her, the timing wasn't exactly right. Lunamon didn't want to argue with Rena. She knew that once she sets her mind on something, she won't change it until something forces her to do so against her will.

In the end, Michitaka did take Rena to dance class. Lunamon hid in her big dance bag like usual, only she didn't de-digivolve into Moonmon for safety reasons this time. It took a while for Michitaka to get Rena's crutches out of the trunk and a bit of a while for Rena to get out of the car without stumbling, but they did. Without even a goodbye, Rena waltzed and pulled herself into dance class. The first thing she saw is Hiyori, who immediately caught sight of her and ran to her with concern in her dark violet eyes.

"I heard about what happened. Big bummer," Hiyori told her in a deadpan but concerned voice. Rena didn't say a word. Not even as Mrs. Sakura saw her and gasped at the sight of her lost leg. Even all the girls stopped to watch. Mrs. Sakura, noticing that most of their stares were out of malicious curiosity, glared daggers at them.

"Get back into the room and change!" Mrs. Sakura demanded, and all the girls obeyed. Mrs. Sakura sat Rena down on the bench and sat down next to her.

"Rena-chan...you do understand that with what happened, you can't dance, right?" Mrs. Sakura asked.

"I know that. I know I can never dance ever again! I only want to keep my grades up in here now!" Rena replied sharply, which surprised even Hiyori a bit.

"That's not what I'm saying, but-" Mrs. Sakura tried to reassure Rena, but the sad, legless girl grabbed her crutches and dragged herself into the changing room even though she knew she's not going to dance.

Rena wanted to cope with her sadness in peace, but she was completely bereft of the opportunity.

"Told you you'd lose a limb if you kept on hanging out with that armless chick."

Rena turned around to find a callous-looking Hitomi and her posse looking down at her, all with malicious smirks and crossed arms.

"Hiyorin's not the reason why I lost my leg. It was a freak accident, that's all," Rena replied, but Hitomi didn't buy it.

"Well, I sure am glad you're never gonna dance again! That way, we won't have to compete with each other anymore, and I don't have to suck up to a stuck-up snob like you! Now you won't have to make me look bad!" Hitomi exclaimed.

Suck up to her? Compete with her? A stuck-up snob? She couldn't believe what she was hearing! Hitomi's been bullying her this entire time because she believed that Rena only danced slightly better than her so she could make her look bad? Rena felt something snap inside of her, and it sure wasn't anything good. Rena didn't want to make herself come off as a snob to people. No wonder she had trouble making friends upon her first day here, and it wasn't because of Hiyori either. Rena didn't want this to be the case, but Hitomi palavered on and on.

"I'm sick and tired of Sakura-sensei giving a snotty sixth grader like you all the praise while I have to get the short end of the stick when clearly I deserve better! Don't try and make me look bad just because you happen to dance better than me-"

Suddenly, Hitomi felt something hard fall onto her foot, and she literally yelped in pain.

"OOOWWWWW!" Hitomi yelped and hopped all over the place, clinging to her pulsating foot. Hitomi's three friends were surprised by what hit her foot.

It was Rena's crutch.

Rena made it step on her foot. Hiyori saw everything.

Hitomi and her friends looked up at Rena, who is just downright incensed. Her green eyes are full of flames of anger, blazing wildly. Her teeth grinded together, and her hair looks as though it could burst into flames any minute.

"You seriously think I dance better than you JUST to make you look bad?" Rena screamed angrily and wildly, leaving even Hitomi speechless.

Like Lunamon before her, it was Rena's turn to stand up for herself.

"Look, I don't have anything against you or any of the other dancers here! Is it really so hard to understand that I'm just the same as everyone else? This may sound arrogant and cocky, but I am NOT a stuck-up snob who thinks she's better than everyone else! I don't want to make people feel bad or rub my accomplishments in their faces! Why would you even think that? I dance because I love dancing, just like the rest of you! Dancing is...scratch that, WAS my dream! Dancing makes me come alive! It helps me forget all the bad things I have to go through in life! So yeah I practice a lot and yeah, I am good, but it doesn't mean I practice every day just to make you all look bad! I'm NOT that kind of person! It's bad to brag and act stuck-up and claim you're better than everyone else! Even I know that! Maybe you're the one who's stuck-up and a big fat braggart! I don't insult people or claim that I'm better at them just because I happen to be slightly better at something than they are! I just love dancing, and I practice so I can improve every day! To get closer to my dream! You know what? Fine! Go and act like you're better than everyone else for all I care! I love dancing, but now I can't even do it anymore because I lost my freakin' leg because I tried to save an old lady from being hit by a drunk driver! I just lost the only thing that ever made me happy, even in hard times! I'll never be happy again, and if you really hate the fact that I love dancing so much, then screw you!" Rena screamed ardently and hysterically.

"You go, Rena-chan!" Hiyori cheered, supporting her argument from the sidelines while waving her own stumps around.

Unfortunately, Hitomi didn't buy it.

"What a big fat joke! You're only saying all that stuff to make yourself look good, you stuck-up spoiled princess! You're better off never dancing anymore! You're a freak with or without that useless leg of yours! You can go to a mental ward for all I care! I don't want to even be caught dead around scum like you anyway! You wonder why your mom hates you and your brother so much!" Hitomi yelled.

Now this set both Mrs. Sakura and Hiyori both off. "Hitomi!"

But for Rena, this was the last straw. She took her crutches and ran away as fast as she could. Lunamon saw this and immediately became overcome with worry.

"Rena-san!" Not cognizant of the fact that many other girls saw her pop out of Rena's dance bag, she chased after Rena. Many of the girls screamed with terror upon seeing Lunamon. The little purple rabbit Digimon didn't even notice.

Despite this, Hiyori chased after them as well.

"Rena! Come back!" Both Lunamon and Hiyori went after her, but Lunamon was further ahead.

Finally, Rena burst into tears as she ran, with the assistance of her crutches, out of the dance school and onto the parking lot. She cried as she tried to run, but she didn't get far because once she almost got to the street, she tripped and fell on her face, crutches included. Her lavendar digivice fell open as it fell out of Rena's pocket because Rena didn't have enough time to change out of her normal clothing. Lunamon finally managed to catch up to her, but was horrified by the sight of Rena lying on the street, bawling her eyes out.

"Rena-san! Please don't cry! I'm here!" Lunamon cooed as softly as she could, though her worry consumed her.

"Stay away from me!" Releasing one of her arms from the crutches, she pushed Lunamon away, causing the purple rabbit to fall on the digivice.

As soon as Lunamon fell on it, a big, white digital portal appeared right underneath them!

And they fell in, the crutches included!

"Rena-chan!" Hiyori tried to catch up to them, but she saw them fall into the white hole. As soon as they fell in, without so much as letting out a cry for help, the white hole disappeared right before her eyes...and the eyes of Mrs. Sakura and many other girls as well.

"What just happened?" One girl cried out.

Hiyori turned to look at them and used one of her arm stumps to point to part of the street. "She just fell into a big white hole that came out of nowhere!"

Hitomi scoffed. "Serves her right."

This one caustic comment set Mrs. Sakura off. "Girls! I want you all to go into the dance room NOW! Your behavior has been nothing short of inappropriate and downright cruel!"

Mrs. Sakura led the girls inside so she could lecture them on their egregious effrontery, but Hiyori stayed outside, looking very worried about Rena.

"Rena-chan...what in the world happened to you?" Hiyori mumbled to herself with concern.


	68. Learning To Walk Again

EPISODE 68: Learning To Walk Again

It was Lunamon who realized that they arrived in the Digital World.

Rena continued to cry while lying face down on the sand, so Lunamon had to take charge and get a feel of her surroundings. On her right is what appears to be the ocean, stretching out quite far, though Lunamon could see a big, vast continent about seven miles out near the sunny horizon. On her left is a city full of houses made out of stone, shaped to look like gelatin on a plate. Light purple and blue flags waved around freely on the tops of all of the houses. Lunamon could see some grass and flowers on the cliffs despite the fact that she's on the very bottom of the island. She and Rena are too low on the island to see the rest of it, but Lunamon could see that it's quite a pretty place, albeit a little windy. Gentle breezes swooped by, caressing Lunamon's ears and antenna. Rena didn't look up. Not even once. This made Lunamon very worried as she tried to get her up. Rena's crutches sat next to her on both sides.

"Rena-san. Please wake up. We're in the Digital World," Lunamon told her in a coaxing voice, but Rena didn't respond. This didn't phase Lunamon, however.

She shook her harder, despite the lack of strength in her little claws. "Rena-san! We have to leave. Some Digimon might find us and attack us!"

"Let them attack us! See if I care! I'll never be happy again anyway, so what's the point?" Rena screamed hysterically, which scared Lunamon a little bit.

Unfortunately, Rena's scream caught an islander's attention.

"Halt! Stop where you are!"

A commanding woman's voice made Lunamon turn around in alarm while keeping Rena behind her. Standing on the edge of the lowest cliff on this particular side of the island is a woman, with four feathery yellow wings. The woman is tall, like an adult, and has poofy pale blonde hair hidden underneath a red scarf-like hood, and on the center of the hood is a green, oval shaped gem stone with two little white wings on each side. The woman has a golden chest plate, some black belts tied around her hips, and a dark blue cloth with Indian-like designs on it hanging between her legs. She is wearing long, golden metal boots. Her face is covered with red markings and a gold mask that showed her mouth and her green eyes. In one hand is a staff with a gold and brown egg on it with two wings on each side and a green gem stone on it. In her other hand is a little silver sword. The woman flew off of the cliff and elegantly descended before Lunamon and the still tear-stricken Rena, who didn't even bother to notice her. Seeing the flare in the woman's eyes, Lunamon stayed in front of Rena.

"Where do you come from? Why are you here? Explain yourself!" The woman demanded.

"W-W-We're so sorry to intrude! Really, we are! It was an accident! We didn't mean to disturb you or anything! Honest!" Lunamon pleaded, but the woman Digimon didn't seem to buy it. She pointed her egg-tipped staff at Lunamon.

"How do I know you're not one of-" The woman Digimon was about to interrogate them, but then she tilted her head a bit and saw Rena crying. Upon seeing this, both her gaze and her heart softened.

"...Are you alright?" The woman asked, gently this time. Upon closer inspection, she saw the stultified stump of what used to be Rena's left leg peeking out from underneath the long black skirt, which crumpled up a bit upon falling onto the sand. Lunamon, happy that the woman Digimon has now become concerned instead of battle ready, she decided to use this as an opportunity to talk to her.

"Um...again, we're sorry to disturb you. We came here by accident," Lunamon told her gently.

"Is this human girl your partner?" The woman asked.

"Yes. She is. Please, don't be angry with her. She's been through some terrible things and is having a rather dreadful day. She's just really sad and upset," Lunamon told her.

"I can certainly see why," The woman Digimon said.

Suddenly, Lunamon's ears perked up. She could hear the sound of elegantly flapping wings and a gentle voice coming her way.

"Darcmon? Darcmon?"

A very gentle, dulcet, and motherly voice soothed the ears of both the woman Digimon, apparently named Darcmon, Rena, and Lunamon. Soon, another woman Digimon elegantly descended before them, much more gracefully than Darcmon did. Much to Lunamon's surprise, she's even more beautiful than Darcmon! Even Rena decided to look up and was shocked by her sheer beauty and grace. She is clad in pale lavendar armor, covering her from her face to beneath her navel. A majority of her legs are covered in flipper-like armor, with golden metal wings on them in a few places. The woman has long, beautifully flowing rainbow hair that seemed to glow under the sunlight. Her face is covered with dark blue and green armor, but her green eyes could be seen from a mile away. Covering her slender arms are huge pale green and blue wing-like things, with little golden metal wings on them. Rena thought she was seeing things...but she isn't. Rena thought that she saw the most beautiful woman in the world. Not even the winner of the Miss America Pageant could compare to this woman's god-like beauty. This strange, rainbow-like woman truly emitted an aura of beauty, elegance, grace, and kindness. The rainbow haired woman descended in front of Darcmon as gracefully as she appeared.

"Is something the matter, Darcmon? You look like you're about to fight an enemy Digimon," The rainbow-haired woman asked kindly but curiously in a sweet, motherly voice that made Darcmon blush.

"Oh! AncientKazemon-sama! I'm sorry. I saw these two here and thought they were some of MoonMillenniummon's minions, but now I see that they are not. The human girl seems to be quite distraught," Darcmon told the beautiful woman Digimon, now known as AncientKazemon.

AncientKazemon looked down at Rena, who in turn was looking right at her with a curious and surprised but tear-stricken face. AncientKazemon kneeled before her, gently scooped her into her arms. Lunamon followed. Darcmon picked up Rena's crutches.

"My. You certainly look like you haven't had the best of days. Come with me to my castle. I'll ask my friends to prepare something nice for you both," AncientKazemon told them gently as she and Darcmon flew to their castle.

As soon as the castle came into view, both Rena and Lunamon became surprised by how unusually beautiful it is. The castle isn't made out of ivory or stone or anything like that, but with woven flower petals and bamboo decorated with flowers and jewels. Rena declared this castle to be the strangest castle she had ever seen, but she did admire how beautiful it is. AncientKazemon saw their speechless surprise and smiled at them, even though her face is completely masked.

"Are you surprised at how weird my castle is?" AncientKazemon asked.

"No, but it is unusual. In a good way, I mean," Rena replied.

"We made it out of woven flower petals and bamboo. Since Viola Island is primarily inhabited by wind and plant Digimon, they're masters at sewing and making things out of plants and flower petals so we thought we'd make the island stand out by making our castle the way it is," Darcmon explained.

"Viola Island? Is that what this island is called? What a pretty name!" Lunamon asked.

"Yes. Isn't it? Viola means, _'Riding the wind with grace,'_ in ancient DigiCode, though today it means _'peculiar flower'_ in modern DigiCode. I myself find it strange, but sometimes strange is fun once in a while," AncientKazemon explained.

They arrived at one particular balcony that looks more like a backyard patio, with some elegantly furnished furniture, some flower decor hanging all over the place, and a little table and four chairs on it. AncientKazemon gently put Rena and Lunamon down on two chairs.

"Why don't you all wait here for a bit? I'll have one of my friends prepare something for you," AncientKazemon told them gently.

"But AncientKazemon-sama, should we really trust them? I mean-" Darcmon wanted to argue with her, but AncientKazemon kindly cut her off.

"Now Darcmon, I think you should calm down just a bit. We haven't had any intruders in seven months, so we should cherish the freedom we have while we have the chance. Besides, these two don't look as though they have anything to do with MoonMillenniummon, now do they? They've had a rough day, so we should at least make them feel at home, don't you think?" AncientKazemon told her gently, but sternly. Darcmon finally decided to relent.

"Alright. I'll go help out in the kitchen," Darcmon said as she flew away, leaving Rena, Lunamon, and AncientKazemon alone. AncientKazemon turned to the two and smiled at them.

"Please forgive Darcmon. She's one of my most devoted friends, and while I do love her dearly, she does have a slight tendency to be a trifle overprotective and over-driven, which causes her to get into some trouble. She means well, though," AncientKazemon told them with a slight laugh.

"I understand. You're just trying to protect your island from this MoonMillenniummon character, and that's a noble thing to do," Lunamon said in response, smiling as she did. Rena just looked the other way and slumped in her big chair. She liked how comfy it is, but it didn't do much to ease her emotional pain. AncientKazemon then turned to Rena, who didn't even look at her.

"You're the first human we've ever seen. Umm...you're Rena, was it? For a minute I was about to call you Renamon, and we have plenty of them here in this island," AncientKazemon told her. Rena didn't even crack a smile, let alone turn to look at her. Lunamon became concerned, but AncientKazemon didn't seem to be phased by it.

"Her full name is Nobara Rena. She's my tamer!" Lunamon piped in.

"My, you're quite the pretty little human. I haven't seen anything quite like you before," AncientKazemon told her.

Now this made Rena talk, but not in the way Lunamon or AncientKazemon expected.

"No. I'm not pretty. You're way more beautiful and graceful than I'll ever be. You should be grossed out. You should be telling me that I'm ugly or gross or repulsive or the worst thing you've ever seen," Rena piped in grimly and sharply.

"Rena-san! You shouldn't say things like that about yourself! Not at all!" Lunamon piped in, a little shocked by Rena's behavior.

"Lunamon is right, my dear. I don't think you're ugly or repulsive at all. What makes you think I should see you that way?" AncientKazemon asked in her casual voice.

"Do you see this?" Rena retorted angrily and showed AncientKazemon the stump that was once her left leg. AncientKazemon did look, but only for a brief second.

"You're way more beautiful and graceful and elegant than I'll ever be! You probably have it easy. You can fly and dance and you're way more beautiful than any person I know! I used to dance too, but thanks to some idiot who drove their car into me, I can never dance again!" Rena yelled as she grabbed her crutches and walked away from the balcony, into the castle. Lunamon and AncientKazemon didn't chase after her.

"I'm sorry, AncientKazemon. Rena-san's been through some bad things, and she's still very upset about it," Lunamon told her.

"It's quite alright. I understand. Her heart has been broken and it needs time to heal. I understand that feeling completely. A lot of us have been in that situation, though not in the way Rena is going through right now. But I do believe you might be able to heal her heart," AncientKazemon told her.

Lunamon's violet eyes grew a little big. "Me? Heal her heart?"

"Yes. You two seem to be quite close. I can feel it," AncientKazemon told her with a smile.

"But I wasn't able to help her when she needed my help the most," Lunamon said, her big ears and antenna drooping a little.

"We all feel that way at some point in our lives, but it doesn't mean we can't do better than what we couldn't do back then, now does it?" AncientKazemon said.

Lunamon turned to the inner corridor of the castle and decided to leap off of the chair.

"I'll go find Rena-san and talk to her. I hope you don't mind," Lunamon told AncientKazemon and waddled away.

"I don't mind at all," AncientKazemon told her gently as she watched her waddle away.

But as Lunamon would find out, Rena didn't go very far at all. Lunamon saw that Rena is sitting behind a big couch in the big room next to the balcony, with her knees folded to her chest, her crutches laying next to her, and with the same sad expression on her face. Lunamon was about to tell Rena to go back to the balcony so they could have tea, but seeing that Rena wouldn't like to be bothered with such trivialties at the moment, Lunamon decided not to. But she didn't want to leave Rena to deal with her pain and sadness all alone, so she did what any friend would do. She sat right next to her. She didn't talk or do anything weird. She just sat next to Rena and gazed upon the beautiful decor that embellished the beautiful castle. They sat in silence for quite a few minutes until Rena spoke.

"The castle's beautiful, isn't it?" Rena asked in a soft voice.

"Yes it is," Lunamon said.

Rena then remembered the time she fell on the parking lot and yelled at Lunamon, telling her to stay away. Even Rena knew that that was very unlike her. Why did she yell at Lunamon like that when she was trying to help? Wait, she knew the answer. It was because Rena didn't think Lunamon would be of much help in getting her leg back. No, Rena can never get her leg back. A prosthetic, yes, but not her real one. The one she dances with. But could she really blame Lunamon for that? Rena felt remorse overtake her, but she didn't look at Lunamon.

"Lunamon? I'm sorry for...yelling at you back at the parking lot. I shouldn't have acted so stupid," Rena muttered sadly.

Lunamon smiled. "It's okay. It's only natural for you to be sad after a traumatizing event, and I'm sure it must be very painful for you."

"You were only trying to help, but I pushed you away," Rena muttered.

"I do remember being pushed away a lot back when I lived in the Digital World, so I'm used to it," Lunamon replied.

"Exactly...why do you stick with me? I just lost my leg. I can never dance again!" Rena asked.

"Isn't it obvious? Because you're my friend, and friends always help each other out, even in hard times. I didn't get to help people much, so I at least want to help you, even though I know it may be impossible," Lunamon said.

"Because you're so shy?" Rena asked.

"Yes, exactly. I still regret being shy when I first hatched and met you," Lunamon said, her ears drooping a little.

"Yeah. I sure remember the day Riku and I met you and Coronamon," Rena said loftily as she found herself walking down memory lane.

(flashback)

_Rena and Riku both walked home from school that day. They hoped to be able to get inside the house and go to their rooms right away, but they didn't get to do so, because Takako was waiting for them in the living room, immediately giving them a look full of scorn. She walked right up to them, grabbed Riku by the arm, and thrust him against the wall._

_"Riku!" Rena cried out suddenly._

_"You got into another fight today, didn't you?" Takako yelped angrily._

_Riku got mad. "Mom! Quit being so uptight! And no, I didn't! But this kid at school was pickin' on my friend and I didn't want him to get away with it!"_

_"So you taught him a lesson, right? Why must you always cause me so much trouble? My reputation in town is going to be ruined because of-"_ _Takako was about to tell Riku that he's the biggest disappointment she ever saw, but Rena, blazing with anger, immediately cut her off._

_"Mom! Will you stop yelling at him and accusing him of stuff every day? He didn't get into any fights today! Okay?" Rena yelled angrily,_ _appalled by the way Takako treated Riku just now. Takako was appalled herself, but by Rena's standing up for him._

_"You were there, weren't you? He must have gotten into some kind of trouble! You're his sister! You're supposed to be setting a good example! Not condoning anything! Why are you taking his side?" Takako yelped._

_"I didn't condone anything, and we're telling the truth! He didn't get into any trouble today, so quit worrying and getting all uptight over nothing! Come on, Riku," Rena yelled at Takako, then spoke gently to Riku. Both twins left the living room and went to their bedrooms,_ _leaving an angry Takako alone in the living room._

_"Why does nobody listen to me?" Takako screamed angrily, but Rena and Riku paid no heed._

_Their rooms are upstairs and right next to each other. But before they went inside, they decided to talk amongst themselves._

_"Sorry about that, Riku. Man, is Mom ever going to stop being so overly critical?" Rena sighed as she apologized to him. Rena never did approve of Takako's overly critical treatment of Riku._

_"It's alright, and I agree. I wish she'd shape up already. We can't even have any friends over because of her!" Riku exclaimed._

_"Yeah. I'm gonna start on my homework. Okay? You should too, or Mom'll flip out again," Rena said as she opened the door to her room. But right as she was about to go in, she saw something that made her yelp._

_"What?" Riku, being right next to her, decided to go in and see what it was that made Rena yelp in fear._

_Much to their surprise, sitting on top of Rena's opened dance bag, which is sitting on her bed, is an egg! A very large, pale lavendar egg with a bluish silver crescent moon shape on it. It's the exact same size as Rena's two dancing shoes when put together, as it is sitting right on top of them! The bag is open, so Rena could see her dancing shoes underneath the egg. Rena and Riku looked at each other with shocked faces._

_"I didn't put that there, I swear!" Riku exclaimed timorously._

_"I never said you did!" Rena exclaimed, a little surprised that Riku would even think that she would suspect him of putting an egg in her dance bag. But it was understandable, really, considering that a lot of people accused Riku of lots of things that he didn't do._

_Cautiously, both Rena and Riku approached the egg. It didn't move once they got close. Rena had to admit, it looked very incongruous among her dance products. Gently, hoping that it wouldn't suddenly move, Rena touched the egg with her slender hand. It felt very warm, like fresh laundry that came out of the dryer. It felt nice, but Rena didn't quite believe that this egg was real._

_"This can't be real," Rena said._

_"I agree...oh! Wait a minute!" Riku whispered, then shouted upon getting an idea in his head._

_"My room!" Riku immediately dashed out of Rena's room and headed straight for his own room._

_"Riku! Wait!" Rena called out, but it was too late, and once Riku ran toward something, it wasn't likely that he'd hear anything once he had an idea in his head. But she did hear his voice once he got to his room, and what he said surprised her too._

_"Whoa! No way! There's one in my room too!" Riku shouted._

'Now Riku's got an egg in his room, too? I have to see this,'_ Rena thought as she was about to leave her room and see what was in Riku's room, but something stopped her._

_A small thud caused Rena to stop in her tracks. Rena immediately turned around and right as she laid eyes on it, she froze with shock._

_The purple egg fell on the floor! It didn't break, but...it's moving!_

_The purple egg with the crescent moon on it wiggled around in a few directions, like something inside it is desperately trying to get out._ _Rena didn't know what to do or what to think, she was so surprised and frozen with fear._

'Oh my gosh! That thing's actually moving! This can't be real! Please, someone! Tell me I'm dreaming or hallucinating or something!'_ Rena thought timorously as she watched the egg move around wildly._

_Then, out of nowhere..._

Crack!_ A small crack appeared in the shell._

_Then came another. Then many more._

Crack! Crack! Crack!

_Small shards of purple egg shell fell on the floor. Suddenly, when the egg became completely cracked, it shattered, and a bright white light appeared, causing Rena to cover her eyes and fall to her knees. She didn't scream because she knew that if she did, she would get Takako's attention, and she did not want her overzealously critical mother to decide what to do with this egg or try to handle this situation in the worst ways possible. After a short while, the white light dissipated into the air, but Rena didn't open her eyes just yet. Truth be told,_ _she wanted to ascertain what came out of the egg, but at the same time, she was scared. What came out of the egg? A monster? Rena wanted to find out, but at the same time, she didn't want to. It was like watching a horror movie. You want to both see it and not see it at the same time. But Rena knew that she wasn't going to have an answer if she didn't at least take a peek. Who knows? Maybe it's not as bad as she thinks. Rena gathered her mettle and removed her hands from her face. It took about a few seconds for her to open her green eyes, but she did, and once she laid eyes on what was left of the egg, she froze with shock. Again._

_Sitting in front of the bed with it's eyes closed is a small, purple, droplet-like creature! It's eyes and mouth are closed, and out from its head came a protrustion with a silver, crescent moon-shaped jewel at the very top of it. The creature is very small and round, with no feet or hands! Rena was quite surprised. She expected something horrible and pernicious and insidious to appear, like those slimy, fanged monsters from some horror movies she saw by accident, but her expectations were defied and averted. But despite the fact that the egg is gone and that this cute little animal is here, Rena is still in shock._

_"This can't be real. It just can't be," Rena whispered to herself a little timorously._

_Then, out of nowhere, the little creature's eyes opened in a flash!_

_It made Rena gasp with shock, and right as she gasped, the little creature gasped as well. Suddenly, it literally flew away from the foot of Rena's bed and zipped into her closet, hiding among some shoes and clothes._

'Oh no! Did I scare it?'_ Rena thought as she saw the scared little creature fly into her closet. Not wanting to start off on this note, Rena decided to find the creature and coax it, even though she still didn't quite believe that it's real. Rena got down on her hands and very slowly crawled toward the closet. As she got close, she finally saw the little purple creature, hiding between some shoes, underneath a shirt she stopped wearing, shivering like it was caught in a terrible blizzard. Rena even heard it squeak a little. Upon closer inspection, Rena couldn't help but smile upon seeing how cute the little thing is._

'Awww! So cute!'_ Rena thought. In the distance, she heard Riku's voice._

_"Oh my gosh! This is sooooo cool!"_

_But she didn't focus her energy on that. Instead, she wanted to coax the little creature out. Putting her lips together and making an O shape, Rena whistled softly._

_The little purple animal opened it's eyes upon hearing Rena's whistling. It looked up at Rena, albeit still looking very timorous and diffident. Rena didn't mind._

_"Are you going to come out? Don't be afraid," Rena crooned in a very soft, dulcet whisper. "I won't hurt you. Please come out."_

_Despite the fact that Rena is keeping her voice as low and as gentle as possible, the little creature didn't come out, but it did gaze upon her a bit. But only for a few minutes. The little creature hid underneath the shirt again. Rena smiled._

_"You don't want to come out, huh? Okay. You can come out when you're ready. I'll get you something to eat," Rena told it gently and softly as she stood up and decided to leave the room to get something for the little purple animal to eat._

_Takako went in her room to take a nap already, so this gave Rena the perfect opportunity to find something for it to eat. She grabbed a small white napkin, opened a bag of bread, took a slice out, and began tearing the white part into a few pieces. She put the pieces on the napkin and went to find something else, knowing that bread alone won't entirely satisfy an appetite. She saw that she still has a blueberry flavored Special K bar left, so she tore that up into some pieces and put them on the napkin. Rena also decided to put some of the chocolate pieces from her favorite cereal on it as well. Feeling that her search for food is complete, Rena picked up the napkin full of food and very slowly walked back to her room, knowing that if she made one false move, the entire pile will fall onto the floor and get dirty._

_Thankfully, that didn't happen. Rena returned to her room to find that the little animal is still in the same spot as before. Sitting between a pair of shoes with a no longer used shirt sitting on top of it. Rena very slowly and gently put the napkin full of food in front of the little animal, which actually caught the creature's attention._

_"Here's some food, in case you get hungry. I'll be over there doing homework, okay? You can come out when you're ready. I won't force you,"_ _Rena told it softly in her nice whisper and decided to sit at her desk and do homework. As Rena went to do her homework, the creature ate most of the food that Rena provided, so it didn't go hungry._

_Unfortunately for Rena, the homework she got turned out to be a lot harder than she thought, so it took her about two hours to get it finished. In this timespan, the little purple creature watched as Rena did her thing, which didn't bother the little creature. Oddly enough,_ _it made her curious. It's wide, black eyes gazed upon the figure sitting on the chair, writing on a piece of paper. It got the little purple creature thinking...maybe this person isn't bad after all. Very slowly and cautiously, the little animal creeped out from the closet and into Rena's room. She krept closer...and closer...and closer until she finally managed to reach Rena's bare feet. Rena finally put down her pencil and put her homework in her assigned notebook._

_"Finally, I got it done!" Rena said as she stood up from her chair. But then she felt something slightly slimy and soft rub against her foot._ _She looked down to find the little creature right by her foot, looking up at her with it's black eyes. Rena took great care not to jump or shriek, lest she scare the little thing into hiding again. She smiled at it gently._

_"You're finally out, huh?" Rena asked as she kneeled before it and held out her hand. The creature responded by very gently biting Rena's hand. It didn't hurt, and Rena suspected that the little thing has no teeth since she didn't feel anything but something soft and slimy, but it did tickle, and it made Rena laugh a bit. Rena did scoop the little thing into her other hand and hold it up._

_"You're so cute!" Rena told it, which actually made the little animal smile a bit. Suddenly, the little creature grimaced like it had a needle driven into it, which made Rena worried._

_"What's wrong? You okay?" Rena asked worriedly, seeing that the little purple animal is squirming around like it's sick._

_All of a sudden, the creature opened it's eyes and was enveloped by a purple light. It was so bright it made Rena close her eyes and put a hand over them. It only lasted for a few seconds, but Rena didn't open her eyes right away. She did open them and, much to her surprise, the little creature changed! It's only slightly bigger than what it was just now, but now it really does look like a drop of water with the big round protrusion (without the crescent moon on it) to match. Rena looked quite surprised at the little animal's sudden transformation, but the creature itself didn't quite look surprised. But Rena did smile once she got a good look at the little animal, and it seemed to smile at her too. The little animal seemed to overcome its shyness._

_If only Riku hadn't scared it by suddenly entering the room._

_As soon as the door literally flew open and banged against the wall, the little animal squeaked in fear and zipped back into the closet._

_"Rena! This is so cool! You've gotta see this!" Riku exclaimed loudly, which made Rena shush him._

_"Look what you did! You scared it, Riku!" Rena reproved._

_She also noticed that Riku has a little animal flying next to him. A small, round, orange thing with pointed protrusions all over it, making it look like a little sun with black eyes and a wide mouth, and on its head is a flickering orangish yellow flame._

_"This is Sunmon, my Digimon partner! Is he cool or what?" Riku exclaimed, introducing the tiny sun-like animal as Sunmon._

_"Hi! I'm Sunmon! Nice to meet'cha!" Sunmon exclaimed in a cute voice, with a particularly bright and shiny smile which threw Rena off._

_"Digimon?" Rena asked, looking very confused as she cocked her head to one side. "No way! Digimon's just a cartoon!"_

_"What's a cartoon?" Sunmon asked Riku, but he didn't seem to pay attention._

_"That's what I said...until now! Is this awesome or what? Maybe we'll fight bad Digimon and save the world or something!" Riku shouted again._

_"Shhh! Keep your voice down. You'll wake Mom up and she'll find out," Rena told him in a whisper._

_Sunmon then noticed the purple animal...or Digimon, and floated up to it._

_"Hiya little sister!" Sunmon told it, or her, happily._

_"Sister? She's...your sister?" Rena asked._

_"Yep! This is Moonmon, my sister! She's real shy," Sunmon explained._

_"See, sis? You've got a Digimon too! I've already got a digivice! See?" Riku exclaimed as he rummaged through his pocket and pulled out a white, egg-shaped contraption with a square screen, a few buttons on the bottom, and a golden yellow strap with a darker gold plastic circle on it._

_"This can't be real," Rena said._

_"I know, right? Come on, Sunmon! Let's play!" Riku said._

_"Yeah! Time to play with Rikkun!" Sunmon exclaimed as he floated out of Rena's room, chasing Riku._

_Now Rena and Moonmon are left alone in the room. Moonmon, as Rena found out, continued to cower and hide in the closet in the same spot, only without the shirt on her. Rena felt bad that Moonmon got scared so much, but she decided to try and coax her out again anyway._

_"Sorry about that. Riku's rather hyper and gets loud sometimes. He doesn't mean it, though," Rena told the little purple Digimon, who did manage to look up at Rena with a sad face._

_"I...I'm sowwy," Moonmon squeaked in a particularly cute, dulcet voice which made even Rena's heart melt._

_"Sorry for what? You didn't do anything wrong," Rena said._

_"I...I'm always scared of...ewewyfin," Moonmon squeaked again._

_"There's nothing wrong with that. So your name's...Moonmon? And you're a Digimon?" Rena asked._

_"Yeth."_

_"I'm Rena. It's nice to meet you. Do you...uhh...want to be...friends?"_

_Moonmon didn't say anything and retreated further into the closet._

_"Okay then. You don't have to answer right away. You can tell me when you're ready. But I'd love to be your friend. You're so cute," Rena told her as she gently poked her on the head, which actually made Moonmon giggle a little, but it didn't stimulate her into coming out. But Rena didn't mind. She just went about the rest of the day. She and Riku had dinner (Riku made sure not to say anything about Sunmon even though he's normally so loud) and played around for a while. Rena is happy she doesn't have dance class today or tomorrow, so she'll have plenty of time to play with Moonmon. After dinner, she went to her room and practiced the new dance routine by herself. Unbeknownst to her,_ _Moonmon watched, and was quite amazed. Right as Rena was about to go into bed, Moonmon hopped onto the bed right next to her with a smile on her face. This made Rena smile._

_"Do you...want to sleep with me tonight?" Rena asked._

_"Is...that okay?" Moonmon replied back._

_Rena smiled and hugged Moonmon gently. "Of course it's okay, Moonmon."_

_With that, Rena and Moonmon slept together quite happily, feeling quite content. Morning came around, and Rena was woken up by a very strange sight. Moonmon had completely changed into something totally different! Now she turned into a big, pale lavender, droopy eared rabbit with violet eyes and an antenna! The Digimon woke up and looked at herself, looking quite surprised._

_"Oh my! I...I digivolved!" The Digimon exclaimed as she looked at herself._

_"So...what are you now?" Rena asked._

_The bunny Digimon blushed a little. "I'm...Lunamon now."_

_The bunny Digimon, now Lunamon, gathered her mettle and looked Rena in the eyes. "I...I would very much love...to be friends with you!"_

_This made Rena smile, and she hugged Lunamon gently._

_"That's great. I'd love to be friends with you too. By the way, you're the cutest thing I've ever seen! You're so soft and fluffy!" Rena chimed sweetly. On impulse, she very gently stroke Lunamon's flat stomach with her finger, which made Lunamon giggle cutely. Rena knew right away that Lunamon was hers and hers alone, her very own special friend. She was a little surprised that a Digimon actually came to life, but Rena knew right away that she was going to love little Lunamon._

_All of a sudden, a beautiful, pristine ball of white light floated above them, which caught their attention. Rena decided to catch it so Lunamon wouldn't have to. As soon as it landed in her hands, the light dissipated, and out came the very same device that Riku has, only the strap on it is light purple instead of golden yellow._

_"I take it this is my digivice?" Rena asked out loud._

_"Perhaps it is so!" Lunamon said with a smile._

_From then on, Rena and Lunamon instantly became friends._

(end flashback)

Rena felt her heart grow light upon retelling the story of how she first met Lunamon from her own point of view. Lunamon felt light in the heart as well. Rena, upon remembering the day she screamed after realizing that she lost her leg, became sad again.

"I wonder if...I'll ever walk again," Rena muttered.

Lunamon stood up in alarm. "Of course you will! I know you will! You shouldn't give up. I won't let you!" Lunamon edicted loudly but proudly, which made Rena smile.

"Thanks, Lunamon. You're the best," Rena said.

As soon as she said that, Rena's nostrils were suddenly caressed by the gentle aroma of honey. She also smelled a scent of lavendar as well, a smell she recognized very well. Using one of her crutches, Rena got up and decided to follow it. Lunamon decided to stay behind so she could give Rena some time alone. As Rena would find out, the smell came from the balcony, and AncientKazemon is still in the same spot where she was before, only now the table is covered with food and beverages. There's some plump loaves of bread, some meat lettuce, some apples, bananas, and strawberries, and little tiny cakes. AncientKazemon saw Rena and smiled at her.

"Would you like to try some of this? It's very good," AncientKazemon asked politely.

Rena sat down at a chair next to her and noticed a little flowery cup full of a golden yellow liquid in front of her. She also noticed that there are some purple flower petals in it.

"What's this?" Rena asked.

"Oh. That's called Honey Lavender Tea. It's Viola Island's specialty. It's very sweet. Try it," AncientKazemon prodded kindly.

Rena liked the smell, so she decided to try it and slowly sipped some of it down. Much to her surprise, it's one of the best drinks she ever drank! The sweet taste of honey gently caressed her taste buds and made both her head and heart feel light. The combined smell of honey and lavender calmed her nostrils and made her sigh contentedly.

"It's wonderful," Rena whispered.

"Isn't it? The purple petals are made from Viola Lavender, which are the most beautiful flowers on Viola Island. We grow them too. Their petals are edible and very good for you," AncientKazemon said.

"I love lavender. When my family and I lived in Hokkaido, there was this huge lavender field that Riku and I played in whenever we were allowed to go outside," Rena explained.

"What's Hokkaido?"

"It's the place outside of Japan where Riku and I used to live before we moved to the town of Tama-no-Minato. That's in Japan. Lavender is everywhere in Hokkaido. One of our next door neighbors made lavender scented fabric in a shop she owned. Oh, and during the summer, the fields stretch out for miles! I swear, you can even see them from space! I even used to dance around in them."

"That sounds wonderful. I'd love to go there some time."

"You should."

"So you used to dance? That's a perfectly elegant thing for a girl like you do to. In fact, here in Viola Island, it's used as a therapeudic exercise, and the citizens here love it."

Rena took a bite out of one of the bananas as AncientKazemon told her about dancing. "I'll bet you're really good at it."

"I'm an instructor, but I don't think I'm that good."

Suddenly, Rena and AncientKazemon happily palavered about a great many things, like the human world, Hokkaido, Rena's adventures in Hokkaido,  
>dancing, Digimon, the Digital World, everything. Rena's heart grew lighter and lighter with every conversation she had with the kind, gentle, and motherly rainbow fairy, and she loved every minute of it. But at the same time, she felt something she never felt before, and she noticed it right away. Rena didn't have conversations like this with her own mother. Usually when Rena tried to talk to Takako about something she liked, just for some mother-daughter time, Takako would immediately claim it's a waste of time, change the subject, and start talking about something else entirely. Mostly in a maligned manner at that. But with AncientKazemon, however...Rena told her about everything, and AncientKazemon didn't scoff or disapprove or anything like that. She encouraged Rena to keep talking about what she wanted to talk about. Unlike Takako, who is very disapproving, strict, uptight, and quick to judge, AncientKazemon proved to be very understanding and allowed Rena to do what she wanted, and not once did she disapprove of her or anything she talked about. 'This is what mothers should be like,' Rena thought. She wondered why she didn't have AncientKazemon for a mother instead of Takako. Life with AncientKazemon would be fabulous! Rena had never felt like this before, and she loved it so much, she decided to bring it up.<p>

"Wow. I never got to talk with any woman like this before," Rena said with a smile.

"Really? You're quite the interesting young girl. I think I'll come to like you real well. Darcmon, too," AncientKazemon said kindly.

Rena looked down at the tea, her eyes saddening just a bit. "You're...so kind and accepting and curious...I wish you were my mom."

AncientKazemon's eyes widened just a bit, but not in a disapproving way. Lunamon, who watched everything, became surprised as well, but made sure not to draw unwanted attention to herself. "Why is that? Do you not like the mother who gave you life?"

"I wouldn't say I don't like her. That'd be a mean thing to say, but...to be honest, I'm starting to give up on her. She's nothing like you. She's really strict, uptight, disapproving, you name it. She's always badmouthing people she hates, even her own kids, and she's such a perfectionist, too. She always wants everything to go her way and everyone to do as she says. It's her way or no way at all. My brother Riku has a disability called ADHD, or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. It means he's kinda hyper and has a hard time focusing most of the time. He has his flaws, but he's still a nice kid. But my mom doesn't see that. She thinks that he's an all around bad kid who does nothing but cause trouble, commit crimes, and do everything to make her or everyone else miserable. I mean, sure he did cause his fair share of trouble when we were young, and he still has a lot to learn, but he's made a lot of progress in these past few months and he's come so far now. But my mom's so blinded by her dumb delusion that Riku's gonna grow up to be some criminal that she absolutely refuses to even acknowledge the good things about him, like they don't exist. She doesn't even praise him when he does something right, like get an A on a test or do his chores. She's convinced that he's a failure who will never amount to anything and that he doesn't know right from wrong. I don't believe that's true. Not only that, she kept on raising me to be her perfect little doll who will do anything she says, but I'm not her pawn. Just recently, I lost my leg in a car accident, and she called me a disgrace to my face, and said that I brought it on myself," Rena could feel tears trying to creep out of her eyes. AncientKazemon cocked her head to one side just a bit.

"My, that sounds dreadful," AncientKazemon said, a little surprised by the idea that someone like Takako could even exist.

"Yeah. It is. It's hard dealing with her. I really don't think...she feels any love at all. It just makes me so sad...that she doesn't view me and Riku as her kids. Just objects for her to perfect and disown when she sees fit," Rena murmured sadly, her smile fading and her eyes watering.

"I'm sure there must be a reason for why she acts the way she does, and I really don't see why she would blame you or your brother for things that you can't control," AncientKazemon said.

"Whatever the reason, she needs to shape up, because I'm sick and tired of her over-perfectionistic ways," Rena said.

Suddenly, she felt tears plop onto her hands. She used one of her hands to feel her cheeks, and they're wet.

"Oh! I-I'm sorry!" Rena tried to wipe the tears away. "I didn't mean to-"

AncientKazemon's hand caressed her cheek very gently, and Rena had to admit, the rainbow fairy's hand felt very soft and gentle. "It's quite alright, my child. Everyone needs to vent once in a while. Even I have my dreadful days. But I will say this: you may have lost your leg, but you shouldn't give up because you lost something important. Use the loss to create something new and wonderful. Also, I don't agree with your mother. You're not a disgrace or a failure at all, and neither is your brother. You're a wonderful human, and I can certainly see why Lunamon gets along with you so well," AncientKazemon told her kindly.

Rena put her own hand on AncientKazemon's hands, relishing in her gentle touch. "Thank you..."

AncientKazemon removed her hand and smiled again. "There's still some food left if you're hungry."

"Yeah. I'm starving," Rena said as she took a bite out of some food.

Lunamon smiled from afar. _'They look great together,'_ Lunamon thought, then ran to join them. "Can I join you?"

"Sure, Lunamon!" Rena said with a smile as she invited her Digimon partner to join in the mini feast. They ate politely but happily, and at the end, they felt quite satisfied.

"Mmmmm! That stuff was soooo good! Thanks a whole lot, AncientKazemon," Rena told her.

"You're very welcome," AncientKazemon told them as they decided to leave the balcony.

As they went inside, they ran into Darcmon.

"Oh. Hello there," Darcmon said.

"Hi," Rena said.

"I suppose...you're feeling better?" Darcmon asked, her voice sounding concerned.

"Sort of, but not entirely. Thanks for asking though," Rena said.

Darcmon's head drooped downward a bit. "Look...I'm sorry for the way I acted earlier."

"It's okay. You were only trying to defend your home. I understand. I'd do the same thing if some robbers tried to break into my house, so it's no biggie," Rena said.

"Do you need me to help you with that?" Darcmon asked, noting Rena's stultified leg and her crutches.

"Oh, no. It's fine. I need to learn how to use these anyhow. Besides, my leg still needs to heal up. But thanks for your concern," Rena told her in an appreciative way, trying to make sure her declining didn't hurt Darcmon's feelings, but Darcmon didn't seem bothered so Rena knew she succeeded.

"You're quite the interesting human. I would love to get to know you better. AncientKazemon-sama has taken a liking to you, I notice," Darcmon said with a smile.

"Oh no no," Rena waved one of her hands a little. "I'm not interesting at all. You should see one of my-"

Rena wanted to tell Darcmon about some of her friends, the ones who she thought are more interesting than she is, but all of a sudden, a vociferous, bellowing howl interrupted not just her, but everyone else. Lunamon's ears flew upward in response.

"That's a Digimon's howl!" Lunamon exclaimed.

"This can't be good! It's coming from the area where you came in!" Darcmon yelped as she flew out. AncientKazemon saw this, and turned around to look at Rena and Lunamon.

"Here, I'll take you there," AncientKazemon said as she scooped them both in her arms and followed Darcmon.

Yes, the howl did, in fact, come from the little beach where Rena and Lunamon were when they arrived in the Digital World, and what they saw there surprised them. A lone Garurumon, with ghostly glowing red eyes, meaning a Dark Emblem is somewhere on it's body, roared and howled and bellowed angrily, as if he was in pain.

"It's a branded Garurumon!" Rena exclaimed.

"Yes, it is. We can't let him go into Viola Island any further!" Darcmon exclaimed. "We can't have any more commotions!"

AncientKazemon flew over to a safe spot, out of the feral and vicious Garurumon's sight, and gently put Rena and Lunamon down. "I'll put up a barrier so he won't get in. You two stay here for a bit," AncientKazemon told them kindly, then flew up to Darcmon. "You distract him for now."

"Copy that!" Darcmon did a sailor salute, got out her small sword, and charged at the wild Garurumon, who immediately noticed her.

"Hey wolf boy! Come and get me!" Darcmon bellowed as she tried to dredge her sword into Garurumon, but the giant blue wolf dodged the attack.

AncientKazemon flew right above the whole island and chanted for a bit, then her hands glowed in a beautiful rainbow light.

"Rainbow Dominion!" AncientKazemon made some hand movements for a bit, then a giant, rainbow-like dome covered the entirety of Viola Island, protecting it from the lone Garurumon.

As Darcmon and Garurumon fought, Rena and Lunamon watched as they clashed with swords and claws.

"You should go help her, Lunamon," Rena whispered.

"But if I do that, you'll be wide open for attack," Lunamon said.

"I'll be fine. I can't really do anything to help them out myself, so you'll have to help Darcmon. AncientKazemon can help too," Rena tried to reassure Lunamon, even though she herself knew that because of her dearth of a left leg, she can't walk properly or run away to save her life.

Lunamon knew this as well, but she figured that two champion levels can defeat one, so she gathered her mettle and nodded. "Alright."

Rena's digivice glowed, and Lunamon digivolved into Lekismon. Lekismon, seeing the brouhaha between Garurumon and Darcmon, decided to step in and help.

"Moon Night Kick!" In a flash, Lekismon kicked Garurumon so hard in the face that he fell on the sand sideways. Darcmon was surprised.

"Lunamon? Is that you?" Darcmon yelped, looking very surprised.

Lekismon smiled at her. "Would you like some help with that?"

Darcmon smiled back. "Yes. I'd love for you to assist."

Garurumon roared again and attacked once he regained his equanimity.

"Howling Blaster!" A wave of fiery, electric blue energy streamed out of Garurumon's mouth, but Darcmon and Lekismon successfully leaped out of the way.

"Moon Night Bomb!" Lekismon made four spheres of water fall on Garurumon, causing him to squeeze his eyes shut.

"La Pucelle!" Darcmon managed to smack Garurumon on the head with her sword.

"Darcmon! We need to find the Dark Emblem! If we destroy it, Garurumon will be back to normal!" Lekismon told her.

"That's true! But we need to subdue him first! This thing's a wild one!" Darcmon said as Garurumon tried to claw at her, but she flung her sword at him, causing the claw to push against it. Darcmon tried to hold him back while Lekismon proceeded to look around.

"I found it! It's on his right leg!" Lekismon exclaimed.

Garurumon was about to attack with another Howling Blaster, but Darcmon kicked him in the jaw and flew away before he could do anything.

"Tear Arrow!" Lekismon shot an icy arrow at Garurumon, who dodged it.

"Oh my! He's quite agile!" Lekismon exclaimed.

"You're telling me!" Darcmon backed her up.

"Howling Blaster!"

"Moon Night Bomb!"

"La Pucelle!"

Lekismon, Darcmon, and Garurumon continued to duke it out while Rena watched from afar. One thing bothered her, though. _'Why isn't AncientKazemon here yet? She's a mega level, isn't she? She can take this thing out in one move! What's taking so long?'_ Rena thought desperately. Perhaps putting up the barrier takes more time than she thought. In her mind, Rena wanted to help, as she was tired of sitting around doing nothing, but in her heart, she knew very well that there's nothing she can do, especially with her dearth of a left leg to take into consideration. But she did feel that she needed to have AncientKazemon come and help so she can get this battle done and over with. She picked up one of her crutches, put herself on it, and attempted to try and walk further away so she can at least tell someone to send for AncientKazemon.

But as she did, however, Garurumon lunged at Lekismon, who punched him so hard in the face that he literally flew against the cliff! A huge crater formed and the island shook for a bit as a result. But unbeknownst to Lekismon, the shaking caused Rena to fall onto the sand and one of her crutches to bounce away from her!

"Oh no! My crutch!" Rena cried out as she tried to reach it. Lekismon and Darcmon didn't hear her, as they were too busy trying to subdue Garurumon, who immediately fought back, even after he got thrown into the cliff.

Rena knew she had to get her crutch and fast, so she decided to crawl there. She had never crawled with one leg before, but she knew she had to do something and get it out of the way. Crutches are expensive, and she knew that if she lost one, her parents would have to buy her a new pair, and those cost a lot of money, especially in this day and age. Rena didn't want that to happen, so she decided to crawl over to her crutch and grab it, even though it meant leaving her out in the open. It wasn't easy. The sand is quite hot because of being exposed to the sun for quite some time, and just touching it made her skin burn with heat, though not enough to leave any marks. But Rena steeled herself so as to not draw any attention to herself, especially Garurumon's. She didn't want to think about what Garurumon could do to her in his state. Rena, trying hard to ignore the brouhaha going on and the pain that the sun-touched sand is causing her fair skin, crawled toward her crutch. One hand in front of the other. Using her good leg, she pushed herself forward. She used her arms to pull herself forward. She could feel herself getting closer and closer, her crutch coming into her vicinity.

"Come on...just a little more..." Rena muttered as she got closer and closer. Finally, after a painstaking crawl, she laid her hand on her crutch.

"Got it!" Rena exclaimed, feeling quite accomplished. Wanting to use this opportunity to get away, she tried to pull her crutch up so she can use it and walk away.

Unfortunately, Rena's slow movements weren't on her side right now, as once Lekismon and Darcmon tried to attack Garurumon, the rabid blue wolf immediately laid eyes on the helpless girl and, with great speed, charged at her.

"NO! RENA!" Lekismon screamed as she tried to go after the wolf.

Not even Rena could see it in time, and her stultified left leg hindered her opportunity to escape. Immediately, Garurumon lunged at Rena, though all he did was use one of his claws to pin her to the ground. Rena was surprised that he didn't dig them into her and kill her right away. Both Lekismon and Darcmon arrived and tried to pry the rabid blue wolf off of Rena.

"Unhand her this instant, you beast!" Lekismon exclaimed as she tried to attack Garurumon from behind, along with Darcmon, but Garurumon, sensing their presence, kicked them both with his back legs.

Rena was overcome with fear upon seeing the big bad blue wolf towering above her, gazing at her with bloody red eyes that viewed her as nothing more than his next meal...until she saw that her crutch is still in her hand. 'That's it! I've got it!' Rena thought. Using all the strength she could muster into her arm, she held her crutch up. It was heavy, but Rena couldn't complain. Once Garurumon was about to eat her, with his big sharp teeth glistening...

He immediately felt a surging pain in his eye.

"RAAAAWWWWR!"

Rena stabbed his right eye with her crutch.

Lekismon and Darcmon were both shocked.

"Wow! Did Rena just...poke him in the eye?" Darcmon yelped.

"Rena-san, that was amazing!" Lekismon cheered happily as Rena tried to get up.

But Garurumon became choleric.

"Howling Blaster!"

Right after he got poked with Rena's crutch, he decided that roasting her in a flurry of blue flames would be the better option, but even that proved to be a mistake.

"Rainbow Symphony!"

With a swing of her trusted rapier, AncientKazemon decended onto the scene and made a myriad of tiny lasers appear in thin air and attack Garurumon, finally rendering him unconscious.

"AncientKazemon!" Rena exclaimed.

"Sorry I took so long," AncientKazemon said, then turned to look at Lekismon and Darcmon. "I'll let you two handle it from here."

Without a word, Lekismon and Darcmon both pulled up the unconscious Garurumon's right leg. They saw the Dark Emblem, and Darcmon removed it with her sword. Finally, everything ended. Lekismon ran over to Rena with worry and helped her up.

"Are you alright, Rena-san?" Lekismon asked, her sweet voice full of worry.

Rena smiled. "Yeah. Sorry about that. My crutch bounced away from me when Garurumon hit the wall and I needed to get it."

"I'm sorry I took so long in getting here. Some Digimon told me that there was another branded Digimon on the other side of the island, so I took care of it as quickly as I could. It seems there's no shortage of them," AncientKazemon said.

"We understand-huh?" Darcmon said until she saw the stone on her staff glowing in a beautiful emerald green color.

"Why are you glowing?" AncientKazemon asked.

"You are, too!" Rena exclaimed.

AncientKazemon looked down and saw that her rapier is glowing in a pretty pinkish purple color. Soon, small lights appeared and descended onto Rena's palm. The lights disappeared and out came some small gem stones. One is a green egg-shaped thing with bat wings, just like the design on Darcmon's staff. The other is a pinkish purple arc that could look very much like a rainbow if it were tri-colored. Rena and Lekismon both smiled at each other brightly.

"You have their D-Chips now, Rena-san!" Lekismon exclaimed happily.

Darcmon and AncientKazemon looked at them with confused faces.

"D-Chips?"

Lekismon and Rena explained it, and both women Digimon smiled.

"Oh! How very interesting! I'm so glad to be a secondary partner to you!" AncientKazemon exclaimed, looking very happy about this arrangement.

"Normally I wouldn't like to be tied down to someone, but I don't mind if it's you, Rena-san," Darcmon said.

Rena chuckled a bit. "It's alright. You can still do your thing. Don't let me stop you."

After this, Lekismon de-digivolved back into Lunamon.

"Thanks for helping me, you two. I really appreciate it. I wish there was something I could do to repay you for your kindness," Rena told them as politely and gracefully as she could.

"It's no trouble at all. You're such a delight!" AncientKazemon said.

"So should we be heading back home now, Rena-san?" Lunamon asked.

"I suppose we should," Rena replied.

"You're going back to your world?" Darcmon asked.

"We have to. My family might be worried about me, and I don't want to worry them," Rena told them.

"I understand. We'll let you take your leave...but we hope you'll come and visit us or call us if you need something," AncientKazemon said.

"I'll be sure to do that," Rena said.

But before they could leave, Darcmon took the liberty of giving Rena her other crutch since it had been left on the beach during the battle with Garurumon. But Rena got her digivice, opened it, pressed the door button, and allowed herself and Lunamon to fall in, leaving the Digital World.

_In the human world..._

"Whoa! She's gone!"

After Mrs. Sakura escorted the girls inside to lecture them about their inopportune and inappropriate behavior, Hiyori still remained outside on the parking lot, looking very surprised by what just happened. But then, all of a sudden, the light from before appeared again! Right after that, Rena, Moonmon, and her crutches appeared! The light disappeared and Hiyori ran over to them with worry.

"That was quick. Hey! You alright? What the freak just happened?" Hiyori asked with worry, though she's still quite surprised that Rena suddenly disappeared and re-appeared seconds later.

"Oh. Hi. Sorry about that," Rena said.

Hiyori looked down at Moonmon, who, now having been found out, didn't hide.

"Uh...you have a pet monster? And there's some kind of freaky monster world or something?" Hiyori asked in a very deadpan and straight forward manner.

Rena let out a nervous laugh. "Yeah."

Hiyori then flashed an impish smile. "Cool. Wish I had one."

Hiyori and Rena went inside the studio, and Rena was interrogated by Mrs. Sakura regarding what happened. Rena wound up spilling the beans considering she had no other plausible explanation, and Mrs. Sakura didn't quite believe her at first. Some of the other girls laughed, but Mrs. Sakura lectured them again. Rena stayed in the studio, but didn't dance because of her leg. Once her time was up, Michitaka came and picked her up. Rena decided to not bring up the incident. She figured he had a lot on his place because of the nervous expression on his face. Once she got home, she crutched herself into her room where, oddly enough, Riku was waiting for her.

"Hey sis," Riku said.

"Hi Riku. What are you doing here?" Rena asked, looking confused. Normally, any sister would get mad at their brother for going into their room for anything. Rena felt this way before, but now she was just confused.

"Thinking about what's been happening. You losing your leg, the Digimon being found out, Mom being the idiot she is, everything," Riku told her solemnly.

Rena sat down on the floor next to Moonmon and Riku.

"Riku. It's not your fault. Stuff just happens," Rena told her.

"I know, but still...it just makes me sad that Mom wants you to be perfect and doesn't even show any motherly love for you even after bad stuff happened to you! It's not fair!" Riku exclaimed.

Rena folded her legs close to her chest. "I know. I agree."

"I wonder...what'll happen from now on?"

"I don't know."

"Rena...I don't want you to give up on...living life. Please...continue to be you."

Rena smiled at this. "Yeah. I will."

"Riku's right. You shouldn't let the accident define you," Moonmon told her.

Rena smiled again. "I know."

Moonmon, feeling that Rena and Riku should be left alone so they can have their brother sister time, left the bed room. Moonmon felt happy that Rena's spirit has been revived just a little bit, but not entirely. Moonmon could tell that Rena still has some insecurities. For one thing, it's likely she won't be able to dance anymore! Rena sure didn't take that too well, and she probably won't be able to truly be herself because of that. Moonmon knew that, to Rena, dancing was her life, the thing where she truly came alive. She wondered how Rena was going to cope with no more dancing.

Suddenly, Moonmon found herself in the living room, where she saw Takako. Moonmon immediately hid behind the couch so she couldn't see her. Thankfully, Takako didn't see her, but Moonmon could tell that she's looking quite choleric.

"I've had just about enough! Desperate times call for desperate measures! I refuse to sit around idly while everything I've worked so hard to perfect is falling apart! I guess I have to throw some things away then," Takako muttered angrily.

_'What does she mean by throw away?'_ Moonmon couldn't help but wonder.

Moonmon didn't know that Takako wasn't the only one who is about to take extreme measures.

Masaomi sat in his living room with the windows wide open. The curtains are pulled apart, and the windows are up. Masaomi didn't care if any bugs were going to come in. He's just too focused on his computer.

"Yes. Everything's coming along nicely. MC Destroyer is almost ready for use! I've worked for months on this, and I'll probably have it ready in a few weeks!" Masaomi mused to himself happily.

What Masaomi didn't know was that opening the windows proved to be a mistake.

As Masaomi worked on more minute calculations, Link peered into the window and overheard everything.

_'Oh no! Masaomi's almost done with MC Destroyer? I thought I got through to him! I need to fix this somehow!'_ Link thought.

Link wanted to fix it, but sometimes even he can't solve all the world's problems.


	69. Impending Doom

EPISODE 69: Impending Doom

It is now early July. The summer heat and humidity has crawled into Tama-no-Minato, and nobody liked it. But it's been a few weeks, and Rena has finally been deemed ready to use her new prosthetic leg. Well, the prosthesis itself has been around the Nobara house for quite a while. It's a generic piece, made from a black socket, a short metal pole, and a furry brown stump resembling a cap that, oddly enough, isn't shaped like a foot. But nobody minded. The doctors checked the measurements and, coincidentally enough, the prosthetic leg fits Rena perfectly! But they did have to tell them that even having a prosthetic has its drawbacks. For one thing, Rena has to wear white covering to protect the stump that was once her left leg in order for it to fit into the black socket. Not only that, Rena has to be careful about using it so much that she makes her stump bleed or get an infection. Yes, things like that can happen, mostly if it's not aligned properly or if it gets dirty and doesn't get cleaned regularly. Rena should also check for friction and irritation every once in a while, and the doctor made a note for Michitaka to give to the school, requiring Rena to go to the nurse and have her leg checked every day so they can check if there's any bleeding, friction, irritation, or infection as she's using it.

Then, Rena's first day of physical therapy arrived. Once her new prosthetic leg fit perfectly, Rena now has to learn how to walk with it, which certainly isn't easy. Rena sometimes stumbled and fell. Sometimes her prosthetic leg came off. But she didn't give up. Even though she had to cling to rail lines in the physical therapy room, she tried again and again. The doctors said that she wouldn't be able to walk immediately, but Rena didn't mind. She told herself that whether it took her a few months or forever, she was going to walk no matter what. Michitaka, Riku, Lunamon, and Coronamon were proud of her courage, even though this is only the first day. It'll be a long time yet before Rena can fully walk on her own. As of now, she still has to use crutches along with her new prosthetic, but Rena didn't mind. What some people didn't know was that she had a plan.

Yun was the first person to notice that plan.

On Tuesday, the day after Rena's first day of physical therapy, which happened right after school (Rena has to do three hours of physical therapy three times a week, though Rena suggested she do it every day, which the doctors declined due to them not wanting Rena to push herself too hard), Yun noticed that Rena got through the day just fine but didn't come outside for recess. She was at lunch, yes, but normally kids are supposed to go to recess right after lunch unless they were either in trouble or had something important to do. Yun looked around the entire black top. Twice. But Rena didn't come out. After a few minutes, Yun decided to try and look for her. She was about to walk up the bleachers and go inside until someone noticed and stopped her.

"Yun?"

Yun turned around to see Hokuto standing behind her. Hokuto's wearing a pale tan sun hat on his head, though his wig is missing. He also has on a sleeveless yellow and white shirt and pale blue jean shorts. Great summer attire.

"Why are you going inside?" Hokuto asked with some concern in both his low voice and his cobalt blue eyes.

"I'm gonna go look for Rena-chan," Yun replied with a reassuring smile and walked up the steps.

"Ooooh! The white retard's in trouble!" Nenji and his cronies yelled from a distance, but neither Yun nor Hokuto paid any attention.

"Shut up, you porky pig!" Melody yelled angrily from afar.

But as Yun would find out, Rena isn't too far. The first thing Yun did was look through the very narrow, vertically rectangular shaped window of the classroom that is her homeroom. That was all it took for Yun to find Rena's whereabouts, and she saw something very surprising.

Rena arranged the desks in a straight manner.

She's doing her own physical therapy.

She's practicing her walking.

Overcome with an overwhelming sense of curiosity, Yun came inside. She noticed that Mrs. Takahashi is at her desk looking at them.

"Oh. Hi Wakamiya. What are you doing here?" Mrs. Takahashi asked kindly, albeit a little surprised by Yun's entrance.

"I was just wondering where Rena-chan is," Yun said.

Yun watched as Rena's fists clutched two desks on each side and tried to push herself to walk. It didn't look easy, but Yun got closer so she could get within talking distance. Rena looked at her and smiled.

"Hey. Sorry I worried you. Heard you come in," Rena told her.

"It's okay. You're really working hard, aren't you?" Yun replied with a smile.

"Yeah. I want to walk as soon as possible, so I'm going to do my own little physical therapy sessions during recess," Rena told her.

"Won't that be hard?" Yun asked.

"Nobody said it was easy," Rena said.

"Don't push yourself too hard, Nobara. I don't want you to end up in the nurse's office," Mrs. Takahashi told her, not meaning it to be a derogatory comment. Rena smiled at her.

"Sure, though I kinda have to go to the nurse's office anyway to get my leg checked every so often," Rena said.

Normally, Yun would want to hang out with her friends outside. But not today. She decided to stay and watch Rena re-teach herself how to walk. After a few minutes, Yun decided to say something.

"You're so strong, Rena-chan," Yun told her sweetly.

Rena smiled. "Thanks. I'll definitely walk again."

"Do you want any help? Y'know, in case you fall or something?"

"Thanks, but not right now. I'll let you know if I need help," Rena told her kindly.

Yun decided to stay and watch Rena. Rena stumbled occasionally, and Yun was quick to try and help her up, which Rena didn't mind. But Rena persisted and wouldn't give up, not even after Mrs. Takahashi suggested that Rena see the nurse. Soon, the bell rang and classes restarted for the rest of the afternoon. Rena had to go back to using her crutches for now. Some kids looked at her prosthetic leg in curiosity, both good and bad, while other kids flat out insulted her and called her names, like Peg Leg Pirate Nobara, which Riku didn't take too well. The good kids and the teachers did try to subdue them, but insults don't always go away immediately. Heck, kids still call Otoya cult girl, but she got over it. School finally ended, and Rena and Riku got picked up by Michitaka. But even as Rena got home, she practiced her walking, much to Takako's chagrin.

"You really shouldn't have gotten her that useless contraption," Takako whispered glumly to Michitaka when the two were alone that day. "She can do just fine without it."

"You're only saying that because you want to control her and force her to give up. I won't let you do that, Takako," Michitaka told her in a calm but sharp whisper.

"Why I never-" Takako was about to argue, but Michitaka left before she could go on another tirade.

Michitaka was quite determined to help Rena get back on her feet, and he was not going to let Takako trample all over Rena with her controling ways. But Michitaka did, however, wish that he could fix his own mistakes and make up for everything that's happened.

He had yet to realize that he isn't the only one who's full of regrets.

Around the same time, Yun took Lopmon and Terriermon with her to go and visit Rena and see how she's doing, something that Lopmon and Terriermon both found intriguing.

"You're going out on your own for the first time! That's wonderful, Yun!" Lopmon chirped happily, noting that Yun is actually walking to Rena's house all on her own, even though they haven't arrived yet.

"So what are we gonna do when we get there?" Terriermon asked curiously.

"I dunno. Maybe hang out or watch her practice. It looks like using a prosthetic leg is hard," Yun said.

"Nobody said it was easy," Terriermon said.

"I never said it was," Yun told him.

"I wonder when Rena-san will walk again?" Lopmon asked out loud.

"It'll probably be a long while before she can really walk upright," Yun replied.

They walked together for about a few more minutes until something unexpected happened.

"Huh? Is that you, Yun-chan?"

A voice that somehow knew her name caught her attention. She turned around and saw a young man standing behind her. He has curly light brown hair, sea blue eyes, and olive skin. He has on a short-sleeved pale blue button up shirt with white stripes going across the whole thing diagonally, along with a pair of tan jeans and white sneakers. Much to Yun's surprise, she recognized him.

"Oh! Hey! You're the man from the BlueMeramon incident!" Yun exclaimed happily as she ran over to him.

The man chuckled a bit, looking a trifle embarrassed. "I'm surprised you still remember that. Again, I'm very sorry you had to go through that."

"It's okay. I'm just happy you're alright," Yun said.

"I see your cute little rabbit friends are doing well, too," The man said kindly, referring to Lopmon and Terriermon.

"I know they are. Oh!" Yun said happily at first, then remembered that she forgot something important. "I completely forgot to ask for your name!"

It's here that the man's smile immediately faded. The man sat down on a steel bench that happened to be right next to the two of them. Yun and the rabbit duo decided to sit down as well.

"What's wrong?" Yun asked curiously.

"My name...might cause you some anxiety and confusion. You might not like who I am, but I'll tell you anyway, since it's a respectful thing to do," The man said. Yun noticed, without looking at his eyes, being averse to eye contact as she is, that the man's face looked quite contorted when trying to blurt out his name, but he did it anyway.

"I'm...Shimizu Yuuichi. I...I have a daughter who...goes to school with you. Her name's Seiko," The man whispered sadly.

_Shimizu!_ Yun's eyes shot open and became quite wide. All this time she never knew that the man she saved from a rabid BlueMeramon causing a rampage is Seiko's father? And she just found out about it _NOW_? Yun couldn't believe her ears, and neither could Lopmon and Terriermon, the latter who suddenly leaped off of Yun's shoulder and looked at him angrily.

"So YOU'RE that bratty Seiko girl's father, huh? I wanna-" Terriermon was about to yell at him, but Lopmon yanked on his ear and made him fall on his behind.

"Don't be so brash and quick to judge, Terriermon!" Lopmon reproved him.

Yuuichi shook his head. "No. It's fine. I get where you're coming from. My daughter...has done terrible things to you. I heard all about it from the principal."

"So...you know?" Yun asked, looking both surprised and confused at the same time.

Yuuichi now looked downright dejetced. "Yes. I do. I get calls from the school regarding her behavior a lot, and I've done everything in my power to force her to see the error of her ways and change her behavior, but it hasn't gone well. I'm at my wit's end. She's pretty good at hiding it, too."

Yuuichi turned to look at Yun, with a very sad look painted all over his face. "Yun-chan...I had absolutely no idea that my daughter has been antagonizing you for so long until now. I wish I had found out earlier, so I could have prevented that incident from happening. If only I hadn't been so slow and stupid!"

Yun could hear the genuine sadness in his voice, and could tell that he's nothing like his knave daughter. "You're not slow or stupid. Kids love hiding things from their parents. My sister does that a lot."

"Yun-chan, I...I'm so sorry! For everything! For not being able to stop her from doing what she did! I know she should be the one apologizing to you and not me, but I had a big part in this too, so I feel I'm obliged to apologize to you," Yuuichi sounded like he was going to cry, but he held back his sadness and didn't let himself succumb to it. "You have every right to hate me. I deserve it. After all...I'm the main reason why Seiko's the way she is."

"Why do you think that? Surely you must be mistaken," Lopmon asked, hoping that what Yuuichi said just now was a mistake, but Yuuichi shook his head dejectedly.

"No. I'm not mistaken. It truly is my fault that Seiko...is a hardcore racist," Yuuichi said.

"Why is she that way?" Terriermon suddenly asked out of the blue. Lopmon felt no need to scold him this time because Yuuichi is going to answer anyway, whether he asked or not.

And he did.

"See, about a year and a half ago, my wife, Ichika, left us. For an American man. Because of me. See, when the economy went bust, I lost my old job and I tried desperately to look for another one, but I failed. One day, a man approached me and asked me to be his delivery man. He just up and hired me, no applications or nothing. He just gave me boxes and addresses, and all I had to do was deliver them and come back. I made a lot of good money and I thought I was doing well...until one of the boxes got destroyed once. That's when, to my horror, I discovered what was inside not just that box, but every single one I delivered: drugs. Crack, marijuana, weed, cocaine, everything. I couldn't believe I was so stupid as to fall for his trick! I confronted him about it, but he threatened me at gunpoint, saying that if I snitched, he'd kill me. But I didn't want him to run free because of my crime, so I called the police and got him and his cronies arrested. His business shut down. I tried to turn myself in, because I was still technically involved with their shady business, but the police and the court let me go free because I was tricked and had no intention of causing anyone harm. My wife...she took it the wrong way. She thought I intentionally helped them do their business and accused me of trying to slander her reputation, even hurt the family or put them at risk. I tried to explain it to her, but she claimed that she would never be the wife of a drug junkie, so she asked for a divorce and left. I tried to give her money, but she said she didn't want money that was gained from selling drugs. Seiko heard and saw all of it, and blamed me for everything...and she's right. She has every right to hate me. I should have been able to see that man's scheme from the very beginning, but I guess I was just so happy about finally getting a job after so long that my judgment was clouded. I should never have served him, and I never should have used the money I made from it to stop our house from getting foreclosed. But I don't think it would have mattered because I don't think Ichika ever liked being with me. She and Seiko were very close. That's why Seiko took it so hard. There's so many questions I want to ask Ichika, the biggest one being...why didn't she _take Seiko with her_? She would be much happier with her than an idiot like me. I don't understand..."

Yun was frozen with shock. The poor man! He had to go through so much just to put food on his family's table, but even after he managed to put the criminal behind bars, his wife blamed him and left him and her daugher behind! Now she saw why Seiko hated Americans, and possibly her dad, so much. Why would Ichika be so stubborn as to leave him for something he was roped into against his will? It wasn't his fault! The man was probably really charismatic, and she knew that criminals like them have a way of roping people into their schemes and doing whatever means possible to keep them in it or kill them if they choose to defy them, or snitch as they say. Yun felt her heart sag with sympathy for the poor man. His job turned out to be an insidious drug scheme, his wife thinks he tried to put the family at risk on purpose and left him behind, didn't bother to take Seiko, who she is close to, with her, and now Seiko probably hates him for driving her away! Yun could actually feel tears in her eyes. Lopmon, too. But Terriermon crossed his arms suspiciously.

"You probably didn't want to go through all this bad stuff. That I get, but still, that doesn't mean Seiko should do whatever she pleases to other people! Especially hurt them!" Terriermon exclaimed, not looking like he's convinced. Lopmon was about to scold him again, but Yuuichi interrupted again.

"I know. I agree with you. Seiko shouldn't try to hurt people or bully them or antagonize them. I've scolded her about it dozens of times. I've even grounded her, took away her I-Pod, computer, and her many bottles of nail polish, but she still won't listen to me. She hates me. She's convinced that I drove Ichika away on purpose. Ichika, the only person who ever truly loved her. But...I think I know why she's been picking on you, Yun. I think what she really wants is to blame that American man for taking away her mother, the person she loved best, but can't because he's probably far away, and she has no way of contacting him, so I think that when she found out your racial heritage, she decided to take her hatred out on you. Oh!" Yuuichi buried his face in his hands. "If only I had known, I would have been able to stop all of this from happening!"

"So...Shimizu-san only wanted a scapegoat for her anger. An American one. Is that it?" Lopmon asked.

Yuuichi nodded grimly. "My only dream was to settle down, have a nice family, and live a good life. I don't want Seiko to grow up into a cruel person. I don't want her to live a life of crime, one where she terrorizes people. Since Ichika left, I've tried everything to make ends meet. I've tried raising her to the best of my abilities, but...she refuses to listen to me. She defies me all the time, won't even accept the gifts I get for her. I don't blame her, though. She has every right to hate me. I screwed up so bad, I don't think I'll ever be worthy of redemption. Perhaps-"

"I'm sorry!"

Yuuichi held his head up to find Yun bowing before him apologetically, looking like she's about to cry. Yuuichi got off of the bench and kneeled in front of her.

"What are you sorry for, Yun-chan?" Yuuichi asked.

"You're right! Your daughter has been giving me a hard time since last year! She started going after me after I caught her trying to steal a teacher's nail polish! I got her in trouble for it, but she's been on my tail ever since! And you're right, she did start that whole fiasco in detention where she, Nemoto, and a bunch of seventh graders assaulted me and beat me up! I never understood what I did to her that was so bad to get something like that! But even before that...I have to confess! I have to! I snapped at her! I called her a bunch of mean names because I was so sick and tired of her giving me a hard time! Especially since I found out that she hates Americans! I know, I know, I shouldn't have snapped at her and yelled at her and called her names, especially now that I know of your situation, but I just couldn't stand it anymore! I just couldn't stand her gossiping about me, starting untrue rumors about me, saying things about stuff like my hair, my clothes and my love of anime and manga! For being so mean to your daughter, who you're trying so hard to raise in vain, I'm sorry!"

Yun felt that she needed to get this out. She felt terrible about snapping at Seiko so long ago, now that she's learned about her situation. The rabbit duo were quite surprised. Terriermon wanted to know why Yun would apologize for snapping at Seiko when she knew for a fact that she deserved it? Terriermon wanted to bring this up, but he didn't want Lopmon scolding him again, so he kept his mouth shut. Yuuichi smiled at her, seeing that she truly is a nice person. He stood up and put a hand on her head.

"I'm glad you're so honest, Yun-chan. But you really have no need to apologize," Yuuichi told her kindly. Yun stood up again and looked at him.

"I...I felt I had to. I...I can see that you're a genuinely nice person who really cares about your daughter despite what's been happening. I don't think you should blame yourself for everything that's happened. I mean, it's easy for people to get tricked by something like that, and I'm sure for a fact that you're a great father. You're trying your best to raise her even though she doesn't listen to you. Lots of kids are like that. My sister's like that. I know for a fact that...you don't want her acting the way she does," Yun told him in a kind but rather straightforward manner.

Yuuichi nodded. "I'm so glad you understand, and again, I'm so sorry for everything she did to you. If I could have prevented this earlier, I most certainly would have."

"Yeah! You should have done something earlier! Yun got beat up-" Terriermon interjected fervently, but Lopmon stepped on one of his ears.

"OWWW!"

"That's enough out of you!" Lopmon scolded angrily.

"No. It's quite alright. He's right. I should have done something earlier...oh no!" Yuuichi said until he looked at his watch. "I have to get home! It was very nice talking to you, Yun-chan. I hope you all have a good day."

Yun nodded. "You too."

"Goodbye!" Yuuichi waved as he ran off.

"Bye, Yuuichi-san!" Yun waved back. With that, they parted.

Lopmon immediately stared daggers at Terriermon. "You really shouldn't have made all of those inappropriate comments like that. You should  
>know that he's nothing like Seiko!"<p>

"So? He's her dad! He should do a better job with raising her!" Terriermon snapped back.

Finally, Yun broke them up. "Alright, break it up!"

She turned to Lopmon first. "Lopmon, I understand that you don't like that Terriermon made those comments like that. I get why you don't want him doing that. But in a way, I sort of agree with him. I want to be angry with him and tell him how bad Seiko is, but I didn't, because he already knows. I think it'd hurt his feelings if I yelled at him and told him he was a bad father, which he isn't," She turned to Terriermon next. "Terriermon, there was really no need to interrupt him and say those things like that. I know you like speaking your mind. I do, too. But I know that sometimes I have to keep certain things to myself because if I say them, it'll hurt their feelings. I don't think Yuuichi-san needs to be reminded of his mistakes. He's a good guy, Terriermon. He's nothing like his daughter."

"But still-"

"No buts! Yuuichi-san is a good guy who went through some terrible things and is having a hard time! That's all there is to it! Besides, we need to go and see Rena-chan," Yun told him strictly. Lopmon hopped on Yun's right shoulder.

"You're right. Let's get going, shall we?" Lopmon said.

Terriermon, conceding defeat, hopped onto Yun's left shoulder. "Alright. I believe you. Let's go see Rena-chan!"

With that, the three of them continued on.

But while one man desperately wants to fix a mistake, another man tried desperately to prevent one from happening.

Around the same time as Yuuichi was talking to Yun, Link was watching Masaomi's house very carefully, as a unique opportunity had presented itself to him.

Link had happened to be walking down the same street only to quickly duck out of sight as he saw Masaomi storm out of his house muttering something under his breath as he slammed the door shut and fumbled with the lock before walking down the street. Although this in itself didn't seem very unusual, it was the chance Link had been waiting for, as Masaomi rarely left his house anymore.

He wasn't going to waste it.

Masaomi had been absorbed in his project so deeply he began to forget little things. Things like to buy food, shave, bathe, old hobbies… and closing windows. And on a hot day like this, there was a high chance that Masaomi had done just that.

As casually as possible he walked down the street, looking at the house out of the corner of his eyes the whole time. By doing this he hoped to see if he could spot any open windows, but he found so much more than that.

One of the window's curtains were drawn back, reviling the inside of the house…and MC Destroyer sitting innocently on a desk.

Concealing his shock and delight as best as he could, Link continued to walk, around the house to the back of it. Looking around, he made sure that no one was watching (he didn't want to risk getting arrested for burglary) before he climbed the low wire fence. Not wanting to get caught, he quickly jumped down; bareley avoiding landing in the trash can placed next to the fence, and looked up at the opening window he had seen earlier. The window was above his head, too far to jump and reach, but at the same time not very high, as the house itself was only one story, excluding the basement. Backing up, he quickly judged the brick siding of the building before he took off at a sprint towards the wall.

Spending weeks at a time in the Digital World had forced Link to refine his athletic skills, thus resulting in him being far above average in physical skill, and having thorough knowledge in fighting and other techniques.

Right before he impacted with the unforgiving brick, he leapt up using one leg and planted his other foot onto the wall at the needed angel. Using his forward momentum he pushed up and brought the other leg forward to keep his momentum. Reaching upwards, he grasped the ledge of the window with his fingers before allowing the full momentum of his jump to carry himself upwards so he could plant his whole forearm on the ledge and quickly swung his leg around and onto the ledge as he pull himself upwards and through the window.

The ledge didn't extend inside so Link didn't have much room to pull himself up on. So when he felt himself tipping then falling, he pulled his body into a roll with practiced ease.

Standing up he took a second to brush of his clothes (Cleaning was yet another thing Masaomi had neglected to do) he looked around the room he had landed in. It was simple and rather plain, it looked to be a bedroom with all the basics things one would expect to find in such a room. Not bothering to look around more than a quick glace to find the door to the hallway, he quickly left the room. Walking down the relatively short hallway, Link all but ignored the open doors that led to the other rooms, he knew were MC Destroyer was.

Arriving in what appeared to be a basic sparsely furnished living room, MC Destoryer was easy enough to spot sitting on the table. Quickly grabbing the packaged disk, Link looked it over as he thought of how to get rid of the disk. Throwing the thing off a bridge and onto a busy highway or better yet, a fast-flowing river seemed like the best and easiest thing to do. So what if he got caught and charged with littering? Paying a fine would be better than having this remain here…

Thinking over were the nearest bridge was, Link walked over to the open window he came into. He was so engrossed with his thoughts; Link didn't hear the shouts until it was too late.

"Get back here you mangy mutt!"

Freezing at the sound of the vociferous, angry yell, instantly recognized as Masaomi's, Link knew he had to get out of the house and fast. There was only one way out from this direction though, and he could hear Masaomi's voice along with ferocious-sounding dog barks coming down that path. Even if there was another way, it would seem to suspicious, hence why he jumped the fence in the first place. Taking a deep breath, Link quickly decided a plan. He placed the packaged disk in his mouth and held onto it with his teeth.

Hearing that the angry shouts were closing in, probably only seconds from rounding the corner, Link leapt from the window towards the wire fence. Though the fence was low, it was still too high and far away for him to jump, even from the window. Realizing this too late, he hit the wire fence, hard.  
>It was all he could do to grab onto the fence, the impact had shaken him badly and one of his hands was badly cut from grabbing the sharp top of the fence. Link gritted his teeth as pain seared from the open wound as he grabbed the fence and began to pull himself up…and he stopped just as quickly.<p>

Link looked down and to his horror saw that MC Destroyer had landed in the open garbage can beneath him, apparently released unknowingly when he hit the fence. It was simply lying there, too far down to reach without climbing down, and painfully obvious to see. Any thought of climbing down was quickly whisked away as a barking black and brown Rottweiler came sprinting down the pathway, barking even louder as it saw him.

Deciding that the disk was out of reach, and getting arrested would amount to nothing but more trouble, Link scrambled over the fence the rest of the way and dropped to the ground on the other side. Without even waiting to catch his balance, Link bolted away from the house, ignoring the barking dog.

Besides, there was a high chance that MC Destroyer would simply get thrown out and be gone for good that way…

Of course, fate tended to hate Link sometimes.

The dog continued to bark at the fleeing man, jumping and clawing at the fence. Once the man was gone and out of sight, the dog's attention quickly shifted to the garbage can that was next to it. Knocking it down the dog began to scavenge for edible food, ignoring the square plastic container that fell next to it, as it was no nearly as appealing as the half-finished meals deeper within the trash.

Of corse, the dog's dinner was cut short as Masaomi finally caught up to the dog. Yanking it's collar, he ignored the yelp it gave and threw it away from his garbage.

"Filthy beast, get out of my trash!" Masaomi yelled at the dog. The dog simply growled back.

Masaomi glaired at the unhappy dog, prepaired for the conflict that was sure to arise, but thankfully it was stopped by a middle-aged man running up to the pair.

"Gabu! Stop going through other people's trash!" The man scolded as he grabbed the rottweiler, Gabu, by the collar, yanking it back.

"I'm so sorry, Hiroya-san! Gabu loves going through other people's trash. I'll be sure to give him a good spanking when I get home," The man told Masaomi, who was less than happy.

"Please do!" Masaomi yelled as the man tried to take Gabu back home by force.

"You come with me, Gabu! You should know better than to start all that infernal racket!" The man yelled as he successfully managed to drag the almost hysterical Gabu across the street.

Grumbling angrily, Masaomi began to pick up the scattered trash and angrily throw it back into the garbage can. Paper plates, old containers, half-eaten food, a hard square case with a disk inside…

Wait…

Masaomi stopped himself just intime to prevent himself from flinging MC Destroyer back into the garbage. Shocked, he staired at the disk for a second before frantically opening it and inspecting the CD within. Finding it unharmed, he let out a sigh of relif, but that quickly dissolved in anger.

"Someone did this on purpose, I know it! Don't think you can outsmart me, Wataru! You know what? Screw it! I'm initiating MC Destroyer as soon as more of those worthless Digimon appear!" Masaomi exclaimed as he ran back into the house.

If only Link knew that his attempt to save both the human world and the Digital World failed...but then again, fate has a way of making a success arrive in the most unexpected ways.

Meanwhile, Yun, Lopmon, and Terriermon have finally arrived at Rena's house. But to Yun's surprise, most of the Digimon Brigade have arrived. Most, because some of the members aren't here, like Shunji, Isao, and Minako, and their Digimon. Both Michitaka and Takako are out today, so they were able to sneak the Digimon into the house.

"Where is everyone?" Rena asked.

"Shunji's got a lot of homework to work on, Isao's gotta help his mom out, and Minako has chores to do," Kosuke explained.

"I feel kinda bad for them. Being loaded with stuff to do must be hard," Patamon said.

"Well, it's life. There isn't much for them to do other than to get it done," Kudamon piped in.

"Where's Lucero at?" Biyomon asked.

"Teruki needs him for some stuff at home," Terriermon told her.

"Your house is nice, Rena-chan!" Yun said.

"Thanks," Rena said.

Both Aria and MarineAngemon looked at Rena's prosthetic leg with innocent curiosity. Aria looked up at Rena with sympathy in her eyes. "Does it hurt?" She asked innocently.

"A little bit, but I'll deal with it," Rena replied.

"So I take it you're going to be a little out of commission when it comes to fighting Digimon for a while?" Riku asked.

Rena sighed, not knowing how to answer.

"Considering how your leg is, I think you should stay out of Digimon fights for a while. I mean, you can come with us, but you're gonna have to let Lunamon do the fighting and be sure to hide in a safe place," Melody told her.

"But won't that be rather boring?" Biyomon asked curiously. "I know it's for safety and health reasons, but I'd hate being cooped up. I mean, I don't want to sit around and do nothing while my friends fight. That'd make me sound indolent and ungrateful! I'd want to at least do something to help."

"I get what you mean," Yun told her. "It's nice that you're considering her feelings. I don't like sitting around and doing nothing either, but we have to be practical here. Rena-chan just got her prosthetic leg, and as of now, she can barely walk on it, and she can't run on it either. We can still take her to Digimon battles, but someone has to keep an eye on her so nothing happens to her. There's the threat of both the Digimon wreaking havoc or her either losing her prosthetic leg or getting an infection or stuff like that," Rena had recently told Yun and the others about the drawbacks of having prosthetics. "You don't mind, do you, Rena-chan? We just don't want you to get hurt."

"I know, and I'm glad you all care about me so much, though it'll suck to be out of commission for a while," Rena said, reassuring Yun.

"Please understand. It's for your own good. We simply don't want anything bad to happen to you," Kudamon told her.

"I get it. Thanks," Rena said with a smile.

"Oh! Rena-chan! Is it true you got some D-Chips?" Otoya asked.

"Yep! Didn't I tell you all?" Rena replied. She remembered telling other members of the Digimon Brigade about her D-Chips about a week ago, but she didn't remember Otoya being there.

"That's right! You weren't there because you had a cold," Melody said.

"Ohhhhh! I get it now!" Otoya exclaimed.

"Do you want to see them? I have them on me," Rena asked as she pulled the D-Chips out of her skirt pocket and showed them to everyone.

All the kids and Digimon gazed upon the D-Chips with awe. "Oooooh! So pretty!"

"I know, right? Aren't they pretty? I really like them," Rena said.

"Which Digimon did you tame?" Coronamon asked.

"A Darcmon and an AncientKazemon," Rena replied.

"Huh? An AncientKazemon? She's a mega level Digimon!" Labramon said.

"I kinda figured that out," Rena said.

"I haven't summoned my secondary Digimon much. I wonder if I should?" Otoya asked herself.

"Maybe you can when another Digimon wreaks havoc around the city. We'll need all the help we can get," Labramon told her. "But at the same time, we need to minimize the amount of damage and casualties. We don't want any lives being taken."

Yun's face drooped downward a bit in sadness. She remembered the battle with Shadramon and how two little kids died because of it. Yun still has some regrets in her heart regarding that.

"Oh! I have an idea! How about we all-" Biyomon was about to say something when a loud roar cut her off.

"AAAAAARRRGH!"

Everyone leapt to their feet in alarm while Yun covered her ears in fear.

"Tell me that's not a Digimon!" Otoya yelped.

"I don't sense anything, so maybe there isn't one," Labramon said.

"It came from the other block. Let's go and check it out," Kosuke said.

"Yeah! Let's!" Patamon backed him up.

All the kids and Digimon stormed out of the house. Rena put her D-Chips in her pocket, got her crutch, and followed them out. What she did not know was that AncientKazemon's D-Chip hung from her pocket for a bit, then fell onto the floor as she left.

The kids and Digimon went outside and, much to their relief, the noise didn't come from a Digimon at all. But much to their surprise, however, the noise came from a rather small, grouchy, and cantankerous old man who obviously didn't look senile. He's a short, spindly little thing, with small white hair, very small eyes, a big red nose, and a blue headband wrapped around his forehead. He has on a pair of brown shorts, a blue shirt, and sandals. He looks as though he's throwing bird feed at some birds who are flying away. Yes, throwing bird feed AT the birds, not for them to eat.

"Get off my property you vermin!" The old man yelled as he continued to throw bird feed on the street.

Kosuke held his hand out in front of everyone. "I got this."

"Kosuke, don't!" Patamon yanked on his sleeve and tried to convince him to stay, not too keen on letting Kosuke handle this.

"It'll be fine. I've done this before," Kosuke told him and gently shooed him off of his shirt.

As the old man continued to throw bird feed at the street, Kosuke approached him. His footsteps alone managed to catch the old man's attention.

"Hah? Whaddaya want, kid?" The old man asked.

"You do realize that you should be doing that to pesky kids, not birds, right?" Kosuke told him.

The old man looked at the street for a bit, then at Kosuke.

"Yeah. I know. Yer right. But I ain't havin' the best o' days so I need an outlet for mah anger!" The old man bellowed.

Seeing that it's safe to approach him, Rena decided to follow Kosuke's example and approach the old man herself.

"What's making you mad?" Rena asked kindly.

"Society's goin' downhill, that's what! 'Dem youngins aren't as civilized and proper as 'dey used to be! Now 'dey do all sorts of bad stuff, like do drugs, drink booze, get pregnant while in high school, break into stores, steal stuff, and wear all of 'dem revealin' clothes! It just ain't right! It just ain't right! Mah granddaughter is always talkin' back to me like I dun mean nuttin' to her! Nobody respects their elders anymore! 'Dat's really thrown me for a loop, I tell ya!" The old man ranted.

"She's not wearing anything revealing," Kosuke said, referring to Rena, which got the old man's attention.

"I know how you feel. I don't like that stuff either," Rena told him.

"'Den yer better off!" The old man said. But he wasn't done yet. All of sudden, he pointed to Rena with gusto. "Yer problem is that you _lack any sense of grace!_"

Rena's calm demeanor shattered into a million pieces, right then and there. It was bad enough she just lost her leg and can likely never dance again, but here this old man comes and cruelly tells Rena that she lacks any sense of grace! Rena remembered that since she was little, all the adults praised her for being polite and graceful. They even praised her way of walking. Some say she looked as though she could walk on water with her perfect posture. But now, ever since she lost her leg, nobody noticed her anymore. Rena felt her heart break, and she soon found herself bursting into tears. With her crutch she stormed away.

"Rena! Come back!" Lunamon chirped as she tried to chase after her, which made the old man bellow with surprise.

"Wha-Wha-Wha-Wha-WHAT IS THAT THING?" The old man roared with fear as he saw Rena.

All of a sudden, he felt something hard fall onto his foot. "OWWWWW!"

It was Melody's foot.

"You're heartless, you know that? Talk about hitting a girl where it hurts! I'll never forgive you!" Melody screamed angrily.

"Mel-chan! Stop!" Otoya, Aria, and Hokuto both tried to stop Melody from exacerbating the situation. Yun, Lopmon, Terriermon, Riku, Coronamon, and Lunamon chased after Rena.

Chasing Rena should have been easy considering that she hasn't even come close to mastering the use of her new prosthetic leg, but the chase itself turned out to be harder than expected. Rena somehow managed to use her crutch to walk faster than she could have done about a week ago, which is rather natural with people who are upset. They tend to either run faster than normal or gain more strength for a little bit because of it. It wasn't until a few minutes later that they finally caught up to her, and that was because once Rena got to the park, she tripped on part of the sidewalk because her crutch got caught in a small hole, and it caused her to stumble and fall on the grass so hard that her prosthetic leg actually popped off!

"Rena!" Lunamon ran over to the crying Rena as soon as she saw her fall on the grass. Rena, still crying, didn't even bother to pull herself up. Riku, Coronamon, Yun, and Lunamon tried to help her up, but she wouldn't-couldn't-stand up.

"You okay?" Yun asked, but Rena continued to cry.

"He's right! He's absolutely right! I do lack a sense of grace! I won't ever be praised for dancing beautifully or walking elegantly anymore and there's nothing I can do about it!" Rena cried both sadly and angrily, convinced that she'll never be the same as she was before.

Then it hit Lunamon, right there. Even though Rena has the D-Heart of Grace, Rena herself is convinced that grace has a different definition. Rena firmly believes that grace means nothing more than beautiful and elegant movement, seeing as she just told everyone that she's been praised by others for dancing elegantly and having a great posture when walking. Lunamon became quite shocked, and it wasn't even because Rena took the old man's insult too personally.

"That's not true, sis! That old man was just being an old kook! Old people say weird stuff all the time!" Riku tried to reassure her, but it didn't work.

"Yeah! I say weird stuff all the time!" Coronamon piped in.

"Stop trying to make me feel better! It's not going to work! Stop trying to sugar-coat it for me! You know it and I know it! I'll never be a graceful person ever again!" Rena cried harder this time, but only for a little bit.

Once the kids and the old man, who was being dragged there by Melody against his will, managed to catch up to Rena, the ground lurched beneath their feet. Letting out a startled yelp, the old man fell, and the other kids didn't fare much better. When the rumbling subsided, everyone looked around. Nothing had seemed to change other than a few of the children suddenly finding themselves on the ground.

"What was tha…" the old man started, but traied off as he looked up at the sky. No one else said anything either as they simply stared in silence, with confusion, shock, and surprise written all over their faces.

The sky looked as though it had been ripped open, reviling swimming blackness. And within that blackness there was a waving grid-like pattern that fluctuated shades of green and yellow with countless neon green ones and zeros floating about.

"A really big Digital Portal…?" Aria asked to no one in particular.

No one answered because a second later, the floating ones and zeros in the rift were shattered into countless pieces and the grid-like pattern suddenly began to ripple violently as a massive roar echoed throughout the city. It was a loud grating roar that forced the children and everyone else in the city to cover their ears as it echoed and continued for several seconds. When it stopped, Yun opened one eye that she had squeezed shut to look at the rift and gasped.

The grid pattern had been shattered leaving only blackness in its place. But what had filled the void were two massive dark blue, almost black horned heads with glowing yellow spheres serving as eyes, and the rest of its eyes were red, where the whiteness of an eye should be. It looked at the city unblinkingly, before turning away and fading, as the rift condensed into one single black point that floated hundreds of feet above the ground..

"Hooooooly shrimp. What…was that?" Riku asked, his voice quivering.

"I…don't know…" Kosuke replied, green eyes narrowing "But I have a feeling that whatever just happened, it's far from over."

It turns out that he was more right than anyone thought possible.

It happened so fast no one knew how to react. There was a flash of light that blinded them all for a second and then the sound of thunder. And then it rained crystals. Perfect six sided crystals all about the size of baseballs rained from that single black point. But they never hit the ground. Instead they floated in the air, the closest being at least twenty feet of the ground, twirling almost lazily, yet with every second they glowed a little brighter.

"Hey! What're ya doing?" Yun and everyone else tore their eyes from the almost hypnotic sight to see the rest of the Digimon Brigade running towards them, Shunji leading the way.

The old man screamed at the sight of the Digimon, and ran away yelling something about devil's work.

"…Do I even what to know?" Shunji asked as everyone else simply looked at the old man silently.

"…Nope…" Kosuke replied, looking back up at the sky, noticing that the crystals were spinning faster and glowing brighter.

"What happened? There was some kind of weird earthquake and then…this…" Minako muttered looking at the spinning crystals.

"You think we know more than you? We just got doing dealing with a crazy old man!" Melody snapped back, annoyed.

"It's really pretty…" Arai commented, MarineAngemon and Otoya nodding.

"Just because it's pretty doesn't mean it's harmless…" Kudamon replied, his eyes not leaving the now rapidly spinning crystals which were glowing so bright they hurt to look at.

"Yeah…I sence a Digimon presence from each of those crystals…" Labramon muttered, a growl in his voice.

"A Digimon presence? Why would the crystals have one?" Yun asked, completely and utterly confused at this point.

No one else replied, because no one had the chance. Suddenly the crystals shot towards the single black point, causing the point to light up like a miniature sun. Shielding their eyes, the ground couldn't look at the bright point at all, and thus they didn't see what happened next.

The now massive glowing sphere exploded outwards, forming a massive pillar of multi-colored light that also quickly collapsed, but the damage was done.

There was absolute silence as the group stared at what was left behind. Kudamon and Labramon had been all to correct about the crystals having a Digimon presence.

Standing there where the pillar had been is a massive, newly formed army of Digimon. Blue Commandramon and Pipismon were what the army mainly consisted of, dozens and dozens of them lined the streets, all poised to fight, bloodlust in their eyes. But with the Digimon was a new Digimon. It was easily twice as tall as any of the children, covered in thick, ruddy brown fur with ruddy red hands and feet and two grey horns protruded out of the tops of its shoulders, matching the three smaller horns that came out of it's white helmet that held it's green ears near it's face.

Yun had looked up the new Digimon and had begun to read out it's information; "Wendigomon, a champion level. His attacks are..." Yun, upon seeing its attacks, became frozen with a combination of surprise and fear. Her green eyes grew big, and her hands shook. "...What?"

No one had time to ask her what was wrong as then chaos broke lose and pandemonium broke out. A single woman screamed and that seemed to unfreeze everyone else. People ran and screamed, mothers grabbed for their children, men and woman alike shoved everyone aside, trying to get away from these creatures only to be shoved themselves…no one took any notice to a man wearing dark sunglasses who was holding a grey controller in his hands.

A computerized voice began to recite a recorded message, trying to be heard over the vociferous pandemonium all around: "Citizens of Tama-no-Minato, this is an evacuation order! Please leave the area until the situation is ameliorated! I repeat..."

The rest was lost as a Wendigomon let out a roar that was quickly taken up the other Wendigomon, and then the rest of the army, almost drowning out the screams of the citizens…

The Digital Army had arrived, and every single Digimon there wanted nothing more than to kill everything.

Note: Credit goes to RandomReviewer257 for beta reading and making changes on this chapter and soon to be the next one. Thanks again!


	70. Blossoming Underneath The Moonlight

EPISODE 70: Blossoming Underneath The Moonlight

It was chaos, in its purest most absolute form.

As soon as the Digimon Army had begun to roar, the Wendigomon in front ran forward, bellowing wildly, the rest of the army close behind. The army itself spread out in whatever direction they happened to be facing, not caring if there was a road or building or person in front of them, anything ahead was simply an obstacle, something that needed to be destroyed.

The Police open fired on the Digimon, and while the bullets ripped the delicate membrane of the Pipismon, the bullets simple bounced off the Commandramon's armor, only causing harm if one hit were the blue-green armor didn't cover, and the Wendigomon barley even flinched, barreling through the hail of bullets which did little more damage than a paintball gun.

As the first Wendigomon reached the police line, the men knew it was no use then and scattered as the huge beast leapt up. The screams of the police car's sirens abruptly ended as the Wendigomon landed it, practically flattening it as the roof caved in and glass exploded outward violently. More followed after it, some also flattening the cars, but others shouting "Cable Crusher" and sending cars and people alike flying through the air.

The Commandramon followed behind them, shooting anything that moved, taking out any police forces that tried to gather and were being ignored by the Wendigomon. Other Commandramon simply threw their bombs anywhere they say people, the bombs exploding on contact with the ground or an unfortunate person.

The Pipismon had decided to join in, some simply flying over and letting out high-pitched shrieks that shattered ear-drums and glass alike. Other Pipismon began flying over the crowds swinging their scythe-like claws wildly, causing people to let out cried of horror as the person they had been running next to suddenly dropped dead with their throat sliced violently and others simply screamed as the Pipismon missed, but instead ripped open large gaping wounds on their face or head or back or anywhere they could reach.

Yun had long ago regressed to covering her ears and was resisting the urge to simple curl into a ball and cry and the shrieks and cries of chaos and death rang loud and clear.

But that was fine as she had already evolved Terriermon and Lopmon to Gargomon and Turuiemon and even managed to summon her secondary Digimon. The others had also done the same (except for Otoya and Rena summoning their secondary Digimon, as they suddenly noticed the D-Chips were gone, causing Melody to shout several not-so-savory words at the fact that their only powerful mega wasn't available).

The Digimon that had been summoned didn't even have time to say anything, as soon as they arrived, they simply ran into the fight, knowing that was why they had been summoned. The other recently evolved Digimon also followed in, Angemon, Birdramon, and Firamon instantly took advantage of their ability to fly and began attacking the Pipismon, while the other five began to attack the Wendigomon and Commandramon. The children has all elected to run down the hill they were on and to better cover with Swanmon and Seasarmon for protection in case any rouge Digimon got to close. By now Yun had recovered enough to run with everyone else to cover. But she stopped and looked back at the battle field.

It was the single worst thing she had ever seen in her life.

Blood pooled in the streets and bodies laid here and there in gruesome displays of death. Only the dead and the battling Digimon remained. Everyone… but one woman. Yun could only watch in silent horror as she ran across the field of death, hoping the Digimon were distracted by the newcomers.

A Pipismon crouched on the top of a building spotted her. It let out a shriek and swooped down.

The woman, hearing this, looked back and saw the large bad swooping down towards her….

She ran faster, towards a doorway too small for the Pipismon...

She only got half way.

The Pipismon closed the distance in only a few seconds. It raised it's scythe hand.

It swung.

Yun heard nothing the moment the woman screamed. Yun felt nothing; her whole body was numb as she slowly went into shock. She only saw the woman lying motionless on the ground, a gaping wound on her back almost cutting her clean through.

As the initial shock of seeing such a grisly death began to wear of, she began to head again. She could hear someone yelling. She looked over to see that all her friends had run down the hill and had stopped halfway, looking back. They were shouting. She knew that.

Yun stared numbly at them, not really registering their fear, she was trying to try and hear what they were yelling…she could only hear muffled words that made no sense.

And now they were running towards her, waving, all of them screaming, Melody in the lead, waving her arms screaming loudly, her face red from all the yelling.

Red like blood.

The words were somewhat clearer now, but they were still only sounds, and there were so many sounds right now…though none of them made any real sense.

They were closer now, but still so far…the sheer terror on their faces now registering in Yun's mind somewhere. Why were they afraid? Why wasn't she afraid? She just saw a woman die a horrible death...maybe she was in shock or something?

And then all the sounds in the world suddenly came back. And she saw Melody ahead of everyone else with Seasarmon about to overtake her open her mouth…

"For God's sake Yun, RUN!"

And then Yun noticed the large shadow looming over her…

She turned around and saw it.

Wendigomon.

_Level: Champion_

It raised its huge arms above it, forming a combined fist…

_Type: Beast Man Digimon_

Yun froze with fear, the death of the woman suddenly hitting her full force again…

_Attribute: Virus_

The Wendigomon brought its fists down as hard as it could, towards Yun's head…

_Prior Forms:_

"…Lopmon…?" the word was barley a whisper, a mere breath of air in volume, yet carrying so much weight…

And the spot were Yun had previously been standing suddenly exploded as the Wendigomon's massive red fists impacted with the ground, sending up a huge cloud of dust and debris…

Melody stopped and stared in abject horror at the place were Yun had been standing before, feeling a numbing shock wash over her like a wave of icy water. She was vaguely aware of someone behind her screaming, but that didn't matter.

"No…" she mumbled weakly, watching the Wendigomon, "Yun…"

The Wendigomon turn towards them, ready to charge, but never go the chance as a very angry Seasarmon blindsided it and sank his long fangs into its neck, causing it to yell in anger and pain. Turuiemon dug one of her gauntlets into the creature's side. Gargomon shot bullets at it's face. The Wendigomon began to trash around but didn't get a chance to throw Seasarmon off as suddenly Firamon dive-bombed it from above in a flaming torrent. Seasarmon jumped away from the Wendigomon just as Firamon hit it with a Flame-Dive far more powerful than anything Melody had seen him do before, killing the Wendigomon instantly. Turuiemon and Gargomon all ran from the scene.

Blinking at the sudden confritation, Melody snapped out of her shock instantly and ran up the hill.

"Yun! Is Yun ok?" She yelled at the Digimon frantically.

"I…don't know…" Seasarmon replied with his back to her, blocking were Yun had been stading from her view.

"What? Did she get hit or not?" Shunji asked, causing Melody to jump, he sure was fast…

"No, but…" Firamon replied, hesitating slightly, "well, she not _here_. And considering that when you humans die it's much more, ah, messy, we can assume…"

But Melody had stopped listening and ran past Firamon to look at the place were Yun was.

The ground had been cracked and torn up from the impact and if any human had been the target of that attack, there wouldn't be much left. But there was no blood or carnage or anything, which meant Yun had to have gotten away...

Melody looked the one direction were Yun could have escaped yet not be seen by anyone…

The only way she could have gone and not have been seen was down the hill and directly into the battle between the Digimon Brigade's Digimon and the Digimon army.

"…Lopmon…?" Yun whispered to the huge creature in front of her. And then she saw the fists coming down, ready to smash her into nothing more than a smear…

Some kind of survival instinct kick in and without thinking she trew her body to the side, barly dodging the fists. But Yun had simple thrown her body in a random direction to dodge, and thus she wasn't prepared for the change in slop and quickly lost her footing. Tumbling down the hill and out of control the next few seconds were a blur of color and pain.

When she finally stopped, she simply laid on her back for a few seconds, looking up at the sky and trying to stop her heart from exploding and regain her breath. Sitting up slowly, she rubbed the back of her head but winced as she touched a newly-gained lump. Grimacing at the stinging sensation all over her body she looked herself over to see that her arms and legs were covered in cuts and bruises from the rough texture of the road, but (hopefully) nothing to serious.

Seeing that she was relatively uninjured Yun stood up and looked around.

She regretted it instantly.

She was in the middle of a warzone.

Buildings were missing large chunks, windows were almost nonexistent and the roads were little more than chunks of rock. And the blood…

Yun let out a yelp as she heard the screak of a Pipismon along with something else. She looked up and saw Birdramon fighting off several Pipismon at once, all of them trying to subdue her with the agonizing cries.

Hands over ears and eyes closed, Yun blindly ran, wanting to get away from the noise. She simply ran whichever direction had the least noise, as it was so loud with attacks being yelled and explosions and screams…

She didn't know how long she ran, but she knew that her sides ached and it hurt to breath but she didn't stop…until a few Commandramon assaulted Turuiemon and Gargomon.

"Gauntlet Claw!" Turuiemon slashed some Commandramon into data, knowing that she needed to protect her frightened partner.

Masaomi watched as the Digimon battled with the Commandramon, Pipismon, and Wendigomon valiantly, though some time has passed since then. But the situation is still dire. The Digimon on the Digimon Brigade's side continued to fight with the Digimon army that forcibly came through the portal, though the army continued to gain the upper hand. Most of the secondary Digimon became too tired to fight, so they had to be sent back to the Digital World.

"Koko Crusher!" One Wendigomon tried to pummel Angemon, but he successfully flew away as soon as the giant furry beast was about to throw his fists on him.

"Hand of Fate!" Angemon retaliated with his own attack, and made that Wendigomon dissipate into data.

"Man! Don't these things ever take a break?" Owlmon exclaimed angrily as he gouged a Pipismon, starting to become tired.

"Probably not, since they're likely serving MoonMillenniummon!" Seasarmon piped in.

Birdramon was about to land an attack when all of a sudden, six Wendigomon leaped onto her as soon as she descended downward and pinned her to the ground as they beat her up with their giant fists.

"Birdramon!" Melody tried to run and save her, but Maildramon wouldn't let her.

"Mel! You mustn't! It's too dangerous!" Maildramon told her, but Melody wouldn't budge.

"She's getting pummeled to death!" Melody screamed angrily.

Most of the Digimon were too occupied with the others to even have a little bit of time to help her out. Gargomon, Reppamon, and Angemon are trying to handle other Wendigomon. Firamon, Bucchiemon, Swanmon, and MarineAngemon are trying to handle the Pipismon to no avail, and Prairiemon, Unimon, Pegasusmon, and Sheepmon tried to handle the Commandramon.

"MAN! Why can't we digivolve into ultimate when we need to the most? I'm starting to think there's some kind of pattern here!" Firamon complained.

"Well whatever it is, it sure is annoying! Magic Water!" MarineAngemon piped in as she used a giant torrent of water to blast away a lot of Commandramon.

"Someone's gotta save Birdramon or she'll get killed!" Sheepmon exclaimed with worry.

Thankfully, help arrived much faster than expected.

"Blue Flare Breath!"

"Lightning Paw!"

"Crescent Dawn!"

"Hanging Twister!"

A giant bear made the crescent moon on his head glow, causing the Wendigomon to stop pummeling Birdramon, finally giving her time to breathe. Then, a little white cat landed hits on every single one, not giving them time to register what's going on around them. Then a twister threw them all into the air, which allowed a blue dragon to spew a large blue wave of fire at them, causing them all to dissipate into data. At this point, Birdramon found herself to be too weak to continue fighting, so she de-digivolved back into Biyomon. At this point, Maildramon allowed Melody to approach her fallen friend.

"Biyomon!" Almost tearful, Melody ran to her pink feathered friend and scooped her into her arms.

"That really hurt!" Biyomon complained, which made Melody smile.

"Still as vain as ever, huh? I'm glad," Melody said.

"Shouldn't we be fighting them right now? Buildings are getting destroyed and our friends are falling!" Coredramon exclaimed as he saw Seasarmon get pummeled with DCD Bombs thrown by some Commandramon, so much that he de-digivolved back into Labramon.

"He's right. We need to act quickly!" Grizzlymon exclaimed.

Unfortunately, even their help wasn't enough to subdue the army. Despite their best efforts, the army still had the upper hand. Gargomon and Turuiemon, finally having the energy drained out of them, de-digivolved back into Terriermon and Lopmon. Nobody knew where Rena and Lekismon had gone, and most of the other Digimon have de-digivolved back into rookies. Swanmon just got shot at by some Commandramon, causing her to fall to the ground with an injuried wing, and Prairiemon only just managed to assault them with an underground attack, finally making them dissipate into data. Prairiemon, seeing Lopmon and Terriermon tend to Yun, decided to approach them.

"Is everything alright? I just managed to finish off some Commandramon, thank goodness for that!" Prairiemon asked with concern in her sweet voice.

"No! Everything's not alright!" Terriermon screamed, which frightened Yun even more.

"No! NO NO NOOOO! That ugly thing just CANNOT be a digivolved form of Lopmon! IT JUST CAN'T!" Yun cried quite loudly, perturbed by both the myriad of noise pounding on her ears, and the startling (to her) information that Wendigomon is another champion form of Lopmon, something that seemed to cause her great distress.

However, despite everything that's going on, Yun did manage to gather the mettle to open her eyes just a bit. When she did, she saw something very startling, and she wished she hadn't seen it. What she saw was...Masaomi, looking at the brouhaha going on with a smirk on his face, holding a controller in his hand.

Yun, remembering that incident between Link and Masaomi, could tell right away what that controller was for.

Masaomi smirked and held the controller into the air. "MC Destroyer! Activate!"

_Beep_

With one press of a button, the controller made one solitary beeping sound.

At his house, the silver satellite disk sitting on his roof suddenly began emitting sparks of blue electricity, then changing into a blue beam of light that shot into the sky. The blue light hit the evening sky and began turning into a big greenish blue circle that can be seen from any angle or distance from the city. All of a sudden, the wind increased. Leaves were being blown out of the trees at an alarming rate. Garbage cans tumbled along the streets, spilling out their contents and allowing them to be blown away with them.

It was Link who noticed it first when Koromon suddenly began howling in pain.

"Koromon! What's wrong?" Link yelped as he saw Koromon's eyes suddenly grow big. Koromon then tried to hop away from Link, but he managed to catch the little pink thing.

"Don't run away!" Link commanded.

"I'm not doing it on purpose! My body won't listen to me!" Koromon cried out.

Then it hit Link, and it made him immediately become timorous.

"No. No! It can't be!" Link, with the still grimacing Koromon in his arms, ran to Fujiyama Avenue and saw it in the sky. He then ran into Masaomi's house through one of his open windows despite the danger, burst into the basement, ran over to the main computer, and looked at the monitor.

Link's fear had been confirmed.

The screen read _'MC Destroyer, activating'_

"NO! I thought I threw it away!" Link screamed angrily, rueful that his attempt to save both worlds had failed miserably. Koromon suddenly began bouncing around the room, trying to break out of it like a prisoner in a jail cell. Link closed the door so Koromon wouldn't get out, though he knew Koromon wasn't doing this on purpose.

Link immediately sat down on the computer chair. "I have to stop this from going any further!"

With this, Link tried everything. From uninstalling the program to even destroying Masaomi's entire computer and motherboard, nothing worked. Computer parts were scattered all over the place as Link panted with failure. As Link and Koromon left the basement, the TV blared. The news people are covering the battle at the town square, and the scene looks dire, as various Digimon are being dragged into the circle in the sky. Link's eyes grew big.

"Oh no! The Digimon Brigade!" Link yelled as both he and Koromon left Masaomi's house.

As for the Digimon Brigade...

Most of the Commandramon and Pipismon had already been sucked into the big hole in the sky, howling with both pain, sadness, and hatred as they dissipated into data that got absorbed by the giant hole. The Wendigomon, however, were tough as nails and did everything they could to keep themselves from getting sucked in.

"What's going on? I'm scared!" Aria cried as she, MarineAngemon, and Gatomon clung to Minako tightly.

"I have no idea!" Minako exclaimed fearfully.

"My...My body feels like it's being torn up from the inside! Nyaaaan!" Gatomon snarled fearfully.

Otoya leaped on top of Labramon because she saw him floating toward the hole in the sky. "Labramon!"

"I...I can't control my body! Whatever's tearing me up on the inside...it's trying to drag me to that hole!" Labramon barked.

The other kids tried to grab a hold of their Digimon to keep them from being sucked into the big hole in the sky while the secondary Digimon tried everything in their power to hold onto something so they won't get pulled in, since they're bigger than the rookies. Yun clung to Lopmon and Terriermon as tightly as she could, even though she never did have a strong grip.

"My body's...not listening to me!" Terriermon piped in.

"I'm not letting you two go!" Yun cried out as she held onto her bunny friends tightly.

"There's no point in trying to save them."

Yun stood up to find Masaomi looking at her behind his sunglasses. Her fear having been blown away with the wind, Yun stared daggers at him and became quite choleric.

"You did this, I know it!" Yun yelled angrily.

"Just let them go. Digimon have no right to exist in this world. Incompetent kids like you should never have gotten involved with them," Masaomi told her in an icy voice.

"No!" Yun held Lopmon and Terriermon close. "You're not taking my friends away! I won't let you!"

"You're making a big mistake," Masaomi told her in his icy voice a second time, becoming rather irritated by her defiance. "The computer virus I made will draw them to the hole in the sky so they won't be able to escape. Don't try and be the hero and claim they're all good, because that's not what these beasts are."

Helicopters began hovering over the town square as Digimon howled and faded away once they made physical contact with the hole, one by one.

All of a sudden, Yun saw something else that proved to be startling.

A Wendigomon suddenly darted away from the town square, making both Masaomi and Yun stumble a little in the process.

"Where's that thing going?" Masaomi yelped as he proceeded to follow it.

Yun and the pain-stricken rabbits looked at each other and nodded. They decided to follow Masaomi as well. Hiding amongst many trees, some of which have been stripped bare of their green leaves, Rena and Lekismon watched as they ran to follow the rogue Wendigomon. Earlier, Lekismon had helped Rena put her prosthetic leg back on so she was able to stand up using one of her crutches. Rena is, however, confused by one thing.

"Lekismon...why didn't you fight with them?" Rena asked.

Lekismon smiled at her despite the pain she's feeling on the inside. "Because there's something I want to talk to you about."

Rena was confused. Why would Lekismon choose a time like this to talk to her about something.

Meanwhile, Masaomi, Yun, Lopmon, and Terriermon followed the wild Wendigomon as it went down...Fujiyama Avenue.

Masaomi's street.

"I...will...not...be...destroyed! I will live! I shall not let...trinkets like this stop me from living the life I've always wanted!" The rogue Wendigomon bellowed in a deep but ferocious voice as it managed to find Masaomi's satellite dish.

"NO!" Masaomi tried to stop the giant furry monster, but oddly enough, Yun, Lopmon, and Terriermon all leaped on him, stopping him from getting up.

The single, solitary, rogue Wendigomon found the satellite dish, put both of his fists together and...

"Koko Crusher!"

_CRASH!_

"NOOOOO!"

The satellite dish fell into pieces once Wendigomon's fists made contact with it. It stumbled onto the sidewalk, sparking with small, blue jolts of electricity. It must be confessed that part of Masaomi's roof got destroyed as well, but not to a large degree. The lone Wendigomon bellowed passionately, feeling quite proud of his accomplishment as both he and the other Digimon could feel the pain dissipating, and the fact that they can control their bodies now.

"The pain! It stopped!" Lopmon exclaimed.

Wendigomon then turned around and looked at Masaomi.

"It's heartless creatures like you...who treat us so harshly...and bereave us of the opportunity to live and distinguish ourselves. You scorned me and left me behind when I needed someone the most, and now you try to delete us because you believe we are nothing but menaces, inside and out! You humans must love closing your minds and hearts to those you ostracize, don't you? I shall not show you any mercy!" The Wendigomon told Masaomi in a voice just as icy as his. "Prepare to be crushed by my hand!"

"No!" All of a sudden, Lopmon leaped between the Wendigomon and Masaomi with gusto, spreading out her small arms and legs. Yun, Masaomi, Terriermon and the Wendigomon all became shocked.

"Lopmon! What are you doing? Get out of there!" Yun commanded, not wanting to see her precious friend intentionally throw herself in the line of fire for her sake, but Lopmon didn't move as she herself stared daggers at Wendigomon with gusto, which actually made Wendigomon drop his fists.

"...Lopmon?" Wendigomon asked, plodding closer to the tiny but courageous creature. "...You are one of my own kind, aren't you?"

"Yes. I am," Lopmon replied. Her voice was small, but fierce.

"I ask of you...why do you serve the humans?" Wendigomon asked, his voice softening just a bit.

"I don't exactly serve humans, nor does my brother. But...that human girl over there...she's my friend. She's the best thing that ever happened to me, and I couldn't be happier. I think I came here because...perhaps she needed a special friend. I don't want her to feel lonely," Lopmon told him kindly but fiercely, her small voice blazing with courage.

"But...if you love that human girl, then...why are you protecting this knave?" Wendigomon asked.

"Don't think I'm protecting him because I condone his actions, which I don't. I'm protecting him because he's a human being, and I don't want you to attack humans. If you do, they will get the wrong idea about you, and I don't want you to be slandered enough as it is. I...I'm sure you went through some bad things that you didn't wish for, and I'm sure you're not a bad Digimon, but...destroying the humans won't do you or anyone else any good," Lopmon told him in her small voice.

Slowly but surely, Wendigomon calmed down thanks to Lopmon's astounding courage, which even Terriermon and Masaomi found rather shocking. A tiny little brown and pink bunny is putting her life on the line for both her brother, best friend, and someone who just attempted to destroy Digimon! Wendigomon kneeled before Lopmon and got a closer look at her.

"My...what beautiful emerald eyes you have. Lopmon don't have green eyes, but they...definitely suit you," Wendigomon said.

"Thanks for the compliment, but I want you to tell me...who is your master, and why are you and them doing what you've been doing?" Lopmon told him while trying to be appreciative of the compliment he gave her.

Wendigomon ruminated for a bit as Masaomi got up, then decided to spill the beans. "My master is MoonMillenniummon. He and all of his recruits, myself included, destroyed the Digital World long ago in retaliation for the cruel ostracization we've suffered because we happen to be different or because of crimes we didn't do. We're all sick and tired of being ignored and thrown away like trash. Our Master has suffered in this same manner as well, so he chose all of us to join his cause. He wanted to force those who ignored us to hear our voices, our cries for help, our screams of agony. Nobody heard them before, so we used our screams of agony against them. Unfortunately, the strain of destroying the Digital World has caused our Master to take on his current form, unable to leave his inner sanctum. That is all I will tell you, I'm afraid, oh most gentle creature."

Yun, upon hearing all of this, remembered the time at Noir Lake when Witchmon ranted about how she joined her master because he saved her after she was scorned and betrayed by her own kind because they accused her of a time she didn't commit. Could all of MoonMillenniummon's minions or servants be outcasts who only want love and admiration, but are constantly bereaved of it because most Digimon are intolerant of their differences and peculiarities? Yun remembered being in their position once, but she could never retaliate in the manner that this Wendigomon or MoonMillenniummon or other Digimon have done. Destroying the Digital World just because they didn't appreciate you? Yun wondered why they didn't go for a more cliche motive, like ruling over everyone. Other stereotypical anime villains wanted to take over the world in the anime Yun saw, the Digimon cartoon included. Lopmon didn't say anything for quite a few seconds.

"It's very noble of you to confess your transgression, and I sympathize with you, because I have suffered my own fair share of classism as well...but still, I cannot condone what you and your master and other minions have done. I hope you understand," Lopmon told him.

Wendigomon cocked his big, furry head to one side. "You are a gentle creature. I wish I could be as gentle and kind as you, if only given the opportunity. But alas, I am bereaved of friends because others view me as a menace and never bothered to give me a chance."

"Do you...want to live the life of a good Digimon? Because I don't think it's too late," Lopmon said.

"Hm? You're...actually negotiating with me?" Wendigomon asked, confused.

"I wouldn't call it negotiating. But I do...wish to give you another chance, since it sounds like you've gone through some bad things. I...I can help you be reborn, if you would bestow upon me your permission," Lopmon said.

Masaomi was about to say something, but Wendigomon cut him off. "...Yes. Please kill me. I do not wish to cause any suffering, but I felt as though I had to in order to make others hear me."

"I understand," Lopmon said as she decided to do what Angewomon did to LadyDevimon and the two BlackGatomon despite being so small.

Gathering her energy, Lopmon made bit of a contorted face as she tried really hard to summon all the energy she had in her tiny little pink and brown body, but she managed to gather it all in one place.

"Freezing Snow!" All of a sudden, a huge blizzard pounded on Wendigomon like a wrecking ball, freezing him from top to bottom, turning him into a huge ice sculpture. Then, the ice sculpture broke into a million pieces of data.

Lopmon turned around, looking at Yun with a serious look in her emerald green eyes. "Yun. If you would please be so kind, save his data and turn him into a DigiEgg."

Yun didn't hesitate, despite her fears. She decided to raise her digivice into the air and allow Wendigomon's data to fly into it for Lopmon's sake. Then, the data refragmented into a DigiEgg that fell onto the grass.

"Wow, Lopmon! You were amazing! You defeated a champion level despite being a rookie! How'd you do that?" Terriermon asked excitedly as he ran over to Lopmon, leaving Masaomi and Yun alone.

Lopmon blushed and scratched one of her long ears in modesty. "Oh, it's nothing to brag about. Perhaps my strength has increased little by little or something. I honestly don't know."

While the two bunny siblings talked amongst themselves, Masaomi stood in the middle of the sidewalk, looking down angrily at the now broken satellite dish. MC Destroyer has been de-activated! All of his hard work, gone! Gone! Destroyed! Well, the CD in which MC Destroyer is safe, thank goodness for that, but it's going to take a long time to get the programs needed to re-install it and re-initate it again. Masaomi felt huge torrents of anger pound all over his very being. Anger at the Digimon for even existing in the first place. Anger at Yun for allowing the wild Wendigomon to destroy his satellite dish. Anger at those rabbits for outsmarting him. Anger at the entire world for betraying him and allowing the Digimon to run free, both the good and the bad Digimon. Masaomi balled his fists and his teeth grinded together. Masaomi's becoming quite choleric. Yun walked over to the rabbits.

"Let's go back to the town square. They still need us over there," Yun told her bunny friends. They nodded and wanted to follow her out, but they didn't get to go to the town square immediately.

"You..."

Yun stopped upon hearing Masaomi's low voice.

"Why you...YOU SELFISH, NO GOOD, DIGIMON LOVING FREAK!"

In a flash, Yun suddenly felt big strong hands press onto her neck tightly and felt herself getting lifted into the air by an extremely incensed Masaomi, whose sunglasses fell off upon exploding into a paroxysm of anger.

Now this made both Lopmon and Terriermon angry. "YUN!"

"You allowed that beast to destroy all my hard work! All the hard work I put into making this world right! GONE! Gone because of you! My daughter's as good as dead because of you! Hazuru will _DIE_ by _YOUR HAND_!" Masaomi screamed.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" Blazing with tenacity and courage, Lopmon and Terriermon both rammed into Masaomi so hard that he dropped Yun and made her fall to the ground.

"You shouldn't yell at her, you knave!" Lopmon yelled angrily, appalled by what Masaomi just did to Yun.

"If you ever lay a hand on her again, you're really gonna get it!" Terriermon backed up his sister, not tolerating anything bad happening to his beloved tamer.

All of a sudden, Yun ran from the scene.

"Yun!" Both rabbits proceeded to follow her, leaving a very incensed Masaomi behind.

As the whole fiasco happened...

"Appear! Monzaemon!"

While every champion level reverted back to rookie sans Lekismon thanks to all the damage caused by the huge but now diminishing army of Commandramon, Pipismon, and Wendigomon, Hokuto discovered he still has Monzaemon's D-Chip on him and decided to call him over to help them out. Monzaemon didn't say anything, seeing that the situation is dire, and proceeded to fight, along with Lekismon, who tried to hold off a Pipismon who is howling at her.

"Moon Night Kick!" She successfully managed to kick Pipismon in the face hard enough that he turned into data. She decided to allow Monzaemon the liberty of handling the other Digimon.

"Aren't these things ever gonna take a break?" Rena yelped.

"It appears not! Tear Arrow!" Lekismon said as she took out a Commandramon. At this point, Angemon was assaulted by five Pipismon, causing him to de-digivolve back into Patamon.

"Patamon!" Kosuke ran to catch Patamon, who successfully fell into his arms.

MarineAngemon, having had enough, flew out of Aria's arms.

"I've had just about enough of this!" MarineAngemon roared as she flew right past Lekismon and Rena, but stopped once she got close to them.

"MarineAngemon! No!" Aria chased after her fiery little pink fairy friend, not knowing that she just put herself in the line of fire as a Pipismon's tail, tipped with a scythe, somehow managed to swipe at MarineAngemon before she could land an attack. It wasn't so bad as to make her de-digivolve, considering MarineAngemon is a mega level Digimon and Pipismon is an armor level, but Aria managed to catch her. Then, the Pipismon proceeded to attack again.

"ARIA-CHAN!" Rena screamed so as to motivate Aria into escaping, but it didn't work.

It did, however, motivate someone else into saving her.

Lekismon leaped in between Aria and Pipismon, allowing her face and upper torso to get sliced by Pipismon's scythe-tipped tail.

"NO! LEKISMON!" As Lekismon fell to the ground, Rena desperately used her crutch to run over to where Lekismon is.

MarineAngemon, having witnessed this act of cruelty, exploded. "Now you're gonna get it! Boiling Water!"

Angrily, MarineAngemon shot about a million spheres of boiling hot water at Pipismon, who dissipated into both steam and data as the tiny pink fairy's anger consumed it. MarineAngemon, having finally released her anger, followed Rena and Aria as they ran over to Lekismon.

"Lekismon!" They all cried once they ran over to her. Lekismon, clinging to her torso, sat up and gave a thumb's up and a smile.

"I'm fine. An attack like this won't kill me," Lekismon said weakly.

"Stop lying to me! You'll die! You didn't even get the chance to tell me what you wanted to tell me!" Rena cried, actually feeling tears stream down her face. She couldn't even dare imagine what her life would be like if Lunamon, who always continually supported her and encouraged her despite hardships, were ever to leave.

"Perhaps...now is a good time," Lekismon croaked.

"Here! I'll help you out! Spray of Hearts!" MarineAngemon said as she floated over to Lekismon's wounds and spit out a few glowing pink hearts at them.

Nobody knew whether MarineAngemon's healing powers were helping, but Lekismon found this to be a great opportunity to finally talk to Rena, so she did. "Rena...your definition of grace has led you astray."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Rena asked, looking confused.

Lekismon felt the pain go away. She found herself sitting on her knees in seiza, right in front of Rena. "Rena. While I did believe that you were a great dancer and liked how elegant you looked whenever you walked, that's not the main reason why I love you so much. To me, things like that aren't true grace. True grace is the ability to deprive yourself of all false pride, to be humble, to show clemency, and to never boast or take credit in a way that makes others feel inferior. Rena-san...I love you because you don't try to force your way into someone's heart, nor do you let good deeds go to your head. You let people choose for themselves, and you let your actions speak for themselves. You're modest, meaning you don't boast about your good deeds. Now don't get me wrong, celebrating your accomplishments is great, but rubbing them in people's faces isn't, and you don't do that. You act with grace and humility without letting yourself succumb to feelings of inferiority. Well, you did cry out when you lost your leg, which isn't something one should really accept with grace, but it's only natural to feel despair."

Rena stopped talking. She had to admit, Lekismon had a very good point. Rena remembered that she left Moonmon alone when she first hatched because she was afraid that if she made a false move, she would scare her, being the shy Digimon that she is. This proved to be advantageous, because in the end she managed to win Lunamon's heart and become her best friend, something Rena never thought would be the best thing that would ever happen to her. Rena also remembered that she isn't too fond of people who show off and rub their talents in people's faces, especially if it's to make others look bad. Then it hit her. Hitomi and her dance posse were much more stuck-up and boastful, but they accused Rena of being such because perhaps they knew that Rena was talented and were afraid of being outclassed by her, not that Rena truly ever had a desire to outclass them. She danced because she loved dancing, nothing more. Not only that, she remembered the third grade, when her class was given the project to raise some flowers. Rena wanted them to grow fast, but the teacher said that you can't force a flower to bloom, you have to wait and give it all the love you could. Rena's flower didn't quite grow that year, but it did the year afterward in the fourth grade.

"So..." Rena whispered. "Acting with grace means being humble and kind about who you are?"

Finally having the energy to stand up, Lekismon nodded kindly. "You're a kind girl, and I love that about you, Rena. I don't care that you've lost your leg. It doesn't change the fact that you're still the sweet girl who raised me from an egg with love and care, and I would never trade you for anything more."

Seeing the sheer kindness and elegance in Lekismon's violet eyes, Rena finally managed to stand up straight...and on her prosthesis, no less! Truth be told, she didn't walk because Lekismon is right in front of her, but Rena didn't mind. Lekismon gently rubbed her own head against Rena's, smiling sweetly. Rena did too, as well as very gently put both hands on both of Lekismon's soft, lavender cheeks.

"Lekismon...I'm so lucky to have you, and everyone else...as a friend. Thank you," Rena whispered tenderly.

All of a sudden, Rena's digivice and D-Heart of Grace both burst forth into a light that screams lavender purple. The light from the digivice shot through the D-Heart, then hit Lekismon. The beautiful, lavender colored light surrounded Lekismon, leaving her unable to escape. But she didn't mind at all. In fact, she embraced it with grace and humility. The Digimon Brigade, the Digimon in the army that are left, even Masaomi, who just arrived, stopped to watch as the beautiful pale purple light glowed brightly.

"Lekismon, digivolve to..."

Everyone gazed upon the pale purple light as it grew bigger and bigger, about the same size as one of the tall buildings before it got destroyed by a group of Wendigomon. Finally, the light dissipated, and out came not Lekismon, but a different creature! She's a lot less bulky and plump in the torso area, but her legs definitely retained their plumpness, along with losing some bulk. Her chest armor, instead of being bluish purple, is now totally sea blue. The stick-ups on her back stood up straighter than ever before, on her face is a big silver and black helmet with two big, pointed protrusions on the back, with two purplish pink scarves hanging from the very tips of them, and on her feet are big, black and silver shoes. But that wasn't what stood out. On both of her arms are two double edged axes with silver moon shapes carved into them, and on her big pink legs are two big yellow crescent moons.

"...Crescemon!"

_'Wow...Lekismon just digivolved into ultimate! She looks so awesome and dazzling!'_ Rena thought upon seeing her newly digivolved partner, looking better than ever.

Melody crossed her arms and scoffed. "Took you long enough!"

Both Aria and MarineAngemon did a victory dance. "Yay! Yay! Yay! Lekismon digivolved!"

All of a sudden, the Digimon army bellowed and charged at Crescemon.

"Will you be so kind as to assist me in defeating them all, Crescemon-sama?" Monzaemon asked.

Behind her thick mask, Crescemon smiled beautifully. "I'd be ever so honored to assist you. I'll let you have the first attack."

Monzaemon nodded. "Hearts Attack!" Monzaemon extended his furry arms out and made colorful pink hearts spew out from his navel, trapping a few Pipismon and Commandramon, but the Wendigomon, being so big as they are, can't fit so they were able to continue running free. But Crescemon wasn't planning on giving up.

"Lunatic Dance!" Crescemon, all of a sudden, began dancing. Rena watched as she did this and much to her surprise, Crescemon is dancing to the routine to Maurice Ravel's Mother Goose Suite. Rena's routine before she lost her leg. All of a sudden, the remaining Digimon became entranced by Crescemon's dancing, and began swaying back and forth just a bit. Rena gazed upon the beautiful, bedazzling figure that is now Crescemon and realized that Crescemon has completely mastered Rena's dance! Well, Rena did admit that she contributed to this by allowing Lunamon to either watch her dance or let her dance with her on a near regular basis, but she's at least happy that her contribution didn't get used just for show, as once the Wendigomon started swaying, Crescemon, burst into a flurry of high speed kicks that knocked them all out, turning them all into data. Rena, seeing this as an opportunity, held out her digivice and absorbed all of their data in the hopes that she could preserve it.

Now, all of the Wendigomon are gone, but there are still a lot of Commandramon and Pipismon to finish off. Thankfully, Monzaemon managed to trap most of them with his Hearts Attack, and some of the Digimon Brigade kids managed to wrangle some with their digilassos and digishields. Crescemon's scythes then turned into a bow and arrow.

"Finish them off, Crescemon, my dear," Monzaemon told her.

"You got it, Monzaemon," Crescemon replied kindly as she prepared her bow and arrow once Monzaemon managed to get all of the trapped Digimon in a straight line. A bright blue beam of light appeared in the bow, and Crescemon pulled it back for a few minutes.

"Ice Archery!" The moment had arrived, and Crescemon let the arrow...or arrows, fly out of the bow. The bright beam of light actually turned into a million more bright blue lights, hitting all of the Digimon and making them dissipate into data, which Rena used her digivice to absorb.

Crescemon looked around the town just to be sure. So did everyone else. No more rogue Digimon destroying everything, but quite a few buildings are damaged, and the roads have quite a few big holes in them. Thankfully, everyone evacuated safely so there are no casualties. The kids finally got up.

"Okay! Tell me that wasn't the most challenging fight we've ever had to go through!" Biyomon chirped.

"I was going to say that it was. Very challenging, indeed!" Kudamon piped in.

"Was that awesome or what?" Coronamon yelped excitedly.

"You said it! You were awesome out there, Leki-I mean...Crescemon!" Riku cheered.

"You sure showed off your stuff, and boy, were you dazzling!" Kosuke piped in.

"Yeah! You defeated the army!" Patamon said.

"Hooray for Crescemon! Wan!" Salamon piped in.

"I'm hungry! I want steak!" Dracomon bellowed, which made Shunji and a few of the Digimon laugh quite a bit.

Crescemon blushed modestly. "Oh, you guys. Please, stop. It's nothing to brag about, really..." She did, however, see Rena standing in front of her with starry emerald eyes, and kneeled before her.

"You used my dance routine to defeat most of the army. You really are...a great friend, Crescemon," Rena told her in a whisper, but Crescemon heard it and smiled sweetly.

"I'm just happy you're safe, my dear friend," Crescemon told her. All of a sudden...

"Renaaaaa! Rikuuuuu!"

Riku and Rena turned around in alarm. They were quite surprised with who was approaching them.

"Dad?"

Yes! It's Michitaka! Once he caught sight of Rena and Riku, he ran to the both of them.

"Oh! Thank God you two are alright! I've been looking everywhere for you! I've been so worried!" Michitaka cried as he hugged the two of them like a true loving father. But he then looked up and saw Crescemon towering above him and yelped.

"OH GOOD LORD!" Michitaka yelped timorously and backed away a few feet, which prompted Rena into mollifying him.

"It's okay, Dad! It's Lunamon! She's just digivolved, that's all! She helped defeat the army, along with Monzaemon!" Rena explained calmly.

"Huh?" Michitaka yelped again, shocked this time, then looked up at Crescemon. "YOU'RE little Lunamon?"

"Yes, though as of right now, I'm Crescemon. My humblest apologies for frightening you so, Michitaka-san," Crescemon told him in a kind, elegant, and motherly voice, something Rena recognized.

"I don't think I'll ever be able to get used to this, but...I'm glad you're all alright," Michitaka said once he regained his equanimity.

All of a sudden, Crescemon became enveloped with the same purple light from before, only she got smaller and smaller until she was small enough to be carried by Rena's two hands. Crescemon de-digivolved back into Moonmon.

"You did wonderful out there, Moonmon. You're such a great friend," Rena told her kindly and hugged her.

"You're not going to give up, are you? You still have your whole life ahead of you. Don't let the loss of your legs define who you are," Moonmon told her gently.

"I won't, because you're here to help me up when I need it," Rena told her with gratitude.

"Oh, Rena-san..." Moonmon whimpered sweetly.

"Come now. Let's go to this evacuation center further north. Your mother's there," Michitaka told his kids, who both nodded and followed him to his car.

What nobody noticed was that Masaomi saw the entire battle. He continued to stand where he was, staring into the distance with huge eyes. MC Destroyer had failed, yet those huge Digimon managed to defeat the army amidst so much destruction. Hokuto said goodbye to Monzaemon and sent him back to the Digital World, but Masaomi didn't understand. Why would the Digimon fight each other just for the sake of this city, the thing that they should be caring the least about?

"I...I don't understand..." Masaomi muttered sadly.

All of a sudden, he heard tiny footsteps walking in his direction. He turned around to find Lopmon looking at him with sympathetic eyes.

"Masaomi-san...I think I understand now...why you kidnapped me. I understand that you're upset about your daughter's disappearance, and I can only pray for her safe return...but you must understand, not all Digimon are bad. To be perfectly honest, I don't remember how or why I came to this world. But I'm happy to be with Yun and my brother. I do not wish to bestow any harm upon anyone. That's the last thing that I, as an individual, want. You're allowed to hate Digimon if you wish, but plotting to destroy every single one of us just to satisfy your grudge...that, I cannot allow or condone," Lopmon told him in her sweet, soft voice, though it definitely had a tint of courage and tenacity within it. With that, she decided to return to Yun's side.

Masaomi didn't say a word. He just left, along with the rest of the Digimon Brigade. Much to their surprise, the destruction didn't go any further than the town square! Well, except for that small part of Masaomi's house, but that's another thing entirely. Once the kids left, police cars and helicopters swarmed the area, setting up _DO NOT CROSS_ signs all over the place. Yun was about to walk home, with Lopmon and Terriermon on her, until Melody, Biyomon, Isao, and Bearmon approached her.

"Hey Yun-chan! Wanna walk home with us?" Isao asked excitedly.

"We wanna show you our house! It's great!" Bearmon piped in.

It must be confessed that Yun felt quite tired, and she wanted to get home, but she remembered that she had never seen Isao's house before, so she decided to take Isao up on his offer. "Sure. I'd love to walk home with you."

With that, Yun, Lopmon, Terriermon, Melody, Biyomon, Isao, and Bearmon walked home. They decided to walk to Isao's house first since his is likely the closest to the town square.

"Man, was that fight wicked or what? I thought I cooked my own goose back there!" Bearmon piped in.

"Me too! We were gonna get pummeled to the ground if Lekismon hadn't digivolved! I sure am glad we defeated the bad guys," Isao chirped excitedly.

"This won't be the last of them. I know it," Melody said.

While it was quite the vocal occasion as of now, Terriermon noticed that Yun's been silent. Seeing this to be rather unsettling, he decided to pull her out of it.

"Yun? What's wrong?" Terriermon asked.

"I've been noticing more and more. Whenever a Digimon manages to digivolve into ultimate for the first time, some of us who already can can't at that moment. I wonder why that is?" Yun whispered a little sadly.

"I've been confused about that myself. If the rest of us could digivolve into ultimate, we could have finished all of those battles much quicker and easier. It just doesn't make any sense," Lopmon replied.

"You're telling me," Terriermon said. "And what's with that MC Destroyer thing? Jeez, that thing made me feel like I was being torn apart limb from limb inside and out!"

"Oh, don't get me started!" Biyomon chirped fearfully. "I definitely don't want to feel that horrible pain ever again!"

"Me either. But I recognize that feeling. Usually that's the kind of sensation a Digimon would feel if a very strong virus is attacking them," Bearmon said.

"Huh? A virus?" Isao asked.

"Yep. All computer data gets a virus once in a while, doesn't it?" Bearmon asked.

"Sure does. My dad's good at fixing computers, so I get what you mean. But I honestly hope we don't have to deal with it again. I don't want to lose my cute bunny friends!" Yun said as she hugged Lopmon and Terriermon.

"Me either," Isao said. Then he saw his house. "Hey look! That's my house!"

Once Isao saw that the house is within his vicinity, both he and Bearmon started running toward it. The other kids and Digimon decided to follow him. It didn't take very long for them to reach it. Just a few seconds. They then arrived in front of a slightly average-sized house made entirely out of dark brownish red bricks. The porch is rather dull and empty, bereaved of any decoration, like flowers or wind chimes or anything of the sort.

"This is my house!" Isao exclaimed.

"It looks rather bare," Biyomon said, looking a bit put off by the house's lack of decoration. All of a sudden, she felt a thud on her pink feathered head. "Ow!"

"You shouldn't say stuff like that out loud, Biyomon," Melody reproved her bird friend.

"That's okay. Anyway, wanna come in? Mom makes some great-" Isao was about to talk more until out of nowhere...

_CRASH!_

The sound of something made out of glass crashing caught their attention.

"What was that?" Yun yelped.

"It came from inside!" Bearmon said.

Frantic, Isao yanked the door open, though he was going to wish he hadn't, as he saw something he thought he would never see.

A broken plate is on the floor, it's scattered pieces all over the place.

And it's right in front of his mother.

Who is unconscious.

"Mom!" Isao quickly ran to his mother.

"Oh no!" The rest of the kids and Digimon ran over to her. Yun and Melody proceeded to move her over since she was facing the floor, and when they turned her around, they found that her face is a blinding shade of red and her breathing is very labored, like her airway's being cut off and she's desperate to breathe at least some air.

"What happened? What's happening?" Isao yelped, becoming quite timorous.

"Call 911!" Melody told Isao.

Isao did as told, picked up the phone, and called 911. He told the lady on the other line about his mother, and she said that an ambulance is on the way. Despite this, however, Isao didn't feel reassured. Instead, he only grew more and more timorous, so much so that tears are creeping out of his eyes. Only one question ran through his mind:

Is Mom going to end up like Dad?

Note: Credit goes to RandomReviewer527 for helping me improve on this chapter and making changes on it. Thanks again!


	71. Can You Be Strong?

EPISODE 71: Can You Be Strong?

About a few minutes after Isao called 911, an ambulance arrived. The paramedics sped over to the fallen woman and hooked her up on all kinds of contraptions, like an oxygen mask and a blood pressure machine. The Digimon hid in places in the house once they arrived, so they didn't see them, but they were still wracked with fear. They put her on a stretcher and put her in the ambulance. Night was about to fall, so the sky began to become shrouded in rather ominous hues of dark purple and blue, angrily pushing away the beautiful hues of mandarin orange and sunset yellow as the sun set on the horizon. Yun read the name on the ambulance, which read Tama-no-Minato East General Hospital, the same hospital where Rena was taken when she lost her leg. As soon as the driver of the ambulance got back in, the ambulance drove away, sirens roaring in the air, glowing in a ghostly red light.

Everyone is full of fear. They had never dealt with a situation like this before, so it's only natural for them to feel quite timorous. Melody kept her stone-faced expression the whole time, signalling the fact that she's likely keeping all of her fear inside for now, since she's had to deal with worse. If this was Yun having to deal with a parent collapsing, she would be worrying and crying herself to death, but someone else is doing that. Isao fell to his knees and literally began bawling. Tears literally poured out of his midnight blue eyes like fast moving waterfalls. All kinds of thoughts were going through his head: What happened to Mom? Is she going to be okay? How did she get this way? But only one thing dominated Isao's mind, and this was the thing that made him cry like no tomorrow. His crying scared Yun into covering her ears.

Bearmon was the first to react, though it must be confessed that even he's feeling quite worried. "Isao! What's wrong? Don't cry!" Bearmon tried to reassure the crying little boy, but he didn't relent.

"Mom's gonna die!" Isao cried.

"She's not gonna die!" Bearmon told him, but Isao didn't seem to listen.

Biyomon looked at Yun with a stern look on her face. "Yun-san! You have Swanmon's D-Chip on you, right? Call for her and ask her to fly us to the hospital!"

Even though Yun has her ears covered with her hands, she could still hear Biyomon's high voice. "Believe me, I'd like to! But she might be worn out from the fight earlier today! I don't want to put any more pressure on her than I already have!"

"Time passes faster in the Digital World than the real world!" Biyomon yelled.

"I know that!" Yun yelled back, covering her ears more because of Biyomon's yelling.

All of a sudden, Melody got her digivice out and immediately began picking at it.

"What are you doing?" Terriermon asked.

"I'm texting Minako! She might help us out here," Melody told him as she texted faster than anyone else she knew.

**To: Minako**

**From: Melody**

**Subject: Ride?**

**Hey Minako! Can you summon Nefertimon and give me, Yun, and Isao a ride to the hospital? Isao's mom got taken there. We're at 177 Sakurakage Boulevard, a little ways from the destruction!**

Melody then hit send. After about a minute, Minako replied!

**To: Melody**

**From: Minako**

**Subject: re: Ride?**

**Will do! I'll even summon Lynxmon in case Nefertimon can't carry anymore. I'll be there in a few!**

"That was quick," Melody murmured.

Melody wished she could say the same about Minako's arrival, but that took a bit longer. Despite this, Minako, Salamon, Nefertimon, and Lynxmon all arrived.

"Hello everyone! It's so wonderful to see you all again. You say you needed some transportation?" Nefertimon told them kindly.

"Hey! Long time no see! Your town sure took a beating. I can see it all the way from here!" Lynxmon exclaimed.

"Thank goodness you're all here! Isao's mom was just taken to the hospital! We don't know what happened but we want to get there in case the doctors find out something!" Bearmon explained as Isao continued to cry.

"What? That sounds horrible! Wan!" Salamon piped in.

"Nefertimon, you take the kids. I'll take the Digimon and the little kid," Lynxmon told Nefertimon.

"Will do," Nefertimon said.

Lopmon, Terriermon, Biyomon, Isao, and Bearmon got on Lynxmon's back while Yun and Melody got on Nefertimon's back. Nefertimon ascended into the air with her long white wings spread out far and wide, but she didn't fly so high that she would lose sight of Lynxmon. Yun looked around and noticed that the Digimon are galloping and flying in public. She found this to be rather worrying.

"Umm...should the Digimon really be doing this? I mean, what if someone sees us?" Yun asked in a shy voice.

"Everyone's been evacuated, and it's going to take a while for them to come back so I don't think they'll be seen. Besides, I saw some news people at the scene so I don't think it really matters anyhow," Minako told her as she pulled her cell phone, not her digivice, out.

"What are you doing?" Yun asked again.

"I'm putting the address of the hospital into my phone so we can show Nefertimon and Lynxmon where to go. It's voice activated so they'll hear it," Minako explained kindly.

"I'll definitely need something like that, because I'm horrible when it comes to directions!" Lynxmon said. The Digimon and Isao, who thankfully aren't burned by Lynxmon's fiery fur, stayed calm while on his back. Melody turned around to look at Yun and suddenly became surprised when she saw dark hand marks on Yun's neck.

"Oh my God, Yun! Are those hand marks on your neck?" Melody suddenly yelped loudly, which scared both Yun and Minako. Minako, piqued by curiosity, looked at Yun's neck and found that Melody is right.

"Good heavens! Did someone try to choke you or something?" Minako asked.

Before Yun could answer, she suddenly felt herself being pulled by the shirt closer to Melody, who is actually the one doing the pulling. Melody's brown eyes are now blazing with anger.

"I want to know who did this to you, and I want to know now!" Melody exclaimed.

"Hi-Hi-Hi-Hi-Hi-Hiroya Masaomi! The guy who activated MC Destroyer and kidnapped Lopmon!" Yun blurted out fearfully, very cowed by how fierce and incensed Melody looks right now. Despite her fears, Melody let Yun go and cracked her knuckles angrily.

"Why that no good little...I am _SO_ going to _break_ him! Trying to strangle you, the sweetest person ever, to death? I'll NEVER forgive him!" Melody yelled, becoming quite incensed at this new revelation.

"Mel! This isn't the time for starting fights with adults! Isao's mom is in trouble and I think what we need to do now is be there for him. Just calm down, okay?" Minako told her calmly but sternly, which prompted Melody to stop what she was doing. But it must be confessed that Melody is still angry inside and continued to grumble and crack her knuckles. She is sure going to kick Masaomi's butt if they are ever to cross paths again.

"Nobody strangles MY best friend! NOBODY! I can take it, but NOBODY lays even ONE hand on Yun! I will not allow it!" Melody grumbled to herself angrily, not caring about what Minako just told her.

"Sorry about that," Yun told Minako.

"It's alright. There was too much going on. We'll talk about this at the next Digimon Brigade meeting. Okay?" Minako told her with a smile, and Yun nodded.

Unfortunately, while the older kids are worried about Isao's mother, they aren't nearly as worried as Isao is right now. Both Yun and Bearmon saw how sad Isao is, and they knew why. He told them that his father died of cancer about four or so months ago, leaving only him and his mother to succeed him. Being a single mother is tough, especially in this economy. While Isao knew absolutely nothing about the economy-there's a chance he doesn't even know what the word economy even means-he knew for a fact that his father's absence has hurt his mother quite a bit. He knew this well. She works two jobs, and sometimes she would come home feeling very sick, but she'd still go to her job anyway because she has to raise money for food, bills, and the house. Isao did feel sad that he doesn't get to spend much time with her, but he never hated her. He didn't think she was trying to abandon him or anything like that. The thought never crossed his little seven year old mind. In a tiny little corner of his mind, he very well knew for a fact that everything she did, she did for him and him alone. To lose her now...Isao shook his head. He didn't dare think about it. He already lost his dad, his idol. He didn't want to lose his mother.

After a while, they arrived at Tama-no-Minato East General Hospital, which, oddly enough, is quite populated. The parking lots are packed with cars. Upon seeing the hospital within their vicinity, the Digimon all decided to hop away so they wouldn't stand out or attract any unwanted attention. Yun, Minako, Melody, and Isao said goodbye to them for a while, then rushed into the hospital. The waiting room is just packed. People of all ages, from infancy to adulthood, filled the waiting room. Much to Yun's infuriation, three babies wailed and cried ferociously. Isao saw the lady at the reception desk and ran to her. The lady looked quite surprised seeing a little seven year old boy right in front of her, looking quite frantic.

"Hello. May I help you?" The lady asked.

"I'm Taketatsu Isao! My mom was taken here just a few minutes ago! Her name's Taketatsu Shouko! Is she alright? I need to know!" Isao cried.

The lady, strangely calm, picked up the phone. "Taketatsu? I'll check," The lady punched in some numbers and talked to someone on the phone. Isao didn't bother to listen to her talking or even register it, even though she's right in front of him. The only thing that's on his mind right now is his mother. After a few minutes, the lady hung up the phone and looked at Isao.

"The doctors are taking care of your mother right now, Isao-kun. Did your father take you here?" The lady told him kindly, but wondered how he got here by himself.

Isao shook his head. "No. He's dead."

The lady became surprised again. "Oh? Then...do you have any relatives at all?" She wondered if Isao's mother is the only person in his life.

"I have an aunt Airu, but I don't know her number," Isao said, then ran back to Melody, Minako, and Yun, who is growing quite irritated and perturbed by all of the crying babies. Melody could see the stress all over her contorted face, and her own gaze softened.

She turned to Minako. "I'm gonna take Yun outside, 'kay? Let us know if you hear anything."

Minako nodded. "Sure."

Melody gently and kindly took Yun by the arm and led her out of the hospital. Minako and Isao sat on some chairs in the waiting room. Isao stopped crying, but deep in his heart, he's still worried. Minako could see this quite well.

"There sure are a lotta people here," Isao murmured.

"Yep. I think some people got injured when the Digimon army attacked," Minako whispered, not wanting to draw any attention to herself.

"Am I...gonna be an orphan?" Isao asked, out of the blue.

This left Minako surprised. "What? What gave you that idea?"

"Mom's gonna die," Isao whimpered sadly. Minako could see it as clear as day. He's going to cry again, so she felt obligated to at least try and reassure him.

"It's too early to decide that yet, Isao-kun. We don't know what happened to her. Maybe she pushed herself too hard and collapsed from stress. Lots of people do that," Minako told him.

"Mom always pushes herself too hard," Isao said.

"Isao. Let's just wait and see what happens. Who knows? Maybe she's just sick or something," Minako told him. "As for being an orphan, you can only be an orphan if you have no parents or relatives. You have relatives, right?"

"Yes. Aunt Airu."

"Maybe, if your mom is too sick to take care of you for a while, maybe she can take care of you. It's not like you get put in foster care just for not having parents."

That ended their conversation right away, as Isao didn't want to talk anymore. Isao normally doesn't like waiting, being the bouncy and energetic little boy that he is, but considering what's happening now, he didn't feel the need to complain. There was no point. None at all. He didn't even feel the need to even talk right now. He's much too lost in his jumbled up thoughts to even think about talking about anything. All he thought about was his mother, Shouko, and the very grim possibility that she might die. His dad died, and if he died, then his mom could die, too. Then he could become an orphan and be sent to foster care. He didn't want to think about being in a new family, but he thought those thoughts anyway. What if they're not as good as his mother or father? What if they don't like him? Isao could feel himself about to cry, but chose to hold his tears back. Out of concern, Minako pulled out her cell phone and called Yun's parents to let them know where they are.

After about fifteen minutes, a doctor came out. He looked quite confused as he looked around the room with a worried look on his face. Isao could tell it might be about his mother, so he approached him.

"Hi doctor," Isao said.

The doctor looked down, saw Isao, and became a little apprehensive. "Are you the only relative of Taketatsu Shouko who's here?" He asked.

Isao nodded vigorously. "Yes! Is my mom alright?"

The doctor looked around, put a hand on his forehead and shook it grimly. "This is quite troublesome," He muttered.

Seeing this as a rather grim harbinger, Minako ambled up to Isao. "Doctor...is everything alright?" She asked kindly but in a worried voice.

"Are you his sister?" He asked.

Minako shook her head. "No. I'm just one of his friends."

"What? No other parents, siblings, or relatives?" The doctor asked, looking quite shocked from the way his eyes are wide open. "Oh my, I'm going to have to call a social worker. I don't know...how I can break this."

Isao, knowing for a fact that the doctor is obviously trying to dodge the issue because he's a child, became irritated. "You can tell me! Tell me what's wrong! I need to know!" Isao shouted.

The doctor, finally seeing that Isao is the only relative of Shouko here in this very hospital as of now, abdicated and kneeled before him so he can talk to him at eye level. "Well...you see, your mother is alright as of now. But we did some CAT scans on her, and...we found a small tumor in her lung. She has...lung cancer."

_Cancer._

The thing that killed his father, only it wasn't in his lung.

As if losing his father wasn't bad enough, now he's going to lose his mother!

The doctor continued talking. "We took a sample of it, and we're going to see if it's...benign or malignant-" The doctor could tell that Isao wouldn't know what the words benign or malignant mean. He was actually going to explain it to him, but he didn't get to do so, because once Isao heard the word cancer, he fell to his knees and bawled harder than ever.

"Isao-kun! Isao-kun! Please calm down!" Minako told him as she tried to calm him down, but nothing worked.

"I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT! MOM'S GONNA DIE! MOM'S GONNA DIE THE SAME WAY DAD DID! Mom's gonna die and there's nothing I can do about it!" Isao bawled and mewled and screamed harder than any baby in the entire waiting room. Minako tried to mollify him, but nothing she did worked.

"How long will the biopsy take?" Minako asked out of curiosity.

"Usually one or two days. Maybe more," The doctor replied despite Isao's ardent paroxysm of crying.

Minako, not wanting to irritate any of the other people that are waiting, decided to take Isao and run to the entrance of the hospital, where Yun, Melody, and the Digimon are. Yun, her ears being hypersensitive as they are, immediately caught the vociferous sound of Isao's wailing, knowing for a fact that what they must have heard is bad.

"Isao! Why ya cryin'? What'd the doctor say?" Bearmon asked.

"MOM'S GONNA DIE! MOM'S GONNA DIE LIKE DAD!" Isao cried, not exactly answering Bearmon's question.

"The doctor said that Isao's mother has lung cancer, but they still have to perform a biopsy to check if it's cancerous or not. But Isao-kun seems to think that cancer automatically means instantaneous death!" Minako explained.

"What's a biopsy?" Bearmon asked.

"Like Minako said, it's a test to check if tumors are cancerous or not," Melody told him.

"That doesn't sound good at all," Terriermon said.

Bearmon suddenly became lost in his thoughts. _'Oh, Isao...why does this have to happen to you?'_

All of a sudden, the doctor came out.

"What is it?" Melody asked.

The doctor approached Isao, who continued to cry incessantly.

"Isao-kun. Your mother's out of surgery. You can visit her now," The doctor told him.

While Isao continued to cry, he let the doctor take his hand and escort him to the recovery room. Isao recognized his mother right away as the slightly lanky woman with short, frizzy black hair, midnight blue eyes, and a little mole under her left eye. Oddly enough, much to Isao's surprise, his mother didn't look tired at all. She looked quite alert, especially so when she saw Isao.

"Isao! Oh, thank goodness you're alright!" Shouko exclaimed as she hugged Isao, who hopped on the bed once he saw her.

Isao was confused. His mother's just been diagnosed with cancer and is likely about to die yet has been worrying about Isao, who isn't sick with anything? Isao found himself crying again.

"Mom! You're gonna die!" Isao cried.

Shouko, remembering her husband's death, stroke Isao's hair with a kind but serious expression. "Isao, I want you to listen to me. I may have been diagnosed with cancer, but I'm not going to die."

"Yes you are! Dad got cancer and he died!" Isao protested.

"Your father had brain cancer, and that kills very easily. But I have lung cancer, and it's a very different thing."

"But it's still cancer, and you're still gonna die!"

Shouko's face saddened. She knew why Isao is saying these things. He's convinced that anything with the word cancer in it kills. His father died of brain cancer, and to Isao, all cancer kills. Not only that, he doesn't seem to want to listen when people tell him that they don't know if it's benign or malignant yet.

Shouko gripped Isao's shoulders. "Isao. Listen to me. Just because I have cancer now doesn't mean I'll die. The doctors say that they're going to perform a test to see if it's dangerous or not. The test takes a couple days, and they'll tell me whether it's dangerous or not. If it's not dangerous, they can easily remove it, then I'll be good as new."

Isao's crying softened, and he listened. Shouko smiled and continued talking. "Isao. I'm not going to die and leave you all alone. I want you to be strong for the both of us. It'll be hard, but I want you to be strong and move forward. I'm sure your father wouldn't want to see you all sad and worrying yourself to death."

"But Dad's dead!"

"That doesn't mean he's not worrying about us in Heaven right now. Isao...don't worry about me. You need to focus on being the best you can be."

Isao didn't find Shouko's reassurance to be very convincing, but knowing that protesting wouldn't do any good, he wiped away his tears and nodded. Shouko smiled, then turned to the doctor.

"Do you have a phone I can use? I want to call my sister and tell her about what happened," Shouko asked.

"I'll make the arrangements," The doctor said as he went out of the room.

Then, Melody, Minako, and Yun came into the room with their Digimon. Biyomon had de-digivolved into Yokomon because Melody made her do so, and Bearmon is nowhere in sight. Shouko looked at them and became surprised.

"Hm? Who are you?" Shouko asked.

"Mom. These are my friends," Isao told her.

"What? Your friends? But they're much older than you, aren't they?" Shouko asked, a little shocked by the fact that Isao somehow managed to find friends who are way above his grade level. But she then laid eyes on Yun, who immediately became shy upon seeing Shouko gaze upon her.

"You there. What's your name?" Shouko asked.

Yun didn't know why Shouko is suddenly putting her on the spot, and she really didn't want to answer her, but she did anyway. "Yu-Yu-Yu-Yun. Wa-Waka...miya Yun."

"Can you come here, please? I want to have a better look at you," Shouko asked.

Yun really didn't want to approach Shouko as she didn't understand why she suddenly gained an interest in her. Why would anyone be interested in someone as plain and bland and stupid and retarded as Yun (this is what Yun thinks)? But Yun decided to approach her anyway. Shouko, smiling a bit, gently put her hand on Yun's cheek.

"My! You're quite the cutie! I don't think I've ever seen a sixth grader as cute as you," Shouko said, beaming brightly.

Immediately, Yun blushed. Hard. Then she ran back behind Minako, ruminating about what part of her Shouko found cute, as Yun never EVER thought herself to be cute. _'Why does she think I'm cute? I am not cute! What part of me does she find cute? My hair? No. People have way better and prettier hair than me! My clothes? My sleeveless blue and dark blue shirt and beige shorts? No! People dress way cuter than I do! My eyes? No! Blue eyes are prettier than my ugly green eyes!'_ Yun ruminated while worrying herself out of her wits.

Minako turned to Shouko. "Forgive her. She's shy."

"I see. Sorry about that," Shouko said.

The doctor returned with the phone, and Shouko called her sister Airu to the hospital so they can talk about what to do with Isao. As Shouko talked on the phone, Isao ran out of the hospital to find Bearmon, who is in the same place as before. In the bushes.

"Isao? What's up?" Bearmon asked.

"We'll be going to my Aunt Airu's house soon," Isao told him a little sadly.

Bearmon could see that Isao's eyes are starting to become riddled with tears again, so he put a paw on Isao's shoulder.

"Are you worried about your mother?" Bearmon asked tenderly.

Isao nodded.

"I...I want to help her, like I want to help the Digimon Brigade! But...I'm too sad! Not just because she might be dying and I don't know it!" Isao cried.

"Why are you sad?" Bearmon asked.

"It's because I can't do anything to help them!" Isao wailed. "Dad was sick too, and I couldn't do anything to make him feel better! The doctors couldn't save him either! I can't stand not being able to do anything for anyone and help them! I can't even be useful to the Digimon Brigade! Especially in a way that'll help them!"

"Don't say that. I'm sure you're a big help to the Digimon Brigade. You've helped me digivolve," Bearmon told him.

"That's different! You get to do all the fighting and you're strong! I'm not! I'm just a weak little crybaby who always gets in the way! I can't fight or cook or do anything to help anyone! I'm not strong, like Mom says! I'm a big fat crybaby who's...what's that big word Yun used once? Use...useless? Yeah! Useless!"

Now Bearmon was getting mad. "Oh, really? You think you're useless, huh? If you're so useless, then why did you raise me from a Punimon to where I am now? You got me food and everything!"

"Yeah, but that's-"

"And if you're so useless, then why did you spend all of your hard earned allowance on food at the dollar store?"

"Mom was sick, and I wanted to help her out!"

"Yeah! Exactly! I've seen you, Isao! You cleaned the house when she was too tired to do so! You suddenly tried to teach yourself how to make soup and went to the dollar store and spend your hard earned allowance on food to help Shouko-san get better! That's not useless, Isao! You're trying your best, and that's great!"

"But my best isn't enough! I...I want to know that I've actually helped someone. But have I helped anyone? No!"

"You've helped me! You've helped Aria-chan when her dad was beating her to death!"

"No I haven't!"

"You even tried to stop that Golemon from attacking us when I first digivolved!"

"But I couldn't stop him! See, Bearmon? I'm not strong! I can't lift heavy stuff or fight or anything!"

"So? That shouldn't decide whether you're strong or not. You don't have to fight or be able to lift heavy stuff to be strong."

Bearmon wanted to talk to Isao more, but Isao could see his Aunt Airu's car pulling up, so he used his digivice to de-digivolve Bearmon into Tsunomon since he'll be easier to carry around that way. Once Isao saw his Aunt Airu's car, he took Tsunomon and ran back into the hospital and into the recovery room. Isao's aunt is a slightly plumper woman than Shouko, with curly pale brown hair and dark brown eyes, though definitely has a nice and slender complexion. Shouko, Airu, and the doctor talked amongst themselves for a while, and it must be confessed that Isao both heard and understood quite a good amount of it, even though he knew it's bad to eavesdrop. Isao did, however, understand what their conversation is about: him. They're talking about what to do with him if Shouko's cancer turns out to be bad. After a while, Airu approached Isao.

"You'll be living with me for a while, Isao-kun," Airu told him.

"Am I still gonna go to school?" Isao asked back.

"Yeah. My house isn't far so I'll be able to take you to school every now and again," Airu replied.

"Will we get to see Mom every now and again?" Isao asked again.

"Sure. We'll make time for it," Airu told him. Shouko then turned to the kids.

"Thank you for watching over him, kids," Shouko told them.

"No prob," Melody said.

Shouko then turned to Airu. "Thank you for taking him in, Nee-san. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"It's fine. My oldest son's in college now, so there's plenty of extra room in my place. You just get some rest, little sis," Airu told her younger sister kindly, which made Shouko smile.

Yun, Lopmon, and Terriermon went outside of the hospital and found Hisako's car pulling up. Once it saw her, it stopped, and out came Hisako, Lucero, and Cutemon, all of whom are looking very worried.

"Yun! Yun!" Hisako ran over to Yun and hugged her tight. "Oh, thank goodness!"

"We were worried about thee!" Lucero piped in.

"What's been going on, kyu?" Cutemon asked.

"Isao-kun's mom is in the hospital. We thought we'd keep him company for a while," Yun told them.

"I got Minako's text. Let's go-" Hisako was about to take Yun home until she noticed the marks on her neck. "Oh my lord! Look at those marks on your neck! Did someone try to suffocate you?"

"Uh..." Yun really didn't want to tell Hisako about what Masaomi told her, but it turned out she didn't have to, because Melody already proceeded to do it for her.

"Some freaky guy named Hiroya Masaomi did it, Hisako-san! She told me so!" Melody exclaimed.

"WHAT?" Both Lucero and Cutemon exclaimed, knowing about how cruel Masaomi can be.

"When I get home, I'm filing a police report!" Hisako exclaimed angrily as she got into the car.

"Mom! Wait!" Yun exclaimed as she got into the car.

As Yun looked out the window, she saw another car pull up. Two people, a man and a woman, came out and pulled Melody into the car. Minako watched, but didn't do anything. Yun watched as a woman with long blonde hair and a man with dark brown hair took Melody into the car.

This bothered Yun. _'Those aren't her parents. Yuzuru-san and Utau-san all have short, black hair,'_ Yun thought.

Melody is right. Yun doesn't know a thing about what happened to her.

_In the Digital World..._

"Donner Brechen!"

"YEEEEK!"

Deep within the confines of the dark, dank, and dreary inner sanctum, though dimly lit by the flickering flames of Candlemon and his myriad DemiMeramon friends, in a paroxysm of anger, MoonMillenniummon shot a blue bolt of lightning at one part of the inner sanctum and roared, not knowing that he nearly electrocuted some DemiMeramon, something that ticked of Candlemon.

"Hey! Watch it with the lightning bolts, will ya? You nearly zapped one of my kin!" Candlemon snapped angrily.

Lilithmon is, apparently, just as angry as MoonMillenniummon. "Curses! Those rotten brats have managed to defeat my army! Do you know how long it took me to recruit all of those Digimon? Huh? DO YOU?" Lilithmon screeched.

"I CAN'T STAND IT ANYMORE!" MoonMillenniummon screamed so loud, he shook the entire inner sanctum. Some Gazimon, Gizamon, and Pagumon wobbled as the inner sanctum shook. "I can't stand it! I just cannot stand it any longer! My precious children are being persecuted one by one in that accursed human world while I have to be stuck in this rat hole, sit idly by, and watch as they perish before my very eyes! You know what? Screw it! I'm breaking myself out of here!"

Immediately, all of the Digimon in the inner sanctum right now gasped in shock. "But Master! You're under the curse! There's no way you can leave in the form you're in! His powers are too strong, even for you! Even we can't break you out with all of our powers!" Lilithmon persuaded with a worried tone in her voice.

"She's right! Besides, don't you remember the last time you tried to break free? You nearly destroyed the entire underground network! You can't push yourself too hard!" Candlemon advised.

"Yes, Master! Please reconsider! You know trying to break free takes a lot of energy out of you!" One Gazimon advised. Unfortunately, none of their persuasions worked, as MoonMillenniummon continued to be choleric.

"Do I LOOK like I care about that? Why should I care about pushing myself too hard when all of my precious children are dropping one by one like flies? I've been trapped in this rat hole for 20 years now, and I've just about had it with sitting here and doing nothing! You wonder why the Digital World isn't forming in my favor! Stand back, everyone! I'm breaking out of here even if it kills me!" MoonMillenniummon screamed angrily.

MoonMillenniummon's giant crystal glowed in a ghostly blue light once he closed his own eyes. With gusto, his shapeless form tried to creep out from the crystal. He looked like he was being pulled by an outside force. MoonMillenniummon pulled himself with all his might, not caring about the fact that he's in excrutiating pain. MoonMillenniummon could feel himself leaving the crystal just a bit, but just when he thought he's at the home stretch, something pulled on him, forcing him to come back a bit. Not wanting to succumb to this terrible feeling, MoonMillenniummon tried again. And again. And again. Sadly, he was pulled back into the crystal, panting from exhaustion, feeling quite terrible because of the pain that the supposed curse put on him.

"Are you alright, Master?" Lilithmon asked as she put a hand on the crystal, her normally malicious and icy voice filled with worry and concern for her exhausted master.

"Y-Yes. I'm fine, my dear Lilithmon. But still! I hate sitting around doing nothing, especially when my childrens' lives are at stake!" MoonMillenniummon bellowed sadly.

"Why don't you ever send me to the human world? I can easily finish them off with my powers!" Lilithmon asked.

"I'm sorry, Lilithmon, but I can't bear to send you there and put yourself in danger. You're one of my best subordinates, and I'm not going to let you fall prey to those humans and their pets!" MoonMillenniummon told her.

"But only half of them have reached ultimate level, and I'm a mega level! I can easily defeat them with my powers!" Lilithmon protested.

"That may be, but I can't bear to lose you. Not after what happened to Witchmon and the others. I just cannot...bear it..." MoonMillenniummon told her sadly.

"Man. He's really sad about this, isn't he?" Candlemon asked one of his DemiMeramon friends, who nodded.

All of a sudden, a tiny, impish little Digimon hopped out from one of the caves quite happily. A skinny little imp he is, with ugly blue skin and a big black mask covering most of his face, not making any attempt to hide a smile full of mischief and malice. His left eye is green and blue while his right eye is red and blue. He's wearing black pants and dark purple shoes, both of which have three bloody red toe nails creeping out from them. A small tuft of black fur is on his neck, and on both of his red-clawed palms are eyes. The eye on his left hand is green while the eye on his right hand is crimson, like blood. Small, bat-like wing decorations hung from his sides, and in between them is a small blue jewel.

"Kihihihihihi!" The small imp Digimon laughed creepily.

"Dracmon! Is that you over there? What have you been up to? You haven't been drawing graffiti on other Digimon's faces again, have you?" MoonMillenniummon bellowed.

Lilithmon, upon seeing the little kid Digimon, Dracmon, became disgusted. "Ugh! Who brought him here?"

Candlemon and his DemiMeramon friends inched, or flew, away from him.

"My apologies, Master, but I have something important to tell you right this minute! Some Digimon says he wants to join our little family!" Dracmon told him in a rather childish but eerie male voice.

MoonMillenniummon sighed. "This isn't another one of your little white lies, is it? You are a compulsive liar, after all..." MoonMillenniummon murmured as he shook both of his heads.

"No no, Master! I even brought him with me! Look!" Dracmon said as he went into the cave and pulled a Digimon into the center of the inner sanctum.

The Digimon is at least two feet taller than the mischievous little devil, and not nearly as intimidating or frightening. A small, humanoid like Digimon with long, straw-like yellow hair tied in a rather messy pony tail, with most of his head being hidden by a big white hat. His face is hidden by the very long collar of his white and light blue one-piece outfit, but that didn't seem to bother anyone. His eyes are wide and blue, like the ocean. On his hands are brown gloves, and brown boots covered his feet. He held a staff in his left hand, topped by a big blue snowflake-like sculpture, and he donned a white cape that's purple on the inside of it, with white markings all over it.

"See? Told ya!" Dracmon piped in.

"Alright. I get it. Move along now, Dracmon. You're on cooking duty today. Get to it, quick!" MoonMillenniummon gently shooed Dracmon away, which Dracmon didn't seem to mind. Once he left, however, everyone else in the inner sanctum let out a sigh of relief.

"I really hate having him around. I'll never forgive him for spilling water all over me once. I nearly lost my DigiCore because of him!" Candlemon exclaimed angrily.

"You're telling me. I really don't understand why you bothered to take him in, Master. He's a compulsive prankster and never seems to show remorse for what he does! Do you know how long it took me to get all the marker off of my face and dress?" Lilithmon told him, but MoonMillenniummon didn't seem to be listening, as he's too focused on the wizard-like Digimon that Dracmon brought with him.

"Who are you and why have you come here?" MoonMillenniummon asked.

The mage-like Digimon gave a polite bow. "I'm sorry to trespass upon your humble home. I am Sorcermon, a citizen of the world called Witchelny, and I wish to join your cause."

MoonMillenniummon and Lilithmon looked at each other with confused looks, then looked back at the young mage, Sorcermon.

"Exactly how did you find out about us?" MoonMillenniummon asked.

"Dracmon told me," Sorcermon said.

Candlemon immediately became irked. "That imp told you about us? He's supposed to be sworn to secrecy for cryin' out loud!"

"Told ya we never should have accepted him into the family!" Gazimon yelled angrily.

"Calm down, you two," MoonMillenniummon told them, then turned to look at Sorcermon again. "You say you wish to join us. Why is that, exactly?"

"Well, our world has been holding press conferences about you and your team, and I just didn't agree with their beliefs, so they banished me. But I have heard about your exploits and am inspired. I would love to revolutionize the Digital World with you," Sorcermon told them in a low voice.

Lilithmon suddenly smiled. "My, you're quite the bold little mage...and also quite handsome."

"Don't hit on him, Lilithmon," MoonMillenniummon told her, then looked at Sorcermon again. "Normally I never take in Digimon who simply waltz in here to join my cause because they usually have plans to infiltrate the base and exploit us...but you seem like an honest Digimon. I will have to put that to the test. Starting tomorrow, I will subject you to some tests, and I hope that you will pass them with flying colors."

"Tests?" Sorcermon asked.

"Yes. Tests. They're not anything destructive, I assure you. Just simple ones," MoonMillenniummon said.

Sorcermon was about to say something until all of a sudden, a Digimon literally ran into the center of the inner sanctum, looking very frantic, but not for the reasons anyone expected. Right as the Digimon came in, a rope was suddenly wrapped around him and he fell to the ground, pinned to it by another Digimon. The Digimon who is tied down is a very pale blue, humanoid lion creature who is currently wearing black pants, black belts on both of his arms, and a purple necklace with a blue jewel in the middle. The white lion Digimon did NOT look in the least bit happy. The Digimon tying him down is a very different creature. A long armed, brown skinned alien whose face, shoulders, and hands are donned with dark blue armor, with sharp red claws protruding from both his hands and feet, along with a big red horn on his head. A green jewel is lodged in his torso, and his eyes are an ugly shade of oozy green. His hair, like Sorcermon, is yellow, but a darker, uglier shade. The white lion struggled and tried to break free, but couldn't.

"Release me now, you scum!" The white lion Digimon roared angrily.

"Is your test subject trying to escape again, Diaboromon?" Lilithmon asked.

"Yes. Forgive me for causing all of this commotion, but I believe that my new and improved Dark Emblem is finally complete!" Diaboromon said as he pulled out a rather large black and purple stone whose tip gleamed viciously in the dim light.

"New and improved?" Candlemon asked.

"Yes! I have yet to see if it works. That's why this IceLeomon will be my guinea pig, to see if it will fulfill your expectations, Master," Diaboromon said in a cold, icy voice.

"I refuse to be anyone's guinea pig, especially that of trash like you!" The white lion Digimon, IceLeomon, screeched angrily.

"TRASH? How dare you call me trash! Now you will pay!" Diaboromon yelled as he very gently put the tip of the black crystal in a space hidden in IceLeomon's fur.

Immediately upon contact, IceLeomon felt that he was being torn apart, both inside and out, as both a burning and ripping sensation tore through his body. He roared wildly, letting everyone know that he, like MoonMillenniummon earlier, is in excrutiating, possibly unbearable, pain. He roared and howled for a full minute, then succumbed to darkness. All of a sudden, his eyes began glowing red, and he growled like a feral lion.

"I don't see anything different," Gazimon said as Diaboromon pulled the now controlled IceLeomon up on his feet.

"You see, the first Dark Emblem was made before we destroyed the Digital World. I made it out of Black Quartz, Papillion Hayseed, black potions made only in Witchelny, Black Mold, and energy obtained from the Dark Area. Black Quartz are stones that can be found in Noir Lake, and they have a decent amount of dark energy that fuels virus type Digimon into digivolution, but only for a certain period of time. Papillion Hayseed is a type of seed that grows in wheat fields, often used in medicine for inducing sleep, though mages in Witchelny have discovered a way to use it for means of mind control, and they used all kinds of magic to modify it for that purpose only. The black potions are of a rare variety and are very strong for means of corruption. They're so powerful, in fact, that usage of those potions have been banned in Witchelny. Only two are known to exist: Scilica and Astersis, both of which have traces of Cipher, the most feared magic in the world, in them. Black Mold is a type of clay used for molding, and can be hardened and sculpted very easily, though you can't expose it to the sun. It makes it crumble and turn white instead of black. The rest of them I think you already know. They also have pieces of MoonMillenniummon's power in them," Diaboromon explained.

"What makes this one different from the other one?" Candlemon asked.

"The purpose of the first Dark Emblem is to control Digimon, right? But based on the testimonies of Witchmon and a few others, Digimon who immediately become branded with Dark Emblems often disappear into the real world. MoonMillenniummon put traces of his powers in all of them, and he's experienced with manipulating time and space, so much so that he can even alter dimensions and create rifts through time and space itself! Of course, that proved to be a drawback, as whenever the first Dark Emblem would make contact with a Digimon, it winds up forcing open the mystical veil that separates the human world from ours, and the branded Digimon end up falling in through a rift created by the Dark Emblem. Of course, it can be remedied if you're either holding the Digimon or if you're in the air, but you can't be in two places at once, and sometimes the Digimon may act out. Not only that, we discovered that if the Dark Emblem on said Digimon is removed, you can't brand it on the same Digimon again. Basically, you can't brand the same Digimon twice. This new Dark Emblem, on the other hand, is my newest creation. Instead of using Dark Quartz, I used Smoky Onyx, which is much more potent and durable than Dark Quartz, and it lasts longer, albeit a trifle hard to contain. I've also modified the Papillion Hayseed and purchased some more flexible Black Mold, which allows this new Dark Emblem to become much harder to remove. Not only that, you don't have to make so many stones in order to brand them anymore, which used to take a whole lot of time to do," Diaboromon explained.

"Yes, I remember. Dark Emblems may be useful, but they're a hassle to produce. Do you know how hard it was to make all of those stones for every single one of us here. It took us six whole months to find more of them!" Lilithmon said.

"Exactly. As you saw earlier, all I did was poke this IceLeomon here with the tip of this stone, and voila! He's branded! As you can also barely see, the mark itself is much smaller and harder to both find and remove. I have yet to know if we're able to brand the same Digimon twice with this one, however. I'll have to find another, more controllable test subject for that," Diaboromon explained.

"Piedmon and Gokuwmon told me that they've recently taken over Ghertza Village, which is full of small Digimon, so maybe you'll find some willing test subjects here. I'll have HiVisionMonitormon tell them that you're coming," MoonMillenniummon told him.

"Thank you so very much, Master," Diaboromon told him politely.

"Your creation seems to be very interesting. Exactly what are you planning to do with this IceLeomon here?" Lilithmon asked.

"I have more things I need to do with him, so I'll be keeping him around for a little while longer. I want to see how the new Dark Emblem works on his powers. I guess now would be a good time to run over to Ghertza Village and find more test subjects. Good day, everyone," Diaboromon grabbed IceLeomon with one of his long, stretchy arms and left through one of the big tunnels.

"Candlemon. Take Sorcermon to one of the retiring rooms, if you will," MoonMillenniummon told him.

"Yes, sir!" Candlemon did a sailor salute, took Sorcermon by the hand, and escorted him out of the center of the inner sanctum. The lone Gazimon left as well, leaving MoonMillenniummon and Lilithmon all alone.

"So what do you plan to do now, Master?" Lilithmon asked.

"I don't know. I'm all in all sick and tired of sitting here in this rat hole doing nothing while my children are being executed in a totally different world. At this point in time, I still don't believe that puny humans are even remotely capable of taming Digimon and using them for such brutish and reprehensible crimes! I'm willing to bet five thousand digi-drachmas that they may not even be bigger than any baby Digimon! But considering what's been happening...oh, it just makes me sick to even think about it!" MoonMillenniummon said.

Lilithmon gently put her hands on MoonMillenniummon. "You mustn't feel so abject, Master. As we've seen, these little brats are only children. I could easily vaporize them or corrode them with my Nazar Nail if you would allow me."

"I know their strength in numbers is low by my standards, but at this point, I honestly don't want to take any chances. We'll wait and see how Diaboromon's new Dark Emblem fares, then we'll act."

"I happen to have a new army of Digimon up my sleeve, though I must confess that I used the last of the old Dark Emblems."

"That's fine with me."

"And what about Sorcermon? You're not seriously thinking about letting him into our beautiful home, are you?"

"Don't worry, Lilithmon. I'm not so stupid as to just allow a Digimon to waltz in here and welcome them with open arms. I mean, look at my collection up on the ceiling! I must have about 500 Digimon stored up there! Anyway, you know those tests I perform, right? Very few Digimon have passed even the first one, and the first test is the easiest of them all by my standards!"

"Exactly why couldn't you just brainwash them with your own-"

"NOOOOOO!" MoonMillenniummon suddenly screamed, causing Lilithmon to fall on her behind and the entire inner sanctum to shake for just a few seconds, like an earthquake had just hit.

"Hey! You should at least calm down a little!" Lilithmon scolded angrily as she got up and dusted some dirt off of her purple dress.

"I ABSOLUTELY REFUSE! I will not allow any brainwashing, period! You know for a fact that it's the most dangerous and the most vulnerable technique possible, right? Brainwashing is a very complex and intricate procedure, and the most fatal! If not done exactly right, the Digimon could die from it and wind up being de-fragmented so much they could dissolve into the lowest forms of existence, never to reform again! I can't allow that to happen! Not after the last time! Besides, the Dark Emblems themselves are good brainwashers enough, though I must confess that even I feel that brainwashing is too cliche and overdone."

"But you're good at it!"

"Yeah, good at causing their brains to explode if I ruin even the tiniest, most minute calculation and reformation! In order for it to be totally correct, you'd have to dissect their brains, place brain cells and blood vessels in different locations and completely rewire their total brain function, and you know how fragile that procedure is, and I refuse to go any further with it than I already have!"

Lilithmon sighed. "Alright."

Nobody knew it, but Sorcermon watched them the entire time, eavesdropping on their entire conversation.

_In the human world..._

A week has passed, and it's now Sunday. Although the destruction in the town square is still off-limits, construction works did everything they could to remove debris. The authorities said that the kids will be able to go back to school starting Monday since the damage didn't reach any of them, which is good. Shouko told her sister about the biopsy results, which she passed on to Isao. Much to everyone's surprise, the tumor in Shouko's lung is benign, meaning it's not cancerous! But Shouko had to be started on chemotherapy immediately since the doctors caught it early and want to take care of it as soon as possible. Isao went into his room and ruminated, while Bearmon, who hid in his new room the entire time, was just jubilant.

"Isn't this great, Isao-kun? Shouko-san's not gonna die after all!" Bearmon exclaimed happily.

"Yeah. It is. But...what can I do to help her?" Isao said, a little sadly.

All of a sudden, Aunt Airu came into the room. Quickly, Bearmon posed as a stuffed animal.

"Hey Isao-kun. Do you want to help me make something nice for Shouko?" Aunt Airu asked.

Beaming, Isao stood up. "Can I? Yes! I'd love to! Can I make sandwiches? I'm good at making them! Mom taught me! Oh! Can I bring my money with me? I wanna see if there's any orange juice there! Mom says Vitamin C is good for you!" Isao exclaimed excitedly and enthusiastically.

Aunt Airu smiled. "Sure."

Aunt Airu made a little picnic basket consisting of lots of healthy foods, like frozen grapes, a small cup of vanilla creme yogurt, and bananas. Isao decided to make the little sandwiches with lettuce and meat in them. Shouko had taught him once how to make them, and Isao proved to be quite good at it. Isao made four of them. Bearmon watched as Isao and Aunt Airu worked together in the kitchen and smiled.

'Isao. Sometimes little things like this show that you have the strength to overcome anything. You don't need to do anything big in order to be useful,' Bearmon thought. He wished Isao would come to realize this.

While the Sunday morning proved to be quite nice for Isao despite the fact that his mother is weak and in treatment right now, it wasn't so nice for Yun, who is currently in her parents' room playing her Nintendo DS in the air conditioning. They don't have central air conditioning as they only have two air conditioners, one in Ayaka's room and the other in the other room, so a big drape is separating the dining room from the little hallway so the cool air can get into the rooms. Yun has on a big white T-shirt and a pair pale blue jean shorts that go above her knees just a little bit. Lopmon and Terriermon hopped onto the big bed with her.

"You look rather perturbed, Yun. What's wrong?" Lopmon asked gently. Yun sighed as she saved her game and turned it off.

"I really wish Mom didn't make plans to make me and Ayaka go out with her today. It's so hot out, and I hate wearing bras in the summer!" Yun told them.

"I'll bet. I'm kinda sad we can't go with you," Terriermon said.

"Well, they are going out in public, and if we went with them, it'd cause an uproar," Lopmon said.

Yun turned her game back on and was about to focus on playing for a while more until Ayaka and Hisako started talking in the hallway, right near the bedroom...and the door is wide open. Yun never bothered to close it because that's how the air goes through the hallway.

"I really don't see why I can't go," Ayaka suddenly said.

"You know how those kinds of parties are. There's alcohol and everything, and I'm not one who allows underage drinking, not that I think you're going to-" Hisako tried to persuade her to not go to the party, but Ayaka suddenly cut her off.

"Yes you do!"

"And besides, it's a school night."

"Oh, you think one little night of fun is going to kill my grades?"

"Ayaka, that's not what I'm saying! I'm not saying it's not okay to have fun. I just don't think that party will be safe. I don't want anything bad to happen to you."

"You mean Yun."

"No! Ayaka, will you please stop thinking that I favor Yun over you?"

"It's true, Mom! Stop denying it!"

"I'm not denying anything!"

"You say you don't want anything bad to happen to me, but that's a bunch of crock! Since when did you care about my well-being?"

"You're my daughter! How can any mother not care for her daughter's safety and well-being?"

"You care way more about Yun than me."

"Ayaka, I'm sick and tired of-"

Hisako wanted to scold Ayaka for her inopportune behavior, but Ayaka turned around and suddenly saw Yun playing her game and minding her own business while Lopmon and Terriermon watched. All of a sudden, Ayaka became very choleric. She stomped into the room and tried to hit Yun, but Yun, hearing Ayaka stomp inside, immediately hopped off of the bed while Lopmon and Terriermon immediately stood their guard.

"Quit eavesdropping on our conversation, you brat!" Ayaka screamed as Hisako pulled on her arm.

"All I'm doing is playing my game!" Yun yelled.

"You ALWAYS do this, you brat! You're always listening in on our conversations when it's not even any of your business!" Ayaka screamed angrily.

"Ayaka! Stop it right now!" Hisako got in between the frightened Yun and the incensed Ayaka.

"I don't listen to them on purpose! I can hear your voices in every single part of the house, especially when you're yelling!" Yun snapped back, but Ayaka didn't relent.

"Why do you always have to be such a stupid little brat? Why couldn't you have been born deaf or something so you wouldn't eavesdrop on everything?" Ayaka yelled.

"Wakamiya Ayaka Naomi!" Hisako exclaimed angrily. "You should NEVER say stuff like that in this house, and stop blaming everything that goes on in the world on her! This house isn't exactly soundproof, and she's sensitive to noise, so she's bound to hear a lot of things!"

"Stop making excuses for her, Mom! You always do this!"

"No I don't! And use your inside voice!"

"She's way louder than I am!"

"No I'm not!" Yun protested.

"Just get dressed! We leave in 20 minutes!" Hisako told Ayaka, which gave Yun the opportunity to leave the bedroom.

Reluctantly, both girls prepared themselves to go food shopping. Lopmon and Terriermon, reluctant as they are to leave Yun with Hisako and Ayaka, knew that they had to stay home lest they drew unwanted attention to themselves. Once Hisako, Ayaka, and Yun got to ShopRite, they walked down every aisle they could think of. Hisako pushed the cart while picking up various things.

"Don't even dare try to grab any junk food," Ayaka whispered wickedly, but Yun backed away.

They picked up personal hygiene-related items first, like toilet paper, paper towels, shampoo, toothpaste, and a new tooth brush for Ayaka because her old one is worn and yellow, and had to be thrown away. Ayaka then proceeded to buy some hair spray and a new hair straightener. Hisako bought a new bag for the vacuum cleaner. Then they moved on to food.

"Ayaka. Can you get the peanut butter please?" Hisako asked.

Without saying anything, Ayaka grabbed a medium-sized jar of peanut butter and threw it in the shopping cart. Unfortunately, just as they were going to go down the aisle that's full of coffee and nuts, a baby suddenly started crying loudly and ardently out of nowhere, which frightened Yun into covering her ears. This irked Ayaka.

"Stop being such a brat! Deal with it!" Ayaka scolded.

"Ayaka! That's enough out of you!" Hisako scolded back as Yun ran from the aisle they're in to the next one. Thankfully, the woman with the baby walked away quickly, and the baby's crying faded the further away they went. Ayaka then grabbed a big bag of potato chips and threw it in the shopping cart, and this irked Yun.

"Aren't those unhealthy?" Yun asked innocently.

Suddenly, Ayaka found herself staring into Yun's face angrily. "Oh, you're one to talk, little miss I stuff my big ugly face with a hundred pounds of junk food like a pig every day!"

"I don't eat potato chips!" Yun exclaimed.

Hisako, not wanting to cause a scene, pushed the two quarrelsome sisters apart. "Ayaka! You didn't have to do that! And use your inside voice while in public!" Hisako scolded.

"Mom! She ate two whole cinnamon rolls this morning! You know how fattening they are! By the time she gets into high school she's gonna be a big fat porky pig!" Ayaka yelled as she pointed at Yun, singling her out. Yun wanted to protest back, but Hisako interrupted.

"I made them as a special treat so it's fine if either of you have one or two, and you shouldn't call people names! Now let's get this over with!" Hisako scolded back, obviously becoming quite irritated by Ayaka's inopportune behavior.

Yun could feel the tension rising, and she really doesn't want to deal with either of them being angry. She wished she had brought her digivice or her D-Chips with her so she could call for Swanmon and fly away so she wouldn't have to deal with them if they suddenly exploded and began yelling at each other. Suddenly, she found herself swimming in a rather unpleasant puddle of a memory.

(flashback)

_It was earlier this morning. Like Ayaka said, Hisako made a nice batch of cinnamon rolls complete with the white glazing on top. She often made them as a special treat for if the kids were good or when she herself was in a good mood. She didn't make them often, but the entire family loved them. Yun loved the round cinnamon rolls, their softness, and the gooey white glaze. She treated herself to one, though she had to wait for it to cool down a little because they were a little hot upon coming out of the oven. Terriermon noticed the cinnamon rolls and once Yun was finished with hers, he approached her._

_"Those look good! Can we have one?" Terriermon asked, and by we he meant himself, Lopmon, and Cutemon. Yun smiled._

_"Oh! You haven't had them before, have you? Sure! Wait just a minute," Yun told him as she finished her own cinnamon roll. Once she finished, she grabbed a smaller plate and went to the stove so she can pick up another cinnamon roll for Lopmon, Terriermon, and Cutemon. Unfortunately, Ayaka noticed and approached her with her arms crossed._

_"What are you doing?" Ayaka asked sternly._

_"Getting another cinnamon roll for-" Yun was about to tell her that it was going to be for Terriermon, Lopmon, and Cutemon since they haven't gotten any before, but Ayaka suddenly cut her off._

_"PIIIIIIGGY!" Ayaka suddenly shouted, then started making caustic, pig-like snorting noises with a malicious smile on her egg-shaped face._

_"It's not for me! It's for-"_

_"You need to quit eating so much junk food! I can see your fat belly hanging over your shorts! You're gonna be a porky pig in no-" Ayaka taunted again, but this time Terriermon stepped in._

_"Hey! Yun's not fat, and the cinnamon roll isn't for her! It's for me, Lopmon, and Cutemon! Quit making up weird ideas!" Terriermon snapped angrily._

_"It's true! She binges on junk food every day like a big fat pig!" Ayaka snapped back._

_"Alright, you two! Break it up!" Hisako suddenly exclaimed as she stepped in between Terriermon and Ayaka while Yun got the cinnamon roll and proceeded to cut it up into pieces for Lopmon, Terriermon, and Cutemon. She set the plate down and the rabbits proceeded to munch on them._

_"Mmmmm! I love these! Thanks, Yun!"_

_Despite the fact that the rabbits looked quite happy eating the tasty cinnamon rolls, Yun herself didn't feel happy...because she believed that Ayaka is right about her being fat._

(end flashback)

After a while, they went to the check out. But Yun noticed that as one clerk is attending to a customer, she noticed that the clerk typed in their address but spelled one of the words wrong. Before the clerk could enter it, Yun spoke up.

"Excuse me! I don't mean to bother you, but one of the words is spelled wrong. It's Aizuwakamatsu, not Aizuwakamasu," Yun told the clerk. He saw the error and laughed.

"Oh! You're right! Thanks for telling me, little miss," The young male clerk said, looking a little embarrassed, but not in a hurtful way.

"It's alright. I misspell stuff a lot too," Yun said as the clerk finished tending to the customer. Once Hisako paid for all of the items, they filled up their shopping cart full of bags and tried to leave...well, they would have if Ayaka hadn't smacked Yun over the head.

"OW!"

"Ayaka!" Hisako shouted in shock.

"You're so stupid, you know that?" Ayaka suddenly screamed, unknowingly drawing the attention of quite a few customers. "You should have minded your own business!"

"I was just making sure he didn't type in the wrong address! I was helping him!" Yun protested back.

"It wasn't your place to do that! Stop acting like the world has to be perfect to fit your standards!" Ayaka yelled.

"ENOUGH!" Hisako yelled as she pushed herself between an angry Ayaka and a now frightened Yun, who is covering her ears. "Let's get in the car already!"

Ayaka and Yun both followed Hisako out to the car, unloaded the bags, put them in the car, and went in. Yun put the cart back where they got it and they drove home...very unhappily. Once they got home, Hisako, Ayaka, and Yun all unloaded the car and put the bags in the kitchen. Lucero came and helped them out, but even he could notice the tension among them. Once everyone put everything away, it all exploded, and Lucero was quick to yank Yun out of the kitchen. Despite his efforts, however, the yelling echoed throughout the entire house.

"I don't know what it is with you these days, Ayaka, but I am gosh durned sick and tired of you yelling all the time!"

"You're the one who's always taking Yun's side and not give a durn about me!"

"I DO SO GIVE A DURN ABOUT YOU!" Yun could hear Hisako banging something on the stove in an all-out paroxysm of anger. "I do everything for you, yet you don't even thank me or anything! All you do is complain and yell and whine!"

"You're the very reason I yell and complain and whine!"

"Stop acting like the world has to revolve around you!"

"Yun's the one who thinks the world has to revolve around her! You all think the world has to revolve around her!"

"Stop! Just stop, Ayaka! I hate it when you get like this!"

"You hate me as a whole!"

Not wanting to let Yun suffer as her hypersensitive ears got pounded on by the yelling, Lucero, Lopmon, Terriermon, and Cutemon literally dragged Yun out of the house, out of the backyard, and into the little clearing where they fought their first Digimon battle. Yun noticed that the yelling faded and smiled.

"Thanks," Yun told everyone.

"Friends always help each other. Thou art very sensitive to loud noise, am I not mistaken? I shan't allow their incessant screaming to injure thy heart in such a ribald manner," Lucero told her kindly.

"What does ribald mean, kyu?" Cutemon asked.

"Vulgar. Cruel. Wicked," Lucero said.

"Oh! Thanks, kyu!" Cutemon said as she snapped her little pink fingers. Then her big ears drooped downward. "Still, I wish Ayaka-san wouldn't yell so much and think you're responsible for everything that goes on in her life, kyu."

Yun's head drooped downward also. "I agree."

"Why is she so uptight? This is getting out of control!" Terriermon exclaimed.

"If I remember correctly, I think it started after she found out Kiyomi-chan fell into a coma," Yun explained.

"Who's Kiyomi?" Lopmon asked.

"Neechan's best friend, kind of like how you are to me," Yun told her.

"Ayaka hast had a single best friend? Forgive me if I'm being rude, but methinks she was the type to be quite popular and have a great, many friends," Lucero said, a little surprised by the new revelation. "I hast no knowledge of this Kiyomi person until now."

"That's okay. I never did tell you, so that's kinda my fault," Yun told him.

"So...exactly what happened to Kiyomi?" Lopmon asked.

"Well, I remember reading in the paper that some psychotic relative of hers beat her up so badly that she fell into a coma. That doesn't mean she's dead, in case you were wondering. Technically she's alive, but she's in a really really really deep sleep," Yun explained.

"That can happen? I never knew, kyu!" Cutemon exclaimed.

Lucero became dejected. "Perhaps Ayaka is sad inside. Broken, deep within the depths of her heart. Like thou hath, once before," Lucero whispered a little sadly.

"If you found out your only best friend is in a coma and has been for about two years now, then why wouldn't you be?" Yun said.

"WHAT?" Terriermon and Cutemon both exclaimed, in shock. "You can be in a deep sleep for two years?"

"Yeah. It's happened. But if the cases are really bad, then you can sleep for even longer than that. I saw a special once about a guy being in a coma for close to 20 years, though I heard somewhere that the longest recorded period of time at all is 37 years!"

"WHAAAAT? NO WAY!" Terriermon and Cutemon exclaimed.

"You don't think Kiyomi will be in a coma until late adulthood, do you?" Lopmon asked, becoming worried.

"I don't think so, but it depends on if she gets better or not. I'm just hoping that she'll wake up sooner than later, and that she WON'T be in a coma until she's grown up," Yun explained, though her voice sounded dubious.

They waited for about 15 minutes for the yelling to stop, and it did, though when they got back, Hisako was still in a bad mood, so Yun and the others didn't talk to her. Yun knew from raw experience that when Hisako is in a bad mood, it's best to never talk to her or even ask her even the most well-intentioned of questions. This happened a lot, and Yun did not want to deal with any snapping from Hisako ever again.

Somewhere in the park, later that night, Spadamon and Quetzalmon sat in the woods, eating an abundance of fruit, like apples and oranges. Spadamon scarfed down the oranges like a pig, and Quetzalmon sighed.

"You're such a glutton, Spadamon. You need to slow down when you eat or you'll choke," Quetzalmon told him.

"Nawww, quit worryin' so much, Quetzalmon! If you're a Digimon like me, then you're incapable of choking, so I'm good in that department!" Spadamon said.

"That may be, but you still-" Quetzalmon wanted to tell him to watch what he ate and in a certain amount until he suddenly felt the red hair on his head stand up in alarm. The same with Spadamon. They both looked at each other with confused faces.

"You feel it, too?" Spadamon asked. Quetzalmon nodded. Spadamon unloaded his sword from his sheath.

"Let's go and see what it is," Spadamon said as he got on Quetzalmon's back and flew away from the park.


	72. GrapLeomon! Lend Me Your Strength!

EPISODE 72: GrapLeomon, Lend Me Your Strength!

_In the Digital World..._

Sorcermon stood in front of the mischievous Dracmon while MoonMillenniummon and Lilithmon watched from just a few feet away. Today is what MoonMillenniummon calls the first of the _"tests"_ he will put Sorcermon through. Candlemon, HiVisionMonitormon, a few Bakemon, a few Pagumon, and a few DemiMeramon watched as Sorcermon stood where he was, calm and collected.

"We will now begin the first test, which I like to call Mind Evaluation. Dracmon here has the ability to read minds and check if there are any lingering thoughts in your head. But I must warn you, most who have tried to infiltrate this inner sanctum did not pass, so I sincerely hope that you do, Sorcermon," MoonMillenniummon said.

Lilithmon crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, unconvinced. Candlemon and one of the Bakemon looked at each other with confused eyes.

"Is there anything of importance that I need to do?" Sorcermon asked.

"No. All you have to do is close your eyes and remain calm. Don't worry. I'll make sure Dracmon doesn't steal your power or make you into his slave...and _I MEAN IT_, Dracmon!" MoonMillenniummon told Sorcermon calmly, then Dracmon eerily.

"Yes, sir!" Dracmon chirped.

Sorcermon did as asked and closed his eyes. Dracmon held his hands out. A shroud of black energy came out of both of Dracmon's hands and surrounded Sorcermon. Then it disappeared.

"I've never seen any Digimon go through the tests before. I think I'll stick around and watch," Candlemon said.

All of the DemiMeramon nodded in agreement.

Dracmon looked into Sorcermon's mind...for a few minutes. But it looked as though something bothered him. After a few minutes, Dracmon's powers faded, and Sorcermon opened his eyes.

"Is something wrong, Dracmon?" MoonMillenniummon asked.

"I didn't find anything in Sorcermon's brain, sir! I'm tellin' the truth, I swear!" Dracmon cried out suddenly.

Now it was MoonMillenniummon and Lilithmon who looked at each other with confused faces. After about a few seconds, MoonMillenniummon turned to look at Sorcermon.

"Wow! I'm surprised to admit this, but...you passed the first test!" MoonMillenniummon exclaimed.

"WHAT?" Candlemon, Lilithmon, the Bakemon, HiVisionMonitormon, and the DemiMeramon yelped, shocked by this revelation.

"Just like that, Master? Are you serious? Isn't this a little...uh, I dunno..." HiVisionMonitormon scratched his flat screen of a head to find the right word for it. "Contrived?"

"Honestly, I'm just as surprised as you are. No Digimon has ever passed the first test in about 15 years! But don't be celebrating just yet, as this is only the very first test. There are four more tests prepared for Digimon like you," MoonMillenniummon said.

Sorcermon didn't say a word.

_In the human world..._

When Isao came home with Aunt Airu on the day his mother got sent to the hospital, he went to bed immediately since it was so late, and the first thing he dreamed about was his father's death. He remembered it all: his father collapsing on the floor suddenly, the news of a malignant brain tumor eating away at his brain, the cancer finally killing him, his mother breaking down into tears, Isao himself crying, the funeral, and his father's casket being lowered into the dirt. Isao loved his father very much. He was his idol, his mentor, everything. Isao even remembered something his father told him.

_"You don't need to be able to fight or lift heavy stuff to be strong. Sometimes, doing very small things can show that you're a strong person, like helping someone in danger or giving them a piece of candy or cheering someone up. A strong person is a kind person."_

Isao wished his father didn't die, but he did, and that's that. He simply accepted it, sad as he was at the funeral. He even remembered that whenever his father was around, Isao would cry and let out all his sadness and let his father hug him, rub his back, and cheer him up. Isao made it a point to put up a strong front in public, but become a crybaby at home. He thought that he would be able to make friends that way. He then dreamt about...the day he met Bearmon.

(flashback)

_Isao didn't really have the best of days at school that day. Miss Sonomiya was in a sour mood, a rowdy kid pushed him in the ground and tried to beat him up (but failed thanks to another teacher breaking up the event), he didn't get to play soccer like he wanted, and one of his schoolbooks got ripped by a kid who tried to take it from him by force. Not only that, the loss of his father is still lingering in his mind. Isao tried not to cry during this time, as he didn't want to draw any attention to himself. He couldn't wait to come home and be with his mother._

_Unfortunately, he found his mother lying on the couch, taking a nap after a hard day of work. Isao knew that if he woke his mother up, it wouldn't be pretty. He noticed that his mother had been working a lot lately, since his father died, and as a result, he didn't get to spend as much time with her as he hoped, as she was just too tired when she got back. Sure, she'd make dinner for him afterward, but then she'd go back to sleep. Isao wished his dad didn't die, then Shouko would be happier. But as of now, he couldn't do anything, so he decided to go into his room and be by himself. He sat on his bed with his legs in a pretzel and...cried._

_Yep, the first thing he did when he walked into his room was cry. Big tears poured out of his midnight blue eyes like the Niagara Falls. He cried about his sour day: Miss Sonomiya's behavior, being pushed into the ground and nearly getting beaten up, not being able to play soccer like he wanted, his schoolbook getting ripped, and, most of all, his father being in Heaven. Isao asked himself this question lots of times: 'Why did it have to be him? Why did he have to die? He didn't do anything wrong! Why?' Isao thought as he cried. He wished his mother was awake to hug him and comfort him, but she's so dead asleep that she can barely hear him, and the doors are wooden so, when closed completely, they muffle loud noise. To Isao, his room is basically his outlet for his sadness. He was told by kids at school that boys who cry are sissies, but his father and teacher told him that it's okay to cry when he needs to because it's not okay to hold in sadness and bottle it up or he'll explode. Isao didn't want to cry in public, so he compromised by putting on a bold front in school, then exploding in tears at home. This is how it had been for a long time._

_Isao cried for about ten minutes, then found his face feeling warm and puffy. He opened his eyes to find...a very surprising sight. On the floor, standing out starkly among his collection of toy cars and trucks and legos, is an egg! A small, grey egg with pale blue claw marks on it. Almost as big as his hands. Sadness forgotten, Isao, completely overcome with pure, innocent curiosity, crawled off of his bed, plopped onto the floor, walked up to the egg, and gently picked it up. The first thing that Isao noticed was that it was quite warm. Although he liked how it felt, he's still very confused._

_"What is this thing? How did it get in here?" Isao asked himself. He looked out one of his windows and saw that it's closed. "The window's closed, so it couldn't have gotten in here."_

_Despite his confusion, Isao looked at the egg and examined it with his curious, midnight blue eyes. Upon further rumination, a potential revelation hit Isao's mind like a lightning bolt._

_"No way! That can't be! Is this-?" Isao was about to ask himself what it was until a crack formed at the top of the egg._

Crack! Crack!

_Then came another. Then a few more._

Crack! Crack!

_"What the-?"_

_All of a sudden, the entire egg shell shattered, and a bright light caused Isao to cover his eyes._

_"Gyaah!"_

_Isao covered his eyes with his hands upon seeing the bright light, which lit up his room quite splendidly. Shouko didn't notice anything as she's dead asleep from exhaustion. After about a minute or so, Isao noticed that the brightness had vanished, so he assumed it was safe to remove his hands from his face and open his midnight blue eyes, though he was slow in doing so. Isao had no idea that what he was about to see was going to throw him for a great big loop! Yes, he's surprised by the egg and the fact that it hatched, but he was soon rendered even more speechless and surprised by what the egg left behind!_

_Sitting in front of him is a very tiny, very cute, and very squishy-looking creature, with shiny red skin that both looked and felt like jelly, or those squishy things that you get at gift shops, and big, round, white and black eyes. On it's head are three protrusions, two on the front, and one in the back. Isao and the strange, red creature stared into each other's eyes with both surprise, confusion, curiosity, and wonder. Isao couldn't believe his eyes, and apparently neither could the cute little red thing. Isao stared and stared at the cute little red animal, shocked beyond his wildest dreams. What's more...he even recognized the creature._

_"Whoa! You're a...a...a..._Punimon_! _A Digimon_!" Isao exclaimed. Yes, he actually knew what this little creature is! A Digimon named Punimon. The little red creature, or Digimon, Punimon, immediately smiled and beamed brightly. Punimon jumped up and down, making little babbling noises as he did. Isao smiled back, and picked up the energetic little red bundle of joy._

_"Wow! I can't believe it! Digimon are real! They're real! And you're a real life Punimon!" Isao said, still very surprised, but as of now, he's overcome with joy, and so is Punimon. "Hi! I'm Taketatsu Isao, your new friend! We're partners!"_

_Punimon, immediately coming to like Isao, babbled a bit more joyously._

_"Since you're a Punimon...Oh! You can digivolve into Tsunomon, and then into Gabumon! Way cool! Gabumon's my favorite Digimon! I hope you'll digivolve into Gabumon! We can fight evil Digimon and save the world!" Isao exclaimed._

_Suddenly, Punimon burst into tears. "Waaaah!"_

_"Oh!" Isao exclaimed, thinking that he made Punimon cry. "Don't cry! It's okay! I'm here. See?" Isao, hoping that Punimon wasn't crying because of him, decided to rock him back and forth. Then, out of nowhere, Punimon began chewing on Isao's hand. Oddly enough, it didn't hurt. He didn't feel any hard teeth dredging into his skin. Just something soft and squishy, like Punimon's skin. Isao couldn't help but laugh._

_"Ha ha! Hey! That tickles!" Isao exclaimed as Punimon began snacking on him. That's when it hit him._

_"Oh! You're hungry! I know! I'll get you something nice and easy to eat!" Isao said as he picked up the hungry little Punimon and took him into the kitchen._

_Isao was, however, a little stumped as to what a baby Digimon can eat. Since he knew, and felt, that Punimon has no teeth, he thought he should probably feed him something soft and not very hard to chew. Meat wouldn't work because it's very hard to chew. He looked into the refrigerator and found his answer. Yogurt! He grabbed a silver spoon and a small cup of soft vanilla creme yogurt. He also saw some small strips of cheese in there too, so he decided to feed them to Punimon as well. Isao carefully fed Punimon a spoonful of yogurt at a time. Punimon took very kindly to the yogurt and stopped crying. Isao also ripped the cheese into small pieces and gave them to Punimon one at a time so he doesn't choke. Thankfully, much to Isao's relief and ecstasy, Punimon enjoyed this healthy, hearty meal and babbled happily. Punimon then leaped into Isao's arms and rubbed himself against his chest. Isao giggled a bit in response._

_"You're so cute!" Isao whispered happily, becoming happier and happier with the fact that he has a real Digimon. A real little creature that's his and his alone. His very best, very special friend. Isao immediately decided that this is the happiest day of his life, despite how rough it began. What could be better than having a cute little animal friend who would love you unconditionally?_

_For about an hour, Isao took Punimon into the back yard and played with him while making sure he didn't wander off. For a while, Isao thought he was back with his father, playing and running all over the place with him, rolling around in the grass, getting dirty, and laughing merrily. Isao hadn't felt this happy for quite a while, and he had Punimon to thank. But after that hour, however, Isao noticed that Punimon began acting strangely._

_"Punimon? What's up?" Isao asked, with a twinge of worry in his voice._

_All of a sudden, Punimon glowed in a white light._

_"Punimon, digivolve to..."_

_Punimon got slightly bigger, and the light faded. Now he's round and furry, with white and orange fur, big brown eyes, and a big, thick, black horn on his head._

_"...Tsunomon!"_

_Upon seeing Punimon digivolve, Isao beamed. He was going to say something, but Tsunomon cut him off._

_"Hi Isao-kun! I'm Tsunomon!" Tsunomon exclaimed happily._

_"I know. You're so cool!" Isao hugged Tsunomon tightly. "Now I KNOW you're gonna digivolve into Gabumon!"_

_All of a sudden, a small orb of white light appeared before Isao's feet. Isao gently put Tsunomon down and picked up the light, which immediately dissipated into a white, egg-shaped device with a small, square-shaped screen, some brown buttons, and a brown strap with a gold ring on it. Isao beamed again._

_"This might be my digivice! Yay!" Isao cheered. Tsunomon smiled with him._

_The two energetic friends played together for another hour. Then, all of a sudden, Tsunomon noticed something strange. A tiny, pink, kooky little mouse-like Digimon with a deranged looking face appeared and began pulling flowers out of Shouko's garden. Isao noticed this, grabbed a long broom, and hit the mouse over the head with it._

_"Hey! That's my mom's garden! Stop ruining it!" Isao roared courageously, angry that someone would be so uncouth and egregious as to willfully pull out his mother's precious flowers. The pink mouse Digimon simply scoffed at him._

_"I can do whatever I want! You're not the boss of me!" The pink mouse exclaimed._

_"So what? I know you! You're Chuumon, a Digimon!" Isao exclaimed._

_"So ya know me, eh? Who cares? You need to die! Cheese Bomb!" Out of nowhere, Chuumon suddenly began throwing packets of cheese at them. Isao and Tsunomon managed to dodge them all. Tsunomon suddenly got mad._

_"Leave my partner alone, ugly! Bubblebeam!" Tsunomon exclaimed angrily, then proceeded to shoot out an array of bubbles. Unfortunately, Chuumon destroyed them all with more cheese bombs._

_"Why do ya stay with this kid here? He don't look like he's worth much! Probably so useless he can't even lift a rock!" Chuumon taunted wickedly._

_"Isao-kun's not useless! He's awesome! He raised me! Who are you to tell me who I should stick with?" Tsunomon yelled valiantly._

_"That's right! Hey Tsunomon! Let's take him down together!" Isao cheered._

_"Yeah!" Tsunomon said._

_Suddenly, Isao's brown digivice glowed in a bronze light, enveloping Tsunomon._

_"Tsunomon, digivolve to..."_

_Tsunomon got bigger, much taller than Isao, but the light dissipated, and out came a different creature! A bear-like Digimon with furry black skin, brown eyes, two orange stripes on each of his cheeks, purple belts on his big paws, a white snout, and a purple hat on his head with the word _BEARS_ written on it in red._

_"...Bearmon!"_

_Isao was surprised. _'Tsunomon...didn't digivolve into Gabumon? But Tsunomon are supposed to digivolve into Gabumon! It's on the show! But...this new Digimon...'_ At first, Isao was quite disappointed that Bearmon isn't a Gabumon like he wanted, but he couldn't help but find this new Digimon to be interesting as well._

_"Isao! Grab Chuumon from the back!" Bearmon commanded._

_"Yes sir!" Isao ran to grab Chuumon, who immediately tried to run away, frightened by the sight of Bearmon, who is much bigger, taller, stronger, and bulkier than he is. Thankfully, Isao managed to grab it._

_"Got him!"_

_"Karate Fist!" With all his strength, Bearmon punched Chuumon so hard, he turned into data. Isao and Bearmon both cheered._

_"We did it!" They rejoiced happily and hugged each other. Then, Isao noticed that Bearmon looked sad._

_"What's wrong?" Isao asked curiously._

_"I'm sorry I didn't...digivolve into a Gabumon like you wanted. Digimon don't always have to digivolve into the same Digimon every time, but..." Bearmon murmured sadly. But Isao smiled._

_"That's okay! You're just as cool as Gabumon! Maybe even more! I don't mind one bit! You're still my new best friend!" Isao exclaimed happily, which made Bearmon smile merrily._

_From then on, the two became very best friends._

(end flashback)

Isao felt so happy to have Bearmon as a friend, his own special friend. Isao wished he could tell his father about it. But in a way, being with Bearmon in itself reminded Isao of all the happy times he spent with his father. In fact, Isao even noticed that Bearmon is a whole lot like his father: cheerful, kind, strong, caring, and fun-loving, never letting anything trample all over him. Of course, Bearmon does have his own traits as well, like being a little shy and being too honest, even to a fault. But Isao didn't mind. He loved his partner through and through. He felt bad for wishing he was a Gabumon. Isao slept happily, knowing that Bearmon is still supporting him.

Monday has arrived, and the kids are back in school. Aria and Isao are back in Katsura Elementary School with Miss Sonomiya and the rest of their classmates. Aria and Isao had to admit, they missed school and reading and learning and playing with their friends, and most kids wouldn't even dare think of such thoughts. Aria missed feeding Poppy, the turtle, even though as of now she can't feed her anymore because the job of taking care of Poppy has been assigned to another student. She's now in charge of the morning salutation. Isao didn't get any jobs this time, but he didn't mind. All boys prefer playing over working and taking responsibility. But once art class was over, Isao decided to clean up all of the messes and the art supplies. He made sure to put everything back in their original places. Miss Sonomiya noticed how splendidly Isao cleaned everything up all on his own and was quite surprised.

"Wow! You sure cleaned up nicely, Isao-kun!" Miss Sonomiya said. Isao blushed a bit and rubbed his head of auburn hair.

"Thanks, though I don't think I did that good of a job," Isao said modestly.

"I know! Since you've been so good this morning, I think I have a sticker for you!" Miss Sonomiya exclaimed happily and was about to run somewhere to get a sticker for Isao, but he stopped her.

"Thanks, but no thanks. I...don't want a sticker," Isao told her, his smile fading a bit.

"Oh?" Miss Sonomiya looked quite surprised. Normally, Isao would do anything for a sticker, like some of the other kids. But now he doesn't want one, especially after all this time? "What do you want?"

Isao knew the answer to that. "I...just want Mom to get better."

Miss Sonomiya's smile faded, just like Isao's. Aunt Airu told her about Isao's situation earlier this morning when she dropped him off. Miss Sonomiya kneeled before him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"I know it's hard for you, and I certainly hope your mother gets better. But you're doing so well considering what's been going on, and I think that's wonderful," Miss Sonomiya told him.

"But that's the thing! What's cleaning everything up gonna do for my mom? Cleaning doesn't cure cancer! I feel so useless, not being able to do anything big to help my mom! I wish I was a magic doctor so I can make the cancer go away, but I know that doesn't happen in real life! I want to help Mom feel better, but...I can't do anything. I wish I was bigger so I can do more stuff and actually help her," Isao exclaimed suddenly, becoming dejected. "She says I'm strong and can be strong, but I don't think that's true. Strong people can lift heavy stuff and fight and do whatever they want. I'm just a weak little crybaby who can't do anything."

Miss Sonomiya shook her head. "That's not true, Isao. I don't think you should live life thinking that. You don't have to be a big, muscular man to be strong."

Isao didn't buy this, but Miss Sonomiya continued on. "I think what your mother means is that she wants you to not let your mother's sickness make you into who you are. She wants you to continue being the sweet boy you've always been. She wants you to be yourself, not something other people want you to be. Besides, you don't have to do anything big to be strong or helpful. Sometimes, even the smallest acts of kindness can help a person in a big way. I notice you and Aria-chan are very close. You helped her by being her friend and being a nice person. Doesn't that count for something?"

Isao had to admit, she had a good point. Aria and Isao had always been close, and Isao, knowing of Aria's situation at home before it got rectified, tried everything in his power to tell people that she was being abused, remembering his own mother's advice to tell someone if something bad is happening, even though it didn't go well.

"Not only that, you and a few other kids get along well with the kids in the new special education class. They really like you," Miss Sonomiya told him kindly.

"What does that have to do with Mom?"

"Does it always have to do with your mother?"

Miss Sonomiya wanted to continue on, but class started again. Thankfully, it didn't last long, as once class was over, the kids went to the cafeteria to eat lunch, then onto the blacktop for recess. He noticed four boys playing soccer and ran over to them.

"Hi guys! Wanna play?" Isao cried out as he approached them.

The four boys turned around, but with scornful looks on their faces. Isao saw this and knew this was bad.

"No way! We don't want a crybaby on our team!" One boy with spiky hair and dark skin exclaimed.

This made Isao mad. "I'm not a crybaby! What makes you think that?"

"I saw you at the hospital last week, cryin' like a big baby! You got all girly weepy over your mommy who has cancer!" Another boy said wickedly, which made the other boys laugh.

Isao was shocked. Yun was right! These boys aren't nice after all! They only liked him because he didn't cry, and now they know! And one of them made fun of his mother, who's sick! How could they display such cruel audacity out in the open like that? Isao remembered Yun's words to him when they were in Fruitful Desert.

_"You shouldn't try to be something you're not, especially something that others, like mean kids, want you to be."_

_"Find out what makes you _you_."_

_"You should find the strength to be yourself, no matter what."_

Isao was not going to tolerate these boys mocking him for being himself and his mother for being sick when clearly she didn't want to be, so he retaliated. Aria and another girl ran over to him and watched.

"So what?" Isao yelled suddenly. "Okay, yes, I did cry, but that's because I was afraid my mom was gonna die, like Dad did! But now I know she's not! You shouldn't say I'm a crybaby or a sissy just because I love my parents and don't want them to die! How would you like it if a doctor told you that your mom and dad was sick? Maybe they tell you they have something so bad it could kill them! You'd cry too if that happened!"

"You go, Isao-kun!" The other girl cheered. Aria smiled.

The boys didn't seem fazed by it.

"Shut up! I still think you're a sissy! You're a big crybaby who hangs out with a bunch of ugly, crybaby girls!" The spiky-haired boy said.

"I don't care what you think! If being cool's all you care about, then fine! Be that way! I never wanted to be your friend anyway! And Aria-chan and Kohaku-chan are NOT crybabies, and they're NOT ugly, either! You're the ones who are ugly! You can play soccer by yourself then!" Isao retaliated with gusto, and he loved the feeling that it gave him. With that final piece of rhetoric, he took Aria and the girl, Kohaku, by the hands and walked to another part of the blacktop. Aria and Kohaku both smiled at him.

"You're so brave, Isao-kun! I wish I was as brave as you!" Kohaku told him with a smile. Isao knew Kohaku as quite a cute young girl, though she's a year older than him, with long, chocolate brown hair in nice, plump curls, stunning dark blue eyes, flawless olive skin, and a kind but weak personality. In her thick hair is a big, pale pink ribbon, and she has on a dark blue dress over a lighter blue shirt, pink shoes, and white socks.

"I bet Yun-chan would be so happy to hear about what you just did!" Aria chirped happily.

Isao blushed and scratched his hair. "It's nothing to brag about. All I did was...stand up to him? Yeah! That's it. I guess Yun-chan was right. He only wanted me to be a mean person, not a nice person, so I won't hang out with him anymore."

Isao, Aria, and Kohaku decided to play together during recess this time. Isao did feel rueful for spending as much time with those nasty boys as he did. But he did display the strength to stand up for himself, his friends, his mother, and his beliefs, so inside, he felt happy about that, at least. He couldn't wait to tell Bearmon about it once he got home from school. What Isao didn't know was that he was going to see Bearmon sooner than planned, and not exactly in the best way possible.

"Hey! Look! A flying snake!" A boy suddenly cried out once he got all the way to the back of the blacktop.

"What? No way! You're making that up!" Another kid exclaimed as the rest of the kids approached him. Isao, Aria, and Kohaku decided to go too, becoming curious.

"I'm not kidding, I swear! Look!" The boy pointed to the sky. All of the kids looked up into the sky.

To their surprise, the boy is right!

A silver snake with little wings on it's head and red hair is about 30 feet away from the school. Isao and Aria watched in awe as the flying snake flew around, looking quite frantic.

"Freezing Wave!"

"Blizzard Breath!"

The flying snake shot a breath of cold air, but another blizzard came out from underneath him, and the snake was hit. Encased in ice, the flying snake fell to the ground.

"Quetzalmon!" A young boy's voice cried out in despair.

Aria and Isao looked at each other, knowing exactly what's on each other's mind. "A Digimon!"

All of a sudden, the Digimon that attacked Quetzalmon leaped onto the roof of a house and stood in the afternoon sunlight, making his whitish blue skin glisten. Isao got out his digivice and looked up the Digimon's information.

"He's IceLeomon, an ultimate level! His attacks are Fist of Ice and Blizzard Breath!" Isao exclaimed.

Out of nowhere, IceLeomon now leaped onto the rooftop of Katsura, which made the kids scream in fear.

"Everyone, run away!" Miss Sonomiya commanded. Without hesitating, all of the kids ran from the blacktop as IceLeomon, with his sword, began ripping through the roof, taking big chunks of it and throwing it wherever he pleased.

Pieces of rooftop fell all over the place. One fell right in the middle of the black top as the kids ran away. Another fell onto a withered tree in front of the school, knocking it over and causing it to fall into the street, totally blocking any cars that wanted to go through that part of the street. One fell on the gymnasium, but it didn't break anything. Another big piece got thrown out and...it was heading right toward a frightened Kohaku. Isao saw this and knew that if that giant piece of rooftop fell on her, she could die.

"LOOK OUT!" Isao, not wanting to let Kohaku get squished like a pancake, took action. He ran from where he was and leaped on the scared girl, rolling on the grass as the big chunk fell right next to them. Kohaku started crying, but Isao was relieved to find that she's alive.

"Kohaku-chan! You've gotta leave! It's dangerous here!" Isao told her. Kohaku, while still bawling, heeded Isao's advice and left with the other kids. As Isao saw, other students and faculty members began fleeing the building.

"Come back here, you!" The young voice from before exclaimed. Isao and Aria were surprised to see where it came from.

"Spadamon?"

Yes, Spadamon has appeared on the blacktop with courage in his eyes. Spadamon leaped onto the roof and made his tiny blue sword collide with IceLeomon's stopping him from ripping out the roof some more. Enraged, IceLeomon howled and pushed him off. But Spadamon held on to the edge, pulled himself up, and proceeded to attack.

"Aurora Blazer!" Covering himself in a light resembling an aurora borealis, Spadamon charged at IceLeomon and managed to hit him in the forehead, just enough to make him stammer and stumble. But it wasn't enough to defeat him, especially considering that IceLeomon is an ultimate level and Spadamon is a rookie. IceLeomon howled again and fought back.

"Blizzard Breath!" An icy blizzard shot out from IceLeomon's mouth. Spadamon, being as quick as he is, dodged the attack and landed in front of a surprised Aria and Isao.

"What are you doing here?" Aria asked.

"Quetzalmon and I saw him causing trouble, and we've been tryin' to stop him. I already ran into all the other Digimon on my way here and told'em all about it, and they're comin' in a bit!" Spadamon told them.

"I'll let the others know!" Aria said as she got her digivice out.

"You better do it quick, because there's an army of Thunderbirmon behind him, too, and they're almost here! I saw them on my way here!" Spadamon exclaimed.

"An army? No way!" Isao yelped in shock.

"Yes way! Not a real big one, but a decent one!" Spadamon yelped back.

Miss Sonomiya appeared out of nowhere and suddenly grabbed Isao and Aria, who managed to send her text message to everyone before she arrived.

"Come on! We need to leave! NOW!" Miss Sonomiya said as she grabbed onto Isao and Aria and dragged them away from the school.

Isao and Aria complied because they knew that if they remained, the school would likely be destroyed. Not only that, if given the opportunity, Miss Sonomiya would probably make the kids go home. They wished Miss Sonomiya would make them go home. This would give Aria and Isao the opportunity to run somewhere, then come back and help the Digimon if they got there. Once the group of kids got far enough, Miss Sonomiya wound up answering Aria and Isao's prayers.

"Everyone. I want you all to go home quietly but quickly. Go now, but don't make a sound!" Miss Sonomiya told them.

They did it without hesitation. All of the kids silently but quickly ran away from the school, along with Miss Sonomiya, who proceeded to pick up her cell phone. Aria and Isao ran in the same direction at first, but once they were out of Miss Sonomiya's sight, they ran back to the school. What they returned to...was unexpected, even though Spadamon warned them. Not only is IceLeomon there, but a group of thunderous bird Digimon! There's about eight of them, and they're all branded with Dark Emblems, along with IceLeomon. They're about half his size, and are clad in blue armor, all donning slick, golden thunderbolts. Much to their relief, however, the rest of the Digimon Brigade and their Digimon, who have digivolved, have arrived, save for Shunji and Dracomon, who are too far away. The Digimon who are present are Turuiemon, Gargomon, Gatomon, Angemon, Birdramon, MarineAngemon, Seasarmon, Reppamon, Lekismon, Firamon, and Grizzlymon, along with their human partners. Aria looked up the bird Digimon's information.

"Thunderbirmon, armor level. Their attacks are Thunderstorm and Spark Wing," Aria said as she and Isao ran over to the blacktop to meet their Digimon.

"Grizzlymon!" Isao called out. Grizzlymon saw Isao and smiled.

"Isao! I'm so glad you're alright! Spadamon told me and the others that IceLeomon was heading your way," Grizzlymon said as he allowed Isao to climb on his back.

"Let's fight these Digimon and remove the Dark Emblems!" Isao exclaimed. Grizzlymon nodded and proceeded to attack IceLeomon.

"Everyone!" Yun edicted loudly. "Anyone who has Digimon that can fly should go after the Thunderbirmon! The rest of you take on IceLeomon for now!"

Turuiemon, Gargomon, Gatomon, Lekismon, and Grizzlymon went after IceLeomon while Angemon, Birdramon, MarineAngemon, Seasarmon, Reppamon, and Firamon went after the Thunderbirmon, who kept flying all over the place. Since there's eight Thunderbirmon and six flying Digimon, they were outnumbered. Minako, however, had ideas.

"Melody! Since Birdramon's the biggest out of all of us right now, tell her to take on two of the Thunderbirmon!" Minako commanded as Birdramon prepared to take flight.

"You got it!" Melody said.

"Incoming!" Turuiemon yelled.

"Thunderstorm!" One of the Thunderbirmon swooped down before Birdramon and proceeded to attack her with jolts of thunder coming from one of it's wings. Thankfully, thanks to Turuiemon's warning, Birdramon dodged the attack and flew into the air.

"Is that all you've got?" Birdramon bellowed, stimulating two Thunderbirmon into attacking her.

"Spark Wing!" The two Thunderbirmon decided to shoot multiple arrows of light at Birdramon.

"Meteor Wing!" With one flap of her wings, showers of fire collided with the many arrows of light, causing both attacks to dissipate.

"Tch! We're evenly matched!" Melody grunted, not happy with the fact that Birdramon didn't defeat them as quickly as she wanted.

Thus began the epic aerial battle between Birdramon and two Thunderbirmon. Not wanting to destroy the school, Birdramon ascended into the air with Melody on her back as quickly as she could while at the same time luring the two Thunderbirmon into following her, and it worked! The Thunderbirmon duo tried to keep up with her as they circled around her and tried to attack her with as many attacks as they could muster.

"Spark Wing!" The Thunderbirmon duo again tried to shoot electric arrows at Birdramon, but being as agile as she is, Birdramon swiftly dodged the attacks and circled around in the sky.

Birdramon and Thunderbirmon went neck in neck as they tried to outsmart each other with lots of circling, loops, wing attacks, talon attacks, lightning bolts, and lots of roaring. One of the Thunderbirmon tried to attack Melody from above, but Melody reacted quickly and threw up her digishield to protect herself, which worked like a charm. Unfortunately, one of the Thunderbirmon managed to electrocute Birdramon from below by sneaking up on her with a Thunderstorm attack. Birdramon did feel pain for a bit, but she didn't let it stop her. In fact, it only fueled her intense goal to kill these things!

"Mach Grinder!" Birdramon, blazing with anger, successfully managed to grip said Thunderbirmon with one of her big talons, which are almost as big as Thunderbirmon itself. But Birdramon apparently doesn't know her own strength and just wouldn't let go as she kept on squeezing harder and harder, causing the Thunderbirmon to roar in pain as it got compressed, deleted, and turned into data. Seeing this, Melody decided to save the defeated Thunderbirmon's data and turn it into a DigiEgg.

"I think you went a little overboard there, Birdramon," Melody told her bluntly.

"Yeah? Well, DUCK!" Birdramon bellowed back.

"Spark Wing!" The second Thunderbirmon tried to attack them from above by throwing more arrows of light. Melody threw up her digishield while Birdramon evaded the attack by doing a versatile inside-out double loop at the same time.

Birdramon and the lone Thunderbirmon went neck in neck at each other as they tried to bite, claw, and stab at each other. Thunderbirmon tried repeatedly to stab Birdramon in various parts of her body with her sharp tail, which is shaped like a big thunderbolt, but Birdramon either dodged all of the attempts or managed to push her away with her talon or wing. Birdramon spun around in the air as she tried to throw Thunderbirmon off and make her at least lose her balance.

"Meteor Wing!"

Thunderbirmon dodged the attack again, but her wing got grazed by a flame this time, causing her to roar in pain. That's when Melody saw it. A very small black hexagon on the back of Thunderbirmon's left wing. Only something's different.

"Whoa! That Dark Emblem's smaller than usual!" Melody exclaimed.

"What are you talking about?" Birdramon asked as she dodged another Thunderstorm from Thunderbirmon by doing another inside out double loop in the sky. In the process, she saw Reppamon successfully using a Spinning Sky Fissure Slash on another Thunderbirmon, causing it to fall on the street, leaving a big hole in it.

"Don't you see? That Dark Emblem is smaller than the ones we saw on other Digimon we've battled before!" Melody explained.

"How can you even see it from here? I sure can't!" Birdramon roared.

"Thunderstorm!"

Birdramon dodged it in a flash.

"Just try and get it to the ground face down!" Melody commanded.

"Bottoms up!" Birdramon went back into battle with Thunderbirmon.

Birdramon and Thunderbirmon swooped and zipped around in the sky, which is slowly turning grey and cloudy, with only a few blue spots of sky trying very hard to peek out. This didn't seem to bother them as they continued to do loops and turns and flying attacks at each other. Thunderbirmon tried to assault them with more Spark Wing attacks, but it didn't work.

"Thunderstorm!"

"Meteor Wing!"

The two attacks collided, causing a big, thick, brown cloud of smoke to appear. Thunderbirmon thought she had the upper hand, but she was wrong. Birdramon swiftly flew out of the cloud of smoke and, with great speed and agility, managed to get close to Thunderbirmon and...bite her! Yes! Birdramon actually bit Thunderbirmon's entire body, allowing her wings to hang out. Thunderbirmon roared in pain as Birdramon's large, sharp, bulky teeth dredged into her thunderous skin. Birdramon tried to make sure not to bite too deep lest she kill her like she did the other Thunderbirmon just now. Birdramon, with the struggling Thunderbirmon in her mouth, descended to an empty part of the street that didn't have any cars parked on it. Thunderbirmon continued to struggle, but Melody saw this as a great opportunity. Melody got her digivice out and turned it into a digisword. She climbed onto Birdramon's head, close enough so she could get close to Thunderbirmon while being careful to avoid her sharp, prickly wings, raised her digisword up sideways and...

"Eat this, bub!"

_WHAM!_

She pummeled Thunderbirmon over the head with her digisword. In response to the trauma, Thunderbirmon finally passed out. Birdramon found it safe to drop her face down like Melody asked. Melody, knowing that this new Dark Emblem may be harder to see, knew where it was and decided to try and remove it herself. She dredged her digisword into the spot where the smaller Dark Emblem is, but it didn't break right off the bat. Melody expected this, as this had happened before. Melody stabbed the small Dark Emblem again. And again. And again. At least seven times, but it didn't break.

"Man! This thing's not coming off! I guess it must be harder to remove than the other one!" Melody exclaimed.

"Mind if I handle this?" Birdramon asked. Melody backed away, secretly hoping that Birdramon wouldn't kill it.

"Mach Grinder!" With one of her talons, Birdramon gripped Thunderbirmon's left wing, and the small Dark Emblem glowed in an ominous black and purple light. Then, out of nowhere..._CRASH!_ The tiny Dark Emblem shattered and dissipated into the wind.

"Got it!" Birdramon exclaimed.

"Nice one," Melody smiled impishly and flashed a thumb's up.

"Thanks! Aren't you gonna tell me how awesome I am?" Birdramon asked.

Melody's smile faded. "Don't push it."

All of a sudden, a moaning sound caught the attention of their ears. Melody saw that Thunderbirmon, now free of the new Dark Emblem, is regaining consciousness. Melody ran over to her.

"Urgh...what happened to me?" Thunderbirmon spoke in a somewhat harsh but young voice that could belong to a young boy if he were played by a female voice actress. Thunderbirmon's eyes, which are a beautiful shade of lilac purple, are no longer bloody red. Thunderbirmon then became aware of her surroundings and looked around.

"Oh! That's right! I was in MoonMillenniummon's lair, and-" Thunderbirmon was about to get hysterical but Melody mollified her.

"Easy there, thunderbird. We just got a Dark Emblem off of you, and I don't think you should push yourself," Melody told her in a calm and kind voice.

Thunderbirmon then saw IceLeomon and other Digimon duking it out.

"Oh no! IceLeomon's on a rampage! Young human, please! Allow me to assist you and your friends with fighting him! Let me repay you for saving my life!" Thunderbirmon said as she flew into the air a little, emphasizing her request.

Melody and Birdramon looked at each other, then nodded in agreement.

"Sure," Melody said as she got on Thunderbirmon's back. Birdramon and the freed Thunderbirmon flew back into battle.

As for the others, Reppamon managed to free one Thunderbirmon easily while Angemon, Firamon, and MarineAngemon had a bit of a hard time containing a few other ones, even though they used all the power they could muster, but eventually they managed to subdue them.

"Hand of Fate!"

"Fira Claw!"

"Spray of Hearts!"

MarineAngemon managed to render all three of them unconscious while Angemon and Firamon tried to remove the Dark Emblems, which they did, though it took much longer than planned.

"Phew!" Angemon said as he wiped some sweat off of his helmet. "Who knew Thunderbirmon would be so stubborn and swift?"

"But the battle's not over yet! We must continue fighting!" Firamon said.

"Look! Seasarmon's having a hard time!" MarineAngemon said as she saw Seasarmon and the branded Thunderbirmon duking it out on the street.

"Sekkantou!" Seasarmon tried to claw Thunderbirmon, but it managed to electrocute him by sticking it's tail into his stomach. Seasarmon, feeling pained, fell onto the street as the branded Thunderbirmon got away.

"Seasarmon!" Otoya ran to her fallen partner, who de-digivolved back into Labramon.

"Hand of Fate!" Angemon tried to attack the other two branded Thunderbirmon, but only managed to graze one of them.

"This is not going well at all!" Angemon said.

It sure wasn't, and battling IceLeomon didn't prove to be any easier, especially since he's an ultimate level!

"Fist of Ice!" IceLeomon threw a punch, and a light blue light forming a lion's face headed toward Turuiemon, who managed to hold it off with her gauntlets even though she skidded on the blacktop. With strength, she managed to make the power dissipate.

"Gargo Laser!" Gargomon managed to hit IceLeomon from behind.

"Moon Night Kick!" Lekismon managed to kick IceLeomon in the face from above by jumping off of the roof...well, the parts of it that didn't get ripped out by IceLeomon.

"Lightning Paw!" Gatomon punched IceLeomon in the leg.

"Maul Attack!" Grizzlymon rammed into IceLeomon, causing him to fall against part of the school building, which fell apart a little because of IceLeomon's weight.

"We've almost got him! But I don't see a Dark Emblem anywhere, even though his eyes are glowing red!" Rena piped in while supporting herself with a small tree and her crutch.

"You're right. Something's weird," Kosuke said.

IceLeomon got back up and suddenly grabbed Lekismon by her ears. Lekismon yelped loudly in pain, which caught everyone's attention.

"Release her, you vile beast!" Firamon, choleric with how IceLeomon could be so cruel and audacious as to yank on Lekismon's ears and not display even the smallest spec of remorse, decided to attack.

"Crimson King Beast Dive!" Firamon engulfed himself in flames as the front of his attack put on a lion's face. With gusto, he successfully managed to ram IceLeomon so hard that he fell to the ground! Lekismon was released and she leaped onto part of the blacktop. Firamon stammered out once IceLeomon fell unconscious, but the attack sapped a lot of energy out of him, so he had no choice but to de-digivolve back into Coronamon. Riku, worried about his friend, ran over to him in worry and carried him out.

"You were awesome back there, Coronamon! You really knocked him out!" Riku told him happily, which made Coronamon smile.

"Thanks, buddy," Coronamon murmured.

"Everyone! Now that IceLeomon is out, try and find the Dark Emblem! But be careful! He might wake up at any moment so don't let your guard down!" Yun told them.

"You got it!" Gargomon cried back.

"Wait!" Melody said as she jumped off of Thunderbirmon's back and ran over to the rest of the kids. "You've gotta hear this! These aren't the same Dark Emblems as the ones we saw before on other Digimon!" Melody exclaimed suddenly.

What the kids didn't know was that Isao snuck away from the rest of the group to join the Digimon in looking for the Dark Emblem, though he listened to their conversation as the Digimon began to search silently.

"What? You serious?" Riku asked.

"Yeah! These might be new and improved Dark Emblems! They're much smaller and harder to remove!" Melody said.

"If what she's saying is true, then this changes everything!" Hokuto piped in.

The Digimon and Isao searched all over for a tiny Dark Emblem as Angemon and MarineAngemon tried to pursue the other three branded Thunderbirmon in the sky.

"It's not on his arm!" Lekismon shouted.

"It's not on his feet!" Turuiemon said as she kneeled down to look at the bottoms of both of IceLeomon's big feet.

"It's not on his face!" Gargomon said as she looked into the unconscious IceLeomon's face.

"Let's turn him around. Maybe it's on his back somewhere," Isao piped in.

"Good idea. Alrighty, then! Heave!" Grizzlymon, Lekismon, and Turuiemon managed to lift IceLeomon and throw him face down despite how heavy he is. Gatomon crawled on his back and looked around.

"I don't see anything," Gatomon purred.

Isao took the liberty of looking through IceLeomon's fur. Then he saw it.

"Found it!" Isao edicted happily. "But it's so small!"

"Move, Isao. Let me handle this," Grizzlymon said as he gently shooed Isao off of IceLeomon and was about to dredge his claw into the area where the tiny Dark Emblem is, but IceLeomon woke up, grabbed Grizzlymon's arm, stood up, spun around, and threw Grizzlymon at the school, causing a good majority of the building to collapse!

"GRIZZLYMON!" Everyone, including Isao, wailed as the rubble fell onto Grizzlymon. The remaining Digimon, in a paroxysm of anger, decided to attack IceLeomon.

"Meteor Wing!"

"Ninja Fist!"

"Tear Arrow!"

"Lightning Paw!"

"Gargo Laser!"

"Hand of Fate!"

"Spray of Hearts!"

"Vacuum Kamaitachi!"

Unfortunately, none of their attacks fazed IceLeomon because he fought back with gusto.

"Blizzard Breath!" IceLeomon's attack suddenly became stronger than ever, and every single Digimon was hit with it except for Gargomon, who somehow managed to flee once the attack got close. Once that attack hit, they all de-digivolved back to their rookie forms. Turuiemon to Lopmon, Gatomon to Salamon, Angemon to Patamon, Birdramon to Biyomon, Lunamon to Lekismon, MarineAngemon to Syakomon, and Reppamon to Kudamon. Grizzlymon and Gargomon are the only champion levels left.

"Dangit!" Kosuke howled very angrily as he took Patamon away. "Why can't we all digivolve to ultimate when we need to the most? I mean, seriously! We're getting pummeled by one ultimate level and seven of our Digimon can digivolve to ultimate, yet none of them are digivolving far enough! It's like somebody's not letting them digivolve or something!"

"You may be right. I'm starting to notice a pattern here," Minako said as she held Salamon in her arms.

"What do we do now?" Otoya asked.

"Thunderstorm!" Melody, who is now riding on the Thunderbirmon that she and Birdramon de-branded, decided to have Thunderbirmon attack IceLeomon. Thunderbirmon shot a bolt of lightning at IceLeomon, electrocuting him while Gargomon tried to pummel him.

"Bunny Pummel!" Gargomon jumped and whacked IceLeomon on the back, but it didn't faze him. Nonetheless, Gargomon and Thunderbirmon kept on trying.

"Man! I wish I hadn't left all my D-Chips at home! I'd have called for Pegasusmon and Pteramon!" Kosuke complained.

"Us too," Hokuto said.

Isao was stunned and frozen in place. Grizzlymon is trapped underneath a lot of rubble from his now destroyed school, and everyone else is powerless to defeat the rogue IceLeomon. Isao hated feeling so weak and helpless. _'IceLeomon's crazy! I can't let this go on! There has to be something I can do! I can't let IceLeomon hurt everyone! No I won't!'_ Gripping his brown digivice tightly, Isao made a digisword appear and he charged at IceLeomon.

"ISAO-KUN! NO!" Yun tried to grab him, but he was too fast.

"You hurt my friend, you ugly white lion!" Isao roared like a lion as he charged at IceLeomon, who became distracted because of Gargomon and Thunderbirmon, held his digisword up in the air, and threw it at IceLeomon like it was a dart. Successfully, it lodged in IceLeomon's left eye. IceLeomon roared as his eye became consumed by continuous stabs of excrutiating pain. The entire Digimon Brigade was shocked.

"Whoa! A perfect hit! Way to go, Isao-kun!" Riku cheered. But it wasn't time for celebrating yet, as IceLeomon yanked the digisword out and threw it back at Isao, who hopped and rolled away from it. Then, once it was on the ground, Isao grabbed it again and tried to stab IceLeomon in the leg with it. But IceLeomon saw this coming and kicked Isao.

"Isao-kun!" Yun wanted to run after him, but Kudamon suddenly hopped in front of her.

"No! Don't interfere!" Kudamon told her.

"But he's gonna get pummeled out there! I have to do something! He's too small!" Yun cried.

"That may be, but his time to shine has come!" Kudamon yelped.

Isao, not wanting to back down, laid eyes on Grizzlymon and decided to run over to him. Isao could see a lot of bricks piled up on the now unconscious bear, along with a lot of other debris. Isao didn't want to see Grizzlymon like this so, he picked up a brick and threw it at the blacktop. Then another, and another, and many more. Despite his small size, Isao picked up brick by brick and threw them all at the blacktop with great strength. He pushed other bricks off of Grizzlymon without picking them up so he could save energy, which worked. It took Isao quite a while, but he managed to get the bricks off of Grizzlymon.

"Grizzlymon! Wake up! Please, wake up!" Isao shook Grizzlymon with tearful eyes. Grizzlymon opened his own eyes and looked at Isao wearily.

"Isao-kun..." Grizzlymon murmured, which made Isao smile.

"You're okay! I got the bricks off of you and I stabbed IceLeomon in the eye earlier!" Isao told him, not realizing that tears are streaming down his chubby face.

"My friend...you really do possess the strength...to be yourself," Grizzlymon murmured kindly.

Isao nodded in agreement. Isao realized it now. Grizzlymon, Yun, Miss Sonomiya, Shouko, and his father were right after all. He doesn't need muscles or fighting skills to be strong. True strength comes from a good, warm heart. A heart of gold. You have to possess the strength to be kind, even in hard times. You have to possess the strength to move on even when it looks impossible, and move forward. Isao possessed the strength to help his friend, even though things are dire and bleak as of now. Isao buried himself into Grizzlymon's royal purple coat and smiled happily.

_'Dad? Are you watching me in Heaven? Grizzlymon is my friend, and he loves me for being me, and I love him for being him! I'm sorry I ever wished he was a Gabumon! Bearmon is way cooler than Gabumon!'_ Isao thought, regretting ever wishing for Bearmon to meet his expectations.

All of a sudden, both his digivice and brown D-Heart of Strength glowed in a peculiar yet warm, chocolate brown light. The light from his digivice shot out from there and permeated his D-Heart, then moved on to Grizzlymon, enveloping him in that very same light. Everyone watched as Grizzlymon rose into the air, covered in a glowing brown light. Even the rabid IceLeomon stopped to watch. Isao watched in awe, and knew right away what this meant.

"Grizzlymon! You're digivolving!" Isao cried.

"Grizzlymon, digivolve to..."

Grizzlymon, although he got taller, became thinner as the light glowed. Despite the cloudy weather completely covering the sky, the brown light warmed everyone up. Once the light dissipated, out came not a bear, but a mechanical lion! This new Digimon has very long, pale brown hair, brown eyes, and yellow skin covered in black and silver armor. On his arms and legs are brown turbines that spun around rapidly, like a tornado. Protruding from his mouth are two long, sharp, white teeth like that of a walrus, only this Digimon's teeth are half the length of those belonging to a walrus, but still longer than normal.

"...GrapLeomon!"

"Wow! You're so cool!" Isao cried as he gazed upon his newly digivolved friend, GrapLeomon.

"My dear Isao...your strong heart has helped me grow to this form, and for that I thank you. Now you realize that you don't need muscles or fighting skills to be strong. Now allow me to bring this white lion to justice," GrapLeomon told him in a kind, dignified voice that, oddly enough, Isao recognized. Quickly, IceLeomon charged at GrapLeomon.

"Fist of Ice!"

GrapLeomon expected this attack and suddenly began spinning around like a tornado.

"Cyclonic Kick!" GrapLeomon threw himself at the attack, actually managing to slice through it similar to how Reppamon did when he cut through Witchmon's Baluluna Gale attack so long ago, and pummeled IceLeomon with a swift and furious flurry of inundating kicks that didn't seem to stop.

"Spark Wing!"

"Gargo Laser!"

Gargomon and Thunderbirmon decided to help him out, which proved to be advantageous since IceLeomon is slowly losing his strength. But GrapLeomon sure wasn't done yet. In fact, he's about to deliver the final blow.

"King of Fist!" GrapLeomon leaped into the air as the turbines on his arms spun around rapidly. Then, with a mighty blow, GrapLeomon punched IceLeomon so hard that a huge hole appeared right underneath the spot IceLeomon is in, right in the center of the blacktop. A huge cloud appeared afterward, covering both mighty lions, but it dissipated, and the last thing GrapLeomon saw was IceLeomon disappearing into the digital hole. All of the other Thunderbirmon, save for the one Melody befriended, had already gone to the Digital World some time ago. IceLeomon disappeared and GrapLeomon appeared before the rest of the kids with a proud smile on his face. Isao was the first to run over to him with glee written all over his face.

"You were awesome, GrapLeomon! You ARE awesome! I'm so happy you're my partner! I'm sorry I ever wished you were a Gabumon!" Isao cheered happily as he hugged GrapLeomon's leg. Gently, GrapLeomon picked Isao up with one of his hands and held him up.

"Now do you understand, Isao? You don't need to be big or muscular or bulky to be strong. To be strong is to be kind, to be yourself without feeling shame, and to have a good heart. I have always believed in you, my dear friend," GrapLeomon told him kindly.

"You sound exactly like Dad. You have his voice and everything!" Isao told him.

"Do I really?" GrapLeomon asked, then burst into laughter. Isao did as well. After about a few minutes, GrapLeomon put Isao down and de-digivolved into Tsunomon. Now it was Isao's turn to pick him up and hug him.

"Thank you, Tsunomon...for being my friend and loving me for me," Isao told him. He then saw Yun and ambled toward her.

"Hey, Yun-chan! Remember that time in Fruitful Desert, when you told me that I shouldn't be with those boys because they didn't want me to be myself? Well, I stood up to them and told them off! I'm not friends with them anymore! I found the strength to be myself!" Isao told her happily, which made Yun smile.

"I'm glad," Yun told him sweetly.

"But still...I wonder why whenever a Digimon digivolves into ultimate for the first time, the rest of us can't even though we already have?" Minako asked herself.

"Maybe that can be the subject for the next Digimon Brigade meeting," Labramon piped in.

"Yeah! Great idea! Wan!" Salamon piped in.

"I second the notion!" Patamon backed them up.

"I third it! I'm also curious about it as well," Lopmon said.

"By the way, I forgot to ask. How come you all got out of school early?" Aria asked.

"The teachers saw IceLeomon and Quetzalmon attacking, so they cancelled school and told us all to evacuate and go home. Speaking of which, where are Quetzalmon and Spadamon anyway?" Yun replied, then noticed that Spadamon isn't here.

"Last I checked he went to defrost Quetzalmon once we arrived," Rena said. "Perhaps-"

"Oh my God!" Melody suddenly exclaimed as she looked at her cell phone.

"What's up?" Biyomon asked.

"Yun! Look!" Melody said as she shoved her cell phone in Yun's face, showing her footage of part of a big building exploding and catching on fire, albeit looking a little shaky. "That's Tsurumi High School! Shunji and your sister go here, right?"

Yun watched the footage and immediately became fearful. She knew where Tsurumi High School is and what it looks like, and seeing this made her scream. "OH NO! AYAKA!"

Yun then handed Lopmon to Hokuto and ran to Gargomon, who still managed to remain in his champion form. "Gargomon! Digivolve into Rapidmon! We've gotta get to Tsurumi High School and make sure Ayaka is safe!"

Gargomon's blue eyes widened in shock. Yun wants to go to Ayaka's high school to check on her and make sure she's safe despite all the horrible things Ayaka did to her? Gargomon was appalled. "But Ayaka's been nothing but mean to you!"

"I DON'T CARE! JUST DIGIVOLVE ALREADY!" Yun screamed hysterically.

Gargomon, knowing that when Yun's mind is set on something she won't let go until it's complete, sighed, relented, and digivolved into Rapidmon. Yun climbed on him until she got to his head.

"I could have Thunderbirmon take you there," Melody told her.

"She doesn't know where the school is!" Yun snapped back.

"And neither do I!" Rapidmon piped in.

"I'll guide you there!" Yun snapped back again.

Rapidmon had already conceded defeat, but sighed again anyway as he flew into the air and away from the now destroyed Katsura Elementary School.

If Yun had known what would transpire upon seeing Ayaka beforehand, she would have regretted even thinking about going all the way to Tsurumi High School and checking on her, because it would prove to be one of the worst mistakes Yun ever committed, and what happened there would decimate her internal harmony. For real, and it would be unlikely if she would ever recover from it.


	73. Pure Emotional Destruction

EPISODE 73: Pure Emotional Destruction

Rapidmon flew all through town with Yun clinging to his head and looking for Tsurumi High School, which apparently looks as though it had been bombed. Yun had been to Tsurumi High School lots of times, though her experiences there have not always been pleasant. The first time was in a meeting with a social worker and the principal regarding Ayaka's entrance into the high school. The second was during Ayaka's high school orientation, which Yun absolutely hated. Despite this, Yun memorized the route to the school and could probably recognize it from high in the air, even though as of now it's very cloudy, with no sunshine in sight. Yun didn't care that thick, dreary gray clouds are keeping the bright sun away from the earth, nor the fact that she's very high into the air. Only one thought was lingering in Yun's mind, poking it like a booster needle: Ayaka's safety.

Even though Ayaka treats her badly and accuses her of things she doesn't do, considering all of the destruction that the Digimon have done for some time now, Yun couldn't help but worry her head off. Lots and lots of questions inundated her head: Is Ayaka going to be okay? What happened at Tsurumi? Did someone really bomb the school, or did a Digimon attack? Did people die? It's likely that some kids did die in that explosion. Who could survive something like that? Is Ayaka okay, or is she dead? What about Shunji? Is he alright or dead? From what Yun knew about Shunji, he would do anything for Ayaka, even die for her if he could. Yun knew that although Shunji is lazy, flirtatious, and a wise-cracking playboy, when it comes to Ayaka, he would walk through a 1000 degree tunnel of fire and poisonous spikes for her despite how ungrateful and selfish she is. Yun's mind continued to be inundated by worry as she looked all over for the now partially decimated Tsurumi High School. She wondered if it suffered the same fate as the now totally destroyed Katsura Elementary School.

Rapidmon, on the other hand, thought very differently. Ever since he first met Ayaka, he knew right away that she was absolutely nothing but cruel, selfish, irresponsible, ungrateful, and basically the meanest little knave alive. If she's upset by just about anything, the first thing she did was take her anger out on Yun by either hitting her or accusing her of things she didn't do or isn't even capable of doing, like forcing Shunji to cheat on her. What eleven year old girl would want to make a move on someone's high school aged boyfriend? This made Rapidmon the most flabbergasted out of everything Ayaka has said to Yun. Ayaka didn't do ONE nice thing for Yun, and whenever Yun does do nice things for her, Ayaka doesn't even thank her for it and yells at her, whether she's saying she hates it or it isn't the right product or if it's just not to her standards. Nothing Yun did was good or praise worthy by Ayaka's standards as far as Rapidmon knew, and he wasn't going to tolerate Ayaka's horrible treatment of her. He continued to be flabbergasted as to why Yun, despite all of the cruel things Ayaka said and did to her, would even think about worrying about her, forcing him to digivolve to ultimate, and drag him all the way to a high school he's never been to before just so she could check on her and see if she's safe. To him, Ayaka shouldn't be anything to worry about! Shunji's with her. He'll protect her. He's the only one Ayaka ever truly cares about, so he clearly doesn't approve of Yun's decision, but he already vocalized this and was met with disapproval from Yun, so he kept his mouth shut. He didn't care that people were watching him and recording videos of him with their cell phones and I-phones, and neither did Yun.

Yun continued to look in all directions for Tsurumi High School, but since it was getting dark thanks to the thick, gray clouds even though it's almost 1:00 PM, a lot of places were covered in dark shadows, which made it hard to see.

"See the high school yet?" Rapidmon asked.

"No, I don't. It's gotta be around here somewhere!" Yun said.

"I don't think some kids would be near a school that just got destroyed. Try looking in places where people would evacuate to, like a big park or something," Rapidmon suggested.

Yun gasped. "You're right!" She looked around again, but something caught her eye.

"Look! I see Tsurumi High School!" Yun pointed to where it is, and Rapidmon descended in front of it.

Tsurumi High School is a big, wide, two-story building that's quite modern but bricky in design. Yun had been here a few times so she knew what it looked like from the inside. Unfortunately, part of it has been destroyed and totally decimated. Roasted bricks and debris formed little mountains and molehills while some scattered all over the place. Police cars and ambulances with glowing and roaring sirens surrounded the entire front of the school. The sirens glowed and lit up the dark atmosphere with their ghostly red and blue lights. Some police officers with German shepards ran all over the place, looking for traces of bombs or anything that made the part of the building explode. There are even some roasted papers, backpacks, cell phones, desks that got their limbs hacked off, burned off, or just plain destroyed, and...some crispy black figures.

Dead humans.

Yun saw a hand sticking out of some debris and covered both her eyes and nose, her nose because of the noisome and horrid odor that came from both the roasted bricks and the dead bodies, which assaulted her small nostrils. Hard. "UGH! I can't look!"

Rapidmon, hearing the distress in Yun's voice, ascended into the sky again until the noisome odor faded away. Yun noticed that her nostrils were no longer assaulted by rotten smells, so she opened her eyes and nose. As she looked around, she saw something that caught her eye. In a big field about 50 feet away, there's a large group of people standing around aimlessly, enough to fill up an entire school.

"Over there! On the soccer field!" Yun shouted.

"Should we go? I mean, I'll end up making the news!" Rapidmon said.

"Yeah! So what if you get on the news? People already know about Digimon anyway so it won't matter!" Yun exclaimed hysterically.

Rapidmon, sighing again, descended about a few feet from the field, even though he's still in plain sight. All of the high school kids and faculty members saw Rapidmon and gasped.

"Hooooly shrimp what the heck is that thing?"

"Whoa! That thing is so cool!"

"Record it, man! This is awesome!"

"That thing better not destroy us!"

"Is that the thing that blew up A and B Wing just now?"

"Someone help!"

Rapidmon kneeled down and put one of his hands on the grass so it can be easier for Yun to climb down since she's not very good at climbing. Yun ran into the crowd and immediately began looking for Ayaka. The crowd is big, people are staring at her and giving her strange looks, and Yun is becoming more and more worried and frightened, but she didn't let any of these stop her from searching desperately for her older sister.

"AYAKAAAAA! AYAKA, WHERE ARE YOU? ONEECHAAAAAN!" Yun screamed as loud as she could, hoping she could draw Ayaka's attention this way, though as a result it got her some weird looks from high school students. But Yun didn't care. She wanted-no, NEEDED-to find Ayaka as quick as possible. 'Please be okay! Please be alive! Please don't be dead, Ayaka-Neechan! Please don't be dead!' Yun thought as she zipped through the crowd, looking for her big sister.

At one point, she felt someone pull on her arm. She looked up and saw that the person gripping her arm is a very big and tall high school student with a bright neon orange mohawk, ferocious looking blue eyes, lots of piercings from his ears to his nose and mouth, wearing lots of black leather clothes, and with a very curious expression on his face. Yun also noticed he has big lips with piercings on them.

"Where you come from, kid? 'Dis is high school, yo!" The ferocious-looking high school student asked in a sickening voice that seemed to ooze disapproval and hostility just from laying eyes on the innocent girl. It must be confessed that Yun was quite frightened by the sight of the scary and intimindating high school boy, but she didn't let this stop her as she pushed the boy's hand off of her.

"Get off me!" Yun screamed as she yanked his hand off and ran away, causing the guy to become quite choleric.

"Ey! I ain't dun wit' you yet!" The boy yelled, but a teacher grabbed him and held him back, stopping him from laying another hand on her.

Yun searched through the entire crowd, looking for Ayaka. Yun was close to bursting into tears now. Ayaka is nowhere to be found, lots of high school kids are staring at her and probably thinking she's the freakiest thing they ever saw (possibly freakier than even Rapidmon), and she doesn't know where she herself is. Yun didn't want to give up and she was desperate to confirm Ayaka's survival no matter what, but her fright was about to reach it's peak.

Thank goodness it didn't, because after a while, Yun finally found Ayaka and Shunji!

She saw her from the side, with her light brown hair in a pony tail and frightened blue eyes, her sleeveless, frilly emerald green top, her black jean skirt, her dark brown high heels, and her shrill voice. Shunji is next to her, wearing nothing but a sleeveless black shirt with a green lightning bolt and a yellow crescent moon on it, along with dark blue capris, and black and orange sneakers. Ayaka is on her cell phone talking with someone. Yun couldn't tell who she was talking to because there's a lot of noise coming from the others, but to Yun, just the sight of Ayaka made her explode with joy.

_"ONEECHAAAAAN!"_

Beaming with sheer joy, Yun literally glomped Ayaka so hard she nearly fell to the ground! But Yun hugged Ayaka tightly and happily, completely reassured and content, even though Ayaka is looking as though the world just ended. Shunji couldn't help but laugh a little. Some girls who happened to be near Ayaka saw the whole thing.

"Ayaka! I'm so happy you're alright! I was so worried!" Yun wailed happily.

"Hm! You sure are full of surprises, Yun-chan! And you're gutsy, too!" Shunji said.

Some high school girls who happened to be in the same area as Ayaka started talking.

"Is she your little sister?"

"Awwww! She's so cute!"

"Oh my God, isn't this just, like, the sweetest thing ever?"

"I wish my siblings would worry about me like that!"

"Gosh, Wakamiya. You're so lucky to have such a great sister like that. I'm so jealous."

"Was she just riding that big green robot bunny monster just now?"

"How else could a little kid like her get here?"

"Why can't I have a little sister like her?"

Yun didn't want to bask in the praise she was getting. She's just happy that Ayaka is alright and continued to hug her tightly. Shunji is happy, and the other girls who gushed over how cute and kind Yun is seemed to be happy also, despite what happened to their school. Unfortunately, only one person is the total opposite of happy right now, and that's Ayaka. Yun just arrived out of nowhere and hugged her in front of everyone! To Ayaka, this is the most embarrassing, most mortifying, most shameful, most disgraceful, and most humiliating thing ever. She kept asking herself questions: why did Yun come here? Ayaka did not consider the simple fact that Yun came because she was genuinely worried about her big sister and wanted to make sure she was safe. But to Ayaka, having Yun here is bad enough, but everyone else is talking about Yun like she's the best thing ever. To Ayaka, this was the last straw! Ayaka's anger increased in size, and she was ready to explode, and nobody noticed. Yun finally let go of Ayaka and looked at her.

"I heard about what happened and had Rapidmon take me here. You're not hurt, are you? Come on! I'll take you home if you want! It might be too dangerous to stay here. I'll tell Mom and Dad about it and-" Yun really wanted to take Ayaka home and take care of her. Unfortunately, Yun didn't even get to finish what she was saying, and for the most shocking reason ever.

_POW!_

Everyone gasped. Even Shunji and some faculty members who watched. Yun didn't even see it coming. But she sure felt it.

Ayaka just slapped her in the face! So hard that Yun fell into a muddy puddle! Some rowdy high school boys started laughing at her.

"Can it, will ya?" Some girls angrily scolded the boys, appalled by their egregious behavior. But that was just the beginning.

Ayaka then suddenly lunged at Yun, grabbed her by the shirt, and slapped her in the face multiple times. Yun had trouble comprehending this and didn't even have time to fight back or even react because it happened so fast and so suddenly. But oh, did it hurt really bad! Shunji and some high school girls, appalled that Ayaka would mistreat her this way, and so cruelly at that, interfered and yanked the absolutely incensed Ayaka off of Yun.

"What do you think you're doing? Get off of her!"

"Leave her alone!"

"That's no way to treat your sweet little sister!"

"What is WRONG with you?"

Yun was stunned. Not so much that she didn't feel any pain. She touched her face and felt blood coming from both her cheek and nose. She was then met with Ayaka's angry gaze.

Yun was totally unprepared for this.

"YOU ARE THE SINGLE _WORST_ THING TO HAVE EVER HAPPENED TO ME IN MY _WHOLE ENTIRE LIFE_!" Ayaka screamed so loudly, the voice she used to scream with didn't sound as though it belonged to her. Yun didn't even bother to cover her ears, she was so stunned, appalled, and paralyzed with a combination of confusion, surprise, and absolute sadness.

That was just the beginning of Ayaka's hateful tirade.

"I HATE YOU! I hate you I hate you I hate you I freakin' hate you so much, you selfish, stupid, ignorant, brainless, spoiled, heartless, retarded little BRAT! You're the worst thing that's ever happened to me! I don't need your false concern or pity or anything you have to offer! I don't want it, and I don't need it! Especially from worthless and useless trash like you! You're the only reason my life has been nothing but miserable! Everything's bad because of you! Don't try and make excuses because I know why you're here! You're here to embarrass me and ruin my already destroyed reputation in school! You're obviously trying to make yourself look good and make me look like the victim here with your so-called kindness! I don't believe a word of it! You're not really worried about me! You're just trying to humiliate me and make yourself look like a hero when clearly you're not!" Someone tried to cut her off, but Ayaka kept going. "Mom and Dad always buy everything for you and do whatever you want while they ignore me and treat me like I don't mean anything to them! You don't deserve any of it! You're stupid, worthless, useless, and will never, ever, EVER amount to anything! You're always sucking the life out of everything around you just so you can make yourself look great! How can you live with yourself? How can you even take so much pleasure out of making my life trash? Even more so than it already is? You're the worst thing that ever came into existence! You shouldn't even be allowed to live! Everything always goes right for you, and nothing goes right for me! I don't need your fake love and fake concern and fake pity and fake everything you have to offer! Everybody thinks you're perfect and loves you yet I'm the one everybody criticizes on a regular basis and everybody betrays me and leaves me all alone! You're the worst stigma that ever came into this earth! Don't try to sugarcoat your true intentions by saying you're worried about me! Didn't you hear those girls fawning over you just now! That's why you're here, so you can manipulate them into loving you and thinking you're a precious little angel and make me look like the worst thing that ever came into existence! Stop trying to manipulate everyone for your own selfish gain!" A teacher tried to subdue her, but Ayaka pushed him away and continued her possibly incessant harangue. "Why does everything have to go right for you and wrong for me? You don't deserve to have anything you want! You don't even deserve to exist! You must LOVE ruining my life, don't you? Well, STOP! I'm sick and tired of having to put up with you and your fake personality! And don't you dare give me attitude, missy, because I'm not gonna put up with that either! Don't try to win me and everyone else over because you're too stupid and worthless and useless to make yourself actually good! Why couldn't you have been born normal and not ruin my life with your endless stupidity? You should have died! I don't care what happens to you! I don't care if you get killed by a bunch of robbers! Maybe you should have died in this explosion here! Now get out! GET OUT OF HERE NOW! I NEVER EVER WANT TO SEE YOU OR HEAR YOUR UGLY NAME OR SEE YOUR UGLY FACE OR SEE THOSE ENORMOUSLY BIG WATERMELON BOOBS OR HEAR YOUR ANNOYING UGLY HORRIBLE VOICE THAT MAKES MY EARS BLEED EVER AGAIN! STOP RUINING MY LIFE AND MY EXISTENCE!"

Yun didn't move. She couldn't fight back because everything was so sudden, so fast, so unexpected, and so...inundating. She did, however, absorb every single thing Ayaka said and took it to heart completely. She didn't even care that blood started getting on her clothes as a result of Ayaka scratching her face with her sharp nails. Yun felt her heart be beaten down and shattered by the mightest hammer, which left absolutely no pieces left. Some faculty members tried to help Yun up, but she fell back down, looking as limp as a dead person.

"Just leave her there! She's fine like that! She's ugly with or without all that blood, mucus, and mud all over her ugly body!" Ayaka yelped angrily, apparently not satisfied with her already choleric tirade that took a lot out of her.

Yun, after a few minutes of letting every single solitary angry and hurtful insult sink into her heart, finally burst into tears. Very hard. The same way she did when she got scared to death by Gargomon after he got branded by Witchmon and tried to kill her while under the control of the Dark Emblem, only about a thousand times louder and more heartbreaking. Some girls covered their mouths in shock. Shunji was just appalled.

"Stop that crying, you brat! You're trying to manipulate people with those fake tears of yours, aren't you?" Ayaka tried to slap Yun again, but Shunji stopped her by grabbing her arm.

"That's enough!" Shunji yelled angrily, giving Ayaka a look she never expected to see out of Shunji, the most lazy, laid-back, unambitious, undetermined, and stone-faced person (in terms of anger) in the whole world. Yun cried so much she even had trouble talking. There was no way she could clarify herself in this situation, but she did manage to wail one thing to Ayaka.

"YOU'RE NOT MY OLDER SISTER ANYMOOOOORE!"

With that, Yun, bawling harder than any time she's cried hysterically in her entire life, ran and stumbled away from the scene, unaware that she's muddy and bleeding very hard. Some faculty members tried to stop her, but Yun ran too fast for them. Ayaka watched with disgust and crossed her arms.

"Yun! Wait!" Rapidmon went after her despite his large size. The boys continued to gush over how awesome Rapidmon is.

"Whoa! Is that giant robot thing awesome or what?"

"I am soooo gonna tell everyone about this!"

"Serves her right!" Ayaka murmured. All of a sudden...

_SLAP!_

Ayaka got slapped in the face this time! Not so hard that she fell to the ground, but hard enough. This time, a tall girl with long dark brown hair, very tan skin, and stunning blue eyes gave her a very disapproving and disgusted look, while some of her girl friends watched in shock.

"Whoa! Nice one, Chiaki-chan!" One of the girl's friends exclaimed. The tan-skinned girl, Chiaki, crossed her arms and approached Ayaka boldly.

"Wow. I've seen my fair share of cruelty in my life, but I sure as heck never, EVER saw anyone as cruel and heartless and bratty as you! You're worse than even the worst bullies in this school!" Chiaki told her boldly and very bluntly.

"SEE? This is what I mean! She's manipulating you to take her side and make me look bad!" Ayaka yelled.

"Do you seriously call bawlin' her eyes out manipulatin'? You're cracked in the head beyond all help, girl! Now you listen to me, princess! I've never seen such genuine kindness and worry like that in all my life! Your sweet little sister rode on a giant robot rabbit to this very school and traveled all this way to make sure you're okay, and how do you thank her? By beatin' her up and tellin' her she's the worst thing that ever came into this world? God, if there's anyone who is selfish, cruel, ignorant, manipulative, and just downright heartless and horrible beyond all help, it's _you_!" Chiaki explained loudly, taking no garbage from Ayaka.

"She's the one who-" Ayaka tried to fight back, but Chiaki kept on interrupting her.

"_I'm_ talking! _You_ listen for once! You're awful lucky to have a great sister like that! In fact, I'd kill for someone to worry about me like that! But I'm an only child, and my parents treat me like I'm nothin'! My grandparents are the only people I have in my life, and you've got family that cares about you, just like your little sister, who you were so ungrateful and selfish and horrible as to beat her up and say that she won't amount to nothin'! I'll bet you treat the rest of your family like slaves, too, since you probably hate all that they do for you to make you happy! If anything, she's not the manipulative one or some snotty brat tryin' to make herself look good! It's none other than _you_!" Chiaki yelled.

"You don't understand!"

"I understand plenty!"

"She doesn't think to-"

"This ain't about her! This is about you! It's you who doesn't think! You don't think about how grateful you are to have a loving family at all! You don't think about other people and how they feel! You're just too focused on how horrible and angsty your life is! If you weren't so selfish and immature, you'd be grateful you even have any family at all when there are people whose families don't do nothin' but beat them and abuse them and treat them like trash, and you have the nerve to say that someone as sweet as her won't amount to nothin'? And that she's only being kind just so she can humiliate you and manipulate us? You're warped, you know 'dat?"

"But Mom and Dad treat her like a princess and leave me in the dust because that Autism excuse!"

"You think somethin' as real as a disability like Autism is an EXCUSE?" Chiaki facepalmed. "My God, how did you get so warped?"

"You don't get it, and this isn't your business!"

"I DO get it, and you're treatin' your kin like garbage so that makes it my business!"

"Everything always goes right for her! She has friends who love her while all of my friends betray me and leave me all alone! She convinced Mom and Dad to take in those rabbits and some Amurican brat who talks like Shakespeare and I don't have any friends! I'm all alone!"

"Let me tell you somethin' here, gal! You're alone because _you push people away_!"

Ayaka was flabbergasted. "WHAT? What are you saying?"

"You heard what I said, and I'm stickin' to it!" Chiaki snapped back, not letting down her guard. "I've been in enough of your classes to hear about what's been goin' on! I don't believe any of those rumors about you goin' to bars and hanging out with older men are true! I'm a person who prefers knowing the facts! But the only reason you're all alone is because you keep pushin' people away with all your angsting and whinin' and cryin' and accusin' people of stuff they don't do! They left you because you drove them away with your bad attitude! Nobody wants to hang out with a person who thinks everybody's got it in for her or tryin' to get her! There ARE such things as genuinely kind people in this here world, and that lil' sis of yours is one of 'dem, and lemme tell ya, I've never seen anyone so genuine as her before! All that stuff you said before, you should be directin' it at yourself, because you yourself made your own life miserable because you've blinded yourself against all the good in the world! You've brought this whole thing on yourself! Yun didn't cause your suffering, YOU did."

"I DID NOT!" Ayaka screamed, appalled that someone would accuse her like this.

"Stop denyin' it! You made your own life miserable because you hate people, and people don't like you because you're convinced the world hates you and is out to get you for so much as existin'! You need to shape up and get your mind straight because you're not going to get anywhere in life by actin' like the brat you are now!"

"I AM NOT A BRAT!" Ayaka screamed angrily. Before they could argue more, a teacher stepped in between them.

"That's quite enough! Everyone, head on over to Omigawa High School immediately!" The teacher said. Everyone, an angry Ayaka and a very disappointed Shunji included, went over to the other high school. Despite this, a good majority of kids started yelling at Ayaka.

"You went way too far, Wakamiya!"

"How can you be so cruel?"

"You're horrible, you know that?"

"You're the one who's a brat, not your sister!"

"How can you live with yourself after treating your kid sister like that?"

"Maybe you're the one who's selfish and bratty!"

"You better take responsibility and apologize!"

"You really did it this time, Wakamiya!"

Ayaka couldn't believe all of this hatred was being heaped on her...and internally, she blamed Yun for it, not herself.

Yun ran on the street faster than she ever ran before, even though her newly acquired speed was outmatched by Rapidmon, who managed to block her once she stumbled and nearly fell on the concrete. Thankfully, she fell on Rapidmon's arm, even though she did nothing but bawl and cry the entire time. She didn't even bother to stop the blood oozing out of her nose and scratch wounds. It broke Rapidmon's heart to see Yun so broken and so abject and so dejected beyond her limit. Much more so than the time he nearly attacked her while under the Dark Emblem's control back when Witchmon was alive. Rapidmon wished there was something he could do, but there isn't anything he could do. All of a sudden, he heard Melody's voice.

"Hey, Yun!" Melody rode on Thunderbirmon, who descended before them. Melody leaped off of Thunderbirmon. "Look! I got Thunderbirmon's D-Chip!"

However, her joy dissipated when she saw Yun's tears and the blood coming from her face. "Oh my God! What the freak happened to you?" Melody ran over to her and held her up, even though Yun has absolutely no strength to do anything but bawl and howl and cry incessantly.

"Ayaka slapped her lots of times and hurt her feelings really bad. I heard it all! She slapped Yun so hard she gave her a nosebleed and scratched her face! She even pushed her into a muddy puddle! Some stupid boys laughed at her," Rapidmon told her.

Like Ayaka, Melody felt her heart overflow with anger, but unlike Ayaka, it wasn't out of hatred for Yun, but out of genuine concern for the broken girl, and out of hatred for Ayaka.

"Oh my! She doesn't look too good at all! Should we call for a doctor or something?" Thunderbirmon asked in a worried voice.

"No. I'll take care of it," Melody told her. Inside, she wanted to explode like Ayaka did and yell at her and beat her up. But knowing this would probably make Yun cry even more, she decided to bottle her anger inside for now. Suddenly, Rapidmon de-digivolved into Gummymon.

"Awww! I wanted to take her home myself!" Gummymon whined.

Melody picked him up with a sympathetic look on her face. "It's fine. I think she needs you, Lopmon, and Lucero right now," Melody told the sad little squishy pack of slime gently but solemnly.

"I really want to beat Ayaka up!"

"I do too. But not now."

Melody carried Yun and Gummymon onto Thunderbirmon's back and took her home. Hisako, Teruki, Lopmon, Cutemon, and Lucero were all shocked to find Yun in such a horrible state. All Yun did was plop into bed. She didn't even bother to take off her dirty clothes or clean the blood off of her face. They tried to help her, but she kept crying and wouldn't cooperate, though they understood why she's like this. Hisako and Teruki heard about the explosion at the school from Ayaka. Yes, she talked to Hisako on her cell phone before Yun glomped her. Although they're happy that Ayaka is alright, once Gummymon spilled the beans, their relief turned into intense anger. Teruki decided to go and pick up Ayaka at Omigawa High School while Hisako and the others stayed home to care for Yun...or try to, at least.

Back at said school, Ayaka and Shunji sat in the guidance office, along with a few other students who are waiting for their parents to pick them up. Ayaka suddenly stood up and walked into the hallway.

"Ayaka! Wait!" Shunji went after her. She managed to get into the hallway before Shunji grabbed onto her.

"Stop! The teachers said you can't leave the guidance office yet!" Shunji said.

"So? I don't want to be here!" Ayaka snapped angrily.

Now this was enough for Shunji. He stood in front of Ayaka sternly, like he was her father.

"Are you always this selfish, Ayaka? Do you always think about yourself and not about other people?" Shunji exclaimed.

Ayaka groaned. "Oh great! Now you're under her influence!"

Shunji rubbed his black hair angrily. "Stop! Just stop it already! All this talk about Yun influencing people...seriously, you've got to stop this, Ayaka! I am not under anyone's influence! You know what? Maybe Chiaki-chan is right! Maybe you're the one making your own life miserable! You really are ungrateful!"

"Oh, you're one to talk!" Ayaka snapped, surprised by Shunji's change in demeanor. "You've got it way easier than I do! My parents don't give a rat's hat about me! All they care about is Yun Yun Yun! It always has to be about Yun! They don't care about me, only Yun! You wonder why my life is horrible!"

Now Shunji was mad. He grabbed Ayaka's shoulder forcefully. "You seriously believe _I_ have it _easy_? Oh, really! If I have it easy, then how do you explain the fact that I have a big shot dad who hates my guts and my existence who beats his wife on a regular basis for not being his perfect little toy, two older brothers who don't do anything to help me or protect me, and a mother who keeps making excuses and won't accept help from anyone? Is that having it easy to you?" Shunji screamed angrily.

Ayaka was shocked. Truth be told, she didn't know much about Shunji's family life. That was the one thing he actually seemed to feel nervous and uncomfortable talking about. All she knew was that he started living with his grandparents around the time he received Dracomon and that he doesn't exactly have a good relationship with his father. But that was about it...until now.

"What? Your parents..." Ayaka murmured, shocked by this new revelation. Shunji, knowing he spilled the beans, decided to spill some more of them.

"I've seen your parents. They really do care about you, Ayaka. You're just too focused on yourself and your own feelings to open yourself up to people and allow them to show you kindness, and when they do show you kindness, you repay them by yelling at them and being spoiled and selfish! You're way luckier than I am! You shouldn't take that for granted! Yun really does care about you. You have family who would do anything to make sure you're safe. I don't. My dad's the president of this big financial company and is a millionaire. Yep! I'm filthy rich! But my life isn't all fun and rainbows. No, not by a long shot. He's got power and all sorts of connections...but very few people know that he's a cruel and abusive beast who takes great pleasure out of beating up his wife and treating her like a slave because, according to him, she fails to meet his expectations. His two oldest sons, my older brothers, meet his expectations perfectly and are gonna be his heirs. They don't give a rat's hat about me. They never helped me or anything or protected me or did anything fun with me. They were born to be the old man's pawns. But it's my mother who I'm angry at the most! She takes all of this abuse...so many beatings and insults, yet not once did she ever stand up to him! She doesn't even call the police on him! She won't even accept help from anyone, especially me, the only person in the family who ever cared about her! She keeps making excuses to stay with him even though she doesn't deserve all of this abuse! The old man tried to make me into one of his pawns too, but I defied him. Hard. That's why I'm so lazy. That's why I never see anything through, because I don't want that old man to make me into one of his pawns. Let him call me a disgrace to the Anjo name! I don't care! I have my own life and he's not going to run it like he's running Mom and my older brothers!" Shunji explained solemnly. "I'll live my own life honestly. A clean life. The old man's the one who's a disgrace. He gets all his power through corruption, extortion, death threats, pointless lawsuits, blackmail, and nepotism. He gets whatever he wants by threatening people with blackmail or death. He even hired an assassin to kill someone he hated once. He's too ambitious and determined for his own good. He always manages to get himself out of everything with crime and has never been arrested, even though he so deserves to be! I...don't want to be like that. Not ever. Sorry if this sounds rude, but...I really have to admit, I really envy you, Ayaka. You have lots of things I don't. A good family, particularly one that doesn't rely on crime. I only wish I could save my mom and take her with me, but she refuses to leave the old man. She keeps staying with him, even though she gets beaten up by him on a daily basis!"

Ayaka was now flabbergasted. She couldn't believe what Shunji was telling her.

"You're kidding, right? Tell me you're joking! She's talked you into telling this fake story, hasn't she?" Ayaka yelped.

"Do you seriously think an eleven year old girl can make up this kind of story? Yun doesn't look as though she knows anything about the financial and political world, or even what the words extortion and nepotism mean!" Shunji looked Ayaka in the eyes solemnly and directly, showing that he's quite serious. "Besides, I swear to God I'm not making this up. Honestly, I really wish I was...but I'm not."

Ayaka thought she saw tears forming at the corners of his ocean blue eyes. She thought she was hallucinating, but she isn't. Those tears are real. Unlike Yun, Shunji shed them silently and solemnly. This convinced Ayaka that his story is real.

"Shunji, I...I...I never knew..." Ayaka muttered softly, actually feeling bad for him. "Why did you never tell me?"

"I didn't want to drag you into my personal life. You have your own stuff to worry about. I didn't want to put any more loads on you," Shunji told her.

"Shunji! Telling me about your personal life just so you can let it out doesn't mean you're putting a load on me!" Ayaka exclaimed, actually showing concern for him, like how Yun showed concern for her. Ayaka wanted to talk to him more, but Teruki just texted her saying that he's arrived, so she had to leave without saying goodbye to Shunji.

Shunji left Omigawa High School once the authorities announced it was safe for everyone to leave. Once he got to the street, he saw Dracomon and Spadamon waiting for him.

"Shunji!" Dracomon ran over to him and hugged him. "You're okay! I'm glad you're alright!" Dracomon told him happily.

Shunji was surprised. "Dracomon! What are you doing here?"

"Checkin' up on you, of course! Spadamon and I heard about what happened to the school earlier and came to check on you," Dracomon said.

"Quetzalmon defrosted when Grizzlymon digivolved into GrapLeomon so he took us here. I think he's waiting for us now. Come on!" Spadamon said as he gestured Quetzalmon to appear.

Shunji, Dracomon, and Spadamon got on Quetzalmon's back and flew away from the partially destroyed Tsurumi High School. Police cars and ambulances still zipped by every now and then, but Shunji didn't care. Spadamon told them everything up to the time Quetzalmon defrosted.

"So Grizzlymon digivolved? Awesome! I wish I could have been there to help them," Dracomon said happily.

"But how come you didn't help them, Spadamon?" Shunji asked.

"I wanted to, but I figured the Digimon Brigade would be able to beat IceLeomon. Plus, I'm too weak to defeat an ultimate level, and I was worried about Quetzalmon. I don't think my powers would have helped them much," Spadamon said.

"Come on, now! Don't say that!" Shunji said.

But after that, Shunji fell silent. They all fell silent. None of them said a word throughout the entire ride. Shunji then saw the street where his house is on.

"Drop us off here, Quetzalmon," Shunji told him.

"Sure," Queztalmon said as he descended to the ground and allowed Shunji and Dracomon to get off of him.

"Thanks for the ride, Quetzalmon!" Dracomon said as Spadamon and Quetzalmon flew away. Once they were out of sight, however, Dracomon heard a strange sound. He turned around and found it from a source he didn't expect.

Shunji's mouth.

Shunji is laughing, but Dracomon noticed that it isn't happy or merry laughter. It sounded more like laughing someone does when they feel horrible or bogged down by something really bad. Shunji put a hand on his face and laughed miserably.

"What's wrong?" Dracomon asked with concern.

"Hehehehe. I really was a fool to think I could save anyone, Ayaka especially, now that I've seen her point of view on the world," Shunji said while laughing miserably. "And you wonder why I hate taking responsibility for stuff!"

"What are you saying, Shunji?" Dracomon exclaimed, a little surprised by Shunji's sudden change in demeanor.

"I sure as heck can't save my own mother from that beast who beats her on a daily basis! No, I sure can't! If I can't save her, then I can't save anyone, nor can I ever distinguish myself from anyone!" Shunji said with a miserable smile on his face as he took a very unpleasant trip down memory lane.

(flashback one)

_Shunji, about ten years old around this time, hid in the closet with a phone in his hand and watched with fright as a big, bulky-looking man proceeded to beat a frail woman with his large fists constantly. There were already fragments belonging to a broken plate scattered all over the floor, but that didn't seem to stop the man._

_"How dare you be so bold as to disobey me! I come home tired and weary yet you don't even bother to cook me a meal for when I come home! You're my wife, and I expect you to do everything I say!" The man screamed in a deep, choleric voice as he punched the poor woman._

_"Shirojiro! You said you didn't want dinner!" The woman wailed as the man, Shirojiro, continued to beat her._

_"Stop making up those lies, you whelp! You need to know your place! You have no worth in this world! You are nothing and will amount to nothing, no matter what you do! I'm the only reason you're even alive in this world! Stop acting so arrogant! I come home expecting a home cooked meal yet this is the thanks I get for taking you in and saving you when you needed me? Why must you be so ungrateful?" Shirojiro screamed as he continued to step on his wife with his large, black boots._

_Shunji, not wanting to stand and watch anymore, decided to call 911. He wanted to go out and save her, but considering that his father, Shirojiro, is so strong, he didn't want to risk getting killed. Soon, someone answered._

_"Hello? You've gotta save my mom! My dad's beating her up and won't stop! Please, save her!" Shunji shouted into the phone but muffled his voice so Shirojiro wouldn't hear him or beat him up._

_Thankfully, the ambulance did come for his mother and take her to the hospital, but by the time they got there, Shirojiro had stopped beating her. Although she was taken care of in the hospital and saved from death, nobody arrested Shirojiro, nor did his wife press charges against him. The police didn't even bother to take Shunji's statement into consideration! They literally gave Shirojiro a pat on the back and released him! They didn't even throw him in a cell. Shunji didn't understand. Why didn't they arrest him? Why didn't they even throw him in a cell? Why didn't they question him or interrogate him? Why didn't his mother back up his statements? Why didn't anyone...believe him?_

_It wasn't until Shunji got older that he realized what was really going on._

(end flashback one, begin flashback two)

_Despite this, even at a young age, Shunji knew that Shirojiro was a very ambitious and determined man who would do anything to get his way and shape his children into what he wants. He learned that throughout the generations, children of the Anjo family always got good grades, became successful and, most importantly, distinguished themselves from the _"outsiders"_ as Shirojiro and all of his fathers before him called them. Shirojiro always pestered his children to get good grades, become successful, and distinguish themselves, because, according to him, that was that the Anjo children did._

_Shunji was quite a rarity in the Anjo family, as he did the exact opposite of what Shirojiro wanted._

_One day, when Shunji was about twelve, he was dragged into his father's study one day._

_"Shunji! Exactly how do you explain this?" Shirojiro yelled angrily as he threw a piece of paper at Shunji. The paper was Shunji's most recent test. What stood out was the big red _D-_ marked on it in bold red marker, along with a few X's written in red pen on certain problems. Shunji continued to look insouciant as his father's rage increased._

_"Speak, child! How could you be so stupid as to get a D- on a test? A D minus, for God's sake! You've been shirking on your studies again, haven't you?" Shirojiro yelled._

_Shunji continued to be silent._

_"You need to understand, boy! Children of the Anjo family are required to get good grades, become successful, and to distinguish themselves from the outsiders for the better! Stigmas like this-" Shirojiro waved the paper at his face like it was a fly. Once Shunji heard the word stigma, he finally spoke up._

_"Well maybe I don't want to get good grades or become successful the way you want me to! I know what you really do, old man! You didn't become successful honestly! You got everything through corruption, blackmail, lawsuits and death threats! Don't think I'm so stupid as to not know how you got to where you are now!" Shunji screamed angrily._

_"Anjo Shunji Masato, how dare you be so bold as to defy me! Your brothers were never this sloppy! I expect you to-" Shirojiro tried to yell at Shunji, but he cut him off._

_"That's all you do is expect us to do every little thing you say like we're your slaves! You beat Mom up on a regular basis over the stupidest little things, like if she doesn't put food on your plate the way you want it! Kid do this, kid to that, wife go here, wife go there! That's all you do! Order us around and make us into your perfect little pawns! Any little thing we do you hate you call us disgraces or stigmas! Get over it, old man! I am not going to be your perfect little spawn!" Shunji snapped back._

_"I made you into what you are! Is this really how you show your gratitude to me?"_

_"Exactly what do I have to be grateful for? Having to be ordered around on a regular basis? Getting yelled at if I get one little thing wrong? Being expected to do what you do for a living? Well, I'm sick of it! I'm not going to be your perfect little slave! It's bad enough you beat Mom just for her being around!"_

_"Your mother is a disgrace to the Anjo name! She doesn't know her place!"_

_"Maybe she doesn't want to know her place knowing the kind of guy you are! What if maybe I want to live my own life?"_

_"You won't get anywhere by living your own life! All it leads to is despair and ruin!"_

_"So you think sucking up to you is the only way to live a good life? Well, screw you!"_

_"Why you insolent, ungrateful child! Why can't you be more ambitious and determined like I am?"_

_"Maybe I don't want to live life being ambitious and determined!" Shunji proceeded to leave his father's study._

_"You come back here, you whelp! I'm not finished talking to you!" Shirojiro grabbed Shunji by the arm, but the boy managed to yank it off._

_"Yeah? Well I'm finished listening to a heartless beast like you!" Shunji screamed and slammed the door very hard._

_Shunji ran back to his room and ruminated deeply. Yes, he failed a lot of tests and worksheets out of defiance, and because of the fact that he doesn't see anything through to the end. He gave up on being determined. But he sure was determined about one thing in particular. Out of all the people in the Anjo house he was worried about, it's his mother whom he's the most worried about. He wanted to save her from all of this atrocity. He really wanted to give her a good life._

_But that proved to be even harder than defying Shirojiro._

(end flashback two, begin flashback three)

_Shunji, fifteen, argued desperately with his taciturn mother in her room one day._

_"Mom! We can't take this anymore! We have to leave this place so we can start a better life!" Shunji said._

_"There's no way we can leave this place, Shunji. Please, stop talking arrogant," His mother said in a low, dejected voice._

_"How am I being arrogant? The old man's the arrogant one!" Shunji yelled._

_"Don't talk about your father that way!" His mother snapped, continuing to use her low voice._

_"Well I'm gonna talk about him like that anyway! We don't deserve to stay with him! Why do you even stay with him? He treats you like garbage and beats you up over the tiniest little thing, even when it's not even your fault! You don't even press charges against him when the police catch him!"_

_"Nothing good will come out of arresting him."_

_"Mom! Please! We can leave this rat hole together, you and I! We can start our own life together, and I'm almost old enough to get my own job or maybe even a driver's license! One year away and I'll be able to do whatever I want!"_

_"We can never start a life on our own! Don't ever say such words! Shirojiro is the only reason we are alive, and we must repay him and show our gratitude."_

_Shunji was getting mad now. He balled his fists. "Mom! Why are you so stubborn? We don't need to repay him for anything! He doesn't even do anything good for us to begin with!"_

_"He gave us a home, food, and a life!"_

_"But not the good kind! He doesn't show any love for anyone but himself! He only cares about himself and about killing people who don't listen to him! You're not even the only reason the police won't arrest him! Dad blackmails every single police station we know into letting him go without even doing anything to him! He threatens them with lawsuits or death! Don't you think we can live somewhere else in a place where he won't track our location and do whatever it takes to make our lives miserable?"_

_"This conversation is over!" His mother tried to leave, but Shunji stopped her._

_"I want to save you!"_

_"I can never be saved! Accept the reality and live with it forever!"_

_"Mom! Please! I can't stand to see you get hurt any more than you already have! If the old man beats you up again, you really could die!"_

_"What difference will it make? I will never amount to anything otherwise! He is the only reason I'm able to live in this world, and I am willing to stay with him even if he kills me! I refuse to hear anything more from you, smart mouth!"_

_With that, Shunji's mother slammed the door._

_Shunji fell to his knees and cried a little. His own mother doesn't want to be saved by the only person who loves her dearly? Even though he's so determined to save her, she doesn't even give him a second thought and puts the old man on the pedestal while leaving Shunji in the dust._

(end flashback three)

"...I don't deserve the D-Heart of Determination. It doesn't suit me," Shunji muttered as he stared at his D-Heart with a dejected look in his blue eyes.

"Shunji! Don't say stuff like that! You saw through your relationship with Ayaka, right? You kept me around. Doesn't that count for something?" Dracomon told him.

"Yeah. You're the best thing that ever happened to me. Ayaka, too...at least, I thought she was. I thought maybe I could save her from her problems...but I see now that I can't even do that," Shunji said and suddenly stormed away.

"Shunji! Wait!" Dracomon chased after him, but Shunji was just too fast for him.

Shunji stormed into his house and flopped onto his futon. He didn't feel as though seeing anything through or being determined would ever do anything good for him. It didn't help save his mother, who constantly refuses his helpful advances, and to him, it certainly won't save Ayaka, who is convinced that the world hates her existence and chooses to take it out on Yun because she thinks Yun has it better than her. Shunji wondered if he could even continue his relationship with Ayaka. He closed his eyes and dreamed of that day. A day that was actually quite pleasant.

(flashback)

_Ayaka was a month into her freshman year of high school when this happened, and Shunji was a sophomore, the same age he was when he tried to help his mother but got brushed off. Shunji looked around the big hallways with a planner and a hall pass in his hand, looking dejected and lost in his mind. He then saw Ayaka, who looked even more dejected than him. She also looked confused and very lost. She also has a planner and a hall pass in her hands. She fumbled and fidgeted around, turning her head sideways every few seconds._

_"Awwww! Where in the world is it?" The girl grumbled. Shunji, feeling a little bad for her, decided to approach her._

_"You lost or somethin'?" Shunji asked. The girl became surprised upon seeing him, but she calmed down afterward. However, she sighed sadly._

_"It seems I am. I'm trying to look for Room 222, because that's where my next class is, but I've looked everywhere and can't find it, and I'm already late!" The girl said._

_"Oh. That's just down the 200 hallway a bit. There's another 200 hallway that's a bit behind it if you go right from here. It's a little hard to notice, but it's there," Shunji pointed to one of the hallways._

_"Thanks," The girl said and ran off._

_Shunji didn't think he'd see her again in his sophomore year, but he did._

_About two weeks later, he transferred out of a class and signed up for a new one. Much to his surprise, the girl he helped before is sitting in the front of the class while he's in the middle! Despite the distance, he saw her looking quite disturbed. It wasn't until after class that he saw what was up. He then saw her arguing with another girl, who obviously looked disgusted by her presence._

_"I'm telling you, Miyuki! He approached me! All he did was ask me what you like so he could buy you a birthday present and I gave him some suggestions! That's all!" The girl exclaimed, but the other girl, Miyuki, who looked quite choleric, didn't buy a word of it._

_"You big fat liar! I saw what I saw! How could you betray me like this, Ayaka? I did everything for you, but this is how you thank me? By stealing my boyfriend?" Miyuki screamed angrily._

_"Stop filling your head with stuff that isn't true! Why would I even want to go after a guy like Ren-san anyway? He's not even my type!" The other girl, Ayaka, argued back._

_"You're desperate for a boyfriend, aren't you? That's all you are, Ayaka! A guy chaser! You wonder why-"_

_Shunji, not wanting to let this fight escalate and seeing the honesty in Ayaka's frightened and confused eyes, suddenly stepped in between Ayaka and Miyuki, both of whom looked quite shocked._

_"What the-?" Miyuki yelped, but Shunji simply smiled at her and waved._

_"Hey, now. Don't you know it's embarrassing to yell at other people like that in a classroom of all places? Rumors are gonna start, y'know? And I can't have pretty faces like yours be stained by some ugly rumors made by a bunch of idiots who don't have anything better to do than overreact to nothing," Shunji told them with an impish smile._

_"Stay out of our business, you playboy!" Miyuki yelled._

_"Who said anything about it being anyone's business? By the way, I just wanted to let you know," He wrapped his arm around Ayaka's neck and pulled her close like she's one of his good chums. "That all that stuff about her trying to take your boyfriend, it's all a load of crock. She's already taken by _moi_!"_

_Ayaka was just confused beyond her wildest dreams. This random boy is claiming her to be his girlfriend? Right in front of Miyuki and everyone else? She was thankful that he's helping her despite being a stranger, but did he really have to help her like this?_

_"Besides, what's with all you girls and seeing your boyfriends with other girls and automatically thinking, 'Oh my God my boyfriend's talkin' to another girl! She's taking him away from me or he's cheating on me! I'm gonna burn them at the stake!' these days? Can't you stop for a minute and think rationally? What if your so-called boyfriend really did ask this girl here to give him suggestions about birthday presents? What if maybe he needed her help with something, like homework? You girls need to quit being so quick to think stupid stuff and getting all mad over nothing," Shunji explained with his impish smile. "It doesn't do anyone any good. You may even drive your own boyfriend away."_

_Miyuki looked around with a confused face. Then she looked at Ayaka, and her eyes became dejected. "I'm sorry."_

_After that, she just sat at her desk, along with everyone else._

_Later that day, Shunji saw Ayaka sitting alone at a table and decided to sit next to her. This made Ayaka smile a bit._

_"Hey there. Sure didn't expect us to have the same lunch period," Shunji told her as he sat next to her and began chomping on his mustard covered hot dog._

_"Yeah. Weird, isn't it?" Ayaka asked. After some silence, Ayaka spoke again._

_"Umm...thanks for helping me back there," Ayaka muttered._

_"You're welcome. Don't you just hate it when people see something and automatically assume the worst and stick it in their brains? I mean, seriously! People don't have any sense these days!" Shunji said._

_"I agree. Oh! I didn't tell you my name, did I? I'm Wakamiya Ayaka," Ayaka introduced herself._

_After Shunji chewed on the rest of his hot dog, he smiled and introduced himself while giving a thumb's up. "The name's Anjo Shunji. Feel free to call me Shunji!"_

_All of a sudden, Ayaka burst into laughter._

_"Hey! What's so funny?" Shunji asked with a smile._

_"You've got mustard all over your mouth! You're a mess!" Ayaka said while cracking up. Once she mollified herself, she grabbed a tissue. "Here, I'll help you."_

_Gently, Ayaka dabbed Shunji's mustard covered face with the clean tissue, wiping it all off. Once she finished wiping the rest of the mustard off, her smile faded and she became curious. "I was wondering...how come you told them I was your girlfriend? I mean, I know you were trying to help and all, and I really do appreciate it, but...you kind of caught me off guard there."_

_"Exactly!" Shunji snapped his fingers proudly. "That was why. To throw everyone off guard so I could explain myself to them. Talkin' to them normally wasn't gonna help, so I thought I'd say something outrageous to try and make them lose their cool. That's the best way to talk to someone. Know what I mean? Tell 'em something outrageous and out there, like how you have a boyfriend who flirts with girls all the time!"_

_Suddenly, Ayaka laughed again. "Hahaha! Man, Miyuki was right! You really are a playboy!"_

_"Maybe I should make a living out of it!"_

_Ayaka and Shunji laughed together merrily. It was the first time that they both ever felt so comfortable, so merry, and so free. They both found themselves loving the company of each other, cherishing every little moment. Soon, lunch ended and they had to go their separate ways for the rest of the day. But that sure wasn't the last time they'd see each other. Not by a long shot. Before their first class started, they exchanged cell numbers. Soon, Ayaka popped the question and they started dating. Ayaka and Shunji became boyfriend and girlfriend about a month into starting high school! This was the happiest moment of both of their lives._

(end flashback)

Shunji knew for a fact that Ayaka had her share of problems, and considering what's been happening, he didn't blame her for being so moody and such a sourpuss a lot of the time despite the fact that she's nearly always happy when around him and that her problems are not as bad as his own. Her only best friend is in a coma, she has to deal with a little sister who has a disability and requires some extra attention, some girls hate her for dating Shunji and started ugly and untrue rumors about her, her studies aren't going well, her teachers are constantly criticizing her, her other friends either moved away beyond contact or betrayed her, and she's convinced the world has it in for her. But the awful scene from earlier, seeing Ayaka treat Yun in such an insidious, heartless, and just downright horrible manner for such a silly reason and going so far as to beat her up, throw her in the mud, and yell at her in public, really scared him. He never knew Ayaka was so convinced that the entire world hates her guts, and he had to admit, Chiaki had a good point. It may be no wonder Ayaka's other friends betrayed her, because she's too caught up in her own misery to care about how other people feel about it.

As he continued to ruminate and be lost in his thoughts, he failed to notice Dracomon lying down next to him gently until he spoke.

"Shunji?" Dracomon asked, which pulled Shunji out of his reverie.

"Oh. Dracomon. What is it?" Shunji asked back.

"Are you thinking about Ayaka?"

Shunji sighed. "Yeah. I...I don't know. I thought I could save her from her troubles like I tried to do with Mom, but...I wonder if she's better off without me?"

Dracomon was stunned and crossed his arms. "Shunji! I don't want you thinking stuff like that! I mean, you're her boyfriend, right? You should be the one setting her straight!"

"Dracomon. You don't get it. Ever since I was ten, I stopped seeing things through long ago. I'm never determined enough, like the old man wants me and everyone else to be. I stopped being determined so he could hate me, and the things I want to achieve with determination...I can't save the two people I love the most! Being determined won't get me anywhere!"

"You don't know that, Shunji! You managed to raise me into what I am now!"

"That's totally different! I'm not good at seeing things through!"

"I'm not good at being quiet a lot of the time! I'm not good at controlling myself when I get angry until I release it all! We all have things we aren't good at."

"Yeah, but...I want to save Ayaka and Mom. But I can't."

Thus, the conversation ended. Despite what Shunji said, Dracomon didn't want to believe that Shunji is giving up so easily. He wondered if there was a way to encourage him to keep going and move forward.

As their conversation was happening, Teruki took Ayaka home. None of them said a single, solitary word throughout the entire ride. The car ride was deadly silent, but the tension was very heavy. Once they got home, however, things got very tense. As soon as Ayaka was about to walk out of the car on her own, Teruki grabbed her arm, yanked her out, slammed the car door, pulled out his keys, unlocked the door, and pulled Ayaka inside in one fell swoop. They both found Hisako waiting for them in the dining room with a very stern look on her face.

Ayaka was just mad. "Dad! What was that for?"

Hisako stood up. "Ayaka. We need to talk."

Ayaka tried to leave. "There's nothing to talk about!"

All of a sudden, Teruki stood in front of her in a rage. "We got a call from one of the staff at the other high school! He said that Yun came all the way over there on Rapidmon's back so she can see if you're okay, and what do you do? You slap her in the face, throw her in the mud, yell at her, and call her names in front of a huge crowd of people? How is THAT nothing to talk about?" Teruki screamed angrily.

"None of your business!" Ayaka tried to leave again, but Teruki pushed her back.

"You're my daughter and that makes it my business!" Teruki screamed again.

Now it was Hisako's turn to be choleric. "Ayaka! Do you know how disappointed we are with you right now? How could you be so cruel to Yun? She made her Digimon digivolve and flew to the high school despite the bad weather and destruction because she was worried about you!"

"No she was not! She's not worried about me! All she wanted to do is humiliate me and make herself look good! Her only wish in life is to ruin my life and make it more miserable than it already is! She's already manipulated that entire school into turning against me and taking her side!" Ayaka snapped angrily.

_"THE WORLD IS NOT AGAINST YOOOUUUUU!"_ Teruki screamed so loud, so passionately, so ardently, and so angrily it could practically be heard throughout the entire neighborhood. In his blatant rage he pushed one of the dining room chairs so hard that it skidded across the kitchen floor, all the way to the dishwasher. One of it's legs chipped a little as it ran against the dishwasher, and it made both Ayaka and Hisako cover their ears. But this didn't sooth Teruki's explosion of anger. No, not by a long shot. His face is beet red, his eyes are bloodshot, his fists are clenched, and his anger is literally overflowing like a huge torrent of water.

"I have had just about enough of that attitude of yours! Do you seriously believe that Yun's only purpose in life is to hurt you and make you miserable? She's just a child, for God's sake!"

"See? You're always making excuses for her, Dad! you both do! You never did give a durn about me or anything that I do!"

"Ayaka! This has got to stop! You need to understand that the world doesn't hate you and that we don't favor Yun over you!" Hisako said.

"Yes you do! Stop denying it! See? She's warped your brains!"

"Is this seriously how you're going to go through life forever? Is this seriously how you're going to treat Yun for the rest of your life? She did everything for you, and this is how you repay her?"

"She hasn't done anything for me!"

"She rode on a giant rabbit and put her own anxieties aside just so she can check and see if you survived that explosion!"

"She only did it for herself!"

"Ayaka, I know you're upset because of everything that's happened, but that doesn't mean you can take it all out on Yun, who's had absolutely nothing to do with your problems! Treating her like garbage for the rest of your life isn't going to bring-"

Teruki was about to make the mistake of mentioning Kiyomi, but thankfully, something stopped him from doing so.

_BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG!_

A very loud and persistent knock on their door. Well, it sounded much more like a pound and punching sound than a normal knock.

Hisako growled. "Who could that be?"

_BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG!_

Hisako, though angry, walked over to the door and opened it, but it zipped right by her as soon as it opened. All she saw was a white, black, and red blur...and it would show itself to Ayaka and Teruki in the most unexpected way possible.

_POW!_

Ayaka just got punched in the face! So hard that she fell to the ground! Then something pounced on her, grabbed her shirt, and shook her. Ayaka didn't even have time to comprehend that she was being assaulted, nor could she process who was doing it.

"Get off of her!" Hisako tried to pry the figure off, but it just wouldn't give up. It did, however, say something.

_"I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!"_

Ayaka knew that voice and catchphrase anywhere.

It was...Melody.

Melody literally zipped into the house, punched her so hard she gave her a nosebleed, and proceeded to scream at her similar to how Ayaka did with Yun earlier, but Melody's views are quite different.

"She did EVERYTHING for you! EVERYTHING! How can you be so gosh durned heartless to even think that someone as nice and innocent as Yun would even think about ruining your life and making it more miserable than it already is! And to think you've got the balls to throw her in the mud, beat her up, and yell at her just because she tried to do a nice thing for you! Ever since I came back, you've done nothing but talk about yourself, your parents, Yun, and everyone else around you like you don't even matter! You're always calling yourself useless and meaningless! You should know better than to think you've got it worse than the rest of the world and take it all out on Yun, who doesn't have anything to do with all the garbage you go through!" Melody screamed similar to how Teruki did earlier.

Anger having disappeared, Teruki and Hisako tried to pull Melody off of Ayaka.

"Melody! Get off of her! Let us handle this!" Teruki managed to pry Melody off of her and grab her by the hand, but Melody gave him her signature scowl.

"No! I'M handling this! You're too soft on her!" Melody yelled.

"ME? _SOFT_?" Teruki yelled, appalled by Melody's insinuation, but he tried to keep his cool. "Melody! I'm the adult here, and I want you to-" But Melody ignored him and continued to yell at Ayaka.

"You really are a pitiful creature! If anyone's making your life miserable, it's you and you alone! Yun's got nothing to do with it, and don't try to drag her into your stupid angst! You're too focused on yourself to know that you actually have people who truly care about you and love you! Are you seriously going to be so stupid as to claim that you have nothing?" Melody yelled.

"What do you know about my life? Stay out of my business!" Ayaka yelled.

"Mel! Please-" Hisako tried to mollify her, but Melody kept going.

"Do you seriously call taking a giant robot rabbit to a destroyed school full of people and corpses and dead rats to check on your welfare fake? An act to humiliate you and manipulate people? Ayaka, that's the nicest thing anyone could do for anyone, and how do you repay her? You slap her in the face, throw her in the mud, and tell her she'll never amount to anything in front of a bunch of high school kids and teachers! You're always putting her down, calling her useless, meaningless, worthless, and a bunch of other garbage! But I know what you're really doing! You're not really saying it about her, are you? You're talking about _yourself_! You call yourself those things, but you choose to take it out on Yun because you're too full of selfish angst and pride to even listen to yourself or the people around you!"

"Mel! How could-" Teruki tried again, but Melody continued to go on.

"Let me tell you something here! I had a little sister once myself. She was very physically and developmentally disabled. I forget what her disability was, but she was ungodly thin and short, she couldn't lift her head up, she couldn't run, and her immune system pretty much hated her guts. My mom and dad always tried to make her happy and comfortable and to accommodate her needs, and there were times when even I thought they preferred her over me. But later I learned that that wasn't true. She didn't want her disability! She was just born with it! Stuff happens to us whether we like it or not. Despite this, Mom and Dad always tried to make time for me and my big brother whenever they could despite their busy schedules. They proved to me that they didn't favor anyone. Hisako and Teruki here are no different from them. You should be grateful that you even have nice parents and a little sister who cares about you! You have everything that I lost! You have a nice family, a nice boyfriend, and your whole life ahead of you! I..." Melody's voice faltered for a brief moment. "I don't have anyone! My entire family's gone toes up! I lost everything. My family, my dignity, and worst of all...my ability to forgive. Don't think I'm telling you this so you can pity me. I don't live my life angsting over everything. I move forward, and I listen to people around me, my friends included. I do my own thing whether people like it or not. Stop thinking you've got it bad, especially so you can make people pity you. And don't you DARE think this is Yun's doing! I'm speaking from right here!" Melody pounded on her chest with a fist. "You need to learn to listen, and personally, I seriously want to beat you down right now so you can feel what Yun felt when you pounded on her!" Melody pounded her fists together.

"Melody! Don't you dare-" Teruki tried again, but this time, he was interrupted by someone else.

"Feather Slap!"

Melody suddenly found herself being pummeled by a pair of pink wings, and they came from Biyomon!

"Melody! My goodness, do you really have to be so reckless? And to think I thought Riku was reckless before! I don't want you pounding anyone! Do you hear me? We're going home right this instant!" Biyomon told her sternly. She then turned to Hisako and Teruki with a sad look in her eyes.

"I'm so sorry about this, honestly! I tried to stop her, but she just wouldn't listen to me no matter what I did!" Biyomon said. She then turned to a shocked Ayaka.

"Ayaka-san. While I am sorry that Melody has been giving you a hard time, I honestly have to agree with her. Angsting about your life and taking your anger out on people without considering their feelings is a very vulgar thing to do, and it certainly won't get you anywhere. Do you even feel a crumb of empathy for anyone? Yun-san especially?" Biyomon told her.

Ayaka didn't know what to say. Biyomon didn't mind not getting an answer. "Well, we'll be taking our leave now. I'm sorry for the trouble she's caused."

Biyomon was about to pull Melody out, but Melody wasn't done yet.

"Wait. Teruki-san, can you give this to Yun?" Melody asked as she gave Teruki a small, pale green paper bag. Teruki took it.

"Sure."

"Thanks. I appreciate it," Melody told him, actually sounding calm.

Biyomon bowed before them, and with that, the duo left the Wakamiya house despite Melody's very dramatic entrance.

Oddly enough, because of this, Ayaka kept her mouth shut and accepted Hisako and Teruki's punishment without protest. They grounded her for four months, with no computer, cell phone (except for emergencies), or going to friends' houses for a week, and they expected her to do chores around the house, improve on her schoolwork without any distractions, and apologize to Yun tomorrow. Ayaka did accept all of these, but Biyomon's question continued to linger in her mind.

_"Do you even feel a crumb for empathy for anyone? Yun-san especially?"_

Ayaka went to bed that night full of everything that Melody said to her...because she knew she was right. Yun continued to cry throughout the night, and cried herself to sleep at about 11:30 PM.

Everything that Melody said was a complete bullseye. Right on the mark.


	74. Rumination and Responsibility

EPISODE 74: Rumination and Responsibility

That day was just terrible for Yun. She basically spent the entire day crying and bawling and howling into her pillows while still wearing her dirty clothes. Lopmon, Cutemon, Terriermon, and Lucero tried to soothe her, mollify her, comfort her, and calm her down as much as they could, but their attempts all proved to be futile. It broke all of their hears to see Yun so sad, so broken, so down in the dumps, so abject. None of them had seen her this abject since the time she got assaulted by Seiko, Nenji, and their cronies in detention so long ago. Not even Hisako and Teruki could calm her down. Hisako tried to remove Yun's dirty clothes so she could wash them, but Yun just kept on howling and wouldn't budge. Not one bit. Lucero tried to stuff Yun's bleeding nose with tissues so the blood wouldn't seep out, and put a big band-aid on Yun's cheek. That worked. Lopmon even cooled the wounds down with her ice powers. Despite their efforts, Yun continued to cry and bawl, which made them all sad.

She didn't even budge when Tuesday arrived. Thankfully, because of the destruction caused by IceLeomon and another unidentified Digimon, aka the one that made part of Tsurumi High School explode, all schools in the Tama-no-Minato area are closed until further notice, even though Fushimi Middle School is the only one that didn't receive any damage. It said so on the news this morning. Lucero watched it with Hisako early this morning. Because of the massive amount of damage Katsura Elementary School has sustained, it will be under construction for a while, and the kids won't be able to go to school until they can be accommodated into another one outside of the city since there isn't another elementary school in Tama-no-Minato, and it sure won't be easy. But despite the fact that school is cancelled, it didn't faze Yun one bit. She didn't even bother to eat breakfast, which worried Hisako, Teruki, Lucero, and the rabbits greatly. At around 9:30 AM, Lucero noticed that Yun's digivice beeped. Lucero gently picked it up and opened it. It's a text message from Otoya to everyone!

**To: Yun, Minako, Melody, Kosuke, Aria, Rena, Riku, Isao, Hokuto, Shunji, Shione, Link**

**From: Otoya**

**Subject: Meeting today!**

**Digimon Brigade meeting today at the park at 10:00 AM!**

"What's wrong?" Terriermon asked curiously.

"Yun's digivice just received a message from Otoya-dono. A Digimon Brigade meeting is today," Lucero replied. Noticing that Yun is there, he decided to talk to her.

"Yun. There's going to be a Digimon Brigade meeting today. Wouldst thou like to go?" Lucero asked. Yun took about a minute to respond.

"No."

Lucero and all three rabbits looked at each other with confused faces. Yun actually doesn't want to go to a Digimon Brigade meeting? This is a first!

"You've never turned down a Digimon Brigade meeting notification before, Yun. Are you sure you don't want to go?" Lopmon asked, a little surprised by Yun's response.

"Yes."

Terriermon started pulling on Yun's arm. "Come on, Yun! You should go!"

Lopmon, noticing that Yun's anger might explode at any moment because of Terriermon's prodding (Yun especially hates it when she gives a clear answer to someone but that someone twists it around to the opposite answer and forces her to do whatever they please against her wishes. Lopmon saw incidents like this before, and they weren't pretty), yanked Terriermon off of her. "Terriermon. I don't think you should force her. I mean, she did have a really bad day yesterday after all."

Lopmon had a good point. Terriermon became dejected. "Sorry, Yun."

"Lucero. You can go in my place if you want and keep me up to date," Yun whispered dejectedly.

Lucero felt bad about leaving Yun here, but knowing that she's quite set on her decision not to go, he knew it would be pointless to try and force her. He kneeled down to her and gently stroke her thick, chocolate brown hair. "I will. Thanks."

"Should one of us stay here and take care of her, kyu? I mean, it'd be kinda sad to leave her all alone like this, kyu," Cutemon said sadly.

Lopmon leaped back next to Yun. "I'll stay with her, if you don't mind."

Lucero smiled. "I don't mind at all. Thou art a great friend, dear Lopmon. Take good care of her," Lucero gently stroke Lopmon's head in gratitude. Lopmon blushed a little in response to Lucero's tender touch, but she liked it so she didn't mind. He then grabbed Yun's digivice, threw on some shoes, and left the house, with Cutemon and Terriermon following him, leaving Lopmon and a still very sad Yun behind.

Lucero made sure to tell Hisako and Teruki about where he's going, and they gave him permission to go to the park as long as Cutemon and Terriermon are with him. Since it's rather hot today, Lucero threw on a sleeveless beige shirt and dark blue jean shorts. It didn't take him and the rabbits long to reach the park. But when they did, they were surprised to see everyone there, including Shione and Moosemon!

"Good morning!" Lucero called out to everyone, even though he himself knew his greeting felt rather forced.

"Where are Yun and Lopmon?" Otoya asked with concern.

Lucero and the rabbits looked down dejectedly.

"Yun told us to go without her. She's just too traumatized by what happened to do just about anything, even eat breakfast," Lucero said.

"Lopmon's staying with her, kyu. I feel so terrible, kyu! I wish I could have been there to stop it from happening, kyu!" Cutemon said.

"I would have liked to punch her in the mouth!" Terriermon exclaimed.

"It's that bad, huh? Perhaps it was best that you left her alone. She may need her space," Labramon said.

"What happened to Yun-chan again?" Salamon asked Dracomon.

"Apparently from what Shunji's told me, she and Rapidmon went to Ayaka's high school to check on her, but Ayaka didn't take it too well. She beat her up and called her names and everything," Dracomon explained.

"What? That sounds horrible!" Salamon yelped. Dracomon nodded.

"Shunji saw it all," Dracomon said a little sadly.

Lucero suddenly felt a tug on his shirt. It came from Aria, who looked up at him with sad, brown, puppy-like eyes. MarineAngemon sat on her head, looking just as sad.

"Is Yun-chan gonna be okay?" Aria asked sadly.

Lucero felt his heart sag upon seeing those sad puppy eyes, so he felt he had to respond. "I don't know. She's very sad right now," But he did kneel in front of her and caress her tender cheek with his hand. "But I think she will be happy knowing that thou art very concerned for her."

MarineAngemon flew off of Aria's head. "Hey! Aria-chan! Maybe you can ask Mariya-san if she could make Yun-chan's favorite chocolate chip cookies!"

Aria nodded. "That's a great idea. I'll do that."

"I wonder why Ayaka's been so sour over the past few years," Minako said.

"Who the heck knows," Kosuke said.

"Maybe we should stop by her house later," Otoya said.

Everyone (except Link) nodded in agreement.

"I think we should start the meeting now," Koromon said.

All of the kids and Digimon sat in the gazebo. The Digimon Brigade meeting has officially begun, and Link, since he's the oldest and has lots of things to talk about, decided to take the liberty of speaking first. Everyone listened intently.

"To begin this meeting, there's something I want to tell you all. I should have told you all this earlier, but I don't think it would have made much difference. Do you all remember when that Digimon army appeared in town about last week or so?" Everyone nodded. "Well, if you're wondering what that thing was that tried to drag all of the Digimon into a rift in the sky, then that was a computer virus called MC Destroyer. An ex-friend of mine named Hiroya Masaomi made it so he could destroy all Digimon and keep them out of the human world. I tried to get rid of it since I knew it wouldn't do anyone any good, but it didn't go so well. I'm sorry I caused all of this trouble for you all," Link explained, then became dejected upon the final sentence.

"It's no wonder we all felt like we were being torn apart limb from limb before! It was a virus after all!" Bearmon exclaimed.

"Exactly what's a virus again?" Biyomon asked while scratching the side of her head with one of her red claws.

Hokuto took the liberty of explaining it.

"In technical terms, a virus is a segment of self-replicating code planted illegally in a computer program in which it's only purpose is to damage or shut down a system or network," Hokuto explained calmly. Oddly enough, he didn't go into more in-depth detail about it.

"Exactly. Masaomi holds a very personal vendetta against all Digimon and the Digital World's existence...and at me and my ex-partner Saruto for helping the Digital World develop and evolve into it's current state," Link said.

"Why does he hate Digimon?" Aria asked. She knew what the word vendetta meant because she's heard Mariya use it a lot, and asked her what it meant.

"See, he used to have a daughter. We saw her fall into a digital portal two years ago. We tried to save her, but we failed. That's one of the reasons why I stayed in the Digital World for quite some time. I've tried looking for her. I've searched everywhere, but I came up empty every time. Everyone else, however...they believe she's dead, and because Masaomi went mad over her disappearance, they believe he's mentally ill," Link explained.

"Did he find out about your trips to the Digital World?" Shione asked.

"Yeah. He saw me and Koromon come out of a digital portal, and I bolted. He didn't say anything about it after that, but...I think that's what shocked him into creating MC Destroyer, along with all the Digimon appearances starting back somewhere in May," Link explained.

"That's the same month we got our DigiEggs!" Riku exclaimed.

"So he's been making this computer virus for about two or so months now?" Rena asked.

"Yes. He's worked day and night on it. He even kidnapped a Digimon Yun tried to subdue and killed it so he could finish MC Destroyer, and by kill I mean de-construct all of it's data so he could use it to make a blueprint for MC Destroyer's final product," Link explained. "As to how he managed to transport such a huge creature single-handedly, I honestly have no clue. He works alone, so he shouldn't have been able to transport such a thing without help."

"Is that why he kidnapped Lopmon back then?" Coronamon asked, stunned by this new revelation. Link nodded grimly.

"That's horrible!" Salamon yelped.

"Exactly, when did you find out about MC Destroyer?" Moosemon asked.

"Right after Yun found her. Well, I did have some vague suspicions about it before, but they didn't get confirmed until I confronted Masaomi at his house after Lopmon was found," Link explained.

"Did you even try to stop him once you found out?" Kosuke asked a little suspiciously.

"Yes. I've tried to, but there was never a good opportunity for me to actually dispose of MC Destroyer, and the chance I DID have failed," Link said sadly.

"Some professional you are," Melody scoffed.

"But somewhere along the line, all the stuff that MC Destroyer did suddenly stopped," Patamon said.

"I saw it! A Wendigomon destroyed that guy's...satellite dish? Yeah! That's it!" Terriermon edicted as he raised one of his pale green paws into the air, even though he didn't quite remember the word right off the bat.

"Yes. Masaomi needed a satellite dish in order to send out the signal, and you know how expensive those things are these days," Link said.

"How come you weren't able to stop him from activing MC Destroyer BEFORE he finished developing it?" Melody asked suspiciously.

"Ever since Hazuru disappeared and his wife left him behind, Masaomi's practically locked himself in his house, only going out when he feels he absolutely has to. He's neglected to do a lot of little things, like shave, buy food for himself, clean, and close his windows. He even stayed up all night 24/7," Link said.

"Jeez. I'm surprised he didn't break by now," Otoya said.

"Masaomi's quite the ambitious man, isn't he?" Labramon asked.

"Yes. Too ambitious, like Saruto. But unlike Saruto, who wanted to develop the Digital World even further, Masaomi wants nothing more than to wipe away every single trace of Digimon and the Digital World off of the face of the planet. But he's failed, thank goodness," Link said.

"But if he destroys the Digital World, his daughter might get destroyed, too!" MarineAngemon exclaimed.

"Exactly. I even told him that myself," Link said.

"The Digital World's already been destroyed once before, even though it doesn't look it as of now. We cannot let it happen again," Kudamon said.

"It was destroyed before because of MoonMillenniummon, wasn't it?" Shunji asked.

"Yep! Link told me so!" Riku edicted.

"By the way, now that we're on the subject, you told Riku once that you overheard their servants saying that they were going to make a new and improved Dark Emblem, right? I think we found a Digimon that was branded with it," Minako said.

"Yeah! IceLeomon!" Isao exclaimed, raising his hand to back his statement like Terriermon did moments ago.

"I haven't seen what it looks like, so I don't know all the details," Link said.

"That's okay, because we saw the new Dark Emblem anyway!" Isao said.

"It's much smaller than the other one, but from the looks of it, it's much harder to remove," Minako explained. "I'll have to do more research on it."

"Did you infiltrate his secret hideout again?" Riku asked out of the blue.

"No. I don't think it'll be easy, and I don't want to take any risks," Link replied.

"We're all still not strong enough to fight a Digimon like him, so I suggest we wait on that," Minako said.

"Speaking of getting stronger, I've been meaning to bring this up for a while," Kosuke interjected suddenly, raising his hand to prove his point. "Has anyone noticed that whenever a Digimon digivolves into ultimate for the first time, the rest of us, who can already digivolve to ultimate, just can't? It's seriously driving me up the wall!"

"I agree," Shunji piped in. "If the rest of us could digivolve into ultimate level all at the same time, especially in times like this, we could have gotten a lot of fights done and over with much faster."

"It is very disturbing. I wonder why that is," Minako said.

"I wonder if it has something to do with the Digital World getting destroyed," Salamon said.

"Or maybe the D-Hearts themselves?" Lunamon asked.

"I don't know, but I did notice a pattern. This hindrance only occurs when someone's time to finally digivolve into ultimate for the very first time has come. I don't know why this is, but I get this feeling every time," Kudamon explained.

"How?" Hokuto asked.

"I'm afraid I don't know how to explain it," Kudamon replied a little dejectedly, sad that he couldn't provide an answer.

"So this still remains a mystery, huh?" Otoya asked.

"Probably so," Labramon said.

"But MarineAngemon can digivolve into mega level during times like that!" Biyomon pointed out.

"Yeah, and Angewomon was present during the fight with MarineDevimon," Riku exclaimed.

"This keeps getting weirder and weirder. More questions than answers..." Kudamon whispered.

"...and I think...that's about it?" Link asked, a little confused.

"Why? Should the meeting end?" Otoya asked.

"I don't know. I mean, I've never been to one of your little meetings before, so I don't quite know how this works," Link said, becoming a trifle flustered.

"It's alright. We usually end our meetings when we're done talking about what we want to," Minako said.

"Oh! Look at the time! My shift starts in two hours! I should probably get going so I can get ready. Bye!" Link said as he got up, picked Koromon up, and left the park, leaving the kids and their Digimon all alone.

"So...now that Yun's out of commission for now...should we vote for a new temporary leader?" Riku asked.

Nobody saw it, but Shunji's eyes suddenly got big with fright. Nobody even noticed. Not even Dracomon. Everyone was all too busy looking at Riku with surprised faces.

"I thought you all didn't have a ranking system in your team," Moosemon said.

"Well, we don't, but think about it! Wouldn't it be cool if we had a leader?" Riku asked.

"Don't you _dare_ suggest they wear goggles either. That's a cliche that seriously needs to die," Kosuke piped in bluntly.

"Count me out," Shione said. "I'm not good at doing what people ask me to do."

"I don't think I'm strong enough to be a leader," Rena said, referring to her prosthetic leg.

"I don't think you need to be strong to be a leader," Lunamon said.

Coronamon, upon laying eyes on Shunji, beamed.

"How about Shunji-san?" Coronamon asked.

Shunji's eyes grew bigger, his face becoming pale.

"Yeah yeah! That's a great idea! He's the oldest out of all of us and can probably do stuff better than a lot of us!" Isao exclaimed.

"Don't say it like that!" Patamon suddenly exclaimed, a little surprised by Isao's audacity.

As everyone chattered about how great it would be if Shunji was the temporary leader for the Digimon Brigade, they all failed to notice the distress written all over Shunji's face. Shunji suddenly found his face beaded with sweat. Nobody saw this, nor were they cognizant of the impending distress on him. Isao suddenly pulled on his pants excitedly.

"Be the leader, Shun-Niichan! You'll be great!" Isao said happily.

Everyone looked at him with expectation and anticipation in their eyes, waiting for an answer to come out of his mouth. Shunji hated this. He hated that all eyes were on him (except for Lucero, Terriermon, Cutemon, Aria, and MarineAngemon). More than anything, Shunji hated becoming a leader or having to be the one who has to do everything...so he decided to make this clear.

"No."

Everyone looked at each other with confused faces.

"Huh?"

"No," Shunji's smile faded, and a grim look appeared on his face. Shunji said this in a low but perturbed whisper. Everyone became a little dejected, but Isao was still beaming.

"Aw, come on! Don't say that, Shun-Niichan! You'll be a great leader! You have a dragon Digimon and everything!" Isao prodded.

Shunji, becoming perturbed by the fact that Isao didn't heed his answer and kept on begging like a little kid pestering his mother for a new toy, decided to raise his voice a little. "I said no!"

"Come on, Shun-Niichan! Be the leader!" Isao whined.

"Isao-kun, I think you should stop. If he doesn't want to, then he doesn't have to. Besides, we don't-" Otoya tried to mollify him upon seeing the distress on Shunji's face, but Isao just wouldn't budge.

"But think about it! Shun-Niichan's just like a lot of the leaders in the Digimon shows, only he's older and doesn't wear goggles! He has a dragon Digimon and can be stronger than all of us! It'll be awesome! I just know-"

Now Shunji was just getting mad. Isao doesn't want to take no for an answer. Isao isn't listening to a thing he said. What did he know about Shunji's wishes to not be like his father? Shunji doesn't want to be a leader. The more and more Isao whined about it, the more and more angry Shunji became. Shunji tried to control it, but he could feel it building up inside him like a volcano waiting to explode. Shunji said no, and that should have been the end of it, but Isao didn't listen. No means no. Shunji should have made that clear, but Isao is still palavering on and on about how great it is to have Shunji for a leader. Despite the efforts of the other kids and Digimon to make Isao stop talking, none of it worked.

Finally, Shunji exploded.

"I AM NOT GOING TO BE A LEADER! I WILL NOT BE A LEADER AND NEVER WILL BE, AND YOU ALL CAN'T MAKE ME! STOP DECIDING EVERYTHING FOR ME EVEN AFTER I GIVE YOU MY ANSWER! NO MEANS _NO_!"

Shunji's voice was so loud, so angry, and so piercing, it made even Isao stop talking. This is a first for everyone. Nobody-no, really-Nobody had ever seen Shunji get angry. Ever. Not one person ever saw Shunji be provoked by anything. Shunji was always a lazy, unambitious, and ambivalent teenager who just let everyone do everything while staying in the sidelines. He never made himself stand out in any way, nor did he want to. Shunji huffed upon releasing his anger, but upon seeing Isao's sad face, he softened.

_'No! I...I don't want this! I...I can't...be like the old man...'_ Shunji thought desperately. He didn't want to even think about treating Isao in the way his own father treated him when he did something he didn't like. Dracomon looked up at him with concerned eyes.

"Shunji? You okay?" Dracomon asked.

Shunji's fists shook and his voice quivered. "I'm sorry..."

"Huh?"

"I'm sorry!" With a wail, Shunji ran from the gazebo, leaving everyone behind.

"Shunji! Come back!" Dracomon chased after him.

Being a leader can be tough sometimes. But it can also be tough if your leader is AWOL and you have to suddenly pick another one. Yun basically spent the entire morning in bed, totally silent, still in her muddy, bloody clothes. Her nosebleed stopped and the big band-aid is still on her face. Lopmon, being the sweet little thing that she is, did everything she could to comfort her and cheer her up, like snuggle with her, sing to her, rub her little black nose against Yun's big one, stroke her hair, talk about anime, manga, and games, everything, and while Yun did smile a little, she still didn't talk or say a word or move a muscle, and Yun is usually one to be really restless, even when she's tired. She's almost never completely still. But as of now, she's as still as a mannequin in a store. Lopmon found this to be understandable, since Yun is extremely traumatized and probably has no motivation to do just about anything. All she did was stare at Lopmon with her blank, emerald eyes, and as of now, they've lost their shine. Hisako came into the bedroom with a pile of towels in her arms, and upon seeing Yun, she became irritated.

"Oh, come on, Yun! Are you seriously going to be like that all day? Go on and get dressed. Those clothes of yours need washing!" Hisako suddenly exclaimed, becoming perturbed by Yun's continuous and lingering sadness. Lopmon, surprised by Hisako's insensitivity, decided to speak up.

"I think she'll decide when she wants to get up and change her clothes. I don't think you should force it, Hisako-san. It'll make her mad. She likes to do things at her own pace, and you shouldn't rush it," Lopmon told Hisako gently but sternly, hoping she would get the message. Hisako did, but she left the room hastily.

"I wonder if I worded that properly?" Lopmon asked herself out loud. What she didn't expect was for a small voice to echo in her ears.

"I hate it."

Lopmon turned around and saw that Yun is looking quite perturbed in an angry way.

"Did you say something just now?" Lopmon asked.

"I hate it," Yun whispered angrily. This surprised Lopmon, as Yun hadn't talked all morning. Now Yun's suddenly in the mood for talking, and it wasn't anything Lopmon expected. Her voice gradually became louder and louder. "I hate it, I hate it, I hate it! Everybody always wants me to do what they say, especially when I'm sad and don't feel like doing anything! They tell me it's okay to be sad, but when I really am sad, they tell me to get over it or get mad! They get even more mad when I cry, and they told me it's okay to cry! Mom, Dad, and Ayaka always yell at me if I cry! Is it really that bad that I feel the need to cry and be upset? Is it really so bad that I have feelings just like them? I go through the most horrible things ever, yet they all want me to get over it and act like nothing happened like I'm some robot they can program to whatever settings they please! It's the same when I'm happy, too! They say they want me to be happy, but when I am happy they tell me to shut up! Ayaka especially! They always get mad whenever I squeal like a happy fangirl or jump around the room! They all want me to be a little stone-faced robot who accepts everything and does whatever they tell me to do so that they themselves can be happy and not let me express any emotions! Like, if I don't want to talk and they tell me to talk and I refuse, they get mad because they want me to talk and be their little emotionless slave! Whenever they do tell me something that'll make me happy, I don't even act surprised and happy about it because I'm always afraid they'll get mad or yell at me or tell me to shut up! Ayaka's alwayts throwing stuff on me and saying, _'Don't question it! Just be happy!'_ When I don't feel like being happy about something, they yell at me and tell me to be happy anyway! I'm sick and tired of people telling me what to feel and how to feel when I clearly don't agree with them! They're always asking me, _'Why can't you be happy for once?'_ I feel like I have to keep all my feelings locked up inside me so people don't get mad or yell at me or tell me to shut up! I'M SO SICK AND FREAKING TIRED OF IT!" Yun screamed ardently into her pillows, moving for the first time since this morning.

Lopmon knew and understood exactly what she was talking about. She had actually seen these instances a few times. Ayaka got mad when Yun started screaming in the middle of the night after she got beat up by the kids in detention so long ago. Ayaka got mad when Yun squealed happily and began jumping around the room after learning that a game is about to be released and cruelly told her to shut up. Hisako and Teruki frequently told Yun to lower her voice, in both the house and public, even when she wasn't even talking that loud (Not to Lopmon). People have always told Yun she was loud, often bluntly and cruelly. Yun began to feel that she wasn't allowed to be happy or sad in front of anyone, no matter what they told her. Just now, Hisako tried to force Yun out of bed and didn't consider her feelings. It doesn't seem to look like anyone in the family considered Yun's feelings when it comes to certain things a lot of the time. Lopmon wondered if Lucero, Cutemon, or Terriermon knew this. It's no wonder Yun loved Lucero, Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon so much, because she raised them by hand and taught them to consider other people's feelings and to not force them to do things they don't want to do, and considering the fact that Yun is autistic, then it's no wonder she hates it when people contradict themselves or break their promises. Lopmon, to her surprise, saw tears creeping out of Yun's eyes again. After wailing in her pillow for a bit, Yun looked back at Lopmon and gently put a hand on one of her long ears.

"Cuddle with me," Yun told her.

Lopmon smiled gently and snuggled right up to Yun, rubbing her sweet, soft, brown face against Yun's. Yun loved how Lopmon's fur felt, and she wished she could snuggle with her, her all time favorite Digimon since she was little, forever. Lopmon, on the other hand, wished there was more she could do to ease her pain, to erase her sorrow. She did have one thing in her mind and decided to go with it.

_"Oh, the million points of light._  
><em>Oh, the many lights in the sky.<em>  
><em>Oh, how they light the night sky.<em>  
><em>Oh, they are called stars.<em>

_They shine and illuminate each other,_  
><em>As if they're affirming each other's existence.<em>  
><em>But one star shines purely and brilliantly.<em>  
><em>That star is you.<em>

_You are the star that makes me heart sing._  
><em>You are the star that lights my world.<em>  
><em>You are the star that lights my world of darkness and despair.<em>  
><em>You are at peace, and make me feel harmony.<em>  
><em>Your mercy gave me freedom and faith.<em>  
><em>Your grace and strength nurtured my determination,<em>  
><em>In a world that needs justice.<em>  
><em>You make me worthy-"<em>

Yun hadn't heard this song in a long time. Well, to be more specific, about at least a week, and she hadn't sung it herself either. She continued to have the dream, but only on rare occasions. Yun had to admit, Lopmon's voice is cute enough, but her singing voice proved to be quite angelic, soft and dulcet. Yun closed her eyes and smiled upon hearing the song. The lyrics resonated in her mind. Yun suddenly began thinking of the song as Lopmon sang.

Suddenly, something hit her. Enough to make her spring out of bed.

_"THE SONG!"_ Yun suddenly yelled, which made Lopmon stop singing, making her quite surprised.

"What's wrong, Yun?" Lopmon asked.

"Why did it take me this long to get it?" Yun asked herself as she literally threw off all of her dirty clothes and threw one some nice, clean ones. She threw on a short sleeved white shirt and olive green shorts. She ripped a piece of paper out of an empty notebook, got a mechanical pencil and a black sharpie marker and suddenly began writing like no tomorrow. Lopmon was quite surprised. 'What's got Yun so excited?' Lopmon thought.

After about five seconds, Yun stopped writing.

"Lopmon! Look! Do you notice anything about these lyrics?" Yun asked as she showed Lopmon the paper, which, oddly enough, has the lyrics to the second half of the song. But as Lopmon looked closer, however, she noticed that some words were highlighted with black marker.

_You are the star that makes me heart sing._  
><em>You are the star that lights my world.<em>  
><em>You are the star that lights my world of darkness and despair.<em>  
><em>You are at <strong>peace<strong>, and make me feel **harmony**._  
><em>Your <strong>mercy<strong> gave me **freedom** and **faith**._  
><em>Your <strong>grace<strong> and **strength** nurtured my **determination**,_  
><em>In a world that needs <strong>justice<strong>._  
><em>You make me worthy of giving <strong>forgiveness<strong>._  
><em>Your acknowledge my <strong>prudence<strong> and help me._

_The star that shines the brightest gives me hope and** liberty**._  
><em>You are my hope, my harmony, my eternally shining star.<em>

Lopmon looked at the bolded words intently. Peace. Harmony. Mercy. Freedom. Faith. Grace. Strength. Determination. Justice. Forgiveness. Liberty.

It hit her before she even reached Grace.

A bell rang in her brain.

"Oh my gosh! The bolded words are the D-Hearts!" Lopmon exclaimed.

"Exactly! I think this song has something to do with the Digimon and the D-Hearts! I've gotta tell everyone about this!" Yun yelled and was about to grab her digivice when suddenly a growling sound permeated the room.

It came right from Yun's stomach.

Lopmon didn't laugh, since she knew it would be rude to do so, but she did approach Yun. "Perhaps we should eat something first and save this new revelation for later. You can't do much on an empty stomach, now can you?" Lopmon told her politely.

Yun's excitement regarding this new revelation dwindled as she knew that Lopmon had a good point. She smiled a bit. "Yeah. I am getting hungry. I haven't eaten a thing."

Lopmon smiled happily. 'I'm glad to see you've come back to your senses, even if it's just for a little bit,' She thought.

But while some good things happen to people, others have nothing but bad things happen to them.

"Aren't ya gonna go visit Yun-chan?" Coronamon asked as he and Riku walked home.

"I'd love to, but if Mom found out I left the house without her permission, she'd maul me. But that makes no sense to me because she mauls me whether I ask permission or not. She doesn't want me going to anyone's houses, nor does she want anyone else at our house. That's so stupid!" Riku complained.

"I agree. Yun-chan's a nice girl! But still, I feel bad about the horrible stuff that's been happening to her," Coronamon said.

"Yeah. I mean, what sister responds to someone's kindness by hitting them, throwing them in the mud, and yelling at them in public? And to think Ayaka has the nerve to think Yun does it to be fake and manipulative! Can you believe it?" Riku exclaimed.

"Who thinks stuff like that?" Coronamon yelped, agreeing with Riku on how strange and shocking it is.

Before they knew it, they arrived at their house. Riku suddenly smiled.

"Hey! Wanna fire up the XBox?" Riku asked happily.

Coronamon's golden eyes grew big with shock. "Riku! What a horrible thing to say!" Coronamon suddenly yelled, actually looking appalled by what Riku just said. For about a minute, Riku was confused as to why Coronamon would respond this way, but then it hit him.

"Ohhhh! I don't mean set it on fire. If someone ask you if you want to fire up something, like a game, they're really asking if you want to play it. It's what they call a figure of speech," Riku explained as carefully as he could, hoping that Coronamon would get the message.

"So you're asking if I want to play the XBox with you?" Coronamon asked again. Riku nodded.

Coronamon crossed his arms and pouted a little. "Well, that's not exactly a very appropriate figure of speech! Whoever comes up with them should come up with ones that don't reference crimes!" Coronamon said.

Riku couldn't help but laugh. "I agree!"

Coronamon and Riku went into the house...but what they found there was very strange and very shocking.

Well, to the normal person, it wouldn't exactly be shocking. It would be perfectly and uncategorically normal. The living room and the kitchen are connected to each other. The TV and the near empty entertainment center stood in the far end of the living room, with the big green sofa sitting in front of it contentedly. A little, round, wooden table stood in between the sofa and the TV.

But that was it.

The entertainment center is completely empty.

Bereaved of any and all games and game consoles. Totally clean, save for a few specs of dust covering them.

"No," Riku whispered in shock.

"Hey! What happened to your video game collection?" Coronamon suddenly yelled.

Yes. The entertainment center originally held all of Riku's game consoles and a huge collection of games, from the very first Playstation that came out in 1994 all the way to the brand new Wii and all of the controllers that went with them. To Riku, the sight of every single game console that he owned throughout every single year in his life, even small ones like his GameBoy Color, Nintendo DS, PS3, and Gameboy Micro, and every single video game he owned for each console, was perfectly normal, and was branded into his brain. But now...everything is gone! Completely gone! His staggering collection of video games is gone too! The entertainment center has been completely cleaned, without any trace of any video game, not even the smallest Nintendo DS cartridge!

"No! No! No no no no NOOOO!" Riku screamed as he looked all over the place. "My game consoles! My video games! They're all gone!"

Coronamon helped him look all over the house. Maybe they were moved. Riku and Coronamon looked everywhere, all over the entire house. Riku's room, Rena's room, the kitchen, the dining room, the bathroom, the basement, but they all came up empty. Truth be told, Riku had been noticing that his game collection had been mysteriously dwindling for about a month or so now, since Rena lost her leg. He wanted to play his PS3 once, but when he went to find it, he noticed that it wasn't in it's regular place. Not only that, a lot of his PS3 games had gone missing, too. Not only that, as the month went on, more and more of his games and consoles had mysteriously disappeared. Riku knew full well that video games just don't disappear in thin air. This bothered him, but now, the reality of his entire video game and console collection being gone forever, and the possibility of never being able to get them back, along with all the game data he saved, hit him at full force. Once they got back to the living room, Riku leaped onto the couch.

"Tell me this is a dream! Tell me this is a really bad dream!" Riku cried into the sofa. Coronamon couldn't reassure him because he also knew that it's likely that he would ever get his games back.

"Who would do something like this?" Coronamon asked.

Nobody knew this, but this was just the beginning of Riku's suffering.

After Shunji ran away, he found a taxi and asked it to take him somewhere. Dracomon saw it and followed it while making sure nobody saw him. Oddly enough, the taxi took him to a rather strange place. Shunji paid the taxi driver with the money he had and left. Shunji walked through the green, woodsy path, taking great pleasure in looking at the scenery and listening to the merry twitters of the birds despite the horrible weather. Then, a long, flowing river appeared within his vicinity. The edges of it are blocked by a barbed wire fence, though upon closer inspection, Shunji saw that one part of the wired fence had been destroyed, and it didn't look like anyone had bothered to really fix it yet. Shunji sat down about a few feet away from it and watched the water go by for a few minutes...until a familiar voice pulled him out of his reverie.

"Why'd you come here?"

The voice belonged to Dracomon. Shunji became quite surprised by his sudden entrance, but calmed down a little as Dracomon sat next to him contentedly. Shunji looked at the river with distant eyes.

"I wanted to go somewhere quiet and think," Shunji told him. "But how'd you follow me?"

Dracomon held a claw to his mouth. "That's a secret."

Shunji didn't bother pressing him on the issue and looked at the roaring river.

"Minako-chan told me once that...this was the place where her little brother died," Shunji said wistfully.

"How sad," Dracomon said a little sadly.

"Yeah. I...I'm sorry I freaked out back there. I shouldn't have yelled."

"It's alright. I'm sure Isao-kun regrets his mistake also."

"I..." Shunji's voice faltered. "I'm...scared to take on a leadership role."

"Because of your old man?"

"Yeah. I...I'm afraid that if I become a leader or take responsibility for someone else's care, I might treat them in the exact same way the old man did with me, Mom, and my brothers...like I almost did with Isao-kun back there. Why else do you think I remain on the sidelines on a regular basis, even though I'm the oldest of the group? Why else do you think I kept my mouth shut when Kosuke yelled at Yun that one time? I just can't become a leader. I...I'll end up acting just like him, and I don't want that."

"You won't end up like that. I know you won't. You raised me, and you didn't treat me like he did with you."

Shunji found himself lost in his mind. He remembered a day when he was slightly young, when he, his two older brothers, and his mother were all gathered into Shirojiro's study. Shirojiro praised his two oldest sons for following his example and becoming successful despite just being in college, but he singled Shunji out immediately, not even bothering to show him any mercy, nor did he acknowledge that Shunji did have redeeming qualities. But back then, Shunji didn't mind. He convinced himself that he was not going to do anything for anyone like Shirojiro, and especially Shirojiro in particular. Shunji got rid of all of his determination (except for trying to save his mother) so he could purposefully and wilfully defy Shirojiro and live his own life. Shunji wasn't going to tolerate living under Shirojiro's tyrannical reign, nor was he going to do exactly what he did and become tyrannical himself. But in doing so, he squelched all of his determination and ambition into nothing. He stopped seeing things through.

"Shunji. You give up too easily," Dracomon told him.

"I'd rather give up than become the old man," Shunji said.

"You won't be like him. I know you won't. You're your own person. You can do whatever you want!" Dracomon told him.

"But is it worth it, though? I mean, I just found out the full extent of Ayaka's hate toward the entire world, Yun-chan especially, and I just don't know what to do. I befriended her because she needed help, and nobody else was helping her, so I thought I could...I want to make her happy. But to do that, I'll have to either get rid of you or treat Yun-chan bad or...other stuff! I hate making choices that require me to sacrifice something that I love and see something through to the end! I pretty much had an internal debate on whether to stay with Mom and the old man or live with Gran and Gramps for three months before you came around!"

"But you made a decision, didn't you? That shows you can see things through. You think hard about them."

"I'd rather not be thinking about anything. I'd much rather lie around lazily and not do anything than do everything and wind up like the old man. I'm...too scared to do anything."

Dracomon was about to say something until a bloodcurtling scream interrupted him and pulled Shunji out of his reverie.

"What was that?" Dracomon yelped as Shunji stood up in alarm.

Once Shunji caught sight of the river, he saw something bobbing up and down from the water. A head with black hair tied in a flouncy ponytail with a yellow ribbon.

"Someone help meeeee!"

A young girl is drowning and being pulled away by the river.

"OH NO!" Shunji, knowing that the girl would die if he didn't act quickly, hopped to his feet, sprinted to the open part of the fence, and literally dove into the water like a professional swimmer. Dracomon, despite not being able to catch up to Shunji, noticed that a bridge is nearby and, since the girl hadn't been dragged there yet by the furiously fast current, decided to go there and help out in case Shunji couldn't get to her in time.

Shunji, seeing the girl lose her energy, swam faster, moving right along with the current since it's pushing him. The water was quite cold, freezing even despite the hot weather, but he was not going to let the temperature of the water stop him from saving this innocent girl's life. He could have abandoned her or let her drown. He could have left her behind and gone on with his own life. But no, he didn't. If there's one thing he absolutely hates doing, it's turning his back on people who need help when no one else will give it to them, especially in times like these where it's especially needed. Shunji didn't consider himself to be a great swimmer, even though he knows how to swim quite well, but he knew that if he didn't act fast, this girl could die...and there was already a death caused by drowning in this river. He didn't want to add to the casualty count. One death was plenty. There shouldn't be two deaths in this river. Shunji tried to swim as fast as he could, but the girl is quickly being dragged away from him.

Shunji couldn't let this girl drown. He just couldn't. He was determined to save her, even if it meant putting his own life at risk.

Yes. He was determined.

Feeling a new kind of adrenaline rise in his body, Shunji picked up the pace with his swimming, even though his arms and legs are getting tired. Shunji could see the girl come into view, even though she's close to falling into the river. The water was up to her chin now, and if Shunji didn't get to her soon, she could very well die. Shunji didn't see it right off, but his emerald green D-Heart of Determination glowed in a soft but dim light. He didn't notice, as it didn't glow brightly enough, but he managed to get closer to the girl. Closer. Closer...closer...closer...Shunji tried to grab her ponytail, but the current picked up and she was dragged away.

"NO!" Shunji screamed. But not all hope was lost.

Dracomon, hanging from the low bridge by his tail, managed to grab the unconscious girl before she could get dragged under the bridge.

"Shunji! I got her!" Dracomon edicted.

Shunji exhaled a huge sigh of relief as he managed to catch up.

"It's a good thing you did! I swear, this river's way too fast even for me! I can see why they put up these wired fences now," Shunji said as he gently took the unconscious girl off of Dracomon's claws.

"You better get out before it drags you away," Dracomon said as he did a back flip with his tail and threw himself back on the bridge. Shunji smiled impishly.

"You got it, buddy!" Shunji said as he gently put the girl on the bridge first, then climbed up there himself.

Both Shunji and the unconscious girl came out of there completely soaking wet, right down to the bone. Once he got on the bridge, Shunji picked the girl up in his arms and took her to a nice and sunny area so she could warm up. As Shunji saw, the girl didn't look any older than Yun's age. She has thick black hair in a little flouncy ponytail being held up with a sunny yellow ribbon that looked like the petals of a sunflower. The girl didn't quite have much on her except for a short sleeved brown shirt with buttons, a pair of soft, olive green capris, black and pink shoes, and white socks, all of which are soaked through. Dracomon hid behind some trees nearby lest the girl wake up and freak out upon seeing him, similar to how Ayaka did when she first met him. Shunji gently put her down on the grass, letting her bask in the sunlight. He was about to perform CPR on her, but she suddenly sat upright and started coughing. After a few strong coughs, the girl opened her eyes and came to her senses. She wiped some tears away from her eyes, caused by her coughing.

"Ugh! What happened?" The girl asked as she finished wiping some tears from her maroon chestnut eyes. Once she became cognizant of her surroundings, she looked up at Shunji and became surprised, her maroon eyes widening in response.

"Whoa! Did...you just save me?" The girl asked, confused. Shunji smiled impishly and smiled.

"Sure did!" Shunji said.

The girl smiled and looked away. "Thank you."

Oddly enough, she didn't squeal like a happy fangirl or cry about it. She just said that thank you in a rather low and somewhat sad and monotone voice. But Shunji didn't mind. "You're welcome. What's a kid like you doing in a place like this anyhow? There's a sign that says that you can't go into the river."

"I wasn't trying to swim in the river," The girl explained. "I...I got into a fight with my dad, and I wanted to cool off a bit. I was playing with my headband, but it slipped out of my hands and into the river through one of the broken parts of the fence. I tried to get it, but I fell in. I guess I forgot that I can't swim very well."

"I sure am glad I was able to save you in time. Oh, just so you know, in case you want to make me into your prince charming, don't, because I already have a girlfriend," Shunji suddenly said out of the blue.

Dracomon heard the comment from afar and was quite appalled by Shunji's audacity. _'Shunji! Why would you make such an inappropriate comment like that to a girl?'_ Dracomon thought.

But instead of feeling insulted, the girl laughed merrily. "You're funny!" She then calmed down a bit. "It's alright. I understand if you're taken. Besides, I don't think any boy will ever like me."

Shunji took note of this and decided to bring it up. "Come now, don't say that. I'm sure you'll find a guy who'll love you someday."

The girl became sad. "Yeah, right. Who's going to like an ugly girl who lives in a homeless shelter and is a slave to another girl who takes pleasure out of bullying others and constantly makes you feel bad?" But when she realized she said too much, she gasped and covered her mouth. "Oh no!"

"Sounds like you've got some problems. Wanna talk about it? I'm all ears," Shunji said.

"Why? You don't even know me."

"So? Everybody needs someone who'll listen to them and help them with problems, don't they?"

The girl smiled a bit, then looked down again sadly. "See, I'm...sort of friends with this girl named Seiko. She's not the nicest person in the world. I've known her for about a year now, and we liked the same things so I thought we could be friends. But she loves picking on people she hates. She gets mad if I or Tomoka tell on her. My dad says if something bad is happening, I have to tell an adult, like a teacher, because it's bad to let it go on. But Seiko says that's snitching, and if I snitch, then she won't be my friend anymore. She's been especially cruel to this one girl named Wakamiya Yun. I didn't say anything about it before, but one time, we were all in detention and she and a bunch of other kids beat her up, yelled at her, called her names, and tried to stuff garbage in her mouth. It was just horrible. I honestly thought they went too far. I even told Seiko this, but she got mad. I used to agree with her...that Wakamiya really was a retard. But now that I'm seeing more and more how nice she really is...I feel so bad that I let everything happen and didn't do a thing about it!" The girl started to cry a little upon recounting this. "I...I just don't know what to do! I don't want to sit around and let Seiko do as she pleases, but at the same time, I can't because she's one of the only friends I have! I'm afraid that she'll find out my secrets and use them against me if I rat her out!"

Once Shunji heard the name, his eyes grew big. _'Yun? This girl is friends with the person who bullies Yun-chan?'_ Right then, Shunji seriously wanted to yell at her, tell her off, and scold her for being such a coward and being so obeisant to this girl Seiko. But he didn't, because it seems the girl really does feel remorse for her actions, as she's crying right now.

"I know I'm probably the biggest, stupidest coward on Earth, and I really don't want to be! Not anymore! I'm sick and tired of it, especially now that my life is ruined because my Dad's bank got robbed!" The girl buried her face in her hands and cried. "You're allowed to be mad at me. I deserve it for being such a scaredy-cat and a big, fat, stupid coward."

Shunji ruminated while staring at the fast-moving river for a bit, then suddenly spoke up.

"If this Seiko's really as bad as you make her out to be, then I think you should give her the shaft and do the right thing," Shunji said rather bluntly, which surprised her.

"Huh?"

"You got dragged into the wrong crowd. She influenced you. That's why you didn't speak up before. I'm glad you told me about this. Personally, who cares if she finds out about one of your secrets and tells people about it? I mean, considering your situation, it's not like you really have anything to lose, now do you?"

The girl is quite surprised by Shunji's open, straightforward, and audacious answer. He's basically telling her to cut Seiko out of her life and move on to better things, though in a rather strange and unorthodox way. To be honest, the girl still has doubts about whether she should continue being her friend or not despite the regret she's been feeling. She was especially surprised by the last thing he said.

_"Considering your situation, it's not like you really have anything to lose, now do you?"_

Now it was her turn to ruminate and become pensive. After a while, she spoke again.

"You're right. I really do have nothing to lose, because I already lost everything. My mom died in 9/11 when I was two, my dad lost his bank and job, we lost our home, I lost a lot of the nice things that made Seiko and Tomoka like me, I lost my room, my computer, everything," The girl said.

"Sorry. I didn't mean it to be rude. That's just my opinion. I think you should do what you think is right and ask yourself this question: Should I continue doing what I've been doing, or should I do the right thing?" Shunji told her. The girl then stood up.

"Thanks for saving me and listening to me. Sorry about making you hear me whine," The girl said. Shunji stood up himself.

"Not at all. Your whining is nothing compared to my girlfriend. She's a major drama queen, always thinking the world has it in for her. Do you want me to walk you home?" Shunji said.

"No. It's fine. The shelter's close to here so I know my way back. I don't want to make your girlfriend jealous," The girl said with a slight smile, which made Shunji laugh.

"When you get back you should change out of those wet clothes," Shunji said as he waved to her. "I've gotta go now. You take care, and stay away from rivers!"

"Will do. Bye!" The girl waved back as she watched Shunji walk away. Suddenly, once he was out of sight, a realization hit her like lightning, and she didn't like it.

"Aw, shoot! I forgot to ask him for his name!" The girl said as she decided to walk away from the river, hoping to never have to experience what she just did ever again.

As she walked, she looked at the scenery around her. She found herself liking the nature surrounding her: the warm sun on her wet skin and clothes, the sheer greeness of the many trees, the merry twittering of songbirds, the vast blue sky with it's specs of wispy white cotton candy clouds, and some animals crossing her path, like a squirrel and a rabbit. She wondered if other people enjoyed little things like this as she did now. Then again, long ago, she didn't care about any of these things. All she cared about was nail polish, make up, dressing up in whatever clothes she deemed cute, and basically trying to be one of the popular girls at school. She wouldn't give nature even one glance without complaining about how hot it was or how bug bites would suddenly appear on her skin. But now that she's lost everything but the very few clothes and personal possessions she has, none of that mattered now. Not only that, she really wanted to feel warm right now, as the water was really cold when she fell in. True, she lost her headband, but having a headband isn't going to change her situation.

As light as her heart felt when she basked in nature's beauty, which she didn't bother to appreciate before, her heart grew saggy and heavy again when she came into town and saw the homeless shelter. It didn't look like much from the outside, as the big wooden door has many scratches and claw marks on it, most likely from dogs that roam the street without leashes, and the shelter itself is rather big but made entirely out of pale brown bricks that looked old. The windows looked big and fine, but if one were to look closer, they have quite a few grease marks on them left by some damp clothes. They didn't look pristinely clean, that's for sure. But what made her flinch the most was that a man is looking around anxiously. He's rather big and bulky, wearing nothing but an old white work shirt with a tie and old dark blue trousers, not old as in beat up and dirty, but still a little old nonetheless. Once the old man saw the girl, however, he ran over to her and hugged her.

"Iniki! Oh, thank God you're alright! I was so worried about you!" The man said as he embraced his daughter.

Yes, the girl Shunji saved is none other than Mizuki Iniki, one of Seiko's clique friends! Iniki looked rather uncomfortable being embraced by her father and managed to squirm out of his grasp. But by then he already felt that Iniki's clothes are quite wet.

"My goodness! You're soaked to the bone! Did you swim in that river?" The man asked in a more stern voice this time. Iniki, surprised by her father's insinuation, decided to answer.

"No! Not on purpose! My headband fell in and I was trying to get it, but I fell in by accident and managed to get out!" Iniki replied sharply, hoping her father would get the message. The man facepalmed.

"Iniki, you don't have very many clothes left. You have to take care of them!"

"I DO! But that stupid brat keeps ruining them!"

"Alright, alright," The man said as he held his hands up, calming her down a little. "Let's go inside so you can get changed."

Reluctantly, Iniki and her father went into the shelter, passed through the lobby and the dining room, through one of the hallways, up some stairs, and into one of the bedrooms. Iniki didn't notice, but someone saw her go in. Unfortunately, due to budget constraints, they have to share the room with ten other people so it looked more like a bedroom for military school students than a bedroom, with a few cots on the floor. Iniki's cot is right under the window. Her dad left the room for a while as Iniki changed out of her wet clothes. She put on a sleeveless olive green shirt and a dark blue jean skirt. Her dad came in, put her wet clothes on a line and set them right outside the window to dry. Thankfully, the sun's rays are right in their path, so it's likely that they'll dry quickly.

Iniki looked around the room grimly. There are some beds, but they're already owned by other people. She wished she could have a bed, like the one in her old room, but they were all taken up, so they had to make do with a cot. But it wasn't the lack of a bed that caused her heart to sag and yearn for her old house and nice room. It was the fact that she had to share this room with other people that bothered her. A lot of kids lived in this room with her, and they weren't even divided by gender. Lots of little kids, and ever since she came her, they always either went through her clothes, ripped them with their sticky hands, or ruined them in some way. Iniki absolutely hated this. She hated not having privacy, and she especially hated dealing with little kids who don't know to keep their hands off of other people's things, despite the parents' efforts to keep them under control. No matter what she did, the little kids always managed to find her things, play with them without permission, and in the end, ruin them completely. A lot of her clothes suffered this terrible fate, and she knew that there may be nothing more she could do to preserve the few good clothes that she has.

After about an hour, Iniki and her father went to the soup kitchen to grab some dinner. As soon as Iniki came into the room, her nostrils were embraced by the warm, refreshing aroma of curry, corn, and mac and cheese, all of her favorite foods. The food here in the shelter isn't exactly the best, but being here definitely taught Iniki to make do with what she has instead of complain about what she lost, as she knew that complaining wouldn't make everything go back to what it was. But now that the shelter is serving all of her favorite food in one day, how could Iniki possibly complain about anything? Her stomach yearned for their warm taste, and once they were on her plastic plate, she ran over to the nearest table, which was basically any empty table that didn't have kids making a mess, and happily consumed her meal. She ate slowly and relished every bite. She wondered why she ever complained about not having any candy, which topped dinner right now. Iniki knew that there wouldn't be any candy, and she had to make do with that. But as of now, she didn't mind. She didn't mind the noises of the crowd, the cries coming from hungry babies, and wails coming from cranky and cantankerous kids, so long as she got to eat all of her warm, fresh dinner without interruption. She did, and she loved it. As soon as she finished, she was going to throw her used utensils in the trash until something terrible happened.

"YEEEK!"

A little kid spilled a carton of milk all over the front of her jean skirt! The very same little boy whom Iniki hates so much. She screamed upon seeing the milk on her skirt, and the boy grinned impishly, obviously showing no remorse for his egregious deed. Iniki's father, hearing her scream, ran over to her, saw the spilled milk, and immediately glared at the boy.

"Did you do this?" The man yelled.

"No! She peed herself!" The boy pointed at her and then laughed wickedly.

The only person who's even angrier than her father is Iniki herself. This boy actually had the audacity to spill milk on one of the very few good skirts that she has on purpose without stopping to think about how it would affect her! It's bad enough other clothes belonging to her had been ruined by this very same boy, who she has the terrible luck of sharing one big room with, but now the boy is actually audacious enough to make fun of her and not show any remorse for his actions. This made Iniki's face grow beet red, and her anger exploded.

_POW!_

With great force, she slapped the unruly boy so hard in the face that he fell to the floor. Other residents of the shelter stopped to watch as Iniki exploded with anger as she glared daggers at the surprised boy.

"Look what you did to me! You spilled milk all over one of the few skirts that I have! You really are a stupid, brainless little brat, you know that? How would you like it if I spilled food all over you or ripped all of your clothes to shreds? What did I ever do to you that was so bad? HUH? WHAT? I didn't do anything to you! Stop acting like the world has to revolve around you! You're homeless and don't have much just like me and everyone else in here, so stop acting like you're so much better than everyone else! You're nothing but a shameless little brat!" Iniki screamed at the top of her voice. All of a sudden, the boy began crying and calling for his mother, which only exacerbated Iniki's already overflowing anger.

"Stop crying right now, you brat! Stop acting like you're the victim here! We're all victims of this stupid world, so quit acting like you're the only one who has it bad!" Iniki screamed again.

"Iniki! Stop!" Her father stood in front of her as the boy's mother took the boy away. "I'm sorry this happened to you, but hitting him isn't going to do anything! It's still-"

Iniki, surprised by her father's words, became appalled. "Are you taking his side over mine?"

"No! What gave you that idea?"

"You know what? Just forget it! I'm going for a walk!" Iniki screamed angrily and darted out of the shelter, milk-stained jean skirt and all.

"Iniki! Wait!" Her father tried to go after her, but a woman stopped him.

"I think you should leave her be, Hiroki. Girls are very sensitive at that age, and I think going after her would only make things worse. I'll deal with the boy," The wise woman told him, then went back into the shelter to deal with the boy who threw milk on Iniki's skirt. Hiroki felt helpless, and sad that he couldn't do anything to help Iniki, let alone prevent it from happening, but he decided to take the woman's advice and leave Iniki alone.

But instead of going to the river, Iniki went to another woodsy area that's about a block or so away from the shelter. It's still light out, so the heat is still lingering and the sun still shining considering it's summer. But Iniki leaned against a big tree, buried her face in her arms, and cried again. She cried about everything. Her dad's bank being robbed, his new state of unemployment, her losing everything, being stuck in the homeless shelter, having to share a room with not only a bunch of people but, to Iniki, one of the biggest brats in the universe who thinks he's better than everybody else, their situation, the possibility that things might not get any better, and, worst of all, why it happened to Iniki.

"Why does all of this have to happen to me? What did I do...to deserve all of this garbage? I shouldn't be in a homeless shelter, and I shouldn't have to deal with that stupid kid!" Iniki cried. She cried just so she can release all of her frustration, but deep in her heart, she thought she knew the answer to those questions. She assumed it was because she had been so cruel to Yun and because she was so cowardly as to stay with Seiko and not speak up about the injustices she had been condoning and the crimes she committed. Iniki cried for a good five minutes until something very unexpected happened.

"Whoooooaaaaa!"

The voice that resembled that of a young boy not having reached puberty quite yet caught her attention, as a scream filled the skies for just a minute. All of a sudden, tree branches snapped and broke, falling all over the place, just about a few feet away from Iniki. Then, something big, bright, and yellow fell out of that very same tree, hitting the grass with great force.

"Ow!"

Iniki was quite surprised by the big yellow thing's dramatic entrance, but what surprised her the most is that...it isn't human! It looks more like a slightly human-sized airplane with a white and yellow head, two little white, grey-gloved arms on both sides of it's long neck, and brown eyes. Iniki krept a little closer to it, both curious and scared at the same time, but before she got closer, the living aircraft floated into the air just a bit and began wiping twigs and leaves out of it's body.

"Argh! Note to self: Never perform an Inside-Out Double Loop at 160 miles per hour ever again," The aircraft creature said in a young, childish voice, which made Iniki freeze with terror. This yellow airplane thing is alive, and can talk! She gasped slightly, which caught the yellow thing's attention.

"Whoa! A human!" The yellow airplane creature exclaimed suddenly.

They made eye contact, and both were consumed by feelings of confusion, curiosity, and surprise.


	75. The Path of Redemption

EPISODE 75: Path of Redemption

Iniki couldn't believe her eyes. She wanted to believe what she was seeing wasn't real, just a silly illusion or hallucination. She desperately wanted to believe that her mind was only playing tricks on her and nothing more. But this is real. The talking yellow airplane with hands is real and floating right in front of her, looking just as surprised as she is. Not wanting to contain her surprise anymore, Iniki finally yelped.

"A-A-A-A-A talking airplane!" Iniki suddenly yelped, which made the yellow aircraft glare at her angrily.

"Hey! The name's Sparrowmon to you!" The strange, yellow aircraft, Sparrowmon, exclaimed, pointing to Iniki with one of his(1) gloved hands. "And I'm a Digimon!"

"A...Digimon?" Iniki asked, even more confused and surprised than before. Did he just say Digimon? "Digimon? That really stupid kid's show that aired on TV long ago? No way! This can't be real! I mean, come on! A kids show coming to life? That's just not possible!"

"Oh, REALLY?" Sparrowmon veered closer to Iniki, glaring at her. "If I'm so fake, then how come you can see me talkin' and flyin'? If you want, I can shoot some of my lasers and show you how real I am!"

Iniki, finally acknowledging that Sparrowmon, a Digimon, is indeed real, decided to concede defeat so Sparrowmon won't shoot her with lasers. "N-N-No thanks! I get it! No need to shoot lasers at me!"

But Sparrowmon didn't back away, only it wasn't because he didn't believe her. Upon closer inspection, he saw that her eyes are red and puffy. This bothered him, so he decided to bring it up.

"Your eyes are all red and puffy. Have you been crying?" Sparrowmon asked, in a kinder tone this time. Iniki, feeling some of the tears on her cheeks, wiped them away.

"Y-Y-Yeah," Iniki whimpered softly in response. Since Sparrowmon saw her tears, she decided that there was no point in lying to him, so she told him the truth. "My life's been rough."

Sparrowmon, seeing that Iniki isn't a bad human, descended down onto the grass. "What's wrong? Wanna talk about it? I'll listen if you want," He asked.

"Why would you, a talking airplane-wait, scratch that, a Digimon, want to listen to me whine? We've only just met, and you don't even know me. I'm still trying to believe that you're even real," Iniki told him, still sounding a bit cynical. But this time, Sparrowmon didn't get mad or try to yell at her.

"I dunno. You look like you need to blow off steam. I've done a lot of it myself, so maybe I'll understand how you feel," Sparrowmon said.

Iniki looked around to see if there are any people around. Thankfully, there aren't, so nobody will see her talking to a giant talking airplane. People would think she was crazy. Iniki herself thought she was going crazy for a little bit. A Digimon? Coming to life and speaking to her at this very moment? That's just not realistically possible! Besides, even in her younger days, Iniki never really cared for Digimon the TV show. She always thought it was stupid, silly, contrived, and too boyish for her tastes. She cared more about fashion and music than children's TV shows. But now, a Digimon is actually here, right before her eyes, telling her to talk about her problems. Who could possibly comprehend the concept of a child talking to a human-sized airplane without thinking they were mentally retarded or hallucinating. Iniki wished she was hallucinating, but she isn't. She felt Sparrowmon's metallic wings, and they were warm, just like sunlight. Not only that, despite the slightly rocky entrance and start, Sparrowmon seems quite kind. Why not? Iniki finally decided and sat down.

"Alright," Iniki said. Sparrowmon sat next to her and descended onto the grass. "My life's taken a bad turn right now. My dad and I lost our house, so we're living in a homeless shelter...and I hate it there."

"Homeless?" Sparrowmon asked, a little confused. "Humans can be homeless? I know Digimon can be homeless, but humans? That's strange!"

"It probably is since you've never really met humans before," Iniki said, apparently not surprised by Sparrowmon's lack of knowledge in regards to the existence of the human race.

"Why do you hate it there?" Sparrowmon asked again, sounding a bit more curious.

"There's this little kid I have to share a room with, along with a bunch of other people. He's tiny, but he's just downright terrible. He acts like everything always has to be about him and that everything has to be his, no matter what. He's ripped a lot of my good clothes to shreds, he constantly pulls my hair, puts gum on me, peeks under my skirt, and just today he spilled milk all over my good skirt here," Sparrowmon could already see the stain, though he chose not to pay any attention.

"Why can't you just change rooms?" Sparrowmon asked.

"If they allowed us to do that, I would have done that by now. But we can't. We homeless people have to make do with what we have," Iniki replied.

"That kid must be horrible," Sparrowmon said.

"He is," Iniki said.

A pause creeped in between them for a short while until Sparrowmon broke it.

"I lost my home once, too," Sparrowmon said solemnly.

"You did?" Iniki asked, a little surprised by the revelation that Sparrowmon is actually in the same boat as her.

"Yeah. You're gonna think this is ridiculous and impossible, but I'll tell you anyway. The Digital World was destroyed once. By some wicked dude named MoonMillenniummon and all of his minions. They wiped nearly every single shred of data off the plain of existence and turned everything to rubble. I managed to survive that epic doomsday, but...my friends...they weren't so lucky. I tried to save them, but I couldn't. The destruction was just too much for not just me, but for everyone to handle," Sparrowmon explained, turning dejected as he went on. Iniki became sad as well, even though she has a hard time believing that not only does the Digital World exist, but that it was destroyed. She chose not to express her disbelief, however, for Sparrowmon's sake.

"Gosh. That's horrible. I'm sorry," Iniki said sadly.

"That's alright. Besides, my home managed to come back to it's normal state, thank goodness for that," Sparrowmon said.

"But how can your world go back to it's normal state if it was destroyed?" Iniki asked, a little confused.

"My world's not like yours. We Digimon are made of computer data. We don't exactly have substance or solid forms...kind of. I dunno how to explain it. Not only that, the only areas of the Digital World that can reform are any places that haven't made contact with the inter-spacial rift that MoonMillenniummon created in the process, which basically wipes out and erases all of your data, not leaving one trace. If you make contact with it, you can't reform ever again. We Digimon can't really die, but if we touch it, then we're basically dead," Sparrowmon explained.

"Oh," Iniki said.

Another silent pause consumed them for a bit, but Sparrowmon broke it again.

"Hey! Your world looks pretty interesting. Mind if I take you for a ride?" Sparrowmon asked, suddenly smiling as he looked at Iniki with bright eyes.

"Huh? Me? But won't I be heavy?" Iniki asked.

"You tell me! Hop on my back! I wanna explore and see what your world is like! Maybe this'll help you not be so sad!" Sparrowmon said cheerfully this time.

At first, Iniki seemed reluctant to do so, but she caught a glimpse of the homeless shelter in view, and she really didn't want to go back there right now. Worse than that, if she's close enough, her father could find her and drag her back there, and Iniki really didn't want to deal with anyone there right now. Iniki ruminated further. There isn't anything wrong with doing a little airborne exploring, is there? It'll take her away from the shelter for a while, and she could finally experience the feeling of flying. Wouldn't that be fun?

Slowly, Iniki pressed herself onto Sparrowmon's back and crawled on him. She wrapped her arms around his long, white neck so she wouldn't fall off. Sparrowmon did feel some weight on him, but not very much, as he floated into the air slowly and increased his altitude little by little.

"Hey! You're lighter than I thought!" Sparrowmon said with a smile.

"Come on! I'm not fat, y'know!" Iniki said, feeling a little insulted by Sparrowmon's unintentional comment as they floated higher and higher.

"I'll try to fly as slow as I can so you won't get all woozy," Sparrowmon said. "I'll bet you humans get air sick real easily."

"You make it sound like we get sick from everything. Not all humans get air sick!" Iniki retorted.

"Alrighty! Here we go!" Once Sparrowmon got high enough, he flew away from the area at a moderate speed.

At first, Iniki closed her eyes and clung to Sparrowmon's neck tightly, a little afraid at first. She did feel the cool wind in her face, her hair being pushed against her skin, and the feeling of flying forward. After a few minutes, she decided to open her eyes and lessen her grip on Sparrowmon's neck. When she looked down, she found herself quite surprised. Not with fear, but with joy. The entire town is moving in a horizontal direction right below them, and everything looks a lot smaller and prettier than before. Iniki's eyes lit up with delight as she saw the now tiny town sitting right below her.

"Wow! Everything's so small! The people look like little ants!" Iniki exclaimed joyously.

"Of course stuff gets smaller when you fly! If you fly to a certain altitude, your field of vision is widened and your perspective is different!" Sparrowmon told her. "I guess that's kinda surprising to you humans since you can't fly and all."

Sparrowmon decided to take Iniki around in different directions as well. Up, down, left, right, above the trees, below the clouds, higher than the birds themselves. Sparrowmon soared higher and higher. Iniki held one of her arms out, hoping she could touch one of the wispy white clouds in the sky. But alas, they were too far away for her short reach. Sparrowmon saw this and looked at her.

"You wanna touch the clouds?" Sparrowmon asked.

"Kind of, but I don't-" As soon as Iniki answered, Sparrowmon didn't let her finish.

"Here! I'll help you with that! Hang on tight!"

"Wait! No-" Iniki immediately clung to Sparrowmon and closed her eyes as he suddenly increased his velocity and ascended higher into the air, soaring with great speed toward one tiny patch of cloud. As they got closer, Sparrowmon slowed down and Iniki opened her eyes. The cloud patch began to slowly come into view, and seeing how close it's coming, decided to stretch her arm out. Her hand passed through the cloud and, oddly enough, it came out wet!

"Huh? Where'd this water come from?" Iniki yelped.

"Clouds are made of condensed water, so of course they'll be wet! Did you seriously think they were gonna be dry?" Sparrowmon retorted with a laugh, which wound up making Iniki feel sad. She remembered that in fifth grade her class learned about clouds, their formation, and the many types of clouds there are. But Iniki's grades were never really good, and she wound up failing a test that talked about that lesson.

But as Sparrowmon zipped around the sky with glee and Iniki watched as clouds passed by her, she remembered something else...something not really quite fit for an occasion like this. It was something that was stored in the deepest confines of her memory. Something she thought she never had any memory of, but now it suddenly appeared before her in thin air, and on impulse, she told Sparrowmon about it.

"There was a song," Iniki suddenly blurted out, which caught Sparrowmon's attention.

"Huh?" Sparrowmon asked, confused.

"When I was little, I saw this show, and there's a scene where a blonde girl is riding on a pink pegasus in the sky, and a song played," Iniki said.

"A pink Pegasusmon?"

"No! A pink pegasus! This isn't Digimon I'm talking about!" Iniki shouted, a little surprised by Sparrowmon's train of thought.

"Do you remember how it goes?" Sparrowmon asked.

Iniki inhaled deeply, then sang the song. She wasn't sure if the lyrics were right, but she did try.

_They'll be dancing on air when they meet you,_  
><em>Dancing on air with glee,<em>  
><em>I doubt they'll be celebrating when they see it's only me,<em>  
><em>They'll do cartwheels in air when they see you,<em>  
><em>Their hope will start to rise,<em>  
><em>From what they're anticipating, they're in for a big surprise,<em>  
><em>They'll be floating lighter than a cloud,<em>  
><em>They'll be floating - laughing right out loud,<em>  
><em>The sight of you will send spirits flying,<em>  
><em>One or two may burst out crying,<em>  
><em>Why can't you believe?<em>  
><em>You're gonna be great,<em>  
><em>you're a dream come true,<em>  
><em>That, my friends all think so too,<em>  
><em>You're the answer to our every prayer,<em>  
><em>Time will tell if I'll come through,<em>  
><em>But just imagine if I do...<em>  
><em>They'll be dancing...<em>  
><em>Prancing...<em>  
><em>Dancing on air<em>(2)_!_

"Yuck! When did you get so cheesy?" Sparrowmon suddenly yelped, covering the sides of his head even though he doesn't have any ears. Iniki, insulted by Sparrowmon's bold statement, playfully bonked him on the head with her fist.

"Come on! I never said it was a good song! I just remembered it because I feel like we're replaying that scene right now!" Iniki said as Sparrowmon suddenly descended onto the park, allowing Iniki to hop off of him. But upon seeing each other, they suddenly smiled and burst into laughter.

What they didn't know was that Shunji and Dracomon happened to be in the park, watching them from afar.

"Hm! Looks like our impoverished Cinderella has found her fairy Godmother!" Shunji said with a chuckle.

"What's Cinderella?" Dracomon asked.

"It's a dumb story," Shunji said impishly, but when he looked at the merry Iniki and Sparrowmon again, his face became solemn. "I wonder if we can be as happy as them."

"Aren't we? I sure am!" Dracomon piped in.

After a while, Iniki and Sparrowmon finally calmed down. Iniki felt as though a giant load of bricks had been lifted off of her just from being with this snarky yellow airplane with a smart mouth.

"That was fun!" Iniki said.

"It sure was! Oh! I never got your name, did I?" Sparrowmon asked.

"I'm...Iniki. Mizuki Iniki," Iniki said.

"Inikimon?"

"No! JUST Iniki! We humans don't have mon in our names!"

"That's a funny name!" Sparrowmon couldn't help but laugh again. But this time, Iniki didn't insult him back or playfully hit him.

"My dad said my mom gave me that name. Ee-nee-kee. It's Hawaiian, and means _'strong and piercing wind,'_ after the hurricane that hit Hawaii in 1992," Iniki explained.

"You know this and you're not even ashamed about it?"

"What's there to be ashamed about, other than the fact that it's not a Japanese name?"

"I dunno."

All of a sudden, Iniki became solemn and looked up at the sky.

"I...I really enjoy talking with you, Sparrowmon," Iniki said.

Sparrowmon crossed his little stubby arms. "Well, Digimon did say that I'm quite the charmer after all."

Iniki didn't know if Sparrowmon was just being sarcastic or was really taking her seriously, but decided to continue on.

"Can...I ask you something?"

"Sure. I'm all ears!"

"But you don't have any ears."

"Doesn't mean I can't hear!"

"Okay okay," Iniki told him so he wouldn't get mad. She felt like she was repeating herself, but she decided to tell Sparrowmon about Seiko and the horrible things she's done, just like she told Shunji, only she didn't cry this time. Sparrowmon was quite shocked by what he just heard despite not having any ears.

"Jeez! I always suspected you were kind of a follower type, but...this is just wrong!" Sparrowmon exclaimed.

"I know," Iniki said.

"Well, in my honest opinion, I say leave her in the dust! Who cares if she finds out about some secret you're keeping? I mean, considering your situation, it's not really like you have anything to lose, now do you?"

_'That guy who saved me said the exact same thing!'_ Iniki thought. What are the chances that Sparrowmon would say the exact same thing as Shunji, word for word? All of a sudden, Sparrowmon ascended into the air.

"All this bad talk is making me want to fly my anger out!" Sparrowmon said as he suddenly began zipping all over the place. He flew so fast, Iniki had a hard time keeping up with him.

"Sparrowmon! Calm down!" Iniki exclaimed, but he didn't hear him. After doing some loop-de-loops and other tricks, he suddenly found himself speeding right toward someone.

"LOOK OUUUUUT!" Sparrowmon called out, but the person he's about to crash into didn't react in time. Iniki saw Sparrowmon crash and immediately became worried.

"Sparrowmon!" Iniki called out and ran to the spot where she saw Sparrowmon crash.

Behind some bushes are Sparrowmon and an older girl who looks like she could be in high school. She wore nothing but a short sleeved black tank top that unveiled her navel, a black jean skirt, black boots, a black choker around her long, slender neck, and an egg-shaped cobalt blue earring on her left ear. However, the girl got back up on her feet and wiped some dirt off of herself like she had never been hurt at all. Iniki ran over to Sparrowmon and helped him up.

"You okay?" Sparrowmon asked.

"Yeah..." Sparrowmon said to Iniki, then turned his attention to the girl. "I'm awful sorry about that! I didn't see you there! I sure am glad I didn't hit you after all!"

But the girl looked at them strangely when Sparrowmon spoke. Her dark brown eyes are filled with nothing but scorn and hatred. Upon seeing Iniki, she got mad.

"You piece of worthless trash!" The girl yelled as she stomped over to Iniki and violently slapped her in the face!

"AHH!" Iniki yelled as she was hit so hard she nearly fell to the ground. Thankfully Sparrowmon caught her before she could fall, but he eyed the girl with anger in his own eyes.

"What was that for? She didn't do anything!" Sparrowmon yelled.

Iniki got up as she held onto her stinging cheek. "Why'd you hit me?"

"Because you look like garbage, that's why! And that ugly contraption of yours nearly killed me!" The girl yelled angrily.

"Look, it was an accident! He didn't mean to almost crash into you! We're sorry it happened!" Iniki yelled back.

The girl spat at the grass. "Tch! You obviously did that on purpose!"

"No we did NOT! What's wrong with you?" Iniki yelled, surprised by the high school girl's obstinate behavior. But then she saw her pull out a white, egg-shaped contraption with a black strap attached to a gold ring.

"You'll be sorry alright! Devidramon! Get your ugly butt over here!" The girl called out, and a giant black dragon descended before them.

"EEEK!" Iniki screamed, but Sparrowmon pulled her out of the way so she wouldn't get stepped on.

"You called, Nayuki?" Devidramon asked in a low voice. The girl, Nayuki, eyed Iniki and Sparrowmon.

"I found a meal for you to consume. Now digivolve and rip them to shreds!" Nayuki commanded. Suddenly, the earring glowed in an ominous light, surrounding Devidramon.

"What's going on?" Iniki yelped.

"He's digivolving!" Sparrowmon exclaimed.

"Devidramon digivolve to..."

Once he decreased in size, the light faded, and out came a mummified humanoid creature with a half-crutch, half-gun thing in one of his long, spindly arms.

"...Mummymon!"

Sparrowmon flew in front of Iniki bravely. "Iniki! Go somewhere safe! I'll hold him off!"

"But what about you? I can't just leave you to fight that ugly thing!" Iniki yelled.

"You don't have to!" Nayuki suddenly yelled.

"Snake Bandage!" By extending both of his arms, spirals of bandages appeared from them, coiling around Iniki and hoisting her in the air as she screamed with terror.

"INIKI!" Sparrowmon yelled as he sped after her. All of a sudden, a vociferous BANG! sound echoed in everyone's ears, and Sparrowmon felt something hard and rocky fly at his wing for a minute.

"Sparrowmon!" While the blow did knock him out of alignment a bit, he quickly regained his momentum. Iniki yelped when she saw where it came from.

There's a small, greyish black gun in Nayuki's hands.

"HEY! Don't you know it's against the law for minors to own AND use guns?" Iniki yelled.

"Shut up, trash! It's a pellet gun! It won't kill anyone!" Nayuki snapped back.

"But you can still hurt someone with it, like you hurt Sparrowmon just-"

"Shut up, you worthless piece of trash!" Nayuki yelled and fired another one. Thankfully, Iniki squirmed enough to evade the pellet's path.

"Okay. NOW I'm mad! Take this, you mummified zombie! Crash Boom!" Sparrowmon covered himself in a gold light, flying so fast that he not only knocked Mummymon to the ground, but looking as though he split into four! Iniki was freed from the bandages and was awestruck by the sight, but only for a little bit as she nearly fell to the ground. Thankfully, Sparrowmon reformed just in time and caught her before she could hit the grass.

"I'm not done with you yet!" Nayuki yelled as she fired two more shots from her pellet gun.

"Random Laser!" Pulling out one of his own laser guns, Sparrowmon fired a flurry of blue beams of light, which somehow managed to knock the pellets away. Sparrowmon, once he finished, put Iniki down behind a tree.

"I'll handle it from here. Go and find someplace safe," Sparrowmon told her again.

"But I don't want to sit back and do nothing! I'm sick and tired of feeling helpless!" Iniki wailed.

"I know it's hard for you, but I don't want you getting hurt," Sparrowmon said, then sped back to Mummymon. The two engaged in battle.

"Mummymon! Make that stupid airplane crash!" Nayuki screamed.

"Yes, Nayuki!" Mummymon yelled as he used his bandages to leap from tree to tree.

Unfortunately for him, Sparrowmon has the upper hand thanks to his flight abilities. Sparrowmon performed two loops in the sky, then sped toward Mummymon at a high velocity.

"Wing Edge!" Sparrowmon sped toward Mummymon, who pulled out his rifle and began shooting at Sparrowmon. Thankfully, thanks to Sparrowmon's speed, he somehow managed to evade all of them and hit Mummymon before he could withdraw his rifle. Mummymon stammered a bit, but he used his bandages to leap back onto the tree.

"Snake Bandage!" A spiral of bandages flew out from Mummymon's right arm, coiling around Sparrowmon's left wing. As soon as he ascended, he suddenly felt something pulling down on him, preventing him from flying at the speed he wanted. He looked down and yelped as he saw Mummymon, looking up at him with a wicked smile on his face.

"Get off me, ugly!" Sparrowmon tried flying around crazily and badly in different directions, hoping he could throw Mummymon off, but it didn't work even though he gave Mummymon a flight that could make even the most air sick immune human puke from too much flying. He did this for quite a few minutes. Sparrowmon then had another idea. He pulled out both of his little laser guns.

"Random Laser!" Flurries of blue lights spiraled out of his little laser guns. A few of them managed to rip through the bandages, causing Mummymon to fall back into the trees. Sparrowmon sped high into the sky, flying toward the sun itself. But he stopped for a minute, looked down at Mummymon, who staggered upon hitting the ground, and aimed.

"Now it's time for my grand finale! Ultimate Sparrow Dive!" Sparrowmon covered himself in a white light, then, at the highest speed he could muster, literally dove down toward Mummymon. What he didn't know was that Mummymon smirked upon looking up at him. Sparrowmon didn't even see it as he was going too fast.

_BOOM!_

With a resounding crash, dirt, grass, smoke, and dust where thrown up into one big brown cloud as Sparrowmon crashed into the grass, causing the entire park to shake like a small earthquake had hit. Iniki wound up stumbling a bit upon impact, but she clung to the tree tightly so she wouldn't get hurt. Nayuki didn't even stumble. The impact caused some wind to blow against her, carrying her semi-long jet black hair. As the wind subsided, Nayuki simply hmphed and pulled some of her hair out of her face.

"Sparrowmon!" Iniki called out, hoping to get a response and confirm if Sparrowmon is okay or not. Even though she only just met him, she didn't want anything bad to happen to him, and felt terrible for being so weak and useless, unable to do just about anything to properly help him and for lacking any fighting skills. But once the huge, puffy dust cloud disappeared, however...

Iniki never expected this.

Mummymon is standing on top of Sparrowmon, with bandages wrapping his little arms together like handcuffs.

Sparrowmon has dents and bruises all over his metal wings.

Nayuki pulled out her device and a light shot out of it, making it look like a light saber.

She approached the weakened Sparrowmon with nothing but scorn on her face. Mummymon looked down at him with a smirk just as evil. Sparrowmon tried to fly, but Mummymon proved to be too heavy to shake off.

"I should have known you'd be so cowardly!" Sparrowmon bellowed angrily. "You planned this, didn't you?"

"Yes we did," Mummymon said in a wicked voice.

Iniki watched from afar, shocked by what she just heard. Although not particularly smart, she managed to figure it out. Mummymon, at the very last moment, evaded Sparrowmon as he crashed into the grass, on purpose, just so he could force Sparrowmon to weaken himself enough to make him lower his guard, then use the opportunity to ambush him, tie him up, and possibly even kill him! Nayuki stood right in front of Sparrowmon, like a tall shadow. She pointed her light sword at him. Sparrowmon did nothing but scowl back at her.

"You're such a stupid Digimon, you know that? Either cooperate and let Mummymon take your data quietly, or I'll force it out of you," Nayuki told him coldly, which made Sparrowmon mad.

"Are you still hung up over me nearly crashing into you? Get over it! It was an accident, and I told you I'm sorry! Okay? Quit being such a drama queen!" Sparrowmon yelled.

"I don't care about you crashing into me! It's your very existence that makes me sick to my stomach! You're just another weak Digimon, just like the rest of them. But don't worry. You'll make yourself useful once Mummymon and I destroy you and absorb your data," Nayuki told him coldly.

"So is that it? We Digimon are just food you can eat so you can make yourself fat? What good will killing every single Digimon in the world do for you? I don't see anything good coming out of it, so quit it!" Sparrowmon yelled. Suddenly, he felt a bandage being coiled around his large neck. It came from Mummymon. The bandages slowly grew tighter and tighter, and Sparrowmon suddenly found himself having a very hard time breathing. His airway is beginning to close up.

"So how do you want to die? Suffocation, or a fatal stab wound? Because we can provide both," Nayuki said in her usual icy voice as she raised her sword into the air. "Your choice."

This time, Sparrowmon didn't look at her, nor did he respond. Instead, he slowly turned his head. Toward Iniki. Iniki, at that moment, looked at his eyes. They had a desperate pleading look in them that just screamed, "Help me!" Iniki closed her eyes, clenched her fists, and grinded her teeth sadly. If she didn't do something soon, Sparrowmon could die right in front of her and she'd never be able to fix it! She never did find herself to be concerned enough for anyone to want to help them. She didn't help Yun when she was being bullied by Seiko. All Iniki did was watch, which wound up allowing everything to escalate. She could have stopped Seiko from going too far, even though it would crush their already rocky relationship. Iniki could have helped Yun, fixed her mistakes, and became her friend. But she didn't. She allowed Seiko to bully her just by staying silent and continuing to be Seiko's puppet. She didn't tell any teachers or parents. She didn't secretly tell someone outside the school. All she did was keep her mouth shut and let everything happen. But that proved to be worse than doing something at all because, ironically, Iniki found herself just as responsible for everything that had happened to Yun as Seiko is, maybe even more so. Iniki had never been hit and drowned by such huge torrents of guilt before until shortly before she ran into Shunji. Now, if she didn't do something soon, Sparrowmon could die, even though he says Digimon can't really die.

But what could she do? She can't fight, nor can she properly defend herself. This evil girl looks like she could be in high school, and Iniki's just a short, tiny, sixth grade girl with no proper home or sense of true morality. Not only that, she's commanding a huge, extremely tall and ugly-looking mummified monster with a huge gun in his spindly arms like it's nothing, and he appears to be very strong, too. Iniki never did see herself as being good at anything, even in Seiko's company. Seiko always chose her as her "stress ball", whether it's yelling at her or pointing out her flaws or picking on her for making comments Seiko didn't like, even the most well-intentioned ones. Iniki was always too timid for just about anything, even in regards to standing up for herself. This made her realize it: she's no different from Yun, who's gone through way worse than her. Ever since losing her home, Iniki was conflicted over whether she should continue letting everything happen or finally do the right thing and stand up for what's really right in the eyes of everyone else. Being homeless and becoming friends with Sparrowmon wasn't what she had in mind, but...she had to admit, they helped her. Being with Sparrowmon helped Iniki see true friendship in one of it's purest forms. True, he's a talking yellow airplane out of a cartoon who shouldn't be real, but he proved to be significantly better than Seiko and Tomoka by a huge landslide. Iniki actually felt light-hearted and free being with this strange, talking yellow airplane, something that shouldn't be real! But she remembered it all. Talking about her problems with him, flying with him despite her initial fears at first, laughing with him, playfully fighting with him, him protecting her despite the danger, everything. Yes, she became attached to him a little too quickly, which even she knew was rather unnatural and abnormal, and in less than one whole day, no less! She wondered if she was really that troubled by her problems. But being with Sparrowmon made her realize that THIS is true friendship.

And she might lose Sparrowmon forever if she let Nayuki or Mummymon kill him.

Sparrowmon struggled to break free, but Mummymon's weight, along with the tight bandages on his hands and neck, prevented him from achieving flight. Nayuki held her sword up in the air, then turned it upside down.

She was definitely going to kill him.

"Just suck it," Nayuki said, preparing to stab Sparrowmon in the head and turn him into data.

Thank God she was bereaved of the opportunity.

With a mighty scream and great speed, Iniki managed to ram into Nayuki so hard she fell to the floor, dropping her sword. Iniki then quickly grabbed the sword, kicked Mummymon in the stomach, which caused him to lose his ability to breathe for a while, and managed to rip the bandages off of Sparrowmon with it. Iniki then proceeded to push Mummymon off of Sparrowmon. Despite her initial lack of strength, she managed to render Mummymon helpless for a short while thanks to her kick, but it didn't last. Thankfully, it worked, as once Mummymon was off of Sparrowmon for a bit, Sparrowmon took the opportunity and zipped out from underneath him, finally feeling light and free of the weight that was lifted off of him. Nayuki got back up and was shocked by Iniki's audacity. So much so that she ran over to assault her. Iniki, suddenly feeling consumed by intense waves of bravery and courage, didn't run away. Instead, she grabbed onto Nayuki's hair and began pulling on it like she was playing a deadly game of tug-of-war.

"You leave my friend alone!" Iniki screamed angrily. Nayuki growled and punched Iniki in the face, but that didn't stop her. The two girls were suddenly in a big cat fight and slapped, bit, punched, kicked, and clawed at each other while rolling on the grass and getting extremely dirty.

"Iniki!" Sparrowmon tried to fly in and help her, but Mummymon suddenly tried to assault him with another Snake Bandage attack, which Sparrowmon managed to evade in the nick of time, even though now he's trapped in another battle with this mummified beast.

The two black-haired girls fought like rabid cats. Nayuki repeatedly hit Iniki over the head with her fist, hoping to knock her out, but repeated poundings weren't enough to stop this now suddenly courageous little girl. Iniki retaliated by kicking Nayuki in the shin, grabbing onto one of her exposed arms, and biting it really hard, managing to dredge her teeth into it and leave some decent marks, though not enough to make her bleed. Nayuki then kicked her back and tried to put her hands on her neck so she could suffocate her, but Iniki reacted quickly and managed to hold her off. Iniki tried to run, but Nayuki yanked on her hair so hard that Iniki yelped because of the pain. Then they were back to scratching each other. Iniki managed to leave a fresh wound on Nayuki's forehead and rip off her black choker, which wound up falling into the big crater caused by Sparrowmon.

"Why can't you just stay out of our way and let us do our job, you piece of worthless trash?" Nayuki screamed angrily.

"Because you're hurting my friend, and I'm not gonna stand by and let you hurt him! Not on my watch!" Iniki yelled back.

Nayuki wiped some blood off of her forehead with her bare hand. "Why do you care so much about that useless thing? He means absolutely nothing to you! It's not being together is going to make a difference in your lives! Why can't you just sit in a corner and go back to crying? That's pretty much all you're good for!"

"You don't know ANYTHING about me!"

"I know you're a piece of worthless trash who will never amount to anything no matter what you do!"

"Who are you to decide that? And who are you to be so needlessly cruel to someone who didn't even do anything to you?"

"Shut up already! I don't a trashy sixth grader telling me what to do!"

"Too late! I'm already telling you what to do, and since I am, you better leave Sparrowmon alone!"

"Snake Bandage!" What Iniki didn't know was that Mummymon was behind her and suddenly decided to try and attack her.

"INIKI! Random Laser!" Sparrowmon, seeing this sneak attack, decided to shoot a flurry of lasers at the bandage. It worked. Once the lights hit the bandage, they made it dissipate into black dust. Sparrowmon then floated behind Iniki.

"Thanks for saving me back there, Iniki. I owe ya one," Sparrowmon said.

"I'm sick and tired of just watching, so I felt I had to...and thanks for sticking with me," Iniki told him. Suddenly, Iniki heard a bang and felt something hard strike her in the wrist!

"AHHH!"

"Iniki!"

The pain was so bad that she fell to her knees. But she and Sparrowmon did open their eyes to look at Nayuki, and they immediately realized what happened.

Nayuki shot Iniki in the arm with her pellet gun, and is aiming it at her maliciously.

"Calm down, you crybabies! They're just rubber! Get up! That didn't hurt!" Nayuki commanded.

"Are you kidding me? You could have killed me!" Iniki screamed angrily, surprised by Nayuki's totally blatant lack of empathy and any sense of remorse. She doesn't think rubber bullets can hurt someone, let alone kill them? _'Seriously! What IS this girl's problem? And to think I thought Seiko was bad before! This Nayuki person is downright evil!'_ Iniki thought angrily.

"How dare you shoot my friend!" Sparrowmon yelled.

Nayuki was about to shoot him again, when suddenly...

"Dragon Ember!"

"Ack!"

Nayuki suddenly felt something hot singe her hand a little, causing her to drop her pellet gun. But she, Iniki, and Sparrowmon all ran a little when they saw a flurry of glowing, orange balls of light flying toward them in a frenzy. Some of them even managed to char a huge trail in the grass, causing small clouds of smoke to appear.

"Jeez, Dracomon! Ease up on the attack, will you?"

"Hehehe. Sorry, Shunji! I don't always have complete control!"

_'That voice...'_ Iniki thought as the smoke cloud faded away. It revealed the man who saved her from the river, still in his sleeveless green shirt and black jean capris! But by his side is a little pale green and red dragon!

"Tch! You just HAD to swoop in and get in my way, didn't you?" Nayuki sneered.

"What? I just happened to be passing by, and it's kinda hard to NOT hear all the screaming and yelling you've been doing," Shunji said. The half-sized dragon, Dracomon, glared at Nayuki with a ferocious and angry look that almost made him look feral.

"So! Still terrorizing innocent humans and Digimon, huh? You've gone too far this time, shooting an innocent girl like that with a gun!" Dracomon yelled.

"PELLET GUN! Will you stop making a big deal out of it?" Nayuki yelled angrily.

Shunji suddenly approached her slowly but solemnly, giving her quite a serious look.

"The big deal is that whether it's a real gun or a pellet gun or even a toy, it can still hurt someone very severely whether you're careful with it or not, and you're throwing those rubber pellets around like they're nothing and treating them as such. People DO feel pain, y'know. How would you like it if someone used a pellet gun on you? And you're still a minor for crying out loud!" Shunji told her. But it only made her more choleric.

"You idiots don't feel any pain at all! You'll never understand the pain I went through, so you feel nothing!" Nayuki screamed angrily.

"So you think we're immune to any and all physical and emotional pain? Jeez! You're warped, Ichinose!" Dracomon sneered.

Shunji smirked and got his digivice out. "Let's settle this somewhere else. People will see us."

"Who the heck cares?" Nayuki yelled again. "Let everyone see the Digimon fight! I don't care, and neither should you!"

Despite this, Dracomon digivolved into Coredramon and took Nayuki, Shunji, and Mummymon away from the park, leaving a very awestruck Iniki and Sparrowmon behind as they looked up at the slowly darkening sky.

"Whoa! I didn't know he had a Digimon too!" Iniki exclaimed.

"Let's follow them!" Sparrowmon told her. Iniki nodded and climbed on her new friend's back. They soared after the giant blue dragon. Iniki could hear some loud screams coming from below. People saw Coredramon from below, and they sure weren't happy with seeing a giant dragon in the sky. Some even took pictures with their cell phones.

"That doesn't look good," Sparrowmon said as he looked down.

"You're telling me," Iniki said.

"You know what? Screw this!" Nayuki yelled as she got her digivice out and pressed a button, causing Mummymon to de-digivolve into Devidramon.

"Let's have an air battle since it'll be more convenient that way!" Nayuki yelled as she hopped onto Devidramon's back.

"Fine! Whatever floats your boat," Coredramon said as he decided to land the first attack. "Strike Bomber!"

Coredramon spun his tail around, hoping to hit Devidramon, but the black, red-eyed dragon quickly dodged it.

"Red Eye Beam!" Red beams of light shot out from Devidramon's eyes, hitting Coredramon, but they didn't leave even a scratch. Coredramon didn't even flinch.

"Don't think a petty attack like that will penetrate my fiesty scales!" Coredramon bellowed sarcastically. "Blue Flare Breath!"

A huge torrent of blue flames poured out of Coredramon's mouth. Devidramon, being as agile as he is, managed to dodge the attack by ascending into the sky. The flames, powerful as they are, dissipated quickly and didn't land on any trees or buildings. Coredramon had to admit, his attack is too strong, and is glad that it goes away easily. Devidramon then lunged at Coredramon, who is twice is size and weight.

"Crimson Claw!"

"Core Claw!"

The two dragons clawed at each other for a while, then Devidramon broke away.

"I suggest you leave this place right now! I don't want anyone getting hurt!" Coredramon yelled.

"Who cares if people down there get hurt? It's their own fault for being stupid and getting in the way!" Nayuki yelled.

Shunji facepalmed. "Wow. You really are without a heart."

Devidramon was about to attack again, when suddenly...

"Crash Boom!" Sparrowmon split into four while encased in yellow light, with Iniki clinging to his main body, and used all of his clones, and himself, to ram into Devidramon so hard that Devidramon almost lost consciousness for a minute. Reforming, Sparrowmon ascended into the sky quickly, then did a few loops and descended with his little lasers in his hands.

"Random Laser!" Little rays of light managed to hit Devidramon in the eyes as Sparrowmon was too fast, bereaving him the opportunity to defend himself or react properly. Because of the damage the lasers did to his eyes, and then his wings, he wound up falling into some trees with Nayuki falling with him. Coredramon didn't even bother saving her. Neither did Sparrowmon. What they didn't know was that two other figures followed them. Coredramon and Sparrowmon both descended to the ground, with Coredramon de-digivolving back into Dracomon. Shunji and Iniki found Nayuki and Tsukaimon lying in a now destroyed bush. Shunji looked at her with his arms crossed.

"This is what happens when you just fly into situations without thinking and do what you please without any regard for anyone's safety," Shunji told her. Nayuki glared at him angrily.

"That's exactly why I hate you and the rest of your little loser league so much, because you care about stupid people who are always getting in the way! You need to fight for survival and that's that!" Nayuki snapped.

"Aren't YOU the one who's getting in OUR way?" Dracomon asked with his arms crossed. Suddenly...

"Hey y'all! What's up?"

The young voice belonged to none other than Spadamon, who is riding on top of Quetzalmon as they descended before them.

"Spadamon? Quetzalmon? Where'd you two come from?" Shunji asked as Iniki hid behind Sparrowmon timorously.

"From the sky," Spadamon said, pointing to the sky.

"We were doing some more exploring. Dare I ask what you're doing here?" Quetzalmon asked.

"Hm! We're just giving a certain naughty little girl a good spanking!" Dracomon told them.

"This one here?" Spadamon asked, referring to Nayuki, who stood up.

"You're just letting these freak shows run free? Why don't you kill them and take their data? Or do you want to leave them to me?" Nayuki asked.

"HEY!" Spadamon and Quetzalmon yelled, appalled by her behavior.

"Because they're good Digimon who mean no harm!" Shunji exclaimed.

"If you ever hurt Sparrowmon again, I'll hunt you down!" Iniki yelled.

Nayuki spat at her. Iniki could feel saliva hitting her face and yelped.

"Eww! Gross!" Iniki yelled and tried to swing at Nayuki, but she grabbed her and pushed her to the grass...well, she would have if Sparrowmon didn't catch her.

"Don't you know it's disgusting to spit at someone?" Sparrowmon yelled.

"Shut up. Tsukaimon! We're leaving!" Nayuki commanded, and Tsukaimon weakly followed. The two of them finally left. Spadamon then saw the small mark on Nayuki's wrist. There's some blood seeping out.

"Oh man!" Spadamon said and pulled out a small pack of gauze from his armor and immediately began wrapping it around Iniki's wrist gently.

"Where did you get gauze?" Shunji asked.

"I brought this from the Digital World! I kinda forgot I had it with me until about an hour ago. It's a good thing it comes in handy during times like these!" Spadamon said as he tightened the gauze. "There! Perfect!"

"Thanks," Iniki muttered a little sadly as she gently put her good hand on the gauze. Sparrowmon floated right up to her, smiling brightly.

"See, Iniki? You really are brave!" Sparrowmon said.

"No. I'm not brave! She got me mad, that's all!" Iniki exclaimed. "And to think I thought Seiko was bad before!"

"I still don't think we should let her run scott free!" Dracomon said.

Shunji then looked at Iniki and Sparrowmon, who looked quite happy being together.

"Do you know them?" Quetzalmon asked, but Shunji didn't answer. Shunji simply approached them. Iniki and Sparrowmon saw him and looked at him with wide, confused eyes.

"So, little missy! Is he your partner?" Shunji asked right out of the blue.

Iniki and Sparrowmon looked at each other with confused faces at first, then smiled, then turned to Shunji and nodded. Right then, a pale yellow oval-shaped light appeared in between them, glowing brightly. It fell into Iniki's hands. It felt quite warm, and it didn't burn her hands. After a few seconds, the light dissipated and out came an egg-shaped Digivice with a very pale yellow strap and buttons on it.

"That's your digivice! It seems you two are officially partners now!" Dracomon said.

"So...it's official? I'm his...tamer or something?" Iniki asked.

"Yeah! And I'm your partner! Yaaaay!" Sparrowmon cheered happily and hugged Iniki to the point of lifting her off of the grass. Iniki was a little surprised, but she basked in Sparrowmon's hug, knowing full well that she's officially made her first REAL friend...even if he's not a human.

"It's getting dark, child," Quetzalmon told them, which made them stop cheering. "You'd best be going home."

"You're right...and thanks for helping me," Iniki told them as she hopped onto Sparrowmon's back.

"Here! I'll help you out here!" Sparrowmon said as he zipped Iniki back to the homeless shelter. Quetzalmon and Spadamon left as well. Then Dracomon and Shunji started back home.

Since the homeless shelter is big, Sparrowmon put Iniki down on the ground in a secluded place by the shelter first, then flew onto the roof. Nobody goes on the roof, so it proved to be the perfect place for Sparrowmon to live (if Iniki gets a house of her own, of course). For the first time in a very long time, Iniki went to sleep with a light heart. She made her very first friend, and has the digivice for proof! She knew she had to hide it well if she wanted to keep it out of the kid's hands, but to her, it became her treasure. She went to bed dreaming about riding on Sparrowmon's back, flying through the clouds and singing that cheesy song from the 80's that he hates. Unfortunately, Iniki had yet to discover that Sparrowmon's appearance wouldn't solve all of her problems.

Wednesday morning arrived, and the humidity finally dissipated. Now it's only sunny, but it's nice and cool. The temperature dropped so it proved to be a great day for going out. Since school is still closed, Iniki found it to be a great opportunity to find Sparrowmon and take him-or rather, have him take her-out exploring the human world since there's so much he doesn't know. Iniki woke up feeling cheerful and lively, not caring one bit about her situation. She threw on some clean clothes consisting of a white sleeveless shirt and red shorts and darted out of the shelter in high spirits. But immediately as she went out, she stopped in her tracks, and found her spirits stepped on by a huge, ugly foot...and it turned out to be none other than Seiko! She's leaning against a tree with her arms crossed, eyeing Iniki quite crossly with a wicked smile on her face. Iniki was shocked. Seiko is actually here! The one person she didn't want to find out about her being in a homeless shelter is actually here in front of her! She's wearing a sleeveless baby blue tank top, and a black and pink ruffled mini-skirt, along with some sandals. In her hand is her cell phone.

"I've been wondering why you've been acting so strange these past few weeks, Iniki-chan...or should I call you a hobo now that you're living in this dump?" Seiko told her maliciously. Iniki wanted to run, but knowing that doing so wouldn't do any good.

"I'm not a hobo!" Iniki shouted. "I didn't want to come here! Dad lost his job and we wound up losing our home! Believe me, I hate it here and if I could leave, I would! But I can't! What's wrong with that?" But instead of sounding sad, desperate to win back Seiko's heart, she sounded as though she's actually standing up to her. Sparrowmon heard her yells, and upon seeing Seiko, stopped and hid while he watched.

"But you're living in a place full of hobos. It's no wonder your clothes have gotten so drab and ugly! Ugh! Now you smell like you came out of the sewer!" Seiko exclaimed, covering her nose while laughing wickedly.

"We don't have all the money we used to have!" Iniki snapped back.

"I'll tell you what. I won't tell anyone about this...but you have to do everything I say and be my personal attendant! You should always listen to me and do things like carry my books and take the blame for things that I do. If you don't...then this goes out to the world!" Seiko explained with her wicked smile as she showed Iniki her cell phone...which showed Iniki and her father entering the shelter! "I saw you and your dad go inside yesterday."

"You wouldn't dare!"

"Yes I would...unless you cooperate. Maybe I'll even continue being your friend. But snitch on me...and you'll pay the price. Your choice."

With that, Seiko flipped one of her pig tails away and walked away from the dreary homeless shelter, leaving Iniki behind.

Iniki, overcome with sadness, ran back into the homeless shelter and into the room she had to share. She flew onto her cot and cried into her pillows. Unless she becomes Seiko's living obeisant slave, she'll show everyone the picture and Iniki will lose her reputation! Sparrowmon looked into the window since nobody else is around.

"Iniki! Don't let that living stick figure order you around! You've gotta show her who's boss!" Sparrowmon told her reassuringly, hoping she would listen to him and get the message.

"But...what should I do?" Iniki asked. This question plagued her for the whole day. Not even a day in the sky could clear her head.

Footnotes:

1. In the show Digimon Xros Wars, Sparrowmon is a she. I didn't find out her actual gender until I looked it up on the internet months after I implemented her into my story as a he, so you can consider this a kind of error. But in my story, Sparrowmon will still be a boy.

2. The song that Iniki sings is called Dancing on Air, and it's featured in the first ever My Little Pony cartoon, Rescue at Midnight Castle, which aired in 1984. It's sung by the characters Megan and Firefly.


	76. Internal Conflict

EPISODE 76: Internal Conflict

Ayaka was angry at the whole world.

Well, she had already been angry at the whole world before, but now she was angrier than ever, and all because of what she did back when Tsurumi High School got attacked. She thought the whole world was against her before, which wasn't true. But now, she felt that the world truly was against her. Everyone told her that she'd been cruel to Yun, even though she tried to contradict them, convinced that Yun is purposefully ruining her life. Everyone told her that she went too far and that she should be kinder to Yun, but she didn't listen. Not one bit. They told her that she brought her own suffering on herself, not Yun, and that she's doing nothing but use Yun as a scapegoat for her pent up hatred. Ayaka wanted to convince herself that they were wrong, that Yun truly was the source behind her problems. But...for the first time in a very long time, she couldn't. She couldn't deny it. She finally realized it when Melody stormed into the house and beat her up right in front of Hisako and Teruki two days ago. She kept on denying all of it before, but now...it all hit her like a mighty blow.

Everything that Melody said was just one hundred percent spot on. Everything that Melody said about her hit her right on the mark, like an archer's arrow hitting the bullseye at the perfect angle. Ayaka denied it for so long, she failed to listen to other people because she was so obstinate and intractable about her own inappropriate and selfish behavior. All of those times she yelled at Yun, beat her, called her names, and blamed her for everything that went on in either her own life or the world around her, everything she did to Yun...was all directed at herself. But Ayaka didn't want to accept that it was all about her. She didn't want to accept that she brought suffering on herself. She didn't want to accept that her anger in regards to Kiyomi being in a coma pushed people away, so she chose to take it all out on Yun, who has absolutely nothing to do with Kiyomi or anything else that went on in her life. Ayaka is still convinced that Hisako and Teruki purposefully prefer Yun over her, but...everything else swam in her mind like a pod of mighty white sharks about to eat every single fiber of her existence and rip it all to shreds. She wondered if she truly did drain out all of her empathy because she let herself succumb to her own selfishness.

Ayaka's grounding has only just started, but to Ayaka, it didn't really make much difference. All of her friends left her behind, so she couldn't go to any of them. She can't go to Shunji's house, but he'll still come to her no matter what. She can't listen to her music or use the computer except for school, she can't use her phone except for extreme emergencies, and she'll have to focus solely on her schoolwork, nothing more. Ayaka was never the best student in the world, and Hisako and Teruki always pestered her to keep getting good grades or else she'd fail for the year. Ayaka thought they kept on pestering her because they wanted her to be perfect, like their precious little Yun, but she failed to realize that it really was out of genuine concern for her. Ayaka blinded herself to genuine concern, deeming it as nothing more than a facade to make her feel inferior to the rest of the world. She was convinced that people only pretended to care for her so they could either make themselves feel good or trick her and break her heart. Ayaka thought about everything that went on in her life up until the moment Yun came to the school on Rapidmon to check on her. Ayaka didn't believe Yun ever cared for her for real. She was convinced Yun was trying to embarrass her or manipulate her so she could make herself feel good, since she's the favorite. She thought the high school hated her before, but now...now that everyone saw Ayaka be so cruel to Yun, the hatred became even more noticeable. Especially since that girl Chiaki gave her that huge lecture. She wondered why Shunji always stuck to her until now.

Wednesday came, bright, clear, and cool. All Ayaka wanted to do was lay in bed and sleep since school is closed for a while. Ayaka found it just plain indecent that the weather had the audacity to be so insensitive as to be sunny and nice and cool, with low temperatures and no trace of humidity in sight. Ayaka wished it was dreadfully cloudy, with pouring sheets of rain and thunder storms and everything to match her disharmonized state right now. All she wanted to do was sleep and disappear from the earth, but she couldn't even do that because of Yun, Lopmon, Cutemon, Terriermon, Lucero, Hisako, and Teruki. She pushed the sheets and pillows over her head to muffle the noise, but it didn't seem to work. Her cell phone started ringing, but she couldn't answer it because she's grounded. But that didn't matter, because she really didn't want to answer her cell phone anyway. She really didn't want to deal with anyone right now. Unfortunately for her, Hisako came into her room.

"Go away!" Ayaka said, her voice being muffled by her covers. Hisako wasn't mad. She actually looked rather sad upon seeing Ayaka.

"Ayaka...they're talking about the school on the news," Hisako told her.

"So?" Ayaka asked.

"Some classmates of yours...died in the explosion. Fifteen of them," Hisako said, even more sadly.

Ayaka didn't say anything this time. She was surprised, but silent. Fifteen kids from her school died in the explosion? Ayaka couldn't believe it at first. But she covered herself with her blankets further. She didn't want to hear anymore.

"Some kids are holding a memorial vigil there today. Yun and I have to run some errands today, and Teruki has to help fix a friend's computer, so we were wondering if you could go pay your respects to the kids who died," Hisako said in a low voice.

Ayaka really wanted to say no. She really wanted to just stay at home and wallow in her angst. Going to that memorial wasn't going to do anything for her. It certainly wasn't going to fix her now completely shattered reputation. It wasn't going to make her life better either. Ayaka wanted to say no...but upon further rumination, she found it to be a great opportunity to just get out of this dumb house and hide from everyone for a while. She could get away from Yun and her noise. She groggily got out of bed.

"I'll go."

"What was that?" Hisako asked, looking as though she didn't hear.

"I SAID I'LL GO, DANGIT!" Ayaka screamed, angry that Hisako didn't hear her. "Just let me get ready!"

Angrily, Ayaka pushed Hisako out of the room and decided to get ready. All she did was throw on a sleeveless white shirt with sheet music all over it, a peach-colored mini skirt, and some sandals. She decided to leave her hair down because she wasn't in the mood for putting it up or making herself look nice. Putting on make up certainly couldn't make her life better either. It was already 12:30 PM when she woke up. Groggily, she grabbed her cell phone, put it in her small purse, and went out. But before she could, she was stopped by Teruki.

"And where do you think you're going?" Teruki asked strictly.

"To the vigil at school! Get out of my way!" Ayaka replied rather rudely and tried to push him, but Teruki wouldn't budge.

"I told you that you're not allowed to go out!" Teruki yelled.

"Will you get off my case already? Mom said I have to pay my respects so I will! It's a heck of a lot better than sitting around here doing nothing all day!" Ayaka screamed as she managed to get past Teruki and walk out of the house, leaving behind a very angry Teruki and a worried Hisako.

"Why are you letting her go out? You said-" Teruki wanted to argue with Hisako, but she interrupted him.

"Consider this part of her grounding!" Hisako screamed back. "She went to school there, so I'm making her go out of obligation. Maybe this will teach her to be less selfish!"

"But she's obviously lying to us! She's just going to leave them in the dust and not give a rat's hat about anyone but her own durn self!"

Ayaka didn't want to hear the yelling so she walked away, even though the yelling could be heard on the entire street.

It must be confessed that Ayaka truly did lie to Hisako and Teruki. Instead of calling Shunji to take her to school (she wasn't allowed to call him either thanks to her grounding) or call a taxi (she has no money on her. That's another part of her grounding. She is not allowed to have any access to her allowance on any occasion), she decided to walk around town. Oddly enough, that proved to be a mistake. She passed by the little ice cream shop and saw some girls getting into a car. She recognized them from her school and didn't want to deal with them, so she turned and tried to walk away. But it didn't work, as one of the girls spotted her.

"Hey, you! Wakamiya!"

Ayaka tried to run, but the girl stopped in front of her, managing to stop her from getting away.

"Get out of my way!" Ayaka told the floofy-haired girl rudely, but the girl wasn't budging, just like Teruki.

"My friends and I are going to the vigil today, and you're coming with us whether you like it or not!" The girl exclaimed proudly as she grabbed onto Ayaka's wrist and forcefully tried to drag her into the car with her, but Ayaka managed to break free.

"I don't see why I have to go!" Ayaka yelled.

"You have to! It's your school, and you're obligated to pay your respects!" The girl yelled back.

"It's not like the school's done anything for me nor is going to the service gonna make my life better!"

"Stop thinking about your own durn self for once and come to the vigil!" The girl screamed angrily, very appalled by Ayaka's blatant selfishness and lack of empathy.

"Let her go, Macchan," One girl said. "She's a lost cause. It's not worth it."

"If she has the guts to be so needlessly cruel to her own little sister, than it's obvious she won't come to the vigil. She has absolutely no sense of empathy nor does she ever consider the feelings of everyone around her," The other girl said. "She brought all of this misery on herself."

"That's right!" The floofy-haired girl yelled, echoing her friend's final statement.

"Just leave her in the dust and let's go!" The second girl said as she got into the car. The two other girls followed suit as the car drove away.

Ayaka, feeling quite perturbed and irritated right now, left as well. What she didn't know was that Quetzalmon and Spadamon are flying right above the ice cream place, looking down at her with confused faces.

"What's got her so riled up?" Spadamon asked.

"I have no idea, and I don't know whether I should be excited or scared to find out," Quetzalmon said.

"Let's go and see!" Spadamon exclaimed.

Quetzalmon sighed. "Can we not? She already hates you."

"So? Come on! Let's check on her!" Spadamon commanded. Queztalmon sighed again and flew toward Ayaka. He didn't even bother to hide himself because Spadamon kept being persistent. He flew right next to Ayaka, which made her yelp with surprise.

"YEEK!"

"Hey, Ayaka! What's up?" Spadamon exclaimed happily, waving one of his arms.

Upon realizing that it was them, Ayaka became choleric. "Leave me alone, you monsters! And don't call me by my first name! We're not friends, and the last thing I want is to be friends with freaks like you!"

"What's got you so riled up?" Spadamon asked, apparently not getting the message.

"Mind your own business!" Ayaka snapped.

"See, Spadamon? Let's leave already. I don't want to cause any trouble," Quetzalmon told his furry friend, who didn't listen.

"Too late! You're already causing trouble by flying right next to me!" Ayaka yelled at the flying snake, which made Spadamon mad.

"Hey! Don't yell at Quetzalmon like that! He's awesome!" Spadamon snapped.

"Whatever. I'm leaving," Ayaka said as she tried to walk away from the two Digimon.

But all of a sudden, when she got at least ten feet away from them, she found herself frozen. Frozen with something she thought she had forgotten long ago. Hisako told her to go to the vigil at her school to pay her respects for the fifteen kids who died in the explosion, and Ayaka chose to lie to her and went out despite her grounding. It wasn't like paying respects was going to make her life better and fix her reputation, nor was it going to give her anything out of it. What would paying false respects to a bunch of kids she didn't even know and has nothing to do with do for her? Nothing. Did she even have any respects to pay to them? She didn't think so. But not only did Hisako's words echo in her head repeatedly, but the words of Chiaki, Shunji, and the many other girls who called her selfish as well. Ever since that scene, Ayaka knew that the hatred towards her had increased, but she thought that they had already hated her. She was convinced that her life was ruined because of Yun, Kiyomi's coma, and the friends who betrayed her. She ruminated further. By lying to her parents and not going to the vigil, she'd end up proving every single one of them right, that she really is selfish without any lack of empathy or consideration of the feelings of others, focusing solely on herself and nothing more. Not only that, it was likely that if she got home, Hisako and Teruki would interrogate her and ask questions about the vigil, like if candles were lit, or the amount of people there, or everything else. Ayaka really didn't want to be interrogated, nor did she want to prove not just them, but every single kid in the school, Shunji included, right. As she noticed Quetzalmon and Spadamon about to fly away, she turned around.

"Wait! Stop!" Ayaka called out, and they stopped upon hearing her voice.

"What?" Quetzalmon asked.

In her mind, Ayaka called herself crazy for doing what she was about to do, but this time, she truly didn't want to disappoint her already disappointed parents, nor did she want to prove those girls right by not going to the vigil and being selfish, so she bit the bullet and took the plunge. "Will...Will you...do me a...favor?" Ayaka asked, her voice quivering.

"Sure! What do you want us to do?" Spadamon asked.

"I...I need to get to Tsurumi High School. Will you...take me there?" Ayaka asked, clenching her fists and feeling her chest sag with weight. Spadamon and Quetzalmon looked at each other with confused faces, nodded, then looked back at Ayaka.

"Hop on, my friend! Show us the way!" Spadamon said and beckoned Ayaka to hop on Quetzalmon's back.

Reluctantly, Ayaka didn't hop on Quetzalmon's back, but just slowly and gently climbed on it. She clung to Quetzalmon's hard body so she wouldn't fall, and once he ascended into the sky, she held on tighter. His metal body felt very cool, like ice, even though it's rather warm today. Ayaka couldn't help but find herself liking this cool feeling.

But at the same time, she found herself remembering what she did. All this time, she was convinced that Yun manipulated everyone she knew into hating her (Ayaka) so she could make herself feel good. But upon further rumination, Ayaka began to reconsider. For one thing, by the time Ayaka had entered high school, a lot of the friends she had who actually met and knew Yun had moved away, and this was before she even hatched that ridiculous idea into her head. Not only that, by the time Kiyomi was in a coma, a lot of Ayaka's friends either went on to do bad things, which even Ayaka didn't want to involve herself with, or betrayed her altogether in varying ways. How could Yun possibly have access to her friends, or the high school, when she hardly ever goes out on her own? Yun didn't have a cell phone when Ayaka was in her final year of middle school, nor was she very social even then, so it'd be hard for her to get along with anyone older than her. On the contrary, Yun was actually quite afraid of the friends Ayaka brought around back then except for Kiyomi. Even Hisako and Teruki didn't quite like them for varying reasons.

In fact, Ayaka remembered the very first time she became cruel to Yun...crueler than she thought she was capable of being.

(flashback)

_It was a week after Ayaka saw Kiyomi in her coma at the hospital. The sight of her very best friend, the only person who ever remained loyal to her and accepted her for who she was no matter what, looking totally dead in a hospital bed with machines attached to various parts of her body, was branded into her brain and heart like a hot iron pressing on someone's skin and leaving a burn. She had been depressed and grouchy for quite a while because of it. Both she and Yun were working on their own homework that day, but in different rooms. Ayaka in her room, and Yun in the dining room. Both were having quite a terrible time of it. Ayaka kept on trying to solve some problems for two hours, and she still wasn't getting it right. She kept on grunting and growling quietly to herself to express her frustration, and she could feel a headache coming on. Yun, however, was expressing her frustrations quite differently._

_Despite the fact that Hisako is trying to help her with her homework (and failing miserably, as the lessons proved to be too much for even her, an adult, to solve), Yun suddenly started crying loudly when she suggested she take a break for a while. She also has been struggling with her homework for the past two hours, and nothing was getting done no matter what. It was at this age that Yun began to realize the consequences of getting bad grades, as she had gotten quite a few on some worksheets, forgot her homework on a few occasions, came to class unprepared multiple times (she thought she was prepared, but the teacher interrogated her and discovered that she wasn't, often accusing her of lying), and, as a result, got two detentions. It wasn't because she was behaving badly. Quite the contrary, really. But being autistic as she is, Yun had a hard time understanding the concept of studying, especially on her own without asking for help (she didn't understand that she could never ask for help on the day of an important test), and only just now understood that doing these things had consequences, and she often got yelled at by a rather strict teacher because of it, and boy, did it scare her to death. Not only that, when she did ask for help, people often pushed her aside or couldn't help her at all, and this made Yun really frustrated. Now, she suddenly started bawling because she couldn't solve a problem properly, even with Hisako's help, and she had been working on this homework for two whole hours straight now! Her crying could be heard throughout the entire house, Ayaka's room included._

_"Yun! Please, calm down! It's alright. We'll get it. Let's take a short break. You need-" Hisako tried to mollify the crying girl and spoke to her in a dulcet voice, but Yun just wasn't letting up, no matter what._

_"NO! No no no! I HAVE to get it done! I have to, or I'll get yelled at again!" Yun cried loudly and ardently._

_Ayaka needed to concentrate, but Yun's shrill crying was getting to her head. Her head pounded and her frustration built up, higher and higher. Hisako tried to drag Yun away from the table, but Yun just wasn't going to let her homework be undone. She felt she wanted-no, absolutely needed-to do it and, most importantly of all, do it right. Doing homework is one thing, but doing it and getting the answers right is another. Yun didn't want to get yelled at by the teacher again, whether she did her homework or not (this happened quite frequently). She cried and cried, desperate to get back to it and get the right answer. But she didn't know how to solve for the right answer. She couldn't find it, and she certainly couldn't cheat either, as she just found out that cheating is a big no-no. Yun's crying went on for quite a while, and Ayaka had decided she has had just about enough._

_She got up from her bed, threw her books to the floor, walked into the dining room, approached the still crying Yun, and..._

WHAP!

_Unexpectedly, she slapped her in the face! It made Yun stop crying only for a little bit, but upon feeling the pain of the blow, she cried even harder, angering Ayaka more._

_"Stop your crying, you brat! You're ruining my concentration!" Ayaka screamed angrily._

_"Ayaka!" Hisako yelled, shocked by Ayaka's behavior as she helped Yun up. "That is NO way to treat your sister!"_

_"Make her shut up already! I can't work on my own stupid homework with her screaming all night!" Ayaka yelled back._

_"Go to your room right now, missy!" Hisako commanded and pointed to Ayaka's bed room._

_"I've been in there for three hours already!" Ayaka snapped._

_"Don't give me that attitude! March!" Hisako commanded. Ayaka, knowing that it was pointless to argue with her any further, stomped back into her room. Hisako then went to get a wet wash cloth and dab it on Yun's face, but Yun kept on pushing it away until Hisako finally convinced her to calm down and take it. After about a minute, Hisako had an idea._

_"Hey Yun! I have an idea! Mina-chan's good at math, isn't she? How about we call her and ask her for help!" Hisako told her with a smile. Yun was still teary eyed._

_"But sensei said I can't ask for help! I have to do it myself!" Yun protested._

_"She said that for tests and quizzes. That doesn't apply to homework," Hisako told her._

_"Yes it does!" Yun snapped back tearfully. Even though Yun had been told that she couldn't ask for help on occasion, she didn't understand that that rule only applied to tests and quizzes, where you actually have to study. She thought the rule applied for all school-related things, like homework. Hisako, knowing this to be the case, decided to convince her otherwise by calling Minako's family._

_Minako and Minagi came to the house shortly after, and they managed to help Yun complete the homework. Minako's guidance certainly helped, and Yun even managed to calm down once she FINALLY started to get it right. Ayaka, having given up, decided to throw her books into her bag and wound up seeing Yun cry out happily, "I did it! I'm done!"_

_Ayaka felt insulted by Yun's joy and went back to her room feeling quite jealous. 'She's so durn lucky! Why does she manage to get help and I don't? She's such a brat!' But this was just the beginning of Ayaka's insatiable jealousy._

_Yun's misconception of never asking for help in school managed to get rectified once the teacher graded her homework and was surprised with the fact that she managed to get all the questions right. Yun confessed that Minako helped her with not just the problem she had the most trouble with, but others Yun worked on. The teacher was happy that Yun received help, but Yun was confused._

_"But you said I can never ever ask for help for anything!"_

_"No no no, Yun. That rule only applies to tests and quizzes. You have to study for those by looking through your books and reading everything over. I never said you could never ask for help on homework and projects."_

_Yun managed to fare better in school because of this, and soon wound up becoming one of the smartest kids in the fifth grade, just behind Minako and Melody. Ayaka, on the other hand, wasn't faring much, as she suddenly became angry at Yun for just about everything._

(end flashback)

"...Ayaka?"

Spadamon's voice managed to snap Ayaka out of her reverie.

"What's wrong?" Spadamon asked curiously.

"Nothing," Ayaka replied in a whisper. Then she caught sight of Tsurumi High School. "There it is," Ayaka pointed to the school.

Quetzalmon descended downward in a secluded area so Ayaka can get off of him without anyone noticing.

"Thanks," Ayaka said.

"We'll still be here if you want us to drop you off back at home, too," Quetzalmon told her, but Ayaka already darted off.

However, something else bothered Ayaka. Why would anyone want to hold a vigil at a partially destroyed school during the day? Don't people usually light candles during the night? She was confused. Or maybe they're making the kids stay at the school, then wait until night time to pay their respects. When Ayaka got there, there were already a lot of kids and faculty members there. Some of them turned around to see Ayaka, and immediately their expressions changed from dejected to scorn upon laying eyes on her. Ayaka didn't do anything about it as she continued walking, despite the gossip that already flared just from her appearance.

"Wow. Looks like that selfish brat came after all."

"I'll bet she's only here just to make herself look good."

"She obviously doesn't look sorry at all!"

"What's she doing here?"

"She doesn't deserve to be here. There's no way she's even capable of paying respects to dead people considering how selfish and cruel she is! And to her own little sister, no less!"

"I really don't want to deal with any more drama from her."

"She must be pretty gutsy to even bother coming here at all."

"How could she be so cruel to her little sister, who rode on a giant robot rabbit just to check on her? I'd cry if my little sister worried about me like that!"

"She can crawl under a rock for all I care."

Ayaka heard every single piece of gossip going on about her, but instead of getting mad at them, she decided to keep silent. She knew that what they were saying about her is true, and she didn't see any point in contradicting them because they were right. All she did was walk through the crowd. Everyone saw her and began talking about her, but Ayaka didn't do anything about it. What she didn't notice, however, was a certain someone stopping her.

"You came."

Ayaka looked up and was surprised to see Shunji standing in front of her with a smile on his face, but not the impish, playful, and mischievous smile he always has painted on that face of is. Even more strangely enough, he's wearing a long-sleeved white shirt, black pants, a black vest that's unbuttoned from top to bottom, black shoes, and a black tie. He looked handsome, and rather melancholy, like he was attending a funeral. But Ayaka noticed something on Shunji's wrist that wasn't black. A gold bracelet, and hanging from it by a string is his green D-Heart of Determination. Part of his pants bulged a bit, so Ayaka could tell that his digivice is with him as well. Ayaka looked away from Shunji a bit.

"My parents made me come," Ayaka whispered back.

"I saw you ride on Quetzalmon earlier. Guess he's your ride, huh?" Shunji said. Ayaka blushed in embarrassment, but she didn't yell at him or try to hit him like she usually did.

"How come everyone's here during the day? Aren't vigils held during the night?" Ayaka asked.

"Other than the vigil, there's supposed to be other stuff going on. The principal, teachers, and other kids are gonna talk about the kids who died. They're gonna show pictures and videos and montages and presentations and all that jazz," Shunji explained. He then turned back to Ayaka with a smile. A small one, but a good one. "But...I'm glad you're here."

"Shunji, I..." Ayaka's voice quivered a bit. "I'm so sorry...for the way I've been treating you lately. I...I should never have said that you have it easier than me. I shouldn't have...jumped to conclusions like that. I..." Ayaka could feel tears creeping out of her eyes. "Please...please don't hate me. You're all I have."

Shunji's smile faded a bit, and he gently put a hand on her shoulder. "I don't hate you, Ayaka. I really don't. But I hate the attitude you have against the world. I hate how you act so selfish in times when you shouldn't. That's why I'm glad you're here, because for once you didn't focus on yourself. I hate how you get these weird ideas in your head that everyone hates your existence. I hate the fact that when your family does something nice for you, you thank them by yelling at them and accusing them of favoring Yun over you. I hate the way you treated Yun. Ayaka...I'll be honest here. I want us to keep being boyfriend and girlfriend. I know you have a lot on your plate, and I want to help you. I really do. But...I won't tolerate cruelty like what you showed Yun. And...I don't think it should be me you should be apologizing to. It should be Yun. You need to stop for a minute and take the time to understand someone's feelings. Listen to them, see how they feel about certain things, and try to be sensitive and not jump to weird conclusions. It's empathy, Ayaka."

There's that word again. Empathy. Ayaka suddenly remembered Biyomon's last words to her.

_"Do you even feel a crumb for empathy for anyone? Yun-san especially?"_

Ayaka fell silent, looking very dejected. Shunji was about to say something more, but someone cut her off.

"Get over her, Anjo-san! That selfish chick is a lost cause!"

Four girls, the very same ones who confronted Ayaka when Alraumon and Pipismon attacked (Ayaka told Shunji about this once), suddenly appeared before them, all with their arms crossed and looking very cantankerous and cross. Ayaka didn't move a muscle.

"What do you want?" Shunji asked without any hint of playfulness or mischief in his voice, and when he doesn't have that playful tone in his voice, it means he's DEAD serious.

"Come on, Anjo-san! A cool guy like you is way too good for this piece of trash!" The pink-haired ringleader told him maliciously.

"I suggest you stay out of our business. You're no better than her. In fact, you're worse than her. You treat your own parents like garbage when they do nothing but try and make you happy, and you repay them by going to bars, hooking up with older men, and smoking weed!" Shunji told her grimly.

"Wakamiya's the one who does that stuff, not me!" The pink-haired girl exclaimed.

"You're always trying to pin your own crimes on other people!" Shunji argued back.

The two were going to argue some more until the principal started speaking.

"Everyone! May I have your attention please? It's time to begin the Tsurumi High School Memorial Service," The principal announced through the microphone, though in this case it wasn't really a memorial service since nobody is wearing all black.

The ceremony began with the principal, some faculty members, and other students discussing in detail about the fifteen students who died, who they were, their accomplishments, how much they meant to them, etc. Unfortunately for Ayaka, Shunji's grandmother texted him and told him to come home for something important, so he had to bolt, albeit reluctantly, leaving Ayaka alone in the sea of students who both mourned the dead and scowled at her for that scene a few days ago. Ayaka didn't bother fighting them. She just sat there, staring at the slideshow, the montage, and the videos being shown of them. Quetzalmon and Spadamon watched from above.

Ayaka wondered if she lost all of her empathy for good.

What she didn't know was that two other people were wondering the same thing.

Masaomi sat in a detention cell in an orange jump suit, staring at the grey walls outside of his cage. Hisako called the police upon hearing Melody tell her that he tried to strangle Yun, and he had been arrested some time ago. Weirdly enough, it gave Masaomi time to think about what he had done and what he had lost. His only daughter disappeared before his eyes, and it made him go so mad that he blamed the Digimon and the existence of the Digital World for her disappearance, and began working for months on a deadly computer virus that not only wiped out a lot of data on the network (he heard that computers shut down on their own and blacked out when MC Destroyer activated that day), but could potentially kill Digimon and wipe the Digital World off the face of the planet. As a result, everyone believed he went mad, including his wife, who left him because she didn't want to deal with a demented husband trying to do the impossible. But when that one Wendigomon destroyed the satellite dish that transmitted MC Destroyer's signal throughout the network, he went mad and tried to strangle an innocent girl who got caught up in something she shouldn't have, and was saved by two little Digimon. On the spur of the moment, Masaomi would have thought this to be the end of the world for him...but something in him changed. He ruminated on and on ever since he got thrown in here, not even bothering to eat. All that was echoing in his mind were Lopmon's words.

_"I understand that you're upset about your daughter's disappearance, and I can only pray for her safe return...but you must understand, not all Digimon are bad. To be perfectly honest, I don't remember how or why I came to this world. But I'm happy to be with Yun and my brother. I do not wish to bestow any harm upon anyone. That's the last thing that I, as an individual, want. You're allowed to hate Digimon if you wish, but plotting to destroy every single one of us just to satisfy your grudge...that, I cannot allow or condone."_

Masaomi had been filled with thoughtless and reckless ambition. He wanted nothing more than to destroy the Digital World because it was the reason why Hazuru disappeared. But then he remembered Link's words: Hazuru could still be in the Digital World. If he used MC Destroyer on the entire Digital World, he could possibly kill her as well. Would something like that be worth all the effort? Masaomi didn't understand anything anymore. His head was filled with questions. _'Is Hazuru really in the Digital World? Was that little Digimon right? Are there such things as Digimon who don't wish to harm anyone? Have I really done something so horrible to warrant how far I've come in life now? Where are you, Hazuru?'_

But the question that bothered Masaomi the most was this:

_'What will creating MC Destroyer and destroying the Digital World...do for not just me, but for everyone?'_ Masaomi thought deeply, and was in a pensive state all the time. He didn't even notice a lady police officer unlocking his cell and opening the bar doors.

"Hiroya-san! Get dressed! You're free to go!" The lady officer said as she threw some clothes on him. Masaomi took a while to realize what the lady said, but even after he did, he took quite a long time getting out, even though other prisoners expressed jealousy upon seeing a lanky guy like him get released after only a short while in jail. But despite his early release, Masaomi has regret in his heart.

_'I shouldn't be released. I've done something horrible to the world. I...I should be locked in here forever with my insanity,'_ Masaomi thought. He wondered if he really had gone insane thanks to Hazuru's disappearance.

Masaomi wasn't the only one full of regret.

_In the Digital World..._

Under an invisibility spell made by the digivice, Link and Koromon looked through one of the tunnels of the inner sanctum, watching intently as Sorcermon proceeded to brand a wild Biyomon with Diaboromon's new and improved Dark Emblem with a stone-faced look in front of Lilithmon, Candlemon, the DemiMeramon swarm, some Bakemon, Dracmon, and MoonMillenniummon. This was the second of MoonMillenniummon's tests, though it took longer than usual because Digimon are managing to find information on what MoonMillenniummon's minions have been doing, and it made it hard to collect "test subjects," as Diaboromon coined, for this particular test. As Sorcermon touched the tied up Biyomon's wing with the stone, the poor, helpless bird squawked and howled helplessly, then found itself going unconscious. After a few seconds, the Biyomon opened it's eyes, which are now glowing in an eerie red color. MoonMillenniummon looked quite pleased.

"Excellent, young Sorcermon! You branded a Digimon without any sense of hesitation, mercy, or last minute love. With this, you passed the second test. I'm only sorry that it took so very long to get everything together, as it's become harder to find Digimon we can recruit," MoonMillenniummon told him. Sorcermon bowed before him politely.

"Thank you for your kindness, MoonMillenniummon-sama. I admire your ideals, and I hope I can pass the next test," Sorcermon said.

"My, he's quite the charmer, isn't he?" Lilithmon asked, looking like she wanted to hit on him, which made Candlemon and his DemiMeramon friends make disgusted faces.

"Ewwww!" They all complained.

Although they're invisible, Koromon and Link could still see each other just fine. Koromon looked up at Link and noticed that behind Link's mask is an expression that shows that someone's gone off into the confines of their mind. Koromon smacked Link with one of his antennae, snapping Link out of his reverie.

"What's wrong?" Koromon asked.

Link looked down at his Digimon friend, then back at the Digimon in the center of the inner sanctum. "I...was remembering that day...the day I saw Hokuto outside of Saruto's lab for the first time and took him home," Link whispered softly in a somewhat sad voice.

(flashback)

_This happened about a year and a half ago. Link, with his now few weeks old mask covering his scarred face, walked into a small clinic with some doctors running around hap-hazardly. Saruto's ex-wife, Aki, told him that he would see Hokuto here. Originally, Hokuto had been placed in the custody of Aki's younger brother since early June of 2009, but from what they heard, he did not adjust well in the very short amount of time he spent there, and the brother got tired of dealing with him, so he decided to give him to Aki. But Aki has business she has to take care of at home, and Aki's new husband, Kantaro, is in a meeting at work, so Aki asked Link to go in her place._

_As soon as Link walked into the clinic and laid eyes on a child sitting on a chair in a very limp position, looking very much like a dead person, he picked Hokuto out right away. His head is full of thick, bushy, dark brown hair (this is before he came down with cancer), and he's wearing nothing but a sleeveless black top, a pair of dark brown shorts that matched his hair, a pair of white socks, and white sneakers. His cobalt blue eyes are hidden behind a pair of round, coke bottle glasses. But even with his glasses hiding them, Link could tell right away that Hokuto looked dead. His eyes are completely listless, like they're not really looking at anything. Hokuto's thin, pale, slender arms drooped down on his sides, like limp noodles, and his slender legs looked like they could break if they were touched by just about anything. Hokuto's large head laid on his right shoulder like nothing was holding it up. Hokuto didn't even react when Link walked right up to him and kneeled before him to get a closer look at him._

_The sight of this child made Link's heart ache. Hokuto looks nothing short of completely lifeless, even though he's clearly alive. To Link, Hokuto looked very much like a shell-shocked soldier who came out of a bloody war. He wondered if he could consider Hokuto to be completely shellshocked by the strange turn of events that happened in his short life._

_"The poor boy is totally unresponsive," A doctor suddenly said out of nowhere, prompting Link to stand up. "He's nothing short of traumatized, though I've never seen any child react like this to sudden change before. He's so unresponsive he can't even walk on his own. We had to get a doctor to carry him here."_

_Link didn't say anything in response, but he didn't need to._

_"I take it you're here to take him? Where's his mother?" The doctor asked._

_"She has to watch her youngest kids at home, and her new husband is at a meeting, so she told me to go in her place," Link told him._

_"I see. You must be a very good friend of hers," The doctor said._

_"Sort of. I was friends with her ex-husband...the one who was executed two days ago," Link said, his voice quivering a little at the last sentence._

_"I see...well, I'll give you permission to take him," The doctor said and left._

_But as Link watched the doctor leave and turned back to look at Hokuto, he noticed that Hokuto is actually looking up at him, with his head held up high and everything! And he looked so dead before! Link got a better look at him too. Hokuto's steel blue eyes looked indifferent, but slightly curious, even though he still has an insouciant expression on his face. Link decided to kneel in front of him again and try to talk to him._

_"Hello, Hokuto. I'm your father's friend, Akutagawa. I've...come to take you to your new home," Link told him in a soft voice so he wouldn't frighten him._

_At first, Hokuto didn't react at all, but Link could notice some change. Hokuto's small, tender left hand slowly but shakily rose up to touch Link's shoulder. The grip wasn't firm, but Link surely felt it. He decided to extend his own large, bulky left hand out to him._

_"Do you want to come with me?" Link asked quietly._

_Hokuto stared at Link's hand at first while clinging to his shoulder, but slowly but surely, Hokuto managed to place his other, small, tender hand in Link's big one. Link could tell that Hokuto's hand is quite soft and thin, with long, spindly fingers, longer than the average nine year old should have. With this newly formed connection, Link gently helped Hokuto out of the chair and helped him stand up. As soon as Hokuto stood up, he let go of both Link's shoulder and hand. Link felt a little dubious about letting Hokuto stand and walk without holding onto him, lest he fall down, considering how lifeless and limp he looked just a few minutes ago, but he didn't want to scare Hokuto, so he decided to let him be._

_Link and Hokuto both walked out of the hospital, though Hokuto kept on walking behind him. The house isn't too far from the clinic, just a few blocks away (this is before Hokuto and his family moved to Tama-no-Minato). Link found the walk to be quite pleasant, even though it's unusually warm and slightly humid. Link made sure he dressed lightly today, and was happy that Aki's brother was at least considerate enough to put weather-appropriate clothes on Hokuto before he left him at the clinic. Hokuto was another story entirely. The scenery around him: the trees, the houses, some squirrels, birds, and rabbits running around, people walking their dogs, flower gardens, cars going by, the excessively warm weather, the blue sky, everything around him felt extremely unfamiliar. He felt anxious, frightened, and bogged down by everything, even though he chose not to voice his anxiety and fear. Or, rather, he didn't know how to express anxiety and fear. The heat of the hot sun burned his white skin, his vision blurred despite wearing glasses, and walking a few more steps took more effort than he expected. All of a sudden, he fell to his knees. Not so much that he scratched them, but enough to make Link turn around and see that Hokuto looked quite weak, like he suffered from a heat stroke. Link, not wanting to leave Hokuto there, walked up to him and kneeled in front of him again._

_"Are you tired?" Link asked in a soft voice._

_Hokuto said nothing, just like before. Link didn't let this bother him though._

_"Yeah. I agree. This heat is terrible. I don't like hot weather either," Link told him._

_Again, Hokuto said nothing. He continued to look down at the sidewalk and let his knees and lower legs feel the painful heat, even though he didn't say anything._

_"Do you want to hop on my back? I can give you a piggy-back ride," Link told him._

_Link expected Hokuto to continue the silent treatment, but oddly enough, Hokuto raised his head to look at Link in the face, though his cobalt blue eyes continued to look indifferent. Link did, however, see some signs of confusion in his steel blue eyes._

_"Explain yourself. What is piggy-back?" Hokuto asked in an extremely indifferent, monotonous, and almost robotic kind of manner. His voice is slightly low, like he's hitting puberty early already. This made Link shocked, though Link tried to hide it so he wouldn't scare him. Hokuto just talked for the very first time! It's not much, but it's a start. Link felt happy that Hokuto's opening up just a bit. He smiled and decided to explain._

_"It's when I carry you on my back. It's easier to travel this way, and you can rest if you don't feel like walking," Link said as he turned around. "Here. Hop on."_

_While Hokuto did stand up, he didn't go on Link's back right off the bat. He just stared at him for a bit. But in the end he did climb onto Link's back, though not in the right way. Link wrapped his arms underneath Hokuto's light, slender legs while Hokuto wrapped his long, thin arms around his neck. Once Hokuto was firmly on Link's back, Link walked on. He didn't see it, but Hokuto looked quite surprised by what he's doing. He no longer felt tired, and he no longer felt bogged down, even though the scenery around him continued to cause him some anxiety. Wanting to be away from the unfamiliar yet frightening scenery and all of these new things that are hitting him in the brain like a rocket ship, he closed his eyes and buried himself into Link's back._

_After about a few minutes, they arrived at a traditional Japanese style house. Link managed to let Hokuto climb off of him, and the first thing Hokuto saw was a mousy young woman and a tall man standing in front of the house, eagerly expecting them to arrive. Hokuto just stared at them insouciantly while Link put a hand on Hokuto's shoulder._

_"Aki-san. Kantaro-san. Meet your son, Hokuto. Hokuto, that's your mother, Aki, and her husband, Kantaro," Link talked to Aki and Kantaro first, then Hokuto. And yes, there was a reason why Link specifically referred to Kantaro as her husband._

_Aki suddenly began blubbering. "Hokuto!"_

_All of a sudden, she leaped onto Hokuto and squeezed him. Normally, this would be a happy occasion, and kids who are hugged by their parents hug them back. Hokuto, on the other hand, looked as though he saw and felt something horrible. Upon seeing this strange, unfamiliar woman leap on him and squeeze him, he felt as though he were being suffocated and didn't know what to do._

_So he yelped and pushed Aki off of him._

_Once Aki was off of him, he breathed heavily and ran to the sidewalk. Link knew right then that Hokuto was going to have a VERY VERY hard time adjusting to not just his new home, but the fact that Hokuto's been practically yanked out of the only thing that he knows best, into something much bigger, more unfamiliar, and more frightening. He stayed with Aki and Kantaro for a while with Hokuto in their company so he would get used to them, and he specifically told the couple that they shouldn't force him into situations and things he's afraid of._

(end flashback)

"...I don't think they took my advice, though," Link said.

"But that kid's doing well now that the Digimon Brigade met him, isn't he?" Koromon asked.

Before Link could respond, a Digimon suddenly saw them and yelped out of nowhere. "INTRUDERS!"

When Link saw the Digimon staring at him and Koromon, he realized it. "Oh no! The invisibility spell wore off!"

"Seize that thing!" MoonMillenniummon commanded in a militaristic voice. Lilithmon, some Bakemon, HiVisionMonitormon, some Gazimon, Candlemon, the DemiMeramon group, and Dracmon charged at him, eager to imprison him.

But Link, being as quick as he is in these kinds of situations, yanked his digivice out, opened it, pressed a button, and allowed himself and Koromon to fall into a digital hole. As soon as he fell in, the hole disappeared.

"Blast! It got away!" Lilithmon yelled angrily.

"What in the world is that tiny thing anyway?" MoonMillenniummon asked at first, then a thought popped into his head. "No. Could that thing be...?"

"A human! A human has infiltrated our precious inner sanctum! But how?" Lilithmon screamed.

"Is THAT what a human looks like? Dang, they're smaller than I thought!" Candlemon said.

"But he escaped! Whaddo we do?" HiVisionMonitormon asked.

Lilithmon turned to MoonMillenniummon. "Master! Let me go to the human world and catch him!"

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" MoonMillenniummon bellowed, causing the center of the inner sanctum to shake a bit, making Candlemon fall on his rump. "I've said this before and I'll say it again, you will not, under my own jurisdiction, your own, or anyone else's, go to that blasted human world! I refuse to allow any more of my children to perish under the hand of these puny humans, who I just found out are the size of ants and look like they can't even match me in terms of strength and power! Why these creatures manage to kill you all even though they shouldn't be doing so, I haven't the faintest idea!"

"But Master! He found out about the inner sanctum! He's going to spread the word and tell his kin! Surely you don't want them to come here, do you?" Lilithmon pleaded.

MoonMillenniummon sighed. "You have a point, but still! I-"

"Allow me to pursue him, Master," An eerie, ominous, somewhat raspy voice echoed in the inner sanctum.

A strange creature came out of one of the tunnels. A very malicious-looking creature with a black skull for a head, a red skeletal torso and arms, hands covered with big grey gloves, two black belts, black legs, a long brown loincloth, silver and red boots, and red markings on his forehead. In his hand is a red scepter with a scythe on the back and a yellow, sphere-shaped jewel on the front. On his back is a pair of hard, black wings. Upon seeing this Digimon, literally all of the Digimon in the inner sanctum screamed altogether, MoonMillenniummon included.

"SKULLSATAMON!" They all screamed.

"You're alright!" Candlemon yelped.

"You survived the Digital World's destruction after all!" Lilithmon yelled.

"Yes, I have," The creepy, skeletal Digimon, SkullSatamon, said.

"But...if you survived, then...where in my name have you BEEN?" MoonMillenniummon bellowed. "You had me convinced that you didn't survive the Digital World's destruction! You had me convinced that I killed you with my infinite powers!"

"Yeah yeah. Whatever."

Now MoonMillenniummon was mad. "Don't you 'yeah yeah whatever' me! Do you know how sad you made me when you didn't come back? I-"

"There was a reason for my absence, Master," SkullSatamon said. One of the DemiMeramon noticed some papers in SkullSatamon's other hand.

"What are those papers you got?" DemiMeramon asked.

"I'm glad you asked!" SkullSatamon said as he flew in front of MoonMillenniummon and showed him the papers...well, he waved his staff around and made the papers float in mid air right in front of the crystallized dragon.

"You see, I didn't come back to the inner sanctum right off because I noticed something odd after the Digital World was destroyed. Whenever we would brand Digimon with Dark Emblems, this strange hole would appear and swallow the Digimon. I allowed myself to be absorbed by it once, and to my surprise, it was an entrance to another world! I learned how to come back afterward, and after that, I started an experiment. I've traveled all over the Digital World once, so I took it upon myself to travel all over the human world as well, while making sure not to be seen by those pesky creatures. I notice that whenever I go to a certain area in the Digital World, it takes me to a different area in the human world, so I decided to take notes and mark which places in the Digital World are connected to which parts of the human world. I feel this will give us an advantage in finding that scoundrel," SkullSatamon explained.

"Whoa! You seriously did all _that_?" HiVisionMonitormon exclaimed, shocked by SkullSatamon's dedication.

"It took forever, but I feel it'll all be worth it," SkullSatamon said.

"I always knew that you were devoted, but never to such an extent like this. You've really made me proud, SkullSatamon. I'm so happy to have you in my family," MoonMillenniummon said.

"I am humbled by your praise, Master," SkullSatamon said as he bowed before him politely while in the air. "By the way, taking the testimonies of Witchmon and LadyDevimon into account, I moseyed on to the human world with Monitormon and Keramon and found some information about this one particular group of children who tamed those Digimon...those that we killed."

"Oh! HiVisionMonitormon showed us a recording of a battle some time ago! Are you referring to those children?" Lilithmon exclaimed, remembering the quest that two Bakemon and HiVisionMonitormon took when SkullGreymon wreaked havoc.

"Yes. They call themselves the Digimon Brigade. I have a feeling that the intruder just now is associated with them, and I have a good idea on where they are. Master, if I may be so bold, please grant me permission to enter the human world and retrieve the intruder. The information I have will give us a great advantage in terms of tracking them down."

At first, MoonMillenniummon didn't say anything for a while. Then, he finally spoke up.

"SkullSatamon, I'm sure you understand that ever since we learned of the human world's existence, my children have been dying off like Flymons one by one, and I honestly couldn't bear it if you were caught in the line of fire...or any of my children here. But to think you've gone on a quest like this and gathered so much information...just so you can help me gain the upper hand...it really brings tears to my eyes. I honestly wish I could do all of this myself, but his powers keep me confined in this inner sanctum and I'm so sick and tired of feeling so useless. Dangerous as it may be, I will allow you to go to the human world on one condition. Gigadramon has sent word that he managed to recruit a whole army of Groundramon. I want you to cooperate with him for this mission. Is that alright?" MoonMillenniummon explained.

"Yes, sir. I will see to it that the intruder is captured. I will inform Gigadramon right this minute of my plan and tell him that you have given me your humble approval, and with that, I am most grateful," SkullSatamon said, then proceeded to fly away.

_In the human world..._

Some time in the late afternoon, Shunji and Dracomon walked through the park on their way to the construction site. Dracomon looked up at Shunji curiously.

"Hey Shunji. I notice that some people in town are putting up stands and lights. Why is that?" Dracomon asked curiously.

"That's because the summer festival is coming up," Shunji replied.

Dracomon turned his large, dragon-like head to one side in confusion. "Summer festival?"

"Yep! People wear kimonos and play games and dance and eat food and all sorts of stuff. I'm kind of planning to take Ayaka to it when it starts to roll around," Shunji explained.

"But isn't she grounded?" Dracomon asked.

Upon realizing that he forgot about this, Shunji slumped to the grass. "Ugh! I can't believe I forgot!"

Dracomon, dejected upon seeing Shunji's spirits go down the drain, gently rubbed his back with his claw while trying to be careful not to scratch him. "There there. It's alright."

"Digimon shouldn't be showing sympathy to humans!" A familiar, cruel voice exclaimed. Dracomon turned to the source of the voice angrily while Shunji looked up.

Leaning against a tree is none other than Nayuki.


	77. Striking Back

EPISODE 77: Striking Back

_In the Digital World..._

SkullSatamon and Gigadramon flew over a vast desert in the Digital World, heading towards Fionn Village. But attacking Fionn Village certainly wasn't their intent at all. SkullSatamon looked at some papers as he flew alongside Gigadramon, who held in his hand a small black glass orb that seemed to ooze iniquity and evil.

"So where do you think these kids are, SkullSatamon?" Gigadramon asked in a low, manly voice. Much lower than SkullSatamon's voice.

"If my calculations are correct, the area a little ways from Fionn Village leads to a construction site close to the town in which they live, so I think we should release the army there," SkullSatamon said.

"I wish I had your smarts," Gigadramon mused out loud, catching SkullSatamon's attention.

"_You_ want _my_ smarts?" SkullSatamon asked, sounding very confused and surprised by Gigadramon's claim. "You're very good at organizing armies and recruiting Digimon! Not only that, you betrayed your own kin!"

"I didn't betray them, as they say. _They_ betrayed _me_," Gigadramon told him sternly. "When I needed them the most, they failed to hear my cries and chose to focus on something not as important as my welfare. I don't care if they say that I betrayed them. I want to see their kingdom crumble. It serves them right for leaving me behind when I needed them."

"Exactly what happened to you again?" SkullSatamon asked.

"I was a Flarerizamon back then. Some Digimon and I went into a cave to look for treasure. I got separated from them, and I wound up getting caught in a rock slide. I was trapped under there for an entire day. The pain I had to endure was just unbearable. My body was being crushed by the weight of the rocks, and I couldn't move no matter what I did. I screamed for help, but no one came. I saw them passing by, and I screamed to them as loud as I could. They were really close, too. But...they chose to ignore my pleas for help and abandoned me. It was then that I managed to digivolve into my current form and not only escape, but destroy the entire cave. I don't care what those imbeciles think of me now. It's their fault for choosing to care more about themselves and abandon me when I needed them most than actually help me. I will never forgive them. MoonMillenniummon was kind to accept me into his home, and I couldn't be prouder of it," Gigadramon explained.

"You say you want to see Dragon's Den crumble. How come you didn't destroy it before?" SkullSatamon asked.

"It was already destroyed. Plus I'd love to destroy it another time, but other matters have been preventing me from doing so, like the duties I have to perform. But no matter. Perhaps the longer you wait, the better you'll feel about making those brainless idiots get their just desserts," Gigadramon replied.

"Digimon are so cruel these days, aren't they?" SkullSatamon asked.

"We're no different from them...except for the fact that we actually have ideals we wish to accomplish. Hopefully destroying the Digital World back then was worth it," Gigadramon said. He then turned to SkullSatamon curiously. "What brought you into the inner sanctum?"

"Just so you know, I was born evil! I was never a little goody two shoes, and I sure as heck never will be! Anyway, some dudes and I were having a conference in our world. They were talking about reforming everything and changing the economy. I didn't agree with their ideas, thinking that it was too drastic, but they kicked me out. But I'm over it. I never did like being with them anyway. Then I came here. Best decision ever. If there's one thing I love about MoonMillenniummon, it's the fact that he doesn't pick favorites. He listens to everyone's opinions, thinks about what he can do to fit everyone's ideas into his plans, gives hints and encourages us to improve, and is open to everything. He makes us all feel appreciated, something we've always been deprived of in our immortal lives," SkullSatamon explained.

"Hmm. You had it easier than most of us," Gigadramon said.

SkullSatamon shrugged. "I wouldn't go that far. Oh! We should probably get moving. I don't want to waste any time!"

"Do you know how to open a portal? I sure don't," Gigadramon said.

"I'll show you. It's kind of basic. All you have to do is concentrate some of your data into your hand and use it to hack into the inter-spacial rift that separates this world from the other," SkullSatamon explained.

"Digimon can do that? I never knew," Gigadramon asked, surprised by SkullSatamon's knowledge.

"Hey! You learn something new everyday! Now let's get to it!" SkullSatamon snapped his fingers and held his hand out. A few seconds after, a large digital portal appeared before them. Both SkullSatamon and Gigadramon flew right into it. While SkullSatamon was aware of where they'd be going, Gigadramon isn't since he's never been to the human world before.

_In the human world..._

"What do you want?" Shunji asked as he saw Nayuki looking at him while leaning against a tree. Both he and Dracomon stood up in alarm as they caught sight of the girl in black.

Nayuki spat at the grass. "I want to ask you something. Aren't you a little old to be playing with Digimon and a bunch of brainless kids? You're like...what? Sixteen or something? You should be running around hooking up with girls, drinking while underage, and being a jock, not a softie who hangs around a bunch of kids who will never amount to anything."

"Who are you to decide what Shunji should be doing with his life?" Dracomon snarled angrily, really wanting to roast her with his Dragon Ember attack.

"Easy, Dracomon," Shunji told him, then looked back at Nayuki. "Don't try to stereotype me, kid. I'm not a jock or a gangster, nor do I want to be, and I choose to be with those kids because I love Digimon."

"And I really want to ask you this: how come you aren't the leader of those kids? You're so old, aren't you? You can do whatever you want with them. You can tell them what to do and be the biggest slave driver in the world. I really don't see why you're not taking such a big opportunity," Nayuki asked cynically.

It's here that Shunji found himself unable to answer for a bit. More than anything, he fears being a leader, or someone who towers over the weak. Shunji didn't want to be a domineering person or a slave driver like his ambitious father. He didn't want his life to be nothing but a replica of his father's. He didn't want to show his fear to Nayuki of all people, especially since she could use it against him despite the fact that she's slightly younger than him, so he regained his equanimity and responded. "You're right. I am too old to be listening to some kids. But I don't mind. I prefer being on the sidelines. I don't want to steal the spotlight. I know my place, and I don't want to be anything more than what I am. I'm satisfied with what I have, and becoming a leader...just doesn't suit me."

Unfortunately, this response made Nayuki choleric. "Oh, cut the garbage! How can you be so dumb? You're seriously letting a bunch of brainless middle school kids walk all over you like they're the best thing in the world? Jeez, and to think I thought they were dumb before!"

Shunji didn't flinch. He expected Nayuki to react this way. "Think what you want. What I do is my own choice, and I won't allow you to make decisions for anyone...and in case you're thinking about destroying my friend here and taking away his data, don't even dare try it, because I really will break you if you ever harm my friend."

"Why do you care so much about that weakling? He's not worth it!"

"He is so worth it. To me, he is."

Nayuki facepalmed. "My God! You seriously lack ambition and determination! Do you really think you can get through life by sitting around and doing nothing? If you do that, then you're letting yourself fall prey to the strong! You need to learn to fight for what you want and not let anyone walk all over you!"

"There's a difference between living your own life and letting people walk all over you. I'm a person who likes to do his own thing, without taking into consideration what other people think. They can think it's great, or they can think I'm being nothing but lazy and disgraceful. Do I look like I care about being in the spotlight? No, I don't. Being in the spotlight isn't all sunshine and rainbows. I know that from raw experience, and I don't want to live that kind of life. I don't like it when people put expectations on me. They want to jerk me around and make me into their perfect little slave. I won't have that kind of life either. The Digimon Brigade...they accept me for who I am and don't try to make me into what they want. They're smarter than that despite being so young, and I sure give them credit for it. They accept the fact that I don't want to be a leader, and they're okay with it. I'm happy with being in the sidelines. It doesn't hurt anyone this way. It's not like me being a leader will change anything for me," Shunji explained very solemnly, without even the faintest of smiles on his face, and usually people never go through an entire day without seeing him smile. Dracomon looked up at him sadly.

"Shunji..." Dracomon whimpered to himself.

Again, Nayuki didn't buy it. "Quit talking arrogant! You think you're so awesome, huh? I-"

"Aren't YOU the one who's being arrogant?" Shunji said, which made Nayuki stop in her tracks. "You're convinced that the only way to get through life is by terrorizing everyone, destroying everything, jumping to the most ridiculous conclusions ever, telling people how to live their lives to fit your standards, filling your head with untrue ideas about people and the world, and being a stuck-up and overly judgmental snob. You used a pellet gun on an innocent girl just because her situation at home has changed dramatically. You're convinced that everything people does, well-intentioned or accidental or not, is all done to you on purpose or out of malicious ulterior motive. You abuse your own Digimon because you're convinced that he's weak compared to us. You're pretty much the living definiton of arrogant."

"Oh, is THAT what you think?" Nayuki asked.

"Shunji, _please_! Let me roast her! She's unbearable!" Dracomon begged by clinging to Shunji's shirt while making sure not to rip it with his claws.

"Maybe you're the one who should be roasted," Nayuki retorted.

Shunji shrugged. "Well, if you're not interested in letting me do my own thing, then I'm leaving. Come on, Dracomon."

"WHAT? But Shunji-" Dracomon was shocked by Shunji's decision, but Shunji shushed him by clinging to his claw and dragging him away from Nayuki.

"Whatever! I still think you're an idiot!" Nayuki yelled as she watched Shunji and Dracomon walk away.

Once they got far enough, Dracomon managed to pry himself out of Shunji's hand. He was nothing short of appalled. "Shunji! Why don't you fight her? Why don't you let me fight her? She's absolutely despicable!"

"If I let you fight her, then you'd be proving her right in her conception that Digimon are nothing more than packets of data meant to kill people and each other. I didn't want you to sully your good name," Shunji told him, which made Dracomon stop yelling.

"Oh. I see. But still! A person like her shouldn't be allowed to do whatever she wants! You shouldn't have let her go!" Dracomon yelped.

"I know. I don't like her behavior either. But yelling at her and fighting with her won't work. She's as thick-skulled as she is obstinate. If we're going to get through to her, then we're going to have to really hit it home," Shunji told him.

Dracomon, seeing no point in arguing with Shunji any further, decided to concede defeat. But in his heart, however, he's happy that Shunji is at least determined about something. Yes, Dracomon actually saw signs of determination in Shunji's blue eyes as he solemnly talked with Nayuki about his approach toward life. Once they got to the square, they saw vendors putting up stands and signs and everything. People were carrying large objects, setting up a big stage with lights, and lighting torches. Shunji smiled.

"Looks like this year's summer festival is going to be better than last year's," Shunji said.

Dracomon looked confused. "THAT's the summer festival? Looks kind of puny."

"Not entirely. The actual festival doesn't start until the end of the month. People are just getting ready and setting everything up right now," Shunji said.

"Ohhh! I get it now! Sorry about that," Dracomon said.

"Hey! You're a Digimon! Of course you don't know about stuff like this!" Shunji told him with his usual impish smile. He then looked up at the still blue sky and ruminated. "Speaking of which...I wonder how they're doing? Maybe we'll stop in for a visit."

Of course, not everyone is looking forward to the summer festival.

"MOM! I SAID _NO_!"

A very perturbed and angry Yun stomped into the living room, trying (and failing) to get away from Hisako, who is holding a dark green kimono with white bubbles and orange goldfish on it wrapped around her arms. Lucero, Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon all looked at each other with very confused faces.

"Come on, Yun! It's not that bad!" Hisako told her while showing her the kimono once more.

"Mom! For the hundredth time, I am _NOT_ wearing that tight, ugly, and revealing kimono to the summer festival! I don't even want to go this year anyway!" Yun yelled.

"Yun! Use your inside voice!" Hisako interrupted.

"Get that thing away from me!" Yun yelled again, not heeding Hisako's command.

"I'll fix the obi so it won't be so tight!"

"Mom! It still reveals my chest and makes it look bigger than it already is!"

"No it doesn't!"

"Yes it does! I said no and that's final! I don't want to hear anymore of it!"

Not wanting to see this conflict go on, Lucero decided to step into the fray calmly.

"Hisako-dono? If thou dost not mind, I can wear that kimono," Lucero said.

Yun and Hisako both looked surprised. "You want to wear this?"

Lucero nodded solemnly. "Is that alright?"

Hisako looked down at the kimono with an apprehensive face, then back at Lucero. "But this is a kimono for a girl. I don't think it'll fit you that good."

"It looks more like a neutral kimono to me," Lucero said.

"I don't think it'll be a problem," Lopmon piped in. "You're good at mending kimonos, aren't you, Hisako-san? Perhaps you can make some changes to it so it can suit Lucero. Besides, I don't think dark green suits Yun that well."

Hisako was rendered speechless for a short while. She looked down at the kimono, then at Lucero, who looked quite intent on wearing the kimono so Yun wouldn't have to. Finally, Hisako sighed, which meant she conceded defeat. "Alright. I'll see what I can do."

Lucero, beaming with happiness, hugged Hisako. "I thank thee for thy kindness, Hisako-dono!"

Hisako then managed to pry Lucero off of him and went back into her room. Lucero returned to the living room. Yun groaned as she fell on the big couch, looking very languid, which piqued everyone's curiosity.

"How come you don't want to wear the kimono?" Terriermon asked.

"It's ugly, tight, revealing, the fabric makes my skin feel like it's being stabbed by a million pins and needles, the goldfish look like squashed carrots, and it used to be Ayaka's! It's way too small for me, and Ayaka wore it when she was thirteen! Thirteen! Besides, I don't want to go to the summer festival this year! All I want to do is tell everyone about this new piece of information I learned yet NOBODY's letting me do it!" Yun explained while yelling at the final sentence.

"Try arranging a Digimon Brigade meeting, kyu! Since everything's all in a tizzy right now, maybe you can-" Cutemon tried to reassure Yun and give her some suggestions to mollify her anger, but it didn't help, as Yun quickly interrupted her.

"But I don't want to wait! I want to do it now! This could be the reason why none of the other Digimon can digivolve to ultimate when a Digimon who hasn't digivolved to ultimate yet does for the first time!" Yun proclaimed loudly.

"Yun! Use your inside voice!" Hisako called out, but Yun ignored her. Lucero gently put a hand on her shoulder and looked at her sympathetically.

"Calm thyself, Yun. I'm sure thou can find an opportunity to share thy information with them soon," Lucero told her, but Yun didn't seem to buy it.

"That's what you think," Yun muttered.

"I wish I could wear a kimono," Terriermon said out of the blue.

"Yun? Do you like wearing kimonos?" Lopmon asked with a sweet smile on her chubby brown face, changing the subject, which is normally very unlike her.

"I like looking at them, yeah. I want to wear them, too, but the ones I get are either too tight for me or feel weird, and Mom never lets me get the ones I really like because of ridiculous stuff like creases in the thigh areas or they're too big or the color makes me look weird or stuff like that! I really wanted to wear this cute pink kimono with white bunny faces and blue diamonds on them but Mom wouldn't get it! She said it's too childish for me! Who cares if it's childish? It actually fit me, it wasn't tight, it didn't make my chest bigger than it already is, and it let my legs feel more free! And Mom didn't let me get it because she says it looked _babyish_ on me!" Yun replied sharply.

"Wow. That's harsh," Cutemon said.

"I know, right? There's no way an awesome kimono like that will ever exist again! The same applies to clothes, too! Mom is really uptight when it comes to clothes. I'm not a fashion-lover like Ayaka is, nor do I want to be. I don't care if certain clothes make me look good or hot or anything like that. I don't want to look hot in clothes. I just want to feel comfortable, that's it! Mom's way too fashion focused for her own good and hardly ever lets me buy clothes that I want, and for silly reasons like the ones I mentioned. Whenever we buy jeans or shorts, she always wants them to not have a crease in the thigh areas. Who cares if there's a crease in the thigh? It can be straightened with a little ironing, can't it?" Yun yelped. She fell back on the couch, looking up at the ceiling and feeling very tired. "Ugh. I sound just like Ayaka. Sorry to make you all listen to me whine."

"It's quite alright," Lopmon said as she hopped onto Yun's chest with a smile on her face and snuggled right up to her. "Everyone needs to release their stress and worries once in a while. It's not good to keep it all inside."

"Yeah!" Terriermon followed Lopmon's lead and snuggled up to Yun as well. "If I kept all my troubles bottled up inside me forever, I'd go buggy! Just the thought of it makes me want to go _'RAAAAAAHHHHHH!'_ at the whole wide world!"

Terriermon's pseudo-roaring made Yun laugh a bit, which made them all smile in perfect unison. Cutemon hopped into Lucero's arms. "Look on the bright side, kyu! At least you don't have to wear the dark green kimono, kyu!" Cutemon said.

Yun smiled. "You're right. I really hate that thing," She then looked up at Lucero. "But I can see you wearing it, Lucero. I think it'd look good on you since you're smaller than me in size. Do you really want to go to the summer festival?"

"I...I haven't really thought of going to this summer festival thou speakest of. I only wanted to get Hisako-dono off of thy back," Lucero explained.

"Exactly what IS a summer festival anyway?" Terriermon asked.

"It's not much. Just a place where you can eat food, play games, dance, and walk around. I don't really like going to them, though, and not just because it's a pointless trope in a bunch of anime and manga either," Yun explained.

"How come?" Terriermon asked again.

"They're loud, for one thing, and nothing really exciting happens. I don't remember, but Mom tells me that when I was little, around two or so years old or something, some festival goers rang this big bell to commemorate something, and it was so loud that I started screaming, hitting my own head, and ran away as fast as I could. I think that was before I was formally diagnosed as autistic, but I honestly don't remember at all," Yun explained.

"I'll bet it must have been very unpleasant," Lopmon said.

Cutemon scratched one of her big ears. "I don't like the sound of big bells ringing either, kyu. They're very deafening, kyu!" Cutemon said.

Yun was about to say something more until a knock was heard at the door.

"I'll get it!" Hisako exclaimed as she stood up, ran to the door, and answered it.

"Yo!"

The person on the other side of the door proved to be none other than Shunji, accompanied by Dracomon!

"Oh! Shunji-kun! What a surprise," Hisako exclaimed, shocked by Shunji's appearance.

"Hiya, Hisako-san!" Shunji said.

"If you're looking for Ayaka, she's not here, and she's forbidden from seeing other people," Hisako said as she allowed Shunji and Dracomon inside.

"I know. That's not why I'm here," Shunji said.

"Hello! It's nice to see you today!" Dracomon said to Hisako.

As soon as they saw the half-sized dragon waltzing into the living room, all three little rabbit Digimon hopped on him happily.

"Dracomon!" They all cried out as they hopped on him.

"Hi bunnies!" Dracomon laughed happily as he felt the three bunny Digimon hop on him.

"Dracomon! We haven't seen you in a long while! How have you been?" Lopmon asked with a smile.

"I've been fine. Sorry I couldn't help you with the battles you've had in the past week or so," Dracomon told her.

"That's okay, kyu! We managed to defeat them on our own, kyu!" Cutemon piped in.

"Come on! Let's play!" Terriermon exclaimed.

With that, Lopmon, Cutemon, Dracomon, and Terriermon all ran out into the backyard to play together since they haven't seen each other in what seems to be a long while. Shunji sat next to Yun while Lucero continued to stand up. At first, Yun felt a little apprehensive upon seeing him suddenly come into the house without any advanced notice and especially since Ayaka will yell at her if she's anywhere near him, but she knew that since he's a member of the Digimon Brigade, she had to tell him about the information she found. She was about to say something, but oddly enough, Shunji looked at her with one of the solemnest looks on his face. Yun had seen this look a few times before, but not to this extent. While she didn't look directly in his eyes, as she's quite averse to eye contact for a myriad of reasons, she could tell that there was sadness and regret written on his face.

"Yun-chan? How have you been since Monday?" Shunji asked in a low voice.

Yun was about to say something, but Lucero interrupted her. Oddly enough, he looked quite mad. "She's been nothing short of traumatized! I'm very disappointed in thee, Shunji-dono! Why hast thou not done a thing to cease Ayaka's anger when she screamed at her and pushed her in the mud? Yun's heart has been broken yet again, and thou hast ceased to do a thing about it!"

"Lucero!" Yun yelled, appalled by Lucero's attitude toward Shunji.

"I tried to stop her, but I couldn't! Heck, you should have seen the amount of people that tried to make her stop yelling at Yun! But Ayaka just wouldn't stop no matter what we did!" Shunji snapped back, also surprised by Lucero's attitude. If Terriermon were here right now, he would back up Lucero's claim and blame Shunji for not doing anything as well. Yun had to thank Dracomon for taking him away when he did, or Terriermon would be howling at him right now.

"Hast thou even seen Yun these past few days? She slept in her dirty clothes, wouldn't eat anything, and cried throughout the entire day, even as she slept! How wouldst thou feel if-" Lucero was about to go on a harangue, but Yun stood up and interrupted him.

"Lucero! STOP!" Yun edicted loudly, which made Lucero stop in his tracks. "Look, I know you're mad about what happened, and thanks for caring about me, but don't blame Anjo-san for it! He really did try to stop Ayaka from yelling at me, along with a bunch of other people, but you know how persistent Ayaka is! And besides, he's still a member of the Digimon Brigade!"

Lucero was shocked. Surprised by Yun standing up for Shunji of all people. Ever since he heard about the unforgivable crimes Ayaka committed against Yun on Monday, Lucero had been nothing short of seething with nothing but anger, just like Terriermon. Lucero really wanted to yell at Ayaka and give her a piece of his own mind. But everybody else seemed to steal his idea and they already gave her their own pieces of their mind, Melody included. Lucero loved Yun, and to see her be so broken and completely shattered broke his own heart inside. He heard that Shunji was there too, but he wasn't told of what Shunji at least tried to do, so he wound up jumping to conclusions too early. Upon seeing Yun clarify it for him, Lucero's anger was blown away like the wind and he became dejected.

"Sorry..." Lucero muttered.

Yun calmed down a little as well. "It's alright."

Yun then turned back to Shunji. "Did you come to check on me?"

Shunji nodded grimly.

"Well, I'm still trying to get myself together, but I really need to tell you something I found out since you're here and all!" Yun told him softly at first, then suddenly got excited upon remembering what she needed to do.

"What is it?" Shunji asked.

Yun rummaged through her shorts pocket to find the paper with the lyrics on the song and the highlighted words, which she managed to find, pull out, and show to Shunji.

"These are part of the lyrics to this song I've been hearing in this dream I had. Take a look at the highlighted words. Do you notice anything about them?" Yun asked as Shunji looked at the paper.

_You are the star that makes me heart sing._  
><em>You are the star that lights my world.<em>  
><em>You are the star that lights my world of darkness and despair.<em>  
><em>You are at <strong>peace<strong>, and make me feel **harmony**._  
><em>Your <strong>mercy<strong> gave me **freedom** and **faith**._  
><em>Your <strong>grace<strong> and **strength** nurtured my **determination**,_  
><em>In a world that needs <strong>justice<strong>._  
><em>You make me worthy of giving <strong>forgiveness<strong>._  
><em>Your acknowledge my <strong>prudence<strong> and help me._

_The star that shines the brightest gives me hope and **liberty**._  
><em>You are my hope, my harmony, my eternally shining star.<em>

Shunji looked at the lyrics intently and read the highlighted words. He became shocked. It hit him before he reached justice, though this meant he realized it later than Lopmon did.

"The D-Hearts?" Shunji asked.

"Yeah! You know how Kosuke's been complaining about why Digimon who already digivolved into ultimate can't while others who haven't do so when needed? I think this might be some clue as to why this is so! I need to tell everyone about this!" Yun exclaimed.

Shunji got his digivice out. "If you want I can tell them for you."

"Is that alright?" Yun asked.

"Sure. I've got lots of free time on my hands right now. Maybe I'll arrange a Digimon Brigade meeting," Shunji said.

"Thanks. I would have done it myself, but there's been so much going on, and nobody's letting me have some time for myself despite the fact that school's closed for now. You really saved me on this one," Yun told him with a smile.

Shunji opened his digivice, turned on the text option, typed his message, and sent it to everyone.

**To: Minako, Kosuke, Melody, Otoya, Rena, Riku, Aria, Hokuto, Isao**

**From: Shunji**

**Subject: New info**

**You know that song Yun's heard in her dreams? The D-Heart names are lyrics in it. She thinks it might be a clue to something. Digimon Brigade meeting tomorrow at the construction site!**

"Aaaand send," Shunji said.

"May I see those lyrics for a moment?" Lucero asked.

"Sure," Shunji handed him the paper and allowed Lucero the liberty of looking at it. Lucero examined the paper with his sky blue eyes intently, but as Yun could see, he began to look very confused, like something didn't make sense to him.

"What's wrong?" Yun asked.

"Something's not right here," Lucero said.

"What do you mean?" Yun asked again.

"Thou knowest that Devidramon digivolved into Mummymon shortly after Seasarmon digivolved to Cerberumon, right?" Lucero asked.

Yun thought about it and remembered it. "Yeah! I saw them do it! I remember telling you about it, too."

"Look at these lyrics here. Prudence comes AFTER forgiveness, and yet Nayuki's D-Heart of Prudence activated shortly after Otoya-dono's D-Heart of Faith did," Lucero explained.

"Hey! You're right! I know Birdramon hasn't digivolved yet, so I wonder why Devidramon digivolved earlier than usual?" Yun asked.

"This world is just full of mysteries," Shunji said.

Yun was about to say something until something strange happened. The ground suddenly began shaking! A loud, rumbling sound echoed throughout the house, and the house suddenly began shaking like an earthquake is hitting. The TV on the table in the living room began to shake, some pictures fell off of the wall and onto the floor, the lights flickered for just a bit, and Hisako was so surprised she wound up dropping a mug full of coffee onto the kitchen floor. It shattered, and coffee oozed out of the broken mug. Even the shattered pieces trembled violently in response to the loud rumbling.

"Whoa!" Yun and Lucero both fell to the floor while Shunji clung to the couch. After a while, the shaking subsided.

"Tell me that wasn't an earthquake!" Shunji exclaimed.

Yun was going to say something again until she was interrupted yet again.

"It's a Digimon!" Lopmon, Cutemon, Terriermon, and Dracomon all ran into the living room looking very frantic and perturbed.

"A Digimon?" Lucero yelped.

"Yeah! A big one! And there's quite a few of them, too! We felt them just now!" Lopmon exclaimed.

Yun's digivice suddenly beeped. She picked it up and answered it.

"Hello?"

_"Digimon army at the construction site! You've gotta get here quick!"_ Riku shouted on the other line. Yun, surprised by his loud voice, wound up closing the digivice and hanging up on him.

"The construction site! We've gotta go there now!" Yun exclaimed.

"I'll take you there! This'll make up for missing all the other battles you had!" Dracomon said.

"Lucero, you stay here in case any Digimon try to kidnap you," Yun said.

"Alright. Be careful," Lucero warned them.

Shunji, Yun, Lopmon, Cutemon, Terriermon, and Dracomon went out of the house. Once Dracomon was out, he digivolved into Coredramon. Shunji, Yun, Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon all climbed onto his back and clung to him so they wouldn't fall off. Coredramon ascended into the air and headed toward the construction site. It didn't take very long to get there, but when they got there, they saw something quite shocking.

Seven large, green, flightless dragon Digimon covered not just the construction site, but a slightly populated area right next to it. That's right, seven of them! Police cars were already on the scene, and some police officers escorted a huge crowd of people away from the area and onto some buses so they could get away. One house was already destroyed. The earthbound dragon Digimon are quite huge, Coredramon's size to be more exact, and green in color, like emeralds. Their green scales shone underneath the direct sunlight, blinding Coredramon, Yun, and Shunji for a bit. The dragon Digimon walked on all fours, and instead of wings, their backs donned huge, bulky claws with bloody red nails, matching their sharp spikes, horns, and eyes. While their eyes are red, they're not glowing so they don't have Dark Emblems on them. On the tip of their tail is a thick, black, very heavily spiked iron mace that could likely squash and pierce anything and anyone that came into contact with it.

"Man! That's some competition we've got there!" Coredramon bellowed as Shunji got his digivice out.

"Groundramon, an ultimate level and virus attribute! His special attacks are Giga Crack, Scrapless Claw, and Megaton Hammer Crush!" Shunji said.

But that wasn't all they saw. As Yun looked closer, she saw the Digimon Brigade and their fully digivolved Digimon there, along with some secondaries like Pteramon, Owlmon, Pegasusmon, Nefertimon, Sheepmon, and Thunderbirmon. But that wasn't the strange thing.

Among the Digimon are Angewomon, MagnaAngemon, Crescemon, GrapLeomon, and Cerberumon.

All ultimate levels.

Another ultimate level Digimon was there as well, which wasn't a Groundramon as this Digimon could fly, but it didn't look like it belonged to anyone.

Before Yun could let them know that she was there, one of the Groundramon bellowed loudly, stimulating the other Groundramon into following suit.

In Groundramon-speak, a million roars is a declaration of all-out war.


	78. Wingdramon! Soar Into The Sky!

EPISODE 78: Wingdramon! Soar Into the Sky!

The construction site, or, what was left of it, has been flattened by the seven Groundramon, along with quite a good amount of trees that fell to the ground. One Groundramon bit off one of the heavy metal construction beams and threw it into a house, causing it to crumble and fall to the ground immediately after it hit. Another Groundramon immediately began digging into the ground. Coredramon saw this, put Shunji and the others down on the ground off his back, and flew after it.

"Come back here, you!" Coredramon yelled as he managed to grab Groundramon's tail and yank on it, keeping the green scaled dragon from digging any further into the ground.

"Let's try an all out assault on that one now that Coredramon's got it!" Pteramon suggested.

"You got it!" Kosuke said as he rode on top of Pteramon, then looked up at MagnaAngemon. "MagnaAngemon! Get him!"

"Everyone! Follow my lead!" MagnaAngemon said as he beckoned Angewomon, GrapLeomon, Crescemon, and Cerberumon to follow him. They flew over to the lone Groundramon that Coredramon is keeping from digging into the ground.

"I'll attack him first! Blue Flare Breath!" Coredramon allowed a moderate stream of blue fire to pour out of his mouth and onto the Groundramon he's pulling. As soon as the blue flames made contact with the flightless green dragon's scales, Groundramon felt as though he were being burned alive, and bellowed while enduring excrutiating pain. Every single one of his scales dissipated into darkened ash. As soon as the flames dissipated, Groundramon appeared as nothing more than a skeletal being, with a green orb in his torso.

"Now! Attack! Excalibur!" MagnaAngemon commanded as he pulled out his sword and dredged it into the green orb while Coredramon used the opportunity to fly away and allow the other Digimon to finish it off.

"Celestial Arrow!" Angewomon allowed an arrow of light to hit the green orb in it's body.

"Ice Archery!" Crescemon followed Angewomon's lead exactly, only her arrow is made of thick, frozen ice, and managed to pierce the green orb perfectly.

"Emerald Blaze!" Cerberumon's own stream of glowing green fire managed to finish the job, and the skeletal thing that used to be one of the Groundramon immediately dissipated into data. Firamon, with Riku on his back, flew over to them and watched as Groundramon's data disappeared.

"Wow! That was cool!" Riku exclaimed.

"One Groundramon down, six more to go!" Firamon said.

But before Firamon could fly away, Riku saw the grey mechanical dragon in the sky, and he gasped.

He actually recognized him.

"Hey! I know you! You're Gigadramon! You're the one who attacked Dragon's Den once!" Riku yelled loudly, actually managing to get the grey mechanical dragon, Gigadramon's attention.

"Huh? You know that Digimon, Rikkun?" Yun asked as she got her digivice out to make Lopmon, Terriermon, and Cutemon digivolve.

Gigadramon shook his head and turned towards the six Groundramon who are left. "Groundramon! Cease your attacks at once!"

Once Gigadramon voiced his command, all six Groundramon immediately stopped moving and attacking, which the Digimon Brigade found very odd.

"Why'd you stop them from attacking? Don't you evil Digimon overlords love letting your armies run loose and killing everybody?" Pteramon asked.

"Because I have a question to ask you all," Gigadramon said.

"Keep your guard up! This could be a trap!" Melody exclaimed as she rode on Birdramon with Thunderbirmon by her side.

"What do you want, you wicked creature?" Crescemon asked with her arms crossed.

"Yeah! What's your deal?" GrapLeomon asked angrily as he managed to wrap himself around one Groundramon's neck. In response, another Groundramon bit him, pryed him off like he was gum on a school desk, and threw him at a tree with great force! The blow was so strong that he de-digivolved into Tsunomon!

"Tsunomon!" Isao yelled as he ran over to his newly fallen partner, who failed to defeat a Groundramon as Gigadramon told them not to attack the city for now.

"Why do you Digimon serve these humans? They're so small and don't look as though they'll ever amount to anything," Gigadramon asked in a serious tone of voice.

"You make it sound like we're their slaves!" MarineAngemon piped in as she tried to render a Groundramon unconscious with her Spray of Hearts attack, only to just barely dodge an attack from it's tail mace. "Yah!"

"Do you not consider yourselves slaves to these worthless beings? They domesticated you and are telling you to do whatever they tell you. How can you not show any defiance?" Gigadramon asked.

"Because we're not their slaves," Cerberumon said with Otoya on his back. "We choose to be with them because they need us, and they love us very much. Don't make it sound as though all humans are terrible creatures. We don't deny that there are such things as bad humans with wicked hearts, but there are also good humans with warm hearts, and these children here are the latter."

"How can you be so sure about that?" Gigadramon asked.

"Excalibur!" MagnaAngemon tried to stab a Groundramon with his sword, but because it's green scales are so thick, the sword didn't leave even a dent, and all it did was bounce off and into a tree.

"Missle Storm!" Pteramon shot about a million missles at another Groundramon, but they didn't leave any marks either.

"Can we take this fight into the Digital World please?" Pegasusmon whinnied angrily. "We're damaging civilian property here!"

"He's got a point. Can you tell your army to go somewhere else so nobody will get hurt?" Angewomon asked.

"Oh? So you're actually caring about these puny humans? Well, I refuse!" Gigadramon exclaimed. "Groundramon! Continue your attacks!"

The Groundramon bellowed and began ripping trees out of the ground again.

"We've gotta keep them from entering the town!" Yun exclaimed.

"Keep them in the construction site! Don't let them get away!" Shunji commanded.

At this moment, Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon all digivolved into Turuiemon, Rabbitmon, and Gargomon. They dove into the fray, hoping to at least help them some. Yun tried to summon her other Digimon, but was dismayed to find that she left her D-Chips at home. Again. MarineAngemon again tried to render a Groundramon unconscious with her Spray of Hearts attack, only to nearly be eaten by it's huge, sharp toothed mouth. Angemon swooped downward and managed to save Minako from one Groundramon's tail mace. Coredramon tried to stop another Groundramon from digging into the ground, but this time he was too late. Rabbitmon followed him. To her surprise, Groundramon appeared right in the middle of a busy street. Just the appearance of it's head alone caused one car to veer off course and crash into the Wawa across the street. Other cars managed to stop just in the nick of time. As soon as the drivers saw the green head protruding out from the now leveled street, they left their cars behind and ran away. Gigadramon decided to fly away from the scene. Firamon saw this and wasn't going to let Gigadramon get away. He descended to the ground and let Riku get off of him.

"Gigadramon's getting away! I'm going to go after him! You stay here, Riku!" Firamon told his reluctant partner.

"But Firamon-" Riku tried to protest, but Firamon quickly interrupted him.

"No buts! Go and take care of your sister!" Firamon told him strictly and ascended back into the air as he gave chase to Gigadramon.

"Star Shower!" Pegasusmon made a rain of stars fall on one Groundramon, but it didn't do a thing.

"Gauntlet Claw!" Turuiemon leaped onto one Groundramon's head and tried to dig her gauntlets into the scales only to find that they're much harder than expected, and the pain caused by making contact with it hit her in the gauntlets right there. "OWWWW!"

Groundramon saw this as a great opportunity to throw Turuiemon off, as he wrapped one of his big arms around Turuiemon and threw her at a fallen tree. Turuiemon didn't de-digivolve like GrapLeomon did, but even she knew that defeating an ultimate level dragon Digimon with scales as hard as diamond was going to be quite tough.

"Carrot Bomb!" Rabbitmon made a rain of carrots hit Groundramon in his tail, though he didn't feel a thing. He simply climbed out of the hole he made and was about to go wreaking more havoc. Rabbitmon gave chase despite her small size. Much to her surprise, Cerberumon descended right before the rabid Groundramon with gusto.

"You're not going anywhere, you wicked thing!" Cerberumon bellowed.

Groundramon roared back and lunged at Cerberumon with an attack. "Scrapless Claw!" Groundramon tried to grab Cerberumon with the huge arms on it's back, but Cerberumon, being as agile as he is, used his wings to fly away from the giant arms, gliding around elegantly. Groundramon then tried to jab Cerberumon with the red horn on his nose, but Cerberumon used one of his large claws to push it back. Owlmon suddenly descended right next to him.

"Need some help?" Owlmon asked.

"I sure can use it! Get ready!" Cerberumon told him as Groundramon charged at them angrily.

"Infared Eye!"

"Emerald Blaze!"

Red lasers came out from Owlmon's goggles and Cerberumon's river of glowing green fire managed to break through part of Groundramon's scales, though not enough to expose the green orb in it's abdomen.

"Should we try and expose his DigiCore?" Owlmon asked.

"It would appear so. Owlmon, you distract it while I make Groundramon fall on his back," Cerberumon told him.

Owlmon did a sailor's salute in the air. "Yes, sir!"

Owlmon then flew before the already irritated Groundramon. "Hey ugly! You don't have any wings like I do! Nah nah!" Owlmon taunted the green scaled dragon in a sing-song voice which made Groundramon quite mad.

Groundramon tried everything to swat Owlmon. He tried using his big arms and the mace on his tail, but Owlmon, being as quick as he is, managed to evade every single one of his swats. Owlmon flew all around Groundramon like an annoying fly while taunting him at the same time...and having quite a good time of it. Once Groundramon was standing on his back feet, however, Cerberumon took action.

"Now! Heavenly Headbutt!" Cerberumon, with great speed and power, managed to ram his three heads into Groundramon's belly which managed to not only make Groundramon tip over and fall on his back (Owlmon couldn't resist the urge to shout "Timber!" as Groundramon lost his balance and fell on his back), but to actually make a huge dent on the scales on his abdomen.

"Emerald Blaze!" Cerberumon used another Emerald Blaze attack, which managed to break through the scales fully and expose the green orb within, his DigiCore. With his large claws, Cerberumon dredged them into the green orb, and with great strength, he swiped at it and made it shatter, causing the helpless Groundramon below him to finally dissipate into data.

Unfortunately, Cerberumon fell on his side in the middle of the street, probably from exhaustion.

"Cerberumon! You okay?" Otoya yelped as she got off of Cerberumon's back and ran to his three heads.

"Yes. I think I used up my powers," Cerberumon said. He found himself to be quite right, as he suddenly found himself being enveloped by a blue light and shrinking until he found that he de-digivolved into a very weak Xiaomon. Otoya picked him up and cradled the weak little puppy in her arms.

"You did great, Xiaomon," Otoya told him kindly.

"Two down, four to go...and I fear it won't be easy," Xiaomon told her weakly.

"Wool Grenade!" Sheepmon shot two torpedoes at another Groundramon, but the green flightless dragon knocked both of them away with the two big hands on his back. One torpedo landed on a house. People who were standing in front of it fled as fast as possible so the torpedo wouldn't hit them, which it didn't. Another torpedo landed into a small cluster of trees, causing them to be set on fire. Aria and MarineAngemon saw this and were shocked.

"Oh no! The trees are on fire!" Aria exclaimed timorously.

"Don't worry! I'll handle it!" MarineAngemon edicted as she flew over to the area now covered with flames.

"Magic Water!" MarineAngemon made a huge tornado of water appear from out of nowhere and shower the flames. Thankfully, her attack worked, as once the huge torrent of water showered over the trees, the flames immediately died out, and all that was left are some charred bark, dead leaves, and small clouds of smoke. MarineAngemon failed to notice that Gigadramon was right above her...and Firamon saw it.

"MarineAngemon! LOOK OUT!" Firamon yelled.

"Gigabyte Wing!" Gigadramon spread his wings out and proceeded to dive at MarineAngemon, who thankfully managed to see him in time.

"YEEK!" Quickly, she darted out of Gigadramon's path, causing him to fall into the burnt trees. As he was about to get up, Firamon lunged at him.

"I won't let you get away, you wicked creature!" Firamon roared.

"You're such a fool. You'd be so much better if you weren't with that puny human," Gigadramon told him as he smacked him with one of his mechanical arms. Fortunately, the blow didn't hurt Firamon that much as he managed to ascend back into the air, with Gigadramon following him.

"My partner needs me, and I'm happy to be by his side! You don't have the right to tell me what to do!" Firamon bellowed.

"Spray of Hearts!" MarineAngemon tried to shoot some pink heart bubbles at Gigadramon, but he managed to smack them all with his mechanical arms and tail.

"Fira Bomb!" A sphere of fire managed to hit Gigadramon, but it didn't do anything. It didn't leave even the tiniest scratch.

"Genocide Spark!" Gigadramon opened the claws on his mechanical arms, revealing the holes in them, and all of a sudden, a barrage of dark purple lights shot out from both of them. Firamon managed to dodge a few of them by doing some back flips, but he wound up being hit by two balls of light. One hit him in the side of his head, and the other on his left back leg. But that didn't stop Firamon from going after Gigadramon and actually managing to grab Gigadramon and throw him to the ground. Gigadramon fell right back into the charred trees. Gigadramon tried to get up, but when he looked up, he saw Firamon descending right toward him, covered in flames that resembled a lion's head.

"Crimson King Beast Dive!" Firamon thought he had Gigadramon in the palms of his forelegs...but he was wrong.

Gigadramon smirked wickedly. "What a cocky fool you are," He muttered solemnly.

"Huh?" Firamon had no idea what was going to hit him.

"Iron Tail Slap!" Gigadramon's blue tail glowed in a steel silver light, and once Firamon almost hit him, Gigadramon quickly evaded the attack and managed to whack Firamon with his tail, right before he hit the ground. Once the tail hit the fiery red lion, Firamon was literally sent flying! He was already just 20 feet above the ground, but that didn't make the blow hurt any less. The blow was so strong that not only did it send Firamon flying right at the back of the dollar store, but it managed to actually de-digivolve Firamon back to Coronamon. As soon as the orange light faded and Coronamon appeared, he fell right into the back of the dollar store, causing the walls to crumble and fall all around. Riku saw it all and was immediately overcome with shock.

"Coronamon!" Desperate to save his dear friend, Riku ran to the rubble, which actually showed the inside of the store. Some aisles fell to the ground, and merchandise was scattered all over the place, like medicine bottles, toys, fishing rods, umbrellas, etc. Riku saw where Coronamon fell and proceeded to push away the debris. It wasn't as heavy as he expected, which made digging easier, but that didn't mean Coronamon would make it unscathed. Riku pulled every single piece of debris away, hoping to at least save Coronamon. There was absolutely NO way he was going to let Coronamon die. Then, he saw a trace of red in the debris.

"Coronamon?" Riku, as quick as he could, yanked off the rest of the debris and found a very injured red hamster breathing heavily. Riku's eyes exploded with tears as he yanked him out of the rubble.

"Coronamon! Thank God you're alright!" Riku yelled joyously as he squeezed his injured, furry red friend tightly, but not enough to make him choke.

"Sorry, Riku...he's too strong. I thought I had him, but..." Coronamon muttered weakly, feeling bad that he fell prey to Gigadramon so easily. But Riku smiled and embraced him gently.

"It's alright. You did awesome anyway. Now let's get you out of here. I don't want you getting more hurt than you already are," Riku said as he picked Coronamon up and took him away from the scene like he was a mother trying to protect her child from a horrible disaster.

"Heaven's Charm!" Angewomon tried to extinguish another one of the Groundramon, but the big green lizard managed to evade her attack and bite her like she was a dog's chew toy.

"Angewomon!" Minako cried out.

"I'll save her!" MagnaAngemon swooped down and tried to save her, but this Groundramon had other plans.

"Megaton Hammer Crush!" With one swish of his tail, he not only managed to send MagnaAngemon flying, but he managed to de-digivolve him back into Tokomon. Thankfully Kosuke caught him while Pteramon descended downward.

"That was close!" Kosuke said as he clung to Tokomon.

"This is hard. Really hard," Tokomon mused weakly. "I couldn't save Angewomon."

As it would turn out, he didn't need to.

"Hey you! Giant flightless lizard! Over here!" Gargomon waved his vulcans around and taunted the Groundramon. "I'm way tastier than her! Come and get me, bub!" Gargomon persisted.

Thankfully, Gargomon's plight worked, and Groundramon released the newly weakened Angewomon, but seeing that she has used the last of her energy, she de-digivolved back into Nyaromon. Minako picked up her fallen partner and ran over to where Rena, Isao, Otoya, Xiaomon, and Tsunomon are.

"Those things are powerful! There's no way we can defeat them!" Rena said as she clung to a big tree to support both herself and her prosthetic leg.

"Don't say that! I'm sure we can beat them!" Isao said.

"Yeah! Maybe one of us will be able to digivolve into ultimate!" Tsunomon said.

Minako wanted to agree with them, but even she felt dubious about the situation here, which is quite dire. Crescemon is the only ultimate level in the Digimon Brigade who hasn't been beaten, and even she's having trouble. One ultimate level against five really powerful ones (Gigadramon included) is a huge disadvantage. Even some of the secondary Digimon are having trouble. Birdramon just got bitten by another Groundramon, and Melody managed to evade it by riding on Thunderbirmon's back.

"Vacuum Kamaitachi!" Reppamon hoped that he could surprise one Groundramon by using his invisible attacks on him, but it didn't work. Hokuto clung to him, looking quite worried.

"There's no way we can beat them! They're too strong!" Hokuto complained.

"Don't think like that!" Reppamon scolded as Coredramon showed up out of nowhere and managed to wrangle a Groundramon to the ground, even though he did destroy a few trees in the process.

"Blue Flare Breath!" Coredramon's blue flames permeated Groundramon's thick scales and DigiCore, managing to make it dissipate into data.

"Thanks, Coredramon!" Hokuto called out.

Coredramon was about to tell him, "You're welcome!" but he saw Shunji on his knees, with his arms wrapped around himself like a force field and looking like he just had a psychotic break. This scared him.

"Shunji! Go somewhere safe! It's too dangerous!" Coredramon called out.

"We can't win...we can't win...there's no way we can...save everyone..." Shunji mumbled to himself timorously while shaking like a leaf.

Coredramon didn't know it, but memories were flooding Shunji's mind. Extremely unpleasant ones. Memories of his ambitious father beating up his defenseless wife, praising his older sons for meeting his expectations while mercilessly singling Shunji out and calling him a disgrace for lacking ambition and determination, his mother refusing to let Shunji save her despite his efforts to do whatever he could to help her, telling a very distraught Yun that she couldn't save everyone in regards to the Shadramon incident, and the memory of Ayaka yelling at him and telling him that he has it easier than her. Considering how dire the situation is right now, Shunji became convinced that they couldn't keep the Groundramon out of control, much less four of them.

All of a sudden, Birdramon screamed in pain after being hit by a Groundramon's Megaton Hammer Crush attack, de-digivolving back into Biyomon in the process. Thunderbirmon tried to attack with a Thunderstorm attack, but another Groundramon used one of it's big arms to smack her out of the sky like she was a fly. Because Melody was on her back, she fell off and rolled onto the street. Melody tried to get up, but a huge scab on her arm as a result of falling on the street made it hard to act quickly. The sight managed to make Shunji snap out of his spell, but  
>something else made him scared.<p>

Gigadramon is right above her.

With the claws on his mechanical arms outstretched.

He's going to attack a helpless Melody.

_'OH NO! If Gigadramon uses Genocide Spark on her she'll die! I've gotta save her!'_ Shunji, his once timorous heart all of a sudden seized by a beautifully blazing flame of courage and determination, managed to snap out of his spell and run to save Melody. Coredramon saw this and roared.

"Shunji!" Coredramon yelped.

"Genocide Spark!"

Melody saw it coming, and she tried to get away, but the injury to her arm wouldn't let her move quick enough. All she could do was scream with horror, and she rarely ever did that.

"MEL!" Yun screamed with horror as her friend was about to die by Gigadramon's hands.

"Mel!" Shunji yelled as he clung to her, preparing himself for the oncoming blow.

_'Mel is Yun's best friend! If she dies, Yun's gonna lose the first friend she's ever had, and she's never gonna forgive herself! I can't let that happen! Take me instead, Gigadramon!'_ Shunji thought as he prepared for the blow that would end his life.

For a moment, an image of a very heartbroken and distraught Ayaka flashed through his brain like a shooting star for just a moment.

"Ayaka?" Shunji mused out loud. Oddly enough, the blow didn't come like he expected. But he did notice a big shadow looming over him, and Melody, who is alive, saw the shadow's source.

"What the-? _Coredramon_?" Melody screamed.

Shunji looked up, and his blue eyes widened.

Covering them while aching with pain is Coredramon.

He managed to save them from Gigadramon's Genocide Spark attack.

Shunji helped Melody up and walked her outside. Once Shunji got out from beneath Coredramon, he thought he saw an illusion...but it wasn't.

Coredramon's back is severely dented, his thick scales bent and permeated. One of his wings singed with smoke, and the tip of it looked very black, like he suffered a massive fourth degree burn.

Gigadramon, for once, actually looked surprised. "Wow. This Digimon truly does care for his master. But he is a fool. Can he really achieve anything by becoming an obeisant slave to a puny human?" Gigadramon asked himself as one of the Groundramon managed to knock Turuiemon, Gargomon, Rabbitmon, Reppamon, and Thunderbirmon out of it's path. It used it's tail mace to knock down some more trees.

"Coredramon!" Shunji yelped as he ran to his partner. "Why? Why did you save me?"

"You're my friend! That's why!" Coredramon bellowed. "The determination you showed when you tried to save Melody just now...I cannot let the flame in your heart wither away!"

"But Coredramon! The situation is hopeless! We can't save everyone, and yet...why do you continue fighting?" Shunji asked.

"It's _BECAUSE_ it's hopeless that I continue fighting! I don't care what anyone thinks, not even you! I may be a huge, 2000 pound dragon that could possibly destroy anything and everything in my path! I don't care if the world scorns me for existing! This world is just as important as the Digital World, all the lives on it included, and I'm determined to save however many lives that I can, even if I don't get anything out of it! I know I can't save the human race, and I know some people will die no matter how hard I try, but...I want to at least save the ones who are living right now! It's something to fight for, and I'm determined to see it through! Besides, you need to live to! You need to fix your relationship with Ayaka and prove that heartless old man of yours wrong! You need to show him that you're determined to live your own life and not be his pawn!" Coredramon bellowed courageously.

Shunji was shocked. He knew that Dracomon had his own views on the world like he did, but he never expected him to be so determined to fight, even if the situation is completely hopeless. Unlike Dracomon, who never gave up, Shunji chose to give up on a lot of things. He stopped doing well in school when he was young. He gave up on trying to convince his older brothers that his father is a cruel man and that they shouldn't follow him. He gave up on trying to save his own mother from his father's abuse despite working so hard. That was the thing he really wanted to achieve the most, but because his mother is so obstinate and crazy about being her husband's obeisant little outlet for every little frustration he had, Shunji gave up, seeing that there was no way he could convince his mother to leave with him. He almost gave up on his relationship with Ayaka because for a moment, he felt convinced that he couldn't save her from her self-induced misery and because of the way she treats Yun and her parents and the rest of the world.

But if there was one thing he never gave up on, it's Dracomon. Shunji often said that Dracomon is the best thing that ever happened to him, and he couldn't be more right. Dracomon never gave up, even when he lost a lot of energy from too much fighting. Dracomon was always a tireless spirit who always soared high above any obstacle, unlike Shunji. Shunji often wished that he could be more like him, and he even envied him for being so determined, but this doesn't mean he hated him. Shunji loved Dracomon with all his heart, and he still does. Shunji put a hand on Coredramon's thick, rock-like scales and stroke them gently despite how rough they felt.

"You're right. I'm not gonna be like the old man. I don't want to be. I feel so blessed to have met you," Shunji said as he rested his head against his huge dragon friend. He then opened his eyes and stood up firmly. "You're right. I have to be determined in order to see things through, and I will! That old man doesn't have anything on me, and neither do these Groundramon!"

"I'm so glad...you're my tamer, Shunji..." Coredramon muttered weakly.

Then, out of nowhere, a brilliant, emerald green light sparked out of Shunji's green digivice. It shot out from it, permeating Shunji's green D-Heart of Determination, which hung from his bracelet. The light from the D-Heart then shot out from it and hit Coredramon, enveloping him in a brilliant, emerald green light. Coredramon found himself floating into the sky and increasing in size. Even Gigadramon and the four remaining Groundramon, one of whom managed to defeat Crescemon and force her to de-digivolve back into Moonmon, watched as Coredramon increased in size.

"Coredramon, digivolve to..."

The emerald green light became bigger and bigger until it dissipated. Out came a VERY VERY HUGE blue dragon who could almost be about 500 meters tall, almost the size of an entire skyscraper! The big blue dragon has huge, sky blue wings that seemed to spread out really far. On his head is a white helmet, orange spikes, and two red horns protruding from his nose. Weirdly enough, his tail is even longer and thicker than his body, on his chest is a white breast plate, and protruding from his back is a huge white lance with a gold and orange tip.

"...Wingdramon!"

"So this is the power of the human heart..." Gigadramon whispered in shock.

Not wanting to stand by any longer, the four remaining Groundramon tried to attack. Wingdramon descended before them, grabbed all four of them in both of his large arms like they were firewood, flew into the air, and, with great strength, threw them back into the area they destroyed. But that was just the start. Wingdramon did exactly what Firamon did, and descended toward them with the lance on his back ready to pierce them all.

"Explode Sonic Lance!" Wingdramon found himself being enveloped by a green light as he dived toward the struggling Groundramon. Once he finally got close...

_BOOM!_

A huge mushroom cloud of white smoke appeared in that area, causing a lot of things to be blown away, like tree leaves, twigs, branches, even some of the kids. They weren't hurt, thank goodness, but once the smoke cloud disappeared, the Groundramon also disappeared, without leaving even a trace of their existence. Gigadramon, seeing how Wingdramon managed to defeat one of the most powerful ultimate level Digimon ever-four of them to be more precise-he panicked.

"Oh no! I have to flee this instant!" Gigadramon tried to fly away, but Wingdramon grabbed his tail.

"You're not going anywhere, you disgraceful dragon!" Wingdramon bellowed. "Blaze Sonic Breath!"

A stream of green fire poured out of his mouth like a river, causing Gigadramon to become completely consumed by it while roaring and howling in excrutiating pain. There was no way Gigadramon could survive this, and rightfully so, he didn't. He dissipated into data while Wingdramon absorbed it. But as soon as Gigadramon disappeared, Wingdramon found himself enveloped by light. He became smaller and smaller. Shunji saw this and ran to catch Wingdramon, who de-digivolved to his in-training form, Bebydomon.

"Bebydomon!" Shunji exclaimed as he tried to catch Bebydomon, but realized that the distance between them was too great.

Thankfully, someone did manage to catch Bebydomon, and it was someone who nobody expected.

"Ma-Ma-Ma-_Masaomi-san_?" Yun yelped.

Yes! Masaomi managed to catch the now worn out Bebydomon. Shunji, seeing this, became choleric.

"You better give him back to me!" Shunji yelled.

Oddly enough, Masaomi complied, and gently handed the worn out sea horse to Shunji, who looked up at him with tired eyes.

"I guess I went a little too overboard, huh?" Bebydomon asked. Shunji smiled at him and hugged him gently, like he was his own child.

"You were awesome, little buddy. We couldn't have survived this without you," Shunji told him happily as he hugged his little sea horse friend.

Yun approached Masaomi sternly, with Turuiemon and Gargomon following behind her. "Why did you hand Bebydomon back to him? Don't you hate Digimon?"

Masaomi turned to Yun, with a soft look on his face. "I've been thinking hard about what your partner said to me. You...You're right. I've been in the wrong this whole time. MC Destroyer won't accomplish anything. Not for me, not for anyone. I already messed up the entire computer network with it, and it won't bring Hazuru back. I...I'm sorry for the trouble I caused."

Melody didn't buy this. "Quit talking garbage! It's obvious you're just saying that so you can trick us!"

"Yeah! How do we know you're not planning to do more and possibly kill us all?" Biyomon yelped angrily, backing Melody's claim.

Masaomi didn't get angry this time. "I don't have any more resources to make another MC Destroyer, and it'll take more than just one person to make a better version of it. I-" Masaomi was going to say something more, but a familiar voice stopped him from doing so.

"Let me go, you bag of bones!"

Everyone turned around in alarm. What they saw left them frozen with shock.

A bat-winged skeleton Digimon is flying in the air...with Link caught in a huge net with his hands tied behind his back! Literally! Koromon is on his stomach looking quite tired.

Otoya took the liberty of checking the Digimon's information. "That's SkullSatamon, an ultimate level! His attacks are Bone Blaster and Skull Hammer!"

"You let him go!" Yun screamed.

"Sorry, but this human has committed a serious crime, and he is to be punished for it. Allow me to take him off your hands. You can thank me later, you puny humans. Ciao!" SkullSatamon told them as he attempted to fly away.

"LET HIM GO!" Angrily, Masaomi managed to jump so high that he managed to cling to the net Link and Koromon are trapped in. Masaomi climbed the net, hoping he could free Link.

"Bone Blaster!" SkullSatamon shot a light from his scepter at Masaomi, causing him to let go of the net and fall. Turuiemon managed to break his faill and catch him, but SkullSatamon, with the net, Link, and Koromon in his skeletal hands, managed to open a digital portal and fly right into it.

"_NOOOOOO! WATARUUUUUU!_" Masaomi screamed as he fell on his knees and pounded on the grass. He couldn't save his ex-friend, and it made his heart ache. Everyone was surprised and confused. Many questions were floating around in their minds. Where in the world did SkullSatamon come from? Was he here all alone? How did he get here? Was Gigadramon in cahoots with him? If he is, then was this whole Groundramon fiasco made just so they could be distracted long enough for SkullSatamon to track down Link and kidnap him? Why would they do that? What crime did Link commit? Aren't MoonMillenniummon's minions mostly after Lucero?

Just when things couldn't get any worse or weirder, they do.

"Noooo! Let me go!"

That was Riku screaming.

"Riku!" Rena yelled. All the kids ran over to where they heard the scream. To their surprise, it came from the back of the dollar store. What they saw there froze them with more shock.

Riku is on his knees, totally handcuffed, struggling to get up and away.

A police officer is pulling him by both his handcuffed hands and his hair!

Police cars are surrounding the area.

A very angry store manager is yelling at Riku.

"No way, kid! You're under arrest!"

_'UNDER ARREST?'_ Everyone thought.

Riku's being arrested! But for what?


	79. The DoubleEdged Sword Called Justice

EPISODE 79: The Double-Edged Sword Called Justice

Nobody could believe their eyes. But then again, so much has been happening all at once, how could they let it all sink in? Part of the town has been destroyed by seven huge, green, flightless dragons capable of leveling and digging underground with big hands on their backs and one robot dragon that can fly, most of the Digimon are too weak to continue fighting (or anything for that matter) despite the fact that the fighting has ceased, Link has just been kidnapped by a Digimon they only just now saw, and now Riku's being arrested by police! Riku, of all people, arrested! But for what? Rena covered her eyes in horror. Yun, on the other hand, was another story. Seeing Riku cry out and struggle made her want to act, so she did.

"Come with us, boy! You're under-" One officer tried to force Riku into the car despite only being a few feet away. Riku continued to struggle and howl and protest, which irritated the police officer. But before he could force Riku into the car, Yun suddenly ran into him at full force.

"NO! Let him go!" Yun yelled as she pushed the police officer and yanked a helpless Riku out of his arms. The store manager and the police officer both became quite choleric as Yun looked up at them with pleading eyes.

"What do you think yer doin'? Don't you know it's against the law to assault a cop?" The store manager scolded angrily. Yun didn't think she assaulted him, even though she knew opposing a police officer isn't the best of ideas, but she knew she had to convince them that Riku didn't do anything wrong, and she couldn't just leave him.

"Officer, please! Don't arrest him! He didn't do anything wrong! Honest!" Yun pleaded desperately, her voice going up an octave just a bit, probably from all the noise that went on earlier.

Impressed by how courageous Yun is right now, the other kids decided to stand by her side and plead with her, even though the store manager clearly doesn't look too happy with Yun standing up to them.

"Cut the garbage! This kid here tried to shoplift from my store!" The store manager yelled.

"I DID [i[NOT[/i] SHOPLIFT!" Riku screamed angrily.

"Shut up, you brat!" The store manager yelled.

Rena stood in front of Riku with Otoya and Hokuto both helping her up. "Please! Don't arrest my brother! He's not a shoplifter or a criminal! I think you're making a huge mistake! Riku would never shoplift!" Rena pleaded desperately.

"Yeah! Rikkun's nice! He's not a bad guy! Honest!" Aria backed Rena's statement.

"He's no criminal! Sure he's kinda hyper, but that doesn't mean he's some psycho criminal or anything!" Kosuke exclaimed.

"Riku's the last person who'd ever shoplift! I saw him stand up to a guy who was beating up his girlfriend!" Isao yelled.

"That's right. Please let him go, officers. Riku's not a bad person. He's just not the type to do bad things. You have to believe us," Minako told him kindly and quietly but with desperation in her voice.

"Do you have any proof that he supposedly did it?" Otoya asked.

The store manager was quite shocked by the children and their audacity, but he refused to back down. He wasn't going to let a bunch of ignorant children make him lose his cool. "Are you kidding me? As soon as the back of the store fell to pieces I saw him stealin' one of 'dem red stuffed animals with my own eyes, and my eyes don't deceive me at all! See that red thing over there?" He pointed to Coronamon of all things, who happened to be standing up, witnessing the entire scene. "I saw him steal it!"

"HEY! I'm no stuffed animal, and Riku DID NOT steal me!" Coronamon yelled ardently, angered that the man had the audacity to call him a stuffed animal and determined to prove the irate man wrong in his misconceptions. Thankfully, his sudden vocal outburst, made both some officers and the store manager all yelp with fear.

"WHAT? It can talk?" One officer yelped in fear. Coronamon, despite his injury, walked up to the store manager and gave him a piece of his fiery mind.

"My name's Coronamon, and I'm a Digimon! Scratch that, I'm not JUST your run of the mill Digimon! I'm Riku's best friend and partner! Riku didn't STEAL me! He tried to save me from being crushed by all the rubble! If I'm something that he stole, then how come I'm walking and talking and yelling at you right this very moment? Explain that, bub!" Coronamon yelled ardently. Riku could see the determination blaze in Coronamon's golden eyes. So could everyone else.

"You tell 'em, Coronamon!" Tsunomon exclaimed happily.

Yun clung to one officer's arm and looked up at him with the same pleading face as before. "Please. Don't arrest him. See if there's any other evidence first. Are there any security cameras around? Maybe you can check those and see for yourself."

"The girl's got a point, lieutenant," Another officer told him. The officer who tried to arrest Riku then turned to the store manager.

"Are there any security cameras around, sir?" The officer asked.

"Yep! In fact, there's one right on that street light over there! It lit up just now!" The store manager exclaimed. Since the sun is beginning to set right now, the street light in which the security camera is attached lit up brightly.

"Do you mind if we look at the footage?" The officer asked.

"Knock yourself out," The store manager said.

The store manager led the officers into the room where they monitor the security cameras. The camera on the street light that overlooks the back of the store is camera number six. The officers looked at the footage from about a few hours ago, showing Coronamon de-digivolving and hitting the back of the store, causing it to crumble thanks to Gigadramon's surprise attack. It then showed Riku desperately digging through the rubble and pulling Coronamon out, complete with audio.

_"Coronamon! Thank God you're alright!"_

_"Sorry, Riku...he's too strong. I thought I had him, but..."_

_"It's alright. You did awesome anyway. Now let's get you out of here. I don't want you getting more hurt than you already are."_

The store manager couldn't believe it. The kids were right! Coronamon isn't a stuffed animal, and Riku didn't steal him either. The audio sure proved it. If the tape didn't have working audio, then things might have turned out differently. The officers looked at each other and nodded. They came out of the store, with the children all looking at them anxiously, Riku included. The officer who tried to arrest Riku before got some keys out, put them in the handcuffs, turned them, and unlocked them. Riku's hands have been freed.

"You're letting him go?" Rena asked.

"Yes. You kids are right. He's not a shoplifter after all. We're sorry for the trouble," The police officers told the kids, which made them squeal and rejoice happily.

"Yay! Riku's cleared!" Coronamon yelped as he hugged Riku tightly, which made Riku laugh.

"If you want, I can take you two home," The officer said to Riku and Rena.

Rena could tell that the man wanted to make up for trying to arrest Riku on false charges like that, and smiled at him for wanting to atone for his sort of misdeed. "Sure. That'd be great."

"Thanks," Riku said weakly, clearly grateful that he's cleared.

He, Rena, Moonmon, and Coronamon went into the police car and were driven home while everyone else walked home themselves. All four of them remained silent in the police car as the man drove them to their house...well, not totally silent. Rena told the officer their home address so they'd know where to go. Riku gave a description of their house so the man would know what it looked like. Riku's very detail oriented this way. Moonmon and Coronamon remained totally silent, not wanting to scare the officer any further. Although Riku is happy that the misunderstanding has been cleared, he prayed that the officer wouldn't tell his parents about it, especially his mother. Riku was already accused of shoplifting once despite his name being cleared, and his mother did NOT react well to it, even after the misunderstanding was resolved. Riku really didn't want his mother to go ballistic again. He wanted to tell the officer not to tell his parents about it, but something stopped him from voicing his wish. He didn't know what stopped him or why. All he could do was pray that the officer would keep silent.

Unfortunately, his prayers were not answered.

Michitaka greeted them tearfully and was happy that his two children are safe, but the officer spilled the beans and told them about the incident while mentioning that it really was a misunderstanding and that Riku truly didn't do anything wrong. As soon as Takako heard the word shoplift, her eyes widened in shock, but she didn't flip out. Riku saw this and knew that this was a very ominous harbinger. He facepalmed. _'Stupid police man! Why'd you have to spill the beans? When you leave, Mom's gonna flip out like no tomorrow! She'll never believe a word I say, nor will she believe Rena either!'_ Riku thought angrily, alarmed by the police man's decision. The police man and Michitaka talked for a few minutes, then the officer went into his car and left. As soon as the car was out of their sight, Takako angrily stomped over to Riku and attempted to slap him. Riku saw this coming and managed to grab her arm and stop her from doing so. Michitaka, Rena, Moonmon, and Coronamon were shocked.

"Takako! What's the matter with you?" Michitaka yelled angrily. His wife's eyes are completely bloodshot and her teeth are grinding together like that of a bear about to consume it's prey.

"You dishonest, despicable, insolent, unmanageable child! As if shoplifting once wasn't bad enough, you had to go and do it _again_!" Takako screamed angrily, obviously consumed by nothing but anger.

"No I did not, Mom! Didn't you HEAR the man just now? It was a misunderstanding! The manager made a mistake, that's all!" Riku yelled, but considering Takako's demeanor right now, she obviously didn't accept that as an answer.

"Don't give me those lies! You obviously tricked them into releasing you so you can feel better about yourself!" Takako screamed.

"MOM! Riku would never do that! He's such a bad liar it's unbelievable! Stop filling your head with weird ideas!" Rena yelled.

"Don't you talk back to me, you legless disgrace! You're not his mother, now are you?" Takako yelled as she wagged her finger at her daughter. Although Takako's insult hit Rena in the heart like an archer's arrow, Rena pushed her hurt feelings aside and tried to stand up to her choleric mother.

"No, but I'm his sister, and I know for a fact that Riku didn't shoplift! I was there! The police checked the evidence and proved that it wasn't him!" Rena yelled, but Takako went back to yelling at Riku.

"I should have sent you to juvie long ago! I can't believe you would repay me for your years of care by defying me and defiling my good name with your criminal deeds! I ought to have-" Takako was about to go on an epic harangue again, but Michitaka stepped in this time.

"That's enough, Takako! Children, go inside! Now!" Michitaka yelled at Takako, then told Rena and Riku to go inside. Without hesitation, they did, though Riku had to help Rena since she's still having trouble with her prosthetic leg.

They didn't go into their individual rooms. They all went into Rena's room, and once they did, Rena fell on the bed and Riku fell on the floor, both of them feeling completely tired from everything that's happened. They could hear Michitaka and Takako yelling from their rooms despite the distance between them. Their house isn't exactly soundproof, but at this point, they honestly didn't care.

"I can't believe this!" Coronamon suddenly exclaimed, appalled by Takako's very inopportune and inappropriate behavior and her blatant mistreatment of Riku. "I can't believe your mom's so thick-headed that she won't even listen to reason! It really was a misunderstanding, and you did NOT shoplift, Riku! Why doesn't she accept it?"

"That's how she is. She hates me, I know it. Anything that involves me makes her madder than anything in the world. Even when people tell her I didn't do anything wrong, she twists it around in her head and convinces herself that I really did do bad," Riku explained grimly.

"I really do wonder why she became the person she is now. There must be some kind of reason for her inopportune behavior, isn't there?" Moonmon asked timidly but courageously. Moonmon remembered when Rena lost her leg. When Takako yelled at her for losing her leg, thinking of it as an act of defiance for her years of care, she, as Lunamon, bravely stood up to her and went on her own little tirade, pointing out everything that was wrong with Takako. Moonmon felt proud for standing up to Takako for Rena's sake, but considering how obstinate and intractable she is in regards to her own kids, her speech probably didn't faze her or make any difference. Riku looked up at Rena's ceiling blankly, thinking about his mother and why she's the way she is.

"Hey, Rena?" Riku asked.

"Hm?" Rena asked back.

"I was wondering...do people with ADHD become criminals?"

Rena sat up on her bed and looked at Riku with sad eyes. "I don't know. I don't believe so, given they're under good circumstances, but it might be possible. I definitely don't think you're one, nor will you become one. You're much better than that."

"Yeah! Rena's right, Riku! Ow!" Coronamon yelped, then winced upon his injury hitting him a little. "I mean, you have the D-Heart of Justice! How can you possibly be a criminal?"

"But I was pretty terrible when we were little, right? I remember that time I kept hitting you because you kept telling me to do my homework in 2nd grade once," Riku said.

"That was before you were formally diagnosed, and yeah you were kind of mean back then, but Dad says it's because you didn't know how to properly express your anger in an appropriate way. I didn't get it back then, though," Rena explained.

"Would you like me better...if I didn't have ADHD?"

"No. You're fine the way you are."

"But...kids picked on you in school because of me. I made you not have any friends back in Hokkaido."

"That's their problem. Besides, you're a lot better and smarter now than you were back then. I mean, you managed to become friends with Yun and the rest of the Digimon Brigade. You stopped a huge high school jock from beating his girlfriend with a cinder block. If that's not the sign of a good person to Mom, then she's warped."

"Is it really that easy for people to think I'm bad? Even when I'm doing good things?"

"It depends. I know when you're doing good deeds when I see them. The rest of the Digimon Brigade do, too! Yun-chan tells me she's way more misunderstood than you are. People always misinterpret what she says or does, no matter how good she means it."

"Really? I thought she was exaggerating a little," Moonmon said.

"Will I even...make it in the adult world?" Riku asked weakly.

"I think you will. Considering the way you wrangled that jock some time ago, I think maybe you should be a police officer when you grow up. You're quick to see bad things happening, you don't turn your back on people in the face of danger, and you don't take any garbage from anybody. That's what I like the most about you," Rena explained.

"Me too! Man, you were awesome when you knocked the lights out of that mean jock!" Coronamon cheered.

Riku laughed a bit in response. "Thanks. I wonder if maybe the word justice has been hijacked over the years."

"Probably, considering the way Mom is," Rena said.

After a while, Riku and Coronamon went back to Riku's room. Since school has been cancelled for an unspecified while due to the damage caused by IceLeomon some time back, Riku felt free to do whatever he wanted. He really wanted to play video games with Coronamon today, but every single one of his video games and consoles suddenly went missing. That mystery still bugged him. How did every single one of his video games and consoles disappear off the face of his living room, and why? They couldn't have just vanished into thin air. Video games just don't do that. But Riku thought about other things as well. He really wants to be a good kid and make a good impression for other people, but so many people choose to stereotype him or misunderstand him or completely ignore the fact that he even has some good points about him simply because he has ADHD and is a little hyper, his mother being the worst case scenario. He kept asking himself why he came out as ADHD in the first place. Why do people love stereotyping him that much? Is ADHD really that bad? Does Riku even have redeeming qualities that overwrite his ADHD? Is it really that easy to misunderstand and judge him? Well, he's grateful for managing to be friends with Coronamon and the Digimon Brigade. If he hadn't met them, he'd wind up proving his mother right in some way. All Riku really wanted more than anything was to convince his mother that he's not the bad child she believes he is, and he just wants some love from her. He got it from Michitaka, Rena, Coronamon, and his friends, but his mother remained his biggest concern.

Unfortunately for Riku, he had yet to find out a terrifying truth about his mother, especially about something she's been doing behind the scenes, and it would wind up solving the mystery of the missing video games.

Thursday finally arrived. Since Shunji told them all to meet at the now destroyed construction site for today's Digimon Brigade meeting, they decided to go anyway despite all the _DO NOT CROSS_ signs there. But because the _DO NOT CROSS_ signs were there, it made Yun apprehensive about going in and breaking the rules, so they decided to hold the meeting in a secluded area some feet away, one that hasn't been touched by any Groundramon despite the many fallen trees. Weirdly enough, the bigger trees that fell down proved to be a good sitting spot for some of the kids. Rena, Otoya, Yun, Aria, Lucero, Lopmon, Cutemon, Terriermon, MarineAngemon, Moonmon, and Xiaomon all sat on a big tree that fell down. Melody, Biyomon, Shunji, Bebydomon, Riku, and Coronamon decided to stand around. Minako, Salamon (who digivolved from Nyaromon early this morning), Hokuto, Kudamon, Isao, and Bearmon (who also did what Salamon did this morning) sat on a big rock that happened to be there. Shunji decided to speak first since he arranged the Digimon Brigade meeting today.

"Is everyone here? Alright then. I'm sure you all are aware of what happened yesterday. Some random Digimon named SkullSatamon just up and kidnapped Link-san of all people," Shunji explained.

"WHAT?" Lucero suddenly yelped out of nowhere, shocked by this new revelation. "Link-dono's been kidnapped?"

"Yes. We saw it happen. Hiroya-san tried to save him but he failed," Hokuto muttered.

"I take it you didn't tell him?" Otoya asked Yun, who sat next to her with Cutemon in her arms.

Yun blushed a bit in embarrassment. "There was so much going on, I guess I forgot. Sorry."

"That's okay, kyu! Everybody forgets stuff, kyu! I forget stuff too, kyu!" Cutemon told her reassuringly with a cute smile to match.

"SkullSatamon said something about Link committing a crime. I think that shows that they didn't just kidnap him just for kicks. Considering how he didn't show up until right then, do you all think maybe the whole Groundramon fiasco was just a diversion? Just to distract us from seeing their true intentions and keep us from foiling their plans?" Minako asked.

"Considering the way they've been acting, I think it might be so," Shunji said.

"I wonder what Link did to end up getting kidnapped? It's not like him to fall prey to a Digimon like SkullSatamon so easily," Bebydomon asked Kudamon, who happened to be sitting next to him.

"I'm not sure, but whatever it is, it sounds very grave considering the way SkullSatamon worded it. Since Link has infiltrated their inner sanctum once, perhaps maybe they found out?" Kudamon suggested, sounding quite suspicious.

"That sounds quite likely," Xiaomon piped in. "The Digimon we fought up until now have been very tight lipped about who their Master is, so I believe that may be the case."

"And since MoonMillenniummon is a really powerful Digimon...ugh! I don't even want to think about it!" Tokomon said, covering his head with his little stubby front legs timorously. Kosuke stroke his friend gently, hoping his touch would help the little white creature calm down just a little bit.

"So what should we do? Our Digimon lost a lot of their energy in yesterday's fight," Rena asked as she cradled little Moonmon in her arms.

"We'll have to think more about that. But if you guys want my personal opinion, I say we go to the Digital World and save him," Shunji told them.

"Go to the Digital World? Again?" Riku asked.

"We haven't been there as a whole group since...maybe the Witchmon incident, I think?" Otoya asked, having a bit of trouble remembering the last time the entire Digimon Brigade went to the Digital World together.

"But won't it be dangerous?" Rena asked again, still sounding unsure.

"I don't doubt it will be, and there's bound to be a lot of trouble if we go there now, when we're still disorganized. That's why I suggest we take a few days for everything to calm down a little and prepare so we can go and save him," Shunji said.

"But time passes differently in the Digital World! Who knows what could happen to Link-san in that time span!" Yun exclaimed timorously, clinging to Cutemon.

"Link-san's a pretty strong man. I don't doubt he'll have some trouble, but he's been in the Digital World longer than we have, so I don't think he can be taken down that easily," Shunji said.

"Yeah, but this is a MoonMillenniummon we're talking about!" Yun said with emphasis on MoonMillenniummon.

"That's true. His powers are unmatched," Lopmon said a little sadly.

"But most of our Digimon have managed to digivolve into ultimate by now, so we're a lot stronger now than we were back in May, when they could only digivolve to champion level," Shunji said.

"That's right!" Bebydomon piped in.

"Oh! Speaking of which, I've been dying to share this since earlier this week!" Yun exclaimed as she rummaged through her pockets and pulled out the lyrics of the song with the highlighted words and showed it to everyone. "Everyone! Look at the lyrics and the highlighted words very closely! What do you notice about them?"

Everyone looked at the paper intently.

_You are the star that makes me heart sing.  
>You are the star that lights my world.<br>You are the star that lights my world of darkness and despair.  
>You are at <em>_**peace**__, and make me feel __**harmony**__.  
>Your <em>_**mercy**__ gave me __**freedom**__ and __**faith**__.  
>Your <em>_**grace**__ and __**strength**__ nurtured my __**determination**__,  
>In a world that needs <em>_**justice**__.  
>You make me worthy of giving <em>_**forgiveness**__.  
>Your acknowledge my <em>_**prudence**__ and help me._

_The star that shines the brightest gives me hope and __**liberty**__.  
>You are my hope, my harmony, my eternally shining star.<em>

"Hey! The highlighted words are the D-Hearts' names!" Minako piped in.

"Whoa! No kidding!" Riku said.

"That must be some scary coincidence!" Coronamon said.

"Exactly! I think this might hold some clue as to why the Digimon who can already digivolve into ultimate can't when...the Digimon who haven't digivolved yet can when they need to!" Yun exclaimed, though she stumbled in her sentence construction for a bit.

"You think so?" Kosuke asked.

"Well, I'm not sure. I could be wrong, since all of my theories are always wrong, but who knows!" Yun said.

"The fact that this song has the names of all the D-Hearts just can't be some random coincidence," Kudamon said.

"Most of the Digimon managed to reach the ultimate level now, so if we cross off the names of the D-Hearts that have already helped their respective Digimon reach ultimate level, then that leaves justice, forgiveness, and liberty left," Minako explained.

"Woohoo!" Coronamon cheered, though he didn't jump because if he did, it would exacerbate his injury. "That means I'll be the next one to digivolve to ultimate!"

"I seriously don't see why I have to digivolve into ultimate later than everyone else," Biyomon said as she smoothed her feathers a bit.

"Maybe it's because you're so vain!" Terriermon piped in.

"Hey! Terriermon, that's not nice, kyu!" Cutemon piped in and poked Terriermon in the ear with her finger.

"You should know better than to speak out of turn like that, Terriermon!" Biyomon piped in while crossing her wings.

"I was just about to say that..." Lopmon whispered to herself.

"But most of us managed to get to ultimate level yesterday," Salamon said.

"Yeah. That's true. Maybe the Digimon can digivolve to ultimate when we're facing more than one ultimate level Digimon...or something," Otoya said.

"But Salamon was Angewomon when MarineDevimon attacked, and he was the only ultimate at the beach back then," Aria piped in.

"Good point," MarineAngemon said.

"Why does there have to be so many loose ends to tie up in this mystery?" Bebydomon groaned.

"I agree with Shunji. Let's go to the Digital World later," Melody piped in, her arm wrapped in gauze bandages, though she doesn't seem to be bothered by it.

"Are you serious?" Biyomon asked.

"Yep. We won't get anything by standing around doing nothing. I say we prepare for a trip to the Digital World sometime later today," Melody said.

"I don't think later today would be good. The Digimon are still weak, and I don't want them to be put through any more danger since yesterday was pretty tough on them," Shunji said.

"Me too," Yun said.

Melody sighed. "Alright."

"Alrighty! This meeting is adjourned!" Shunji exclaimed.

"What does adjourned mean?" Yun asked.

"To adjourn something is to end something. For example, if Shunji says the meeting is adjourned, it means the meeting has ended," Minako explained.

"Oh. I get it now. Thanks," Yun said.

With that, the meeting ended, and the Digimon Brigade went their separate ways...well, almost all of them. Yun saw Riku and Coronamon walking home alone. Lucero, Hokuto, and Rena too, so they decided to catch up to him.

"Hey Rikkun! Do you mind if we walk you home?" Yun asked. Riku smiled.

"Sure! I'd love some good company!" Riku exclaimed.

Yun, Lopmon, Cutemon, Terriermon, Lucero, Rena, Moonmon, Hokuto, Kudamon, Riku, and Coronamon all decided to walk home together. But a very strange thing happened as they were on the way to the Nobara house.

"Excuse me!"

A woman's voice echoed in the air, and all of a sudden, they were approached by a middle-aged lady with thick, curly black hair that stood up on all ends, chocolate brown eyes, and olive skin. She's wearing a short sleeved, peach-colored dress, white stockings, brown shoes, and has a brown suit case and a clip board in her hands.

"What's up?" Riku asked.

"Would one of you kids happen to be Nobara Riku?" The lady asked.

"I am," Riku raised his hand so the lady can tell who he is.

"Oh, good. I was on my way to meet you. I'm Karasawa, a social-" The woman named Karasawa was about to say something when Riku saw a little girl fall on the street and start crying.

"Hang on a sec," Riku told her as he ran to help the little crying girl.

"Hey. You alright?" Riku asked in a dulcet voice, even though the little girl didn't stop crying. Riku then saw a fresh, bloody scrape on the girl's knee.

"Oh. You hurt your knee. I know!" Riku rummaged through his pockets, pulled out a band-aid, opened it, and gently put it on the girl's knee, which actually made her stop crying.

"Thankies..." The little girl whimpered softly.

"No problem! Just try not to run so much. Okay? Now go back to your mother," Riku told her gently. The girl nodded and trotted off. Then a lone soccer ball rolled up to him.

"Hey! Can you throw that back to us please?" A young boy and some of his friends called out from another part of the park. Riku picked the soccer ball up, let it fall out of his hands, and, with gusto, he kicked it right back to them! The boy who called out to him earlier managed to catch the ball.

"Nice kick! Thanks! Hey! Wanna play with us for a bit?" The boy exclaimed.

"Sure! I'd love to!" Riku replied as he ran over to the kids and began playing soccer with them.

"Wow. He sure is easily distracted, isn't he?" Lopmon asked in a whisper.

"Yep," Yun whispered back.

"So what do you want with Riku, miss?" Rena asked the lady, who looked quite surprised by seeing Riku do those good deeds.

"Umm...Oh! I just realized I have something else I need to take care of. I'm sorry to bother you all. Bye!" The lady stammered and walked away. The kids were just flabbergasted.

"That was random," Coronamon said.

"And weird," Hokuto said.

"What was all that about?" Kudamon asked.

"I have no idea," Lucero said.

After a bit, Riku returned to his friends. "Hey. Where'd that lady go? And how'd she know my name?" Riku asked.

"Dunno," Terriermon said.

"Let's get going," Kudamon said.

What they didn't find out until later was that there was a reason for that lady approaching Riku and referring to him by name right off the bat, and Riku was going to find out a very devastating truth once he got home.

The kids and Digimon talked about some interesting and funny things as they walked home together. Riku didn't get to do any of this when he was young and living in Hokkaido, and was quite happy to be able to have friends who accept him for who he is and don't stereotype him, judge him, or question his actions or misconstrue them as something bad. He felt quite blessed to have Coronamon and the Digimon Brigade in his life. But his innocent heart was going to be shattered once he and his friends approached the Nobara house. The door happened to be wide open, and the first thing they all heard was Takako's angry voice.

"WHAT? What do you mean you're revoking Riku's admission into your institution?"

Revoke? Riku's admission? Institution? These very words stimulated the children and Digimon into getting closer and willfully eavesdropping on Takako, who is talking (or yelling) on the phone. Yes, they knew eavesdropping is wrong, but something about what Takako said just did not seem right to them, so they felt they had to. If Riku hadn't been here right now, he would have been spared the awful truth he was about to hear right now.

"You've got to be kidding me, Karasawa-san! That boy is the most despicable thing I've had to deal with, and I refuse to be responsible for him any longer! I refuse to deal with his terrible behavior! I heard that your mental institution is one of the best in the region when it comes to treating these retards! Do you know what I had to go through to have you accept Riku? I had to sell his entire useless video game collection throughout the entire month online just so I can pay you the admission fees you wanted! Five thousand US dollars, and now you're telling me that you refuse to accept him because I'm wrong in my conception that he's spiraling further and further down the pit of disgrace?"

_'What? Mom...sold all of my video games? Just so she could...send me away?'_ Riku thought with shock. He couldn't believe he was hearing all of this. Now he knows why his video games are gone! Takako sold them all online within the past month! All so she could make enough money to send Riku to a possible mental facility because she doesn't want to deal with him anymore! And Takako mentioned Karasawa, the lady from earlier! She's from the so-called institution! Riku wished what he was hearing was all a dream, an illusion, a fabrication. But everything he heard was real. Real as hard rock.

His heart shattered at that very moment.

Takako truly does hate him.

She has absolutely no love in her heart for him.

"Who are you to tell me I'm crazy? That insolent child is the crazy one! He shoplifted twice from two different stores, he's failing in school, he's always getting in trouble with the teachers, he's managed to manipulate the police into releasing him, and his medication isn't working anymore! You're saying I'm making excuses? Him? Doing good deeds? Oh, pish posh! That boy doesn't know right from wrong! He's not even remotely capable of doing any good deed on this earth, nor does he even know the meaning of the word justice! You don't understand! The boy is nothing but a criminal! Your eyes are obviously playing tricks on you! Huh? I'm the one who doesn't appreciate being treated this way! You know what? Forget it! I'll find some other mental ward to take him in since you refuse to do so! And I want my money back!"

With that, Takako angrily hung up the phone. But that wasn't even the end.

_BAM!_

"YEEK!"

Takako turned around to find a very ticked off Riku standing at the entrance to the house! He kicked the door so much that he left a small dent in it, which made Yun yelp with fright and cover her ears. Takako gasped, surprised that Riku, and a lot of his friends are even there. But then the surprise turned to anger again.

"You insolent child! Don't you know it's wrong to eavesdrop?" Takako yelled.

"You...You sold all of my video games just so you can make some money and send me away?" Riku muttered bitterly.

"That's not the issue here!" Takako yelled.

Now THIS made Riku explode. Riku literally exploded with anger! So much so that he ran over to the dining room and kicked one of the chairs down! One of the legs actually broke, though it made Yun cover her ears and yelp again.

"Riku!" Rena exclaimed.

"HOW CAN YOU BE SO CRUEL AND THICK-HEADED?" Riku screamed as loud as he could. "All my life I've tried everything to at least make you happy! To make you proud of me! Do you seriously think I WANTED to have ADHD and that my only purpose in life is to make your life freakin' miserable? NO! Don't you ever take even a little bit of time to understand that I'm not the stupid idiot you think I am? Haven't you ever even considered that I actually DO know what justice is AND that I CAN do good things, or do you just crave attention so much that you're willing to go as far as to scorn your own children just so you can get some good publicity?"

"How dare you talk back to me, you whelp! You're not capable of-" Takako tried to yell at him, but since Riku is so mad, he interrupted her immediately.

"That's what YOU think! You may think I'm some criminal, but what you DON'T know is that I HATE CRIME! I hate criminals and I hate people who exercise justice in the wrong way! I hate shoplifters, robbers, kidnappers, drug dealers, arsonists, child abusers, everyone of that tier! I saved a girl from her abusive boyfriend once! I stood up to some idiot and threatened to set a forest on fire just so she could get off my friend's back and quit trying to ruin her life! How is ALL OF THAT criminal behavior? If you want to continue thinking that I'm some psycho who's not meant to exist, then fine! Be that durn way! I don't care anymore! I officially give up on trying to make you happy, now that I see you're nothing but a stubborn, thick-headed attention-seeker who doesn't even give a durn about her own kids, just her own reputation! I HATE YOU!" Riku screamed.

As soon as he finished, he ran away. Coronamon gave chase.

"Riku! Come back!" Coronamon yelled as he chased after Riku. Rena, Lucero, and Hokuto did too, but because Rena needed help due to her prosthetic leg, they went a little slower than usual. Yun was about to give chase, but not before giving Takako her own piece of her mind.

"You obviously don't get it! Riku's one of the nicest kids I know! So what if he has ADHD? It just means he's a little hyper and has trouble focusing! It's not something that makes people into criminals! I don't know what made you into the way you are not, but sending him away to some putrid warehouse isn't going to do anything! You can't just be disappointed with a kid and throw them away like garbage! You're his mother! You're supposed to love him and help him! If anyone's the criminal around here, it's you!" Yun yelled. Takako was about to scold her, but Yun ran away before she could.

Yun remembered seeing the direction in which Coronamon ran so, based on her vague memory, she decided to follow it. She wound up passing Lucero, Hokuto, and Rena as she ran, but she was so focused on finding Riku that she didn't pay attention. Thankfully, she managed to catch up to Coronamon and Riku. Riku is on his knees crying and sobbing, trying to push away his tears with his arms but to no avail, and Coronamon tried to calm him down, but Riku wasn't listening.

"Riku!" Yun cried out as she caught up to him. This was quite a rare sight for Yun. Riku's actually crying! The inconquerable Riku, who usually NEVER cried about anything! Well, she had never actually seen Riku cry so that was what she thought.

"Riku! Don't be sad! She's wrong about you! She doesn't know how great you really are!" Coronamon pleaded.

"My...my own mother...hates me so much that she's willing to throw away my entire game collection and send me away to some institution far away!" Riku cried really hard. Yun hated the sound of it, but she decided not to cover her ears. "All this time...I thought I could finally prove her and other people wrong, but...she really does hate my existence!"

It really made Yun and Coronamon's hearts ache to see Riku so sad and so broken, especially upon hearing that his mother sold his entire video game collection in the past month so she could raise enough money to send him away and finally wash her hands of any responsibility of him and never deal with him again. Riku's mother, a person who is obstinately convinced that ADHD means criminal behavior and that her own son, who never wanted to have ADHD in the first place, is going down a criminal path despite the majority believing otherwise. Yun, feeling her heart break, gently wrapped her arms around Riku and pulled him close, letting his head rest on her chest despite all the crying he's doing.

"Who thinks a kid with a disability is gonna be a criminal no matter what? That's so stupid!" Terriermon piped in.

"I agree. Her delusions have obviously led her astray," Lopmon said, definitely agreeing with Terriermon on this one.

Unfortunately, Riku didn't get to do more crying because the ground shook again. All the kids (Lucero, Hokuto, and Rena managed to catch up this time) stood up in alarm as they saw a digital portal appear in the town square. Suddenly, a huge Digimon with fly-like wings zipped out of it at great speed. It's head is green with ugly orange eyes, it's arms are big, bulky, and blue, it's legs are black and green with two orange stripes on each of them, on it's neck is a black collar with silver spikes protruding from it, it's tail is big and blue, and it looked like a cross between a dragon and an insect.

"It's a Digimon!" Coronamon yelled. Hokuto looked up the Digimon's information.

"DinoBeemon, ultimate level. His attacks are Masquerade and Irritant Buzz," Hokuto said.

"What? A Digimon like that has come to this world? Oh no! This cannot be good!" Kudamon exclaimed timorously.

"He's heading towards town!" Riku exclaimed with fear in his voice, having gotten over his waterworks.

As Kudamon just said, battling this Digimon would prove to be quite hard, especially if the kids had known what would come out of the battle.


	80. Justice Will Prevail! Flaremon, Blaze!

EPISODE 80: Justice Will Prevail! Flaremon, Blaze!

The children barely managed to make it to the town square, even though DinoBeemon has just begun running rampant. It managed to literally rip a house off the ground with its huge hands and literally throw it at the forest like it was garbage! Upon seeing the horrifying dinosaur/insect monster, people began fleeing desperately. Mothers grabbed their children, crowds of people scattered all around, and police cars suddenly began running toward the scene. Yun decided to tell the rest of the Digimon Brigade about it through text while hiding behind a big house with the others. Unfortunately, much to everyone's horror, a majority of the Digimon Brigade is out of commission due to the Digimon being so weak thanks to the Groundramon fiasco yesterday, and the town itself hasn't recovered much from that incident either!

Since Riku, Yun, and Hokuto's Digimon are the only ones at their rookie levels right now, and with enough energy to digivolve into champion level since they haven't digivolved into ultimate (Well, couldn't. Lopmon and Terriermon are capable of digivolving into ultimate, but haven't done it much lately), they knew that they were the only ones who could possibly defeat DinoBeemon...if it was possible. Yun looked through her pockets and was relieved when she found that she brought her D-Chips. Riku and Hokuto did the same. But when Riku was about to call for Veedramon, Coronamon suddenly grabbed onto his shirt.

"Riku! You've gotta let me fight!" Coronamon pleaded.

Riku, seeing that Coronamon's side has been bandaged since yesterday, knew that if Coronamon fought that giant dinosaur/insect monster, he could be easily killed because the injury caused by Gigadramon proved to be quite a hindrance. He didn't want Coronamon to put himself in the line of fire again. "No way! You're too injured to fight! That thing's an ultimate level, and you could die!"

"Please, Riku! Let me fight! He needs to be brought to justice, and I want to be the one who does it! You want to bring him to justice too, don't you?" Coronamon pleaded desperately.

"I can heal his wounds, kyu!" Cutemon piped in as she ran over to Coronamon and proceeded to heal the wound on his side. "Healing Light!"

A pink light appeared from Cutemon's hands, and Coronamon could feel the pain subsiding gradually. Coronamon looked up at the concerned Riku with pleading eyes. Much like Riku, Coronamon also had an unstoppable sense of justice that just didn't sit well with letting bad things happen. Riku understood how Coronamon felt, but he didn't want his friend to get hurt more than he already is, or even get killed! But once Coronamon has his mind on something, there's no way he'll take no for an answer. Riku is like that as well, and he understood the feeling quite well. Not only that, Cutemon's powers seem to be working quite well. Riku put a hand on his furry red friend's head and smiled at him.

"Alright. You can fight," Riku told him, then got his digivice out.

The digivice glowed in a golden yellow light, like sunlight, and with that, Coronamon digivolved into Firamon. Firamon felt good and ready for anything as he zipped toward DinoBeemon. Lopmon, Cutemon, Terriermon, and Kudamon followed suit and digivolved into Turuiemon, Rabbitmon, Gargomon, and Reppamon. In the process, Riku summoned Veedramon and Flamedramon, surprised as they were about coming to the human world for the first time. Yun summoned Bucchiemon and Swanmon. She chose not to summon Prairiemon because she's primarily a ground-based Digimon, and since DinoBeemon can fly, it would put her at a great disadvantage, even though Yun felt bad about not calling for Prairiemon that much. Hokuto summoned Monzaemon. He figured that since Monzaemon is so big, he could prevent DinoBeemon from getting very far and protect the town. Firamon managed to catch up to DinoBeemon by biting into his tail and making him roar in pain.

"Where do ya think yer goin' you dinobug?" Firamon bellowed as he bit into DinoBeemon's tail. DinoBeemon wagged his tail roughly and managed to pry Firamon off of it, but Firamon managed to regain his balance in the sky immediately.

"Fira Bomb!" Firamon shot a ball of fire from the orb on his head and threw it at DinoBeemon, but the ugly dinosaur/insect managed to negate the attack by swiping it away with one of his big hands.

"Irritant Buzz!" All of a sudden, a shock wave of green lights shot out from DinoBeemon's mouth. Firamon did manage to see this coming and quickly flew away from it.

"Hearts Attack!" Monzaemon opened his big, chubby arms and allowed a stream of pink hearts to appear from his belly. Unfortunately, DinoBeemon managed to slice all of them as he charged at the giant yellow and white teddy bear. Thankfully, Monzaemon managed to grab DinoBeemon and hold onto him.

"Firamon! Attack while I've got him in my hands!" Monzaemon told him.

Swanmon and Reppamon, also flight-based Digimon, decided to do the same.

"Fira Bomb!"

"Dance of the White Swan!"

"Vacuum Kamaitachi!"

While both attacks managed to hit DinoBeemon, they didn't even leave so much as a scratch!

"What? It should have worked!" Swanmon exclaimed with shock.

"DinoBeemon's armor is very thick and sturdy. It's going to take a lot more than beam spams to so much as leave a dent in it," Reppamon said.

DinoBeemon, tired of letting a giant teddy bear have the upper hand, managed to break free from Monzaemon's chubby hands and fly downward, towards Turuiemon, Rabbitmon, Gargomon, Bucchiemon, Veedramon, and Flamedramon, who all decided to take the opportunity to attack.

"Gargo Laser!"

"Love Laser!"

"Carrot Bomb!"

"Fire Rocket!"

"V-Nova Blast!"

All the attacks managed to hit DinoBeemon...but even they didn't leave a scratch! Not only that, DinoBeemon flew out of the cloud of smoke that came out afterward. Turuiemon decided to use this opportunity to jump onto DinoBeemon and cling to him tightly, hoping this would make him lose his balance a bit. Unfortunately, all it did was make DinoBeemon choleric. Upon feeling Turuiemon cling to his heavily armor-clad body, he tried to throw her off by flying (and very badly, at that) in all directions in a crazy way. Turuiemon did feel herself about to get air sick, but she pushed the feelings aside as she tried to subdue DinoBeemon,

"Gauntlet Claw!" She saw an opening in DinoBeemon's neck and proceeded to dredge one of her gauntlets into it. Upon feeling the silver gauntlet dredge into his neck, DinoBeemon roared in pain and moved around in a contorted way, this time actually managing to throw Turuiemon off. Turuiemon fell onto the roof of Fushimi Middle School. Thankfully she didn't destroy anything, but the fall was quite rough, and as she tried to get up, she felt a sharp pain go up her back like electricity.

"Ow! Note to self: never ride on flying Digimon ever again," Turuiemon mused as she rubbed her injured back.

Gargomon suddenly became choleric himself. "How dare you hurt my sister! Now you're gonna pay for it big time! Bunny Pummel!" Gargomon tried to whack DinoBeemon over the head, but the giant dinosaur fly Digimon went by so fast, like a fast-moving race car, that Gargomon wasn't able to hit him. Instead, he slipped and fell into a bush. "OW!"

"If only there was a way we could at least slow him down!" Swanmon said.

Riku took a look at DinoBeemon's fast moving wings. And it hit him.

"His wings! Let's try rendering his wings useless! Firamon and Swanmon, try and damage his wings so much that he can't fly!" Riku yelled.

"You got it!" Firamon exclaimed. "Come on, Swanmon!"

Swanmon nodded and followed Firamon's lead. Despite DinoBeemon's great speed, Firamon and Swanmon managed to catch up to him. But it was hitting his wings that proved to be a problem. Swanmon tried to peck at them, but they moved so fast that they actually hit her in the face like slaps and prevented her from leaving any holes in them. Firamon tried pouncing on DinoBeemon about three times, but the giant dinosaur fly always managed to evade him.

"Man! I wish Mel-chan and Birdramon were here!" Yun complained a little.

"Fira Bomb!" Firamon tried to hit DinoBeemon's wings with another fiery bomb, but it missed again. Swanmon made sure to blow it away by flapping her white wings so it wouldn't light anything afire.

"Man! This thing's fast!" Bucchiemon said.

"You're telling me! I wish I could digivolve into AeroVeedramon and squash that bug!" Veedramon bellowed.

All of a sudden, DinoBeemon caught sight of Riku and suddenly began zooming in on him.

"NOOOO! RIKU!" Firamon bellowed as he saw DinoBeemon swoop down faster than he could manage and pin Riku to the ground with one of his big hands.

Once Riku realized what happened, he found himself frozen with fear. A giant bug's face looked down at him maliciously, obviously wearing the look of a carnivore about to consume its prey. Normally, Riku was very fast in terms of evading something coming his way, but in this case, DinoBeemon outran him and managed to pin him down to the street. Riku thought this was the end of him. The other Digimon tried to save him, but DinoBeemon managed to push them all away like they were annoying kids trying to cut in line. Yun and Hokuto got their digiswords out and tried to attack DinoBeemon, but he knocked them away too. Riku closed his eyes.

_'There. Happy now, Mom? My life ends here. Now you won't have to deal with me and my stupid ADHD anymore...'_ Riku thought as he prepared for his end.

But oddly enough, it didn't come.

"Leave my son alone, you monster!"

_'Son? What?'_ Riku suddenly opened his eyes in alarm, surprised upon hearing that three letter word that rhymed with sun. The only person he knew who referred to him as his son, and proudly at that, was...Michitaka.

And there he was, bravely stabbing DinoBeemon's hand, the one that pinned Riku down, with a very black and rusty but very sharp fireplace poker.

"DAD?" Both Riku and Rena yelped with shock. Yes! Michitaka stabbed DinoBeemon's hand with a rusty old fireplace poker! DinoBeemon roared with pain, so much so that he actually let go of Riku and tried to remove the black fireplace poker. Michitaka quickly ran over to Riku, scooped him in his arms, and ran about a few feet from the scene. Even Firamon, who watched from above, felt quite touched upon seeing this kind and chivalrous act.

"Oh, Riku! Thank God I got here in time!" Michitaka cried. Riku was shocked. His own father actually grabbed a measly fireplace poker, came to a complete warzone, and managed to stab a giant dinosaur fly just so he could save his own son from getting killed. Riku could feel the tears coming out of Michitaka's eyes. "I'd never forgive myself if anything happened to you or Rena!"

Riku felt slightly squished by Michitaka's tight hug...but he felt his father's warmth. His love. Something he never got from Takako. Riku smiled silently and basked in his father's love. _'At least Dad loves me. I'm happy with just that...'_ Riku thought.

"Fira Claw!" Firamon decided to distract DinoBeemon from the Nobara family by attacking him again, this time managing to scratch DinoBeemon's face, though only slightly. DinoBeemon and Firamon then went into an all out brawl in the sky. Riku wanted to bask in his father's hug a little more, but a voice he didn't want to hear pulled him out of it.

"Michitaka! Come back here at once!"

It was Takako's shrill voice, and just the sound of it made Riku break out of his father's loving embrace and run away.

"Riku! Come back! It's not safe!" Michitaka tried to go after him, but Takako yanked on his arm and stopped him from chasing him, even though Riku didn't go very far.

"Leave him be! We need to get out of here!" Takako said.

Suddenly, Michitaka angrily yanked Takako off of his arm and slapped her in the face! She almost fell to the already shaken ground, but she managed to regain her equanimity despite being consumed by anger just like her husband is right now.

"WE need to get out of here? Our _CHILDREN_ are here, for God's sake! I'm NOT leaving without them, and you are NOT telling ME what to do! Stop being so God durn selfish for once in your God durn life and think about the fact that OUR CHILDREN _NEED US_!" Michitaka screamed angrily, having finally had enough of Takako's selfish behavior.

Unfortunately, Michitaka and Takako argued so much that they failed to notice DinoBeemon zooming in on them and preparing to attack. Riku saw it.

"Irritant Buzz!"

Riku felt he needed to warn them, even though it was likely it wouldn't reach them.

He had to do something.

"MOM! DAD! LOOK OOOOOUT!"

Michitaka and Takako heard Riku's warning, but DinoBeemon came so close, they didn't have time to run away. They couldn't react quick enough. But as it would turn out, they didn't need to.

"Crimson King Beast Dive!"

A sudden blur of orange and red managed to send DinoBeemon flying so hard that he fell into the ground, leaving a huge crater in the middle of the street! A huge cloud of smoke appeared as Michitaka and Takako quickly ran away from the chaotic scene. As the smoke cloud disappeared, it revealed an all out cat fight between Firamon and DinoBeemon, who continued to claw at each other like rabid cats.

"Fira Claw!" Firamon tried to slash DinoBeemon with flame-consumed claws multiple times, but either DinoBeemon kept on pushing them back and evading them. DinoBeemon kicked Firamon in the stomach once, but it didn't stop Firamon from biting his head and trying to rip it off. DinoBeemon then proceeded to use his big bulky blue arms to rip Firamon off of him and throw him at the street. Firamon managed to stop himself enough from hitting a house that happened to be nearby.

"We've got to help him!" Turuiemon exclaimed.

"But DinoBeemon's too strong!" Bucchiemon exclaimed.

"And too fast, too!" Rabbitmon piped in timorously.

Suddenly, out of nowhere...

"Hanging Twister!"

A huge tornado managed to consume DinoBeemon, giving Firamon time to descend onto the street and regain some of his energy a bit. All of a sudden, a familiar face appeared in the town square.

"Shione-chan? Moosemon?" Rena exclaimed.

Riding on top of a very determined looking Moosemon is Shione, looking quite energetic and ready for anything. She has on a light purple sleeveless top, a yellow and white visor on her head, black jean shorts, white socks and brown shoes. Unfortunately, DinoBeemon popped out of the tornado and flew away, prompting Swanmon and Firamon to give chase. Shione hopped off of Moosemon's back and they ran over to the kids.

"We heard all the commotion from our house. We thought maybe you could use some help," Shione told them kindly.

"And I can see that you certainly need it considering what happened yesterday. Sorry we couldn't be there to help you then," Moosemon told them while bowing politely.

"Oh no! It's fine! We need all the help we can get! Thanks so much!" Yun cried, sounding like she's about to fall apart mentally at any moment.

"Gargo Laser!"

"Carrot Bomb!"

"V-Nova Blast!"

"Fire Rocket!"

"Talon Arrow!"

"Dance of the White Swan!"

"Vacuum Kamaitachi!"

"Hearts Attack!"

All of the Digimon (except Turuiemon, who is earthbound and can barely reach him) tried to attempt an all-out attack on DinoBeemon, but he managed to both negate, evade, and hold off every single attack. He managed to zip right into Monzaemon's chest, causing him to fall. Hokuto, seeing that he's about to fall on some houses, pulled out his digivice, opened it, pressed the door button, and held it up. A digital portal appeared, sucking Monzaemon inside. Hokuto sighed with relief. He managed to both save the houses from getting destroyed and stop Monzaemon from destroying them, even though it meant that Monzaemon can no longer help with the battle. DinoBeemon grabbed Gargomon by one of his ears, held him up, and dropped him into the street. Turuiemon tried to catch him, but he fell so fast she couldn't break his fall. The fall caused Gargomon to de-digivolve back into Terriermon. Rabbitmon and Turuiemon then tried to lure DinoBeemon to them, but even that backfired as he used his Irritant Buzz on them both, causing them to de-digivolve back into Lopmon and Cutemon.

Reppamon tried to chase after DinoBeemon, but he used his tail to knock him out, causing him to de-digivolve back into Kudamon. DinoBeemon then tried to attack Bucchiemon, but the red and white Digimon saw it coming and managed to evade it. Unfortunately, since Bucchiemon was standing right in front of the tattoo parlour, it wound up getting destroyed once DinoBeemon ran right into it, causing the entire building and everything inside to fall to the ground in the form of debris. Bucchiemon saw this and immediately regretted dodging.

"Maybe I should have tried protecting that building instead..." Bucchiemon said.

"I don't think it would have made any difference. DinoBeemon is strong, and anything he touches gets destroyed no matter what," Flamedramon told him.

As DinoBeemon was about to destroy another building, Firamon managed to pin him down to the ground, though not in the right position. Instead of face down, where Firamon could try ripping his wings apart or render them useless like Riku told them to, DinoBeemon is instead facing up. But it didn't make much difference either way, as DinoBeemon continued to struggle and Firamon tried desperately to land one attack on him.

That's when it happened.

Consumed by a huge paroxysm of feral anger, DinoBeemon kicked Firamon, made him fall face up on the street, and stabbed him in the abdomen. Some particles of data were slashed out as a result. Firamon howled in pain as DinoBeemon dredged his claw into his abdomen.

"FIRAMON!" Riku screamed upon seeing his friend get attacked by the giant dinosaur fly. DinoBeemon then pulled his claw out and tried to attack again. Riku ran over to Firamon and set up his digishield, causing DinoBeemon to fly away. He was NOT going to let Firamon get killed.

"I'll take care of him, kyu!" Cutemon cried out as she ran over to Firamon and attempted to heal his wounds. "Healing Light!"

Riku was about to stay with Firamon and watch him as well until he saw DinoBeemon using his Irritant Buzz attack on the church, causing part of it to collapse. In the process, Riku heard something.

Voices.

"Someone help us! Please, help!"

The shrill, frightened voices of a young woman and a crying baby could be heard in the church, along with a few others. Riku saw a small window on the bottom of the church. That's where it came from. Riku ran to it and, despite how narrow and broken the window is, saw a woman holding onto a crying baby, along with a few more children and mothers. Riku also saw some toys and a Bible laying around.

"Please help us!" The woman holding the crying baby pleaded desperately.

"Don't worry! I'll get you out!" Riku unlocked the window from the outside and attempted to save the people inside despite how narrow the window itself is. Riku made sure to be mindful of the broken glass that crunched and broke in half beneath his shoes.

Unfortunately, Riku couldn't save any of them. Not even the wailing baby in the woman's arms.

"Insectoid Ray!"

An orange light hit the church. It exploded right as it made contact. Riku felt part of his body get singed by the explosion as he was suddenly thrown about a few feet away from it. Once the explosion faded, Riku found himself unable to open his eyes. After a few minutes, he struggled to get up because his arm and part of his face got slightly burned by the explosion. Once he sat himself up, he opened his eyes, though he was going to regret doing so once he did.

The church, the one Otoya's family owns and takes care of, is completely destroyed.

Now it's nothing but a huge pile of bricks, rubble, and debris. Parts of the rubble caught on fire, though only small flames danced around on the debris, not enough to spread like a huge forest fire. The cross on top of the church fell to the ground, breaking into pieces as soon as it made contact with the concrete. The grass around it got singed as well. But the thing about the explosion that scared Riku the most was a lone baby bottle, completely broken and shattered, lying in the space where the window was. Glass shards surrounded the now broken bottle, the plastic part of it inside has been ripped, causing white formula to seep out and form a puddle.

Riku couldn't believe his eyes. He wished what he saw was a dream. An illusion. A hallucination. A farce. Nothing but a big fat fabrication. But this specter was real, and the broken bottle proved it.

The people inside didn't survive. There was no time for the woman to even hand him the baby.

The people inside are dead.

DinoBeemon killed them.

Riku wished that this was a dream, but it wasn't. DinoBeemon just destroyed Otoya's church while people were trapped inside...and Riku couldn't save him! Well, it was inevitable, really. There was technically no way Riku could have saved them no matter what he tried. The window was too narrow, and it didn't look like the baby could fit through either. Riku's mouth went dry. His green eyes widened with horror with the realization that he couldn't save them. How could he be so weak and let them die? Riku thought he was shell-shocked for a minute. He wished he was a Digimon, capable of having super powers and saving everyone. But no, he was just a kid, in over his head, thinking he could save a huge amount of people trapped in a tiny church room with a narrow window. Riku was about to call himself useless and weak...but all of the sadness in his face and heart suddenly scrunched up and turned to anger.

Riku could hear DinoBeemon's large footsteps heading toward him. He turned around to find DinoBeemon gazing at not just him, but what was left of the broken church. Riku continued to sit as he glared daggers at DinoBeemon, the culprit, the reprehensible one, the one who mercilessly killed so many innocent people without any hint of remorse! There was NO way Riku was going to forgive him.

"I'll never forgive you...it's not fair..." He muttered.

"Riku! Get out of the way!" Firamon bellowed, but Riku didn't listen.

"I'll bring you to justice..." Riku muttered bitterly as he stood up. "You just killed innocent people and don't show a hint of remorse and regret. It's not fair, y'know? Killing the weak or people who can't defend themselves. How can you be so cruel? You probably must think I'm some weak kid who doesn't know right from wrong. But let me tell you this: I'm gonna make you pay for this with your life. Let me show you that I, no we, can bring both the Digital World and human world to justice! I'm sick of criminals like you doing what you want and getting away with it scott free! I won't let you get away with this! We'll bring this world to justice! And Firamon and I are going to start...WITH YOU!" Riku screamed at the last sentence, proudly showing the gold D-Heart of Justice in the palm of his outstretched hand as it glowed in a golden sun-like light.

"Riku..." Firamon exclaimed, impressed by Riku's courage. "You're right! We can bring him to justice together! We'll make him pay for what he just did!" Firamon bellowed.

Firamon howled like a true lion. With that, Riku's digivice glowed in a yellow light. The light shot out from it, permeating the D-Heart, and then going into Firamon. Firamon found himself being enveloped by the yellow light and feeling quite warm. Everyone watched as the golden yellow light became brighter and bigger.

"Firamon, digivolve to..."

The light became bigger and bigger until it reached DinoBeemon's size. Once the light reached it's maximum size and dissipated, out came a new and improved, albeit wingless and flightless Firamon. The yellow hair on his back is MUCH longer and thicker than before, the black shoulder plates now have some kind of red and white armor protruding from them, the flame on his long tail is much bigger, his hands are bigger, his feet are stronger, his orange coat has taken on a more reddish color, and he certainly looked a lot better than ever.

"...Flaremon!"

_'Flaremon...' _Riku thought._ 'What a fitting name! Man, does he look so awesome!'_ Riku thought again, awestruck by his partner's evolution.

DinoBeemon, angered by Flaremon's appearance, proceeded to charge at him, but Flaremon suddenly managed to grab onto his face and stop him from moving further!

"By the power of the sun, these fiery fists will bring you to justice! Red Lion Dance!" Flaremon covered both his hands and feet with fire and suddenly began punching and kicking DinoBeemon with great speed! DinoBeemon found himself unable to move right off the bat. After a bit though, DinoBeemon did manage to fly away.

"Crimson Beast King Wave!" Flaremon made a huge orange blur of fire appear in the form of a lion's head as it shot at DinoBeemon and caused not only its armor to break off fully, exposing his grey DigiCore, but his wings to turn to ash completely, causing it to fall to the ground, now weak and helpless. Riku and Flaremon both walked over to the now completely helpless DinoBeemon. Riku looked up at Flaremon in a kind way and smiled at him.

"Riku. Your golden heart has helped me come this far, and for that I thank you. Perhaps I will allow you to finish him off, since you want to bring him to justice, after all. I will lend you some of my power," Flaremon told him in a kind, dignified voice.

Riku nodded and got his digisword out. Flaremon closed his eyes and a yellow light appeared from one of the orbs on his wrists. It floated over to Riku's digisword, enveloping it completely and changing it's appearance. Now it looks like a real sword, only the part of the sword that's supposed to be silver is now coal black, like ash. The hilt is gold with a flame at the end, and the quillons are bright red, shaped to look like actual flames. Riku gripped the hilt tightly like he was a knight about to execute someone. Riku walked over to the DigiCore, held his new sword up, and dredged it into the DigiCore, only this time, DinoBeemon didn't scream in pain. All he did was dissipate into green data, which Flaremon absorbed. Once DinoBeemon's data disappeared, Riku's new sword changed back into a normal digivice.

"Rikkun!" Yun and the other kids ran over to him and hugged him.

"Wow! You two were awesome out there!" Terriermon exclaimed happily.

"You and Flaremon were in perfect sync in that final moment!" Lopmon cheered happily.

"You did it! You defeated DinoBeemon, kyu!" Cutemon said.

"I'm so glad you're alright!" Rena said as she hugged her brother despite stumbling a little bit.

"Great job!" Hokuto exclaimed.

"What a feat you two have displayed! I can definitely see why you and Flaremon are partners," Kudamon said, smiling brightly.

"You did it, Riku and Flaremon! You both did it!" Moonmon cheered.

"Thou hast proven thyself to be great!" Lucero rejoiced.

"Thanks! Ow! Watch the burns!" Riku told them as his mild burns started to sting. Flaremon kneeled before them.

"Riku. You followed your instincts in the face of doubt and brought a wicked criminal to justice, even though you couldn't save the people he killed. You know that you are just a human, and you never turn your back on anyone, even if the situation is hopeless. It was your pure heart, a heart full of justice, that helped me digivolve. I couldn't ask for a better partner," Flaremon told him in his mature, dignified voice, which made Riku smile big. Riku hugged Flaremon and could literally feel both his physical and emotional warmth.

"You're so warm, Flaremon. Thanks..." Riku told him happily, even if he's feeling a bit tired.

"No. Thank you for being my partner," Flaremon said. Suddenly, he was enveloped by a yellow light. He shrunk so much that he reached Moonmon's size. Once he got small enough, the light dissipated and out came a little orange sun Digimon with a yellow flame on his head.

"Sunmon!" Riku exclaimed happily.

"Riku!" Sunmon hopped into Riku's arms, and the two of them laughed happily. Riku loved hugging this cute, tiny Digimon and his soft, warm body. "I'm getting hungry. Are we gonna eat something when we get home?"

"We sure are, little buddy!" Riku said.

What Riku didn't know was that Michitaka was approaching him from behind. It wasn't until he felt a touch on his shoulder that he turned around to see him right behind him.

"Riku...you were wonderful out there. I'm sorry I ever doubted you," Michitaka told him with a smile, though his face and voice looked sad. Riku smiled and nodded anyway.

"Thanks for believing in me, Dad..." Riku muttered.

"What's for dinner tonight, Michitaka-san?" Sunmon asked in his cute voice, which made Michitaka smile.

"I think I'll make something wonderful tonight. How about-" Michitaka was about to tell them about his plans for dinner when someone interrupted him.

"THIS IS ALL A LOAD OF CROCK!"

Michitaka and Riku sighed. That shrill voice came from Takako just now, who clearly is as choleric as she could get.

"All this talk about that insolent child having a heart of justice...how can you all be so stupid? That child is nothing but a criminal! A disgrace! He's the reason the people in the church died just now! If he hadn't been so slow and so stupid, they would have been saved! I-" Takako was about to go on a tirade until literally everyone interrupted her.

"WILL YOU SHUT UP ALREADY?" Everyone screamed.

"You all should shut up and let me finish!" Takako bellowed.

"Why? So you can get attention again and continue doubting me?" Riku retorted sarcastically, which made Sunmon laugh.

Takako's face grew red as a beet. "How dare you talk to me in that tone, you disrespectful brat! I knew I should have sent you away long ago!"

"Do you really think sending me away is going to change anything?"

"Stop contradicting me! You're a liar, a thief, and a manipulator! I-"

"Just shut up, Takako. I've had about enough of this," Michitaka snapped. Soon, the two of them began arguing, which prompted the other kids and Digimon to laugh and Yun to cover her ears in fright. Lucero saw this and kneeled in front of her.

"Wouldst thou likest to journey home?" Lucero asked in a kind, dulcet voice.

"Y-Yeah," Yun muttered. But when she and Lucero both stood up, Yun suddenly coughed a little. Then another fit came, but stronger this time.

"That doesn't sound good," Lopmon said.

"My throat feels kind of dry for some reason," Yun said.

"You thirsty?" Terriermon asked. "I sure am! And hungry, too!"

"I dunno, but maybe some water will help," Yun said.

"Come. I shall accompany thee home," Lucero told her with a smile as he held out one of his tender hands. Yun put her own hand into his, and they walked home together holding hands while Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon rested on their shoulders.

But as it would turn out, Yun's coughing fit just now proved to be more than they would expect.


	81. Sick Day

EPISODE 81: Sick Day

At around the middle of the night, Teruki woke up to the undeniable sound of very harsh coughing.

He came home from work at around 8:30 PM last night, so he wanted to be able to sleep until the morning since he didn't quite have a good day at work last night. Unfortunately, the coughing sound roused him from his sleep. Hisako slept next to him, apparently so much that she didn't even hear it. The sound of coughing isn't something one normally hears every day, especially in the middle of the night, no less, so he decided to check it out. He decided to throw on his dark green, blue striped robe, put on his glasses, and walk out the door.

It didn't take long for him to find the source of the coughing, as it turned out to be Yun, in her light pink pajamas, standing in the kitchen, right in front of the sink, treating herself to a glass of water. One light was on in the kitchen, albeit a little dimly, so he could easily tell that it was her. The coughing ceased momentarily as Yun guzzled down some water, hoping her dry throat would be hydrated and the coughing would stop. Unfortunately, her attempt was in vain, because as soon as she sipped some water, she coughed again, though she managed to set the glass down before she went into another fit. Teruki watched from the entrance to the hallway and found this sight to be quite worrying.

"Yun?" Teruki said quietly, but considering how silent it is at night, his voice could easily be heard. The sound of her father's voice made Yun turn around in alarm, and the sight of her slightly weary father in his night robe made her frightened a little.

"Did I...wake you up? I'm sorry!" Yun tried to dim her voice down to a whisper, though it didn't quite go so well. Teruki smiled a bit.

"It's alright. You don't sound so good," Teruki said as he walked up to her.

"I...I've had this since late yesterday. I don't know how I got it," Yun said before she coughed four more times.

"Here. I'll give you one of my cough drops," Teruki said as he rummaged through a basket on the countertop.

"Cough drops?" Yun asked, confused.

"Here they are," Teruki said as he found a small, plastic cartridge of orange ones. He picked one out and handed it to Yun. "You've never had one, have you? I use them whenever I have some coughing fits. But you can't swallow them or eat them. You suck on them."

The oval-shaped cough drop felt hard, like plastic, even though it looked like candy. Yun looked at it for a bit, unsure of whether to use it or not. "Like this?" She asked as she put it in her mouth while being careful not to swallow it. The orange cough drop protruded from her mouth a bit.

"Yes. Like that. How about we sit for a while until you're done with it?" Teruki said as he sat down at the dining room table. Yun did the same as she continued to suck on the cough drop.

"It tastes like caramel," Yun muttered as she sucked on the cough drop some more. It must be confessed that she didn't like the sticky feeling on her finger that came when she touched it. She preferred to touch it and keep it in place so it doesn't go down her throat, even though she's not liking the fact that it's getting sticky. The two of them said nothing for quite a while. Yun looked at the clock in the kitchen, and it read 12:23 AM. After a few minutes, Yun could feel her throat being soothed a bit and the cough drop shrink in size. Teruki looked out one of the windows and could see that it's quite dark out.

"I like nights like this. They're so quiet and peaceful," Teruki said wistfully, with a smile on his face. Yun said nothing, as she's too focused on letting the effects of the cough drop go into her throat. After about ten more minutes, Yun could see and feel that the cough drop has gotten quite flat to the point of no longer being usable. But her throat had been soothed and she threw it away.

"Thanks," Yun whispered softly.

"You're welcome. Let's go back to sleep now," Teruki said. Yun nodded and went back into her room, hoping that she can finally get some sleep this time. Teruki did and thought the same.

Unfortunately for the both of them, the cough drop didn't solve the problem, as Yun's coughing proved to be more than just a dry throat.

It was Lopmon who noticed that something was wrong. Yun woke up looking, and feeling quite groggy. Her brown hair is frizzy and messy. Her bangs stuck up in the air quite a bit, literally pointing to the ceiling. Lopmon woke up shortly afterward, and despite the weariness she still had, even she could tell that something didn't look quite right.

"Morning..." Yun muttered in a very low, almost raspy voice, something that surprised Lopmon greatly.

"Is something wrong, Yun? You sound like you're losing your voice," Lopmon asked.

"Huh? I am?" Yun asked no one in particular, as she started spacing out. As Lopmon looked closer, she could see that Yun's face is extremely red and flushed. Yun's face is almost never red, and she certainly never saw her blush before. Worried, Lopmon put one of her long ears on Yun's cheeks and forehead, and to her surprise, they're very warm.

"Oh my! Your face is so warm!" Lopmon exclaimed suddenly. Yun didn't react much.

"What was that, Lopmon?" Hisako came into the room as soon as she heard Lopmon's voice as she happened to be leaving the bathroom, which is right next to Yun's room.

"Hi Mom..." Yun murmured again groggily, her voice lower and harsher than normal. "Ugh. I sound weird..."

"Oh dear," Hisako said, surprised by how raspy Yun sounds. "You're losing your voice."

Hisako put her palms on Yun's cheeks and forehead. "You're so warm, and you have a fever too!"

"So does this mean she's sick?" Lopmon asked Hisako, looking quite worried.

"I'm afraid so. Oh dear! Look at those bags under your eyes, Yun! Did you get any sleep at all?" Hisako told Lopmon, then saw some circles under Yun's eyes.

"I...I've been coughing all night. I woke Dad up," Yun croaked, then started sniffing. "Oh great. I've got a stuffy nose to go with it!" She complained weakly and sniffed again.

The sniffing was so loud, it woke Terriermon up, and right upon seeing Yun he could tell that she doesn't quite look like herself. "Man! You sound horrible!"

Yun became irritated. "Gee. Thanks, Terriermon!" Yun retorted irritably but fell into another fit of coughing. "Ugh! It's sooooo hot!" Yun complained again, louder this time, though everyone could hear that her voice is quite scratchy and raspy.

Despite being sick, Yun went over to the dining room table to eat her breakfast. Light toast and bananas like usual. Lopmon and Terriermon did the same, though they both looked quite worried about Yun. Hisako then gave some liquidized medicine to Yun, even though Yun really hated the taste.

"Ugh! It tastes weird!" Yun complained.

"I know. You should definitely stay in bed today," Hisako told her. Once she finished drinking the very bitter medicine, Yun stumbled back into her room.

"Wow. I've never seen Yun like this before," Terriermon said.

"Me either. It's very worrying," Lopmon said with a worried tone in her voice as well.

"What's worrying?" Lucero and Cutemon both suddenly appeared into the dining room.

"Morning. It seems Yun's got quite a nasty cold," Hisako told them.

"A cold, kyu? Is she sick, kyu?" Cutemon asked.

"Sort of," Hisako said. "But I don't think it's anything to worry about. I'm sure she'll get better soon."

_'Sick? Yun is sick?'_ Lucero thought, suddenly becoming worried even though Hisako told them not to be just now. He's never been sick before, nor has he ever seen Yun in such a languid state.

"But I am worried about one thing though," Hisako said. "I have to go run some errands today with Ayaka, and Teruki has a meeting at work. I don't want to leave Yun all alone in the house when she's like this."

Terriermon suddenly hopped onto the table. "We'll take care of her!"

Hisako became surprised. "_You_? Take care of her?"

Lopmon, for once actually agreeing with Terriermon, nodded. "Yes. She's done so much for us, so perhaps we can do something nice for her in return. She IS our friend, after all."

"I wonder if my healing powers can help her, kyu," Cutemon mused out loud.

"I don't think so, Cutemon," Lucero said, shaking his head a little. He did look up at Hisako with pleading eyes. "I can assist them, Hisako-dono. We'll stay with her while thou art running thy errands. Please allow us to tend to Yun."

Now Hisako was worried. She understood that they meant well and that Yun means a lot to them, so it's only natural that they'd want to take care of her. But she wondered if they were even capable of taking care of her. She had never seen the Digimon, or Lucero, get sick before, so she wasn't sure if she could leave Yun's welfare in their hands. Especially the little stubby hands of Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon considering their small size. She really didn't want to imagine them in the kitchen. Oh, what a mess it would be! She was about to say something until Teruki came into the room dressed in a plain white T-shirt and a pair of slacks.

"Morning, Hisako. Is the coffee ready yet?" Teruki asked. But as soon as he finished his question, Yun erupted into quite a harsh coughing fit. Yet again. Then a loud sniffing sound came afterward.

"UGH! My head's about to explode!" Yun wailed.

"Shut up, you brat!" Ayaka screeched from her bedroom, angry to have been forced awake by Yun, even though Yun didn't mean to.

"Oh jeez. Yun's real sick today. Guess the cough drop I gave her didn't help after all," Teruki said, then told Hisako about what happened after midnight.

"I'm worried about leaving her here, Teruki. I've got errands to run with Ayaka today, and you have to go to that meeting-" Hisako told him, but suddenly he interrupted her.

"Actually, I found out yesterday that I have the day off. They cancelled it," Teruki told her.

All of a sudden, Hisako's face lit up. "Oh good! Now I'll feel safer if you're around to watch her."

"Hey!" Terriermon suddenly exclaimed out of nowhere, rudely pointing to Hisako with one of his little black fingers. "You don't believe we can take care of Yun, now do you?!"

"Terriermon. Calm yourself. She's just worried about Yun. It's only natural for her to feel a little insecure about her daughter's welfare, and besides, we don't exactly have experience with taking care of a sick human being," Lopmon explained calmly, trying to make sure Terriermon didn't fly at Hisako. Terriermon drooped his head downward a bit.

"Oh. Good point," Terriermon said dejectedly. Teruki smiled at them.

"Alright. Then how about this? You four can help me take care of Yun. Will that be alright?" Teruki asked with a bright smile. By four, he included Lucero. They all smiled brightly and beamed.

"Yep! That's definitely alright, kyu!" Cutemon exclaimed happily.

"We hope we can help her in some way," Lopmon said.

"I thank thee for giving us the opportunity," Lucero told him politely and bowed.

Terriermon pounded his chest with his little pale green fist. "Just leave it to us, Teruki-san! We're Yun's partners, and it's a partner's duty to take care of their tamer through good times and bad!" He then turned to face the others. "Alrighty! Let's begin Operation: Make Yun's Illness Go Away!"

"Will you shut up, you loud-mouthed rabbit?! I'm trying to sleep here!" Ayaka yelled, causing Terriermon to fall on his behind a bit.

"Whoops," Terriermon fumbled, a little frightened by the fact that he unknowingly woke Ayaka up and made her angry with his enthusiasm.

Since its still early morning, everyone had plenty of time to wake themselves up and get ready. But since Lucero and the Digimon were up and alert already, they decided to take it upon themselves to take care of Yun while Hisako and Teruki got ready for the day themselves. Lucero prepared a glass of cold water for Yun. Lopmon got a paper towel and used her Freezing Snow attack to freeze part of it. Cutemon and Terriermon found a box of tissues on the counter and decided to take them to Yun.

"Here is a glass of water, Yun," Lucero said with worried eyes as Yun groggily took the glass and immediately began guzzling it down like a very thirsty animal who had been walking around in the desert for about a month without water. But immediately after she guzzled it all down, a sneeze overtook her. Thankfully, Terriermon was quick and shoved a tissue in her face, keeping the snot from getting all over the place.

"Hey! I managed to stop a sneeze!" Terriermon exclaimed happily. Yun sniffed loudly in the process, and she could feel her head pounding.

"Ugh...I really DO feel horrible!" Yun groaned as she fell back into the bed and pushed her blankets away, revealing her light pink pajamas. "And it's so hot out! Why does it have to be 100 degrees and humid today?!"

Unfortunately for Yun, what she said just now is true. The heat and humidity marched back into Tama-no-Minato at full force, leaving everyone sweltering in the hot sun and causing air conditioners to be turned on at full blast. The Wakamiyas used to have two air conditioners, but one broke recently. That's why Hisako and Ayaka are going out today: to buy a new air conditioner. The only one that's working right now is in Hisako and Teruki's room, and Yun could hardly feel the cold air despite the sheet hanging from the hallway entrance and many doors being closed.

"Oh!" Lopmon exclaimed with a smile, snapping her little fingers. "I know exactly what'll cool you down!" Lopmon said as she put the frozen paper towel on Yun's forehead.

She then hopped in front of the back of Yun's head, sucked in a light breath, and exhaled. "Light Snow!"

Everyone thought she was going to use her Freezing Snow attack again and, depending on how Lopmon uses it, it can be either moderate in strength or extremely strong, so much so that it can even encase an entire room in ice. But the attack that came out of Lopmon's little mouth didn't even look like a blizzard, or even frozen snow. Instead, it just looked more like a very light and very sparkly powder resembling cooled air, air that actually felt like air conditioner air if turned down to 60 degrees. It didn't freeze Yun, which made everyone sigh with relief. It did, however, make Yun smile as she could feel the very cool air encase her body (not in solid ice).

"Yay. Cool air. Thanks Lopmon. Can I cuddle you?" Yun murmured weakly as she felt her body be cooled down by Lopmon's attack(?). Lopmon stopped using it, smiled, and wrapped herself in Yun's arm, happy that her attempt to make Yun feel a little bit better helped quite a lot. Terriermon became a little dejected upon seeing Yun smile.

"Why so glum, Terriermon?" Cutemon asked.

"I wish I could use ice attacks and cool her down. But I can only use fire attacks, and Yun doesn't like the heat. I wonder if there's anything I can do to help? I don't want to see Yun like this and not do anything," Terriermon replied softly. Cutemon smiled and stroke Terriermon's pale yellow head with her little pink paw.

"It's okay, kyu! I'm sure she understands, kyu. Considering who she is, I think just having you here makes her happy, kyu," Cutemon told him gently.

Terriermon snapped out of his minor sad spell. He had to admit, Cutemon had a VERY good point and was right. Since Yun is autistic and often has a hard time making friends, and keeping them, he knew very well how much he, Lopmon, Cutemon, and Lucero meant to Yun. To Yun, having friends like them is like having about a million tons of gold. She forgave him when he was under Witchmon's control so long ago despite the fact that he unknowingly put everyone in danger. She screamed her guts out while looking for Lopmon when she was kidnapped by Masaomi. She put her own life on the line trying to save Kosuke from SkullGreymon despite his mistreatment of her back then. Minako stopped herself from committing suicide long ago because Yun needed her. Yun saved Lucero from dying in the streets. She even arranged a very silly and ridiculous plan to get Kinzo arrested and save Aria from his abuse despite the plan backfiring a bit. If those things weren't signs that Yun cherished her friends more than anything in the world, possibly to some kind of moderately unhealthy extent, then he didn't know anymore. Terriermon knew full well that to Yun, having friends made her complete, and he, Lopmon, Cutemon, Lucero, and the rest of the Digimon Brigade certainly filled her cup of happiness, even to the point of making it overflow.

He was about to say something until Ayaka suddenly came into the room. As she just woke up, she's wearing nothing but a white sleeveless tank top and a pair of very short, orange bicycle shorts. Her light brown hair is hanging down her shoulders, looking quite scraggly and unkempt.

"Wow. You're wasted," Ayaka told her bluntly. Oddly enough, she got a response that she never expected. Both Terriermon and Lucero were about to say something to her, but Yun interrupted them both.

"Go away you wretchedly happy beast!" Yun suddenly yelled, sounding very raspy and irritable. Ayaka could tell that Yun is very well losing her voice. "You're not the only one who's sad about the world being a dark, cruel place, and don't tell me to get over it and say I have it easier than you because that's insensitive! Go make out with Anjo for all I care! I don't want to give you my cold!"

Normally, Ayaka always has the upper hand when it comes to yelling at Yun about everything, which is natural, considering she's four years older than her. Ayaka wanted to yell back at her, but something inside her stopped her from doing so. Instead of calling Yun names or accusing her of things she didn't do, like she usually does on a regular basis, she left without a word. As soon as Ayaka left, Yun erupted into another coughing fit. Quickly, Terriermon shoved a tissue in her face and managed to muffle the coughs and a sneeze that came right afterward.

"Owwie," Yun muttered after the sneeze.

After about a few hours, Hisako and Ayaka left the house to go air conditioner shopping since the Wakamiya house is in desperate need of another one. They don't have central air conditioning so they have to find another air conditioner to fill the window space in Yun's room. With Hisako and Ayaka out of the house, this left Teruki, Lucero, Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon in charge of looking after a very sick and very irritable Yun. Speaking of irritable, Lucero and the Digimon learned quite quickly that Yun tends to not act like her usual self when she's sick. She's certainly done a lot of complaining and whining, which they tolerated because she usually doesn't complain much, and they decided that they'd let her complain all she wants. Teruki told them that Yun is always rather whiny and irritable when she's really sick, like this. Who could blame her, really? She's sick with a very nasty cold (and she hasn't been sick in a LONG time, especially not like this), she can't meet with her human friends, she's so weak she can barely walk (usually when she's sick she's able to walk around and do things just fine. This is because she's usually extremely restless and can almost never stay put for a long time. Yes, continual restlessness is another symptom of her disability), she's ordered to stay in bed, she can't go on the computer, and its above 100 degrees and humid both outside and inside, even with one air conditioner in one room. Even Lopmon was getting tired of the excessive heat and humidity.

"My! I can certainly see why Yun is so irritable. It really is horrid outside," Lopmon said as she took a peek outside to get the mail, and her little brown and the oppressive heat and humidity literally slapped her in the face once she got outside.

"I most certainly agree with thee, Lopmon. I must confess that I'm not the biggest fan of excess sunlight as well. I wonder if it's because I'm so pale," Lucero said as he got another cold glass of water to give to Yun. Lucero then turned around to see Terriermon walking out of the room.

"Where art thou going, Terriermon?" Lucero asked.

"To the kitchen? I'm gonna make some nice, hot chicken noodle soup for Yun!" Terriermon exclaimed.

"Oh! I'll assist you!" Lopmon said as she went after Terriermon. Once Lucero handed the glass of water to Yun, he was about to assist them as well since he's never seen them cook before until he ran into Teruki, who looked down at him with a smile.

"Hey Lucero. Do you want to run a little errand with me?" Teruki asked.

"Huh?" Lucero was quite confused. Why in the world would Teruki want to ask Lucero to go run and errand with him when his youngest daughter is sick as a dog right now? And if they left, Yun would be the only human in the house, and Lucero could see very well that Hisako doesn't exactly trust Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon when it comes to matters like this, nice as they are. But who could blame her? Nobody would feel safe with leaving a sick girl with three inexperienced bunny rabbits from another world. Not only that, it's over 100 degrees and humid outside, and as far as Lucero knew, Teruki is very sensitive to excessive heat and didn't take kindly to it. But Lucero felt compelled to answer his question. "I...I would love to accompany thee, but I shan't leave Yun, Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon alone in the house, and what if Hisako-dono and Ayaka return?"

"It'll just be a short one. We'll be back in no time. Besides, this'll give the Digimon an opportunity to bond with her more, and I don't want you catching Yun's cold," Teruki told him.

Upon looking at Teruki's broad face a little more, Lucero could see that he looked as though he would actually be willing to let Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon take care of Yun for a short while. Since Hisako and Ayaka are out shopping for air conditioners, it might take them a while to come back since air conditioner shopping certainly is no easy task. A little while wouldn't hurt, right?

"Yes. I will go with thee," Lucero said, but he went to tell Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon about it. Oddly enough, they encouraged him to go, though Lucero felt a little unsure about leaving them here with a very sick Yun. He went to tell Yun as well, but he was surprised to find that she fell asleep. Before he left, he looked at Yun's sleeping figure intently. He ambled over to her and stroke her frizzy brown hair gently. He smiled upon seeing her plump, red face looking so peaceful and content. He then caressed her cheek a little. To his surprise, it's not as warm as it was earlier this morning. Perhaps she's getting better. Slowly, but gradually. Slowly, but gently, Lucero peered closer into Yun's face and nudged his little nose against Yun's. After that, he left the room.

Lucero thought they were going to take a little drive in the car since Teruki's car has air conditioning, but...weirdly enough, Teruki didn't take the car. They're going to walk to their destination! For a minute Lucero thought Teruki was crazy. Why in the world would he want to trudge through his horrid weather, the very kind of weather that he despises so much, when he could go into his car and bask in the cool air conditioning? Lucero was very confused, but he didn't dare ask Teruki about it. Thankfully, as Lucero found out, the place where Teruki wanted to go isn't very far. Just four blocks from the house. It's a small auto part shop, and it has air conditioning! As soon as Lucero walked in, he felt as though he were hit by a blizzard. Oddly enough, the shop itself is practically empty save for the cashier behind the cash register. Teruki and Lucero both basked in the air conditioning and looked around at the same time. Lucero was quite fascinated by the many parts needed to improve on a race car, even if a lot of names were too complicated for his little mind to remember. As Lucero looked at a funny looking bolt that's shaped in a strange way, he heard Teruki's voice.

"I have to admit, Lucero...I'm glad you're part of our family," Teruki suddenly said out of the blue, albeit quietly. This surprised Lucero.

"But I am not related to thee by blood," Lucero replied.

"No no no," Teruki shook his head. "That's not what I mean. While that may be true, what I mean is...I'm happy you came to live with us. Yun's been blossoming thanks to you and the Digimon," Teruki told him again, with a faint but very visible smile.

"I do agree with thee in that respect. Yun has certainly become much braver and has taken more risks compared to when we first met," Lucero said.

Teruki nodded. "Yes indeed. Not only that, you've been such a great influence on her it's unbelievable. I'm so happy you and the Digimon are her friends. I mean, considering her disability, nobody really gives her a chance. Know what I mean?"

Lucero nodded grimly. "I have seen the needless and reprehensible cruelty she's had to endure, and it makes my heart ache so. She has done no wrong, and yet..." Lucero let the sentence drift away.

"I know. Back in my day, raising a disabled child was still an unimaginable thing. A rare and, in other people's' eyes, very disgraceful thing, and autism wasn't properly studied back then as it is now. People didn't know about it. Back then, parents who were told that their children had a very rare disability often chose to send them away to institutions and wipe their hands clean of them," Teruki told him.

"What?! That's horrible!" Lucero suddenly exclaimed, then covered his mouth upon remembering that they're in a public place.

"It is, but that was the norm in those days. It was commonplace. But anyway, before the Digimon came around, Yun practically never left the house, especially on her own, and was almost always afraid of something. We've had a hard time just getting her to go to the beach. That's why she has such pale skin, because she hardly ever gets any sun. I...I really must thank you, Lucero, for being her friend and for accepting her as she is. People nowadays just refuse to give her a chance, no matter what, and that really made me sad. I'm glad you, Lopmon, Terriermon, and Cutemon are always there for her," Teruki told him.

"It is not just I, Teruki-dono," Lucero said. Teruki found himself a little surprised by Lucero referring to him as Teruki-dono in public. "It is not just Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon either. Thou must give the other children in the Digimon Brigade credit for helping Yun come out of the house also. Yun assisted Rena-dono when she held her own physical therapy sessions during recess. Yun persistently tried to save little Aria-dono from being beaten and abused by her wicked father despite others telling her it was hopeless. Yun managed to convince a police officer not to arrest Riku-dono and accuse him of a crime he didn't do by telling him to check the security cameras around the area. She...saved me from death. I wouldn't be here if she hadn't saved me," Lucero explained.

"Huh? She convinced a police officer to not arrest Riku?" Teruki asked, a little confused by what Lucero mentioned.

"Hast she not toldst thee?" Lucero asked, a little confused himself, since Yun told him (Lucero) about it. "Perhaps not. Anyway, two days ago, Riku-dono was falsely accused of shoplifting from the dollar store and was almost arrested, but Yun and the other kids stopped him from doing so. Yun was the one who suggested they check the security cameras, and they proved that he didn't steal anything. He was trying to pull Coronamon out of the rubble after he got attacked by Gigadramon. That was all."

"Oh...I never knew...how did she get so brave?" Teruki asked. Lucero could see that he's starting to tear up a little.

"Thou hast raised her into a kind and wonderful girl. That in itself is how she became the way she is," Lucero told him with a smile, not holding anything back. Teruki rubbed his face with his arm and smiled at Lucero.

"Thanks. Now let's get out of here, shall we? I think we've wasted enough time here already," Teruki said. Lucero nodded and accompanied him to the cash register so he can buy the parts that he needs for his race car. But what they didn't know was that it would be Lucero who would wind up spending more time than he wished.

Once they left the auto parts shop, they walked down the block again, passing a rather small, pale brown house. But something in front of it managed to catch Lucero's attention. Sitting on a little stool under a big, royal blue canopy, carving something out of wood with a knife is an old man. A slightly plump old man with a full head of white hair like clouds and dull, blue eyes. Not bright, shiny, and striking like Lucero's, but still blue. The old man wore nothing but a plain white T-shirt and slacks, like Teruki, only they looked more messy, as they have some paint stains on them. But what caught Lucero's attention is that the carving in the old man's plump, bulky hands looked very meticulously detailed. Lucero looked closer and from what he could see, the old man has managed to carve the bottom half of what appears to be a turtle. It's legs looked full and strong, and the tail looked sharp like the tip of the knife that the old man is using to carve it.

Lucero found himself drowning in a huge torrent of curiosity and interest, so much so that he wound up standing there completely frozen and unknowingly letting Teruki walk ahead of him. They weren't holding hands, so it proved to be easy for Lucero to stop where he is. Wanting to look closer, Lucero very slowly walked up to where the old man is. He managed to creep about at least three feet away from him and watched as the old man began working on the pattern on the top of the turtle's shell. The old man seemed to know exactly what he was doing, as he always stopped to look at how the patterns looked before he continued on with his carving further. But the old man did continue on, and Lucero could tell from his face that he truly seemed to enjoy what he was doing. Lucero remembered watching Yun draw a little once, and actually looking at her drawings for quite a while one day. While they weren't professional or meticulously detailed like the old man's carving, since Yun is still very inexperienced with it, he could tell right away that Yun's drawings, while slightly childish and amateurish, definitely have a lot of passion and heart thrown into them. Lucero stared at the carving while suddenly becoming lost in thought. He was so lost in thought that he failed to notice the old man suddenly turning his head and looking at him with a curious face.

"Hm? Oh! It seems I have an esteemed guest!" The old man announced in a strong but old voice, which pulled Lucero out of his reverie. The old man has seen him now, and Lucero saw himself on the old man's lawn! If you're on someone's front yard without permission, that's trespassing, and Lucero hated that he trespassed on this man's lawn, so he panicked a little and tried to apologize.

"I-I-I-I-I'm so sorry for trespassing on thy property!" Lucero stammered timorously, stuttering at the beginning. But weirdly enough, the old man didn't seem to be bothered at all.

"I take it you're interested in what I'm carving here?" The old man asked. Although still feeling guilty, Lucero mollified himself and regained his composure enough to answer his question.

"Y-Y-Yes. Thou art quite talented," Lucero said.

"Thou? Art?" The old man asked, then suddenly burst into laughter. "My oh my, I've never heard that kind of talk comin' out of a boy yer age, especially in this day and age! Your kind of speech is quite a rarity among these parts, I tell ya," The old man said, making Lucero blush a little.

"I...get told that a lot," Lucero muttered shyly.

"Oh. Sorry. Forgive me for laughin'. It's just that I've never heard someone as young as you talk in such an ancient but dignified manner before. It's quite rare, and I haven't heard it back when I was a boy either. But considerin' how bad kids' language has gotten over the past decade, it certainly is refreshin' to hear somethin' nice for a change, and yer speech certainly is nice, ancient as it is," The old man explained.

"My friend says so, too. She likes it when I talk like this and that I should keep on doing it, but I've...always spoken in this manner. Is my speech bad?" Lucero told him.

"Naw! Not at all! I sure don't think so. You should hear the kids on the street these days. Goodness gracious, I don't know what their parents have been teachin' them, but they're talkin' like they come out of a sewer with all this blasted rap music bein' played on all the stations these days. It really makes me sad how low society has fallen in the past decade. Nobody I knew talked as bad as them when I was a boy. No sirree!" The old man explained. "But now I see not all hope is lost!"

Lucero found himself chuckling a little. He could see that this old man has a lot of spirit and charm, and almost found himself liking this spirited old man. But he still remembered that he trespassed on his property and bowed before him.

"I am deeply sorry for trespassing on thy property without permission," Lucero said as he bowed before the old man.

"It's quite alright. To be honest, I miss havin' kids playin' on my yard, and I miss havin' guests, and you're the first guest I've had in a full five years!" The old man exclaimed happily, causing Lucero to stand up again. "Oh! You live across the street, do yer? At the Wakamiya house?"

"Yes. They've been very kind to me. Their youngest daughter saved me from certain death and have taken me in since then, though I feel bad for freeloading on them as long as I have," Lucero explained.

"You sure are a beauty!" The old man exclaimed with a smile, making Lucero blush a bit.

"Oh no. I am not beautiful at all. Thou art just trying to flatter me so," Lucero said.

"What's yer name, sonny?"

"Lucero, though I must confess it isn't my real name. I don't remember my real one."

"Lucero...that's an Italian name! It definitely suits a handsome devil like you."

"Actually, my friend Yun, the one who saved me, bestowed the name upon me since I haven't any memories of my real one...sometimes I wonder if I even have a real name at all."

"You don't remember anythin' about your life before they took you in?"

Lucero, feeling dejected, looked down at his shoes grimly. "I'm afraid not. Everything's all a blur. They say I have amnesia."

"It must be hard. Oh! I should introduce myself. I'm Nishimura Eichi," The man, Nishimura, told him.

"It is a pleasure to make thy acquaintance, Nishimura-dono," Lucero said and bowed.

"...dono?" Nishimura asked again, sounding very confused. "Wow! You sure do have a way with words. I haven't heard any child use that term in my whole life, even in my day! Kids these days sure don't show any respect at all for their elders, yet here I am listenin' to you regard me with the highest of respect!"

"Is it wrong of me to refer to thee as Nishimura-dono?" Lucero asked, afraid that he might have offended him with his respectful but rare speech.

"Naw. Not at all. I like it! It has a nice ring to it," Nishimura said, which made Lucero smile.

"I refer to everyone as dono, except for Yun. Teruki-dono doesn't seem to take kindly to me calling him that though. He believes it makes people think we're master and slave, but how is regarding someone with respect a form of slavery? I'm afraid I haven't any understanding of what he's speaking of," Lucero explained.

Mr. Nishimura was about to say something until he saw someone running up to the house in a hurry.

"Lucero! So you were here all along!" The voice belonged to Teruki, and he just came up onto the lawn.

"Oh! Teruki-dono!" Lucero exclaimed.

Teruki walked up to Lucero. "You had me thinking you got kidnapped or something, young man! I was so worried!" Teruki scolded.

Seeing what he had done, Lucero became dejected and lowered his head. "I'm sorry, Teruki-dono..."

"Oh? Is that you, Wakamiya-san?" Mr. Nishimura asked.

"Nishimura-san! I hope Lucero wasn't bothering you in any way. We were just running an errand and I noticed he wasn't with me for a minute," Teruki said. Mr. Nishimura laughed it off.

"Oh, this boy here is no trouble at all. He was just interested in my carving, that's all," Mr. Nishimura told him kindly. "I'd be very happy if you came and visited me once in a while, sonny. My wife and I could really use the company, and it's so lonely here without the little kids running around."

Lucero was about to respond, but Teruki interrupted him. "Thanks for the offer, but my daughter's really sick and we've gotta get back home."

"She doesn't have malaria, does she? She better not, because lots of people around here have been gettin' it left and right this past week thanks to this here heat wave. If her sickness goes on for longer than a day, take her to a doctor stat!" Mr. Nishimura piped in.

"Thanks for the advice, Nishimura-san. Bye," Teruki told him as he took Lucero by the hand and led him away from the small house.

"Nishimura-dono seems like a nice man!" Lucero said with a smile.

"He is nice," Teruki said.

But what was going on at the house while they were gone?

"Terriermon! Is the soup ready yet?" Lopmon asked as she put another frozen paper towel on the sleeping Yun's forehead.

Terriermon and Cutemon managed to find a can of Yun's favorite chicken noodle soup and decided to make some for her. The two bunny Digimon had seen Hisako cook it before, and they remembered the instructions and the time needed for the soup to be ready, so they decided to try and make some. They knew to be careful not to touch the stove when it's on, and to wear oven mitts to handle the pan even though they're clearly too big for their little hands (they put them on their ears instead). Terriermon stirred the slowly boiling soup with a wooden spoon in his big ears, pulled it out, and licked the broth for a bit.

"Almost done!" Terriermon called back.

All of a sudden, Cutemon could hear the tiny pot sizzling a little, and right out of nowhere, some soup popped out from the side of the covering.

"Kyuu!" Cutemon exclaimed as she ran over to turn the stove off. Terriermon quickly removed the cover and could see the soup boiling quite ardently.

"I...think this means it's done, kyu," Cutemon muttered dubiously. Terriermon nodded. But Cutemon then looked down.

"So...how do we get down without spilling it, kyu?" Cutemon asked.

Terriermon saw that a folded stool is sitting in between the dishwasher and the refrigerator. He was about to go and get it, but Lucero suddenly ran to them.

"I'll assist thee with that!" Lucero said as he took the pot from them, got a bowl and a ladle out, and poured some soup into the bowl while making sure to put in a lot of carrots, as he knows Yun loves carrots. Terriermon and Cutemon both sighed with relief as they hopped back onto the kitchen floor.

"You're a lifesaver, Lucero! We owe ya one! Thanks!" Terriermon told him.

"Thou art welcome, but didst thou not think it was dangerous to try making soup by thyselves?" Lucero told them.

"It was my idea! I felt bad that I couldn't do much to help Yun, so I thought I'd at least try this," Terriermon told him. Lucero smiled.

"I made sure to keep an eye on him, kyu!" Cutemon said. Lucero put a hand on Terriermon's head and stroke his pale yellow fur gently.

"Thou truly art a great friend, Terriermon. How very chivalrous of thee," Lucero told him.

But when they got to Yun's room, they found that she's still sleeping, even though she's not covered by her blankets or anything (which Yun requested since it's so hot out).

"I'll leave the soup here," Lucero whispered as he moved some things off of Yun's little night stand and put the bowl of soup on it.

"How is she?" Terriermon asked Lopmon.

"Her fever's gone down somewhat, and her coughing isn't as bad as it was earlier, but since she's been sleeping I have yet to find if she has her voice back or not," Lopmon replied quietly so she wouldn't wake Yun up.

"Do you think we should give her more of that stuff Hisako-san gave her, kyu?" Cutemon asked quietly.

"That might be a good idea," Lopmon replied.

"Oh! I'll get it!" Terriermon piped in, then ran out of the room.

Terriermon saw Hisako give Yun the bitter medicine and put it somewhere in the cupboard. He remembered the labeling, where it is, and the color of it. He climbed onto the dishwasher, hopped to one of the cupboard doors and tried to pry it open. He did, but it flung open so fast that he fell back onto the floor. But he isn't hurt, so he flew back up there again. He looked around, hoping his hunch was right, and to his surprise, he found it! He grabbed the bottle, closed the cupboard door, hopped off of the dishwasher, and then pried open a drawer that contained little plastic cups the size of Terriermon's palm. These are what Hisako used to give Yun the medicine. Terriermon managed to find a clean one and tried to open the bottle. He did, and with precision, gently poured a small amount in there. He knew Yun didn't take kindly to it, but he figured he could at least give her half of it if it could help her get better faster. Once he finished, he ran back into the room and gently put the medicine next to the soup.

"I think for now we should leave her be," Lopmon said.

"You're right. I was just about to say that," Terriermon said.

"Wanna go play, kyu?" Cutemon asked.

"It's too hot out, so let's play in the basement," Terriermon said.

"Alright," Lopmon said. With that, the three bunny Digimon trotted off into the basement.

But once the bunnies left, Yun woke up. She was still a little weary, but she noticed the medicine, the glass of water, and the soup on her night stand. She smiled sweetly, feeling blessed that she has such good friends going through such pains to take care of her. She decided to take the medicine first. She didn't like the taste, but she tolerated it anyway. After that, she consumed both the soup and the water. The soup felt quite hot, and Yun had to drink the water a few times, but she loved the warm taste, the soft carrots, the slurpy, curly noodles, and the sweet chicken. She also ate the onions too, since she heard that onions in soup are able to help the immune system. It took her about 20 minutes to consume the entire thing, but once she did, she put the bowl back on her night stand and fell back asleep despite the heat.

Yun had been asleep for three hours straight after that. She dreamed some very good dreams, like playing in a field of multi-colored flowers with Lopmon, Cutemon, Terriermon, and Lucero happily while the sun set in the horizon. But in the process, she remembered Link's kidnapping, and wondered if they could go to the Digital World and rescue him. She dreaded the thought that Link could possibly be...Oh! She ceased to think about it any further, but it didn't stop her from getting a pleasant sleep. She woke up again, and to her surprise, the little clock on her night stand read 3:26 PM. She stretched herself and found that she has enough strength to get up and walk. She realized that her throat no longer feels dry and scratchy, and her migraines went away. Despite the fact that she's still in her light pink pajamas, she secretly and quietly walked out of her room, into the dining room, into the kitchen, and into the basement. She saw Teruki, Lopmon, Cutemon, Terriermon, and Lucero sitting in the living room and playing. Hisako and Ayaka still haven't come home yet, so Yun managed to sneak into the basement and onto Teruki's computer.

Once she settled into the big chair, she logged onto a chatroom called FriendSphere, a place she and her friends often frequented when on the internet. Hers is set to private, and only a few friends, both real life and internet friends. Much to her joy, however, she saw some usernames she recognized: VioletVenus126, FreedomWing, and PhoenixBlaze. Yun was about to start a chat with them, but VioletVenus126 started it off.

**VioletVenus126**: Hey Yun! Mina here!

Yes, VioletVenus126 is Minako. Yun typed a response.

**Oracion0044**: Hi Mina-chan, Kosuke-kun, Mel-chan!

**FreedomWing**: Hey. Kosuke here.

**PhoenixBlaze**: Mel. Present.

**Oracion0044**: How are you all today?

**PhoenixBlaze**: It's soooooo hot out.

**Oracion0044**: I know, right? It's over 100 degrees! It feels like a thousand!

**VioletVenus126**: It feels like we're in the Sahara Desert. Speaking of hot weather, did you all know that the highest recorded temperature EVER is 134 degrees on July 10th, 1913, in Death Valley, California?

**FreedomWing**: That explains why they call it Death Valley.

**PhoenixBlaze**: lol.

**Oracion0044**: You should have seen me this morning. I was hit really hard with a nasty cold. I'm starting to feel a little better though.

**VioletVenus126**: I hope you don't have malaria. Lots of people around here have been getting it this week because of the heat wave, my mom included. She checked herself into the hospital earlier today.

**Oracion0044**: Is she alright?

**FreedomWing**: Malaria? Don't you get that from getting stung by mosquitoes a lot?

**VioletVenus126**: Unfortunately yes, and my mom's got it. But she's getting better, though she has to stay in bed all day. It's a good thing we have air conditioning!

**Oracion0044**: Thank goodness.

**PhoenixBlaze**: So...what are we going to do about Link's kidnapping?

**FreedomWing**: Good question. I say we think about it a little more, then talk about it at another Digimon Brigade meeting later on.

**VioletVenus126**: I was just about to suggest that. Does anyone want to arrange another meeting right now?

**Oracion0044**: I might feel better sometime tomorrow, so how about tomorrow?

**FreedomWing**: Good idea. I have nothing much to do, so let's do that.

**VioletVenus126**: Can it be in the afternoon? My dad made plans for us to go to the pool early in the morning.

**PhoenixBlaze**: Fine with me.

**Oracion0044**: Same here.

**FreedomWing**: Sounds good to me. I don't mind.

**VioletVenus126**: So where can we hold the next meeting?

**FreedomWing**: How about we try something different? We've met at the park and the construction site too many times already. I say we change things up a bit.

**PhoenixBlaze**: Sure.

**VioletVenus126**: Good idea. This way it'll be easier to hide the Digimon and not be in one place a lot of the time.

**Oracion0044**: Any suggestions?

**VioletVenus126**: My house is out of the question. Mom's gonna be home in bed tomorrow in case she doesn't get better as quickly as the doctor expects.

**Oracion0044**: I figured.

**PhoenixBlaze**: Same here.

**FreedomWing**: You can't come to my house either. My aunt and uncle called someone to renovate the guest room and fix the outside light, so they're gonna be around all day.

**Oracion0044**: Oh! I know! How about we go to your house, Mel?

**FreedomWing**: Mel's house?

**Oracion0044**: Yeah! We haven't been there for a while, so I thought maybe this would be a great time to go there!

Yun was about to type something else, but Melody suddenly posted before her, and when she looked at the post, she was quite surprised.

**PhoenixBlaze: ****_NOOOOO! ABSOLUTELY NOT!_**

The words were quite strong and clear, in the fact that not only were they bolded, italicized, and underlined, but in a different color, red to be more specific, and that they were HUGE. Melody must have changed them to the biggest size she could muster. This made Yun confused.

**FreedomWing**: Jeez, Mel! No need to take up space with those huge letters!

**PhoenixBlaze**: NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT! NO FREAKING WAY! OUT OF THE QUESTION! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!

**FreedomWing**: Will you calm down, Mel?! We get it! And make your letters smaller!

**VioletVenus126**: Is something wrong?

**PhoenixBlaze**: If you suggest that again, you're going to wake up breathing through a tube!

Yun couldn't tell if Melody was yelling at her or no one in particular since they're communicating on a message board and all. After a few minutes of nobody posting, Melody did it.

**PhoenixBlaze**: Sorry. I'm not mad at you, Yun. But please...don't come to my house. I'm begging you. You know what? Screw this! I'm out!

_PhoenixBlaze has signed off._

Yun sighed dejectedly. _'I really did it this time...'_ Yun thought sadly. Why would Melody get really mad if her house is mentioned? Yun didn't know why, but whatever it is, she realized that she said something insensitive and made Melody mad, even though Melody herself told Yun that she isn't mad at her. Yun couldn't believe that. If Melody reacted in such a way at even the faintest mention of her house, then Yun had to have made her mad. Yun found herself growing teary eyed. The screen blurred, but she continued to type anyway.

**Oracion0044**: I really did it this time. I'm so sorry! How could I be so retarded?! I really am stupid!

**VioletVenus126**: You're not retarded or stupid, Yun! Don't say that! I'm sure she has her reasons.

**FreedomWing**: She really didn't have to snap like that, y'know? I mean, really!

**VioletVenus126**: So...wanna meet at the gazebo then?

**FreedomWing**: Sure.

**Oracion0044**: Fine.

**Oracion0044**: I think I'll sign off for now. I've caused enough trouble already. Bye.

**VioletVenus126**: Yun! Wait!

**FreedomWing**: Hope you feel better soon.

_Oracion0044 has signed off._

Yun signed off and went away from the chatroom. _'Awwww! How could I be so stupid and ask something that made my best friend mad?! She must really hate me now! I really am retarded!'_ Yun thought sadly as she left the computer. But not only did Melody's very angry response to Yun's question make her sad inside, it also left her with a lot of questions. Why does Melody hate it when her house is mentioned? Did something happen to make her like that? Then, Yun remembered something. When she and some other kids took Isao to the hospital to check on his mother, Yun remembered that Melody was picked up by some people she (Yun) didn't know. Yun had seen Melody's parents lots of times before, even though it was long ago. She knew their names and appearances. She remembered that both of Melody's parents have short, black hair. But the people who picked her up back then had long blonde hair and short black hair. Yun found an inkling of curiosity blossoming within her, but for now she decided not to pursue it, as she was approached by the three rabbits and Lucero as soon as she came upstairs.

"Oh! Yun! Should you really be up and about?" Lopmon asked worriedly.

"How are you feeling?" Terriermon asked.

"Well, I can walk again, and my throat doesn't feel all dry and scratchy anymore," Yun said. But as soon as she finished, she noticed that her voice is no longer low and raspy. "Hey! My voice is back!"

"Thank goodness for that! Perhaps thou art getting better after all!" Lucero exclaimed with a smile.

"Yay! Our efforts have paid off, kyu!" Cutemon cheered happily.

"But I still think you should rest," Terriermon said. Yun picked him up and held him close.

"I know. Thanks for caring for me. I got the soup. It was delicious," Yun told him gently.

"I made it myself!" Terriermon piped in. Happily, Yun gave Terriermon a quick nose kiss, which made him laugh.

"Does anyone want to watch some anime and play some games?" Yun suggested.

As Yun was talking with Melody, Minako, and Kosuke online, Hisako and Ayaka came back with the new air conditioner and are busy putting it in her room right now, with Teruki helping them out. Since Yun is still a little sick, they decided to let her be and not put any pressure on her by asking her to help. Yun decided to put on some anime DVDs for her bunny friends, namely _Nurse Angel Ririka SOS_(1), _AnoHana_(2), _Fancy Lala_(3), and the anime version of _Before Green Gables_. They had already finished watching the Les Miserables anime (and Yun and Lopmon cried at the ending), so they decided to go for something new. Lopmon had already read the book for Before Green Gables, so it'd be interesting to see how the anime interprets it, and they all liked the anime they were shown right now. After that, Yun and Terriermon played Pokemon together and battled, and Terriermon was extremely close to beating Yun this time, but she managed to get the upper hand at the last minute and defeat him. This time, Terriermon didn't whine about his defeat. He was close, so he can always get her next time. Yun couldn't help but notice that she's feeling a lot better now than she was earlier this morning. Not only is her throat feeling better and her headaches gone, her voice is back to normal, she can walk again, and some of her strength is back. She still coughed and sniffed a little, but not as much as earlier. Hisako noticed she was up and about and decided to check on her.

"Yun? Are you alright, dear?" Hisako said as she kneeled in front of her after Yun and Terriermon finished their Pokemon battle.

"I'm definitely better than how I was this morning, that's for sure," Yun replied. Hisako put her hand on Yun's forehead just to check.

"Your fever's gone down quite a bit, but you're still warm. I'll be making some chicken and vegetables for dinner tonight. Hopefully that'll help," Hisako told her.

"Oh! That will most surely help!" Lucero exclaimed.

"I wonder if we can-" Terriermon was about to say something until a vociferous and not-so-welcome voice stopped him from saying what he wanted to.

"YUUUUUUUN!"

A very choleric Ayaka stomped into the living room, puffing like a bull. In her right hand is a wet, balled up rag...or was it. She shoved it at Yun's face angrily.

"Care to explain why my precious tank top is all wet and soggy and ragged?!" Ayaka yelled angrily, scaring Yun.

"Ayaka! Please don't yell!" Hisako told her.

Terriermon gasped lightly. Earlier, Lopmon told him to replace the paper towel with something else since the ice she used melted. Terriermon saw that rag...or as it turned out, Ayaka's tank top, and gave it to Lopmon so Yun could feel better faster. Terriermon couldn't believe he didn't realize it belonged to Ayaka! But now she's accusing Yun of using it, and he was not going to tolerate Ayaka yelling at Yun for something she didn't do, so he decided to take a stand and confess.

"Stop! I did it!" Terriermon exclaimed as he hopped in between Yun and Ayaka.

"Huh?" Ayaka asked, surprised that Terriermon would boldly show himself.

"I'm the one who took it! I didn't know it was yours, and I didn't know it was a tank top either! I thought it was just a rag, and Lopmon needed something she could freeze so Yun could get better. If you want to yell at someone, yell at me! I'm the one who took it and told Lopmon she could use it, not Yun! Besides, Yun was too weak to get out of bed this morning, so how could she have possibly taken it?" Terriermon explained calmly but boldly.

"What?! That was Ayaka's tank top?! Oh no! I froze it with my attack!" Lopmon wailed upon realizing that she used something that didn't belong to her and immediately felt guilty. "I'm so sorry!"

"Do you know how long it took me to find this tank top?! I had to go to five different stores just to find this in my size! They're crazy expensive, too! And now you've gone and ruined it, you spoiled brat!" Ayaka yelled. But from the way she wasn't looking at Terriermon, he could tell that she's still accusing Yun.

"Terriermon just told you he was the one who used it, not Yun!" Lucero suddenly piped in angrily, without using his archaic speech. "Look, he didn't know! It was an accident! We're sorry we used it without permission, or at all for that matter!"

"Sorry's not gonna cut it, you brat!" Ayaka screamed back. Hisako stood up.

"That's enough, both of you!" Hisako yelled as she got in between Lucero and Ayaka. "Ayaka, it's alright. I managed to find a store online that sells them in your size at a lower price. How about we take a look at it and order you a new one? They have them in stock. I checked."

Ayaka, upon hearing Hisako's words, finally stopped. Hisako, seeing that Ayaka no longer has any motivation to scream at Yun and accuse her of using and ruining her tank top, decided to take her out of the room. Terriermon fell to his knees sadly.

"Awwww! I can't believe I didn't check to see if it was Ayaka's or not! I should have checked so this wouldn't have happened!" Terriermon cried, covering his face and feeling quite ashamed.

"That was very noble of you to confess your misdeed, but I had part in it too, so I'm partially to blame also," Lopmon said.

"I guess today isn't a good day for everybody, now is it?" Cutemon asked.

Everyone nodded in agreement. Later, the Wakamiya family sat down for dinner. Yun ate every single piece of food on her plate and she could feel herself getting better and better by the minute. After she finished, she was about to clean off her plate when a knock on the door was heard.

"I'll get it!" Teruki said as he beckoned Yun to return to her room since she's still in her pajamas. Lucero and the Digimon did the same, but Lucero hid in his own room with Cutemon while Lopmon and Terriermon kept Yun company.

"Yun! Melody's here!" Teruki said.

_'What?! Mel-chan?!'_ Yun thought. Why would Melody come to her house after she made her mad with her insensitive and inappropriate question earlier? But regardless, Melody came to her room. Melody has on a sleeveless black shirt, a pair of light blue jean shorts, her plain silver bracelet, and a pair of small, light brown boots, not the unusually tall ones that she wears on a regular basis. Yun could see her red D-Heart of Forgiveness hanging from her right ear by a small silver hook like an earring. In Melody's hand is a small, brown paper bag with the word YUN written on it in black marker, and all the letters are capitalized.

"Hey," Melody said in a low, monotone voice.

"Hi Melody! What brings you here?" Lopmon asked with a smile as she bowed to greet her.

"Hiya!" Terriermon piped in.

"Um...hi," Yun said shyly. Melody gently put the bag in front of Yun.

"There's some food in it, along with something else. Did you like the present I got you about a week or so ago?" Melody told her.

Yun remembered the gift Melody got her. It was when Melody assaulted Ayaka upon hearing about how she treated her. Melody gave Yun a little green bag, and inside was a small key chain with a silver moon charm hanging from it.

"Yes. Thanks," Yun muttered. She became more dejected. "I...I'm sorry. For making you mad back there."

"It's alright. I just kinda snapped all of a sudden, that's all. It's not you," Melody replied.

"Don't lie! I made you mad and you know it! I said something horrible without thinking and probably hurt you! I always make people mad, even when I don't mean to!" Yun cried. But all of a sudden, she felt a slight pull on her right ear.

"You won't get better if you keep filling your brain with stuff like that. It wasn't you, and don't tell me I should be mad at you either. You're still my friend," Melody told her sternly, like she was her mother. Then she let go of Yun's ear.

"I can't stay long. I've got stuff to do at home. I hope you feel better soon," Melody told her. Yun could see her smile faintly at the last sentence. Seeing this, Yun smiled a bit as well.

"Thank you for coming...and for this," Yun said.

With that, Melody left as quickly as she came in. Yun decided not to open the bag right away. Once Melody left, Yun took a bath, put on a new, clean pair of pajamas (white ones this time), played with Lopmon, Cutemon, Terriermon, and Lucero again, blow dried her hair, and fell fast asleep while basking in the coolness of her new air conditioner. She loved it, and so did everyone else. She had quite a good sleep.

But one thing continued to poke at her brain, and she was going to find out why Melody snapped when she mentioned going to her house.

Yun had no idea that what she would end up discovering would turn out to be quite unexpected.

Footnotes:

1. Nurse Angel Ririka SOS is an anime/manga by Koi Ikeno and Yasushi Akimoto.

2. AnoHana is an anime that came out in April of 2011.

3. Fancy Lala is the last anime in Studio Pierrot's line of magical girl anime, which came out in 1998.


	82. Link's Great Discovery

EPISODE 82: Link's Great Discovery

SkullSatamon, with an unconscious Link slumped on his bony back, zipped out from a digital portal that appeared a little ways away from Fionn Village. Link is on SkullSatamon's back in a dormant state, and both of his own hands are tied behind his own back. In SkullSatamon's free hand is Koromon, whose two antennae are tied up as well, but he's trapped in the net that was used to trap Link earlier. Link tried to escape as they were heading into the Digital World, but SkullSatamon used his scepter to smack him across the head to render him unconscious, and it worked. In the process, he threw Koromon into the net so he wouldn't escape since it'll be easy for an in-training Digimon like him to slip out of SkullSatamon's hands if he so much as looked away for even a second.

Despite Link being a tad heavy, SkullSatamon had no problem with carrying him while flying towards the desert in which the inner sanctum is located. SkullSatamon continued to look forward as he flew, with no intention of turning back, not once. But in the depths of his chest cavity (Yes, technically he has no heart), he silently mourned the loss of his partner in crime. _'Gigadramon...I'm so sorry I acted as late as I did. Please forgive my negligence. I've failed you...my friend...'_SkullSatamon thought sadly. Unfortunately, Link and Koromon did not know this as they were unconscious, and probably convinced that SkullSatamon is all around evil. SkullSatamon didn't know Gigadramon for very long, but the short time they spent together was special. SkullSatamon wanted to spend more time with the lonesome, metallic dragon, but alas, his life was taken away by Digimon who have been domesticated by humans. He believed the Digimon back there to be disgraces for being domesticated by puny humans, who turned out to be much smaller and ganglier than he expected them to be, but to him, the humans were even bigger disgraces for being so selfish as to allow their Digimon to defeat Gigadramon. He was not going to let them slide. No he wouldn't. He did manage to capture one human and his Digimon. He couldn't wait to show his master his discovery.

After a while, he came across a large rock that stood almost as tall as he. Knowing that lifting it would be a daunting task with Link and Koromon in his hands, he decided to put them down onto the sand. Free of the burden, SkullSatamon put his hands under the rock and proceeded to lift it. It took him a short while to lift it, but once he did, the big rock landed on it's side, revealing a hole that isn't surrounded by sand. SkullSatamon put Koromon down there first, then Link, then himself. SkullSatamon saw the handle on the rock and yanked it as hard as he could, sealing the entrance shut. The tunnel they landed in is very wide, and went in two directions. The walls are lined and lit with dimly lit torches, whose flames danced in the darkness. SkullSatamon, upon sealing the entrance shut, put Link back on his back and Koromon in his hands. What SkullSatamon didn't know right then was that Link was starting to wake back up. SkullSatamon wanted to get to the center part of the inner sanctum without interruption, but he saw a Gazimon coming his way from the opposite direction, accompanied by a DemiMeramon.

"SkullSatamon! You're alright! I was so worried about you!" The small Gazimon exclaimed as he approached SkullSatamon.

"Shhh! Hush up, or he'll wake up!" SkullSatamon told him harshly.

But Gazimon and DemiMeramon both saw it, so it made no difference. "He's already awake!"

"What?!"

As soon as SkullSatamon turned around, he felt a blow on his back side. It came from Link's foot. Link managed to leap off of SkullSatamon's back and tried to get away, but the little DemiMeramon, quick as he is, managed to fly in front of Link.

"Bright Flash!" DemiMeramon's body glowed in a bright orange light, lighting up the entire tunnel. Link closed both of his eyes as the brightness was too much for him to handle, and he fell back into SkullSatamon's arms.

"Don't think you can escape from the likes of me, you puny human!" SkullSatamon exclaimed as he managed to grab Link by his tied up arms.

"Huh? THAT'S a human?" Gazimon asked. "Man! They're a lot smaller than I expected them to be!"

"I know, right?" SkullSatamon said.

"By the way, where's Gigadramon? Isn't he with you?" DemiMeramon asked in a high voice like that of a young boy.

Sadly, SkullSatamon drooped his head. Right upon seeing this, Gazimon realized it and became appalled.

"What?! NO! Not him, too!" Gazimon wailed.

"I'm afraid it is so, my young friend...and it is through my fault that he perished," SkullSatamon whispered sadly.

"What's Master going to think when he hears about this?!" Gazimon wailed. "Oh! Speaking of him, come and show him your discovery! I'm sure he'll at least be thrilled that you caught the infiltrator!"

Without a word, SkullSatamon followed Gazimon into the tunnel and into the center point of the inner sanctum. It's here that Koromon finally woke up. Without mercy, SkullSatamon literally threw Link and Koromon right in front of MoonMillenniummon and Lilithmon like they were garbage.

"Hey! Watch it, you!" Koromon snapped.

"Shut up, pudgy!" Gazimon snapped back.

"So this is the human who infiltrated our precious inner sanctum, SkullSatamon?" MoonMillenniummon asked.

SkullSatamon bowed before him politely. "Yes, Master. I have successfully captured the human and his partner...but I must confess, it came at the cost of...Gigadramon's life. I am deeply sorry, Master. I tarried and I couldn't save him. You are more than welcome to at least punish me for this."

MoonMillenniummon closed his eyes and ruminated deeply for about a minute. Link and Koromon looked at each other with confused faces while noticing that a lot of small Digimon are coming into the inner cavern to look at them. After a minute, MoonMillenniummon opened his eyes.

"I expected this to happen. It's alright, SkullSatamon. I don't think there was much you could do to save him anyhow. But I laud you for at least doing your best and capturing his human. Now go to the retiring room, my child. Lilithmon and I will handle things from here. You did a great job regardless, and once we're done here, I will have a reward ready for you," MoonMillenniummon told him.

Now this made Link and Koromon confused. They knew that MoonMillenniummon was a powerful Digimon capable of destroying an entire Digital World, but they expected him to be all evil, without a heart, a Digimon who doesn't show mercy for even the smallest failure and zaps his minions with a single thought or wave. He's supposed to be threatening! And yet, Link and Koromon both noticed that MoonMillenniummon's voice and tone, as he was talking to SkullSatamon just now, is low and tender, actually sounding like a loving authority figure! Why isn't he treating him like garbage and deleting him from the plane of existence? He actually sounded more like a parent than a cold-hearted dictator! This left Link and Koromon very confused, but as soon as SkullSatamon left, MoonMillenniummon looked at him with ominous, intimidating eyes.

"So YOU are the imbecile who not only infiltrated my precious inner sanctum lord knows how many times now, but actually eavesdropped on our conversations! But I must say, I sure never expected you humans to be as small as you are," MoonMillenniummon told him in a booming, intimidating voice this time. Now this is what Link and Koromon expected.

"I take it you're the Digimon who destroyed the Digital World long ago?" Link asked.

"Clever, human. Since you are suspicious of me and have presumably overheard some of our conversations, I might as well confess. Yes, my minions and I all worked together to attempt to wipe the Digital World off the plane of existence. Of course, as you can see, it didn't quite work out so well. But it was to be expected, as nothing in this world is perfect," MoonMillenniummon explained.

"Why would you do such a horrible thing?!" Koromon yelled angrily. "What did we ever do to you that was so bad?! Huh?!"

"You needn't be so crass, puny Digimon. Of course, I won't tell you all of that because we here in this inner sanctum are sworn to secrecy, and we all respect the sanctity of rules and regulations here. Besides, if we told you every single detail, then you'd go out and palaver to the rest of not just this world but your own world as well, and I can't have you do that, now can I?" MoonMillenniummon explained. "And I'm sure you can tell what happens to little tattle-tales who go about telling others about my inner sanctum."

MoonMillenniummon looked up. Link and Koromon did the same thing. MoonMillenniummon's ceiling is full of crystals with Digimon encased inside. Perhaps this is what MoonMillenniummon did to those who tried to reveal his secret.

"You make your point quite vividly," Link said.

"Did you really expect me to be so careless as to let little tattle-tales like you run off with just a pat on the back? You humans are not only small, but stupid as well," MoonMillenniummon said.

"Who said I expected you to be stupid?"

"Your brains must be much smaller than mine, so you must be stupid. Speaking of which, I never did believe in the existence of your kind until now. I merely thought they were just an old myth passed down from the mouths of old, addle-brained coots. But upon hearing that a lot of my precious children are dying by your hand one by one, you've convinced me that you are not only capable of domesticating Digimon, but helping them become stronger than they should be as well. Perhaps you humans show more potential than I initially anticipated," MoonMillenniummon told him.

"Your children have done nothing but cause trouble in our world, so we had to stop them since you allowed them to run free!" Koromon yelled.

This irked not only MoonMillenniummon, but Lilithmon as well. "Don't talk as if you know what we do in this inner sanctum, you pathetic fools!" Lilithmon bellowed angrily.

"Calm yourself, Lilithmon. He does have a valid point, you know. I made the mistake of not watching my children better, and because I was negligent, they perished," MoonMillenniummon told her. He then turned to Sorcermon. "Sorcermon! You take these two here and lock them into the lower catacombs until I tell you otherwise."

"Yes, Master," Sorcermon forcefully grabbed Link and forced him on his feet. He pointed his wand at them and forced them to walk away from the center of the inner sanctum.

They went down a tunnel on the bottom of the center point. While it's big, it's very dark, even with the torches. Link had some trouble with his depth perception thanks to the darkness and stumbled a bit while trying to walk down the stairs. After a while, they arrived at a stone wall with a big padlock. Sorcermon pointed his wand at it, and a bright blue beam shot out of it, unlocking it. He allowed Link and Koromon to go in there first. But oddly enough, Sorcermon went inside with them as well. Link...smiled at him.

"I'm glad he assigned you to lock us in here, Sorcermon," Link told the blue wizard Digimon like he was his friend. Sorcermon tipped his hat to him.

"I didn't expect MoonMillenniummon to be so careless, but perhaps it's because he still underestimates the power of the humanoid species," Sorcermon said politely.

"So how's being a spy in here going for you?" Link asked.

"Ugh, I hate to complain, but it's quite a hassle. So many rules and regulations, and they're especially ardent about being tight lipped about everything. I'm surprised you didn't ask my brother to spy on them since he's much better at keeping his mouth shut than I am thanks to his normally silent and timid nature," Sorcermon told him.

"Did you find anything out while you were here?" Koromon asked.

"Yes," Sorcermon said. He told them about how he witnessed IceLeomon get branded by Diaboromon with a new Dark Emblem made out of the list of ingredients that Diaboromon described in detail and how they're scrapping the old Dark Emblem because they were both a hassle to make and can't be put on the same Digimon twice. He also managed to eavesdrop on the conversations of other servants, and managed to catch bits and pieces of things they said, like how a Digimon named Wisemon was cursed and sealed away after some say he witnessed the destruction of the Digital World and threatened to tell on him.

"This guy's a real tough nut to crack," Koromon said.

"You're telling me. Oh!" Sorcermon said, then began hearing voices. "I hear voices. Stay put. I'll be back in just a moment."

Sorcermon left the catacombs and re-locked the door. He saw Candlemon, two DemiMeramon, and HiVisionMonitormon walking towards him.

"Hiya Sorcermon! What's up?" Candlemon greeted him cheerfully. Sorcermon simply waved back.

"Just standing guard. What are you all doing here?" Sorcermon replied.

"We're on our way to the library to pick up some books to read," One of the DemiMeramon said.

"Oh. How nice. Reading nourishes the mind, as they used to say in my world. Some of my ex-friends used to say that I live in books," Sorcermon said while chuckling a little.

"Hey! I know a Digimon who lives in a book for real! His name's Wisemon and-" One of the DemiMeramon blurted out happily, but HiVisionMonitormon grabbed him and put a hand on his mouth.

"Don't tell him, you idiot! You're sworn to secrecy!" HiVisionMonitormon scolded.

"You should know better than to blurt stuff out like that!" Candlemon scolded. DemiMeramon looked quite guilty.

"Wisemon? Who is this Wisemon you're talking about?" Sorcermon asked curiously.

"Sorry, but I'm afraid we can't tell ya until you've finished the tests," Candlemon said.

"That's alright. Curiosity kills the cat after all," Sorcermon said.

"Well, we better be going now. Bye!" HiVisionMonitormon said as he waved goodbye to Sorcermon and left with Candlemon and the loud-mouthed DemiMeramon following him. Once Sorcermon saw that they were gone, he unlocked the padlock and went back into the dungeon.

"Sorry about that," Sorcermon said.

"It's so dark in here!" Koromon complained.

Sorcermon looked up at the top of the catacombs ceiling. "See that big rock coming out from the ceiling?"

Link looked up and nodded.

"There's a secret passageway that goes underneath MoonMillenniummon's area and leads to the surface. It takes about 30 minutes to get out if you walk through it slowly, but if you run, you might make it out in 20 minutes, though it's very risky," Sorcermon explained. "I honestly recommend you use the invisibility spell made by your digivice if you want to get through it unscathed."

"But the spell only lasts for 30 minutes, and that's why they dragged me here in the first place!" Link exclaimed.

"I know, but MoonMillenniummon crystallizes any Digimon who threatens to tell the whole Digital World where their inner sanctum is. I've seen him do it before, and you've seen his ceiling. You can't stay here. You have to leave. When they realize you're missing I'll meet up with you," Sorcermon said.

Link looked up at the ceiling, then back at Sorcermon and nodded. "Alright. I'll do it."

"How do we get up there? And how do we break the rock?" Koromon asked.

"I'll help with that," Sorcermon said as he walked underneath the big rock and pointed his wand at it.

A sky blue aura appeared around the rock as it slowly moved from the ceiling to the ground, revealing a medium-sized hole that Link can go through. Link got his digivice out and wished for a pair of wings. As commanded, a pair of glowing white wings appeared on his back as he grabbed Koromon and flew into the hole. As soon as he was further in, he made his wings disappear.

"Thanks, Sorcermon!" Koromon called out.

"I'll meet up with you soon!" Sorcermon called back as Link made the invisibility spell come into effect.

Like the catacombs where they're extremely dark if you close the door all the way, the tunnel that Link and Koromon are in is practically pitch black, without any torches or lights. Link and Koromon, despite the lack of light, knew they had to move quickly if they wanted to get through the tunnel without getting caught and if they wanted to be invisible the entire time.

"I can't see!" Koromon complained while trying to maintain a whisper.

"It's alright. This tunnel is just one whole way, so we can still follow it through," Link whispered back as he ran and Koromon bounced after him.

It felt like forever, but Link didn't complain. He knew that he and Koromon needed to get out of here as quickly as possible, especially considering the invisibility spell only lasts for thirty minutes. Link wished he had a timer on him so he could keep track (and so the lights can light up the tunnel for a bit) of the time. But he and Koromon continued on and felt their way through...until Link began hearing voices.

"Master, I've been meaning to ask you this for a while..." It was Lilithmon's wicked voice. As soon as Link heard it, both he and Koromon stopped in their tracks.

"What is it, Lilithmon?" MoonMillenniummon asked. Their voices were faint, but both Link and Koromon could hear them and interpret their words just fine.

"I've been thinking...do you remember Wisemon, the Digimon who learned of our plan to destroy the Digital World and tried to foil it before we could go through with it?"

"Yes, I do."

"I just remembered. Whenever a Digimon tries to reveal our secret, you use your Crystallization attack on them and confine them to your ceiling for an eternity, whereas with Wisemon, you simply put a new curse on him, confining him to his book, never to leave or use his power lest he be thrown into the space-time continuum. Do you think that curse back then was really such a good idea? I mean, I'm not saying I'm doubting you, my dear Master, but...I just thought maybe it'd be safer if you had crystallized him and sealed him away forever rather than just keeping him tied to his book, never to leave."

"You have a good point, Lilithmon. But that was when I was ZeedMillenniummon, and I didn't develop my crystallization powers back then, even with all the data I absorbed, so the curse was likely the only way we could keep Wisemon quiet. Not only that, I needed all the power I could muster if I wanted to destroy the Digital World, so I figured that if the Digital World was destroyed, then he would fall into the inter-spacial rift and perish forever."

"Hmmm...I hadn't thought of that. Maybe he HAS fallen into the inter-spacial rift...but I wish I knew for sure. I'm sorry for pestering you with these pointless questions."

"It's quite alright, Lilithmon. I must confess, even I have my doubts about certain things sometimes. Speaking of doubts, do you remember if we destroyed his castle or not? I can't remember if I did or not."

"Last I checked we did. I remember it's in the eastern part of Wasted Desert, a little ways from Ghertza Village if you take a Trailmon going east."

"I see. Oh! While you're at it, go check on Sorcermon and see if the prisoner's still in the catacombs."

Realizing this is the part where he needs to bolt, Link and Koromon bolted as fast as they could. The tunnel felt like it went on forever, but after a while, Link ran into something hard and fell on his back.

"Ow!"

"You okay?" Koromon asked with concern.

"I'm fine. Perhaps this is the way out," Link said as he got up and began pushing on the rock. At first it didn't budge, but after a few more pushes, Link managed to push the rock out! The light was so bright Link had to close his eyes and get adjusted to it a little as he got out. Koromon followed him and cheered.

"Yay! We're out! I never wanna go back there again!" Koromon rejoiced happily.

"We're not out of the woods yet. They're going to find out about our escape very soon, and we need to bolt. Fast!" Link told him.

Link and Koromon both ran away from the rock as fast as they could. Link wished he had a compass on him so he could tell which direction is east so he could find Wisemon's castle and maybe find some answers as to what MoonMillenniummon did exactly.

Back in the inner sanctum, Lilithmon, accompanied by a Gazimon and a Gizamon, walked down the steps of the catacombs, marveling in the dankness of the entire place.

"This place is so wonderfully disgusting. The perfect place for prisoners," Lilithmon said wickedly as she licked one of the fingers of her golden hand.

"Yeah! It's smelly and gross and everything!" Gizamon piped in.

"I wonder why they call this place the catacombs when it's really a dungeon?" Gazimon asked.

"It was Master's idea. He thinks catacombs has a better ring to it," Lilithmon said.

"I like it. It sounds a lot better than dungeon," Gizamon said.

Lilithmon saw Sorcermon within her vicinity and approached him. Upon seeing the tall, beautiful witch, Sorcermon tipped his hat to her politely.

"Good evening, Lilithmon," Sorcermon told her.

"How is the prisoner? I'd like to check on him, if you will," Lilithmon asked.

"Certainly. I haven't taken my eyes off of this chamber ever since I was assigned the job, and I assure you the human and his Digimon are still inside," Sorcermon told her as he undid the padlock. But when he opened it, he was shocked (or, pretended to be shocked) by the fact that Link and Koromon are nowhere in sight! Lilithmon, Gazimon, and Gizamon were all consumed by shock as well.

"What?! They're gone!" Lilithmon exclaimed.

"How can this be?! This chamber has been sealed tight! It has no windows or secret passageways! How could they possibly have escaped right underneath my nose?! Oh no!" Sorcermon yelped as he looked all over the dungeon. He then looked at Lilithmon and bowed apologetically before her. "I'm so sorry for this unprecedented failure on my part! I honestly had no idea this was going to happen, even though I locked this place up good!"

"Hmmm...it seems that human is more clever than we expected. Gazimon and Gizamon!" Lilithmon mused quietly, then turned to Gazimon and Gizamon. "Go tell Master about this, then tell him that we should send every Digimon out to search for him!"

"Yes ma'am!" Gazimon and Gizamon did sailor salutes and ran away from the dungeon. Sorcermon came out of the dungeon and sealed the door again.

"Lilithmon. If you don't mind, I'd like to search for him too. It's my fault he escaped, so I should make up for my failure," Sorcermon told her sadly.

"Alright. You can help us search, but be quick about it! That puny human couldn't have gone far!" Lilithmon told him as she flew away from the dungeon.

Once MoonMillenniummon was told of Link's disappearance...well, pandemonium broke out.

"WHAT?! A PUNY HUMAN ESCAPED OUR SOLID WALLS?!" MoonMillenniummon bellowed so loud that the entire inner sanctum shook like an earthquake was hitting. After about a minute, the rumbling faded. HiVisionMonitormon recorded the entire thing.

"Master, we're so very sorry about this! Please, allow us to go and search for him! He couldn't have gone far!" Lilithmon pleaded.

"So be it! All of you, go and search for that human!" MoonMillenniummon commanded. He then turned to HiVisionMonitormon. "You! Broadcast this message to everyone else in or outside of the inner sanctum! They NEED to know about this!"

"Yes sir!" HiVisionMonitormon exclaimed and began playing around with the yellow satellite on his brain.

With that, all of the Digimon (except MoonMillenniummon, who can't leave the inner sanctum no matter what) scattered and left the inner sanctum to search high and low for Link, Sorcermon included. Sorcermon exited through one of the tunnels, eventually reaching the surface. He then ran to a big rock and pulled out a small, black walkie talkie.

"Link-san. this is Sorcermon. Do you copy?" Sorcermon asked as he pushed a red button on the walkie talkie.

"I read you, over," Link's voice replied through the other end, albeit with some static.

"Where are you now?" Sorcermon asked.

"We're standing next to a huge, black rock with a lot of green moss on it. I'm afraid I don't have anything that can tell you our specific coordinates, however," Link replied.

"That's fine. I know where that is. I'll be there as fast as I can," Sorcermon said.

"When you get here, there's something I want to tell you, so be quick about it."

"Understood. Sorcermon, out!" With that, he pressed the red button on the walkie talkie and put it away in his raiment. Once it was safely out of sight, Sorcermon ran from the area so that way the Digimon in the inner sanctum will believe he really is searching for them.

Link and Koromon hid in a small cave underneath the moss of the big black rock, which managed to conceal them very well. Every so often, Link peeked his face out to look both ways to see if Sorcermon is coming, then immediately pulled it back in so no other Digimon could see him. What they didn't know was that waiting for Sorcermon proved to be more of a hassle than they expected. Since Sorcermon came out of a different tunnel, specifically one that went in the opposite direction of Link and Koromon, the distance between them is quite big. The gap is so big, in fact, that Sorcermon didn't arrive until nightfall. Sorcermon saw Link's hand beckoning him to come inside, and Sorcermon crawled in as soon as the moon rose into the night sky.

"Sorry I took so long. I guess I don't know which tunnel goes to which part of the desert yet," Sorcermon said.

"It's alright. We're glad you're here. Anyway, as Koromon and I were going through the secret passageway, I heard Lilithmon and MoonMillenniummon talking. They say they deliberately put a curse on a Digimon named Wisemon and forced him to travel between dimensions because he tried to foil their plans to destroy the Digital World before they could carry it out," Link explained.

"Wisemon? Oh! I know him! He's the greatest historian in all the Digital World, and knows every single piece of the Digital World's history, even extremely insignificant details that most Digimon don't know even exist!" Sorcermon exclaimed. "I wonder if he's still alive."

"I don't know, but I also heard them saying that his castle is in the eastern part of this desert. Maybe if we can go to his castle, or even find him, we can maybe find some answers as to why the Digital World was destroyed...maybe even find the Digimon who protected the Digital World before," Link explained.

"I know where the castle is. I've passed by it about a million times. That sounds like a great idea. But let's start tomorrow, shall we? It's getting late, and we need our strength," Sorcermon said.

"Yes," Link said.

So Link, Koromon, and Sorcermon all slept underneath the big mossy rock for the night, protected from all things. Then morning came, and Sorcermon decided to lead the way for Link and Koromon so that they won't get lost. Unfortunately, getting there proved to be a problem as there was nothing but desert all around them. Despite how far they walked, the desert seems to go on forever. Link wished he had packed a lot of food and refreshments beforehand, but there was no way he could predict that SkullSatamon would kidnap him, so it was inevitable. Nobody could tell (except Sorcermon) which direction was which considering the scenery around them looked the same everywhere they went. Despite this, the threesome walked on, hoping to at least find something.

Ever since his first trip into the Digital World, Link noticed something very odd about himself. Link had been through all kinds of weather in the Digital World. Rain, snow, heat, hail, you name it, he went through it. But despite his choice of raiment during those times and despite how unprepared he would sometimes be, Link NEVER felt his body change temperature. To be more specific, he didn't feel hot or cold. At all. Ever. In the Digital remembered walking through a terrible blizzard in the Digital World once. If he were going through a blizzard in the human world, he would be shivering to death, his body would be freezing, and there was a chance that parts of his body would get frost bite. But...oddly enough, he didn't feel any of that in the Digital World. Yes, he went through a giant blizzard in the Digital World, yet didn't shiver, didn't freeze, didn't feel cold at all, and he certainly didn't get frost bite either. His body retained his normal temperature the entire time, and he found himself with the same amount of bodily strength as before he went through it. Not only that, he's been in the desert countless times, yet not once did he sweat, feel dehydrated, feel strength leaving his body, didn't get heat rash, sun burn, or even any type of skin cancer, nor did his skin get all hard and rocky from the excessive heat. Link always came out just fine. Link found this to be very odd. But with Digimon, this was another story. When the sun began to set again, Sorcermon and Koromon both had to sit in front of a big rock to regain their strength. Perhaps humans don't feel changes in temperature or weather-related effects in the Digital World. Link found this to be a very interesting observation. Night fell again, and they slept behind another big rock.

Again, Link didn't feel tired, hungry, thirsty, dehydrated, lethargic, or anything. Then again, he never felt this way when he was in the Digital World. But he could tell that Koromon and Sorcermon were losing their strength. Thankfully, they found a Digimon who sold quite a huge amount of produce and refreshments while traveling. Link, with all the digital currency he had, spent it all on every single thing the Digimon had, and the Digimon happily accepted it joyously. When the threesome sat behind another rock again, Link decided to give most of the produce and refreshments to Koromon and Sorcermon, who most certainly needed it more than he did. Link ate a few things as well, but oddly enough, they didn't fill his belly. Perhaps Digital World food doesn't have substance to humans compared to real food. After a while, Koromon and Sorcermon finally felt full, even though there's quite a good amount of food and drinks left. The good thing is that the Digimon they bought it all from gave them a bag to put it all in, so Link decided to take the liberty and carry the bag of food so Sorcermon wouldn't have to. Once they prepared themselves, they walked on further. This time, Sorcermon suggested they save the food they have until they truly needed it, which made Koromon grumble a bit, but he decided to tolerate it.

Link, Koromon, and Sorcermon traveled again for two more days. That makes it four days since they left MoonMillenniummon's inner sanctum. They had to hide a few times because some of MoonMillenniummon's minions were passing by, and Link knew that they'd be in trouble if they were spotted, so he immediately put on an invisibility spell on all three of them and ran past the Digimon they saw as fast as they could so they wouldn't get spotted. It managed to work great, though Link found another drawback to the spell. If one were to use the spell on three bodies, instead of wearing off after 30 minutes, it wears off after fifteen minutes. Link wished the digivice would be more limitless, but even he knew a person can't have everything. Koromon was starting to get grumpy.

"Are we there yet?" Koromon complained.

"No, but I've been this way before. It'll take us another day to get there on foot," Sorcermon said.

"Awwwww!" Koromon complained harder this time. "Come on! Can't we fly there or take a Trailmon or something?!"

"I wish, but I didn't befriend any flying Digimon, and you're still too weak to digivolve into WarGreymon," Link told him grimly.

"But I can digivolve right now if you want!" Koromon said, and was about to say something more until something in the distance caught Sorcermon's eye, something that Link noticed.

"What's wrong, Sorcermon?" Link asked.

"I see something over there!" Sorcermon said and suddenly ran after it. Link and Koromon followed him.

At first, they thought he saw Wisemon's castle, but that proved to be untrue, as what really caught Sorcermon's eye were some sky blue sparks of light that popped in the air like the sparks from a fireplace. Soon, the sparks became more intense and poppier. All of a sudden, a huge, red book the size of Sorcermon himself suddenly appears right out of the light! It turned toward them and opened, revealing yellow pages full of red Digimon hieroglyphics...and a pitch black oval with two other yellow circles on it.

"Oh, lookie here! Test subjects!" The black oval with the yellow circles...or the face, suddenly said in a deep, rich voice, which made Link, Koromon, and Sorcermon all yelp with horror. There's a Digimon inside the floating book and it can talk! Not only that, two pairs of hands suddenly grabbed Sorcermon (in one hand), Link, and Koromon (both in the other) and literally dragged them into the book! As soon as it happened, everything went black.

Link didn't know how long he had been unconscious for, but he woke up anyway, along with Koromon and Sorcermon. But what Link woke up to...proved to be absolutely nothing he ever expected. Link found himself in what appears to be a laboratory! The walls are green and metallic, with some maroon colored bookshelves full of books, which happen to be in all the colors of the rainbow. The ceiling is brown and somewhat rustic, shaped like a dome, and some silver pipes hung from it. Some brown boxes were scattered all over the place, some unopened and some opened. Some huge, yellow, star shaped light bulbs hung from the pipes on the ceiling by some black strings, all lit up in a bright yellow color. The floor below them is dark blue, like the night sky, hard but cool. A tall, silver, steel thing stood in part of the lab, with the top part being like the ceiling, shaped like a dome. Link wondered what it was for. But what had him wondering the most was what the heck just happened.

"00:47 AM. Test Subject #Z00194653 has awakened from his slumber," The deep voice from before said, but Link didn't quite hear it.

"Where in the world am I?" Link asked himself.

"00:48 AM. Test Subject #Z00194653 speaks. _"Where in the world am I?"_are his first words," The voice from before said, which caught Link's attention.

Link turned around to find a desk behind him, shaped like a kidney bean, and behind the fuschia kidney bean desk is what appears to be a humanoid Digimon. He is covered with a crimson robe with a black belt keeping it in line, though the top part of him is covered by a tan shawl, only revealing his pitch black face and glowing yellow eyes. His hands are covered with black gloves. On his back is a small pair of yellowish tan wings, like the pages of a very old book, like the one Link, Koromon, and Sorcermon just got sucked into. On his desk is what appears to be a fuschia lava lamp, a crystal ball that clairvoyants normally use for psychic readings, and a huge stack of papers and books which could topple over at any moment. Behind him are eight small, green, ninja-like Digimon whose faces consist of...TVs. As Link looked closer, the Digimon looks to be writing on a paper with a feather and black ink. Koromon and Sorcermon both followed Link's lead and saw the tall Digimon behind them.

"Hey! What'd you do to us?!" Koromon suddenly yelped.

"00:49 AM. Test Subject #Z00194654 speaks-" The Digimon said as he wrote, but Koromon interrupted him again.

"Quit talking about us like we're your lab rats!" Koromon yelled again. This time, the Digimon stopped writing and put his feather down gently.

"Forgive me for taking you into my lab so suddenly, subjects. You just looked so interesting. I can't help myself when I see new specimens before me. Whenever I see something new, I just have to study it. Maybe you can say it's my personal OCD," The Digimon said. "Don't worry. I'm not here to hurt you. Oh. I forgot. I am Wisemon, and these little rascals here are my friends, the Monitormon."

"So you're Wisemon, huh?" Link asked. "I'm Link, a human, and these are my partners, Koromon and Sorcermon. We're sorry for trespassing on your laboratory."

"It's fine. Besides, I miss having visitors, as I'm unable to leave my book no matter what due to a curse," Wisemon said. The threesome saw that his eyes are closed in an upside down U shape. They couldn't tell if that meant he's smiling or not since he has no visible mouth. "Now that introductions are out of the way..."

Suddenly, Link found one of Wisemon's hands on his arm, clinging to it rather tightly as the sage-like Digimon pulled out a small, silver scalpel.

"What?! Whaddaya think yer doin'?!" Koromon suddenly yelped.

"I've never heard of humans before, so I hope you don't mind me doing a little dissection so I can see what makes up your bodily composition-" Wisemon explained when all of a sudden he stopped and began wobbling. Then he almost fell to the ground...well, he would have if all eight Monitormon didn't hop right underneath him and catch him in time. Wisemon let go of Link in the process.

"Wisemon-sama has collapsed from hunger again!" One Monitormon exclaimed.

"Grab food! Now!" Another Monitormon yelped.

"I have some here," Link said as he pulled out the sack of food.

After a bit, Wisemon woke back up as Link and the eight Monitormon sat him down on the floor. Wisemon saw some produce on his lap given to him by Link, so he decided to eat it. Koromon looked at Sorcermon with a very confused face.

"You never told me this guy dissects people," Koromon whispered irritably.

"You think I know him inside and out? I never knew he's this big a weirdo!" Sorcermon whispered back, surprised by Koromon's insinuation. Wisemon smiled (or did he? Since he has no visible mouth, nobody could tell what he was feeling from the outside) after he finished drinking a small bottle of mixed berry juice.

"That was very satisfying. Thank you, young human. Sorry about my little episode just now. I'm afraid I get so engrossed with my research sometimes that I often forget to eat," Wisemon told him kindly, like he was an old man approaching the end of all days.

"It's true!" One of the Monitormon piped in.

_'He should meet Masaomi,'_Link thought, remembering how careless Masaomi can be when he was engrossed in creating MC Destroyer.

"So these Monitormon...are they your slaves?" Koromon asked.

"Koromon!" Link exclaimed, shocked by Koromon's very blunt question. "You should never ask something so inappropriate as that!"

"It's quite alright. I get asked that all the time," Wisemon told them kindly. "Just to clarify, no, they're not. They're my friends. I saw their home fall into the inter-spacial rift, and I happened to teleport there by chance and saw them running for their lives, so I took the liberty of saving them, which made me realize that my curse doesn't apply to other Digimon."

"Wisemon-sama has been very good to us!" One of the Monitormon piped in.

"Yes. I gave them a place to live, and in return, they help me find specimens to study whenever they can. I guess you can say they act as my messengers," Wisemon explained.

Link couldn't get it out of his head, so he decided to let it out. "So you're Wisemon, the historian of the Digital World, right?" Link asked.

"Technically, I'm a junior historian. The true historian of the Digital World, the Digimon who knows anything and everything about the Digital World, is AncientWisemon, my father and mentor. I just happen to be his apprentice," Wisemon said. "By the way, you're a human, right? I thought something was strange about you."

Wisemon stood up, walked over to a small purple device in the form of a rubix cube and picked it up. On top of it is a small, oval-shaped, light blue button, which immediately glowed and showed an astral projection of a big, black, pixelated mass.

"What's that?" Link asked.

"This is the Digital World in it's purest form. Well, a projection of it to be more precise," Wisemon said. Then, the pixelated mass began developing orange parts to it that covered quite a good majority of it.

"What are those orange things?" Koromon asked.

"These are the areas that have fallen into the inter-spacial rift in the time of the Digital World's destruction. Basically, anything that's been consumed by the inter-spacial rift has become a wasted desert, which is where it gets its name," Wisemon said. Then a green circle popped up on the bottom of the mass, albeit just a few inches from the bottom. "I noticed a small amount of spacial distortion in the digital space, which I later discovered was an access point created by you humans quite a long time ago."

"Access point?" Link asked, confused.

"Yes. You may not know it, but the Digital World is actually more vast and more advanced than you think, even as it was being created by your hands. It's much bigger than even your world. This green circle here is the part of the Digital World that you brought into your own world," Wisemon explained as he pointed to the green circle on the bottom of the pixelated mass created by the purple rubiks cube.

"So you're saying we humans brought a part of the Digital World into our world?" Link asked.

"Precisely. I actually managed to go to the human world for a while as the Digital World was destroyed thanks to the mystical veil being forced open and thrown into disarray. It's because you humans managed to take a part of the Digital World and implement it into your daily lives in the form of advanced technology that you managed to create an access point in the Digital World, though it is the only point of the Digital World that you managed to make your mark on. I studied your behavior and recorded my findings," Wisemon explained.

_'So we managed to revolutionize technology and internet because we found a point in the Digital World we can access?'_Link ruminated. He wanted to ask more about this, but he knew something else was on his mind, and he desperately needed to ask Wisemon about it.

So he did.

"Wisemon. Forgive us for bringing up a touchy subject, but we heard that you were a witness to the Digital World's destruction long ago, knowing every detail of it. Is this true?" Link asked.

A short pause.

"Yes," Wisemon said after about a minute. "My father and I both saw everything, and we are the only Digimon in all the Digital World who managed to preserve our memories of the event."

"Can you tell us about it in detail? We escaped from MoonMillenniummon's base a few days ago in Digital World time, and we would like some information about it in case we find a way to stop him," Link explained.

Wisemon sat down, looking a little dejected. Even his Monitormon friends looked a little apprehensive. "How do I know you're not here to rat me out?"

"Why would I do that? It's not like I have any good way of finding you," Link told him.

"Good point. Alright. Since you are so insistent about it, I will tell you. But I'm afraid MoonMillenniummon's curse will not permit me to recite very specific details. He is very particular about that, and the mention of such things will allow him to track me down and kill me. For real. I hope it is alright with you," Wisemon told him.

"It's alright. I figured it wouldn't be easy," Link said.

"My father would be of much better help than I, but alas, he suffered a cruel fate. He has been frozen and become part of MoonMillenniummon's collection of enemies in his inner sanctum. But I will tell you all that I know and saw," Wisemon said.

Link, Koromon, and Sorcermon listened silently and carefully as Wisemon began his recount.

"I should tell you that I don't know what MoonMillenniummon's true motive is for doing what he did," Wisemon began. "But whatever it was, he certainly acted on it well. Alright, now for the true story. Long ago, a Digimon named ZeedMillenniummon suddenly appeared from the digital space out of nowhere. ZeedMillenniummon is one of the most powerful and most formidable Digimon in all of the Digital World. Few Digimon have been able to defeat such a terrifying creature. He is a product of a Digimon who has not been reborn from a DigiEgg, but from the corpse of it's own data. He is an evil king who can use his time-space manipulation powers to move freely in space, and with enough power to destroy all eras of all worlds. I don't know when, how, or why he appeared, and neither does the rest of the Digital World. At the same time, peace was in the Digital World for quite a while thanks to the Holy Guardians and the Holy Council, the main peacekeepers of the Digital World. But even they are commanded by two of the most powerful Digimon in all of the Digital World. Unfortunately, I cannot recite their names due to the curse, as MoonMillenniummon will certainly find out and kill me. Anyway, for a time, he caused trouble on his own. Then he began recruiting other Digimon and giving speeches about how the abandoned and forsaken should join him in the movement to rise up against _"tormentors"_and give them what they "deserve." This was just the beginning of his plan. My father and I became suspicious of them, and father sent me to spy on them so I can find out what their plans were, warn the Holy Guardians and Council, and have them teach him a lesson. Unfortunately, my plan failed and we were found out. My father was imprisoned for a while, before ZeedMillenniummon developed his crystallization powers, and I became their first test subject for a curse they've been working on. In this case, I am confined to my book, bound by contract, and to never recite the names of the Digimon he destroyed. However, this doesn't mean I can't see what's going on around me. I saw ZeedMillenniummon and his minions tear the Digital World apart one by one, ripping it apart like they were renovating a house in the most brutal way possible. Normally, ZeedMillenniummon have these green bands of code wrapped around them to suppress their great powers. The bands are what we call Fractal Code. It's different from DigiCode. Fractal Code is DigiCode that has been specifically modified for a purpose, like suppressing powers or rebuilding something. But for a while, ZeedMillenniummon's Fractal Code bands broke. It is said that when ZeedMillenniummon's Fractal Code breaks, he will rain unfathomable destruction on all worlds and dimensions. He managed to defeat every single member of the Holy Guardians and Council. It is unlikely that they survived. I overheard ZeedMillenniummon tell one of his subordinates that once he was done assassinating the great creators, he was going to unleash all the unfathomable destruction on the Digital World and wipe it off the plane of existence, and create a new world out of it. He almost succeeded in destroying the Digital World completely...but the great guardian of the Digital World managed to foil his plan somewhat. From what I saw, he had set up a fail-safe system beforehand in case ZeedMillenniummon proved to be too much for even him to handle. But even he was not able to defeat ZeedMillenniummon and his minions, and was killed by his hand, just like his precious subjects. But the fail-safe system activated, and it was powerful enough to not only finally put a stop to all of the destruction and bloodshed, but seal ZeedMillenniummon into a secondary form, MoonMillenniummon, and keep him in one place where he is literally deprived of all his powers and confined to the deepest parts of the Digital World, never to leave or use his powers. However, no Digimon got out of the destruction unscathed. ZeedMillenniummon's destruction was so strong that not only did it wipe various areas of the Digital World off the face of existence, aka the area that is now Wasted Desert, but it managed to somehow wipe the memories of all Digimon who even witnessed the destruction and knew about who did it and why, save for his minions who helped him carry everything out. But I also noticed something interesting happened because of the destruction. As I was thrown into the human world, the humans down below were fussing over how the entire world suffered a four hour long power outage."

"Yes. All of the world's power suddenly went out at 6:30 AM that Tuesday morning. I'm dead serious. _ALL THE __**WORLD**_'S power went completely out. No computers, no lights, no cell phones, no trains, everything went out. It only lasted for about four hours though. Everybody got power back at around 10:45 AM," Link explained. "I know because people at work were talking about it. Everyone's calling it The Great Global Blackout," Link explained.

"I found out later that your GGB was caused by ZeedMillenniummon's power literally destroying the mystical veil that divides the Digital World and the human world, causing his power to shut down every source of power that you had, creating access points all over the Digital World, his destruction was that great. That's why the mystical veil tends to open and close on it's own sometimes. This makes it a lot easier for you humans to go into the Digital World and use it to revolutionize your own world," Wisemon explained. "Of course, MoonMillenniummon wouldn't know that because he doesn't know that humans exist, nor does he believe in them."

"Umm...actually, he does now. One of his minions kidnapped me and I escaped," Link told him.

"That is unfortunate, indeed," Wisemon said. "To this day, no Digimon has thought of a way to properly reform the Digital World or defeat MoonMillenniummon. Nobody knows if the Holy Guardians or Holy Council survived the destruction or not."

Sorcermon's head drooped downward, and he looked quite dejected. "The Holy Guardians...I miss her."

"Her? Who?" Koromon asked.

"One member of the Holy Guardians saved me and made me into her apprentice. She was so kind to me. I miss her dearly. But I wonder if she survived the destruction..." Sorcermon muttered sadly.

Link stood up. So did Wisemon.

"Thank you for sharing your account with us. I really appreciate it, and don't worry, I'm not here to smoke you out. I actually want to be your friend," Link said.

"You seem like an honest man, so maybe I'll warm up to you in due time. I hope you'll let me study you-Oh!" Wisemon told him when he yelped all of a sudden, causing the book to open. All of a sudden, Link, Koromon, and Sorcermon were pulled out of the book and back into the desert. Sorcermon was the first to get up.

"What was that all about?" Sorcermon asked as he stood up and wiped some sand off of his attire.

"Beats me," Koromon said.

"Hey! There they are!" A shrill voice exclaimed. When Link looked up, he saw two Gazimon and two Gizamon standing a few feet away from him.

Sorcermon froze for a bit, thinking he had been caught red-handed trying to help Link, but upon further inspection, the Digimon didn't look as though they were insinuating him. Perhaps this is a good opportunity to get his cover back. As Link stood up, Sorcermon pointed his wand at him.

"You thought you could try to escape from me, eh? Don't try escaping again, you scoundrels!" Sorcermon exclaimed.

Koromon saw that Sorcermon was putting on a facade and decided to play along. "Hey! Leave Link alone!"

Suddenly, Link's dark orange digivice glowed in a dark orange light which enveloped Koromon.

"Koromon, digivolve to..."

Koromon grew bigger until he was at least the size of a seven year old child (Aria?). But once the orange light faded, out came a very different creature. More specifically, a wingless, orange dinosaur with big, round, wide, emerald green eyes, a stubby little tail, three claws on each of his hands and feet, and a big set of sharp white teeth.

"...Agumon!"

"Don't think you can stop us!" One Gizamon yelled as he and his lackies tried to assault them. But Link kicked Sorcermon, causing him to fall to the ground.

"Pepper Breath!" Agumon shot a fiery sphere at the four Digimon, even though it hit only one Gizamon and not the other three. Link drew his digisword and whacked one Gazimon over the head with it while successfully kicking the second one in the stomach, preventing it from breathing for a while. Sorcermon got back on his feet and prepared for an attack.

"Crystal Barrage!" Sorcermon's staff glowed in a pale blue light, and shards of ice began shooting at Link and Agumon, but they had the upper hand.

"Pepper Breath!" Agumon made a few ice crystals disappear with his fire attack while Link managed to do some backflips to dodge them. But once Agumon ran over to him, Sorcermon had something else up his sleeve.

"Drowning Aquarius!" Sorcermon waved his wand around, and all of a sudden, a huge torrent of water plowed through the desert sand straight at them.

Thankfully, Link was quick and made a digishield appear, which was swallowed by the huge wave. The water swirled around Link and Agumon for a while.

"Yes! We got him!" One Gizamon exclaimed.

However, once the torrent of water disappeared, they were all shocked to find that Link and Agumon have disappeared completely!

"WHAT?! He got away?! But my attack was perfect!" Sorcermon exclaimed (even though he's feigning shock).

"Oh no! Master's not going to be happy about this!" One Gazimon exclaimed timorously.

"What should we do?" The second Gizamon asked.

"I'll tell him," Sorcermon said dejectedly. "It is through my fault that he escaped, and I will gladly accept any punishment he will give me."

With that, Sorcermon left the scene. Feeling a little bad for him, the two Gizamon and Gazimon followed him. But while Sorcermon looked sad on the inside, he was secretly happy that Link and Agumon escaped. Of course, the Gazimon and Gizamon didn't know that.

_'I'm glad you made it out, Link and Agumon. I hope you'll be successful in finding a way to defeat MoonMillenniummon,'_Sorcermon thought.

But what nobody knew was that something was left behind at the scene...well, a part of it that wasn't consumed by Sorcermon's torrent of water. Lying next to a small rock is a slightly worn picture with a sad-looking little girl on it.


	83. Melody's Secret, Biyomon's Anguish

EPISODE 83: Melody's Secret, Biyomon's Anguish

12-year-old Shimotsuki Melody sat in her bedroom, quietly playing guitar as the sunbeams of the morning began to make her room literally glow with gold despite the huge amount of rock posters literally eating up every single fiber of her walls. Biyomon slept on her bed soundly, looking like a perfect stuffed animal, even though her eyes are closed. Melody wistfully looked out the window as she strummed the strings on her big guitar. The sounds weren't loud, and the wooden door in her room could muffle any kind of noise, so she strummed the strings without a care in the world. The alarm clock on top of her bed read 7:02 AM. As of now, Melody is wearing nothing but a pair of peach-colored pajamas, which is odd considering she wears black every day. Of course, not ALL of Melody's wardrobe consisted of all black attire. Even she knew to wear certain colors according to the weather. Melody was going to play her guitar some more until she heard a knock on her door.

"Melody! Breakfast is ready!" A woman's voice called out. Without a word, Melody put her guitar down. Biyomon got up and noticed Melody wearing a slightly pinched look, like she was disgusted at the thought of eating breakfast.

"Aren't you gonna go down and eat? You can't go through a day without a good breakfast, y'know? Breakfast is an imperative meal to start the day with," Biyomon told her.

"I know. But I can't stand being near them," Melody told her.

"Your foster parents? Why? They're nice," Biyomon said.

"They act like it, but they don't really care about me. But I'll go down anyway, because I'm hungry," Melody said as she walked out the door. Biyomon sat there on her bed, looking quite confused.

"Why doesn't Mel like her foster parents? They seem nice enough," Biyomon asked herself, cocking her big pink head a little as she pondered the reason for why Melody doesn't seem to like them.

As predicted, Melody arrived in the dining room, and was greeted by two people. One is a woman with long, curly blonde hair and brown eyes. Another is a young-looking man with scraggly dark brown hair and deep blue eyes, both looking quite bright and cheerful in contrast to Melody's grim and melancholic exterior right now. The man saw Melody and smiled brightly as he sipped some coffee from a big grey mug.

"Hey, Melody! Top of the mornin' to ya!" The man exclaimed happily.

"You're not Irish, y'know..." Melody retorted grimly as she sat at the table to find herself presented with quite a big breakfast. French toast covered with maple syrup and strawberries, a banana, and a glass of orange juice. While Melody was a little surprised that the breakfast she has is quite big, she didn't mind, as she liked all of these things. She ate the banana first, the strawberries second, drank her orange juice, and saved the syrupy french toast for last. As Melody quietly ate her breakfast, her foster dad struck up quite a cheery conversation.

"My goodness! I sure am glad I quit my last job. It took me a while to do it, but I'm finally out!" The man exclaimed happily.

"How do you like your new job so far, Daikichi?" The woman asked, referring to her husband as Daikichi.

"It's just great, Rumiko!" Daikichi exclaimed happily, referring to his wife as Rumiko. "My salary's gone up for once, the friends I've made there are awesome, and the boss is a heck of a lot nicer than that selfish lady I had to deal with. I'm actually making some good cash! Oh! Sorry to sound like some greedy money grubber here."

_'You ARE a greedy money grubber, you idiot! Both you and your weird as heck Yamato Nadeshiko_(1)_ wife!'_Melody screamed in her head as she ate a strawberry.

"It's alright. Considering how bad the economy is, it's only natural for someone to be a little greedy," Rumiko said. She then turned to Melody, who drank her orange juice in one sitting.

"Hey Melody?" Rumiko asked kindly.

"What?" Melody answered gruffly.

"I was wondering...I'm off from work today, so would you like to go places with me?" Rumiko asked as kindly as she could, but Melody looked at her with quite a suspicious look.

"Why?"

"Well, we hardly ever get to spend real time together, so I thought maybe this would be a great opportunity for us to have some mother-daughter fun," Rumiko explained.

Once Melody finished her glass, she set it down. "Sorry, but I can't. I already made plans. I'm meeting with my friends today."

But instead of being disappointed, Rumiko lit up like she had an idea in her head, and she did. "Oh! I know! How about you invite your friends over here? It gets lonely without some children playing around here, and I'd love to meet your-"

_BAM!_

Once Melody finished her french toast, she slammed her fist into the table and stood up with quite the choleric look on her face, which left both Daikichi and Rumiko frozen with shock.

"Don't EVER suggest something like that ever again!" Melody screamed angrily. "Aren't you more concerned about what the neighbors are gonna think of you than about what I do every day?!"

"Mel! We don't think like that!" Daikichi tried to argue, but Melody interrupted him.

"Stop denying it, you greedy money grubber! You only care about yourself! Stop trying to rope me into your false pity! I'll never forgive either of you!" Melody screamed, left the dining room, stomped into her room, and slammed the door. The sound of her door being slammed could be heard all over the house as she left a surprised Daikichi and Rumiko alone in the dining room.

"Rumiko..." Daikichi whispered softly, looking a little sad. Rumiko did too, but she tried not to cry.

"I...I don't understand. Why does she hate us so much? We've done everything for her, and yet..." Rumiko tried not to cry, but her voice quivered and some tears slid out. Daikichi put his hands on his dejected wife's shoulders.

"I'm sure she has her reasons. We shouldn't force it. She needs time to sort things out on her own. Besides, we shouldn't force her to care about us. That's her decision," Daikichi said.

"But we took her in! Parents spend time with their children, don't they?! Why doesn't Melody ever want to do anything with us?! I want to spend time with her and get to know her better, but she keeps pushing us away! She won't let us in her heart! Why?!" Rumiko cried, louder this time.

"You have to consider what she's been through. She's been through some tough times, and I think that might be why she won't let us get close. But we shouldn't try and force our way into her heart. She has to take the time to accept us and decide for herself whether we can be trusted. Think about it. Try putting yourself in her shoes. Would you like it if some stranger wanted to take you somewhere and tell you to tell him or her everything about yourself?"

"No, I wouldn't."

"I think that's how Melody feels. Give her time. She'll come around. Besides, we made a commitment, and we can't turn our back on it...or her."

If only Melody had heard this conversation. But then again, she'd think that they were lying to make her feel better.

"YAH!" Biyomon yelped when Melody slammed the door very hard. "Jeez, Mel! Watch the door slamming, will you?! People will hear!"

"So?! Let them hear it! I don't care! Those dopes down there are nothing but a bunch of lying cheats trying to deceive me with their false love and pity!" Melody snapped quite angrily, causing Biyomon to fly off of her bed and descend onto the floor.

"Mel? Don't you think you're being too critical of them? I mean, they took you in after all, and considering the other types of foster homes you had to go through, you have to admit that this is the best one so far. I mean, they're nice and let you do what you want without being critical and-" Biyomon tried to explain, but Melody cut her off.

"Don't you get it?! It's all a ploy to trick me! They'll try to deceive me, thinking that they love me, but then they'll turn their back on me at the best possible chance!" Melody screamed. Right at that moment, Melody saw an image of a slightly younger version of herself, trapped in a big heap of snow, screaming and crying ardently as the night fell. Biyomon cocked her head to one side in confusion again, a little surprised by Melody's insinuations.

"But not all humans are like that. I think you should quit thinking weird ideas about people-" Biyomon tried to tell her again, but like usual, Melody cut her off.

"You don't have any idea what I've been through, so stop telling me what I should do!" Melody snapped angrily, which in turn made Biyomon mad.

"I'm trying to help you!" Biyomon snapped back.

Melody looked at her watch. "Come on. We're gonna be late for the Digimon Brigade meeting."

Biyomon was surprised that Melody changed the subject so quickly. Why is Melody so convinced that her current foster parents are trying to trick her? Biyomon wished she knew more about Melody's life so she could at least get an idea of how she feels and think of a way to help her. But as she watched Melody pack a small black bookbag, she noticed Melody putting a small stuffed animal in there. Melody didn't own any stuffed animals, but the one she did own looked very out of place amongst her tough girl image. It's a small stuffed bunny, pale blue in color with a little pink heart sewn into it, with black button eyes, a cute pink nose shaped like a triangle sewn into it, and floppy ears, though not too floppy.

"Hey Mel?"

"What now?"

"That stuffed bunny you have...why are you bringing that with you?"

Melody looked down at the stuffed bunny and actually shed her angry expression. Now she stared at it wistfully, with a small smile on her face.

"I know it doesn't suit me, but...I love this thing too much. Yun gave it to me on my eighth birthday. She didn't understand that I wasn't the biggest fan of stuffed animals, but she got it for me so I've kept it. It reminds me of how sweet and genuine she is. It's...very important to me. I sleep with it every night. I'm glad it wasn't burnt...along with the pictures," Melody told her gently for once.

Biyomon knew what Melody meant by pictures. There's two picture frames on her desk. One featuring her, Yun, Minako, and Kosuke when they were young, which Biyomon saw before, and another one showing her and her whole family, about three months before the fire. Her mother, father, big brother, and little sister are in it with her. Melody probably saved the pictures before the fire got out of hand. Biyomon wanted to talk to Melody more, but the girl already left the room. Not wanting to be spotted by her foster parents, Biyomon flew out the window as the sunlight made the room look a bit more dim now that it's changing direction.

Oddly enough, when Melody and Biyomon got there, only Yun, Lopmon, Terriermon, Cutemon, and Lucero were in the gazebo. They probably arrived really early. Melody saw that Yun is happily playing with Lopmon, who in turn looked quite happy and jolly, wearing a white and blue violet shirt with circles and swirls all over it and a pair of red shorts, matching Melody's bangs to a T. Lucero has on a sleeveless tan shirt and blue jean shorts. Yun turned around and caught sight of Melody and Biyomon. As soon as she saw them, she stood up and waved at Melody with her free arm, her other arm holding Lopmon.

"Hi Mel-chan!" Yun cried out happily.

Melody couldn't help but be a little blinded by the sheer radiance and genuineness behind Yun's smile, so she smiled back and waved back as soon as she approached them.

"Hi," Melody muttered.

"Morning," Biyomon said. Terriermon and Cutemon approached her happily.

"We got here early. Do you want to play with us a little, kyu? We promise we won't be rough, kyu," Cutemon told her.

"It'll be fun! We still have lots of time left," Terriermon said.

"Sure. I don't mind," Biyomon said.

"Yay! Time to go play!" Terriermon cheered happily as Cutemon gently took Biyomon by the wing and led her away from the gazebo.

"Don't go out too far!" Lucero called out.

"We won't, kyu!" Cutemon called back, making Lucero smile a bit. But before Biyomon could leave, she flew back to Melody.

"Hey Mel? You don't mind if I borrow that stuffed bunny, do you?" Biyomon asked.

Melody looked down at her black backpack and ruminated. She never once let that blue rabbit doll out of her sight, even as people from adoption agencies repeatedly tried to take it away from her, along with her two pictures. She wouldn't dare let just anyone touch her precious stuffed rabbit, even her closest friends. Though, then again, nobody except Yun, Minako, and Kosuke knew that she even owned a stuffed rabbit, especially since Melody isn't the type to collect stuffed animals, unlike Yun, who has a ton of them in her room. But Biyomon had always been careful with Melody's things, so...why not? Melody slowly unzipped her backpack, pulled the rabbit out, and gave it to Biyomon.

"Here ya go. Just don't get it dirty and ripped, and be sure to give it back when you're done with it!" Melody told her.

"Yes ma'am! You can count on me!" Biyomon exclaimed a little vainly as she cradled the stuffed bunny in her arms and ran off with it while following Cutemon and Terriermon. Yun, with Lopmon contentedly sitting in her arms and lap, was about to lose herself to her thoughts until Melody pulled her out of them.

"You really care about your Digimon, don't you?" Melody suddenly asked, not angrily, but kindly. Yun was a little thrown off by Melody's sudden question, but she looked down at Lopmon, who gave her a cute smile upon laying eyes on her kind partner's face, and smiled back at her.

"Of course I do. They're my cute little bunny friends!" Yun exclaimed as she held Lopmon close and gently nudged her soft, cute, chubby brown face with her own, causing Lopmon's plump cheeks to turn pink, just like her paws and ears.

"Do you care about Biyomon, Melody-san?" Lopmon asked politely. She knew how fierce Melody's temper could be, so she at least tried to be polite while expecting the worst at the same time. But Melody didn't explode. She just looked out of the gazebo wistfully.

"I do, sorta. She lets me do my own thing, she doesn't try to force herself into my heart, and she's stark raving honest. She's always saying what's on her mind, but I can tell she's sincere about everything she says, so yeah...I do like her. Hey, Yun? Remember that anime you showed me once when we were little? The one called _Little Women_(2)? You could probably say that Biyomon is a Digimon version of Amy March," Melody told her.

Suddenly, Yun burst into laughter. Melody smiled upon seeing Yun erupt into a paroxysm of particularly merry and happy laughter. "Oh my gosh, you're right! Biyomon DOES act a lot like Amy! I can't believe I never realized it until now!"

Yun laughed for a bit longer until she calmed down. "Sorry about that. It's just so funny to me!"

Melody chuckled a bit as well. "I bet!"

That's when Yun saw it. Melody's red D-Heart of Forgiveness is hanging from the silver bracelet by a small string. But something about the D-Heart seemed every odd and peculiar to Yun, and Yun, being observant and very detail-oriented as she is, was not going to let this go unnoticed.

"Hey. Your D-Heart...can I see it up close please?" Yun asked.

Melody unhooked the D-Heart from her bracelet and put it in Yun's hands. "Sure."

Yun took the D-Heart in her hand, held it up to the sun, kept one of her eyes closed, and observed it. She had done this before, and when held up to the sun, D-Hearts can look quite beautiful. Why wouldn't they? They are jewels after all. But something about Melody's D-Heart wasn't right. Yun saw some cloudiness in the red D-Heart, like the color is getting duller, whether it's in the sun or not.

"What's up?" Melody asked.

"Your D-Heart looks a little weird," Yun told her.

"How so?" Lopmon asked, curious and confused at the same time.

"It's like...the color is duller. It's not as bright as it was the last time I saw it. I think I can even see tints of grey in it," Yun said.

"Lemme see," Melody said as she pulled the D-Heart out of Yun's hand to try and see what she saw. Melody looked at it from different angles, but from the way Yun saw how she looked, it didn't look like her friend saw anything different.

"Hm? Looks fine to me," Melody said.

Yun was about to say something until her digivice beeped. Not only hers, but Melody as well.

"I wonder what that could be?" Lopmon asked as Yun and Melody opened their digivices. They got a text. From the person they least expected.

**To: Yun, Minako, Melody, Kosuke, Otoya, Aria, Rena, Riku, Shunji, Hokuto, Isao**

**From: Link**

**Subject: I'm Alive**

**Children. Agumon and I managed to escape from MoonMillenniummon's inner sanctum. We're in an underground oasis in Wasted Desert, and we have some very interesting information we'd like to share with you. Come to the Digital World! I'll send you our location!**

"Oh my! A message from Link! He's alive!" Lopmon exclaimed happily.

Yun exhaled a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness he's alright!"

Suddenly, Melody's digivice beeped a little. "Hey! He sent something else, too!"

All of a sudden, a flat map of the Digital World appeared in the form of a green, pixelated astral projection. At the top of the Digital World, or at the bottom of a certain part of it, is a glowing red dot that blinked.

"Could that be where Link-san is?" Yun asked.

"I believe so," Melody said.

Yun's digivice beeped again and she opened it. Another text message from Link.

**To: Yun, Minako, Melody, Kosuke, Otoya, Aria, Rena, Riku, Shunji, Hokuto, and Isao**

**From: Link**

**Subject: Digital World**

**See where the red dot is on the map I sent you? That's where Agumon and I are right now. Sorry it took so long to get this to you. To get there, you have to enter the Digital World by way of Tsurumi High School's soccer field!**

"What? We have to go to Tsurumi High School just to find him?! That's so stupid!" Melody exclaimed.

"But parts of the Digital World are connected to the real world as well, so this makes it easier for us, knowing where to go in order to find him," Yun said.

All of a sudden, more of the Digimon Brigade members arrived.

"Hey guys! You're not gonna believe this!" That was Riku's voice. Parts of his face are covered with small, pale white bandages because of the minor burns he got from failing to save the people from the now destroyed church. Riku was about to tell them that he got the same message as everyone else, but as soon as they told him they got it too, he calmed down as soon as the rest of the Digimon Brigade arrived.

"Everyone? I suppose you all have received the message that Link-san sent us just now?" Yun asked, sounding like a leader. Everyone nodded.

"This is proof that Link is not only alive, but well. Not only that, he has information he wants to share with us. Probably in person, because it must be something important. Since we have confirmation that he's alive, I say we go to the Digital World and at least meet with him so we can receive the information he has," Yun said.

"I'm surprised he didn't say what the information was about," Coronamon said.

"It's probably too important to mention out of fear that someone might hear it and tell someone about it and have something bad happen," Salamon said.

"Link is a wise man, indeed. But I do wonder how he escaped," Labramon said.

"How did he get away from MoonMillenniummon?" Patamon asked.

"Beats me. Anyway, since we managed to hear from Link, I suggest we leave for the Digital World first thing Monday morning!" Yun exclaimed.

"Monday?" Minako asked. "Isn't that a little far off? I mean, the passage of time in the Digital World is different from here."

"I know that, but we need to properly prepare for this first. Besides, even if Link-san pinpoints his location, it's unlikely that we'll land exactly where he is, so we may have to do some walking or flying," Yun said.

"You have a good point," Minako said.

"Hang on a sec. I'll text Link-san about it," Yun said as she opened her digivice and sent a text to Link.

**To: Link**

**From: Yun**

**Subject: Unknown**

**Link-san? Random question: How much time passes in the Digital World when a day passes in the human world?**

Yun clicked send.

"I'll bet it's a year, considering that's how long it was in the first Digimon series," Shunji said.

"I really don't get this whole cartoon thing," Dracomon said.

Yun heard her digivice beep. Link answered!

**To: Yun**

**From: Link**

**Subject: Re: Unknown**

**About three weeks. Do you need to prepare for a day or two? That's fine. I can deal with three weeks in the Digital World.**

"He says three weeks in the Digital World equals a day in the real world," Yun said.

"But that doesn't make sense. He said that three years in the Digital World equals a week in the human world. This defies all forms of logic!" Minako exclaimed.

"Probably because it exists in another dimension," Kosuke said.

"Dimension? Like...outside the confines of nature?" Minako asked.

"Probably so," Lucero said.

"So...all in favor of going to the Digital World first thing Monday morning?" Yun asked and raised her hand.

Only one person raised his hand, and it was Hokuto.

"Huh. Alright then," Yun said a little dejectedly as she conceded defeat and sat down.

"I say we prepare today, then leave Sunday afternoon. How's that sound?" Shunji asked.

"That sounds better," Otoya said.

"I agree," Kudamon said.

"We don't want to keep Link waiting," Rena said. "I'd feel bad if we left him alone for a while. And yeah, I agree with the Sunday afternoon thing, because Riku and I have to do morning chores."

"It's true," Lunamon piped in.

"So...all in favor of preparing today, then leaving Sunday afternoon, say I!" Shunji exclaimed.

"I!" Practically all the kids raised their hands, even Yun.

Once the kids put their hands down, a silence creeped between them for a minute. Shunji broke it.

"Yun-chan? Aren't you going to adjourn the meeting?" Shunji asked.

"Huh?" Yun asked, dozing off for a minute.

"You started the meeting after all, and there's nothing more to talk about," Shunji said.

"Y-Y-Yes. You're right. The meeting has...ended," Yun stumbled along her words a little, but the meeting ended. The kids decided to leave the gazebo with their Digimon. Yun was about to do so until she was approached by Otoya, Rena, and Minako.

"Yun-chan? We're sorry we didn't raise our hands in favor of your suggestion. I hope you're not offended," Otoya said.

"You have a good point of wanting to properly prepare for the trip and such, and while that is a good thing, Digital World time goes faster than real world time, and we don't want to keep him waiting for a long time," Rena said.

"You're not mad, are you? We weren't trying to offend you or anything. Honest," Minako said.

"It's alright. My suggestion was kinda stupid. All my suggestions are," Yun said a little sadly.

"That's not true at all! Wan!" Salamon piped in.

"You've helped the Digimon Brigade quite a few times before, so don't be so hard on yourself," Lunamon told her gently.

"That's true," Labramon said.

Biyomon, who has the stuffed animal tucked underneath her wing, happened to watch as the girls and their Digimon tried their best to comfort Yun and at least make her feel better, even though they didn't agree with her suggestion that they leave for the Digital World on Monday morning.

_'While I am happy that she and Melody get along so well, exactly what is it about her that Melody loves so much?'_ Biyomon thought.

"Hey Biyomon! You better catch up or I'll leave you behind!" Melody called out.

"Don't leave me behind! I'll race you there!" Biyomon exclaimed as she suddenly flew into the air and zipped right past Melody. However, unbeknownst to both of them, Melody's stuffed rabbit fell out of Biyomon's wing as soon as she ascended into the air, falling in front of a small shrub. The worst part of it all is that nobody else noticed.

Not only that, unbeknownst to every single member of the Digimon Brigade, Nayuki watched from behind another big tree, with her arms crossed.

"The Digital World, huh? Sounds interesting..." Nayuki muttered to herself.

In a flash, Biyomon flew into Melody's room through the window, hitting the floor quite hard as she did, causing a picture on Melody's desk to fall onto the floor and out of the frame.. She managed to make it home right before Melody did! Biyomon got up, smoothed out her pink feathers, and began victory dancing.

"Yay! Yay! Yay! I beat Melody to her house! Take that, slowpoke!" Biyomon cheered until she opened her eyes and saw the picture right next to her yellow talon, the one with her holy ring on it. She noticed that one of the pictures, the one featuring Melody and her friends, slipped out of the frame. Biyomon stopped cheering and kneeled before the fallen picture and frame.

"Oh dear! The picture fell out! I better put it back in before Mel gets back," Biyomon said as she picked up the picture first. But then she felt something. Something in the back of her nose (or beak). Something...cold.

"Ah...ah..." Biyomon could feel it coming.

But not like this.

"ACHOO!"

Biyomon then felt something hot come out of her mouth. When she opened it, she was in for a shock.

"KYAAAH!"

Melody's picture is on fire!

Green flames danced all over the small photograph!

Biyomon immediately dropped it as soon as she realized she sneezed fire.

"Jeez, Biyomon!"

Melody came into the room and put a glass of water on the desk as soon as it happened.

"What's with all the-" She then saw the burning picture and screamed louder than she ever thought she could scream. "AHHHH!"

"OH NO!" Panicking, Biyomon frightfully looked around for some water. She noticed the glass of water on Melody's desk. In a flash she grabbed it and splashed the water on the picture. The fire had been set out.

Unfortunately, the picture was not saved.

Melody stared at the now ashen picture's remains with an appalled look on her face, like she had fallen into a state of catatonia. She fell to her knees and tried to pick the picture up, but as soon as she held it up by a corner, parts of it crumbled and fell off, leaving dark spots on her floor. Biyomon could actually see tears trying really hard to come out of Melody's brown eyes, something she almost NEVER saw on Melody in all the time she spent with her. But she knew why.

Her precious picture has been destroyed.

And Biyomon burned it.

"I-I-I-I-I-I'M SO SORRY MEL!" Biyomon screamed. "I-I-I didn't mean to do it! Honest to God, I swear! It was an accident!" Biyomon pleaded.

"Did you...pull the picture...out of the frame?" Melody asked in an ominously low voice.

"No! Of course not! I flew in here really hard and it fell out on its own! I tried to put it back in, but I sneezed fire and-" Biyomon explained as sadly as she could. Melody balled her fists, but in regards to something else.

"The stuffed animal."

"Huh?" Biyomon looked around, and became even more shocked.

Melody's stuffed rabbit isn't with her!

"What?! But...but I had it on me! Oh no! Did I drop it in the park?!" Biyomon screamed upon realizing that she not only burned Melody's precious picture of her and her friends, but lost the stuffed animal that Yun gave her.

Grimly, Melody stood back up, walked over to her bed, and held her guitar in her hand by the top part.

"I'll go look for it, Mel! Maybe it's still there! I'm sure it's still there!" Biyomon pleaded.

But Melody had other ideas in her head. For as long as she knew Biyomon, she knew that Biyomon had always been careful about her things. Melody made it very clear with the pink bird Digimon that she was not to touch or lose any of her things, especially things that were considered very precious to her. Melody was completely straight up with her in regards to that golden rule, yet...Biyomon broke it. Not only did she lose her stuffed animal in the park, she burned the only picture of her friends she ever possessed! Anger filled her heart in huge torrents, not leaving any room for love. Her hand gripped the top part of her guitar tightly, so much so that one could see the veins in her wrists. How could she have been so careless as to let this bird lose her stuffed animal and burn her picture, the two most important things that she ever owned in regards to her friends.

Then another thought popped in her head.

Did Biyomon do all of this...on purpose?

"I'll go look for it right now!" Biyomon exclaimed as she was about to fly out of Melody's room and back to the park to search for the stuffed animal that Melody loved and cherished so much.

But she didn't even have time to extend her wings.

Because all of a sudden, a blow stronger than rock slammed her in the side of the face, literally knocking her into the wall, causing the other picture on the desk to fall onto the floor. All Biyomon saw before that was a blurry black and white blur, along with an even bigger beige one. Biyomon screamed as soon as she felt herself slam against the wall and fall onto the floor. When she regained her equanimity, she saw something in front of her she hoped never to see again.

A VERY vitriolic and choleric Melody, with bloodshot eyes, grinding teeth, her guitar in her hand, and the scariest, most frightening, and most intimidating expression on her face that Biyomon ever saw. She almost looked psychotic. Biyomon then realized it.

Melody hit her with her guitar.

"I HATE YOU, YOU BRAINLESS RETARDED BIRD!" Melody screamed at the top of her voice, the loudest Biyomon ever heard. Biyomon covered the sides of her head as soon as Melody exploded at her with anger that didn't have any amount of sugar coated on it. No way. "How could you be so retarded and careless?! Do you have any idea what you just freaking destroyed?! Not only do you throw my precious stuffed animal away, but you burn the only picture of my friends that I had! That was the only copy I ever owned, and it can never be recreated, and now you had to go and destroy it before my very eyes!"

"I-I-I didn't mean to! I swear, I-" Biyomon tried to argue, but like usual, Melody cut her off with her very angry and very vociferous screaming.

"It doesn't matter if you did it on purpose or not! You destroyed the only memory of the happy times that I had with my friends and I can never ever get it back no matter what! You don't have the first clue of how important those things were to me, now did you?!" Melody screamed.

"I-I do, Mel! I do!"

"Stop feigning innocence and acting like a good girl! Why did I have to be stuck with a retarded bird like you?! I can't believe I was so stupid as to let you get a hold of my precious stuff! If I had known you were gonna destroy my picture and lose the durn stuffed animal, I would have never accepted you as a partner in the first place! Why couldn't you have been heaped onto someone else?! I could have gotten a Digimon who's a heck of a lot better than a retarded bird like you!"

Feigning Innocence? Acting like a good girl? Retarded? Biyomon was shocked. Melody's so consumed by hatred that she's actually questioning Biyomon's trust? And she has the audacity to claim that Biyomon can easily be replaced by a better Digimon! Biyomon could literally feel her heart breaking. Worst of all, Melody's so angry that she doesn't seem to hear a thing Biyomon is saying! Biyomon stood up weakly.

"Mel! I'm sorry I burned your picture! Really, I am-"

"Sorry doesn't cut it, you retarded bird! Is saying sorry gonna make my picture magically restore itself?! No, it won't, because YOU burned it! Burned pictures never go back to what they were before! You should know that you stupid brainless bird! I was a fool to think you were different from everyone else! You're just the same as every single idiot who used me for their own pleasure and threw me away like trash once they were done with me! I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!"

"Mel! Please, listen!"

But Melody was NOT listening. No, not at all.

"Get out! I SAID GET OUT! I never want to see your ugly face or hear your ugly voice ever again! Go jump into a hole in the Digital World and remove yourself from the face of existence already!" Melody literally grabbed Biyomon's antenna and threw her out the window like she was a rag doll! Biyomon yelped as Melody tried to throw her out, but, in retaliation, Biyomon angrily pecked at Melody's head and flew out of the room herself!

"You destroyed the only thing that was important to me! I'll bet you're really happy about this now, you selfish, retarded bird! Go die already! You're worthless and you don't exist! I was a fool to think you were so horrible as to trick me into thinking you were my friend!"

"I didn't trick you!"

"GO DIE YOU CHICKEN!"

_SLAM!_

Melody slammed her window hard. Biyomon was both totally heartbroken and totally sad. Tears literally poured out of her eyes. Biyomon knew that she unknowingly destroyed Melody's precious picture and lost her stuffed animal, and she was already feeling bad about it, but not once did she ever think that Melody would accuse her of tricking her and trying to use her for her own pleasure, aka accuse her of burning her picture and losing her stuffed animal on purpose. Biyomon knew that once Melody is angry about something, she'll never get over it no matter what. Biyomon could feel the warm tears streaming down her cheeks, but she also felt the sadness turn into anger. How could Melody be so insensitive? Despite the injury she got from getting smacked in the face with her guitar, she flew into the air.

"FINE THEN! I never wanted to be friends with you anyway, you sourpuss punk goth girl! I hope you get thrown into foster care again! You'll pay for this!" Biyomon screamed without thinking, then flew away in tears.

But in this case, she didn't fly to some random place so she could sulk. She flew to the park, right on top of the gazebo. She crossed her wings and sat there, looking at the bright blue sky sadly. She found it just downright indecent, that the sky would be so insensitive as to be a perfect, cloudless blue, and that the sun would be so downright heartless as to shine down on the earth with its perfect beauty. Biyomon thought the sunshine was mocking her and pointing out her flaws while it proclaimed itself to be perfect.

"It was an accident. I know I did a bad thing, but...she didn't have to get so mad!" Biyomon cried while trying to stop tears from coming out. "I...I know. I'm her partner, and I shouldn't abandon her, but...what can I do? She'll never forgive me! I know she won't!"

But Biyomon knew in the bottom of her heart that there was one thing she could do. She stood up.

"I'll at least look for the stuffed animal. I know it won't fix our relationship, but...it has to be better than nothing! Right?" Biyomon asked herself as she flew off the top of the gazebo to search for the stuffed rabbit.

"I just have to retrace my steps. I know I burned Mel's picture, but I can at least find her stuffed animal and sneak it in her room when she's not looking," Biyomon muttered to herself.

She remembered the area where she saw Yun being comforted by Minako, Otoya, and Rena and went there. She looked in every tree, bush, and shrub she could find. All of a sudden, she found a patch of blue in one particular shrub, and all it took was one deeper look to confirm what it was.

"YES! The stuffed bunny!" Biyomon inspected it, hoping that it isn't dirty or ripped. There were some shrub thistles on it, but they didn't dig into the rabbit's soft fabric. Biyomon wiped some grass off of it, and once she cleaned it thoroughly, it looked good as new. Biyomon hugged it gently.

"Thank goodness you're alright. I'll give you back to her in a bit," Biyomon said as she flew into the air, put the stuffed animal in one of her talons, and flew away.

Melody buried her face into one of her pillows as she lay on her bed, sulking and crying over her now destroyed picture. She banged her fists into her bed repeatedly, like she was a prisoner trying to break out of a jail cell.

"That God durn bird! Biyomon's such a screw up! She's just like everyone else! I should have known she was going to take away the very few things that are important to me!" Melody screamed into her pillows. After a while, she calmed down a bit and let herself be lost in thought.

_'What's the point, Melody? Give it up. Nobody's going to care about you. Especially not out of genuine love. You only exist for other people's use. Stop trying. It's not worth getting hurt even more. Stop hoping. You're not gonna get sincere love, only pity and hatred...everyone either hates your existence, pities you, or uses you for their own selfish pleasure. That's how this world is...'_Melody thought as she found herself drifting down the river of memories...something she really didn't want to do.

(flashback one)

_In September of 2010, when the cold air began to creep into summer and turn it into autumn, Melody found herself in a shiny red car with a lady, driving towards the house that would soon be her new foster home. She clung to her black backpack, which contained all the meager belongings she has (the pictures and stuffed animal included) and looked outside grimly, feeling disgusted by the fact that she's going to live with yet another family. She had been hurt before, and she was determined to not let herself fall prey to deception and false love yet again. The lady driving the car focused solely on driving. Soon, she saw a house come into view._

_"Oh. Here it is," The lady said._

_As soon as they arrived in front of a red brick house with a garden full of multicolored flowers, the lady pulled in front. As soon as she shut the car off, Melody opened her door and immediately darted out of the car, though she didn't run to the door like other kids, or try to run away. She remained where she was, staring at the big brick house and taking in all of its features. The lady sighed when she saw the grim-looking girl with the wild red bangs, insouciant expression, pale skin, unnaturally tall and bony stature, and extremely grim demeanor._

_"Now Melody, I'm serious about this. You really need to behave yourself and be kind to the folks here. They offered to take you in, and this is your 9th foster home. I hope this is where you'll stay permanently, and you better make good use of this opportunity," The lady told her. Melody didn't say anything. The lady walked up to the door and rang the doorbell as Melody silently stood next to her._

_Two people came out. Melody noticed that they looked quite young, like in their late thirties. The couple is both young and mousy, both with young-looking faces. The woman has curly blonde hair that trailed down past her lower back and light brown eyes, just like Melody. She wore nothing but a peach-colored dress underneath a light purple cardigan with white flowers embroidered on the left breast, and brown boots. Melody recognized the flower: a calla lily. The man looks to be about the same age as her, with scraggly dark brown hair, traces of a small mustache forming underneath his big nose, and deep blue eyes, like the night sky. He wore nothing but a pale yellow sweater with white stripes, a pair of black jeans, and brown shoes. The woman was the first to begin speaking, stopping the lady next to Melody from introducing herself._

_"Oh! You must be Melody! Hello! We've been expecting you!" The curly-haired woman exclaimed and literally glomped Melody. Melody was quite shocked by how perky and enthusiastic this woman is. But as soon as the woman recognized her error, she let go of the surprised girl._

_"Whoops! I'm sorry, dear. I tend to get a little overexcited. I'm Hanabusa Rumiko, and this is my husband, Daikichi. We've been waiting for you, and we're so happy that you're coming to live with us! I hope you like it here, and I hope you can enjoy yourself here. Come on inside! We have fresh cinnamon rolls if you want some!" The perky and cheery woman, Rumiko, exclaimed as she took Melody by the hand and yanked her inside, continuing to surprise both Melody and the other lady._

_When the lady left, Rumiko and Daikichi did everything they could to win Melody's heart and make her happy. But Melody, having been hurt before, tried to keep her guard up and keep them at a distance. But in a way, she figured out that there was something about them that she hadn't noticed in the other homes before. But she couldn't put her finger on what it was._

_About two months later, she thought her suspicions had come true._

(end flashback one, begin flashback two)

_As soon as Melody came home from school and walked through the door, the first thing she heard was the sound of Daikichi yelling on the phone._

_"No! No! I swear, I can't handle her anymore!"_

_Melody froze upon hearing Daikichi's voice, and even in the short time she stayed with him, she knew that he hardly ever yelled about anything, which, to her, was odd, considering all the other foster parents she had to endure yelled a lot. But the sound of Daikichi's normally cheery voice becoming so vociferous made Melody freeze with fear._

_"You don't get it! Nothing I do ever makes her happy! I work my butt off and she doesn't even thank me! She just brushed me off like I'm trash and ignores everything I say to her! I swear, she's just intolerable!"_

_Melody felt anger rise in her already broken heart. She was surprised that there were even any pieces left. She continued to eavesdrop on his conversation even though she knew it was wrong to do so._

_"You know what? You're right! I'm not gonna deal with her any longer! I'm gonna talk to her and tell her that I'm not gonna deal with her angst anymore! She thinks she can stomp all over me, but she's got it wrong!"_

_Melody's eyes grew big. From the way he's talking, he sounds as though he wants to get rid of something. In regards to that, Melody thought she knew the answer._

_Her._

'I knew it! I knew it all along! These perky idiots never wanted me, and now they're gonna get rid of me! I'm glad I kept my distance from them, now that I know their true intentions!'_ With that thought, Melody ran to her room and sulked. Again. She had been hurt many times before, but this time, she wasn't as hurt because she chose to distance herself from the Hanabusas despite their kind, loving nature, which Melody always assumed was just a facade, a fabrication, an illusion to make herself vulnerable to deception. Melody found herself lost in thought. An image of a woman turning her back on a sad Melody and leaving her in the deep, thick snow appeared in Melody's mind. Melody heard herself screaming in that image, and buried herself in her pillows again, knowing that there was nothing she could do to change anything. She had no power, and with no power, she couldn't change her fate._

_But...oddly enough, even though Melody expected the lady to come and take her away, she didn't come. A day passed. A week. A month. The lady never came. Melody kept on expecting it to come, dreading it, but it never came like she expected. Rumiko and Daikichi continued to keep her and love her, even though Melody pushed them away at every opportunity. But not once did they ever mention getting rid of her. Not once. Melody found this to be very strange. _'Are these people trying to deceive me? Are they trying to make me trust them so they can betray me? Well, two can play at that game!'_ Melody thought as a month passed without ever being given back to the adoption agency. But she continued to wonder why they're taking so long in getting rid of her._

_However, Melody found herself opening her heart, even after she continued to close it up and lock it with her own feelings of anguish._

(end flashback two, begin flashback three)

_"Who does that Nemoto kid think he is, huh?! My God! Even after I left he still continues to treat Yun like garbage for no good reason! I'll show him! I'll never forgive that fat slob!" Melody bellowed as she stomped into her room angrily after the fight she had with Nenji at lunch. She couldn't believe Nenji continued to be so ungodly persistent even after she left. Melody angrily threw her bags on her bed while accidentally running her foot into what she thought was her bongos. She looked down and gasped as she saw what her foot really ran into._

_A big egg. The egg is bright pink, with blue markings on it that resemble feathers. Melody looked down at it with a very confused face as questions ran through her mind. What is this thing? Is it real? How did it get here? She was sure that Rumiko and Daikichi didn't know about it, and there was no way that they'd put some random egg in her room on purpose, so she crossed them off of her suspect list. Overcome with curiosity, she put her hands on it and picked it up. Oddly enough, it felt very warm. Almost alive, even._

_"This can't be real..." Melody muttered as she put the egg back on the bed and tried to focus on something else. Just as she was about to pick up her guitar and play it to calm her nerves, a small thud echoed in the room._

_"Huh?!" Melody quickly turned around, and to her surprise, the egg fell off the bed! Not only that, it's wiggling! Then, out of nowhere..._

Crack!

_A crack appeared on the egg. Then came many more._

Crack! Crack!

_All of a sudden, once the eggshell shattered, a bright white light enveloped the room, causing Melody to cover her eyes to protect herself from the sheer brightness. After about a few minutes, she found it safe to open her eyes. She looked down and what the egg left behind left her frozen. Sitting in front of her feet is a tiny black thing with green, leaf like protrusions coming out of its head and round, yellow eyes._

'What in the world?! Somebody tell me I'm seeing things! This can't be real!'_ Melody thought. All of a sudden, the creature opened its eyes and suddenly started crying._

_"Piyaaaah!"_

_"Oh no!" Melody exclaimed, having no experience with how to calm a crying baby or, in this case, a crying animal that she's never seen before. But she's certainly had experience with how to calm down a crying Yun back in her younger days, so maybe she could implement them in this situation. She gently picked the little black plant-like creature up, cradled it in her arms, and began singing softly, even though her voice is a bit monotone. It was a song she made up herself, not something she heard from the deepest depths of her happy early years. She didn't think this kind of song would work, but she did it anyway._

"When the day turns to night,  
>And the sky is dark, deep, and black,<br>You cower in fear, wishing for light,  
>Wanting the warmth back.<p>

You tremble with fear,  
>Wanting the warmth of someone's arms,<br>You shiver with sadness and shed a tear,  
>Your heart filled with alarm.<p>

But don't cry, I am here,  
>Here to hold you against my breast,<br>Whispering a lullaby in your ear,  
>As you close your eyes and lay to rest.<p>

The stars watch you from above,  
>Shining their small lights on you,<br>Shining with all their love,  
>When you're feeling blue.<p>

But you ask, what are the stars?  
>The answer is a tale,<br>Told by many folk from near and far,  
>Through forest, meadow, glen, and dale.<p>

The innocent say they are the smiles,  
>Of the people who have passed on,<br>Looking down on us all the while,  
>With wings like swans.<p>

The wise say they're balls of hot air,  
>Floating through space, waiting to explode,<br>But something so fleeting isn't fair,  
>To those going down that road.<p>

The pious say they are the face,  
>Of the great creator himself,<br>But it is not their place,  
>To say they know that when I don't know myself-"<p>

_Melody wanted to sing more, but by then the little creature stopped crying, and suddenly hopped out of her arms._

_"Nyokimon!" Melody exclaimed, referring to the creature as Nyokimon. Nyokimon tried to run out of the room, but Melody, being agile as she is, managed to slam the door shut and make sure Nyokimon didn't run away. Melody then got out a bag of crackers and handed one to Nyokimon._

_"Here, have a cracker," Melody told it. Nyokimon happily ate the cracker, but didn't eat the other ones._

_Melody was finding Nyokimon to be quite a handful. For one thing, Nyokimon couldn't keep still no matter what! Melody tried her best to keep Nyokimon in her room so Rumiko and Daikichi wouldn't see it, but the little plant thing kept on trying to leave the room every chance it got. Melody even had a hard time trying to leave the room to get proper food for the hyper little thing. Melody even had to scold Nyokimon quite a few times for knocking over things like her music sheets and bag of guitar picks, some of which were in perfect mint condition. But after about an hour, something strange happened. Nyokimon was suddenly enveloped by light!_

_"Nyokimon, digivolve to..."_

_Nyokimon got a little bigger, and once the light faded, out came a different creature. A round, rosy pink radish-like creature with blue and white leaves, big blue eyes, and yellow and red antennae._

_"...Yokomon!"_

_Melody was surprised. But even more so when this little thing, Yokomon, began talking to her._

_"Hello!" Yokomon exclaimed in a cute voice._

_"So you ARE a Digimon after all," Melody said._

_"Hm? You know I'm a Digimon? Wow! That's amazing! You are smart!" Yokomon said with a big, beaming smile._

_"What? Did you think I was stupid or something?" Melody asked condescendingly, with her arms crossed._

_"No. Not at all. I just didn't think you knew what I was. How do you know I'm a Digimon?" Yokomon replied._

_"In my world, which you're in right now, you Digimon are just fictional creatures drawn on paper," Melody told her. But for some reason, it seemed to make Yokomon mad._

_"What?! I may be a Digimon but I'm as real as can be! Not only that, I happen to be one of the best Digimon!" Yokomon piped in vainly._

_"Oh REALLY? You're kinda tiny to be one of the best Digimon ever," Melody said sarcastically._

_"Hey! How dare you question me!" Yokomon piped in._

_"How dare YOU act like a selfish princess!" Melody retorted._

_They stared at each other for a while, then hmphed, crossed their arms, and looked away from each other. But after a bit, Melody suddenly started laughing._

_"Hey! What's so funny?!" Yokomon yelped, offended by Melody's laughter._

_"You're a funny Digimon, y'know that? I think I might just like you," Melody laughed as she tried to calm herself down._

_"Hmph! Why would I want to be friends with someone as sour as you?" Yokomon asked primly._

_Melody, ceasing her laughter, was quite offended. "Fine. Have it your way."_

_Melody and Yokomon thought they were too uptight to get along, but they both proved themselves wrong. By the time night fell, a red digivice appeared in Melody's hands, officially cementing her and Yokomon as partners. While Yokomon didn't take too kindly to being Melody's partner at first, she did acknowledge that the strange human girl does have good qualities about her. The same with Melody in regards to Yokomon. Quite a rocky start in their friendship indeed._

(end flashback)

But now that friendship has been destroyed, and Melody didn't think things could get worse. She didn't want anyone to find out the truth about what happened to her. Especially not the one person she wanted to keep it a secret from the most.

Even that person would end up finding out the truth.

Upon leaving the Digimon Brigade meeting, Yun noticed she, the rabbits, and Lucero were passing by a street she recognized: Shirayuki Street. She suddenly stopped in her tracks.

"What's wrong, Yun?" Lopmon asked.

"This is Mel-chan's street. I wonder if her house is still here," Yun said as she decided to walk down the street.

"Dost thou knoweth her address after so long?" Lucero asked.

"Yep! 117 Shirayuki Street! Mel-chan's house is dark green with a black roof, big front windows, and a beige porch. I've been to it hundreds of times when I was little, so I've practically memorized it!" Yun told him with a smile. But when she looked back to the street, however...she didn't see a green, Western-style house with a black roof, big front windows, and a beige porch.

Yun even knew the block it was on, and yet...the spot on the block has been taken by another house! Now it's grey, with a beige roof and some children's toys all over the front porch. Yun was literally frozen with shock. Her eyes grew big with revelation.

"THIS is Mel's house? It's not green at all!" Terriermon piped in.

"No. No! This isn't it! This isn't her house! But...it was here! I know it was here!" Yun exclaimed timorously, surprised that the grey house has taken up the block that Melody's green house is, or in this case, WAS on. How could this be? Yun hadn't quite come to Melody's house since her sudden leave of absence for a year, but she memorized every single part of Melody's house visually. A dark green, Western style house, big front windows, a beige porch, a black roof, lots of flowers in pots. She knew that Melody's mother liked gardening and loved planting flowers in every part of the house. But this grey house has totally replaced it, like Melody's green house was never there in the first place!

"This can't be happening! Why is this grey house here?!" Yun suddenly yelped. She turned around and suddenly saw a woman walking her dog. On impulse, Yun ran over to her.

"Excuse me!" Yun called out to the woman, stopping her in her tracks. "I'm sorry to bother you, but I want to ask...do you know how long that grey house has been there?" Yun asked. While the woman was quite surprised by Yun's sudden entrance, she felt obligated to answer.

"That grey house? It's been there for two years, honey," The woman asked.

"Two years? But there was a dark green house on that very block, and my friend lived there," Yun said, a little surprised by the new information she's receiving.

"A dark green house? Oh! That one! You don't know, do you? It got set on fire two years ago. The whole thing crumbled down to nothing, killing an entire family save for one child. Or was it two? I don't remember that part much. I was there when it happened. Saw the fire trucks and everything," The woman explained.

Set on fire? Two years ago? Killing an entire family save for one child, or possibly two? Yun couldn't believe what she was hearing. She wished what she was hearing wasn't true. She wished the woman was lying. She wished this was all a lie. If a fire happened in Tama-no-Minato, then it had to be on the news somehow. Yun bowed before the woman.

"Thanks!" Yun said as she ran away.

"Yun! Come back!" Lucero and the rabbits ran after her.

Something in Yun's heart stirred. She knew that she HAD to confirm this somehow. If Melody's old house was really set on fire, and if her parents really had been killed, then Melody had to have been thrown in foster care, which would explain why she suddenly disappeared in the 4th grade as Yun remembered. But Yun ardently wished this wasn't true. As soon as she arrived at her house, the first thing she did was go into Ayaka's bed room and see if she was using the computer. She wasn't. Yun normally never went into Ayaka's room, and she didn't like going in there even after Ayaka keeps yelling at her not to go in there. But Yun didn't bother to ask Ayaka if she could go in and use the computer. Yun knew that she had to look up this information NOW, so she took the risk, went on the computer, and went on the best news website she could find. Since the fire likely took place two years ago, in the year 2009, Yun decided to narrow down her search and see if any fires occurred in that year in Tama-no-Minato.

On the bottom of the first page, there was a link that read _"House Fire Kills Three, Arsonist Still At Large."_Yun clicked on it, and her eyes dilated.

There it was.

A picture of the blaze.

In the night time.

The dark green house, Melody's house, bursting into red, yellow, and orange flames. Smoke came out of one broken glass window. Fire trucks swarmed it, and one fireman blasted one flame with a big hose.

Yun read bits and pieces of the article.

_"On August 4th, 2009, witnesses say three men broke into a house, covered it with gasoline, and set it ablaze. Three people, two adults and one young teenager, 15, died from both extensive burns and smoke inhalation."_

_"It is not clear whether there was one survivor or two, as details are still coming in. Some witnesses say one while others say two. But the entire house turned to ash, even with the help of the firefighters and police forces."_

Yun was shocked. What that woman said is true after all! Yun scrolled down to find another picture of the house, the morning after the blaze. A good majority of the house disintegrated and fell to the ground in ashen shambles, basically looking like nothing but a pile of charred black rubble. It's no wonder Melody disappeared at the beginning of 4th grade! It's no wonder Yun wasn't able to reach Melody by phone or e-mail by that time either! This explains everything! Her house was burnt down, killing her parents and older brother! Yun wondered if Melody was sent to foster care. But more importantly...how in the world did she manage to come back to this town?

"Oh my gosh! Is that Melody's house?!" Lopmon's voice pulled Yun out of her thoughts as she saw her, Terriermon, Cutemon, and Lucero looking at the news article she's looking at.

"It is. It...burned down two years ago...how in the world did I NOT know about this?!" Yun muttered at first, then shouted upon the revelation that she never knew the answer behind Melody's sudden disappearance until NOW of all times. "How did I NOT know about this?! It was on the news, for God's sake! How in the world did I manage to go two whole years not knowing about what my best friend went through?! How could I be so STUPID?!" Yun screamed hysterically.

"Thou art not stupid, Yun! Thou shan't say such things! Perhaps it was on the news, but thou were not present at the time of its broadcast!" Lucero told her.

"Yeah! I don't pay attention to a lot of stuff either, so don't be so hard on yourself!" Terriermon told her.

"Could this be why Mel-chan freaked out when you mentioned her house, kyu?" Cutemon asked.

But two other questions popped up in Yun's mind, and two that proved to be the most disconserting of all.

Do Minako and Kosuke know about it?

Why has Melody never told her about this?

"Hey, Yun! You're not gonna believe this!" All of a sudden, Teruki burst into the room, causing Yun to yelp.

"Dad! You gave me a heart attack!" Yun yelled angrily. Teruki, seeing his error, rubbed his head with his hand and laughed ruefully.

"Sorry about that. But I want to show you something. Come downstairs!" Teruki told her as he left the room. Yun, Lucero, and the rabbits all looked at each other and decided to follow him. Yun had to close out the web page before she left though.

The quintet followed Teruki downstairs, all the way into the computer room at the end of the basement. Teruki pulled something up on the monitor, and as soon as Yun laid eyes on it, she found herself frazzled.

"Hey! That's me, Mel, Mina, and Kosuke from second grade!" Yun exclaimed.

On Teruki's monitor is a digital display of a photo, containing Yun, Melody, Minako, and Kosuke from when they were little. The very same picture that Biyomon unknowingly destroyed! Of course, Yun doesn't know that Melody's copy has been destroyed. The picture on the computer looked quite high quality despite the fact that the photo itself was taken on April 20th, 2007.

"I just found it as I was clearing out my hard drive. This sure does bring back memories, doesn't it?" Teruki asked.

"Is that you when you were little, Yun?" Terriermon asked. "Awww! You look so cute and happy!"

"How adorable!" Lopmon cooed sweetly.

"Kyuu!" Cutemon chirped happily.

"I still can't believe I lost my copy years ago!" Yun exclaimed.

"But now we can make new copies! Do you want me to print one out for you? I have some photo paper I've been dying to use," Teruki told her.

"Sure! Please! In fact, make four copies!" Yun exclaimed with a smile.

"Four?" Lucero asked. "Why four?"

"Y'know! One for me, Minako, Mel-chan, and Kosuke-kun!" Yun explained.

"Hey! Great idea!" Teruki said as he printed the picture out on four small pieces of photo paper. When all four came out, Yun immediately took a look at them. The pictures came out really good, looking very high quality, and exactly like on the computer!

"Beautiful!" Lucero said.

"I can't wait to tell them about this!" Yun said.

"I'm definitely keeping that picture in my hard drive, because it's much too important to get rid of. Want to see some other ones, too? I found a lot of them," Teruki asked.

"Sure!" Yun said as she, Lucero, Teruki, and the rabbit Digimon looked at pictures of Yun and others when they were young.

But Yun had something else in mind as she looked at the pictures. She was going to find out Melody's secret, no matter what.

Footnotes:

1. The term Yamato Nadeshiko typically means the personification of an idealized Japanese woman or, in its literal translation, _"the epitome of pure, feminine beauty."_Melody, however, uses this as an insult in order to inappropriately stereotype Rumiko.

2. Little Women is a book written by Louisa May Alcott in 1868/1869, then later in 1880 as a single volume. It has been adapted into four different anime series by different companies in the following times: 1977, 1980, 1981, and 1987. Yun and Melody are referring to the 1987 anime series, which, for some unfathomable reason I can never comprehend, is instead named Ai no Wakakusa Monogatari (Love Story of Young Grass). Seriously, WHY is it called that?!


	84. Finding Out The Secret

EPISODE 84: Finding Out The Secret

Kosuke sat on the floor in his brand new room, dutifully preparing for tomorrow's trip to the Digital World. Unlike his room at the dingy apartment he and Kanako lived in for over half a year due to Seiichi being careless, Kosuke's new room is completely posh and much better than his last one. His laptop is on a stunning desk made out of glass and dark wood. His floor is made entirely of wood, with a black computer chair in front of the desk sitting on a wooden floor covering to keep the wooden floor from getting scratched by the wheels. His bed is large, with bright orange covering and matching pillows, like his orange D-Heart of Freedom and the upper half of Patamon's body. He has a huge window that overlooks a beautiful, lush, and evergreen backyard. Kosuke's new dresser is painted black, full of brand new clothes that Mei and Jiro bought for him recently. Even Kosuke's backpack, which he's filling with stuff, is brand new. His old one was falling apart, so Jiro went out and bought him a brand new blue one, which Kosuke took very kindly to. Not only that, Kosuke has other things in his room as well, like a brand new red, yellow, and green skateboard, which is sitting on his bed, a little purple book that he can write more poems in (he filled up his other one, though he still keeps it), brand new game consoles like a Playstation Portable and the latest Nintendo 3DS, a little TV in his room, a DVD player, some anime DVDs, a Wii, a Wiimote, an XBox, and XBox games. Kosuke couldn't be happier with his brand new room. Even Patamon couldn't help but be impressed.

"Your room sure is a lot bigger than the dingy one we lived in, isn't it?" Patamon asked with a smile on his face.

"You bet it is! I'm so glad I have a big bedroom again, along with my own stuff that nobody can mess with," Kosuke replied, beaming quite brightly.

That's when Patamon noticed it. Ever since Kosuke went to live with Mei and Jiro, he's certainly become much happier and cheerier, more willing to go out, make friends, have fun, and live life to the fullest. He didn't think it was because of Kanako leaving. No, it definitely isn't because of her. It was because Kosuke can finally be a kid and enjoy himself instead of be an adult and take care of her. Kosuke is now free of every single adult responsibility in the world. The burden had been taken off of him thanks to not just Mei and Jiro, but Kanako, Patamon, and the Digimon Brigade as well. Patamon knew this and smiled. _'It makes me so happy to see you smile, Kosuke. You don't know how blessed I am to be your partner,'_ Patamon thought sweetly. He then turned to Kosuke's desk and noticed something else on it that he didn't expect to be there.

It was one of Kanako's many My Little Pony toys. More specifically, Firefly, the hot pink, blue haired pegasus with lightning bolts on her flank. Kanako gave it to Kosuke as a goodbye present, even though he himself inherited the rest of her My Little Pony products and stashed them away in his closet for safekeeping. That pink pegasus is the only toy that Kosuke ever left out in the open. Patamon did find it a little strange, since Kosuke is pretty much like every other boy who's not too fond of anything girly, but since Kosuke knew it was a goodbye present from Kanako, he kept it out. Patamon knew this and didn't protest, not that he ever planned on protesting in the first place.

"So what are you going to pack for the trip, Kosuke?" Patamon asked.

"Well, since we'll be in the desert, I'm going to bring lots of bottles of water and put them in a cooler. I don't have them out yet, but I will when we leave. Anyway, I'm bringing those, a flashlight in case we go into any caves, extra batteries for in case they die out, a hat and a visor to keep me from sweating, a compass, and definitely my D-Chips, because we might need Pegasusmon and Pteramon in case we need to fly," Kosuke explained as he carefully packed his compass into part of his new backpack.

"I wonder how Link-san managed to escape from MoonMillenniummon. It doesn't seem like an easy task, that's for sure," Patamon wondered out loud.

"I'll bet. But since he's a grown up, he probably figured stuff out on his other trips in the Digital World, so he has much more experience than we do," Kosuke said. All of a sudden, a beeping sound stopped them from talking more.

"That's your digivice!" Patamon exclaimed.

Kosuke got out his digivice and opened it calmly. To his surprise, it's a text from Yun!

**To: Kosuke**

**From: Yun**

**Subject: Meet right now?"**

**Kosuke-kun? Are you doing anything right now? I was wondering if we could meet in private at the park today. I kind of want to ask you something in person.**

"What does she want?" Patamon asked.

"Beats me. Should we meet?" Kosuke replied, then asked for Patamon's opinion on the matter.

"I think you should. Maybe it's something important. Besides, you're not doing anything else, now are you?" Patamon said.

Kosuke smiled impishly. "Good point."

Kosuke then replied to Yun's text.

**To: Yun**

**From: Kosuke**

**Subject: Re: Meet right now?**

**Sure. I'm not doing anything right now so let's meet up! I'll be there in a few minutes. Stay put!**

Kosuke pressed send, and the text sent itself to Yun. Kosuke got his digivice and stood up.

"You're not bringing the backpack with you?" Patamon asked.

"Nah. It's not like she's planning to take us there right now. You coming?" Kosuke told him, then noticed that Patamon wasn't following him out the door.

"Should I come?" Patamon asked.

"I don't think she'll mind if you do. Come on, little buddy!" Kosuke said as he motioned for Patamon to follow him. Patamon smiled and flew after him as they went out of the big house and headed for the park.

It didn't take long for Kosuke and Patamon to get to the park, even though they were a little further away from it than usual, but Kosuke didn't mind. As soon as he got there, he noticed that he didn't see anyone at the gazebo. But after about a few minutes, he saw Yun running up to them alone, strangely enough. Lucero, Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon aren't with her, which to Kosuke, was strange because ever since Yun met them, she almost NEVER went out without them...or without anyone at all for that matter.

"Hi Kosuke-kun!" Yun said as she arrived.

"Hi Yun-chan! What's up?" Patamon told her sweetly.

"What's up with that text you sent me? Do you need to ask me something important?" Kosuke asked her. Once Yun caught her breath, she stood up straight and looked at him with a straight look.

"I was on the computer a few minutes ago and found out something pretty disturbing. Mel-chan's old house burnt down two years ago. I was wondering...did you know about this?" Yun explained.

As soon as Yun began her second sentence, Kosuke froze. As far as he knew, Yun was the only one out of the quartet that didn't know about Melody's past. He remembered his sudden change of character that resulted in Melody pummeling the life out of him and screaming about her past while doing so. He remembered Melody telling him, Minako, and their partner Digimon about her past, and confessing that Yun doesn't know. But most importantly: she didn't WANT Yun to know. Kosuke always wondered why she didn't want Yun of all people to know about her past. Kosuke wanted to tell Yun about it, even thought about doing so a few times, but if Melody found out he told, the repercussions wouldn't be pretty. But what is she trying to protect her childhood friend from? But now...Yun is actually asking Kosuke about Melody's past! Kosuke remembered telling Melody in anger that Yun was going to find out anyway, but he only said it in the spur of the moment. Kosuke balled his fists. He's conflicted over what to do. He doesn't want to lie to Yun, one of his friends, but at the same time, he doesn't want to break his word to Melody and make her mad. But knowing Yun, once she wanted to learn about something, she won't stop until she finds out everything she can about it. Kosuke decided there was no point in trying to hide it from Yun.

"...Yes. Mel told me about two months ago."

Admittedly, Yun was shocked, but she didn't want to make Kosuke think she was angry at him, so she tried her best to hide it and remain as calm as possible.

"Does Mina-chan know about it, too?" Yun asked.

"Yeah," Kosuke said.

"When was this?"

"The day after you and I had our fight when LadyDevimon first attacked us. Mel texted me and Minako to come to the park, but she called us out so she could beat the life out of me for saying those awful things to you. She kind of spilled the beans in the spur of the moment."

"How come she hasn't told me about it?"

"I don't know why, but she said she doesn't want you to know about what happened to her. I kind of don't get it myself, and she was pretty clear when she said she doesn't want me or Mina telling you about it, which I think is kind of stupid, since you two are insanely close."

"It's true. That fight back then was pretty awful," Patamon piped in. "You remember that time Biyomon, Salamon, and I came to your house, right? It was right after their fight."

"Yeah. I remember," Yun said.

"Don't get the wrong idea. I don't want to hide it from you, and neither does Mina. We feel you have just as much a right to know about her past as we do, considering you're her best friend, but Mel's pretty dead set on keeping you in the dark about it for some reason."

"Could that be why she freaked out when I mentioned we have a Digimon Brigade meeting at her house?"

"Probably so."

Yun couldn't believe what she was hearing. In a way, she didn't want to believe what she was hearing was true, that not only does Melody want to keep her past a secret from her for some unfathomable reason, but that she's making Kosuke and Minako keep her in the dark about it also simply for knowing about it. But Yun knew in her heart that they weren't hiding it from her out of spite or malice. No, Yun knew they were better than this. It's true that she often wondered what happened to Melody when she suddenly disappeared from the neighborhood one day, and whenever she brought it up, Melody kept being tight-lipped about it. After a while, Yun gave up on getting information out of her.

Kosuke's face softened a bit, and he looked a little anxious. "You're not mad, are you? Please understand. We weren't trying to hurt you, I swear. I don't know why Mel doesn't want us telling you about it."

"It's alright. I'm not mad," Yun said with a smile, even though she knew it looked a little sad. "I'm sure she has her reasons. I was just wondering if...you happen to have her new home address."

"She didn't tell me that. She didn't tell anyone that," Kosuke said.

Yun's head drooped downward. "Oh."

"But I do have it."

"Huh?!"

Since Yun looked down at the grass, she failed to notice Kosuke digging through his pockets and pulling out a small piece of paper and handing it to her, and as soon as she raised her head, she saw the paper in Kosuke's hands. It looked pretty wrinkled, but Yun took the paper and opened it. The writing is eligible, albeit a little smeared. The pencil writing on it read _"220 Miyanoshita Drive."_

"Mei-Obasan and I were running errands early this month, and I happened to see Mel walk into another house. I made sure to write down the address," Kosuke said as he gave Yun the paper. "You planning on going to the house? You won't miss it. It's big and bright blue."

Yun held the paper in her hands like it was a treasure. "Thanks, Kosuke-kun."

Then, Kosuke himself put on a stern look and pointed at Yun. "But you didn't hear this from me!"

Yun cocked her head in confusion. "Yeah I did. You just told me her address."

Kosuke facepalmed, then took his hand off of his face. "When someone says, _"you didn't hear this from me,"_ it means don't tell anyone I told you about this. Especially don't tell Mel about this, or she'll tie me down Clockwork Orange style and beat the living heck out of me."

Yun held the paper to her chest lovingly. "I won't, I promise...though I do kind of plan on telling her that I've been looking into her past later on. Do you mind?"

Kosuke shook his head. "No, I don't mind, but I think she will, though."

"I do have to wonder why Mel-chan doesn't want her best friend to know about what happened to her? I mean, it's not like she wanted the stuff she had to go through, now did she?" Patamon asked. "Why does she want to hide it?"

"Beats me," Kosuke said.

"Thanks for your help. Sorry to make you do this," Yun told him.

"It's alright. I've actually been wanting to do it for a while. I just never found a good time to do it," Kosuke said.

Yun was about to run and leave, but when she ran about four feet away, Kosuke called out to her. "Wait!"

"Hm?" Yun turned around, but didn't move from where she was.

"Do you mind if I ask you something myself?" Kosuke asked.

"Sure. Go ahead," Yun told him.

"I've been thinking...if you know someone for a long time, then something happens and they reveal a side to them that you've never seen before, what would you do?" Kosuke asked.

Yun tried to comprehend this question by ruminating about it. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to fully understand it, but she didn't want Kosuke to think she was trying to avoid it, and she had to answer in some way.

"What do you mean?" Yun asked.

"How do I put this?" Kosuke put his hand on his chin and pondered about it.

"Oh! I know!" Patamon piped in as he raised one of his hands. "Let's say this for example: Minako-chan is normally rather kind and loving, right? But after something happens, she becomes sad, reclusive, and doesn't want to spend time with anyone, even to the point of getting angry and calling you names for no reason. How would you feel?"

"Ohhhh! I get it now! Let me think," Yun said as she finally understood what Kosuke was trying to ask her. She thought about Melody from a few years ago, before she disappeared. From what Yun could remember, Melody never was one who followed the norm. She always wore her black hair in a boyish style, growing it out in the 3rd grade. Even back then, like Yun, Melody wasn't too fond of wearing dresses or skirts, preferring to wear shorts. She also wasn't girly like other girls, preferring to play sports, learn karate and tae kwon do, play video games, watch anime, read manga, play music, and be tough. But she was never moody or volatile towards anyone, only to those she hated (like Nenji or Seiko). Not only that, Mel was much more talkative and more pleasant back then, even smiling a heck of a lot more back then than she does now. Basically, when Melody was young, while she was tomboyish and a little on the wild side, she was nice, kind, and sensitive to not just Yun, but to other kids when she wanted to be, and she was a lot more forgiving. She wasn't as fierce and sour-looking as she is now, and she didn't wear black attire every single day.

Then she thought about the present day Melody. Yun clearly remembered the day Melody suddenly returned to Tama-no-Minato somewhere in the 5th grade. At first, upon laying eyes on her, she thought she was a completely different person. Her bangs and the sides of her hair that went over her ears were dyed bright red, her brown eyes had a much more feral look to them, she underwent quite a growth spurt (as of now, Melody is the undisputed tallest member of the quartet of childhood friends despite her gender), she wore all black clothes, she became a lot spindlier in stature, and she looked like the type of girl you'd find hanging out on the street with gangsters, a bully, even. Her personality changed as well, as she became much more moody, more prone to fits of anger and violence, and much easier to provoke. This made Yun even more apprehensive about approaching her. But on recess that day, when Yun was about to be assaulted by Nenji, Melody bravely stepped in and saved her despite getting into a fight and having been sent to the principal's office as a result. Afterward, Melody approached Yun herself, and Yun warmly welcomed her back while throwing away her false assumptions about her (which she kept quiet about). Not only that, Yun saw that Melody still kept the silver bracelet she got her once for Christmas. This convinced Yun that Melody still remembers her and is still the first girl she ever befriended. After much pondering, Yun turned around and looked at Kosuke.

In the eyes, no less.

"I have to say that depends on WHY they have those sides to them. First, I'll think about why they changed. If they're like that because they went through something horrible, then it's understandable really. If they're stronger or braver because of it, while still being the person that I love and cherish, then I'll accept them, maybe love them even more for it. But if they're like that because they're doing something bad, like hurting people out of malice or doing drugs, then I wouldn't be happy about it at all."

Kosuke smiled.

"I figured as much," Kosuke said.

"Oh!" Yun exclaimed as she rummaged through her pocket. "I almost forgot!"

She pulled out one of the copies of the newly restored picture, ran up to Kosuke, and handed it to him fervently. "This is for you!"

Kosuke and Patamon both looked at the picture and was surprised.

"Whoa! This looks brand new!" Kosuke exclaimed.

"Is that you when you were little? Awwww! You're so cute!" Patamon cooed.

"My dad found the original photo on his computer earlier, so he made copies for us. I'm gonna give one to Minako and Mel-chan as well," Yun said as she darted off and waved at him. "Bye!"

With that, Yun darted back home in a flash, though it must be confessed that she was out of breath when she got there. After eating some lunch with Lucero and the rabbits, she decided to use Teruki's computer to look up directions to Melody's foster home. Funnily enough, Miyanoshita Drive is very close! Once Yun regained her strength, she went back out again. This time, Lucero and the rabbits all accompanied her. Yun made sure to print out the directions before she and the others went out. Also weirdly enough, it wasn't hard for Yun, Lucero, and the rabbits to get there by foot.

"You say the house is big and bright blue?" Lopmon asked.

"That's what Kosuke-kun said," Yun replied while continuing to look at the directions she pointed out.

"We're not there yet, are we?" Terriermon asked.

"Not yet. This says we have to make a right on Sohno before we get there," Yun said.

"I must wonder...why dost Melody keepeth thee in the dark about her past?" Lucero asked.

"Kosuke-kun and Mina-chan are wondering the same thing. Oh! Here's Sohno! Turn!" Yun said as she saw the street sign and turned right. Lucero and the rabbits followed her.

After a few seconds, they made it to Miyanoshita street! Like Kosuke said, the house is big and bright blue. As soon as Yun turned onto the street, she pointed out the big, bright blue house immediately. She gestured Lucero and the rabbits to stay where they are so they wouldn't get spotted by anyone suspicious. Yun ran to the door of the bright blue house and was surprised by how pretty it is. But she reminded herself that she isn't here to admire it's beauty, but to confirm if this is where Melody is currently living. Yun saw the doorbell and gently pressed on it once. Yun wondered what kind of people Melody is living with right now. Are they nice? Are they cruel? Are they a little weird? Yun couldn't help but wonder, but she was pulled out of her reverie when a mousy woman with beautifully curling hair answered the door.

"Hello there. Can I help you?" The woman asked.

"Uh...uh...uh...I..." Yun, being the shy person she is, stumbled with her words at first, but regained her equanimity enough to answer her. "Um, hello. I'm sorry to disturb you. I was wondering...do you have a girl named Shimotsuki Melody in your care?"

The woman cocked her head to one side, looking confused.

"Umm...she's about this tall," Yun flatted her hand and demonstrated how tall Mel would be. "She has black hair with her bangs and front sides dyed red, brown eyes, pale skin, flat chest, always wearing black clothes and looking like a sourpuss goth?"

The woman beamed. "Oh! You must be one of Melody's friends from school! It's so wonderful to meet you! Wait right here, I'll get her for you."

Rumiko left Yun on the front yard, darted into the kitchen, through a door, down the stairs, and into the basement, where she found Melody dressed in black and white karate clothes, doing nothing but angrily punching, kicking, and literally beating the living life out of a worn out punching bag that's hanging from the ceiling. There's some stuffing coming out of the bag, but Melody didn't care one bit about that. She continued to punch it and kick it and beat the stuffing out of it.

"Melody! One of your friends is here!" Rumiko said.

"I'm busy!" Melody called back as she kicked the punching bag like she was Jackie Chan in an action movie.

"But Mel-"

"Go away!" Melody yelled as she punched the bag again, causing Rumiko to go back upstairs. She went back to Yun with a sad face.

"Sorry about that. Melody seems to be angry about something and won't come up. Why don't you come in? I'll make some tea for you," Rumiko gestured Yun to come in, but she didn't.

"No thanks! I'm fine! I just wanted to see where she lived, that's all. Thanks for the invite anyway! Bye!" Shyly, Yun ran away from the house in a hurry, but Rumiko smiled sweetly as she watched her run.

_'I find it hard to believe she's one of Mel's friends. She looks like such a sweet girl. She's really cute, for one thing!'_ Rumiko thought.

After meeting back up with Lucero and the rabbits, she walked back home with them.

"Did you see Mel-chan, kyu?" Cutemon asked curiously.

"No. That woman said she wouldn't come up," Yun replied.

"Then how do you know for sure she's living there, kyu?" Cutemon asked again.

"She mentioned Mel-chan by name and understood the description I gave her. Plus, there aren't very many Japanese kids named Melody these days, are there? It's a pretty uncommon name in this country, and most people don't know the name can even apply to Japanese people," Yun explained.

Yun walked home, feeling satisfied with the fact that she completed her search. She spent the rest of the day preparing for tomorrow's trip to the Digital World.

Sunday finally arrived right on time. Melody was the first to leave the house at around 7:30 AM. The kids decided to meet early in the morning so they don't draw attention to themselves. But when Melody woke up that morning, she noticed that her blue stuffed rabbit is back on her bed and that the window is open. She clung to the stuffed rabbit tightly, happy to have it back, but her anger in regards to Biyomon destroying her picture still simmered in the depths of her unforgiving heart, and she put the rabbit back on her bed. She got her beige backpack and was about to leave the house...but she found something very startling on one of the desks in the living room.

It was a small, framed picture of Daikichi standing happily next to a man with short black hair. Both of them looked quite cheerful and exuberant.

Melody yanked the picture off the desk, shocked.

She recognized the black haired man in the picture.

"WHAT?! No way! Is that my dad?!" Melody yelped loudly at first, thinking her brain must be playing tricks on her at first. "Oh my God! It IS my dad! How the heck does Daikichi know my dad well enough to have a picture of him?!"

"Melody!" Rumiko's voice echoed from the other room, and Melody knew she had to bolt quickly, so she did. What she didn't know was that Biyomon followed her.

Melody and Biyomon both made it to the park first. Soon, everyone else arrived at around 8:00 AM. Yun, Minako, and Rena noticed that Otoya is sitting in the gazebo by herself, crying. Feeling bad for her, they decided to approach her.

"What's wrong? You okay?" Rena asked politely.

"My church...it's gone forever..." Otoya whimpered sadly. They knew what she meant. DinoBeemon destroyed the church where Otoya's father works at, with casualties included. "My dad's been trying to find a new job, but he came up empty, and my mom and sister are trying to work more hours to make ends meet. I just...don't know what to do!"

Yun put a hand on Otoya's shoulder. "Everything will work out. I'm sure of it. Your family's strong. If you want, you don't have to come to the Digital World with us. You can stay home and help your family."

Otoya then wiped her eyes. "No. It's fine. I want to come with you."

"You don't have to force yourself to come with us," Minako told her gently.

"It's fine. I want to come and help you all. I know my church has been destroyed, but if this MoonMillenniummon guy is out, then the church will be the least of our worries," Otoya said, wiping away her tears and wearing a forced courageous look.

Yun was about to say something to her to reassure her, but she felt a light touch on her shoulder. She turned around to find Hokuto, with Kudamon contentedly wrapped around his neck, right behind her.

"What's up, Hokuto-kun?" Yun asked.

Silently, Hokuto pointed to Melody and Biyomon. Yun looked in the direction where he pointed and noticed that Melody looks a lot more sour than she normally does, and that Biyomon is looking quite dejected, with her wings crossed and everything.

"They don't look happy," Hokuto muttered shyly.

"Did they get into a fight?" Yun asked out loud.

"I don't know, but I sense that the tension between them is quite immense and erratic," Kudamon whispered.

Yun was about to say something, but the sound of Shunji's hands clapping loudly caught everyone's attention.

"Is everyone here? Alright, then!" Shunji edicted. "Now that we're all gathered, one of your Digimon has to digivolve into champion level and take us all to Tsurumi High School so we can go to the Digital World and save Link-san."

Bearmon raised his hand. "How about Biyomon?"

Biyomon clucked like a chicken. "WHAT?! Why me?!"

"Because you're much lighter than Coredramon, you can take on all of us at the same time, and you can fly fast, too!" Bearmon said.

"Good point. I say let's have Biyomon take us there!" Isao exclaimed.

"Yeah! She can take us there no problem!" Coronamon piped in.

"But shouldn't we decide after we present other options?" Minako asked. "I mean, Biyomon's not the only Digimon whose champion level can carry all of us by air."

"I could summon Pteramon. He's pretty big and can fly really fast," Kosuke said.

"But he makes a lot of noise, doesn't he? He'll draw too much attention to himself," Patamon said.

"Oh. Good point," Kosuke said.

"So all in favor of Biyomon taking us the Tsurumi High School, say I," Shunji said as he raised his hand.

Quite a few people raised their hands. Only Yun, Hokuto, Minako, and Rena didn't raise their hands, and quite a lot of the Digimon didn't agree either...and Biyomon was definitely the most unwilling to agree to this.

"No! No! Absolutely not! I don't want to do this!" Biyomon whined.

"Come on! You won't draw as much attention as the rest of the flying Digimon can!" Shunji said.

"Yeah, right! We all draw too much attention to ourselves! Stop trying to make me into your transportation!" Biyomon yelped.

"She's right. She's worthless in this situation," Melody suddenly piped in rather bluntly.

"Mel!" Salamon suddenly exclaimed out of nowhere, looking quite appalled by Melody's statement just now. "You should never call your partner worthless! That was very uncalled for!"

"But it's true!" Melody said.

"Alright alright! That's enough!" Shunji exclaimed, mollifying the conflict. Salamon and Lunamon looked at each other with very confused faces, wondering if something happened between Melody and Biyomon.

Yun couldn't help but ruminate about this as well. 'Mel-chan never says bad things about Biyomon! Hokuto-kun and Kudamon are right. Something obviously happened between them...but what?' Yun thought. But Biyomon sighed.

"Alright. I'll do it," Biyomon said.

She spread her wings out and looked into the sky. "Biyomon, digivolve!"

She expected to digivolve into Birdramon at this point. But...oddly enough, she didn't digivolve.

"Biyomon, digivolve!" She tried it again. And again. And again. But nothing worked. She didn't digivolve into Birdramon no matter what.

"What?! Why can't I digivolve?!" Biyomon cried.

"You're worthless, that's why!" Melody suddenly piped in.

Yun stood up in alarm. "Mel! Stop calling your partner useless! What's wrong with you?!" Yun screamed, appalled that her best friend would say something so cruel to her assigned partner.

"That flightless retarded chicken is no partner of mine!" Melody snapped back, even though she usually never snapped at Yun before, something even Yun noticed, but she didn't let the surprise overtake her.

But even Shunji became perturbed. "You know what? Forget it. Dracomon, digivolve into Coredramon, if you'd be so kind."

"With pleasure!" Dracomon said as he did a sailor's salute before digivolving into Coredramon and letting everyone hop on his back. Based on her trip with Rapidmon, Yun decided to show Coredramon the way to Tsurumi High School, and they managed to make it without a hitch.

Once Coredramon landed on the soccer field, he immediately de-digivolved back into Dracomon. Everyone stood together as the kids opened their digivices, all pressed the door button at the same time, and allowed themselves to be swallowed into a giant digital portal. They all made sure to hang on to each other lest they get separated again. This time, Hokuto didn't squirm away like he did before, which is good. After about a while, they found themselves in a vast desert. Full of absolutely nothing but sand and big rocks.

"Wow. Ain't this a treat!" Riku said with a spec of irritation in his voice.

"I know, right?" Coronamon said.

Minako decided to pull up the attachment Link sent after his first text message. The blinking red dot remained, but something else was added to it. A blinking white dot appeared about an inch or two from the red dot, and Minako knew that that wasn't there before. Salamon, who sat on Minako's shoulder, noticed and peered down at it.

"What's that white dot?" Salamon asked.

"Maybe it's us," Minako suggested.

"That could very well be," Labramon said.

Lucero was about to say something until he saw Hokuto looking up at the digital sky, looking like he's smelling something. Lucero could hear the sound of Hokuto sniffing.

"What art thou doing?" Lucero asked as he approached him.

"Link-san..."

"Eh?"

"I smell him. Link-san," Hokuto whispered solemnly.

"Huh? Thou smelleth Link-san?" Lucero asked out loud, which wound up getting the attention of the other kids.

"You? _Smell_ Link-san? No way! Human noses can't pick up people's scents! Only dogs can!" Kosuke exclaimed, not convinced with what Hokuto just said.

Salamon and Labramon both looked at each other and nodded as they began sniffing the air as well.

"Whoa! He's right! I DO smell Link-san! Wan!" Salamon piped in.

"Yes. It's faint, but his scent is here," Labramon said.

"So...does this mean Hokuto-kun has a very sensitive sense of smell?" Yun asked.

"Probably, considering what he's been through," Riku said.

"Let's follow the smell!" Aria suggested.

Hokuto, Salamon, and Labramon led the way as the rest of the Digimon Brigade followed. Minako kept the attachment up and looked at it as they followed Hokuto and the two canine Digimon. Unfortunately, getting to the source of Link's scent seemed to take forever. But Minako saw on the attachment that the white dot, which she confirmed is, in fact, the Digimon Brigade, has gotten closer to the white dot.

"We're getting close!" Minako said.

"Can we get any closer? This is going on forever!" Riku complained.

MarineAngemon saw something in the distance and pointed it out. "Look! It's a cave!"

She's right. A rocky-looking cave protruded from the sand, looking like it went underground. The hole is very wide, big enough to fit every single one of the kids and maybe some huge Digimon. But as they peered inside, they could see that it looked pitch black in there.

"It looks dark in there," Aria whimpered a little timorously while clinging to Yun.

Hokuto peered into the cave. "It's stronger here than back there, so he's definitely down there."

"He's right. I can smell it," Salamon said.

Kosuke rummaged through his bags and pulled out some flashlights. "It's a good thing I brought these!" Kosuke pulled out five flashlights and gave them to Yun, Otoya, Shunji, Minako, and Melody. Yun pulled her diamond-shaped D-Chip out.

"I'm going to call for Prairiemon and have her help us out, if you don't mind," Yun said as she put her D-Chip in her digivice anyway. Nobody had any objections. Yun closed her eyes and held her digivice close to her chest.

"Dearest comrade of mine, we are in need of thy assistance. Appear before us and give us thy strength. Prairiemon!" Yun chanted solemnly, then raised her digivice into the air, causing a yellow light to fly into the sky, then back. The kids and Digimon backed away as Prairiemon appeared before them, causing the yellow light to dissipate. Prairiemon opened her eyes and found herself in the desert, looking very confused.

"Oh? Now what brought me here, I wonder?" Prairiemon asked herself before suddenly laying eyes on Yun.

"Oh my! Yun-chan? Is that you?" Prairiemon asked with a smile.

"Prairiemon!" Yun leaped onto her Digimon friend and hugged her, relishing in her soft fur as Prairiemon gently hugged her back while being careful about her metallic claws.

"My, how lovely it is to see you again!" Prairiemon said as she let go of Yun and Yun let go of her.

"I hope I didn't interrupt anything when I called you just now," Yun said.

"Oh, nonsense! On the contrary you actually saved me. I was forced to sit through one of those boring meetings about the production of books, which is not my strong suit, and I was hoping that something would happen to drag me out of there, and you're it!" Prairiemon exclaimed with a smile, then looked around. "Oh? Are these chaps your friends?"

"Yes. We're the Digimon Brigade!" Yun said with a smile. "But more on that later. See, a friend of ours was kidnapped by a Digimon named SkullSatamon, and we found out he's in this cave here. We were wondering if maybe you could help us out, if that's alright. If not, sorry we asked."

"It's quite alright, dearie. I don't mind helping you and your friends out. Besides, even I like a little excitement once in a while. Besides, I've gone through enough caves to be able to tell where they lead to," Prairiemon said.

As a precaution, Kosuke walked into the cave a little bit, turned on the flashlight, and waved it around. He then turned it off and walked back out. "I don't think the flashlights are bright enough to help us see further ahead."

"Oh! Oh! I can help with that!" Coronamon piped in happily as he hopped into the cave.

"Shining Sunbeam!" Coronamon encased himself with a yellow light, causing him to glow as bright as a light bulb that lit up the entire room, and his light helped in making the cave brighter.

"May I help? I happen to have a move just like that," Lunamon said as she stood by Coronamon's side with a sweet smile.

"Mystic Moonbeam!" Lunamon encased herself in a silvery blue light with the same degree of brightness as Coronamon's attack. As she saw herself glowing, she turned to the other kids. "If you don't mind, we'll lead the way so we can light everything up for you."

"Good idea," Rena said.

With that, with Coronamon and Lunamon leading the way, the Digimon Brigade set off into the cave. As they predicted, the cave is VERY dark and, despite being very big and wide, hard to navigate. Some of the small Digimon tripped quite a few times, but they got back up and continued on. But the more they went into the cave, the more they realized that it seems to go on forever.

Otoya ended up tripping and running into Riku, who in turn bumped into Aria who let out a shrill scream at the sudden contact. Yun turned around and comforted the girl, eventually gently prying her off of her. But as soon as she turned to continue walking, she walked straight into a wall and fell back, onto Hokuto who barely managed to keep his balance yet still stepped on Labramon's tail. Labramon yelped loudly upon feeling Hokuto's foot on his tail, even though he knew it was an accident, which made Yun cover her ears in fright.

Things like this happened several times, with someone tripping into someone else, or someone screaming or falling or any number of things. And yet they never seemed to be getting anywere but father from the exit.

This wound up giving Melody time to think and be lost in her thoughts. The anger in her heart continued to persist and consume her very being despite being silent about it (as of now, that is). She found herself regretting the fact that she snapped at Yun earlier. Yun, of all people! Melody remembered that in all her life, she NEVER snapped at Yun, who is usually so nice. But Yun was right about one thing: it was very uncalled for of her to insult Biyomon like that. But what did she know? Her precious item wasn't destroyed by a careless bird who sneezed fire. Melody knew that she and Yun come from very different worlds, yet she kept wondering...why are they still managing to maintain their friendship? They have very different interests, dreams, goals, personalities, ideals, lifestyles, and views on life, yet after all this time, they've always gotten along well. Melody didn't understand why she found herself sticking to Yun like glue. Yun, who is always so sweet, so gentle, so innocent, and so genuine, even when the whole world hates her guts for no reason. Melody wondered if she even deserved all of this.

"UGHH! This is going on forever!" Riku complained.

"Stop complaining, will you?!" Terriermon exclaimed.

"There's no need to be rude, Terriermon. We're all feeling rather weary," Lopmon told him.

"We have to keep walking! Link-san's waiting for us, and we can't keep him waiting!" Yun told them.

Biyomon sighed. Normally, she would always complain about how long a journey would be or how her feathers would be messed up or how her talons would hurt from too much walking. But oddly enough, she didn't say a word. Not one. Not since she found that she suddenly couldn't digivolve. Aria happened to walk right next to her and notice that she's sad.

"What's wrong, Biyomon? You look sad," Aria asked innocently.

"I am sad," Biyomon replied.

"Why?"

"I'm...a bad Digimon."

"No you're not," Aria said while shaking her head solemnly. "You're a nice Digimon."

Aria and Biyomon both failed to notice that Melody is right behind them, and as soon as Aria told Biyomon that she's a nice Digimon, Melody stopped, and no one noticed. No one stopped to turn around. Melody balled her fists tightly for a bit, then grabbed her digivice. It's here that Isao and Bearmon noticed her opening her digivice.

"Mel-Oneechan?" Isao asked.

Then Melody did something nobody expected her to do.

She pressed the door button.

A digital portal appeared underneath her and swallowed her whole.

"Mel-chan!" Isao yelled as he tried to stop her, but the digital portal disappeared as soon as he hit the ground.

"Whoa! Did you see that?!" Bearmon yelped, which made everyone turn around in alarm.

"What's up?! What happened?!" Yun asked with worry.

"I saw it! Mel-Oneechan went back to the human world! I saw her do it!" Isao told them.

"SHE DID _WHAT_?!" The entire Digimon Brigade exclaimed with horror. They looked around, but found no sign of Melody. What Isao said is true!

Melody is gone!

Note: Credit goes to RandomReviewer257 for helping me with the cave scene! Thanks again!


	85. Learning The Truth

EPISODE 85: Learning The Truth

"I can't believe this! Mel-chan is really gone!" Yun shrieked upon looking all over the part of the cave they're in, finally comprehending the fact that Melody really did disappear...and to think they were foolish enough to not notice! "Why did Mel-chan go back to the human world?! She could be anywhere in there! America, France, Greece, Pakistan, Syria, Egypt, Iraq-"

"Whoa! Easy there, Yun! Don't get any ideas about Melody winding up in war-torn Middle Eastern countries," Minako immediately put both hands on a very worried Yun's shoulders, hoping this would stop her from panicking and jumping to conclusions so quickly. It worked, but the anxiety still showed on Yun's face.

"She's right. But why did she go back and leave us here?" Lopmon asked.

"Beats me," Terriermon said.

"That wasn't very nice of her, kyu," Cutemon said.

"Should we go back and get her?" Yun asked. "We should! I know we should! We need all members of the Digimon Brigade here!" Everyone could tell that her anxiety level is rising, and they sure didn't want to deal with another anxiety attack.

"I don't think that's a good idea. We're so close to finding Link-san. Besides, time is different here than in the human world. I'm sure Mel will be fine," Shunji told her.

"YOU don't know that!" Yun snapped angrily.

"Yun-chan! Calm down, kyu! He's just trying to help, kyu!" Cutemon tried to mollify her, but Yun became quite choleric upon hearing Shunji suggest that Melody is fine.

"Sorry about that. False reassurance doesn't work on her, Shunji-san. Believe me, I know this from personal experience," Terriermon told him. As he said that, he remembered the horrible memory of Lopmon's kidnapping and watching Yun scream for her and run all over the place in tears, desperately looking for her. Terriermon hoped to never see such a heartbreaking sight ever again, nor did he want to give Yun any unsure or false reassurance after that. That experience alone convinced him that not just Yun, but probably all autistic people prefer stone hard facts over vague and false reassurance.

But as everyone was in a hot tizzy, wondering why the heck Melody suddenly disappeared and went back to the human world in the middle of a mission, they failed to notice Biyomon going into a state of catatonia. Her sky blue eyes widened despite the dim light, her beak fell open, and she partially covered it with her wings. Melody left them to go back to the human world! Biyomon was just shocked beyond her wildest dreams. Her partner abandoned them! But in the depths of her heart and mind, Biyomon began thinking she knew why. Melody is still very angry at her for accidentally destroying the picture, though it must be confessed that Melody is still convinced that Biyomon did it on purpose, along with losing her stuffed animal, and it sure didn't look like she was going to get over it anytime soon. She never gets over people slandering her or losing her things. For Melody, _"I'll never forgive you!"_ wasn't just a catchphrase, it was her code. Her way of survival. Now Biyomon understood why she couldn't digivolve. Melody is angry at her. Melody called her retarded, useless, worthless, brainless, careless, and pretty much every other bad name in the dictionary. Could Melody have been so ticked off about being in Biyomon's presence again that she decided to leave and stay away from her? It's then that Biyomon became convinced.

Melody left...and it was _her_ fault.

"Why did Mel-Oneechan leave?" Aria asked MarineAngemon.

"Who the heck knows?! I can't believe she would do that! What's _wrong_ with her?!" MarineAngemon exclaimed angrily. Yes, even sweet MarineAngemon was angry, just like Yun was earlier.

"Okay, this is just getting weird," Riku said.

"This is very unlike her," Kudamon said.

"Melody and Biyomon...aren't getting along," Hokuto suddenly whispered out of nowhere, though it was loud enough for Kudamon to hear.

"Huh? What do you mean, Hokuto?" Kudamon asked.

All of a sudden, an extremely vociferous, bloodcurdling cry echoed throughout the entire cave, causing Yun to fall to her knees and cover her ears in fright. At first, they thought it was something evil coming to get them, but one look toward the center of the crowded group convinced them that it was something else.

The cry came straight out of Biyomon's beak of all places.

Biyomon is on her knees, bawling very loudly and ardently, with huge waterfalls coming out of her closed eyes. Even though she's covering her face with her wings, they didn't muffle the noise she's making or hide the fact that she's clearly heartbroken and upset about something.

"What's wrong, Biyomon?!" Yun yelped.

"IT'S _MY_ FAULT!" Biyomon cried ardently and loudly, not taking into consideration Yun's sensitivity to loud noise. "It's MY fault Melody left!"

"Did you two get into a fight or something?" Lopmon asked curiously as she hopped off of Yun's shoulder to mollify the crying pink bird. Salamon, Patamon, MarineAngemon, and Aria approached her also with sympathetic gazes and tender touches, even though Biyomon continued to cry quite passionately.

"I...I burned her precious picture!" Biyomon wailed.

"Picture?" Patamon asked.

"Yes! A picture of her, Yun, Minako, and Kosuke as kids! It fell out of the frame as I came into the house yesterday, and-and-and-" Biyomon is so upset she can hardly talk. "Wh-Wh-When I tried to put it back in, I suddenly sneezed fire! I put it out with water, but it was too late! It was an accident, it really was! I tried to tell Mel this, but she got mad, hit me with her guitar, and yelled at me, saying that I-I-I-I did it on purpose! I really didn't mean to destroy it! Honest, I didn't! But she's convinced I did it to spite her! Not only that, I lost her stuffed animal as well, even though I gave it back to her in secret! She's been hating me ever since, and claims she'll never, ever forgive me! And she's right! She's right about everything! I AM a terrible, retarded, and worthless Digimon! I don't deserve to be her partner!"

"You're not terrible or worthless!" Salamon piped in. "I'm sure you didn't mean to do what you did. I can see why Mel-chan would be mad, but she shouldn't accuse you of destroying it on purpose! Accidents happen!"

"But...but it was her precious picture! The only copy of it she ever owned, and I had to be so stupid as to destroy it!" Biyomon cried again.

Despite the noise pounding on her head, Yun heard everything Biyomon said and was shocked. _'Mel-chan's mad at Biyomon for destroying her picture by accident? It's no wonder Mel-chan's more sour than usual! But then again, she's been rather sour ever since she came back to us. She's definitely changed. She's much more moody and unforgiving. I wonder what made her so uptight at all,'_ Yun thought. Then something else popped in her head. The time she and Biyomon saw Melody scowl at her D-Heart and throw it at the wall upon receiving it for the first time, back when they tried to save Lucero from Roachmon. Even though it happened long ago, the memory was strong. Could Melody's anger have something to do with that? In a way, that would actually make a lot of sense if that turned out to be true. Aria stroke Biyomon's head with her hand gently with a sad gaze.

"Don't cry, Biyomon. It'll be okay," Aria said gently.

"NO! NO IT WON'T! It'll never be okay! My friendship with Mel is ruined and it's all MY FAULT! I ruined it and everything else! How could I be so stupid and retarded and careless?! She has every right to hate me! I deserve it all!" Biyomon wailed passionately, scaring Aria a little bit, though the little seven year old girl quickly got over it.

"Whoa whoa whoa! Back up!" Kosuke said. "You said Melody hit you with her GUITAR?!"

"Yes..." Biyomon whimpered.

"How did you even survive that?! Normally people who are hit over the head with guitars die right afterward!" Kosuke asked, a little shocked by Biyomon mentioning this detail.

"I think it's because Digimon don't really have physical substance compared to people," Minako said. "They're technically made of computer data, and computer data doesn't exactly have a physical form, whereas we humans do."

"That's very true indeed," Labramon piped in.

"I can't believe this!" Riku suddenly exclaimed. "What gives her the right to accuse her partner of destroying her picture on purpose?! It was an accident, for God's sake! I mean, it's not like Biyomon's accident prone or anything! Or on a daily basis, no less!"

"So...what do we do now?" Dracomon asked as Prairiemon tried to comfort Biyomon herself.

"There there. Don't cry, dearie. It's alright," Prairiemon crooned gently, trying to mollify the crying pink bird, but it didn't help any.

"I say we keep going. If we go back to the real world, time will pass here and Link will be waiting, and we can't keep him waiting," Minako said.

Nobody raised any objections, not even Yun or Biyomon, who continued to bawl. Riku found Melody's flashlight lying in the part of the cave where she disappeared, so he picked it up and decided to hold onto it. Without a word, everyone decided to continue on. While the cave continued to be a bit hard to navigate, Coronamon and Lunamon led the way with their lights while Salamon and Labramon continued to follow Link's scent. On the way, they found quite a few tunnels, but Salamon and Labramon found that Link's scent did not come from any of the tunnels, so they continued going straight. Rena screamed loudly upon feeling something slimy slither by her leg, which turned out to be a harmless little Digimon which took the form of yellow goop. To be safe, MarineAngemon knocked it out with her Spray of Hearts attack.

Even though the Digimon Brigade continued to walk through the dark tunnel, Biyomon continued to cry and howl despite the efforts of some of the kids and Digimon. They tried to cheer her up, but nothing worked. They understood why Biyomon continued to cry though. Melody filled her head with ridiculous ideas, took her anger out on Biyomon, and discarded her like trash all over a destroyed picture. Sure, Biyomon did a bad thing, but it was an accident. But then again, anyone would get angry if someone destroyed or lost something precious to them, whether it was an accident or done on purpose. It was understandable that Melody got mad, but should she really have to go so far as to nearly kill her with her guitar and tell her that she's a worthless Digimon who doesn't exist and she'll never forgive? She shouldn't have disowned her like that! Yun remembered she still has copies of the pictures in her pocket. She would have loved to give one to Melody once the time was right. Maybe it'll help restore their friendship. But now Melody is gone and Yun couldn't give it to her.

It's been quite a while since then, and nobody could tell what time it is or how much further they've gone. Prairiemon found it impossible to jump to the ceiling and dig from there lest she either make dirt come falling down or wind up in some place they didn't want to, so she decided not to take that chance. Suddenly, the lights went out!...except for the flashlights.

"Huh?! Who turned out the lights?!" Otoya yelped fearfully.

Despite the dimness of the flashlights, Riku shined his flashlight at Coronamon and Lunamon, both of whom are on their knees, looking very tired and breathing heavily.

"Coronamon! Lunamon!" Riku ran over to them and held them both up.

"S-S-Sorry. We...We can't light up anymore..." Lunamon panted harshly.

"We used...too much...energy. It seems we...ran out of battery juice..." Coronamon panted, even though the light on his tail is glowing brightly, lighting up the cave a little bit. Riku smiled and stroked them both.

"It's alright. You two did a great job regardless. You two deserve a good rest," Riku said as he allowed Coronamon to climb on his back while giving Otoya the responsibility of holding Lunamon in her arms.

"Sorry about this," Lunamon said, feeling a little bad about making Otoya carry her around.

"It's alright. I don't mind doing this," Otoya said with a smile.

Suddenly, Kudamon hopped off of Hokuto's shoulders and onto the ground, right in front of the rest of the Digimon Brigade. "I'll see if I can provide some light. Holy Ray!"

Kudamon encased himself in a bright, white light, which re-lit most of the cave, making it look a lot brighter, just like before.

"Thanks, Kudamon," Hokuto said.

"Sorry if my light is hurting your eyes. Now follow me!" Kudamon said.

As a precaution, the kids with flashlights decided to keep them on in case Kudamon ran out of energy just like Lunamon and Coronamon did just now. Just like they've been doing, they continued on, wondering if the cave was ever going to end.

Suddenly, Hokuto walked forward, looking like he saw something strange.

"What is it, Hokuto-kun?" Salamon asked curiously.

"I smell...lakewater!" Hokuto said.

"Lakewater?! Are you serious?!" Kosuke exclaimed, crossing his arms with a skeptical look on his face, clearly showing that he's not convinced by what Hokuto just said. "Why in the world would a lake be at the bottom of some cave? And people can't smell water unless it's got bubble bath in it! It's just not possible!"

"Actually, it IS possible, Kosuke-kun," Minako piped in. "There's such things as underground lakes. To be more specific, subterranean lakes can be found underneath the surface of the Earth's crust."

"Hey!" Salamon exclaimed. "Link-san's scent is strong here! I think we're getting close to the end!"

"Come on! Let's hurry!" Prairiemon exclaimed. Fueled with motivation, the kids and the Digimon all darted away at full speed.

All of a sudden, Kudamon saw it.

"Look! An exit!" Kudamon exclaimed with a smile as bright as the light he's emitting.

"Oh, FINALLY!" Both Otoya and Riku yelled with great relief.

"We're almost there!" Minako called out as she looked at her digivice and the attachment Link gave them, seeing that the white dot is almost completely covering the red dot.

Unfortunately, their happiness became short lived. Before they could get to the exit, the cave suddenly began shaking like an earthquake hit. A lot of the kids and Digimon fell on their rear ends as they fell.

"What's going on now?!" Otoya yelped.

"I sense a Digimon, kyu! Two of them!" Cutemon exclaimed.

All of a sudden, two very large Digimon came out from a tunnel that happened to be perpendicular to the exit. A huge, triceratops like Digimon with big, bulky feet, silver skin covered with black armor with red stripes, glowing red eyes, and a huge, black horn on it's nose. Shunji looked up the Digimon's information.

"Those are Monochromon, champion level! Their attacks are Volcanic Strike and Slamming Attack!" Shunji exclaimed.

The Digimon were about to try and fight it, but they didn't get the chance to even digivolve because as soon as the two Monochromon came into their vicinity, they suddenly began thrashing and stomping and crashing their horns into parts of the cave like a bunch of crazed lunatics throwing tantrums...only in this case, the tantrums actually had an effect. Disturbed by the noise, Yun fell to her knees and covered her ears in fear. The kids and Digimon could hardly contain their balance, and all of a sudden, rocks began falling in between the kids and the two Monochromon. With a few screams, the kids and Digimon all closed their eyes as the rocks fell from the ceiling.

Rena was the first to open her eyes, along with Labramon, who shook some dirt and dust off of himself like a dog would after he had a bath. Rena, with her crutch, helped herself up and saw what happened. The path to the exit has been blocked off because of the rocks falling in between them and the exit! Based on the fact that there was no more rattling, the Rena could tell that the Monochromon left.

"Is everyone alright?!" Rena called out. Seeing that it's safe to move, the kids and Digimon stood up and saw the wall of rocks preventing them from going any further.

"Awwww, are you serious?!" Riku complained loudly. "Those giant metal dinosaurs are trying to keep us from getting to Link-san!"

"Dragon Ember!" Dracomon shot some fireballs at the rocks, but while some of them did get singed, the rocks didn't move one bit. "These rocks are tough as nails."

"Let's see if I can break them! Coroknuckle!" Coronamon began punching the rocks with a flurry of punches, but none of the rocks moved. After a few minutes, Coronamon stopped.

"Lunar Claw!" Both of Lunamon's claws were encased in purple light as she slashed at the rocky wall, but even that didn't leave any effects. "Oh no! It doesn't look like we can break through!"

"We'll just see about that! Lopmon! Do a Double Typhoon with me!" Terriermon exclaimed. Lopmon nodded and walked over to his side.

"Double Typhoon!" Both Lopmon and Terriermon spun around at the same time, forming one single tornado. They rammed themselves against the rocky wall, but even they weren't able to break through it.

"This is terrible! If only we could've stopped those Monochromon!" Otoya exclaimed.

"They came by too fast for us to react quickly," Minako said.

"I've got it!" Prairiemon suddenly exclaimed.

She stood in front of the rocky wall, kneeled down in front of it, and suddenly began digging into the ground with her silver claws. Both Minako and Yun looked at each other with beaming faces, then Yun turned to Prairiemon, whose upper body was already deep into the ground.

"Prairiemon! Sorry to ask this of you, but can you try digging a tunnel underneath this wall so we can get to the other side?" Yun asked.

"I'd be more than happy to! I've done this lots of times, so there's no need to worry! If you want, you can follow me as I dig!" Prairiemon replied with a smile as she proceeded to dig further.

"Here! I'll help you out, Prairiemon!" Bearmon said as he decided to assist Prairiemon in digging the hole so it can fit humans also.

"Let's have the Digimon go first, then we humans can come afterward," Shunji said.

"Why?" Isao asked curiously.

"They're better at digging big holes then we are, and they're more experienced with these matters than we are, so it'll be easier for us if we follow their lead," Shunji said.

"Good point," Hokuto muttered.

"Let's arrange them by size. The smallest Digimon go first!" Kosuke said.

The Digimon followed Prairiemon and Bearmon in this order: MarineAngemon, Kudamon, Salamon, Patamon, Cutemon, Lopmon, Terriermon, Lunamon, Coronamon, Biyomon, Labramon, and Dracomon. They all followed Bearmon and Prairiemon closely while trying to stay together. Shunji decided to make the kids line up according to size as well. The humans followed the Digimon in this order, Aria, Isao, Hokuto, Yun, Lucero, Minako, Otoya, Rena, Kosuke, Riku, and Shunji. They all crawled through the tunnel as slowly as they could. They didn't like the feeling of dirt and rocks rubbing against their knees, elbows, and arms, but they tolerated it so they could get out.

"I sure am glad I'm not wearing a skirt," Otoya said.

"I think we all are, considering all of us girls aren't wearing dresses or skirts at all," Minako said with an impish smile.

After a while, Prairiemon's voice echoed in the tunnel. "We're on the other side!"

One by one, all the kids and Digimon came out from the hole and realized that they're finally on the other side of the wall because of the fact that the entrance is just ten feet away from them.

"We better get there quick! Link-san's waiting for us!" Yun exclaimed.

On cue, Yun was the first to start running for the exit. All the kids and Digimon excitedly followed, happy to finally get out of this cave. But what they found once they got out surprised them to no end. They didn't reach the surface, but they did come into something else...something they never expected to find about twenty feet underground.

An underground oasis!

Well, technically it's not really an oasis as those are normally in deserts and don't have much except for palm trees. The place they came into is basically a part of the cave that's lit up with a lot of multi-colored crystals protruding from the ground in all sorts of multifarious colors. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, etc. They seemed to light the place up. Purple wisterias covered the entire ceiling, looking as though they were making a big arch over the entire area. A small lake, just as Hokuto said, sat in the middle of the area. Some white flowers, narcissi possibly, sprouted out from the grass, making the place look very lively. A waterfall fell from a hole in the left side of the cavern, allowing it's water to flow into the lake and fill it up. Everyone was awestruck.

"Wooow...this has to be the most beautiful place I've ever seen!" Rena exclaimed.

"Yes! How very beautiful and exquisite!" Lopmon backed her up.

"Isn't this the prettiest place you've ever seen? I sure think so! Look! The crystals literally light the place up! No wonder it's so light in here compared to those dark and dingy caves! Wan!" Salamon exclaimed, smiling cutely as she touched a few small crystals, her rosy cheeks deepening in color.

"I never knew places like these existed underneath a bunch of caves before!" Lunamon said.

"It's soooo pretty! I'd like to live here!" Otoya said.

"Everything's so shiny and pretty! Oh, look! Flowers on the ceiling!" Aria said as she looked at the crystals popping up from the ground and the sheer abundance of wisterias hanging from the ceiling.

"I wonder if there are more places like this here!" MarineAngemon said.

"I've GOT to take pictures of this!" Minako got her cell phone out and immediately began snapping pictures of literally everything she saw in this cavern.

"What are those flowers on the ceiling, kyu?" Cutemon asked, pointing to the ceiling with her little pink finger.

"Those are called wisterias. They're really pretty, aren't they?" Yun told her.

"What are these little white flowers here? I've never seen these before," Patamon asked.

"Those are called narcissi. A single one is called a narcissus," Kudamon said.

"Aren't these normally called daffodils?" Dracomon asked.

"Flowers have many names, Dracomon!" Salamon piped in with her usual beaming smile.

Yun looked around and, about 20 feet away, she saw them.

"Link-san and Agumon!" Yun yelled as she suddenly darted off.

"Yun! Wait!" Lucero chased after her, and so did everyone else.

"LINK-SAN!" Yun screamed to get their attention, which worked. Link, Agumon, and Sorcermon turned around to see Yun and the rest of the Digimon Brigade running right towards them at full speed. All of a sudden, Link found himself glomped by a little girl.

"Link-san! Agumon! I'm so glad you two are alright!" Yun cried out as she squeezed Link, who, oddly enough, didn't mind Yun's super tight hug. Instead, he gently put both of his hands on her and stroke her gently.

"Glad you all could make it," Link said. Yun let go of Link as soon as he finished that sentence.

"We've been waiting for you," Agumon said in a somewhat scratchy voice, quite different from the voice he has as WarGreymon.

"Hey! So you're finally in your rookie level now!" Patamon exclaimed as he flew over to Agumon and gave him a high five.

"We're sorry we're so late. There's been so much going on," Yun said.

"It's alright. It's to be expected," Link said.

Lopmon then noticed Sorcermon, who stood next to Agumon in a calm, dignified manner. But as soon as the little brown and pink rabbit laid her emerald eyes on him, and his blue ones on her, she suddenly found herself frozen. She felt something warm and familiar overtake her, yet she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was and why.

Yes, Sorcermon actually looked familiar to her. It seemed as if she had actually seen him somewhere before, or somehow knew him. But she couldn't put her finger on it, and neither could Sorcermon. Agumon turned around and noticed that Sorcermon looked rather dazed, and snapped him out of it by smacking him in the back of the head with his claw.

"OW!" Sorcermon yelped, then turned to Agumon angrily. "That was uncalled for!"

"You looked like you were staring off into space, and it's impolite to stare," Agumon told him.

"You really didn't have to do that, Agumon," Lopmon told him kindly but sternly, not happy with Agumon's way of pulling Sorcermon out of his reverie.

"Whoa! Is that a blue version of Wizardmon?!" Riku exclaimed as he ran over to him gleefully. "Oh my gosh! This is so cool! A blue Wizardmon!"

"Actually, I'm just a variation of Wizardmon. My real name is Sorcermon, and to confirm your suspicions, I actually do have a Wizardmon for a brother," Sorcermon told him politely.

"I'll bet!" Riku said.

Minako decided to change the subject, and she knew that this subject NEEDED to be tackled, and quick. "Link-san? You said something about needing to tell us something important. What is it you want to tell us?"

Link's smile faded a bit as he gestured the kids and Digimon to sit down, which they did. He, Agumon, and Sorcermon all sat down right afterward. Link looked at everyone with a solemn look on his face despite part of it being hidden by his mask.

"I called you all here because this information MUST be kept secret at all times, and this happens to be the most secluded place in all the Digital World, save for MoonMillenniummon's inner sanctum, which I managed to escape from. Do you swear you won't reveal this information to anyone else?" Link told them. All the kids nodded.

"Now then. Sorcermon here has helped me in my travels once, and I wound up getting his D-Chip because of it. I gave him the job of infiltrating MoonMillenniummon's inner sanctum so he could gather information on who destroyed the Digital World and why. He helped me escape from the inner sanctum, and along the way, we ran into Wisemon, who happens to be a witness to the Digital World's destruction," Link explained.

"So this Wisemon dude saw the entire Digital World get destroyed?" Kosuke asked.

"Precisely. Anyway, Wisemon told me that MoonMillenniummon used to be a Digimon named ZeedMillenniummon, and in that form he destroyed the Digital World. He had been acting on his own for a while and was planning it from the very beginning. Wisemon and his mentor, AncientWisemon, tried to foil his plan and warn the Guardians and the Council, but he found them out and cursed them," Link said.

"Cursed? Like how I was?" MarineAngemon asked.

"No. This curse is a different one. Wisemon is unable to leave his special book while AncientWisemon has become a frozen decoration in his inner sanctum," Link explained.

"I'll bet he must have been pretty powerful," Coronamon piped in.

"Indeed he was. Wisemon also said that ZeedMillenniummon and his minions managed to tear the Digital World apart one by one and destroy not only the members of the Guardians and Council, but the great Digimon that governed the entire Digital World," Link explained.

"The great Digimon? Do you know who he is?" Yun asked.

"I'm afraid not. Wisemon said that the curse doesn't allow him to recite the names of those who ZeedMillenniummon destroyed lest he find out and kill him. Apparently the curse emits some kind of electromagnetic signal through space and time whenever the name of the great Digimon is mentioned," Link said.

"That makes no sense at all!" Minako exclaimed.

"Nobody said real world logic has to apply to the Digital World as well," Agumon said.

"Do you know where Wisemon is?" Lunamon asked curiously, her eyes wide and bright.

"He lives in a castle, but he tends to move in between dimensions because of his inability to leave his book, so he's never in one place for very long," Link explained.

"Well, that's a bust!" Kosuke said.

"Kosuke-kun! We're learning important information about what happened to the Digital World yet you're calling this a bust?!" Otoya yelped, appalled by Kosuke's caustic comment.

"I wasn't talking about that! I was talking about the fact that this Wisemon guy is never in one place!" Kosuke snapped back, surprised by Otoya's reaction.

"He's right. Maybe we could have gotten the chance to hear all of this from Wisemon himself," Yun said.

"Good point," Terriermon said.

"I do know where his castle is, but it'll take us a week to get there. Would you all like to come along?" Sorcermon asked.

"We'd love to, but I don't think we're prepared for a week long travel," Yun said.

"Not to worry. We still have a lot of food on us so we're good in that department," Agumon said.

"I say we go! Maybe we'll be able to find some way to smoke out MoonMillenniummon and his minions this way!" Salamon piped in.

"I agree. Let's go to Wisemon's castle," Patamon said.

"One more question: exactly how did ZeedMillenniummon turn to MoonMillenniummon? What's he doing now?" Yun asked.

"From what Wisemon told me, when ZeedMillenniummon killed the great Digimon, he unknowingly activated a fail-safe system that had been set up, which resulted in his powers finally being suppressed to the point where he was reduced to a secondary form. It also resulted in him being trapped in one place, never to leave," Link explained.

"Awesome! Maybe we can destroy him while he's stuck!" Riku exclaimed.

"Just because some powerful Digimon's stuck in one place doesn't mean he's any less powerful!" Rena scolded, shocked that Riku would be so cocky.

"She's right. MoonMillenniummon is still a mega level Digimon, and a pretty powerful one, too," Dracomon piped in.

"Let's get moving. Shall we?" Sorcermon asked. Everyone nodded.

"By the way, what is this place?" Aria asked.

"This is called Concord Oasis. It's one of the most secluded yet most beautiful places in all the Digital World. No one lives here, though, which is a bit of a shame," Sorcermon said as he opened up a cave in the wall and went through it first, followed by Link, Agumon, and the rest of the kids and Digimon.

As they treaded through the cave, Yun's mind began to wander elsewhere. _'Mel-chan...why did you leave? Are you really that angry with Biyomon? Are you mad at me for mentioning your house? You'd never abandon us...would you?'_ Yun thought. She knew in her heart that in all the years she knew her, she always saw that Melody never turned her back on anyone or abandoned them when they were in need, despite her normally gruff exterior. Melody stood up to Nenji, Seiko, and their lackeys multiple times when they continued to mercilessly bully Yun after all these years apart, even getting into trouble because of it, which Melody didn't care about. Sure, Melody's become a bit more volatile in that aspect since their separation, but Yun didn't mind, even though it must be confessed that Yun really didn't want Melody to go to such lengths and get sent to the principal's office. Despite all of this, Melody proved to not only Yun, but the rest of the Digimon Brigade again and again that she'd never turn her back on her friends or abandon them.

Yun continued to believe in Melody...but why did Melody suddenly go back to the human world without telling anyone? She couldn't help but wonder. Is Melody really that angry with them?

"Yun? Art thou alright?" Lucero asked, which pulled Yun out of her reverie. Yun became dejected upon being pulled out of her mind.

"No. I'm worried about Mel-chan," Yun muttered.

"Why did she leave anyway? It's not like her to suddenly leave in the middle of a mission!" Terriermon edicted.

"I'm sure she has her reasons, and we shouldn't jump to conclusions. Perhaps she's trying to straighten herself out and clear up some things in her heart so the mission won't be hindered," Lopmon explained.

"I wish that were true," Yun muttered sadly.

"Thou shan't worry, Yun. Although I sense great anger and hatred in her heart, I know she will overcome it for our sake," Lucero told her.

"How do you know?" Yun asked.

"I...just do," Lucero mumbled, a little surprised as to how he could tell that there's a lot of anger and hatred in Melody's heart. "But we shan't tarry. We must keep moving forward."

"Tarry? What the heck does that mean?" Terriermon asked, confused by the big word.

"It means to delay or be late in doing something," Lucero explained.

"That's going to be an interesting word to know," Lopmon said.

The Digimon Brigade continued on through the cave, though Yun's mind continued to linger. Yun always believed that Melody was her friend and that she would never abandon them. To Yun, Melody is always her friend. But one question continued to pick at her mind like an ice pick.

Why is Melody so dead set on keeping Yun in the dark about what happened between 4th and 5th grade?

"Oof!"

Speaking of Melody, she fell out of a digital portal and fell into the street. Not too hard, but enough to make her feel some pain. Despite this, she stood up just fine and continued to stare down at the concrete with a feral, choleric look in her fierce brown eyes. Angrily, she stomped on the concrete once with her right foot.

"I can't ever forgive that brainless bird! Why?! Why does everything I love always get taken from me?! I...I can't even forgive...because of that woman...!" Melody muttered angrily. She pried her red D-Heart of Forgiveness from her silver bracelet and stared down at it.

"Why did I have to receive the D-Heart of Forgiveness of all things?! Whoever decided this is an idiot! I can't forgive! It's impossible for me! That woman took forgiveness away from me!" Melody grunted as she squeezed her D-Heart in her palm. She continued to question why she received the D-Heart of Forgiveness instead of some other virtue, like independence or persistence or perseverance. Melody was, and still is, convinced that her heart is utterly incapable of ever showing forgiveness to any misdeed, even to those she loves. She opened her palm and what Melody saw surprised her.

There's a grey splotch in the middle of her D-Heart while the rest of it is becoming a dull red color!

Melody remembered Yun inspecting it yesterday, also.

_"It's like...the color is duller. It's not as bright as it was the last time I saw it. I think I can even see tints of grey in it."_

_"Looks fine to me."_

And to think Melody didn't notice before!

_'Why is my D-Heart turning gray? Is this because...?'_ Melody thought anxiously. Yun was right all along! Melody's D-Heart IS turning gray! Melody scolded herself for not noticing the subtle signs before (which Yun noticed). But then again, Melody was never a full-on observer, and she never paid much attention to small details, unlike Yun, who often noticed things that Melody wouldn't even know existed. Yun saw that her D-Heart's color had been growing dull, but to think it had gotten this bad within a day! Melody looked up and away from it so she wouldn't see how bad her D-Heart is getting. But she saw something else that surprised her.

The street sign. It read Shirayuki Street.

Melody looked around. She recognized everything. The concrete she's standing on, the sidewalks, the houses, the garden in the brick house a few blocks off...and the gray house.

The house where her old dark green one used to stand.

"Oh my God...I'm on my home street!" Melody muttered in a hoarse whisper. She couldn't believe she came back to the street she used to live on.

She thought she had forgotten this street. She thought she convinced herself to never go down it whenever she passed by it. But there it is, staring her in the face. All of a sudden, a torrent of memories began swallowing her like a huge tsunami. She remembered playing hopscotch with Yun, Minako, Kosuke, and some other neighborhood kids in the 3rd grade, drawing on the sidewalk with multi-colored chalk with them, playing pretend Pokemon battle with them, helping her mother plant her flowers in the front porch, play wrestling with her older brother, watching cars go by with her little sister, and watching Kosuke climb to the top of a tree as the girls watched in horror. Melody couldn't believe she convinced herself to never go down this street again. In a way, she had almost forgotten that it was even here. The chalk on the sidewalk had been washed off long ago and the flowers her mother planted are gone, but the tall tree that Kosuke climbed is still there.

Melody felt the anger in her heart fade away as she fixed her now softening brown eyes on the tree. The tree that made her realize how much she cared for Kosuke back then.

(flashback)

_"Kosuke-kun! You come back down right now!" Screamed an appalled and angry Minako, who was nine years old at this time. Despite that she was nine years old, she still continued to be the _"mother figure"_ of the quartet, even back then._

_"You're gonna fall!" cried Yun, who was eight back then._

_"You'll hurt yourself if you don't come down!" Melody, who didn't have her red bangs or black attire back then, yelled._

_The three children, along with a few other neighborhood children, watched from below as they saw Kosuke attempt to climb to the top of a big tree. He was only a quarter of the way up, but for the children, seeing a nine year old boy climb to that height without falling or getting hurt yet is like seeing a huge dragon fly over the entire town. Kosuke, however, didn't seem scared at all. No way, he looked excited than anything else._

_"Quit being a bunch of scaredy-cats!" Kosuke called down with his impish smile, his white teeth glistening despite the sun having already set. He looked around and saw that the town looked a lot bigger from where he was. "Hey! I think I can see my house from here!"_

_"Come back down! It's dangerous!" Yun called out._

_"Danger is my life, Yun!" Kosuke shouted happily._

_"He's gonna fall!" One girl exclaimed._

_"Whaddo we do?" Another girl asked._

_"Man! I wish I could climb a tree like that!" A random boy said._

_Melody, not happy with Kosuke refusing to come down, decided to take matters into her own hands. She ran to the tree and began climbing it herself. Yun saw this and immediately grabbed onto her._

_"No! Don't climb it! It's dangerous!" Yun said._

_"I'm gonna get Kosuke-kun to come down!" Melody said._

_Minako grabbed her shirt as well. "It's still too high for you!"_

_"There's no way you're gonna get him! Look how high that is! You're gonna fall for sure!" The boy exclaimed._

_"Oh yeah? Just watch me!" Melody said as she pushed Yun and Minako off and proceeded to climb the tree._

_Then little Yun had an idea. She ran into Melody's house and came into the living room. The first thing she saw upon running inside is a teenaged boy, about fourteen years old in age, with short black hair, olive skin, and perfect blue eyes. He has on a short sleeved red shirt underneath a dark blue jean jacket, black jeans, and red and white sneakers._

_"Mikage-Niichan!" Yun cried suddenly, which caught the boy's attention. He saw how frightened Yun looked and could tell it was serious. He ran over to her and kneeled before her slowly._

_"What's wrong, Yun-chan?" The boy, Mikage, asked._

_"Kosuke-kun's climbing the tree, and Mel-chan's trying to make him come down!" Yun shouted._

_Mikage's blue eyes widened. "What?! Show me where they are!"_

_Yun grabbed Mikage's hand and dragged him out to the front yard._

_"Up there!" She pointed to the tree with her tiny index finger and to her surprise, Melody already managed to catch up to Kosuke, and they're both sitting on a branch._

_"Oh no! Mel! Kosuke!" Mikage suddenly yelled. But Melody and Kosuke didn't notice, as they were too busy arguing._

_"Kosuke-kun! This isn't funny! You've gotta come down or you'll fall and break your head!" Melody yelled._

_"Don't be such a baby! I've done this before, and I'll be fine!" Kosuke retorted back, but Melody just wasn't having it._

_"No you won't! I'm serious! You've gotta-" Melody tried to convince Kosuke to come back, but he just wouldn't budge. Melody was about to reach him until her foot slipped on the bark and she suddenly lost her grip._

_"Wha?! Ah-AHHH!" Melody screamed as soon as she felt herself slip away from the tree. Yun and the other two girls closed their eyes in horror, unable to watch._

_"Mel!" Kosuke tried to grab her hand and help her, but she fell too quickly for him to catch her._

_"MEL!" Seeing Melody about to fall, Mikage immediately leaped into the fray and somehow managed to catch Melody before she could hit the ground. He locked the girl in his big arms, holding onto her tightly._

_"Big brother_(1)_!" Melody exclaimed as she opened her eyes and saw that her older brother, Mikage, caught her._

_"Mel! Are you okay?!" Kosuke yelled as he attempted to slither off the branch and climb down, but Mikage looked up at him with anger in his eyes._

_"Stay there, Kosuke-kun! I'll get you myself!" Mikage yelled as he put Melody down. As soon as Melody's feet hit the ground, Mikage climbed the tree, grabbed Kosuke, climbed back down as slowly and cautiously as he could, and, once he reached the ground, put Kosuke down on the grass. Kosuke exhaled a big sigh of relief, knowing that he and Melody are safe._

_"Thanks, big brother..." Melody muttered. Unfortunately, Mikage crossed his arms and gave them both a very austere look. Minako quickly took Yun's hand and escorted her into Melody's house so she wouldn't have to hear him scold Melody and Kosuke since she doesn't like the sound of people yelling._

_"What the heck were you two thinking?! Don't you know how dangerous it is for kids your age to climb a big tree like that?! You could have gotten killed!" Mikage scolded angrily._

_"It was Kosuke's idea! I was just trying to get him to come down! We kept telling him it was dangerous but he wouldn't listen!" Melody explained._

_"You should have told me, Mom, or Dad about it first! You shouldn't have been so reckless, Mel! You could have gotten yourself hurt just as much as Kosuke nearly did! You're both lucky Yun-chan had enough sense to come and get me!" Mikage yelled again. After a bit, he sighed and softened his tone of voice. "Mel, look, I'm glad you were concerned about him and at least tried to make Kosuke come down, but climbing after him and putting yourself in danger isn't the way to go about it. You should have told me, Mom, or Dad about it first, and one of us could have gotten him down before anything happened."_

_"Sorry..." Melody muttered, feeling guilty about everything, which stimulated Kosuke into feeling the same way as well. Mikage then turned to look at Kosuke._

_"Kosuke-kun. You really scared everyone here. You shouldn't have tried to climb this tree. It's much too high for you!" Mikage told him._

_"It was Hideaki's idea!" One of the girls exclaimed, boldly pointing to the boy next to her. "He kept calling Kosuke a scaredy-cat and telling him to climb it!"_

_"What?! Asako! Why are you snitching on me?!" The boy, Hideaki, yelped angrily._

_"You told him to do it, so you need to be punished too!" The girl, Asako, shouted._

_"Sorry..." Kosuke muttered loud enough for Mikage to hear. Mikage smiled at Melody and Kosuke, kneeled in front of them, put his hands in their hair, and messed up their hair._

_"Good. Everything's alright now. Just don't do it again. Okay?" Mikage told them kindly._

_"We promise..." Kosuke and Melody said._

_"Hey, Rina! Back me up here, will ya?!" Hideaki yelled at the other girl, who hid behind Asako._

_"No! You did a bad thing!" The other girl, Rina, exclaimed._

_"My goodness! What's going on here?" A woman exclaimed as she came out to the front yard to see Mikage scolding Hideaki._

_"Hi Mom," Melody said as she and Kosuke went into the house._

_Mikage told his mother what happened, and she was quite appalled. She sent all the kids home (not without punishing the ones behind the ordeal and threatening to tell their parents) as it was getting late, and went back to ground Melody for three days. But Melody didn't mind. She's had enough excitement for one night._

(end flashback)

Melody thought she had buried all of her happy memories into a very deep part of her mind, never to be accessed or opened again. But the lock on that part of her brain finally broke off on it's own, and the memories came spilling out like vomit. Melody wanted to think some more, but something pulled her out of her reverie.

"Melody!"

That was Rumiko's voice, and Melody could tell that it sounded very hysterical. All of a sudden, Rumiko and Daikichi ran over to her, panting and gasping for breath. Upon laying eyes on Melody, Rumiko suddenly burst into tears and glomped Melody.

"MEL! Oh, thank goodness! I was so worried about you! We both were!" Rumiko cried upon squeezing Melody tightly.

"So this is where you've been! We've been looking everywhere for you, Mel!" Daikichi said as he hugged her as well.

Rumiko and Daikichi thought Melody went missing and went looking for her, and were quite worried. It was quite apparent that they looked all over for her, seeing how happy they are to see her. Melody, however, didn't see it this way. Why are they hugging her and crying over her when they don't really care about her? Are they trying to show off? Are they trying to trick Melody? At this point, Melody's anger resurfaced, stronger than ever, and she's finally had enough.

"GET OFF ME!" Melody screamed angrily and literally pushed Rumiko off of her so hard that she fell on the street on her rump. Daikichi helped her up as soon as he saw her fall.

"Mel! What in the world?!" Daikichi yelped upon seeing Melody push Rumiko.

"Since when did you two brainless idiots ever give a flying feather about me?! You've never cared about me! You only care about yourselves!" Melody screamed angrily.

Daikichi and Rumiko were both confused. What in the world is Melody talking about? But Daikichi wasn't going to stand by and tolerate this kind of talk. "That's not true, Melody! We do care about you!"

"Oh, REALLY?!" Melody yelled sarcastically. "Is that why you haven't turned me back to the adoption agency yet?! So you can trick me into thinking you truly do care about me and then throw me away like trash once you're done with me?!"

"Melody!" Rumiko shouted, shocked by Melody's insinuation. "Where in the world did you get such an idea?! We'll never-" Rumiko tried to convince Melody that she's wrong in her assumption, but Melody interrupted her and didn't let her finish.

"Stop denying it! The only reason you adopted me is because you can get benefits from the agency! You're only in it for the money just like the rest of them!" Melody yelled. She then turned to Daikichi. "I heard you say so on the phone, Daikichi! You were talking to the social worker on the phone once, saying how you can't handle me anymore and that you don't want to deal with my angst anymore! Don't you dare deny it! I heard every word you said!"

Daikichi and Rumiko looked at each other with confused faces, then back at Melody.

"Mel. We don't have any plans on getting rid of you. You're part of our family now, and you're staying with us," Daikichi told her calmly but boldly.

"Oh, COME ON! Stop acting like you care! Stop trying to put up a front and trick me! I heard you say that nothing you do ever makes me happy and that I brush you off like trash and ignore everything I say to you! You even said, _"You're right! I'm not gonna deal with her any longer! She thinks she can stomp all over me, but she's wrong!"_ Don't think I'm stupid because I heard all of it!" Melody screamed again.

Daikichi calmly walked over to Melody with a solid look on his face. "I wasn't talking about you. I was talking about my boss."

"STOP LYING!"

"I'm not lying! I didn't talk to any social worker back then! I was talking to an old friend of mine from high school! You know how I've been trying to quit my job for some time, right? The person you think is you...was my boss. She was a real mean and lazy person, always orderin' people around and cutting salaries all the time for her own pleasure. I told my friend I wasn't going to deal with her any longer. That was what you heard."

"That's such a lie!"

"Oh? If I'm lying, then tell me. When you eavesdropped on my phone conversation, did you hear me mention your name?" Daikichi asked in a stern voice, crossing his arms as he asked the question.

Melody stopped right there. Daikichi actually has a point! She searched her memory for the phone conversation and she did. But...Daikichi's right! Not once did Melody hear her own name mentioned in the phone conversation! It's likely that the phone conversation had begun before she came home, so she had to admit, Daikichi was right this time.

"No," Melody muttered grumpily.

"Is this why you didn't want to get close to us? Because you're convinced we want to get rid of you?" Rumiko asked.

"Stop with the innocent act already! You've wanted to get rid of me the minute I stepped through that door, yet you keep delaying it! Why don't you stop making yourselves suffer for once and get rid of me already?! That's what you want, isn't it?! Why continue keeping me when it's clear you hate my existence?! Stop with the benevolent parents act if that's what helps you sleep at night!" Melody snapped angrily.

"Because..." Daikichi whispered. "I knew your father."

Finally, Melody stopped yelling. "Eh?"

This was one thing she knew she couldn't deny. She saw the picture. She recognized her father in it. There was no way it could be an illusion.

"You don't know, do you? Your dad, Shimotsuki Yuzuru...he was my political science teacher in college. He was one of my favorite teachers ever. He always helped me when I was stuck on something, and he was such a great influence on me. Heck, when I heard he was trying to run for mayor of Tama-no-Minato, I immediately made plans to vote for him! I was convinced he could make things better for everyone here in town! No, he'd definitely make things better. But then the fire happened. He and his wife kept on singing all kinds of praises about you and your siblings whenever we met for get-togethers, and when I heard you were available for adoption, Rumiko and I tried to convince the agency to give you to us. But for some reason we were always too late, and they kept placing you in homes before we could complete the paperwork. It was tough. I...I think you can consider this as my way of repaying Shimotsuki-sensei for all he's done for me. He's such a wonderful man, and I practically cried when I heard he died. But don't get me wrong, Mel. This doesn't mean Rumiko and I don't love you like you're our own child. We've always wanted to have a child of our own, but Rumiko can't have kids because her tubes got tied without her permission years ago. We're very happy to have you in our lives, and we definitely don't want to get rid of you either! We did try to not force ourselves on you because I figured you wouldn't like it considering what you went through. You don't have to love us if you don't want to. That's for you to decide, and we won't force it out of you either. That's not what being a good parent is about, even though we don't have kids of our own."

Melody didn't argue with them. Melody didn't contradict them. Melody didn't deny anything. Melody didn't interrupt them at all. She listened, with her eyes wide with revelation. All this time she kept on trying to distance herself from them and convince herself to hate them, and the very reason she did so was because she didn't want to be hurt again and because of a misunderstanding that she herself created without knowledge of the facts! If Daikichi didn't know her father, then he wouldn't have leaped on the decision to adopt Melody, especially if her own father sang all sorts of praises about them in get-togethers. Then another memory popped in Melody's head. She actually remembered a conversation between her mother and father regarding Daikichi, only they didn't mention him by his first name.

_"Well, I'll be on the heights of joy!"_

_"What is it, Yuzuru?"_

_"It's one of my old college students, Hanabusa-kun! He just sent a letter telling me he got married! And he wants us all to come to his wedding, the children included!"_

_"Oh my! That's so wonderful!"_

_"But I'm afraid I can't make it. I have an important meeting to go to, so I'll just write back and give him my blessings. He sure has come a long way. I hope he doesn't think I'm missing out on purpose."_

_"I'm sure he'll understand, dear. He is one of your best students after all. Oh! If this is the case, then I should make them some of my best banana cream pies! Tell him I'll be sending them some pies for their wedding!"_

Melody convinced herself she was going to be thrown out of the Hanabusa household. Who would have thought that Melody wound up living on a complete lie for quite a long time! The anger in her heart finally went away. How could she have been so cruel, so selfish, so defiant, so ungrateful, and so blind before? The anger in her heart faded away, and regret filled it up instead.

"I...I never knew...I...how come no one told me?" Melody didn't mean for the last question to come out, as she already knew the answer to that. She kept trying to distance herself from them to the point of not wanting to listen to things they said to her when they wanted to talk to her.

"Oh, Mel...we're so sorry we gave you the wrong idea!" Rumiko told her gently, feeling as though she played a part in exacerbating Melody's insinuations.

All of a sudden, something hit Melody in the heart.

"Oh no! YUN!" Melody screamed as she decided to run away from the street, leaving Daikichi and Rumiko alone again.

"Mel! Wait!" Rumiko called out, but Melody didn't listen. But she did respond.

"I'll be back soon!" Melody yelled.

_'I have to go back to the Digital World! Yun needs me! She could be in all sorts of trouble right now! If I don't help her, she's gonna freak!'_ Melody thought as she ran to find a secluded place so she wouldn't be spotted when going back to the Digital World. But as she ran, she failed to notice that she was running right into someone until it was too late.

"Ouch!"

"Ow!"

Melody fell on her back as soon as she ran into someone. When she tried to get up, a jolt ran through her spine.

"My God! Watch where you're going, you goth!"

Melody opened her eyes as she recognized the angry voice.

It belonged to Ayaka.

Melody made a scornful look as she stood back up. "Sorry," She said sarcastically as Ayaka got back up herself.

"Why are you in such a hurry?" Ayaka asked grimly.

"Why would a selfish, ungrateful, defiant, and heartless monster like you even care about why someone is in a hurry? I don't need to tell you anything so you can buzz off for all I care!" Melody snapped angrily and ran again.

"HEY! Come back here, you!" Ayaka screamed, appalled by Melody's insults.

Melody got to the park and found a secluded place between some trees. She pulled out her red digivice and a D-Chip in the form of a dark yellow thunderbolt. She put it in her digivice and closed her eyes.

"She who fills the gloomy skies with thunder and lightning, appear before me! Thunderbirmon!" Melody chanted as a yellow light shot into the sky, then back onto the ground, revealing Thunderbirmon in all her thunderous and shining glory.

"Melody-san! What a pleasant surprise! You called for me?" Thunderbirmon asked in her harsh but lady-like voice.

"Thunderbirmon! My friends might be in danger, yet I was so careless as to abandon them! I was wondering if you can help me," Melody told her.

"I'd be more than happy to oblige, since you saved me after all," Thunderbirmon said with a smile. But she looked around and noticed something odd. "I notice Biyomon's not with you. Where is she?"

Melody's worried face immediately turned to scorn as she looked away. Thunderbirmon didn't like the look of this.

"I see. A touchy subject, huh? Oh well. Hop on my back and tell me where to go," Thunderbirmon said as she stood on the ground. Melody climbed on her back. As soon as she settled in, Thunderbirmon ascended into the air.

_'I'll go through the portal with Thunderbirmon, and once we get to the Digital World, I'll summon Opossumon and Maildramon as backup in case trouble comes up,'_ Melody thought as she gestured for Thunderbirmon to fly toward Shirayuki St. As soon as they arrived while airborne, Melody opened her digivice and pressed the door button. A digital portal opened in the sky, and Thunderbirmon flew right into it, with Melody on her back.

_In the Digital World..._

"Feather Flare!" A human-sized crow Digimon with black fur covered with purple armor, light yellow pants, rosy red eyes, and two gold swords shouted as black feathers shot out of his wings like arrows, heading toward Lilithmon, who simply smirked as the feathers came flying toward her.

"Darkness Love!" In retaliation, Lilithmon opened her golden hand and shot an ominous, purple ray of energy in the form of a heart at the bird Digimon, not only knocking away all of the feathers, but the Digimon as well. The bird tried to get away, but the attack came too quickly and he was bereaved of the time to escape. As soon as the attack hit him, he fell to the ground. He tried to crawl away because his wings were damaged, but Lilithmon immediately jumped on him and pinned him to the ground. The bird Digimon thrashed and struggled to get away, angering Lilithmon.

"Stay still, you useless bird! It's no wonder you Karatenmon are so weak!" Lilithmon chided angrily, referring to the crow Digimon as Karatenmon.

"Please! Let me go! Have mercy!" Karatenmon pleaded as Lilithmon pulled out a small black stone.

"I'm afraid I can't do that. You may be useless, but with this, you can definitely make yourself useful," Lilithmon told Karatenmon in a sickeningly sweet voice as she put the stone on the back of his right wing. The stone glowed in a black light, and Karatenmon screamed until he could scream no more. His eyes now glowed in a bloody red light, which made Lilithmon fly into the air, releasing him.

"Good! With this one, I officially have 200 Karatenmon at my beck and call. I'd best tell Master about this so we can hunt down that impertinent human," Lilithmon said as she flew away from the scene to return to the inner sanctum. The branded Karatenmon followed her.

About fifteen minutes later, she returned to the inner sanctum and appeared before a rather exasperated MoonMillenniummon.

"What have you been doing, Lilithmon?" MoonMillenniummon asked.

"Please forgive my intrusion, dearest Master. I've been recruiting a great many Digimon so we can make tracking down that human a bit easier. Is that alright?" Lilithmon told him politely.

"Hm. I see. Sorry if I sound rather irritable. Everybody's running all over the place, and sitting here and doing nothing just drives me insane!" MoonMillenniummon explained.

"I understand your pain, Master, and I only wish I could free you from that awful prison. I'm sure it must be very difficult for you," Lilithmon told him kindly.

"Indeed it is. By the way, has Sorcermon come back yet?"

"No, he hasn't. I believe he's still looking for the human, since he feels it's his fault he got away."

"I suppose I had a part in this too, considering I failed to check if the dungeon we trapped him in really was suitable for imprisoning him, since we don't have windows. I'll have to ask SkullSatamon to find Digimon so we can tighten our security."

"I'm surprised you still trust Sorcermon. Don't you think you should have punished him for letting the human escape?"

"He feels guilty enough, and I only punish Digimon if they don't feel bad about what they did. Besides, that human has proven to be smarter than he looks, so I suppose it was only natural that he managed to outsmart Sorcermon, though I'm still having a hard time believing that a puny human can actually outsmart a Digimon. I'll have to study more about humans later on. If you want, you can take your ridiculously huge Karatenmon army and search the perimeters. I don't think he's gone too far considering how small he is."

"Yes, Master! I'm happy to oblige!" Lilithmon said as she flew away from the center of the inner sanctum.

Footnotes:

1. Normally, the Japanese words for older brother are "Oniichan," "Oniisan," or "Oniisama." Melody, however, doesn't use any of these terms, and instead uses the very respectful but archaic term, "Aniue."


	86. A Journey of Anguish

EPISODE 86: A Journey of Anguish

After taking shelter in Concord Oasis for the night, Link, Agumon, Sorcermon, and the rest of the Digimon Brigade decided to leave and head for Wisemon's Castle. Since Link is still being hunted down by MoonMillenniummon's servants, he suggested that they not fly over there lest they get spotted, which made quite a few kids mad considering that, according to Sorcermon, it takes about a week to get to Wisemon's castle from Concord Oasis, especially considering that Wisemon might not even be there when they get there since he's forced to wander in between dimensions thanks to MoonMillenniummon's curse. Dracomon was especially choleric about this since he has the biggest ultimate level form (excluding QueenWhamon, who is a water-based Digimon and can't fly) and could carry every single one of them on his back and get there without difficulty, but Link suggested that they keep on the ground for safety reasons. None of the kids thought it made sense and continued to argue with him until Minako and Shunji shushed them all up and told them that if Link says we have to do something, then we have to do it. That, and because Yun was getting tired of all of their arguing hence why she was covering her ears. With a groan, the rest of the kids and Digimon decided to listen to Link and walk through the barren desert.

Biyomon had stopped crying since they came into Concord Oasis and remained silent throughout both Link's story and the now beginning journey to Wisemon's castle. She didn't complain about anything, and usually she can't go a whole entire day without being vain and complaining about something. Since they're in the desert, practically everyone expected her to complain about the oppressive heat of the sun, how hot the sand was on her yellow talons, how frizzy her feathers are getting, the sweat streaming down her face, and the amount of rocks that were buried underneath the sand. Weirdly enough, Biyomon didn't say a word. Not one. She was completely silent. This bothered the Digimon Brigade quite a bit, but no one said anything out of fear of making her mad. Prairiemon continued to look after her as they walked through the desert, and despite not knowing Biyomon very well, even she knew that Biyomon's silence was quite out of character for her. But they all knew why: Biyomon is still quite shaken up because of what she did to Melody's picture and the unrestrained anger and violence that Melody displayed as a result. Who wouldn't be? Especially if said person won't listen to you or think about taking in the facts.

The heartache in Biyomon's normally proud little heart didn't cease. Not one bit. She hardened her heart against everything now. Her normally bright, sky blue eyes, often wide with curiosity and wonder, have now lost their signature shine. Her usually high but shrill voice was now closed up in the deep depths of her throat, shut by the chains of sadness. In the confines of her hardened heart, however, Biyomon was thinking deeply, locked in a pensive state without knowing she was thought about Melody and their now shattered friendship. While it was true that Biyomon didn't take too kindly to her when they first met, they gradually became used to each other and became friends despite their differing personalities. Sure, Melody was sour, moody, quiet, and more often than not a little a volatile, but she's friends with Yun, who is her total opposite! To Biyomon, Melody and Yun were like yin and yang, darkness and light, conflict and harmony. Melody is ferocious, brave, tomboyish, and on other occasions, very vocal and loud about her opinions while Yun is timid, gentle, peaceful, kind of naive, and accepting. They've been friends for years and years despite a strange, mysterious gap that suddenly appeared in their later years, keeping them separated for a while. If someone as nice and sweet as Yun can be friends with a sourpuss like Melody, then Biyomon thought she could too, and in a way, she managed to get close to her, even though in a small corner of her mind, she wasn't able to break the walls of Melody's heart completely. But what they did have was special to Biyomon, and even she knew this. Biyomon thought their slightly rocky and complicated friendship would last forever. But alas, this was not to be. Biyomon promised to be careful and discreet around Melody, and look what she'd done. She destroyed Melody's precious picture by accident, and Melody convinced herself that Biyomon did it on purpose! Biyomon had seen Melody yell at people before, but her cruel words hurt her (Biyomon) especially deeply because she was one of the few people (or in this case, Digimon) that Melody ever trusted, even liked to an extent. Biyomon was used to Melody liking her despite their occasional sibling-like squabbles, but Biyomon ruined that friendship because she destroyed her picture. This was an injury for there was no bandage big enough, and Biyomon's heard Melody say more than once that she's been hurt before and that she won't risk being hurt again. Biyomon tried to understand Melody's need to keep people out of her life and reject every single one of their advances. She tried to understand why Melody's cynical to the extreme. Maybe, she often thought, it was her way of getting by in life, maybe a way to show people that she's strong, not a weak little princess who needs to be locked in a castle, away from all the hurt. While Biyomon did know she was selfish and often made comments that hurt people's feelings, she didn't mean for them to hurt people. She simply didn't know better, and now knows better than to just say what's on her mind. But Melody has done this a lot and has hurt people a lot because of her sharp and venomous tongue. That made it harder to feel sorry for her. No, Biyomon was NOT going to feel sorry for her at all. Melody could cry her eyes out forever for all she cared, but, to Biyomon, her own sadness was MUCH bigger than Melody's. Melody often says she'll never forgive people, and Biyomon often wondered why.

Now Biyomon understood, in a way, why Melody doesn't forgive people. Biyomon decided in her heart that she won't forgive her either, if that's what she wants.

"Biyomon, dear? Are you alright?" Prairiemon suddenly asked out of the blue, noticing that Biyomon's been silent the entire day, and the sun is close to setting by now. Biyomon didn't say a word and just continued walking. But as soon as she was about to walk another few feet, Prairiemon noticed that Biyomon began to wobble.

Knowing what this signified, Prairiemon quickly gripped Biyomon's wing with one of her metal arms and kept her from walking any further. As a result of the excessive heat, Prairiemon's claw felt hot, but Biyomon didn't care. She tried to walk, but Prairiemon wasn't going to let her go any further. Biyomon let out a few loud moans, which made the entire Digimon Brigade stop in their tracks and turn around.

"Biyomon, look at you! You're sweating profusely! You need to rest!" Prairiemon told her in an alarmed voice, but Biyomon just wasn't having it and tried to wriggle out of the furry Digimon's metallic grasp. Dracomon and Bearmon approached them with worried looks.

"What's wrong?" Dracomon asked.

"What just happened?" Otoya asked, a little surprised by Prairiemon's yelping just now.

Biyomon was about to say something, but she suddenly fell unconscious. Since she's still in Prairiemon's arms, she didn't fall onto the sand, but Prairiemon could see clear as day that something was amiss. Seeing that Biyomon has no more energy to continue, Prairiemon scooped the pink bird in her arms and held her like she was a human baby. Despite being unconscious, Biyomon breathed heavily, and it sounded quite labored. Her entire face and body were beaded with gleaming sweat.

"Mercy me! I knew it! Biyomon's both malnourished and dehydrated! She's going to suffer a heat stroke if she continues on like this!" Prairiemon exclaimed.

"Aww! I knew I should have kept on pestering her to eat and drink something!" Riku slapped his forehead ruefully upon hearing Prairiemon's proclamation.

"We have plenty of food and water on us, but she kept refusing to eat or drink!" Dracomon cried out, cursing himself for his remiss handling of Biyomon's desire to refrain from eating or drinking. "I knew I should have been more persistent!"

"Is she gonna be alright?" Bearmon asked.

"We need to find a cool place and fast," Prairiemon said.

The kids and Digimon began looking around the desert until Isao saw something in the distance.

"Look! I see a little cave!" Isao cried out, pointing to a small, brown cave about thirty feet away from them.

"It might lead to somewhere, but let's use it as a place to rest for tonight. We don't want to divert from our destination," Sorcermon told them. Everyone agreed and quickly ran to the cave.

Sorcermon was right, the cave did lead to somewhere, but they decided not to take a risk and go further lest they end up somewhere they don't want to and end up getting trapped, like how those two branded Monochromon almost did if it weren't for Prairiemon managing to dig their way out. As soon as they got into the cave, Otoya pulled out a towel and set it on the ground so they could put Biyomon on it without getting her dirty. She then pulled out a piece of cloth and gave it to Lopmon, who froze it with her Freezing Snow attack. Riku, remembering that he brought bottles of water with him, decided to offer Biyomon some water. Unfortunately, being the obstinate little bird she is, she refused it. This was getting Riku mad.

"Come on, Biyomon! You've gotta drink some or you'll keel over again!" Riku persisted and tried to make Biyomon drink the bottle of water, but she pushed it away with her wing. Behind his back, Hokuto grabbed a bottle of water and began scarfing it down, his own face red and beaded with sweat while Rena tried to keep him from choking, realizing that he's becoming quite dehydrated as well.

"I-I'm fine! I don't need...water..." Biyomon croaked weakly, her voice becoming quite shrill because of her lack of proper hydration.

"It is not wise to deprive yourself of water in the middle of a torrid desert like this. You simply must rehydrate if you want to continue. You have to-" Kudamon tried to convince her to drink, but she finally got mad and smacked Kudamon to the side with her wing. Hokuto covered his eyes and moaned loudly upon seeing his friend get smacked. Nobody paid any heed to this, however.

"Hey! That was mean!" Isao yelled, appalled by Biyomon's sudden resistance.

"I DON'T CARE! Let me dehydrate for all I care! I deserve it for ruining everything! Melody's mad at me, so this'll be my punishment!" Biyomon screamed angrily, her voice sounding very shrill and raspy, probably because she didn't have anything to eat or drink. Hokuto scooted over to Kudamon and picked him up. Yun covered her ears upon hearing Biyomon start yelling at them.

"Biyomon! I know you're upset about this, but this isn't the way to cope with it!" Minako told her with a worried look in her amethyst eyes, even though she was dubious about whether Melody and Biyomon could repair their friendship. "You can't put your health at risk because of a fight!"

"You're only saying that because you never went through what I did! How could you possibly-" Biyomon was about to scream and lecture Minako, but something stopped her from doing so.

All of a sudden, she felt something hard hit her forehead, and it came so quickly that Biyomon didn't have time to evade it. Well, technically she couldn't because she willingly deprived herself of the energy to move her body exacerbated by the fact that she's quite dehydrated.

"OW!"

The blow ended as quickly as it came, and Biyomon felt her forehead throbbing. She rubbed it with one of her wings.

"That really hurt!" Biyomon complained.

"Hey! You finally complained about something!" Coronamon suddenly piped in.

"Minako! Why'd you do that?! That was mean!" Yun suddenly yelled in a shocked manner without taking her hands off of her ears.

Upon hearing these words, Biyomon regained her equanimity and realized that Minako is right in front of her, looking very austere. Her arms are crossed and her amethyst eyes are unusually bright. Bright with anger. Something she hardly ever displayed, even among her best friends.

"You know what I just did? I just gave you a headbutt, which means it hurts me just as much as it hurts you, so don't think you're the only one who's suffering!" Minako exclaimed sternly.

"Mina-chan, there wasn't any need to do that-" Salamon tried to calm her down, but Minako kept going, not really realizing that her Digimon partner is even talking to her.

"You say I don't understand, but you're wrong. You listen to me! I was on the same boat as you! When my brother died because I was too stubborn to forgive him for what he did, I convinced myself I killed him and thought that ending my life would make things better for everyone! But Mom and Yun convinced me that all I'll be doing is exacerbating the sadness of those around me, and killing myself isn't going to make things better, so I chickened out, and here I am! And now here you are trying to kill yourself by refusing all the food and water we want to give you just because you think Melody's never going to forgive you! That won't make things better, Biyomon! It just won't!" Minako yelled angrily, hoping to get her message across. Everyone was surprised, even impressed, as they watched with wide eyes and awestruck faces.

"Mina-chan..." Yun muttered under her breath, surprised by Minako's unorthodox way of taking action.

Salamon couldn't help but smile. _'Mina-chan...look how strong you've gotten. You were feeling the same way as her months ago. Now you're helping another. I see my efforts to help you haven't gone to waste,'_Salamon thought contentedly as she watched Minako scold Biyomon for her inappropriate way of coping with the pain and the sadness.

Aria looked at Shunji with a confused face. "What does ex...acer...bating mean?" Aria asked innocently, looking into Shunji's eyes with her own luminous brown ones as she tried to pronounce the new word she just learned.

Shunji smiled impishly. "To exacerbate means to make something worse than it already is. If two people are fighting and you try to break them up, but instead make them fight even more, then you're exacerbating their fight."

Aria's eyes widened. "Ohhh! I get it! Thanks, Shun-Niichan!"

"You're welcome!" Shunji said with an impish smile as he ruffled Aria's black hair.

"Humans can die?" Prairiemon asked Yun, sounding confused.

"Yeah. We're not like you Digimon. You can turn into DigiEggs if you get destroyed. We can't. If we die, we're gone forever and never come back," Yun told her grimly, removing her hands from her ears.

"It's quite a sad fate for all humans," Lopmon muttered sadly.

"That's just terrible!" Prairiemon exclaimed, shocked by this new revelation.

Minako took Riku's bottle of water quickly and rather forcefully.

"Hey!" Riku exclaimed upon seeing Minako yank the bottle out of his hands in a slightly violent manner.

"Now you are going to drink this water and you are going to rehydrate so we can keep going! Do you understand me, young lady?!" Minako commanded like she was a very strict headmistress of a boarding school (Miss Minchin, anyone?). Biyomon, admittedly, was quite cowed by Minako's sudden change in character. Not wanting to exacerbate her temper, she finally conceded defeat and complied. She took the bottle of water, opened it, and drank from it heavily, like a person consuming beer.

"Wow. It's no wonder you're the _"mother"_of our quartet, Mina," Kosuke said out of the blue.

Minako's stern look finally softened to that of the sympathetic and motherly look she always donned. "I dunno. Maybe I went a little too far," Minako muttered softly.

"I don't think so. She probably needed it. After all, you're one of those people who can really make people shut up and listen when you want them to," Kosuke said.

"That's true. Even when we were little, you were the most grown up out of all of us," Yun said.

"Really? Mina-chan was mature even when she was a kid?" Otoya asked curiously.

"I can certainly see you as the primary peacemaker of the Digimon Brigade," Labramon piped in.

"You bet! In fact, this one time, when we were little-" Kosuke was about to start telling them a story about when they were little until Yun interrupted them.

"Can't we save that for after this whole thing is over?" Yun exclaimed with a worried tone in her voice.

"I agree. Let's rest here for now, and then we move on tomorrow morning," Sorcermon said.

"But it's not even that dark out!" Otoya piped in.

"That may be, but we need our strength, and we can't risk going out lest we make Biyomon suffer again," Labramon told her.

"Good point," Link said.

"I have to agree with Sorcermon. Biyomon's suffered enough as it is," Prairiemon said as she watched Biyomon reluctantly eat a tangerine.

"Don't talk about me like I'm some little princess who needs constant protection!" Biyomon snapped as she swallowed part of the tangerine.

"Wow. She's definitely picked up some pieces of Mel-chan," Patamon whispered to Kosuke.

"Yep," Kosuke muttered.

With that, the Digimon Brigade decided to bunk for the night. But while the rest of the Digimon Brigade slept, Biyomon included, Yun had a hard time getting to sleep, and it wasn't because she was too used to sleeping in her comfy bed to suddenly have to sleep on sand and dirt and rocks while in her clothes either. Like Biyomon, she too thought about Melody. As far as Yun knew, Melody had always been rather cynical, even as a child, though when she was young, she wasn't nearly as cynical as she is now. Even in the fifth grade, Yun could tell that Melody definitely changed drastically in the period she was gone, and not just in her overall appearance either. Silently, Yun walked out of the cave, making sure to step over everyone and not step on them. Thankfully she didn't, even though she was quite fearful that she would, considering she had done it before. Unintentionally, of course. She went to the cave entrance and sat down. She looked up at the deep blue sky above her. There were some stars, and a large, blue green sphere with pink streams of light coming out from it hung in the sky. Although Yun stared at them, she wasn't really looking at them. She let herself be lost in the confines of her mind as she remembered a rather unpleasant memory. A particular memory that told her something about Melody just wasn't right.

(flashback)

_It was a week before the very end of April, and the kids happened to be in art class. Mrs. Nozaki looked quite happy and pleased as she stood at the front of the class._

_"I'm so proud of you all! Since we still have some time left, let's use this time to draw someone in your family. It can be anyone from your mother, your father, your siblings, or distant relatives," Mrs. Nozaki told them._

_Even though Yun liked to draw, she's not too fond of drawing members of her family. Not just because she's not very good at drawing people, but because Hisako and Teruki have often pestered Yun about drawing them. Quite a lot, and Yun hated it._

_"Why don't you draw a picture of us?" They would ask constantly. Yun always answered them, but they would still be persistent about it._

_She didn't draw them because she didn't love them. She loved her parents dearly. But she didn't find her drawing skills to be good enough to really use her parents as subjects. Besides, she preferred to draw things she wanted to draw, not things she didn't want to, and Hisako and Teruki's often incessant persistence only exacerbated her anxiety about drawing them. After a while, Yun got tired of it and decided she didn't want to hear any more of it. She didn't think Hisako or Teruki took her seriously, though. But now Mrs. Nozaki wants her to draw someone in her family too! Yun knew Mrs. Nozaki only said it so they can use up the rest of the time they had left, but she thought it was going to get graded, so she started anyway. She hoped that she could focus so much on one part that she would let the time go by and not have to really do it._

_As it would turn out, she wasn't the only one who abhorred drawing members of her own family._

_Yun didn't get to finish the upside down egg shape of her drawing when a voice suddenly permeated the silence._

_"...What is this? Are you making fun of me?"_

_The low but barely restrained voice belonged to Melody. Yun knew this and looked up. Much to her surprise, Mel is staring down at the paper with an extremely contorted and choleric look on her face, her luminous brown eyes ablaze with the flames of anger. Melody didn't even whisper when she said that, which caught Mrs. Nozaki's attention._

_"What was that, Shimotsuki-san?" Mrs. Nozaki asked calmly._

_All of a sudden, out of nowhere, Melody suddenly stood up from her seat, actually knocking her chair over as she stared daggers into Mrs. Nozaki's now surprised eyes. Yun covered her ears as the chair fell to the floor._

_"Is this your idea of fun?! Insulting me by forcing me to do something as ludicrous as this?!" Melody suddenly screamed angrily, waving the unused paper in front of Mrs. Nozaki's face._

_"Shimotsuki-san! What are you talking about?!" Mrs. Nozaki asked, clearly surprised by Melody's very sudden and very unprecedented outburst. So was the rest of the class._

_"Well I'm not going to fall for your stupid trick! You may think you have me wrapped around your finger, but you're dead wrong!" Melody screamed._

_Mrs. Nozaki was shocked. Most of the kids in the room gasped loudly._

_"Shimotsuki-san! I don't appreciate-" Mrs. Nozaki was about to say something until Melody cut her off again._

_"That's all you care about! You only want us to be your obedient little pawns who do everything you say without one complaint! I'm not gonna fall for your trick, and don't think I'm gonna satisfy you if that's what helps you sleep at night! I'll never forgive you for slandering me this way!" Melody screamed angrily at the top of her voice. Then she got up and dashed out of the room, knocking down a chair in the process. She didn't even bother to pick it up._

_"Mel-chan!" Yun wanted to go after her, but another girl stopped her._

_"Let her go. She's not worth it," The girl said, which made Yun mad._

_"Don't say that!" Yun snapped angrily, though admittedly she couldn't go after Melody. Soon, other kids started talking._

_"What the heck was that all about?"_

_"Beats me. By God, who knew she'd be such a punk?"_

_"I seriously don't like her. I wish she'd crawl under a hole and die already."_

_"She's so annoying! Anything we do will set her off!"_

_"Forget her. She's not worth our time."_

_"Children! Get back to work!" Mrs. Nozaki shouted, quite angry because of Melody's outburst, which made Yun cover her ears in fear. But Yun continued to wonder why Melody suddenly got angry, so at recess, she decided to approach her and ask her about it. Melody was at recess alright, but she was forced to sit on the bleachers, and if she's sitting on the bleachers, it means she got in trouble, likely because of the outburst she displayed. She sat on them with her face on her fists, continuing to wear her contorted, angry face. Yun didn't like this, but she decided to take this chance and ask her about it._

_"Mel-chan? I was wondering...why did you yell at Nozaki-sensei earlier?" Yun asked. Melody didn't even turn to look._

_"She insulted me! That's why! I'll bet she must have taken great pleasure in doing so! That's what they're all like! They sure do love making us kids suffer under their tyranny!" Melody snapped back._

_Yun looked confused. "Umm...how is asking you to draw a picture of your parents insulting?"_

_"You don't understand, Yun! You just don't get it! " Melody shouted. Yun was about to ask more about it, but a teacher suddenly got in between them, looking very austere._

_"Go back to the blacktop, Wakamiya. You can't talk with anyone on the bleachers," The male teacher said. Not wanting to get in trouble, Yun decided to leave, even though she still didn't feel satisfied._

(end flashback)

"...Yun?"

Yun gasped loudly upon hearing a low voice in the dead of night, with her eyes widening and her hand flew to her chest. She turned around to find Hokuto right behind her, also with wide eyes.

"Jeez, Hokuto-kun! You scared me!" Yun yelped while trying to maintain a whisper, even though she didn't do a good job at lowering her voice. Hokuto's eyes returned to normal, but he looked down at the sand with a dejected face.

"I did? I'm sorry..." Hokuto muttered. Yun could tell from the low but dejected tone in his voice that he's feeling quite bad about it. After she calmed down a bit, she decided to talk to him some more.

"It's okay. I do that with my dad all the time, even though I don't mean to," Yun said. Hokuto sat down on the sand. Yun did the same. They both looked up at the velvety night sky with wistful eyes.

"I didn't wake you up, did I?" Yun asked.

"No. I couldn't sleep," Hokuto replied softly.

"Me neither, and I think it's because I'm too used to sleeping in a soft bed," Yun told him. "By the way, are you okay? You looked like you were going to die from too much heat back there."

"I'm fine now. I'm not...used to being in hot places," Hokuto replied.

"I hate hot weather. Especially if it's above 85 degrees and humid. Ugh."

"Are you worried about her?" Hokuto asked in a low whisper. Yun didn't need to strain her ears to hear him considering that it's completely silent right now, and her hypersensitive ears could pick up anything in dead silence. People often wondered if her hearing was amplified.

"Yes. I am. She's my best friend, but I have to wonder...why she's the way she is," Yun told him quietly, in a wistful voice.

"You've been friends for a long time, haven't you?"

"Since second grade. That's as far as I can remember."

Hokuto looked up again. "You're lucky. I...I never got to go to school or make friends. Dad...he wouldn't let me out of the room. He said the outside world was too dangerous for me."

Yun's green eyes widened again. Hokuto's actually telling Yun about bits and pieces of his life before he was saved by Link and Masaomi! Usually, if anyone ever asked him about it, he would either clam up about it or go on a ridiculously long and detailed lecture about something else as a way to change the subject, as Minako noted once when Kosuke was still trying to break free from Kanako's alcoholism. Yun decided not to ask him about it because she knew it would make him uncomfortable, and she didn't want to make him uncomfortable. Now he's actually opening up. Yun couldn't help but smile for just a second, knowing that he's starting to get used to being with others.

"Did you ever go out at all?" Yun asked all of a sudden. Upon realizing she said it, she covered her mouth, rueful that she let it slip out.

She expected Hokuto to either clam up again or spout another long lecture, but he didn't do either of those things. He just shook his head grimly. "No. I've been locked in there all my life."

_'How can any kid survive eleven whole years being locked up in a little titanium room?!'_Yun thought, shocked that Hokuto lived such a life (Yun didn't know, but Hokuto has actually spent nine and a half years in the room. No one corrected her because she's only just found out about this information). Lots of questions were going through Yun's mind upon hearing this new revelation. Did his father ever feed him properly? Did he ever play with any toys or watch TV? Considering the fact that Hokuto spouts impeccably detailed lectures on anything he sees and the fact that she knew he's quite the bibliophile, she assumed that he got all of his information from books. Link did mention that there was quite a huge library of books in the little room Hokuto lived in, and he probably memorized every single detail he laid his cobalt blue eyes on. But no human contact with anyone besides his father? Even though Yun knew very little of how a child can survive without human contact, she knew that it was unhealthy in a way. Everyone has to have contact with someone in life, just once, or else they wouldn't know how to interact with anyone. It's no wonder Hokuto's so inhibited and easily frightened when around people. It's no wonder he's so quiet and timorous, because he's never been around anyone his own age! Or even in large crowds! Could that be why he doesn't consider himself human?

As soon as that thought popped into Yun's head, Hokuto's voice pulled her out of her reverie. "You really like her, don't you?"

Yun nodded as she looked up at the sky again. "Yes. I do. I know she can be kinda mean and moody, but...I think there's a reason why she's like that. Plus, she's always been there for me, so I still consider her my friend."

"I...I don't know...what a friend is," Hokuto muttered softly, his voice quivering a little.

As surprised as Yun was despite knowing him since May, she could understand why Hokuto wouldn't know what a friend is. Well, he would by reading something about it, but he likely doesn't know how to find a friend or communicate with them in real life, to actually experience friendship, even though he's been with the Digimon Brigade for a few months now. "A friend is someone who's not a part of your family but who loves you. They comfort you when you're sad, they help you with stuff you need help with, and you tell them secrets. Kudamon's your friend. Doesn't that count?"

"Yes. Kudamon's my friend. He's a great friend, and I love him very much...but a human friend..." Hokuto replied softly again. "How do you...do it? Be friends with someone..."

Yun wished she knew how to answer that question, but since she herself has a hard enough time making friends, let alone keeping them, due to her disability, she decided to keep her mouth shut. How could she teach someone about friendship when she herself is so inexperienced with it? Yun didn't want to throw him in the wrong direction, so she decided it wasn't worth the risk.

"Yun. Thank you," Hokuto whispered.

"For what?" Yun asked, confused.

"Everything. From the day we met...up to now. Does that make you...my friend?"

"I don't know. Do you want me to be your friend?"

"I..." Hokuto muttered, louder this time. "I...I know...I'm not human, and I don't think I'll ever be, but...you helped me come out and experience lots of things...things I didn't get to do with my father. I always wondered what it was like...to be with someone my age. You...showed me all of that. I want to know what it's like...to be friends with someone my age. Seeing you and Melody together all the time...and the times I spent with the Digimon Brigade as a whole...made me want to learn more about...friendship. I...I would very much like...to be your friend, even though you have lots of them," Hokuto finally blurted out.

Yun scooted a bit closer to him. "I've always considered you my friend."

"Huh?" Hokuto asked, confused. "Really?"

"Yeah. I mean, sure we don't have a lot in common, but you're a nice person and I like you. Did you not think we were friends before?" Yun told him.

Hokuto shook his head.

"Don't you remember the time I invited you to my house after that party? And that time we went to the movies together with Lucero and the rabbits? And the time we went blueberry picking? Friends do that stuff together," Yun explained.

"Oh. I didn't know. But I do remember being the one asking you if I could go see the...movie with you," Hokuto muttered, stumbling a little at the last sentence. Yun noticed that his cheeks turned a little pink, like Lopmon's ears and paws. She couldn't help but smile at that.

"I still have that little toy bird you gave me," Yun told him.

Now it was Hokuto's turn to smile. "Kimi hates that toy, and I thought I'd give it to you, since...I didn't know what else to do to...make you feel better."

"I love it. I stored it away in my little treasure box, where all of my precious treasures live. Oh! Hey! Here's an idea!" Yun told him, then an idea popped in her head. "How about after we get back from the Digital World, you come over to my house and we can play together? I'd love to show you my treasure box."

Hokuto smiled bigger this time. "I'd like that. But I don't know if...mother will let me. I'll ask her though."

"But, y'know...I'd very much like to be your friend too. If you'd let me, of course," Yun told him in a whisper. Hokuto nodded in response. Yun couldn't help but notice that Hokuto has quite a cute smile, like Lucero's whenever he's happy about something. She could see some cute dimples on his face. Hokuto then looked up at the night sky again.

"The sky is beautiful, isn't it?" Hokuto asked wistfully.

Yun looked up as well. "Yep. It sure is. I like the night. It's so quiet and peaceful."

"There...weren't any windows in the room I lived in," Hokuto muttered as he continued to stare at the velvety night sky.

"Really? Your dad wouldn't let you out at all?" Yun asked, suddenly curious.

Hokuto shook his head. "He said he wanted to keep me safe. Safe from the bad people. Safe from the outside world. I...kept asking him why, but that was the only answer he would give me. I...always knew that there was a world outside of my room. I even tried to sneak out a few times, but...he would always find out and drag me back in. After that, he would strap me to a slab and put me to sleep with anesthesia. But then I'd wake up back in my bed. It happens a lot, even when I didn't do anything. I'm usually asleep when the...tests happen, though I'm awake for others."

"Did it hurt?"

"Some of them did. But like I said, I was asleep through most of them."

"Did you ask him why he did those things to you?"

"Yes. He said they were important, that I was the only person he could rely on for them. That's all he'd tell me," All of a sudden, Hokuto's eyes began to water a bit. He began to look dejected. "I...I wonder if...he bred life into the monster inside me..."

"Hokuto-kun..." Yun wished she could help him, but she didn't know how. She did smile a little. "I'm glad you told me this much. My mom says that talking about your problems makes you feel better, though I don't see it doing any good."

"I'm glad I did, too. Thanks for listening...without talking bad about him," Hokuto said.

"Sorry if this sounds weird, but...during the times you were awake, when the tests were being done on you...um...were you scared at all? Didn't you ask whether...any of it was right?" Yun asked.

"What do you mean?" Hokuto asked again, cocking his head to one side in confusion.

"How do I put it? Umm...If you're in a situation that makes you scared despite...people telling you it's okay, your mind starts saying things like, _"This isn't right! This isn't normal! This isn't good! This is wrong! They shouldn't be doing this to me!"_Did you ever...ask yourself these questions?" Yun explained, even though she stumbled a little in trying to come up with the right words to construct the sentence.

Hokuto didn't respond this time. He just looked down at his thin, pale, spindly little fingers sadly.

"I mean, parents performing experiments on their kids without thinking about how they feel about it...that's child abuse, Hokuto-kun. I know you love your dad and all, but you have to admit, being locked in a room and being used as a guinea pig for strange science stuff...isn't something that normal kids go through," Yun explained, stumbling a little on constructing her sentence.

"I get it now. It's no wonder...people talk bad about my father. What I went through...isn't normal," Hokuto said. Then he stood up. "Let's go back inside."

Yun decided to follow him. The two of them finally went back to sleep. This time, Yun fell asleep for real. What they didn't know was that Kudamon wound up eavesdropping on their conversation, as he had been woken up by Yun's yelping when Hokuto unknowingly snuck up on her, but he stayed where he was so he wouldn't scare them. He opened his eyes and smiled as Hokuto fell asleep next to him, looking very peaceful and content. Kudamon remembered having all of those conversations with Hokuto, but for as long as he knew this timid human being, not once did Hokuto ever talk about Saruto or his life with him with anyone, not even Link or his own family.

_'Hokuto...look how far you've come. You're finally starting to understand the true value of friendship. I'm so proud of you,'_Kudamon thought as he gazed upon Hokuto's plump, sleeping face. Then he himself fell asleep.

The next day, and the day after that, and a few more days after that, the Digimon Brigade continued their walk through Wasted Desert while trying to make sure Biyomon doesn't starve or dehydrate herself. Prairiemon and Dracomon decided to keep a close eye on her while everyone else followed Link. At night, they'd find a place to sleep and stay there until sunrise. Secretly though, Yun wished she could go back to the Digital World and bring Melody back, but if she did that, then her friends would be left behind because the passage of time is different in the Digital World and the real world.

Speaking of Melody...

A little ways from the cave they slept in that first day, a digital portal appeared. Yellow sparks flew as Thunderbirmon thundered out from the portal with Melody on her back. The digital portal disappeared as soon as she came out, and Thunderbirmon stopped in her tracks.

"Whoo! We're finally here! Boy, what a thrill ride!" Thunderbirmon said as Melody hopped off of her back and pulled out her two D-Chips.

"I'm gonna call Opossumon and Maildramon, okay?" Melody asked.

"Sure. We're gonna need all the help we can get," Thunderbirmon said.

Since the hole in the digivice only takes one D-Chip at a time, Melody decided to call for Maildramon first, then Opossumon. At first, when they materialized, the two Digimon looked at each other with confused faces, then they saw Melody and lit up.

"Melody? Is that you, my dear?" Maildramon asked in her usual polite, lady-like voice.

"Mel! It is you! Wahoo!" Opossumon suddenly glomped Melody and snuggled up to her happily. "Long time no see!"

"Hi Opossumon..." Melody muttered, a little perturbed by Opossumon's glomp. Opossumon got off of her and noticed that Thunderbirmon is with her.

"Oh? New friend?" Opossumon asked, pointing to Thunderbirmon with one of her red gloved hands.

"Yeah. This is Thunderbirmon," Melody said.

Thunderbirmon bowed politely. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"It really has been a long time, hasn't it?" Maildramon asked.

"There's no time for that now! We've gotta go help my friends!" Melody suddenly exclaimed timorously, expecting the trio of summoned Digimon to follow her lead.

But they didn't. They looked around with confused faces.

It was Maildramon who took the plunge.

"Mel? Why is Biyomon not with you?" Maildramon asked politely.

Immediately, the Digimon trio could see a change in Melody's demeanor upon the mere mention of Biyomon's name. Her eyes blazed with anger. "That's not important right now!"

That did it for Opossumon. As soon as Melody was about to leave, she floated right in front of the sour girl with courage.

"Whaddaya mean that's not important?! Biyomon's your partner, isn't she?! She's your friend! You should know better than to say your partner isn't important!" Opossumon scolded angrily.

"Get off my case, will you?!" Angrily, Melody pushed Opossumon to the side. But these three Digimon weren't going to give up. Maildramon decided to intervene this time by blocking her path, like how Opossumon tried to do earlier.

"Out of my way!" Melody yelled.

"Did something happen between you and Biyomon? Tell us about it, dear," Maildramon asked as politely as she could.

"Why do you care?!" Melody snapped.

"We care because we're your friends, and friends talk about their problems," Maildramon told her, not missing a beat.

"I agree. You've been acting strange, and we want to know why. We won't hold anything against you for it, honest," Thunderbirmon said.

"I don't need your pity!" Melody snapped.

"Hey! There's a difference between being a friend and showing pity! Pitying someone means feeling sorry for them and acting like they can't do anything for themselves without 24/7 protection! Now spill the beans! Did you or Biyomon get into a fight or somethin'?!" Opossumon wasn't going to let this go, as she continued to persist. So did Maildramon and Thunderbirmon.

"Mel. You'll feel better if you talk about it. I don't like to see you with anger in your heart," Maildramon said.

Melody fell silent. She couldn't believe that her three secondary Digimon actually caught on and continue to ask her about Biyomon. What especially annoyed her was that they didn't give up and kept on going despite her yelling at them. Whenever Melody snapped at someone, they would usually get off her case. It had been that way with quite a few of her foster families, and Melody was happy they didn't bother with her any longer. If they stopped bothering her, it meant they gave up on her. Melody had always gotten this response, so she figured it wouldn't change, even among her Digimon. But this trio of armor-level Digimon continued to persist. Melody tried to make them get off her case, but they just wouldn't let this matter go. Finally, after a few minutes, she conceded defeat and told them everything.

"Wow. That explains why you're so sour today," Opossumon said as she scratched her head with one of her red gloves.

"Mel...you're going to hate me for saying this, I know," Thunderbirmon said. She hesitated a little bit, but she continued on. "But...I don't think you should have acted the way you did."

"Thunderbirmon! You're actually taking that chicken's side over mine?!" Melody screamed upon hearing this coming from one of her secondary Digimon of all things. "She destroyed the last trace of all the happy memories I had! ON PURPOSE!"

"No. I'm not saying I'm taking her side. I just think you're letting your sadness and hatred consume your being. Why in the world would Biyomon, your partner, want to destroy your precious picture on purpose? She doesn't look like the type to destroy anyone's precious item on purpose," Thunderbirmon told her, not in the least bit cowed by her ever so blatant anger.

"She pretended to be my friend and showed me her true colors! She's just like all the idiots I had to put up with! I lowered my guard and I let her into my heart, and I'll never forgive her for slandering me by destroying the very thing I hold dear!" Melody screamed back.

"Whoa whoa whoa! Hold up! Don't you think you're over exaggerating a little? I mean, I know I haven't known you guys for that long, but from what I've seen,, your partner's very honest and straightforward, always sayin' what she thinks. I really don't think someone as honest and vain as her would lie to you or fabricate a friendship just so they can hurt you," Opossumon explained as calmly as she could, but Melody still wasn't having it.

"She's just like all the people who betrayed me and lied to me! All the people I was thrown onto only took me in just so they can get money and use it for their own amusement and self-satisfaction while not thinking about my welfare! Everything they did for me was a lie!" Melody snapped again.

"If that's true, then let me ask you this: do you really think a Digimon who has absolutely no memories of her past life, with her only contact being with you, could possibly think of slandering you?" Maildramon asked as sternly as she could. "And even if she did remember who she really was, how could she have known about what you went through unless you told her? It's not something people or Digimon can learn at the drop of a hat, y'know."

Melody tried to say something to contradict Maildramon, but nothing came out. Melody's vocal chords closed up right as Maildramon uttered the very last question. Melody remembered the day she met Biyomon as a DigiEgg, and everything afterward. Biyomon showed absolutely no signs of ever having remembered her past life, and even said that she doesn't remember anything, along with the rest of the Digimon Brigade's Digimon. That, and Melody never did tell Biyomon about any crucial details about her past life, and the details she did blurt out were only on the spur of the moment, when she fought with Kosuke when he suddenly turned on Yun thanks to the stress Kanako kept piling on him when she continued to be a self-pitying drunkard. Biyomon overheard it all, yet she never pestered her about it. Biyomon didn't try to pry into her life, and if she wanted to, she'd ask about it, and she usually asks about anything she's curious about, and considering that Biyomon's pretty vocal and says what she thinks, it wouldn't be strange for her to question Melody's lifestyle. Well, people have always questioned Melody's lifestyle before, but they always took it as displays of defiance. Biyomon, on the other hand, accepted it despite expressing doubt about it before. Melody suddenly found herself staring down at her tall, brown boots and the sand below her.

"Mel. I don't believe you're a bad person. No, I KNOW you're not a bad person despite the front you put up. I just feel that you should let go of your insecurities and allow yourself to consider the facts," Maildramon told her.

"But...but..." Melody suddenly found that her voice is quivering, like she's about to cry. "I've been hurt too many times before. I don't want to...be hurt again. True kindness doesn't exist for me. I can't rely on anyone. Not even my friends. Just me. I...I can't ever forgive anyone..."

"I don't think Biyomon is a Digimon who intends to hurt anyone, despite her vanity and selfish little ways," Thunderbirmon told her kindly.

"Besides, I noticed you and that Yun girl were real close when we first met. You like her a lot, don'cha? You don't think she's out to get ya, do ya?" Opossumon asked.

Upon hearing Yun's name, Melody perked up again. "Absolutely _not_! Yun doesn't know a thing about pity or using kindness as a way to display malice or to manipulate people, even though people keep accusing her of doing that a lot! She can't wrap her head around complicated stuff like that! She's autistic for God's sake!" Melody screamed, appalled that Opossumon would even think of assuming something like that about Yun. But Opossumon didn't assume that at all.

"You like her, and that's great. But don't you want to get to know other people and not make up wild ideas about them? 'Cuz you kinda sound like you think you're the only one who's a victim while the rest of the world is out to get you," Opossumon told her. She tried not to put on an accusatory tone, but Melody scowled at her anyway.

"Mel...I think you should make up with Biyomon. You'll feel a lot better," Maildramon said.

"Can we just go and help the Digimon Brigade already?" Melody asked while crossing her arms.

Maildramon, Opossumon, and Thunderbirmon didn't say anything more and decided to hop on Thunderbirmon's back. The blue and yellow electric bird ascended into the air as Maildramon and Opossumon followed them from behind. But Melody was suddenly lost in her mind, thinking about what her trio of secondary Digimon have been telling her.

For once, Melody finally began to cultivate feelings of doubt in regards to her survivalist lifestyle. Pushing people away to keep from getting hurt, even at the cost of potential feats of true friendship...is it really worth it after all? Could she face Biyomon and forgive her?

Melody shook her head. _'No! That picture was the only copy I had, and she destroyed it! I can't forgive her and I never will! That woman...took away my ability to forgive...'_All of a sudden, she imagined herself as a young girl, sitting on her knees in a huge pile of snow, very lightly clothed, with her fingers and toes turning purple from mild frostbite, screaming and howling and crying in the dead of night.

No, she wasn't going to forgive anyone. Especially not on that day...

Finally, a week passed and the Digimon Brigade decided to rest among huge stones that looked a bit like the Stonehenge, only smaller and arranged differently. Otoya laid herself against one of the rocks, and Labramon slept on her lap as she stroke his fur gently. Rena, as usual, practiced walking around on her prosthetic legs, using the stones as her support while Lunamon, Minako, and Prairiemon watched and remained close to her in case she fell or her prosthetic leg suddenly popped off. Oddly enough, Lopmon was on Riku's shoulder. Yun didn't notice because she was too focused on something else. Yun sat on the sand and decided to take off both her sneakers and green-starred socks so she could give her feet some breathing room. Without realizing she was doing it, she put her bare feet and hands into the soft sand as she watched Terriermon play with Prairiemon, Dracomon, Salamon, and Patamon.

That was when she noticed it.

Yun touched the sand again. She grabbed a huge heap of it and let it all fall out in between her chubby fingers. It was soft. That was it.

It didn't feel like anything.

It didn't feel hot.

"My goodness, it's so very hot! I have a feeling I'm going to feel faint if I continue on in this horrid weather any longer," Lucero said as he sat down next to Yun. He then noticed Yun looked at the sand with a fixated look on her face. Both of them failed to notice that Aria and MarineAngemon walked over to them.

"What are you doing, Yun?" Aria asked.

Aria's sweet voice pulled Yun out of her reverie. Yun turned to look at little Aria with a confused face. "Aria-chan...touch the sand."

Aria did as asked and touched the sand.

"It feels nice," Aria chirped happily.

"It doesn't burn your hand or anything?" Yun asked.

"Nope," Aria shook her head. "Why?"

"The sand...it doesn't feel hot when I touch it, and we're in the middle of a desert!" Yun explained. "Look!" Yun touched the rock next to her as well. "This isn't hot either, even though it's been under the sun for who knows how long!"

MarineAngemon touched the sand herself, and she felt one of her little protrusions get singed. "Ow! It feels hot to me!"

"I as well," Lucero said as he touched the sand with his hand, then took it away immediately.

"Hot hot hot hoooot!" Hokuto yelped upon touching a stone with his hand on the other side of the stone pile.

Yun continued to stare at the sand below her with a curious and confused look on her face. How in the world can anything that's been sitting under the sun for a prolonged amount of time not emit any kind of heat? And if it was hot, then her bare hands and feet would be burned by now. But she didn't feel any heat, and Yun, after going through quite a huge amount of utterly hot and humid summers in her eleven years of life, and from the way Hisako told her about Ayaka being born on one of the hottest days in Japan, was no slouch when it came to feeling the effects of the blazing sun and global warming, since she's very sensitive to temperature in general. The Digimon can feel it, and Lucero and Hokuto can feel it, so why can't the humans?

Wait...Lucero and Hokuto can feel the heat while she can't?

As soon as that thought popped into her head, she was suddenly pulled out of her reverie by something that gently but quickly stroke both of her feet. It was soft, but at the same time a little rough. Upon feeling it, Yun knew what it was, but she yelped with surprise, which made Lucero stand up in alarm, and yanked her feet away as she turned around to find the source of the feeling. Riku sat right behind her with a surprised look on his freckled face, his green eyes widening. Lopmon clung to his left shoulder.

"Riku! Did you tickle my feet just now?!" Yun yelped angrily, surprise overtaking her. Riku's equally surprised look faded a bit, and now his green eyes developed a tint of guilt in them.

"Yeah. You looked kind of down, so I wanted to make you laugh a bit," Riku confessed in a rather straightforward manner, then looked down at the sand dejectedly.

"I told you it wasn't a good idea," Lopmon told him. Upon seeing Riku's normally bright, sunny, and cheery face turn sad and contorted, Yun immediately felt guilty for misconstruing Riku's well-intended actions. She had seen Riku cry before, and to her, it was a pretty frightening sight, and she didn't want to see that again.

"Sorry..." Riku muttered wistfully.

"No no! I'm the one who should be sorry for getting scared like that," Yun said. "I just kinda don't like it when stuff touches me suddenly, that's all. Don't be sad!"

Immediately, the sadness in Riku's face faded, and his usual bright smile returned. "I know what you mean. That's alright. I'm like that too."

Yun then turned to Lopmon and became confused again. "Lopmon? What are you doing on Rikkun's shoulder?"

"My feet can't handle walking on this hot sand, and Riku-san just up and put me on his shoulder while you weren't looking," Lopmon explained with a smile.

"Oh!" Yun exclaimed, suddenly reminded of why she looked _"down"_like Riku said. "Rikkun! Touch the sand. Does it feel hot to you?"

Riku dug through the sand with his hand since he's on his knees right now, and much to his surprise, it doesn't burn his hand, nor does it feel like anything at all! Like Yun, Riku is also sensitive to temperature, and he'd know right away if the weather is too hot or too cold.

"No! It doesn't!" Riku said as he pulled his hand out.

"The Digimon can feel the heat, so why can't we?" Yun asked, a little louder than usual.

Kosuke and Dracomon, who both happened to be nearby, wound up overhearing their conversation, partly because Yun and Riku's voices became a little loud upon their getting together. Kosuke decided to interrupt their thoughts.

"Yun! We've been walking through this desert for a whole week, and you JUST NOW notice?!" Kosuke exclaimed, surprised that Yun would be so slow to catch on.

"Aw, come on!" Yun whined, shocked that Kosuke would put her on the spot like that.

"Kosuke! That's not a nice way to talk to your friends!" Dracomon scolded. "Besides, I'm sure she noticed."

"Sorry," Kosuke muttered as he looked down at the sand dejectedly.

"Actually, I've noticed as well," Minako suddenly piped in. "I've actually noticed for a while. I just wasn't sure if my mind was playing tricks on me or something else."

"You're right, little lady," Link said as he hopped off one of the stones and onto the sand. "We humans can't feel hot or cold in this world. I've been through quite a few deserts and blizzards, and weirdly enough, I never suffered from dehydration, heat stroke, frostbite, or any weather-related ailments. I think it's because we're in the Digital World, and it's likely that weather in the Digital World is different from weather in the real world, kind of like the passage of time."

"You knew this yet you never told us until now?" Kosuke asked with his arms crossed.

"I thought you'd be able to figure it out on your own, since it's not too hard to notice," Link told him.

"But we Digimon can feel the heat right now," Agumon said.

"Biyomon was hit by Melody's guitar yet she didn't die, whereas anyone who'd be whacked with a guitar would suffer some kind of brain damage or even die," Minako explained. "I'll have to look into this," Minako said as she got her laptop out and began typing.

Riku and Yun both looked back at the soft sand. Yun grabbed a big heap of it and let it all slide out in between her fingers like many waterfalls. Riku and Lopmon both noticed that Yun is looking at the sand quite intently, albeit a little insouciantly, like she's trying to be lost in her own world. But Riku, being as observant as he is, knew there was more too it than that. So did Lopmon.

"Do you like the sand?" Riku suddenly asked out of the blue with a small smile on his face. Without turning around to look at him, Yun smiled and nodded.

"It's soft," Yun muttered. "I guess I like Digital World sand better than beach sand. It always burns my feet even with sandals on."

Riku's emerald eyes softened as he looked at the sand with her. "Yun. I gotta admit, you're real lucky to have a friend like Mel."

"You think so?" Yun asked, looking at him this time, only Riku didn't look back at her.

"Yep. I didn't have any friends back when Rena and I lived in Hokkaido. Kids hated us, me especially. If you had met me back then, you'd hate me, since I was pretty loud and hyper and just plain wild," Riku explained. "I did all sorts of weird stuff. I'd talk when the teacher was talking, I'd run out of the classroom, I'd throw stuff, I'd get mad if kids didn't want to play with me, and I yelled a lot. The teachers back at that school were always yelling at me, even when I wasn't doing anything wrong."

Yun was about to say something, but Lopmon beat her to it. "Really? You acted like that? You certainly don't do any of those things now," Lopmon said with some shock in her emerald eyes.

"I know, right? I've sure come a long way since then thanks to Dad and Rena...but even though I've changed, I don't think other people believe I can, Mom especially. I have to admit, I'm kind of jealous that you've had friends since second grade while I didn't get any until fifth grade, and that's when me and Rena moved here," Riku said.

"Otoya-chan didn't have friends until fifth grade either," Yun said.

"Yeah, and...I'm kinda happy you're my first friend. You accepted me and didn't mind my wackiness when I transferred into your class. You didn't judge me right off the bat and saw that I'm trying to change. I don't know where I'd be if you weren't around," Riku whispered with a smile on his face.

"Come on, Rikkun. I'm the stupidest person ever! I can't do anything right! I'm a terrible person!" Yun argued, trying to keep her voice down to a whisper.

"Yun! How the heck are you stupid? You're way smarter than me! You have better grades than me! You're way more...uh...dignified? Yeah, dignified! You're way more dignified than I am! You saved Kosuke's life even though he treated you bad! You devised a ridiculous but totally awesome plan to save Aria from that poor excuse of a dad! You assisted Rena during her self-made physical therapy sessions at school, and best of all, you and the others managed to convince a police officer to not arrest me by looking at evidence! Yun, what terrible person does all those things?! Not only that, you managed to convince every single one of us, me included, that Mel isn't some sort of goth girl gangster wannabe! You're the first person who ever accepted me for who I was and didn't stereotype me! We both love anime and manga and games, and that's what hit it off! And besides..."

All of a sudden, Riku put both of his hands on Yun's sides and tickled her yet again, only this time he was successful in making her laugh. Lopmon hopped into Lucero's arms when Riku ambushed her partner. Since Yun has on a rather light shirt, it was easy for Riku to move it and force his fingers to gain access to Yun's sensitive skin. Bursting into laughter, Yun tried to force the mischievous Riku off of her, but being as physically weak as she is, couldn't as she realized she fell on the sand face up. Riku smirked impishly, showing off his white teeth, though it must be confessed there's some specs of yellow in parts of them.

"You're so much fun to torture!" Riku chirped happily as he relished in Yun's laughter.

"Quit it, Rikkun! Quit it!" Yun cried out as she tried to pry him off, but she was caught in his clutches, unable to get out, and nobody else bothered to help her, as they were too far away or just too busy watching and enjoying seeing this joyful little fiasco.

"Isn't it interesting how two different people can get along?" Lopmon asked.

"Yes. Very much so. Riku-dono's normally very loud, yet I'm surprised Yun is able to tolerate him, not that that's a bad thing," Lucero said. All of a sudden, Riku and Yun suddenly disappeared!

"Huh?!" Lucero yelped.

"What in the world?!" Lopmon cried out upon seeing them disappear. Lopmon and Lucero ran over to the spot where they were playing...only to find something strange.

The sand below them is sloping downward, like a steep hill.

Yun and Riku are at the very bottom of it. Riku is still playfully torturing Yun, completely oblivious to what just happened.

"Yun! Riku-san!" Lopmon cried out, which finally got their attention. Both Riku and Yun looked up, and were surprised to find that Lucero and Lopmon look a lot smaller than they were before. Upon hearing their cries, Minako, Kosuke, Otoya, Labramon, Terriermon, and MarineAngemon joined Lucero and Lopmon.

"Huh?! How'd you all get up there?" Yun asked, confused.

"I think the better question would be...how did we get down here?" Riku told her.

"You okay?" Terriermon asked.

Yun looked around herself to see if she sustained any small injuries. She didn't. She did the same with Riku, and noticed that he's clean as well. She looked up at them and waved her arm like she was saying hi to them. "We're fine!"

Lucero exhaled a sigh of relief. Lopmon decided to slide down the hill to meet with them. Lucero did the same.

"I didn't know this was here. I assumed the desert was flat all around," Kosuke said.

"You'd be surprised at what the desert can conceal," Labramon told him calmly.

Lucero helped Yun up while Riku helped himself up.

"Hey! Y'know, this kinda reminds me of Aladdin! Y'know, at the beginning where Jafar and his annoying parrot friend are searching for that tiger-shaped cave in the sand! Man, this is so cool!" Riku exclaimed as he looked all around, his motivation to torture Yun completely forgotten in the blink of an eye.

"How in the world can Riku-dono shift from one subject to another so easily?" Lucero asked.

"I have no idea," Lopmon said.

"Do you think we should go back up?" Yun asked.

"I think we should. Dost thou wish for my help?" Lucero replied.

"I dunno. Let's see if I can climb it first," Yun said as she tried to climb the sloping sand hill. Despite her inexperience with climbing hills, especially sandy ones, she did manage to climb to a decent height, and the top isn't very far away. However, all of the sand is soft, and it didn't take long for Yun to slip and fall back to the bottom. Otoya tried to grab her, but Yun fell too fast for her to grab her.

"Awww! Guess we'll need help after all," Yun groaned.

Labramon looked at Prairiemon expectantly. "Prairiemon. Do you think you can make a tunnel in the sand so Yun and the others can get through it?" Labramon asked.

"I'd like too, but the sand is too soft, and I don't think any tunnel I make will last long enough," Prairiemon replied, feeling guilty for not being able to help.

"You have a good point, and the sand is too soft," Labramon said as he dug a small hole in the sand, only for it to completely fill back up with more sand.

All of a sudden, Otoya snapped her fingers. "I got it!" She then pulled out her ocean blue digivice, held it in her hands for a bit, closed her eyes, and all of a sudden, a glowing white rope appeared from it. Otoya then threw the rope at Yun, and it coiled around her waist.

"Good! It got her!" Otoya exclaimed.

Minako beamed. "I see what you're doing! You want to use the digivice to pull her up!"

"We'll likely be stuck there ourselves if we go down there, plus the rope is just the right distance! But I may need someone strong to hold onto me so I don't fall down there myself," Otoya told her.

"We can help with that!" Coronamon exclaimed, suddenly appearing from behind her. Shunji, Kosuke, Agumon, and Dracomon decided to volunteer as well.

"Okay! Here's the plan. You all keep Otoya on the sand so she doesn't fall," Minako told them, and they nodded in response. She then turned to everyone on the bottom of the slope, Riku included. "You all push Yun up so she can climb it safely!"

"Will do!" Riku did a sailor salute as Minako gave him the command.

While everyone at the top of the hill held onto Otoya, Lucero and Riku decided to push Yun upward. Otoya and everyone else pulled on her digilasso with all their might as they tried to help Yun get to the top. Astonishingly enough, it was working! After a bit, Yun and Lopmon finally made it to the top as the kids managed to pull her up.

"Thanks," Yun said as Otoya helped her up.

"No worries. Now we have to get Rikkun and Lucero-kun up," Otoya said. Lopmon turned around to try and talk to Riku and Lucero, but she saw something behind them that made her long ears rise into the air with alarm, and the two boys didn't even notice.

"RIKU! LUCERO! BEHIND YOU!" Lopmon screamed as loud as she could.

Lucero and Riku both turned around with alarm, only to see that a spinning black and orange mass was rolling right toward them.

"Spiral Edge!"

Riku leaped out of the way in shock while Lucero, oddly enough, stood his ground and valiantly smacked the mass with his right fist so hard that the mass was knocked back into the sand.

"Whoa! That's a Gizamon!" Riku yelled upon laying eyes on the Digimon, which immediately got back on it's feet.

"A Digimon! We've gotta help them!" Terriermon exclaimed.

"MarineAngemon, go help them!" Aria told

her tiny fairy friend.

"Yes ma'am!" MarineAngemon chirped as she flew to the bottom of the hill.

Biyomon, suddenly overcome with curiosity, decided to walk to the edge of the hill and watch everything from above. Cutemon noticed and walked over to her with worry.

"You should stay here, kyu," Cutemon suggested, but Biyomon didn't say a word.

The rogue Gizamon gave Lucero the stink eye, like he was the worst thing he ever saw, but he continued to approach them eerily. "So, the rumors are true after all! Come with me to the inner sanctum! Master will be most surprised!"

"Nay! Begone, rogue beast!" Lucero yelled angrily as Gizamon tried to lunge at him again.

MarineAngemon quickly flew in front of him. "Spray of Hearts!" A cloud of pink bubbly hearts shot out from her mouth, but Gizamon managed to avoid all of them, though it kept him from attacking Lucero.

"Water Cure!" Gizamon shot a spray of water from his mouth. Riku and Lucero all managed to avoid it, but someone else didn't, as it came too fast.

"Biyomon!" Bearmon yelped.

Yes, Biyomon got soaked by Gizamon's attack. Her pink feathers now stuck to her tiny body, and the ones on her head dripped with water. She fell on her tail feathers as the attack hit her. Bearmon, feeling guilty that he couldn't jump in and save her, decided to at least try to dry her off.

"Biyomon! Come with me. I'll dry you off," Bearmon tried to grab Biyomon's clawed wing, but something stopped him.

All of a sudden, Biyomon was suddenly enveloped by a rainbow-hued light. A light so hot that it nearly burned Bearmon's fur, but he backed away in time to avoid getting totally singed. Biyomon stood up as soon as Bearmon backed away and opened her eyes.

Only her eyes weren't blue as the sky anymore. Now they're glowing in an eerie red light.

Not only that, the aura around her seemed to grow bigger, brighter, and hotter. All of a sudden, a raspy yet ferocious roar escaped her mouth, and it echoed. With nothing but anger and hate. It was so loud Yun fell to her knees and covered both of her ears in fright. Even Riku, Lucero, MarineAngemon, and Gizamon could see it, and they all looked frightened.

Before anyone could do anything, the now flame-consumed Biyomon suddenly zipped off the top of the hill and descended right toward Gizamon like a race car that's going so fast it can't stop. Gizamon tried to get away, but Biyomon's attack managed to not only hit him, but burn his entire body and leave it covered with brown marks. Gizamon tried to get up, but the pain consumed his very being, and he fell back to the sand.

But Biyomon didn't stop attacking him.

Biyomon flew so fast and glowed so brightly that she turned around and attacked Gizamon again. And again. And again. Everyone was so frightened, nobody could move as they were frozen in place. Frozen with shock and fear at the frightening sight before them.

"What's going on?! Why's Biyomon so angry?!" Bearmon yelled.

"I don't know! But we have to stop her!" Link proclaimed.

"She's not letting up!" Coronamon piped in as Biyomon attacked Gizamon yet again. Even the now completely immobile Gizamon started to get scared.

"No! Stop! Please! Have mercy!" Gizamon yelled, but Biyomon attacked him yet again in the biggest paroxysm of anger and hatred she ever displayed...only this time, she killed Gizamon. Once she laid the final attack on him, Gizamon broke into a million grey data particles. One would expect them to fly into the sky and head to the Meadow of Birth so he could reform and turn into a DigiEgg. But no, the data was going inside Biyomon. Riku, seeing what this meant, yanked out his digivice.

"Wait!" Riku held out his digivice, hoping that Gizamon's data would fly into it. Thankfully it did, and a DigiEgg formed.

But Biyomon didn't stop. She continued to fly around crazily and ram herself against the sand while consumed by fire, howling like an angry monkey.

"Spray of Hearts!" Desperate to get Biyomon under control, MarineAngemon unleashed another cloud of heart bubbles to try and subdue her, but Biyomon's flames managed to permeate all of them. But this tiny little pixie wasn't going to give up yet.

"Magic Water!" A huge, swirling torrent of water shot out from the heart on her abdomen and successfully managed to drown Biyomon. When the water dissipated, Biyomon lay on the sand, soaked yet again, only this time the fire around her body has finally been put out. But her anger didn't disappear. She tried to get up, but Link leaped to the bottom of the hill and, with his left hand, he whacked Biyomon on the neck, so hard that she finally fell unconscious. Just to be safe, MarineAngemon let out three heart bubbles and made them hit Biyomon.

"Is it over?" Riku asked fearfully. Link nodded. At the top of the hill, Yun uncovered her ears. Link decided to bring both Lucero and Riku up to the top of the hill, and he didn't need the help of the other kids to do so. But everyone was pretty shaken up by what just transpired.

"That Gizamon was definitely one of MoonMillenniummon's underlings, I'm sure of it," Sorcermon said.

"But why did Biyomon suddenly go berserk just now? She's usually never like that," Lunamon asked timorously, trembling because of what just happened.

"She doesn't have a Dark Emblem, even though her eyes glowed red just now," Kudamon piped in.

"I think her feelings of anger got the best of her," Link muttered as carried the unconscious and soaking wet Biyomon in his arms like she was his baby.

"Anger?" Coronamon asked.

"Do you think it's because Melody was mad at her?" Isao asked.

"Probably so, considering how traumatized and down-trodden she's been since you got here," Link said.

Yun looked down at the sand below her feet dejectedly. _'Mel-chan's D-Heart looked weird. Could that have something to do with it?'_She thought. She wondered if the darkening of Melody's D-Heart somehow makes Biyomon's feelings of dejection and anger manifest in her powers and could possibly turn her evil. It happened in the other Digimon show she watched. Who's to say it can't happen in real life? She wished Melody were here so she could talk to her, but alas, that is not to be.

She was about to be lost in her mind some more, but Sorcermon's voice pulled her out of it.

"Look! There it is! Wisemon's castle!" Sorcermon cried out, pointing to some destroyed rocks in the horizon.

Everyone ran to the ruins of the large castle structure, even though it proved to be a little farther than they expected. When they got there, the sun just started to set. The castle in itself looks like a weird version of the Stonehenge in England, only more broken. Large fragments of stone surround the castle exterior. Columns have been split in half and lay scattered all over the place. The castle is so fragile-looking that it looks as though it could fall apart. But it still rose to the sky, proving to the world that it survived the most devastating of tragedies. It's still very big and very tall, possibly about half the size of the Empire State Building, and all the kids and Digimon could easily enter it and fit inside.

"_This_is Wisemon's castle?" Rena asked as she hung onto one of the big stones.

"It looks like Dialga's Temporal Tower from the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games," Yun piped in.

"Hey! You're right! I can see the resemblance!" Kosuke exclaimed.

"Let's go inside! Hurry!" Sorcermon said. They all ran inside.

Not surprisingly, the inside of the castle didn't fare much better than the outside. Unlit torches lined the core of the cylinder-shaped castle like flames hadn't touched or warmed them in a decade. A large, square-shaped trap door lay open on the floor, leading to a little pitch black room that is full of dust and scattered books with ripped out pages and singed covers. Sorcermon silently walked down there with his staff in hand. The light of the sun outside lit up the inside of the castle so it wasn't hard for the kids to see how badly the castle had been hit by the destruction of the digital world, especially since huge holes decorated the walls, so it was easy for light to come through and light the castle up. Some stairs with Gothic style railing only stretched to about three meters into the sky. The rest of it looked as though it had been ripped out by the teeth of a giant alligator, while the rest of the castle stood tall and strong. Nobody knew whether moss could grow in the desert or not, but Minako could see moss growing in various parts of the castle.

"This is creepy..." Otoya tittered fearfully, moving closer to Shunji.

"I agree, and it's so dusty in here. Achoo!" Dracomon said, then sneezed when some dust came into contact with his nose.

"Gesundheit," Patamon piped in.

"You speak German?" Shunji asked with surprise painting his face.

"What's German?" Patamon asked back, looking just as confused as Shunji.

Link stared up at the resilient yet broken castle's exposed ceiling (well, what was left of it) and began to lose himself in his thoughts. He wondered if the decimated state of this castle is purposefully reflecting his own state of mind. Or Masaomi's, because of Hazuru's disappearance and everything that happened afterward. Or Saruto's, when he finally saw the error of his ways thanks to Link. Or Hokuto's, because of the huge adjustment he had to endure because of being saved from Saruto's clutches. The castle looked so grim, so somber-looking, that he could feel sadness creeping into him.

Or did the castle represent all of the damage that MoonMillenniummon caused when he was ZeedMillenniummon?

"Do you have any word on the human, Lilithmon?" MoonMillenniummon asked as Lilithmon floated into the center of the inner sanctum with a lone Monitormon

"I'm afraid not, Master. Everyone's looking, but we haven't found anything. Not even my Karatenmon army found any trace of that masked man," Lilithmon told him.

MoonMillenniummon closed his eyes solemnly. "How could I be such a fool to overlook such a grave error? Not only that, so many of my children died in vain because of these puny humans! They even tried to warn me of their plight, but I turned a deaf ear on them instead! They died because I was too stubborn to listen to their pleas for help!" MoonMillenniummon cried.

"It's not your fault, Master! I played a part in this myself so I am also to blame for my stubbornness," Lilithmon said. Suddenly, a beeping sound came from her purple dress. Upon hearing it, Lilithmon yanked out a walkie talkie and held it up to her ear.

"Hello?" Lilithmon asked.

_"Hey Lilithmon! This is HV-Monitormon! Do you copy?!"_HV-Monitormon's shrill voice echoed through the small static.

"Did you find anything?" Lilithmon asked.

_"Yep! I'm right near Wisemon's old castle and the masked man is there, along with a bunch of other people!"_HV-Monitormon proclaimed.

"What?! By Wisemon's castle?!" Lilithmon exclaimed with shock.

_"Hang on a sec. I'll transfer the footage to the Monitormon and let everyone know,"_HV-Monitormon said on the other line.

The Monitormon's screen glowed and whirred a bit, then showed a picture of Link within the castle, even though the broken walls made it easy to see him. He's looking up at the sky lost in thought.

"Wow! Thanks so much, HV-Monitormon! Exactly why were you there anyway?" Lilithmon exclaimed happily, then wondered how the little TV Digimon got there in the first place.

_"I kinda happened to be in the area. I saw your Karatenmon army flyin' around. What do you want me to do now? I'm hidin' right now so they don't see me,"_HV-Monitormon explained.

"Return to the inner sanctum at once, HV-Monitormon, and tell everyone else to do so as well!" MoonMillenniummon suddenly exclaimed out of nowhere, his voice booming through the underground caverns, which scared both Lilithmon and Monitormon to the point where Monitormon's footage blacked out for a bit.

_"Wi-Will do! HV-Monitormon, out!"_HV-Monitormon said, then hung up on Lilithmon. The footage on Monitormon's screen disappeared as well. Lilithmon turned to face MoonMillenniummon with a scowl.

"Goodness, Master! Don't speak out so suddenly! You almost gave me a heart attack!" Lilithmon bellowed, unhappy with the fact that MoonMillenniummon's sudden outburst scared the living daylights out of her.

"Oh. I'm sorry about that, Lilithmon. Goodness, I really need to work on that..." MoonMillenniummon mused to himself. "Anyway, I want every Digimon back in the inner sanctum at once. Lilithmon, send your entire Karatenmon army out to that castle and smoke everyone out! I don't want that masked man telling anyone about our base and what we do in here!"

Lilithmon beamed. "Yes, Master!" With that, she flew out of the inner sanctum, leaving Monitormon and MoonMillenniummon alone together.

_'That masked man...from what HV-Monitormon observed, it seems he has allies in his wake. Probably that Digimon Brigade. Lilithmon and her Karatenmon army will give them their comeuppance for heartlessly taking the lives of my precious children for their own amusement! They won't receive any mercy from Lilithmon of all Digimon! I'd do it myself, but I'm stuck in this rock formation and can't get out! Goodness me, am I ever going to get out of here?!'_MoonMillenniummon thought to himself. He secretly hoped that Lilithmon and her Karatenmon army would succeed in giving the Digimon Brigade their comeuppance.

"What are you doing, Sorcermon?" Terriermon asked as he, Yun, and Kudamon followed Sorcermon into the small area where the trap door leads to. Sorcermon lit up the room with his staff, which glowed in a pale blue light.

"I remember this place. This used to be Wisemon's private quarters where we would focus solely on reading and writing down anything he wanted to research without performing any experiments," Sorcermon said.

"Do you have any personal relationship with Wisemon?" Kudamon asked.

"Not particularly, but I've read many of his books and, while he is rather eccentric, he definitely knows about everything in the Digital World. He doesn't leave out even the most insignificant of details," Sorcermon explained.

"It's so dusty in here! I'm surprised this entire castle hasn't crumbled down to nothing yet," Terriermon exclaimed as a book fell off of a little shelf and make a cloud of dust fly into his face. He was quick to cover his face with his long ears. Kudamon did the same with his little paws.

"This castle is made of black limestone and blue zoisite, and it's going to take a lot to completely destroy anything made out of such strong minerals as those, as they have a very strong internal composition," Kudamon piped in.

_'Zoisite? Isn't that a Sailor Moon character?'_Yun thought to herself for a moment. Some of the dust suddenly got into her face and she decided to leave the room. She passed right by Link as she did so, but she did notice Biyomon, who Link had put on an old table earlier, is waking up. Worried, she decided to approach her.

"Urgh..." Biyomon groaned as she put one of her claws on her head. "What...happened?" She then looked around and noticed that they're not in the desert anymore. "Where are we?"

"We're in Wisemon's castle," Yun told her quietly.

"We are?" Biyomon asked again.

"Yes," Yun murmured. She was about to ask about why she went berserk and killed that Gizamon, but Cutemon's shrill voice stopped her from doing so.

"Everyone, we've got company, kyu!" Cutemon suddenly shouted out of nowhere.

Despite Cutemon's warning, nobody was prepared for what was about to transpire at the castle.

"Feather Flare!"

About a million voices shouted that attack, and all of a sudden the castle became surrounded by black feathers that shot at them from all directions. Quickly, some of the kids ran away in fright while others, like Otoya, Shunji, Minako, Kosuke, and Rena, all got their digishields up. Yun grabbed Biyomon and ducked to the floor. Some of the other Digimon decided to retaliate.

"Double Typhoon!"

"Lunar Claw!"

"Coroknuckle!"

"Holy Roar!"

"Holy Wing!"

"Echoing Bark!"

"Ultrasonic Wave!"

"Pepper Breath!"

Biyomon, seeing that Yun is disturbed by the noise Salamon and Cutemon are making, covered Yun's ears with her wings, hoping it'd muffle the sound a bit. Because many of the walls surrounding the castle are broken, it was easy to see outside, and Hokuto was the first to see that the castle is surrounded by an entire army of black bird Digimon in purple armor. He pulled out his digivice.

"Those are Karatenmon, ultimate levels! Their attacks are Feather Flare and Harmony Swords!" Hokuto exclaimed.

"There's so many of them! We're surrounded!" Agumon cried out fearfully.

Nobody could contradict him. He's right. The entire castle is surrounded by Karatenmon.


	87. Sing, Melody of Forgiveness! Parrotmon!

EPISODE 87: Sing the Melody of Forgiveness, Parrotmon!

"Everyone! We've gotta protect Link-san and the castle!" Yun exclaimed as she got back up, with Biyomon in her arms. Everyone, the Digimon included, nodded vigorously in agreement. Yun then turned to Prairiemon and Agumon with a determined look on her face as she set Biyomon down on the floor.

"Agumon, Prairiemon,. Can you two keep Link-san, Lucero, and Sorcermon in the castle and make sure they don't get kidnapped?" Yun asked.

"You can count on us, Yun-chan!" Prairiemon edicted as she did a sailor salute.

"We'll protect him! Don't worry!" Agumon said.

"Come on! Let's cook some _yakitori_(1)!" Terriermon exclaimed as he balled one of his fists.

Everyone got their digivices out, ready to fight. Lopmon, Terriermon, Salamon, Patamon, Labramon, Lunamon, Coronamon, Bearmon, and Dracomon all digivolved to their ultimate forms: Antylamon, Rapidmon, Angewomon, MagnaAngemon, Cerberumon, Crescemon, Flaremon, GrapLeomon, and Wingdramon. MarineAngemon is already at her highest level, and Cutemon, Kudamon and Agumon both digivolved into Rabbitmon, Reppamon and an orange dinosaur with a brown horned helmet, lots of blue stripes on his body, and brown eyes. Kosuke, Minako, Otoya, Rena, Riku, and Hokuto decided to summon their secondary Digimon: Pegasusmon, Pteramon, Lynxmon, Nefertimon, Kangarumon, Owlmon, Sheepmon, Darcmon, Flamedramon, Veedramon, and Monzaemon.

"Hey! Most of us digivolved to ultimate level!" Kosuke exclaimed with a bright smile on his face.

"Yeah, and Agumon's digivolved to Greymon!" Riku exclaimed happily, noting that Link's partner has digivolved into his champion form.

All of the Digimon went outside the castle and confronted the huge Karatenmon army. Unfortunately, much to their surprise, they were outnumbered and fighting them proved to be a lot harder than they expected, even with the help of a majority of the secondary Digimon. For one thing, the Karatenmon all proved to be very persistent. That, and whenever the Digimon tried to attack, the Karatenmon kept on dodging, as if they could actually predict their attacks beforehand.

"Rapid Fire!" Rapidmon shot some missiles at a few Karatenmon, but they all flew away and proceeded to retaliate. But Rapidmon, being as agile as he is, managed to dodge them quickly. Minako rode on Nefertimon's back and watched as Pegasusmon, with Kosuke on his back, tried to attack two others with a Star Shower attack, but both of them dodged as well, and they immediately tried to charge at them.

"Nefertimon! Kosuke's in trouble!" Minako exclaimed.

"I'll handle this! Beam of Isis!" A light purple light shot out from her headdress and managed to drive the Karatenmon away, even though it missed.

Antylamon tried to smack a few Karatenmon, but they dodged her attack and threw their golden swords at her. Antylamon, being as agile as she is, dodged them as well.

"Emerald Blaze!" Cerberumon, with Otoya on his back, made a torrent of green fire spew out of his mouth. Three Karatenmon got away while one drowned in the blaze, dissipating into black data.

"Excalibur!" MagnaAngemon got into a sword fight with one Karatenmon and managed to stand his ground, even though none of his attacks managed to lay one scratch on him.

"Oh, for the love of Pete, why the freak aren't our attacks hitting these black birds?!" Lynxmon growled angrily as he tried to pounce on one Karatenmon, but it flew away once she got close.

"I was just about to ask you that!" Kangarumon exclaimed as one of his boxing gloves collided with a Karatenmon's sword. The two then proceeded to duke it out.

"It's like they can predict our attacks before we even attack at all!" Darcmon yelped as she tried to stab a Karatenmon with her javelin, but it collided with one of it's golden swords.

"Ice Archery!" Crescemon, with Rena on her back, tried to shoot icy arrows at a few Karatenmon, but they all managed to get away. Thankfully, one of the ice arrows managed to pierce one Karatenmon's wing, causing it to fall to the ground. Greymon and Reppamon decided to take this opportunity to attack it.

"I know there's a Dark Emblem on it somewhere. We just have to find it," Reppamon said. The injured Karatenmon tried to get away, but Greymon grabbed it's wing and one of it's arms. Karatenmon howled and struggled, but it couldn't break free from Greymon's clutches.

"See if you can find it while I have it in my grasp, Reppamon," Greymon told it. Reppamon nodded and looked all over the writhing black bird for the Dark Emblem. After a while, he managed to find it, even though it's very small. Much smaller than the Dark Emblem they were used to seeing. Despite this, Reppamon scratched it a few times, and it broke, leaving Karatenmon unconscious. Greymon released it and it fell to the sand.

"From the looks of it, it's likely that this MoonMillenniummon character brewed up a new Dark Emblem that's much stronger and smaller than the other one," Reppamon said.

"Let's go help the others," Greymon said as Reppamon flew away. Greymon turned around and tried to attack another rogue Karatenmon. "Nova Blast!" A big ball of fire shot out from it's mouth, but like usual, the Karatenmon dodged it like it knew Greymon was going to attack.

"Cyclonic Kick!" GrapLeomon managed to smack one Karatenmon with his flurry of kicks, but it wasn't enough to fully subdue it. Thankfully, it did manage to make the black bird dazed enough for MarineAngemon to make her move on it.

"Spray of Hearts!" As fast as she could, she let out a huge wave of bubbly pink hearts, all of which successfully hit Karatenmon. The black bird fell unconscious, and as it fell to the ground, GrapLeomon pinned it to the ground while MarineAngemon looked for the Dark Emblem.

"See anything yet?" GrapLeomon asked.

"Not yet...oh! Here it is!" MarineAngemon exclaimed as she shot some hearts at the Dark Emblem, making it shatter.

"Argh!" Flaremon howled as one Karatemon's sword managed to slice part of his neck, but not to a big degree.

"Flaremon!" Riku, watching from the top of Flaremon's head, cried out as he watched his friend get hurt in front of his eyes.

"Celestial Arrow!" Angewomon tried to go after that Karatenmon, but another one's gold sword knocked the arrow out of her hands and it managed to land some punches on her before she could comprehend what was happening. Pteramon managed to catch her and make sure she didn't fall to the ground.

"Don't these things ever take a break?!" Pteramon complained.

"I was just about to say that. Thanks," Angewomon told him.

"Don't mention it," Pteramon said.

"Hearts Attack!"

"Wool Grenade!"

"Infared Eye Beam!"

"Fire Rocket!"

"V-Nova Blast!"

Some of the other Digimon tried to subdue the other Karatenmon, but they all either managed to successfully dodge their attacks, negate them, or push through them without a hitch.

"Stand your ground! Don't get cocky!" Flamedramon commanded.

"Easy for you to say! I can't even hit one of them! Yeek!" Sheepmon exclaimed when suddenly a Karatenmon yanked her by the leg and threw her at the castle, causing her to fall onto the sand.

"Sheepmon!" Otoya called out as she saw Sheepmon get thrown against the broken castle. Cerberumon managed to knock a Karatenmon away with one of his wings. Two Karatenmon managed to sneak into the castle. MarineAngemon saw this and, knowing what would happen if those Karatenmon found Link and Sorcermon, flew after them.

"Carrot Bomb!"

"Prairie Claw!"

Despite their best efforts to protect the trap door, which is closed right now, even Prairiemon and Rabbitmon are having a hard time fending off the Karatenmon.

"I don't think I've ever come across such persistent Digimon like these black birds!" Prairiemon yelped as she managed to knock one Karatenmon's swords out of both of his hands.

"You're telling me! Lop-Ear Lance!" Rabbitmon slashed that Karatenmon with her ears, making it fly against the broken wall while the other one tried to get past them.

"Magic Water!" MarineAngemon made a waterfall tower onto Karatenmon, which both knocked it out and destroyed the Dark Emblem. However, MarineAngemon suddenly de-digivolved back into Syakomon. Isao, Aria, and Biyomon all saw this and ran over to her.

"Ugh! Of all the times I have to de-digivolve, why did it have to be now?!" Syakomon whined.

"It's okay. You did great," Aria told her kindly.

"Hey Aria-chan. Do you have Unimon's D-Chip? Maybe you can call for him and have him help out," Isao asked.

Aria didn't respond, but she did look through all the pockets she had. Unfortunately, she didn't feel anything, which made her gasp with shock.

"Oh no! I forgot Unimon's D-Chip! Awww!" Aria cried, feeling bad for being so foolish as to forget to bring Unimon's D-Chip, and in a dire time in which she could really use his help!

"It's okay. Yun-chan forgot some of her D-Chips too," Biyomon said, remembering hearing Yun whine about how she only brought Prairiemon's D-Chip instead of those of Bucchiemon and Swanmon, which she remembered leaving in her treasure box for safekeeping for some reason.

Despite reassuring Aria, Biyomon's once empty heart was now suddenly full of doubt and guilt. Doubt because she didn't think anyone could win this situation, but chose not to say it out of fear of dispelling the hopes of the rest of the Digimon Brigade, and guilt because she couldn't go out there and help them. She wished Melody were here. She wished she could digivolve on her own, without Melody's help, so she wouldn't have to sit here and do nothing while everyone else gets pounded by a huge army of Karatenmon which in itself is already hard to control because there's so many of them.

She did, however, see something floating in the rapidly darkening night sky that isn't a Karatenmon at all. Something black, beige, and purple, with some yellow on it, just like them, but it looked more humanoid, more eerie, and more grim-looking.

Wanting to get a closer look, she flew out of the castle and found herself flying right next to Yun, who watched and covered her ears as Wingdramon tried to attack a few Karatenmon.

"Blaze Sonic Breath!"

Despite the commotion, Biyomon managed to both see and hear the other black and purple figure above them.

"That's right, my pretties! Smash everything! Decimate this worthless castle! Smoke out the masked man!"

"Look! Up there!" Biyomon suddenly shouted, pointing to the sky. Yun, being the closest person, responded and looked up. Aria and Isao both followed suit.

They both saw it...or rather, her.

"Is that a Digimon?" Aria asked.

"Could be. But let's not-" Yun wanted to tell them not to attract her attention because she suspected she might be more powerful than the Karatenmon, but Isao didn't listen.

"HEY! GO AWAY YOU UGLY WITCH LADY!" Isao screamed at the top of his lungs, which actually caught the Digimon's attention, much to everyone's horror.

"Isao-kun! Why'd you do that?! Now she knows we saw her!" Yun yelled angrily, which scared Isao a bit. Nonetheless, the woman draped in purple descended before them. She gave them quite a deathly glare, which made Aria cling to Yun's leg. Looking at this woman made Isao immediately regret screaming at her to get her attention. Despite her fear, Yun got out her digivice and looked up her information.

"You're Lilithmon, a mega level," That was all Yun could get out. Lilithmon crossed her arms and glared at the three children.

"Hmm. You humans are smaller and scrawnier looking than I thought. Hmph! I find it very hard to believe that such puny things such as yourselves are even remotely capable of domesticating Digimon and using them to attack their own kind!" Lilithmon snarled wickedly. Yun looked away, disgusted by Lilithmon's style of dress, eerie voice, and promiscuous demeanor.

"Are you the one who commands this army of Karatenmon?" Yun managed to ask.

"To answer your question, yes, I am. It's no use trying to attack them. They can predict each and every one of your attacks. Now that I've answered your question, you answer mine. Where is the masked man?" Lilithmon replied wickedly, her eyes gleaming with malice and lust.

"We don't know any masked man," Biyomon piped in.

Suddenly, Pegasusmon and Nefertimon descended right next to them. Minako and Kosuke hopped off of them and joined the other kids.

"What's going on here?!" Kosuke yelped as he drew his digisword, then stopped when he saw Lilithmon. Minako did the same.

"More puny humans? Just perfect! Tell me, where is the masked man!" Lilithmon commanded.

"Jeez, this woman's got Queen Beryl written all over her face!" Minako mused to herself, but Kosuke overheard it and became livid.

"MINA THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO BE MAKING SAILOR MOON REFERENCES!" Kosuke screamed angrily, which made Yun cover her ears again.

All of a sudden, before Yun could do anything, she suddenly felt something hard and flat wrap itself around her neck. Her eyes flew open and she found herself unable to breathe. She tried to draw a breath, but was surprised to find that she couldn't. She noticed that her vision is starting to darken. She could feel herself being lifted from the ground.

"YUN! NO!" Everyone screamed.

Lilithmon has Yun in her golden right hand.

By her neck.

"Tell me where the masked man is, or I will command my Nazar Nail to corrode her from the inside and out!" Lilithmon commanded eerily. Yun tried to pry Lilithmon's golden clad hand off of her neck while kicking her legs, but it didn't do any good, as Lilithmon is taller than the average human being.

"LET YUN-CHAN GO!" Aria screamed as she rammed into Lilithmon angrily, but the purple-clad witch simply kicked her aside, causing her to roll onto the sand.

Biyomon gasped. She knew that unlike Digimon, when humans die, they don't reform. They're gone for good. If Yun died...No! Biyomon couldn't let that happen! If Yun dies now, Melody will have lost the most important thing she holds so genuinely dear!

Worst of all, Biyomon would be helpless to stop her.

It would be her fault.

She couldn't let such a terrible, horrible thing happen. She couldn't risk Melody both hating her more than she already is and losing her best friend because of her (Biyomon's) vanity. If only she could digivolve on her own despite the odds of them winning being so grim!

"Let her go NOW!" Biyomon screamed as she flew toward Lilithmon. What she didn't realize was that she found herself encased in a red light. She got bigger.

"Biyomon digivolve to...Birdramon!"

Before Lilithmon could kill Yun, she herself was being squeezed by something hard, only her entire being was caught in her clutches. Birdramon's talon to be more precise. Birdramon caught her so quickly that Lilithmon lost her grip on Yun, who proceeded to fall onto the sand and gasp for huge amounts of air. Minako and Kosuke ran to help her up.

"Oh my God! Yun! Are you alright?!" Minako asked with worry as she and Kosuke helped Yun get back on her feet. Yun didn't respond with words, but she inhaled and exhaled heavily, happy to be able to breathe like that. Kosuke's face scrunched up with anger as he saw red claw marks form on Yun's neck.

"How did she even digivolve without Mel's help? Shouldn't that be impossible now?" Kosuke asked.

"I don't know. But maybe she either still has her individuality or she's so angry she channeled all of her anger into digivolving on her own," Minako replied. She wished that the reason behind Biyomon's solo digivolution was the former, but she felt that the latter was the most likely cause.

By his point, Birdramon practically has Lilithmon pinned to the sand with her talon, ready to attack.

"Nobody lays a hand on Melody's best friend!" Birdramon roared as she tried to attack the witch, but Lilithmon had the upper hand.

"Darkness Love!" She shot a heart-shaped black beam of light, which forced Birdramon off of her at last. But Lilithmon wasn't done yet. She floated to the center of the conflict and made a ring of dark energy form around her.

"Night Shower!" All of a sudden, a huge shower of black energy shot down from all directions. The Karatenmon moved away while all of the black lights hit every single one of the Digimon Brigade's Digimon, the secondary partners included. They came down so fast, none of the Digimon had time to react quickly enough, or even react at all! All of the ultimate level Digimon, Greymon and Reppamon included, were forced to de-digivolve as a result of the damage. Only the secondary Digimon managed to remain in their current forms despite getting hurt. Oddly enough, Birdramon managed to retain her champion form, as she became too focused on trying to defeat a few Karatenmon to really pay attention. Some of the kids, who were on the backs of their Digimon before they de-digivolved, fell onto the sand. Rena fell so hard, her prosthetic leg popped right off! It landed right in front of Bearmon, who proceeded to grab it and clutch it tightly as a Karatenmon lifted him off the ground by his neck and threw him to the sand once again, but in a different direction. Agumon ran back into the castle upon seeing the two Karatenmon that Prairiemon and Rabbitmon were fighting earlier fly out of it.

"Oh God...she managed to defeat us all..." Lopmon muttered.

"What do you expect?! She's a mega level!" Coronamon yelped.

"This battle ain't over yet!" Veedramon bellowed as he successfully managed to defeat a Karatenmon, though he ended up making it dissipate into data instead.

"Why so shocked? This is only a small portion of the power that I possess. I could easily kill you all with one snap of my fingers. But I cannot, you see, as my master forbids it because we need to find that masked man, and you all know where he is!" Lilithmon explained wickedly as she licked the tip of one of her golden fingers.

"We don't know any masked man!" Otoya proclaimed as she clung to a weak Labramon.

"Stop lying to me, you unworthy pests!" Lilithmon commanded. Prairiemon and Rabbitmon both came out of the castle to see what was happening and were surprised. But they noticed that Lilithmon wasn't paying any attention and decided to sneak up on her.

"Prairie Claw!"

"Lop-Ear Lance!"

Unfortunately for them, Lilithmon saw this coming and smacked them both with her left hand. The blow was so strong that it made Rabbitmon de-digivolve back into Cutemon, though Prairiemon managed to stand her ground. Lilithmon scowled at the two of them, but noticed that Hokuto is walking by, clinging to a fallen Kudamon.

Without warning, she lunged toward Hokuto.

"NO! Golden Noose!" Both Pegasusmon and Nefertimon tried to stop Lilithmon from attacking Hokuto with their own combined attack, but she knocked them both away and managed to grab Hokuto by the neck, just like she did with Yun, only she used her left hand this time. It's at this point that Bearmon gave Rena her prosthetic leg back.

"What are you doing, you witch?! Let him go!" Riku screamed and tried to lunge at Lilithmon similar to how Aria did earlier, but like back then, the evil woman just knocked him away. Yun managed to grab him and make sure he didn't fall onto one of the rocks. The Digimon, despite being weak at the moment, managed to return to their tamers.

"Release him now, you witch!" Kudamon tried to attack, but Lilithmon knocked him away as well. She continued to stare at Hokuto with an interested expression, like she's a scientist looking into a microscope.

"Hmm...I've never seen anyone quite like you before. You're human, yet I can sense a Digimon's presence within you. I wonder if I should take you to my Master and have him study you," Lilithmon sneered as Hokuto tried to break free.

"Don't...call me...a...Digimon!" Hokuto croaked despite his airway getting more and more cut off.

"Don't kill him!" Lynxmon tried to attack Lilithmon, but three Karatenmon assaulted her out of nowhere, preventing her from attacking. The other kids and Birdramon tried to save him as well.

"Karatenmon! Keep them away!" Lilithmon commanded. As ordered, the Karatenmon kept the kids and the secondary Digimon away as Hokuto could feel his life slipping away.

...Or did he?

"Thunderstorm!"

Not even the Karatenmon could predict this. Out of absolutely nowhere, a huge rain of yellow and white thunderbolts flashed in all parts of the black night sky, dropping down on every single Karatenmon and paralyzing them for a while. Even Lilithmon could feel a jolt of electricity run up and down her spine. Despite her being a strong mega level, it was so strong she had to release Hokuto. Nefertimon managed to catch the boy just in time. Unfortunately, one of the thunderbolts managed to strike Monzaemon and he fell to his knees. Kangarumon, Veedramon, and Sheepmon all saw this and ran over to him.

"You okay?" Sheepmon asked.

"Yes. I'm fine. Don't worry about me," Monzaemon told them reassuringly.

"What's with this sudden thunderstorm? Don't deserts never get rain?" Kangarumon asked.

Veedramon saw it.

"Look! Over there!" Veedramon edicted. Everyone-the Digimon Brigade, Lilithmon, and Karatenmon included-turned to look where Veedramon pointed.

Flying toward them is Thunderbirmon, accompanied by Maildramon and Opossumon.

But it was the person riding on Thunderbirmon's back like a battle ready gladiator that made everyone gasp with delight.

"MELODY!" Yun wailed with delight as she held onto Lopmon and Terriermon.

Melody stood valiantly on Thunderbirmon's back like she had done it lots of times before, with her digisword drawn and ready, making her look like a samurai riding on a phoenix.

But she wasn't alone.

"Mad Balloon Bomb!" A rain of balloons fell on some Karatenmon, but it wasn't enough to fully defeat them. But they did manage to weaken them just a little bit.

"Lightning Spear!" Another jolt of thunder shot out from Maildramon's horn and it managed to defeat one Karatenmon.

Thunderbirmon began engaging in close combat with one Karatenmon, which gave Melody the opportunity to leap on it and dredge her digisword into its back, breaking the Dark Emblem and making him fall unconscious. With quick precision, Thunderbirmon managed to catch her before she could fall, but Melody wasn't fazed by any of this. She watched as some of the kids ran to Hokuto's side, helping him up.

Lilithmon scowled. "Now who in the world are you, and why do you interfere with my raid?!"

Melody drew her digisword again. "The name's Shimotsuki Melody! Lay a hand on my friends and I'll never forgive you! Go back to whatever part of the dumpster you came from, you Mistress Nine rip-off!"

Kosuke let out an exasperated sigh. "Just what we needed. More pointless Sailor Moon references..."

Lilithmon's pale white face suddenly became beet red with anger. "Dumpster?! I'll teach you to insult me, you unworthy scamp! Karatenmon! After her!"

"I'd like to see you catch me!" Melody bellowed as she and Thunderbirmon flew from the scene. The army of Karatenmon suddenly decided to chase after her upon hearing Lilithmon's orders.

"Link? Link? You there?" Agumon whispered as he pried the trap door open, and it revealed Link, Lucero, and Sorcermon trapped inside.

"Agumon! Thou must informeth me of what is transpiring outside! I cannot sit here in the dark any longer and do nothing whilst my friends are in grave danger!" Lucero exclaimed with anxiety painted all over his round, dejected face.

"Shhh! Not so loud!" Sorcermon hushed, but Lucero paid no heed to the secretive blue wizard.

"Thou must alloweth me to go out and assist them!" Lucero pleaded desperately.

"But what can you do? You don't have a Digimon partner, and you can hardly fight on your own!" Agumon hissed.

"That doth not mean I cannot fend for myself in any way!" Lucero retorted angrily.

"Lucero. Calm down. I know you're upset, but if they see you, you'll likely be kidnapped again. We can't let that happen. Besides, I'm the reason these rogue Digimon are here in the first place," Link told him sternly but reassuringly. However, Link himself felt rather dubious about this whole brouhaha.

Agumon leaped into the little room and joined the trio. "So what do we do now? Do we wait for Wisemon?"

"No. It's likely the curse won't let him assist us in warding off these Karatenmon," Link said.

"I concur," Sorcermon piped in. "But what other alternative is there?"

Link decided to ruminate. Then it hit him. He whipped out his digivice, grabbed Agumon and Sorcermon, and pressed the door button. Before either Agumon and Sorcermon could ask what he was doing, a digital portal opened beneath their feet, and with a yelp, they all fell in...all except for Lucero, who became shocked upon witnessing this audacious move on Link's part.

"What?! They just up and left?! Is Link-dono a hypocrite or something?" Lucero asked himself, surprised that Link just told him to stay yet he himself just left with Agumon and Sorcermon in tow. Despite this, Lucero found a great opportunity to finally leave the dark and cramped little room and see what's going on outside, while being careful to not expose himself.

"They're on our tail! Step on it, thunderbird!" Melody yelped as the Karatenmon army persistently and obstinately chased after them despite the efforts of the secondary Digimon to drive off at least some of them.

"I'm going as fast as I can! I'm surprised you're not feeling dizzy by now!" Thunderbirmon snapped as she shook one Karatenmon off of her tail (literally). "Spark Wing!"

Thunderbirmon kept her wings open as she shot multiple arrows of thunder from them. Some actually hit some Karatenmon while others managed to both evade and deflect the bolts. Two of the thunderbolts actually managed to strike Thunderbirmon, causing both her and Mel to fall to the ground. Pteramon managed to swoop downward to break Thunderbirmon's fall just in time, but he wound up missing Mel by just a feather.

"Mel! You okay?!" Opossumon yelped as she saw Mel fall right near the castle and flew over to help her.

"Oh no! Even with Mel's help, we can hardly stop this giant army!" Salamon yelped.

"I wish we could still fight," Patamon whimpered.

"Me too," Lunamon whispered dejectedly.

"I'm rather surprised Birdramon is still fighting despite being so outnumbered," Owlmon said as he watched Birdramon shoot another Meteor Wing at some Karatenmon, even though the black birds managed to easily evade and permeate the attack with their swords.

"Do you think maybe she'll digivolve into ultimate?" Monzaemon asked, feeling quite tired.

"I have a feeling something is going to happen," Bearmon whispered timorously.

"I do too," Labramon piped in.

Maildramon stood in front of Melody to give her time to get back up. Lilithmon let out a very unrestrained laugh that sounded so eerie and so wicked it even made shivers run up Melody's spine.

"You humans are so pathetic, thinking you could easily defeat my Karatenmon army! Now it's time for your comeuppance! Finish them off, my Karatenmon army!" Lilithmon cackled wickedly.

"Comeuppance for what?!" Melody yelped angrily as she saw the Karatenmon close in on them.

However, a huge orange blur got in between Maildramon and the Karatenmon. Everyone saw it and yelped with horror.

"Birdramon!"

That's right. The Karatenmon, despite being smaller than Birdramon, are all over her. Lilithmon scoffed.

"Hmph! Quite the stubborn phoenix, aren't you? If you really do possess a death wish, then I might as well grant it. Finish her off, Karatenmon!" Lilithmon proclaimed insouciantly.

"No one...goes anywhere near...my friends..." Birdramon croaked as the Karatemon all closed in on her.

"Get off of her!" Veedramon yelped as he and the other secondary Digimon leaped into the fray to try and save her.

"Stop being so cocky, you brainless fools!" Lilithmon tried to shoot them down with another Darkness Love attack, but Darcmon swooped in and sliced it with her javelin.

"You are a wicked thing, Lilithmon, just as I expected!" Darcmon edicted.

Melody couldn't believe what she was witnessing. No, really. She couldn't believe it. Birdramon keeps putting her life on the line for her, even though Melody had been treating her so cruelly for the past few days. Despite all of the hurt, all of the abuse, all of the abandonment, she is still so obstinate that she's willing to put her own life on the line for the sake of someone else's. But Biyomon is usually vain and selfish, only caring about herself and complaining about everything! Was this even the same Digimon? Worst of all, Birdramon isn't fighting back this time around. She's letting the mountain of Karatenmon amass onto her, apparently not caring about her own survival.

Melody never dreamed of having someone like this in her life.

But then her anger overtook her again. Biyomon couldn't possibly be doing all of this out of genuine kindness. Perhaps this is a pathetic attempt to force Melody to forgive her, even though she knew it was utterly impossible, or is this a desperate need for retribution or redemption? Or is she doing all of this to make herself look good? Or to manipulate her? No, Biyomon still destroyed her picture, the last personification of the happy memories she and her friends made together before everything fell apart. Would being killed by a bunch of ninja crows with swords bring her picture back and fix everything? It wouldn't. No, Melody couldn't forgive this. No, she couldn't. She couldn't forgive anyone, and she never will. This scene before her...she wished it was an illusion.

As the battle went on, Yun noticed Melody quietly leaving the scene and going into the castle. She and some of the weakened Digimon noticed this as well. Terriermon silently motioned for Yun to go after her. Yun nodded and she followed his orders. She and Digimon decided to go into the castle. Kosuke, Minako, Riku, Otoya, Hokuto, and their Digimon noticed as well, so they decided to secretly follow her. As Yun, Lopmon, and Terriermon went inside, they noticed both Melody and Lucero standing by the open trap door. They weren't conversing, but Melody looked very grim. Lucero ran up to Yun with worry.

"Yun! What pray tell is transpiring out there?!" Lucero pleaded.

"Birdramon's being hurt by the Karatenmon. The other Digimon are doing everything they can to help, but the black birds are just too strong," Lopmon told him.

Yun left Lopmon and Lucero to talk while she approached Melody. Minako, Salamon, Kosuke, Patamon, Riku, Coronamon, Lunamon, Otoya, Labramon, Hokuto, and Kudamon watched through a huge hole in the wall that reached the ground, so they could easily walk through. But they chose not to do so.

Upon seeing Melody again, Yun became a little apprehensive as she noticed that Melody is looking very grim. Is she still angry? Is she about to explode? Would she snap if she asked about anything at all, unimportant or not? But she knew this was her chance to finally talk to her, so she sucked it up and decided to muster her mettle.

"Mel? I'm glad you came back. Thanks," Yun blurted out.

"I came back for you and you alone," Melody replied grimly.

"Umm..." Yun stumbled a little, but she kept going despite the potential consequences. "I heard about what happened between you and Biyomon. I-"

"She brought it on herself! She shouldn't have the right to try and force me to forgive her when it's obvious she's trying to play me for a fool!" Melody interrupted Yun quite fiercely, still obstinately believing in her false conviction.

Melody didn't know it, but she officially made a little thread in Yun's heart snap. Cut it right in half with the knife that is her remark just now. All of a sudden, Yun was looking at her with green eyes ablaze with the dancing flames of anger.

NOW she's mad.

"_WHAT?!_ Are you serious, Melody?! Birdramon saved my life earlier today! Lilithmon tried to choke me to death but she came in and saved me! She could have left me to die and be the selfish little bird she is, but she didn't! The thought probably didn't even cross her mind! She knows how important I am to you and saved my life! Not only that, she just saved you and Maildramon from getting hurt as well! Even after all of that, you _still_ think Biyomon's trying to trick you?! What in the world _happened_ to you, Melody?! You weren't _this_ uptight when we were little!" Yun screamed with fire in her shrill voice. Melody's brown eyes widened with surprise. She had seen Yun get angry before, but not to this extent. Not only that, she and Yun never fought about anything before. But in her heart, Yun didn't understand. She didn't think she could understand.

"What happened to me has nothing to do with-" Melody tried to counterargue with her, but now it was Yun's turn to interrupt her.

"Yes it does! Ever since you came back you're even more sour and moody and...ugh, bratty than ever!" Yun couldn't come up with a better word, so she wound up calling her bratty on the spur of the moment. But that didn't mean she was finished getting angry. "You don't trust our friends, you don't trust the teachers, you don't trust anyone anymore! You won't even tell me anything about why you disappeared in the fourth grade! You don't even thank anyone when they do nice things for you! Do you seriously think everyone's out to get you or something?! Do you think everyone who's nice and good is secretly evil inside, even the people who really care for you and want to help you?! You sound exactly like Ayaka! Biyomon saved you, and you thank her by abandoning her when she needs you the most!"

"That's not-"

"Stop hiding yourself anymore, Mel!"

That wasn't Yun who interrupted her this time.

It was...Kosuke.

"I know what you do, Mel! You try to put on a brave face to hide yourself from the rest of the world and keep them from finding out your secrets, but it's too late! Yun already knows that you were in foster care for a year because your house was set on fire and the rest of your family died in it! You think that by pushing people away you're telling them that you're stronger than they are, but who's to say that you're actually weaker than any of the people you think are out to get you?! You're only pushing people away because you're too weak to admit that you're just the same as everyone else! Quit trying to protect her!" Kosuke yelled.

Now it was Melody's turn to be mad.

"EHH?!" Yun yelped in a combination of both confusion and surprise. It was unlikely she comprehended everything Kosuke just said. Hiding a secret about her own insecurity to protect someone? How is that even possible? Yun's brain couldn't process something so peculiar and so complicated as that. But while she was trying unsuccessfully to untangle that thought, Melody stomped over to Kosuke and yanked him by the shirt.

"I TOLD YOU NOT TO SPILL THE BEANS!" Melody screamed.

"No! Let go!" Lucero, Yun, Minako, and Hokuto all pried Melody and Kosuke off of each other.

"I didn't! Yun found out on her own!" Kosuke snapped.

"LIAR!" Melody screamed as she tried to grab Kosuke and pin him to the ground.

"NO! STOP!" This time, Yun intervened. She grabbed Melody and the two decided to wrestle. But what they didn't know was that they both fell into the trap door, down into the little room. Everyone ran to see what was going on.

"Shining Sunbeam!" Coronamon lit himself up so he could brighten the place up a bit so it'll be easier to see what was going on. But when everyone looked down, they gasped.

Yun is on the floor.

Melody is on top of her, holding her by the shirt.

"Mel! Get off of her!" Minako tried to run in there, but Kosuke suddenly stopped her.

"Don't go in! Let them sort it out!" Kosuke yelled.

"What?! Sort it out?! But Kosuke! Didn't you see what just happened?!" Riku screamed, angry that Kosuke would allow such inappropriate behavior toward a friend.

"Yeah! She's gonna pummel her!" Coronamon snapped.

"No she's not!" Kosuke retorted.

"How do you know?!" Terriermon yelled.

"This is her chance!" Kosuke proclaimed.

"Chance? Do to what?" Salamon asked.

"And who's chance is it again?" Lunamon asked, confused.

"Mel's. This is her chance to finally spill the beans to Yun and explain why she doesn't want her knowing about what happened to her," Kosuke explained. "This is her chance to finally let it all out."

"Kosuke..." Minako muttered, surprised by how calm he is about this.

"But friends shan't hurt each other!" Lucero proclaimed.

"She's not. She's just wound up, that's all. She'd never lay a hand on Yun," Kosuke told him.

"But she's got her pinned to the ground! Should we really let something like this just happen?!" Hokuto yelped timorously.

"They're fine. Let them sort things out. We don't have any right to interfere," Kosuke told them sternly.

"He may be right. Let's leave them be," Labramon told them.

The kids and Digimon looked very reluctant to leave them behind, so they just zipped their lips and watched from above while Coronamon's light continued to shine.

Weirdly enough, despite the fact that Yun is pinned to the ground with Melody clinging to her by the shirt collar, she wasn't scared in any way. Not only that, she didn't even mind making full-on eye contact with a very wound up Melody right now, who is looking very livid.

"He's lying! He's lying!" Melody cried angrily.

"No, he's not. I found out about the fire on my own. I only went to him to confirm my suspicions. Mel...people say I shouldn't pry, and I'm not trying to, but...what is it about what happened to you that's so bad?" Yun told her as calmly as she could muster.

"That doesn't matter right now!" Melody cried again.

"Yes it does!" Yun cried out, losing all the calmness she had.

"Stop asking about it!"

"YOU stop! Stop acting like it's the end of the world! Stop being so cruel to everyone who tries to be nice to you! What is it about me that you think doesn't exist in other people?!" Yun wasn't sure if she really understood what she was asking. The words just happened to shoot right out of her mouth as she went along. "Why do you think everyone's against you, Biyomon included?! She's giving her life out there for you!"

"She doesn't understand my pain!"

"Does she really have to understand in order to be friends with you?! I don't understand your pain but I'm your friend! What does Kosuke mean when he said you're trying to protect me?! What are you trying to protect me from?!" Yun had always been told that she was important to Melody, but other than out of mutual friendship, she thought there was more to it. So she decided to ask.

"Why am I so important to you?!"

"BECAUSE YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE WHO DIDN'T ABANDON ME!"

Yun didn't cover her ears, even though Melody's scream made her ears hurt from the inside out. However, what did scare her the most is what came after that scream.

She felt water drop onto her face.

Tears.

Melody's tears.

At first, Yun thought she was hallucinating. But she felt the water pile onto her face, and if she could feel something, she could tell right away it was real, considering her sense of touch is amplified as well due to her autism. Melody's crying! The normally brave, sour, and unconquerable Melody, actually crying! In all the years Yun has known Melody, not once did she ever see Melody cry at all. No, she never did see Melody shed any tears. Not once. Melody has never shown herself to be vulnerable about anything, even as a child. Now here she is, totally vulnerable and losing it! Her white face is contorted in a way Yun never noticed before, her normally fierce brown eyes have lost the feral touch they've usually had, her nose is scrunched up in a strange way, and now her face is turning beet red.

"Mel...? Why are you...?" Yun croaked with confusion, but she didn't finish, as Melody interrupted her again, only this time, it wasn't to contradict her.

"You're the only honest thing I have in this world...my family's gone, 90% of my heart is gone, I...I can't forgive anyone! That woman took it away from me!" Melody whimpered while hiccuping.

"What woman? A foster parent?" Yun asked.

Melody finally let Yun go so she can sit up. Melody didn't even bother to wipe away the waterfalls of tears pouring out of her face. By this point, Melody was becoming very annoyed. Why was everyone giving her such a hard time with their questions? First her foster parents...then Thunderbirmon, Opossummon, and Maildramon...and now, of all people, Yun!

If Yun was really as sensitive as she has always shown herself to be, couldn't she tell that Melody didn't want to talk about it?

Why won't Yun just quit it?

"Listen, there's nothing you can do to fix it, and I really don't want to talk about it," she finally said, doing the best that she could to keep her sadness from boiling over. "Can we just leave it at that?"

That should keep Yun from asking anymore.

But Melody was about to receive a shock.

"No," Yun answered, blunt and defiant. "I want to know. I care about you, Mel-chan, and I'm not giving up on you!"

Startled, the older girl's eyes widened.

This was the same behavior that she saw in her foster parents and in her secondary Digimon, although they had not said it aloud.

It took the better part of two minutes before Mel finally made some movement. She looked down at her feet, digging the toe of one shoe into the floor half heartedly.

Finally, she gave a frustrated, exasperated sigh and conceded defeat. This was a moment that she certainly wasn't looking forward to...

(flashback)

_"Mel! Mel! Wake up!"_

_In the dead of night, a ten-year-old Melody found herself being shaken by something, and she heard a muffled voice, but she chose not to pay it any heed and tried to get back to sleep. But the voice and hand that tried to rouse her from sleep was not going to concede defeat._

_"Mel! I'm not kidding you! Wake up!" The voice hissed angrily, but in a low whisper, and shook her harder, which finally managed to successfully rouse Melody from her sleep. Tired and weary, Melody rubbed her eyes and looked up to find a very frantic looking Mikage hovering before her, complete with messy hair and tired but alert eyes. Melody looked at the clock on her wall and was surprised to see that it read 2:42 AM._

_"Ugh...bro, why'd you wake me up? It's two in the morning..." Melody groaned weakly._

_"Shh!" Mikage hissed as he held his index finger to his mouth. Melody noticed that he's holding a phone in his right hand. "We have to get out of here, pronto," Mikage whispered._

_"Why?" Melody asked._

_"Someone broke into the house. If they see or hear us, we're toast! Come with me, and don't make a sound. Not a peep. If we're quiet, we might be able to make a quick get away," Mikage told her._

_Someone broke into the house? Robbers? Burglars? What are they planning to do? Steal their money? Kidnap them? Hurt them? Set the house on fire? And what about the rest of the family? Will they be alright? What's going to happen? Melody couldn't help these thoughts that raced through her mind like speeding race cars._

_"But what about Mom and Dad? Or little sis?" Melody asked, becoming scared and worried. Now she could hear the rising desperation in his low voice...and her own._

_"We'll let them know. Don't worry. Go and put your shoes on," Mikage told her reassuringly, but Melody could tell from the way his raise looked and his voice softened that he sounded quite dubious and couldn't quite ascertain whether they'd make it out safely or not._

_"Can I at least get my pictures, bracelet, and rabbit?" Melody asked trying to maintain a whisper despite becoming scared upon learning what Mikage just told her._

_"Yeah. I'll call 119 while you're at it," Mikage whispered as he punched in the three numbers on the phone he's clutching so tightly in his hand. With great agility and precision, despite being woken up from her sleep, Melody quickly grabbed two picture frames, her silver bracelet, and her blue stuffed rabbit, put both of her shoes on, and returned to Mikage's side._

_"Whatever you do, do NOT make any sound. I don't want them to see us," Mikage told her again. Melody nodded despite her rising fear. Both she and Mikage silently left Melody's room and proceeded to amble into the hall. Mikage finally managed to get someone to answer the phone._

_"Hello? I need cops now. I'm on 117 Shirayuki Street. Someone's broken into our house and my sister and I are trying to escape," Mikage told the person on the other line._

_But as they walked, Melody could feel something sloshing beneath her shoes. It felt like water, but she could tell it wasn't water, mostly because of how horrible it smelled._

_"Ugh!" Despite covering her nose and mouth even though her hands are full, she couldn't muffle her voice as she expressed her disgust at the horrible smell assailing her nostrils._

_"Huh?" Mikage sniffed as he continued to talk to the person on the other line. Then it dawned on him and his face contorted with fear. "Is this..._kerosene_?!" He whispered with shock._

_"Kerosene?" Melody asked. What in the world is kerosene? Is it some kind of gas product? She had never heard the word before, but from the way it sounded, it sounded like something related to gas or something someone uses in car shops._

_"Get a fire truck here! I think they're trying to set the place on fire!" Mikage hissed desperately on the phone. Despite trying to muffle his voice as best he could, Melody heard it, and she became more scared._

'A fire?! Oh no! Mom! Dad! Little sis!'_ Melody thought as she clung to Mikage tighter than she did earlier when he roused her from her sleep. She found that they're entering the living room, and the smell of kerosene hit them harder here than it did in the hall. Melody looked around and noticed that everything around them is soaked to the bone._

_With kerosene._

_She glanced at one of the windows next to the door for a second. But she was going to regret doing that. Despite the deep darkness, a black figure held a lit match right over one of the big bushes._

_And dropped it._

_Within mere seconds, the entire front of the house literally burst into an explosion of flames!_

_"AGH!" Melody and Mikage yelped and recoiled when the flames consumed the front of the living room, the windows and doors included. They were too late to break the windows so they couldn't break out of them, and the black figure that started the fire is likely still outside, probably waiting for the fire to consume them! Mikage grabbed Melody's hand and tried to pull her away, but she tried to break out of his grip._

_"Wait! Mikage! Little sis's room is down there! We have to save her!" Melody yelled. But the flames quickly spread to both hallways, consuming both her own room and her little sister's room._

_"Little sis!" Melody screamed, but Mikage pulled her back once more._

_"It's too late! We can't save her now! We've gotta run!" Mikage yelled as he successfully managed to pull Melody away from the now entirely inflamed living room._

_The dancing blazes of orange, red, and yellow flares chased after them like predatory animals chasing their prey, probably because of the kerosene. Melody watched frantically as the beautiful muslin curtains that donned their windows blackened and became consumed by the hungry flames. The walls, the furniture, her bedroom, and her sister's bedroom...all in flames, never to be restored again. It's likely all her other possessions are burned up as well. The oppressive heat surrounding them pounded on their heads like hammers, and the smoke is consuming the air. The flames cackled with laughter as they ate everything within their sight. The siblings tried to cover their mouths so they wouldn't inhale any smoke, but it's so thick, it's likely getting into their system no matter what. Melody and Mikage finally made it to the door that leads to the garage._

_But before they could enter it, someone came out from it._

_Someone draped entirely in black, ski mask included._

_He has a gun in his hand._

_Melody screamed as soon as the man held the gun to them._

_"Leave my children alone!" Out of nowhere, a short haired woman in a nightgown ran into the man and began attacking him with a flurry of fists. Mikage was so shocked he dropped the phone, and it went up in flames the minute it touched the kerosene-spilled floor!_

_"Mom!" Both Mikage and Melody screamed with terror._

_"Melody! Mikage! Save yourselves! Go someplace safe! Hurry!" Their mother yelled._

_"But where's Dad?!" Melody yelled with fright. But before their mother could answer, Mikage pulled her away and went into the garage._

_Much to their horror, however, the big door that led outside is both closed and bursting into flames. As Mikage and Melody tried to find a way out, Melody heard a sound that made her blood run cold, but since it's so hot, it probably isn't cold at all._

BANG BANG BANG!

_She knew that sound anywhere._

_Gunshots._

_"Over there!" Mikage pulled Melody and ran toward a door, thinking it was a way out._

_But it isn't._

_It lead to the basement, which has one window, but it's so narrow and so small that not even the tiniest child could squeeze through there. Everything is in flames. One big piece of burning wood fell from the ceiling, cackling as it made contact with the floor. Even the door behind them exploded into a big flare._

_"We're trapped!" Melody yelled as she clung to her older brother, who is now just as scared as she is._

_Flames surrounded them from the inside and out. There isn't any way for them to get past them without receiving very fatal 3rd degree burns. There isn't any way for either of them to escape, and the burglars could still be wreaking havoc upstairs! But what could they do now?_

_Mikage clutched the frightened Melody as he looked around, hoping to find something, some place he could hide both Melody and himself, something that not even the burglars would bother to look into. But the flames are too strong, and they could both feel the oppressive heat they were emitting. Sweat dripped off of their faces like lava from a volcano. Melody tried to cover her mouth to make sure she didn't inhale any smoke, but both of her hands are full._

_Mikage looked down and then he saw it. The trapdoor below him creaked underneath his foot. That's it! The trapdoor! It had been there all throughout the house's years, but it was never noticed because it was always covered with something. That, and it didn't really lead to anywhere except for a very small, cramped space that a ten-year-old can easily fit into. But that proved to be the problem. Only Melody could fit in there. Not him. Despite this, he knew he had to act, and fast._

_With quick precision, he yanked the trap door open, pulled on Melody's arm, and literally threw her into the little space._

_"Ow!" Melody yelped as she was forcefully pushed into the space. Then darkness consumed her. Mikage shut the door right in front of her. Realizing what this meant, she immediately began banging on the door._

_"Mikage! Let me out!" Melody pleaded desperately._

_"No, Mel! You have to stay here! You'll be safe!" Mikage told her. Melody could tell from the way his voice sounded that he's giving up._

_"But what about you?!"_

_Mikage didn't respond immediately. But the answer Melody did get tore at her little heart. "I can't fit in there. I can't escape, so...you'll have to go on without me. Knowing that you'll be safe...is more than enough for me."_

_Melody couldn't believe what she's hearing! Mikage's telling her to make it out alive alone? How could he think such a thing? There has to be a way for everyone to survive, not just her! Mikage's voice became softer and more wistful, but Melody could easily hear it. "Thanks for being my little sis, Melody. I'm glad I got to be your big bro. I love you."_

_Is he saying goodbye? This couldn't be true! "No! NO! Mikage! You can't die and leave me here! Don't leave me all alone!"_

_However, right as she said that..._

BANG! BANG!

_Gunshots, and a thud. The flames cackled with eerie and wicked laughter. So did some voices._

_"Pheh! These stupid pests ruined our plan!"_

_"Whateves. At least we got 'em good."_

_"Let's get outta here, man!"_

_The burglars. They set the house on fire and shot her family. Melody remained silent as she listened to the cruel and heartless burglars leave the burning house._

_Leaving her behind._

_Then it dawned on her._

_No one is left but her._

_She could feel the tears pouring out from her eyes. She exploded. She bashed her fists on the sealed off trap door and screamed with all the voice she had in her that night._

_"MIKAGEEEEEEEE!"_

(end flashback)

"...some firemen found me in the trap door a couple hours later. From then on I was put in one foster home after another," Melody muttered bitterly.

Yun could feel the tears streaming down her face. Despite her attempts to maintain her composure, she soon succumbed to soft sobbing once Melody finished. How could anyone survive such a horrible event? Even some of the Digimon, Lopmon included, cried a little.

"I...I never knew...I can't believe I'm so stupid as to not know what you went through until now! How did I not know about this?! Utau-san, Yuzuru-san, and Mikage..." Yun sobbed passionately.

"It's alright. But please...don't cry. It won't bring them back. I'm not telling this so I can receive pity or sympathy," Melody told her bitterly.

"Huh?" Yun stopped sobbing. Now she looks confused. "What are pity and sympathy?"

Kosuke facepalmed. _'How in the world does Yun NOT know what the heck pity AND sympathy are?!'_ He thought. He knew Yun was smart in some areas and there are some things she doesn't know because of her disability, but...how can any eleven-year-old child not know what pity or sympathy are?

Weirdly enough, Melody couldn't help the smile that tickled her face. _'Oh, Yun...I'm so happy you're so innocent. That's what I like about you. Your compassion is pure and genuine,'_ Melody thought, so she decided to explain.

"To pity someone means to feel sorry for them and think you have to protect them and believe they can't do anything on their own. Sympathy just means feeling bad for someone and offering your best wishes and condolences, like at a funeral. I'm not weak and helpless," Melody explained.

"That's what they mean? I never thought you weren't able to do anything on your own! More than anything, I honestly wish I was more like you! You're strong and brave and tough and you don't let anything get you down, even when all hope seems lost! I'm the one who's...weak and helpless," Yun exclaimed boldly at first, then her voice softened when she chastised herself again. Instead of chastising her, Melody softened herself.

"I...I was weak and helpless for a while. My first foster home was terrible. But the second one...it changed me. Forever..." Melody whispered.

(flashback)

_After about a few weeks in her first foster home, which was in a town very far away from Tama-no-Minato, Melody was taken out of there and placed with a woman named Kimura Saori, a single woman with no children who worked at home. Much to Melody's surprise, the woman turned out to be extremely kind and motherly. They went out to places together, they ate dinner together, they talked about lots of things, and best of all, Saori didn't hate her. Saori accepted the little girl that she adopted and gave her all the love in her heart. Melody found herself warming up to this strange woman. For those four months, life was peaceful and happy._

_But in that time frame Melody noticed some odd things. For one thing, Melody wasn't able to go to school due to the fact that the nearest school got closed down due to foreclosure, other schools were too far away, and the woman didn't own a car. Melody didn't mind this fact, as she didn't think she could get along with other kids anyway. To her, no other people in the world could replace Yun, Minako, Kosuke, and the other neighborhood kids in Tama-no-Minato. Secondly, Saori is always home during the day, and she was told she works at home on her computer and her money was mailed to the house every week, but Melody saw her slip out into the dead of night once. Melody couldn't see what she was doing since it was so dark, and she didn't want to risk going out and having something bad happen to her, so she decided to let it be and assumed she's looking for another job, maybe something that'll give her more money._

_But then stranger things began to surface. As December closed in, Melody noticed that the clothes she received aren't suitable for the cold. Short sleeved shirts, shorts, and only two pairs of dirty-looking pants, nothing else. Saori didn't buy her any warm clothes, and the ones she gave her are old and shabby. Overtime, her clothes became shabbier and shabbier. They weren't poor, as Saori's job paid well, so Melody didn't understand why she received shabby clothes, not new ones like Saori did. But as the weather became cold, so did Saori. Whenever Melody asked her questions, Saori would either remain silent or say weird things Melody didn't understand. This began to be very unsettling to her, but Melody assumed Saori was under a lot of pressure because the economy is taking a downward spiral. Melody also noticed that various things went missing from the house, like some furniture._

_However, about a week before Christmas, Saori herself disappeared._

_In the morning, Saori said she was going out to buy Christmas presents, but she told Melody to stay home. Melody was fine with it until she noticed that a huge spread of food, mostly junk food and things from convenience stores, is all over the dining room table, and that the snow began falling very hard. Snow piled up in huge drifts, covering the entire town with white snow. When night fell, Melody started getting cold. Once the clock reached 8:30 PM, however, Saori still hadn't returned, and Melody was getting fed up with it._

_"Urgh! What's taking so long?! That's it! I'm going out to find her!" Melody told herself as she put some shoes and an old coat on. She wished she found something warmer, like hats or mittens or even winter pants, but it was all she could find. In the process, she noticed some clothes were disappearing as well. But she didn't pay much attention to that as she went outside in the night and proceeded to search for Saori._

_The snow went all the way to her knees, and Melody's skin stung with cold once the snow embraced her bare legs. The snow itself is hard to plod through because it's piled up so high, and her legs sunk in it whenever she walked. To top it all off, snow is still falling, though not so much as to completely bury Melody. But Melody wasn't going to let any of this stop her from finding Saori. She had so many questions to ask her: Why did she leave? Why did she lie about going out? Why is everything changing? Did she do something wrong? And what about all the time they spent together? Melody felt she needed to know all of this, and she needed to know NOW._

_Unfortunately, Melody's search came out both slow and fruitless. Her legs are growing red, some parts even purple, and her hands started to freeze. The jacket she's wearing has no pockets, and she wished more and more that she had warm clothes, like pants, gloves, a hat, or even a scarf or warm boots. She wished she knew what time it was, because it felt like forever. After a while, she fell to her knees, and her reddening hands stung upon making contact with the freezing snow. She found a tall clock and to her surprise, it read 11:23 PM! It's so late in the night! Melody pulled her hands out of the snow and, to her shock, all of her fingers are red, and the very tips of them have extremely small purple dots on them. Melody knew what this was: frostbite. She remembered having to read a story in English class about a school bus full of children being trapped in a snowstorm, and they got frostbite as well._

_Just as she looked away from her hands, she saw a figure in a bright red coat walking underneath a lit streetlight._

_Saori put on a bright red coat before she left._

_"Saori-san!" Melody yelled and dredged through the heavy snow. That woman had to be Saori! It had to be! She didn't care if she was getting cold inside and out anymore. Melody had to talk to Saori! She had to ask why she lied about going out._

_Despite the snow being so heavy, Melody pushed through it and finally managed to catch up to Saori. Yes! This is Saori!_

_"Saori-san!" Melody grabbed Saori's arm, hoping to see her smiling face._

_But she was about to receive a shock._

_Saori didn't give her a smile. Instead, upon laying eyes on Melody, she became absolutely livid, her eyes bloodshot with anger._

_But that was just the beginning._

_Before Melody could process the anger on Saori's face, she suddenly felt a stinging blow to her freezing face. The slap was so strong, it made her fall into the snow, exacerbating the pain she felt on her already stinging skin and burning fingers, which are losing feeling. Saori gave her a stare so livid and so bloodshot that Melody almost didn't recognize the woman standing before her._

_"Why are you following me, you trash?! Go back to that rat hole of a house where you belong! Stop making me more ashamed than I already am!" Saori screamed._

_Trash? Rat hole of a house? Ashamed? Melody? Making HER ashamed?_

_"You're such a stupid little girl, you know that?! I couldn't believe how easy it was to use you and manipulate you! You think I loved you? Out of the kindness of my heart? Get it in your head, you stupid fool! I only adopted you so I can receive enough benefits to get away from this rat hole of a town! I'm moving away and finally starting the life I've always wanted to live, and you're not part of it!"_

_Melody's heart shattered. This wasn't true. She wished this wasn't true._

_"But...you said you loved me!" Melody wailed._

_"Who would love a stupid, gullible, weak-willed, insignificant fool like you?! No one will ever like you! You're only good for being used and manipulated for everyone else's personal amusement, convenience, and pleasure! You're just a toy that society can use and throw away when they're done with you! Don't try to delude yourself with stupid fantasies about people loving you and being kind to you! God, I can't believe I had to put up with you all these months! I'm sick and tired of dealing with you, you trash! Maybe it'd be better if you didn't exist!"_

_Her entire world went black. She didn't even notice Saori turning away and leaving. Melody could see, but she was blind. All the energy she had before drained out of her. She failed to notice that her fingers are growing more and more purple by the minute. All of Saori's words engraved themselves into her heart like a burning brand. Saori only adopted her so she could squeeze money out of the agency and use it to move away? Using her as a cash cow? Was something like that even possible? And she's just a child! How can anyone be so cruel as to trick a child into thinking they love them, then going out and outright abandoning them, deciding that they've lost their value and that their existence is a blemish to all the world? How could she have let this cruel person rip her heart to pieces like this?_

_How could she have been so...weak, helpless, and gullible?_

_How could she possibly forgive such a nefarious, reprehensible, irredeemable act of cruelty toward an innocent child?_

_Her eyes blurred. Warm tears stung her freezing face, exasperating the chafing cold. Melody sobbed at first, not caring that snow is piling on her little body. Then she cried. Then she looked up at the midnight sky with closed eyes and screamed louder than she did when Mikage and her parents died._

_Melody was officially broken beyond repair. She didn't even notice three men trying to comfort her and take her to the hospital to treat her frostbite._

(end flashback)

"...I've been in seven other foster homes since then. I asked one of my foster brothers in my third one to dye my bangs red, which freaked everyone else out. I decided that I was never going to forgive anyone for any crime they commit toward me. I taught myself how to fight, I decided to go for a more goth look, and I decided that I wasn't going to be anyone's toy that they can use and throw away when they feel like it, and I won't forgive them if they do either. That woman took away my forgiveness. Do you see it now, Yun?" Melody's brown eyes looked melted and soft when she said this. "I can't forgive anyone."

Much to Melody's surprise, Yun didn't cry this time. Instead, she stood up, red with anger.

"How can that woman be so cruel?! You didn't do anything to her! You didn't do anything wrong! How is it even possible to use a child to take money from an adoption agency and use it for their own selfish gain?! This is madness, I tell you! MADNESS! I want to punch that woman in the face and make her feel the pain she caused you! You don't deserve what just happened to you! How could she say and do such horrible things?! I-I-I-I want to beat her up so hard it'll wake up her dentist!" Yun screamed in her shrill voice.

Melody smiled again. It's no wonder she loves Yun so much. She cares and feels great compassion for everyone. But Yun calmed down shortly afterward.

"But...that's not all, is there?" Yun asked.

Melody nodded. "None of the foster homes I was sent to until now were in Tama-no-Minato, except for one. The farthest I've been is some little ghetto in Tokyo up north. I didn't think I'd ever see you or everyone else ever again, so I tried hard to act like a defiant little goth who hated everybody. I didn't want to be friends with anyone. I figured it'd be the best way to keep them away from me. I didn't think there was any hope of me ever seeing you all again...until earlier this year, that is."

(flashback)

_Melody was surprised that she came back to Tama-no-Minato. She was more surprised by how much it changed over the year she was gone. But now she's eleven years old and is about to start in the middle of fifth grade. She walked on the blacktop of Fushimi Middle School grimly, not really caring about the kids pushing and shoving each other or chatting amongst themselves or playing jump rope. She especially didn't like that it's nice and sunny out. She decided to just sit on the rusty silver bleachers and be lost in her thoughts._

_Then, all of a sudden, she suddenly made very quick eye contact with a girl. A girl about a year younger than her, with a round, wide, plump little face, short but flouncy, chin length dark brown hair that curled at the ends and very wide and striking green eyes. But from the way her eyes and face looked, she looked very sad, like she experienced something terrible. Her cheeks are red and flushed, mostly under her eyes, like she'd been crying. Her skin is totally white, like snow, with some slight pockmarks, with one big pimple on her nose. She's wearing a beige jacket over a dark green hooded sweater with a big pocket on the abdomen, black jeans, pair of blue and white sneakers, and black ankle socks. Upon seeing this girl, Melody froze. Not with cold, but with shock and surprise. The girl in front of her froze as well, but in her case, it looked to be more out of fear or anxiety._

_No, it couldn't be...could it?_

_"Yu-"_

_Before she could talk to her, the bell rang, which means it's time to go to class. Melody, to her surprise, is in the same homeroom as the girl. She continued to eye her when she stood at the front of the classroom. She failed to notice both the fearful, the interested, and the scornful looks the rest of the children were giving her. The girl pulled out a manga and read it. Melody could see the manga she's reading: _Card Captor Sakura_(2)._

_"Everyone? I'd like you all to meet Shimotsuki Melody. She just recently moved from northern Tokyo. Let's give her a warm welcome!" Melody failed to listen to the teacher or take in her enthusiasm. All she wanted to do was confirm her suspicions._

_Surprisingly enough, the girl is not only in her homeroom, but in most of her other classes as well! But throughout the entire day, the girl didn't pay any attention to her. She just either focused on her notes, read her manga, or drew pictures when assignments were done. She did notice, however, that most of the other kids were very cruel to her, particularly Seiko, Nenji, and their lackeys. They were especially malicious and volatile toward her. All throughout English class, which is a double-period for some strange reason Melody never understood (it went for over three hours, the teacher for English taught math as well, and English came right after math), kids kept on teasing her and calling her names._

_"Hey Pimple Nose! Is that pimple getting bigger?" The boy named Mansuke taunted._

_"Pimple Nose! Pimple Nose!" Some other boys chanted._

_"Ey yo! Pop it, Pimple Nose!" The fat boy Nenji cried out with a villainous sneer on his face._

_"Why don't you use some skin products? Oh! Wait! That's right! They don't work on ugly wimps like you, Wakamiya!" The catty girl Seiko sneered, which made her friends giggle with laughter._

'Wakamiya?! Wakamiya as in...?!'_ No, it couldn't be. It just couldn't be!_

_"Children, knock it off and finish the lesson!" The plump English teacher commanded, but the kids weren't listening._

_"Shut up, Nemoto!" A girl with a blonde ponytail yelled._

_"You shut up, purple geek!" Nenji yelled back._

_"Pimple Nose! Pimple Nose! Pimple Nose!" The naughty children continued to chant._

_But what broke Melody's heart the most is that the girl is looking more and more dejected by the minute, looking like she's about to cry. She wasn't going to stand for this._

_Angrily, she stood up, stomped over to Nenji's desk, and kicked his desk out of the way. She stared him down with fire in her brown eyes._

_"Leave her alone, you overweight pig face!" Melody yelled angrily._

_"I ain't no pig face, yo!" Nenji stood up and yelled back, but Melody wasn't going to let this giant chunk of human flesh have the upper hand._

_"Everyone gets pimples on some part of their body! It's not their fault! It just happens! So what if she has one? We all get them! Why, I bet you have plenty on that stinky elephant-shaped butt of yours!" Melody yelled._

_"Shimotsuki! Nemoto! Sit down right this instant!" The teacher commanded, but neither listened. The other kids, save for the other girl, watched with curiosity, interested in seeing the outcome of this brouhaha._

_"I ain't no elephant! You's a crazy goth punk, yo!" Nenji roared._

_"You tell'em, Nenji!" The boy named Hirofumi cheered._

_"What? You scared to admit it, Pimple Butt?" Melody felt great pleasure in pushing Nenji's berserk button and watching his face turn red like a... "Hey, look! Your face is so red, it looks just like a big fat pimple!"_

_All the kids, save for the girl, burst into laughter._

_"Why you-!" Nenji tried to lunge at her, but the teacher got in between them before he could do anything._

_"Both of you! Detention with me after school! Today!" The teacher roared angrily. Melody turned to the girl. Much to her surprise, she's covering her ears. Is the noise bothering her?_

_It wasn't until fourth period she found out why the girl's been so abject and desolate._

_Social studies came around, and the teacher here is much better-looking than the plump, dumpy, and overweight lady for English and math. But about fifteen minutes into the lesson, something happened. Just as the teacher is about to tell the kids to start using their text books, the girl from earlier suddenly let out a piercing, bloodcurdling wail, slipped out of her desk, and fell onto the floor, covering her face and shaking violently like she's having a seizure, only she's screaming._

_"What the-?! Yun?!" The teacher exclaimed._

'Yun?! Oh my God! It's her! It really is her! I was right!'_ Melody thought._

_This girl really is Wakamiya Julia, also commonly known as Yun, her best friend from Katsura Elementary School! The really sweet and childish one!_

_Not wanting to see Yun so sad, Melody leaped over to her and got to her before the teacher could try anything._

_"Yun! Yun! Get a hold of yourself! It's me, Melody! Your friend from Katsura!" Melody pleaded, hoping she'd be able to reach her. But Yun continued to cry and scream passionately._

_"CLARETTE'S DEAD! She's dead and never coming back! The doctors killed her!" Yun screamed, her high voice becoming quite shrill._

_"Stay back, children! I'll take her to the nurse's office!" The teacher exclaimed as he scooped Yun into his arms and carried her like she was a princess._

_"Can we come too?" Melody and, much to her surprise, the ponytailed blonde girl and a boy with hazel eyes, asked pleadingly._

_They all went to the nurse's office and put the still crying Yun on one of the beds._

_"Call her parents," The teacher told the nurse. Melody wasn't going to let Yun cry all day, so what did she do?_

_She pulled Yun up and hugged her as tight as she could._

_"Shhhh. It's okay, Yun. I'm here. I'm...back..." Melody cooed softly, squeezing her and rubbing her back with her hand as gently as she could. Weirdly enough, Yun stopped screaming, but she continued to cry._

_"Mel-chan? Is that...you...?" Yun whimpered._

_"Yeah. I'm so happy to be back...why are you crying?" Melody told her in a kind, soft whisper._

_Yun sniffed. "My cat...Clarette...she's gone. She was getting sick. Mom said she had kidney failure. They said she was going to get better. Then they started saying the doctors had to put her down. I thought they meant down on the floor so she can walk. But putting them down means killing them with a needle! The pet doctors killed her! They were supposed to make her better, but they killed her! Clarette's dead! Dead and never coming back! Ever! Ayaka said that's what putting animals down means! Killing them so that they won't suffer! But isn't that just as bad?! Why would they do that?! Why would Mom say she'll get better, then lie?!"_

_"She probably thought she would get better, then found out it wasn't going to happen after all. Clarette was probably getting old. Maybe her time to go to Heaven came. I'm sure Hisako-san wasn't trying to lie to you," Melody told her reassuringly._

_"You...really remember me?"_

_"Yeah. I do."_

_"I...I remember you...Mel-chan...your bracelet..."_

_"So...you're really Melody?" The boy asked._

_"Yeah...Minako. Kosuke," Melody told them._

_The two kids who accompanied them, Minako and Kosuke, looked at each other with shocked faces, then back at her with surprise._

_"Whoa! You seriously remember us?!" Kosuke yelped._

_"Yep. I always have, but I never thought I'd see you again," Melody told them with a smile._

_Minako smiled herself. "We used to be friends back in Katsura. Wanna be friends again?"_

_Melody smiled bigger this time. "Of course!"_

_Yun finally stopped crying and smiled._

_"I missed you, Mel-chan! You're back! Yay!"_

(end flashback)

"...From the way you looked at me on the blacktop, you looked afraid of me, like you assumed I was some kind of punk gangster who lived on the streets, did drugs, and picked on people for fun. I know you don't like people who trash talk and dress badly. I dyed my hair and wore black clothes because I wanted to distinguish myself from everyone else. I didn't want anyone to like me or recognize me. But back then...I started to think maybe I was wrong in changing myself so much if it meant causing you to take me the wrong way and hate me. I couldn't live with myself if you hated me because of how I looked and how I acted, even though I still want to be the person you know and love! I didn't tell you what happened because I was afraid you'd get the wrong idea about me and abandon me like everyone else did, and that'd be the worst thing to ever happen to me! You're the only good thing that's ever happened to me, and I don't want to lose that!" As she said this, Melody cried again, clutching her fists and digging them into her knees. Yun's emerald eyes are wide with shock. But the shock then turned to anger.

"Mel! You seriously think I'd hate you just because you're putting on a tough girl act to deal with lots of bad stuff that happened to you?! I'd never hate you for that! No way! You're my friend! I saw you stand up for me, and you took me to the nurse's office after I cried over Clarette! Bad people aren't nice to their friends! You're nice to me!" Yun exclaimed loudly, but not in a scream. She took some breaths and softened. She could hear Birdramon trying to break free from the Karatenmon and the secondary Digimon trying to hold them off.

"Get away from her, you pests! Flame Fist!" Flamedramon yelled angrily.

Melody looked up at her with tearful eyes. "But...did you even recognize me?"

Yun's face saddened a bit and she looked down at her feet. "To be honest, for the first second, I almost didn't. But then I saw the bracelet, the one I gave you when we were little that was too big for you. I knew right then it was you, but I was afraid to ask. I was afraid that...you'd have changed into a bad person. So...yes, I did think that you changed into a bad person when I first saw you. But that was before I saw you standing up for me, and I was too sad about Clarette to...really realize it. I...I always wondered where you were and what happened to you. I called you lots of times, but you never responded. Ayaka kept telling me to forget about you and move on, and so did everyone else, but I didn't. I always worried about you, and I never forgot about you. But I wasn't sure if you'd ever come back, since usually people who move away never come back. That was how it always was for me. I accepted you because you're my friend. No, I still am your friend, and that'll never change. Are you...mad?"

So Melody's assumptions were wrong. She assumed she'd never see Yun again, and that Yun probably forgot about her, which to her was the same as abandonment. But that isn't true. More tears streamed down her face. But she has a smile on her face this time.

"No, Yun. I'm not mad. I did try to call you as I moved, but I wound up forgetting your number, and half the homes I was in either didn't have working phones or they didn't let me use them. This was before I got my own cell phone."

"Oh. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have thought you were a bad person back then."

"It's alright. I...forgive you."

Yun's smile faded.

"However...I must admit, does all of what happened to you really...justify what you've been doing? Pushing other people away and thinking they're out to get you? Even Biyomon, your partner?" Yun asked.

Melody stood up this time. All of this time, she assumed no one liked her, and Melody didn't think being liked by anyone, especially people who wanted to use her for themselves, was worth the risk of getting hurt, so she put on a tough punk facade and forced everyone to stay away from her.

_"I'll never forgive you!"_ That was her code. Her coping mechanism. Her way of survival. Was it all for naught?

"Oh! I totally forgot!" Yun yelped and rummaged through her pockets. "I have something for you!"

She pulled out the picture. Once Melody laid eyes on it, she gasped. It's a clean, if slightly crumpled, copy of the picture Biyomon destroyed! And it looks brand new! Melody took it and gazed upon it with wide eyes.

"This photo! It's..."

Yun gave a sweet smile this time. "Yep! My dad found the original copy on his computer and printed out new ones for us. I figured it'd be the perfect way to fix the fight going on between you and Biyomon, and I tried to give it to you, but you left when we were in the cave, so I couldn't."

Melody couldn't believe it. Biyomon destroyed what she thought was the only copy of the picture she ever owned, yet here Yun is confessing that her father has the original stored on his computer, and making fresh new ones! But then Melody remembered that Teruki took the picture with a digital camera, not one of those old polaroids or Kodaks, so it can be easily downloaded onto a computer and inserted into a hard drive. With her heart being melted and soft as it is now, new thoughts began to swim in Melody's mind like the elegant tails of goldfish. Was what Melody assumed totally wrong? Did Biyomon really burn the picture by accident after all? Not on purpose?

"I...I'm sorry. I...I left because...I didn't think I could deal with the pain...of having been hurt by a friend...who I opened my heart to..." Melody whimpered, her eyes filling with tears again. Yun put a hand on Melody's shoulder.

"Go to her. Forgive her. She needs you now," Yun whispered. "You forgave me, so forgive her."

Melody looked at the picture once more. Yes. Everything about it is the same as the picture Biyomon unintentionally destroyed. All the details, the poses they were in, their expressions, the trees, the fence behind them, everything, all the way down to the leaves in the trees.

Yun chuckled weakly and rubbed her head of hair. "Ehehehe. I sound so stupid, don't I? I sound like one of those anime characters who say cheesy and preachy speeches to make people feel better when it doesn't really work in real life."

"Why won't you die already, you piece of chicken?! Looks like I'll have to finish you off!" Lilithmon sneered outside as she prepared to kill Birdramon despite the helpless phoenix being pinned to the ground by the multitude of Karatenmon.

"Oh God! Birdramon!" Melody yelled, not with anger, but with worry, as she ran out of the broken castle to find her friend.

The pile of Karatenmon kept the fallen phoenix in place, as Birdramon's eyes looked insouciantly up at the midnight sky. Lilithmon scoffed.

"Darkness-"

"BIRDRAMON! I'M SORRY!"

"Wha-?!" Lilithmon's attack suddenly hit one of her Karatenmon, making it dissipate into data.

"I'm sorry, Birdramon! I know now that you didn't destroy my picture on purpose! It really was an accident! Yun found another one! I'm sorry I kicked you out and called you names and abandoned you when you needed me the most! I was wrong! I was wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong! I'm sorry I thought you were out to get me!"

"You shut your mouth, you insignificant human!" Lilithmon scoffed as she tried to prepare another Darkness Love attack.

_'No! I am NOT insignificant!'_ Melody screamed in her brain as hard as she could. She was not going to let the world tell her what she is and isn't. Only Melody herself could decide that.

Birdramon closed her eyes, awaiting her demise. But they re-opened again as Melody got closer to her. Birdramon saw something she thought she'd never see. Melody with tears streaming down her face. Melody looking vulnerable, melted and soft like lumpy plum pudding.

Her heart, brimming with warmth and love.

"I FORGIVE YOUUUU!"

Melody's eyes were closed, so she didn't see it, but Birdramon did. So did everyone else, Lilithmon and the Karatenmon included. Melody's red digivice and D-Heart of Forgiveness glowed in a brilliant red light. Not bloody red, but greyish red. The light shot out from the digivice and into the D-Heart. The light shot out from the D-Heart and enveloped Birdramon, which caused the Karatenmon to be forced off of her.

Everyone watched. But Yun looked apprehensive.

"What the...?" Yun whispered.

"What is wrong?" Lucero asked.

"The light...I saw some grey in it. Something's not right!" Yun exclaimed with worry as Birdramon became enveloped by the greyish red light.

"Birdramon, digivolve to..."

Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Birdramon became bigger as she glowed, and she rose out from the light. Weirdly enough, out came not a majestic phoenix, but a gigantic green parrot! On her head is a silver, helmet-like plate of steel covering her forehead and beak. Two long, red feathers protruded from both sides of her head, two red stripes are underneath both of her eyes, her talons are now greyish blue instead of peach colored, she grew two small, green, clawed arms and hands, her back and wings are yellow like the sun, and on her wrists are two golden holy rings.

But Yun noticed something about her eyes. They're not sky blue. They're glowing in a bloody red light.

Like Biyomon was when she went insane.

"...Parrotmon!"

"What the-?!" Everyone yelped, Lilithmon included.

"Don't Birdramon digivolve into Garudamon?" Isao asked.

"Why is she a giant green parrot?" Terriermon asked.

"Uh...I have a green parrot for a partner?" Melody asked, looking quite surprised in a _"holy shrimp what the freak did I just receive?!"_ kind of way.

"Yeah! Woohoo! I was wondering when this was gonna happen! Go Parrotmon!" Syakomon bounced up and down as she cheered jubilantly.

"Go get'em, Parrotmon!" Coronamon cheered happily.

As soon as the jaded-looking Parrotmon descended back onto the ground, looking much bigger than all the Karatenmon, the army got their swords out and prepared to try and kill her again. Lilithmon couldn't help but laugh loudly.

"What a spectacle this is! This is just utterly hilarious! How can any Digimon stand digivolving into something as pathetic and disgraceful as this?! Karatenmon, cook this parakeet!" Lilithmon laughed wickedly at the hilarity of Parrotmon's entrance, then commanded her Karatenmon to finish her off again.

As ordered, the Karatenmon all piled onto Parrotmon again. Unfortunately, all of the secondary Digimon are worn out from too much battling, and couldn't protect her this time. Rabbitmon finally de-digivolved back into Cutemon after all this time.

"NO! Parrotmon! You can do it! I know you can fight them off!" Melody yelled, hoping Parrotmon would hear, throwing away her initial shock from before.

Weirdly enough, Parrotmon didn't protest like she did when she was Birdramon. She just let all the Karatenmon pile on top of her like a ton of bricks. It was like...she lost her will to fight despite being able to digivolve.

The Karatenmon didn't see this. None of them even noticed blue sparks of electricity coming from between Parrotmon's red feathers on her head.

"Sonic..." This came out in an extremely low, but not inaudible, whisper.

"Bye-bye, chicken!" Lilithmon sneered wickedly.

But nobody was prepared for this. Not even the Karatenmon, who can normally predict the attacks of any Digimon. Parrotmon's eyes shot wide open, and with gusto, she got off of her knees and stood up, even as the Karatenmon all piled on top of her. Even Lilithmon saw it.

"...What?!"

"...DESTROYEEEEER!"

Yun fell to her knees and covered her ears upon hearing Parrotmon's loud, shrill scream. Out of absolutely nowhere (well, not really), huge waves of sky blue thunder jolted out on all sides, literally lighting up the entire area despite it being so dark. But not only did it manage to light up the entire area, it successfully managed to electrocute every single Karatenmon! Not only that, the attack is so strong and so powerful, the majority of the Karatenmon withered away. Even Lilithmon had to cover her face, the attack is so bright and overwhelming. Everyone is surprised the attack didn't totally obliterate Wisemon's castle.

"How can this be?! One single ultimate level killed most of my army?! This cannot be true!" Lilithmon yelped in surprise.

Unsurprisingly, the battle isn't over. The remaining Karatenmon tried to subdue Parrotmon, but she roared so loudly, it echoed throughout the entire desert. Not just Yun, but everyone had to cover their ears this time, Parrotmon's scream is so loud. Weirdly enough, she didn't fly. Instead, she roared and, with her two claws glowing with blue light, literally slashed the Karatenmon to bits. She slashed and hacked them like they were torn up paper. But even after all the Karatenmon were defeated, Parrotmon didn't stop screaming or slashing!

"This thing's insane! Darkness Love!" Annoyed, Lilithmon shot an attack at Parrotmon. But to her shock, Parrotmon not only managed to withstand it, but literally slashed it with her glowing claw like it was nothing.

"WHAT?!" Lilithmon yelped.

Parrotmon roared again, and flew this time.

Right toward Lilithmon.

Parrotmon came so fast, Lilithmon didn't have time to react.

Someone else, however, did.

All of a sudden, an eerie, light blue light suddenly shot out from underneath Lilithmon and consumed her right as Parrotmon was about to attempt to slash her to bits. Parrotmon went right through the blue light as it grabbed Lilithmon. The light then grew two heads, with eerie-looking orange and yellow eyes.

"Is that...?" Minako asked timorously.

"Oh God, that must be-!" Shunji tried to muffle his yelp, but was unsuccessful.

"Dang, that thing's scary!" Dracomon cried out.

Parrotmon and the ghostly, two-headed ephemera made eye contact with one another, then the ghostly thing began wrapping itself around a screaming Parrotmon. Melody, not wanting to see her friend get hurt once again, ripped her D-Heart off of her neck and ran to the scene, her brown eyes regaining their feral and fierce sheen.

"GET OFF MY FRIEND YOU GHOST!" Melody screamed as she held her D-Heart into the sky. Now it glowed in a red light. Not in a bloody red light, but red like a beating human heart. The wings of a phoenix rising from the ashes as part of the rebirth cycle. Only this time, the greyness and dullness finally dissipated, and the D-Heart of Forgiveness is finally able to glow brilliantly, without being held back by Melody's now dissipated anger and hatred. The light is so bright, so brilliant, and so overwhelming that the ghostly ephemera finally released Parrotmon and disappeared into thin air.

Melody didn't notice this, and everyone else didn't as well, but the red glow in Parrotmon's eyes finally went away, and they returned to being bright blue, like the daytime sky. But she didn't descend to the ground. She continued to float in the air.

"Yeah! She did it! Woohoo!" Kosuke cheered jubilantly. Patamon and Aria leaped onto him and he spun around as he hugged them.

"That was so awesome!" Riku cheered.

"I certainly don't want to go through something like that ever again!" Kangarumon retorted.

"Don't push your luck, you boxer kangaroo," Veedramon sneered teasingly. Kangarumon shot a scrutinizing look at the blue and white wingless dragon.

"Hey! Where's Link-san?" Rena asked.

"Hey look! Parrotmon's flying away!" Bearmon exclaimed and pointed to the sky.

"WHAT?!" Everyone yelped and turned around.

Bearmon's right! Parrotmon is flying away!

"What the heck is she doing?!" Terriermon yelped.

"Mel! Want to go after her with me?" Thunderbirmon asked.

Melody nodded and climbed onto Thunderbirmon's back.

"Be careful!" Lucero advised.

"We'll be back in a flash!" Melody cried out as she and Thunderbirmon flew into the sky to chase after Parrotmon.

Yun watched them fly into the night, with a weak looking Lopmon in her arms, with a tired but content look painted on her round canvas of a face.

"Agh!" Lilithmon fell onto something hard. She opened her eyes and was surprised to see that she's back in the inner sanctum.

"Huh?! The inner sanctum?! How-?!"

"Arrgh!" MoonMillenniummon howled as though he's in pain, which immediately worried Lilithmon.

"Master! Are you alright?!" Lilithmon asked with worry as she ran to touch the big crystal in which he resides.

"Thanks goodness I made it in time...to save you..." MoonMillenniummon croaked before succumbing to another fit of pain.

"What?" Lilithmon was shocked. How is such a feat possible for her master? He can't even leave the inner sanctum, let alone the crystal, so how could he possibly manage to both find out where she is and save her? But still, Lilithmon was touched. "You...saved me? But how? You can't even leave the crystal, so how is such a feat possible?"

"I can't leave the crystal, as you know, but I sacrificed some of my powers so I could alter the space-time continuum for just a moment to open a rift big enough for my meager ephemera to swoop in and save you. I wasn't going to risk...having you get killed on my part," MoonMillenniummon explained in a pained whisper. "Argh! It's no wonder I'm trapped in here! He's done a great job trying to keep me from doing what I please!"

Lilithmon could feel tears creeping into her eyes, and she's not supposed to even have a heart! She leaned against her suffering master wistfully and rested herself on his crystal. "Oh, Master...I really do feel blessed to have you in my life. I'm only sorry you had to make yourself suffer because of me, especially considering what this wretched curse is doing to you..."

"It's alright, Lilithmon-ugh! I'm willing to endure...anything for the sake of...preserving the lives of all the children I have left-argh!" MoonMillenniummon croaked weakly.

"I wish there was something I could do to ease your suffering, but even though I'm a mega level Digimon, I can't do anything! Oh, how that makes my heart sag!" Lilithmon moaned ruefully.

"I do too. Don't put the blame on yourself, Lilithmon. You were doing what I had asked, so I had some part in this too."

"But how did you know where I was?"

"HV-Monitormon stuck around."

"Oh. What about everyone else?"

"I'll call off the search for now. We'll find that masked man yet! But the children must be tired, and I don't want them running around looking like they're about to fall over, so I'll allow them to regain their strength so we can come up with a better plan."

"Yes, Master..." Lilithmon said wistfully. Before she knew it, she was asleep.

MoonMillenniummon, on the other hand, felt as though he's being electrocuted, dunked into dirty water, and having a ton of bricks and sharp objects thrown at him on all sides. _'Argh! Ugh! The pain...it hurts me so...but I must endure it, for I must set a good example for my...precious children. You'll pay for making me suffer like this!'_

If only the thing he was talking to were around right now. But alas, it isn't and MoonMillenniummon was going to have to endure this as well, even though he clearly didn't want to.

"Parrotmon!" They didn't fly very far, but they did manage to lose sight of Parrotmon for just a bit.

"There she is! Down there!" Thunderbirmon exclaimed when she saw a big green and yellow mass sitting on the sand. Thunderbirmon descended about ten feet from the gigantic parrot and allowed Melody to slide on her wing so she can get to the ground better. Melody ran up to the giant parrot, who continued to face away from her.

"Parrotmon? It's me, Mel," Melody told her in a soft voice. But Parrotmon didn't move an inch. Melody's heart sagged and her face softened, looking sad and vulnerable like lumpy plum pudding.

"Look, I'm sorry. For everything. For all the horrible stuff I said, and for not listening to you. I should have taken the facts instead of...deluding myself with silly ideas. I know now that you didn't destroy my picture on purpose," Melody explained as softly as she could, hoping Parrotmon would hear the sincerity in her voice.

Once again, Parrotmon didn't respond. Silence permeated the air.

"You were really awesome out there. You totally beat the life out of those Karatenmon. I don't mind that you didn't get that witch lady. She's a mega level, and she probably would have killed you," Melody said.

"...Liar."

"Huh?"

Finally, a response! But it wasn't anything Melody or Thunderbirmon expected to hear.

"You're a liar. You're not really sorry, are you? You're just saying that to make yourself look good and so you don't have to feel guilty anymore. I didn't even digivolve because of you. That was just a fluke. Besides, everything you said about me is true, even the part about me destroying your picture on purpose," Parrotmon chided bitterly.

"What?! Parrotmon! Are you insane?! I only said all that stuff on the spur of the moment! I didn't mean any of that stuff I said!" Melody cried out this time, surprised that her friend is really taking what she (Melody) said to heart and actually believing it to be true.

"Yes you did! Stop denying it! You told me we weren't friends anymore, so we're gonna leave it at that! It's not like you really wanted a partner like me in the first place!" Parrotmon squawked angrily.

"Parrotmon-" Melody tried to approach Parrotmon this time.

But what she got instead almost got her roasted inside and out.

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" Parrotmon turned around quickly and made a jolt of blue lightning shoot out from in between the two red feathers on her head. It almost hit Melody, but thankfully it missed her and didn't really hit anything. But this act of recklessness made Thunderbirmon livid.

"You shouldn't do that! Won't you please just listen?!" Thunderbirmon pleaded, but it didn't work.

"I've tried _everything_! I've done absolutely nothing but try to understand you, Mel! I've tried hard to understand your need to push everyone away, me included!" Parrotmon roared. She didn't care anymore. She didn't care what Melody thought of her anymore. Let her think this giant parrot is a big crybaby. What's it to her anyway? "I've tried to stay out of your personal business and let you do your own thing even though I've expressed my distaste for some of your methods of dealing with life! I didn't want to pry, even though I have a tendency to do that! I wanted nothing more than to understand you! For you to open up to not just me, but everyone else! But you just won't, will you?! All you do is act like some high and mighty tough girl when you're nothing but a weak and frightened little girl who's afraid to be alone and abandoned, but you clearly don't know how to show that except for making up weird ideas about people being out to get you and never forgiving them for stuff that's by accident and treating everyone around you like dirt! Haven't you ever thought that your little tough girl act affects other people around you?! Why won't you consider their feelings for once in your freakin' life instead of your own?! You only care about yourself and not about anyone else who's even remotely good to you! You know what?! Forget it! I don't care that I destroyed your stupid picture anymore! You're absolutely right! It's not like apologizing about it is going to make it magically restore itself now is it?! But you don't care whether I do anything or not! I know you don't! You've hardened yourself to everyone, including the Digimon partner you're supposed to care about but don't give a flying feather about because you're too stubborn to even believe that there are genuinely good people out there who'd be willing to give their lives for you, and you can only show gratitude to them by abandoning them when they need you THE MOST!"

Parrotmon could feel tears pouring out of her own face upon feeling herself fall to her knees. Her chest hurt, but she needed to rant like that. For Parrotmon, it was finally time to express how she felt this time. She didn't care if Melody apologized. It's not like Melody is really sincere about wanting her back anyway. But when she lifted her own head, she saw something she never thought she'd see.

Melody is standing in front of her, with tears coming out of her own face. Melody! The ever so obstinate and hardened Melody, actually crying! For the first time in her life (well, the months she spent with Melody), Melody is actually soft, melted, and looking totally vulnerable! If a giant army of pigs with angel wings and halos flew over them this very moment, Parrotmon wouldn't be nearly as surprised as she is now.

"You're absolutely right, Parrotmon. I...I have been putting on a tough girl act. I just...didn't want people to think of me as someone they could use for their own amusement, then throw me out and decide I'm not worth it. I wanted to preserve the last piece of self-integrity that I had, if I even had any, but...I guess in the end, I threw away something really important. I thought I was showing people that I was stronger than them, but I guess I really was losing my integrity. I didn't think I could ever be kind or forgive anyone ever again, you included. But...look," Slowly, Melody pulled the picture out. Despite how small it is, Parrotmon could see it clear as day.

"What?! The picture?! But I thought I burned your only copy!" Parrotmon yelped with surprise.

Melody nodded. "I thought so too. But Yun's dad found the original one on his computer and printed new ones out for us. Yun gave this to be right before you digivolved, so...I'm not mad anymore."

Parrotmon couldn't believe it. The picture she thought she ruined and destroyed forever is back, and better than ever! Who'd have thought that the original would be stored away onto someone's computer? So Melody is telling the truth after all. Instead of hardening her heart like Melody has done, now she felt melted and soft. She broke down and sobbed this time.

"Mel, I...I want us to be friends, even though...we're different...I-I really am sorry for burning it..." Parrotmon whimpered through her tears. Melody approached her and put a small hand on her furry green abdomen with a smile on her face.

"It's alright. I'm not mad anymore. I forgive you," Melody whispered tenderly.

"B-B-Before you came back, Li-Li-Li-Lilithmon...she...she tried to strangle Yun and get her to tell her where...Link-san was. I knew that if...if she died, you'd be so sad, and I-I-I thought you'd...probably blame me for it. I...I couldn't let Lilithmon destroy the very last thing that you hold so...dear to your heart, so I-I-I-I wound up digivolving into B-B-B-Birdramon...all on my own, because...I was so c-c-convinced that you'd fall apart if Yun died, and you hated me already, so I g-g-g-guess...I couldn't risk you hating me more than you already have been..." Parrotmon sobbed. She's sobbing so much she can hardly talk.

_'So Yun was right. She did save her. Wow. To think I was so cruel to you before...'_ Melody thought ruefully. "She told me about that. Thank you, Parrotmon..."

"Want to fly back to the castle?" Thunderbirmon asked. Both Melody and Parrotmon nodded. But instead of climbing onto Thunderbirmon's back, Melody decided to ride on Parrotmon this time. Parrotmon gladly ascended into the air with Thunderbirmon trailing next to her.

"But I have to admit, why did you digivolve into a parrot of all things?" Melody asked.

"I dunno. I've always been able to digivolve into a big parrot instead of a Garudamon, like the rest of my kin. I remember being disliked for it though. Why? Do you hate that I'm a Parrotmon?" Parrotmon explained, managing to calm down and regaining her equanimity.

"Are you kidding me? You managed to single-handedly beat an entire army of black ninja birds with a lightning bolt and looked totally wicked out there! After that, how could I possibly hate you?! You were wicked awesome back there!" Melody exclaimed with the biggest smile she thought she could never be able to express. Parrotmon blushed.

"It's true. I wish I was as strong as you," Thunderbirmon told her.

"I'm not strong. My anger got the best of me, that's all," Parrotmon said, feeling rather modest, which is unusual for her, because she's usually so vain that she'll brag for a long time. After a few minutes, they made it back to the castle.

But they weren't the only ones to make it back.

All of a sudden, a digital portal appeared next to them, and Agumon, Link, and Sorcermon came tumbling out of it.

"Where have you been?" Dracomon asked.

"Vietnam," Link replied in a sort of deadpan manner.

"Vietnam? Jeez, around here you'll never know where you'll end up," Shunji said.

"Biyomon digivolved to ultimate and defeated that big Karatenmon army! It was great! She roasted them like yakitori!" Terriermon bragged, which made Link chuckle a bit.

"Wish I could have seen it," Link muttered.

Sorcermon looked up at Link. "I will go back to MoonMillenniummon's inner sanctum. I want to try infiltrating his base some more," Sorcermon told him.

Link was about to say something, but Lopmon suddenly ran to him looking worried.

"But you'll be killed if they find out! You mustn't go back!" Lopmon exclaimed with her little pink paws clasped together in front of her, her green eyes wide with worry.

Sorcermon saw Lopmon's eyes. Green eyes? Lopmon normally don't have green eyes, only brown.

Sorcermon's eyes widened upon making eye contact with Lopmon. Something within him stirred.

"You have...green eyes?" Sorcermon asked, looking as though he saw something so surprising that he wouldn't be any more surprised if he saw anything else.

Lopmon cocked her little brown, tri-horned head with confusion. Why would Sorcermon be so fascinated with her eyes? "Yes. My eyes are green. They always have been. Why? Is something the matter?"

"You..."

Sorcermon couldn't finish that thought, as he was interrupted by a very unprecedented howl from Labramon.

"PHARAOHMON! COME OUT, YOU COWARD!" Labramon tried to run, but Otoya and Prairiemon grabbed him before he could run.

"Oh, no you don't! You're staying right here!" Prairiemon commanded like she was his mother.

"Pharaohmon? That must mean..." Yun muttered.

"Awww! We've been found out!"

"Well, there's no use in hiding any longer. Let's have some fun."

Out from behind Wisemon's castle came...

"WHAT?! Tsukaimon and Nayuki?!" Everyone yelped in perfect unison.

Footnotes:

1. Yakitori translates to "cooked bird," though it's used to mean "grilled chicken."

2. CardCaptor Sakura is a popular manga published by CLAMP in 1996.


	88. Confrontation

CHAPTER 88: Confrontation

"You followed us?!" Minako shouted timorously, her violet eyes wide like saucers, upon witnessing the entrance of the two people (or in this case, one person and one Digimon) that she and the others really did not want to encounter upon being in the Digital World, Nayuki and Tsukaimon. None of the children could believe their eyes. Nayuki and Tsukaimon, the very duo that they really didn't want to deal with, are here right in front of them! Questions began running through all of their heads like race cars in the Indy 500. Nayuki glanced at everyone with her fierce brown eyes and permanent disgusted scowl.

She pulled a piece of hair out of her face with her hand and scoffed. "Hmph! You losers sure are brain dead if it really takes you a whole entire week to figure out that two people are following your every move," Nayuki confessed, and with the way her low and normally very monotone voice sounded, she didn't feel any remorse for her deadpan confession and transgressions, if what the kids suspect may be true. Upon hearing this revelation, everyone became livid. Terriermon suddenly leaped out of Yun's arms, his plump little yellow face red with anger.

"No!" Yun tried to grab him, but being the agile little rabbit that he is, he managed to evade Yun's grasp, Yun being as slow to react as she is, and stood in front of Nayuki while waving one of his little pale green fists at her with rancor written all over his chubby, pudgy little face.

"We're not retards! That's a bad word, and you should never call people names!" Terriermon edicted with fire in his opal blue eyes.

"Come back here!" Yun finally managed to grab a hold of Terriermon, scoop him safely into her arms, and back away before Nayuki would potentially do anything that would harm her little friend. Yun didn't want her friends being hurt more than they already were, and considering how she treated Lopmon back when the Digimon first met her, Yun didn't want the same thing to happen to Terriermon as well. Weirdly enough, Terriermon didn't protest or try to leave Yun's grasp again. But this doesn't mean his anger isn't going away anytime soon. Also weirdly enough, Nayuki didn't retort or say anything about Terriermon either, which is very unusual considering Nayuki's extremely vocal and outspoken about everything, especially things that she hates with a passion, which is pretty much everything in this world.

"You're all a bunch of retards!" Tsukaimon exclaimed mischievously.

"Shut up, you!" Patamon snapped.

"Why'd you follow us?!" Riku yelled, appalled by this stunning new revelation.

"Yeah! Spill the beans already!" Coronamon backed Riku up while balling his little red hands into fists, looking like he wants to pounce on her and beat her over the head if it meant making her explain why she even bothered to follow them, especially since she doesn't even like them and would much rather stay as far away from them as possible considering how vocal she is with her hatred for them.

"Go die already, you flaming furball!" Tsukaimon yelled back.

"Hey! Terriermon just said it's not nice to call people names!" Bearmon yelled.

"Shut up!"

"YOU shut up!"

"I had some time to kill and overheard you brain dead retards say you're going to the Digital World. I thought it'd be fun to go over there and see what it's like while stalking you and finding out why you're even bothering to go there," Nayuki explained with her arms crossed, her low, monotone voice dripping with malice, and her dark eyes shining with rancor, without any sense of restraint whatsoever.

"Thou hadn't any right to follow us or eavesdrop on our conversations! Why wouldst someone like thou even bother with us in the first place? Thou hast made it abundantly clear in the distant past that thou despiseth us, and that what we do is of no significance to thee!" Lucero exclaimed angrily.

"Quit with the flowery Shakespeare talk, girly boy!" Tsukaimon snapped.

"Shut your yap, will you?!" Kosuke snapped, his face becoming red as well.

"You're not making this situation any better!" Syakomon proclaimed, her two antennae twitching with anger.

"Just because I hate your disgusting guts doesn't mean I'm not interested in what you idiots do on a regular basis, time wasting as it is," Nayuki retorted.

"Thou speaketh as though there's more to thy following us than we suspect. Now that thou hast confessed to thy transgression, I demand that thou explain thyself! What force on this Earth influence thee to possess the audacity to follow us and eavesdrop on our conversations?!" Lucero demanded angrily.

Again, Nayuki scoffed and made a snorty sound. "Your Shakespeare talk makes me want to throw up. But then again, you all make me want to puke, considering you're all so in over your stupid, brainless little heads, thinking you could possibly defeat a ZeedMillenniummon of all things," Nayuki said.

It hit Otoya right as Nayuki finished her final sentence. _'What?! ZeedMillenniummon?! How did she-Oh God! If she heard all of that, then...!'_ Then it dawned on her. It dawned on everyone. Link arranged for them to meet in secret so he could share his information with them without it falling into the wrong hands! If Nayuki knew that much, then...it really is possible! "You followed us to Concord Oasis!"

"Yeah. So?" Nayuki said in a deadpan manner, which annoyed every single member of the Digimon Brigade. "It's not really like that information's going to do you all any good considering how brain dead you lowlife retards are!"

"We are NOT brain dead!" Minako yelled, extremely irked by the persistent use of the words brain dead and retards. Who in the world does this girl in black think she is? How dare she judge people simply on looks and decide on what they are just from that!

Pegasusmon approached Kosuke quietly. "Uh...Kosuke-kun? Who is this girl?" Pegasusmon whispered and tried to maintain a low voice so Nayuki wouldn't hear. Just from hearing her talk, he could tell that she looked quite cruel and dangerous.

"I just met her and I already don't like her!" Sheepmon whispered timorously.

"Is she always this nasty? And to everyone she meets, no less?" Thunderbirmon whispered quietly.

"Her name's Ichinose Nayuki. She's a tamer like us, but she makes her Digimon do bad things, hurts other people for her own amusement no matter how old or young they are, and makes up weird lies about people. She thinks Digimon only exist to kill each other and feed off of their data so they can be strong. She doesn't show any mercy to anyone. She even goes as far as to beat up her own Digimon on a regular basis. She's pretty much the nastiest person we've ever met, and we've met plenty of cruel and nasty people in our lives," Kosuke explained in a low whisper.

Opossumon scratched her ears, as she could feel them itch just from hearing this information. "Just as I suspected! I knew humans like that had to exist somewhere!" Opossumon mused with fear in her voice.

"Beating up her own Digimon? That's just inconceivable!" Flamedramon whispered.

"You didn't have any right to hear all of that! It was top secret!" Riku screamed.

"So? That doesn't mean it makes you all think you're so awesome if you really do plan on defeating a Digimon who managed to destroy the world!" Nayuki retorted.

"Yeah! You're all weak little whiny baby retards, yo!" Tsukaimon taunted and laughed maliciously.

"No we're not! And besides, we don't have any plans on defeating MoonMillenniummon yet! We're not strong enough for that! We only wanted to learn more about what happened to the Digital World, nothing more!" Minako explained.

Nayuki was about to say something more, but her deep brown eyes happened to glance at Link right as she did, and she fell silent. She decided to fix her gaze on Link, who, oddly enough, isn't angry or afraid of her. He just stood in front of one of the big rocks with his arms crossed, looking at her through his visible eye. Upon staring at him, Nayuki found herself becoming disgusted but interested in him. The kids and Digimon all saw this and feared the worst. Nayuki then began walking toward Link while Tsukaimon flew off of her shoulder and descended onto one of the big rocks.

_'Is she going to hurt Link-san?! I can't let her do that!'_ Rena thought as she feared the worst. There was no way she was going to let Nayuki lay a hand on someone like Link, especially considering how badly she's treated everyone else so far, so she decided to take action. Despite stumbling a bit, she ran in between Link and Nayuki and held her outstretched arms out on both sides, keeping the black-clad girl from coming any closer. Rena, despite being scared herself, and the fact that the pressure she's putting on her prosthetic leg right now could cause her to fall since she hasn't quite mastered walking on it on her own just yet, looked at Nayuki with courage in her green eyes.

"You are NOT going to hurt Link-san! I won't let you!" Rena exclaimed fearlessly as she tried to keep Nayuki from getting close to Link. But instead of moving right off, Nayuki just stared down at Rena, with her own angry look. A few seconds later, she scoffed and her face contorted into a disgusted look, like her nostrils were being assaulted by the smell of horse dung, only she didn't cover her nose.

Rena saw this and became confused. "What's...wrong?"

Despite knowing what Nayuki is clearly capable of, nobody in the entire Digimon Brigade expected she'd go this far.

All of a sudden, Nayuki kicked Rena!

Right in the prosthetic leg!

Everyone gasped in horror as the blow proved to be so strong and so full of force that Rena's prosthesis popped right off! It tumbled a little bit before it stopped at a spot on the sand, right next to Syakomon. Aria timorously and slowly picked it up and wiped the sand off of it.

"OW!" Rena yelped as the stump that is the rest of her leg fell to the sand. Her entire body followed suit as soon as the prosthetic popped off of her leg, since now she has nothing to support her leg with.

"RENA!" Lunamon screamed and ran over to help Rena. She also gave Nayuki look in which her violet eyes literally blazed with dancing flames of anger.

"How can you be so heartless?! She needs this thing to walk!" Lunamon yelled vehemently.

Nayuki spat at the sand. "I don't see why I have to allow a worthless, insignificant, and broken thing like you to get in my way! Stupid freaks like you belong in freak shows on display so everyone can laugh at your useless existence!" Nayuki exclaimed without any hint of sympathy or remorse in her voice.

Now Lunamon became livid. She's deciding that Rena is a freak and a stigma to all of existence simply for losing her leg in an unfortunate accident that couldn't be prevented! How dare she! "Rena is NOT worthless or broken! Lop-Ear-!" Lunamon is so angry and so choleric right now that she tried to attack Nayuki! Yes, the normally timid, peaceful, and pacifistic Lunamon, actually attempting to attack a human to protect her own partner's integrity! Lunamon was going to make Nayuki eat those poisonous words of hers! Unfortunately, despite her newfound courage and audacity, Lunamon was bereaved of the chance to soak Nayuki with huge globs of water and send her flying.

"Sonic Wing!" Two waves of energy hit Lunamon, causing her to fall on her rump. They both came from Tsukaimon, who laughed wickedly as Lunamon fell onto the sand. Nayuki didn't say anything as the attack hit Lunamon, scoffing as she watched the poor little Digimon get hit.

"Lunamon!" Rena crawled over to the now injured Lunamon so she could protect her from further harm. Despite not having her prosthetic leg attached right now, she can crawl just fine without it. Rena knew she'd be in potential situations like this so in the event her prosthetic leg got lost, she taught herself how to crawl without it, which proved to be good since she still has her knee.

Riku's normally plump face glowed with red flames of anger, and so did his eyes. He balled one of his fists and ran toward Nayuki with the force of a speeding race car. "Nobody hurts my sister!" Riku tried to land a punch on Nayuki's insultingly clean and unsympathetic face, but she evaded his punch and proceeded to kick him in the abdomen, which caused Riku to fall to his knees as he found himself unable to breathe, unable to move for just a moment.

"Riku!" Rena yelled upon witnessing this horror. First her Digimon is hurt trying to protect her, and now her little brother! How can anyone live with themselves doing such nefarious deeds?

"Quit being such a goody do-gooder. You suck at it," Nayuki sneered wickedly.

"YOU quit acting so high and mighty! You shouldn't hurt other people!" Parrotmon yelled from above.

"Shut up, you parrot! Your voice makes me want to gouge my eyes out and plug my ears with them!" Nayuki sneered while covering her ears.

Parrotmon felt a vein pop in her brain. Her voice? Making someone want to gouge their eyes out and plug their ears with them? Parrotmon almost lost herself to the insanity that caused her to commit Karatenmon genocide and nearly pummel the life out of Lilithmon if that blue ephemera didn't intervene in the nick of time. "MY VOICE IS NOT BAD!" Parrotmon roared angrily, which made Yun cover her ears in fright.

"Labramon! Heel! Stay! Down, boy! You are NOT wreaking havoc on my watch!" Prairiemon cried out as she tried to subdue a rabid Labramon and keep him from pouncing on Tsukaimon. Nayuki finally managed to approach Link.

"Come on, Nayuki! Forget about that faceless dip! He ain't worth our valuable time, yo!" Tsukaimon cried out from afar.

Yun groaned and facepalmed. _'Great. Just what we need! More gangster talk! Make it stop! Please!'_ Yun pleaded in her brain. Tsukaimon's inopportune talk immediately reminded her of Nenji, and she really didn't want to think about that rotund, pimple-faced, trash-talking, buck toothed dip right now.

Nayuki looked up at Link's masked face with her permanent scowl while Link looked down at her with his neutral expression. Link didn't know very much about Nayuki, as the Digimon Brigade never really bothered to tell him about her, not that they really had any reason to do so considering he was never there to witness her cruelty, but considering everything that transpired just now, he could see plain as day that Nayuki is clearly a girl who doesn't show even the smallest hint of remorse for her actions, nor does she care about anyone else but herself, doing whatever she can to stand her ground and claim herself superior to all whom she can oppress, like a bloodthirsty totalitarian dictator. However, despite these revelations, he isn't afraid of her. Why should he be? He could easily take her on and defeat her. He outmatches her in both size, strength, and wit. He's a grown up, and she's only a high school girl, albeit an extremely selfish, cruel, cocky, self-absorbed, vainglorious, brash, reckless, vocal, thoughtless, and downright heartless one. But she's much smaller than him and clearly lets her actions speak for themselves. Link is much stronger, smarter, calmer, and less vocal than her. He actually thinks before he acts. What does he have to be afraid of?

Again, Nayuki looked disgusted with the sight of Link being in front of her. The mask that's covering half of his face made her wonder if he's hiding something ugly and embarrassing behind it. The thought of removing the mask and exposing him made her smirk, but this isn't why she approached him. She drew her digisword out and pointed it at Link's throat.

"No! Don't you-" Salamon was about to pounce on her and knock the digisword out of Nayuki's hand, but Riku grabbed her and scooped her into his arms.

"Hey! Why'd you stop me?! Wan!" Salamon yelped, angry that Riku of all people stopped her from laying a paw on Nayuki. Why would he do that since he just attempted to punch her and wound up unable to breathe for a few seconds because of it. But now, Riku is calm.

"Let Link-san handle this. He knows what he's doing," Riku told the angry and courageous little pup, who finally relented upon hearing this. Despite the fact that Riku really wants to pummel Nayuki into the ground, he knew that Link would be able to handle this situation better than he could considering he's an adult. Link could remain calm and collected, and still is right now, even with a sword at his throat. Riku knew the feeling. He went through the exact same experience before, and back then, he acted calm as well. But he had to be for Otoya's sake. Riku didn't see any need to interfere in this situation, as he knew that if they did anything, who knows what Nayuki could do to Link, even though the masked man could easily defeat her.

"This inner sanctum where MoonMillenniummon is...tell me where it is, you masked man!" Nayuki demanded while keeping the tip of her digisword pointed at Link's throat. Everyone looked at each other with confused faces. Otoya tried hard to stifle a gasp. Labramon continued to howl as Prairiemon tried to subdue him. Why does Nayuki of all people want to know where MoonMillenniummon's inner sanctum is? What would she gain from knowing about it?

Link didn't move an inch. "Why do you want to know so badly?"

"Stop stalling! You've been there, haven't you?! Tell me or your head's going on a pipe!" Nayuki threatened angrily. Melody could see a feral look in her deep brown eyes. It's the same kind of look Melody has donned for many years. However, Melody kept a feral look in her eyes so she could convince people she wasn't an object to be used. Nayuki used hers to instill fear in those who dared oppose or defy her. It didn't work with Link, thankfully.

"I've only been there once, but that doesn't mean I know exactly where it is. I'm afraid I can't help you with that, little missy," Link told her as calmly and sternly as he could muster.

Before Nayuki could yell again, Lucero managed to throw in some words of his own. "Thou wisheth to seek out the location of MoonMillenniummon's inner sanctum? We're afraid we cannot provideth thee with such pivotal information, especially since we also haven't any knowledge of where it even is ourselves. Besides, we know for a fact that thou will most certainly use it in a manner that is forbidden," Lucero told her just as sternly.

However, Nayuki refused to relent. "I'll do whatever it takes to get what I want if it means I get any closer to defeating MoonMillenniummon and ruling the entire Digital World!"

"WHAT?!" Everyone except Link yelped with a combination of surprise and shock, then looked at each other with confused faces. Kosuke shook his head with disappointment upon hearing this.

Minako groaned loudly and facepalmed. "Come on! Isn't this show cliche enough already!? We don't need the biggest and stupidest cliche in all of creation writing itself into our script!" Minako mused in an exasperated tone of voice.

"Rule the Digital World?! Seriously?!" Shunji yelped, looking just as shocked as everyone else.

"Since when did you want to rule the Digital World?!" Otoya exclaimed angrily.

"Okay. I was wrong. _NOW_ you've reached a higher plane of hypocrite!" Riku proclaimed and facepalmed at the same time.

"Since I heard about everything that happened to it, you dip! Now spill the beans! Tell me where the inner sanctum is!" Nayuki persisted and refused to remove her digisword from Link's neck.

Yun couldn't believe what she was hearing. Then again, nobody could. Nayuki? The meanest, most selfish, and the biggest bully of all time? The only person she knew who would kill any Digimon-creatures she doesn't believe are actual living beings-she saw, good or bad, without any justified reason or remorse? Wanting to rule the Digital World? When did she decide she wanted that? And why? As far as she could remember, all Nayuki said she wanted was to be strong! But strong to a point where she could defeat a powerful Digimon like MoonMillenniummon and usurp leadership from him There's no way Nayuki could possibly rule the entire Digital World, and Yun can list about a hundred reasons why in about ten seconds. Her blood boiled inside like boiling water on top of a gas stove. She could feel her small, tender hands tightening, her small fingers curling, and her fingernails digging into her palms, forming fists. She could feel her lips scrunch underneath her teeth as she angrily stomped over to Nayuki.

"What makes you think you're so awesome?! And since when did you want to rule the Digital World of all things?! There's absolutely no way in the whole entire world you're even remotely capable of ruling the Digital World! Especially not with the way you treat Tsukaimon and everyone else around you! That, and MoonMillenniummon's way stronger than you could ever be! He could-" Yun ranted angrily. She didn't care if Nayuki didn't want to hear it. Yun WANTED Nayuki to listen! Unfortunately, Yun's rant was interrupted. As usual. But this time, it was in a way she never expected.

Before Yun could rant any further, she felt a blow to her face so strong that she fell onto the sand. Link and Lucero tried to catch her, but she fell too quickly for them to grab her. Nayuki gave her a look so scornful it managed to outdo all of the scornful looks she gave everyone else. She put away her digisword as a result of slapping Yun square in the face.

"Yun!" Terriermon and Lopmon yelled as they witnessed the cruel act.

"Shut up and get out of my freakin' face, Big Boobs!" Nayuki yelled vehemently.

Everyone gasped, even Link, Sorcermon, and, surprisingly, Shunji, who hardly ever gasped about anything. What in the world is Nayuki doing? First she's threatening Link to give her the location of the inner sanctum, and now she's singling Yun out and calling her a very sexually derogatory name in regards to a part of her body? Now everyone became livid.

"What in the world?! Why did you have to do that?!" Kosuke yelped angrily. Otoya's hands flew to her mouth as she tried to keep herself from shouting something that would make Nayuki make a derogatory comment about her. But she's just as appalled as everyone else is.

"You should know better than to make fun of someone's body like that in public! That's sexual harassment!" Shunji screamed, his eyes donning the same feral look that Melody had, only in this case, its out of anger.

Nayuki spat at the sand. "You idiots can't be serious! Look at her!" Nayuki made no qualms about singling Yun out and pointing at her. "She's a scrawny little sixth grader, yet she's got the biggest tits I've ever seen! And she doesn't look like she's out of puberty yet! Come on! You HAVE to admit that's strange, disgusting, and downright disgraceful, though she'd be able to snag some guys with those big melons of hers-"

Yun could feel the blood rise into her face, causing her cheeks to burn. Her eyes began to blur. Nayuki was about to make more sexually derogatory remarks about Yun's chest until she felt something press very hard onto her neck. It's a hand belonging to a very choleric Lucero, who is giving Nayuki the same _"I'm going to murder you"_ look that he gave Tsukaimon and Seiko long ago...and this time, he looked like he wanted to strangle Nayuki to death for real.

"Thou art audacious to go so far as thou art doing! Thou shalt pay for reciting such calumny about Yun!" Lucero snapped.

"I'd like to see...you break my neck!" Nayuki croaked despite her airway being cut off by Lucero's unusually strong grip. The kids looked at each other and agonized over what to do now. They saw from the bullying incident a few months ago that Lucero's grip is so strong, he can break an entire desk into pieces. If Lucero's so strong that he can break an entire desk into pieces, metal legs and all, then it's possible he could easily break human bones if he wanted to!

Now Link became nervous as he rushed to yank Lucero off of Nayuki. "Lucero, no! Don't do it!" Thankfully, Link managed to pry Lucero's hand off of Nayuki's neck, which made everyone else start complaining and groaning.

"COME ON, LINK! She deserves it! Make her stop making fun of Yun!" Melody screamed vehemently.

The insults should have stopped right there, so that way Yun wouldn't feel so dreadfully abashed by all the heartless and nasty comments being thrown at her like rotten tomatoes. But someone just had to exacerbate it.

"Big Boobs! Big Boobs! Big Boobs!" Tsukaimon chanted in a malicious, sing songy voice, which made Melody punch him in the stomach, causing him to fall off of the rock he stood on.

"Say that again, and you're going to wake up on life support!" Melody snapped angrily.

All of a sudden, with a roar, Labramon finally managed to break out of Prairiemon's grasp. Right then and there, Otoya's digivice and D-Heart of Faith glowed in a cerulean blue light, all on their own, which enveloped Labramon. He became bigger and bigger and digivolved into Seasarmon, then straight into Cerberumon. He pounced on the area that Tsukaimon fell on, but the mischievous little purple Patamon knock-off, knowing that this would happen, flew away just in time despite the injury he just received from a choleric Melody.

"Hm. You wanna fight, huh? Oh well. Might as well entertain myself by watching you remove that stupid three-headed dog off the plane of existence for all time considering how boring this is already," Nayuki said in a deadpan voice and allowed her digivice to glow, which made Tsukaimon digivolve straight into Mummymon. The winged dog and the mummified beast then proceeded to duke it out. The secondary Digimon, Parrotmon included, watched and found this to be very unsettling.

"Should we do something?" Kangarumon asked.

"I'm really not liking where this is going, so I say we should at least stop them," Maildramon suggested.

"I think we should, too. No, I know we should. If their battle gets out of hand, the children could die, and we can't let that happen," Pegasusmon told them.

"I agree. How about this? We winged Digimon can go after Cerberumon while the ground based Digimon can try and subdue Mummymon, so that way we'll each have an advantage on both sides. How does that sound?" Nefertimon suggested.

"Sounds like a plan to me!" Pteramon piped in.

"It doesn't look like they're going to calm down any time soon, so the less damage we can stop them from causing, the better," Thunderbirmon threw in for good measure.

"We might as well get right to it then!" Prairiemon said. All the secondary Digimon nodded and proceeded to try and subdue Cerberumon and Mummymon. Pegasusmon, Nefertimon, Pteramon, Darcmon, Parrotmon, and Owlmon decided to go after Cerberumon while Lynxmon, Prairiemon, Sheepmon, Flamedramon, and Veedramon went after Mummymon. Monzaemon had left a short time ago because of how strenuous the battles turned out to be for him, so they couldn't ask for his help. Parrotmon proved to be quick in trying to go after Cerberumon.

"Come back here, you!" Parrotmon tried to grab Cerberumon and stop him from doing any damage, but she found herself being slapped in the face by the three headed dog's large wing, causing her to fall right back onto the sand.

"Parrotmon!" Darcmon yelled as she held out her scepter. Thankfully, Parrotmon wasn't hurt, and she didn't de-digivolve. But she did pop out of the sand with a beet red face that clearly showed that she's downright choleric.

"I'm not done with you yet, Cerberumon!" Parrotmon yelled as she flew back into the sky again to assist the other flying Digimon while the Digimon on the ground tried to subdue Mummymon.

"You're all so weak and pathetic. Just try and defeat me, you munchkins!" Mummymon taunted with a chuckle.

Prairiemon tried to scratch him, but he leaped out of the way. Kangarumon tried to land some punches on him, Opossumon threw balloon bombs at him, Lynxmon tried to pounce on him, Veedramon tried to burn him with a strong V-Nova Blast, and Flamedramon tried to roast him with a Fire Rocket. But Mummymon, being as agile and flexible as he is despite his mummified state and the fact that he can manipulate his bandages in an acrobat-like style, managed to dodge and evade every single one of the attacks. But these grounded Digimon weren't going to let this slithery snake slide out of their grasp, especially considering the children's Digimon are too weak to continue fighting.

Link regained his equanimity and approached Nayuki, but when he did, she drew her digisword again and pointed it at his throat. Again, he remained calm and kept his cool. The kids are admittedly surprised that he's able to keep his composure at times like this. "Ichinose. You're setting unrealistic expectations on your shoulders. You're only a high school girl, and MoonMillenniummon has enough power to destroy an entire world. You cannot possibly believe you're even remotely capable of defeating such a powerful being, as no person or Digimon has ever defeated him if such a feat is even possible," Link explained, but Nayuki snarled at him.

"Shut your trap! I don't need you telling me what to do and how I should live my life! Or are you telling me all of this because you or those brain dead retards want to?! Who are you to tell me I can't defeat him when you all are just as weak?!" Nayuki yelled.

"We can't defeat MoonMillenniummon! Our Digimon only gotten as far as ultimate level! There's no way we can defeat him! Even we know better than to just dive in and recklessly battle with him!" Minako explained.

"Yeah! And besides, we never even met this guy before, so how could we possibly get to him?! Even we don't know where his inner sanctum or whatever it is they called it is!" Otoya backed Minako in her claim. But in the back of Otoya's mind, she wondered if that blue, ghostly, two-headed spirit that ate Lilithmon and tried to eat Parrotmon was MoonMillenniummon. She didn't dare bring this up, even though it's likely Nayuki saw it.

"We don't want to rule the Digital World! There's no way we can handle something like that! We're not interested in doing that at all, nor are we capable of doing it!" Hokuto exclaimed with anxiety in his voice.

"Good, because I'm going to be the one who kicks MoonMillenniummon's butt, and you're not going to stop me! It's not like you really can stop me anyway, since you're all a bunch of naive little brain dead idiots preaching about trash like friendship and love!" Nayuki yelled.

"Ichinose...do you go to school?" Link asked calmly, out of the blue.

Everyone looked at each other again. Link has a glowing magical sword pointed at his throat held by a high school girl who's talking about wanting to defeat MoonMillenniummon and ruling the entire Digital World, and he's asking her whether she goes to school of all things? The kids and Digimon had to wonder if Link was really in his right mind right now. Even Agumon was flabbergasted by Link's very random and possibly pointless question.

"What brought that up?!" Nayuki sneered.

"Tell me, Ichinose. Do you go to school? And where, exactly?"

"Shut up and stop stalling! Tell me where the inner sanctum is!"

"Answer my question first."

"Whether I go to school or not doesn't have any significance here, so quit talkin' gibberish and tell me where the inner sanctum is!" Nayuki roared angrily. Why would Link want to ask about such personal information as that?

"Just answer the question, will you?!" Agumon screamed, which made Yun cover her ears in fright. But then again, considering all that's happening, she's already frightened. Hardly anyone noticed, but she's beginning to tremble with fear.

"Shut up!" Nayuki yelled at everyone else.

"YOU SHUT UP, YOU DIGIMON ABUSER!" A majority of the Digimon screamed angrily in retaliation. How can Nayuki be so aggressive and stubborn? Even they knew that an attitude like that taken to extremes just isn't humanly possible.

Choleric, Nayuki took her digisword away from Link and proceeded to approach the kids. In the process, Aria found it safe to give Rena her prosthetic leg behind Nayuki's back. Rena accepted it silently, smiled, and rubbed Aria's head of black hair in gratitude. The Digimon's bodies tensed with fear as Nayuki proceeded to approach them, now looking like she wants to cut them to ribbons instead of Link. They were about to act, but Sorcermon managed to fly in between them and point his icy magic wand at Nayuki, stopping her in her tracks.

"You're not coming any closer, you knave!" Sorcermon exclaimed. Now, instead of going after the kids, Nayuki now pointed her digisword at Sorcermon.

"You know what? Screw that masked man. You know more about MoonMillenniummon's inner sanctum, since you've infiltrated it and all. Tell me right now! Where is it?!" Nayuki demanded coldly.

Like Link before him, Sorcermon kept his guard up and his snowflake-shaped magic wand pointed at her. He had to admit, he's quite surprised by how audacious and mercilessly cruel Nayuki is, even for someone her own age, especially considering how she's been treating the other kids lately. He knew that if he told Nayuki about the inner sanctum and where it was, she would most certainly use it for her own schemes. He also knew that if he did tell her, MoonMillenniummon would possibly kill her, or maybe even allow his minions to do so, now that she claims she wants to usurp leadership from him, which he knew wasn't possible, even for her. He kept his lips locked and hidden behind his coat, even though it was rather redundant considering Nayuki probably overheard him say that he infiltrated the inner sanctum. He knew he couldn't deny it, but at the same time, he knew that a child like her would not fare well in a place like MoonMillenniummon's inner sanctum.

"Telling you would only make things more detrimental than they already are for the Digital World. MoonMillenniummon is a powerful, omnipotent, and volatile Digimon with absolutely unfathomable power. He could easily kill you and your Digimon the minute you try anything," Sorcermon told her sternly.

"Save your breath and tell me where it is!" Nayuki demanded again.

"Cerberumon! No! Golden Noose!" Pegasusmon and Nefertimon both tried to keep the rabid Cerberumon from attacking Mummymon and the ground based secondary Digimon, but the three-headed winged dog managed to fly away just in time. In retaliation, he smacked Pegasusmon and Nefertimon with both of his wings, sending them flying, but not to the ground. Pteramon tried to grab Cerberumon's wing so he could stop him from flying anymore, but he found himself getting kicked in the stomach by the three-headed dog's back legs.

"Emerald Blaze!" Cerberumon allowed a huge stream of glowing green fire to pour out of his mouth like a raging waterfall, hoping it would hit Mummymon. However, Mummymon, being as agile as he is, managed to leap out of the way. Thankfully, the ground based Digimon managed to avoid the attack as well.

"Be careful down there!" Thunderbirmon called from above.

"Do we NOT look like we're trying?!" Flamedramon called back angrily, thinking that Thunderbirmon mistook their dodging the attack for being slow and indecisive, which isn't true.

Right as Cerberumon finished his attack, Parrotmon swooped down and managed to pin the giant winged dog to the sand, completely missing the rest of the secondary Digimon.

"Yes! I got him! Yahoo!" Parrotmon cheered happily, feeling quite proud for her accomplishment just now despite the fact that Cerberumon is writhing and roaring angrily, struggling to break free and chew Mummymon like a chew toy.. "Take this, you crazy dog!"

"This isn't the time to pat yourself in the back yet!" Veedramon bellowed.

"Snake Bandage!" Unfortunately for the Digimon, as they were engaging in silly banter, Mummymon took this open opportunity to make his sentient bandages wrap themselves around many of the Digimon. Pegasusmon, Nefertimon, Pteramon, Opossumon, Flamedramon, and Veedramon wound up getting caught in the bandages. Owlmon, Thunderbirmon, and Kangarumon managed to evade them, and Prairiemon and Lynxmon, surprisingly, managed to slash at the bandages with their sharp claws before they could get wrapped up and mummified. As Lynxmon, Thunderbirmon, and Prairiemon proceeded to rip the bandages off the other Digimon, Flamedramon had another idea.

"Fire Rocket!" Flamedramon engulfed himself in flames and made the bandages around him do so as well, causing them to turn black and dissipate into charred powder as he suddenly found himself flying towards Mummymon, who evaded the attack.

"You're not getting away! Thunderstorm!" Thunderbirmon shot lightning bolts at Mummymon, but he wrapped himself in a huge layer of bandages, which not only nullified the damage, but allowed him to fly at Thunderbirmon and send her to the ground!

"Thunderbirmon!" Maildramon cried upon seeing their friend get hurt and sent descending back onto the sand.

"Hey! Calm down, you-OW!" Parrotmon started having a hard time as well. After much struggling, Cerberumon managed to kick Parrotmon in the abdomen with his hind legs and flew back into the air to try and land another attack on a very cocky Mummymon. Parrotmon found herself lying on her back, staring at a sky whose shade of blue began to become brighter and brighter with each passing minute. Dawn is in the process of opening her eyes and wiping the sleep out of them.

Owlmon wiped some sweat off of his face. "Ugh! I swear, these two just won't give up!"

"Tell me about it!" Opossumon complained.

"We cannot give up! The kids believe in us, and we can't disappoint them!" Darcmon edicted.

"I really don't think disappointing them is going to be a big issue here," Pteramon piped in as he watched Cerberumon and Mummymon duke it out amongst themselves again.

"Give it up already, Ichinose!" Riku exclaimed. "There's no way you're gonna rule the Digital World! If you fought MoonMillenniummon right now, you'd be flat as a pancake!"

"Shut up!" Nayuki snapped.

"You shut up, dipstick!" Coronamon snapped back.

"Can we just stop this fighting already?!" Yun wailed.

"Nobody asked for your useless and insignificant input, Big Boobs! Quit sticking your over sized nose and boobs into places where you're not wanted!" Nayuki snapped at Yun, who continued to tremble and cover her ears with fright.

Nayuki felt her shirt be grabbed by a very choleric Melody, who fixated herself into the scornful girl's face with flames of anger blazing and choreographing a very provocative dance. "And nobody asked YOU to keep picking on Yun when she didn't do anything to you!"

"What are you?! Her slave? Her dog? Why bother being around that worthless piece of trash anyway? All that stupid, big boobed bimbo is doing is dragging you all down and making you fight all her battles for her. It's not like-" Nayuki wanted to do more, but she found herself struck with a blow that made her fall on her rump. Melody punched her in the face.

"Nice one, Mel!" Riku cheered.

"You go, girl!" Isao cheered.

"Show her what you're really made of!" Terriermon shouted.

"Stop encouraging them!" Rena complained as she tried to put her prosthetic leg on her stump with Aria and Lunamon helping her out by keeping it in place.

"Black Rock Shooter!" With his gigantic rifle, Mummymon made a barrage of exploding black balls fly right at a helpless Cerberumon, who roared with pain as the balls exploded into a flurry of fire and black smoke. The sounds made everyone cover their ears with pain and fear. The pain proved to be too much for Cerberumon, as not only was he defeated, the explosions proved to be so strong that he found himself enveloped by a blue light. As the smoke dissipated and the explosions withered away, he found himself shrinking. He grew smaller and smaller until he fell onto the sand and de-digivolved into a very weak and pathetic-looking Xiaomon.

"Xiaomon!" With worry and horror painted on her canvas of a face, Otoya frantically ran over to her fallen friend and scooped him into her arms.

"Xiaomon! Are you okay?! Talk to me! Say something! Anything! Show me you're alive!" Otoya wailed as she could feel the tears trying to break down the walls so they could run out and slither down her face. But they failed as the weak little puppy opened his eyes and smiled at Otoya. The worried, blue-haired girl gave a relieved and delighted sigh as she smiled and hugged her friend. She wished that all of his pointless and incessant fighting would just stop already.

Nayuki pushed Sorcermon aside and approached Otoya with her usual scornful look. Otoya, seeing that the black clad girl's digisword is out, suspected that she's out for blood, and clutched the weak little Xiaomon tighter, holding him close to her chest like a mother trying to protect her baby.

"You're not killing my friend!" Otoya yelled fiercely.

"It's not like he's of any benefit to you anyway, so I might as well save you the trouble of dealing with him any more. He's weak and pathetic anyway. Now give it to me!" Nayuki sneered angrily.

"No!"

"I said give it to me!"

"No! He's not an it so stop saying it!"

"Leave her alone, will you?!" Terriermon yelled.

"She's right, y'know?! Quit claiming that Digimon are just packets of data that you can dispose of!" Shunji snapped.

"That's right! We're not objects for you to use and throw away if we don't fit your standards!" Dracomon backed Shunji on his part.

Finally, after a very long and harrowing night, Parrotmon finally found herself too tired to do anything anymore. Since she used so much energy, she found herself being enveloped by a red light. Like Cerberumon, she glowed and shrunk until she de-digivolved into Yokomon.

"Yokomon! You alright?" Melody ran to her tired out friend and scooped her into her thin arms. Yokomon looked up at her partner with tired eyes.

"Sorry, Mel. I tried, but Cerberumon...I don't know why he's so intent on killing Mummymon. I don't get it...I'm sorry I couldn't stop him..." Yokomon murmured sadly, feeling guilty about having let Cerberumon and Mummymon go at each other's throats, even though it was likely to happen anyway. Melody smiled and pulled her friend closer.

"It's alright. No worries. I don't get it either," Melody whispered.

Nayuki watched as Otoya and Melody tried to console and reassure their weak and tired partners like they were mothers singing lullabies to children who are too scared to go to sleep. Instead of finding the sight endearing, or even cute, she found it to be absolutely disgusting. However, the sight did invoke something to appear in her mind. She saw herself as a young girl, happily cuddling with her mother in bed and hearing a soft, dulcet, halcyon lullaby that soothed her being and lulled her to sleep under a starry sky. She spat at the sand again as Mummymon de-digivolved into Tsukaimon, who decided to gloat and boast about his victory.

"Yeah! Woohoo! I totally beat the life outta that dog, yo! Did you see me, Nayuki?! Did you see how awesome I looked?!" Tsukaimon gloated with quite a lot of overconfidence and cockiness tainting his chirpy little voice. Nayuki found the sound of Tsukaimon's voice to be very jarring.

"Shut up! You're already a disgrace just for having a pathetic-looking ultimate form, so don't get a swelled head just because you wiped the floor with a dog that should be put down!" Nayuki snapped.

"You yourself have a swelled head just for wanting to take over the Digital World, kyu!" Cutemon exclaimed, surprised that Nayuki would tell her Digimon not to get cocky when Nayuki herself is just as cocky and overconfident as she is. She had to admit, Riku's right about her being a complete hypocrite.

Again, Nayuki scoffed. But this time, she withdrew her digisword and put her digivice on her belt. Tsukaimon flew onto her shoulder and just sat there.

"This is exactly why I hate stupid, naive, idealistic people like you. Preaching about trash like friendship and love...you're all a bunch of brain dead retards!" Nayuki muttered angrily.

She turned her head and caught sight of Lucero, Yun, and Lopmon. Yun is still on her knees, covering her ears, trembling, and looking like she's about to have a complete breakdown at any minute. She could see that Lucero and Lopmon are trying very hard to console her, but nothing seems to be working. Nayuki couldn't understand why they would care so much about her. What has someone like Yun done to benefit the Digimon Brigade? Nothing. She's just a useless kid who just tags along, causes trouble for everyone around her just for being around, and sticks her nose into places where she's not wanted. It's not like her existence really benefits anyone around her. Nayuki became disgusted by all of these people fawning over some weak little girl whose only redeeming quality is her big chest. Someone needed to tell Yun that all she does is make trouble for everyone just for being around and that the world shouldn't revolve around her, and she felt she was the perfect person to do it. She ambled over to the trio and crossed her arms, eyeing them with her usual grim look.

"You listen to me, kid! You may think you're so awesome and that everyone loves you, but it's all a farce! Don't go around thinking you're all that! The world doesn't revolve around you, and don't think you can go and make it such either. You're nothing but weak, stupid, pathetic, worthless, retarded, insignificant, burdensome, and a big fat inconvenience to everyone around you. All you do is drag people down and make people fight your battles for you. You don't do one thing to help them out and instead make them do everything for you. Not surprising, considering all you've done is cry and sit around like a brain dead coward," Nayuki said.

"You don't-" Lopmon tried to interrupt, but Nayuki kept going, not really paying the little chocolate and strawberry-colored rabbit any heed.

"What sane person on this earth would even consider liking someone like you anyway? Look at you and your ugly hair and your ugly skin and that big fat nose and those googly alien eyes and fat legs and fat face and all the fat on your bones! I can even see some skin hanging off of your shorts! Do your stuff your face with junk food every day? Your very existence and everything else about you is disgusting! Everyone hates you, and they all laugh at you too!"

"That's not true, you-"

"Don't think there are people who are kind to you and love you just for you being who you are! These people don't really care about you! They only like pitying you so they can feel better about themselves! Are you really so stupid and brain dead as to think these people have any genuine feelings for you besides sympathy and pity? They're not really kind to you! It's all just a big fat farce! I'm not surprised, considering you seem to love leeching off the lives of people around you, sucking the life out of them like a parasite. Yeah! That's what you are! A big fat parasite who sucks the life out of everyone around you just to make yourself feel special! How can you even live with yourself? Your family must really hate you, considering you don't have any redeeming qualities I can think of."

"She does too-"

"And don't even dare think you have a chance of getting a boyfriend or even getting married. These days, boys are all a bunch of gangsters, drug junkies, and sleazebags, only using girls for their own pleasure and throwing them away when they outlive their usefulness. Don't think you're so special. You're just a toy everyone can use for their pleasure and throw away when you don't meet their standards. Face it, retard! Guys will only like you for those big boobs of yours! Everybody loves girls with huge chests, so why don't you put them to good use, considering that's all you're good for!"

Now everyone became livid. Nayuki's still continuing with her sexually derogatory harangue about Yun and spouting a bunch of lies! And Nayuki doesn't look the least bit sorry about spouting all of this untrue nonsense at all! Lucero was about to say something, but he was interrupted by someone else.

Someone nobody expected. Especially not in such a way like this.

Before Nayuki could do more, she felt another blow to her face. But this time, it felt soft and furry. However, this doesn't mean it didn't hurt. Nayuki felt herself fall to the ground, right onto her rump again.

_"STOP BULLYING YUN RIGHT NOW, YOU KNAVE!"_

The one who delivered the blow was...Lopmon.

Nobody could believe their eyes. Lopmon? The sweet, timid, polite, kind, gentle, and pacifistic Lopmon? Actually hitting a human and looking like she's about to eat her like a rabid wolf? Actually screaming and yelling? This was a sight nobody could believe. MarineAngemon and Lunamon were one thing, but Lopmon? This was the Digimon nobody expected to even think about not only hurting someone, but actually wanting to hurt someone! Terriermon is especially flabbergasted because Lopmon's the one who usually scolds him about hurting humans, fighting, speaking his mind at the wrong times, and displaying inappropriate behavior on a regular basis. To think that a little thread in Lopmon's normally warm and kind little heart has finally snapped to reveal a doughty, savage little beast. Even Nayuki is shocked.

On the other hand, Lopmon looked like she was going to rip Nayuki to shreds.

"I REFUSE to let your tirade of insults and derogatory comments continue on anymore! NONE of what you just said about my dear Yun is true! Who are you to decide that my partner is worthless, insignificant, is an object to be used by other people, and everything else you just said about her?! YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING! I don't know why you came out the way you have, and I honestly don't fault you for it, but whatever it is you went through, it does NOT in any way justify what you've been doing to not just us, but to everyone! If anything, YOU'RE the one who should stop claiming you're so special! Bullying people when they so much as look the wrong way doesn't make you special! Killing innocent Digimon, both good and bad, left and right just to be strong doesn't make you special! Claiming yourself superior to everyone else by focusing only on their negative qualities instead of their positive ones does not make you special! Yun is NOT worthless or insignificant or everything else, and she has LOTS of redeeming qualities!" Lopmon screamed louder than even she thought she could do so in her whole entire life. Unfortunately, Nayuki still isn't fazed.

"You oughta listen to me-"

"Freezing Snow!" Even more shocking, Lopmon used her signature attack on Nayuki! But she didn't attack her. She just froze Nayuki's mouth shut. No, seriously. Nayuki's mouth became encased in ice. It happened so fast, not even Tsukaimon could swoop in and stop it from happening despite the fact that he's right on Nayuki's shoulder. Now he just flew off of her shoulder. Salamon, Patamon, Coronamon, Bearmon, Agumon, Isao, Riku, Kosuke, Syakomon, and Dracomon all burst into fits of unrestrained and downright uncontrolled laughter upon seeing this audacious act of courage coming from Lopmon of all Digimon!

"You go, Lopmon!" Salamon cheered through her relentless laughter. Even Otoya tried to stifle a laugh, but couldn't. But Lopmon didn't stop there. She then proceeded to freeze Nayuki's feet to the sand, prohibiting her from going anywhere. Lopmon became tired of being told to listen to her. Now it's the other way around, and how!

"I'm sick of you telling everyone to listen to you! Now it's time for YOU to listen to ME! You can't force someone to change their ways and lifestyle just because you hate it! Everyone has their own ideals and beliefs and ways of living, and we have to accept that! Stop judging people by their looks and filling your thick-headed skull with untrue ideas! That's what I hate the most about you! You're so focused on yourself that you don't give a rat's hat about how your ideas and opinions affect the people around you! You ONLY care about yourself, not others! Not even your own Digimon! You constantly reject the ideas and views of others and are too stubborn to change that! You may think we're idealistic or naive, but so what?! Worst of all, you think you're the only one who has any redeeming qualities, but you're wrong! Every human being has redeeming qualities, Yun included! You can make fun of me all you want! I don't care one bit! But I refuse to let you bully my partner any longer! I love Yun with all my heart, and it's NOT out of sympathy or pity! We all do, and nobody here is using her to feel better about themselves! What in all the wide wide world gave you such a ridiculous idea?! Yun is the nicest, sweetest, kindest girl I know! I'm happy to be her partner!" Lopmon screamed as loud as she could muster, and at this point, she was immensely enjoying calling Nayuki out on her treachery. But she wasn't done.

"I love her because she raised me, taught me many things, took care of me when I needed it, taught me how to read and write and appreciate the good things in life, taught me the difference between good and bad, and because she's kind! My brother, too. She could have left me and my brother to someone else, someone who might abuse us or mistreat us! She could have abandoned us! But she didn't! The thought didn't cross her mind! She took care of us because she needed us! She cares about everyone, she does whatever she can to be helpful and mindful, even if things don't always go right, she treats everyone equally, and best of all, she holds us in very high regard, and for good reason! So what if she has flaws?! So what if she has things about herself that she feels ashamed of?! So what if there are things she can't do?! Everyone has those things, you included! Yun is a wonderful person, and I love her more than anyone else in the world! Someone as cruel and selfish and volatile as you could never understand the extent to which I love her! And to think you're so bold as to think Yun's only redeeming quality is a sensitive subject that she's ashamed of! How can you live with yourself, focusing only on people's negative qualities instead of their positive ones?! You should never say that a part of someone's body is the only way they'll get by in life, let alone make such gross and derogatory comments about it constantly! How would you like it if I made derogatory comments about you?! You may think everyone befriended Yun because they want to feel better about themselves, but you're wrong! They love Yun because she helped them, and they help her in return! They accept Yun as a person and everything she has to offer, both good and bad! I don't see why such a wonderful person as her deserves such unnecessary hatred from volatile knaves like you!"

Lopmon is on a roll. She didn't stop screaming at Nayuki, even if she began to lose her voice quite a bit. She didn't stop. She didn't WANT to stop. She went on and on and on about everything she could think of. She knew from experience that every human being has both good and bad qualities, but that doesn't mean a person should be defined solely by their bad qualities and having their good qualities be overshadowed. But then again, the other way around shouldn't be focused upon so much either, especially if its for superficial reasons. Lopmon, from the time she was a tiny little Conomon, learned so much about Yun in only the span of two whole months, and for her, that was enough to learn about her. Lopmon spent every single day with Yun, and she enjoyed it all, both good times and bad.

Yes, Lopmon did have to admit, Yun definitely has flaws and peculiarities that the average person might find very jarring, even extremely annoying, and having a neurological disability like Autism doesn't help matters much either. For one thing, Yun has a lot of self-esteem issues. She cries a lot over little things, she constantly calls herself names, she flips out when she makes the smallest mistake (more so if someone else yells at her about it), she hits herself on purpose whenever something goes wrong, she tends to set unrealistic expectations on herself (exacerbated by expectations people put on her) she's clumsy, and she's constantly questioning her self-worth and whether she'll really amount to anything or be able to contribute to society in a fulfilling and meaningful way. Even Hisako and Teruki are at their wit's end when it comes to these things. Not only that, she jumps around the house a lot, she flaps her hands, rocks back and forth, tends to repeat herself over and over (though she found out it's because Yun hates it when she's not allowed to finish a conversation and focuses too much on it until she's satisfied), focuses too much on one thing, even when others aren't interested in the subject, doesn't stop when she talks about said subject, has slightly inappropriate ways of approaching certain situations, doesn't always think before she does or says something, and has a lot of trouble coming up with the right words for a conversation, which is why she has to see a speech pathologist in school. She doesn't do any of it to be mean. She just doesn't understand when she needs to just stop and listen.

She's too rigid in her routines and gets mad when something goes wrong, though it never escalates into a tantrum or anything of that sort. She doesn't like certain changes, especially sudden ones. She hates loud noise, especially sounds like people yelling and screaming, rap music-which she hates with a passion, gunshots, explosions, motorcycles, trains when she's too close to them, clanging metal, fireworks, and concerts. She can be rather greedy and selfish, often sneaking cookies out of a jar when no one's looking, but that's usually as far as it gets and doesn't go any further than that. She's very picky about what she eats and wears on a daily basis. Worst of all, Yun takes things much too personally, even jokes and even if it's not directed at her, which results in overreacting to small things. If she does what she's told but is told she forgot to do something, she'll cry, hit herself, and call herself names. It's never to get attention. It's really how she feels. Lopmon couldn't blame her considering Ayaka constantly berates her about every little thing possible. She's shy and doesn't always interact with others socially, but most of that is due to her autism.

Despite all of this, it didn't stop Lopmon from loving Yun and seeing that she has a myriad of good qualities that definitely overshadow her bad ones. In the span of only two months, from her time as a DigiEgg until now, Lopmon learned so much about Yun, even the tiniest, most insignificant details that no average person would be able to notice. What really stood out to Lopmon, and still does, is how kind Yun is. She's sweet, kind, gentle, warm-hearted, loving, caring, innocent, compassionate, honest, considerate, smart, and affectionate, despite her shyness. She loves to draw and wants to become a mangaka. She loves to write and make up her own stories and, if her drawing skills never improve, wants to become a writer or someone who writes light novels, as many of those have been adapted into anime lately. She loves collecting stuffed animals, playing games, watching anime, reading manga or normal books, listening to music, playing on the computer, and being with her dearest friends. Her favorite foods are vanilla ice cream, cheese pizza, carrots, broccoli, chocolate cake, Hisako's pinwheel noodles, and chocolate chip cookies. Her favorite animals are rabbits, deer, and hummingbirds. Her favorite flowers are cherry blossoms, morning glories, and campanulas. Her least favorite foods are anything sour and spicy, soy beans, and green beans.

She hates wearing all dresses and skirts, tank tops, belts, any shoes except sneakers, anything that's tight, anything that's revealing, stockings, long socks, piercings, and anything with intentional rips in them. She cares for her friends and family with all of her heart, anything she does for them is out of pure kindness and is always well-intentioned, even though many don't see them as such, she can be very bold and brave when she wants to be, she tries to help out in any way she can no matter what, she cares for even the smallest creatures, loves being lost in her whimsies, fantasies, and creations (not to an unhealthy degree), loves making her friends and family happy in any way she can, even if most of her attempts to do so either backfire horribly or go under appreciated or unnoticed, and if any of her family and friends are in trouble, she will die for them like a true friend would. Lopmon read some of Hisako's books on Autism when she felt bored, and some misconceptions that the book tackled made Lopmon cringe.

Some people think people with Autism aren't capable of showing empathy or forming attachments to anyone. From what she saw, Lopmon didn't see this to be true at all, and was surprised that anyone would propose such a preposterous claim. Yun is very close to her family (except for Ayaka for obvious reasons), friends, stuffed animals, and the smallest creatures, and shows tender, unfeigned love for all things she holds in the highest regard. If Yun didn't show empathy or didn't form attachments, then she wouldn't have raised Lopmon and Terriermon from their baby forms until now with all the love in her warm, soft little heart. If Yun ddin't show empathy, then she wouldn't have saved Lucero from death and stayed by his side when he needed someone the most. If Yun didn't have empathy, she wouldn't have made friends with anyone or cared about anyone with the force of a great ocean like she does now. Yun has done lots of things for her friends, simply by befriending them. She raised Lopmon and Terriermon like a parent despite her young age, she helped Melody come out of her shell and assist her in putting aside her stubbornness for the sake of a friend in need, she came up with a ridiculous plan to save Aria from Kinzo even though it backfired horribly, she helped Otoya when Oujiro got arrested on false charges, she saved Riku from getting arrested by suggesting the police officers look at the security cameras to prove that he didn't shoplift at all, nor did he intend to. Not only that, she saved Kosuke from SkullGreymon's attacks despite how badly he'd been treating her, she gave Minako space when she tried to cope with Kiyoshi's death and Salamon's temporary fall, she assisted Rena in her selfmade therapy sessions in school, and she's helping Hokuto come out of his shell as well, since she's the first person he befriended.

Yun did it all with pure, genuine kindness in her heart. That was what Lopmon loved the most about Yun. Anything she does is pure, genuine, unfeigned, and without any streaks of malice in it. Yun's mind, heart, and soul are very simple, without any tangled webs or complicated stuff. Yun can't comprehend abstract concepts like manipulation or doing something out of pity to make someone else feel good. True, Yun is smart, like most people say, but how can she possibly make out something as complicated as that? Yun's heart is full of love and warmth, no strings attached at all. Lopmon loves Yun for all of these things, and she could never ask for anyone better.

Unfortunately, while Lopmon and many others see Yun for who she is and accept her no matter what, there are still those who don't like Yun, even for silly and ridiculous reasons. Another thing Lopmon learned about Autism through Hisako's books is that autistic children often say the wrong thing in a situation that causes anxiety, which makes people think they're intentionally being rude or mean when they're really not. This has happened quite a lot with Yun, but she never says anything to be mean unless she really wants to. She either doesn't know that certain things shouldn't be said in public or it just comes out wrong. Yun often complains about not being able to come up with the right words for conversation, which causes people to deliberately misunderstand her and misinterpret what she's saying as something else completely, most of the time something really bad. Ayaka's the worst culprit, as she's just not patient with Yun at all. Despite Yun's best intentions to help out and do something nice, instead of thanking her and appreciating her efforts, she instead berates her, calls her names, accuses her of doing things out of malice and self-satisfaction, makes fun of her (even going as far as attacking her most sensitive subjects, like her chest), constantly misinterprets and misunderstands her, points out her flaws constantly, and doesn't bother to think about why she does certain things or just listen carefully, let alone listen at all. Seiko hates Yun simply for being 1/4th American and went as far as to recruit seventh graders to assist her in bullying her in order to satisfy a grudge caused by her mother leaving her for an American man, someone whom Yun isn't associated with at all! Nenji constantly picks on her but never said why. Nenji's mother is convinced that Yun is the one who is the bully and keeps going after her when really she hasn't done anything wrong. Now Nayuki's being cruel to her just for kicks!

Finally, Lopmon stopped ranting. After a while, Tsukaimon managed to get the ice off of Nayuki's mouth and unfreeze her feet. With her usual grim look, Nayuki got her digivice out.

"What a colossal waste of time. Come on, Tsukaimon. Let's blow this joint," Nayuki said.

"Yeah! Let's blow this popsicle stand!" Tsukaimon jeered.

"But there aren't any here! We're in the middle of a desert, kyu!" Cutemon exclaimed as Nayuki opened her digivice.

"Umm...it's an expression, Cutemon," Salamon told her.

As soon as she said that, Nayuki and Tsukaimon allowed a digital portal to swallow them whole. Now it's Riku's turn to scoff.

"I hope she ends up somewhere horrible. She deserves it for everything she's done!" Riku exclaimed.

Salamon, Kudamon, Terriermon, and Lunamon all ran up to a tired Lopmon, who fell right on her rump, feeling quite exhausted.

"Wow! You totally man-handled her back there! You didn't miss a beat for one second!" Salamon cheered happily.

"Yeah! You really gave it to her hard! I never thought you had it in you!" Terriermon said.

"Your little spectacle really shows how much you care for your partner," Kudamon murmured with a smile on his face, even though it must be confessed he didn't quite approve of anything that just transpired.

"I wish I was as good as you," Lunamon said.

Lopmon let out a huge, relieved sigh. "I've been saving that up for months!"

Unfortunately, while everyone is happy that Nayuki and Tsukaimon are finally gone, the silence only lasted for about a second as it was broken by a loud, piercing, bloodcurdling wail. Nobody was surprised considering they found out right away where it came from.

"Yun!" Lopmon ran to her first, along with Otoya, Lucero, Minako, and Rena. Yun cried and bawled and wailed passionately, just like the time in the parking lot when they were attacked by Witchmon, only back then she cried because she was overstimulated by everything that was going on around her.

Lopmon leaped onto Yun and tried to console the crying girl, just like everyone else. "There there. Don't cry, Yun. It's okay. Nayuki's gone now."

"WHY WON'T PEOPLE STOP MAKING FUN OF MY CHEST?! I HATE MY BIG CHEST! I HATE IT I HATE IT I FREAKING HATE IT! EVERYBODY MAKES FUN OF IT! EVEN MY MOM AND BIG SISTER JOKE ABOUT IT! I'M SICK AND TIRED OF IT! WHY CAN'T MY CHEST BE FLAT AND SMALL?! I HATE HAVING A BIG SIZE C ECCHI ANIME CHARACTER CHEEEEEEST!" Yun bawled loudly, making her case in point as clear as she could possibly muster, through her tears and passionate sobs.

"Talk about hitting a girl where it hurts. Gosh, that Nayuki's gone way too far this time! I really want to smack her in the face," Rena said.

"I guess her chest is a very sensitive subject for her, huh?" Lunamon piped in.

"Your chest isn't big, Yun-chan! I've seen way bigger ones!" Otoya told her softly.

"Nayuki's wrong. You're awesome, and we love being friends with you!" Minako also tried to console her, but Yun continued to cry.

"Thou mustn't take Nayuki's venomous words to heart, Yun. She knoweth knowing of thee," Lucero told her.

Weirdly enough, Kosuke and Melody stood about twenty feet away and didn't bother to go and comfort Yun. Kosuke, however, thought that Melody not going over there to comfort her seemed rather unusual, as Melody is usually the first to try and comfort a crying Yun whenever something went bad. He decided to point this out.

"Aren't you going to join them?" Kosuke asked.

Melody shook her head gently. "Nah. She'll be alright. Besides, this'll give her a chance to interact with other people instead of just you and me all the time. They've got it covered so we shouldn't try and change that. She's had enough of me for one day."

However, Melody had something else on her mind. Now that Kosuke is standing next to her, she decided to take this chance, as she didn't want it to slip away. With a straight but slightly sad look on her face, she looked at Kosuke directly in the eyes. "Besides, I need to talk to you about something. Back in Wisemon's castle, when you outed me right in front of Yun...exactly how did you know why I was putting up my front?"

Kosuke winked at her. "I didn't. I just took a shot. You caved."

Melody's brown eyes widened with surprise. "Huh?! You _winged_ it?! Seriously?!"

Kosuke crossed his arms and nodded vigorously. "Yep! Well, I kinda had an idea of why you kept on trying to hide it from Yun, but I wasn't sure of a good way to bring it up. What better time for you to finally reveal your secrets to your best friend than in a matter of life and death?! I know it seemed kinda weird and all, but I figured since I knew you so well, I thought maybe I'd try and control the situation by shouting it all right on the spur of the moment so there'd be absolutely no way for you to try and deny it, especially if you were so wound up because of Biyomon. I knew that telling you directly wouldn't have done anything considering you're ungodly stubborn, and I don't think listening to Yun would have worked either since she's the person you kept trying to hide all of it from."

If Kosuke had told her all of this just a few hours ago, Melody would have grabbed him by the neck, suffocated him, and yelled that she would never forgive him. But she didn't. She just stood there, taking it all in like a sponge absorbing water. She didn't get angry either. She just looked more and more dejected. Seeing this made Kosuke's heart sag a little as well.

"Sorry, Mel. I really wasn't trying to hurt you at all. Just so you know, Yun's right. She really did find out about what happened to you on her own. She looked it up on the news website. She just came to me to see if it was true...that, and I gave her your new home address. I know you said not to tell anyone, but I didn't see any point in hiding it and...I felt she had a right to know," Kosuke explained softly.

Melody smiled this time. "It's fine. You're right. I shouldn't have tried to hide it. It didn't do any of us any good, now did it?"

"I have to admit, I don't blame you now that I know what you went through. Seriously! A stupid woman telling you off and abandoning you in the snow? Before Christmas, no less?! I can see why you'd hate people after that. I'd never be able to forgive anyone if I went through something like that!"

"Yeah. It was pretty horrible. I don't really like talking about it."

"I figured. I'm glad you came back...though I wish people would quit making all of those Sailor Moon references. You made one when you and Thunderbirmon made your grand entrance!"

"Come on! You have to admit Lilithmon looked a lot like Mistress Nine!"

"Yeah, that's true, but still!"

Unbeknownst to everyone else, Sorcermon stared at Lopmon from afar. Sorcermon was quite surprised not just by Lopmon's rant from earlier, but how quick she was to go from savage and fierce to gentle and tender when it came to Yun, who is still crying. He found himself lost in the depths of his mind, remembering a short conversation from long ago.

_"Sorcermon...you'll always be my friend, won't you?"_

_"Of course! I'll never betray you or turn my back on you. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me."_

_"You're the best thing that's happened to ME!"_

_'She doesn't remember, does she? I think I know why...'_ Sorcermon thought to himself a little somberly. Sorcermon wished he could approach Lopmon, but she seemed busy comforting Yun, so he decided not to.

"Wow. I figured bad people had to exist somewhere, but if I had to rate that Nayuki girl's cruelty on a scale to one to ten, she'd probably break it and reach the high millions," Agumon piped in.

"I wouldn't go that far. The girl's cruel, but the human race has seen much crueler people in history," Link told him.

"It's a shame we didn't get to see Wisemon. I really wanted him to meet the kids," Agumon said.

"Me too, partner," Link murmured. He wished Wisemon were here.

And his wish came true right then. A spark of blue lightning suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Suddenly, out came a big book which opened in front of some of the kids, revealing a black oval with two yellow circles on it.

"EEEEEEK!" Most of the kids and Digimon yelped.

"Wisemon! You're here at last!" Link exclaimed.

"Looks like you've made some friends, my good chap!" Wisemon said.

"What?! This thing is Wisemon?!" Patamon yelped.

"Dang, he's creepy!" Kosuke yelled.

"What? Is it really that surprising for me to appear? After all, this castle technically IS my home after all," Wisemon retorted.

"Where the heck were you hours ago?! We could have used some help dealing with all the-" Riku was about to rant, but Shunji put a hand on his mouth, shutting him up right there.

"We're so glad you're here. I want to introduce you to the Digimon Brigade. They are interested in knowing more about what happened to the Digital World, if you would be so kind as to share your information with them," Link told him kindly.

"How do I know you're not going to rat me out?" Wisemon asked the Digimon Brigade, not Link.

Shunji crossed his arms and approached the floating magical book. "How can we rat you out when we don't even have any way of contacting you? Besides, we've never met MoonMillenniummon, nor do we know where his hiding place is, and from what we hear, you're forced to travel in between dimensions so you're never in one place for very long!" Shunji explained.

"Ah. Good point. Sorry, humans. I'm rather apprehensive about releasing important information to others lest MoonMillenniummon find out and kill me, so do not take it as being rude," Wisemon explained.

"We understand. MoonMillenniummon and his Digimon have been causing problems in our world as well, so we feel you!" Otoya said with a smile.

"Huh? Feel me? How can you feel me when you're not touching me?" Wisemon asked.

Kosuke facepalmed, but Otoya answered firmly. "What I mean is, we get that you're in a bind because of him as well."

"So why didn't you say that in the beginning?! Just because I know everything in the Digital World doesn't mean I possess any knowledge of humans and their verbose, pretentious, complicated language mash-ups!" Wisemon yelped.

"Jeez. He sounds familiar," Patamon said, gesturing toward Hokuto, who also doesn't understand literary expressions or jokes.

Link sighed. "You up to the task, Wisemon?"

"Sure! I can easily fit you all in my book easily! But I can't fit the big Digimon in with you, so they'll have to wait until I'm finished taking you all to whatever place you wish for me to go," Wisemon edicted, recovering from his previous anxiety, but then he noticed the secondary Digimon.

"But there's just one problem here. We're in the middle of a desert. How are we all going to get back home? It takes a week to get from here to Concord Oasis," Minako asked. "We can't just open a portal and just jump in. We might end up in another country, and Link-san said he came from Vietnam when the Karatenmon finished attacking. That, and the rest of our Digimon are too weak to digivolve any further."

"She has a good point," Dracomon piped in. "I'd help you out, but I can't."

"If you kids want, I can take you all to any part of the Digital World you wish to go, since I travel in between dimensions, after all. I can take your friends to their homes as well," Wisemon offered.

"But aren't you cursed? Won't MoonMillenniummon find out?" Salamon asked innocently.

"Yes, my curse doesn't allow me to leave my book or use my powers to revolt or rebel. But that doesn't mean it applies to humans as well! Besides, while I can't leave my book, I can easily take things from outside and then throw them back out. That, and my book allows me to teleport anywhere within the Digital World's space-time continuum. I forget if it applies to the human world or not. Oh, by the way, nice job in handling those Karatenmon," Wisemon explained.

"How did you even see us when you weren't even around?" Terriermon asked.

"Some of my Monitormon friends saw the battles and broadcasted them to me. I would have lent you a hand, but Lilithmon is convinced that I am dead, and if I had revealed myself then, she would have reported it to her master, and he would have sought me out and killed me. Forgive me for not helping you when I had the chance," Wisemon explained again. "But I can teleport you to any place in the Digital World you want!"

"But which area of the Digital World links back to our town? We're in the middle of a desert!" Riku asked.

"I've been trying to make notes of which part of the Digital World leads to where, but so far I've only mapped big countries and their capital cities. I haven't gotten to marking small towns yet," Link said as he looked at his digivice.

"How about I search your memories?" Wisemon suggested.

"Search our...memories?" Lucero asked, not looking too keen on the idea.

"Yes. All I do is pick your brains a bit with my psychic powers. It doesn't hurt. I can't even touch you, so it'll be fine. All I do is look into your memories so it'll give me a visual idea on where you last left to go to the human world," Wisemon explained.

Melody raised her hand. "You can search my brain if you want. I left for the human world from part of a tunnel that leads to Concord Oasis. It took me to my home street."

"Ah, very well," Wisemon said as Melody approached him and closed her eyes. Wisemon closed his eyes as well. Everyone except the secondary Digimon just watched silently. Otoya saw this and began talking to them.

"You guys gonna be okay with waiting for a bit?" Otoya asked.

"It'll be alright. Thanks for your consideration, Otoya-chan," Lynxmon said.

"We should be thanking you for helping us. We really appreciate it. We're sorry we seem to call you for battles more often than we should," Otoya told them politely.

"It's not a problem at all. We're happy we were able to help you all in some way," Maildramon told her politely as well.

"Yes. After what's happened to the Digital World, nothing will ever be the same. Even so, it's our world too, and we want to protect it in any way we can," Darcmon said.

"Indeed! The Digital World was destroyed before, so every single Digimon here is involved in this fight against MoonMillenniummon! None of us are safe, and there isn't any place for us to run to, so instead of runnin' away, we've all gotta pull together to protect the Digital World from further destruction! I don't care if the odds are against us! We all have to do something, no matter how small it is!" Veedramon proclaimed proudly.

"You've spoken like a true warrior, Veedramon, and I wholeheartedly agree with you," Nefertimon said.

"I'm just glad the whole Karatenmon fiasco is done and over with. I'm getting hungry!" Opossumon piped in.

"Don't think so much about food, Opossumon," Flamedramon said.

"Still...if you see that Nayuki girl again, give her a good spanking for us, will you? Because if she does something she shouldn't, I don't want her getting away with it, especially after what she's done to Yun," Thunderbirmon said. Yun's cries had quieted down considerably, but she's still sobbing.

"You got it," Otoya said.

"Ah! Finished! I can easily take all of you humans there! Are you ready?" Wisemon exclaimed as he finished searching Melody's memory. It was quick and painless, like Wisemon said.

"Bye everyone! Hope you all get home safely!" Minako waved. Salamon did the same.

"Take care of yourselves, children!" Prairiemon said.

With that, Wisemon absorbed all members of the Digimon Brigade into his book and teleported into thin air, leaving the secondary Digimon behind in the desert. Maildramon sighed.

"I wish there was more we could do to help them. They seem like such sweet and sensible kids," Maildramon said.

"I agree. However, I must admit, that Nayuki has to be the most intolerable human being I've ever met! Talking down on people just so she can claim herself superior?! How low can she get?!" Pegasusmon exclaimed, stamping one of his hooves into the sand.

"I know! And going as far as to continuously bully an innocent girl who hardly did anything to her?! And making fun of her insecurities?! Not only that, she was bold enough to kick off Rena's prosthetic leg! I absolutely refuse to tolerate such audacious and unrelenting cruelty!" Darcmon exclaimed angrily.

"Her Digimon's no great prize either. But one thing bothers me. How are other Digimon, those without human partners, able to go to the Digital World? I heard rumors going around in my homeland that MoonMillenniummon's Digimon are able to cross into the human world. But the mystical veil is such a naughty thing, it never seems to decide whether it wants to be open or closed forever," Prairiemon said.

"If Digimon are capable of crossing into the human world, I would very much like to learn how so we can help them without having to wait for them to call for us. It'll save them the trouble of calling for us, and us the trouble of waiting for so long, especially considering that the passage of time in both our world and theirs is drastically different," Nefertimon piped in.

"However, there isn't any way to do so, is there? And if there was, how could we prove it?" Maildramon asked.

"Actually..." Opossumon raised one of her red gloves. "Maybe there is a way. I heard somewhere that MoonMillenniummon's minions are able to go into the human world by manipulating the data around them with their powers to create a dimensional rift that forces open the mystical veil for just a moment, allowing them to go through without any problems. I've seen other Digimon try it. Some have been successful," She explained further.

"But how is such a feat possible?" Darcmon asked.

"Dunno, but we ARE made of data after all. I ought to try this one of these days. I'd love to see more of the human world," Thunderbirmon piped in.

"Oh! That reminds me! Do you all remember the times when Digimon started getting branded with Dark Emblems one by one? I saw once that if a Digimon is branded, something happens and they disappear into a white portal that somehow leads into the human world. I wonder if ingredients in the Dark Emblem's composition enables data manipulation?" Flamedramon piped in.

"Hey, yeah! How about we go do some searchin' so we can find some way to get into the human world and be able to help the kids easier!" Veedramon exclaimed.

"But we Digimon are alien to the human folk. We are a rare and abnormal sight to behold, and they may not take very kindly to us walking on their territory," Pegasusmon said.

"True that," Pteramon piped in.

"Good point. But the Digimon Brigade are still our friends nonetheless, and we should not only help the Digital World, but them as well. Melody saved me from the Dark Emblem before, so why don't we?" Thunderbirmon said.

"I say let's do it!" Lynxmon exclaimed.

And thus, Wisemon told the kids everything, down to the smallest details that only he knows. The kids and Digimon made sure to absorb everything. But what they didn't notice was that Sorcermon kept on looking at Lopmon the entire time. He wondered if maybe there was something in her that he recognized. But she paid no heed to the blue wizard. She just listened to Wisemon's story. So did everyone else.

"Urgh...if this ZeedMillenniummon guy's capable of nearly destroying an entire world, how can we possibly defeat him?" Otoya asked timorously.

"I'm afraid I haven't any knowledge of such a feat in which a Digimon defeated him. I only know that the previous God of the Digital World, whose name I unfortunately can't mention lest I send out a signal and be killed on the spot, tried to defeat him, even though he himself perished in the process, and managed to seal him away in his inner sanctum, where he cannot leave at all," Wisemon explained further.

"But earlier today we saw some blue two-headed dragon ghost thing that ate Lilithmon and tried to kill Parrotmon when she was going insane! Was that one of MoonMillenniummon's tricks?" Patamon asked.

"It may very well be. The curse that is inflicted upon him must have its own set of setbacks," Wisemon said.

"I still don't understand how it's possible to kill a Digimon simply because they utter the name of the one who tried to make things right," Kudamon said.

"You're right. My knowledge is not infinite, so I'm afraid I am not sure either. One thing I am sure of, however, is that MoonMillenniummon will stop at nothing to make sure no Digimon on this entire world utters his name, as to him, it is a sign of revolt and rebellion, and he won't stand for anyone taking the side of the one who imprisoned him within the inner sanctum. That's why he put the curse on me, in the event that I submit to him and so if at any point I utter the name of the God who tried to make things right, I will perish on the spot so I won't foil his plans again," Wisemon said.

"That's stupid," Terriermon piped in.

"I wholeheartedly agree, little rabbit," Wisemon said.

"So what do we do now? Train and get stronger?" Salamon asked.

"Probably, if it'll get us closer to maybe saving that God who tried to fix things," Rena said.

"That would be the best move. Now, I bid you all goodnight!" Wisemon waved happily at them. All of a sudden, the kids and their Digimon were dragged out of the book and thrown back into the part of the cave where Melody left. The kids got their digivices out, pressed the door button, and allowed a white digital portal to appear below them. It sucked them inside, and before they knew it, they landed right onto Shirayuki Avenue!

"Oof!" Everyone yelped a little upon falling onto the street. Every single one of the Digimon de-digivolved back into their in-training forms upon returning.

"Man, that Wisemon guy is so weird!" Kosuke exclaimed as he brushed some sand out of his hair.

"You're telling me!" Tokomon chirped.

"At least we have an idea of what happened to the Digital World," Hokuto said.

"Yes. This information may be very useful, but we mustn't speak of this to anyone," Kyaromon said.

"Yay! We're home at last!" Gummymon chirped happily, relieved to finally be back in the human world.

"What is this place? I've never been here before," Aria asked.

"Yeah. I've never seen this part of town before," Bukamon said.

"Hey! Mel! Isn't this the street you used to live on?" Minako asked.

"Yes it is," Melody murmured with a smile.

"Hey! Look! That big tree is still there! Man, that takes me back!" Kosuke exclaimed with a bright smile on his face as he saw the big tree.

"What's so special about that tree?" Tokomon asked.

"When we were little, this kid named Hideaki dared me to climb that tree to prove I wasn't a scaredy-cat, and I did. I climbed pretty high. Mel went after me, and Yun was so scared she went into Mel's house and got her big brother to take us back down! Man, that was awesome!" Kosuke explained.

"Oh yeah! Now I remember! You were pretty stupid back then, Kosuke," Minako said.

"Who's Hideaki?" Nyaromon asked.

"Some kid who lived here, along with two other girls we used to play with. I think their names were...Asako and Rina. Yeah! That's it!" Melody explained.

"Who are Asako and Rina?" Yokomon asked.

"My mom was friends with their parents, so whenever they'd come over, they'd bring their kids to our house as well. I think their full names were...uh...Uchiyae Asako and...Sagisu? Yeah, Sagisu Rina. They were nice, and I liked them. I wonder where they are now?" Melody explained. Then her voice softened as mentioning the names of those two girls made her feel a touch nostalgic inside.

"I remember Rina-chan really liked Yun. Yun? Do you remember Rina-chan?" Minako asked, but Yun didn't say anything. Thankfully, she didn't have to.

"I can leave from here. Can you kids make it back on your own?" Link asked as he scooped Koromon into his big arms.

"Sure. Get home safe, okay?" Shunji told him.

"Bye for now, kids!" Link said as he and Koromon walked down Melody's old street, leaving the kids alone. But the children were only alone for about a second.

"Melody! There you are!" Daikichi's voice permeated the second-long silence as he and Rumiko suddenly appeared from around the corner.

"Mel! Why did you-Oh? Are these your friends?" Rumiko was about to interrogate Melody on why she ran off, but stopped when she noticed everyone.

If something like this happened a few hours ago in human world time, Melody would have did everything in her power to deny having any involvement with the Digimon Brigade. But instead of getting flustered or angry, she instead smiled. Instead of driving them all away, she walked over to them and stood by them.

"Everyone, these are my foster parents, Hanabusa Rumiko and Daikichi. Rumiko and Daikichi, these are all of my friends. But these four are my best friends from childhood: Omori Minako, Hanemoto Kosuke, and Wakamiya Julia, aka Yun," Melody introduced everyone to her foster parents, but made sure to point out Minako, Kosuke, and Yun so they won't get confused for other people in the Digimon Brigade. Rumiko suddenly lit up when Melody pointed to Yun and ran up to her, unaware that Yun is still looking quite dejected.

"Oh! You're the girl who visited us a couple days ago! So you ARE one of Melody's friends! So you're Yun-chan, right? It's so nice to meet you! You're so cute!" Rumiko squealed upon seeing Yun, looking very delighted to see her. However, Yun, on the other hand, looked absolutely petrified. She trembled with her face masked with naked fear. Rumiko continued to be oblivious to this until Yun suddenly ran right past her.

"Yun! Wait!" Worried, Lucero gave chase as Yun turned the left corner and dashed out of their sight.

Daikichi facepalmed, looking quite exasperated. "Rumiko! I told you to show some restraint!"

"Is something wrong?" Rumiko asked, wondering why Yun ran off just now.

"Don't get the wrong idea. She's extremely shy. That, and she had a really bad day. Some kid kept picking on her and wouldn't stop, no matter what we tried to do," Melody explained in her usual straightforward manner. But it isn't in the rude or blunt way like she usually talked. Instead, her straightforwardness was kind and honest. When she finished that sentence, her face softened and she now donned a dejected look. "She's the reason I ran off just now. I wanted to help her and teach that stupid bully a lesson. She's gone now."

"I kinda figured you were someone who'd stand up for her friends," Daikichi said.

Melody decided this is the perfect opportunity to explain to them why she's done what she's done since she's started living with them and explain to her friends why she didn't want them to meet them. Now they're here, and Melody couldn't drive them away now. No, she wanted them to be here for this. This is the perfect opportunity to get everything out. "Rumiko, Daikichi...I'm sorry. For everything. For being so cruel to you all the time. I've been through some really bad stuff since I lost everything, and most of the foster parents I've been with only used me to receive money from the adoption agency and use it for themselves. I couldn't forgive that, and...I lost my ability to forgive because of it. I didn't want to be hurt or used like some toy again, so I tried to push everyone away. I wanted to show everyone I was stronger than them, that I wasn't some toy they could use and then throw away like trash. I figured you would too, so I didn't bother to get close to you. That's also why I didn't invite my friends over, because I didn't want to show them my house, then wind up being forced to leave and looking like I abandoned them. I didn't want to take any chances. But I know now that you're not like that, and that you're not trying to get rid of me. I should have been nicer to you."

"Shouldn't we take this at the house? All these kids are listening," Rumiko asked, looking a little apprehensive.

"No. It's fine. Let her express herself," Daikichi told her calmly.

"I know this sounds silly, but I want them to be here so they'll know why I did what I did. But still, none of what I did was right, and telling my story doesn't make what I did sound any better either. You're allowed to punish me if you want. I don't care. But still, I...I'm sorry. I just...didn't want to be hurt again," Melody explained.

Rumiko and Daikichi looked at each other with confused faces at first. Then Daikichi smiled, kneeled before her, and looked her in the face.

"The social worker told me a lot about what happened to you, and I knew that you suffered some kind of trauma from it, so I tried not to force myself or Rumiko onto you 'cause I figured you wouldn't like that. My dad often told me I shouldn't pity people or act like a white knight who will save them from their problems or disabilities or stuff like that. Instead, I should treat them like people and just be a good friend to them, without sounding like I'm being kind to them to make myself feel better. I figured you didn't want to get close to people, so I tried to give you some space in the hopes of letting you know that I'm here for you if you ever want to talk. Rumiko tends to get too excited and throws herself into stuff she shouldn't, but she usually means well. I don't want to be the kind of parent who spoils you, objectifies you, or replaces your real family. I don't want that. Rumiko and I wanted to let you decide for yourself if you wanted to trust us or not, since forcing you won't work. Though I have to admit, it does make me sad that you felt that way," Daikichi explained as calmly as possible. "And it's alright. We forgive you."

Now Melody felt the tears coming out this time. She didn't bother to wipe them away. This is a first for everyone, seeing the normally tough, strong, unconquerable Melody looking so soft and vulnerable. "Can we...start over?"

Rumiko and Daikichi both smiled. To Melody, this was a very strong yes.

"Yun! Wait!" After a few short minutes, Lucero finally managed to grab Yun by the arm and keep her from running any further. Yun began gasping for breath when Lucero stopped her.

"She must really be traumatized, kyu. I don't blame her, kyu. I'd be sad if someone pointed out my flaws and continued making fun of me, kyu!" Cutemon piped in.

"Yun. Thou must calm down. Ichinose is gone. We are no longer in the Digital World," Lucero whispered to her gently, hoping to not scare her.

Even the little blobs could see some persistent tears trickling down her face even though Yun stopped bawling. "I want to...go home..." She croaked sadly.

"It's okay, Yun. We're going home right now. If you want, we can watch all the anime and read all the manga and play all the games we want together! I'm getting tired myself, so I would love to play with you all day," Kokomon told her sweetly.

"Yeah! Maybe we can eat lunch together when we get back! I'll bet you're getting hungry from dealing with all of that bad stuff in the Digital World," Gummymon said.

Lucero gently took Yun by the arm and decided to walk her home. However, in his little heart, he felt deeply for the traumatized girl he's escorting right now. How could anyone be so unrelentingly cruel to her and show no remorse in doing so? _'Ichinose...she's gone much too far this time! I shan't let her get away with what she's done! Thou shalt feel my wrath when the time comes, for I shan't show any mercy!'_ Lucero thought. Good thing he isn't the only one feeling like this. But Yun only thought about one thing: going home and unwinding. She couldn't wait to go back home and do whatever she wanted. She wanted to forget about this horrible day and go about her merry way.

Unfortunately, she wouldn't be able to do even that. As soon as Lucero opened the door, their already fragile ear drums were assailed by an amassing army of screaming and yelling...well, in this case, the vociferous sound of Hisako and Teruki arguing, their voices getting louder and louder by the second.

"All I want to do is go out and visit my family, and I want you and the kids to come with me! Is that really so bad to you?!" Teruki screamed, banging his fist on the dining room table, causing a plate to clatter on top of it. Both of their faces looked contorted and scrunched up from what Lucero, Yun, Cutemon, Kokomon, and Gummymon could see.

"You keep making these plans without asking me first! I refuse to spend part of my summer in a freakin' hotel room!" Hisako snapped back just as vehemently. It was abundantly clear that these two are nothing short of choleric, and this was a rare sight for everyone.

"I always ask you for your input, but you NEVER give me a straight answer! It's always _'we'll see,'_ or _'whatever'_ with you! You never answer with a simple yes or no!"

"You never give me time to decide what I want to do, and spending a few days of my summer in a hotel is NOT what I want!"

"It's always _'I don't want'_ with you! I don't want this, I don't want that, I don't want anything! Spare me what you don't want for once and tell me about what you DO want for God's sake!"

"Why do you always have to be so dang fussy?!"

"Why do you always have to be so freakin' indecisive?!"

Yun literally threw Kokomon and Gummymon onto Lucero and covered her ears right away. She tried to run again, but something else stopped her from doing so, and it was something she yet again didn't want to deal with, and it wasn't Nayuki either.

"YUUUN! What the freak did you do with my dance shoes?!" Ayaka screamed as she grabbed Yun by the arm and tried to interrogate her on what she did with her dance shoes.

Nobody knew it, but a thread snapped in Yun's already broken heart. Once the damage was done, it shattered.

She exploded.


	89. Friendship is a Blessing

EPISODE 89: Friendship is a Blessing

After Melody finally fixed things with her foster parents right in front of the entire Digimon Brigade sans Link, Minako and Nyaromon decided to leave, becoming quite worried about Yun considering everything that's happened. Since it's still early daylight out, she and Nyaromon didn't think Tatsuha and Minagi would worry that much if she came home a little later than she planned. Not only that, since she was little, she knew how to get from Shirayuki Avenue to Yun's street, so she decided to test her memory. Lo and behold, her memory proved to be right after all. Yun's street, Meikyuu Avenue, is only about seven blocks away! Unfortunately for them, another thing confirmed her suspicions.

A loud, blood curdling scream assaulted the ears of both Minako and Nyaromon as soon as they turned the corner leading into Meikyuu Avenue. Much to their horror, it came right from Yun's mouth. Minako and Nyaromon were about to run over there, but stopped when they saw Yun flailing her arms like she's trying to force someone off of her, which turned out to be Ayaka. Finally, in a fit of screaming, Yun kicked Ayaka in the shin and ran away. Again, Lucero gave chase. Thankfully, they didn't go far, as Lucero managed to grab Yun as soon as they were about to pass Minako and Nyaromon, who now look quite worried.

"Oh! Minako-dono! Nyaromon! Thank goodness thou hath arrived!" Lucero exclaimed despite Yun crying and screaming all over again.

"What happened this time?" Minako asked. Normally when people ask this, they sound exasperated or irritated. Minako is just surprised and worried out of her mind.

"We were about to walk inside when we heard Teruki-dono and Hisako-dono arguing, and right after that Ayaka just came in and antagonized Yun. That's when she started screaming. I think the yelling proved to be too much for her," Lucero explained as best he could. Despite Yun's continued crying, Minako and Nyaromon heard and understood every bit of it.

"Hasn't Yun-chan had enough already? Jeez!" Nyaromon piped in.

Minako could feel some motherly persona overtaking her as she hugged Yun and rubbed her back gently in the hope that she would feel it and feel somewhat comforted and consoled. "Yun? It's okay. Want to come to my house and relax?" She asked in a low but tender whisper.

"Make it stop...make it stop! Please!" Yun wailed.

"I think that's a big fat yes," Gummymon threw in.

"I agree with you. She probably wants to go somewhere nice and quiet, without any more loud noise," Kokomon agreed.

Seeing that they could be right, Minako gently took Yun by the hand and decided to escort her to her own house since Yun's house is filled with the painful sound of yelling and screaming, something Yun hates with a passion...and Minako knew why. In the fourth grade, Nenji kept acting out during class, and the teacher for that class got so mad that she went on a screaming tirade for ten whole minutes, which made Yun so scared that she broke down crying when lunch came around. The incident in general frightened a lot of kids, but it made Minako realize that Yun is very different from other kids.

(flashback)

_The weekend after the incident, Minako went to Yun's house to play with her. They played for a while until Yun went to look for a game she wanted to show her. That's when Minako decided to take the opportunity to find Hisako. She found her in the living room, sitting on the little couch, reading a magazine and tugged on her arm._

_"Hisako-san? Can I ask you something?" Minako asked._

_A little surprised, Hisako closed the magazine and put it on the cushion next to her. Minako continued to stand in front of her. "Sure, sweetie. Is something wrong?"_

_"Earlier this week, Chino-sensei got really mad at Nenji and yelled at him, but when lunch came around, Yun started crying like crazy. After that, she covers her ears and cries whenever people yell. Is something wrong with Yun?" Minako tried to word her question as nicely as possible so she wouldn't sound like she's making fun of Yun, but she had to admit, Yun is very different from the other kids in the way she acts, develops, and even talks, something Minako noticed but didn't really bother with until now._

_Hisako moved the magazine and put it back on her lap. "Sit down, Mina-chan."_

_Minako wanted to continue standing, but she sat down on the couch next to Hisako anyway. "I'm going to tell you something, but promise me you won't tell other kids in school about it."_

_Minako nodded vigorously. "I promise! But can I tell Kosuke-kun about it?"_

_"That's fine. I don't want other kids to keep picking on her. That's why. Anyway..." Minako noticed that Hisako swallowed a bit even though she wasn't eating anything. "See, Yun has something called Autism. Have you heard of it?"_

_"I heard it on TV but that's it. What is that?" Minako replied, confused by the new word even though she recognized it._

_"Well, it's a brain disorder. It means as she was being born, her brain didn't quite develop as properly as it should have. It didn't quite come out right. As a result, she sees, feels, and experiences the world in a completely different way than other kids do," Hisako explained. She seemed to have trouble explaining something as complicated as autism to a ten-year-old girl._

_"Is that why she's scared of loud noise and talks a little...weird?" Minako asked. She wished she had used a different word instead of weird, as it sounded mean, but she couldn't think of a better, more nicer word to describe Yun's slightly impaired speech._

_"Yes. That's why she has to go see Gokou-sensei every now and again, so she can learn to talk better. She has trouble understanding a lot of things and it takes a while for her to really grasp certain concepts. That's also why she tends to say strange things and take what people say to her the wrong way. Her brain has trouble processing it and takes it in a different way than expected," Hisako explained slowly._

_"But Yun-chan's smart! She gets A's on spelling tests all the time!" Minako exclaimed loudly._

_"That's right. Yun is smart. Just because she's autistic doesn't mean she's not capable of learning new things. It just takes a while for her to really understand things. It's also why it's hard for her to make friends. For her, it's hard to talk to people, look at people in the eye, and as you've noticed by now, she displays some rather odd characteristics like rocking back and forth or shaking her hands. But it isn't because she's acting out. She doesn't quite know what to do, as her brain didn't develop enough for her to know what to do in a social setting right off," Hisako explained._

_"Do the teachers know about it?" Minako asked._

_"Some of them do, yes," Hisako said._

_"Is that why she had a lady walk around with her in second and third grade?"_

_"Yes," Minako noticed that Hisako's face scrunched up when she said this. Did she look angry or irritated? "Those ladies were supposed to be her one-to-one assistants. That means they were supposed to help Yun pay attention in class and help her when she needs it."_

_"But they were mean."_

_"Yes. Very mean," After this, Hisako smiled. "The teachers told me you've been helping Yun a lot. Thanks for helping her out."_

_"Friends help each other out, don't they?"_

_"Yes. That's true. You don't hate her now that you know why she acts the way she does, do you?"_

_Minako shook her head. "Nope! She's just special, that's all! Like Sailor Saturn! She's kind, sweet, and gentle too, but people hate her because she has stuff she doesn't want!"_

_Hisako couldn't help but giggle at this change in mood. "Special indeed."_

_"Mina-chan! I found it! _The Legendary Starfy(1)_!" Yun suddenly shouted as she came into the living room._

(end flashback)

After a while, they finally arrived at Minako's house. Yun's screams quieted down considerably, but she continued to cry. Minako went through the door to find Tatsuha in the house. As soon as she came in, he turned around and noticed her.

"Hi Mina-chan! How was-huh? Yun-chan?" Tatsuha was about to greet them with his usual bright smile until he noticed Yun and how dejected she looks. Like Minako before him, he immediately became worried, especially once he saw how sad she is.

"What's wrong, Yun-chan?" Tatsuha tried to approach her, but she hid behind Lucero. This made Tatsuha stop in his tracks.

"She's had a really bad morning. Some random girl kept picking on her and wouldn't stop, no matter what we tried. Not only that, Yun's parents are fighting about something and Ayaka didn't make things any better either. Would it be okay if she stayed here for a while?" Minako explained and asked if she could stay. Tatsuha looked a little uneasy about this, but considering how sad Yun looks, whatever she went through obviously scared her to her wits end and she probably wants to calm down and unwind.

"Sure. That's fine with me. Minagi's running some errands so she'll be back soon. Do her parents know that she's here?" Tatsuha told her, then wondered if her parents knew that she came here.

"No. Like I said, they were fighting when she tried to go in, and it scared her so she didn't bother talking to them. But I'm planning on telling them later in case they stop arguing," Minako told him.

Minako and Lucero then took Yun and the Digimon to her room. Yun sat down on Minako's bed and continued to sob while clinging to Kokomon and Gummymon. The two blobs and Nyaromon tried to console her gently.

"It's okay, Yun-chan. Nobody's yelling here so you can relax. Nyan!" Nyaromon told her tenderly.

"Let's let her cry out her sadness, then wait until she calms down," Kokomon suggested.

"Yeah. She hates keeping her feelings inside, so let's do just that," Gummymon said.

About fifteen minutes later, Minagi came home from her errands. At first, she was surprised by Yun and Lucero's unprecedented appearance in the Omori home, but after Minako explained things to her, she took it rather well and decided to let Yun stick around, feeling bad about being so surprised before, though she has to go to work later today. Nobody knew how long the discord at the Wakamiya house would go on, so they didn't want to take any chances in calling them or going back right now, and Yun wound up staying at their house for almost the entire day. Thankfully, the time at the Omori house did Yun a whole lot of good. Minako let Yun lay on her bed and gave her some space while Cutemon, Kokomon and Gummymon, being the warm-hearted little sweethearts they are, stayed by Yun's side while silently trying to comfort her, which Yun liked. Once Yun was calm enough, she got out of the bed and watched Minako edit pictures on the computer. They read manga and watched anime together, particularly Sailor Moon, _K-On_(2), and Fancy Lala. At about noon, right after Minagi left for work, Tatsuha cooked up a nice and hearty lunch consisting of spaghetti and meatballs with some garlic bread and carrots. Yun loves spaghetti with meatballs and carrots, so much so that she asked for seconds (which was really to give to Kokomon, Gummymon, and Cutemon while Tatsuha wasn't looking, though she asked for a few more herself, as she was feeling quite hungry). She doesn't like garlic bread, though. Minako and Nyaromon, on the other hand, love garlic bread.

The rest of the day went rather splendidly, even though they didn't go anywhere. Yun wished she had brought her games with her so she could play Pokemon with Minako and battle her. But the simple things she did do with her friends soothed her little heart and calmed the discord that raged through her body. She did, however, feel a little guilty for forcing herself on Minako, and even brought this up.

"Sorry..." Yun muttered softly.

"For what?" Minako asked.

"For making you do all this for me," Yun clarified what she said.

"You're not making me do anything. You were upset, so I decided to take you to my house so you can calm down. Besides, friends are supposed to help each other. That Ichinose girl doesn't see how nice and sweet you are, and she's wrong about you and the rest of us, so if she tries to talk bad about you again, I'll make sure she gets a good spanking, even though I don't like violence," Minako told her boldly but gently. Yun couldn't help but smile.

At about 2:00 PM, Lucero called the Wakamiyas and let them know where they were at, but Tatsuha invited them to stay for dinner and asked if they could take him up on his offer. They allowed them to stay until then. Tatsuha made them meatloaf with vegetables, mandarin oranges, alfredo, and fresh crescent rolls.

"Tatsuha-san? Why are you so good at cooking?" Yun asked out of the blue, clearly enjoying this big dinner.

"I'm glad you asked! I always complained about my mother's food, so I decided that I could try cooking better than she could, and weirdly enough, I found that my meals proved to be better than hers!" Tatsuha explained cheerfully.

"That's mean," Yun piped in. "So where do you work?"

"I cook at the Minato Diner. Y'know, the one right by the street your school is on. But I work nights," Tatsuha replied.

"You should come by and eat there sometime," Minako suggested after she finished a piece of meatloaf. Yun smiled and ate some alfredo while secretly sharing vegetables and pieces of a crescent roll with Kokomon, Gummymon, Cutemon, and Nyaromon, who are right underneath the table.

Later, Hisako went to pick them up and thanked the Omoris for taking care of Yun. She didn't look as irritated as she did earlier this morning, and looked a little dejected while taking them home.

"Sorry Yun. We didn't mean to scare you so bad," Hisako muttered a little sadly.

"It's alright," Yun replied in a somewhat monotone voice.

Truthfully, Yun didn't want to go back home. She didn't think Hisako and Teruki were done fighting and assumed Ayaka was still there. Thankfully, Teruki was taking a nap in his room, Ayaka went out with Shunji, and as soon as Hisako dropped them into the house, she went to work. Life at the house was peaceful again, and Yun, Lucero, Kokomon, Cutemon, and Gummymon went about their merry way for the rest of the night, and the entire day after that. No fights occurred and there was no discord that Monday, but nothing special happened either. There's still no school until further notice, so Yun was pretty much stuck at home with Lucero and the rabbits. But she didn't mind this time. In fact, she's feeling much better now. When the night came, she and her friends fell asleep feeling warm and happy, dreaming pleasant dreams.

However, the dream Kokomon had didn't feel like a pleasant dream at all.

(dream)

_Two black figures stood amongst a world completely clad in pristine, rainbow-hued crystal that sparkled like the sunbeams stroke every single angle it had to offer. All of a sudden, a third black figure appeared in the room._

_"What did you want to talk to us about?" A kind, low, motherly, ladylike voice asked the figure that just came into the room._

_"Yeah, little sis. What has you staying in the library for two whole weeks looking at books?" A young, exuberant voice asked in a somewhat irritated manner._

_The third figure didn't say anything at first, but after a while, she spoke. "I've been in the library searching for a way we can keep this creature under control. Even with our combined powers, we cannot totally defeat him. I want to spare our great leader the responsibility of dealing with him. He has enough on his shoulders already," She replied in a sweet voice, but it sounded sad._

_"That's true, indeed. But unless we call for the ones greater than them, we cannot defeat this creature. It makes my heart sag that we cannot find a way for our world to be at peace," The ladylike voice said in a sad tone._

_"Yeah! Is there any way we can defeat this thing? Who knows? He could be wreaking some kind of havoc right now as we speak!" The young voiced figure asked, sounding irritated. He said some more words, but they were inaudible._

_"Um...actually, I..." The third figure stumbled a bit with her words, but she continued on. "I...I think...maybe there is an answer."_

_"What? What answer is that, my friend?" The ladylike voice asked._

_"I was wondering...do you believe that there is a deity greater than even our great leader?" The sweet voice asked._

_"A deity? Greater than even him?" The young voice asked._

_The ladylike voice suddenly let out a gasp. "You...you don't mean...the creatures of legend? The...humans?"_

_The third figure nodded solemnly. "Our great leader has told me that he has made contact with one of them. He says they created us and gave us life. Perhaps, maybe...maybe they do exist. Perhaps...we can ask them for help, if they do exist."_

_"That's impossible!" The young voice proclaimed angrily. "Humans don't exist! They're just a myth! You're being silly, little sister!"_

_"But we're running out of options here, brother! This horrid creature is causing all kinds of trouble in our world, and even our great leader's power has not been able to set him straight! Perhaps the legend is true! Perhaps there are creatures greater than even us who may be able to lend a hand!" The third figure tried to convince her brother, but he didn't seem to be buying it._

_"Cher...you care very deeply about our leader, us, the Digital World, and everyone. I respect you and love you for that. But humans are merely a concept. If humans really did exist, they would have revealed themselves to us by now, or we'd know about them. Besides, he says he has made contact with one of them, but he has no proof. We have no way of proving or confirming their overall existence or if they truly are greater than us. Surely you understand even that. Please do not misunderstand. I want to believe you. I want to believe that there is a solution to this problem," The ladylike voice explained in a kind but guilty manner._

_"Opha. Rapi. That's why I'm asking you. I...I want to see if humans are real, and I want you both to help me confirm their existence. You are the only ones I truly trust, as everyone else is too busy trying to keep everything under control. I did my part in the mission already, and I have some free time on my hands, so...will you join me? Please?" The third figure pleaded softly._

_The two figures looked at each other with confused faces, then looked back at the third figure._

_She wished to hear an answer, but suddenly, everything faded into white._

(end dream)

Kokomon's green eyes shot open right then. She looked at the clock on Yun's night stand and it read 5:07 AM. Not wanting to wake everyone up, she closed her eyes and decided to go back to sleep for another few hours. Soon, everyone was up. After they finished breakfast, Yun took the Digimon into her room to play with them. That's when Kokomon decided she was going to tell them about it.

"I had a weird dream last night," Kokomon told them.

"Hm? A weird dream?" Gummymon asked.

"What happened?" Yun asked.

"I saw these figures in a room full of crystals. They were talking about something, but it was too complicated for me to get. I couldn't see their faces or hear other stuff they were saying. But they mentioned the Digital World and that something bad was happening to it," Kokomon explained.

"Hmm...a very strange dream thou hast had. Perhaps it is a memory from thine life before thou lost thy memories?" Lucero suggested.

"I doubt it. My voice isn't that elegant sounding, and the figures had some very nice voices, though one of them sounded much younger than he should," Kokomon explained.

Yun was about to inquire some more, but Hisako came into the room with the phone in her hand.

"Yun! Mel-chan's on the phone," Hisako told her.

"Huh? This early in the morning?" Yun asked before receiving the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey Yun! It's Mel! Wanna come to my house and hang out today?" Melody asked on the phone.

"Hold on just one second," Yun told Melody, then looked at Hisako. "Mel-chan wants me to come over her house. Can I go?" Yun asked.

"Sure. That's fine with me. Do you know where it is?" Hisako replied, which made Yun light up happily.

"Yes! It's 220 Miyanoshita Drive!" Yun yelped happily, then went back to the phone. "Mel-chan! She said yes!"

"I heard you. I'm inviting other people as well, but the only other ones who are making it are you, Riku, and Hokuto. Everyone else is busy with stuff," Melody said.

The girls arranged to meet at Melody's house at 11:30 AM. Yun, feeling quite jovial and cheerful upon being invited to Melody's new house, decided to get ready. She packed her Jekyll and Hyde bag with her games, some manga, her digivice, her cell phone as advised by Hisako, and some DVDs. Kokomon, Gummymon, and Cutemon fit snugly in there while she changed her clothes and put on a sleeveless greenish blue shirt with white stars on the bottom and dark brown shorts. After a while, Hisako took Yun, Lucero, and the Digimon to Melody's new house. Melody, Hokuto, and Riku all stood in front of it, looking quite happy and cheerful this morning. Hisako stuck around for a while so she could get acquainted with Rumiko and Daikichi, who seemed very happy to see her.

Yun, Lucero, Melody, Riku, Hokuto, and their Digimon, all in their in-training levels, played together both inside the house and out. As they played, Yun noticed that Hokuto looks a lot more cheerful, more jovial, and more willing to try new things, like interacting with people. Before, he acted so indifferent and so scared of everything, and his eyes usually donned an indifferent, somewhat glassy look that made him look like a piece of furniture with no emotions or anything. But now Hokuto's plump, white face is lit up like a light bulb, his eyes wide and full of life, unlike the lifeless eyes he had when she first met him. Even Kyaromon noticed this change and silently praised Hokuto for blossoming. Perhaps him being friends with the Digimon Brigade proved to be a good thing after all.

But just because he's friends with them doesn't mean he's free of all of his secret insecurities.

Daikichi turned on the TV, and the news happened to be on.

_"This is quite a tragedy here in this small town. The body of a 14-year-old girl was discovered hanging from a noose on a tree yesterday morning. The girl's parents identified her as Osawa Kazuko, who, as reports now confirm, committed suicide by making a noose by hand and hanging herself because she was being continuously bullied in school. A suicide note was found on her computer, detailing why she didn't tell anyone about the teasing she was forced to endure and how she made the noose."_

The news report didn't creep into Hokuto's ears. The sound assailed them, and the cheerfulness and joy that painted his face was now wiped away and replaced with naked fear. His cobalt blue eyes widened, his teeth began to chatter, and he began to tremble.

"What's up, Hokuto-kun?" Sunmon chirped quietly.

"Turn it off," Hokuto muttered. But his muttering became louder and louder. "Turn it off! Turn it off!"

Daikichi heard it and tried to pick up the remote. "Alright, I'm changing the channel."

"No!" Hokuto didn't yelp or yell. He screamed. Apparently changing the channel wasn't going to work. "TV about hanging...TURN IT OFF! TURN IT OFF TURN IT OFF TURN IT OOOOFF!" Hokuto screamed and pounded Daikichi with his weak little fists.

"Hey! Quit it kid!" Daikichi turned off the TV and tried to force Hokuto off of him.

"Hokuto-kun, stop!" Yun grabbed him first and managed to pull him away from a surprised Daikichi.

"What's your problem?!" Riku yelped as soon as Hokuto stopped screaming.

"Hanging...hanging...hanging..." Hokuto chanted while trembling with fear as he wrapped himself with his thin little arms.

Nobody understood what happened. All Hokuto did was hear the story about the unfortunate girl who hung herself. How could something like that get a rise out of him?

"Wanna go someplace?" Melody suggested. Everyone nodded. They thought maybe Hokuto needed to go outside and forget about what he heard.

Melody suggested they go to the tiny little park that's across from the old football field, which is right near Katsura Elementary School. Yun remembered that place, as she and her parents used to watch Ayaka cheer for the football players when she used to be a cheerleader. But her memories of those football games were vague, mostly because she hated football, the darkness, the bright lights, the people cheering, the food that would be all over the place, and she didn't see why people would go crazy over throwing a ball over a giant pitchfork. But the little park they went to is different from the main park in Tama-no-Minato. It's separated by a chain-link fence, and the ground is completely covered in sand. There are some old rusty swings, an old rusty slide, an old rusty carousel, a tiny jungle gym, and a set of monkey bars. Riku saw the monkey bars and jumped on them.

"I remember these things! Man, I loved climbing these! I wonder if I can still do that?" Riku asked right as he got on the monkey bars.

"Oh! That looks cool! Can I play?" Sunmon asked as he floated toward him.

"Why are they called monkey bars?" Yun asked.

"Yes. Monkeys don't climb on these, and they live in trees," Hokuto said.

"That doesn't look like something I'd want to take part in, so I'll humbly pass," Yokomon said in her most prim and proper voice. After a bit, Riku leaped off of them and let Melody climb on them.

"I wanna play on them!" Gummymon exclaimed.

"Me too!' Kyaromon chirped and leaped on them as soon as Gummymon got on them. Soon they started jumping on the bars, hoping they can keep their balance on each one.

"Whee! This is fun!" Gummymon squeaked happily.

"Yeah it is! Look! I can hang from it like a possum! See?" Kyaromon demonstrated this by wrapping his raccoon-like tail around one of the bars and hanging upside down from it.

"Be careful! You'll fall!" Hokuto advised. Then, Kyaromon and Gummymon both hopped off of it, right onto the sand. Then Melody got off of them.

"Hey Yun! You wanna come up?" Melody asked, pointing to the monkey bars behind her.

"No thanks. I don't like them, and I can't hold onto stuff like that for very long. That, and I don't like being off the ground, " Yun said.

All of a sudden, Riku grabbed her from behind and lifted her up. "Come on, Yun! Try it! You never know! Besides, they're not that high!"

"Rikkun! Let me go!" Yun pleaded until Riku got her close to the bottom of the monkey bars and she subconsciously grabbed two of the bars.

"Good! You grabbed them! Okay, I'm gonna let go now. One...two...three!" Riku said, then let go of Yun, leaving her hanging off the monkey bars. Yun squeezed her eyes shut when she realized her feet aren't touching the ground anymore.

Kokomon turned to look at Yokomon. "Is this really a good idea?"

"I dunno," Yokomon replied.

Regardless, both Riku and Melody stayed by Yun as she very slowly opened her eyes to find herself hanging from the monkey bars all by herself. The bars felt warm on her hands and she tried to grip them as tightly as she could.

"Ugh, I don't like this..." Yun muttered, hoping nobody else heard it.

"Good! You're staying! Now try and grab another bar!" Riku exclaimed.

"No thanks! This is enough for me!" Yun pleaded.

Then Riku did something Yun didn't expect. He put a hand on Yun's slightly exposed stomach and tickled her. Yun could feel his slightly rough fingers dancing on her abdomen and let out a laugh. It only lasted a few seconds before he stopped.

"Why'd you do that?" Yun asked.

"You gotta relax if you're on the monkey bars!" Riku said.

Now Hokuto and Lucero looked at each other with confused faces. "Is something like this really necessary?"

Hokuto shook his head. "I have no idea."

"Can I get down now?" Yun asked Melody. But the answer she got from her is not what she expected. She too decided to tickle her and make Yun laugh for a few seconds!

"Nope! Grab one of the bars! If you really want to face other Digimon in battle, you need to face your fears. If you can't do something as simple as use the monkey bars, then you won't know what to do if you're in a situation where you need to climb on something similar!" Melody explained bluntly.

"The Digital World doesn't have monkey bars!" Yun retorted. Then both Melody and Riku engaged in an all-out tickle assault on Yun. Yun got so lost in her laughter that she lost her grip on the bars and wound up slipping off! Thankfully Riku saw this and caught her before she could land onto the sand. He put her on the sand feet first.

"Aww. It seems our plan to help you get stronger failed," Riku said as he rubbed his head of messy yellow hair with his hand.

"Sorry. I fall off of stuff like that too easy," Yun said.

"That may be, but you're going to have to fix stuff like that if you're stuck in a really bad situation and need to get away quick," Melody said.

"But most of the Digital World is a desert now, isn't it? I don't think Yun learning how to use the monkey bars will really be of any significance in the most barren parts of the Digital World," Lucero explained.

"Yeah. That's true..." Cutemon muttered.

After that, the kids and Digimon simply played to their heart's content. The Digimon quite enjoyed the jungle gym and the monkey bars, and were often seen playing on them. Funnily enough, despite Melody and Riku's attempts to make Yun face her fears and try new things, the person who actually wound up doing just that is none other than Hokuto! He pretty much tried everything here in the little park. He slid down the slide, he swung on the swings (this one he particularly enjoyed, along with Yun), climbed all the way to the top of the jungle gym, sat in the carousel, and even climbed the monkey bars! Kyaromon noticed and looked quite proud. Normally, when the kids are playing or hanging out, Hokuto just sat somewhere and watched, or just sat somewhere and didn't do anything at all. Everyone couldn't believe how much he changed in such a short amount of time. Perhaps hanging out with the Digimon Brigade did do him a lot of good after all.

The kids and Digimon also took very kindly to the unused football field across the street. It's very wide and big, full of nothing but fresh cut grass, and no one is using it for anything important right now, so they could play on it all they wanted. The kids decided this can be a new place for them to hold Digimon Brigade meetings since they've gone to the gazebo in the other park so often. Here they noticed that Yun is looking quite merry, playing with the Digimon with a big smile on her face, laughing and enjoying herself like she hadn't in a long time. She really needed this considering all the trauma she went through in the Digital World, and what happened right after that was no help either. It felt good to see Yun smile again, especially since really small things have a way of helping her feel a lot better. Hokuto also came to like how wide the field is, the open sky above him, no loud noise, no unnecessary incidents, nothing. All they heard was the wind, the twittering of the little songbirds, and their footsteps on the grass.

After tiring themselves out in the field, the kids and Digimon decided to go into town. Mostly all they did was walk around and look at everything. But what the kids began to notice was that people began looking at them strangely and gossiping amongst themselves. Melody chose to ignore it, assuming they were talking about the Digimon, whom they tried to disguise as stuffed animals. Despite the buzz of activity, Yun's hypersensitive hearing clearly picked up on the gossip around her, and, much to their surprise, it isn't about her or the Digimon.

"Look! It's Hizashino Saruto's son!"

"My, he looks so pale. It's no wonder considering that wicked man abused him for nine years of his life."

"I can't look at that boy without thinking about that horrid man."

"It's such a good thing he's dead. I mean, illegal experimentation on a child? That's just outrageous!"

"That boy doesn't look like he's any great prize."

"I don't want my kids interacting with anyone who's related to that man!"

"All I'm hoping is that he doesn't carry on his murderous legacy."

Yun became appalled. These people are talking about Hokuto like he's some kind of monster, even going as far as thinking he's going to hurt people like his father did! How can they be so cruel? Yun wanted to yell at them, but Hisako keeps telling her that it's not appropriate to yell at people in public or throw temper tantrums, no matter the reason, so she reluctantly kept her mouth shut. But she so wished she could teach those people about false judgment and tell them that just because Hokuto is Saruto's son doesn't mean he's going to do the same things he did! Hokuto didn't say anything, and it looked like he wasn't paying attention. Yun decided not to bring it up in front of him out of fear that she might scare him. But still, all of this gossip really bothered her.

"Hey! Look! There's McDonald's! Do you all want some food?" Melody asked as they neared the ice cream shop.

"No thank you. I'm good," Lucero said.

"I have ice cream at home so I'm fine," Yun said.

"I have lots of money on me, so it's my treat!" Melody said.

"Can I...have pistachio ice cream?" Hokuto asked shyly.

Kyaromon gasped. "What?! You want ice cream?! But you hate sweets!"

"I...I want to try some," Hokuto muttered again.

"Can I have chocolate please?" Riku, Sunmon, and Gummymon all asked in unison.

"Strawberry for me please!" Cutemon piped in.

"Me too!' Yokomon exclaimed.

"Alright, big cups of pistachio, chocolate, and strawberry. Coming right up! Yokomon, you stay with the others. I'll be right back!" Melody handed Yokomon to Lucero and ran over to the ice cream shop.

Melody had to wait a bit because a big man ordered a huge chocolate milkshake with whipped cream and a cherry on top and it took a while for him to pay because he kept on rummaging through his big pockets. Thankfully once he paid, he took his milkshake and left right away. Melody promptly asked for what she wanted and the employees made all that she wanted. She found she has enough money for all three of the ice creams she ordered and paid the fee. The man gave her a plastic container so she can put the ice cream on them without fear of spilling them on herself. She made sure to get extra plastic utensils so the Digimon can have some as well. Melody was so focused on getting the ice cream to her friends that she failed to notice a certain someone staring at her from afar...and that someone decided to approach them.

"Here you go!" Melody handed the ice cream to each person who ordered some while keeping the strawberry for herself. Unfortunately, no one could indulge in their ice cream right off the bat.

"Well well, aren't you all a bunch of pigs today, stuffing your faces with junk food!" A familiar, wicked voice exclaimed out of nowhere. As soon as they heard it, they whipped their head around to lock eyes with someone they really didn't want to deal with.

"Shimizu!" Lucero exclaimed.

Yes, standing right before them is none other than Seiko! Her cinnamon-colored hair is in two little flouncy pigtails like usual, decorated by hot pink beads. Her brown eyes fixated themselves on the kids even though she really didn't like them. She's wearing a black tank top with small straps, a short baby blue skirt that certainly showed off her long legs, some slightly high heeled magenta sandals and on her arm is a small yellow purse with fake pale yellow flowers on it.

"Hmph! You losers should know better than to make yourselves fat on all that ice cream. It's not good for your weight. But it's not like there's any hope for you anyway, am I right, Wakamiya?" Seiko sneered, immediately singling Yun out.

"Shut up! We're enjoying ourselves right now so buzz off!" Riku snapped, saving Yun the trouble of having to deal with her. They were about to leave until Seiko noticed Hokuto and immediately zoomed in on him.

"Why's the Lab Rat with you?" Seiko asked with disgust in her voice.

"He's not a lab rat! He's our friend! Go away already!" Yun snapped.

"Come on! Are you all really so stupid that you don't even know what he is? His dad killed people both in Cuba and here years ago in nuclear power plants! This inhuman lab rat here is the result! Aren't you afraid this monster here is going to do the same thing to you?" Seiko asked.

Yun's face became red with anger. She stomped right up to Seiko and looked her right in the face with eyes blazing with flames of rancor. "Shut up, you pig-faced turkey! Hokuto's NOT inhuman, or a lab rat, or someone who's going to kill people! You can take your stupid lies and shove them down your throat, you stupid idiot! Just because Hokuto's someone's son doesn't mean he's going to do what they did! Jeez, you're stupider than my sister! Now scram so we can enjoy ourselves!"

With that, Yun took the blobs and stomped away. Everyone else followed, leaving Seiko behind. But Seiko wasn't going to lose this chance to throw in some final words.

"It looks like somebody forgot who's responsible for the murders of 100 people in a power plant in Kitagawa!" Seiko yelled, but the kids paid her no heed.

They got away from Asagi's and sat down at their favorite gazebo in the park. They shared their ice cream with the Digimon and enjoyed it. But Seiko left a sour mark on their appetite, and it wasn't pretty. Everyone noticed that Hokuto became quite dejected. His cobalt blue eyes, which were so jovial and full of life before, are now regaining their sad and listless look.

"No. Dad didn't kill anyone. It was...an accident," Hokuto muttered.

"I heard about those power plant explosions on TV. They said someone was transferring chemicals to a lab and they spilled out. The whole area was hit with radiation, and people either died or came out weird because of it," Riku said.

"That doesn't sound good," Sunmon said.

"What's with people here in this world? They're so stupid that they blame the children for their parents' actions? My goodness! And to think I thought I was vain!" Yokomon piped in, appalled by what just transpired.

"They do it because the person they want to target is gone. They want to vent their anger, so they take it out on people who don't have anything to do with it, whether they're the children or something else. It's stupid, I agree," Melody said as she finished a bite of some strawberry ice cream and let Yokomon have a bite. "That, or they can't target the one who's really responsible because they either want to keep up appearances, out of fear, or because the culprit's too strong, so they'll go after the weak because it's easier."

"That IS stupid!" Kokomon piped in.

"I couldn't agree more," Yun threw in.

"Melody...you sound like you speak from experience," Kyaromon said wisely, in the tone he normally uses when he's Kudamon, which is unusual because despite their being the same entity, Kudamon and Kyaromon have drastically different personalities.

"Trust me. I've been through my fair share of trouble," Melody said.

Yun became dejected and clutched Kokomon gently. "That's so sad..." She muttered softly. She remembered the conversation she had with him in Wasted Desert before they got to Wisemon's castle.

"I mean, parents performing experiments on their kids without thinking about how they feel about it...that's child abuse, Hokuto-kun. I know you love your dad and all, but you have to admit, being locked in a room and being used as a guinea pig for strange science stuff...isn't something that normal kids go through."

"I get it now. It's no wonder...people talk bad about my father. What I went through...isn't normal."

Yun wondered if Saruto's reputation is really as bad as people think it is, so much so that people are willing to hurt Hokuto and consider him bad just for being his son. Unfortunately, Yun's suspicions are about to be confirmed in the most brutal ways possible. After the kids and Digimon finished their ice cream, they decided to go back home. Out of nowhere, a small rock suddenly hit Hokuto in the side of his face. Then a few more got thrown at him, but they missed this time.

"Hey! Knock it off!" Melody noticed a group of high school boys throwing the rocks and put herself in front of Hokuto. "You'll hurt someone doing that!" She yelled as she grabbed a rock and threw it back on the ground. Riku used this opportunity to get his digivice out and take a picture of the high school boys while trying to make sure they didn't see, because he was sure they'd freak out and try to take it away before he could do anything. But he was not going to let these stupid boys get away with trying to throw rocks at a middle school kid. Especially for something he personally had no involvement in.

"That Lab Rat deserves it for what he did in that power plant!" A spiky-haired boy bellowed as he pulled another rock out of a pocket on his baggy jeans.

"Yeah! Kill the lab rat!"

"He doesn't deserve to live! He's a monster!"

"Drop dead, you lab rat!"

"Run!" The kids and Digimon ran right away, even though the boys continued throwing rocks and chanting all kinds of bad things about Hokuto. After a while, they managed to outrun them.

"I got a picture of them! Let's tell the police about it!" Riku said.

Everyone agreed. They walked to the police station and told some officers about what happened. However, as soon as they mentioned Hokuto's name and why the kids threw rocks at them, some of the officers became apprehensive. Thankfully, one man wasn't fazed by this and took their complaint seriously. They said they'd find the kids and deal with them, especially since they know who to track down thanks to the picture. They wanted to call Hokuto's parents, but the kids insisted that they'll tell them themselves. The officers made a copy of the picture and gave Riku's digivice back. After that, the kids left.

"Hokuto-kun? Do you want us to take you home?" Yun asked kindly. Hokuto nodded.

"Thanks for helping me, Mel," Hokuto muttered.

"You're welcome. They're wrong about you. You're not a lab rat or a monster. You're just as human as the rest of us. Some bad stuff happened to you, that's all, and no one should blame you for something that you had no control over," Melody told him bluntly but kindly.

"It's been a long time since we've been to Hokuto's house, hasn't it?" Kokomon asked Gummymon.

"Yep! I remember that party! Ugh, I hope those little kids don't jerk us around again like before," Gummymon replied.

"Actually, Nene's behavior has improved considerably since then," Kyaromon piped in. "I've seen Aki discipline her and it's really paying off. Kimi is another story entirely."

"Don't talk about her please," Hokuto said rather bitterly.

Yun could tell from experience that Hokuto is NOT fond of Kimi. He probably still doesn't consider her his sister. She didn't blame him, though. Yun knew first hand what Kimi is like, and she already didn't like her. She also wished she wouldn't deal with her. She's dealt with enough people she didn't like.

Thankfully, arriving at Hokuto's house turned out to be a pleasant experience after all. As they got closer, they could hear some voices. One voice Yun recognized was Aki's. The second voice she heard isn't familiar to her. Once they got closer, she realized why. They finally got to the porch, and they saw Aki and a young girl about their age sitting outside, looking at what was once the garden of Hokuto's precious white star flowers, the ones his father planted. The girl looks to be about the same age as the rest of the kids, perhaps younger than Melody. She has slightly dark skin, not much darker than everyone else's, deep, chocolate brown hair that's tied into two tiny little braids that bounced on her shoulders and going no further, and pale, sky blue eyes hidden behind a pair of round glasses, which also concealed some small freckles going across her little nose. At the ends of her small braids are pearl-like hair accessories, becoming opalescent as the sunbeams caressed them. The girl wore a sleeveless white shirt with a deep green collar, an orangish pink bow tie, a deep green skirt that went down to her knees with a lace border peeking out, white stockings, and a pair of brown shoes. Her left arm appears to be in a small cast, but her entire hand is exposed, so it doesn't look too serious, and on her right leg is a black knee brace. Sitting next to her is a big, purplish grey bag with some straps on it with anime characters on them. The kids and Digimon watched as Aki and the girl talked amongst themselves.

"...He may come off as shy and unapproachable, but he's very sweet once you get to know him. Sorry if I sound weird telling you all this. I just don't want you to get the wrong idea about him. That's all. You understand, right?" Aki told her.

"It's okay. I'm like that too. Thanks for letting me know," The girl said in a somewhat low but sweet voice.

Aki was about to talk to her more until she noticed the kids standing there and watching. Well, to be more specific, she noticed Hokuto and ran up to him with worry.

"Hokuto! Where in the world have you been?! We haven't seen you all day!" Aki exclaimed as she ran up to him.

"With them," Hokuto replied, surprised by how suddenly Aki approached him.

"I never said you could go out today!" Aki exclaimed loudly.

"But I asked you if I could and you said yes. You were reading one of your books when I asked you."

"Ugh!" Aki facepalmed. "I TOLD you to stay home! Your cousin came to visit today!"

"I have a...cousin?"

"Of course you didn't pay any attention!" Aki exclaimed, feeling quite exasperated. Then she noticed the kids. "Oh! I'm so sorry about this! Thanks so much for taking care of him."

"It's fine. Don't worry," Lucero said.

"Oh! Now that you're all here, I should introduce you!" Aki walked over to the girl and brought her over to them.

"Hokuto? This is your cousin, Hiura Chiriko. Chii-chan, this is my son, Kamitsure Hokuto," Aki introduced her son to the girl, Chiriko, who looked away upon seeing him.

"Hi..." Chiriko muttered shyly, feeling a little timorous of the social situation being presented to her. Hokuto looked away as well.

"Hi," Hokuto muttered.

"Hokuto, Chiriko here is my sister's daughter, and she's here to stay with us for a couple of weeks to recover from her surgery, as her hometown's rather chaotic right now. So be nice to her, okay?" Aki explained. He could see that Chiriko blushed and her face began to contort upon hearing this.

"Yes," Hokuto muttered.

"Aki-san? Can we talk to you about something for a minute? There's something we need you to hear," Riku told her solemnly. Melody and Lucero nodded in agreement.

"Okay. Yun-chan? How about you, Hokuto, and Chii-chan play together for a bit," Aki said as Riku and Melody took her into the house, leaving Yun, Hokuto, and Chiriko alone in the front of the house.

"I didn't know you had a cousin," Yun whispered.

"Me neither," Hokuto whispered back.

"Are you...his friend?" Chiriko whispered shyly.

"Uh...yeah!" Yun replied, feeling rather shy herself. But she could see that Chiriko looks like a nice enough girl, shy just like her, so she found it safe to talk. "I'm Wakamiya Yun. It's...nice to meet you?"

"Same here. Hi Hokuto-kun," Chiriko said to Yun, then to Hokuto, who also looked shy upon meeting her.

"H-H-Hello..." Hokuto muttered shyly.

"So...what were you and Aki-san talking about?" Yun asked curiously.

"She was just telling me about Hokuto since he wasn't here and that I should let her know if Kimi starts bothering me," Chiriko explained, feeling a bit more relaxed this time. Yun suspected that there's more to it than that, but she kept her mouth shut about that and crossed her arms.

"Yeah. She's quite the little brat. She's bothered me quite a bit when I first met her. It wasn't pretty," Yun said, thinking this would be a great way to start a conversation. Chiriko giggled a bit, which made her feel more relaxed.

"Your arm...does it hurt?" Hokuto suddenly asked. Chiriko noticed that he's referring to the cast on her arm.

"This? It used to, but I'm fine now. The doctor said I can get it removed in about a week," Chiriko said.

"What happened?" Yun asked.

"I was riding my bike but one of the wheels hit a rock and I fell onto someone's grill, and my arm got both burned and broken. It was pretty bad," Chiriko said.

Yun listened, but she focused more on Chiriko's bag as the way she told the story she sounded like she didn't like telling it. Then she saw the straps on Chiriko's bag. Yun recognized them.

"Ahhh! Is that Diana?! I love Jewelpet!" Yun yelped happily and ran to Chiriko's bag to inspect the straps. Chiriko ran over as well.

"You like Jewelpet too? Diana's cute. I love her color scheme. I also like Ruby, Garnet, and Sapphire. See?" Chiriko explained as she showed Yun her other Jewelpet-themed straps.

Hokuto and the Digimon watched as the two girls squealed over the Jewelpet plush toys. But something else caught the eyes of the Digimon entirely.

"I feel a Digimon's presence," Gummymon said.

"You do?" Hokuto asked.

"Yeah. In the bag," Kokomon said.

Hokuto was about to ask what kind of Digimon, but he was interrupted by Aki's voice.

"WHAT?! They did that?!" She yelped from inside the house. Yun and Chiriko didn't notice, as the Digimon could see that they're starting to get along splendidly. But instead of hearing more about it, Hokuto decided to join the girls. The Digimon decided to keep their mouths shut as well, not wanting to freak Chiriko out. After a while, the kids decided to leave.

"Bye, Chii-chan! Hope we can hang out some more!" Yun exclaimed as she, Melody, and Riku waved bye to Chiriko and Hokuto. Then the kids left, leaving Hokuto and Chiriko alone. Aki suddenly approached Hokuto and grabbed him by the hand.

"I need to speak to you," Aki told Hokuto sternly. But she looked at Chiriko with a soft look. "Would you excuse us for an eensy moment?"

"Sure," Chiriko said as Aki dragged Hokuto into the house. Despite Aki taking Hokuto into another room, she could hear what she's saying.

"Hokuto, I've told you a million times that your cousin would be coming over, but you don't even pay attention! She's your cousin, and we have to make her feel at home. You can't just go off and disappear when relatives are coming over. It's very rude! We have to make her feel welcome, and it's our job as her extended family to welcome her with open arms. While she's here, I expect you to behave yourself and be nice to her. Don't run off anywhere and don't go saying things like "you're not my family" or anything like that. If you have trouble talking to her, you're welcome to ask me for help. I just don't want her thinking you don't like her, and I had to explain a lot of things to her about you so she doesn't get the wrong idea. We're lucky she's a sweet little thing. Now, you're staying home for the rest of the day. There are things you can and can't do when other people are around, and I'm here to teach you the appropriate things to do in situations like this. Do you understand me?"

Aki didn't sound angry or choleric, but the stern tone of her voice made it very clear that she's quite unhappy with Hokuto leaving the house. But the way Hokuto acted made it sound like he had absolutely no idea he had extended family at all, nor did abhor the idea. He's probably too focused on one thing to really notice other things going on around him. Aki told her this. But as she tried to focus on something else, her purplish grey bag fell to the dirt, and something fell right out. A small, clear, foamy white creature with two thin little blue, bug-like wings, a mouth, and big, beady black eyes...and a pale yellow digivice, lighter than Riku's in color! As soon as the creature popped out, Chiriko's eyes widened as she quickly grabbed the creature.

"Pupumon! Don't come out! Other people will see you!" Chiriko scolded lightly, similar to how Aki's scolding Hokuto right now, only without the stern tone. The Digimon-Pupumon-looked up at Chiriko with it's big eyes and nodded sweetly as it nuzzled itself into Chiriko's chest.

Footnotes:

1. The Legendary Starfy is a game series by Tose. For some reason, only the fifth game got released in the US.

2. K-On is a manga by Kakifly that got adapted into two anime series and a movie.


	90. Family Matters

EPISODE 90: Family Matters

As a result of leaving on the day Chiriko, his newly discovered cousin, came over, Hokuto had to endure a lecture from Aki about how family is important among other things. But what confused Hokuto was that as Aki talked to him and scolded him, she made it sound like he deliberately left because his cousin was coming over. He did try to explain that he didn't leave _because_ of her, but Aki kept talking so much that she didn't give him time to clarify himself, so he gave up. No, he didn't hate Chiriko at all, nor did he dread the possibility of meeting her at all. Aki did talk of having Chiriko come over for a few weeks for quite some time. Hokuto was just too lost in his thoughts and mind to really pay much attention. That, and he didn't quite understand the concept of having extended family, and he didn't think he had any other family members (he's still adamant about Kimi not being his sister and keeping his distance from Kantaro, despite Kantaro's attempts to get close to him), so he didn't have any reason to think other family members had anything to do with him. Hokuto wished he could explain all of this to Aki, but she just wouldn't relent in her lecture, insisting that Hokuto behave himself and act appropriately. But how? How is he supposed to act appropriately when he's never been in a situation like that before? How is he supposed to know how to act in front of other people? Nobody taught him anything, and everyone just expected him to be able to know how right off the bat. This was the thing that bothered Hokuto the most: despite being trapped in a titanium room for most of his life, almost everyone in his _"family"_ of his expected him to be capable of knowing and understanding everything about being with people. The only human contact he's ever had in his life was his father, nobody else, not even kids his own age. Did other kids experience something like this every day? He knew Aki, Kantaro, and everyone else didn't. No, they didn't go through what he did, so of course they'd be reckless and ignorant.

Despite this, however, he did come to like Chiriko quite a bit, as she turns out to be quite a nice and scholarly little girl, if a little bit scatterbrained and weak from some health issues she's had to deal with, the biggest one being the reason she has to stay here for a few weeks. She had to have minor heart surgery to fix a small hole in her heart that didn't get noticed until earlier this year. It didn't prove to be a problem with her before, because it was so small it was barely noticeable until now. That, and the hole in question was in a place hardly anyone could see with just a simple X-Ray. It wasn't life-threatening, but the surgery had to be done to prevent it from being so in the future, though Chiriko can't do much for a few weeks because of it. That was what Aki learned from Chiriko's mother through their phone conversations that Hokuto paid absolutely no attention to because he kept himself confined to his room, mostly to avoid dealing with Kimi, who is still as loud, bratty, selfish, and demanding as ever. Later in the day, the entire Kamitsure family, Chiriko included, ate dinner together. Hokuto kept Kyaromon in his room to keep him from getting spotted. The family found Chiriko to be quite interesting.

"Hey Chii-chan. Is it true you play the violin?" Hokuto's stepfather, Kantaro, asked curiously, which made Chiriko smile.

"Yep! I love the violin. I've been taking lessons since I was eight, but I still need to touch up on some things a bit," Chiriko replied. Hokuto could see her face growing a touch red. Is it from embarrassment, or from joy? Pride, maybe?

"What music do you play?" Aki asked.

"Anything, really. I do love playing stuff by Paganini(1). But I mostly prefer playing cheesy country music. It's more exciting and uplifting," Chiriko explained.

"I'm a country guy myself, so glad to see more country-lovers in this generation!" Kantaro exclaimed with a bright smile.

"Where do you go to school? It's not everyday you see green uniforms anywhere," Hokuto's older sister, Airi, asked.

"A private school. Seiyo Middle School, but to be honest, I really don't like it. The girls there are really stuck-up, and some of my teachers aren't very nice. I keep asking my parents to transfer me to another school, but they keep reminding me that they have the best music classes in the county, so I have to stay. But there are other ways to continue a musical career, aren't there?" Chiriko explained.

"That sounds mean," Hokuto interjected quietly.

"Do you have any friends at all?" Airi's twin sister, Aiko, asked.

"Yeah, but most of them are boys. If there's one good thing about Seiyo, it's that the boys are nice and well-mannered, but I think that's because most boys who go there are from rich families. But I do have one nice female friend, Inamori Megumi. She's the only good girl in the school that I know of," Chiriko explained.

Nene was about to say something until a loud clatter caused her to recoil. In a fit of frustration, Kimi let out a loud yelp as she deliberately threw her plastic plate off her high chair, onto the floor, causing the carrots, meat loaf (a small piece), green beans, and applesauce to seep into the floor. The shriek caused everyone to lock eyes onto the tiny culprit.

"Kimi!" Aki exclaimed as she stomped over to the high chair, looking quite stern. By this time, Kimi crossed her arms and pouted, even as Aki loomed over her with a very austere look on her face. "Bad girl! We don't throw food in this house!"

"No more beans! Yucky!" Kimi shrieked. Despite this, Aki undid the high chair and put Kimi on the floor.

"Pick everything up right now!" Aki demanded.

"No! Yucky!" Kimi shrieked defiantly as she tried to run, but Aki grabbed her and kept her on the spot.

"You are NOT leaving until everything is cleaned up! You made this mess, so it's your job to clean it up! Do you understand me, young lady?" Aki insisted sternly again.

"NO! YUCKY!" Kimi shrieked again.

"If you don't clean this up, you're not going to play with your toys!" Aki told her.

Kimi did pick up some carrots, but instead of cleaning them up, she threw them at Aki and ran away shrieking like a wild animal.

"Kimi! Come back here!" Aki yelled as she chased after the defiant little tyke.

A thought suddenly struck Hokuto like a bolt of lightning, and he became full of dread. _'Oh no! Kyaromon!'_ Hokuto thought as he grabbed his food and ran away from the dinner table, leaving Kantaro, Chiriko, the twins, Nene, and a passive-looking Yoshi behind.

"He must have gotten scared," Kantaro said.

"Kimi's such a brat," Aiko piped in.

"Kimi's bad," Nene said.

"Want me to clean up, Dad?" Airi asked.

***

"Kyaromon!" Hokuto, as quick as he could, burst through the doors to his room. Much to his relief, everything's in place, untouched and undisturbed. His bookshelf is in its usual position. Not one book in there has been moved, removed, or is out of place. The sheets on his bed are perfectly made, the tatami mat doesn't have any stains on it, and Kudamon is contentedly sitting right by the bed, reading a book on religion.

Wait...Kudamon?

"Oh. Hello Hokuto. Aren't you eating dinner with the family?" Kudamon asked, a little surprised but not to a point where his eyes widened and he looked like someone who saw a ghost. Surprised as he is, he still kept his serious but content look. Hokuto locked the door behind him and put the plate of food in front of him.

"I was, but Kimi acted out again. She threw her food on the floor. I didn't want her to get you," Hokuto explained. Feeling bored of the book, Kudamon decided to eat the rest of what's on the plate. Hokuto ate a good portion of dinner before Kimi started misbehaving so Kudamon didn't mind eating the rest.

"Did you digivolve just now?" Hokuto asked.

"Yes," Kudamon replied calmly after finishing a piece of carrot.

"But how?"

"You gave me some lunch earlier. Remember?"

"Oh. I didn't think it'd fill you up right away."

"The in-training stage is the stage that Digimon use to save the most energy, both digital and organic, and it's proven to be the most effective energy saver so far, so basically any food you give to a Digimon in that stage can easily fill them up if they save energy for long enough, which allows for faster and better digivolution," Kudamon explained calmly before eating another carrot.

Hokuto smiled. "That's good."

"So how are you liking Chiriko?" Kudamon asked as he decided to consume a green bean.

"She's nice, but..." Hokuto said, but his smile faded as soon as he let the sentence drift away.

"You needn't be afraid. I have sensitive hearing, so I overheard their conversations just now. She seems like a nice enough girl. Try making friends with her. That's probably why Aki let her come over. She probably wanted to provide you with a good opportunity to learn how to make friends, even though you have some already," Kudamon explained.

"But Mom is mad at me. She thinks I left on purpose...because she was coming," Hokuto muttered.

"I don't think so. All parents get flustered when children go off on their own. It's only natural."

"I...I hate it when people expect me to do things I can't right off. Mom talks to me like she expects me to know how to do everything, like make friends and act appropriately when people are around...but I don't know how. She's not teaching me what to do. She just throws me into situations and wants me to get everything right in the beginning. That's why I didn't like the first schools I went to, because everything was too sudden, and everyone expected me to do everything they said right off. I don't know what to do, and they won't teach me how to do things, so why do they expect more out of me than I'm...capable of? How do I act in a situation I haven't had experience in? What do I do in such times?" Hokuto explained as Kudamon ate the rest of the food politely.

"I'm sure Aki means well, but yes, I do confess she is rather flighty, and does tend to act before she thinks, so you're right in that regard. But you've never told them of your experiences, so they don't know what you went through. If they don't know what you're like and what you went through, then they won't know how to handle you, help you, and teach you the things you need to learn. That's why I keep insisting you should get closer to your family and talk to them. You might find them to be very trustworthy," Kudamon told him kindly.

"But when I do talk to them about what I went through, they start talking bad about father, and say that I should be happy he's...gone," Hokuto said, sounding very dejected.

"I'm not trying to malign your father in any way, but considering what he's done, it's only natural for people to hate him, especially those who don't know him personally," Kudamon wanted to explain some things, but he figured Hokuto would take it the wrong way, so he kept his mouth shut about it and ate a small crumb of meat loaf. Both of them could hear Kimi's shrieks and Aki's yelling.

"Kimi! Stop! We don't hit people in this house!"

Kudamon sighed. "I take it Kimi is the main reason why you don't talk to Aki much?"

Hokuto nodded vigorously.

"Kids like her can be a real handful, and behavior like that can surely lead to stress and frustration. But she's at least trying to correct her behavior, that's good," Kudamon said. He remembered hearing Aki receive calls from Kimi's kindergarten about her bad behavior. The teacher's voice on the other line was so loud, even he could hear it from the other room, and he heard her describe Kimi as the most undisciplined child and the worst bully she ever had to deal with and that if strict measures aren't taken, Kimi would have to be held back or be forced into a special class for behavioral correction (Yes, Kimi's kindergarten has exactly that. He heard it with his own ears).

Right there, the conversation ended, as neither of them said anything more. Hokuto put the book away while Kudamon consumed the rest of Hokuto's dinner. After about an entire hour, Kimi finally stopped shrieking. They could both hear Aki apologize to Chiriko for all the commotion, though she said it's alright. After a while, Hokuto and Kudamon decided to go out of the room and join the rest of the family. Kudamon kept himself wrapped around the back of Hokuto's neck so he'll be mistaken as a scarf or something like that, and remained silent like a mouse. Thankfully no one pointed it out, though Yoshi did try to grab him, which Hokuto managed to prevent without causing a fuss, saving Aki the trouble of doing it herself. Later, Hokuto found himself alone in the kitchen with Aki.

"Do you need help with anything?" Hokuto asked.

"Not at the moment, but thanks for the offer. I see you're getting along well with Chii-chan," Aki replied kindly. Despite this, however, Hokuto could tell she still sounded irritated from trying to deal with Kimi, who did clean up the mess she made in the end.

"Yes. She is nice."

"Sorry, Hokuto. I wasn't mad at you back then. You worried me by leaving on your own, though admittedly I am proud of you for wanting to try new things."

"Sorry I didn't pay attention. I didn't leave because of her. I don't know what extended family is, and...I didn't see how she'd have anything to...do with me."

"I can see why you'd think that considering what happened. But see, her mother is my sister, so that makes my sister your aunt, so she's part of our family. Get it?"

Hokuto nodded. "I...I never interacted with anyone, so...I don't know what to do around new people."

"If you want, maybe this'll be a good time for me to teach you what to do when in social situations. Yun-chan and her friends have been a great help, but there's still a lot you need to learn. Oh! Speaking of Yun-chan, maybe I can ask Hisako-san for advice about this since she's been through something similar before! I really need to stop throwing you into stuff without thinking about what'll happen."

"Yun's nice. I like her."

"I bet you do."

Hokuto could feel the anxiety in his heart being lessened. Maybe Kudamon is right. Perhaps talking to his mother like this really does help after all.

"I've talked to your teachers a few times. They say you're doing very well in school even though you're exempt from science, but your social skills need a bit more work. I'm just glad you're doing well at all, considering what that horrid man's done to you-"

Hokuto wished they wouldn't go down that route, but Aki unknowingly but insensitively did and talked bad about Saruto. This made Hokuto's face contort.

"He's not horrid!" Hokuto exclaimed, but not loud enough to be heard by other people.

Aki put both hands on Hokuto's shoulders. "Hokuto, listen to me. Saruto's the reason we've never been able to get to know you! He kept you from me! When are you going to get it? Saruto's a bad man."

"He's NOT bad!" Hokuto snapped as he pushed Aki's hands off of his shoulders and ran back to his room, leaving Aki behind.

After a few short minutes, she found a phone book on the kitchen shelf and looked through it. She found a particular number she is interested in.

_Akutagawa Wataru: XXX-XXX-00XX_

She kept the phone book in her hand as she proceeded to take the phone and walk into the back yard. It's getting dark, but she didn't mind. She held up the phone, punched in the number, and waited for an answer. Eventually, she did.

"Wataru. It's me, Aki. Do you mind if we get together and talk?"

Silence.

"It's Hokuto. I just don't get it."

Silence.

"Okay. Tomorrow morning it is. Thank you. Good night."

She pressed the _END CALL_ button on the phone and ended the call. She let out a dejected sigh and looked up at the beautiful sunset, with its shades of plum purple, mandarin orange, and streaks of deep blue and rosy magenta.

_'What am I doing wrong? Why is Hokuto so convinced that Saruto isn't bad? Why doesn't he get it? Hokuto! Why won't you tell me anything?'_ Aki thought sadly.

***

"He's not bad! He isn't! He isn't!" Hokuto leaped into his bed and pounded his pillows with his weak little fists. He isn't crying or screaming, but his heart is a flurry of discord and conflict. Kudamon decided to give Hokuto his space and let him decide if he wants to talk or not.

Hokuto closed his eyes and became lost in his mind. Why is everyone saying Saruto, his father, is bad? Saruto did lots of good things for him. He fed him, he cared for him, he raised him, played with him, stayed with him most of the time, put him to sleep if he was scared, took care of him in his own way, and taught him many things, like how to walk, how to talk, how to eat, how to dress, about colors, numbers, shapes, the alphabet, how to read, how to write, how to know what's right and what's wrong, everything. Don't normal kids learn these things when they're babies. Sure, Saruto never let him out of that room with the bed, toys, bottles of chemicals that were always kept in a big cupboard that he could never access because it was always locked, and the myriad of books on the bookshelves, but does that automatically make him bad?

But then he remembered Yun's question.

_"When the tests were being done on you...um...were you scared at all? Didn't you ask whether...any of it was right? If you're in a situation that makes you scared despite...people telling you it's okay, your mind starts saying things like, _"This isn't right! This isn't normal! This isn't good! This is wrong! They shouldn't be doing this to me!"_ Did you ever...ask yourself these questions?"_

"Was any of it...right?" Hokuto muttered softly to himself as he began to drift into a memory he didn't want to remember.

(flashback)

_A huge, oval-shaped light suddenly flashed on right above him, causing him to squint and squeeze his eyes shut. But the light still managed to permeate the barriers that are his closed eyes. He could see green spots forming in the darkness. He didn't have his glasses on, so the light hurt his eyes quite a bit. He tried to put his hands on his face, but he found that he couldn't move them or lift them higher than about half an inch. He felt something hard and stretchy rubbing against his thin little wrists. He tried to move his feet. He felt the same sensation. He couldn't lift them up either. His small feet swung from side to side, his toes pointing to the ceiling. Seeing that there's no point in trying to keep the light out of his face, he forced himself to adjust to the sheer brightness while trying to focus on his surroundings to make it easier. That's when he looked down to his feet._

_Brown, leather restraints kept his wrists, ankles, and upper abdomen bound to a cold, flat, metal slab._

_He also realized that he's wearing a sleeveless white shirt and a pair of grey sweat pants, nothing else. Small, black cord-like things are stuck to various parts of his body, like his head, chest, arms, legs, and neck, as he could see the round white bandages keeping them in place. He turned to his left and saw himself in what appears to be a big mirror about the same size as the slab he's on, which, to him, is pretty big. He saw himself strapped to the slab with cables protruding from various parts of his body, all going through a little hole in the wall that connected to the other side._

_Despite that Hokuto had been through this many times before, he only felt one thing: fear._

_Suddenly, the door next to the window opened. The soft swinging sound made Hokuto look at what is coming in. Into the room came a forlorn looking man with a small bushel of curly nut brown hair, deep like dark chocolate, and remnants of a beard forming on his cheeks and neck pushing a metal cart with lots of pointy-looking tools that looked very sharp rattling on the surface. The sound of their sharp rattling made Hokuto turn his head to the opposite direction, away from the mirror. The man's hazel brown eyes focused on the tools in front of him as the cart made strong clattering sounds that seemed to make Hokuto's ears ring. Hokuto could feel his skin become cold and clammy, and the blindingly bright light looming over him like an evil person about to dissect him wasn't helping matters either. His muscles tensed, even though he couldn't move because of these restraints which, even after so many years, still felt alien to him. The man stopped once he got close to Hokuto, and stared down at him with a sad-looking smile, with sad eyes to match._

_"Are you awake, my son?" The man asked in a low, deep, sad voice. Hokuto nodded._

_"I see. Don't be afraid. It will be quick and easy, and nothing will happen to you," The man told him softly, keeping his voice low so as to not frighten the boy. Regardless, Hokuto's fear amassed like campers making a pile of firewood in the middle of the woods._

_"Father..." Hokuto was surprised he was able to speak, as usually when he'd wake up like this, he'd be unable to do so. But now is his chance. This is his chance to finally talk to him. "Did...I do something wrong?"_

_"What do you mean?" The man, Saruto, asked as he looked at the cart, looking for something._

_"Are you punishing me? What did I do? Tell me. Please. I want to know," Hokuto managed to blurt out. Saruto turned to look at the son below him. Gently and slowly, he caressed the boy's tender cheek with his big, bulky, somewhat hairy hand. It felt warm. Hokuto wondered if his hand was sweating before, as it felt a little warmer than usual, like he had wiped off some sweat before he came in._

_"No, my son. You didn't do anything wrong. You're not being punished at all. This is just something you're needed for, that's all. I'd like to go through it myself, but there's no one to monitor the controls. This is important," Saruto explained kindly._

_"Why is it important? Why do I have to...go through this? Why..._me_?" Hokuto blurted out, louder this time. Saruto removed his hand from Hokuto's cheek and pulled something off of the metal cart._

_Hokuto's cobalt blue eyes widened as he gazed upon what Saruto picked up with one of his big hands. A big hypodermic needle._

_To Hokuto, a big hypodermic needle means he'll be put to sleep. It's always been that way. He'd been through it many times to not understand what it meant._

_"Why can't I be awake? Why do I have to be-?!" Hokuto yelped, becoming timorous, but Saruto interrupted him by putting his free hand on one of Hokuto's arms. He could feel himself shaking, but Saruto soon loomed over him with the needle in his hands._

_"I'm sorry, Hokuto, but I can't tell you. You won't...understand. Please forgive me," Saruto told him quietly. Hokuto could sense that Saruto's tone of voice sounded extremely sad and somber, like somewhere deep in his heart, he regretted doing what he's about to do, but felt like he had no other choice but to pursue it and see it through. In his innocent little heart, Hokuto could see that even Saruto didn't look like he liked what he's about to do, and probably felt that way the other times too. Hokuto wished he could control himself, to try to understand why he's doing what he's doing. But he could never show any restraint, and, as usual, he shrieked and struggled against the restraints as he felt the icy steel of the needle permeate the fragile, tender skin of his spindly arm._

_His voice began to give out. His vision began to blur more than usual, even without his glasses. His muscles relaxed. He could feel himself giving out. Everything went black, but not before he managed to scream one thought in his brain._

'Why? Why father? You love me, don't you? Then explain to me why I have to go through all of these tests! If I'm not being punished, then what is their purpose? Why? Why?! Explain, father! Tell me! Why won't you tell me?! What can't I understand?! Why does it have to be me?! What did I do to deserve this?! Why?! WHY?! WHYYYY?!'_ Hokuto screamed in his mind before he lost himself to the darkness._

(end flashback)

"WHY?!" Hokuto shrieked. But after he did, he heard a soft gasp. Surprised, he jerked out of his bed to find a slightly shocked Chiriko looking at him.

"Oh! I-I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to...scare you! Honest!" Hokuto cried haphazardly for a bit, guilty about scaring his cousin like that. Thankfully, Chiriko's face softened and she ambled over to the bed to sit next to him.

"It's alright. You're upset, and when people are upset, they tend to scare people when they don't mean to. I've been there, so it's okay. Is something wrong?" Chiriko told him, then asked him what's wrong.

At first, Hokuto kept silent and hesitated, wondering why someone like Chiriko, whom he's only known for just a couple of hours, would be interested in knowing what was wrong with him. But she isn't asking in a pitying or patronizing way. Her bespectacled gaze is gentle, and her aura soothing and comforting.

Like Yun's.

Then he remembered asking Yun about friends and what they do.

_"A friend is someone who's not a part of your family but who loves you. They comfort you when you're sad, they help you with stuff you need help with, and you tell them secrets."_

"Wanna talk about it? It's okay if you don't want to," Chiriko asked while trying to give Hokuto some space, since it's technically his decision.

Hokuto then looked at Kudamon, who, strangely enough, didn't pay any attention. He's just sitting on the floor, curled up like a cat with his eyes closed. Kudamon always insisted that Hokuto should try and make friends. Perhaps this is a great opportunity to do so.

"Will you...listen?" Hokuto asked.

Chiriko nodded.

With some hesitation, Hokuto carefully recounted very minor details of what his father put him through while emphasizing the good parts about him, his own feelings for his father, and how it breaks his heart to hear people constantly talk bad about him and remember him only for the bad things he did.

"I know what I went through isn't normal, and...I can see why people would hate him. But...he still loved me regardless," Hokuto muttered.

Chiriko didn't interrupt him or contradict him. She let her ears drink up the small but valuable information Hokuto poured into them, like lemonade being poured out of a glass pitcher. After Hokuto finished, she adjusted her glasses and looked up at the ceiling.

"You've been with him for your whole life, and you know him best, so only you understand him, right? No one else does," Chiriko said.

Hokuto nodded grimly. "I want to tell them, but they won't let me."

"People can be really stubborn, and make up stuff too quickly instead of take the time to learn the truth. I agree with you. It stinks when people talk bad about someone you love, especially when they focus too much on the bad and not on the good. Girls at Seiyo don't like me or Megumi-chan, me because I play the violin, love reading books about insects, kinda look like a nerd, and because I don't hang out with them. But I don't really like them because they're shallow and stuck-up and prefer talking about fashion and boys and nail polish and shopping and stupid gossip all the time. They don't like Megumi-chan because she's tall and boyish-looking. Sometimes they even think she's a delinquent because she lifts heavy stuff and can win fights with boys. They choose to not see that she's really a sweet and gentle person. I do, and I accept her for it, so it makes me sad that people don't like her. You don't like it when people talk bad about your dad, now do you?" Chiriko explained, trying to be as practical as possible without being rude or sounding like she's bad mouthing Saruto, which is the last thing Hokuto wants to hear right now.

Hokuto shook his head lightly. "No, I don't."

Chiriko balled her fists and rested her chin on them. "Now, don't get me wrong, I'm sure your dad's a good person in his own way, but...you have to admit, using science to experiment on people is against the law. Maybe he had his reasons, I get that, but in a way it's still wrong. I bet that's why people hate him."

"You may be right," Hokuto said.

The two cousins played together for the rest of the night. But when Chiriko left the room once they were done talking, she happened to glance at Kudamon...and for just a second, Kudamon's tail wagged a bit.

Hokuto wondered if he found a friend in his _"extended family"_ after all. He wondered if he could ask Yun if members of family could be friends too.

Soon, Wednesday arrived. However, this Wednesday came with something the average kid wouldn't want. Yun, Lucero, Lopmon, Terriermon, Cutemon, and Hisako all happened to catch the news, and what was told on there surprised them.

_"The Board of Education has now declared that Fushimi Middle School will re-open next Monday, as repairs are proceeding as scheduled and the area is now safe,"_ The news lady said on the flickering TV screen.

"Awww! I don't wanna go back to school again!" Yun groaned as she held Lopmon in her arms.

"I don't want you to go either. Nenji and Seiko are gonna pick on you again!" Terriermon agreed with her wholeheartedly. More school meant more Nenji and Seiko, the two people Yun didn't want to deal with on a regular basis.

"She doesn't have a choice, Terriermon. She has to go to school. It's the law. Did you really expect school to be closed forever? It was only a matter of time before it could reopen again," Lopmon told him.

"I know that Hokuto-dono is not very fond of school either, so I doubt he'll take kindly to this news," Lucero said.

"I do wonder how Hokuto-kun is doing, kyu," Cutemon wondered out loud.

Yun had to admit, Cutemon was reading her mind. Hokuto's sudden outburst yesterday really scared her. Not so much that she doesn't want to be friends with him anymore. Quite the contrary, really, but something about what he said during his outburst scared her.

_"TV about hanging...TURN IT OFF!"_

_"Hanging...hanging...hanging..."_

Like Melody's past, Hokuto's outburst continued to poke at Yun's mind like a hypodermic needle trying to find a vein in someone's arm. Seeing that Hisako is in the living room as well, she decided to ask her about it.

"Hey, Mom?"

"What?"

"Have you heard of a guy named Saruto?"

"Yes. He was Aki's ex-husband."

"I know that. What happened to him?"

"Last I heard he was executed some time go. He was hanged. Why?" Hisako told her. Then her eyes suddenly widened. "You're not planning on going to the Kamitsures and asking Aki about it, are you?"

"NO!" Yun suddenly yelped angrily. "I'm JUST asking, that's all! Why does everyone _always_ take what I say the wrong way?!"

Hisako recoiled a bit, but her shock is clearly visible. "I'm not. I know you have a habit of asking inappropriate questions about someone's private life."

Yun wanted to say something back, but she couldn't think of a counterargument. That, and Hisako's answer explained some of Hokuto's outburst. Saruto was hanged for his crimes, and Hokuto freaked out when he hears about ropes or hanging. But how does Hokuto know about how his father died? From the way he sounded when he freaked out, it seems Hokuto didn't just see a news report about his father's death on TV. But her cheeks burned and her blood boiled because of Hisako's accusation and she stomped into her room, threw on some socks and shoes, put her digivice and cell phone in her pockets, and stomped out of the house.

"Yun! Wait!" Lucero and the rabbits followed her out. Hisako was about to ask where she was going, but figured she'd be safe since Lucero and the Digimon are following her.

"I hate this! Why does everyone think I'm going to do something bad when I say just about anything?! Do they think I'm talking in another language or something?! Am I really THAT hard to understand?!" Yun ranted angrily as she stomped on the sidewalk. Everyone could tell from Yun's red, contorted face that she's quite choleric.

"I can understand what you're saying," Terriermon said.

"Where are you going?" Lopmon asked.

"Hokuto's house. I want to play with him and Chii-chan. That, and tell him school's going to start on Monday," Yun replied sharply.

"How do we know-" Cutemon was about to say something until a high pitched scream stopped her from completing her sentence.

"What in the world was that?!" Terriermon yelped.

Lopmon's ears suddenly rose into the air. "I feel Digimon nearby!"

"Let's go!" Yun exclaimed, suddenly forgetting her previous frustration and anger.

They got to the area where Yun fought with Nayuki about the Gizamon, and what they found there left them frozen in their tracks. Hokuto and Chiriko are surrounded by Geremon! Kudamon and a small, yellow, bug-like Digimon with four stubby feet, six small, silver wings, big green eyes, and two small antennae on its head are fighting them off.

"Holy Ray!"

"Tiny Sting!" The little bee Digimon shot some purple rays of light out from the stinger on its rump. While Kudamon's attack managed to drive some of the Geremon away, giving Hokuto and Chiriko the chance to get out, the little bee's attack, unfortunately, couldn't do any damage.

"What happened?!" Lucero asked as he approached the two.

"I dunno! We were just talking a stroll until these...creepy slimeballs just appeared out of a white light...what?! Talking bunnies?!" Chiriko exclaimed, then became shocked upon seeing the rabbits moving.

"Poop Cannon!" A few of the Geremon decided to attack the kids by shooting pink swirls out of their mouths like cannons.

"Double Typhoon!" Both Lopmon and Terriermon formed one tornado and threw themselves at the Geremon, knocking the swirls away and a few of the Geremon onto their sides.

"Whoa! They just took them down!" Chiriko exclaimed, awestruck by the siblings' audacity.

Yun, seeing that there's no way she could hide all of this from Chiriko now, decided to concede defeat. "Those things are Geremon, and they're Digimon, or digital monsters."

"Yeah. I noticed. Oh! This is Puroromon, by the way! She's my Digimon partner!" Chiriko said and introduced the little bee Digimon, Puroromon, to them.

"Hiya! Nice to meet you! Wanna help us fight these nasty things?" Puroromon chirped in a cute but buzzy voice.

"Poop Cannon!"

"Bullet Whirlwind!" Kudamon, like Lopmon and Terriermon before him, threw himself into the flurry of pink swirls and hit a few of the Geremon.

"We have to defeat them or they'll get into town!" Cutemon exclaimed.

"Let's digivolve!" Terriermon piped in.

Yun and Hokuto got their digivices out. Lopmon digivolved into Turuiemon, Terriermon into Gargomon, Cutemon into Rabbitmon, and Kudamon into Reppamon.

"Hey! I wanna digivolve and fight them too!" Puroromon exclaimed, surprises that the others can digivolve into champion level.

Chiriko got her digivice out. "It's a good thing I brought this-huh?!" When she got it out, it glowed in a white light, which enveloped Puroromon.

"Puroromon, digivolve to..."

Puroromon grew bigger until she was half Chiriko's height. The white light dissipated and out came a very big bee. She has yellow skin with brown stripes on her rump, big green eyes, two long, indigo antennae, big, transparent, grayish wings on her back, and six legs, all of which have orange stingers on them. She has two silver stingers on both sides of her rump, with a big one right at the end of it.

"...FanBeemon!"

"She's FanBeemon, a rookie level and virus attribute. Her attacks are Gear Stinger and 88 Call," Hokuto said as he looked up FanBeemon's information on his digivice.

"Poop Cannon!"

All of the Digimon, FanBeemon included, leaped into the fray to defeat the Geremon and keep them out of town.

"Gauntlet Claw!"

"Gargo Laser!"

"Lop-Ear Lance!"

"Vacuum Kamaitachi!"

"Gear Stinger!" FanBeemon shot a myriad of purple, serrated rays of light out of the big stinger on her rump. Thankfully, the lights managed to do some damage to most of the Geremon. By now, the Digimon managed to defeat a good majority of the Geremon. One of them managed to slip past the kids and grab onto Lucero.

"Ugh! Release me, thou repulsive knave!" Lucero yelped as he punched the Geremon that latched onto him and made him fall onto the concrete.

"You bad! Master must know you're alive!" Geremon exclaimed and tried to grab Lucero until the yellowish blob found himself pinned to the concrete. Chiriko jumped on him and pinned him to the ground.

"FanBeemon! Get this one while I've got him down!" Chiriko commanded.

"You got it, sister! Gear Stinger!" FanBeemon shot stingers at the Geremon right after Chiriko managed to jump off so she didn't get hit. The lone Geremon dissipated into data, and his yellowish green data went inside FanBeemon.

"Ugh! Gross!" Rabbitmon groaned as she defeated two Geremon. "These things are disgusting!"

"Nobody said any Digimon in the Numemon family have any sense of cleanliness!" Gargomon piped in as he whacked a Geremon on the head with one of his vulcans like he was playing Whack-A-Mole.

"Keep them off the streets! Don't let them get into the neighborhood! Spinning Sky Fissure Slash!" Reppamon said as he managed to slice a few of them into data.

After about half an hour, all of the Geremon were finally defeated. Turuiemon, Gargomon, Rabbitmon, and Reppamon all became tired and de-digivolved back into Lopmon, Terriermon, Cutemon, and Kudamon. FanBeemon remained in her current form.

"Wow, Chii-chan! I didn't know you had a Digimon too!" Yun exclaimed happily as FanBeemon flew over to Chiriko.

"I could...say the same to you," Chiriko told her. "I thought I was the only one."

"Yay! New friends! Hi! I'm FanBeemon, Chii-chan's partner!" FanBeemon cheerfully introduced herself to the other rookies despite being bigger than all of them.

"How long hast thou had FanBeemon?" Lucero asked.

"Uh...thou? Hast?" Chiriko became flabbergasted upon hearing Lucero's Shakespeare talk.

"Thou mean you and hast means have," Yun translated it for her.

"Ohhh! About a week or so, before I got here. An egg just appeared in my room all of a sudden and...I dunno, I just kinda took care of her. I love insects, and she was so cute, I didn't want to get rid of her, even though I know my parents will freak out if they see her. She's sooooo cute!" Chiriko explained, then happily hugged FanBeemon.

"Hehehe! Chii-chan's an insect nerd, but I like it!" FanBeemon said with a smile.

"Oh! I should introduce you! These are my partners Lopmon, Terriermon, and Cutemon," Yun introduced her rabbit friends to Chiriko.

"Hello," Lopmon said politely while giving a bow.

"Hi!" Terriermon piped in.

"Nice to meet you, kyu!" Cutemon chirped.

"This is Kudamon," Hokuto muttered as he held Kudamon close to Chiriko.

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, and I'm sorry we had to meet under such chaotic circumstances," Kudamon told her kindly as he extended one of his little paws. Chiriko smiled and extended her pinky finger so the little white weasel could touch it.

"You too! You're all so cute!" Chiriko crooned sweetly. Kudamon couldn't help but smile a bit, seeing how sweet this bespectacled girl is. Chiriko then let go of Kudamon's paw. "But wow, this is quite a shock. Digimon are real! I thought it was just a cartoon!"

"We did too, but now we're tamers!" Yun said.

"So...what was all that about? That one slimeball said something about a master or what have you," Chiriko asked.

"See, bad Digimon have been coming into our world and causing trouble lately. In fact, Hokuto-kun and I are part of a group we made called the Digimon Brigade! It's our sworn duty to make sure both this world and the Digital World are safe from a great evil that is supposed to be wreaking havoc!...I sound silly, don't I?" Yun exclaimed like she was a leader, but then wondered if she elaborated too much. Chiriko giggled a bit.

"I believe you," Chiriko said.

"Yeah. I know who you mean. Some bad Digimon ransacked my home and beat the life out of me before I wound up here. I was hoping maybe Chii-chan could help me out a little, but now that I think about it, it might be real dangerous," FanBeemon said to the kids, then spoke to Chiriko. "Now that I know about your surgery, I don't want anything bad to happen to you."

"I know, but I don't like sitting around and doing nothing, so I'll do whatever I can to help you out with anything, since you're my friend and all. So...can we be friends?" Chiriko said, then wondered if she, FanBeemon, and the kids and their Digimon could be friends.

"Of course! In fact, I hereby elect you, Hiura Chiriko, to be the newest member of the Digimon Brigade!" Yun chirped happily and struck some dramatic poses to make the moment more exciting, which made the kids and Digimon laugh. Yun could tell they're laughing in a good way, not laughing at her or anything like that.

***

Before the Geremon brouhaha happened, Aki left the house. She told Kantaro and the kids she was running some errands, but that isn't true. She drove to a big house that's made out of chipped red bricks, a maroon front door and roof, and a nicely cut front yard which didn't have anything on it except for grass. Once she found the house, she parked her car in front of it, left the car, locked it, and walked to the door. She pressed the doorbell.

_Ding dong_

"Coming!" A man's voice called out from inside the house. After about a second, Link answered the door. He's wearing a short-sleeved white shirt underneath an olive green vest, black jean pants, and brown leather shoes. As usual, his mask covered half of his face, but this did not frighten Aki one bit.

After all, she knew why he wore it. She saw what happened to him when they raided Saruto's lab.

"Aki-chan. You're here. Come inside," Link politely let her inside and gestured her to sit in the living room. He prepared some tea and crackers, but he knew that this isn't why Aki came. Despite this, Aki drank some of the tea anyway and ate a cracker.

Link sat on the couch next to her. "So what did you want to talk to me about?"

Aki gazed at his masked face with sad, pleading eyes. Just a glance at them made Link figure it out.

"It's about Hokuto, isn't it?" Link asked. Aki nodded grimly.

"I just don't understand. Saruto's a bad man! I know he's your friend and all, but he took my baby away, kept him from me for nine years, and God knows what else! I keep trying to tell Hokuto to forget about him and convince him that what he did to him was wrong, whatever it is he did to him, but Hokuto keeps spouting nonsense about Saruto loving him! I'm at my wit's end! Saruto's brainwashed him, I know he did! That's why he took him away! Not only that, I'm really worried about how he's faring in school and in the outside world. He's exempt from science class because of how smart he is in the subject, he's being picked on both in and out of school, some of Yun-chan's friends told me some high school boys threw rocks at him and called him a lab rat and a monster, and he refuses to acknowledge any of us as his family! I'm trying to make him go out into society so he can experience what normal kids do in life, but he just won't take the time to just try things! I'm especially worried that that thing is going to come out again. It's why he was kicked out of two other schools before he got diagnosed with cancer. I don't want Hokuto to live life being afraid of the outside world. I want Hokuto to be part of our family and society as well, but even though Saruto's dead, he's still got his grip on him and I want him out of his life once and for all! I'll never forgive him for what he did to my baby!" Aki cried as she told Link of her fears and insecurities regarding Hokuto.

Link didn't interrupt Aki nor contradict her. He simply listened. After Aki finished telling him everything, Link sipped some tea.

"I know you told me to be patient and let him get used to us on his own, but it's been almost two years, and he still hasn't acknowledged us. He's making friends, yes, and I'm happy about that, but it's going to be a matter of time before they learn about that thing and turn on him. That, and his social skills need a lot of improvement. His teachers say he doesn't interact with other kids, goes on long lectures about anything and everything he hears, and does inappropriate things in certain situations. He ran out of the house and burst into Yun's house some time ago without knocking on the door or asking to come in. He left when I kept telling him about his cousin coming over, and he locks himself in his room most of the time. I'm trying to teach him right, but he either just won't listen or isn't paying attention at all!" Aki explained again, trying not to let her frustration get the best of her, but she failed miserably at this.

"I understand you're frustrated. Believe me, I don't think you're a bad person at all, and I understand that you mean well when you say you're trying to help him become part of your family and society, but Hokuto's lived a very different life from the rest of us. He's spent nine years of his life in a room with his only human contact being Saruto. If anyone lived a life like that, they'd have an extremely hard time adjusting to the outside world at all. That, and I don't believe Saruto totally mistreated him," Link said.

"Didn't mistreat him?!"

"He talks normal, albeit above average, he walks just fine, his fine motor coordination is normal, his reading and writing is good, his gross motor skills are normal, he eats food, drinks liquids, and his reading comprehension level is just unfathomable. I have a feeling Saruto didn't treat Hokuto as just a lab rat for his experiments. If he did, Hokuto would have turned out quite differently. Have you ever heard of Genie?"

"Genie? Oh. You told me about that. Isn't that the little girl whose father kept her locked in a room for 13 years?"

"Yes. Unlike Genie, Hokuto doesn't have language issues, doesn't display any characteristics that a feral child would possess, and does not have any neurological disability in any sense. However, I do agree that his socialization skills are severely underdeveloped, though I notice significant improvement since he's been with that little group of friends of his. I have a strong feeling Saruto really did raise Hokuto and believe him to be his son, not just a tool he can use. I know Saruto was vain and eccentric, but he knew in his heart what was right and wrong, and I'm sure he knew that if he treated Hokuto only as a tool he could use, then his ambitions might have ended in ruin," Link frowned as he said this, particularly because he remembered getting into the fight with Saruto as they tried to rescue Hokuto. He remembered something Saruto said to him.

_"I LOVE Hokuto! But I needed a willing vessel! To me, he's not JUST my vessel!"_

_"He loves me...and I love him! You can never understand what it's like to be a father because you don't have a kid!"_

"That must explain why Hokuto loves him so much..." Aki muttered.

"Yes. If you can believe it, it's actually very common for abused children to hold some kind of love for their abusive parent. It's a kind of coping mechanism they develop, even when they don't want to. It's their way of survival unless they have someone else they can turn to for help. You'll probably hate me for saying this, Aki, but...from what I understand, you say that you keep trying to convince Hokuto that Saruto is bad and that he should forget about him. I know you mean well, but...that isn't a good way to go about it. You can't just tell a child to forget about the bad parent and expect him to be able to blindly obey your orders. Saruto, from what I've seen, has profoundly influenced Hokuto, so it's natural for Hokuto to believe that his father is an omnipotent figure who should always be trusted in regards to everything, and it was taken away from him. It's too hard for him to adjust to having a new authority figure that everyone tells him he should trust. Let's say for example your parents died and all of a sudden you're placed in a foster home where everyone wants you to blindly accept them as part of your family right off the bat. Would you like that?"

"No, I wouldn't."

"That's how Hokuto feels. Saruto and that little room he's been in...those two things were his whole world, and everything he ever knew until now. All of a sudden, he's in a new house, seeing new things, and being forced into things he doesn't know about. That's a very traumatizing transition for a child like him. Speaking of transition...what's this I hear about him getting kicked out of two schools?" Link told her, then developed a stern tone of voice upon reaching the last sentence.

"Well, Hokuto attacked some kids in both schools. That's why he got expelled. They say his eyes were glowing red and he had claws and fangs. I never saw what happened, so I don't know for sure, but...they were all very frightened and expelled him right off, even though I told them about our situation," Aki explained.

"Exactly...when did you put Hokuto in his first school?"

"About a week he came into our home."

_'A week?! Aki! That's way too sudden!'_ Link yelled in his head, and managed to resist the urge to yell this out loud to her face. "How long was he there?"

"No more than half a day. I got called to the school just four hours after I took him there, and after that he was never allowed back."

Link couldn't believe what he was hearing. Aki seriously threw her kid in an environment he doesn't know about and obviously can't handle, and he got kicked out in half a school day? The pieces began to come together immediately. "What about his second school? When did you put him there?"

"About two weeks afterward. The paperwork took some getting used to, but he got kicked out there in that same time span. He attacked some kids in there also. I tried to get him into another school, but he developed cancer and we couldn't do anything."

"Did the teachers see or say anything strange about Hokuto before he attacked the kids?"

"They did see that Hokuto looked extremely frightened by everything. He'd always try to run into a closet, and they'd pull him out by force. He did it even as the teacher was going over the lessons. He wouldn't let anyone touch them, he wouldn't do any of the work, he wouldn't ask for help, and he looked at everyone like he saw a scary scene in a horror movie."

Even without Aki telling him the details, Link already figured it out. He facepalmed (on the side of his face that isn't covered by his mask) and let out an exasperated sigh. "That explains it."

"Huh?" Aki cocked her head to one side, looking confused.

"I think I know why those attacks happened. Hokuto barely spent a week in your home when you forced him into an environment he had no experience with, nor did he had the coping skills to adapt to it with, and he didn't have any time to get adjusted to everything, which caused him to become very overstimulated and lash out. Aki, this is what I meant when I said I wanted you to be patient. You needed to give Hokuto lots of time to adjust to his new surroundings and teach him from scratch how to adapt to new environments and socialization skills. But instead of engaging with him and helping him out, you blindly forced him into new environments that he had no knowledge of, especially an environment as chaotic and unstructured as a school setting. Now I understand. You'll hate me for saying this, but you were too forceful in trying to make Hokuto fit into society and interact with people. You recklessly assumed he'd be able to adjust to any change like any normal kid would and possess the knowledge needed to adapt to anything and everything and didn't help him when he became overwhelmed. I think that's why he almost morphed, because he was too overstimulated and didn't have any other way of coping with these very sudden changes," Link explained. He didn't want to be blunt or straightforward, but considering what he heard and why Aki came to him in the first place, he felt it was best to tell her the truth whether she liked it or not.

Aki's face contorted a bit, making her look even more dejected. "I...I really did want to engage with him. Honest, I did. But I had so much to deal with back then, I didn't have time. My job kept me busy, Kimi kept on making a mess of the house, Kantaro was still looking for a job after he got laid off, I was falling behind on paying Aiko's college tuition, and I was trying to make contact with my brother after he gave Hokuto to me. Kids are supposed to go to school. It's the law, and I didn't want to break it."

"Your frustration caused you to make impulsive and reckless decisions that didn't benefit either you or Hokuto. I know you're really a good person. However, forcing Hokuto into things he doesn't know about without giving him time to adjust or teach him what he needs to cope with everything...that really hurt him, Aki. Because of what he went through, Hokuto didn't naturally develop the social skills needed to adapt to change or adjust to new environments or interact with other people in an appropriate way or know that certain behaviors are appropriate and inappropriate in certain settings all on his own. It's like taking care of an autistic child. They need structure and reassurance in their lives, and can't predict the outcomes of various events on their own, especially if they don't know how to cope with said outcome or what'll happen next or what they need to do in order to face it. It takes lots of time, patience, and understanding to help them adjust to brand new environments and learn how to adapt to them. I think that's why he doesn't trust you much compared to Saruto. You did things only if it was convenient for you, and didn't think about how the decisions you made would affect Hokuto, and didn't bother to ask him how he felt about everything that was going on around him. I don't mean to hurt your feelings, but that's just what I think," Link told her.

Aki began to tear up. "You're right. You're absolutely right, Wataru. It's my fault. When I get sad or frustrated, I make the worst decisions ever. It runs in my family. I was always getting yelled at for doing something stupid without thinking. I should have done better, but I was so frustrated and had so much to deal with...how could I be so cruel? I actually made things worse for my own child and didn't even know it or bother to understand him! I really am a horrible mother!" She put her face in her hands and cried a little.

Link felt his heart sag inside. He put a hand on her shoulder. "It isn't too late, Aki. You can still try and get close to him, but it's going to take time."

After some crying, Aki looked at Link with tearful eyes. "I'm sorry, Link. I really am a stupid woman. Maybe that's why Saruto chose me, because maybe he thought I was easy to manipulate. I can't even raise my own children right, I'm so stupid."

"You're not stupid. Everyone makes stupid decisions when they're frustrated," Link told her reassuringly.

"Not if they result in kids getting hurt and expelled from school for something even they don't understand!"

"You didn't wish for that to happen. It just happened. There are things in this world even we can't control."

"But worse than that, everyone hates Hokuto because he's Saruto's son! He's just a child! He doesn't deserve to go through all of this! I should have helped him, but instead I was selfish and made things even worse for him and everyone! Saruto's stigma is going to last forever and everyone who's been hurt by the explosions is going to scapegoat all their anger onto Hokuto! Saruto's gone and Hokuto may go down with him when he had no hand in any of it! It's my fault! I'm the one to blame!" By now, Aki became hysterical. Link did, however, pull Aki to his chest and allowed her to cry out her sorrow.

_'I'm the one who went down with him, not Hokuto,'_ Link thought as he remembered things he really didn't want to.

_"Stay away from me, Akutagawa! You played a part in Hizashino's plot, so beat it!"_

_"I refuse to associate myself with anyone who is even remotely acquainted with that heartless beast Hizashino!"_

_"You're probably just as naive and hypocritical as he is, Wataru."_

_"You should have been executed as well! You helped him develop this Digital World or what have you!"_

_"You were his friend, weren't you?! Why didn't you put a stop to his plans when you had the chance?! God, you're so stupid!"_

_"Go away! I ain't got no work for criminals like you! Especially if you really knew that Hizashino scum!"_

_"You're such an idiot, Link. Now I have more reason not to involve myself with the Digital World,"_ That was something Masaomi said to him.

Aki cried in his chest for quite a while. Finally, after much sobbing, Aki calmed down and wiped the tears off of her face.

"I'm sorry, Wataru. I came here asking for advice but here I am acting like a child. Sorry for being so selfish," Aki said as she wiped some tears off of her sticky face.

"It's alright. That's why I'm here," Link told her kindly.

"You're right. I did act impulsively, and I shouldn't have. My family's always telling me I make stupid decisions when I'm upset," Aki said. "You just said...that taking care of him might be the same as taking care of an autistic child, right?"

"I think so, but I wouldn't recommend thinking of him as such," Link said, hoping that Aki wouldn't go off and classify him as autistic.

"I won't. I was wondering...my friend Hisako...she has a daughter who's autistic. Maybe I can ask her about how she raised Yun and ask for advice about Hokuto and Kimi."

"That sounds like a good idea."

"Do you think I should have Hokuto go into therapy? Or see a psychiatrist? I've been thinking about doing so, but I haven't had time to ask Hokuto if he wants to or not."

"It wouldn't hurt to ask him. Something like that might help somewhat. I really am serious when I say you should be patient and understanding with him. Tell him why you do certain things. Ask him whether he wants to do something or not. Tell him about what will happen next. Tell him why he has to do certain things. Teach him all the way from scratch about anything he doesn't know or needs help with. Be kind and encourage him."

"You're right. I should definitely do that. Sorry for the trouble I'm causing you."

"You're not causing any trouble. You need someone to listen, and that's why I'm here."

"Can he...come and see you once in a while, too? I remember he was somewhat upset when you left him in my care, since you rescued him and all."

"Perhaps. I don't have much to do other than my job, so that'll be fine."

"Thanks so much, Wataru."

"Aki. Please. Don't call me Wataru. I don't respond to my name anymore."

"Why?"

"It holds too many sad memories for me."

"But it's a part of you, and will be for the rest of your life. Sometimes we need some sad memories."

Link couldn't help but smile. Aki's right. If humanity didn't have sadness, then humanity would never be blessed with the opportunity to hold happiness in extremely high regard. Feeling as though a weight had been lifted off of her being, Aki and Link parted ways. Aki drove back to the house with a new resolve.

'You're right, Wataru. I did act impulsively, and I wound up making things worse for him. But now it's time to rectify that. Thanks for being so understanding. I'll really commit myself to Hokuto this time, while trying to balance everything else as well,' Aki thought. Unfortunately, sometimes even commitment doesn't always have it's benefits. Right as Aki went inside, she could hear the sound of crashing glass and the familiar high-pitched, screechy whining sound coming right from Kimi's mouth.

"Stop being such a brat, Kimi!" Airi screamed angrily, her face red with anger and rancor, as she held the struggling and screaming Kimi on her knee and smacked her rear end twice with great force. "Dad! Help me out, will you?! This little brat refuses to listen to me!"

"Don't call names, Airi!" Kantaro shouted as he picked up the broken glass.

Aki groaned loudly upon coming in. _'I wonder if I'll even have time to fix things?'_ She thought. She wondered if she already hit her mid-life crisis.

Footnotes:

1. Niccolo Paganini was a famous Italian violinist.


	91. Overstimulation

EPISODE 91: Overstimulation

Not many kids like school, especially if school is full of bullies, mean teachers, and gossiping kids who just love over exaggerating things for their own convenience and self-satisfaction. Now that Fushimi Middle School is going to be re-opened on Monday, it's not surprising that kids would complain, and Yun happens to be one of those kids. She really didn't want to deal with Nenji, Seiko, or Mr. Kadota. Thankfully, Mr. Okui got fired shortly before the crisis that made Fushimi close happened so Yun's happy she doesn't have to deal with him anymore. However, it was the week leading up to school that made Yun cringe. Hisako and Teruki kept arguing like cats and dogs over who should have full control over finances and who's doing more for the family. What's worse was that despite Yun trying to find a quiet place where she wouldn't be able to hear it, her hypersensitive ears picked up every word, even when she didn't want to hear any of it.

"Why did you pay the water bill?! I was going to do it!" Hisako yelled one day.

"I had some time on my hands, so I did it myself out of the kindness of my heart! That, and you're too busy being lazy!" Teruki snapped back.

"You're the one who's lazy! You don't do one thing to help me around the house!"

"I pay the bills in this family! How's that not doing anything?! And anything I DO do for you, you don't give a freakin' flying feather about! You never thank me for anything I do! Nothing I do ever makes you happy! What's it gonna take to make you happy?!"

"I do things for you yet you don't pay attention to them yourself!"

"You know what?! Forget it! I'm going to watch the football game with my friends! I'm sick and tired of being hated in my own house!"

"Who said anything about hating you?!"

It went on for the entire week, and Yun absolutely hated it. There was nothing she could do to ease the conflict, considering she's just a little girl and they're fighting about something her autistic mind couldn't possibly comprehend. She wished she could have stayed at a friend's house for the week, but Hisako and Teruki wouldn't let her, and Ayaka, who found out about Yun's frequent visits to other peoples' houses, kept on yelling at her about it.

"Stop running off and doing whatever you please! Don't you know that you worry Mom and Dad and cause trouble for everyone around you by doing that?! How's you going to their houses gonna benefit them (Hisako, Teruki, and the people whose houses Yun visits)?! Huh?! All you're doing is being an inconvenience to them, not thinking about how they feel about it! Stop acting like you're the victim here and get over it!" As usual, Ayaka held no sympathy or patience for Yun, even though, much to Yun's anger and chagrin, Ayaka did the exact same thing. Why would Ayaka tell Yun not to do something yet contradict herself by doing it herself? How is she any better than Yun? Yun wished she didn't have to be surrounded by all of this yelling and screaming and have to be scolded for at least wanting to get away from it. How is that such a bad thing?

Finally, after that week, school re-opened and kids returned to Fushimi Middle School, whether they liked it or not. For once, Yun is actually happy to be back in school. She's had just about enough of Hisako, Teruki, and Ayaka yelling in the house and not being able to get away or do a thing about it. Plus, Mrs. Kamogawa, Mrs. Gokou, and the counselor are nice and understanding without being overly judgmental, so she could easily turn to them if she has any problems. On the blacktop, Yun met with the other kids, telling them about what's been happening.

"Ouch. Ayaka's so insensitive, isn't she? You're not an inconvenience at all, Yun-chan! You want to get away from all the yelling, that's all! That's not bad!" Otoya exclaimed, surprised at Ayaka's reaction to Yun's frequent visits to other peoples' houses for that week.

"If I was surrounded by yelling and screaming for a week, I'd do the same thing!" Riku exclaimed.

"Me too. If it continues, I'd be happy to help you out myself, but I know for a fact that Mom would flip out if you came," Rena said, feeling guilty that she couldn't help much.

Melody cracked her knuckles and donned an angry look on her face, and she hadn't made any angry looks lately, so this is very surprising for the gang. "I'm so gonna Sparta Kick them out a window."

"Huh? What's that mean?" Yun asked.

"It means she's gonna kick their butts if they start blaming everything on you again," Kosuke said.

"So Hokuto-kun, your cousin has a Digimon?" Minako asked Hokuto, and he nodded. He and Yun told everyone about Chiriko and FanBeemon.

"Yes. She's nice, and we can trust her," Hokuto muttered in response.

"But she's only here for a few weeks, isn't she? Don't we need her contact information in case we need her help?" Lucero asked.

"She gave it to me, and I can give it all to you. But not right now. I don't want our digivices to be taken away," Hokuto explained shyly.

"Good point," Kosuke said. "By the way, since your cousin's only gonna be here for a few weeks, doesn't she have to go to school?"

"She's exempt from school until she recovers. Mom said that her heart is rather weak because of the surgery, and the town she lives in is too chaotic for her to recover properly, so her parents sent her here with us," Hokuto explained.

Otoya was about to say something until someone interrupted them, and it wasn't anyone in the Digimon Brigade who interrupted them either.

"So, the lab rat actually has a cousin? Sounds like she's just as much a lab rat as you are!" Seiko's slithery, catty voice piped in out of nowhere. Everyone turned their heads to see Seiko giving them all a scornful look with her arms crossed. Tomoka stood behind her.

"Don't you know it's rude to eavesdrop?! Stop sticking your nose in places you're not wanted!" Otoya shouted.

"It's not like I wanted to. You retarded idiots are so loud I can hear you from a mile away, especially you, Wakamiya, with your whiny, annoying, ear-grating voice and all," Seiko sneered, which made Tomoka laugh.

"Keep your comments to yourself! No one asked for your input!" Riku snapped.

"Why? Don't I have a right to say what I feel just like everyone else? Besides, why are you all friends with the Lab Rat? Don't you get it? He's the son of that evil man who killed people in a nuclear power plant! Or are you really that desperate to get sick from radiation?" Seiko asked sarcastically.

"Oooh! Burn!" Tomoka snickered from behind Seiko. Other kids laughed as well.

"Just because Hokuto's father did a bad thing doesn't mean Hokuto is bad himself! Thou shan't judge people by what their parents hath done!" Lucero yelled.

"Yeah! How would you like it if I made fun of you because your mom abandoned you and your dad for another man?! Would you-" Yun screamed. What Yun didn't know was that as soon as she finished her first question, Seiko's eyes widened suddenly, then her face immediately morphed into that of a very ferocious and bloodthirsty coyote out for blood. Seiko dashed right through the Digimon Brigade, grabbed Yun by the collar, and slapped her hard in the face!

"Yun!" Minako and Lucero kept her from falling to the ground, but Seiko still tried to lash out at her.

"Leave her alone, you dip!" Otoya yelled as she, Kosuke, Melody, and Riku all tried to keep Seiko from hurting Yun any further.

"I'LL MAKE YOU PAY FOR TALKING BAD ABOUT MY MOTHER! My mother was a good person, but you low-life Americans took her away from me!" Seiko screamed and flailed around like a rabid animal, trying desperately to maul Yun. Weirdly enough, something very unexpected happened.

"Leave her alone, Seiko!"

None of the Digimon Brigade members shouted that just now. It was so powerful, so unexpected, that even Seiko stopped screaming and calmed down so she could hear it. But what's most troubling to Seiko was that...she actually recognized that voice. Her eyes widened even further when she found the source of the voice.

"...Iniki?!"

Yes, Mizuki Iniki is the one who told Seiko to leave Yun alone. Iniki's face is now just as angry as Seiko's, only she's not out for blood. She's just choleric, nothing more. She stomped through the Digimon Brigade and stood in between Yun and Seiko.

"Shut up and leave her alone!" Iniki yelled.

"Iniki! Why are you sticking up for this worthless American retard?! You're MY friend, NOT hers!" Seiko yelled, shocked by Iniki's betrayal.

"You were never my friend! You only used me to make yourself look good, and now you want me to be your servant who does everything you say, and I am NOT going to stoop to your level! I'm sick and tired of trying to suck up to you!" Iniki snapped.

Tomoka gasped. "Iniki! What's the matter with you?!"

"Oh, really?! Is that so?! If you really want to be friends with that retard, then I might as well reveal your deepest darkest secret to everyone in the entire school!" Seiko shouted and was about to shout some more until Iniki beat her to the punch.

"What secret? Me living in a homeless shelter? That's old news, Seiko. My dad and I got a nice new house two weeks ago, and we already moved in, so you can't blackmail me! Besides, it's not like it bothers me anymore! You can tell any person you want! It's not like it's true anymore anyway!" Iniki retorted with her arms crossed.

"But you're MY friend and you're supposed to do what I say!" Seiko growled like an angry bear deprived of its food.

"Oooh! You're in for it now, Iniki!" Tomoka sneered from behind Seiko.

"You know what? _I don't care_!" Iniki retorted without missing a beat.

Nobody could believe what they were seeing or hearing. Iniki, one of Seiko's most devoted lackeys, is actually turning on her and cutting off all ties with her.

"You traitor! I'll make you pay for this big time!" Seiko screamed, feeling as though the worst calamity in the whole wide world happened right before her very eyes.

"Do your worst! I don't care! It's not like I have anything to lose anyway!" Iniki retorted.

Seiko wanted to claw Iniki for betraying her, but the bell rang and everyone had to go inside. That, and a teacher caught Seiko hitting Yun red-handed and sent her to the principal's office to be disciplined. Iniki decided to use homeroom time to do something she's been wanting to do for a long time, and this time, she wasn't going to sit by and watch anymore. She approached Yun, even though she got dirty looks from Kosuke, Riku, and Melody.

"Wakamiya? Can I talk to you?" Iniki asked, her face now donning a pleading look.

Yun was about to answer but Kosuke, Riku, and Melody stood in between them with crossed arms and suspicious looks painted on their untrusting faces.

"Whatever trick it is you're pulling, we're not falling for it!" Kosuke exclaimed.

"This isn't a trick, I swear! Look, you're allowed to hate me for everything I've done. I deserve it, and I agree with you. But I'm tired of being Seiko's servant and sitting by while everything bad happens!" Iniki answered pleadingly.

"So it's no joke then? You're serious?" Riku asked.

"Yeah. Look, Wakamiya, I...I'm sorry for everything I did! I'm sorry I never stopped Seiko when she picked on you! I was weak and didn't do anything, and that only made things worse. I should have stopped her, but I didn't. You're allowed to hate me for everything. I deserve it, and you don't have to forgive me, but I just want to get this all out and finally be done with her once and for all! I only went along with what she did because she'd get mad at me or spread rumors about me if I disobeyed her, and I shouldn't have latched onto that as a reason for staying with her. I'm sorry I never stood up for you, and I really want to make it up to you," Iniki explained, even though her voice quivered somewhat. Yun didn't say anything. She just drank up all of Iniki's words, slowly untangling and comprehending every single one of them. Even without making eye contact with her, which in general was something Yun had quite the aversion to, Yun could tell that Iniki sounded quite sincere and genuine as she apologized from the way her voice sounded: dejected and down-trodden, like a kicked puppy.

Melody, however, wasn't buying it. "Shimizu didn't put you up to this, did she? Because I'll break you if you're trying to trick us!"

"I JUST said it's NOT a trick! I know, you're right! I can't be trusted! I know! I don't expect you to, but I've been thinking real hard about what's right and wrong since school closed, and I'm tired of living life as someone's personal slave while everyone gets hurt because I'm too weak and stupid to do anything about it! You're absolutely right about me being stupid and weak! But lemme say I'm sorry and that I'll never lick her sparkly shoes ever again! Please!" Iniki pleaded strongly.

Unfortunately, while the kids listened to Iniki's heartfelt pleas, they were oblivious to the fact that someone is sneaking up on them!...or, to be more specific, Hokuto. Before Hokuto could even notice, he suddenly felt himself get pushed against the wall!

"Ugh!" Hokuto croaked, which managed to get everyone's attention.

"Hokuto-dono!" Lucero screamed.

"Nemoto! Let him go!" Yun screamed as she tried to pry Nenji, the culprit, off of the boy. Mrs. Kamogawa ran over to ameliorate the situation as well.

"Nemoto! Release him this instant! Children! Stay back!" Mrs. Kamogawa tried to pry Nenji off of him herself while trying to keep the other kids away, but the ones who wanted to help continued to try and help her out.

"This is what you get for bein' a lab rat, yo!" Nenji sneered as he kicked Hokuto in the stomach, leaving him unable to breathe.

"You're going to the principal's office right after this, Nemoto!" Mrs. Kamogawa screamed angrily.

"Shut up, you fat lady!" Nenji yelled as he continued to push Hokuto against the wall.

"Lab rat! Lab rat! Lab rat!" Nenji's lackeys and a few other unruly boys chanted over and over again, not helping with the situation at all.

"Leave him alone!" Not wanting to sit and watch this time, Iniki decided to step into the fray.

"I'll go get someone!" Otoya yelled as she and Yun ran out of the classroom to find someone who could ameliorate the situation, as it's getting worse and worse with each passing second.

What nobody noticed is that Hokuto is losing his grip on reality. His vision blurred, his small body trembled violently, his voice began to become slurred, and he is unable to fight back. All the noises and the discord closed in on him like the darkness. His eardrums felt like they were shattering more times than they should, if at all.

"Lab rat! Lab rat! Lab rat!"

The chanting. It wouldn't stop.

"Lab rat! Lab rat! Lab rat!"

The noise. It wouldn't stop, no matter what.

"Children! Stop that chanting at once! You're not making things any better!"

"Lab rat! Lab rat! Lab rat!"

The kids. They refused to stop calling him that. No, they didn't want to stop. They wanted to scapegoat their hatred onto Saruto, even though a few of them didn't look like they were affected by what Saruto did in any way possible. But what did Hokuto himself do to them that was bad? What did he do...to deserve all of this?

The taunting. The teasing. The bullying. The harassment. The violence. The increasing noise level. The flaring tempers. The malice. The unending hatred. It all amassed onto him. He is their scapegoat and he would never be able to escape it.

Make it stop...make it stop...make it stop...

Their ugly words echoed in Hokuto's head over and over again.

So many voices, so many faces, all distorted with malice and cruel joy at his expense...

She didn't want them to register in his brain.

Louder and louder still...the danger increased with each passing second.

Cheers and jeers and worse and worse insults each time, each stinging like a slap to the face...

Before Hokuto could do anything, his vision suddenly turned...red.

Red?

"In here, sensei!" Otoya yelled as she brought the principal into the discord.

"Nemoto's picking on Hokuto!" Yun shouted, pointing to Nemoto without any hint of hesitation or fear.

Nobody prepared them for this.

A piercing howl echoed in the entire room...and it came from a source nobody expected.

"...Hokuto-dono?!"

No. This thing isn't Hokuto. His eyes are glowing red, fangs protruded from the corners of his mouth, the hair on his wig stood up high and strong, his fingernails grew to look more like claws, and instead of the timid, timorous bespectacled boy they knew, out came a feral, savage beast. All the kids gasped and backed away. Nenji tried to do so as well, but Hokuto...or rather, this strange beast that suddenly overtook him, suddenly lifted him by the shirt and threw him right across the room, hitting the white board and knocking over the teacher's podium, sending it to the floor.

"Children! Stay back! Principal! Get security NOW!" Mrs. Kamogawa yelled as the principal hastily left the room.

But it didn't stop there. Hokuto didn't even give Nenji time to get up before he lunged at him again.

"Get away from me, you beast!" Nenji yelled as the growling and snarling Hokuto spat, bit, and clawed at the now helpless boy.

"Hokuto-dono!" Not wanting to stand and watch, Lucero decided to leap into the fray.

"Lucero! Get back!" Mrs. Kamogawa tried to grab him, but Lucero was too fast for her to catch up to. Lucero lunged onto Hokuto and yanked him off of Nenji, who is now covered with small scratches and bruises on both his pudgy face and arms.

"Hokuto! Thou must return to thyself! This is not thee!" Lucero pleaded angrily as he tried to pin Hokuto to the ground, but the beast continued to growl and howl.

"Oh my God! Kamitsure's a monster!"

"Man! His eyes are glowing and he's got claws and everything!"

"Whoa! Is this awesome or what?!"

"Record this, will you?!"

Melody, seeing that kids are trying to record everything with their cell phones, stomped over to every single one of the kids, grabbed every single one of their cell phones and, unmercifully, stomped on them. The kids in question yelled and complained.

Hokuto tried to claw Lucero, but the blonde, tattooed boy wasn't going to relent.

"CEASE!" With great force, Lucero managed to smack Hokuto's neck with his hand, which finally made Hokuto revert back to himself, even though as a result, he fell unconscious onto the floor. The red glow in his eyes faded, his fangs and claws are gone, and now he looked peaceful. The principal and the security guards came into the room.

Yun, not wanting to let the source of all the trouble go free, decided this was a great opportunity to out him once and for all.

"Arrest Nenji! He's the one who started all this!" Yun boldly told the officers. Nenji became shocked and, despite his injuries, lunged at Yun. Thankfully, the guards managed to keep him from doing any damage by holding him back despite him struggling to lay a hand on her.

"Why you snitch on me, yo?!" Nenji screamed angrily.

"YOU started it, Nenji! If you hadn't started picking on him, none of this would have happened!" Yun screamed back.

"He's a monster, yo! A lab rat! He ain't human!"

"He's NOT a monster or a lab rat!"

"You's gonna pay for snitchin' on me!"

"You deserve it, sissy bone fat boy!"

"Kids! Stop it!" Mrs. Kamogawa, finally having had enough, kept the two apart as the security officers took Nenji away while another one carried Hokuto to the nurse's office. The Digimon Brigade decided to pick up the desks and the podium while the others, the ones who exacerbated the conflict by calling Hokuto a lab rat, simply talked amongst themselves about what they saw.

"Dude! The lab rat's a beast!"

"Did you see him claw Nenji like that? He's got fangs and everything!"

"Yeah! Maybe that kooky dad of his made him like that!"

"But man, why did Shimotsuki have to destroy our cell phones?!"

"Clean up the mess, will you?!" Kosuke screamed at the kids who didn't help out. Thankfully, his yelling at them made them shut up and clean up the classroom.

However, right before the bell for the first class rang, Yun suddenly ran out of the room.

"Yun! Come back!" Mrs. Kamogawa tried to run after her, but she couldn't catch her.

The nurse's office isn't far from Yun's classroom. All she has to do is go down a few stairs and take a right. She burst through the door to find the nurse and Hokuto in the room. Hokuto is still unconscious and the nurse looked very surprised when Yun came into the room.

"What are you doing in here, Yun-chan? Shouldn't you be in class?" The nurse asked.

"Kaioh-sensei! Please don't blame Hokuto-kun for what happened! Nenji's the one that started everything, so he should be the one who gets punished severely, not Hokuto-kun! Hokuto didn't lash out on purpose! Honest, he didn't!" Yun pleaded sadly, which made the nurse, Ms. Kaioh, recoil a bit.

"Calm down, Yun-chan. I don't quite know what happened. Care to tell me more about it?" Ms. Kaioh asked.

Yun told her everything, not leaving out any important details. Ms. Kaioh took it all in, and instead of jumping to conclusions, like Yun expected, she simply picked up the phone and called Aki.

"Hello? Kamitsure-san? This is Kaioh, the school nurse. Can you come and pick up your son? Some kids bullied him relentlessly. Yun-chan told me everything, but I can tell you when you arrive. Yes. Yes. He's sleeping right now, but he'll wake up soon. Thank you. Bye," Ms. Kaioh hung up and the conversation ended.

"It's not Hokuto's fault! He didn't mean to-"

"Shh! Use your inside voice, Yun-chan. He'll wake up."

"But Nemoto started it!"

Ms. Kaioh could tell from the pleading tone of her voice (and increase in volume, something Yun's family has constantly tried to rectify) and the sad look in her eyes that Yun is quite fervent about Nenji being the one to blame in this situation, not Hokuto. About a few minutes later, Aki came and Ms. Kaioh told her everything that Yun told her, word to word. Aki's eyes widened with each minute, and she found herself sitting on one of the chairs with a hand on her face.

"Yun-chan...did his eyes glow red? Did he grow fangs and claws and act like a wild animal?" Aki asked in a low but abject voice.

_'Huh? Glowing red eyes? Fangs and claws? Does Aki-san know about that thing? It sounds like she's seen it before,'_Yun thought. Thinking this might be the case, she decided to be honest with her, as she knows full well that lying won't do anything. "Yeah."

"Just as I suspected. I feared this would happen sooner or later," Aki croaked sadly. Yun saw this as a bad sign and didn't want Aki jumping to conclusions.

"Aki-san! Hokuto-kun didn't lash out on purpose! That stupid fat kid Nenji started everything! He kept bullying him and wouldn't stop! My friends and I tried to stop him from making everything worse, but he was too strong. We really tried, Aki-san! We really did!" Yun told her pleadingly.

"But it's not going to stop him from getting expelled, just like those other times..." Aki muttered. She didn't sound like she was talking to anyone. Ms. Kaioh put a hand on Aki's shoulder and looked at Yun.

"Yun-chan. Go back to class. We'll handle things from here," Ms. Kaioh told her.

"But Kaioh-sensei! Hokuto didn't lash out on purpose! He didn't mean it! They have to know that!"

"And I'll make sure they understand. Go on, or you'll get in trouble."

"I don't care whether I get in trouble or not! Nenji should be punished, not Hokuto or me!"

"Go to class, Yun."

Seeing that Ms. Kaioh is serious, Yun screeched despite her warnings to use her inside voice and stomped out of the nurse's office. She didn't even stop to get a late pass. Yes, she did get scolded for being late, but it was just a warning, nothing big. But Yun didn't care. She didn't care about getting in trouble for something so petty and stupid as getting late. She desperately wanted the teachers and principal to punish Nenji for starting everything, not Hokuto for succumbing to the beast inside him. It's not like Hokuto wanted that thing inside of him! Is it really so bad to be ridiculed because you're cursed with something you don't want and never wanted in the first place? Nenji's lackeys continued to taunt and tease anyone they wanted to pick on, but Yun's so angry she practically didn't even know they were there.

Everyone tried to go about the school day, but kids still continued to talk about what happened. Melody had to be sent to the office because she broke everyone's phones, which she felt quite proud of. Thankfully, the kids who bothered to use their cell phones in the first place were punished as well, so Yun's happy that at least something is being done to the ones who deliberately chose to exacerbate the situation instead of ameliorate it. At lunch time, the kids discussed whether to visit Hokuto after school or not. Everyone agreed, but most of them can't come because of some errands to run or things to do at home. Yun, Lucero, Riku, and Otoya are the only ones who are free, so they decided to go visit Hokuto after school.

At recess, Yun noticed Iniki sitting alone so she decided to approach her.

"Hi," Yun said quietly.

"Hi," Iniki replied back just as quietly.

"Thanks for...sticking up for me and Hokuto-kun."

"You're welcome. But he really scared me back there."

"He didn't mean to. He didn't mean to lash out like that. It just happened."

"I agree that Nemoto went too far though."

"Yeah. Anyway...I've been thinking, and...I know now that you really mean it when you said you hate Seiko now, so I...forgive you."

Iniki suddenly stood up with alarm. "Seriously?! You do?!"

Yun nodded.

Iniki tried to stop tears from coming out of her eyes, which she did successfully. "Thanks, Wakamiya..."

"You're welcome," Yun said.

Some kids saw them and scoffed. "Pheh! Mizuki used to be cool. Now she's hanging with the retard crowd. What a low blow!"

Yun and Iniki paid no attention. But after their short conversation, Yun went back to her group of friends, leaving Iniki alone. Iniki figured that despite being forgiven, Yun doesn't think she can be friends with her just yet, which she didn't mind. Iniki felt it served her right for what she had done. Finally, school ended, and Yun, Lucero, Otoya, and Riku went straight to Hokuto's house. They didn't bother to get their Digimon as they didn't want to attract any unwanted attention. When Aki saw that they arrived, she looked very worried.

"Hello, Kamitsure-san. We came to see if Hokuto-kun is alright. Is that okay?" Otoya told her.

Aki looked very hesitant to invite them in, but she did anyway. After some searching, the kids found Hokuto sitting on his bed with Kudamon wrapped around his neck. He didn't even notice them come in.

"Hokuto-kun? How are you?" Yun asked first.

"...I hurt him. I know I did. I turned into that and hurt him..." Hokuto muttered sadly. Even without looking, they could see behind his glasses that his cobalt blue eyes are listless and dejected, like glass that's about to break any minute.

"He deserved it for picking on you like that!" Riku exclaimed.

"Riku-dono! Thou shan't condone one's actions like that!" Lucero scolded, like he was Rena.

"We know you didn't mean to...turn into that. It just sort of happened, that's all," Otoya told him.

Despite their reassurance, nothing worked. Hokuto continued to stare at the floor, sad and rueful, with guilt amassing onto his being like a slave carrying a huge vase of water on his head. "It's happened before. Kids picked on me, and I turned into a monster and hurt them. That's why I got expelled, because they said they didn't want a monster like me making a mess of their school. Everywhere I go, I turn into that beast! And they're right! I _am_a monster!" Hokuto exclaims, sounding like he's about to cry.

"You're NOT a monster!" Yun yelled. "You didn't ask for that thing to live inside you, now did you? No, you didn't! You didn't want that thing! You didn't want to attack those kids or be expelled from those two schools, now did you? Nemoto's the one who made things worse, not you, so you're not a monster! Besides, what else could you do? We're sorry we weren't able to stop him in time or prevent it from happening."

"Stop trying to justify it. I know what I did. I remember everything. Now you see why I'm not human," Hokuto muttered bitterly. "They say my father made me this way...and they're right. He did. He put me through lots of tests and experiments to see if I could be the first humanoid Digimon who could thrive in the Digital World the same as a Digimon."

"What?! Saruto...wanted to _turn you into a Digimon_?!" Everyone yelped simultaneously, in perfect unison.

"Yes. He wanted to make my body and entire DNA composition into that of a Digimon to see if humans could truly survive in the Digital World in case anything were to happen to the human world," Hokuto muttered. "I'm not human, nor am I a Digimon. Just an incomplete, broken, malformed being, not human enough to be treated with respect, and not animal enough to live in the wild."

Nobody could believe what they heard. Could this be what Link meant by Saruto's ambition? By turning humans into data? To completely change them from the inside out so they could survive in another world in case a potential apocalypse happened to the physical world? No wonder Saruto is so hated by the rest of the world! He tried to be a God! Link really was serious when he said Saruto was being unrealistic and went too far in his ambitions. This is far too much for them to comprehend. Far too much How could anyone be so risky and so stupid as to turn humans into data for a potentially meaningless cause?

"That explains that thing that's inside you," Kudamon piped in.

Yun balled her fists. "Even so, you're still our friend! Nothing can change that! I don't care if you're a Digimon or a human or a...half-animal or whatever! You're still Kamitsure Hokuto, our good friend, and you always will be! You're a nice person! You're gentle and kind and sweet and super smart and you know what's right and wrong! You didn't ask for all that bad stuff to happen to you, so we know for a fact that you're not a monster just from that!"

Yun refused to believe what Hokuto said. Sure, he went through bad stuff, but none of what he went through should totally mold and define his very existence, both in his eyes and the eyes of everyone else. They didn't know it, but Aki overheard everything from afar. She ran from the scene, went into her room, and cried. Both out of sadness from finally learning about why Saruto took Hokuto away from her in the first place, and from joy from seeing that Hokuto really is blessed with good friends who accept him for who he is.

They believe in him. Aki does too.

However, it's the rest of the world nobody is so sure of.


	92. Unnecessary Hatred

EPISODE 92: Unnecessary Hatred

Since Aki heard about what happened in school, she immediately expected the worst and figured Hokuto would immediately get expelled. She didn't know what she'd do if Hokuto got kicked out of yet another school. How would he be able to get a decent education? It's against the law for children to not go to school unless they're being home schooled by a licensed teacher. Not only that, how would Hokuto be able to connect with other kids if he keeps getting kicked out? But then again, kids and adults in general hate the Kamitsure family simply because they're related to Saruto, so she figured kids would never like or accept Hokuto for who he is. However, weirdly enough, the board of education decided to keep him in the school, since Nenji is the one who made Hokuto lash out the way he did. Aki was quite surprised. She never expected the school to be so understanding. However, since Hokuto did play a part in the assault himself, even though he was the victim, unintentionally or not, he did have to be punished with a detention, which to them is a rather light punishment considering the situation.

This was a first for Aki. Hokuto is actually NOT getting expelled! The school is actually letting him stay! She felt intensely relieved, even though she doesn't really think this will be the last time problems will arise. Though she did wonder why the school bothered to let him stay in the first place since the two other schools Hokuto attended kicked him out right off the bat without considering what happened, what led up to it, or why, even though she thanked them for letting him stay at Fushimi. But something the principal said made Aki wonder if Hokuto did have a chance at having a normal social life after all.

"Actually, Kamitsure-san, you should be thanking Yun-chan. She's the one who kept telling us to let Hokuto-kun stay and punish Nenji for causing all the ruckus. I tell you, your son is real lucky to have a great friend like her. She kept telling us over and over that he didn't mean to freak out like that and that Nemoto's to blame. I dare say she might be a real good influence on him, and I want to see what happens when they interact some more, since Yun-chan herself has some issues with socialization. Don't give up on your son, Kamitsure-san."

So that's why Hokuto can stay. Aki did see that Yun is a nice girl before, but for her to fervently and ardently convince the principal to let Hokuto stay simply because she knew that he would never lash out on purpose, and acknowledge his general humanity, despite Hokuto's belief that he's not human and the fact that he's a descendant of Saruto, the most hated man in all of Japan so far...it was too much for her, as other kids and adults who saw Hokuto lash out always ostracized him and instantly believed him to be nothing but a full-fledged monster regardless. Thankfully, because of how cruel Nenji has been to Hokuto and the fact that he started everything in the first place, as Yun ardently and persistently told everyone, he has been suspended for three whole weeks. His parents were told of what he did, and they have to keep him under house arrest for the same amount of time as well. All of this happened on Tuesday, the day after school re-opened.

Now it's Sunday, and the kids managed to get through that first week back in school rather fine after that, even though Seiko and Tomoka are now extremely bitter over what they consider to be Iniki's "betrayal." But at first, Seiko convinced herself that Yun somehow manipulated Iniki and tried to formulate another plan to humiliate her. Thankfully, her father, Yuuichi, overheard her talking to herself and immediately stepped in to take control, mostly because he heard that Seiko assaulted Yun upon getting into school. As a result, Seiko was also suspended from school, but only for a week. Yuuichi grounded Seiko for three months, not letting her have her computer, cell phone, nail polish, allowance, or anything that would give Seiko any form of contact with her posse. He also tried to monitor everything she did despite his job taking up most of his time and even went as far as to hire a babysitter, one of Yuuichi's friends who accepted and understood him, to watch her despite her age. Yes, Seiko complained about this constantly.

Other than that, the kids cherished the weekend like it was the best treasure they ever found underneath the sea. But one child used her weekend to look for something.

On Sunday morning, Minako, bothered with what Yun, Lucero, Otoya, and Riku told her and everyone else about why Saruto experimented on Hokuto the day after the incident, found herself glued to her computer. Salamon woke up and noticed Minako staring into her computer screen. The light from the sun outside lit up the room like a jack-o-lantern, so the glowing computer screen didn't bother Salamon much. The clock on Minako's night stand read 7:02 AM, so Salamon felt she needed to wake up anyway. But she did become curious as to why Minako would be on the computer right as she woke up, since she heard somewhere that if you get up at night and the first thing you do is stare at a computer screen, your brain is told that it's morning and you won't be able to sleep. Salamon untangled herself from Minako's purple blankets and sat herself up.

"Morning, Mina-chan..." Salamon murmured.

Weirdly enough, Minako didn't respond. Probably because Salamon's voice was too low for her to hear.

"What'cha doin'?" Salamon asked, increasing the volume of her voice a trifle, which caught Minako's attention this time, but not in the form of getting surprised or turning her head to look at her little puppy friend.

"I need to find something out," Minako replied.

"What do you want to find out?" Salamon asked as she flopped off of Minako's bed and walked over to the computer chair that Minako is sitting on right now.

"The full extent of Saruto's crimes," Minako answered. "I have a feeling he did much more than just randomly perform experiments on his own kid."

"Well, you can't just randomly decide you want to conduct experiments. You'd have to both raise and spend a lot of money and be very knowledgable about science and know which chemical mixes well with which. That, and you'd have to have some kind of plan if you want to pull something like that off successfully. Wan!" Salamon piped in.

"Exactly! And since they say Saruto used to work in some nuclear power plants in Cuba and had some involvement in those explosions, I thought I'd try looking those up," Minako said. "Ah! Here's something!"

Minako found a website detailing all it found on Saruto and his life, his ancestry, and everything else after that. Minako found this to be interesting and decided to read it out loud.

"It says here that Hizashino Saruto was born on January 22nd, 1960 in Shizuoka Prefecture, months before Disaster Prevention Day was established. His father, Hizashino Noriyasu, was a famous scientist and doctor in the Tokyo University of Science and his mother, Hizashino Kazuko, was just a normal housewife and homemaker. Both of Noriyasu's parents died in the Great Kanto Earthquake, and apparently because of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and persistent paranoid schizophrenia, he was cold and abusive towards his family, but the full extent of said abuse hasn't been determined at this point. As part of a college internship, Saruto took a trip to Cuba in 1982 and worked in a small, newly formed, and not very well known nuclear power plant despite Communist leader Fidel Castro's reign on Cuba at the time. Eyewitnesses say that Saruto allegedly tampered with the reactor turbines, causing the reactors to explode and kill about 150 people, most of whom were also Japanese college interns. There's also evidence that Saruto had been messing with some dangerous radioactive chemicals which also exploded and killed about 50 people, the majority being Cubans. Somehow, no one knows how, Saruto managed to not only survive the explosions, but he fled Cuba and returned to Japan, unscathed. But before all of this, he and many other college students managed to develop the first form of artificial intelligence. He was great friends with two particular people he went to college with: Akutagawa Wataru, also a certified scientist, and Hiroya Masaomi, who received a degree in engineering and computational programming. However, around the time he married a woman named Kamitsure Aki, he lost contact with them. Then, on March 20th, 2000, Saruto and their son, Hokuto, born just 12 days before, both disappeared. It was confirmed that Saruto kidnapped the 12 day old baby and went into hiding for nine years until Aki, Link, Masaomi, and a police officer managed to raid an old house in the woods of Saitama Prefecture where Saruto was seen conducting an unknown but inhumane experiment on Hokuto, then nine years old. How they managed to find the house was unknown, but local investigators say that Link got an anonymous tip telling them Saruto's location. After Saruto's arrest, he confessed to not only kidnapping Hokuto so long ago, but for the casualties at the power plants, escaping Cuban authorities, illegal experimentation, and 2000 counts of medical malpractice, all in the form of experimentation on his child. The court decided that just an arrest wasn't good enough: Saruto needed to be executed, and in a live crowd because of popular demand. On June 17th, 2009, Saruto was publicly executed by hanging at noon."

After reading most of the article, Minako found herself disgusted by what she read, so she minimized the website and turned away, putting a hand on her face, feeling a headache coming on. "Ugh. All of this madness is giving me a headache."

"All of that? Jeez, Link-san was right! Saruto-san really went to great lengths to try and do what he wanted, even if it meant putting his own son at risk!" Salamon said, surprised by what Minako read out loud. "But do people still hold public executions anymore?"

"Normally no, but Saruto was a wanted felon, and a huge manhunt started from Cuba all the way to Japan. The whole world wanted him dead for causing those explosions. People wanted him to be punished in the worst way possible," Minako explained.

"I guess even humans aren't totally pure and kind, not that I expected them to be. But one thing still bothers me. People keep saying bad things about Hokuto-kun behind his back, sometimes right in his face. I don't get it. Hokuto-kun was the victim, wasn't he? Saruto-san's the one who committed the crimes and did bad stuff to him, so why do most people hate Hokuto-kun when he didn't even do anything wrong?" Salamon asked, very confused.

"I'm not sure. Maybe the people who were affected by the explosions felt betrayed by Saruto, and now that he's dead, they can't tell him how they feel, so maybe it's more convenient for them to take their anger all out on Hokuto, who is a direct descendant of Saruto."

"That's not fair! Hokuto-kun's just a kid! He didn't do anything wrong! He doesn't deserve all of that!"

"I agree. He's a nice kid. He doesn't deserve that."

"Oh! Speaking of him, does it say anything about Hokuto-kun's monster form?"

"Hang on. I'll check," Minako looked at the web page again. But strangely enough, details about what Hokuto went through and what he became as a result of it isn't there. "There is a small section detailing Hokuto lashing out at the schools he got kicked out of. He had glowing red eyes and fangs, and his fingernails turned into claws. No one knows what caused his strange phenomena, how such a thing is possible, or why. It's believed that the experiments done by Saruto did this to him, but Hokuto won't tell anyone any details about what he went through. And...that's it."

"Don't scientists usually record their findings somewhere? Like in a book or a computer?" Salamon asked curiously.

"Usually they do, but Link-san said he couldn't find anything like that," Minako replied.

"I wonder if that's why Masaomi-san created that virus. Maybe he wanted to undo the damage Saruto-san did."

"I doubt it. If he wanted to stay out of matters regarding the Digital World, he wouldn't have gone as far as he did to make that thing. Besides, he wanted to kill all Digimon not because of Saruto, but because he hates the Digimon for supposedly kidnapping his daughter."

"That's sad..."

"But Masaomi-san never said anything about being involved in the raid, so I wonder why he participated in it anyway?" Minako asked herself.

"Maybe you can hold a Digimon Brigade meeting and invite them as special guests," Salamon suggested.

Minako's face lit up and she snapped her fingers. "That's a great idea, Salamon! You're a genius! I love you!" She chirped happily as she picked Salamon up and hugged her. Salamon did feel a little surprised by Minako's sudden glomping, but she didn't mind as this is a display of affection, the little rosy cheeked puppy is just happy that Minako is her usual cheerful self.

Then, Minako's face dimmed a little bit. "Oh, but I wonder if they'll have any free time today. They're adults, after all."

"Why don't you call Link-san?"

"I'd like to, but it's still rather early, and I don't want to wake him up."

"I think you should call him. Hokuto-kun's finally opened up as to why Saruto experimented on him, and it's likely Link-san doesn't know, so the sooner the better."

Minako had to admit, Salamon had a point. Despite being Saruto's friend and learning of his ambitions, Link was still kept in the dark about a lot of things, and considering how long ago it was they even created artificial intelligence in the first place, it was unlikely that the word Digimon existed back then. Heck, it was unlikely that anyone even knew that the Digital World in general existed back then. Perhaps Saruto discovered the Digimon and saw how they evolved into individual life forms and wanted to take advantage of this concept by using their data to help humanity evolve into something more powerful. Maybe that was why he experimented on Hokuto, to see if he could be the first human to truly "digivolve," if what she heard from Yun, Lucero, Otoya, and Riku is true. Not wanting to be patient anymore, Minako picked up her phone and dialed Link's number. After a few rings, she answered.

"Link-san? It's me, Minako. Do you mind if you come to a Digimon Brigade meeting later today? We found out some things and we feel you should know about them in person.

Salamon watched as Minako talked to Link through her digivice.

"I think we have an idea of why Saruto-san experimented on Hokuto, and we think you should know."

Silence.

"Also, can you ask Masaomi to come, too? I found a website about Saruto-san and it says here that you, Aki-san, Masaomi-san, and another person raided Saruto's lab. We want to know if Masaomi has any info on Saruto-san as well."

Silence.

"Sorry about that. I'm not trying to trouble you or anything. We just want to understand the full extent of Saruto's ambitions, and with this, maybe we can fit all the pieces together."

Silence.

"Okay. Thanks very much. We'll meet at the football field across from Katsura Elementary at noon. Is that alright?"

Silence.

"Great. Thanks! Bye!"

With that, Minako closed her digivice.

"What?! Hokuto's finally opened up?! I have to know what he told the kids!" Link exclaimed as he hung up the phone, shocked by this new revelation. Yes! This is what he had been waiting for all this time! To finally know the full extent of WHY Saruto experimented on him other than just wanting to turn humans into data! But then again, he slumped back on the couch, feeling a little drained. He put a hand on his mask. "But...these children are so persistent about this. They want Masaomi to know about this, too? What could telling him possibly do? He wants nothing to do with the Digital World. He made that very clear."

Link did not think telling Masaomi about this was a good idea. Masaomi attempted to create a powerful virus that would destroy the entire Digital World, which proved unsuccessful, and he was quite bitter about it. Link hadn't talked to him since then. While it is true that he and Masaomi participated in the raid, he remembered him saying that the only reason he participated was so he could see how low Saruto had fallen and see how his ambitions warped his mind and crippled him from the inside and out. But then again, it couldn't have been easy to construct MC Destroyer, especially if it meant creating it solely for the purpose of killing Digimon. To program something to kill a Digimon and a Digimon only, you'd have to have some of its data to use as a base or a blueprint. Perhaps Masaomi kept some of his findings. Perhaps those can be the key to Saruto's findings as well. Maybe telling Masaomi can be a good idea after all.

After about 15 minutes of thinking, Link picked up the phone and dialed Masaomi's number. After a few rings, he found an answer.

_"Hello?"_

"Masaomi? It's me, Wataru," Link's cheeks burned when he uttered his own name.

_"Hm? It's unlike you to both call me and use your first name. What is it?"_

"The children...they want you and I to attend one of their gatherings. They say Hokuto's opened up on why Saruto experimented on him."

_"And you're telling me this why?"_

"I think knowing might help us understand the full extent of Saruto's ambition and why he went as far as to use Hokuto as a guinea pig for his experiments."

_"What does this have to do with me?"_

"You programmed MC Destroyer to kill Digimon, right? To program something to kill a Digimon, you'd have to have some of it's data to use as a base or blueprint, right?"

_"Yes. What does...oh! Oh! I remember now! Ugh! Why have I forgotten?! I DID notice Saruto's mark as I constructed MC Destroyer!"_

"You did? What do you mean by mark?"

_"As I was looking at the data from the Digimon that I...well, y'know..."_ Link could tell from the tone of his voice that Masaomi seemed to regret killing Boarmon and using his data as a blueprint for his program. _"Anyway, I noticed a strange algorithm that supposedly allowed the Digimon to evolve beyond their originated specifications, much farther than the forms in which we discovered them back in our college days, and become individual lifeforms. It had Saruto's name on it in Morse Code," _Masaomi explained.

"I think this will really help in understanding why Saruto kept on wanting to develop the Digital World. So...do you want to go? If you don't want to, you don't have to."

_"I'll go. I have nothing better to do today anyway. I'm off work."_

"Alright. I'm sorry to trouble you with this."

_"Does Aki know about this?"_

"No, and I don't want to tell her. I have a feeling she won't take it well, and she's already having a hard time just trying to raise Hokuto."

_"I figured as much. She's been through enough already. But won't telling her give her a better understanding of what Hokuto needs?"_

"I don't know. I wish I had all the answers, but I don't, even though Saruto saw me as his greatest friend and confidant."

_"I know. Me too. What time's the meeting?"_

"At noon. They're meeting at the big football field across from Katsura Elementary School. Do you know where that is?"

_"I do. I used to take Hazuru to watch the games, but she always complained and whined about not liking it. I'll be there. Thanks for telling me all of this. Bye."_

With that, Link hung up the phone.

"What's up, Link-san?" Koromon asked.

"Hokuto's opening up about what happened to him. I'm going to find out the full extent of Saruto's ambition," Link replied.

However, even Link and Masaomi weren't prepared for what they were going to hear at the meeting.

At promptly noon, everyone, even Link and Masaomi, arrived at the empty but vast football field. Masaomi could feel his heart sag upon seeing this big, open field before him. He could see the young football players running across the field, trying to get that perfect touchdown. He could also see the young cheerleaders, the people on the bleachers cheering, the coaches, the food stands, everything. He remembered enjoying these little games and becoming exasperated when his daughter moaned and whined and complained and acted miserable all throughout the game. Yes, Hazuru did not like football games, but it was mostly because she couldn't do what she wanted to do, as he remembered. But as the kids and Digimon noticed, not everyone is here.

"Where are Hokuto-kun and Chiriko-chan?" Otoya asked.

"They couldn't come. They had to take Chii-chan to the doctor so she could get her cast removed," Yun explained.

"Who's Chiriko?" Kosuke asked.

"She's Hokuto-kun's cousin, and she has a Digimon!" Yun explained.

"How come you never told us before?" Melody asked.

"I wanted it to be a nice surprise," Yun said.

"I wish I got to meet her," Biyomon piped in.

"Me too. I wonder what she's like," Lunamon said.

"I hope Hokuto-kun's alright," Patamon said.

"Why is HE here?" Melody sneered, giving Masaomi a dirty look. Strangely enough, he didn't react at all. He expected this.

"I asked him to come. Considering this is about Hokuto, I thought he'd be interested in knowing what we have to say to them as well. I read on a website that he was also involved in that lab raid," Minako explained as calmly as possible.

"How do we know we're not walking into a trap? How do we know he's not gonna betray us and try to kill the Digimon again?" Melody asked.

"Can we just start the meeting already?" Coronamon complained.

"So...what did you want to talk to us about?" Link asked.

Seeing that this is the perfect time to reveal it, Yun went and did just that. Unsurprisingly, Link and Masaomi were overcome with shock, as the kids could tell from the way their eyes widened and their jaws literally dropped to their feet.

"WHAT?! Saruto wanted to turn his own kid into a Digimon?!" Both Link and Masaomi yelped in perfect, simultaneous unison.

Masaomi facepalmed. "Oh God. If Saruto played a part in revolutionizing the birth of the Digital World, then...this is more serious than even we expected!"

"So that's what he meant when he said he wanted to turn humans into data..." Link muttered after calming down a bit. "Wow, Saruto really was serious about it since he went as far as he did."

"He also said that he did it in case something bad happened to the real world," Otoya piped in.

"Wow. Saruto-san must have been really desperate if he wanted to turn all humans into Digimon," Labramon piped in.

"I know there are Digimon who look like humans and have most of their physical characteristics and capabilities, but...the idea of a human being turned into a Digimon...I really don't think I can wrap my head around something like that!" Lopmon said, putting both paws on both sides of her head to get her point across.

"Me too! Just the thought of it is making me dizzy, kyu!" Cutemon chirped.

"That sort of explains why he (Hokuto) goes mad sometimes," Rena said.

"Yeah. Something like that just isn't normal," Lunamon said.

"Yes. That's true. Thanks for telling us this, children. This gives us a much better understanding of what Saruto really wanted to do," Link told them with a sad smile on his masked face.

"But there's still something I don't understand. Why did Saruto choose this as his ambition? Couldn't he have gone for something more realistic? Something that wouldn't have put his life in danger?" Masaomi asked.

"I think he chose to immerse himself in science and technology as a way to get away from the problems he was facing. He took refuge in it, I think," Link said.

"I read somewhere that he was abused by his father, but no one knows the full extent of it," Minako explained.

The words father and abuse made Aria listen carefully. _'Just like me!' _She thought. Even though it had been a long time since she had been hurt by Kinzo, the painful memories still linger in her young mind.

"He told me about some of it. He said his father often called him the devil's spawn and often drugged him to rid him of the supposed evil that lived within him," Link said.

"Pfft! Yeah! Look where that got him in life!" Melody spat.

"Mel! Let him explain!" Rena scolded, appalled by Melody's rude and inopportune response just now.

"Talk about backfiring," Yun muttered under his breath so Rena wouldn't scold her too.

"He also said he frequently locked him in the closet, beat him with a rattlesnake whip, publicly berated him in front of anyone and everyone, and burned him with cigarette butts for just about anything, from getting a scrape on his knee from playing to reading comic books. Saruto was a huge fan of Batman and Osamu Tezuka, and considering Tezuka-san practiced medicine, I think that's how Saruto cultivated his ambition for science and medicine as well," Link explained. "Noriyasu-san also frequently abused and berated his wife for not being the perfect image of a wife that was expected in that time period. Saruto told me that his mother was quite a woman, who would much rather draw comics, write stories, craft little toys out of junk, and be lost in her own lofty dreamland, but women were expected to be very attentive housewives, not allowed to do anything but remain in the kitchen and raise the children. Noriyasu wanted everyone in that family to deny themselves and be his slaves."

"That's stupid!" Terriermon piped in. "No wonder Saruto-san came out the way he did! He's been told to shut up and be something others want him to be instead of what he himself wants to be! If I was told to not be myself because I don't meet their standards, I'd want to rebel against them too!"

"Me too," Yun said.

"Me three," Lopmon said.

"Mm-hmm!" Everyone else nodded their heads in agreement.

"Didn't Noriyasu-san's parents die in the Great Kanto Earthquake?" Minako asked.

"Yes, they did, from what Saruto told me. That's why Noriyasu came out so cruel, because he never had anyone take care of him, and the people that did adopt him wanted him to deny himself as well. Plus the orphanages he lived in weren't the best," Link said. "However, one thing I can say for sure: Saruto was nothing like his father. Considering how utterly flawless Hokuto came out when we saved him, I can tell Saruto raised that boy like his own."

"It's no wonder Hokuto-kun always says Saruto-san isn't bad," Otoya said.

"Speaking of Digimon, as I was programming MC Destroyer, I noticed an algorithm within the data I gathered from...y'know, and it had Saruto's name on it in Morse code," Masaomi said.

"You say you created the Digital World, but did it really exist back in your college days?" Shunji asked.

"Technically, no. Not in our college days, no. But Saruto and I were the only ones who continued on with the artificial intelligence project and we developed the Digital World once the world wide web was established. But it seems Saruto developed it even further, if what you're saying is true, Masaomi," Link said.

"Yes. That may very well be. But there's still much to be understood, so we'll look into it further," Masaomi replied solemnly.

"So...the meeting's ended!" Yun exclaimed.

"Already? That was fast," Lucero said.

Still having some time on their hands, the kids and Digimon decided to remain at the field so they could play while Link and Masaomi left. But Isao and Bearmon noticed Yun, Lucero, and the rabbits leaving early.

"Hey! Why are you all leaving already?" Isao asked.

"Yeah! Don't you want to stay here and play some more?" Bearmon asked.

"We're gonna go check on Hokuto-kun and see how he's doing," Yun said before she, Lucero, and the rabbits left the football field.

Much to their surprise, the football field is a lot farther from the Kamitsure house than they expected. However, they decided that this would be a good day to go for a nice long walk there, since the sun's out, the sky is blue and clear, and the humidity is rather low, though the heat still irritated Yun.

"Yun? I understand you're concerned about Hokuto, and I'm happy that you want to help him, but maybe you should have stayed at the football field. It's been a long time since you've played with the kids without a care in the world, and your socialization skills have improved dramatically," Lopmon told her.

"I must agree with Lopmon. Besides, Chiriko-dono is visiting, so I think the Kamitsures want to spend some alone time with her," Lucero told her.

"I know, but this whole turning a kid into a Digimon thing is...it's so weird! I just don't want Hokuto-kun's family to think he's a monster and throw him out into the street!" Yun exclaimed.

"I don't think they're the type to even think about that," Lopmon said.

"How do you know?" Yun asked, sounding very suspicious.

"Aki-san seems nice enough, and considering she's been separated from him for quite some time, I think she'd actually want to raise him as her own son," Lopmon said.

"Yeah. You've kinda been to their house a lot already. Maybe it's time for a little break?" Terriermon asked.

Yun sighed. But as it would turn out, they wouldn't need to go to the Kamitsures after all.

"Hi Yun-chan! Hi Lucero-kun!"

Chiriko's sweet voice pulled them out of their reverie. A very jovial and jubilant looking Chiriko, with Hokuto, Kudamon, and FanBeemon trotting behind her, suddenly appeared right in front of them, just as sunny and bright as the sun in the sky. Yun noticed that Chiriko's wearing a sleeveless pale pink shirt, a beige skirt with lace ruffles on the hem, short white socks, her brown shoes, and dark yellow beads in her tiny little braids. Yun noticed that she not only doesn't have her cast on anymore, but she's carrying a large dark blue case.

"Hi Chii-chan! Hi Hokuto-kun!" Yun greeted them sweetly.

"Hi Yun..." Hokuto muttered.

"Hiya friends! Sorry we couldn't make it to your little shin-dig," FanBeemon said.

"That's alright. We didn't talk about anything important anyway," Terriermon said. He felt that since it was about Hokuto, he didn't think it was a good idea to let Hokuto in on it lest they hurt his self-esteem even more, so he kept quiet. That, and he wasn't sure if telling Chiriko about Hokuto's entire history was a good idea or not considering Chiriko's only met Hokuto for the very first time, and he didn't want to take that risk.

"What are you two doing out and about?" Lopmon asked.

"Kimi's misbehaving again, and the whole house is in discord," Kudamon piped in.

"That can't be good, kyu," Cutemon said.

"I see thine cast is gone," Lucero said, noting that Chiriko's arm is no longer in a cast.

Chiriko lit up even more when the subject was brought up. "I know, right?! I am sooo glad to finally be able to use my arm again! Look, I can play my violin now! Wanna hear me play something?"

"Can we?" Lopmon asked.

"Sure! I really miss my violin! Here! I'll play something upbeat for the occasion," Chiriko said as she set her case down, opened it, and pulled out a sleek-looking violin and the bow that comes with it.

"What are we celebrating?" Terriermon asked.

"The fact that my cast is gone, that's what!" Chiriko retorted cheerfully as she got her violin and bow set.

As promised, she really did play something rather upbeat and cheerful, something that really got the kids and Digimon, even the normally timid and timorous Hokuto, swaying back and forth with silly smiles on their faces. Yun could tell it was country, not classical. Lucero was the only one with his eyes open, and he was mesmerized by how fast Chiriko's arm moved and how seamlessly the bow moved from string to string, without missing one beat or going out of rhythm.

"She's great, isn't she?" FanBeemon asked Cutemon.

"She sure is, kyu! I'd never be able to do something like that, kyu!" Cutemon replied happily.

"Ugh!" All of a sudden, the music came to a sudden stop, and everyone opened their eyes with alarm to find Chiriko clutching her wrist with the hand that has the bow in it with a contorted, pained look on her face.

"You alright?" Hokuto asked with a worried tone in his voice.

"Y-Yeah..." Chiriko said as the pain subsided. She decided to put her violin back in the case. "I guess I should have waited a few days before going back to it. The doctor did tell me to be careful after all."

"You're awesome at the violin, Chii-chan!" Yun exclaimed happily.

"I wholeheartedly agree. Your violin playing is magnificent!" Lopmon piped in with a smile on her chubby little brown face.

"Your skills are unrivaled, and your passion for your music clearly shows in your playing," Kudamon said with a smile on his own long white face.

"What's that song you played just now?" Terriermon asked.

"Dunno. I just heard it on a commercial one too many times," Chiriko said as she locked her case and picked it up with the hand that isn't throbbing in pain (she's not in pain anymore, though).

"Do you think we should return home?" Hokuto asked.

"I wouldn't mind," Chiriko said. "But FanBeemon's big and she might be seen by people. I don't want people getting scared."

"Try de-digivolving her. I'll show you," Yun said. "Gimme your digivice real quick."

"Okay?" Chiriko, confused, handed Yun her digivice anyway.

Yun opened it up and showed Chiriko the buttons. Chiriko's eyes widened and she became mesmerized. "Wow! That's so cool!"

"See this button here? This lets you de-digivolve a Digimon on your own. Try it!" Yun told her.

Chiriko promptly pressed the button. FanBeemon became enveloped in a white light and shrunk, officially de-digivolving back into Puroromon.

"Wow! It worked!" Chiriko exclaimed, surprised by this new revelation.

"Now people will think she's just a stuffed animal," Yun said.

"I don't mind if people see me!" Puroromon piped in.

"But there are people who'll freak out if they see you moving and talking," Terriermon said.

After that, Yun, Lucero, Chiriko, Hokuto, Lopmon, Cutemon, Terriermon, Puroromon, and Kudamon decided to walk away from the football field and back into town. They talked about lots of fun things, like anime, manga, games, music, Chiriko's life back at home (her school, the friends she made, her dreams, her hobbies, her favorite foods, etc.), the pros and cons of having a Digimon, etc. Yun found she quite liked this girl and her jovial personality, even though from what she's heard she's normally very shy.

That last part became hard to believe when Chiriko asked Yun a very unexpected question.

"Hey, Yun-chan? Sorry if this sounds weird, but can I ask you something?" Chiriko asked.

"Yeah. What is it?" Yun replied.

"I'm not asking to be mean or anything, but...are you autistic?" Chiriko asked.

_'Are you autistic?'_Yun suddenly froze in her tracks. Even though Chiriko warned her in advance that she said it was going to sound weird and that she wasn't asking it to be rude (and Yun could tell that Chiriko isn't a bad person and that she didn't ask the question to put her on the spot), the question in itself still threw her off guard. While it is true that Yun knows that she's autistic, she doesn't quite understand any more than that. She's known because she's heard her parents talk about her using that word lots of times, and considering she has hypersensitive hearing, she's heard this more times than she could count.

_"I'm sorry. She's autistic."_

_"Don't worry. She's autistic."_

_"Don't mind her. She's autistic."_

_"No. That's not it. She's autistic."_

_"She's autistic. That's why she does this stuff sometimes, but it's not to be rude or bad."_

_"She's autistic! That's not the same as being difficult!"_

_"She's autistic. That's why she has trouble socializing."_

How could she respond to Chiriko's question when she's still having a hard time understanding her own disorder herself? Before she turned eleven, she never really thought anything of it and assumed it was normal...but now she's steadily learning more about it, and now a girl she barely knows is asking her about it in public! Even the kids and Digimon could see that she's looking quite stunned and anxious about what Chiriko just asked her.

"Uh...yeah?" That was all Yun managed to blurt out, and even she could tell it sounded rather half-hearted or forced.

"Oh! I didn't offend you, did I? I'm sorry! It's just...you remind me of this girl I go to violin classes with when I'm not in school. She's shy and afraid of loud noise like you are, and she gets antsy when something gets changed suddenly. That's why. I really wasn't trying to be mean. Honest," Chiriko explained, looking guilty for asking it just now.

"It's okay. It's just...my parents always tell people that, but...I'm not sure what it is myself, and..." Yun said, feeling bad that she made Chiriko feel sad with her monotone response.

_'From the looks of it, there's still much about her disorder even she doesn't know. Does Hisako-dono ever plan on telling her more about it?' _Lucero thought.

"What's this girl like?" Terriermon blurted out.

"You want to know? Her name's-" Chiriko was about to say something until she saw a shadow loom over her.

She turned around to find a rather rotund woman staring down at them with a rather austere and scrutinizing look on her face. She has straight jet black hair curled at the ends, and her deep blue eyes donned a very angry sheen. She's wearing a long-sleeved light purple shirt with a darker purple skirt that looks as though it would belong to something an office lady would wear, along with maroon high heels. There's a big birthmark at the bottom corner of her mouth, underneath her lower lip, and her pudgy face is full of wrinkles.

"Umm...can we help you?" Chiriko asked upon seeing this big woman stare them down.

"Which one of you is Kamitsure Hokuto?" The woman asked.

The kids looked at each other, not sure what to do...except Hokuto, who reluctantly raised his hand.

"Me," Hokuto muttered.

Thinking that the woman might hurt Hokuto, Yun stood in between them so she could stop her in case she was about to.

She was right.

Unfortunately, seeing her ploy, the woman vehemently pushed Yun out of the way, causing her to fall onto the concrete!

"Ow!" Yun yelped.

But it didn't stop there. The woman then slapped Hokuto so hard that not only did he fall onto the concrete as well, his glasses fell off and bounced onto the sidewalk! The woman walked toward his glasses with intent to step on them, but Chiriko saw this and grabbed them as soon as the woman's high heeled feet got close.

"What was that for?! He didn't do anything!" Chiriko yelled, appalled by this old woman's inappropriate behavior. How can any woman her age slap a child like that in public? But the woman continued to stare Hokuto down with the most choleric look on her beet red face.

"You deserved that, you worthless lab rat! My son is dead because of your father! He had everything going for him until that rotten father of yours robbed him of his life in that power plant! How can scum like you possibly live with yourselves?! It's a good thing that rotten father of yours was hanged! He deserved it! Devil's spawn like you shouldn't be allowed to exist, and don't think I'll show any pity for you just because your destiny is to be a guinea pig for experiments!" The woman screamed loudly, her cracked voice getting raspier with every yell.

Nobody could believe what they were seeing. Even the Digimon were appalled, but they didn't dare say anything lest they get found out. A full grown woman is actually singling Hokuto out and accusing him of his father's crimes, even though he personally had no involvement with them? And his destiny is to be a guinea pig for experiments? What does this woman know? Yun could feel the blood rush to her face. There was NO way she was going to let calumny like this poison Hokuto's mind, so despite the bleeding scab she got on her elbow and the pain that jolted up her spine, she stomped right over to that woman as Chiriko gave Hokuto his glasses and gave her a good stare down, along with some flowery rhetoric of her own.

"Hokuto-kun's NOT worthless or scum or devil's spawn or a lab rat! You don't know anything! Look, I'm sorry about your son, and he didn't deserve to die early, but just because Saruto-san committed lots of crimes doesn't mean Hokuto-kun's gonna do the same thing! What is it with you people thinking everybody who's related to a criminal just _has _to be hated just because they exist?! And why take it all out on Hokuto-kun?! He didn't do anything wrong! He's just a kid! He wasn't there when the power plant exploded so how would he know about it?! Don't yell at him or hate him for stuff he had no involvement with, you overstuffed turkey!" Yun yelled, not wanting to let this woman run scott free for hitting Hokuto just now.

Now it's the woman's turn to be appalled. "Overstuffed turkey?! Of all the brazen-how dare you talk to your elders that way! Your parents should discipline you severely, you whelp!"

"YOU'RE the one who should be disciplined because you acted very inappropriately by hitting Hokuto-kun! And in public! That's not proper conduct!" Yun snapped back with some fire in her shrill voice, remembering some words Hisako would say to her and Ayaka when they often did inappropriate things in public.

"Come on! Let's go to the police station!" Chiriko said as she got Hokuto on his feet. With that, all four children ran away. But the woman decided to throw in some final words.

"The Kamitsures are a menace to society! All of them! They should all be executed! The world will be better off without them! You don't deserve to exist, you monster!"

Lucero rolled his eyes. "What a psycho."

"I know, right?" Terriermon said, agreeing with Lucero.

It took them a bit of a while to get there, but they made it to the police station and told the officers there about the fat woman who assaulted Hokuto just now. Since Chiriko, according to her, has a great memory for faces, she gave an accurate, very detail-precise description on the woman. So did Yun, since she relies more on visuals due to her autism. Thankfully, one of the officers knew right off who they were talking about and set out to track her down. Another officer called the Kamitsure house and asked Aki to come pick them up, along with telling her what happened. Hokuto sat on a chair, looking very listless. Seeing this, Yun felt her heart sag. She wondered if he dealt with bullying like this in the two schools he was kicked out of. She ambled over to him and put a hand in his.

"That woman's wrong. You're not scum or devil's spawn, and you deserve to exist," Yun told him as gently as she could, but Hokuto grimly shook his head.

"No. She's right. My destiny is to be a guinea pig for experiments. I am a monster," Hokuto muttered.

"No! You're not a monster! She's wrong! Don't listen to her! She's just being stupid!" Yun exclaimed, becoming very irritated by Hokuto's obstinacy in his belief that he really is a monster who doesn't deserve to exist.

She wanted to go on, but Aki burst through the door, looking very frantic.

"Hokuto! Are you alright?!" Aki yelped as she saw Hokuto and hugged him tightly. "Thank goodness you're okay."

"We saw some fat lady hit Hokuto-kun and call him some bad names. But Yun-chan gave her a fistful, right Yun-chan?" Chiriko told her.

Yun blushed. "She was just being stupid, that's all."

After a short amount of time, Aki took the kids back to her house. As Yun watched Kimi and Nene try to kill each other yet again, Aki suddenly approached her.

"Thanks for always being a good friend to Hokuto-kun," Aki told her.

Yun shook her head. "I don't think I'm a good friend at all. I'm pretty stupid. But I do think it's stupid for you guys to be hated just because someone did some bad things. Just because they did it doesn't mean everyone else is gonna do them as well. I mean, really! They make everything sound like those cheesy melodramatic anime!"

"Can I...ask you something?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you ever see Hokuto...his eyes, did they glow red? And did he have fangs and claws?"

"Yeah. Twice."

Twice? Aki couldn't believe what she heard. _'What?! She saw it happen _twice_?! And after all of that, she still sticks by him?!' _Aki thought before blurting out another question right afterward. "You don't hate him for it, do you?"

"No. Not at all."

"I mean...weren't you afraid when you saw it happen?"

"Yeah, I was afraid, but that thing isn't Hokuto-kun to me. It's something else inside him. I know he doesn't like it, and I know he doesn't want that thing in him either," It's here that Yun decided to be bold herself. She knew Hisako wouldn't approve of her asking this, but she felt she needed to get this out right here and now, and she just couldn't wait any longer. "Sorry this sounds weird, but...I'm just hoping you don't hate him for it. I know the real Hokuto-kun's nice and sweet and intelligent, and he'd never hurt anyone on purpose. He's a nice person, and my friend. I hope you get that and don't hate him for something he doesn't want."

Aki could see that her vision is blurring and her eyes began to feel like they were drowning. She tried to hold back the tears, but in the end, they penetrated the barriers and slithered out. Yun saw this and gasped a little.

"Oh no? Did I say something bad? I'm sorry!" Yun pleaded, immediately regretting saying what she did.

Aki wiped the tears away on her arm. "No no. It's not you. I'm just so happy...that you're so accepting and understanding to a point where you see past his problem. I'm so glad I met you and Hisako-chan. Hokuto's very lucky to have you as his friend."

_'Mom's right. I really need to shut my mouth. I wish I was born mute. Or deaf even,' _Yun thought, punishing herself for making Aki sad, even though Aki's telling her how sweet she is.

"And you're right. It's wrong to hate someone for something someone else did. It's like telling a deaf person that they're worthless just because they can't hear. That's not a nice thing to say to anyone," Aki said.

"Speaking of deaf people, I wonder how my friends Shione-chan and Mikuni-chan are doing? I haven't heard from them in a while..." Yun muttered to herself, wondering why she hasn't seen Shione, Mikuni, and Moosemon around.

She'd find her answer sooner than she thought.

_"You worthless lab rat! My son is dead because of your father! He had everything going for him until that rotten father of yours robbed him of his life in that power plant! How can scum like you possibly live with yourselves?! It's a good thing that rotten father of yours was hanged! He deserved it! Devil's spawn like you shouldn't be allowed to exist, and don't think I'll show any pity for you just because your destiny is to be a guinea pig for experiments!"_

The fat woman's words continued to echo in Hokuto's mind, even as he tried to block them out by burying himself into his pillow and bed. The sound of the fat woman's raspy voice proved to be stronger than even Kimi's high, screechy voice, which is still bellowing in the house, even as Kantaro and Airi scold her to no avail. Not even Kudamon could deny that Hokuto is feeling very down-trodden by not just the fat woman, but by anyone who calls him out for Saruto's crimes.

"Hokuto...don't believe what those people say about you. You're your own person. You're not Saruto, so you shouldn't live your life by what others say about you," Kudamon told him.

Hokuto didn't say anything in response. But something did catch his attention, however. He heard his door slide open, and he pulled his head out of the pillows to see who's coming in.

Much to his surprise, it turned out to be none other than Nene. Her head of curly cat-tail colored hair looked a bit more ragged than usual, as some of her bobbing curls stuck up in weird places. Her brown eyes looked sad and scared, like a baby animal that got separated from its mother. Her pale green flowery dress didn't match her somber disposition, and her big pony doll was being squeezed in her left arm. Yoshi trailed behind her, also looking a little forlorn.

"Nene..." Hokuto muttered as he sat up. Nene stood in the middle of the room, not looking like she wants to come any closer. But it's not out of fear or hesitation.

"Niichan? Can we sit with you?" Nene asked in a sad-sounding voice.

"Where's mom? Don't you usually sit with her?" Hokuto asked back.

"She's busy yelling at Kimi. Can we sit with you?" Nene replied, then asked again.

If she asked Hokuto this when he first met Yun, he would have declined right off because he was still trying to get used to her, and back then she didn't behave as well. But over the course of a few months, even he could see that Nene's attitude and manners have improved dramatically, to the point where she's become very aware of the reactions of others around her. She handles situations appropriately now, she asks people for help, she talks to them, she socializes with others without making a fuss, and she's even showing a dislike for Kimi's behavior, as noted here. Hokuto hardly recognized her now. Seeing her sad face, he felt sorry for the little girl and her younger brother. Hokuto smiled and held his hand out.

"Okay. Come sit with me," Hokuto muttered gently.

Nene and Yoshi lit up, climbed onto the bed, and sat with him. Nene sat on Hokuto's left side while Yoshi sat on Hokuto's right side. He felt warm inside when they snuggled up to him, smiling like they finally found a sanctuary. But in his heart, he wondered if he really deserved to have people snuggling up to him.


	93. Voices Unheard

EPISODE 93: Voices Unheard

On Monday, Harima Mikuni sat in front of her desk, looked into her big mirror, and spent quite a lot of time braiding the hair strands that hung over her ears. It's still rather early yet, as the green, yellow, and purple flower clock on her wall read 6:48 AM. The sun is just about to throw her sunbeams into her room as Mikuni continued to braid the strands of hair meticulously. Her room is very cheery and bright, with pale yellow walls, white, transparent, muslin curtains donning her window like the lace on the hem of a wedding dress, a light brown dresser, a light brown desk, what she's sitting at right now, and a bed with beige pillows and a beige bed spread with sunflowers, cats, and little suns embroidered all over it. There's lots of stuffed animals laying around her room, like bunnies, kittens, and even anime character mascots. Some of them are covering her mint green, violet, and beige rug. Mikuni's tan school bag, cell phone, and many notebooks lay scattered on her bed, along with some clothes she has out, such as a short sleeved, pale pink shirt and a pair of rosy red overalls.

Finally, at 7:10 AM, Mikuni finally finished the braids. Two tiny little braids protruded from both sides of her hair, hanging right next to both sides of her face, only reaching down to her chin, no further. Mikuni's sea blue eyes lit up upon seeing how well her braids came out in the end. She wondered if they'd look cuter with some ribbons, as she didn't feel the little black hair pieces she put on them would work. She remembers keeping lots of little ribbons in one of the drawers of her desk, so she pulled one of the drawers open. It revealed a huge mountain of ribbons and bows of all sizes, big and small, in all the colors of the rainbow, and then some. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, white, mint green, beige, light blue, dark orange, turquoise, dark green, lavender, salmon pink, polka dotted, striped, embroidered, any color you name, she has it. She pulled out a small pair of black ribbons. No, black isn't cute. She put them away. Light purple? No, she already wore them last week. Blue? No, they're getting dirty. Yellow? No, she already wore them yesterday. Olive green? Ew! Gross! It wouldn't go well with her outfit, so she threw them back in. Pale cotton candy pink? It goes with her pink shirt, and pink is cute, so why not? Mikuni put the little pink bows at the ends of her braids. Yes! They really do look cute! Mikuni decided to wear the pink ribbons today.

As she agonized over what ribbons to wear, she failed to notice Shione coming into her room. Mikuni can't hear her come in anyway since she's deaf. Shione came in wearing a white sleeveless shirt covered by a small beige jacket, a dark blue jean skirt, some dark brown socks, and red and white sneakers. A purple hat covered a small amount of her pale brown hair, but it's unlikely that the rest of her hair could ever fit into that purple hat of hers. She very slowly approached Mikuni once she put on her pink ribbons and lit up over how cute they looked and very gently tapped her shoulder. Despite not being able to hear, Mikuni could still feel things, and she definitely felt Shione's touch and turned around to see her sister looking down at her.

"Good morning," Shione told her while signing.

_"Morning, Shio-Neechan!"_ Mikuni told her in sign, since she didn't have her cell phone on her right now.

"Ooh! Your hair looks cute today," Shione said.

Mikuni blushed and smiled at the same time. _"I'm cosplaying as Pollyanna today!"_

"I see. Well breakfast is ready, so you better eat it before it gets cold," Shione told her.

_"Is Himari-Neechan up yet?"_ Mikuni asked.

"No. She's still sleeping in. She's so lazy! Mom made your favorite: chocolate chip pancakes with strawberry syrup, bananas, and chocolate milk," Shione told her.

_"Okay!"_ Mikuni signed as Shione left the room.

Feeling excited, Mikuni pulled off her beige pajamas and threw on her pink shirt and red overalls. Once she finished putting them on, she saw herself in the mirror. She really did look like Pollyanna! She felt glad that she decided to dress like this today. She grabbed her cell phone and ran into the kitchen. She saw her mother, a woman with long, curly light brown hair like her and her sister and blue eyes dressed in a grey office lady outfit, and hugged her.

"Oh!" The lady yelped upon seeing this pink and red mass glomp her from behind. Mikuni looked up at her and gave her a big, flashy smile, showing off her pearly white teeth. The woman smiled and rubbed Mikuni's head of hair.

"Good morning, sweetie. Breakfast is on the table so you better get ready," The woman told her while signing. Mikuni nodded, leaped to the table, and politely began consuming her breakfast. She started with the bananas first since they're easy to eat. She noticed that Shione and her father are at the table with her, but her father is looking rather grumpy, even as he's drinking his black coffee.

_"Good morning, dad!"_ Mikuni signed, but her father didn't seem to pay any attention. Mikuni felt a little disheartened by his ignoring her, even though she could tell that he wasn't ignoring her on purpose, so she cut some of her little pancakes and began chewing them one by one.

"I see you're looking cheerful today. What has you all Pollyanna happy?" Shione asked.

Mikuni smiled and began signing like crazy, her little hands and arms flying all over the place. _"Tamaru-sensei's coming back today!"_

"Really? That's nice. Why did she leave again?" Shione asked as she took a bite out of a banana.

_"She was helping her sister with her babies,"_ Mikuni replied.

"Babies, huh? That must be tiring," Shione said.

"Girls? Can we not talk about babies in this house, please? We're dealing with enough trouble as it is, and we don't need anymore piling up," The father said rather grumpily.

"She's just talking about her teacher coming back, that's all," Shione told him, not wanting to exacerbate his temper. Thankfully he didn't respond after that, as he sipped his coffee while reading the newspaper.

_"I don't like Masaka-sensei. She thinks we're all retarded or stupid!"_ Mikuni signed.

"How so?" Shione asked.

_"She keeps teaching us the alphabet over and over and over again! We haven't got past the letter B! She talks to us like we're babies, she plays stupid baby music on the radio every single morning, and even though most of us try to tell her we know the stuff already, she tells us to shut up! It's been that way for weeks now!"_ Mikuni explained, looking quite miffed upon signing all of this.

"Seriously?! Mom! Mikuni said-" Shione was about to tell her mother what Mikuni just told her, but the mother looked at the clock on the wall and looked frantic.

"Oh no! I'm going to be late! Sorry dear, you'll have to take the girls to school today. I'll see you later today, girls!" The mother said as she got her car keys and burst out the front door.

"Bye, honey," The father replied rather grumpily.

Both Shione and Mikuni sighed grimly.

"She's getting busier and busier," Shione said as she finished her chocolate milk.

_"I wish she could spend some time with us,"_ Mikuni signed.

"I agree," Shione replied.

"HIMARI! GET YOUR LAZY BUTT OUTTA BED OR YOU'LL MISS THE DANG BUS!" The father suddenly yelled upon finishing his coffee, causing Shione to cover her ears.

Not wanting to get caught up in any conflict, Mikuni quickly finished her breakfast, put it all in the sink, and rushed back to her bedroom to get ready. She put on a pair of black socks and red and white sneakers, put her notebooks, some pencils, some papers, and a manga in her bag, and zipped everything up. She promised herself that this is going to be a good day, and she wasn't going to let anything dampen it, no matter what. Besides, Miss Tamaru is supposed to come back today. Everything will be just fine, and school will be back to normal.

"Need me to take you to school, Shione?" The father asked grumpily.

"No thanks, Dad. I can ride my bike there," Shione told him.

"You better make sure no one steals it, 'cause we paid good money for that bike, and these days, money doesn't grow on trees!" The father told her rather sternly, which made Shione recoil.

"I won't. Really," Shione said as she put on a sparkly purple helmet. _'I wonder if maybe I should ride Moosemon to school, since Dad's always worrying about people stealing my bike. I wish he'd get off our backs already,'_ Shione thought.

But in the end, she rode her bike to school anyway. As Mikuni waited for her dad to get himself ready to drive her to school, she saw her older sister, Himari, walk into the dining room. Immediately, Himari and her father started arguing. Even though she couldn't hear any of it (and she's glad that she can't), she could tell from the way their contorted faces looked, their bodies moved and flailed around, and how big and flappy their mouths are getting that things are looking very intense. She didn't bother to read their lips or make out what they were saying so she tried to focus on watching TV.

Thankfully, the argument didn't last long, even though their father came out even grumpier than ever. He motioned for Mikuni to follow him to his dark blue Mercedes Benz. Promptly, she hopped in and watched the scenery go by as her father drove. It doesn't take long for them to reach Katsura Elementary School, and as soon as they arrived at the front of the school, Mikuni said goodbye to her father and leaped out, happy to be away from Himari and the yelling that has been going on in the house for many months now. As she began looking around for her classmates, she watched as the normal kids around her played on the blacktop. They ran around, played four square, played jump rope, talked and gossiped amongst themselves, etc. Mikuni was so mesmerized that she failed to notice a boy running into her and causing her to fall onto the concrete.

"Watch where you're going, retard!" The unruly boy shouted and ran away, leaving her in the dust. Even though Mikuni didn't hear it, she was still able to make out what he said through the movement of his lips, and got back up. She wiped some small rocks and gravel off of her overalls. As she looked back up, she saw the grassy area by the school and saw a small group of young kids sitting around doing nothing, isolated from the rest of the kids.

Mikuni found them and walked over to them. She smiled as one girl, a thin, spindly little girl with black hair, large brown eyes, a little white dress and whose head is always falling to her left side, spotted her and waved at her joyfully and cheerfully, her large face pink and white with warmth and cheer.

"Mikuni-chaaaan!" The little girl shouted, which prompted Mikuni to run up to the group with a smile on her face.

_"Morning, Eriko-chan!"_ Mikuni signed, referring to the girl as Eriko.

"How are you?" Eriko asked while signing.

_"Good,"_ Mikuni signed back. _"Tamaru-sensei's finally coming back. I'm so happy! Now we won't have to deal with Masaka-sensei anymore!"_

"I know! No more stupid baby songs, no more alfabet (alphabet), and no more being tweated (treated) like babies!" Eriko exclaimed while signing.

"Old MacDonald is dumb! Very very dumb!" One very pudgy and rotund boy sitting in a very wide wheelchair exclaimed loudly.

"Be quiet, Gosho-kun! You'll scare Ikue-chan!" Eriko told him rather bluntly.

Mikuni looked at all of her classmates and examined them. Since the special education class recently opened in May, they haven't been together for long, but since they spend about eight whole hours together every single day except for the weekends, Mikuni got to know everyone rather well. But it's Eriko whom she's best friends with. No one knows what disability she has. Her limbs are thin and spindly, her head is always tilting to one side, she's shorter than even Mikuni by about a foot even though they're the same age (eight years old), and she has to wear an oxygen thing up her nose (Mikuni forgets what it's called). But despite her limitations, Eriko has a friendly and social demeanor, along with a very fiery temper, and can be very vocal about things, and even if people try to help her with things, Eriko always managed to try and do things herself, in her own way. Mikuni liked that about her.

Gosho, the fat kid Eriko scolded just now, is rather fat, and from what Mikuni read on the lips of the aides, has a strong brain deficiency. He's so big, he has to sit in a wheelchair, wear a bib when he eats, and wear diapers despite being nine years old just like them, and even though he has to wear diapers, when he _"does his business,"_ the special education class starts smelling like elephant dung. It takes two aides to get him in and out of his chair, change his diapers, and back again. He loves to eat and is seen making a big mess out of himself at lunch, even with a bib. Eriko's even taken to cleaning him up when he gets really messy so the aides could have a break (out of her own will, of course). Ikue, the girl Eriko also mentioned, is autistic. She doesn't do much in special ed except rock in a corner, sing songs to herself, and do anything she can to get far away from Gosho. There's a tiny little girl who also has brain damage, a slightly older girl with Down Syndrome, a boy who is also autistic like Ikue is, and a bespectacled boy who, as Mikuni thinks, walks around like he's a big heap of spaghetti noodles, with his arms folded weirdly, looking like he'll fall on his face just from walking two steps. Eight students total. Some aides, one man and two women, stayed with the group. They can't let the kids go onto the blacktop with the other kids because of both their limitations and the fact that they could easily be swept up in the crowd and knocked over by anyone.

Finally, the bell rang, and everyone in Katsura Elementary School went inside, the special education kids included. The special education class is a plain little room, with pale brown walls with windows overlooking the blacktop, completely bare with nothing but paint. The floor is made out of solid wood, there are some desks and chairs scattered around, along with some pillows, there's a closet with a big chain and lock on it, a slightly bigger desk, belonging to the teacher, stood in front of the blackboard. There are some small toys lying around on the floor as well, which Mikuni proceeded to gather and put on a desk so nobody would trip on them. On another desk by the window is a radio, being tended to by a shrewd, blonde-haired teacher in a red business suit.

Wait, a radio? And a lady in a red business suit?

Mikuni and the rest of the kids found out soon enough that there's one huge thing missing.

No Miss Tamaru.

"Masaka-sensei? Isn't Tamaru-sensei supposed to come back today?" One of the aides asked.

"Unfortunately, her sister is still suffering from complications from the delivery, so she has to stay by her side for a few more days," Miss Masaka, the substitute whom Mikuni has been complaining about, told her in a rather shrewd-sounding voice.

What? No Miss Tamaru? She isn't coming back until another few more days? Why has nobody told her, or everyone else, about this before? Mikuni could immediately feel her spirits dampen. Despite not being able to hear it, she could see the kids complaining because the radio is on, and Miss Masaka's favorite CD is blaring. At full volume. Playing cheesy kid songs like "Old MacDonald Had a Farm," "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider," etc. Sung by children who obviously can't sing. Over and over and over. Like it has been for the past few weeks. Even though she couldn't hear it herself, she could see that Eriko and Gosho are becoming very irritated, and the other girls are looking like they're about to cry. Not wanting to see them so upset and agitated, Mikuni decided to take matters into her own hands.

Miss Masaka gathered her materials, failing to notice Mikuni running to the radio and pressing the stop button on it, which made the music stop.

"Yay Mikuni-chan!" Eriko cheered.

"What?" Miss Masaka heard Eriko's cheer and saw Mikuni taking out the CD and gently putting it back in its case. Miss Masaka became shocked, and ran over to her.

"What do you think you're doing? Get back in your seat," Miss Masaka ushered her onto a pillow, but she took the CD out and put it back in. After that, she sat on a chair in front of the students and held out a big white paper with the letter A on it in black.

"Now who can say the letter A?" Miss Masaka asked.

"A!" Eriko snapped irritably. But Miss Masaka acted like she didn't say it.

"Aaaaayeeeee," Miss Masaka said the letter like she was in slow motion, and continued to do so, much to the ever growing aggravation and infuriation of everyone else. "Aaaaayeeeee."

"Turn the music off!" Eriko shouted angrily.

Miss Masaka ignored her and continued to say the letter A with a long drawl, not listening to a thing Eriko or everyone else is saying. Not liking where this is going, Mikuni ran to the boom box and pressed the stop button again. Miss Masaka ran to her and grabbed her by the arm.

"I told you to go back to your seat, young lady! Don't disrupt the lesson!" Miss Masaka scolded.

Mikuni couldn't understand. Why is Miss Masaka so insistent on playing that stupid baby music? The music itself is disrupting the lesson! Mikuni grabbed her phone and began typing something on it. Miss Masaka became miffed upon seeing this and immediately confiscated the phone.

"Ah!" Mikuni yelped.

"How many times do I have to tell you?! No phones in class!" Miss Masaka exclaimed angrily.

"She needs it to talk to you!" Eriko piped in.

"No talking in class!" Miss Masaka snapped as she tried to press the play button again, but Mikuni stepped in and stopped her from doing so.

"You listen to me, Mikuni. Just because you don't like the music doesn't mean everyone else does, too. The world doesn't revolve around you," Miss Masaka told her sternly, making it sound like Mikuni's some kind of continual source of trouble, and this made Mikuni's blood boil inside. She could feel her face twitching with anger.

"WE ALL HATE IT!" Eriko shouted.

"Not another word out of you!" Miss Masaka scolded again.

"Where's lunch?!" Gosho whined.

Mikuni couldn't stand any of this. This woman's treating them all like they're so backward and they look and act like babies, who still like baby music no matter how old they are! What is this woman thinking? Mikuni is especially insulted by this, even though she's deaf. Just because she's deaf doesn't mean she's retarded. She's seen Ikue work on complicated math problems on a calculator. She's seen Eriko count to fifty all by herself. She's seen Gosho make a really good art project without making a big mess. What did they do to deserve such a stupid, ignorant teacher like Miss Masaka? Miss Tamaru never treated them like this. This has been going on for a few weeks, for eight whole hours, every single day. She wanted to tell everyone she knew about this, but her mother is kept busy at work, her father is too busy looking for another job to care, and Himari's no help because she's pregnant and is more concerned about herself than others. No matter what she tried, Miss Masaka still isn't getting the message (or rather, in Mikuni's mind, chose not to get the message and stick to her own idea that the kids in front of her are retarded and will be for the rest of their lives no matter what), and Mikuni had no other way to get it across. What could she do to make her see that she isn't brain dead?

Mikuni couldn't stand putting up with this garbage anymore, and the other kids all agreed with her. She is normally never one to do something like this, especially in school, but she felt that, with everything else given the shaft, it was the perfect opportunity to finally explode.

Ikue started throwing crayons. The Down Syndrome girl began to cry. Eriko began to complain. Mikuni approached Miss Masaka, threw the letters all over the room, and began to stamp her feet and screech.

She screamed because she hated being treated like she was brain dead just because she couldn't hear, just like everyone else for their own limitations.

She screeched because she wanted to tell Miss Masaka, _"Enough with the baby lessons! We know this stuff already! We're not stupid! Stop treating us like we're not human!"_

She cried because she'd never be able to talk or tell anyone this. Her cell phone's been confiscated, and Miss Masaka knows nothing about sign language. How could she possibly communicate how she feels when all of her means of communication are being taken away from her one by one? Especially when Miss Masaka isn't even willing to take the time to even listen or understand? So what better way to get her point across than to scream it all out?

Nobody stopped. Not even the aides could stop the discord from escalating. Mikuni screamed and cried and yelled and bellowed while stamping her feet and jumping all over the place. Ikue hid under the teacher's desk and cried. The Down Syndrome girl and the autistic boy began crying. Gosho hollered for lunch, and all of a sudden the room started smelling like horse dung. Eriko continued to holler. The whole class turned into a zoo full of wild animals, and everything was thrown into discord. Miss Masaka was at a loss for words. She had no idea what to do. She called the principal of Katsura, Mr. Ban, who came to the room but didn't come in, he was so shocked by the chaotic scene before him.

"Call her mother," That's all he said and left right there, not wanting to get involved with the chaos.

Miss Masaka, remembering that Mikuni is the one who caused the class to go into an uproar, decided to pick up the phone and call her mother. Mikuni didn't bother to stop screaming, since her deafness prevented her from hearing what the teacher said. No, she didn't care whether she heard it or not. She wanted Miss Masaka to recoil in fear. She wanted Miss Masaka to call her mother. Who cares? At least her mother would be willing to listen!

Eriko, having calmed down, turned off the CD. This time, Miss Masaka didn't scold her or turn it back on, as she's too busy talking to Mikuni's mother.

Much to Mikuni's surprise, her mother arrived faster than she thought possible. As soon as she came in, everyone calmed right down except for Ikue, who continued to cry and hide under the teacher's desk. Mikuni ran to her mother, hugged her, and looked at her with tearful eyes.

"Mikuni! What happened, sweetie?" The mother asked. She noticed that Mikuni doesn't have her phone on her, and this made her worried. "Where's your phone?"

"Masaka-sensei took it! She thinks Mikuni-chan doesn't need it!" Eriko piped in. Mikuni nodded in agreement. The mother approached Miss Masaka and held her hand out.

"May I have her phone please?" Her mother asked.

"Harima-san! It is against school policy for students to have a cell phone on school grounds! Surely you're aware of something as simple as that!" Miss Masaka argued, surprised that this strange woman would take the side of the children.

"Mikuni NEEDS hers to communicate, and the school has allowed her to use it only for that. It's in her IEP. Besides, it's not like she can talk on it with her voice, so give it."

"You're a fool to let your child do as she pleases," Miss Masaka grumbled, but she complied and gave her cell phone back anyway. Mikuni took it back and immediately began typing out a message. But it proved to be unnecessary, as Eriko suddenly approached Mikuni's mother.

"Masaka-sensei tweats us like babies! She keeps saying the letter A over and over again! We know the alfabet already! She keeps playing baby music every day really loud and when we try to talk to her, she says shut up!" Eriko explained bluntly, not wanting to let what happened remain hidden.

"Stay out of this! This is a conversation between grown ups!" Miss Masaka snapped.

"So...you were going over the alphabet?" The mother asked, appalled by Miss Masaka's response to Eriko just now. Mikuni could see she's getting the picture.

"Yes. I always try to go over the basics. These children need constant review because they can't retain information like the rest of us," Miss Masaka explained in a very stern and matter-of-fact tone of voice, like she actually knew what she was talking about.

"Yes we can!" Eriko yelled, and Mikuni stamped her foot twice to back her up. Miss Masaka didn't scold them or tell them to be quiet since she's still talking to Mikuni's mother.

"Is that true?" The mother asked again.

"Yes," Miss Masaka replied pertly.

"It's July."

"Pardon?"

"You've been here for...two and a half weeks now? And you still haven't gotten past the letter A?"

"Who are you to tell me how to do my job?!" Mikuni couldn't help but chuckle as Miss Masaka's face grew as red as a tomato.

"And who are you to bore these children with pointless information that they already know? Most of these kids are in the third grade! They're not retarded!"

"How dare you! You simply don't understand!"

"You're the one who doesn't understand!" Not wanting this to escalate into something ugly, Mikuni's mother took a deep breath, regained her equanimity, and started over. "Look, have you ever asked yourself, _'If I have to spend five more minutes in this traffic jam, I think I'll explode?'_"

"Yes...?"

"Or something like, _'If I see this commercial one more time, I think I'll just scream?'_"

"Yes."

"I think that's what happened to Mikuni here. She said to herself, _'If I have to go through more of this, I think I'll explode!'_ So she did. I really don't blame her, now do you?" Mikuni couldn't help but nod her head vigorously in agreement.

Miss Masaka brushed some hair out of her face and adjusted the small glasses on her long, horse-like face. "Well, I guess not, now that you mention it..."

"Mikuni's not retarded. She's deaf, yes, but other than that, there's nothing else wrong with her. She's smart enough to learn third grade level math, English, and social studies. She can count to fifty all by herself, and she can read lips very well. We sent her to special lip-reading classes so she could learn just that. She knows sign language too, but she prefers her cell phone because she knows not everyone understands sign language. It's in her IEP. Didn't you read it? Didn't Ban-sensei tell you about it?" Mikuni's mother explained.

"I simply don't see how an IEP contributes to a child's overall development. Allowing a child to use a cell phone in class...that's simply preposterous! That's the same as spoiling, in my opinion. Besides, she's not the only child in the class, so there cannot be any exceptions made for her. She has to understand that she's just the same as everyone else and that the world doesn't revolve around her. These children have to learn to accept their limitations. Isn't that why they're in the special education class?" Miss Masaka asked. By _"accept their limitations,"_ she meant it to mean that they have to accept their disabilities whether they like it or not, as complaining about them won't make them go away. Mikuni's mother, however, took it to mean that no matter what they do, they'll never amount to anything or ever be a part of a mainstream society simply because they have a disability, and this made her infuriated.

"You know, it's not nice to refer to your students as _"these children."_ You make it sound as though they need to be stashed in a warehouse to rot for the rest of their lives," Mikuni's mother spat.

Miss Masaka became appalled, but she tried to refrain from showing any infuriation on her face. "But you have to accept the fact that she does have limitations, and the rest of the children here have disabilities as well. Like it or not, they are going to have to deal with what they have for the rest of their life. Their disabilities are permanent. Surely you know that."

"Yes, I'm well aware of that, and I'm sure they are too. But having a disability doesn't make them stupid or inhuman. Mikuni just can't hear, that's all. She wasn't born deaf. She caught meningitis in January and her auditory nerve's been mutilated from the inside out as a result, that's all. But she's still just as normal as any other girl. Yes, she's lost a lot of things because of her hearing impairment, but she helps me around the house, she walks the neighbor's dogs, she helped out at the church before it got destroyed, and she's nice to everyone."

"I don't see how throwing a temper tantrum counts as being nice to everyone."

"YOU'RE the reason she had that tantrum!"

"How dare you!"

"By the way, can I see that CD you have in the radio?"

Miss Masaka took the CD out of the radio and gave it to Mikuni's mother. "This? I play it every day. The kids love it."

"NO WE DON'T!" Eriko shouted, angry that Miss Masaka would lie to a teacher in front of a parent like that.

"You don't have a say in this so be quiet!" Miss Masaka scolded.

"That's not how a teacher should treat a student," Mikuni's mother retorted bitterly. Before Miss Masaka could say anything, Mikuni's mother pulled out a five dollar bill and handed it to her. Then, she proceeded to throw the CD to the ground, step on it with her foot, and smash the pieces into more pieces, completely destroying the CD. Some of the children cheered loudly, and Miss Masaka was at a loss for words, appalled by the audacity that Mikuni's mother displayed just now.

"You should never subject third graders to stupid kindergarten music. They're smart enough to grow out of those silly nursery rhymes. I will not tolerate you abusing these children and treating them like mindless zombies ever again!" Mikuni's mother snapped.

Not knowing what to do or say, Miss Masaka simply left the room, leaving the children and Mikuni's mother all alone. The discord and tense atmosphere finally faded away, especially so when Eriko approached Mikuni's mother.

"Are you Mikuni-chan's mama?" Eriko asked innocently, her previous irritation having already dissipated. Mikuni's mother smiled and kneeled in front of her.

"Yes, I am. Harima Sachiko. What's your name?" Mikuni's mother, Sachiko, told her gently with a smile. Eriko flashed a big smile as well.

"I'm Eriko! Mikuni-chan's my bestest fwiend (friend)!" Eriko chirped proudly, with absolutely no hesitation in that chirpy voice of hers.

_"It's true!"_ Mikuni signed cheerfully.

"I'm glad. Thanks for being her friend. She's very lucky you're such a good girl, and for telling everyone what happened. How about this? I'm off work next week, and maybe on Wednesday, you can come over to our house and play. Won't that be fun?" Sachiko told her sweetly.

"Yay! I'd love to!" Eriko chirped again, feeling quite happy.

Sachiko then turned to Mikuni. "Mikuni? Would you like to come home, or stay here?"

Mikuni didn't even hesitate. _"Go home,"_ She signed.

"Okay," Sachiko said as she motioned for Mikuni to grab her book bag and follow her out. But when they got to the car, Mikuni tugged onto Sachiko's shirt and typed a message for her to read.

_"Sorry for causing you trouble and making you leave work. Are you angry?"_ Mikuni asked in her text. Sachiko kneeled before her and put her hand in her daughter's small one.

"I'm not angry at all, Mikuni-chan, and you didn't cause any trouble at all. It's that darn teacher's fault for treating you and your friends like you don't matter. To be honest, I'm happy you got me out of work, because once I get called out in an emergency, I can't go back until the next day. How about we use this time for some mother-daughter fun? Would you like that?" Sachiko explained kindly.

Mikuni nodded. Sachiko smiled again. "But still, I wish you had told me all of this earlier."

Mikuni typed into her phone and showed it to Sachiko again. _"I tried, but you're busy and come home really late. You're hardly ever around anymore."_

Sachiko almost teared up a bit and hugged Mikuni again. "I know, sweetie. I'm sorry I haven't spent time with you and your sisters as much as I'd like to. Our family's going through a lot right now, and I'm doing the best I can to keep us together. Your father, too. You don't know how much I miss spending quality time with you and your sisters, and don't think I work so much because I don't like you."

_"I know. Money's tight. I wish I had my jobs back too, so I could help out,"_ Mikuni typed.

"That's sweet of you," Sachiko said as they got into the car.

As promised, Sachiko and Mikuni decided to spend some quality mother-daughter time together, since they haven't done so in a very long while because of Sachiko's time-consuming job. First, they went to the mall to do some shopping, even though Mikuni wondered if it was a good idea since the whole reason Sachiko works such a time consuming job in the first place is so she can provide for the family and pay their bills. Sachiko brushed her off and said that today is a have fun kind of day. They bought new clothes, some curtains for a window in their house, and for Mikuni, some new hair ribbons, an advanced sign language book, and some new toys. But as Mikuni saw, Sachiko bought other things that seemed to bother her: baby clothes and recipes for formula. After that, Mikuni and Sachiko went out to lunch at a little food place. Mikuni loves spaghetti with meatballs and broccoli, so it felt good to have a nice hearty lunch. After that, they went to the park to stroll around. They enjoyed watching the rabbits hop around and scurry into the bushes, listening to the birds twitter and sing their beautiful little songs, and the squirrels scurry up into the big trees. Sachiko sat on a bench, and Mikuni, feeling a little worried, decided to show her a message she typed out on her phone.

_"Mom? What's going to happen when Himari-Neechan's baby is born?"_ Mikuni asked in her text.

Sachiko sighed and put a hand on Mikuni's shoulder gently while giving her a somewhat sad smile, something even Mikuni noticed. "I'm afraid I don't know, Mikuni-chan. We'll have to wait until he's born to see what we can do from there."

_"Is Neechan going to take care of it? Because Dad keeps telling her she should do it since, as he says, _'she brought it on herself'_, and that he's her responsibility, but she wants to get rid of him. Isn't that sad?"_ Mikuni typed, looking sad as she did.

Sachiko's eyes widened a bit. Wow, Mikuni's lip reading is a lot better than she expected if she's able to figure out something as complicated as that. Perhaps those lip reading classes proved to be good for her after all. Sachiko wished Mikuni wasn't so aware of everything going on around her even though she's deaf, so that way Mikuni wouldn't have to worry about all of the problems her family is going through. "Yes. It is sad, and we don't know if we can take care of him. It's tough on all of us, Mikuni-chan. To be honest, I don't think Himari's capable of taking care of her baby, since she's still in school and she refuses to go to any parenting classes. I think it'd be best for the baby if he be put with a family that can take care of him, as we're not very secure right now money-wise, and I have very good friends who would love to adopt a child, but...yes. You're right. Your father wants Himari to take care of him because he wants her to learn to be responsible and to care for others, though I agree that he's being very harsh on her. He's very angry with her and really wants her to learn from her mistake."

_"He keeps yelling at her, saying she's the reason the family's in bad shape, that it's all her fault, and that she's nothing but trouble. That's not nice,"_ Mikuni typed.

"I know, and you're right. It isn't nice. He's under a lot of stress from not finding a job, and he really wants to support the family just as much as I do, but you're right. He shouldn't say those things, though I don't like Himari's attitude toward everyone, even her own baby. But don't tell anyone we talked about this, okay? This is a private matter, and you don't need to worry about this. Just continue going to school and being the best you can be."

Mikuni nodded. After another pleasant walk through the park, they decided to head home. Thankfully, Mikuni's dad and Himari aren't there, so they played around until he suddenly came through the door looking very jubilant and jovial, which is very unlike him.

"YES! YES! Finally, things are looking up!" Mikuni's dad shouted joyfully as he burst through the door.

"What's up, Takehiko?" Sachiko asked.

"Eh? Sachiko? Why are you home so early?" Takehiko asked back, surprised that Sachiko is here even though she's normally at work around this time.

"I got called into Mikuni's school. The special education teacher was treating her bad. Why are you so happy right now?" Sachiko answered promptly. Mikuni shook her head in agreement.

"Guess what? You know that moving company I applied for yesterday? They read my resume and scheduled me for an interview tomorrow! Tomorrow! They even have positions open, so I might be able to get the job! If I get this job, we'll be able to finally fix our financial problems!" Takehiko explained, looking as lively as a newly blooming sunflower.

"That's wonderful, honey! But don't count your chickens before they hatch. You have to find out whether you get the job or not," Sachiko told him.

"I'm back!" All of a sudden, Shione came through the door, took off her helmet, and was about to run to her room, but stopped when she saw Sachiko in the room. "Mom? When did you get back?"

"A couple minutes ago," Sachiko said.

_Ring ring ring ring_

All of a sudden, the phone rang.

"I'll get it!" Takehiko chirped happily as he skipped toward the phone.

Mikuni couldn't believe what she's seeing. Her parents are finally happy for the first time in a very long while, and lately there had been nothing but strife. Except for her and Shione, everyone seemed to be in a bad mood all the time. Sachiko for being tired from very hard, time-consuming days at work, the piles of bills to pay, and having to be the primary bread winner of the family, Takehiko for being laid off from his job, many fruitless and unsuccessful attempts to both find and get a job, not having time to spend with his wife and daughters, and for having a willfully disobedient, defiant, troublesome, argumentative, selfish, irresponsible, and self-absorbed daughter who is pregnant and causing problems for the rest of the family, and Himari for being pregnant, having parents who constantly berate her for everything she does and, in her mind, blame her for the problems the family is having, paying more attention to Mikuni than her, and basically having no one to help her with her problems. Mikuni had never seen her family so happy before. For just a moment, she thought things started to look up as well. Perhaps things will finally be back to normal, and things were back to normal...for about a few seconds anyway.

"Hello?" Takehiko answered the phone.

Silence.

"Huh? You're Himari's teacher?" Takehiko let out an exasperated sigh, his previous cheerfulness totally fading away like it had never been there in the first place. "What did she do this time?" He asked, like he had to go through this many times before.

Silence.

"WHAT?! Alcohol on school grounds?! You're kidding!"

Sachiko stood up in alarm. Mikuni could tell just from watching Sachiko's face and her suddenly standing up that something is very wrong.

"Oh God...alright. Thanks for letting me know. I'll definitely give that stupid, ungrateful daughter of mine a good spanking!"

Silence.

"So?! She needs to learn to be responsible! That's why I want _her_ to raise her baby! She brought it on herself, and she needs to learn to stop being so selfish and think about how her actions affect other people for once in her God forsaken life! Bye!"

Beet red with anger, Takehiko slammed the phone onto the hanger, which made a huge clang and almost fell off the counter. Mikuni didn't hear it, but she could tell from his body language that the temporary peace the Harima house had is now officially gone. How could it have gone away so quickly?

"What's this about alcohol on school grounds?" Sachiko suddenly asked.

Mikuni wanted to go to her room and hide, but Sachiko and Takehiko are blocking the way, and they're too immersed with what they just heard to notice Mikuni.

But things got worse.

The door opened, and a very grim-looking Himari stomped through the living room and tried to go past her parents, both of whom became very choleric upon seeing her.

"Himari! We need to talk!" Takehiko grabbed her arm while Himari tried to break free.

"Get off me, fatso!" Himari snapped.

"Don't talk to me like that! Your PE teacher just called! She said she saw you paying someone for an entire sack of beer on school grounds!"

"She's retarded, now lemme go!"

"Are you TRYING to put your baby's life in danger, Himari?!" Sachiko demanded angrily.

"Why do you care?! It's not like you want me to have the baby anyway, so why can't I get rid of it in any way possible?!" Himari snapped angrily.

In a split second, Himari found herself being slapped in the face by Takehiko, as she felt her cheek sting really hard.

"WHY DO YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO MAKE THINGS WORSE FOR EVERYONE?!" Takehiko screamed at the top of his lungs. Mikuni couldn't believe that the peace that was in her house before immediately turned back into discord in a split second. "You can't just get rid of a baby, Himari! This is YOUR child, and as his mother, it's YOUR duty to take care of him, whether you like it or not! You brought him on yourself, so stop thinking about yourself for once in your God forsaken life and think about how your actions affect other people, and killing your baby with a million cans of beer is NOT going to make things better!"

"This is exactly why I hate you! You idiots keep breathing down my neck and making a big deal out of everything I do and try to decide everything for me! That proves that you only want me to have this baby so you can make yourselves look good!"

"Himari! We're only trying to make sure you make the right decision!" Sachiko snapped.

"You won't even let me make any decisions at all! You won't even let me see my boyfriend!"

"He's the reason you're in this predicament in the first place! Now explain the whole alcohol fiasco right now, young lady!" Takehiko growled angrily, like a ferocious beast.

Himari was about to talk back some more until she noticed Mikuni trying to get through. She immediately felt insulted and disgusted just for looking at her. Why is this retarded little deaf girl trying to throw herself into this conversation? Is she purposefully trying to remind Himari that Takehiko and Sachiko spend more time with a deaf girl than their pregnant daughter? She felt something snap inside her, and she kicked Mikuni onto the floor.

"Stay out of this conversation, you brain dead retarded brat! Stop thinking the world has to revolve around you! It's bad enough Mom and Dad prefer you over me!" Himari snapped.

"Himari! Do NOT kick your sister!" Takehiko scolded angrily.

"Why?! It's true! You spend way more money on her than you do me!"

"No we don't! And the money we DO spend is on her hearing aids and special education classes!"

"Why won't you make _her_ take care of this dang baby?! She can't hear it!"

"Stop! Just stop, Himari! Stop trying to force your problems onto everyone else so you can feel better about yourself! Stop being so selfish for ONCE!" Takehiko snapped, finally having had enough of Himari's obstinately spiteful, disobedient, and defiant attitude towards everyone.

Despite what just happened, Mikuni got back up and managed to pass through the entrance so she could get to her room. Even though she can't hear the yelling, and is glad that she can't, she still wished it would stop. Fights like this have been dominating the family since Himari went missing, and they keep going on and on and on. Mikuni wished it would just stop already. Stop the yelling. Stop the hating. Stop trying to decide who's to blame for everything that's going on. Stop everything. She didn't believe it to be the baby's fault, as all he's doing is growing inside Himari's belly. But still, why can't it all just stop so everyone can get along again?

She almost closed her eyes and cried, but something on the floor caught her attention. Something round and white, with a dark blue strap on it. It's Shione's digivice! What's it doing here? Mikuni thought maybe it fell off of Shione's bag as she rushed inside, and maybe it must have rolled in when she wasn't looking. Curious, she decided to walk up to it and pick it up. She then decided to examine it and take a good look at it. She tapped it lightly, and all of a sudden, it opened up like a cell phone! Many small buttons protruded from it with all kinds of pictures on it. Mikuni noticed one button that looked strange, as it has a picture of a door on it. She pressed it.

Before she knew it, the floor underneath her disappeared, and she fell into a white hole.

***

"Hello Shione. How was hockey practice?" Moosemon asked as he and Shione met up at their usual spot, at a small clearing in the woodsy area right by their house, the area that Takehiko keeps telling her and Mikuni to stay out of. Moosemon lay down on the dirt, without moving a muscle, and gestured for his tamer to come to him, which she did.

"Rough, but we're getting better," Shione said as she plopped onto Moosemon's side. Once she did, she let out an exasperated sigh. "I really wish all this fighting would just stop already."

"Are they fighting again?" Moosemon asked.

"Yeah! I just don't get it! All Himari-Neechan wants to do is either get rid of the baby or make someone else take care of it for her, like Mikuni, and all dad does is yell every single day! This is all driving me nuts!" Shione ranted angrily, having had enough of all the problem that her family is going through.

"I agree. I may not be human, but even I can understand that being exposed to too much screaming and fighting can have a very negative effect on your sanity. Trust me, I've been there," Moosemon said.

"Sorry you have to hear me whine. I don't get to talk to my family and friends much anymore, and I feel bad that we don't get to hang out much," Shione told him.

"That's what I'm here for. You're my friend, and if you need someone to talk to, I'm here," Moosemon told her kindly. Shione smiled and wrapped her thin arms around the fluffy blue neck of her white furred friend.

"Thanks, Moosemon. I wish I could hang out with you more," Shione mused as she embraced him. Moosemon relished in the embrace and nudged Shione gently.

"I know you do, so I don't mind...hm?" Moosemon told her. But then he noticed something odd. "Shione. Where's your digivice?"

"Huh?" Shione checked her book bag, but found it isn't there. She checked everywhere else, but found that her digivice isn't in any of those places either. "Oh no! Did I drop it?! Hang on a sec. I'll go check inside. Maybe I dropped it in the house. I remember taking it home with me."

Shione ran inside and looked for her digivice while trying to ignore the strife going on around her. She looked everywhere. In the kitchen, the living room, the dining room, her room, Mikuni's room, and the hallway. It's not there. She didn't dare go into her parents' room or Himari's room because she's not allowed in either of those places, and she would be reprimanded severely if she were to trespass onto marked territory, so she didn't dare take that risk. But as she looked around, she noticed something else is missing too...or rather, someone.

"Have you seen Mikuni-chan?" Shione asked Takehiko and Himari, who are still arguing.

"Go throw yourself off a cliff!" Himari snapped.

"Don't talk to your sister like that!" Takehiko argued back.

Shione, not wanting to exacerbate the situation, immediately ran back to Moosemon, only now she's looking very worried.

"Did you find it?" Moosemon asked while standing up.

"No, and I can't find Mikuni-chan either! She's nowhere in the house, and Mom and Dad are too busy yelling at Himari to notice or help!" Shione blurted out, her voice becoming overcome with worry and fear.

Then something hit Moosemon, and he felt obliged to ask Shione about it.

"Shione...you don't think maybe...Mikuni took your digivice and went to the...Digital World with it,do you?" Moosemon asked with worry in his voice.

"Huh?! What are you-Oh God!" Shione was about to say Moosemon was crazy for suggesting such a ridiculous thing, but...since Mikuni isn't anywhere else in the house, and that she hardly ever goes outside on her own (well, she's advised not to do so considering her disability)...

It might be possible!

***

"Ow!" Mikuni yelped as she fell on something hard, and considering that her house is normally covered with carpets, she didn't feel any carpeting as she fell.

Once she stood up and gazed upon her surroundings with her blue eyes, the pain immediately dissipated. She's no longer in her room anymore, but somewhere else entirely! The sky above her is blue, showing a bluish green sphere with lots of pink streaks coming out of it. The terrain below her feet consists of nothing but cream-colored grass, which is odd because grass is green, not creamy white. Mikuni turned around and saw some dome-like structures, all with two pointed protrusions on them, all resembling cat ears. They all have round windows with red bars on them, and the doors are round, made of wood, and have yellow, cat shaped signboards on them, all of which have writing in different colors. Some writing on the signboards is in black ink, some are written with red ink, and some with blue ink.

Mikuni looked around anxiously, wondering where in the world she is and becoming more confused by the minute. She is oblivious to the fact that one trio of cat Digimon are watching her from a window on one of the dome-shaped houses. They have white fur, with lots of orange and black spots on their heads and bodies. Their eyes are gold in hue, their tails are orange with some orangish brown stripes decorating them, and their paws are covered with dirty brown boxing gloves. They watched the confused Mikuni through the window, their eyes wide with both fear and curiosity.

"What do you think that is?"

"I dunno."

"Should we go check it out?"

"No way! What if it's dangerous?!"

"But we won't know it is until we look."

"I'll go talk to it," One cat Digimon tried to go out the door, but one of her friends suddenly grabbed her tail.

"You can't go out there! We don't know what it is!" Her friend exclaimed worriedly. The cat Digimon removed her friend's paws off of her tail and gave her a miffed look.

"And that's exactly WHY I'm going out there, to see what it is. Don't be such a worrywart, big sis," The cat Digimon told her friend-scratch that, her sister, and promptly walked out the door.

"Mikemon! Don't make me go out there with you!" Her big sister threatened, but the young Mikemon didn't notice.

Since cats are normally cautious by nature, Mikemon very slowly approached the unsuspecting girl while examining her with her golden eyes. Step by step, she crept closer and closer, noticing that the girl isn't paying attention. As Mikemon looked further, she noticed that she looks rather confused and frightened, like she got lost and doesn't know what to do. She doesn't look dangerous, and she doesn't have any weapons on her. She's small, too, so what does she have to be afraid of? Finally, the cat got close enough to the girl to try talking to her. But she didn't notice Mikemon approaching her.

"Excuse me! Who are you, and where are you from?" Mikemon asked promptly.

Oddly enough, she didn't respond. She just looked around with that confused look on her face.

"Hello! I'm talking to you!" Mikemon exclaimed, surprised that this strange creature didn't respond to her question.

Again, no response. This made Mikemon cross her arms and tilt her head in confusion. _'Is this thing ignoring me? But then again, it doesn't look like it even knows I'm here, or that it even heard me, and lots of Digimon tell me my voice is loud!'_ Mikemon thought while tapping her foot on the ground.

Thankfully, Mikuni turned around shortly after she started thinking. As soon as she laid eyes on this strange cat creature, Mikuni's blue eyes lit up like a light bulb that just got turned on, and her cheeks turned red with delight. But she kept herself from glomping the cat, remembering that Shione said about going after creatures that might be dangerous. She gazed at Mikemon, but tried to keep her distance so as to see whether this Digimon is dangerous or not. However, Mikuni smiled at her and waved at her like she was a good friend. It's good to be friendly, so why not?

Mikemon, on the other hand, is relieved to finally be noticed by this strange creature. She did find Mikuni's warm and friendly gesture to be a little disconcerting, however. _'Wow. This thing doesn't freak out at me or anything. She's waving at me, and in such a friendly way! Never expected this. But then again, maybe this is a good thing. If it were dangerous, then it'd attack me. It's not a Digimon, as I don't feel any data, as that's how we find each other's presence. How can this thing not know that I approached it from behind? I'll try talking to it again. Maybe I'll get a decent response this time,'_ Mikemon thought as she decided to try and communicate with her again.

Mikemon stood firmly in front of Mikuni, looking her straight in the eye. "Hi there. I'm Mikemon. This is Cat Kingdom. If you don't mind me asking, what are you, and what are you doing here?" Mikemon asked.

With a smile, Mikuni yanked out her cell phone and began typing in it. She then showed it to Mikemon, who looked even more confused upon seeing it.

_"Hi Mikemon! I'm Harima Mikuni, and I'm a human! It's nice to meet you!"_ Mikuni's message said. But Mikemon looked like she couldn't read it.

"...What language is this? I can't read that. Well, I guess it's no surprise considering you're not from around here," Mikemon shook her head as she told Mikuni this.

Mikuni became dejected, as she forgot that Digimon can't read Japanese writing. She remembered trying to talk to Moosemon this way, but he couldn't read it. From the looks of it, it's unlikely that Mikemon, or any Digimon for that matter, would understand any form of sign language, if sign language even exists in the Digital World to begin with, and she didn't have any pencils or paper on her so she could talk to her with pictures. How can she communicate with this cat Digimon in a way that she can understand? Mikemon can't read Japanese writing, and it's possible she doesn't know sign language, so what could she do?

Then she remembered. Not all of her means of communication are lost, especially the one she thought she had lost forever! People who are born deaf don't possess this means of communication. However, not all people have to be born deaf. As Mikuni saw Sachiko say to Miss Masaka, she could talk just fine until she caught meningitis back in January. If she was able to talk just fine before then (and Mikuni was quite a talkative girl back before she lost her hearing), it's likely it might still be able to work, and if her hunch is right, then she might still be able to talk, and everyone could hear it! She can't hear herself talk, which definitely has its drawbacks, but it doesn't mean other people can't. It won't hurt to try, right? Mikuni prayed for Mikemon to understand her.

Without anything to lose, she decided to take this chance.

"Mi...ku...ni," Mikuni, in a soft, sweet voice, albeit a little bit slurred, recited the three syllables in her name as slowly as possible so she can get them out just right. For just a second, she saw Mikemon's ears twitch. Did she hear it?

"Mikuni?" Mikemon asked. Yes! She heard it!

Mikuni nodded. She continued on, wanting Mikemon to hear more. "My...name...is...Mikuni..." She told her as slowly and clearly as she could, hoping Mikemon would understand this much too.

Mikemon crossed her arms. "So your name's Mikuni, huh? You're not a Digimon?" Mikemon asked.

Mikuni breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness Mikemon both heard and understood her. Best of all, she felt grateful that she wasn't born deaf and that she can still talk. In response to Mikemon's question, she shook her head. "Not Digimon. I'm a...human."

"What?! A human?!" Mikemon yelped and walked back a step or two. She didn't know this, but her two sisters saw this and looked at each other with confused faces. "But...humans are a myth!"

"Miff?" Mikuni asked. Because of the fact that her speech is slurred a bit, she pronounced myth wrong. Although Mikemon is surprised, she calmed down, regretting her outburst just now.

"Sorry about that. So...you're a human?"

"Yeth!"

"Hm. It's no wonder I can't read your language."

"I...can...teach...you...how...to...read...it," Mikuni made out every word as clearly as she could muster, hoping Mikemon would understand.

"Really? You would?" Mikemon asked, becoming curious.

Mikuni nodded. Mikemon smiled, but she crossed her arms, still curious about something that piqued her interest.

"I called out to you earlier, but you didn't respond. Why is that?" Mikemon asked.

Mikuni pointed to her ears, shook her head, and made an X shape with her arms. Mikemon looked confused at first, but after some rumination, she understood.

"You...can't hear?"

Mikuni shook her head.

_'How can a human not be able to hear? If she really can't, then...'_ Mikemon thought. She decided to try something. "CAN YOU HEEEEEAAAAARRRR MEEEEEE?!" Mikemon shouted in her highest voice possible. Weirdly enough, Mikuni didn't seem fazed by it.

"Wow. You really can't hear," Mikemon said.

Her sisters watched from the house, surprised by Mikemon's display. "Oh snap! Doesn't she know it's inappropriate to yell in public?!"

"But it doesn't look like that creature was scared by her yelling just now. Maybe she can't hear," The other sister said, also becoming curious of Mikuni and her ailment.

Unfortunately, Mikemon's yelling did something else as well. Other cat Digimon, such as more Mikemon, Gatomon, and BlackGatomon, suddenly came out from their houses, surprised by the shouting just now.

"What just happened?!"

"I heard screaming just now!"

"Are we being attacked?"

"It doesn't look like it."

Despite the commotion, Mikemon didn't seem to notice, as she's too focused on Mikuni, who in turn is too focused on her.

"So if you really can't hear, how can you understand me?" Mikemon asked.

Mikuni pointed to her mouth. "I...read...lipth."

"You read lips? Wow! That's awesome!" Mikemon exclaimed, surprised that Mikuni is able to understand her so well.

"Hey! Leave Mikemon alone, you intruder!" All of a sudden, a lone BlackGatomon suddenly leaped out of nowhere and lunged onto Mikuni, who didn't even notice her heading right toward her.

"EEK!" Mikuni yelped as the BlackGatomon tried to claw her. Mikemon was aghast by this BlackGatomon's behavior, but even more so by the fact that the other cat Digimon aren't doing anything about it. They're just standing around or cheering.

"You go, BlackGatomon!"

"Yeah! Show that intruder who's top cat!"

"Hey! Get off her!" Seeing the fear and despair on Mikuni's face, Mikemon wrapped her paws around the choleric BlackGatomon. With strength and gusto, she successfully managed to pry her off of the helpless girl and throw her back onto the grass.

"Mikemon! What are you doing?!" BlackGatomon yelped in a voice like that of a boy almost going into puberty. Yes, Gatomon can be male.

"Leave her alone! She isn't doing anything!" Mikemon hopped in front of Mikuni and gave her time to pick herself up from the ground.

"But that thing is an intruder! What if it was sent here to destroy us?!" BlackGatomon yelped.

"Yeah! What if it's one of MoonMillenniummon's goons?!" One male Gatomon exclaimed.

"Look at her! Does she even look like she even knows what MoonMillenniummon is? And besides, I just found out she can't hear! That's why I yelled just now, to see if it was really true!" Mikemon pointed at the flummoxed and somewhat frightened Mikuni to prove her point.

"That was you? Goodness, you had us thinking we were being attacked!" Another male BlackGatomon yelled from the sidelines, surprised by this new development.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you all. But look! She's lost and in a place she doesn't know about. It doesn't look like she knows anything about Digimon. If she was a Digimon, I'd feel her presence, but I can't. Besides, she doesn't look like she's capable of causing any destruction, don't you think? Oh, and she says she's a human," Mikemon told them bluntly.

"Huh?! A human?!"

"But humans are the stuff of myth!"

"They can't possibly be real, can they?!"

"Oh, but I heard reports that one group of humans have tamed some Digimon and have been helping others ward off MoonMillenniummon's lackeys!"

"Yeah! Digimon at Chloros Forest and Fionn Village are going on and on about it!"

"So...what should we do?"

Mikuni and Mikemon looked at each other with confused faces, but the cat Digimon gestured for Mikuni to kneel down to her level.

"Sorry about BlackGatomon and everyone else just now. They've been kinda uptight because a bad Digimon has been going around hurting everybody, and they're trying to keep their guard up. They're good Digimon, really. They just get frazzled pretty easily, that's all. Pay them no mind."

Mikuni nodded. Mikemon couldn't help but smile. _'Hmmm...I think I'm gonna like this kid.'_

***

"Shione-chan?"

"Oh, Yun-chan!" A tearful Shione embraced Yun as she, Lucero, and the rabbits arrived at the area in the woods where she and Moosemon are right now. "Thank goodness you're here!"

"I got your message! What happened?" Yun asked with a worried look on her face.

"Yeah! What's wrong? Your text sounded pretty urgent," Terriermon said.

"I'm sorry to bother you all like this, but I have no idea what to do! My digivice is missing, and I think Mikuni went to the Digital World with it!" Shione explained tearfully.

"To the Digital World, sayest thou?!" Lucero yelped, shocked by what Shione just told them. Everyone else became shocked as well.

"Well, I don't know for sure. But Mikuni hardly ever goes out of the house without someone with her anymore, and she can't anyway because she's deaf, and she isn't anywhere in the house, so what if maybe...!" Shione became more and more hysterical upon hatching dreadful thoughts about Mikuni. What if she's...No! She couldn't think about it. "Oh God! What if she's hurt?! What if something happens to her?!"

"Calm down, Shione. We'll find her. Don't worry. You mustn't give in to fear," Moosemon advised gently.

"He is right, Shione. If you want, we can go with you to the Digital World," Lopmon told her.

Shione tried to calm herself down as she hastily wiped some tears out of her swollen eyes. "That's why I called you out here, because you can go to the Digital World with the digivice. Since mine is gone, I can't do it myself, so I called you. Sorry about this."

"It's okay, Shione-chan! Let's go to the Digital World together and find Mikuni-chan! Time passes differently there than here, so we won't miss a thing here in the human world!" Yun told her reassuringly, like she was her older sister.

"But we have to be careful about where we'll end up, kyu. We don't know if we'll end up in the same place as Mikuni, so we better be careful, kyu," Cutemon piped in.

"She's right. But let's go right now! We can't waste another minute!" Yun said as she got her digivice out and gestured everyone to hold onto either her or Moosemon.

The kids held each other's hands while Shione and Lucero wrapped their arms around Moosemon's legs. Lopmon and Terriermon clung to Yun while Cutemon clung to Lucero. With her digivice in her hand, she opened it and pressed the door button. On cue, a white portal appeared and they fell right into it. They swam through the endless sea of grids and numbers until they found themselves on top of cream colored grass and a vast, blue sky with the greenish blue planet hovering above them.

"Why is this grass white? Shouldn't it be green?" Lucero asked.

"I was just about to say that," Shione said.

"Oh!" Lopmon exclaimed, her ears rising into the air. "I only know one place in the Digital World that has white grass, and that's Cat Kingdom!"

"Cat Kingdom?" Yun asked.

"I've been there before. It's entirely inhabited by Gatomon, BlackGatomon, and Mikemon, along with their de-digivolved forms. They have some strange customs and are a bit too attached to old traditions, but they're a very friendly Digimon tribe from what I've seen. However, with MoonMillenniummon and his minions causing trouble left and right, it's likely they'll be very guarded and reluctant to allow others to trespass onto their territory," Moosemon explained.

"But I don't see any houses around," Terriermon said.

"Cat Kingdom is still rather small, even though the white grass seems to stretch out for a great many miles," Lopmon said.

"Doth the cat Digimon own all of this land?" Lucero asked.

"I'm afraid I don't know. But since we may be rather close, it wouldn't hurt

to at least ask them about Mikuni's whereabouts, so I say we journey to Cat Kingdom," Lopmon said.

"I was going to say that," Yun said.

"Would some of you like to get on my back? I can give you a ride and save you the trouble of walking there," Moosemon said as he kneeled down.

"You will? Aw, thanks, Moosemon! You're the best!" Shione exclaimed as she and Lucero hopped onto Moosemon's back.

"I'll see if Swanmon can help us too...huh?" Yun proceeded to go through her pockets, but upon further inspection, her pockets are empty! Other than her D-Heart and digivice, her D-Chips are nowhere in sight.

"AHHHHH! NOOOOO! I LEFT THEM AT HOME AGAIN!" Yun wailed wildly, much more so than Shione did earlier. Yun seemed as though she burst into tears.

"Sorry. I guess I should have told you we were gonna go to the Digital World..." Shione said while facepalming.

"I'm sorry we didn't remind you," Lopmon said, feeling guilty that she didn't tell Yun to bring her D-Chips with her. After Yun finished crying, Moosemon walked over to her and gently nudge her with his long white face, which did made Yun giggle a bit.

"Don't fret so, Yun. If you want, you can ride on my back with everyone else. It'll be faster this way," Moosemon told her.

"You're right. Sorry about that, and thanks," Yun said as Moosemon kneeled down so she could climb onto his back. The rabbits followed suit. Once everyone was on Moosemon's back, Moosemon himself dashed toward Cat Kingdom.

***

Despite the protests of the other cat Digimon, Mikuni and Mikemon are getting along splendidly despite communication between them being almost near impossible. The two became practically inseparable upon their deciding to become friends. Mikemon discovered that despite Mikuni's disability and setbacks, she's quite a nice and friendly little girl who's always trying to make do with anything that comes her way. Mikuni discovered that Mikemon is very energetic and bold, to the point of causing some playful mischief and wanting to push her limits. The other cat Digimon talked behind their backs, though Mikuni, thankfully, didn't hear a thing, nor could she really pay any attention.

"I really don't understand why Mikemon likes her so much."

"Me neither. I mean, yes she isn't going to hurt us, that much is fine with me, but still...I've never met a creature who can't hear before."

"If she can't hear, does that mean she's addle-brained?"

Mikemon, having sensitive hearing thanks to her large ears, wound up hearing the gossip and gave the cat Digimon a dirty look.

"Just because she can't hear doesn't mean she's addle-brained, and don't call her that either! It's not nice!" Mikemon snapped.

The cat Digimon kept their mouths shut...until a male Gatomon's ears twitched.

"I hear something. Buzzing..." The male Gatomon muttered.

He's right. Mikuni didn't hear it, but the buzzing sound increased its volume until suddenly, a giant green Digimon flew right into Cat Kingdom out of nowhere! The only reason Mikuni noticed it is that the Digimon passed right by her, flying so fast that it made her fall onto the ground. The Digimon looks like a big praying mantis, complete with green skin, green legs, and huge, sharp sickles that look as though they could slice a human in half. But it also has orange antennae, sharp teeth, and orange markings on its face.

"Nyaaan! It's a Snimon!" Mikemon yelped. "Mikuni! Run!"

Mikemon took Mikuni by the hand and dragged her away from the scene as the many cat Digimon tried to ward of Snimon, who is much too big for them to defeat on their own. Punches, kicks, and bites abound, but Snimon managed to shake them all off, kill a few cat Digimon with its attacks, and prove itself to be quite a match against all these tiny cat Digimon.

"Twin Sickles!" Snimon swung its sickles in two arcs, both causing glowing pink crescents to appear. Some of the cat Digimon managed to evade them in the nick of time.

Mikuni and Mikemon hid behind a house and watched as the cat Digimon valiantly tried to defeat Snimon, or at least ward it off. They punched, they kicked, they bit, they hissed, and they all did whatever they could to either keep Snimon at bay or beat the life out of him. Unfortunately, despite their persistent and most ardent efforts, Snimon still managed to shake off the cat Digimon.

"This is bad! None of us are strong enough to take on a Digimon like that!" Mikemon said in a worried tone of voice as she kept one of her gloved paws wrapped tightly around Mikuni's wrist, keeping her from running away. But then again, Mikuni didn't want to run away. What could she possibly do to defeat a giant praying mantis? Even she knew that she's only a weak little girl, and worse than that, one who can't even hear. If she were to go anywhere, Snimon would likely hear her and cut her to ribbons with those giant sickles...and she wouldn't be able to hear it.

Unfortunately, neither of them were cognizant of the fact that Snimon successfully managed to blow up the house behind them with its twin sickles. Mikuni and Mikemon were thrown against the grass. Mikemon got back up quickly, but Mikuni fell back to the grass as soon as she tried to stand up. Snimon loomed over them like a tiger lurking about to pounce on its prey. Yes, Snimon has no eyes, but its sharp teeth and the hissing sound it made with its mouth made it abundantly clear that this giant praying mantis is out for blood, and it'll stop at nothing to get what it wants.

Thankfully for them, it's been bereaved of that opportunity.

"Hanging Twister!" Out of nowhere, a huge whirling tornado swirled right toward Snimon and trapped it inside, sending it spinning around and around. Moosemon galloped onto the scene as Shione hopped off of his back.

"Mikuni! Where are you?!" Shione called out.

Mikemon heard this and helped Mikuni get back on her feet. "Someone's calling for you," Mikemon told her as she pointed to Shione.

Mikuni's eyes lit up upon seeing Shione as she let go of Mikemon's hand and literally glomped her from behind. Shione found herself getting glomped by her little sister and became teary eyed.

"MIKUNI! Thank God you're okay!" Shione squeezed her little sister as tightly as she could, not wanting to let her go. Mikemon smiled at the sight of the two sisters embracing.

"Everyone! Go somewhere safe! We'll handle things from here!" Yun told all of the cat Digimon, then looked at Lucero with her green eyes ablaze with the flames of courage, something that's quite unusual, even for her. "Lucero! Help me lead the cat Digimon out of here safely."

"Thine wish is my command!" Lucero exclaimed as he did a sailor salute and helped Yun lead the cat Digimon out of Cat Kingdom while Lopmon, Terriermon, and Cutemon, who have digivolved into Antylamon, Rapidmon, and Rabbitmon, decided to take care of the rogue Snimon, who looked very disgusted by the sight of this large trio of rabbits.

"Ugh! A bug! Wanna squash it, sister?" Rapidmon scoffed, disgusted by the sight of Snimon.

"Rapidmon, you know we shouldn't just render all Digimon into DigiEggs willy-nilly. Let's at least try to scare it off," Antylamon told him gently but sternly, in her motherly voice.

"I was just about to say that," Rabbitmon said.

"Twin Sickle!"

"Dodge it!" Rabbitmon commanded. Promptly, the trio of rabbits successfully managed to evade the attack.

"Leave these Digimon alone, you giant bug! Lop-Ear Lance!" Rabbitmon yelled as she spun around, with her long ears looking like fast-moving helicopter propellers, and threw herself at Snimon. Upon collision, Snimon found itself ramming against the sand, unable to get back up as quickly as it wanted to.

"Rapid Fire!" Rapidmon shot two torpedoes at it, both of which managed to miss because Snimon, despite getting hurt, managed to evade them just in time.

"Spiraling Smack Down!" Not wanting to allow Snimon to cause any more trouble, Antylamon decided to give Snimon a good beating, and boy did she give a good beating. Once she finished, Antylamon gave Snimon the stink eye.

"If you want to leave with your life, please leave at once. The cat Digimon have done nothing to you, so you have no right to attack them. Now please kindly remove yourself from the premises, and we will forget this ever happened," Antylamon told it very sternly, with some ice in her voice.

"Yeah! Go away, you bug!" Rabbitmon piped in.

Snimon remained where it was, surprised by how he managed to get beaten by two ultimates and an armor level. Well, then again, Snimon is merely a champion level, so of course it would lose to them. Since its so weak right now, if it were to continue fighting them, they would most certainly kill him. Not wanting to take that risk, Snimon conceded defeat and quietly flew away. Antylamon smiled as she watched Snimon fly away.

_'I'm glad he decided to leave. That's a smart move you made, Snimon. I'm sorry we had to deal with you in the manner we did,'_ Antylamon ruminated to herself loftily.

Surprised by how the trio of Digimon managed to defeat Snimon, the cat Digimon decided it was safe to return, especially since Yun and Lucero are giving them permission to come back. However, Shione let Mikuni go, crossed her arms, and gave Mikuni a very stern look, similar to what Antylamon did earlier.

"May I have my digivice back please?" Shione asked sternly. Without hesitation, Mikuni returned Shione's digivice to her. But Shione isn't done yet. Yun was about to go in between them, but Lucero put a hand on her shoulder and shook his head.

"This is something they must resolve themselves. It's not our business," Lucero told her quietly and softly.

"Yes. Let's see how they go about it," Moosemon said.

"What were you thinking?! You took my digivice and went to the Digital World? You could have been in serious danger like just a few minutes ago! Didn't you think about that?! Do you know how worried you made me?!" Shione scolded while signing at the same time.

This made Mikemon confused. _'Why is she moving her hands all weird? Is that how she talks to Mikuni?'_ Mikemon thought. Sadly, Mikuni typed into her cell phone and showed it to Shione. Shione, not wanting Mikuni to feel singled out, kept her mouth shut and let Mikuni type out her message, not wanting to bereave her of the chance to tell her side of the story.

_"I'm sorry, Neechan. Really. But I'm sick and tired of watching Himari and Daddy yell all the time! I hate it!"_ Mikuni then typed something else right afterward. _"Besides, I just wanted to get away for a bit, and to see what the Digital World is like. I wasn't going to do anything bad. Honest."_

Shione stood her ground, but she could feel her heart soften. "Mikuni...I agree with you, I'm sick and tired of it too. I know you're not trying to cause any trouble, but we've never been to the Digital World before, and considering all that's been happening, you could have gotten hurt, or even killed, especially since you don't have a Digimon of your own and since you can't hear," Shione told her as gently as possible.

"I made sure to keep her safe," Mikemon piped in.

Mikuni typed another message and showed it to everyone. _"This is Mikemon! She's my new friend, and she's super nice! She's right. She saved me a few times."_

"We are most grateful to thee for watching her, Mikemon. She cannot hear, so it's hard for her to know when something bad transpires," Lucero told her politely.

"It's nothing. I really like her, so I don't mind at all," Mikemon said.

All of a sudden, a white light appeared between Mikuni and Mikemon. It gently and loftily descended into the palms of Mikuni's tiny hands. Once it made contact with her hands, the light dissipated, and out came an orangish brown digivice, similar to the orangish brown parts of Mikemon's fur. Upon seeing this, Mikuni lit up like the sun and suddenly began cheering and jumping around, squeeing jubilantly like a happy fangirl.

"Wow! Congrats, Mikuni-chan! Mikemon's your partner now!" Rapidmon exclaimed.

"So...that means Mikuni's my tamer? Awesome! We can hang out and be friends and do stuff together!" Mikemon exclaimed, happy to know that she's officially Mikuni's friend.

"Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay! Mikemon!" Mikuni chirped joyously and squeezed her newfound partner.

Shione felt her heart turn into a tower of jelly as she watched the happy pair embrace each other. _'I guess Mikuni coming to the Digital World was a good idea after all. Now she won't be lonely anymore...'_ Shione thought.

"I see they're looking very happy. I think they will be a great team. Mikemon can be Mikuni's ears. Won't that be wonderful?" Moosemon asked.

"Yep. That'd definitely work, and Yun? Thanks for taking me here. Sorry for the trouble we caused," Shione said, then turned to Yun and bowed before her politely.

"Oh, it's no trouble at all! In fact, you really saved me today, because my big sister pestered my mom to let her go to the mall even though she's grounded, and I really didn't want to deal with more yelling," Yun told her.

"You have problems with your big sister too?" Shione asked.

"Yeah. Why? Do you and your big sis not get along?"

"No. My big sister's pregnant, and my family's going through a lot of problems."

"Really?! People can get pregnant before they get married?"

"Sadly, yes. Himari's always fighting with our parents because of it. She doesn't want the baby at all, and Dad keeps telling her to raise him since he's her responsibility and that she brought it on herself."

"Ouch. That must stink."

"I know. That's why Mikuni came here, because she was tired of all the yelling going on, even though she can't hear, and I agree with her."

"Perhaps even deaf people don't like it when strife is within their vicinity," Lucero piped in.

"Shall we journey home?" Moosemon asked. Everyone nodded. Before they left, the cat Digimon thanked them for their efforts in chasing Snimon out of their kingdom and promised to not be so uptight about lost Digimon or weary travelers next time.

Sometimes, fate has a way of intertwining people in rather unorthodox ways. Two clans can meet in different places, and people from the same family can meet in different places, whether it's parents at work or their kids in school.

***

As Yun said, Ayaka begged Hisako and Teruki to let her go to the mall because she needs something for a project in school that she really needs to pass or else she'll fail, and one of the parts needed for said project can only be found in a store in the mall. Hisako, despite not wanting Ayaka to go out of the house, decided to take her to the mall anyway since she needs to go to that one store to get the materials she needs for her school project. That, and Hisako herself wanted to go to the mall anyway since she wanted to buy some new clothes for herself, both for leisure and for work. Ayaka found the store she wanted to go to and Hisako did as well. Since they're both next door, Hisako decided to let Ayaka go in by herself since she'll only be in there for just a few minutes, no more. Hisako made it very clear to Ayaka that she was to find what she wanted and leave immediately, no meandering or lingering around. Ayaka could tell that Hisako was serious, and decided to follow her commands promptly.

That is, until Himari showed up.

Ayaka managed to find what she wanted. It wasn't much, but it would definitely suffice. But right as she left the store, someone called out to her.

"Yo, home girl! What's a dirty piece of garbage like you doing out in public?!" Ayaka recognized the voice, but chose to pay no heed. It belonged to Himari. Ayaka knew her because they share some classes together. But unlike their little sisters, Ayaka and Himari don't get along despite having very similar personalities. Not wanting to keep Hisako waiting, Ayaka tried to go into the store next door.

Himari suddenly became livid upon seeing that someone so treacherous and noisome as Ayaka, if what she heard from her classmates proved to be true, had the audacity to ignore her and leave her in the dust like that. No, she was not going to let Ayaka run off, so she ran to her and grabbed her arm.

"Get off me! I can't talk! I have to meet my mom or I'll get in trouble!" Ayaka snapped angrily.

"So what?! You're worse off than me anyway!" Himari told her wickedly.

"I said go away!" Ayaka managed to pry Himari's hand off of her arm.

That's when it happened. Himari growled and suddenly lunged at Ayaka, sending her to the floor as many bystanders watched in a swirling combination of surprise, curiosity, and horror. Ayaka, not wanting to hurt Himari's baby, tried to push Himari off of her, but the rabid girl punched her and yanked on her hair like she was a rag doll.

"MOOOM! HELP MEEEE!" Ayaka screamed as loud as she could, trying to push Himari off of her to no avail.

"Go on! Cry for your mommy, you big fat baby! Cry, baby, cry!" Himari taunted wickedly as she kicked Ayaka's stomach.

"Someone call security!" A man shouted and another man ran to get a security officer who happened to be close by.

"Ayaka!" Hisako came out of the store, dropped her purchases, and ran to them with shock. Surprised by what's transpiring, Hisako wrapped her arms wound Himari and tried to pull her off of her daughter, who is now covered with scratches, and a fresh, swollen bruise is beginning to form on her face. A security guard broke them up soon after.

This is not anyone's day after all.


	94. A Shocking Revelation

EPISODE 94: A Shocking Revelation

"Dad! I swear to God, I didn't do it! _She_ attacked _ME_!" Ayaka pleaded at the dinner table. After breaking up the fight at the mall, Ayaka and Himari were taken to the security office for questioning, along with Hisako and Takehiko, who was with Himari though was in another store when the fight broke out. After some mild interrogation and injury tending, Hisako took Ayaka back home before dinner, and told Teruki about it, who became quite shocked by the fact that Ayaka got attacked in the mall, but even more so by the fact that the attacker was pregnant and was willing to put her baby's life at risk for some petty and unfathomable reason. Yun was shocked, but didn't say anything as she wanted nothing more than to finish her food and do her homework, as homework is much better than listening to Ayaka angst all day.

"Calm down, Ayaka. I believe you. Do you know why she attacked you?" Teruki told her, trying to let her know that he believes her and is listening, though Ayaka doesn't think he believes her at all, considering how hysterically she's behaving right now. Understandable, really. Who would act calm and sophisticated after getting attacked by some random person in the middle of a public mall? Ayaka's not one for being calm at all in general, but in this case, she had good reason to be.

"No. The policeman kept asking her about it but she wouldn't say. She just up and attacked me right out of nowhere, I swear!" Ayaka explained hysterically.

"Do you know her?" Teruki asked.

"She and I share some classes at school, but we don't interact much," Ayaka said, a little calmer in tone this time.

"I'm glad you're okay, Ayaka. Sorry if I freaked out earlier. But I just don't get it. Why would that girl put her baby's life at risk?" Teruki told her reassuringly, though is still flummoxed as to why a pregnant person would attack Ayaka out of nowhere.

"Yun. I don't want you telling anyone about this, okay?" Hisako told Yun promptly, who quickly finished her meatloaf.

"I won't. Why would I do that?" Yun replied as she ate the last piece of meatloaf on her plate, which is now empty, save for some tiny grains of rice, a small drip of mashed potatoes, and some green beans. Green beans are NOT Yun's favorite food.

"Because you're always running your mouth when you shouldn't," Ayaka piped in unmercifully.

"Ayaka. We'll handle it," Hisako told her promptly as Yun washed her plate and left it in the sink.

"Can I have some more mashed potatoes please?" Gummymon asked as he finished his plate, not caring one bit about the conversation that's going on around him.

"Terriermon! Don't you think you've had enough? You've had two servings of meatloaf and mashed potatoes already!" Kokomon piped in with some concern in her sweet voice.

"What? Is it bad that I really love Hisako-san's meatloaf and mashed potatoes?" Gummymon asked. Cutemon let out an exasperated sigh, and Ayaka continued to whine about why she got attacked, which Yun really didn't want to hear. Despite this, Cutemon suspected that Gummymon did that so Ayaka wouldn't antagonize Yun and so Yun can get away from the dinner table as soon as possible.

It's not like Yun wanted to hear everything. She just happened to be at the table when Hisako and Ayaka started telling Teruki about it, exacerbated by the fact that she has naturally hypersensitive hearing due to her autism. She felt a little bad for thinking this, but she considered Mikuni to be lucky for being deaf. Yun wished she was deaf so she wouldn't have to hear anything and everything that's said in this house, whether she wants to hear it or not. That, and she had to admit, Ayaka's right about her having a bit of a habit of saying things she shouldn't. Yun remembered being scolded for it quite a lot and she really didn't want to go through that ever again. Now all she wants to do is go to her room and work on her homework.

But when she got her books and notebooks out, she noticed something sitting outside her window. Because she's sitting on the floor as she's pulling out her books, notebooks, and writing utensils, she only managed to see some white and black things sticking out from the bottom of the window, and one of them has a purple earring on it. Yun recognized it right off. She stood up, put her stuff on her bed, and looked out the window again. Much to her surprise, it's Kudamon! Kudamon, of all Digimon, at her house! But he has been here before, so it wasn't any surprise he'd know where she'd live, even though he and Hokuto have been here only a few times in the past few months. He's silently sitting on the other side of the window, staring at her with his gleaming, golden eyes, but not in a mean, ferocious, or patronizing way. Yun wondered if he wanted to come in, so she walked over and opened the window, though it did take some strength since Yun's window has been rather tight as of late.

"Kudamon? What are you doing here?" Yun asked as she pushed the window up so Kudamon can come inside if he wants.

"I happened to pass by, so I came to visit, if that's alright with you," Kudamon told her quietly but kindly. "Do you mind if I come in?"

"Not at all. Come inside. It's kind of hot out there so I don't want you to get all hot and sweaty," Yun said as she extended her hand out to him. Kudamon slowly and gently crawled onto Yun's hand and sat on her shoulder as she closed the window. Admittedly, Yun isn't quite used to having a tiny little fox crawl on her hand and sit on her shoulder. Lopmon, Terriermon, and Cutemon were one thing, but Kudamon is another, not that she minded. She did like how soft his paws are, tiny as they are, and he's much smaller and lighter in weight than her rabbit friends, so her shoulders didn't feel heavy. Once Yun sat down on her bed, Kudamon hopped off of her shoulder and sat down next to her.

"How come Hokuto-kun's not with you? It's rare to see you two apart. Aren't you two always together?" Yun asked, still comprehending the fact that Kudamon is here in her own house. She wondered if something happened between them that made Kudamon go this far, not that she considered this to be over the top.

Then she saw something she never thought she'd see coming from Kudamon of all Digimon. As soon as she mentioned Hokuto's name, a soft, dejected expression formed on his tiny little face. His cute little cotton candy colored nose drooped downward in dejection, losing some of its sweetness. It's not surprising for Yun to be quite shocked by Kudamon's change in expression. She's never seen him be sad before. He's usually very calm and solemn, though she has seen him smile and play with the other Digimon with joy on his face, so she didn't believe he was expressionless or emotionless. No, Kudamon definitely isn't passive, insouciant, expressionless, or emotionless. He gets happy, sad, angry, and excited just like everyone else does. He's just more adept to keeping it inside and only showing them at the appropriate times, and even then he only shows them in moderation.

"Hokuto and I...we got into an argument earlier. I left so I could give him some space, especially since it's my fault the fight started," Kudamon murmured sadly, but not to the point where he's about to burst into tears. But then again, unlike Yun, Kudamon isn't one to burst into tears at every little thing.

Again, Yun became quite shocked. "You and Hokuto? Fighting? How can that be? You two never fight!" Yun exclaimed, aghast by this new development. Kudamon bursting into tears is one thing, but Hokuto and Kudamon getting into a fight? How can such a thing be possible? Yun's seen them interact more times than she could count, and not once have they ever gotten into a disagreement. They always got along great, even if it's in their own little way that's different from the others. They're both very quiet and solemn, but they still loved each other, and they didn't even need to exchange words to convey this to not just each other, but to everyone else as well. How can Hokuto and Kudamon-who are practically the most inseparable human and Digimon duo ever-ever not get along?

"I was careless. I kept telling Hokuto to try and get along with his family more since everyone's been in the house all day, Kimi too, and you know how Hokuto is with her. I should have stopped myself, but I didn't, and Hokuto just up and screamed, _"Stop telling me what to do! Leave me alone!"_ So I did just that. I wish I hadn't nagged him so much. I realize now that I've been acting too much like a nagging parent, treating him like a child when I shouldn't have," Kudamon answered sadly. Even he seemed perturbed by how sad he sounds.

Yun didn't know what to say, so all she did was stroke Kudamon's head with two fingers. But it didn't seem to help. "I wonder if he thinks I pity him," Kudamon muttered.

"Pity? Mel-chan said that to pity someone means to feel sorry for them or think they can never do anything on their own," Yun piped in, remembering what Melody told her back when she told her about her past. "But I don't think that's it. I'm sure he knows you're doing your best to help him out, though maybe he thinks you two should...give each other some space for a while. It's one thing to hang out with friends...for one time, and then there's spending a bit too much time with them to the point where you both get...tired of each other. There's only so much of one person you can stand. I mean, I love playing with my friends, but there are times when there isn't much we can do together, and we can't think of anything to talk about or stuff like that. Know what I mean? Oh! I'm not trying to be mean or anything!" Yun explained, but wondered at the last minute if she said the wrong thing.

"I know you're not, and I agree with you. I have been smothering him, so perhaps giving him some space would be the best idea," Kudamon replied softly. But then he noticed a big pile of stuffed animals on the side of Yun's bed. "You're quite a fan of stuffed animals, aren't you?"

"Huh?" At first Yun didn't quite get what he said until she saw him looking at the pile of stuffed animals by her bed. "Oh! My plushies! Yeah, I love plushies! Especially if they're really soft and fluffy, but Mom doesn't want me getting anymore. But I don't buy them much now, because Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon are much more...what's the word?" It took a second for Yun to come up with the right word for it. "Satisfying? Yeah! They're more satisfying than any plushie!"

Kudamon's little face turned solemn again. "Yun...may I ask you a stupid question?"

"I'm the one who asks stupid questions, but okay!"

"Lopmon, Terriermon, and Cutemon...how do you view them?"

"How do I...view them?" Yun was a bit thrown off by Kudamon's question, but after a second she managed to comprehend it. "Oh! I get it! They're my best friends!" Yun exclaimed with a big smile. Kudamon noticed her cheeks are becoming rosy, and her two front teeth are rather prominent.

"By friends, do you mean...merely as toys you can play with?"

"Toys? No. They're not toys, they're real, silly! You're not a toy either," Kudamon could tell right away that Yun did not comprehend that question and didn't answer it in it's context, and it's obvious that she's not cognizant of the fact that Kudamon's question is much more serious than she took it to be, considering she answered it in such a carefree way. "But I do love playing with them. Really, they're the best thing that ever happened to me! It's always been my dream to have cute little talking animal friends, but I learned the hard way that talking animals are only drawings on paper made to move with technology...but now that I know Digimon exist, I know they're real as me!"

"It would seem so...but what I mean is, you don't think of them as just animals, do you?" Kudamon asked, hoping Yun would at least understand this one.

"No. They're not animals. They're Digimon. Well, technically they are animals, but they can talk and walk and do whatever we do, so-" Yun explained, again sounding very carefree. Kudamon couldn't believe what he was hearing. He knows that Yun is smart in some areas and not so smart in others, but he couldn't believe her comprehension level is this weak! Is Yun really this dense, so childlike, and so blissfully innocent? No, she couldn't be. She's seen lots of bad things, so she has to be able to comprehend and understand anything that goes on around her.

Kudamon suddenly found himself enraged, losing his usual equanimity, which is again unusual, even for him. His ears stood up, his tail rose into the air, his golden eyes developed a feral look to them, similar to the look Melody often donned for protection, and he stood in a fox-like stance. "NO! That's NOT what I'm asking! What are the Digimon to _you_?! Family?! Friends?! Pets?! Toys?! Tools you can use for your own pleasure?! Do you treat them as you do everyone else?! Like individuals? Do you acknowledge the fact that they're just as human as you?! You don't see them JUST as Digimon, do you?!"

Cowed by the sudden noise, Yun literally leaped off the bed, covered her ears, and stood by her bed, recoiling at the sound of Kudamon's choleric voice. Thankfully, Yun finally managed to comprehend what Kudamon's been asking. So THAT'S what he's been trying to ask! But she wondered if her inability to answer Kudamon's question is the reason why he's so angry. Is something like that really worth getting riled up about? Breaking something important and cheating off tests is one thing, but being slow on the uptake? Why would anyone be angry at that? Well, Yun had always gotten yelled at for silly things, like saying or doing something inappropriate when she doesn't know it (90% of the time she doesn't know she's saying or doing something inappropriate), failing a test or worksheet, butting into other people's business, or getting in someone's way, and Yun had been yelled at for being slow on the uptake lots of times before, so she was used to it by now. However, she hadn't been yelled at for this in a long time, especially not by a little white weasel Digimon who's normally very calm, collected, polite, and understanding.

"Calm down! Calm down, Kudamon! Sorry I didn't get it!" Yun yelped while covering her ears in fear, her emerald eyes wide with surprise and fright.

It's right here that Kudamon realized what he did just now. How could he have been so careless? He just yelled at an innocent girl who hasn't done anything wrong, and worse than that, he yelled at the first person who ever treated Hokuto like a human being, even if it's in her own way. It's not her fault she misunderstood his question. His face softened and became blanketed with rue. He shed his feral stance and ruefully laid back down on the bed. "I'm sorry. My temper got the better of me again."

Yun removed her hands from her ears, but remained where she was. "It's okay. I'm sorry for being so stupid."

"You're not stupid. You just have trouble processing new information, that's all," Kudamon whispered, continuing to chastise himself for his inappropriate behavior toward Yun just now.

Yun sat down next to Kudamon, rested her chin in her hands, and sighed. "You're wrong. I _am_ stupid. Everyone gets mad at me when I don't get anything they're saying. But it's okay. I'd rather listen to you than put up with Ayaka yelling at everybody all the time. And...to answer your question, I...I've always tried to love them and make them feel appreciated and important. I mean, I know they're not animals or toys, and I want to treat them like indi...individuals, but...I don't know how, and I don't know if I'm doing it right or not. But I love them very much. They're more than just friends to me. They're like family, and not only that, they're everything I want in friends. They listen, they give me advice instead of tell me to shut up, they appreciate what I do for them, and they never push me away or feel like I'm not worth anything, and best of all, they never take what I say the wrong way or change it into something else, something even Mom, Dad, and Ayaka do a lot, and that really makes me mad. Before I met them, things were getting awful. Ayaka's behavior was starting to get bad, my cat died, Nenji and Seiko kept picking on me at school, Minako was still trying to cope with Kiyoshi's death, and Kosuke had to take care of his mom. I couldn't hang out with my friends much because they often had things to do, and...it did make me lonely."

"But even so, they're still your friends. Just because they have things to do that they can't do anything about doesn't mean they're intentionally leaving you alone. Besides, the Digimon Brigade really do care about you, Yun. Please don't think you're alone in the world," Kudamon piped in.

"I know, and I know they like me, even though I don't deserve it, but...still. Doesn't it make you sad when you hear kids at school talk about going to parties and going to the mall and hanging at other people's houses and having sleepovers when you can't do any of those things yourself?"

"I can see why it would."

"But since Lopmon and Terriermon came, everything's changed, and I have them to thank for it. I can see everyone else changing because of the Digimon too. Minako and Kosuke are back to their old selves, and Melody's gotten stuff off her chest thanks to Biyomon, and everyone else, too."

Kudamon smiled. _'I'm glad you have such a simple mind. I can see why Melody, Hokuto, and the others like you so much. Your heart and soul are pure, without any tangled webs. Now I see what Hokuto sees in you...'_ Kudamon thought. Suddenly, he leaped onto Yun's knee and curled up into a little ball, lying on it with a content smile on his face.

"Yun...if something happens or I'm not around anymore, please continue being Hokuto's friend. He likes you very much, more so than any other person in the world. Continue believing in him. He's going to need it," Kudamon told her gently as he closed his eyes.

Yun smiled as well. She had to admit Kudamon looked cute sleeping on her knee like that, like a little squirrel in its nest. "I'm not someone who's able to do all that, nor am I someone anyone would consider important, but...I'll do that," She whispered as she very gently stroke Kudamon's little white head. His fur is very soft, like Lopmon's, and she liked the feel of it. Kudamon seemed to take kindly to Yun's gentle touch as he smiled all throughout.

"I wonder if my patience is fading away," Kudamon muttered out of the blue.

"Maybe it's because you have to hear that brat Kimi screaming and yelling all the time. I know I'd get angry if I had to put up with her every single day," Yun told him.

After some time, Lucero, Kokomon, Gummymon, and Cutemon all joined Yun in her room and were surprised to see Kudamon there. Yun told them to go play on their own since she has to do some homework. They played in the backyard while Yun did her homework all by herself while hoping she's at least getting the problems right. After about an hour and a half, she completed her homework despite some difficulty, and feeling relieved, she joined Lucero and the Digimon for some fun, though it resulted in Yun becoming the subject of Lucero's tickle torture, something even the normally solemn and quiet Kudamon couldn't help but feel borderline amused by. But after a while, Kudamon felt obligated to return to the Kamitsure house, so he said goodbye to everyone and left the Wakamiya house while trying to make sure he didn't get spotted by them.

It didn't prove to be difficult for Kudamon to return to the Kamitsure house. Since he's so small and slender, he can easily crawl into small places and cross streets and sidewalks without people noticing, and even if people did notice him, he'd fly by so fast and with such precision that people would just assume he's some random animal that anyone would see running around, like a rabbit or a squirrel. Plus, despite going on foot, the Kamitsure house didn't prove to be hard to get to. It's not too far from Yun's house, and it's extremely easy to notice. It is one of the very few traditionally Japanese houses in the area, since Tama-no-Minato is almost entirely overrun with Western-style houses. After a while, Kudamon managed to return to the Kamitsure house right before the sun set, but he quickly noticed that the house is surprisingly quiet. For as long as Kudamon had been here, there's never a day that goes by, or even an hour, without Kimi screaming and whining and making a fuss over anything and everything, but he soon saw that she's sitting angrily, irritable, and uncomfortably, but quietly, in a little stool stashed into a corner of the living room. She's definitely in time-out, and Aki is watching her with eyes like a hawk. Nene and Yoshi are happily playing house in the same room, without a single care in the world.

Once he crawled to Hokuto's window, he slipped back into the room, but not before noticing Chiriko, Hokuto, and FanBeemon talking amongst themselves and looking like they're having a great time doing so. Kudamon's ears are long and sensitive so he was able to make out what they were saying, but chose not to pay attention. All he really focused on was the fact that Hokuto looked surprisingly radiant and chipper as he talked to them. His cheeks, which are normally very pale, are rosy pink, like Lopmon's ears. His cobalt blue eyes, which are normally very insouciant and uninterested in anything around them, are round and wide, and not only that, they developed a distinct gleam about them, a kind of sheen that's only seen in people who are cheerful and looking forward to what life throws at them. Not only that, Hokuto hardly ever smiled or laughed for as long as Kudamon knew him. For that matter, he hardly ever showed any emotions at all. However, now he's laughing and smiling radiantly, like a newly blossoming spring flower underneath the effulgence of the sunlight. He's not cowering in fear or trying to hide from this new social situation. He's happily palavering with his cousin and her partner, enjoying their presence. Just the sight of this new and improved Hokuto made Kudamon beam with delight, and he had the Digimon Brigade to thank for that. Despite everything that's happening, they still accepted, embraced, and treated Hokuto like a human being, and didn't discriminate against him simply because he's Saruto's son or hold his little problem over his head and constantly remind him of it. Kudamon found himself smiling so much that he failed to notice FanBeemon catching a glance of him.

"Hey Kudamon! What are you doing over there? Come hang with us! Chii-chan's telling us a funny story!" FanBeemon chirped happily as she waved one of her stingers, gesturing Kudamon to join them.

Kudamon didn't move or respond right off. He wondered if Hokuto is still angry at him for their argument earlier. Hokuto has a reputation for being very stubborn, and considering how long he's gone without accepting Kimi as his sister, it's likely he'd still hold onto his simmering anger, even though Hokuto doesn't look angry right now. Would it be better to refuse FanBeemon's invitation so Hokuto's temper won't be exacerbated? He was about to refuse, but then he saw Hokuto looking at him with pleading eyes, the kind of pleading eyes that say, _"Come join us!"_ in a friendly way. Kudamon smiled and decided to join them. He didn't leap on Hokuto and just sat on the floor, which was fine with them.

When night fell, Kudamon was about to sleep in Hokuto's pile of clothes until Hokuto himself stopped him with his presence.

"Aren't you going to sleep with me? Like you always do?" Hokuto asked.

"You want me to? I mean...I made you angry earlier today," Kudamon replied, surprised that Hokuto doesn't sound angry with him.

"Is that why you left?"

"You told me to leave you alone, so I did just that. I didn't want to make your temper worse."

Hokuto's cobalt blue eyes softened, and he donned a rather dejected look on his face. "I'm sorry...for snapping at you. I shouldn't have done that."

"It's alright. It's my fault, so I should be the one saying sorry for smothering you with my nagging," Kudamon told him kindly.

"You were only trying to help. So...want to sleep together tonight? That pile's dirty, and I don't want you getting smelly," Hokuto said as he kneeled in front of the pile and extended his hand out so Kudamon wouldn't have to skitter across the floor.

Kudamon had to admit, he's surprised that the conflict between them has been resolved so quickly. Perhaps giving Hokuto some space did do him some good after all. Kudamon smiled and accepted Hokuto's offer of friendship by crawling onto his arm and settling onto his shoulder. The two shared a peaceful night together under the stars.

What Kudamon, or everyone else, didn't know was that something very strange was going to happen tomorrow, and it was going to manifest in the strangest way possible.

***

"WHAT?! A SIXTY-NINE?!" On Tuesday morning, Yun got her test back, but she's extremely shocked and flabbergasted to see that her packet is marked with a big red 69 at the corner of the first page, along with quite a lot of red X's on various test questions and answers.

"I...I...I failed?! This can't be! I studied! I really did! How could I..." Yun cried suddenly, still comprehending the fact that she failed the math test.

"I wonder if it's because we've been spending too much time in the Digital World lately?" Otoya asked.

"Probably. We didn't use our time studying so perhaps that's why..." Shione said.

Yun burst into tears upon reading the rest of the packet and buried her face into her arms. "I knew it! I AM retarded! I should have studied harder but NOOO! I had to waste all my time goofing off in the Digital World! Why didn't I ask for help when I had the chance?! I really am retarded!" Yun wailed into her arms.

"You're not retarded, Yun! You scored way higher than me! Look! I got a forty-six! See?" Riku tried to comfort Yun by showing her his own test, but it didn't work.

"You don't care about math so of course you'd flunk! I'm retarded! I got even the easiest, most obvious questions wrong! Even babies can solve these questions!" Yun continued to wail passionately into her arms, her tears pouring onto her desk.

Seeing Yun cry over a little test made Lucero's heart sag. If only they had studied more, maybe they could have passed. Lucero looked at his test and saw the 100 in red, standing out like a sore thumb. He passed the test with flying colors and he didn't even study. But passing a test really meant nothing to him if it meant watching others who failed miserably, even when they did ask for help and studied really hard, cry over their misfortune. He wished he could comfort her in some way, but he stopped himself, thinking his attempts to comfort her may not faze her or just make her think he's being arrogant or rubbing his fortune in her face, so he kept quiet. One person, however, chose to do exactly that.

"Oh, shut up, Wakamiya! You're still retarded whether you study or not so stop thinking the world has to revolve around you!" Seiko snapped from the other side of the room, holding her own test in her arms.

Here came Lucero's chance. He stomped over to Seiko's desk and slammed it with his hand, but not to a point where he broke her desk. He'd get in trouble if he did that, so he at least tried to make sure to show some restraint in that respect. "If thou hast any sense or modesty, thou shouldst hold thine tongue!"

"But it's true! She'll never pass a math test!" Seiko snapped.

"Oh REALLY! If thou truly believeth that, then why dost thou not revealeth thine own grade?" Lucero asked sternly with his arms crossed.

"Irk!" Seiko croaked, surprised that Lucero would command her to do such a thing. Just as she's about to stash the paper in her desk, Riku grabbed it and looked at it. Surprised at what he saw, he burst out laughing.

"Bwahahahaha! A twenty! Jeez, Shimizu! You talk tough but if anyone's retarded around here, it's you! Look! Shimizu got a 20 of all things!" Riku howled with laughter while showing everyone Seiko's test.

"Hey! That's mine! Give it back you idiot!" Seiko tried to get it back, but Riku kept hopping around the room, refusing to relent until Mrs. Takahashi got in between them, confiscated the paper from Riku, and gave it back to Seiko.

"Just because you got a higher grade than someone else doesn't make you any better than them," Mrs. Takahashi promptly told Riku.

"But Shimizu's the one being full of herself even though she got the lowest grade! She keeps making fun of Yun!" Riku retaliated, not wanting the whole thing to turn into a misunderstanding.

"Riku-dono's words are true, Takahashi-sensei," Lucero politely backed Riku's claim.

Thankfully, Yun's not the only one who failed the test after all despite taking it really hard. In fact, except for Lucero, she actually got the highest grade in the class, and according to Mrs. Takahashi, she's shown great improvement in math class in general, and the 69 is just one point below a 70 which is a D minus, so technically she still managed to pass, though Yun doesn't believe this. That, and a very good majority of the students failed the test, the class average being in the low forties, and Mrs. Takahashi gave the entire class a rather merciless lecture (Yun cried throughout the whole thing and didn't bother to pay any attention despite hearing everything). But she did mention that the children can retake the test at a later date, which made Yun stop crying and pay close attention. After that, the rest of the school day went rather fine.

That is, until gym class came around.

Gym class in itself started off weirdly. For some strange reason, the girls were foisted into one side of the room, under the supervision of Miss Niiyama, and the boys on the other side, under Mr. Kadota's supervision, and both sides are learning different lessons. The girls have to all walk on a big balance beam one by one while surrounded by placemats, while the boys have to climb a big rope.

"What in the world is going on here?" Kosuke whispered to Lucero.

"I haven't the faintest clue," Lucero whispered back.

"Alright, boys! Today's the day we put everything we learned about phys ed to the test! Now each and every one of ya is gonna climb this rope all the way to that red bow!" Mr. Kadota explained in a booming voice, pointing to the big rope that reaches all the way to the ceiling, though the red bow that he's talking about is definitely not at the top, thank goodness. Instead, it's only half that distance, and it reaches only three meters above Mr. Kadota's head.

Immediately, the boys began complaining.

"What?! We gotta climb a rope?!"

"This ain't fair, man!"

"No way! I'll fall if I climb that thing!"

"Can't we do something else?"

"Can't we have free play?"

"When pigs fly! Quit whinin', you sissies! Now yer gonna climb this rope whether you like it or not! Nemoto! You go first!" Mr. Kadota exclaimed in a domineering demeanor and booming voice and demanded Nenji go first.

"What?! No way! I ain't doin' that!" Nenji complained.

"Quit whinin' and get your butt up to that red bow right now!" Mr. Kadota demanded.

"Fine fine! I'll do it! Yeesh!" Nenji said as he wrapped his hands around the hard and prickly rope.

Kids complaining about climbing a big rope is one thing, but expressing real fear about rope is another, and it was Riku who noticed it right upon laying eyes on Hokuto.

Hokuto is just standing there, staring at the big rope with wide eyes, only they're not wide with joy or anger. They look to be wide with absolute fear. His mouth is moving a bit, but Riku couldn't make out what he's saying. Finding this strange sight to be rather unsettling, Riku gently nudged Hokuto's arm with his shoulder.

"You okay?" Riku asked. No response, but Riku noticed his eyes are getting wider. Riku snapped his fingers in front of Hokuto three times. Again, no response, but it did catch Kosuke's attention.

"What are you doing?" Kosuke asked.

"Hokuto's acting weird," Riku replied.

Immediately after he said that, a small thud echoed in the room despite the sound being drowned out by kids laughing because Nenji slipped and fell on his butt. Kosuke, Riku, and Lucero turned around to find Hokuto on his knees, staring at nothing but the rope with huge, fear-stricken eyes. Riku thought the sight of Hokuto staring into space seemed unsettling before, but this turned out to be even more unsettling. He kneeled before Hokuto, gently put a hand on his shoulder, and shook him gently.

"Hokuto. You alright? Snap out of it!" Riku told him.

"You afraid of the rope?" Kosuke asked.

"...hanged."

"Huh?" Lucero asked.

"He...was hanged."

Nobody knew it, but despite the rope being in front of his face, he didn't see a rope. Instead, he saw something else entirely.

He saw Saruto...dangling from a noose helplessly.

Then the sight became blurry.

"Uh...uh...uh..." Hokuto's hands shook and trembled violently as he tried to lift them, and all of a sudden, a huge waterfall of tears literally burst out of his large, fear-stricken eyes, and high, moaning sounds escaped his mouth, his voice becoming strangely high. Then a vociferous, bloodcurdling scream escaped right from his mouth, echoing throughout the entire room as Hokuto's shaking hands covered his eyes and he fell onto the floor into a crumpled heap, trembling violently and bawling loudly. Everyone watched as Hokuto screamed like a madman.

"Hokuto! Hokuto! What's wrong?! Say something!" Lucero shook the crying boy and pleaded for him to explain himself, but nothing worked. The entire room heard that scream. Yun, who was halfway across the balance beam, fell onto a placemat because of the noise, but once she saw who was on the floor, the pain of the loud noise and falling on the placemat didn't seem so bad anymore. She got on her knees, ran across the room, and ran over to try and comfort Hokuto, who didn't even notice her.

"Hokuto! It's me, Yun! Don't cry! I'm here! I'm here!" Yun shook him with her hands and tried to pacify him, but even that didn't work.

"Kadota! What are you standing around for?! Call the nurse!" Miss Niiyama demanded angrily, appalled that Mr. Kadota isn't doing anything helpful. Mr. Kadota reluctantly ran out of the room while Miss Niiyama ran to where Yun and Hokuto are. "Children! Get back! I'll handle this!" Miss Niiyama waved her arm at the kids to make them stand back. Most of them complied, but Yun and Riku wouldn't budge.

"Hokuto! Please, tell me what's wrong!" Yun pleaded as gently as she could, despite her ears throbbing because of Hokuto's incessant screaming.

"Yun. Please get back. I'll take him to the nurse," Miss Niiyama told her as kindly as she could.

"But he's scared! He's not sick, and I can't just leave him!" Yun exclaimed.

"HE WAS HANGED!" Hokuto suddenly screamed out of nowhere, causing Yun to cover her ears. Soon the girls joined the boys in observing the strange scene. To Yun, this is a breakthrough, as Hokuto is finally telling her what's wrong. She didn't want to lose this chance.

"Who was hanged?" Yun asked.

"DAD! HE WAS HANGED! I SAW IT!" Hokuto screamed again, his voice turning raspy.

"On TV?"

"NO! I WAS THERE! IN THE EXECUTION ROOM! I SAW EVERYTHING!"

"Yun! Get back!" Miss Niiyama commanded as she tried to carry Hokuto into her arms. Unfortunately, Hokuto, noticing that he's being carried, howled like a trapped animal and writhed violently, causing Miss Niiyama to let him go.

"Just leave him there, yo! He ain't worth it!" Nenji exclaimed scornfully.

"Will you shut up, Nemoto?! Nobody asked for your useless input and you're not making this any better!" Melody snapped angrily, not really surprised that Nenji wouldn't care for anyone's welfare, even in regards to something like this. Quickly, the nurse arrived. Both she and Niiyama managed to carry the still screaming Hokuto out of the gymnasium and take him to the nurse's room while Mr. Kadota told everyone to continue with their lessons.

Yun couldn't concentrate on anything. Hokuto had a huge meltdown in the middle of class just at the sight of a big rope. The pieces began to come together. She remembered the time at Melody's house where Hokuto snapped at the news showing a story about the girl hanging herself and how he nearly assaulted Daikichi into turning off the TV in a fit of blinded rage.

_"TV about hanging...TURN IT OFF!"_

_"Hanging...hanging...hanging..."_

Hokuto's afraid of ropes. He's afraid of ropes because he claims he saw Saruto get hanged. Not on TV, but in person. If all of this is true, then that explains everything! From why he doesn't interact with others to his breakdown just now. Yun seriously wanted to go to the nurse's office to visit him once gym class ended, but nobody would let her, because of lessons going on and because she was told that Aki picked him up and took him home. Through the rest of the day, one question continued to linger in Yun's mind and eat at her conscious like an annoying parasite trying to suck the life out of its host.

How in the world did Hokuto manage to watch his father die at a live execution?

As far as she knew, it's illegal for children to witness an execution, especially a live one. Not only that, wouldn't it be extremely hard for someone to allow a child to witness an execution, and even if they did manage to sneak them in, wouldn't the kids be traumatized for the rest of their lives? How could someone even pull off sneaking a child into a live execution without getting caught? Once school finally ended, Yun and Lucero went into the car, where they found Hisako, Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon.

"Mom? Do you mind if you drop us off at Hokuto's house?" Yun asked.

"Sure, but why?" Hisako asked, sounding a little reluctant to drive Yun over there.

"Hokuto-dono had a breakdown today, and we wish to check on him," Lucero explained.

"A breakdown? What happened? Is he okay?" Lopmon asked with worry in her sweet voice.

"He's not hurt, is he, kyu?" Cutemon asked, her voice also wracked with worry.

"No, he's not hurt, but..." Yun let the sentence drift away, not wanting to burden Hisako with the strange information she received. Despite this, Hisako drove them to the Kamitsure house anyway, because she wanted to see how Aki is doing, considering she and Aki are good friends.

However, once they got to the house...

"WHAT?! YOU SAW SARUTO DIE?! IN PERSON?!" That was Aki's voice, and it came from the living room. Yun, Lucero, Hisako, and the rabbits ran into the living room to find Aki, Hisako, and Chiriko in the living room. Hokuto is lying on the couch with a blanket covering him, his glasses are on top of one of the arm rests, and Chiriko has a plate that has a sandwich on it along with a glass of chocolate milk. She set it down in front of the couch while making sure not to spill anything.

In response to Aki's question, Hokuto nodded grimly. Aki found herself unable to take in this new information. Hokuto saw her husband die? How is such a thing even possible? She fell on her behind upon hearing this new information. The kids and Digimon remained silent as they didn't want to interfere in her talking with Hokuto. Not even Kudamon, even though he's normally silent around her anyway. However, despite the most overwhelming shock she ever received just now, she did manage to croak out a question she had been wanting to ask.

"...Did Saruto say anything?"

All Hokuto did was bat his eyes at her.

"Did he say anything before...it happened?"

It took a while for Hokuto to respond, but after a few minutes, he did, albeit in a very low whisper.

"...There was a soundproof glass wall around him. He did say something, but nobody could hear anything. But I could read his lips as he looked at me. He said, _"I'm sorry. For everything. You're welcome to hate me, but...you'll always be my son."_ And then he..." Hokuto explained quietly, but let the sentence drift away.

Soon, the shock turned into anger. She stood up, like she found something she had been intending to do for years. "There's only ONE person I know who'd be crazy enough to pull something like that off!" Aki growled rather angrily. She stomped away from the living room. She didn't seem to notice the kids or the Digimon. However, this didn't stop her rage from becoming very visible.

"KANTARO! Watch the kids for me today! I'm going for a ride!" Aki screamed from her room. After a few minutes, she walked right out, went into the car, and zipped away like she was being chased by policemen. Everyone looked shocked.

"Wow. When Aunt Aki's angry, she really blows her fuse," Chiriko piped in.

"Yes..." Terriermon muttered.

Yun, worried about Hokuto, ambled over to the couch and kneeled in front of him.

"You okay?" Yun asked. Hokuto shook his head.

"You want to go for a walk?" Yun asked again.

Right on cue, Hokuto removed the blankets and stood up. Yun is surprised that he answered this way, as she suspected he'd say no. Perhaps he's afraid Kimi will start a ruckus again and he probably doesn't want to be around when it happens.

***

The drive only took about 10 minutes, and Aki stopped her car right in front of a rather old-looking house, but not old as in decrepit, though if it looked any older, it would have easily passed for a shack. But Aki didn't care about how shabby the house looked. Once she laid her angry eyes on it, she leaped out of the car and literally slammed the car door shut. She stomped in front of the slightly decrepit wooden door and pounded on it with her balled fist. Very hard. She didn't care if the prickly wood dug into her palms and skin or pricked them. She wanted answers.

"MITSUGUUUUU!" She screamed as she pounded on the door passionately, and she didn't seem to have any intention of stopping anytime soon.

"I'm comin'! Give it a rest, will ya?!" A gruff, scratchy male voice answered from behind the door. Aki stopped pounding on the door this time, even though her fist throbbed with pain.

After about a few minutes, the door flung open and out came a rather dirty, gruff-looking man a little older than Aki. His dark brown hair spiked up all over the place, like he hadn't given it a good wash in about a week, and a scratchy-looking beard covered all parts of his chin. Sideburns covered the sides of his face, ending at the area where his nose is in terms of distance. A lit cigarette dangled from his mouth but didn't fall out, and his dark brown eyes looked like they had lost their youthful shine since long ago. The man is wearing nothing but a white and olive green striped shirt, ragged dark blue jeans, and smelly and faded white socks. But once he laid eyes on Aki, his eyes widened just a bit in surprise.

"Aki? Is dat you? Hey, lil sis! How's it-" The man, Aki's brother, was about to greet his sister joyfully until he felt a very strong and unrestrained blow to his face, so strong that it literally sent him sprawling on the floor, right back into his sham of a house. Aki stomped into the sham of a house, her contorted face red as a tomato, staring down at the surprised man with bloodshot eyes like those of a hawk about to catch its prey.

"Hey! What was dat for, Aki?! Dat ain't no way to-" The man was about to scold his sister for entering his house in such an immature and inappropriate manner, but this is NOT why Aki came here.

"Mitsugu...I always knew you'd do anything to get what you wanted, but...now that I know what you did, you're officially a disgrace to the Kamitsure name!" Aki screamed.

"What are you-"

"DON'T DENY IT, MITSUGU! You took Hokuto to Saruto's execution and made him witness it! Hokuto told me everything!"

Now that Mitsugu knows why Aki came, he struggled to get himself back up. Instead of looking surprised, he looked grim and disgusted.

"CONFESS!"

"So you found out, huh? Yeah. I did it."

Not only was Aki appalled by his confession, she's even more appalled by the fact that he said it in such a deadpan manner, without any hint of emotion or remorse, like saying it didn't leave any form of shock on him. How can Mitsugu say this without sounding shocked or remorseful or anything? This angered Aki the most. "If I had known you were going to do something like this I would never have given Hokuto to you! Why do you always have to make such terrible decisions?! You wonder why you're in the hole you're in now!"

"Hey! Someone needed to show that kid how bad that man was, and since you're too soft, I did it for you!"

"By making him watch his father die?! Do you know how much you hurt him by doing that?! And how did you even manage to pull it off anyway?!"

"Aki! Saruto manipulated you! He used you for his own gain! I TRIED to make you see all that! We all did! But did you listen?! Noooo! You gallivanted off with him and let him do all this to you! He chose you because you're naive and stupid, and you proved it by marrying him even though we all tried to tell you he was tricking you!"

"You know what?! You're right! I AM naive and stupid, and I'm sorry I ever let him into my life! But just because I made a mistake doesn't mean you have to go off and do stupid stuff yourself! Do you even know all the damage you've done to Hokuto just by making him see his father die?!"

"Come on, Aki! The kid's retarded! He wouldn't do nuttin' I said, and whenever I brought up Saruto he kept spoutin' all dat nonsense about him lovin' him and stuff! Someone had to convince him he's a nutjob! Besides, I figured I'd get the guy back by making his guinea pig see him die so he won't forget about it for the rest of his life!"

"Is that the whole reason why you took in Hokuto in the first place?! Just to get your stupid revenge?!"

"If I had known the kid was gonna be just as big a nutjob as Saruto, I would never have taken him in anyway! I swear, Aki! How do you deal with him every day?! The kid's so weird!"

"You're sick, Mitsugu! You're sick beyond all help! I should never have made you watch Hokuto! I'm turning you in!" Aki grabbed Mitsugu by the ear and literally yanked him out of his sham of a house.

"Ow! Ow! Owowowowow! Watch the ear, Aki!" Mitsugu complained as Aki literally shoved him into the car and drove to the nearest police station to turn him in.

***

As this was happening, Yun, Lucero, Hokuto, Chiriko, and their Digimon decided to walk around town so Hokuto can calm his nerves. The Digimon got to play together, but even they're concerned about Hokuto after telling everyone about what just happened...and the secret he just revealed. Hokuto sat on a bench with Kudamon in his hands as he told everyone about the very short few weeks he spent at Mitsugu's house until the point where Mitsugu somehow made him watch Saruto get hanged.

"I don't get it. Why did she send you to him when he's not doing good on his end?" FanBeemon asked, curious.

"Mom had a lot on her plate at the time and needed someone to help, and Uncle Mitsugu was very insistent on taking care of me. I...I didn't like it there," Hokuto replied in a low whisper.

"Was he abusive?" Chiriko asked.

"No, but he didn't like me and the fact that I was scared to do anything. He kept talking bad about Dad and snapped at him about it, but he'd get mad and continue. He can't cook, and he doesn't make much money at his job, so he didn't spend much on me, but I didn't mind," Hokuto explained softly.

Yun wanted to ask him why he didn't tell Aki about it, but then she remembered that this was before Hokuto even met Aki or even knew about her existence, so it's unlikely that he had any means of contacting her, nor would he be willing to trust some stranger he doesn't know, even if said stranger is his own mother, whom he hasn't seen since he was possibly a tiny baby.

"How did the guy even manage to sneak a kid into a public execution anyway? He should have gotten arrested! How did he pull it off without getting caught? That's what I want to know!" Terriermon asked, as this matter was the thing that picked at his simple brain the most.

"I agree. He shouldn't have done that," Lopmon said with her little arms crossed, agreeing with her brother wholeheartedly.

"I'm surprised Aunt Aki didn't ask my parents to take you in for a bit. They're a little uptight, yeah, but they're a lot better than your uncle," Chiriko piped in.

"Dad's one of the most hated men ever. It's likely that they didn't want anything to do with me," Hokuto muttered.

"You don't know that," Chiriko said.

"They're letting Chii-chan stay here for a while, so I don't see why they wouldn't let you stay with them, at least until Aunt Aki got her stuff taken care of," FanBeemon threw in.

After a bit, Hokuto smiled a bit, which seemed highly unusual. "Everyone...thank you. For not judging me because I saw Dad die."

"Why would we hate you because you saw your father die? You didn't want to see that! Mitsugu-san made you watch against your will!" Yun piped in adamantly.

"Yun is right. Thou shan't consider thyself a freak of nature just because thou happened to bear witness to things that thou shouldn't have," Lucero told him.

"That's true. We're your friends, Hokuto. We'll always stand by you," Kudamon said.

Hokuto could feel the stress being alleviated already. The kids and Digimon decided to play some more until a car pulled up and stopped in front of them. FanBeemon flew into a nearby tree as soon as the driver came out, hoping she didn't get spotted. Out from the car appeared a surprised Aki.

"Hokuto? What are you doing out here?" Aki asked, looking confused.

"He said he wanted to go for a walk, so I took him out, and we ran into Yun-chan and Lucero-kun on the way here," Chiriko explained.

"Oh...that's sweet of you, Chii-chan. I'm glad I offered to let you stay with us. But it's starting to get late, so how about we go back home," Aki said with a smile, feeling calmer this time.

"Umm...in case you're wondering why Hokuto-kun screamed in school before, Kadota-sensei wanted the boys to climb a big rope," Yun explained.

"So that's what happened. Thanks for letting me know, Yun-chan. You're such a good friend. If you want, I can drive you all to my house and treat you to dinner. Aiko and Airi have labs to do at school," Aki said.

At first, Yun wanted to decline on Aki's offer as she feared that Kimi might cause a fuss and throw food around. But she didn't want to come off as rude or inconsiderate, and she really didn't want to deal with Ayaka and her whining, so she decided to go with Aki and everyone else. FanBeemon followed the car as it drove away from the park.

Yun was going to wish she hadn't taken up Aki's offer. Worse than that, Hokuto would be the one to regret ever coming back.

All it took was for Lucero to open the car door for his ears to be brutally assaulted and raped by the vociferous sound of the loudest, highest, most irritating screeching sound he ever heard. That, and the sounds of glass breaking and a very overwhelmed Kantaro trying to fix the situation to no avail.

Kimi came running out onto the porch with a big rubber chicken in her hand and tried to go out into the street, but Kantaro managed to grab her before she could run into the street.

"You've been a bad girl, Kimi! Say you're sorry!" Kantaro scolded as he locked the writhing, misbehaving girl in his bulky arms. Despite being bulky, Kimi fiercely bit into his arm, which made him yelp and drop her. She got back up and started screaming like a maniac again.

"Kantaro! What happened?!" Aki yelped with shock as she gestured the kids to leave the car quietly.

"I'm so sorry, Aki! Kimi tried to get cookies out of the jar and I stopped her just now, even though the jar broke. That, and she hit Nene with one of my shoes," Kantaro explained hysterically despite Kimi screaming in the background.

"Stop it, Kimi!" Nene yelled. Even she was perturbed by Kimi's worsening behavior.

Things got really bad when Kimi noticed Kudamon in Hokuto's arms.

Hokuto tried to run, but Kimi managed to catch up to him, grab his leg, and bite it so hard, it made Hokuto yelp in pain, and that caused him to drop Kudamon, who quickly got back on his feet. Once Kudamon was on the ground, Kimi immediately grabbed him by the neck and began waving him around like a rag toy.

"LA LA LA LA LA LA!" Kimi yelled and sang angrily as she ran around like a crazed religious maniac, while waving Kudamon around.

"Kimi! Let go of Hokuto's toy right now!" Aki grabbed Kimi and tried to force her to let go of Kudamon but this obstinate little four-year-old was NOT going to let her take away something she wanted.

Yun covered her ears in horror. Lucero and the rabbits stayed by her side. Chiriko tried to drag Hokuto away from the scene, but he didn't move. No, he refused to move.

In a split second after that, the feral beast inside Hokuto manifested, making his appearance known with glowing red eyes and a mighty roar. Everyone stopped to look. Even Kimi stopped screaming to stare at Hokuto, who is not Hokuto anymore. Knowing what this signified, Yun and Lucero immediately grabbed him and tried to hold him back.

"Hokuto-kun! No!" Yun yelled as she desperately clung to Hokuto's right arm.

"Thou cannot let the beast inside thee controleth thee!" Lucero exclaimed.

Despite their efforts, Hokuto broke through their grasp. But it was what he did afterward that made everyone freeze with horror.

He charged at little Kimi, who was so surprised she didn't react in time. Kudamon was knocked out of her little hands. After that, she felt a strong blow to her head and suddenly blacked out. Everyone was overcome with horror, but not so much that they didn't try to jump on Hokuto and stop him from hurting Kimi any more than he already had.

"HOKUTO NO!"

Unfortunately, even they couldn't stop him. Hokuto roared and howled like a wild animal trying to escape experimentation from scientists. Kudamon watched with horror as the feral beast inside Hokuto overtook him. No, he couldn't let him rampage, even though he knew that what's consuming Hokuto's being right now isn't Hokuto. He had to stop him at all costs. Silently, Kudamon leaped onto the back of Hokuto's neck and, using one of his little paws, hit one of Hokuto's pressure points. Hokuto definitely felt it, and once he did, his eyes stopped glowing, his fangs and claws faded, and he finally fell unconscious.

"Kimi!" Aki ran to her daughter, who somehow managed to wake up. But once she remembered what happened, she immediately started crying. Not crying out of anger or defiance, but truly out of pain and suffering. Weirdly enough, this woke Hokuto, who is back to normal. However, once he saw Kimi crying, he remembered what he just did, and just the memory of it made him return to his broken emotional state. He started crying as well, just not as loud as Kimi is doing.

Oddly enough, Kantaro hugged him as soon as he started crying.

"I...I...I didn't mean to...I'm sorry, I...I didn't-"

"It's alright, Hokuto. You're all better now."

"Why don't you hate me?! It's my fault! I turned into a monster and hurt your daughter! You should be casting me away!"

"You're not a monster, and I won't cast you away."

Hokuto succumbed to another fit of crying. Nobody could comprehend what just happened, even though Yun and Lucero have seen it happen before. This is a first time thing for everyone, Aki especially. She's heard about Hokuto's "transformation" many times before, but this is the first time in which she actually witnessed it. It turned out to be worse than she ever expected, and if this is the true extent of Hokuto's lashing out, then how is he ever going to be able to get by in life? How is he ever going to fit in with the mainstream society? Will things change?

Nobody knew what the future would hold for Hokuto.

***

People are, however, very capable of change, and someone unrelated to the aforementioned incident proved this to be true. Despite the tragedy that occurred, a pep rally was held at Tsurumi High School, and everyone, students and faculty, took part in the hearty festivities. Ayaka, however, decided things were getting too loud and noisy, so she decided to leave. Well, she tried to. All of a sudden, she was pulled behind the bleachers. Surprised, Ayaka turned around to find Himari looking at her with a desperate look on her face.

"You?! Seriously, stop stalking me! I don't know what your problem is-" Ayaka was about to give her a lecture until Himari completely blindsided her with something Ayaka never thought she'd hear from someone who's pregnant.

"Kick me!" Himari demanded.

"Huh?"

"You heard me! Kick me! Kick my stomach!"

Ayaka thought she heard something ridiculous. "You're kidding, right?"

"No! I'm serious! Kick my stomach right now!" Himari demanded as she pulled up her shirt to reveal her bulging stomach. "Kick me lots of times! So hard that I crumple to the floor! I'm begging you! Do it!"

A pregnant girl is asking a stranger to kick her developing baby? "Are you freaking insane?! You want _me_ to _kick_ your _baby_?! No way! Absolutely not! I'm not doing it!" Ayaka was about to leave, but Himari grabbed her again.

"Please! I'm begging you! I don't want this kid! Everybody wants me to keep it but I don't want it! The whole reason why I attacked you in the mall was so I could make you so angry that you'd hit me in the stomach really hard!" Himari explained hysterically, her voice drowned out by the noise.

"You attacked me so you can make me give you a miscarriage?! You're warped! You need help, BAD!" Ayaka snapped angrily, surprised that a pregnant girl cares so little about her own baby, so much so that she's willing to go as far as to force other people to help her get rid of it. How can she be so selfish and heartless?

"Come on! Can't you help me out, PLEASE?!"

"No! Do you know how much trouble I'll get in if they see me beating up a pregnant girl?! I'll get expelled, for God's sake! I'm in enough trouble already, and I'm not so stupid that I'd beat someone as helpless as you into a bloody pulp!"

"Who cares if you get expelled?! It's not like anyone here in school likes you anyway!"

"Oh! NOW I get it! You're trying to rope me into some kind of ploy so you can get me in trouble!"

"What?! No way! All I want is for this thing to die so I can go back to my own life!"

Ayaka let out an exasperated sigh and raised her hands into the air, like she was getting arrested. "Forget it. I'm not listening to another word!"

Himari grabbed her again. "Kill this parasite inside me or I'll tell everyone that you forced Anjo to go on a pity date with you!"

Choleric, Ayaka pushed Himari's hand back. "Like anyone's gonna believe garbage like that! Stop trying to make people fix everything for you, especially if it means getting them into trouble on your behalf! You brought this baby on yourself, and there's nothing you can do to change what you've done, so get your act together and quit being a selfish brat!"

Ayaka left the auditorium, but not before Himari threw in another threat. "I'll kill you if you snitch!"

Ayaka scoffed when she came into the quiet, halcyon hallway. "God, she's so stupid. Me? Kill her baby so she can do her own thing? Come on! And people say I'M warped!"

Without realizing it, Ayaka found herself walking toward the councilor's office. She went inside and found a thin, bespectacled old lady working on her computer, who turned around when she noticed Ayaka come in.

"Harada-sensei? I need to talk to you about something, and it's really urgent."


	95. A Plan of Action

EPISODE 95: A Plan of Action

_In The Digital World..._

"Has anyone seen the little Monitormon lately?" MoonMillenniummon suddenly asked one day, without any particular reason. Some groups of small Digimon that are keeping him company, namely Pagumon, Gizamon, Bakemon, DemiMeramon, and the lone Dracmon, happened to hear since they were the recipients of said question. Once they heard it, they all looked at each other with confused faces.

"Which one? There's lots of Monitormon here, Master," One of the Bakemon asked.

"The one Witchmon took under her wing before she perished," MoonMillenniummon clarified so they'd understand, which they did.

"Ohhh! That one! The one that always cries and hits himself in the head every day! Dunno. I haven't seem him in a while," One of the DemiMeramon piped in.

"Doesn't Sorcermon take care of him now?" One of the Gizamon asked.

"Normally, yes, but that annoying little dip doesn't take too kindly with being with others," A Pagumon said rather bluntly.

"Pagumon. We do not chide others in this inner sanctum. Everyone here is part of the family, and we all must treat each other with respect," MoonMillenniummon told Pagumon kindly but sternly.

"But Master! How do you put up with him every day?! All he does is cry and whine and scream and hit himself on the head! It's been going on for years now, and nothing you or the rest of us do is working!" Pagumon exclaimed angrily.

"Don't talk that way to Master! I'm sure he's done everything in his power to pacify Monitormon!" Another Pagumon scolded, surprised that one of his brethren would talk to MoonMillenniummon in such an inappropriate and undignified manner.

"But Witchmon's been dead for...what? About 20 or so years?! He needs to get over it already! She's never coming back, and even if she did come back, she probably got reborn and forgot about all of us, even him! Besides, even if she did remember us, it's unlikely she'll ever care about that whiny little dip anyway!" Pagumon snapped at his brother.

"That may be true, but some Digimon cannot forget about sadness and sorrow as quickly as others can. In fact, there are times when Digimon, from the inside and out, are crushed and ripped apart from the seams by cruel outsiders in the most merciless way possible, causing damage so deep, so profound, and so _complete_ that they can never heal. They'll be forever broken for many eons. Monitormon is one of those Digimon, and even I cannot reach him, even though he has never been right in the head from the beginning. In fact, I feel the exact same way as Monitormon, as I too have damage that cannot be healed. Isn't that why we're all here? To comfort each other and support each other in times of crisis? To find solace in a world that shuns us and loathes us for existing and being different?" MoonMillenniummon explained.

"Yeah...that's true..." One of the DemiMeramon muttered sadly. Soon, all of the small Digimon became abject, looking down at the stony inner sanctum floor with dejected eyes. Lilithmon, who just came in, noticed this and became a little unsettled.

"My, why is everyone looking so grim? Have those blasted children made another move again?" Lilithmon asked, sounding confused. Weirdly enough, her slithery voice isn't dripping with contempt or malice today.

"No. We were just talking about why Master recruited us," One of the Gizamon said.

"Good evening, Lilithmon. How wonderful it is to see you. You look lovely as usual. Is there anything new happening outside?" MoonMillenniummon said.

Lilithmon let out a merry, hearty laugh which, for once, also isn't full of malice or contempt, which even she realized is unlike her, but she didn't want to reveal this, as she's reveling in MoonMillenniummon's compliment about her beauty. "Oh ho ho! I'm so grateful for your sincerest compliments, Master! But anyway, nothing great has happened so far. But I have made substantial progress in enslaving more Digimon with the new Dark Emblems, which are working very well. I'll have to give Diaboromon some Digi-drachmas for them later since I'm rather overdue in paying him his salary," Lilithmon explained.

"How do we get Digi-drachmas anyway?" One DemiMeramon asked.

"We steal them from any rich Digimon we run into, if what I'm hearing is correct," One of the Bakemon said.

"Oooh. Nice one," Dracmon sneered with his usual goofy but creepy smile.

"Oh! That reminds me! Speaking of those children, Master, there's something I must discuss with you, if you would be so kind as to grant me permission," Lilithmon exclaimed suddenly.

"You needn't ask for my permission for the liberty of speaking. I'm not THAT uptight. What do you wish to talk to me about? Is it urgent?" MoonMillenniummon told her, though he became curious as to what Lilithmon wants to discuss with him.

"That time when I unleashed my Karatenmon army on Wisemon's castle...one of those children didn't feel quite right. He's human, yes, but...I felt a Digimon's presence within him. He's definitely not the one we killed, if that's what you're thinking," Lilithmon explained while kneading her sleeve with her gold-clad hand.

"A human with a Digimon's presence who ISN'T _him_?" MoonMillenniummon asked. Some of the small Digimon looked at each other with confused faces. How can such a thing like that possibly exist?

"HiVisionMonitormon was there and recorded everything, so I'll be more than happy to show you proof," Lilithmon said, then turned to the Bakemon. "Bakemon brothers! Summon HiVisionMonitormon at once!" She commanded.

"Right away, ma'am!" The Bakemon exclaimed and floated away to find HiVisionMonitormon. When they left, Lilithmon talked with MoonMillenniummon again.

"I know it sounds strange, Master. Believe me, I think it's strange too, but I definitely felt a Digimon's presence within him. That boy just isn't what he makes himself out to be. Do you think maybe I can grab him so you or Diaboromon or someone can study him?" Lilithmon asked.

MoonMillenniummon wanted to answer her, but he was bereaved of the opportunity by being suddenly interrupted by the sound of very vociferous and vitriolic banter.

"Why did you bother bringing that stupid Digimon with us?! He completely ruined our plot to take over Fionn Village!" A deep but scratchy voice, literally dripping with malice and contempt, asked rudely from one of the tunnels.

"You're the one who suggested we bring him in the first place, you red beast!" Another voice, more gruff and manly, snapped back.

All of a sudden, two large Digimon came into the center of the inner sanctum. One of them is a very scary-looking red demon-like creature with a big, long nose, purple markings on various parts of his body, long, elf-like ears the same length as his nose, two horns on his head, red and purple bat-like wings, and a black pitchfork in his hand. The Digimon he's arguing with looks like a big ram standing on his hind legs, only his face is white, his eyes are red like tomatoes, huge grey horns bigger than his head, iron black breast and torso plates, blue shoulders, and black bat wings. His arms are red with black stripes, but his forearms are covered by purple fur. His hind legs are also made of purple fur, and his hooves are black. Right as these two Digimon appeared, everyone either facepalmed or let out an exasperated sigh.

"How was I supposed to know he'd completely foil everything with his screaming about Witchmon?! You should have told me about his craziness, Mephistomon!" The red demon Digimon snapped at the ram-like Digimon, Mephistomon.

"Oh ho ho, look who's talking! I kept telling you about his craziness, but did you believe a word I said?! Noooo! Why do you always have to be so reckless and bring trouble to everyone, Boogeymon?! First you interrupt MoonMillenniummon's meeting, then you blew up that human facility called Tsurumi High School, and now you ruin our plans to conquer Fionn Village by dragging that useless TV Digimon with us!" Mephistomon snapped at the red demon Digimon, Boogeymon.

"Blowing up that school was YOUR idea! You clearly said you wanted to see if those humans could regenerate like we do, so I took the chance! Besides, I wanted to give them their just desserts for killing Gigadramon! He was my idol yet they had the audacity to kill him!" Boogeymon snapped back with fire in his voice.

"Don't you realize how much trouble that'll bring for us?! What if they find out about the inner sanctum?!"

"There's no way they'd find out! How are they gonna come here, huh?! Nobody's found the inner sanctum and came out alive to talk about it! Look at the frozen Digimon all over the ceiling here!"

"So what?! Even so, we have to be cautious about what we do, yet you always dive headlong into everything and disobey my orders! Why do you think our plans always get foiled?! You always ruin everything for us with your stupid decisions!"

"Unlike you, I actually act! You're too lazy sitting around doing nothing to do anything! I ruin everything?! You're the one who doesn't act quickly enough!"

"Well, unlike _you_, I-"

"SILENCE!" MoonMillenniummon roared so loud, the entire inner sanctum shook for a bit, causing the bickering Digimon to finally zip their lips. They both bowed before MoonMillenniummon as soon as he calmed down.

"Boogeymon. Mephistomon. Stop this bickering at once. It's very unsightly, and you're setting a bad example for the rookies here. Boogeymon, Mephistomon is right. I appreciate your devotion to the tasks I assign to you and the fact that you want to get them done and over with. However, you can't be impulsive or reckless and just dive headlong into situations, especially if they reveal the existence of the inner sanctum. Mephistomon, while I do exalt the fact that you're careful, ponder about the pros and cons of my tasks and prefer to have a game plan, you are rather slow to act, and sometimes you need to make split second decisions or everything falls apart. While you both are some of my best subjects, you need to set a good example for the rookies and help each other grow as Digimon. Do you both understand me?" MoonMillenniummon lost his anger, but he did sternly scold the two Digimon in front of him.

"Yes, Master. Please forgive us," Boogeymon and Mephistomon pleaded quietly, bowing deeply before their patron.

"Good. You needn't bicker anymore. By the way, what's this I hear about you going to the human world?" MoonMillenniummon asked, suddenly curious as he overheard their argument.

"It was all Boogeymon's idea! He wanted to see the human race for themselves and see if they really did kill Gigadramon and the others! I tried to stop him but he refused to listen to me! I only went with him because I needed to find SkullSatamon!" Mephistomon exclaimed.

"I'm right here, sheep-boy," SkullSatamon's voice made everyone yelp with surprise. But they all looked up to find that SkullSatamon is standing on the crystal that's encasing MedievalDukemon, upside down, carrying a big scroll in his hand that's tied with an olive green ribbon.

"DUDE! Quit scaring us, will you?!" One of the Gizamon snapped angrily.

"Your appearin' and disappearin' act could get someone hurt, dagnabbit!" Dracmon snapped.

"You nearly gave us all heart attacks!" Lilithmon said as SkullSatamon descended before the group.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you all. I just came back from the human world and I managed to gather some interesting information about the kids in this so-called Digimon Brigade with HiVisionMonitormon's help," SkullSatamon said as he undid the olive green ribbon on his scroll and let it roll onto the rocky floor.

"Really? What made you focus on just them?" Lilithmon asked.

"For one thing, every single member of said Digimon Brigade live in some silly, scrawny little island country called Japan, based on the research I've done on the language that they speak, which we can all understand surprisingly enough, so it helped me narrow the search down greatly, which was a big help. I had HiVisionMonitormon and a bunch of other Monitormon spy on them for about a month in the human world, watching their every move, both inside and outside of battle. If you want, I can read every single detail that they managed to record that I wrote down," SkullSatamon explained.

"Dang. You really are ahead of the game..." Dracmon said.

"Very good, SkullSatamon. I knew I could count on you. So what did you find out about the kids in this Digimon Brigade?" MoonMillenniummon asked.

"Can we get in on this, too?" Boogeymon asked.

"Other than the fact that they're all a bunch of brain dead dips who clearly don't know what they're getting themselves into, pretty much everything from their likes, dislikes, and, best of all, their weaknesses. I think this'll give us a great advantage over them. Oh! Speaking of which, I overheard one child's parents say that the entire Digimon Brigade is planning a trip to a luxury hotel to go to something called an anime convention in a few months human world time," SkullSatamon said.

"Oh! Maybe we can off them while the commotion's at it's peak!" Boogeymon exclaimed.

"Shut up, Boogeymon! Nobody asked for your input!" Mephistomon snapped.

"And nobody asked for yours, either!" Boogeymon snapped back with some sass.

"Boogeymon! Mephistomon! Zip it!" MoonMillenniummon scolded without making the inner sanctum shake. For a minute he fell silent, then spoke again. "I think we should act on this opportunity. But we'll need to form a suitable invasion plan for it to come to fruition. I have, however, decided that everyone in this room will either carry it out or play a part in it except for you, Lilithmon. I need you to assist Diaboromon in making as many Dark Emblems as possible," MoonMillenniummon explained.

Although Lilithmon didn't like the idea of working with Diaboromon, she refrained from protesting and bowed before the giant crystal before her. "As you wish, Master. I am more than happy to oblige."

"Alright. I'll schedule a meeting for tomorrow, and then we can start on a plan of action, since the passage of human world time is different from that of the Digital World. If we get this just right, we might be able to pull it off perfectly," MoonMillenniummon said. However, in his mind, an opportunity hatched from the egg of time, and he convinced himself that he might just be able to get back at those who orchestrated the deaths of his precious children.

Yes, they would pay most severely.

_In the human world..._

On Wednesday morning, the day after she witnessed Hokuto's _"transformation"_ for the very first time, an experience in which she is still shaken up from, though not as much so today as she was yesterday, Aki walked on the sidewalk on the way to Link's house, enjoying the peaceful scenery around her despite the summer heat reaching its maximum. She could feel some sweat beading her face and slowly trickling down to her chin, but she didn't dare let this stop her from doing what she wanted to do, even though she wished autumn would come already. However, right as she turned a corner...

"Huh? Kamitsure-san?"

A voice pulled her out of her reverie, and she looked up to find someone she didn't expect.

"Hiroya-san?"

Yes, Masaomi is right in front of her. His black hair is straight and actually neat for once. His eyes are not hidden behind any sunglasses, and the malicious and avaricious sheen in his eyes has long since vanished completely. He's wearing a short sleeved grey shirt, blue jean pants, and brown shoes. Masaomi blushed a bit upon seeing Aki and looked away.

"It's...been a long time, Kamitsure-san. How've you been?" Masaomi asked a little shyly, shuffling his feet as he talked.

"I'm fine, and you?" Aki replied.

"I've been well. How is your son?"

As soon as he said the word son, Aki's head drooped downward, something Masaomi noticed immediately. He wondered if he asked something rude and inappropriate, and tried to apologize. "I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have-"

"I saw it."

"Huh?"

"I saw it."

"Saw what?"

"Hokuto's...transformation. You know what I'm talking about, don't you?" Aki's voice trembled and sounded very dejected when she relived the horrible memory of yesterday. Everything about Hokuto's transformation made shivers run up and down her spine multiple times. Those glowing, bloody red eyes, his pearl white fangs, his claw-like nails, the wild animal-like roar, and his near assault on Kimi, who has not adapted well to life since then. Masaomi saw Aki's dejected expression and did nothing but shrug.

"I take it you're on your way to Wataru's?"

Aki nodded grimly.

"I am too. He asked me to talk to him about something."

"Let's go together then."

With that, Aki and Masaomi walked to Link's house together. Yes, Aki had been very acquainted with Masaomi and Link for quite some time, namely because Saruto introduced her to them, as they were his closest friends from college. Even though Saruto is dead, they still managed to keep in touch, even if it's for sad and awkward reasons. After a bit, they both arrived at Link's house. Link opened the door and was surprised to find Aki and Masaomi on his front porch together, both looking very grim.

"It's rare to see you two together. Come on in," Link invited them in kindly despite his surprise.

"I'm sorry to intrude like this, but I need to talk to you," Aki pleaded softly.

Once everyone settled into the living room, Aki told Link what she saw. Unlike before, Link didn't become surprised. He listened grimly. So did Masaomi.

"I suppose it was inevitable," Link said.

"You talk about it like its the most common thing in the world. Why are you so casual about it?" Masaomi asked, a little surprised by Link's reaction, or general lack thereof, to what Aki just told him.

"I've seen it happen before, so it doesn't surprise me. You've seen it too, haven't you?" Link replied.

"Huh? You've both seen it? When was this?" Aki asked.

"It was when we went and rescued him from Saruto. You had gone to get the policeman in charge so you didn't see it. Right as Masaomi and the other policemen tried to get Hokuto out of that container, he lashed out and nearly clawed two of the policemen. Even though my face was still burning from the stuff Saruto splashed on me, I managed to subdue him. Saruto saw it, and he looked absolutely horrified by what his son had become," Link explained.

Aki folded her hands and looked down abjectly. "I...I never knew...I...I don't know if I can cope with this...now that I've seen that thing that all of those teachers told me about..."

"Aki. Let me ask you something. In light of what has transpired, do you still love Hokuto?" Link asked.

Aki looked at him, her abject expression dissipating. "Of course I do! I've waited too long to finally get him back, and even though he's Saruto's son, he's still my child as well!"

"Even with his problems, do you see him as human? Not as a wild beast or a psychotic and disturbed child who needs to be put away?" Link asked again. Masaomi noticed a gleam in his eyes that didn't look very friendly, even though his face is still covered with the mask. They looked as though they gave off the impression that if Aki were to answer the question wrong, Link himself would lash out.

Unfortunately, Aki didn't answer right off. As of now, her heart and soul are in discord right now, caught in a fast moving whirlwind of emotions. Sorrow, anxiety, hatred, irritation, horror, fear. Link's question echoed in her mind, _"Do you see him as human? Not as a wild beast or a psychotic and disturbed child who needs to be put away?"_ How does he expect her to answer so quickly? Aki then began wondering if it was a mistake to take in Hokuto. She's gotten repeated calls from schools saying that he either lashed out at kids or doesn't interact with them or just doesn't listen. To make things worse, at the time she decided to take in Hokuto, she had experienced first hand Kantaro's typical family life, which mainly consisted of Airi and Aiko constantly arguing, and Nene and Kimi throwing tantrums and destroying the house. Her job took up most of her time, Kantaro had been laid off, and money was needed to pay the older girls' college tuition and she was lagging behind. Even though most of the problems in her life have been resolved already, there's still a lot to do, namely find time to both discipline Kimi and help Hokuto with what he needs. How can Aki find the time to even do all of these things?

And then there's Hokuto himself, especially now that Aki's seen his _"transformation"_ for the first time. It's no wonder Hokuto's hated by everyone he runs into, and not just because of his descending from Saruto's bloodline either! Kids who suddenly develop magical, animal-like characteristics are something supposed to exist in the realm of science fiction or fantasy novels, not real life. If that's really what happens when Hokuto gets angry or overstimulated to the point of losing all possible control, then what will life be like for him? How will he be included in a mainstream society? How can he possibly interact with other kids? How will he go to school in the future? How will he be able to maintain a job? Will Hokuto's animal persona manifest when he's in just about any situation? And what about the rest of his family, the family he outright refuses to acknowledge? He attacked Kimi yesterday, even though he apologized for it. Will Hokuto attack other members of his family? Will Hokuto live a normal life or will his feral persona take over and ruin everything for him and the family? Will CPS consider him a threat and imprison him in a psychiatric facility? What will the future hold for him, if he even has a future at all? Aki wished she had the answers to all of these questions.

But then she remembered. Hokuto is her son. How could she be so cruel by listing all of his negatives in her mind and getting herself worked up just because he has something he doesn't want? He didn't deserve all of this! She chastised herself for almost thinking Hokuto to be a monster. It's not like Hokuto wanted to be the way he is. Besides, Aki's been looking for him for nine years, and now that she has him, she can't look back. She's put her hand in the dirt, and she can't simply just pull it out. She's worked way too hard to suddenly consider giving Hokuto away! Not only that, he's still just as human as anyone else. He's gotten better with socializing with other kids, he plays with Nene and Yoshi every day, he asks for help when he needs it, from both his parents and teachers, he goes out more now, he's willing to try new things, even if he approaches them in a rather inappropriate way, and he's even made lots of new friends! He's even showing more emotions and interest in things Aki never considered he'd be interested in before. She's been deprived of her son for so long, and now that she has him back, she's noticing things about him that she never knew before. For one thing, Hokuto seems to know that he has this feral beast inside of him, clearly hates it and what it made him do, and tearfully wishes he never did what he did. He's an intense bibliophile, he loves eating vegetables, hates anything that's overly spicy or sweet, he's been getting along better with her and Kantaro after finally being able to open up to them, which Aki has been wanting to have happen for years, and lately he's done nothing but talk about Yun.

Yun.

She's the first friend Hokuto ever made, even though technically she forced herself on him because she was tired of people saying bad things about him behind his back. She's seen them interact, and all of those times she's seen them interact, Hokuto practically blossomed in her presence. Yun brought something out of him that Aki could never bring out of him. Yun invited Hokuto to her house. Yun continually stood up for Hokuto when kids bullied him, and still does. She plays with him, teaches him things, shows him everything that she likes, talks to him about lots of things, and best of all, she brings out the life in him. Aki couldn't believe that a small, flighty, somewhat ditzy, and strange little girl with autism would be the one to bring Hokuto out of his shell and actually make some life come out of him. But to her, this was a blessing. Yun's so sweet, so kind, so gentle, so warm-hearted, so understanding, and so accepting of him that nothing he did seemed to faze her one bit. To Yun, Hokuto's just a kid just like her, albeit with his own set of problems that he needs help with. She saw past his problems right from the get-go, and doesn't hang them over his head. She doesn't see him as Saruto's son or a lab rat meant to be used for people's satisfaction or a beast that needs to be put away. Aki's seen her fervent fondness for Hokuto, especially since Yun kept on trying to convince people that Hokuto's not bad like people seem to believe.

_"Aki-san! Hokuto-kun didn't lash out on purpose! That stupid fat kid Nenji started everything! He kept bullying him and wouldn't stop! My friends and I tried to stop him from making everything worse, but he was too strong. We really tried, Aki-san! We really did!"_

_"You're NOT a monster! You're still our friend! Nothing can change that! I don't care if you're a Digimon or a human or...half-animal or whatever! You're still Kamitsure Hokuto, our good friend, and you always will be!"_

_"That thing isn't Hokuto-kun to me. It's something else inside him. I know he doesn't like it, and I know he doesn't want that thing in him either. Sorry this sounds weird, but...I'm just hoping you don't hate him for it. I know the real Hokuto-kun's nice and sweet and intelligent, and he'd never hurt anyone on purpose. He's a nice person, and my friend. I hope you get that and don't hate him for something he doesn't want."_

Even the principal confirmed that Yun is adamant about being Hokuto's friend and seeing him for who he is. If Yun hadn't been there, Hokuto would probably have turned out differently, maybe even worse. Yun's influence over Hokuto was overwhelming, and the progress he's made because of her proved that there's hope for Hokuto after all. Aki knew that Yun is absolutely right about everything, and if she can help Hokuto, then maybe, just maybe...there's a chance that Aki might be able to help him too. No, she needs to help him. After all, Aki's his mother, and it's her duty as a mother to take care of her child. Casting him away just for something he doesn't want would leave a stigma on her and her family for the rest of her life, and the family already has a stigma on them just for being acquainted with Saruto. That, and if she truly did cast Hokuto away, Yun would be upset. Aki would be throwing away everything she worked so hard for all this time. She didn't want that to happen. She didn't want to make everything she worked so hard for be all in vain. She looked Link in the eyes, her expression calm, lucid, and solemn.

"Hokuto's not a beast. He's my son, and as his mother, I'll make sure he grows up into a cheerful, hard-working adult, even if I have to stake my life on it," Aki said calmly.

Link smiled.

"I knew you'd love him. You really have become stronger over the years, Aki," Link said with a soft smile.

"No. I'm not strong at all. I've lost my patience with him many times. I can hardly get through to him. If you want to tell someone they're strong, it should be Yun-chan. She's my friend Hisako's daughter, and Hokuto's best friend. She's the one who's helping him blossom," Aki explained.

Masaomi cringed upon hearing Yun's name. He remembered the awful memory where, in his anger about MC Destroyer getting...well, destroyed by the Wendigomon, he nearly choked Yun to death because he believed she sided with the Digimon and tried to justify their actions when she clearly didn't know anything. He wished he hadn't done that. If he hadn't done it, then he wouldn't have been in prison for a while. He did, however, decide that this is the perfect opportunity to talk to Link.

"Link...I want to help the children," Masaomi blurted out finally.

"Help them?" Link asked.

"Yes. I feel awful about what I did, and I want to make it up to them. You know about Digimon, don't you? Will you help me?" Masaomi asked.

Link nodded, and it didn't look grim either. Aki looked at them with a confused face. "Digimon? What's that?" She remembered hearing Hokuto say that Saruto wanted to turn him into a Digimon, but she wondered if he was exaggerating. Then again, he told the kids this, and they took it quite seriously from what she saw.

"I suppose its time to spill the beans," Link said.

Then he proceeded to tell Aki everything, from the reason the trio met in college in the first place to Link's involvement in the Digimon Brigade's fight with the Karatenmon. Link didn't leave out any details, not even the detail about Masaomi using a powerful anti-virus to try and destroy every single Digimon on Earth. Masaomi was quite surprised to see that Link looked so calm when telling her all of this, though he wondered why he needed to tell her about all of this at all. Aki tried to take it all in, but everything seemed so foreign, so alien, so...unreal to her. Unbelievable. The creation of artificial life? Digimon? Kids taming them and fighting evil? None of this rang any bells to her. At first she thought Link was exaggerating until she remembered Hokuto's transformation. It certainly isn't anything from this world, and if Hokuto could turn into something like that when overstimulated, then perhaps the existence of another life could very well be possible, especially since Yun made it very clear to Aki that the thing he transformed into isn't Hokuto to her, but something else entirely.

"So...Saruto wanted to make humanity achieve a higher level of existence? And he wanted to use Hokuto as a means to do so?" Aki asked, her eyes tearing up.

"I'm afraid so, Aki. I warned him not to do it, but he refused to listen. That's why he hid himself for so many years," Link said.

"I never knew. But all this other stuff...the kids? Raising artificial animals? That's crazy!" Aki exclaimed, then calmed down. "But then again...it does explain those monster attacks we've been having."

"I tried to destroy them all, but that didn't go too well, and I shouldn't have done what I did," Masaomi muttered.

"To answer your question, Masaomi...I'll let you assist me in helping them. If you want, you and I can study my digivice and we can see what it's capable of," Link said.

Masaomi didn't smile, but Aki could see that he looked somewhat relieved.

"What's a digivice?" Aki asked. Link pulled out his dark orange digivice and showed it to Aki, who examined it with her hands and eyes. She then put it down and looked at Link.

"Wataru...is there anything I can do to try and make Hokuto's life easier? I know I've made my mistakes, and I feel awful about them, but now that I know what really happened, I want to see if I can really help Hokuto this time, even if he claims that I'll never understand," Aki told him with a courageous look in her eyes.

Link smiled. "I'm glad to hear that. But I think all you really need to do is to accept him, love him, and treat him like a human being, not a monster to be put away in a cage forever. You can do that much, right?"

Aki looked down at her fists. "I don't know what the future will hold for him, and it's likely that he may not grow up to be a normal adult, but I won't let that stop him or me. He's still my son, and I'll try my best to at least treat him better than I did before, without making careless mistakes this time."

When Aki left the Akutagawa house that day, she left with a strong resolve in her heart. She did try. Try she did. And she succeeded. She sought out any opportunity she could to try and be there for Hokuto and help him, and in turn, he responded, happy that Aki's become more accepting of him despite the problems in the family. Hokuto began going out with the family more and telling them about his days at school and what he's done with his friends. They tried to keep their knowledge about the Digimon a secret from him, as they didn't want to lost the trust they finally managed to earn after many failed attempts to do so. Hokuto and Aki began visiting Link frequently, which proved to be helpful as Hokuto felt that Link understood his situation somewhat and didn't judge him. Aki tried to get Hokuto involved with other things as well, such as taking him out to places and keeping him engaged when school is out. They took him to swimming lessons and even signed him up to be a regular member of the local youth group, both of which Hokuto willingly asked about and volunteered to do. Not only that, Aki frequently went to Hisako for advice about how to help understand Hokuto since Hisako had to deal with raising Yun and giving her extra care because of her Autism. Hisako, happy that her friend is actively seeking help, decided to help. And even that helped Hokuto blossom quite a bit more. It also helped that Chiriko, whose family were impressed by their daughter's fondness of them, was allowed to go and visit them much more often, and Hokuto took very kindly to her, so there seemed to be no problem at all.

Soon the days turned into weeks, and then the weeks turned into months. Before anyone could realize it, October had arrived. The summer had finally decided to leave, taking its unforgivingly and unmercifully oppressive heat and humidity right along with it, welcoming autumn and its chilly but refreshing air to take its place. The leaves shed their evergreen clothing and donned newly colored gowns in an array of familiar yet amazing colors that never cease to be beautiful and strike awe into the hearts of many, from a prominent, chocolate bronze to blindingly blazing vermilion red, like the autumn sunsets. The yellow leaves, when the sunbeams struck them with their precious effulgence, would be so blindingly yellow that they almost looked like they were glowing. The orange leaves looked like the sun when it would set, bright and striking when touching the sealine forming the horizon. But not all the gowns the trees donned would last forever, as most of the leaves wilted and scattered all over the streets and yards, opening opportunities for children to play and make fun games out of making huge piles of leaves and throwing them at each other.

However, some kids didn't find jumping into piles of dirty leaves to be a very fun and dignified activity. All throughout those months, life for the Digimon Brigade suddenly became tranquil, which they thought was odd because Digimon from MoonMillenniummon's inner sanctum are almost always being sent to attack. Maybe he decided to give up? Or is he planning something? The kids did try to go to the Digital World in August, but the mystical veil didn't open. It remained closed, for all those months. Not even Link could get through, so the kids had to just deal with life, both the good and the bad. Yes, Seiko and Nenji continued to pick on Yun. Yes, Kosuke got to visit his mother one day in September. Yes, Otoya's family tried everything they could to raise funds in order to get the church back to normal. But as the months went on, the kids' parents noticed that their kids have become much closer. Kosuke and Otoya began visiting Melody's house for martial arts lessons (And yes, Melody has started dragging Yun to them). Rena applied to join the student council at school despite still being on crutches. Isao and Aria began hanging out more. Yun got to meet Melody's foster parents and became more comfortable around younger kids thanks to Lopmon, Cutemon, Terriermon, Aria, Isao, and Lucero. Melody's become less moody and more sociable, though she still stands her ground when danger arrives. She does, however, forgive people more easily now, especially over silly little things. Biyomon's become less vain, though she still like to act the part just for show. Change has definitely swept over the Digimon Brigade despite the dull activity, but for them, their partners always made things lively. Right now, all members of the Digimon Brigade, with their Digimon included (except for the big ones who had to stay outside, mostly Moosemon), are at Melody's house, in the basement, watching her and Kosuke practice taekwondo, with Kosuke losing miserably once Melody flipped him and made him fall on his back despite his managing to land some hits on her.

"OW!" Kosuke yelped as he felt his back hit the floor. A jolt of mild pain slithered up his spine like a rattlesnake. Melody crossed her arms and stared at him with a smug look on her face.

"First rule of battle strategy: don't ever let your opponent distract you! It results in you getting cocky and letting your guard down. Seriously, your defense has so many holes in it it's not even funny!" Melody exclaimed as Kosuke tried to get up.

"Wow. She's good," Shione muttered.

"I wish I could fight like that," Otoya muttered.

"She has been teaching herself how to fight, y'know. She said she's been taking karate since she was in foster care," Minako told her as she saw Melody help Kosuke get back on his feet while looking something up on her laptop. But then Melody fiercely turned to Yun and pointed at her with her index finger.

"Yun! Get over here and see if you can punch the heck out of Dilandau!" Melody exclaimed.

Everyone became confused and looked at each other. "Who?" Yun asked with confusion.

Melody pointed to not a person, but a huge, black punching bag that's about 2 feet taller than the sixth graders, which has so many holes and stitches in its leather that stuffing is actually protruding from it like foam coming out of an insane person's mouth. Yun, despite being surprised at Melody putting her on the spot, decided to walk up to the punching bag. She could tell from the marks, tears, stuffing protrusions, and the myriad stitches on it that it's been quite well used. Not only that, she could see the word _"DILANDAU"_ written on it in bold, striking red Sharpie marker. But then again, it's so bright and contrasts from the black leather so much that it'd be very surprising if anyone were to miss it.

"You gave your punching bag a name?" Terriermon asked, a little weirded out by the fact that someone as sane and self-aware as Melody would do something as silly as this. Melody crossed her arms and flashed a smile.

"Yeah! Got a problem with that?" Melody replied boldly, then gave Yun some black leather boxing gloves. "Put these on and see if you can land a punch on it!"

Yun, confused as she is, took the boxing gloves and put them on. "Why?"

"Just do it!" Melody said.

Although Yun is confused as to why Melody is forcing her to punch a punching bag despite having no experience doing so, she put the gloves on and decided to go for it anyway. She secured the gloves and landed a punch on it. However, the punch she gave didn't even make the punching bag move even the slightest millimeter, and right after she landed the glove on it, she felt her hand and arm throbbing in pain, and she quickly withdrew her hand.

"OWWWW! Owowowowow!" Yun yelped as she yanked the gloves off and proceeded to rub her throbbing hand. "Ugh! That thing feels like a brick!"

"Why'd you make her punch it, kyu?" Cutemon asked.

"That's something you really need to work on, Yun! If you're in a serious battle and get hurt, you're gonna have to save the complaints for later and tough it out when things get out of hand! That, and you can't have everyone fight your battles for you. You have to get stronger and learn how to stand on your own two feet. If you can stand up to Nenji and Seiko, then you can do it with a bunch of evil Digimon, too! I know some things are too much for you and make you cry, but when things get bad, you have to suck it up and take it on with your bare hands!" Melody told her boldly. She remembered the time Yun angrily yelled at Seiko before she got pigeonholed into detention against her will, and saw that Yun was starting to grow up a bit, so she wanted to take advantage of this and help Yun grow just a little more.

"But I'm not strong enough, and I can't fight," Yun muttered.

"I'll train you!" Melody retorted.

"She does have a point. Our enemies are getting stronger and stronger by the day, and we might as well be prepared for any oncoming attack. It'll help to train a little bit so we can improve ourselves for the better," Kudamon explained calmly.

"Oh! Oh! Can I punch it? I wanna test my strength!" Coronamon asked excitedly, jumping up and down as he begged to punch it.

Melody just waved her hand at him. "Do what you want."

"Yes! Take this, Dilandau! Hai-yah!" Coronamon yelled excitedly and landed a fist on the punching bag, making it sway back and forth just a couple times, but not to a degree where it knocked anyone over or hurt anyone, which is good because Coronamon really doesn't want to do something as horrible as that.

"Hey! I wanna punch it too!" Riku exclaimed and joined Coronamon in punching the big punching bag with nothing but his bare hands. Unlike Yun, however, Riku didn't flinch or yelp in pain upon feeling the hard leather, and he continued to try and punch the stuffing out of it.

"Why did you name it? And why Dilandau? That's such a weird name!" MarineAngemon asked.

"I started watching this anime called Escaflowne lately, and one character, who is awesome, is named Dilandau. Seriously, isn't it the coolest name ever?! I really, really wanted to use it, so I thought I'd give it to my punching bag so I can beat the heck out of it like I'm fighting him!" Melody explained rather excitedly. Yun couldn't help but smile as she saw a rather radiant and happy sheen in her brown eyes as she talked about her punching bag and the anime.

"Gimme those!" Bearmon said as he grabbed the boxing gloves and proceeded to join Riku and Coronamon in punching the punching bag.

"Jeez. Seems Dilandau's the center of attention today. Hey, Otoya! Care to spar with me? I'll be more than happy to knock you to the ground!" Melody said, then asked Otoya if she wanted to spar, though from the tone of her voice, it sounded more like she wanted to challenge her and see how good she is in standing her ground in a fight.

"I'm not one for fighting, but if it's for fun and training, then...okay! Bring it on!" Otoya said as she decided to spar with Melody, even though she herself has absolutely no experience with karate or any of the martial arts that Melody has trained herself in.

"Everyone's so lively today," Bebydomon said.

"Yeah. I kinda like it, though. They've really changed since we first met them," Patamon said.

"Indeed they have, kyu! Though I do have to wonder why we haven't had any Digimon attacks lately, kyu. It seems rather strange, kyu," Cutemon said, feeling a little confused as to why no Digimon has attacked in the past few months.

"Dunno, but I'm just happy nobody's in danger," Salamon said. "I get to be with Mina-chan and everyone else more, so that's fine with me! Wan!"

Yun, feeling glad that Melody's off her back (though she had to wonder why Otoya accepted her challenge even though she doesn't know any form of martial arts whatsoever), decided to sit next to a despondent looking Rena, who clung to Moonmon like she was her favorite doll. Over the past few months, Rena's disposition seemed to waver and become more dejected, even though she's still persistently striving to walk on her prosthetic leg (she still has to use crutches). No, she definitely hasn't given up on that. Even Yun knew that Rena would never concede defeat over that. Plus, she managed to gain a spot on the student council despite her leg, and that's a rare feat for anyone in the sixth grade to accomplish. But she did notice that Rena seemed sad and didn't talk about much in the past few months. Rena kept quiet and looked sad even at their Digimon Brigade meetings, which, to Yun, seemed very unlike her, as Rena is usually rather cheerful and outgoing, like Otoya, especially when it came to wanting to get better at using her prosthetic leg. She figured that the prosthetic leg wasn't the issue. Yun didn't want to pry, but she didn't want Rena to feel like she has to take on whatever she's dealing with alone, so she decided to ask about it.

"Hey, Rena-chan? Sorry if this is a weird question to ask, but...I've been hearing that your mom and dad...are going to divorce. Is...that true?" Yun asked. She wanted to word it just right so Rena wouldn't get the wrong idea and have her feelings hurt, but Yun couldn't find the right words for it, so she wound up asking the question like that, and it made her feel a little bad inside. She wondered if she wound up hurting Rena's feelings right there. But Rena simply looked at her with a sad, despondent look in her evergreen eyes, which Yun noticed are a bit of a darker shade than her own.

"Yeah. Dad filed for divorce a couple months ago, and he wants full custody of both me and Riku. He wants Mom to sign the papers, but she won't do it, and now she's suing him for full custody of us. I heard her say so, and I know why. She wants us so she can send us to expensive schools where we can be _"fixed,"_ as she says. She especially wants to send Riku away to some mental facility. Now Dad and Mom are yelling every single day. We have to go to a court hearing next week. I'm just so sick of all the fighting and the yelling and having to deal with Mom constantly berating me and Riku for stuff we didn't ask for. I wish this whole thing would blow over already!" Rena explained, then complained. Yun tried to keep quiet so she could listen to everything. Lucero and Hokuto happened to be nearby, so they wound up hearing it as well, especially since Rena's voice got louder as she got to talking about Michitaka and Takako yelling every day.

"That doesn't seem very pleasant," Lopmon said.

"I know, right?! Personally, I want to stay with Dad. Riku does too. He actually knows how bad it's been getting and wants everything to be done and over with so we can finally be happy, but Mom just wants to drag everything out and keep on fighting so she can grab us and do whatever she wants with us! What I don't get is that she's always talking about how bad Riku is and pointing out his flaws and saying how great it'd be if he were never around anymore! If she really doesn't want to deal with him anymore, then why doesn't she sign the papers and give Dad custody of us?! I know she said she wants to send Riku away to a facility and send me to some school so we can be fixed, but I feel like there's more to it than that! She keeps making things worse for Dad and won't listen to him or us!" Rena complained again.

"What does divorce mean?" Terriermon asked.

"Ow!" Otoya yelled when Melody flipped her.

"You're lucky judo is the gentlest form of martial arts!" Melody exclaimed as she helped her up.

"It's when a husband and wife decide that they don't want to be married anymore and separate for good, kyu," Cutemon explained.

Even Moonmon looked dejected. "I've seen Michitaka-san and Takako-san fight. Things have been just awful. They keep yelling about stupid things. Takako especially won't give Michitaka a break."

"That's stupid," Yun said.

"I know!" Rena exclaimed.

"If you want to get away, you're more than welcome to hang out at my house for a while, though Ayaka will probably kick you out the minute she sees you," Yun told her reassuringly, which made Rena smile a bit.

"Thanks. The divorce has really been hard on us. Riku's puked twice in the past month because of it," Rena told her.

"People can puke when a divorce happens?" Terriermon asked, confused at such a feat.

"Yeah, especially if the divorce is as messy as the one he and I have to deal with. I'm just glad we'll be able to go to that anime convention with you and everyone else," Rena said.

"Yeah," Yun said.

"I wanna go!" Aria whined upon hearing the last part of the conversation.

"Why can't you come?" Lopmon asked.

"She's too young, and Mariya-san won't let her. The convention itself is for people who are ten or older. Isao-kun can't come too. Anjo-san can't come because he has to help his grandparents around the house," Yun explained.

"That's too bad," Terriermon said.

After a while, the kids had to go home. But tomorrow was Saturday, the day of the anime convention, and everyone was looking forward to it. Oddly enough, much to everyone's surprise, Hokuto's going as well! This made Yun happy since this will give her the opportunity to show Hokuto the pleasures of anime and manga (the ones she's used to, of course). Finally, Saturday arrived. The kids and their parents left their houses at promptly seven in the morning. Just in case MoonMillenniummon decided to strike, they brought their Digimon with them. Some of them had to be rendered to their in-training forms by way of the digivice or they wouldn't fit into the car or they'd stand out too much. That, and they can easily pass as props for a cosplay. It took about two hours for them to get to the convention center, which opens at promptly nine. Thankfully, since it's so early, none of them were caught in any traffic jams, so they all managed to get to the convention center easily, and not just because of the many cosplayers and otakus that lurked the streets either.

None of them realized that they were all being watched. Right as the cars pulled into various parking spots in the parking lot, SkullSatamon, Mephistomon, HiVisionMonitormon, and Boogeymon all popped out of a digital portal that appeared right on the roof of the convention center. They descended onto the steel rooftops.

"So those brats are here, eh? So whaddo we do know? Strike the iron while it's hot?" Boogeymon asked, feeling a little impatient.

"Patience, Boogeymon!" Mephistomon scolded in an angry whisper.

"We need to give Lilithmon a view of this entire place first. Boogeymon, you take HV-Monitormon and canvas the entire area. It'll give her an idea on how many Digimon she can send and how we can set our plan into motion," SkullSatamon told him as he gave HV-Monitormon over to Boogeymon.

"Leave it to me, boss! I'll be back in a few!" Boogeymon said as he wrapped his arms around HV-Monitormon and flew away. Mephistomon sighed.

"Boogeymon's going to do something stupid again, I know it..." Mephistomon grumbled while exhaling an exasperated sigh.

"You really have no faith in him, do you?" SkullSatamon asked as he got a scroll and a quail out and began writing in it.

"How can I when he's always going against orders?! He's so impulsive and reckless it's not even funny! I'm surprised none of those bumbling, addle-brained humans managed to even spot him or discover him! Do you really think we should be giving him this task? All he's going to do is make everything explode!" Mephistomon explained, his gruff voice dappled with doubt as he ruminated over whether Boogeymon was going to do something stupid. "He might ruin our plans!"

"I'm back!" Boogeymon said and handed HV-Monitormon to Mephistomon as he descended back onto the roof.

"Wow. That was fast," Mephistomon muttered, impressed by Boogeymon's impeccable timing.

"I ain't stupid, y'know?" Boogeymon said.

"Hang on a second..." SkullSatamon grumbled as he pulled out a walkie-talkie and turned it on. "Hey Lilithmon. This is SkullSatamon. Do you read me? Over!"

_"I read you loud and clear, SkullSatamon. Over,"_ Lilithmon said on the other line.

"Can those things really counteract the space-time continuum and make the passage of time between the two worlds parallel?" Mephistomon asked.

"Dunno, but it is pretty surprising how that works," Boogeymon said, impressed that SkullSatamon was able to reach her so easily.

"Witchmon and Roachmon have done it before, so I'm not surprised," HV-Monitormon piped in.

"You saw HV-Monitormon's footage, right? What do you suppose we do? Should we execute the plan now, or should we wait?" SkullSatamon asked.

_"The convention center hasn't opened quite yet, so let's wait until after they go inside and things get rather chaotic. I also think it'd be much easier on us if those brats from the Digimon Brigade got separated. It'll make it harder for them to defeat our newly formed Digimon army, especially since we're in a public place. Not only that, if most of those bumbling humans are inside that building, we just might be able to trap them inside,"_ Lilithmon said.

"Alright then. What shall we do now?" SkullSatamon asked.

_"Keep an eye out on those brats. Oh! While you're at it, that boy with the glasses...you say his name's Kamitsure Hokuto, right? I want you to especially keep an eye on him. There's something strange about him, and I think this will be a great opportunity to see what's so special about him,"_ Lilithmon said.

"But I thought the purpose of this mission was to take _HIM _back when things fall into discord," SkullSatamon said. By "him," he doesn't mean Hokuto.

_"It is, but like I said, something about him doesn't feel right to me. Just keep an eye on him, alright? I have to go. I'm not finished helping Diaboromon make more Dark Emblems, and he's giving me an earful about it,"_ Lilithmon said.

_"Put your back into it, Lilithmon! You're not kneading the putty in the right sequence!"_ Diaboromon shouted in the background, annoyed by Lilithmon's wasteful behavior.

_"Oh, bite your tongue, you devil spawn! Sorry, I have to go. But wait for my signal. Lilithmon, out!"_ Lilithmon said, then tuned out.

"She says we have to wait until things get chaotic and a lot of peeps are in the convention center," SkullSatamon said.

"That's just dumb!" Boogeymon whined.

"How very rational of her, and usually she chooses rather irrational ways to execute our plans," Mephistomon said.

"That's because even she is aware of what's at stake if we ever screw this up. Come, now! We must make preparations!" SkullSatamon said.

"I despise you..." Boogeymon muttered under his breath.

"Are you going to partake in the festivities?" Mephistomon asked SkullSatamon.

"Unfortunately no, as much as I'd like to. I have to watch over that boy Lilithmon is interested in, and after that, I have to return to the inner sanctum and supervise more raids. Sorry guys," SkullSatamon said rather sadly.

"It's alright. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, as the saying goes," Mephistomon said. "Or was it of the one?"

"Where's that even from anyway?" Boogeymon asked as SkullSatamon left with HV-Monitormon.

"Something called Star Trek, whatever that is. I heard some kids, who call themselves Trekkies, say that just now," Mephistomon said.

"No way! We spent the past 20 minutes watching SkullSatamon talk to a wooden block! There's no way you could have heard that!" Boogeymon argued, doubting whether Mephistomon could even hear something like that as many other things were going on around them, especially since they're on the roof of a big convention center that covers quite a few acres of land.

"I have rather hypersensitive hearing, so I tend to hear things I don't want to. Now let's move! I want to see to it that our plan comes to fruition! I honestly don't care about these stupid imbeciles anyway, so if they get squashed by falling rubble, then it's not our problem. Move your butt, Boogeymon!" Mephistomon told him as he ascended into the sky.

"Your butt's bigger than mine!" Boogeymon yelped back angrily as he chased after Mephistomon. Mephistomon had to wonder if Boogeymon had the habit of jumping to conclusions too hastily.

_'Yes...everything will go according to plan. I know it will. We just have to get the timing just right and make sure everything is set. I really hope Boogeymon doesn't do anything stupid,'_ Mephistomon thought as he flew away with Boogeymon and HV-Monitormon trailing behind him.

"Ummm...what's with everyone dressing up as My Little Pony characters?" A very confused Kosuke dressed as Link from The Legend of Zelda asked as he noticed a lot of people cosplaying as candy colored ponies, unicorns, and pegasi, or wearing all kinds of accessories that pay homage to said show, like rainbow-colored shirts, hats, buttons, or costume accessories like ears or tails or unicorn horns or pegasus wings, even tattoos. Patamon peeked out from under Kosuke's Link hat to take a look at the buzz around them.

"More than that, why are you dressed as Link when he's supposed to be blonde?" Minako, who is dressed as Sailor Venus (her namesake) from Sailor Moon but with a longer skirt (Minagi insisted the really short skirts were too inappropriate and revealing for her age despite she herself being a big fan of Sailor Moon) and her favorite purple ribbon, asked.

"I couldn't find a blonde wig anywhere!" Kosuke argued.

"He looked all over the internet but couldn't find one, and the ones that were around were too big for him," Patamon said.

"I think the costume looks nice on you," Hokuto said with a smile.

"Thanks!" Kosuke said with a smile. Hokuto didn't know it, but Aki saw this and smiled right along with him, not because she also agreed that Kosuke's Link costume looked good on him, but because this is one of the few times that Hokuto has ever really complimented someone on anything, and for Aki, this is a huge improvement.

"Kids? We have to go somewhere real quick. Rumiko-san said she'd stay with you while we're gone. Stay together at all times, and leave your phones on!" Hisako told them all as she and the other parents decided to leave so their kids could have fun.

Minako noticed Salamon giving them a look like she yearned to go with them.

"Is something wrong?" Minako asked.

"Hey Mina-chan? Do you mind if I go with the parents? Just to be around in case any Digimon come and try to hurt them," Salamon asked.

Minako was quite surprised, admittedly, but considering how likely the possibility might be, she decided it seemed to be a good idea, especially since they might be gone for a bit longer than they claim. Plus, it's not like they're just leaving them there. They're probably just going to talk amongst themselves while the kids have fun, and they asked Rumiko to chaperone them so who knows? "Sure. You can go, but don't get lost."

"Okay! Thanks! Wan!" Salamon barked back cutely and proceeded to follow the parents out. Rumiko stayed behind to chaperone the kids.

"Holy cow! 12012's gonna perform in a bit! Can I go? Please?!" Otoya asked Rumiko excitedly as she saw a small concert hall nearby.

"Sure. Just keep your phone on in case you need to call me," Rumiko said.

"Yay! Thanks a lot, Rumiko-san! Let's go, Labramon!" Otoya cheered happily and ran into the concert hall as Labramon chased after her.

Yokomon noticed that Melody isn't going in with her right off, and as far as she knew, she liked the band 12012, so she decided to bring it up. "You're not gonna go watch with her?"

"I guess it wouldn't hurt," Melody said as she decided to go in, too.

"Man, this may be my first time at an anime convention but this is otaku paradise! I already love it! Whoa! Is that a Mazinger Z figurine?! I gotta get that Gundam figure too! Oh! They have a limited edition Yatterman boxset! Ohh! They've got an Escaflowne poster too! I gotta have it! Wow wow wow! A huge Genesect doll! Holy cow, is that the new Phoenix Wright game?! Eeek! They've got an Inu Yasha costume too! Oh my God, this is awesome!" Riku was so excited, he basically bounced to every single table that sold anime products that he laid his striking evergreen eyes on. Normally in a situation like this, Rena would chase after him and scold him for wandering off and jumping all over the place, but right now, her prosthetic leg prevented her from doing so, so she had to let him go. But she didn't feel worried at all. Besides, he has Coronamon, Lucero, and Minako with him, so he's in good hands. After all, he has gotten a lot better with going out on his own and being independent without causing a fuss, so maybe this is a good opportunity to let him do his own thing and prove himself.

After a while, she, Hokuto, and Yun bought some cool anime items of their own, and they became quite happy with their purchases. Soon, Rena got tired so she decided to sit down at a table and have some panda cookies, which she found to be really delicious. Lunamon looked through a manga that Rena bought. Terriermon and Cutemon ate some panda cookies. Hokuto gave Kudamon the last of his chocolate pocky, which Hokuto himself didn't quite take too kindly to. Yun read the final volume of a manga she bought and suddenly burst into tears, surprising everyone around her.

"Oh my, Yun! Why do you cry so? You're supposed to be having fun!" Lopmon asked, surprised by Yun's sudden fit of tears.

"Uwaaaahh! I feel so bad for Tomiko-chaaaan! She doesn't deserve to have all this bad stuff happen to her! Why do they always make the good characters go through bad things and the bad guys do whatever they want without punishment?! It's wrong! Wrong I say!" Yun wailed.

"Yun! Be careful! You'll get tears all over your new book!" Lopmon said as she gently took the book out of Yun's hands so she could cry without getting tears on it.

"You're always so sentimental, Yun-chan," Rena mused with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Yun immediately stopped crying, surprisingly enough, and turned to look at Rena with a confused face. "What does sentimental mean?"

"Sentimental means it's easy for you to get emotional over simple things, like how cheesy romance stories are sentimental," Lunamon explained.

"There's another word similar to that called maudlin," Lopmon pointed out with a smile, her cheeks becoming dappled with rosy pink hues.

"Ohh! Maudlin! I like that one! Oh! How does this sound?" Yun exclaimed in an impressed manner, then crossed her arms. "I simply do not have any tolerance for impertinent, maudlin displays of affection! Foolish writers shouldn't write such maudlin stories about happy-go-lucky orphans and their pets!" Yun tried imitating a strict school headmistress from the 19th century and wondered if she was doing it right.

"Hey! That sounded pretty cool!" Terriermon exclaimed.

"Have you ever considered a career in voice acting? Considering your love of anime, you seem to be capable of doing many a character voice," Kudamon asked with a gentle smile decorating his face like colorful eggs spread across green grass for Easter.

Yun looked up at the ceiling and became pensive. "Dad said that too. I'd like to, but I don't think I'd make it. How will I know when to sound angry or happy? And will I be able to make them sound happy enough or angry enough without sounding like I'm just reading a script?" Yun asked herself.

"It's not easy being an actress in general, is it?" Hokuto said.

Yun was about to say something until a very vociferous siren sound blared throughout the entire convention center, making a very screechy _RIIIIN-RIIIIIN-RIIIIIN_ sound. Yun's fragile, hypersensitive ears were suddenly brutally assaulted by the blaring, merciless siren noise, and she immediately covered her ears to protect them from any more internal harm, even though in doing so she fell off her chair and suddenly curled into the fetal position. Rena and Hokuto all suddenly stood up. Soon, all the convention goers around them began murmuring amongst themselves in fear.

"What's going on?!" Terriermon exclaimed fearfully.

"Beats me!" Rena shouted.

"Yun! Are you alright? Here, I'll cover your ears with mine," Lopmon said with worry as the siren noise stopped. Yun, despite being scared and overstimulated to the point of regressing into fetal position, managed to pry her own hands off of her ears and allow Lopmon's pink, fluffy ears to cover her own sensitive ears.

A male voice echoed from the PA system. "Attention, all con-goers. Attention, all con-goers. This is not a drill. This is not a drill. All attendants and staff must leave the convention center at once. All attendants and staff must leave the convention center at once. This is an emergency. This is an emergency."

Suddenly, the ears of Lunamon, Cutemon, Terriermon, and Kudamon all rose into the air with alarm.

"A Digimon!" Lunamon yelped.

"Everyone! Get back!" Kudamon shouted. Rena was the slowest in reacting to this because she had to get her crutches. If she had gotten to them much later, she wouldn't have survived what would come right after this.

_BOOM!_

Yun, Rena, Hokuto, their Digimon, and many other convention goers ran for their lives as a huge fiery cloud made from a combination of dust, debris, fire, and smoke suddenly consumed part of the room, causing merchandise to burst into flames or be consumed by flames, be charred by said flames or be destroyed completely. Tables and chairs either got burned or had their limbs destroyed as they flew across the room. Kids and adults tried to protect each other and cover themselves with anything they could find so flaring embers or burning items or heavy debris wouldn't fall on them.

"Come on! We have to go outside!" Yun exclaimed as she helped Rena get her crutches straight and led her out of the nearest exit.

"I'll warn the others!" Hokuto said as he got his digivice out and began texting as he followed Yun and Rena outside. Once they got outside, Rena rummaged through her purse and pulled out a D-Chip in the form of a pinkish purple arc that could resemble a rainbow.

"I'm soooo glad I brought my D-Chips with me!" Rena said as she pulled out her light purple digivice and put her D-Chip in there. "AncientKazemon! Come forth!"

A pinkish purple light shot out from Rena's digivice and ascended into the air for a few seconds, then descended back to Earth, dissipating as AncientKazemon appeared before them.

"Oh! Rena-chan! How it's been so long! I was beginning to think you had forgotten about me," AncientKazemon said happily.

"Sorry I haven't seen you in so long, and to call you in such dire circumstances, but we may need your help. A Digimon's attacking and there are people trapped inside this convention center, our friends included. Would you mind leading the people inside to safety?" Rena explained.

"I'm happy to oblige. But you must be careful," AncientKazemon said as she flew into the hole left behind by the explosion.

"Look! Up there! I see them!" Lopmon exclaimed.

They saw Mephistomon, Boogeymon, and a group of Bakemon and DemiMeramon floating in the air above them, not noticing the kids looking at them. Hokuto got his digivice out.

"The goat Digimon is Mephistomon, an ultimate level. His attacks are Black Sabbath and Death Cloud!" Hokuto said as he read the information on his digivice.

"That red Digimon is Boogeymon. You weren't there, we ran into him when we were in this place called Fruitful Desert," Yun explained.

All of a sudden, the ground began shaking. Not to an earthquake-like degree, but pretty close. Suddenly, a massive pillar of multi-colored light appeared from the sky, descending onto part of the ground as the kids tried to move and hide somewhere safe so Boogeymon and Mephistomon wouldn't see them. After a while, the pillar disappeared, and a huge army of Digimon appeared from it as a result. The army mostly consisted of groups of Tuskmon, Snimon, Roachmon, Flymon, Wendigomon, BlackGarurumon, Commandramon, and other branded Digimon.

"Now, my Digimon army! Kill every single human in this area! Commence your reign of terror!" Boogeymon commanded in a booming voice.

The Digimon army roared, and marched toward the convention center, along with the crowds of people spiraling out of it like mush in a calzone. The convention, which was supposed to be the perfect gathering place for many a nerd, geek, and anime/manga fan, has now become a war zone.


	96. Believe in your Humanity! Chirinmon!

EPISODE 96: Believe In Your Humanity! Rise, Chirinmon!

"RIKU! LOOK OUT!" Lucero screamed as a Wendigomon entered the room by way of the roof, smashing right through the ceiling and descending onto the ground, completely smashing a vendor's table and destroying every single piece of merchandise that his gigantic feet stepped on, turning them into flattened pieces of debris. Some people barely managed to escape, Riku being one of them because of Lucero's warning him. Some cosplayers and security guards found an exit and tried to escort the rest of the attendants out so nobody gets hurt.

As the Wendigomon began smashing vendor tables and breaking walls down, more of the disgusting beasts joined him. Some Bakemon and Roachmon came in and began trashing the place as well. A quartet of Commandramon smashed their way through some more walls and began shooting at anything that moved, not caring about the casualties and bloodshed they were causing. The sirens continued to echo throughout the entire convention center, but it didn't matter, as Digimon were trashing the place, and many unlucky convention attendants began dropping to the floor like flies, one by one.

"Oh my God! This is horrible!" Minako screamed as she and the boys tried to flee but found themselves in another room, even though some Bakemon found them and are trying to chase them. She couldn't stand the sight of people dying, and rightfully so, since the rogue Digimon are going around every single part of the convention center killing anything and anyone that moved. Where was the exit, and how could they get out? And worse than that, where are the other kids and their Digimon?

"There he is! Get him!" One Bakemon shouted, and the rest of them, along with the group of Roachmon, began chasing after the trio.

"They're gaining on us!" Lucero yelled.

They found an exit, but it's blocked by a BlackGarurumon eating up every single drawing displayed in the artist's alley, leaving nothing but huge shreds of saliva-covered paper, art supplies, and table cloth all over the place, leaving huge teeth marks on every single one of them. Right as the trio stopped where they were, Riku and Coronamon both spun around, facing the incoming Bakemon and Roachmon with blazing, dancing flames of relentless courage in their eyes. Riku swiftly got his digivice out, and Coronamon prepared himself for battle. No, they didn't even need to exchange any words to comprehend the situation or convey what they needed to do. There isn't any time for that. Things needed to get done RIGHT NOW, and if these Digimon are allowed to continue causing damage, the entire convention will be ruined, and people will die. They didn't want that to happen. There are enough casualties as it is. There shouldn't be any more of them. No, Riku didn't want people to die in a place that's supposed to be fun and exciting. This is supposed to be an anime convention, not a war zone.

Riku's D-Heart flared right up, shining a golden yellow light, just like the sun, lighting up the entire room, which is good since all the lights in the convention just went out because of some DemiMeramon messing with the power lines. Coronamon digivolved into Firamon, then into Flaremon, and in Riku's point of view, he couldn't be any cooler. Minako got her two D-Hearts out and summoned Nefertimon and Lynxmon.

"Purifying Howl!" With just one attack, Flaremon let out a mighty roar that destroyed every single Bakemon and Roachmon that chased them down, even though as a result he inadvertently knocked over some vendor tables and made some merchandise roll all over the place

"Rosetta Stone!" Nefertimon shot a slab of rock at the BlackGarurumon, who was so engrossed in ripping up the drawings that he was oblivious to the fact that the rock was heading right toward him. As a result, he wound up getting hit with the stone, and it was strong enough to divert his attention to the two cat Digimon about to attack him. But even then, it was too late.

"Howling Buster!" Lynxmon attacked BlackGarurumon enough to defeat him, and the exit is now free to go through. Some security guards and attendants went right through it in the nick of time.

"The exit's free! We can go through now!" Lucero exclaimed.

"I can't fit through there, so we'll meet you outside," Flaremon said as he left the convention center through a hole in the wall, along with Lynxmon.

"I'll take you all outside, since I can fly," Nefertimon said as she descended onto the floor and let Lucero and Minako ride on her back.

"Riku! Let's go!" Minako called out to Riku, who she noticed was standing at a knocked over vendor's table, its merchandise either destroyed, burned, or scattered all over the place. Every single piece of merchandise was black with embers, had their heads or one or more limbs ripped or hacked off, or completely melted.

Riku's forest green eyes fixated on nothing but a completely intact Gundam figure. No scars, no burns, no bruises, no protrusions, no broken pieces, no missing pieces, completely in mint condition. It laid on the floor, completely unscathed. The only thing about it that was destroyed was its price tag. With the price tag gone and the vendor at the table running for his or her life, the Gundam figure is now completely up for grabs. Riku stared at it, wondering if he should take it or not. He wanted that Gundam figure so bad, and it survived the destruction. If he stole it, nobody would really notice, and considering the situation, nobody would blame him or care if it was missing. They'd probably assume it got destroyed in the commotion. A stolen Gundam figure would be the least of their worries, and here was Riku's opportunity to get what he wanted. He almost reached his hand out, and he would have taken it if it weren't for Minako smacking him alongside the head, snapping him out of his trance.

"Oww!" Riku yelped as he felt the rather soft but swift blow strike the back of his head, causing a slight but noticeable throbbing sensation to run through it.

"Come on! We don't have any time to waste!" Minako said as she pulled Riku over to Nefertimon, threw him on her, got on her herself, and let Nefertimon fly out of the room, right outside.

Unfortunately for them, there's hardly any safe place to land, as Digimon are destroying the convention center and ripping it apart like it's paper. Huge mountains of debris peppered the area, either engulfed in flames or with smoke flying out of them. Convention attendants scrambled to get away. Some got caught in the crossfire. Some even died amidst the raging discord, either from a Digimon's attack or something caused by it. Rogue Digimon are everywhere. Everywhere they looked, there was a Digimon causing some kind of trouble. Riku cheered a bit when he saw Flaremon use his Crimson King Beast Wave on three Wendigomon and a Tuskmon, along with a Red Lion Dance on five Snimon, a huge group of Roachmon, and three BlackGarurumon.

"This is just horrible. Who would condone such madness? Whoever's behind this must be punished!" Nefertimon exclaimed bitterly.

"I agree. I just hope Salamon and my parents are alright, along with everyone else!" Minako whimpered rather sadly, worrying for her Digimon partner, her friends, and her parents, since they're probably all in many different locations, and she wished there was a way she could track every single one of them.

Or was there?

All of a sudden, eight DemiMeramon attached themselves to Lucero and tried to remove him from Nefertimon's back.

"Ack! Get off me!" Lucero yelped as he tried to fight off the mischievous DemiMeramon. Nefertimon had to land on the roof of one part of the convention center so the kids could try and get things under control. Minako got a notebook she purchased and began smacking the DemiMeramon with them.

"Get off him, you fireballs!" Minako yelped as she managed to smack two DemiMeramon with the notebook. But one of them decided to turn the tables on her by setting it on fire, causing Minako to scream and release the notebook as the embers consumed her notebook, right as it fell onto the convention center flooring. Thankfully, the burns on her fingers aren't serious. They didn't even leave any marks on her hands or fingers, though the DemiMeramon wished they had given her some 3rd degree burns, letting their guards down as they decided to grumble. However, Lucero seized this opportunity to punch and kick the other DemiMeramon so hard that they released him and flew away in pain, unable to capture him like they wished.

"We've gotta find the others! Everyone must be scared by now!" Riku exclaimed.

"Minako! Do you have the floor plans?!" Lucero asked.

"Hang on! I'm pulling them up right now!" Minako yanked her laptop out of her backpack as soon as she got off. She flipped open her laptop and pulled out the floor plans for the convention. She got her digivice out, along with a grey cable. "I'll see if I can track anyone with my digivice!" Minako connected the cable to both her laptop and the digivice. After some typing, many blinking purple spots appeared, but in many parts of the convention center or outside of it. Even though six of them blinked, it didn't make Minako's mood any better.

"How come there's only six of them?" Riku asked, seeing this as a little bit unsettling.

"It's probably only managing to get their digivices, not everyone else, like our parents. Ugh! We've gotta find everyone, like, now!" Minako said rather sadly, feeling bad that she could only locate the other kids and not her parents or Salamon.

"Rapid Fire!" From the other side of the convention center, the trio suddenly heard and caught sight of Rapidmon firing torpedoes from his hands, right at the Tuskmon and Snimon, turning them into data.

"Treasure Axes!" Antylamon shot out from the ground and sliced and diced some more Tuskmon, along with some BlackGarurumon and Roachmon.

"Ice Archery!" Crescemon shot many icy arrows at some BlackGarurumon, saving many scared cosplayers and convention goers from certain death.

"Is that Crescemon?! Rena's gotta be there!" Riku exclaimed, suddenly becoming worried for his sister and wondering if she's okay, especially since her prosthetic leg is still making it hard for her to move around, especially in a bad situation like this.

"She'll be fine, Riku. Yun and the others would never let her get hurt. Let's try and find our parents first. I'm sure they're the most worried about us," Minako said as she marked the place where Yun, Rapidmon, and Antylamon are just now. But in her normally proud and calm little heart, she herself was worried. Worried about her parents and Salamon. Where in the world could they be? Salamon purposefully went with them to keep them safe, but can she really handle it on her own?

"Take this, you ghosts!" Hisako shouted with gusto in her shrill voice. With some two by fours they found laying around some broken vendor tables, Hisako and Teruki began pounding some Bakemon with them. Tatsuha, Minagi, Aki, Kantaro, and all the other parents tried looking around desperately for an exit, as they found themselves trapped in a dark room, as the lights went out. Many DemiMeramon were in the room, so their flaming bodies lit up the room just a bit.

"Find the exit, you guys!" Daikichi shouted from one end of the room as he smacked a Bakemon with a two by four.

"We're trying, but these ghosts and fireballs just won't let up!" Noriko shouted back as she knocked a DemiMeramon away with a metal rod.

"Come here, you ghost!" Michitaka and Tatsuha managed to trap a Bakemon with a big sign for just a moment, but the Bakemon phased right through it.

"We have to find our kids! They must be so scared by now! I don't think I'll be able to forgive myself if one or all of them die!" Oujiro cried. This is very unlike him, as he's usually very calm and collected, even in bad situations. He had gotten too used to the cult allegations to freak out over them, but now monsters, which are supposed to be the creatures of fantasy or fiction, are not only real, but attacking people and causing major collateral damage. This isn't something anyone would normally be calm about. Hisako couldn't blame him. Real life is all he's ever known, and it isn't surprising to have people who are very worried about situations like this, especially if it concerns their children being caught in the crossfire.

He wasn't the only one either. They're all worried. About themselves. About their children. Especially their children. Where are they? What's going to happen to them? Are they okay? They didn't dare think of THAT possibility. Worried as they are, however, they are all oblivious to just one thing: Salamon. She stayed with them exactly as she promised, yet she didn't do anything. What could she do? She never expected all these Digimon to suddenly appear. She especially didn't expect them all to start attacking the parents right off. She wanted to attack them and fight them off so the parents can be safe, but she felt she couldn't. Hisako and Teruki know about her so it wasn't them finding out about her identity that she was worried about. But what really bothered her was the fact that not only are Minagi and Tatsuha here, but other parents as well, and they don't know that she isn't your run of the mill puppy, especially since Tatsuha began noticing that she hasn't gotten any bigger since she came into Minako's life back in May. Salamon felt as though a whirlwind of conflicted emotions evolved swiftly into a raging tornado. She didn't know what to do. Should she hide somewhere and watch as the parents desperately fight off these Digimon and worry about their kids so her identity can be safe, or should she risk throwing herself out into the open and revealing her identity right there so she could protect them? How would they react? What would they think of her?

"Everything's going to be fine, Jounouchi-san! I know it will! Our children are counting on us! We have to believe in them!" Hisako told him reassuringly, even though she herself worried about Yun's welfare. There are explosions, yelling, and breaking glass everywhere, and Yun's ears are extremely sensitive to those things. As far as Hisako knew, Yun had since long ago regressed to shutting down or breaking down in tears whenever loud noise assaulted her fragile, hypersensitive ears, especially people yelling. She would cover her ears and shut down completely to the point where she'd be frozen in place, completely unable to function at all, no matter what. Music class was also responsible for this. Hisako prayed that Lopmon and Terriermon were protecting her and keeping her safe.

"Look! There's the exit!" Rumiko shouted as she saw a door with a working exit sign, one that glowed in a red hue like it usually does. She was about to run out until a bloodcurdling scream, one that only made the Bakemon and DemiMeramon more smug than usual, made her freeze into place.

"MEEEEI!" Jiro screamed.

A Bakemon's blue hands are coiled completely around Mei's neck, trying to suffocate her to death. Mei could feel her airway getting squeezed like water being rung from a towel, depriving her of precious oxygen. If she were to be bereaved of any more of it, she would die.

At the hands of a Digimon.

There was no hesitating now.

"Let her go!" Jiro yelled as he rammed himself against the Bakemon choking his wife. He managed to ram it so hard that the ghost Digimon released Mei, even though she plopped to the ground like she was a rag doll. Some convention goers, who crawled on the floor to avoid the chaos above, saw her and decided to help her up. One kid, who dressed like the Joker, even offered her his bottle of water. Sadly, the ghost Digimon decided that Jiro was good enough prey and decided to try choking him instead.

All the parents attempted to save Jiro from Bakemon, just like he saved Mei just now.

Someone else beat them to it.

"HOLY ROOOAAAAAR!" A vociferous, extremely high pitched screech echoed throughout the entire room, making every single object in the room shake like an earthquake is hitting. Everyone covered their ears. The piercing sound was so strong, so loud, and so downright grating on the Bakemon's ears (if he had any) that he couldn't take the sound anymore and released Jiro. All the other Digimon developed migraines from said noise.

The parents became shocked, not because they were saved, but because of what saved them.

"Leave them alone you ugly ghosties!"

It was none other than...Salamon.

'_I'm sorry, Minako. Please don't be mad at me. I had to save them. I hope you understand!'_ Salamon thought as soon as she let out another Holy Roar attack to make the Bakemon and DemiMeramon go away. She knew she couldn't really defeat them, but she felt she could at least annoy them with the annoying screechy sound she made with her attack and give them all migraines so they wouldn't focus so much on killing everyone. Thankfully for her and everyone else, her plan worked, and the annoyed Bakemon and DemiMeramon all flew away. However, as a result of the DemiMeramon flying away, the room became pitch black.

Until a flashlight suddenly turned on. "It's a good thing I brought my flashlight!" A girl cosplaying as a Naruto character exclaimed, shining her flashlight around.

Soon more lights appeared. Some not even from real flashlights, but from cell phones.

"Me too!"

"Who knew this thing would come in handy?"

"Yeah! Especially in a time like this!"

"Let's turn on the flashlights on our phones as well!"

"We better if we wanna get outta here!"

As soon as the room got dimly lit, Noriko was the first to bring it up.

"Did...did you save us just now?" Salamon could tell that all eyes were on her. Hisako and Teruki weren't surprised since they know about her, and Jiro and Michitaka are both too busy helping Mei to notice, even though technically they know about her as well. But Minagi, Tatsuha, Daikichi, Rumiko, Noriko, Oujiro, Aki, and Kantaro all looked at her with wide eyes that basically screamed shock, confusion, and genuine fear. Salamon knew that she exposed herself and that there's no turning back. But she had to protect them, even if it meant exposing herself. In her little heart, she found no regret. She knew going against her reveal wouldn't do any good, so she simply turned around and smiled.

"Eheh. Sorry for lying to you all, Minagi-san. Tatsuha-san. The truth is, I'm not a real dog. I'm a Digimon. Wan!" Salamon said, putting on her best smile, hoping it would soften them up a bit and appease their fears.

"You can talk?!" Minagi yelped, hiding behind Tatsuha fearfully. "But...but...dogs can't talk! I thought you were a real dog!" Minagi seemed to have quite a hard time comprehending the fact that the cute little puppy they adopted is one of those monsters that can talk, the stuff of fantasy, fiction, and children's cartoons that aren't supposed to be real.

"I knew something was fishy about you!" Oujiro exclaimed fearfully, more so than Minagi.

"That does explain why you haven't gotten any bigger since we first got you," Tatsuha said.

Before anyone could say anything else, Salamon felt a shiver all throughout her body. She knew what this meant, and she didn't want to waste any time. "We better get out of here and find Mina-chan and the others! I sense more Digimon are coming!"

Salamon zipped through the exit, but noticed that only a few convention goers left. She saw that the parents are still there and became a trifle annoyed. "Well?! Come on! Wan!" Salamon commanded and went on ahead of them.

It was Teruki who snapped them out of it. "You heard the pup! Let's get out of here and find our kids!"

Promptly, the parents dashed for the exit...and they walked right in front of Parrotmon, Opossumon, Maildramon, and Thunderbirmon, all launching rather electrifying attacks on many rogue Tuskmon, Wendigomon, and Flymon.

"Thunderbird! Ease up on the lightning, will you?! You almost zapped me!" Opossumon complained after she managed to miss a sneak attack from Thunderbirmon, who used it to paralyze a Flymon.

"Sorry! Make way for Parrotmon!" Thunderbirmon commanded as she managed to stab another Flymon with her tail.

Right there, Opossumon missed some attacks thrown at her by a quartet of Commandramon, all with their rifles aimed right at her.

"Don't get so cocky, you dinobots! Mad Balloon Bomb!" Choleric, Opossumon threw some angry faced balloons at the quartet of Commandramon, all of which exploded and defeated them on the spot.

"Sonic Destroyer!" Parrotmon shot a huge jolt of electricity at a huge army of Commandramon, Wendigomon, Tuskmon, and Snimon, defeating them all right then and there.

"Ha! Take that, you brainless deadbeats! Nobody defeats this giant green parrot! Muahahaha!" Parrotmon declared rather egotistically, which made Opossumon sigh.

"Don't you ever stop gloating?" Thunderbirmon asked, a little exasperated by Parrotmon's egoism in this dire situation.

"Iron Press!" Maildramon body slammed two Commandramon, rendering them paralyzed. Once she released them, they fled for their lives.

"Oh my word! Melody's on that giant green parrot!" Rumiko declared once she saw a small black, white, and red figure standing on Parrotmon's back, which turned out to be Melody, who then noticed all the parents and Salamon right below her.

"Whoa! They're here! Parrotmon! Let me down here, will you?" Melody said. Without a word, Parrotmon set her wing down on the ground and allowed Melody to slide down it, right in front of the parents and Salamon.

"Mel-chan! You're alright!" Salamon exclaimed.

Rumiko burst into tears and embraced Melody right on the spot. "Melody! Oh! Thank goodness you're alright! What in the world are these monsters here?!" Rumiko yelped, noticing Parrotmon and the other Digimon, all of whom noticed the hysterical Rumiko.

Parrotmon felt a vein pop in her head. "Hey! I'm not a monster! We're on your side, and Mel's my partner and best friend! Believe it!" Parrotmon retorted sharply, not wanting Rumiko to get the wrong idea.

"Okay. I MUST be hallucinating!" Oujiro exclaimed, still very inundated by all the Digimon running rampant.

"It's true, Rumiko-san. These four here are my friends, Parrotmon being my real partner. They're on our side. Please don't be mad. They're here to help," Melody told her as soon as Daikichi approached them with crossed arms.

"Do you mean to tell us that you and your friends have been playing with monsters? And you risked putting your lives in danger?" Daikichi asked sternly.

"Sorry, Daikichi! Really! I'm sorry I didn't tell you before! But there isn't time to explain! Our friends need our help!" Melody exclaimed. Suddenly she felt her digivice ring. She picked it up and answered it.

"What's up, Otoya?!" Melody asked.

"_Mel! I found the ones who sent the army! Two Digimon named Boogeymon and Mephistomon! Owlmon, Cerberumon and I are fighting them on the roof! Kosuke and his Digimon are helping us out, but these two Digimon are too strong! I have Kangarumon and Sheepmon helping con attendants leave the center and take them to a safe place!"_ A hysterical Otoya told her on the digivice.

"Boogeymon? Haven't seen him in a long while! Good news! I found our parents and Salamon! They're alright," Melody told her.

"_Mom and Dad are okay?! Oh, thank goodness!"_ Otoya exhaled a huge sigh of relief upon hearing that Noriko and Oujiro are okay. Unfortunately, Melody could hear background noises in the digivice, which made it hard to decipher what she's saying, but she did manage to hear more of what's going on in the background.

"_Missile Storm!"_

"_Star Shower!"_

"_Excalibur!"_

"_Don't hold back, MagnaAngemon!"_ That was Kosuke's voice in the background, and he sounded desperate and fearful. Melody didn't like the sound of this.

"Did you find Yun and the others yet?" Melody asked.

"_I didn't meet up with them, but they're by D Wing. Antylamon, Rapidmon, Crescemon, and Reppamon are there fighting the army. I already told them about Boogeymon and Mephistomon. I can't find Riku, Lucero, or Minako yet!"_ Otoya told her on the other line. _"How about this? You take our parents to where Kangarumon and Sheepmon are, and then look for Riku, Lucero, and Minako!"_

"Good enough for me! Melody, out!" Melody exclaimed, then closed the digivice.

"WHAT?! Otoya's fighting the Digimon?! I will not tolerate this!" Oujiro roared angrily and tried to run, but Hisako and Aki stopped him from going far.

"Oujiro-san! Calm down!" Hisako exclaimed.

"She's right. We can't waste any time. Parrotmon'll take you to a safe place while we handle things here. Come on! Hurry!" Melody motioned for the parents to get on Parrotmon's back. Once they got there, Parrotmon ascended into the air and flew to a distant part of the area where Kangarumon, Sheepmon, AncientKazemon, and Prairiemon are, watching over scared convention staff and attendants. Weirdly enough, there are also huge holes as well, and Prairiemon escorted some convention goers inside.

"Please go inside the holes in a neat and orderly fashion!" Prairiemon exclaimed as she gently escorted some cosplayers inside.

"Why did you dig a bunch of holes?" Teruki asked once he got off of Parrotmon's wing, along with everyone else except for Salamon. As soon as all the parents got off of Parrotmon, she ascended into the air with Melody and Salamon on her back, returning to the quickly decaying convention center.

"Not just holes. Tunnels. I found a place that the Digimon haven't gotten to, so I thought it'd be good to send these good citizens there," Prairiemon told him.

"Wow. I guess there are good monsters after all," Minagi said.

But as Rumiko looked around, she noticed something odd.

"Huh? Where are Aki and Kantaro?"

"Why didn't you stay with Prairiemon?! It's too dangerous for you to be here!" Melody screamed angrily once she found out that Aki and Kantaro didn't stay in the safe zone as designated.

"We're sorry, Mel, but we're worried about Hokuto. He's much too frail to be in a situation like this," Kantaro said with a worried tone in his voice.

"Yes, and if he's too overstimulated, then IT will come out. I don't want that happening," Aki muttered wistfully.

"I don't blame them for being worried," Salamon told Melody, who is still choleric from this change in situation. She wanted to rant some more until her digivice rang again.

"Hello?"

"_Mel! Is that you?! It's me, Mina!"_

"Mina?! Where the flip are you?! Otoya said Riku and Lucero are with you too!"

"_We're on the roof of A Wing! Flaremon and Nefertimon are trying to hold off some Flymon and Snimon but I don't think they're gonna last much longer! Where's our moms and dads?!"_

"They're fine. They're in the safe zone. Salamon's with me in case you're wondering. Otoya and Cerberumon found that some Digimon named Boogeymon and Mephistomon are the ones behind this army and they're fighting on the roof! We've gotta go and help them!"

"_Thanks for keeping them safe. See you there!"_ With that, Minako hung up. Thankfully, it didn't take too long to find the trio of blondes on a part of the roof. Once Parrotmon descended, Salamon was the first to leap off of her.

"Mina-chan!"

"Salamon!" Minako embraced her little pup friend and spun around in a dramatic circle, conveying her happiness. "Thank God you're back!"

"Sorry, Mina-chan! Minagi and Tatsuha know I'm a Digimon. I had to save them from some Bakemon," Salamon confessed rather sadly.

"It's okay. I figured it'd happen sooner or later. But that's not important right now. Wanna help us find Yun and the others?" Minako told her calmly. Salamon nodded.

All of a sudden, a badly wounded Owlmon plopped right in front of them, making all the kids and Digimon back away except for Parrotmon who decided to catch the wounded owl so he doesn't get hurt any more than he already has. His goggles are cracked, one of the eyepieces is blinking weirdly, his wings have massive scars on them, and his left leg looks like it could snap in two if it were moved in any sudden and disfiguring angles.

"You alright, Owlmon?!" Parrotmon asked worriedly.

"Look out above!" Owlmon yelped.

From above, as Owlmon warned, a huge blurry red shape suddenly descended before them, grabbing Lucero by the shirt and lifting him into the air.

"Boogeymon!" Melody screamed upon seeing the culprit.

"I have you now, you wretched thing!" Boogeymon roared happily when he got Lucero in his grip.

Lucero, being the bold child that he is, wasn't going to let Boogeymon have his way and decided to retaliate. "Release me, you monster!"

However, despite his efforts, Boogeymon proved to be a bit too strong and was about to fly away until Thunderbirmon and Swanmon got in front of him.

"Stop right there, knave! Release him this instant!" Swanmon demanded in a very strong and eerily stern voice that didn't seem as though it belonged to her. Her motherly instincts must have kicked in.

"Star Shower!" Pegasusmon, with Kosuke on his back and still in his Link costume, descended before Boogeymon and managed to land a sneak attack on him. Boogeymon got hit by a few stars so he wound up letting his guard down. Lucero noticed that both Boogeymon's hands are full. His left hand has his signature pitch fork, and he hasn't used it yet. Lucero decided to grab the pitch fork, literally yank it out of the injured Boogeymon's hand, and whack him over the head with it, causing him to let Lucero go. Lucero didn't even scream as he fell.

"Hang on, Lucero!" Kosuke yelled as he told Pegasusmon to catch Lucero. He did with grace, and gently set him on the roof.

"You sure took your sweet time!" Riku complained.

"I'm not done with you yet!" Boogeymon roared as he tried to attack again, but Pteramon suddenly grabbed him with one of his talons and pinned him onto the roof.

"Sorry, but you're the one who's done," Pteramon told him solemnly, which is very unlike him, as he's a lot like Shunji: flamboyant, easy going, and always cracking a good (or lame) joke. But now that the stakes are serious, there isn't any time to waste on lame jokes.

Boogeymon found himself completely outnumbered. The odds are against him now. He's only one champion level. Mephistomon is too busy trying to get past Otoya and Cerberumon to bother to help, not that Boogeymon expected him to help anyway. He's just a champion level, while all the Digimon that are surrounding him now are both armor and ultimate levels. How could he have been so cocky? He thought he could handle them, especially with the army of Digimon he and Mephistomon managed to assemble. But now a good majority of the army is gone, mostly because of Flaremon, Antylamon, Rapidmon, Crescemon, and Reppamon. The plan fell apart almost immediately. MoonMillenniummon would be angry with him if he came back to the inner sanctum a failure.

Failure. He loathed that word with the intensity of the myriad bundles of heat that MoonMillenniummon kept inside himself because of the curse and his powers, which he hasn't been able to use or release much lately. He didn't want to be a failure. He didn't want to go back to the pain he had to endure simply because he couldn't do certain things exactly right, just as they wanted. He didn't want to be a tool whose purpose was to simply be used to meet someone's unrealistic and impossibly high standards. He remembered his life right there. He was a Digimon brought into the home of another simply because said Digimon who took him in needed some help around the house. But the words "help around the house" were merely a euphemism for slavery and a life of mistreatment and calumny. Every day, Boogeymon had tried to meet this Digimon's standards and do everything she asked, but any little thing he did, good or not, only made her angry. Everything he did. Even talking made her angry. Even uttering the kindest word sent this Digimon into a rage. Boogeymon never understood why. He did, however, put up with it because he thought it would get him some cash.

It didn't. All this Digimon wanted was a tool she could use and exploit so she could feel good, and boy, did he prove to be exactly what she wanted. Boogeymon remembered her shrill, grating voice, a voice he thought he would never hear again.

"_My heavens, look at the mess you made! Do you know how long it took me to get this fixed?! It's no wonder your family threw you in my care! You're nothing but a failure!"_

"_You wicked, wicked Digimon! How can you even live with yourself behaving the way you do?!"_

"_Don't you know how to act appropriately in public?! You don't go around doing such impertinent displays while others are around! I ought to lock you in the basement forever! No good Digimon should ever have to suffer the agony of laying their eyes on an ugly, stupid, horrible thing such as you!"_

"_You live under my roof, so you will obey everything I tell you! I won't tolerate any sass from you! You ought to know your place my now!"_

"_Your cleaning is a disaster! How can you even call this clean?! It needs to be spotless! SPOTLESS, I tell you! Shining! Get back to it, and do it PERFECTLY! You fail so hard at perfect cleaning!"_

"_Look what you've done! You won't get any dinner from me tonight! It's because you didn't listen to me that you failed. What a disgrace you are to this plane of existence!"_

"_I don't even know why I bothered to take in a piece of trash like you in! You're nothing but a failure who will never amount to anything! You're a big fat disgrace who doesn't even deserve to exist! No one will ever love you or acknowledge you! The creator made a big mistake in creating such useless, worthless, disgraceful, reprehensible failures like you! You were born a failure, and you will die a failure! You're not perfect like I and everyone else want you to be!"_

'_No...'_ Boogeymon thought. He couldn't fail. He just couldn't. He couldn't let down the one Digimon who took him away from that horrible life, the one Digimon who not only praised whatever tasks he completed, but he didn't constantly nitpick or point out his flaws or anything of the sort. MoonMillenniummon rewarded him when necessary, gave him all the helpful hints and criticisms he felt obligated to give whenever necessary, and didn't try to mold Boogeymon into some impossibly perfect being that only exists to meet impossible standards, nor did MoonMillenniummon believe him to be a useless, worthless, stupid Digimon who does nothing but inappropriate things or a complete failure.

If Boogeymon were to let him down now...what would he think? Would he continue to love Boogeymon despite his flaws?

"NO! I WILL NOT FAIL! I AM NOT A FAILURE!" Boogeymon couldn't back down now. He just couldn't. He didn't want his reputation to be tarnished, and all the love he got from MoonMillenniummon to be swept out from under his feet like a rug that desperately needed to be clean.

No. He couldn't let these stupid children win.

Before Boogeymon could realize it, his vision turned black.

"What the-?! Why's he glowing?!" Pegasusmon yelped, shocked by this new development.

"Is he...digivolving?!" Minako yelled.

Sadly, Minako's question just now got answered, right in front of her.

"Boogeymon, digivolve to..."

A black light consumed Boogeymon. The light was so evil, so malicious, and so filled with hatred that it burned Pteramon's talon despite being made of steel, and he was forced to release the glowing Boogeymon as a result. The eerie, malicious black light rose a few feet into the air, growing slightly bigger. Salamon used this opportunity to digivolve into Angewomon so they could have somewhat of a solid advantage. After a few minutes, the light disappeared, and Boogeymon transformed into something that looks like a cross between Boogeymon and a vampire. Now he has black and red attire, huge black and red wings, spiky black hair on his head, black boots, and a bloody red pitchfork.

"...Phelesmon!"

Riku got his digivice out. "That's Phelesmon, an ultimate level! His attacks are Demon's Shout and Black Statue!"

Phelesmon looked at his reflection on a glass panel, surprised by his transformation. But his surprise turned into glee as he smirked before letting out a very enthusiastic and maniacal evil laugh. "Wow! I look ever so handsome! I never thought I'd look this fancy! But now's not the time for indulging in flights of fancy. Time to turn the tables!" Phelesmon got his red pitchfork ready.

"Bring it on, you deadbeat vampire!" Angewomon exclaimed boldly.

"Come on! We don't have time to deal with him! Yun and the others need us!" Parrotmon yelled.

"Emerald Blaze!" A huge tsunami of glowing green flames shot out from a rather worn out Cerberumon's mouth in an attempt to drown Mephistomon, but as usual, he dodged the attack.

"Treasure Axes!" Antylamon spun around with her hands turned into double-sided axes, hoping to land a hit on Mephistomon, but the black goat creature smacked Antylamon's hands away, kicked her in the abdomen with his hooves, and knocked her to the ground, right off the roof.

"Antylamon!" Yun screamed with her ears covered when she saw her friend fall to the ground.

"Tri-Beam!" Rapidmon saw Antylamon get hurt and became choleric. Nobody messes with his sister. He tried to attack Mephistomon in retaliation, but he dodged the attack.

"Dark Cloud!" A cloud of black smoke poured out from his mouth, aiming right toward Rapidmon, but being as agile as he is, he managed to speed out of the way, evading the attack.

"Excalibur!" MagnaAngemon tried to attack Mephistomon from behind with his sword, but the goat saw it coming and kicked the armored angel away. Unlike Antylamon, however, he regained his balance mid-air and flew back into battle.

"Lunatic Dance!"

"Love Laser!"

"Carrot Bomb!"

"Vacuum Kamaitachi!"

"Dancing Sword!" Darcmon tried to stab Mephistomon with her sword, but the giant goat monster knocked it out of the way.

"Wool Grenade!"

"Hop Step Punch!"

The Digimon fought with all the attacks they could muster. However, Mephistomon not only dodged every single attack, but he managed to overpower the other Digimon. Yun, Hokuto, and Rena hid behind a panel of roofing to watch the battle.

"This is bad! That Mephistomon's too powerful! What are we going to do?!" Yun yelped sadly, feeling doubtful about their chances of winning.

"The others are too busy with Boogeymon to help so we're on our own!" Hokuto said.

"Where is the boy with glasses?! You know you cannot keep him from me!" Mephistomon roared.

Yun and Rena looked at each other with confused faces turning into shock. "Boy with glasses? Wait! Is he-?!"

"Sonic Destroyer!" Mephistomon found himself being electrocuted from inside and out because of Parrotmon's attack. She was joined by Angewomon, Pegasusmon, Nefertimon, Pteramon, Thunderbirmon, Opossumon, Maildramon, and Lynxmon. They all knew that they needed to get things done, and now, so they didn't waste any time.

"Celestial Arrow!" Angewomon shot one of her glowing white arrows at Mephistomon, but he simply knocked it away with one of his hands.

"Golden Noose!" Pegasusmon and Nefertimon created a yellow light and molded it into a rope, hoping to trap Mephistomon long enough for everyone to do away with him, but Mephistomon knocked them both away with his gigantic hairy arms.

Unfortunately for the two of them, Hokuto saw the attack and was suddenly assaulted by a barrage of horrible memories. The people cheering enthusiastically for Saruto to just die already, the evil glare Mitsugu kept giving both him and Saruto, and worst of all, the sad, rueful look Saruto gave Hokuto before having his head covered by a dark blue bag. That was the last time Saruto ever saw Hokuto, and the last time Hokuto would see his father alive.

"Missile Storm!" Pteramon tried to attack Mephistomon with a huge barrage of missiles, but Mephistomon managed to knock them all in many different directions, some even right at Pteramon. The big metal pterodactyl found himself hit with some of his missiles, causing him to fall to the ground in pain, barely missing some already injured convention goers who managed to evade him despite being weak themselves.

"Pteramon! No!" Thunderbirmon was about to help him until she was suddenly stomped on by Mephistomon, who wasted no time in attempting to trample her with his hooves.

"Get off of her, goat man!" Crescemon wrapped her arms underneath Mephistomon's armpits and managed to yank him off of the helpless thunderbird, who used this opportunity to fly away despite feeling like she got run over by a two ton truck full of bricks.

"Thunderbirmon! Go and help Flaremon and the others! You'll be safer there!" Melody yelled. Thunderbirmon didn't answer, but she did heed Melody's warning by flying away.

"You won't get away!" Phelesmon roared as he tried to go after the injured Thunderbirmon, but MagnaAngemon and Cerberumon got in front of him.

"Surrender now or prepare to perish!" MagnaAngemon yelled as he attempted to stab Mephistomon through the chest, but Mephistomon kicked his sword away with his hooves and kicked Crescemon, freeing himself.

"Mad Balloon Bomb!" Opossumon tried to assault Mephistomon, but a black hand suddenly grabbed her by the neck.

"Black Statue!" Suddenly, Opossumon felt herself unable to move, unable to breathe, unable to communicate, and everything else. Opossumon glowed in a black light, with her eyes wide and looking like they're about to pop out of her face because of Phelesmon sneaking up on her and suffocating her from behind. After a few daunting seconds, Opossumon now looked black, sleek, and shiny. Everyone watched with horror, unable to fully comprehend what just happened.

"Did you just...turn her to stone?!" Rena yelled, shocked by this new development.

Unsympathetically, Phelesmon just threw the petrified Opossumon onto the grass. Since the grass is soft, none of Opossumon's body was damaged or came off, considering she had been turned to stone after all. But just think if he had decided to throw her onto something hard, like rock or steel or titanium. Or even glass for that matter.

Maildramon became livid. "YOU MONSTER! Lightning Spear!" She attempted to electrocute him like how Parrotmon did to Mephistomon earlier, but Phelesmon absorbed the attack with his pitchfork and out his hand on Maildramon's neck, even though she's covered entirely with steel. Sadly, she succumbed to his power and got turned into stone as well.

And he wasn't done there. Bucchiemon tried to attack him, but Phelesmon turned him to stone right as he tried to land a Love Laser on him. Pegasusmon and Nefertimon tried to do so too, but Phelesmon got them as well. Then came Lynxmon, Swanmon, Crescemon, Rabbitmon, Kangarumon, Sheepmon, Pteramon, and Angewomon.

"He's turning all our Digimon into stone!" Minako yelled, succumbing to despair after seeing her partner be turned to stone and cast aside like garbage and not being able to help in any way.

"How can you be so cruel?! What is it you're after?!" Cerberumon yelled as he swiftly dodged Phelesmon's attack, which wound up hitting Parrotmon instead. Melody, Aki, and Kantaro managed to get off as soon as Parrotmon got hit, not wanting to be turned to stone as well. As the trio got on the roof, Melody shed a tear for the petrified Parrotmon.

"Sorry, Parrotmon," Melody muttered.

"Spinning Sky Fissure Slash!" Reppamon tried to slice Phelesmon from behind, but he dodged the attack.

Secretly, Darcmon found Yun, Rena, and Hokuto hiding. "Come on. We have to retreat for now. It's too dangerous for you to be here."

They didn't say anything, but they both climbed into Darcmon's arms so she could take them and fly away somewhere. But Mephistomon saw her and shot a black ball of energy at her, causing her to accidentally release the trio of kids. All three of them fell onto the roof. Rena's prosthetic leg popped right off, and Hokuto's glasses bounced off of his face and slid onto the roof tiling. Rapidmon saw this and stood in front of the trio angrily.

"Out of the way, you trash!" Phelesmon threatened Rapidmon with his pitchfork.

"You can't beat me with that kitchen fork!" Rapidmon taunted as he tried to shoot Phelesmon with some Rapid Fire, but somehow, the vampire monster dodged his attacks and put his hand on Rapidmon's horn, turning him to stone.

"RAPIDMON, NO!" Yun screamed passionately, her voice full of despair from having to watch her precious friend be turned to stone.

"You've gotta stop this right now, Phelesmon!" Riku screamed angrily.

"I don't see why I have to! I'm stronger than you all, so just be thankful I'm giving you all what you deserve!" Phelesmon gloated.

"Don't get cocky, Phelesmon! We have to grab the boy with the glasses! Lilithmon needs to study him!" Mephistomon told him.

What he didn't know was that Antylamon, upon climbing back onto the roof, heard this and became livid herself. "I won't let you get what you want! Spiraling Smack Down!" Antylamon tried to attempt one final hit on Mephistomon, but Phelesmon grabbed her and turned her to stone as well. Yun closed her eyes fearfully, unable to watch as her other friend got turned to stone as well.

"You're gonna pay for that!" Riku yelled as he ran to Phelesmon and tried to bite him, but the vampire monster grabbed him by the neck and turned him into stone. He then proceeded to turn Minako and Kosuke to stone as well. Reppamon tried to prevent this from happening, but Phelesmon simply knocked him away. Then Melody came next. She tried valiantly to fight him off, but Phelesmon won this fight.

"This cannot go on! I won't let it!" Reppamon yelled as he attempted another attack on Phelesmon, but he knocked him away again. This time, however, Reppamon evaded his Black Statue attack.

"Emerald Blaze!" Cerberumon tried to attack Mephistomon, but he dodged it again.

Hokuto, who managed to put his glasses back on, didn't know that Mephistomon just spotted him and was about to snatch him. Reppamon happened to glance in that very direction, right at that moment.

"HOKUTOOOO!"

"You're mine, boy!"

Hokuto ran away right at that moment, not wanting to get caught. Unfortunately, he wound up seeing Reppamon get pinned to the roof. Mephistomon scoffed at this valiant attempt to save his partner's life.

"Why do you interfere? You're just a stupid Digimon. Why bother serving this incomplete, defiled, unclassifiable white mouse?" Mephistomon chided in a maligned manner.

Incomplete. Defiled. Unclassifiable. White mouse. Those are the words Mephistomon just used to describe Hokuto. Hokuto never did believe himself to be human. He was always referred to as a lab rat by everyone he met, simply because they found out that his dad used him for experiments. He was always left out of games or social settings simply because the humans deemed him inhuman even though he looks and acts just like one. Hokuto wondered if he really was everything Mephistomon just described. Is he really an incomplete, defiled, unclassifiable, broken being to be cursed with deprivation of all humanity simply because he went through things he never wanted?

"Hokuto...is my partner! I don't care whether he's human or not! You don't have any right to decide who he is and how he should live his life! I won't let you carve him to your liking!" Reppamon hissed angrily. How dare this ugly, misshapen goat creature decide that he knows Hokuto best? What an interesting display of audacity.

"Phelesmon! Grab the boy, but don't turn him to stone!" Mephistomon commanded.

Hokuto tried to run, but Phelesmon grabbed him by the neck, though he has no intention on turning him to stone this time. It's here that he suddenly remembered the time when Lilithmon and her Karatenmon army attacked Wisemon's castle. She suddenly decided to try and suffocate him, yet she said something that has since then bothered Hokuto. She said he's human, yet he has a Digimon's presence within him. He stood up for himself back then, but the thought of him potentially being made into a Digimon against his will...is that why he exists? To be the first known human Digimon in all of the universe, both the human and Digimon universes?

It's right then and there that he lost control. His feral persona took control over him and bit Phelesmon's arm. Weirdly enough, Phelesmon didn't become surprised. All he did was knock him off.

But that was exactly what the beast wanted, as he didn't want to attack Phelesmon.

He charged right after Mephistomon, who was so blindsided by Hokuto's attack that he accidentally released Reppamon. Hokuto, consumed by his inner Digimon, proceeded to try and bite the heck out of Mephistomon, who strangely enough is completely unfazed by this rabid human child attacking him like a feral animal.

"So THIS is why Lilithmon wants to study him so badly..." Mephistomon muttered.

Reppamon took this chance to get back up. Now that Hokuto's wild animal persona has manifested yet again, the pieces began to come together in his mind. _'I get it now! I understand why Hokuto succumbs to the beast! I have to stop him!'_ Reppamon quickly yanked Hokuto off of Mephistomon and pinned him to the roof, keeping the feral child from running away. Hokuto struggled and tried to get away, but Reppamon's paw is too strong for him to escape from. It made Reppamon's heart sag to make Hokuto go through this, but he knew he had to if he wanted to try and keep him from causing any unnecessary damage and try to at least communicate with him in a way only he knew how. Reppamon's paw lay on Hokuto's tiny body firmly, and he tried to make sure his paw didn't crush him. He kept it firm on his body to keep him from escaping, but loose enough so he wouldn't crush his internal organs.

Reppamon knew very well that none of this is what Hokuto wants. He knew that Hokuto knew it too. Everyone else did too. That's why Yun accepted him right off, because Hokuto didn't choose any of these things. They simply just happened to him against his will. He didn't choose to attack the kids and teachers from the schools he was expelled from, or Witchmon, or Yun, or Nenji, or Kimi, or anyone he might have lashed out at because of continual overstimulation. Hokuto couldn't help what he was or what he's become. Hokuto didn't choose to be born from a man who only wanted a guinea pig for his experiments. Hokuto didn't choose to have this strange, feral beast live inside him and manifest whenever something bad happens. Hokuto didn't choose to take part in those experiments that his own father made him endure just as much as the beast inside him didn't choose to be a wild, angry, and permanently ill-tempered creature. Hokuto didn't choose to be hated by everyone because of his heritage. Hokuto didn't choose to be thrust into a chaotic, painful world of amnesia, discrimination, hatred, misunderstanding, and continual overstimulation, just as much as the beast didn't choose to live inside a helpless little boy. Fate didn't choose for Hokuto to be who he was.

Fate didn't choose for the beast inside him to exist at all.

"Hokuto! Please! Talk to me! I know this isn't what you want! I know you don't want to be a monster! Please! Talk to me!" Reppamon begged pleadingly, hoping for a response.

Much to his utter surprise, he got one, and not from the beast. He didn't attack, nor did he lash out or growl in an animal-like manner.

"_I know! I don't want to be a monster! I really don't! I really do want to be a human, not a monster! But that's what I am! That's what reality has made me into, so I might as well be what they want me to be!"_ Hokuto's sad, despondent, downright dejected voice echoed in Reppamon's mind, and the beast didn't even speak. Is this one of the results of the experiments? Did Hokuto just perform telepathy? As far as he knew, no human is capable of displaying psychic powers, especially not something as enigmatic and impossible and fantasy-like as telepathy. Only certain Digimon could do that. Reppamon is not one of those Digimon, but if Hokuto could easily hear him, even if he's been consumed by the beast, then he didn't want to lose this chance to get through to him, especially now that he may have just discovered the true answer to why Hokuto easily lets the beast inside him manifest when things get too much for his fragile mind, heart, and soul to handle all at once, even with the support of many others behind him.

"I get it now. You succumb to the beast inside you because when reality becomes too much for you, you want to run away. Run away to a safe place where no one can touch you or hurt you. That's what the beast responds to the best. Do you run away from reality because it's scary?" Reppamon asked as gently as he could, sincerely and desperately hoping that he didn't sound like he was intentionally patronizing, pitying, or looking down on Hokuto, his partner whom he had grown to love so much.

"_Why not?! What's wrong with running away from reality if it sucks_(1)_?!"_ Hokuto screamed in Reppamon's mind. He could feel the pain that Hokuto is conveying in his mind, causing him to get a migraine, if Digimon can even get migraines at all considering they're technically nothing but packets of data. But no, Reppamon's pain was nothing compared to what Hokuto has gone through constantly in the eleven years he's lived. This child has spent nine years in a titanium room with his only contact being the one who brought him into the world by impregnating his mother, used for experiments to fulfill a silly and impossible ambition, ripped from that life in a blink of an eye, thrown into the hands of strangers who wanted nothing to do with him, was forced to watch the only person he knew, loved, and accepted into his mind, heart, and soul die right in front of him, the only person who truly validated his meager existence, wa shunned and ostracized for reasons he couldn't control, just for being the son of a man who everyone calls a madman, for having something inside him that he doesn't want, and for not knowing how to act appropriately in mainstream society or deal with a life full of things he doesn't know how to cope with or handle...and nobody bothered to help him or teach him everything he needed to know from scratch so he could feel better about everything he has to do. Worse than all of that, everyone around him, even his own parents (who aren't doing it out of malice. They've only been with Hokuto for two or so years so they don't know how to help him) are forcing him to grow up the way only _they_ want _him_ to grow up into, without taking into consideration that maybe Hokuto wants to grow up into something that he wants to grow up into.

Who can blame him, really?

If someone has to go through all of that and not catch a break, then who can blame him for wanting to run away? To hide? To crawl into a safe, quiet place where he could find the time to untangle all the complicated webs of the things he's never been exposed to and make sense of all of this bombastic chaos? It's like Yun's hypersensitivity to loud noise. Explosions, crashing glass, gunshots, elephant cries, trains, people screaming and yelling, crying babies, and rowdy kids all hurt her ears from the inside out because of her disability, and whenever things got too loud, she ran to another room or someplace quiet where she could be lost in her mind for a while and then go back when things blow over. There's nothing wrong with trying to run away to try and make sense of things that are hitting you like a barrage of bombs.

"Prepare to face your doom, you goat!" Darcmon and Mephistomon went claw to sword, clashing, clawing, and pushing to land one hit on each other.

"White Claw!" Cerberumon tried to scratch Phelesmon but the vampire monster kept on pushing his claw away. But this didn't stop the three-headed winged dog from giving up. No, he couldn't give up. If he gave up, then he'd be going against everything he's learned and went through up until now. As Phelesmon, Mephistomon, Darcmon, and Cerberumon went head to head, Kantaro helped Yun up while Aki and Lucero both tried to put Rena's prosthetic leg back on.

"That monster that has Hokuto pinned down like that...is he Hokuto's partner?" Kantaro asked, confused by what's happening between the struggling Hokuto and Reppamon, who is still somehow managing to keep the feral beast at bay.

"Yeah. He's his best friend. He didn't tell you about it because I think he was afraid you'd hate him or make him get rid of him. Us, too. Reppamon's not trying to hurt him. He's trying to calm him down and make him go back to normal. He's done it before," Yun explained while covering her ears with her hands. Despite the loud noise, she tried to remain calm for their sake, even though she's just a child and Kantaro's an adult.

"Why is Reppamon talking to him? Is that his way of trying to calm him down or get through to him?" Kantaro asked.

"I think so. I can hear Reppamon talking to him," Yun said. Yes, even with her ears covered with her hands, she can still hear things, even if they're muffled, that's how hypersensitive her hearing is, not that she wanted this, of course.

"Hokuto...I understand. You don't know what to do. You don't know why all of this is happening, and the only way you know how to cope with all of this chaos is to withdraw into yourself and let yourself be consumed by him. That's how you try to make sense of things," Reppamon said.

"_Huh? The monster...is my coping mechanism for hiding from all this? Is that what I'm doing?"_ Hokuto asked telepathically, confused by what Reppamon is telling him.

"I think so. But you tell me. You've always been able to put things you learn into words...but you've never been able to do so with this, now have you?"

"_Yes. You're right. I've never been able to explain why the beast always took control of me. Even if I did, they always got mad at me. They never listened. They never bothered to help me. All they wanted was for me to suck it up and deal with it all. But I don't know how to deal with things. They never taught me how or helped me with anything. They all just want me to be what they want me to be."_ The feral beast could feel his rage dissipating, his soul being soothed by Reppamon's touch. His eyes flashed from bloody red to cobalt blue like glowing sirens in a police car. His wig was growing close to coming right off, revealing a head peppered with small strands of hair that covered his head, no longer bald like he was back in May, when he was released from his chemotherapy sessions.

"That's okay. It's okay to be scared and frightened, to want to hide and make sense of things. It's okay to want to find some peace amidst discord and iniquity. There's nothing wrong with that. But you cannot let your sadness get the best of you. Don't let everyone decide everything for you. They don't know you. You know yourself, and if you know yourself, then you can decide what you are and what you want to be. Don't let everyone decide what's wrong and what's right about you," Reppamon said.

"Get out of my way, you scum!" Mephistomon pushed Cerberumon away and was about to attack Reppamon.

"No! Look out!" Yun screamed, hoping they would heed their warning.

Hokuto heard her voice, and found that his heart became more and more soothed. Yes, Yun's voice pacified him. It may be shrill now, but he remembered what it was usually like whenever he heard it. Soft, high, and sweet. A bit monotone when in normal conversation, but he loved the faint melody that could be distinguished from it. The accepting, understanding, and kind voice, belonging to the first person who accepted him, understood him, and treated him like a human being who wasn't Saruto.

Hokuto wished he could hear it again. One of these days, where they weren't fighting Digimon.

His vision blurred red again, and the beast almost took back control of him.

But it didn't.

"Magic Water!"

Without any sign or warning, a huge torrent of water suddenly poured out from the sky with the strength of a mighty waterfall, possibly like that of the famous Niagara Falls. It drowned Mephistomon, Phelesmon, Reppamon, and Hokuto. The water piled up on the roof and escaped onto the grass, overflowing like an overfilled bath tub. Reppamon grabbed Hokuto and flew right out of the tsunami. MagnaAngemon followed them out. Cerberumon took Yun, Aki, and Kantaro and flew onto the grass. Darcmon followed while staying close behind. They wished they could have taken all the petrified stone versions of the kids and Digimon with them, but they're too heavy to move, so they had no choice but to leave them there. Thankfully, they weren't swept away so they're okay. Flaremon, Thunderbirmon, Prairiemon, and AncientKazemon met up with Cerberumon and the others once they descended onto the grass.

"What in the world was that?!" Flaremon asked.

"My goodness, you're all soaking wet!" AncientKazemon exclaimed, surprised by how wet the kids are.

"At least Hokuto-kun's back to normal!" Yun suddenly blurted out of nowhere.

But they had to admit, she's right. Hokuto found himself back in control. The feral beast went back inside him as a result of the huge torrent of water. Kantaro grabbed him and hugged him before Aki could do so herself.

"Hokuto! Thank goodness you're okay!" Kantaro exclaimed, exhaling a huge sigh of relief.

"Kantaro-san...don't you hate me?" Hokuto muttered softly, but Kantaro heard it as though it were loud and clear.

"I don't hate you. You're my stepson. I know this isn't what you want," Kantaro told him.

"But I hurt your daughter!"

"Yes. I know. But that wasn't you. It was the thing inside you. Even I know the difference between the real you and something else inside you, and I don't care if you are the son of a strange man. His essence shouldn't define you."

Suddenly, Phelesmon and Mephistomon descended before them and tried to attack again, despite being weak and soaking wet themselves.

"You'll pay for that sneak attack!" Phelesmon roared when he suddenly turned AncientKazemon into stone by touching her leg. He came by so fast she didn't have time to react.

"NO! AncientKazemon!" Rena yelled with horror peppering her voice.

"She's a mega level! How could she have succumbed to the attack so easily?!" Flaremon screamed.

"YOU'RE NEXT!" Phelesmon screamed. He tried to attack, but something else stopped him from doing so.

"Aerial Attack!" A beam of light suddenly hit Mephistomon.

"Boiling Water!" A splashy sphere of boiling, scathing hot water hit Phelesmon's wing, causing him to roar in pain upon feeling the skin on his wing burn from the inside out.

"Turbo Stinger!" A barrage of stingers hit Mephistomon from above. Some of them got caught in his horns.

Hokuto was the one who looked up and discovered who it was that came to their rescue.

"Aria! Chiriko! Isao!"

Yes. Aria, Isao, and Bearmon are on Unimon's back, with MarineAngemon floating by their side with a big smile on her face. Right next to them is Chiriko, who is riding on a big and scary-looking, mechanical, bee-like Digimon. Rena decided to look up the bee Digimon's information.

"That's Waspmon, a virus attribute champion level! It's attacks are Turbo Stinger, Lethal Buzz, and Bear Buster!" Rena exclaimed.

"Hi everybody!" Isao waved his arms enthusiastically and waved at everyone down below, with Bearmon doing the same thing. Unimon and Waspmon descended before the kids as Isao, Aria, Bearmon, MarineAngemon, and Chiriko all got off and embraced whoever they could. Chiriko hugged Otoya, Isao hugged Rena, and Aria hugged Yun.

"Oh, thank God you guys are here!" Yun cried as she hugged Aria as tightly as she could.

"I'm glad we made it," Aria muttered.

"How did you all know we were here?" Reppamon asked.

"We saw what was happening on TV, so we decided to come and help! I called Chiriko-chan so she could help us!" Isao explained.

"She found directions online so we followed them here," Bearmon clarified with a smile.

"Aria-chan called Unimon here so he could help us get here," MarineAngemon said.

"Oh my. It seems you all have taken quite a beating," Unimon piped in.

"In case you're wondering, this is Waspmon. She digivolved just about an hour ago when I heard the news from Isao-kun," Chiriko explained.

Waspmon blushed. "Hi. Sorry if I look scary and ugly. Don't mind me," Waspmon muttered softly despite her voice sounding rather raspy.

"We tried to get Shunji-san to come too, but he didn't answer our calls," Aria confessed a little sadly.

"Where's everybody else?" MarineAngemon asked.

Otoya's expression immediately turned dejected. Her green eyes lost their usual shine, and her face looked like it had been molded into a sad painting done by Picasso. "Phelesmon...he turned them all to stone. We tried to stop him, but...he's too strong."

"If that's the case, then you better digivolve, Bearmon!" Isao told him.

"I'm ready when you are, Isao!" Bearmon exclaimed. Isao got his D-Heart out, and it glowed in a brown light. Bearmon digivolved to Grizzlymon and then into GrapLeomon.

"Chiriko. Go to a safe place so Phelesmon doesn't turn you into stone," Waspmon told her.

"Okay. We better-" Chiriko was about to lead Rena, Aki, Kantaro, Otoya, and Yun to a safe place...until she saw Phelesmon about to grab Hokuto from behind.

His hand glowed in a black light. This means he wants to turn him into stone.

"Yun! No!" Reppamon tried to stop Yun from running, but she went ahead of him, managing to outrun him.

"HOKUTO-KUUUUUN!" With a scream, Yun literally sprinted-not ran, sprinted, even though she normally isn't very good at running fast-toward Hokuto and pushed him out of the way, allowing Phelesmon to grab her by the back of her neck.

"Let her go, you knave!" MagnaAngemon tried to save Yun himself, but Mephistomon grabbed him and kicked him in his abdomen multiple times despite the metal covering his body. Despite the pain, MagnaAngemon tried to fight back. But it was too late.

A black, sleek, shiny, petrified Yun hovered over a horrified and frightened to death Hokuto, her face full of valor and determination, frozen completely in place.

"YOU IDIOT! Red Lion Dance!" Flaremon attacked Phelesmon with his attack, but the vampire monster went right through it and turned Flaremon into stone. Then did the same with Prairiemon, Thunderbirmon, Darcmon, Isao, Rena, Aki, and Kantaro. Chiriko, Lucero, and Aria followed Waspmon to a safe place where Mephistomon and Phelesmon won't find them.

MagnaAngemon, MarineAngemon, GrapLeomon, Unimon, and Reppamon are now the only ones left fighting Mephistomon and Phelesmon. But soon, Mephistomon left the fight and approached a frightened Hokuto, who didn't move.

"Kamitsure-kun. I know all about you. SkullSatamon studied you and told us about your life up until now. You've been through quite a lot of hardship," Mephistomon told him gently. "It's horrible to be discriminated against simply because you're different. I went through similar hardships. I was mistreated by my kin because I digivolved wrong, and they cast me away because they believed me to be a bad omen simply for existing. Boogeymon was treated as a slave for most of his life, never receiving any rewards, praise, or kindness in return. MoonMillenniummon saved us all, and if you want, I can save you too."

Hokuto listened intently, though he mostly stared up at the sky, which is still a stunning shade of light blue, even if some wispy white clouds are peppering it's vast blueness. He found himself in a pensive state, ruminating deeply about Mephistomon's offer. He didn't say a word. Reppamon saw the two of them together, but didn't say anything. He simply hoped that Hokuto would refuse and stand his ground. He wanted Hokuto to make his own choice, not a choice someone else wants him to make.

"Come with us, Hokuto. We would love to learn more about you, since you are one of us after all," Mephistomon told him sweetly.

Suddenly, Hokuto stood up and looked Mephistomon straight in the eyes.

"What do you mean when you say I'm one of you?" He asked bluntly, without a hint of fear, though he kept his voice soft and low.

"Your DNA has been changed and defiled to that of a Digimon. You may just be able to live among us, and nobody will turn against you if you do," Mephistomon said.

Hokuto smiled. "Thank you for your offer. I appreciate it."

A courageous sheen appeared behind Hokuto's glasses, and a blazing flame of courage danced in his cobalt blue eyes. "But I'm going to have to politely refuse your offer."

"What?! But Kamitsure-kun! Everyone here hates you, and the ones who don't merely want to use you for their own selfish gain! You're nothing but everyone's scapegoat! You're a defiled creature! You don't belong in this decaying, decrepit world!" Mephistomon roared, shocked with Hokuto's decision.

"Not everyone hates me. My friends care about me, and I'm happy that they do, even though I don't deserve it after what I've done. I know I'm not technically human, and I've suffered a lot, but...if humans don't feel sadness, then they won't be able to cherish happiness and feel any joy. What's this about you saying that people here are using me for their personal gain? You're a real hypocrite, you know that?" Hokuto's voice suddenly developed a snarky edge that even he himself didn't have before, but he felt great saying all of this. He didn't want to stop. Finally, for the first time in his life, he's making his own decision, and keeping true to it and himself. "_You_ want to use _me_ for your _own_ selfish gain! I'm not going to let you decide everything for me, nor am I going to let you decide what I am and what's wrong or right for me!"

'_YES! That's right, Hokuto! You are your own person! Don't let the anger and hatred of others imprison you, define you, or shape you into something you don't want to be!'_ Reppamon cheered in his mind, feeling absolutely elated that Hokuto has decided to stand on his own two feet and free himself from the expectations of others.

Right then and there, Hokuto's silver D-Heart of Liberty shone in a silvery white light. No, it didn't glow. It shone. His digivice did as well. The light from the digivice shot out from it, right through the D-Heart, and forming an arch before enveloping Reppamon. Reppamon found himself floating in the air, completely consumed by this silvery white light, growing bigger and bigger.

"Reppamon, digivolve to..."

After a few seconds, the silvery white light disappeared and out came a completely different creature. Standing before them now is a creature with a big red horn on his head, a green face, a gold and silvery mane, goldenrod eyes, white wings that look more like big, condensed bundles of energy than wings, and a long, curling golden tail. His body is covered with emerald green armor that looks like the scales of a dragon. His legs are a pale brown color, with long black shoes covering all of his legs up to his knees, with gold and white decor on the bases. Sparking from both sides of his mouth are two light blue streaks of lightning.

"...Chirinmon!"

"Yes! Reppamon has finally digivolved! At last we shall have an advantage!" Lucero cheered.

"Yay! Go Chirinmon!" Aria cheered.

"Look! Reppamon digivolved!" MarineAngemon exclaimed.

"Took your sweet time!" GrapLeomon exclaimed as he launched an attack on Phelesmon.

"How majestic..." MagnaAngemon muttered, awestruck with this new Digimon's appearance.

"Yes. How very majestic..." Cerberumon muttered as he finally collapsed, de-digivolving back into Xiaomon. Otoya took him and ran back to Aria and Lucero.

"Whoa. That's new," Waspmon said.

"How beautiful!" Chiriko said, her eyes wide and bright with awe.

Phelesmon scoffed. "Pheh! Nice paint job. But there's no way you can beat me!" Phelesmon charged at Chirinmon.

Chirinmon, however, without any fear, sprinted right past Phelesmon and went straight for Mephistomon. Boy, he sure didn't waste any time.

"Wave of Reformation!" His wings literally emitted a blinding white light, sending off an aura that consumed Mephistomon and made him dissipate into brown particles of data. Hokuto got his digivice out and used it to gather Mephistomon's data, turning him into a DigiEgg.

"What?! Mephistomon! NOOO!" Phelesmon yelled.

Swiftly, Chirinmon focused his attention on Phelesmon. Again, he did not waste any time. "Wind Cutter Sword!" The big red horn on Chirinmon's head glowed in a silver light as he sliced and diced Phelesmon in all directions, not giving the vampire time to even react.

MagnaAngemon struggled to get up, as he's in a considerable amount of pain from being assaulted by Mephistomon one too many times, but he flew into the air and got his sword ready.

"Gate of Destiny!" He turned his sword in a circle, and it formed a golden gate which opened. Without any hestiation, Chirinmon took the now weakened Phelesmon and literally threw him into the gate like he was trash.

Finally, the battle ended. MagnaAngemon, MarineAngemon, and GrapLeomon all de-digivolved back into Tokomon, Bukamon, and Bearmon. Bearmon didn't revert to his in-training form because he didn't spend time in his ultimate form for very long, and he didn't use much energy. Hokuto walked up to Chirinmon with a smile on his face.

"You look awesome, Chirinmon. Thanks for believing in me," Hokuto whispered softly, but his soft voice is full of happiness. Chirinmon knew this and smiled sweetly.

"I only digivolved because you allowed yourself to be free of the hatred that other people have been pouring onto you. You stood on your own two feet and told Mephistomon off all by yourself, without anyone else's input. You're molding yourself into your own person. I feel blessed to be your partner...oh. Your wig came off," Chirinmon said, then noticed that Hokuto's wig came off.

Hokuto felt around his head and noticed that Chirinmon is right. He found his wig laying right behind him. He picked it up from the grass, wiped some dirt off of it, and put it back on his head, making sure it stays perfectly in place, even though in the coming months he may not need it anymore. Suddenly, all the black stones glowed in a white light. The blackness and shininess slowly dissipated, and their bodies warmed with color, which meant that they're returning back to their sentient selves. The first of them to return fully back to normal is Yun, who...fell flat on her face right as the last part of her body became free from the black stone that trapped her inside, keeping her from moving even the slightest millimeter.

"OWWWW!" Yun screamed upon falling right on the grass. Since she was turned to stone as she tried to save Hokuto, she had been suspended in the air for quite some time, and being released only increased the velocity in which she jumped. Upon seeing her fall down, Chiriko, Aria, and Lucero all ran to her to help her up.

"Yun! Art thou alright?!" Lucero exclaimed, his voice forming a mish-mash of both worry and relief upon seeing Yun return to normal. However, Yun got up to find her face dirty and her nose bleeding a little, with the inside of it pulsating with pain. She didn't like how it felt, so she burst into tears.

"My nose hurts!" Yun wailed. She had no qualms about crying over an injured nose, especially since this is the first time she ever hurt her nose as badly as this.

"Here. I'll clean the blood off," Chiriko said as she got a tissue out from her pocket and gently dabbed it on the blood. She tried not to touch Yun's nose because she would flinch and back away if she made contact with it. Soon, more voices could be heard, mostly from above.

"YEEK! Parrotmon, you almost squashed me!" Kosuke yelled angrily.

"What are you yelling at me for?! That Phelesmon turned us to stone!" Parrotmon snapped back.

"Hey! I can move again! Yay! Being turned to stone really sucks!" Sheepmon exclaimed, feeling happy about regaining her movement.

"Remind me to train myself to get stronger so that I don't get turned to stone again," Kangarumon said.

"Minako! Are you alright? I'm so sorry I couldn't help you!" Angewomon cried as she hugged Minako.

"It's okay. He was too strong. I'm just happy you were there at all," Minako said softly as she relished in Angewomon's heavenly hug.

"Yes! I can fly again! Woohoo! I'll go and check on the parents and convention goers so I can stretch my legs and wings!" Pteramon exclaimed.

"Hey hey hey! Wait up, you purple airplane! Lemme go with you!" Melody yelled as she tried to go after Pteramon, who didn't ascend into the sky yet.

"Me too! I wanna go too!" Riku pleaded as he jumped on Pteramon's back.

"Oh my! Is Yun crying?" That was Antylamon's worried voice.

"Alright! Who made Yun cry?! You better get back here, Phelesmon or Mephistomon! I wanna kick both your sorry butts!" Rapidmon roared angrily.

"Calm down, you. They're gone. That's why we turned back," Rabbitmon told him, but it didn't seem to work.

"Can I go home now?" Lynxmon asked.

"I'm so glad you're alright, Riku," Flaremon whispered before being consumed by light as he reverted back into Sunmon. Aria went to grab the little fireball and gently cradle him in her arms.

"You okay?" Aria asked sweetly.

"Man, I'm so hungry I feel like I can eat a giant hamburger right now!" Sunmon piped in with his cute little voice.

Soon, Aki and Kantaro found themselves able to move. Hokuto, noticing that they've turned back, decided to approach them. This is one of the few times he's ever approached his parents about anything without advice from Chirinmon. Chirinmon smiled as he watched Hokuto walk over to them with worry in his face, something Hokuto never really displayed for anyone in his family, if he even acknowledged them as such.

"Mother. Kantaro. Are you alright?" Hokuto asked, his small voice peppered with genuine concern and worry. Aki smiled at him tearfully and nodded.

"Yes, Hokuto. We're okay," Aki muttered.

"Hokuto...I'm sorry. For never trying to understand you and making things worse for you and not helping you when you needed it the most. I guess I just didn't know how to connect with you. But...I understand if you love your father, and I don't want to replace him..." Kantaro told him. Aki found herself shocked at Kantaro's apology just now. She wanted to voice her opinions, but felt she's done enough of it, and she didn't want to make Hokuto angry, especially now that she's finally managed to earn his trust after so long.

"It's okay. I didn't know how to connect with you or relate to you either," Hokuto muttered with a smile. He could feel their love in his heart. Chirinmon smiled further.

"I guess even parents don't always know what to do, huh? But there's nothing wrong with that, is there? Not even parents have the answers to everything, but that doesn't mean we don't love you," Kantaro said.

"Indeed. If I didn't love you, then I wouldn't have spent nine whole years searching all over Japan for you...even though you were so close the entire time," Aki said tearfully.

Despite her own tears, Yun saw Hokuto talking with Aki and Kantaro, and she could see that the three of them are looking extremely relieved and elated with everyone being alright. She saw Aki embrace Hokuto happily, and Hokuto himself looked extremely happy, like a huge pile of bricks have been lifted right off of him. She stopped crying and smiled a bit as she held the tissue against her bleeding nose. All of a sudden, she found Kokomon and Gummymon sitting by her side, looking very tired and languid, but this didn't stop them from noticing said scene that Yun is fixating her evergreen gaze on.

"Hey! Hokuto's talking to his parents! Isn't that nice?" Kokomon piped in sweetly.

"Guess they can finally start learning to understand each other!" Gummymon piped in.

After a while, Pteramon and Parrotmon took the kids and the weakened Digimon to the safe zone, where the parents, convention attendants, security guards, special guests, and other convention staff were. Much to their surprise, the safe zone looked more like a very decrepit but sophisticated refugee camp than an actual safe zone. Make shift shelters made from wood, metal, remnants of ripped drawings and broken merchandise, and other odds and ends covered quite a few square miles. Some cosplayers tended to the injured by ripping parts of their costumes and using them as bandages and gauze. One girl ripped off a good chunk of her maid costume to wrap the cloth around a small gash on one Bleach cosplayer's forehead, keeping the blood from spewing out any further. One severely injured convention goer was placed on top of a gigantic, styrofoam sword painted grey and black, which served as a makeshift stretcher. Lots of teenaged or college aged girls acted as nurses to the ill despite having no experience in medicine whatsoever, though some of them did prove to be majoring in nursing or pursuing doctoral degrees in college. Something like this would definitely give them a better chance of actually achieving those dreams, and even having jobs in this shoddy economy. Actual ambulances and cop cars arrived to professionally care for the injured, taking the most severe cases on actual gurneys and placing them in the ambulances. Not only that, as the flying Digimon passed over the remains of the convention center, they noticed that quite a few convention goers stayed to either search through the rubble to find survivors or tend to the injured on their own, as they saw two teenagers give the last of their water to a mother and her baby who were covered with dirt. Quite a few other con goers, ages ranging from 10-25, began taking food to the weak and removing all of their costumes just to clothe the ones whose clothes got completely torn. Since it's so cold out, running around without any clothes in this weather is similar to a death sentence, and these con goers knew better than to turn their back on the weak. Some even sustained injuries from fighting head on with some of the Digimon army, without backing down. If all of that wasn't enough, as soon as a blood donation bus came to the safe zone, about 10,000 con goers, the majority of them mildly injured in various parts of their bodies, mostly being half of the entire convention, no less, crammed into the bus just to donate unfathomable amounts of blood to those who have very little chance of surviving. Also, two con goers were trapped under their car when a Wendigomon knocked it over, and a bunch of bystanders rushed to not only pull them out, but turn the car back over...and a group of autistic college students spearheaded the whole rescue attempt. Many con attendants even died amidst the destruction trying to save others so they could escape.

The parents couldn't believe what they were seeing. Otakuism in itself has been perceived in a rather negative light by the Japanese, especially since the execution of Miyazaki Tsutomu(2), which caused a moral panic against obsessive anime and manga fans in general. Even though they never really bothered to learn about otakuism in general since their kids are still so young, they never really paid much attention to these kind of people until now. But seeing all of these impromptu acts of kindness running rampant, and all done by kids, teenagers, and young adults alike really began changing their perception completely. Some of the parents decided to use their cameras and phones to record all of these acts of kindness just to prove to the world that even if they're a little strange, otakus are still people just like everyone else, and are totally capable of kindness, and they're not the only ones doing so either. Other con goers decided to record these kind acts as well. Maybe it's to keep them as precious memories for the years to come. Soon, the kids and the flying Digimon arrived.

"Mom! Dad!" Yun cried out as she ran to hug her parents.

"Yun! You're alright! What happened to your nose?!" Hisako asked as she hugged her daughter.

"Hehe. I fell on it by accident trying to help Hokuto-kun," Yun confessed.

"Otoya! When we get home, we are going to have a long, long talk about this whole Digimon nonsense!" Oujiro exclaimed, sounding very livid. Otoya's green eyes widened with fear and shock. She knew her father wouldn't be too keen on finding out Labramon's true identity, but considering he's been around without causing trouble in their house, would he really consider forcing her to get rid of him?

"Oujiro, there's no need to be so mad. The creature did save us after all. Besides, he's Otoya's friend. Look how far she's come since he came into our lives. Isn't that something to be proud of?" Noriko told him, but Oujiro simply scoffed.

"I'm sorry, Mom and Dad. I wasn't trying to keep him secret out of malice. He just fell into my life and I thought it'd be bad if I just kicked him out, and considering everything I went through...yeah, I got greedy," Otoya confessed rather sadly.

"We know, dear. We know how lonely you've been since we lived in Chiba," Noriko said.

"I'm going to grab some water," Oujiro said as he left Noriko, Otoya, and Xiaomon by themselves. Weirdly enough, a guy in a very scary looking horror movie outfit gave Oujiro one of his bottles of water, and Oujiro, albeit surprised by his entrance, took it anyway.

"Is he angry?" Xiaomon asked.

"What?! He talks?!" Noriko yelped with surprise.

"Yeah. I've always been able to talk. I am a Digimon, after all," Xiaomon piped in.

Noriko calmed herself down upon knowing that this little thing is Otoya's best friend. "In regards to Oujiro, he's just shocked and doesn't know what to make of all this. He's rather frail that way considering all he's went through both in the past and now. But I think I can convince him to let him stay. I'm quite the sweet talker, if you must now," Noriko said with a smile. Otoya hugged her weak little friend, and he didn't mind being embraced one bit.

"Is the battle over yet?!" An injured Owlmon yelped as a con attendant changed the bandages on his wing.

"Hold still! You'll hit someone!" The girl tending to his wing exclaimed.

"Mom. Dad. Please don't be mad. She just appeared out of nowhere, and she was just so cute I wanted to keep her for myself, since Kiyoshi's gone. I wasn't trying to deceive you, honest. I figured you'd freak out if you found out she talks and can change into other forms and think she was a monster trying to eat us," Minako explained as best as she could with Nyaromon in her arms, feeling like she's facing the music.

"We know you've been sad, and that's why we let you keep her. We figured she'd be able to help you get over your sadness, and seeing how she saved us earlier, I believe it. But we still wish you had told us from the beginning. I personally don't approve of you going out fighting monsters, regardless. It's dangerous, and you could be killed," Tatsuha told her calmly while trying to keep his own shock from getting the best of him.

"I agree. We lost one child already, and you nearly took your own life once. I don't think I can go another day worrying about your life, especially now that I know the true extent of all these Digimon attacks," Minagi said rather tearfully. "What kind of parent lets their children put their life in danger?! Don't you know that by going off and fighting these monsters you're putting your own lives at risk? Do you know how much worry you'll cause us if you do?! Do you know how sad we'll be if you died in battle?!"

"I know, Mom. Really, I do. That's exactly why I choose to fight alongside Nyaromon, so we can protect whoever we can whenever the bad Digimon come, you two included. I didn't want you guys to be caught up in all this. But there's lots of stuff going on in the Digital World, and someone has to stop it from happening because it's likely no one else will. That's why my friends and I fight, because who else will be willing to fight for what's right and protect everyone? If we just leave things as they are, everything will be lost, and people will die, just like today. I don't want that, and neither does everyone else," Minako explained.

Minagi broke into tears and ran away to another part of the safe zone despite some cosplayers going over to try and comfort her. Tatsuha shook his head and put his hand on it like he came home from a really harrowing day at work. Minako couldn't blame them. This is serious business they're dealing with, and it involves death, too. There's no way anyone could possibly take this in stride, nor did she really expect them to take it well anyway.

Some of the other kids talked amongst themselves. Cutemon hopped onto Yun's head. "I can heal your nose, kyu!"

"No thanks. People might get suspicious," Yun said.

"But they already saw us, so it's not like we're going to lose anything," Gummymon piped in.

"Yun?" Yun turned around to find Hokuto standing behind her.

"Hi Hokuto-kun!" Yun exclaimed while keeping the tissue on her still bleeding nose.

"Thank you. For saving me...and for being my friend," Hokuto told her softly.

"You're welcome, though did you tell Chirinmon this? He is your first friend after all."

"I just did. I just thanked Aria and the others for coming to rescue us too."

"Yeah. If they didn't come when they did, we'd probably get banged up even harder than we already have."

"Sorry about your nose."

"It's okay, though I think I may have to go to the hospital since this is the first time I ever hurt my nose this bad. I wonder if I'll have to get surgery? Ow!"

"Again, sorry."

"I don't mind. If this is from saving you, then I'm fine with it...though I wish it'd stop bleeding already! Aw man! My tissue's full!"

"Here. Have another one," Hokuto pulled out a tissue and handed it to Yun, who grabbed it and stuffed it against her nose.

"Thanks. Oh! I also notice you don't go on long long long lectures about everything anymore. Why is that?"

"I don't know."

"Oh. Sorry that your first anime convention experience had to turn out like this."

"It's okay. You had no way of knowing beforehand. We all didn't."

"Is that what beforehand means? Before something bad happens?"

"Yeah."

"There's so much I don't know that everybody else does...but I seriously NEVER want to turn to stone ever again! My God, I couldn't move or talk or do anything! I could feel myself cramping from the inside out! I hate not being able to move! Now I know why I can never keep still a lot of the time! But I think Riku feels more strongly about this than I do since he has ADHD and people with ADHD can almost NEVER keep still about anything."

Hokuto found himself giggling a little. "You may be right."

"Isn't it wonderful to have friends, Hokuto?" Chirinmon asked.

"Yes. Yes it is. Thanks for defeating them," Hokuto said.

"I may not have seen it, but you were awesome out there!" Yun exclaimed happily.

"I'm sorry you had to go through so much because of our lack of strength," Chirinmon said.

"Yeah. Now that we all can digivolve into ultimate, I think this MoonMillenniummon guy might make himself and his minions even stronger than us. We may even have to digivolve to mega level, if you guys can even do that," Yun said rather solemnly.

"Ooooh! I'm hungry!" Sunmon complained from Aria's arms.

"I'll go get you something to eat. I'm getting hungry too," Yun said.

"But your nose!" Chirinmon said.

"It's okay! I can handle it! Ow!" Yun said as she ran off to find some food, then flinched a little because her nose acted up.

"It's mostly because of her that I am who I am now," Hokuto muttered.

"Hm. You actually acknowledge her," Chirinmon piped in.

"I've always acknowledged that," Hokuto said.

Since the safe zone is extremely crowded, it was a little hard for Yun to get around and make sure she didn't step on anything or anyone. But since people are being loaded into ambulances one by one, it became a bit easier the further she went. Soon, she found a crate full of fresh fruit. She grabbed all the bananas while keeping the tissue on her nose and tried to make a dash for it until she accidentally bumped into someone else.

"Ow!"

The person she ran into is a girl about her own age, with short brown hair, much shorter than Yun's, though part of it goes straight down her neck, with matching chocolate brown eyes. She has slightly darker skin than Yun, and she's wearing a big orange jacket over a white shirt, a yellow skirt, black stockings, and tan uggs.

"Oh! I'm sorry! You okay?" Yun asked as she tried to help the girl up, even with her hands full.

"Y-Yeah...oh lord! Your nose! You need medical attention right away!" Once she got up, the girl grabbed Yun by the arm and dragged her over to another part of the safe zone. "Excuse me! This girl's nose needs some TLC!"

"But I gotta take these to my friends! They're hungry!" Yun pleaded, but when the paramedics came by, the kids and Digimon in question wound up going to her instead. They didn't mind, however. Yun's nose really needs attention since it's persistently bleeding.

Thankfully, as bad as Yun's nose was, it was easily patched up with some gauze and some medicine, which Yun didn't take very kindly to, and she didn't need surgery for it to be fixed, so it's okay. Later in the day, many of the convention goers lit candles and placed them on the rubble to mourn those who perished in the destruction. The Digimon Brigade did the same, since they managed to take down Mephistomon, Phelesmon, and the army, so in a way they felt responsible for not being able to prevent any deaths from happening and for putting everyone at risk, even though they had no way of knowing this would happen. Soon, vans and cameras from various news stations arrived to cover the story, though some of them had been there for a while, recording the many good deeds of the con goers and publicizing them for all to see. Soon, when night fell, the parents decided to take their kids and their Digimon partners home. The secondary Digimon decided to stick around to help out with the damage so the humans won't have to, even though it meant they would get discovered.

However, during the ride home, Yun's mind is still plagued with thoughts. _'We all digivolved to ultimate now. I still need to find out why we can't do so during other times, too. I wonder if the song lyrics hold the key to finding that out? I should do some research...but what happens now?'_ Yun was right. Nobody knew what the future would hold for anyone.

But one thing's for sure: this wouldn't be the end of their struggle. Not even close.

Footnotes:

1. Does this quote remind you of a dark, creepy, insanely trolltastic mind screw mecha anime made in the mid nineties?

2. Tsutomu Miyazaki was a serial killer dubbed "The Otaku Murderer" in 1989. He was charged with the murders of four young girls and was executed in 2008 by hanging. He is the reason why the media claims that cartoons and other media shape people into cold-blooded killers.


	97. Sweet, Sublime Serenity

EPISODE 97: Sweet, Sublime Serenity

The attack on the convention center made quite a splash on the news. All the news channels talked about it, showed footage of both the monster fights and the citizens evacuating or staying behind to search for survivors, and pretty much confirmed everyone's suspicions about the strange things happening. However, what angered a lot of the Digimon Brigade members was that not once did any of the news channels make a special note to all the convention attendants helping each other out, especially the cosplayers and the otaku. The Digimon Brigade and their parents had seen many acts of genuine, impromptu kindness since the Digimon attacked. Cosplayers tore up their costumes to make mock bandages to help the injured, many young attendants built makeshift shelters and even restaurants just so people can have a roof over their heads and food to eat, other otaku stayed behind at the rubble to look for more survivors, especially infants as a majority of them were able to be saved, among many other acts of kindness, yet NONE of the news channels reported on any of them, nor did they even acknowledge the people who all pitched in and helped out when they didn't have to! Probably because the stigma on otakus still lingers, although it's been reported that many online petitions to get these people acknowledged for their bravery, kindness, and compassion have proven to light up the dark end of a tunnel over the next two months, especially proven by all the videos that various con goers recorded and posted on YouTube, many of which got as many as 2 billion views, so things did turn out fine for them in the end.

Now October has passed, going into November and now December. But it's not just December that has come. Christmas is right around the corner, and everyone young and old is preparing for it in their own special way. Christmas lights donned almost every house in the neighborhood, setting them aglow in multifarious colors like red, yellow, white, and green, like they were wearing elaborately colored dresses meant for a fancy ball for the nobles in the Buckingham Palace. Families either got real Christmas trees to put up in their houses or fake ones so they won't have to deal with all the bugs and pine needles being all over the floor. The trees were dressed in all sorts of lights and ornaments, and when the lights on their branches turned on, it looked as though the trees themselves were glowing. Snow came at a minimum, but a lot of the neighborhood was covered by some sprinkles of it, making the grass, roofs of houses, and trees look like they have baking powder sprinkled on them, and it sparkled a bit under the effulgence of the sun, so it isn't anything that could prevent cars from getting from place to place every now and again. Japan isn't known for getting a whole lot of snow. This upset many children as they really wanted to make snowmen and snow angels and throw snowballs at each other and make igloos and everything else related to snow.

One particular child, however, didn't think snow was necessary for this special occasion. Christmas is just fine without snow in her point of view.

"Yay! Christmas is almost here! I can't wait, I can't wait, I can't wait!" Little Yun chirped happily and enthusiastically one evening as she and the rest of the family ate dinner, which consisted of chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, and Spanish rice, and Yun LOVES Spanish rice.

"You've been going on and on about Christmas all month. Save it for the actual day, will you?" Ayaka piped in, not impressed by Yun's cheer and enthusiasm as she took a bite out of mashed potatoes. Ayaka loves mashed potatoes. Yun doesn't. But Terriermon found himself loving it as he ate one huge glob of it.

"Terriermon. Try eating smaller amounts of food. You'll choke if you try to bite off more than you can chew," Lopmon suggested.

"Don't be so worried, Lopmon! I've done this lots of times before! Besides, mashed potatoes are soft food, so you can't really choke on it!" Terriermon retorted as he finished eating the big heap of mashed potatoes.

"Hey, girls. After dinner I plan on doing some shopping. Do you want to come with me?" Hisako asked.

"Oh yes! I'd love to! I still need to get presents for Chii-chan, Hokuto-kun, Isao-kun, Aria-chan, and Shione-chan!" Yun exclaimed as she counted the people she needed to get presents for on her fingers.

"Can we come with, kyu? I promise we won't make any noise, kyu," Cutemon said.

"Sure. It's fine, just so long as you don't make any noise. How about you, Ayaka? Want to come with?" Hisako said with a smile, then asked a still tired looking Ayaka if she wanted to join them.

Unenthusiastically, Ayaka shook her head. "Count me out. I've got massive homework to do over the break. My teacher's gonna grill me if I get an F on this next test again."

"Alright. I plan on doing some more last minute shopping tomorrow, so you can come with me then. Okay?" Hisako said, then turned to Lucero. "Would you like to come, Lucero?"

"I'd love to, but I can't. I have presents to wrap," Lucero replied with a smile.

"Did you wrap your presents for your friends, Yun?" Lopmon asked with a smile on her face.

"Yep! Mom helped me! My wrapping job isn't the best, but I know they're gonna love the stuff I got them! I got Mina-chan a Sailor Venus figure, I got Kosuke a copy of Final Fantasy VI for his new Super Nintendo something I dunno, I got Mel-chan the new Relient K album, I got Rikkun a game for his new XBox 360, I got Otoya-chan this pair of cute animal earrings which are hook-ons instead of those actual piercings, and I got Rena-chan a pretty dolphin necklace! I still have a bunch of money left over from the convention, so I can still get a bunch of gifts if they're cheap enough," Yun exclaimed happily, then ate a big heap of Spanish rice.

"You're very enthusiastic about Christmas, aren't you, Yun?" Lucero asked with a smile on his face, then ate a piece of chicken.

"Huh? What does enthusiastic mean?" Yun asked, tilting her head to one side with a confused and innocent look on her face.

"It means you're extremely happy and excited about something," Hisako explained.

"Oh! So THAT's what that means!" Yun proclaimed quite happily, which irked Ayaka.

"Will you be quiet for two seconds?! My God, you're so freaking loud! Can't you talk normally?!" Ayaka snapped angrily.

"This _is_ how I normally talk," Yun said, unfazed by Ayaka's yelling just now.

"No it isn't!" Ayaka chided angrily as she put her plate in the sink and stomped back into her room.

"Ayaka! Rinse your plate and put it in the dishwasher!" Hisako called out.

"I have homework to do! You do it!" Ayaka snapped back.

Hisako groaned and put her hand on her face in exasperation. "I'm not the maid, y'know..." Hisako grumbled. Yun heard it and could tell that Hisako's getting irritated.

"Why does she always make people do stuff for her? It's her responsibility to clean her plate after she eats from it!" Terriermon exclaimed with his arms crossed.

"Terriermon, shh! Mom's getting mad!" Yun shushed him and, much to his own dismay, he decided to listen and go back to eating.

After a while, they all finished eating dinner, rinsed out their plates, and put them in the dishwasher. Then they all got ready to go to the mall. Once they actually got to the mall, however, they were surprised to find that it's not as crowded or messily occupied like it usually is on Christmas. But since it's not so crowded, they could get things done easier so they seized the opportunity in front of them. Hisako bought a gold watch for Teruki since his old one just broke, a new shawl for herself, some new shirts and shoes that aren't for work for herself, some pretty neckties for Teruki, and a Glee DVD for Ayaka when they went into the video store.

"This'll be from you, Yun," Hisako told her, referring to the Glee DVD. Yun didn't say anything in response as all she did was look at the anime DVDs. Sadly, they didn't stock the ones she wanted so she went on ahead. But when she and Hisako left the video store.

"Yun-chan! Hi!"

Chiriko's sweet voice made Yun turn to find Chiriko, Hokuto, Aki, Kantaro, and Nene standing before them. Chiriko has a big dark pink jacket covering her deep green dress, and she's wearing black boots over her dark brown leggings. Hokuto's wearing a big white jacket, black jean shorts, and beige uggs. Kudamon and Puroromon sat in both their coat hoods.

"Chii-chan! Hokuto-kun! Hi! Are you two going Christmas shopping too?" Yun asked as she approached them both and hugged them like she hadn't seen them in a long time.

"Yes. Hi, Hisako-chan! It's so good to see you! Kantaro, you remember my friend Hisako, right?" Aki hugged Hisako first, then re-introduced her husband to her. Soon the adults became absorbed in their chatter, leaving the kids alone, but still within a safe distance so someone could keep an eye on them.

"How come you're here, Chii-chan? Aren't you going to spend Christmas with your family? Won't they be worried?" Yun asked.

"Christmases with my family are usually busy with my father running his store and all, and members of my mom's family come to visit, and she doesn't get along well with them, so instead of people celebrating and rejoicing and singing cheesy Christmas songs, all I hear is yelling, screaming, and relatives telling my mom how disgraceful she is. That kind of stupid stuff, so she figured she'd send me here to have some fun and to stay out of the conflict," Chiriko explained.

"Why do they say your mom's disgraced?" Yun asked.

Hokuto pointed to himself silently. Yun gave him a glare. "You know that's not true, Hokuto-kun! People are just stupid!"

"I agree," Chiriko sighed. "But they know how happy I've been coming here, so they're letting me buy my own train tickets to come here whenever I want!" Chiriko exclaimed happily.

"But it's much faster and more convenient if she rides on me!" Puroromon piped in happily.

"Glad to have you here! Are you gonna buy presents?" Yun asked.

"Yep! I already got some for Mom and Dad, but I don't know what to get my friend Megumi-chan," Chiriko said, but then became a little despondent upon realizing that she wasn't able to find a good present for her friend Megumi.

"Oh. Yun. This is...for you...from me," Hokuto muttered timidly as he pulled out a rectangle-shaped gift that's bigger than both of his hands and handed it to a surprised but touched Yun. Yun could see his pale white face turning a cute shade of beet red as he handed it to her, and his glasses fogged up a bit. Yun took the box and saw that the wrapping paper looked like it had been ripped up and taped back together in a million different places. "Sorry if my wrapping isn't so good. It was my first time."

"It's okay. Thanks! I'll open this on Christmas," Yun said with her sweet smile, touched by Hokuto's shy but genuine generosity. She could see a sweet smile form on his plump little face as he buried his face into his white jacket.

Chiriko sighed again. "You were supposed to wait until the get-together to give it to her, Hokuto!" Hokuto turned the other way so he wouldn't have to look at her.

"Huh? Get-together?" Yun asked with confusion.

"Hi Chii-chan!" Gummymon piped in as he popped his plushy little head out of the bag.

"We were planning to wait until Christmas to tell you and everyone else about it. Otoya's been trying to plan a surprise get-together so we can exchange Christmas presents amongst ourselves," Kudamon explained. "She had initially planned on calling you tomorrow and telling you about it."

"Awww! I wish she told me earlier so I would've helped out in planning it and seeing if everyone else is free!" Yun complained as she crossed her arms.

"I'm sure they also have things to do before and during Christmas, so maybe that's why she's making it a surprise," Kokomon chirped sweetly.

"Are you coming, too?" Yun asked, referring to both Chiriko and Hokuto.

"Yep!" Chiriko and Hokuto said in unison.

Soon, the two families decided to spend some of their time together and continue their Christmas shopping. Both the kids and parents chatted and palavered amongst themselves as they did so, having a jolly good time together. When they sat down in the food court, Yun noticed that Hokuto's head is quite full of short strands of deep chocolate brown hair. She knew that he lost all of his hair because of chemotherapy and had to wear a wig the whole time he met her, so it seemed rather surprising to see that his shiny bald head is suddenly full of hair, albeit extremely short hair. Yun decided to make some conversation about it.

"I see your hair's grown back," Yun whispered.

Hokuto blushed again. "Yes. Thanks for noticing."

"Are you going to let it grow?"

Hokuto nodded.

"It must be great to not have to wear that wig anymore."

Hokuto nodded again. "How come Lucero's not with you? Aren't you two usually very close?" Hokuto asked, suddenly noticing Lucero's absence.

"He's at home. He said he had presents to wrap in private. I wonder if he got something for me? I sure hope so!" Yun explained, then wondered if Lucero got anything for her.

Hokuto's smile faded a bit, but not to a great extent. "Umm...Yun? Can I ask you a silly and stupid question?"

"I'm the one who always asks silly and stupid questions but okay! What's up?" Yun replied.

"Lucero...do you see him as a friend or something more?" Hokuto asked.

Yun knew he was only asking this out of simple, innocent curiosity, not to harass her or tease her or anything, since he doesn't really know how to tease people with questions or words anyway, but still, the question really threw her into a quandary. She repeated the question in her mind. _"Lucero...do you see him as a friend or something more?"_ Something about it is still rather vague to her, so she decided to have Hokuto clarify it.

"When you say something more, do you mean...like a romantic way?" Yun asked.

"Yeah," Hokuto replied, without any hesitation whatsoever. Yun's face suddenly had paint from the bucket of awe, shock, and surprise thrown on her, erasing her previous expression. Not only is Hokuto asking her something really strange, she is even more surprised by the way Hokuto just went all out and said yes, without any hint of shyness or hesitation, and normally when it comes to romance, people are really shy or indecisive about it. But she didn't want to freak out or make Hisako think something's wrong, so she decided to answer as honestly as she could.

"Well, Lucero's one of my best friends. You, Mel-chan, the Digimon, and everyone else are my best friends too. I don't like someone more than someone else. That'd make people think I'm being mean. In terms of romance, however...well, I would love for not just Lucero but for any boy I like to like me in that way...but I know it'll never happen. I'll never get a boyfriend or get married. No boy will ever like me in that way," Yun explained in a rather monotone voice, something that made Hokuto confused.

"Why is that?"

"For starter's, I'm retarded! What boy would love a stupid, retarded, indecisive, absent-minded, clumsy, klutzy, fat, big-chested, white-skinned, 11-year-old autistic quarter-American girl like me? And if I ever do get a boyfriend, how will I know he likes me for who I am and isn't trying to trick me or hurt me? And if I get married, what if the guy turns abusive and beats me every day?"

"You're not retarded, or those other things either. You're nice and kind and smart, and you accepted me right off when everyone else didn't."

Yun was about to say something more until Hisako found a store she wanted to go into. Once Hisako got what she wanted, it became time for Yun and the rest of them to leave. The Kamitsures were going to stick around some more, so they waved goodbye while the Wakamiyas left.

"I hope Yun likes the gift you gave her. But why did you give it to her right off?" Chiriko told him with a smile, then asked him about why he gave it to her earlier than they planned.

"I couldn't wait. I got impatient," Hokuto replied.

"I'm sure she'll love it, since you picked it out for her," Kudamon said with a smile.

"Yeah! This is Yun-chan after all," Puroromon chirped.

While Yun did tell Hokuto that she'd wait until Christmas, temptation wound up consuming her mind and heart the morning after, and while everyone was still asleep, she carefully unwrapped the very sloppily done wrapping paper and found a white box underneath it. She pried open one corner of the box, and as soon as she put her hand in it, she felt something soft, and out slid a cute, tiny, fluffy white rabbit plush with long, furry ears that went down to its tail with pink fur inside them like those of a normal rabbit, pink heart-shaped eyes, a little pink nose, and a fluffy pink heart on its belly. Everything about this stuffed rabbit is soft and fluffy, just like Lopmon and Terriermon's fur. Yun could almost feel tears coming out of her eyes, but she held them back because she didn't want the toy rabbit's fur to get wet. She remembered telling Hokuto that rabbits are her favorite animals, long with deer and hummingbirds, but she never expected him to surprise her with this, especially since if Hisako found out, she'd probably tell her to throw it away since her room has enough stuffed animals already. Touched by Hokuto's innocent kindness, she gently held the stuffed rabbit to her chest and clutched it gently as she closed her eyes.

_'You're so kind. Thank you so much, Hokuto-kun. I got your present yesterday before I ran into you, so I hope this will thank you for doing this for me...and I hope you like this just as much as I like your present...'_ Yun thought as she held onto the rabbit plushie. She then decided to hide it somewhere so her parents, Ayaka, Lucero, and even the rabbits wouldn't find it, and that area turned out to be the shelf above her closet, where some odds and ends of Hisako's are kept for some reason. Once she put it up there, she pulled out Hokuto's present, got a roll of wrapping paper, tape, a sticker, and a ribbon, and began wrapping it...even though her wrapping job is just as cursory as Hokuto's, albeit a little less so. Once she finished, she wrapped the presents she got for Lopmon, Terriermon, Cutemon, Lucero, Chiriko, Aria, Shione, and Isao.

It was Teruki who caught her on the kitchen floor trying to wrap the last gift. Normally he would be very surprised at such a sight, but considering Christmas is right around the corner, it became normal to see someone making a mess of the wrapping paper in either the dining room or the kitchen. Teruki smiled and kneeled before Yun as she put on a sparkly yellowish brown ribbon on Isao's gift. Despite the wrapping looking rather cursory, she didn't care.

"Yes! I'm finally finished!" Yun exclaimed as she held Isao's gift into the air.

"Good for you," Teruki said with a smile.

"Dad? How long have you been there?" Yun asked upon suddenly hearing Teruki's voice.

"Just a few minutes," Teruki replied sweetly.

Once breakfast got going, Lucero, Teruki, Lopmon, Terriermon, and Cutemon decided to go out themselves. Yun did wonder why Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon decided to go with him, but she figured they needed some time away from her anyway since they have to put up with her every day, so she decided to spend the day watching anime, reading manga, playing games, drawing, and impatiently wondering what gifts everyone, friends and family included, got her. She did spend some time helping Hisako clean up all the unused wrapping paper and putting her (Hisako's) special homemade maraschino cherry cookies into bins so she could take some to share with her friends at work. Yun absolutely LOVES Hisako's special homemade maraschino cherry cookies, as they're the Wakamiya family's Christmas specialty. Everybody loves them, and they still do. Yun's been obsessed with them since she was nine, and she really wanted to share them with all her friends, the rabbits included. It's a good thing Hisako's making lots and lots of them, so she just might be able to.

Unlike Hisako and Yun, however, Teruki, Lucero, and the rabbits didn't just go to the mall. They went to other places as well, like Starbucks, the auto repair shop, and Target to grab some other odds and ends for Christmas and other Christmas presents for other people. At one particular store, Teruki was surprised to find a flashy pair of high heels that he overheard Ayaka saying that she wanted really bad but could never get. He felt that since she's been good in the past month, he decided to get the high heels for her. Not only that, they're half price today too, so it was a good deal. Lucero found something he knew Yun would love: a silvery white butterfly brooch. It was a bit expensive but nothing too big. The whiteness of the jewels used to make it match her D-Heart, and Yun loves butterflies just as much as she loves rabbits, deer, hummingbirds, turtles, and other cute animals, so why not? After a while, Teruki, Lucero, and the rabbits decided to sit in the park and relax.

"Wow, Christmas shopping sure does take a lot out of you! But it was worth it!" Teruki sighed as he sat on one of the benches.

"Indeed it does. I really hope Yun likes the gift I picked out for her," Lopmon said.

"I'm sure she will! I know for a fact she'll love mine!" Terriermon piped in reassuringly while showing off the tiny gift he got for Yun.

"And mine too, kyu! If it's from us, I highly doubt she'll hate them, kyu!" Cutemon chirped sweetly.

Teruki looked up at the cloudy sky above him. There isn't any rain, and there's no thunder and lightning so the weather's not bad, but the grey clouds are so thick, so fluffy, and so downright grey that they practically created an impenetrable wall between the earth and the sun, forcefully keeping the sun's warmth and golden effulgence from ever making even the smallest hole in those big, thick, heavy clouds. Not one tiny little spec of sunbeam broke through, nor is there any hope of one ever breaking through such grey and ominous-looking clouds.

"It's getting very cloudy out," Lopmon muttered.

"Yeah. I wonder if it'll snow..." Cutemon said.

Lucero looked across the street and caught sight of the Wawa. So many memories...that Wawa was where Yun, Hisako, Lopmon, and Terriermon found him when he was mortally injured and near death. If Yun and the others hadn't found him and called for an ambulance that day, he wouldn't be here right now. Lucero's chest felt light and fluttery inside as he recalled those very nostalgic but potentially frightening times. He remembered the blood on his hands, the strength he used to try and keep it from leaving his chest any further, the pain he felt from just trying to walk to the nearest building to get some help, his foot slipping and collapsing in Yun's arms. The image of Yun's worried and frightened face was strong and vivid in his mind. Those wide, scared emerald green eyes, the eyes of an innocent girl who, despite her fear, stayed by his side and made sure he didn't die on that spring day. She wasn't going to let this boy die, and she didn't. Even when nobody else noticed, she did, and made sure he survived.

Yes. She noticed when nobody else bothered to do so.

He wondered how Yun would have come out if she had never met him or saved him that day.

"Over there," Lucero suddenly muttered softly as he put a hand on Teruki's shoulder.

"What's that?" Teruki asked, surprised by Lucero's touch.

"Over there. That's where Yun and Hisako-dono found me near death," Lucero explained, pointing to the corner of the store that's adjacent to some small trees, right in front of the very tiny and cramped parking lot. Teruki smiled.

"Lucero...I'm so happy that you and the rabbits came to live with us. If we had never met you, then Yun would probably have turned out quite differently," Teruki said wistfully, looking into the distance.

"You said that to me once," Lucero said. "I wonder how Yun would have turned out...if she never saved me that day..." Lucero muttered, his sky blue eyes moistening a bit with some despondency.

"No. Yun's not that kind of girl. She'd never let someone who's hurt be left to suffer, even if everyone tells her it's not her business. She would never have left you behind, and even if she couldn't help you, she'd go to great lengths to find someone who would and make them do something about it with all her might," Teruki said.

"And that's what we love the most about her! She cares about anyone and everyone no matter what!" Terriermon piped in proudly, pounding his chest with one of his little pale green fists. Teruki giggled at Terriermon's cute but audacious display of pride.

"That's true. Not very many people care about others anymore. We've become extremely cynical and have been desensitized by constant violence to the point where seeing it has become normal. It's sad, isn't it?" Teruki muttered. "That's why I try to be nice and friendly to anyone I meet, even if they're mean and nasty."

"Would you do so even if they're people like Nenji and Seiko?" Terriermon suddenly asked out of the blue.

"Terriermon!" Lopmon scolded.

"Yes. It's better to resolve conflict than to start it and let it go on forever," Teruki muttered. He was about to say something else when a loud shriek caused him to stand up in alarm. When he looked around, he laid eyes on two kids standing by the gazebo where the Digimon Brigade often meets. One is a girl and another is a rather rotund young boy. The boy is angrily yanking on the girl's hair with a plump face full of rancor. The girl tried to push him off, but he's too strong.

"Stay here!" Teruki said as he ran toward them.

"Ow! Ow! Let go of my hair!" The young girl screamed in pain as the boy pulled on her hair without mercy.

"'Dis is what'chu get for bumpin' into me, yo! Yawls gotta know yer place!" The boy screamed.

"Hey! Hey! Break it up, you two!" Teruki managed to wriggle in between them, get a good grip on the boy's hand, and pry it off of the girl's hair. The girl ran behind him in fear.

"Are you okay, miss?" Teruki asked the frightened girl behind him. She nodded.

"Why you stickin' up for her?! She bumped inta me!" The boy screamed.

"You shouldn't let yourself get angry over trivial things such as someone bumping into you. It happens on holidays like this, and pulling someone's hair isn't the way to go about it," Teruki told him sternly, but he didn't listen.

"Shaddup, yo!"

"Nenji! Nenji, what happened?!" Teruki wished he didn't have to hear that voice again. Nenji's mother suddenly came onto the scene and grabbed her son. Teruki stood firmly in front of the frightened girl, hoping to keep his cool. As soon as the woman laid eyes on him, her eyes became bloodshot.

"YOU! What the freak are you doing here?!" The woman screamed angrily.

"You know her?" The girl asked.

"Hello, Mami-san. I'm just doing some Christmas shopping. I take it that's your son?" Teruki told her as calmly as he could muster.

"You've been bullying my son, haven't you?!" Nenji's mother, Mami, snapped angrily, her voice becoming shriller and shriller.

"Actually, your son was pulling this girl's hair simply for bumping into her. Where were you when this was happening? Couldn't you have come and stopped him from doing so?"

"Maybe she was the one pulling his hair!"

"My eyes don't lie."

"Then why are you wearing glasses?!"

"That's not the issue here. Tell your son to apologize to this girl for his inappropriate behavior. That's what any good parent would do."

"I ain't gonna say sorry cuz' I din do nuttin'!" Nenji snapped.

"Stop framing my child for silly crimes!" Mami yelled.

Teruki sighed, but he didn't lose his cool. "Alright. Fine. Be that way. But if I were any good parent, I wouldn't try to make up phony excuses to mask and condone inappropriate behavior as I see fit. I hope you both have a good Christmas," With that, Teruki and the girl left, leaving Mami and Nenji alone. Teruki then took Lucero and the rabbits with him. But Mami was determined to get the last word.

"Tell that retard daughter of yours to off herself! The world's better off without that piece of trash ruining people's lives and sucking the life out of them!" Mami screamed.

Oh, how Teruki wished he could snap right back at her or even hit her for spouting such calumny about Yun, especially since this has been going on for over a year now! But he knew that if he were to hit her, she would call the police and have him arrested, and he really did not want to do that, especially on a holiday as jolly as Christmas. Plus, if he were to fight back, Mami would probably use that against him and be able to get away with bullying Yun and allowing her son to bully her by using his transgression to her advantage. It's a good thing he kept his cool and didn't snap, or else he'd be in a world of hurt. His anger would have simmered if it hadn't been for the girl getting his attention.

"Umm...thanks a lot for helping me," The girl said.

"You're welcome. Sorry it had to go so messily," Teruki told her with a smile. "Does it hurt?"

The girl put a hand on her head. "A little, but I'm sure it'll go away. Oh! My mom's here! Thanks again! Have a merry Christmas!" The girl said as she noticed her mother, waved to Teruki, and returned to her mother's side.

"I hope you have a merry Christmas too!" Teruki waved back.

"Wow! You were awesome back there! But I wish you had given them a beatdown! That would have gotten the message across!" Terriermon exclaimed.

"I'm surprised you kept your cool throughout the entire argument. Nobody would ever be able to keep their cool in that situation," Lopmon said.

"I had to. If I got angry or smacked her, she would have won the argument...even though I wish she'd stop terrorizing us and see what her son's been doing. She needs to move on and stop trying to shift the blame onto everyone else for her own convenience," Teruki said.

"What happened?" Lucero asked.

"I really don't like talking about it. Sorry, this is giving me a bit of a headache. Let's go home. I could really go for some lunch," Teruki grumbled.

"Yes! Woohoo! Now THIS is the way to do some Christmas shopping!" Kosuke cheered happily on Angemon's back as he looked at the huge bags of presents. He, Angemon, Melody, Parrotmon, Minako, Angewomon, Hokuto, and Chirinmon are flying across the sky, possibly far outside of Tama-no-Minato, feeling quite proud of all the purchases they've made.

"This Digimon Brigade meeting is going to be fantastic. I can't wait to see all their faces when we celebrate tomorrow evening," Angemon said with a bright smile on his face, feeling quite enthusiastic about tomorrow.

"I know, right?! Heck, I don't need to dream about their faces when they receive our presents! I know they're gonna love them!" Parrotmon exclaimed.

"How do you know? You didn't buy anything for anyone," Chirinmon suddenly piped in.

"So what?! That's not what Christmas is about! What do you think I am?! Selfish?!" Parrotmon snapped.

"No. But you're not the one actually doing the giving. All you've been doing is taking," Chirimon told her.

A vein popped in Parrotmon's head, and her blue eyes became full of anger. "I dare you to say that again, you overgrown green armored wolf!"

"Calm down, you two! If you fight, people will see you! We already stand out enough as it is," Angewomon calmed them down upon getting in between them. Seeing that she's right, Parrotmon and Chirinmon separated and continued flying.

"He started it..." Parrotmon grumbled.

"Oh, look! There's that shop I was telling you about! Take me down there, Angewomon!" Minako exclaimed as she noticed a shop down below.

"As you wish, my friend," Angewomon told her kindly as she descended to the ground and put Minako down there, then flew to the roof so nobody would see her down below.

Melody, despite being on Parrotmon's back, wasn't really paying attention to anything, nor was she perturbed by the banter caused by Parrotmon and Chirinmon. She simply stared off into space, her pale brown eyes looking very tired, calm, and undisturbed by anything. She didn't even seem to be bothered by the cold, but that's only because of the big green jacket she has on, her black jeans, her brown uggs, her black gloves, and her yellow ear muffs. She simply stared at the grey scenery around her, exacerbated by the thickness of the clouds above, without one spec of sunlight to brighten things up, the mood especially, even though the mood down below is already very bright because of everyone's enthusiasm over Christmas. She wasn't staring at anything, even though many things are in front of or below her. She paid no heed to the insensitively upbeat and cheery Christmas songs blaring down below.

She didn't hear them. All she heard was Saori's angry voice, telling her that she's useless and was only adopted so she could get enough money from the government to leave her behind and start her own life. A life that didn't have Melody in it.

"Melody? What's wrong? You look sad," Hokuto asked kindly, his small voice full of concern. Soon, Kosuke, Angemon, and Parrotmon caught on to Melody's impassiveness as well. Melody didn't even realize they were talking to her until Hokuto's voice pulled her out of her reverie.

"Oh. I do? Sorry about that," Melody said, a little surprised by Hokuto talking to her, though this is because she didn't pay any attention until now.

"Something's bothering you, isn't it? Care to talk about it?" Kosuke asked.

"If you don't want to, that's fine. But Christmas is supposed to be a happy time for everyone," Angemon said kindly.

"No. It's fine. I...I want to tell you. See, the week before Christmas...a woman who adopted me abandoned me during a bad snowstorm. This was my second foster home. She kept me for four months, but it was only because she wanted to fish out enough money to leave town and start her own life...and leave me behind like trash," Melody explained calmly but grimly.

"Ah. I see. So Christmas brings back sour memories, huh? I feel you," Kosuke said.

"Seriously, if I ever run into that woman, I'm gonna give her a good piece of my Sonic Destroyer! You don't deserve to be treated like trash, especially from stupid people like her!" Parrotmon exclaimed.

"She's the reason I stopped trusting people and forgiving them, especially over little things. I...I wanted to prove that I wasn't weak and helpless or something people could use and then throw away," Melody said.

"No. You're not weak. You're strong, brave, and kind. You're here now, aren't you? You didn't let her words define you," Hokuto told her with a smile.

"Huh. That's new material coming out of you of all people," Melody muttered, surprised that Hokuto's the one telling her that she's strong even though he's pretty much the weakest and most weak-willed person in the entire Digimon Brigade sans Aria and Isao, who are just small in size and are still very young and inexperienced.

"I'm working hard to try and not think of myself as weak. I'm trying to be...strong, like the rest of you," Hokuto said while blushing a bit.

"It's true. But you're strong in your own way, Hokuto. You refused Mephistomon's offer to go with him and you made your own decision without letting the hatred of others define you," Chirinmon told him.

"But you're wrong about one thing. In a way, I did let that woman's words define me. She told me I was weak and helpless, and...I thought I was for letting myself fall into her trap, so I thought that I'd try being strong, like those women in those martial arts movies. I wanted to preserve the last of whatever integrity that I had...but I wound up destroying a lot of it instead," Melody muttered wistfully.

"I did the same thing because I believed that everything that everyone said was true, that I really was a lab rat destined to be hated for being inhuman and for being...my father's son, even though I didn't ask for those things," Hokuto said.

"We all are born with things we don't want, and there's nothing we can do to change them, especially if they're permanent and will have a great effect on our lives. But it doesn't mean we have to let our setbacks define our very existence," Angemon said.

They were going to talk some more if Minako and Angewomon hadn't returned and interrupted their conversation with her jubilant and enthusiastic cheering. "I got my mom's present! I got my mom's present! Finally!"

"What did you get her?" Parrotmon asked.

"A really pretty necklace with her birthstone on it! I'd show you, but we're in the sky right now and I don't want it to fall out, so wanna head home?" Minako explained, then asked if they wanted to go home.

"I did my shopping so I'm ready to hit the sack," Melody said.

"Yeah. Me too. How are you doing down there, Angemon? Think you can take us home?" Kosuke told her, then asked Angemon if he was okay.

"I can do one more flight," Angemon said.

"Good. Let's head back. People might see us," Angewomon said.

"I can keep going!" Parrotmon piped in.

"By the way, Kosuke...is it true your mother is coming to visit tomorrow?" Hokuto asked Kosuke once he motioned for Chirinmon to fly closer to them so he could talk to them.

"Actually, we have to go and visit her. The rehab center's rules are really strict, and they don't want people leaving or escaping, so we kind of have to go and see her ourselves, but I don't mind. We'll be doing it in the morning so we'll be back before we have to meet up for tomorrow's DB meeting, so it's all good," Kosuke explained.

"Do you know if she's making any progress?" Hokuto asked.

"She says the place is really helping her get over her alcoholism, but it's still too early to jump to conclusions," Kosuke replied.

With that, the quartet flew back to Tama-no-Minato to prepare for tomorrow.

Finally, Christmas morning arrived! The kids and their families lit up their Christmas trees, setting them aglow all throughout their living rooms. Hearty Christmas breakfasts were whipped up and then consumed just as quickly. Their TVs were turned on, blaring whatever Christmas movies were playing today. Children tore through every single present that was under their trees, ripping every single shred of wrapping paper to shreds without taking it into consideration, fawning over whatever presents they got from family and friends alike. Yun especially liked the presents she got from her family and other family members this year, and pretty much squealed over whatever she opened, much to Ayaka's dismay. Once all the presents were open, Yun played around with every single one of them, some of them new games, new DVDs, new manga, among other things. Once the family cleaned up all the wrapping paper, they pretty much spent the entire day together until early evening, where Yun promised everyone she'd go to the empty football field by Katsura Elementary School to give her presents to her friends. In the process, she decided to summon Bucchiemon, Prairiemon, and Swanmon to celebrate with her since lately she's been feeling bad about calling for them solely for battling rogue Digimon and not treating them like people.

Once they got to the football field, however, they were surprised to find that the Digimon Brigade's take on celebrating Christmas would prove to be even more exciting, jubilant, exhilarating, and joyous than what she did with her family, even though she didn't want to sound ungrateful to them. Otoya, Shunji, and their Digimon brought along a huge spread of food, along with some tables, table cloth, plastic plates, utensils, and napkins. It was like one big party. Once everything was set up, they started off by giving all of their presents to their assigned present receivers. Every single member of the Digimon Brigade loved what they received and thanked those who gave them those presents in varying ways, from hugs to high fives to fist bumps and anything else related to those things. Even the Digimon received presents! It was a most joyous occasion for everyone who attended.

"Hey! Pass it here, Rikkun!" Coronamon yelled as he decided to play some football with Riku, who brought it along since they were meeting in the football field by the elementary school and all.

"You got it, Coronamon! Prepare yourself for Nobara Riku's special attack! Super Sunny Blazing Football Throw! Yah!" Riku edicted proudly like he was some awesome super hero meant to fight evil and threw the football. Everyone watched in awe as it flew right into the air and right toward Coronamon, who managed to catch it.

"Hey! I wanna play too!" Isao cried out jubilantly as he ran toward them.

"Yeah! Can we play too?" Bearmon cried out as he followed the energetic Isao.

"Hey! I wanna play!" Terriermon piped in as he ran into the field right next to Coronamon.

"I could use some football! I haven't played that in a long time!" Kosuke piped in as he decided to join in on the craze.

"That looks like fun!" Patamon said as he flew into the scene.

"Hey Chii-chan! You should go and play with them! It'll be fun!" FanBeemon said as she gestured for Chiriko to go over there and join them.

"I dunno. I'm not real good at sports," Chiriko muttered shyly, a little hesitant about playing a rough game with them.

"This isn't sports! This is just for fun! Besides, it's not like we're really playing football! We're just playing around and celebrating the joys of the friendships we've made! There's no rule here but to just have fun!" FanBeemon chirped.

Chiriko smiled. "Sure. I guess it wouldn't hurt. Okay! I'll just have to dive in!" Chiriko ran into the field with FanBeemon flying toward her.

"Don't you wanna go with them?" Shunji asked Dracomon, who just finished scarfing down a huge plate of oatmeal cookies.

"No thanks! Seriously, Shunji! These oatmeal cookies are DEEEE-lish! You oughta try some!" Dracomon blurted out as he handed Shunji an oatmeal cookie.

"Sorry, but oatmeal makes my stomach kinda squeamish," Shunji said.

"OW!" Biyomon exclaimed as the football suddenly bonked her on the head. Some of the boys started laughing, which made the pink bird Digimon explode into a fit of rage like a volcano had erupted.

"I'll make you regret throwing that ball at me, Coronamon!" Biyomon screamed angrily as she began pecking at Coronamon unmercifully, similar to how she pecked Riku when they first met when he suddenly picked her up without any advance notice. Melody couldn't help but laugh out loud at this change of events, right from the bottom of her heart. Bucchiemon had already gone in to try and break them up.

"Hey! Hey! Easy there, Biyomon! It was an accident!" Bucchiemon reasoned, hoping to calm her down, but it didn't work.

Yun, Lucero, and Hokuto watched the whole scene and shook their heads. But when Yun got over her exasperation for Biyomon's vanity, she looked at Hokuto.

"I got the bunny you got me. Thanks so much," Yun told him.

Hokuto blushed. "I saw it in a store once, and it reminded me of you. I begged Mother to buy it, so she did. I know how much you like rabbits, so...I couldn't help it. But you're welcome."

"You have a very kind heart, Hokuto-dono, and she truly appreciates everything you've done for her," Lucero told him with a smile.

"But you're always doing everything for me, Yun," Hokuto said with a bit of a stutter as he rubbed his new head of short hair with his hand.

"Salamon! MarineAngemon! Stop! That tickles!" Lopmon laughed uncontrollably once Salamon and MarineAngemon suddenly launched an all-out tickle assault on her. Lunamon couldn't help but giggle at the sight while staying out of the scene.

"You need to loosen up a little, Lopmon! It's Christmas! On happy days like this, you're supposed to be smiling and laughing!" MarineAngemon told her.

A thought popped into Yun's head like someone opening a can of soda. She then gave Hokuto an eerie look and began giggling like some evil plotter. Even Hokuto started to get a little iffy.

"Why are you-?" Hokuto was about to ask her why she suddenly decided to take on the role of some evil schemer until the answer jumped on him. Literally.

"You're MINE, Hokuto-kun!" Yun leaped onto Hokuto, sending him to the grass. Suddenly, Hokuto could feel some fingers dancing on his sides, sending quite a nice-feeling tingly sensation through his body which caused him to burst into a loud fit of laughter. Something he hasn't done for quite a long time.

"Hey Yun! Quit it! What are you-bwahahahaha!" Hokuto tried to get her off of him, but being as physically weak and helpless as he is, he succumbed to her friendly torture.

Lucero facepalmed but smiled anyway. He wondered if Yun noticed that she never heard Hokuto laugh and decided to make him do so. Come to think of it, Hokuto hardly ever laughed for as long as they knew him, even when they first met. But now he has every reason to laugh out loud and not feel restrained by anything. Lucero couldn't help but giggle a bit as he watched a now brave and audacious Yun trap and mercilessly torture a helpless Hokuto into an explosion of laughter, though Lucero could tell that Hokuto seems to be enjoying the experience. He was about to stare some more until he felt a gentle tug on his hand. He looked down and saw Aria looking up at him with her wide eyes.

"Here! It's for you!" Aria whispered in her sweet voice as she handed Lucero a tiny little white plushy thing, no bigger than four of her fingers combined, that looks like a little bunny angel with very tiny wings with tiny black buttons serving as eyes, with no arms or legs. Lucero smiled.

"Thank you, Aria-dono," Lucero told her in a low but happy whisper.

"You're welcome. I made a pink one for Yun-chan!" Aria said.

Lucero smiled some more until it dissipated very quickly, and that's because he noticed that some of Aria's fingers are covered in bandages. He kneeled down and took one of them in his hands, donning a look of worry on his plump face.

"What happened to your hands? Did you make these rabbit angels yourself?" Lucero asked. He knew that Aria wanted to make stuffed animals since Yun told him, but should she really start on that so early?

"Yes. I know. My hands look bad, and the needle hurt a bit too. But Mariya-san helped me, so I got it. It's okay! I'm fine! They'll go away!" Aria said with her usual sweet smile. Lucero smiled again, thankful that this isn't anything serious, though he still wondered if Aria was even remotely capable of making tiny bunny dolls all by herself with absolutely no knowledge about sewing.

"My, you two are quite energetic today. May I join in on your fun?" Kudamon asked to join Yun and Hokuto in their game, and they happily let him in.

Yes. Their laughter rang all throughout the football field. For the Digimon Brigade, this was their best Christmas ever, and it would remain etched into their memories for all time.


	98. Extra Episode 1: Bunnies Learn About Yun

Author's Note: In honor of Autism Awareness Day, I present to you this extra chapter. Extra chapters are chapters that I want to integrate into the storyline but don't because they would throw off the episode numbers I have listed in my notebook of outlines, so these will just be extras so the fragile balance of my episode listing won't be disrupted or thrown off. These are both fillers and important to the story and characters at the same time. Enjoy!

EXTRA EPISODE 1: The Bunnies Learn About Yun

On one cold, blisteringly freezing January day, Lopmon, Terriermon, and Cutemon found themselves all alone in the Wakamiya house save for Hisako, who is currently in the dining room looking at some bills and calculating how much she has to pay for this month. It's nothing staggering or debt-inducing. Just typical electric bills and phone bills that are required to be paid every month. Today, Teruki took Yun and Lucero to a classical music concert that's being held down south. Yun wanted to take the bunnies with her, but she couldn't because they'd be easily spotted and someone might think she was smuggling weapons in them, so she decided not to, much to her own dismay. She was sure they would have loved to see a real life classical music concert with their own eyes, especially since Yun got them into classical music in the first place. Ayaka is out on another date with Shunji, so that left Hisako, Lopmon, Terriermon, and Cutemon in the entire Wakamiya house. The bunnies did feel sad that they couldn't go to the classical music concert, but this did give them a rare opportunity to explore the house and play all by themselves without being on guard for any Digimon attacks.

Terriermon was especially excited about this since this opportunity allowed him to explore however he pleased, so long as he didn't break anything important or mess anything important up, as Lopmon keeps telling him. On one bout of curiosity, he decided to go into the basement. He never really went down there much at all, either because he never had the time to do so or because it looked rather ugly and unattended despite it being Yun and Teruki's sanctuary, Yun's because she gets to draw at her drawing table and play on Teruki's computer, and Teruki's because he gets to get things done on his computer and play his drums and clean up his go-karting parts. He slowly walked down the steep steps (for him they're steep, because of his small, stubby little legs) and tried to make sure he didn't slip or fall, which he didn't, thankfully. There are twelve steps total, and he managed to crawl down every single one of them, one at a time. Good thing he was careful. If he wasn't, he would have fallen on his face and cracked his head open, if such a thing was possible with heaps of data in a world full of physical substance.

The basement itself wasn't anything to write home about, as Terriermon thought, at least. Right across from the stairs is the laundry room, where the washer and dryer are. There's a counter there that has laundry detergent, a basket, and some stacks of clothes that haven't been tended to quite yet. There's no door because it had been removed long ago because it wasn't closing properly. That, and it just looked plain ugly. Terriermon turned around to scan with his opaline eyes the rest of the basement. The basement has a grey rug covering the entire floor, all the way into the computer room, which is all the way at the end of the basement. On his left was Yun's drawing table, which is extremely messy. Stacks and stacks of papers with drawings on them hobbled back and forth, looking like they're about to fall. Boxes of crayons and colored pencils lay next to them, with some colored pencils, like purple, silver, green, and orange, lay scattered next to some clean white paper, which Yun hadn't drawn on yet. A half-used white eraser laid next to them as well, and the area around the paper was just surrounded by greyish black eraser shavings. A big plastic box full of crayons and other odds and ends that didn't belong anywhere, stood next to one pile of drawings, along with two How To Draw Manga books. Looking further, attached to the wall is an old, rusty, black, 19th century stove which no longer works, and hasn't been used for a long time, probably since before Teruki and Hisako even bought the house. The pinkish red floor tiles around it, which only spread to about two feet from it, both far and wide, were scattered and out of place, like someone was playing with them and forgot to clean them up. Even further, there's a big blue couch, matching love seat, a tiny but long table, and a silver TV on it, along with a silver DVD/VCR combination which, according to Yun, has been broken since 2009 for some strange, unfathomable reason. Even further than that, there's a room where the humidifier is, along with the pump that keeps the house from flooding. Hisako often stores things in there that she doesn't use, but Terriermon won't go in there because it's full of spiders and webs. He doesn't like them. Neither does Yun, especially since both he and Lopmon saw how Yun reacted to that Dokugumon when Lopmon first digivolved.

Feeling a little unnerved, Terriermon looked to his right. Near the laundry room is Hisako's ironing board, which she uses for ironing clothes. It's got a few brown spots on it which aren't burn spots, as they're a lot darker. The ironing board itself has clearly been well used, and looks as though it came out 20 years ago, when ironing became popular. But he also noticed something odd. There's a tiny little room on the right, right next to the laundry room. He trotted on over, found a light switch and turned it on. It flickered a bit, but after some more flicks, the tiny little room, or storage space as it turned out, lit up. There's shelves on all sides, and they're all covered with odds and ends like an old glass tea set, a metronome that doesn't work, a lantern that's still in its box, lots of soup cans, etc. But something else caught Terriermon's attention. Protruding out from underneath one shelf on the bottom is a big, dark blue container.

"I wonder what's in there?" He asked himself as he decided to try and pull the thing out. But it's too heavy, and whatever's inside is definitely heavy enough to keep it from being pulled out. So he decided to push it out. He crawled behind it and pushed on it slightly. It managed to budge just a bit. If it can budge like this, than it can easily be pushed out, so he pushed some more, and more, and more. He didn't know it, but he had company.

"Terriermon? Is that you?" Lopmon's sweet voice pulled him out of his reverie. Terriermon crawled out from underneath the shelf to find Lopmon and Cutemon in front of him.

"Hi girls!" Terriermon said with his usual cute smile.

Lopmon crossed her little arms. "We've been wondering where you went. You had us worried for a minute," Lopmon told him quietly but sternly.

"What are you doing, kyu?" Cutemon asked curiously.

"Trying to push this thing out. I wanna see what's inside!" Terriermon explained.

"Oh! I can help you push it out, kyu!" Cutemon exclaimed excitedly and decided to help Terriermon push the container out.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt," Lopmon muttered as she joined in as well. Thankfully, pushing the container out proved to be much easier with three bunnies pushing it out. After exactly three strong pushes, the container managed to get completely pushed out, leaving it open for opening.

"Yay! We did it!" Terriermon exclaimed as he high-fived Cutemon.

"We sure did, kyu!" Cutemon chirped.

"Try to be careful opening it. You never know what's inside, and be careful with what's inside, too," Lopmon told him.

"Don't worry, Lopmon! I'll be careful! You take that side, Cutemon!" Terriermon told his sister as he approached one edge of the lid while telling Cutemon to pry open the other side.

"Okay, kyu!" Cutemon said.

Once they wrapped their fingers around the edges of the lid, they tried to pry it open. It didn't work the first time. They tried it again and again. After a fourth time, the edges of the lid came loose, and the lid moved a bit to one side despite Cutemon and Terriermon standing on top of it. Terriermon decided to remove the lid and told Cutemon to go back onto the floor. Seeing that the lid can be moved, Terriermon gently took the lid and shoved it to the side.

"It's open!" Terriermon edicted.

He, Lopmon, and Cutemon all stood on the edges of the container to see what's inside. But they sure didn't expect to find something like these in a dark blue container stashed away in a slightly dingy basement.

"...baby clothes?" Lopmon asked.

Inside the container are huge stacks and piles of baby clothes. Lots and lots of baby clothes, many of them looking very old and worn. Tiny dresses, socks, onesies, pants, shorts, shoes, lace bonnets, everything. Lots of them have cute designs on them. Some of them are made entirely of lace and have lots of ruffles. Bunnies, ducks, ladybugs, butterflies, puppies, kittens, dolphins, deer, the clothes had all sorts of cute animal designs on them. Lots of them even had embroidery on them. Out of curiosity, Lopmon pulled out a little white dress with a rabbit embroidered on it. It didn't have any spots or marks on them.

"Awww, how cute!" Lopmon cooed. "These must be things Yun or Ayaka wore when they were babies!"

"Ayaka was a baby? Can't imagine her being one," Terriermon scoffed upon looking at a pink and purple onesie with a kitten sewn onto it. He found it hard to picture Ayaka as a cute, cuddly, sweet, babbling, helpless looking baby that gets wrapped in her mother's arms every day. He wondered if Ayaka was as bratty and ill-behaved back then like she is now.

"I wonder why they're stored away?" Cutemon asked as she decided to try on a lace bonnet. "How do I look?"

Lopmon and Terriermon burst into laughter. "Ha ha ha! You look funny, Cutemon!" Terriermon laughed.

"Okay...maybe not such a good idea," Cutemon muttered as she took the bonnet off and threw it back into the container.

"I don't think these are needed anymore," Lopmon said.

"But Yun and Ayaka aren't babies anymore. Why does Hisako or Teruki keep them? Why don't they sell them or get rid of them? It's not like they're being used anymore, and it's not like they're gonna have any more babies anytime soon," Terriermon asked, confused as to why Hisako or Teruki would want to keep a bunch of baby clothes they don't use, especially since Yun and Ayaka are grown up.

"They probably hold a lot of sentimental value. If something was important to you, you wouldn't want to throw it away, now would you?" Lopmon asked.

"Oh. I get it," Terriermon said.

"Lopmon! Terriermon! Are you down here?" Hisako suddenly called out as she walked down the stairs with some clothes hanging off of her arm. But when she got to the bottom of the steps, she stopped when she saw the bunnies going through the container.

"Ack! We're caught red-handed, kyu!" Cutemon yelped.

But instead of freaking out and deciding she wanted to punish them, she giggled softly. "I figured you'd do something like this, going through our things just to see what's laying around. What are you looking at?"

"I'm sorry, Hisako-san! Terriermon was the one who took this out. He only wanted to see what's inside. We're being careful, honestly," Lopmon told her, afraid that Hisako might get mad. But instead of getting angry, she simply approached them with her straight look. Once she saw what they were looking at, however, her face lit up like the decorations someone would put up all over their house on Christmas.

"Oh my goodness! My precious baby clothes!" Hisako exclaimed happily as she pulled out a ladybug dress.

"Ah-ha! I knew it! Yun and Ayaka wore this stuff when they were babies!" Terriermon exclaimed, like he was a detective declaring that he found the identity of a criminal who robbed a bank.

"Yes! I used to go all over the place, buying them the cutest clothes that were around back then. They don't make them like they used to. Oh! This is the dress my mother knitted when I was pregnant with Yun! I remember Yun absolutely hated it!" Hisako crooned happily when she pulled out a sweet little purple dress with pink, blue, and yellow butterflies and flowers on it.

"She hated dresses back then, kyu?" Cutemon asked.

"Yep, and that was way before Yun was diagnosed. Oh! This is the Tinker Bell dress that Ayaka loved so much! I remember that time she spilled oatmeal on it once and she cried for the longest time! See the stain? It's hard to see, but it's still there," Hisako crooned when she pulled out a green dress with Tinker Bell on it.

After looking at lots of baby clothes, belonging to either Yun and Ayaka, Hisako decided to put them away and work on her ironing. Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon decided to put the clothes away and put the container back where it was since they're the ones who opened it, and they didn't want to make Hisako do all the work. Once they carefully put it back, they decided to go back upstairs and play around. However, Lopmon's curiosity about Yun's earliest years became piqued. She remembered the day after they first met Lucero, the time when he found an old VHS tape containing footage of a two and a half year old Yun playing in a room with another lady. She wondered if there was any more tapes. Lucero showed her the cupboard in which they were stored, but she didn't want to go up there since they're stashed behind some expensive looking plates, and Lopmon didn't want to risk breaking them, so she decided to leave that alone.

She did, however, notice a thick photo album sitting by the couch. It's yellow, and covered with old Pokemon stickers, some of them looking both faded and scratched to some degree. It felt very heavy, but Lopmon took it with her ears, hopped onto the couch, and began flipping through the transparent pocket protectors, all of which contained various pictures from when Yun, Ayaka, Hisako, and Teruki were all very young. The dates on the pictures ranged from the years 2000 to 2006, and that's the latest they went. The pictures all varied in terms of subjects. Yun being a baby wrapped in a white, pink, and blue blanket, six year old Ayaka playing a pretend game with an impassive, inattentive, and virtually uninterested two year old Yun, Hisako posing with some girl friends in front of an old restaurant, Teruki in the cellar playing an old set of drums and looking quite different than he looks now, Teruki posing while wearing sunglasses on a bright, summery day, Yun hiding in the fireplace in the living room, Yun, Ayaka, and Teruki playing in a big pool which is supposed to be in the back yard but isn't there anymore, Yun and Ayaka playing pretend dress up and looking very ridiculous, Yun in a kindergarten classroom full of children (and Minako, Kosuke, and Melody aren't among them, and are not in any of the pictures in the photo album), Yun looking out the window while standing on her little tip toes, Ayaka and some girl friends playing in a sandbox, Yun playing in a sandbox, Ayaka in a frilly pink ballerina tutu, Yun in a blue and white ballerina tutu, Ayaka putting on a pair of colorful glasses that made her look funny, Yun and Ayaka displaying their presents in front of a brightly lit Christmas tree, among many others. But Lopmon noticed that in all the pictures, Yun never seemed to be quite focused on the camera, simply being engrossed in every activity she took pleasure in. Lopmon then found a picture of a very jubilant and happy-looking Yun hugging a Pikachu doll while in some kind of school room with a lady and some other kids, but it didn't look like the kindergarten classroom she was in like in the other picture.

"I got that for her when she was three. She carried it around everywhere she went, and she'd get mad if people tried to take it away from her," Hisako suddenly said, snapping Lopmon out from the picture book as she sat down next to her. Suddenly, Terriermon and Cutemon hopped right next to her also, curious about the picture book.

"Is that Yun when she was little? Awww! So cute!" Terriermon crooned when he flipped the page to find a five year old Yun carrying around a simple-looking book.

"She looks the same in every picture. The same haircut, the same skin color, everything," Cutemon said.

"Yeah. Yun just doesn't like change. But when she was little, we would take her and Ayaka to the beach, and she would get so tan she practically blended in with the dark! When I would come home to check on her at night, all I would see were her little legs sticking out," Hisako explained with a smile on her face, and she could barely hold back a snicker.

But this wasn't what Lopmon was curious about. She decided to take the plunge.

"Hisako-san...did you notice anything strange with Yun back then? Before she was...diagnosed?" Lopmon asked rather shyly.

"Well, I did, but I didn't think anything of it until their babysitter back them brought it up with me once," Hisako explained.

(flashback)

_The year is 2001. A younger-looking Hisako, with much shorter and shaggier hair, pulled into the driveway and walked out from an old black Buick up to the porch of her house some time during the late afternoon. She had just come back from a get-together at a friend's house. She knocked on her door, and a younger lady answered. This woman looks to be college-aged, with slightly longer but even shaggier bright red hair, deep blue eyes, freckles going across her nose, and somewhat dark skin. She's wearing deep blue jeans, a short sleeved light green shirt with the numbers 62593 on it in red and yellow, and light brown army boots._

"_Wakamiya-san! You're back!" The red-haired woman exclaimed as she hugged Hisako._

"_Hi Mariko-san. How are the kids? Did they behave?" Hisako told the girl, Mariko._

"_Oh yes!" Mariko chirped happily, then went into the house, gesturing Hisako to come in. "Ayaka! Mommy's home!"_

"_Mommy!" A five year old Ayaka rushed into the living room and literally leaped on her mother. Hisako nearly fell on the floor with this little girl jumping on her, but she managed to maintain her balance and not fall. Little Ayaka's hair goes down to her shoulders, and her pale blue eyes shone brightly like any little child's eyes would. She has on a purple, short sleeved shirt with the sleeves being nothing but ruffles and a ruffly, light blue skirt with yellow flowers on it._

"_Aya! Were you a good girl today?" Hisako asked her excited and bouncy daughter._

"_Yeppers! Mari-chan and I played Jenga, dress up, and hide and seek! We watched Barbie movies and Disney movies too!" Ayaka chirped happily._

"_I see. Alright, time to get down," Hisako said when she felt some mild back pain and gently put the excited Ayaka back on the floor. "Mari-chan and I need to talk for a moment. Do you want to go play with Julia?"_

"_Julda never plays with me," Ayaka muttered, losing her previous cheerfulness. Julda was her childhood nickname for Yun, and this is before she got her signature nickname, Yun. Ayaka couldn't pronounce the name Julia, and wound up saying Julda instead. It stuck._

_Regardless, Ayaka stayed in the living room and played tea party by herself while Hisako and Mariko sat on the couch and talked amongst themselves._

"_Sorry to make you do this on a school day," Hisako said._

"_It's okay! I only have one class on Thursdays so I'm good, plus I got all my homework done yesterday and the extra money really helps," Mariko explained._

"_Speaking of which, here is 3000 yen for helping me out today," Hisako said as she pulled out 3000 yen from her large purse and handed it to Mariko._

"_Thanks! I really appreciate this," Mariko said with a bright smile._

"_And I appreciate you helping me out," Hisako said with a smile of her own._

_Out of the blue, however, Mariko's smile disappeared as quickly as it came. She looked at Hisako with a bit of a concerned look on her freckled face._

"_Wakamiya-san...do you mind if I tell you something?" Mariko asked._

"_Sure. What's wrong?" Hisako replied, then asked what's wrong._

"_It's about Julia. I'm not sure if you've noticed, but...I'm noticing some strange things about her," Mariko explained softly._

"_Strange? How do you mean?" Hisako asked._

"_You say she's able to say some words like mommy, daddy, and sticker, right? For the past few weeks, Julia hasn't talked at all. Plus, whenever I try to engage her and play with her, she doesn't make eye contact with me or look at me. Whenever she starts playing by herself, she'll be stuck there for hours and hours, and when I try to take her away, she yells and pushes me and Ayaka away. Not only that, earlier today when Ayaka and I were playing music on the radio, she would turn it off all by herself, and when we'd turn it back on, she'd scream, cover her ears, and run around the kitchen crying. And whenever I try to put her in the crib, she'd scream and scream until I took her out," Mariko explained._

"_Yeah. Julia hates the crib for some reason. I've never been able to figure that part out," Hisako piped in._

"_She also doesn't tell me when she wants something and doesn't point. She doesn't babble or gesture at all. Sorry if this all sounds weird or crazy to you. I work as a nurse in a children's hospital so I've seen my fair share of babies and toddlers doing all sorts of things, so...Julia hasn't displayed any of the normal characteristics that other babies I've seen display. Of course, I could be seeing things so it could just be me," Mariko said. What she didn't know was that Hisako listened intently._

"_Come to think of it, Julia hates wearing dresses, and whenever I try to put one on her, she either throws it out or puts on my bicycle shorts right under it. She also only eats certain foods, like broccoli, carrots, cookies, and bananas, and she only drinks milk. She's such a milk addict. Whenever I'd buy milk, she would drink the whole entire carton, not leaving any for the rest of us, and when I'd go to Wawa to get more, the clerk would make fun of me, saying, _"Do you have a cow in your house?"_ and silly stuff like that. She also refuses to wear shoes or socks, and...you're right. She hasn't made eye contact with me or babbled much for the past week or so, and whenever we'd take her to the park to play with the other babies, she always goes off by herself and drops rocks into the gutter, picks flowers and scatter them all over the place," Hisako said, remembering memories of Yun that paralleled everything that Mariko just described._

"_Her eighteen-month exam is coming up, right? You should probably get her checked around then. The earlier the better. I'm not trying to sound condescending or act like I know better than you. I just noticed, that's all," Mariko said, feeling like she said something that made Hisako sad._

"_No no. It's alright, and you're right. I should get her checked as soon as possible so I can find some answers. Thanks for telling me all this. I'll try to keep it all in mind when the exam comes around," Hisako said._

"_I should probably be going now. I have to run to the store to get my mom's medication bottle refilled," Mariko said as she gathered her things and left._

"_Bye, Wakamiya-san!"_

"_You have a good day, Mari-chan!"_

_Mariko didn't know it, but what she described really hit Hisako harder than she expected._

(end flashback)

"...So a babysitter suspected it?" Cutemon asked.

"Yes. I wonder how Mariko-chan is doing now? She babysat the kids for us until she graduated from university. We haven't been in contact since then, but I'm sure she's doing fine," Hisako replied while at the same time wondering if Mariko is still around.

"Did you go get her checked like she asked?" Terriermon asked.

"Yes. It's the law to take your babies to an eighteen month exam to evaluate their overall development," Hisako explained. "I told Teruki about what Mariko told me, and we went to the clinic as required. That's when we heard it."

(flashback)

_A female doctor sat in a room with Hisako and Teruki sitting in front of her, with Yun and Ayaka playing with some blocks in another part of the room. The woman held a clipboard in her hand and looked at Yun with some concern in her face._

"_So...what did you find, doctor?" Teruki asked._

"_Well, based on her behavior, the lack of language development, and everything else I've seen, I've come to the conclusion that your daughter has something we call..._Autism_," The doctor said._

_Hisako and Teruki looked at each other with confused faces, awestruck by this strange new word that rained down on their ears._

"_A-A-Autism? What is that, exactly?" Hisako asked, concerned with this new finding regarding little Yun, who played with blocks impassively, not paying any attention to the situation around her, and not caring at all. Ayaka started to become a little irritated by Yun's virtual lack of interest in their current game, as she noticed she's just stacking blocks on her own pile, not adding to the pile she made herself._

"_It's a brain disorder characterized by impaired social interaction, communication, and overall development. I'm not surprised that she displays a lot of classic autistic traits: lack of eye contact, regression in language, no gesturing, delayed development, impaired cognitive skills, poor motor skills, intense focus on one activity they prefer and nothing else, and repetitive and stereotyped ways of playing. It's a complicated disorder, and it's hard to explain in one sentence," The doctor explained._

"_Brain disorder? Does...does that mean she's brain damaged?" Hisako asked, becoming very worried. How can someone be disabled all the way into the most important organ in their body, the brain? Is such a thing possible? Even in tiny children as young as Julia? Hisako didn't remember getting injured in any car accidents or anything of the like during her pregnancy, the pills she took during her pregnancy were supposed to help Yun, and she made sure not to overdose on any of them, and as far as she knew, signs of brain damage don't just appear out of nowhere. Everything has a cause and a solution, doesn't it?_

"_No. Damaged isn't the right word for it. Her brain didn't quite develop the way it should have, and certain parts of it are impaired. Nobody really knows what causes it, and there isn't any cure for it," The doctor explained._

_Hisako's green eyes suddenly widened with shock. Her voice went up an octave, which surprised even herself, but it was what the doctor just said that made her look like her eyes are about to pop out of her head. "Huh?! No...no _cure_?! How can there be no cure?! There has to be something we can do to...help her out, right?!" Hisako yelped hysterically, her voice sounding like it didn't belong to her. Yun has a brain disorder with no cure? How can such a thing even be remotely possible? How can anything not have a cure? Now Hisako's heart was breaking. So was Teruki's, only he did a better job of maintaining his equanimity._

"_Autism in itself is a rather enigmatic disorder, and it was only recently discovered a couple years ago. But we're always learning new things about it, and there's lots of ways to improve the situation. Here's a pamphlet for a welfare facility that specializes in treating kids with Autism with early intervention," The doctor explained as she gave Hisako a brochure with a smiling child on it surrounded by animals, letters, and numbers._

"_What's early intervention?" Teruki asked._

"_It's a type of therapy that both doctors, parents, relatives, friends, and other members of your family and community can participate in. You go to sessions at a facility for a certain period of time whenever possible, and you can both interact with Julia as a way to help her to communicate and develop the way she needs to as early as possible so later in life, she may apply those skills in life if you're both willing to be passionate enough to go through with it. But it requires intense devotion and effort, and it may or may not help Julia, but Autism doesn't have one single treatment method, and no autistic child is the same, so it's just a suggestion. Feel free to look into it or think about it when you have time," The doctor explained as optimistically as possible, hoping to soften the blow._

"_When you say no autistic child is the same, are you saying the symptoms are different from child to child?" Hisako asked._

"_In a way, yes, and their interests and sensitivity to certain sounds, sights, tastes, smells, and textures can vary. For example, one child may love loud noise while another may hate it. One child may love sour food while other hates it. Some children can be afraid of dogs or the texture of a rug or water on their skin or the sound of a refrigerator running or people yelling. Some children prefer to eat food with hard textures. Some children are sensitive to types of fabric in clothing. It's all different with everyone. It's the same with treatment methods as well. Early intervention has helped many children, but others fare better with certain diets, medication, or chelation therapy. Most autistic children can be very high functioning, albeit a little developmentally delayed, while some are very severely affected to the point where they can't walk, talk, or even function," The doctor explained._

_Hisako cringed upon hearing the last part of the sentence. She didn't dare think about even the possibility of a life with a child, her own child, who couldn't even function on her own or may not be able to for the rest of their life. Not because she hated the thought, and not because she thought of giving her up should that possibility come true, but because...she didn't believe that Yun is utterly incapable of functioning at all. Not once. Not her own daughter. She can walk by herself, she knows when she wants something, she can eat all on her own, and from what Hisako has seen, she's able look at pictures and know what's in them. Those aren't things that people who aren't able to function normally do._

"_Developmentally delayed...that's not the same as being mentally retarded, right? Because I was showing Julia a book once and she looked like she could read the words right off, even though she didn't read out loud," Teruki asked._

"_No no no. Mental retardation is completely different from Autism, and in my view, I think the word retarded is a very offensive and derogatory thing to say about an autistic child, and I definitely don't think you should view it that way either. Kids with Autism can be very advanced in some areas while rather slow in others. Have you ever heard of Kim Peek_(1)_? He was born very developmentally delayed, yet he could speed read through an entire book, and by book I mean a book the size of a Harry Potter book, in one whole hour, and could memorize vast amounts of information and recall the contents of over 12,000 books with just a blink. But not every autistic child is a savant. Some have a huge variety of interests. One child could be good at solving algebraic equations, another could be good at memorizing train schedules, another would be interested in drawing comic books, and another would go on to create a famous, billion-dollar, multimedia gaming franchise_(2)_. The possibilities are endless."_

_After some more discussion, Hisako and Teruki took Ayaka and Yun home. But when Teruki left the house to run a quick errand, Hisako sat on her bed and cried._

"_Julia...my little Julia...she's disabled...how can we cope with this? What will the future hold for her? Will she be able to live a normal life? How did this happen? Did I do something wrong?" Hisako cried into her hands, asking herself all kinds of questions. Soon, Ayaka came into the room._

"_Why are you crying, Mommy?" Ayaka asked innocently as she crawled onto the bed, right next to Hisako, who wiped her tears when her five year old daughter came in._

"_I'm sorry, Aya. Mommy's feeling sad today," Hisako said._

"_Don't cry! Smile! My teacher says if we don't smile, happiness will run away," Ayaka told her._

_Hisako was touched. She had to admit, Ayaka is right. Despite being five years old, little Ayaka always knew how to bring some sunshine into a sad situation. It's here that Hisako decided not to succumb to despair anymore in regards to Yun. The doctor says there's many solutions out there, and maybe, with just a bit of effort and dedication and understanding, Yun just might be able to overcome her disability and live a normal life. Hisako hugged Ayaka and smiled._

"_Thank you, sweetie," Hisako muttered tearfully._

"_You're welcome," Ayaka said with a smile._

(end flashback)

"Wow. That must have been very heartbreaking," Lopmon said, feeling rather despondent after hearing the story of Yun's official diagnosis. She wondered if other people had to endure the same thing, to expect your child to be just fine until someone claims that they're disabled and may not be able to live a normal life unless certain measures are taken.

"I just have one question: you didn't think about giving up on Yun or sending her away, did you?" Terriermon asked out of the blue, his wide, plump little face lacking any and all malicious intent when he asked his question.

Lopmon put on a very appalled expression, awestruck by Terriermon's sheer audacity. Similar to how Hisako did when she learned that there's no cure for Autism, her green eyes widened to look like saucers, and she couldn't prevent the ungraceful dropping of her little brown jaw. How can her brother be so bold to ask such an inconsiderate and scathing question? In regards to his own partner, no less? Does he really doubt Hisako that much? Lopmon decided she was NOT going to take this in stride, even if he had the best of intentions when asking that question. Lopmon could feel her face warm in temperature, matching her anger. "Terriermon! Why in the world would you ask that?! If Hisako-san really did give up on Yun and send her away to be forgotten forever, then Yun herself wouldn't even be where she is today! For that matter, we would never have met her at all! Don't ever ask such hurtful questions like that ever again!" Lopmon screamed loudly, her normally sweet voice turning extremely shrill and screechy, something that really made Terriermon back away a few steps.

"I was just asking, that's all!" Terriermon exclaimed fearfully, very cowed by Lopmon's sudden temper explosion. He's seen her get angry like this, but mostly at other people, like Nayuki back when she kept making unnecessarily derogatory comments about Yun in the Digital World. Terriermon never dreamed that Lopmon would snap at him in the same way.

"Some questions shouldn't be asked! You probably hurt Hisako-san's feelings!" Lopmon snapped back.

"Please don't fight, you two," Hisako piped in when she gently separated the two quarreling, lop-eared rabbits. After seeing this, Terriermon felt guilt hang on his heart like clothes on a drying rack and bowed before her.

"I'm sorry, Hisako-san. I really was just asking. I wasn't doubting you or anything," Terriermon muttered while keeping his head low.

"It's okay. I know you weren't. But to answer your question...I wondered what the extent of Yun's Autism would be, and I kept asking myself questions about what the future would hold for her. I did look Autism up on the internet and found stories about autistic people who triumphed and went on to live normal lives because of the love their families and friends showered on them, never giving up on them and always believing in them. But in the process, I also found horrible stories about autistic children being abused and mistreated in schools and even care facilities by ignorant people who either weren't trained in the field or just didn't care. Some were even spurned by their own families, and this was especially the norm back when I was younger. I didn't want Yun to suffer, so I set my sadness aside and decided to take action. Teruki did too. We figured if we could get through to her as early as possible, she might turn out alright," Hisako explained kindly. Lopmon could see Hisako's eyes turn despondent and dejected when she mentioned reading stories about innocent autistic children being abused and mistreated, even by people who are supposed to care for them and treat them well because their families either can't afford it or can't handle things on their own.

"How did Ayaka take it? I bet she didn't like that, now did she?" Terriermon asked. Considering how he's seen Ayaka act since his first (and extremely unpleasant) encounter with her, he didn't think Ayaka had even a sliver of kindness and acceptance in her, even as a child. But this is only because he's so obstinate and stubborn with his beliefs that it'll take a lot more than just stories from other people to convince him to change his view on something otherwise. He's one who always wants solid proof of something, without it being sugarcoated or downplayed or not being taken seriously.

"It's not easy telling a five year old girl that their sister has a brain disorder that'll make things harder for her in life, so we simply told her that we found out that Yun is going to be very different from other little sisters and needs some more help in her life. Strangely enough, Ayaka took it well. You may not believe me when I say this, Terriermon, and I don't blame you, but when we told her that Yun was going to grow up different, she said, _"That's okay! My teacher says different is good, and I agree!"_ It really touched my heart when she said that. Not only that, Yun and Ayaka got along very well during that period. Yun always tried imitating her both at home and at early intervention, so the therapists decided to put this to good use. Ayaka did too, and Yun managed to develop quite a bit," Hisako explained. Terriermon wanted to say something, but considering how angrily Lopmon reacted to his question about whether Hisako considered giving up on Yun or not, he decided it would be wiser to keep his mouth shut and not say anything. He didn't want his sister to be angry at him again.

"When did Yun start talking, kyu? I read somewhere that babies talk when they're almost two years old, kyu," Cutemon asked.

"You're right, Cutemon. Toddlers normally start talking by about 18 months or so, but since Yun was developmentally delayed and didn't quite understand language, she didn't say her first word until she was about six years old. But some autistic children don't start talking until even later than that, and some don't talk at all. But before that, we used other ways to communicate. We taught her sign language for one thing, and she mostly used this little picture book we got her. It's a book with pocket protectors in it that had pictures of everyday objects like food, drinks, toys, cartoon characters, and other things. We took pictures of ourselves and put them in there so if Yun wants Mom or Dad, she could pull out a picture and show it to someone and have them get whoever or whatever she wants or needs," Hisako explained. "I wonder if we still have it? I'll have to check one of these days."

"It's good that you decided to use an alternative and make up for the fact that she wasn't talking," Lopmon said, having gotten over her previous anger from before. "If you can't do something one way, there's always other ways to do it."

"Exactly. Ayaka got in on it too by teaching her some of the sign language that she learned. But whenever Yun tried to talk but couldn't, I would take her hand and put it on my throat like this," Hisako demonstrated this by putting two of her fingers on her throat. "It was a way of having her feel how the word should come out, like the word cookie. Whenever she wanted one, I would put her hand on my neck, and say _"Cook-ie. Cook-ie,"_ as a way of trying to get her to talk if she didn't want to use sign or her picture book," Hisako explained. "But she wasn't totally unable to speak. Whenever she did start talking, she would make up her own words to describe things, like she was making up her own language. She used _"Na"_ for the word airplane, _"Ah-sha"_ for _"I want,"_ _"Aaka"_ for Ayaka, _"Mimi"_ for milk, and _"Ba"_ for bottle. In fact, this is how she got her nickname, Yun. She couldn't pronounce her own name, but out of the blue she just shouted, _"Yun! Yun!"_ And we'd say, _"No, it's Julia. Julia."_ But she just kept on saying _"Yun! Yun! Yun!"_ that we decided to use it as her nickname. She responded to it too, so it sort of clicked."

"So did this whole early intervention thing work?" Terriermon asked.

"Yep. But I have to admit, getting Yun the services she needed back then was quite the battle. If we move into a new district, then we absolutely have to make use of any service that our own district provides us, even to the point of forcing us to go to their schools. It's the law. I do remember looking for services for Yun around here when she was young. The kindergarten we made her go to was very far from here, about an hour away, but they were very kind to her and saw a lot of promise in her, so we told them that once we found out more about the services here, we'd think more about it. It was a special kindergarten specifically for kids with Autism and Down Syndrome, and they made sure to meet each individual child's needs while helping them to grow at the same time and still manage to help them learn new things. It was wonderful, and Yun really blossomed in there. But...Katsura...ugh! All they had was just a babysitting service! Teachers letting children run around and changing diapers and everything! I knew Yun was never going to learn anything in there, so I went with the one that was an hour away, even though I always cried whenever she'd get on the bus with her bottle in her hand. But it was worth it. Katsura's failed my daughter so much, it makes me sick just to think about it!" Hisako became very perturbed when she started mentioning Katsura Elementary School.

"Katsura? That's where Aria-chan and Isao-kun go. What happened there?" Lopmon asked, her curiosity piqued once more.

"I could go on all day, and I honestly blame that stupid principal for screwing everything up! We asked for an aide to help Yun out in class since they said they offered them, but instead of trained professionals, they just grabbed random mothers from the neighborhood and slapped them onto the job. The first aide, that Asami lady, she was just awful! She'd constantly yell at Yun for every little thing she did wrong, even so much as berating her for getting simple answers wrong on a math worksheet! It's her job to help her out, not make her feel like she's not worth anything! Minako and the others would always tell me about how she'd make Yun cry every day, and I was going to have none of it. I threatened them with a lawsuit if they didn't fire Asami. They did, and they found a new aide for her. But this one was even worse than Asami! She would actually go as far as hit Yun right in front of other kids and even tell them to bully her! The teachers did do everything they could, but there wasn't much they could do. So instead of just threatening them with a lawsuit, I threatened to go to the police!" Hisako exclaimed angrily.

"You go, woman!" Cutemon cheered, happy with Hisako's devotion to her daughter's welfare, even back then.

"In the third grade, we finally got a decent aide. I think her name was Katakura-san? But while she was nice, she did spend a bit too much time with other kids as well. She also had a daughter too, but she (the daughter) didn't like Yun much and picked on her too. After a while, I said, _"No more aides!"_ and found out that she made more progress interacting with Minako and the rest of them than any of those aides we got. Now don't get me wrong, lots of other parents found aides who were wonderful with their kids, and I'm not saying all aides are bad. I just didn't want that decrepit school to let my daughter down again," Hisako explained.

"Why didn't you take her out?" Cutemon asked.

"In the back of my mind, I wanted to. But her friends were there, the teachers she did have were nice, and once a child enters elementary school, it's impossible to transfer them out unless we're under extreme circumstances. It's the law of the district. They didn't consider our child having a developmental disability to be extreme circumstances, and even though it's their job to help children excel, regardless of whether they have setbacks or not, they sure didn't help Yun much even though they kept on preaching that no child should be left behind. Pfft! They're a bunch of hypocrites. All they care about is saving their own butts, not about the welfare of the children! It's a miracle she even managed to graduate from there, and I'm glad of it!" Hisako sighed after finishing, and put her hand on her forehead. "Sorry I had to bother you with all this. I really hate looking back on those times."

"I'm sorry. We shouldn't have made you bring it up," Terriermon said ruefully. His heart felt even heavier and more full of dejection than ever. It's bad enough Yun is being continuously bullied by Nenji, Seiko, Nenji's mother, Nayuki, and pretty much anyone else who hates her guts for no reason right now, but to think she was bullied by adults who were supposed to help her out and take care of her when Hisako and Teruki couldn't, just so they could save their own butts as Hisako just put it. What did Yun do to deserve all of that? She was just a little girl! What could an innocent little girl, one with a developmental disability that she didn't want, do to possibly deserve such traumatic experiences? It's no wonder she has lots of trouble making friends. Terriermon wished he had met Yun earlier so he could have given Asami and the other lady the poundings and beatdowns he gave Nenji and Seiko when he found out they assaulted Yun in detention so many months ago. But then again, he did laud Hisako for taking action when she did and persisting and seeing them through to the end, even when other people told her to give up. It'd be another story entirely if Yun wound up with equally abusive and uncaring parents, which Hisako and Teruki definitely aren't. Hisako and Teruki are much too nice and kind to let their children be bullied, especially for being different from everyone else because of things they were born with that they don't want. He wasn't sure about Ayaka, but he definitely saw that Hisako and Teruki would do just about anything to make sure that their kids were happy and safe.

"Did Ayaka know about the bullying?" Cutemon asked.

"No. She and Yun are too far apart in age so they're almost never in the same school building. Yun herself barely told us about it because she has trouble forming sentences with the right words, which is the big reason why she has to go see a speech pathologist to this day," Hisako explained.

"She's lucky to have great friends like Mel-chan, Mina-chan, and Kosuke-kun, kyu," Cutemon piped in with a smile.

"I agree. They've been so good to her over the years, and I'm glad they care about her. When Melody came back, I didn't even think she turned into a bully or a delinquent even with her dyed hair and black attire, because I saw her with Yun and she (Yun) looked so elated and happy that it made me cry," Hisako explained. "It surprised me even more that Melody even remembered me and Teruki right off. I was afraid she wouldn't, but it just made me happy that despite changing so much she still remembers how much she cares for our Yun."

"When did Yun first start finding out that she was different from the other kids?" Lopmon asked.

"Well, I think she always knew she was different. She's always heard me tell people that she's autistic, but she didn't really think anything of it until earlier this year," Hisako said.

(flashback)

_The week after her 11th birthday, Yun began her morning by eating her usual buttered toast, bananas, and iced tea for breakfast. Then she went to play some games before school. After she got dressed, however, she found herself walking into the living room, with Hisako sitting on the couch and watching the news. But it was what was on the news that day that made Yun suddenly curious._

"These new studies show that one in exactly 88 children are autistic or have some form of Autism. Autism itself is a neurological disorder that affects communication and social interaction,"_ The man on the news went on and on, making more complicated statements about it._

_However, it wasn't the news story that made Yun curious, as she's too young to really care about the news at all. This was before the Digimon came to Earth. It was the word itself that made Yun curious. Autism. Autistic. Hisako always told people she was autistic, but she never thought anything of it. She thought it was normal. But then she remembered her speech classes, kids bullying her and calling her retarded, her own sensitivity to loud noise when others aren't, and hearing her own parents talk about her when it came to this. She decided now was the time to get some answers. She wondered if autistic and Autism were the same thing, since they sound the same, and it's not like they won't have the same meaning._

"_Mom? What's Autism?" Yun asked._

_Hisako immediately turned and looked at Yun. Seeing that Yun is on to her, she decided it wasn't necessary to hide it anymore. But how can she possibly explain such a complicated disorder to her own daughter? Without making her think it means she's retarded or stupid or any other derogatory insult. But she decided to take the plunge anyway._

"_Autism is something that people get when their brain doesn't develop the way it should when they're in their mother's belly," Hisako explained._

"_Is it bad?" Yun asked curiously, tilting her head to one side as she asked it._

"_No, it's not bad...but it's different for everyone. Some people who have it are very high functioning and become very successful while others have such severe disabilities that they can't talk. It mostly affects their development and how early or late they begin talking or doing things that others do."_

"_Is it a disease?"_

"_Nope. You have to be born with it, and it's not contagious either."_

"_Can it be cured?"_

_Hisako shook her head. "No, it can't."_

_Like Hisako before her, Yun decided to take another plunge. Something she's wanted to confirm since she began hearing the words used to describe her._

"_Do I have it?" Yun asked, her emerald green eyes becoming moistening with some sadness._

_There was no turning back now._

"...Yes. You do."

_Yun's eyes widened a bit. Not too big, but slightly. Hisako didn't like the look of it, especially so since Yun began asking more questions, none of which were positive. "Is that why kids pick on me? Is that why...I have to go to speech classes when nobody else does? Is that why Ayaka hates me? Is that why I can't make friends real good? Does that mean I'm stupid?"_

_Hisako gently put her hands on Yun's shoulders and painted a straight look on her face. "Yun. I really want you to listen to me. Yes, it is true that you have Autism, and I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier. I wasn't sure if you'd understand quite yet so I wanted to wait until you got older to make things less confusing. But I really want you to understand this: being autistic does _not_ mean you're stupid or retarded or anything like that. Everybody's different and special, whether they're autistic or not. You're very smart, sweet, kind, and wonderful, and you're my daughter. I don't mind if you're autistic, and neither does Teruki. In fact, I like you the way you are, and I would never trade you for anything else in the world, even if people tell me to. Don't listen to people who call you stupid or retarded or other mean names. They don't understand how wonderful you are. While it is true that people don't truly understand Autism and assume it makes people retarded, that's mostly because they've never lived with it like you and I have. Autism does NOT make you stupid. You're very smart. You have As and Bs in all your classes right now," Hisako explained to her daughter as lucidly and firmly as she possibly could, trying to come up with her words carefully so Yun wouldn't misunderstand or misinterpret any of it like she usually does, which is another symptom of her disorder._

"_But I have a C in math. I stink at math," Yun argued._

"_Yes, but at least you're trying. I wasn't any good at math either when I was your age. I was even worse than you, and we didn't have calculators back in my age. But you're good at everything else, too. Autism or not, everyone has things they're good at and what they're not good at," Hisako explained further._

_Hisako wasn't sure if Yun really took in everything or not, but Yun, without any change in expression, removed her mother's hands from her shoulders._

"_Thanks," She muttered, and then went to her room to get ready for school._

(end flashback)

"...though to be perfectly honest, I don't think Yun really acknowledges that she's autistic. That, or maybe she's still needs some time to really comprehend it," Hisako finished.

"I bet she must have been surprised. You live your life and then get told that you're different from everyone else in a way you don't quite get. I'd probably get sad if I heard that too," Terriermon said.

"I don't think it's a matter of her acknowledging it. I think it's more like she doesn't quite understand how it makes her different from everyone else and doesn't know how other people can do and tolerate certain things while she can't. Other people can listen to loud music just fine, but it hurts her ears and maybe people will say to her, _"Why are you covering your ears? The music's fine! What are you, stupid?"_ and she doesn't understand why such booming music doesn't hurt them like it does her and how being sensitive to loud noise is considered unnatural to them," Lopmon explained.

"That's the most accurate description I've ever heard of her EVER," Terriermon piped in.

Hisako looked down at her hands, which are folded. "Yes. That is very accurate."

"By the way, you said the aide after Asami was worse than her. What's this aide's name?" Cutemon asked.

Hisako was about to answer until the door flew open as Teruki, Lucero, and Yun poured into the room, looking both excited, elated, and tired, all at the same time.

"Hi mom! Hi bunnies! We're back!" Yun cried out as she ran to the rabbits, scooped them all into her arms, and hugged them like no tomorrow.

"Hi Yun! Welcome back! How was the concert?" Lopmon asked with a smile upon being reunited with her beloved and very enthusiastic partner.

"It was absolutely breathtaking and wonderful and awesome! I really wish I could have taken all of you with me to see it!" Yun exclaimed happily but ruefully, still sad that she had to leave them here for safety reasons.

"It was quite the awe-inspiring and riveting experience," Lucero said with a smile.

"Oh! By the way! You'll never believe who we ran into there! Mel-chan and Chii-chan and Hokuto-kun and their families! They went too! We talked with them for quite a while, and I got to meet Chii-chan's parents! So did Hokuto-kun. He was the only one who brought his Digimon with him but that's because it's easy to think Kudamon's some kind of scarf or something like that," Yun exclaimed cheerfully, still bubbly over the experience she just returned from.

"Awww! No fair! You better take us next time!" Terriermon complained.

"Sorry!" Yun said with a smile.

"Was it loud? We know how much you hate loud noises," Cutemon asked curiously.

"Kinda, but I brought my ear plugs with me so it wasn't all bad," Yun replied.

"Not only that, when things got too loud, I covered her ears even though she still had her ear plugs in them," Lucero piped in cheerfully.

"Man, it's really cold outside!" Teruki said as he sat down next to Hisako as Yun, Lucero, and the rabbits ran into the other room.

"I'll bet. How was the concert?" Hisako asked.

"It was wonderful! It's been a long time since I went to a classical music concert and it really reminded me of the good ol' days. What have you been doing?" Teruki replied.

"Cleaning, paying bills, and...telling the rabbits about Yun's early days. They found the baby clothes and a photo album and started asking me about Yun and her Autism," Hisako replied in a soft voice.

"I figured that'd happen one of these days. But I'm sure they still love her regardless," Teruki said as he listened to the lovely sound of Yun trapping Lucero in a good old fashioned tickle attack, along with the rabbits.

"Yun! Quit it! Oh, my ribs!" Lucero wailed happily, trying to contain his laughter.

"You're next, Lopmon! I'm gonna get you!" Yun said as she stopped torturing Lucero and zoomed right in on her favorite victim: Lopmon.

"Oh me, oh my! Please do not torture me so!" Lopmon pretended to be scared by making her dialogue and voice really forced, but once the jubilant and energetic Yun scooped the little brown and pink rabbit in her loving arms, Lopmon found herself giggling and laughing like she's having the best day of her life.

"Just before you guys came in, Cutemon asked for the name of the aide who came after Asami. I'm glad you came when you did, because...if they found out who it was, they'd be so angry they'd probably go and hunt her down. I know Terriermon would since he went after Nenji and Seiko at school long ago," Hisako said.

"I know. I don't like looking back on those days, and I know you'd much rather spare them the agony, but I have a feeling they're going to find out anyway, especially since she trespasses on our property constantly, so there's no point in hiding it from them. They've already met her," Teruki said as he put a hand on her shoulder.

"Yes. I'll go get dinner started," Hisako told him quietly, then got up and decided to prepare dinner. "Yun! I'm going to make pinwheel noodles for dinner. Is that okay?"

"Seriously?! Yaaaay! Thanks, Mom!" Yun squealed happily and literally glomped on her mother, almost sending her to the floor. But Hisako didn't mind. She loves getting glomped on by her daughters. It reminds her of the old days when they would do it all the time. Soon Yun released her and hugged her friends again. "Did you hear that, guys?! Mom's making pinwheel noodles!"

"Yay! My favorite!" Terriermon cheered.

"It'll be nice to have something warm and filling on a cold day like this," Lopmon chirped sweetly.

"I'm getting hungry already, kyu!" Cutemon piped in.

"Now now, rabbits. Patience is a virtue," Lucero said.

Teruki smiled happily upon hearing Yun, Lucero, and the rabbits cheer so enthusiastically. But even though he told Hisako that she should tell them since they're going to find out anyway, even he shared the same sentiment as her. He really didn't want to tell them about the second aide, despite the fact that they already had quite a few encounters with her in previous times. It's bad enough that this person trespasses on their property on a consecutive basis whenever something bad happens at school. They wished they were free of her, but she still follows them and harasses them whenever they pick Yun up from school. Teruki wished she would just leave them alone already and accept that what's done is done.

Pity to the crazed woman who refused to take no for an answer, even after she had lost the legal battle so long ago.

Footnotes:

1. In case you guys are wondering why I brought up Kim Peek, this is not an error. This is intentional. As the flashbacks tell, Yun was diagnosed in the year 2001. Kim Peek had been presumed to be autistic, even to the point of inspiring production of the movie Rain Man, until 2008 when it was revealed that he actually had FG Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder linked to the X chromosome which causes physical anomalies such as hypotonia (low muscle tone), and having an abnormally large head.

2. When the doctor mentions one person going on to create a famous multimedia gaming franchise, this is an intentional shout out to Satoshi Tajiri, the creator of Pokemon. He is confirmed to have Asperger Syndrome.


	99. Extra Episode 2: Minako's 12th Birthday

EXTRA EPISODE 2: Minako's 12th Birthday

This January turned out to be a blisteringly cold one. Not below zero temperatures, but definitely cold enough for snow, frozen ponds and lakes, and a lot of warnings for cars to stay off the roads for a while. Thankfully, the weather began to become safer later in the month so people got to go back out and about again. It snowed about a week before, and the snow came down in huge drifts. But it didn't last long. The sun has been out the entire week since then, so the snow melted all through the week, leaving all the huge parts rendered to nothing but sploshy, white, sugary sprinkles all over the neighborhood, making it look like a cute little Christmas candy neighborhood made out of sprinkled gingerbread houses even though Christmas ended a month ago.

But snowy cold weather wasn't going to ruin one young girl's day. Not on her special day. No way.

At 6:00 AM, Omori Minako woke up to nothing but darkness despite the night sky being blanketed with sparkling stars and crowned with the stunning silvery white tiara that is the moon. Despite the darkness that surrounded her, she got out of bed and immediately grabbed her cell phone, which was on her desk despite it being on the other side of the room. Salamon slept on the foot of the bed so she was undisturbed by Minako's very early nocturnal awakening, not to mention unaware of it. The normally energetic, restless, bouncy little puppy is as of now sound asleep, not making even the tiniest little peep, which is normally very unlike her. Underneath her paw is Kiyoshi's favorite puppy doll.

Very quietly, Minako opened the window in her room and poked her head out of it, admiring the dark but majestic night sky, the darkness covered neighborhood around her. Yes, the stars and moon looked particularly beautiful and majestic tonight, so she turned on her phone (she kept it on silent just for this day), positioned it in a certain angle so she could get a good view of one particular star cluster-a constellation to be more precise-and clicked the camera button. The phone camera flashed, but didn't make any noise. Minako looked down at her phone and smiled upon seeing the picture of the star cluster.

"Awesome. I snapped a picture of Orion before the sun came out. I wish I had a telescope, though," Minako whispered happily to herself. Yes, she just took a picture of a constellation. Particularly that of Orion, the constellation most famous for the three stars on his belt. Orion, the hunter who was killed by the combined powers of the arrow of Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt and the moon, and the sting from a gigantic scorpion, Scorpio, which was sent by the animal-loving Artemis to kill Orion after he boasted that he would kill all animals on Earth, a grand feat which Artemis most surely did not approve of.

But Minako didn't stop at taking a picture of Orion. Even though the air around her is blisteringly chilly and coming into her room, she didn't care one bit about being cold. She felt being clothed in her blue snowflake embroidered pajamas, her fluffy purple socks with white spots on them, and her blonde hair streaming down to her shoulders were enough to keep her warm. All she wanted to do is take more pictures of the night sky as morning finally decided to wake up and wipe the night off of its slate. Flash flash flash. Minako's cell phone camera flashed every few seconds. She took pictures from every angle she could put herself in. She even hung herself upside down just so she could get one picture just right, but she did take care in making sure she didn't fall out lest she crack her skull open, and that was one thing she did not want to have happen, especially on her special day.

"Wow. Winter nights sure are beautiful, especially when the clouds go away. But the mornings are even more beautiful," Minako whispered with awe as she took a picture of the sky that slowly developed little areas of striking rosy pink, which meant that the sun is slowly making her way into this side of the Pacific.

Unbeknownst to her, however, Salamon woke up, her violet eyes open but rather weary. She looked at the clock on Minako's desk and saw that it's now 7:10. Not only that, Minako's staring out the open window taking pictures. She got groggy and stumbled out of bed.

"Yeesh! No wonder it's so chilly-willy! Wan! Close the window, will you?" Salamon groaned as she forced herself out of bed. The small thud sound she made as she made contact with the floor yanked Minako out of her morning camera phase as she turned around to find her puppy friend lying on the floor groaning.

"Oh! You're awake already, Salamon! Morning! Sorry about that," Minako laughed a little as she heard Salamon mention closing the window, which Minako did promptly as asked. She put her cell phone back on her desk and scooped her awake but weary little puppy friend in her warm, loving, pajama-enclothed arms.

"Hey Salamon! Do you know what day it is today?" Minako asked with a smile, sounding as though Salamon knew the answer but was hiding it for some reason.

No, Salamon didn't know the answer, but she looked at the new Precure(1) themed calendar that hung from the wall next to Minako's desk and computer. One day was circled with purple marker. January 26th. But it's what's written in the little box and circle that made Salamon instantly become wide awake, her usual bright smile finally revealing itself.

"Wan! It's your birthday today, Mina-chan! Wan!" Salamon yipped happily, which made Minako's face brighten up even more.

"Yep! That's right!" Minako took Salamon's paws and spun her around for a bit.

"Whoa! I'm getting dizzy!" Salamon said through her ready laughter. After that minute, Minako stopped and put her friend back on the bed.

"What were you doing up so early?" Salamon asked curiously as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes with her paws, still looking a bit dazed and dizzy as Minako pulled out the clothes she planned to wear today.

"I was taking pictures of the night sky. I got some really good ones too!" Minako said as she ran into the bathroom to change her clothes, brush her teeth, put some water on her eyes to get the sleep out faster, and put her hair in her usual signature ponytail with her favorite purple ribbon.

"That sounds nice!" Salamon said as Minako returned to her room wearing a long sleeved olive green sweater with a big pocket on the abdomen, big, round, olive green buttons coming from the collar down to the top of the pocket, a pair of black jean pants, and tan uggs. "It kinda stinks that you have to go to school today, though."

"Yeah. I agree," Minako said as she put her notebooks in her book bag.

"Mina-chan! Breakfast is ready!" Minagi called out cheerfully from the dining room.

"Be there in a sec!" Minako called back. She then motioned for Salamon to come with her to the dining room. Cheerfully, Salamon followed.

As soon as Minako dashed into the kitchen, her nostrils suddenly picked up the very sweet scent of cinnamon. Minagi, with her short blonde hair and deep blue eyes shining bright, stood in front of the counter, sprinkling cinnamon on what appears to be French toast. Once she finished sprinkling cinnamon on it, she grabbed a bottle of maple syrup and spread some around.

"Morning, Mom!" Minako chirped happily.

Minagi turned and smiled. "Morning, sunshine! How's my birthday girl?" She asked as Minako ran to her and hugged her.

"Fine. I still wish I didn't have to go to school today, though. Blech," Minako told her with her own bright little smile.

"Some things can't be helped. But I'm sure today will be wonderful. Here's your breakfast, dearie," Minagi told her with a smile and handed her the French toast.

"Thanks! Where's Dad?" Minako asked as she sat down at the table and began gobbling down her cinnamon and maple syrup filled French toast while secretly giving a piece of it to Salamon.

"He just went into the bathroom," Minagi explained promptly as she waited for the coffee machine in front of her to finish producing her favorite dark coffee.

And speak of the devil. "Mina-chan! Happy birthday!" Tatsuha literally bounced into the room as happy as can be and trapped Minako in a surprise bear hug, which surprised her quite a bit.

"H-Hi Dad..." Minako croaked, which was the harbinger that made Tatsuha realize that he overdid it a little and immediately released his daughter from his surprisingly strong grasp.

"Sorry about that, dear," Tatsuha said as he sat down at the table with her and whipped out the newspaper to read.

"It's okay. By the way, what's my birthday cake gonna be like? Is it gonna be chocolate? Red velvet?" Minako asked curiously.

"Sorry Minako, but you can't find out until after school," Minagi told her in a mock stern tone of voice.

"Aww! No fair!" Minako whined playfully, which made both Minagi and Tatsuha giggle a bit.

"As they say, good things come to those who wait," Tatsuha piped in with a smile.

"It's alright, Mina. We'll get into the festivities when you get home. There's a lot to be done after all," Minagi told her. "You better eat breakfast quickly or you'll be late for school."

Minako had already finished the last of her goopy but tasty French toast before Minagi said that last sentence and went to drink some chocolate milk.

"I dunno, Minagi. It's rather cold out there. Minako, I can drive you there instead. Walking in this weather is suicide these days, and it'll be warmer in the car," Tatsuha said with some concern peppering his voice.

Minagi got her coffee mug out as the coffee machine finished producing her coffee. "Oh. I forgot about the weather."

"Yeah, it is rather cold out, so I guess I'll let you drive me. Thanks, Dad," Minako said as she finished drinking her chocolate milk.

After a while, Tatsuha and Minako drove off to school. Now that the majority of the snow has melted, it's much safer to drive now, as the streets used to be quite icy and slippery before. But for safety reasons, Tatsuha drove slowly so that they wouldn't swerve off the road, which they didn't, thankfully. Once they got to Fushimi Middle School, Minako got out of the car, said goodbye to Tatsuha, and watched him drive away.

The first thing she noticed is that she felt a strange, soft mass immediately glomp her from behind. Minako, although surprised, managed to see a pair of arms wrap around her shoulders, donning dark brown sleeves.

"Happy birthday Mina-chan!"

Minako turned around to find that Yun is the one who gave her the surprise sneak attack hug and smiled. The brown sleeves are actually part of Yun's big, heavy winter jacket. She's also wearing deep blue jeans, white sneakers, and an olive green sweater underneath the jacket.

"Hi Yun-chan," Minako said as Yun let go.

"I got something for you!" Yun said as she rummaged through her book bag, pulled something out, and handed it to Minako. "Here!"

Minako saw that it's a small gift about the size of both of Yun's hand combined, sloppily but meticulously wrapped in Sailor Moon themed wrapping paper, donning a purple bow on the top. With a smile, Minako took the present gently.

"Thanks."

"Open it! Open it!" Yun jumped up and down as she said this.

"You want me to open it now?" Minako asked with a confused look on her face, her head tilting to one side as she did. Yun nodded vigorously.

"Minako! Happy birthday!" Soon the rest of the middle school aged Digimon Brigade members arrived and showered her with cries of "Happy birthday" and "Congrats for turning twelve!" Not once did Minako feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of love she's receiving from all her friends on this merry occasion.

Unfortunately for them, one person, however, did not see this to be an occasion worth celebrating and decided to spoil it.

"Hmph! I really don't see what the big deal is. So the egghead's turning twelve today. It's not like getting a year older is going to make her stupidly large brain shrink anytime soon," Seiko's slithery and catty voice piped in from about a few feet away. Strangely enough, none of the Digimon Brigade members bothered to respond to her remark, let alone acknowledge it, or even her for that matter. Seiko couldn't believe it. They're actually ignoring her, and she is not one to be ignored. She would not tolerate being ignored.

"Hey! Why don't you go off yourself already, you egghead?! Isn't that what you tried to do last year?!" Seiko screamed angrily, hoping to get their attention. It didn't. Despite the cold weather, Seiko could feel her face burn with the warming blood in her veins, fueled by her anger. The bell rang around this time, so all the kids had to go into the building and begin homeroom.

As soon as Minako sat in her seat, the Digimon Brigade, Shione included, began showering her with their gifts. They were mostly tiny little things, with Rena's being the biggest one out of all of them. From Hokuto, a purple, white, and light pink flower hair pin with a little green jewel in the center. From Riku, a notepad with Sailor Moon and Sailor Mini Moon on it. From Lucero, a Fruits Basket themed bookmark from the book store. From Kosuke, a new set of earbuds in the shape of little red and black ladybugs. From Otoya, a key chain with a little Sailor Saturn figure on it, along with a small pack of cupcakes she and Noriko made together, with red frosting and purple sprinkles. From Melody, an Edgar Allan Poe short story collection in a little book. From Shione, a green and white snow hat with birds embroidered on it. From Yun, volume 10 of the Sailor Moon manga, and finally, from Rena, a Sailor Moon themed book bag. Minako could feel her heart being touched from the inside out thanks to their sheer generosity.

"You guys are so generous. Thanks so much..." Minako said, looking like she's moved to tears, but isn't shedding any.

"Ha! You're touched by those dinky looking gifts? Jeez, you must really be off your rocker, Omori!" Seiko chided loudly in a maligned manner, but Minako, as usual, paid absolutely no heed. Riku, however, was not going to let Seiko's caustic comment leave his proximity.

"Shut up, Shimizu! Nobody asked for your unwanted input so just stay out of our business!" Riku retorted.

"Says the ugly freckled kid who can't keep his mouth shut!"

"You're the one who can't keep your OWN mouth shut! I've got way more common sense than you!"

"No you don't!"

Not wanting to add more fuel to the fire, Riku went back to celebrating Minako's birthday with the rest of the middle school aged Digimon Brigade. However, instead of feeling accomplished and full of pride, Seiko suddenly became confused and despondent. Normally when she insulted them, the kids would almost always get in trouble with the teacher while she got off scott free most of the time. But now...the kids and teacher don't even pay attention to her anymore. She stopped getting scolded, yes, but she reveled in the thrill she got when the kids she insulted got angry at her caustic and malicious remarks, knowing that she made them feel worthless and awful inside, which was exactly what she wanted. But now they're ignoring her like she's a bag of garbage laying around on the street, and nobody pays attention to them.

Worst of all, her girl posse is dwindling. Iniki cut off all ties with her, so it left her with just Tomoka. But for the past few weeks, even Tomoka has been drifting away from her. Seiko didn't like this one bit. If Tomoka went to the other side too, then Seiko will be all alone, and nobody would back her up if she said something to people she hated. Who would she talk to? Who would she gossip with? Other than Iniki and Tomoka, Seiko didn't have any other friends, and the ones she made with the seventh graders when she brutally assaulted Yun in attention didn't last long once they found out about what she did. Seiko caught a glance at Tomoka, who did nothing but look over her notes for a class. Seiko didn't like not getting what she wanted, and she needed answers. Why was Tomoka avoiding her? Did she do something wrong? Seiko stomped over to Tomoka, who looked up and immediately donned a look of worry and anxiety.

"Seiko-" Tomoka was about to say something until Seiko ungracefully cut her off.

"I want answers NOW, Tomoka! Why have you been avoiding me for the past two weeks?!" Seiko exclaimed angrily as she slammed her hand on her desk, making Tomoka flinch quite a bit.

"I can't talk to you anymore, Seiko! My parents don't want me to hang out with you!" Tomoka answered anxiously, well aware of how ill Seiko's temper can be.

"Your parents won't let you?" Seiko asked, her anger softening a little. "Why?"

"They say you're a bad influence and that my hanging out with you is why I hate Naoko and Naozumi so much. They say you're filling my head with nonsense and dragging me into the wrong crowd. I've tried to tell them that you're my only friend but they just wouldn't let up no matter what! Believe me, I hate this just as much as you do!" Tomoka answered, her desperation rising.

Seiko backed away a couple steps. So this isn't Tomoka's doing after all. Tomoka isn't avoiding her out of malice. Her parents are the ones responsible, which was understandable, since Seiko's still at odds with her own father because of their starkly differing values on social norms...but still.

"But...but you're my friend! Who cares about what they say?! You can do whatever you want!" Seiko whined a little, not realizing that she was doing it.

"No, I can't! My parents took my phone away, they've blocked certain channels on the TV, they only let me use the computer for homework, I can't even go out anymore! They care way more about stupid Naoko and Naozumi than me, yet all they wanna do is keep me in the house and remind me of how stupid I am compared to them! I can't stand it!" Tomoka whined louder than Seiko did, obviously not liking everything she just told her. "They don't even want me hanging out with you at school either. If they find out I hung out with you even once, they'll ground me forever, and I've been grounded enough already. I really don't want to have to go through all that ever again. Sorry, Seiko."

Seiko didn't know what to say, so she simply walked away, slumping back into her seat like all the energy simply just seeped out of her like water popping out of a water balloon. It was almost nine o'clock, yet Seiko already felt tired. Not tired with fatigue, but tired with sadness. She felt as though a huge brick was zipped into her tiny heart, and now her heart feels like it has to hold the brick inside. But the brick is very heavy. Heavy with absolute dejection. Seiko's world fell apart around her. Now Tomoka's gone to the other side! Not willingly, she understood that much, but still, now that even Tomoka can't hang out with her anymore, Seiko doesn't have friends now.

It dawned on her. She's all alone. The Digimon Brigade paid no heed to this or the sadness in her heart. Feeling very heavy inside, she buried her head in her skinny little arms. But she didn't cry. She didn't want to cry. Not in front of all these losers she has to deal with every day.

The school day went by like usual. At lunch, Minako got to eat her cupcakes, which to her proved to be very good, which made Otoya very happy since she messed up on making cupcakes before, especially since she's hardly ever baked before. Admittedly, Nenji did try to ruin Minako's day by attempting to start a food fight, but Yun outed him to a teacher and he got taken to the principal's office. At recess, however, Seiko didn't start up any more bomb raids of insults like she usually does. She just simply sat on the bleachers looking very despondent. The Digimon Brigade were quite oblivious to this. Seiko was too tired to even feel any rancor at them for not even noticing that she's sad, despite the fact that in her proud but sad little heart, she did. She felt too tired to express said hatred, nor did she feel it to be necessary, since they'd probably ignore her.

Finally, the last bell rang, and everyone stormed out of the school building, ready to go back home and retreat to their warm, comfy beds and warm, refreshing, fire-filled fireplaces since it's still rather cold out. But it's not as cold as earlier today, so Minako decided to walk home instead, since she insisted on it earlier. Once she got to the outer part of the blacktop, she was surprised to find Salamon sitting on the sidewalk, right in front of the fence, eagerly waiting for her like she had been there for a long time.

"Salamon! What are you doing here?" Minako asked, quite shocked upon seeing Salamon at school. "You shouldn't be here! People will see you!"

"So? Come on! Let's go on a stroll!" Salamon piped in cheerfully. Minako smiled in return, seeing that Salamon is intent on going on a stroll, which automatically means they can easily leave school without getting noticed, so she went along with the little puppy.

"I wish I got you a little something for your birthday," Salamon muttered a little sadly once they got far enough from the school.

"Oh, Salamon, you don't have to worry about that. You being here is more than enough for me, especially since you've been such an awesome friend ever since I first met you," Minako said with a smile.

"Yes, that's true, but I feel bad about not getting you a nice little present for you myself, so I wanna get you something special so that-" Salamon was about to explain why she wanted to get Minako a little present of her own since she got presents from everyone else, but a yelp from Minako stopped Salamon from finishing that sentence.

"Waah?!" Minako slipped forward and looked like she was going to fall on the concrete head first.

"Mina-chan!" Salamon, not wanting to let Minako suffer a potential head injury, probably something fatal that could easily kill her, swiftly bolted in front of Minako and let the girl's blonde, ponytailed head fall on the puppy's plushy little body face first, successfully cushioning the impact even though the wide-eyed puppy felt a little squished once Minako's face hit her little body.

"Ow!" Salamon yelped upon feeling Minako's face on her body and her lower half hitting the cold concrete.

"Ugh..." Minako got back up as soon as she realized she fell on her partner. "Sorry about that, Salamon..."

"That's okay!" Salamon chirped sweetly once she got back up. "I got to save you from getting a fatal head or brain injury, so that's okay with me! Wan!"

Minako smiled and pet her faithful partner's head with her hand. "Thanks so much, Salamon. You're the best."

Salamon simply smiled back, feeling proud of her small but important accomplishment, and she didn't need to say it out loud. Minako got the message regardless.

"Though I wonder what it is I tripped on. It didn't feel like ice," Minako said as she looked around, wondering if she tripped on something.

"Oh! Is that it?" Salamon asked, pointing to something further behind them on the sidewalk.

What Minako tripped on wasn't a big rock or ice or a big tree branch or anything like that. Instead, what Minako actually stepped on is a big green furred teddy bear with red ears, a black, triangle-shaped nose, black button eyes, and red paws, dressed in a pair of grey overalls with yellow buttons. There's some stitching on its left arm, like the arm got ripped off. Minako gently picked it up.

"A teddy bear?" Minako asked. "What person throws away a teddy bear in the middle of the sidewalk on a winter day?"

"Don't people know that littering makes the environment go sour?" Salamon asked.

But Minako caught a glance at the overalls and saw that the front pocket has the word Swirlpaw written on it in black magic marker. "Swirlpaw? Like in the _Warriors_(1) books? Wow, whoever owns this bear must have been a big fan of those books."

"You have some of those books, don't you? I remember you lending some to Hokuto-kun last week," Salamon piped in.

"Yeah. Maybe this bear has an owner. I'll take it home and clean it up a bit first, then we'll go back out and give it to the lost and found. How's that sound?" Minako suggested.

"That's so you, Mina-chan! Always wanting to do a good deed! Wan!" Salamon chirped sweetly, which made Minako smile.

Strangely enough, finding the green teddy bear's owner proved to be much quicker and easier than the both of them ever expected, and all they had to do was pass right by the Minato Diner, where Tatsuha works, which they coincidentally did, since Minako lives two streets down from it.

That's where they heard the screaming.

Right as they were coming within the Diner's proximity, they heard very raspy but nasally screaming coming right from the sidewalk in front. Surprised but curious, Salamon and Minako decided to see what the ruckus was about. Lying in the middle of the sidewalk is a young man of about 15-16 years old, a little bit younger than Shunji, with messy light brown hair and eyes that are squeezed shut and hidden behind thick, coke bottle glasses, the same kind Hokuto wears but slightly smaller. This man is doing nothing but scream, cry, and lie on the sidewalk, flailing his skinny limbs like a child throwing a tantrum. A child throwing a tantrum is one thing, but a high school boy? It must be confessed that lots of people watched the scene and gossiped amongst themselves. Bending over the boy is an older woman with matching hair, only longer and curlier, who looked like she was at her wit's end in regards to what to do about the boy in front of her. Behind her are two girls. One of them looks like the boy's twin sister, and the other one...

"...Tomoka?!" Minako whispered with surprise.

"SWIRLPAW! SWIRLPAW!" The boy on the sidewalk screamed loudly and passionately, with tears streaming down from behind his glasses, right onto the sidewalk.

"Swirlpaw?" Salamon asked. She and Minako looked at each other with the looks that confirmed their suspicions. The bear belongs to that boy.

"Will you shut up already?! It's just a stupid stuffed animal, so just get over it you big fat baby!" Tomoka, her normally apricot-colored face now red with anger and eyes full of rancor, without any mercy, proceeded to kick the boy on the side, which made the older woman incensed. The woman grabbed Tomoka and pulled her away from the boy.

"Kobayashi Tomoka Patrizia! You do NOT kick your brother! Do you understand me?!" The woman yelled angrily, appalled by what Tomoka did just now, even though the boy-Tomoka's brother-didn't even feel it, let alone notice, as he's too busy crying and screaming to really care.

"But Mom! It's a stupid bear for crying out loud! People are staring at us and talking about us! He's ruining everything like he always does!" Tomoka snapped back.

Not wanting to let this go on, Minako walked right up to the crying boy and gently placed the bear-Swirlpaw-in front of him. Immediately, the boy stopped crying and flailing his limbs, opened his eyes, and caught sight of his bear.

"Is this yours?" Minako asked gently.

Immediately, he lit up, sat up, and grabbed the bear.

"Swirlpaw! Swirlpaw! You're okay!" The boy wailed happily and began squeezing the bear like he hadn't seen it for years. Tomoka and her mother immediately stopped arguing and turned around, surprised by the sight. But while the mother was surprised with joy, Tomoka became surprised with horror.

'_OH NO! Omori's seen Naozumi! She's gonna blab to the entire school and tell everyone that I have retards for older siblings! I just know it!'_ Tomoka screamed in her brain.

"I found him outside my school. I kind of tripped on him by accident, so he's a bit dirty. Sorry about that," Minako told him gently. By this time, Naozumi completely stopped crying and smiled at Minako.

"Thank you. Swirlpaw says thanks, too," Naozumi said in a bit of a choked voice, waving his bear's arm at her like the bear itself was waving at her.

Minako was about to say something until Tomoka suddenly stomped in front of him and knocked the bear right out of his hands with a resounding slap.

"Ah! Swirlpaw!" Naozumi grabbed Swirlpaw before he could fall back onto the sidewalk.

"Tomoka! That's enough!" Tomoka's mother yelled, but the foofy-haired girl completely ignored her.

"Why do you and Naoko always have to ruin everything for me?! It's your fault I have no friends! Everything always has to be about you! Why do you care so much about a stupid bear?! You're sixteen years old! You should know better than to act like a baby in public! That's why people hate you! Why do you and Naoko have to be such stupid retards all the time?!" Tomoka screamed angrily.

"Tomoka! Don't start!" Tomoka's mother tried to persuade her youngest daughter to stop her tirade, but the foofy-haired girl ignored her yet again.

"Everything bad happens to me because of you! You always get all the attention and not me! Why can't you freaks be normal for once and not act like a bunch of babies all the time?! You're never gonna get anywhere in life if you keep acting like that!"

"Tomoka-"

"Why can't you be normal like everyone else?! Why couldn't you be thrown in an insane asylum where you belong so I don't have to deal with you?!"

"Tomoka-" Tomoka's mother tried to grab her, but the angry blonde simply ignored her and walked away from the Diner. Naoko kept her hands on her ears the entire time, inundated by what just transpired.

"Tomoka Patrizia! Come back here NOW, missy!" The woman yelled angrily, but Tomoka boldly defied her, not listening one bit.

Minako felt something inside of her snap, like the sharp whacking of a knife cutting a very thin, tender string. Silently, she followed Tomoka, leaving Salamon with the Kobayashi family. Naoko found Salamon to be very cute and decided to pet her while Minako went to try and catch up to Tomoka. The foofy-haired girl wasn't far, just right behind the Diner, leaning against the wall with an angry look on her face. Minako crept closer until Tomoka caught sight of her, but didn't do anything. Tomoka remained where she was.

"If you wanna laugh, go ahead," Tomoka muttered bitterly.

"Why would I laugh?" Minako asked.

"Go on and laugh at me! You know that I have stupid retards for siblings now, so go on and laugh at me! That's what everybody else did at my last school! _"Hey, look! It's Kobayashi with the retard twin siblings! Is Naozumi gonna throw a hissy fit in the classroom again? Is Naoko gonna cry if someone plays the drums? Ha ha ha!"_ You might as well blab to the entire school now that you know!" Tomoka snapped angrily.

"What would I gain from doing something like that?" Minako asked again.

Tomoka looked away, not wanting to make eye contact with Minako. "You saw that hissy fit Naozumi threw just now, didn't you?! That's the reason why nobody likes me! Naozumi and Naoko always ruin everything for me just for being around! The minute something goes wrong, they scream and make a big deal out of it like it's a nuclear war, and because of that, people talk about us and say right to Mom's face that she doesn't discipline them correctly and that they should know better, which they should! I don't even have a social life because of them! They're a bunch of stupid retards, just like everybody says!"

"It's not their fault they're the way they are. Everyone's born with things they don't want, and they're no different."

"Mom keeps trying to tell me that they're autistic, but so what if they have Autism?! They're still ruining my life!"

Now Minako was getting quite annoyed with Tomoka's angsting and whining. "You know, I'd very much appreciate it if you didn't throw around the word retard so much. That's a very mean word to use," Minako told her sternly.

"But that's the reality of it! They're born retards and they'll die retards! They'll never grow up! They'll act like little kids forever and ruin everything for not just me but the whole family, and they don't even feel any remorse for-"

Before Tomoka could whine any further, Minako promptly gave her a resounding slap to the face, which immediately made Tomoka stop talking, even though she felt absolutely flabbergasted as to why Minako would slap her when she felt that Naozumi and Naoko are the ones who should be slapped.

"Just because someone was born with a disability doesn't mean they wanted it, and it definitely doesn't mean they don't have feelings like we do! Stop acting like you have to be right about everything!" Minako scolded angrily.

"But you know I'm right!"

"Don't think you're so smart!" Minako said, but inside her heart, she found herself surprised at what she just said. She wondered if she sounded arrogant, so after a while, she softened a bit and cleared her throat. "Look, I know you're upset, and sometimes siblings do annoy the heck out of us. But that's like their job."

"Not if they act like babies all the time for stupid reasons, especially in public!"

"Not all autistic people throw tantrums and behave inappropriately, and not all the time either. It's not because of malice or jealousy or anything like that. For them, the world can be a terrifying place. They could be bothered by flashing lights or loud noises or they might not like certain textures or sounds or tastes or anything like that."

"I don't see how stupid stuff like that can set anyone off."

"You'd be surprised. People with autism experience the world in a different way than we do, but that doesn't mean they're not capable of being their own individuals or living on their own."

"You don't get it, Omori! There isn't a day that goes by without Naozumi and Naoko screaming like babies over stupid things, and Mom and Dad are always fighting about them! Besides, isn't it true that Wakamiya is like that too?! How are you able to put up with her?!"

"Is that why you befriended Seiko? So you can have someone talk _to_ you and not _about_ you? To take your anger out on Yun when you can't use your siblings as scapegoats?"

It's here that Tomoka stopped talking. Just the icy tone in Minako's voice when she said that last sentence made her freeze in place. How could she possibly answer something like that?

"I..." That was all Tomoka could choke out.

Despite her calm demeanor, Minako was not in a forgiving mood, nor was she willing to let Tomoka continue her whining and tirade of insults. "...I'm not trying to make you feel bad. That's not why I'm here. I'm not that kind of person, nor do I want to be. But...you really have to understand that everyone's different, and whining about how stupid they are isn't going to make things any better for both you or everyone else. Autistic people are a lot smarter and more observant than you think. If you keep whining and insulting your brother and sister, they'll be convinced that being who they are is bad. How would you like it if someone else yelled at you because you're being you? And besides, taking your anger out on other people isn't going to help either."

"...They're all my parents talk about. They pay more attention to them than me. They don't even spend time with me. Every time we go out, the twins absolutely have to come, even though they always ruin everything by screaming about something. They can't be left alone in the house, even for just a few minutes! Naozumi and Naoko are their favorites! They'd rather spend all their time and resources on them and not me! Everything gets handed to them on a silver platter while I'm left in the dust! Just once, just freaking ONCE it'd be nice if someone actually talked to me and made me feel like I'm just as much a member of the family as they are! They don't even want to take time and help me when I have a bad day or need help on homework! It's always Naoko and Naozumi this, Naoko and Naozumi that!" Tomoka cried passionately. She didn't even care about the fact that there are tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Have you ever thought that maybe your parents or Naoko and Naozumi feel the same way?"

"Huh?"

"Have you ever tried telling your parents everything you just told me? Maybe they know that they've left you feeling unappreciated and feel bad about it."

"How should I know? They're hardly ever around, and when they are, they're either busy helping the twins or just too tired and angry to even bother listening to me."

"And what about your siblings? Have you ever asked them if they feel bad about everything that's been happening?"

"No. Naoko doesn't talk, and Naozumi acts like a baby all the time, so they probably wouldn't understand."

"Just because some people don't talk or act differently than usual doesn't automatically make them dumb. You'd be surprised at how smart people can be even though they don't look it."

Tomoka didn't say anymore. She couldn't come up with a counterargument. She wanted so badly to contradict Minako. She wanted so badly to knock it into her head that her twin autistic siblings are nothing but stupid, childish, attention-stealing retards who will never get anywhere in life or grow up or amount to anything no matter what. That was what the kids at her other school said, and considering how embarrassed she felt whenever Naozumi showed up with his green teddy bear talking like a nice person and whenever Naoko ran off to pet someone's dog or touch a woman's pretty dress right in the middle of a busy highway, she convinced herself that they were right. Any friend she tried to make turned against her when they found out about Naoko and Naozumi. Tomoka heard their voices again, and she wished she didn't have to hear them.

"_THEY'RE your siblings?"_

"_My God, how old are they? Fifteen?"_

"_They look like high schoolers but they act like babies!"_

"_You've got retards for siblings, yo!"_

"_Hey Kobayashi! You better go home! Your brother and sister might wet themselves and throw tantrums again!"_

"_Go away! We don't allow people who have weird-brained retards for siblings in our clique."_

"_Maybe you're just as retarded as them and don't know it!"_

"_They must be really stupid if they act like that even though they're in high school."_

"_My God, can't you put them in an insane asylum or something?! They're cramping our style!"_

"_I don't ever wanna go near stupid people like them."_

"_Your bro and sis are weird! Weird as heck!"_

"_What? Is the retard baby gonna cry now? Go on, cry you big baby! Cry! Wah wah wah!"_

Minako looked at her cell phone and was surprised at how much time passed. "Oh! I have to get going. I'm sorry for bothering you, Kobayashi-san. I won't tell anyone about Naoko and Naozumi...but I would appreciate it if you saw them with a different pair of eyes. I'm sure they don't do those things to make you look bad, especially on purpose."

With that, Minako and Salamon left, leaving Tomoka still behind the Diner. What Tomoka didn't know was that her mother and the twins eavesdropped on the entire conversation. Choosing not to make a scene, they went into the Diner and had their meal without complaint.

"I'm sure Naozumi freaked out because Swirlpaw was missing, and I understand that, but I still wish people wouldn't judge others just because they act a certain way," Salamon said out loud as they walked home.

"I agree...though to be honest, I kind of felt the same way about Kiyoshi once," Minako muttered wistfully.

"Really?"

"Yeah. When he was little, he'd spill food all over the place and make huge messes out of everything, even as we went out in public. I remember when he spilled ketchup on my bed spread just before he died. I was so angry I pushed him onto the ground and I tried to hit him, but Mom stopped me before I could. I was so angry...I think my anger made me not notice that he fell into the river. Maybe...if I hadn't been so angry, he'd probably still be here today..." Minako whispered a little sadly, remembering the terrible incident.

"Mina-chan, don't blame yourself. You had no idea he was gonna fall into the river. How could you have known? It's not like you can see into the future or anything. Besides, lots of stuff happens that we can't control. It's not like you wanted him to wander off, now did you?" Salamon piped in sternly, knowing that if Minako gets introspective about Kiyoshi again, she may start blaming herself again.

"No. I didn't."

"Exactly. It was just a freak thing. Don't think about sad stuff on your birthday! Birthdays are supposed to be happy days! Wan!" Salamon exclaimed happily this time. "Besides, I think Kiyoshi'd be really sad if you weren't happy on your birthday."

Minako's smile returned. "Yeah. You're right."

Soon, they arrived back at the Omori house, where Minako was surprised to find Minagi and Tatsuha waiting for her in the dining room, presenting a nice birthday cake with purple, light blue, and white frosting all over it, and in the middle of the cake are the words _'Happy 12th Birthday, Minako!'_ written in purple frosting against the light blue frosting, along with six multi colored star shaped birthday candles, which Minako didn't expect at all. Minako blew the flames on the candles out with a smile.

"Happy birthday, Mina-chan!" Salamon chirped. Now that Tatsuha and Minagi know that she's a talking puppy, she hadn't felt the need to hide herself anymore.

Unbeknownst to them, however, Minagi's smile suddenly shifted into a small frown. She still hasn't quite gotten used to the fact that Salamon can talk, even though she knows for a fact that Salamon is a good Digimon and not a bad once, especially since this tiny little talking puppy saved their lives at an anime convention not too long ago. But the idea of Minako and this little puppy fighting rogue monsters, monsters that could easily kill people in who knows how many gruesome ways...this was not a good topic to discuss with Minagi. But not wanting to dampen Minako's special day, she hid the sadness away in a little vault in her head and tried to be as upbeat as possible once she and Tatsuha whipped out their own wrapped presents for their daughter, who tore them open and loved every single one of them.

One present, however, got the best reception out of them all.

"Ahh! No way! An actual telescope?! And with a tripod, too?! And binoculars?!" Minako squealed like an overly happy and enthusiastic Sailor Moon fangirl once she opened Tatsuha's gift and found a white and black telescope box, along with a tripod in a separate one. Minagi got her the binoculars.

"I've been saving up for these since a couple months ago, since I know how much you wanted one. I used to be in the astronomy club back in high school, so maybe sometime later we can set it up and look at the stars together," Tatsuha told her.

"Isn't that great, Mina-chan? You can see the stars better with it!" Salamon piped in.

"Oh thank you thank you thank you, Dad!" Minako literally leaped onto Tatsuha, wrapping her arms around him so hard he almost fell off the chair. She then gave him a huge kiss on the cheek. Then she released him and hugged Minagi.

"Thanks for the binoculars, Mom! You two are the best!" Minako exclaimed before she kissed Minagi on the cheek, making her blush. She then let go of Minagi and grabbed the telescope box. "I'm gonna go set this up right now!"

"But Mina! You have to read the instructions first!" Tatsuha exclaimed once Minako ran into her room.

"I know, Dad!" Minako shouted back happily once she got into her room.

Minagi facepalmed. "Can't it wait until tomorrow? She doesn't have school, and I have to make dinner," Minagi asked, but not in a bitter or tired way.

"She's quick to figure things out, so I don't see any harm in it," Tatsuha said with a smile once she came back to grab the tripod.

With a huge torrent of excitement and anticipation sweeping over her very being, Minako literally tore open the two boxes and got everything out. As ordered by Tatsuha, she pulled out the instructions on how to assemble it and decided to try assembling it. She got the tripod open and set up the mount just fine, but assembling the telescope itself proved to be just a bit tricky. However, she kept at it and after about two or so hours, she managed to set it up just before dinnertime, though she didn't get to look through it. After eating, she immediately went back to it. The picture she saw at first seemed a little blurry, so she figured she had to adjust the eyepieces or the camera a bit. After a few adjustments, the picture came out good, and Minako got to get closer views on tonight's stars.

What a birthday this turned out to be.

Footnotes:

1. Warriors is a series of juvenile fantasy novels about cats written by authors like Kate Cary, Cherith Baldry, and Tui Sutherland.


	100. Side-Story Episode 1: Spring Break

Author's Note: Hello everyone. This is just a little side story I planned for a while, and I feel like getting it out before the next arc begins. Also, a character who is a big part of this story does not belong to me. She's been created by a friend of mine who asked not to be named but has been very good to me, so this is my way of thanking her. She asked not to be named, but I still want to give her credit for the creation of this character anyway since I don't like taking credit for things that aren't mine. Please enjoy this side story regardless!

Digimon: A Seraphic Tale Side-Story: Daffodils and Daisies

EPISODE 1: Spring Break

_RIIIIIIING_

The last vociferous ring of the school bells reverberated and resonated all throughout the neighborhood, signaling the end of the year for all grades, sending joy and ecstasy not just outside the school walls, but inside as well. The spring breezes carried the sound all throughout the neighborhood...along with a very raspy scream.

"SPRING BREEEEAAAAK!" Nobara Riku screamed at the top of his lungs once he literally sprinted out of Fushimi Middle School, ecstatic to finally be out of school. And he's not the only one excited about this either. Once he got out, a huge torrent of children of all ages poured out of the red brick school building like a tsunami breaking down a wall that's supposed to block it and keep it from causing any casualties. Riku could hear his voice echo a little bit before it was drowned out by the music that is the happy, vociferous, and jubilant shouts of the children once they broke out of the cramped and boring building that is Fushimi Middle School. Now that spring break has finally started, the children can sing the song that is _"No more school, no more books, no more teacher's dirty looks"_ and do whatever they want!...for a month, at least.

Due to Japan's very strict education policies, instead of being away from school for three months until kids advance to the next grade, Japan's children only have a month of freedom to do whatever they want, whenever they want until the new school year starts, which made many children angry. But since they have at least a month until the new grade starts, they figured they might as well make good use of the very little time they have left and make the most out of it. What made this day especially nice is that the weather is just heavenly, like the gods above knew that the kids were looking forward to this day and decided to make the weather perfectly lucid, cool, and beautiful just for them since they've been so patient and persistent throughout these hard times, both economic and sudden, with all of the Digimon attacks that have been going on since last year. Once all the kids got out, the Digimon Brigade decided to meet amongst themselves one last time on the front yard.

"Yay! School is finally over! No more homework and no more studying!" Yun cheered as happily as she could muster, her high voice full of joy, her emerald eyes wide and bright just like the incoming spring and the flowers opening up from the dirt. She spun around on the blacktop's concrete like a top upon yaying all over the place.

Melody, despite looking forward to the end of school just as much as everyone else, instead looked rather grim and let out an exasperated sigh. "I wish we had three months off of school instead of one. Those American kids sure are lucky! Why can't our educational system be as lax as theirs?!" Melody complained, and raised her voice at the last sentence while she crossed her arms.

"It's because everyone wants us to be perfect while they do go their own thing and not care about what we think at all," Kosuke piped in rather bluntly. "People these days keep preaching about how great education is and how they feel they need to _'fix'_ us rebellious kids simply because we think and act differently from them. Who are they to talk when they're the ones screwing everything up?"

"Come on, Kosuke-kun! Quit being so cynical! We're finally free for a month and we can do whatever we want! Show some joy! Be optimistic! Live everyday like its your last!" Otoya told him cheerfully as she smacked him on the shoulder to knock the cynicism out of him. It worked, as Kosuke flashed a bright smile at her, though he had to wonder why Otoya can continue being so sunny and cheery even after all the bad stuff she and her family had to go through in Chiba.

"Oh, I'll show some joy alright! I was just answering Mel's question as to why our education system is so strict," Kosuke exclaimed.

"Riku, you really didn't have to shout like that. People will think you're crazy," Rena told him as she gently poked him with a small cane in order to get his attention. She had long outgrown the use of crutches and is now able to stand on her prosthetic leg just fine. Not only that, in the past two months, she's just mastered walking with it, and now is able to walk with it without crutches or anything else to support her weight. Riku turned right around and smiled at her.

"So what? People already think I'm crazy, but that's not my problem! Spring break is finally here and we can hang out with our Digimon for a whole month! Yahoo!" Riku snapped happily, then cheered and jumped around happily. Rena smiled a bit, though within her proud little heart, she's secretly jealous of Riku for being able to run and jump around since she can't do those things just yet. But she didn't forget that she just mastered walking on her leg without crutches or a cane or anything else, so there's still hope that she can eventually learn to run and jump with her artificial leg and do everything that he can. However, to her it felt so far off, like an eternity.

"So does anyone have any plans for spring break?" Minako asked with her sweet smile on her round, unpainted and untainted canvas of a face.

"Can we go to the Digital World? I wanna kick MoonMillenniummon's butt!" Riku asked.

"I'd like to do so myself, but the mystical veil's been closed off for months. I tried to open an entrance earlier this morning and it didn't work. But I have some documents of some ancient Digital World writings on ruins that I've been deciphering for the past few months. But it's mostly historical facts about certain Digimon, not about the Holy Guardians or the Holy Council. I still have a few I didn't check yet, so I was thinking about interpreting those over the break in case we find something that might explain what happened to the Digital World in greater detail," Minako explained.

"That'd be nice, but you spend too much time with your laptop, Mina-chan. You should take your eyes off it for a while," Otoya told her with her arms crossed.

"But time passes faster in the Digital World than it does here, so who knows what could be happening up there," Yun said, her previous optimism dissipating for a moment.

"That's very true. I wonder what happened? We haven't been able to go into the Digital World. I hope everyone is alright. I've been worried about them for a while now. Surely nothing terrible has happened to them!" Lucero confessed.

"Me too. I hope MoonMillenniummon isn't planning to kill anyone. I'm also wondering if that's the reason why Sorcermon hasn't contacted us lately. Maybe the mystical veil isn't letting him. I don't think Link-san or Masaomi-san found a way to properly keep in contact with him, and it's likely that the master is forcing everyone to be quiet about everything that they're planning so that nobody finds out. They sure are doing a good job," Hokuto said.

"You may be right," Yun told him. She also felt worried about everyone in the Digital World and secretly hoped that MoonMillenniummon isn't doing anything bad to them. She wished she knew of a way to break the mystical veil so they could go through it and go inside, but there isn't any way they can, and Yun isn't very technology savvy like Minako, Link, and Masaomi are, so she knew that there's nothing she could do to remedy the situation, if there is one.

The cheerful little group of kids is oblivious to the fact that Seiko is watching them with a rather grim and envious expression on her thin, small little face. Her brown eyes blazed with envy as she felt it to be utterly indecent and insensitive that a stupid, worthless, retarded group of kids like the Digimon Brigade have the audacity to be so happy, so cheerful, so jubilant, so full of joy when they obviously don't deserve it. No, they're a bunch of retards who don't know anything about life. They don't deserve to be happy. Why should they be happy when she should be happy? But then again, Seiko herself hadn't been very joyous for quite a long while. Iniki betrayed her and went on her own way, and Tomoka has been forbidden by her parents to hang out with her, believing Seiko to be an evil and nefarious influence on her, so lately her status as the popular girl has dwindled, now that she doesn't have a posse of girls she can really call her friends. Iniki stopped being her friend upon calling her out on her willful transgressions, and while she knew it wasn't Tomoka's fault, she felt angry at her for letting her parents decide everything for her and make her do their bidding, even though she herself knew how powerful and smothering the influence of parental authority can be, especially if they're as austere and stern as her own dad, who has lately shown her no mercy for any transgression she committed.

Speaking of Tomoka and strict parents, she managed to catch a glance toward Tomoka, who swiftly approached her parents' car and went right in, slamming the door and paying no attention to anything else around her. For a minute, Seiko thought she heard the sound of scratchy and raspy screaming coming from inside the car. It definitely wasn't Tomoka's voice, and she heard Tomoka scream quite a few times. She remembered Tomoka telling her that her siblings are just as weird and crazy and retarded as Yun, but that her parents constantly fawned over them while leaving her in the dust. Considering what she's heard about how strict they are, she got a bit of a good idea upon hearing the screaming, and even from where she was, she could tell that Tomoka did not like getting anywhere near those older siblings of hers. She had to wonder if her home situation was worse than in school. She didn't blame Tomoka for having stuff she didn't want. She could actually feel for her, if such a thing is possible with someone as snobby and selfish as Seiko. But she knew in her normally selfish little heart that there isn't anything she could do to improve Tomoka's situation, especially since her dad has her on a leash, so she simply frowned in contempt at her own meager problems.

She also continued to frown at the Digimon Brigade with even more contempt than with Tomoka's siblings, and continued to wonder why they decided to be so audacious as to be happy and jubilant when they so shouldn't be? Seiko could think of lots of reasons for them to not deserve to be happy. Otoya for being the child of a preacher, Riku for being the loud, hyper, and annoying little brat that he is, Rena for having a prosthetic leg (which, to Seiko, automatically throws Rena into the freak bin), Melody for being a goth girl, Kosuke for...not being very interesting in her eyes despite his good looks, Hokuto for being a bland, uninteresting, mousy little lab rat, Minako for being stuck-up and prideful for her intelligence (which isn't true), Lucero and Shione for choosing to side with the freaks and the lowest of the low instead of the popular people, and, most notoriously of all, Yun for being a stupid, selfish, self-centered, show-offy, stuck-up, arrogant, worthless, lowly, disgusting, smelly, annoying little American retard who doesn't deserve to walk among the noble Japanese and who always has everything handed to her on a silver platter simply because she's _"special"_ in everyone else's eyes. Proud little Seiko couldn't think of one thing that made Yun special, and didn't find any redeeming qualities about her, so why should everyone fawn over her so much? Why should special attention be given to a retard who thinks everything has to revolve around her and be about her? Someone like that doesn't deserve happiness and freedom!

Seiko let out a dragged out sigh. "I don't get it. Why do the stupid people have everything given to them on a silver platter while the deserving people get nothing? I can't believe all this is happening..." Seiko muttered in a maligned manner to herself. She didn't even notice Yuuichi approaching her with a bright smile on his face.

"Seiko! There you are! I've been wondering where you went," Yuuichi exclaimed happily. Seiko didn't dare look at him. How can even her own father be so insensitively and excessively happy? She found this even more indecent and disgusting, so much so that she could actually feel her stomach growl in disgust, even though this is really because she's hungry.

"Hi Dad. Just wanted to say goodbye to my friends," Seiko answered grimly. But she knew this was a lie. Her _"friends"_ are gone, and she wondered if she'll ever find any new ones once she gets to 7th grade.

"Now that school's over, do you want to go out to dinner tonight? I found this really nice diner that serves really good shrimp scampi. You like shrimp scampi, don't you?" Yuuichi suggested.

If there's one thing that Seiko wished for, it's that school would continue. Yes, she hated doing homework and listening to those annoying teachers and following their rules all the time and having to put up with Yun and her friends, but at school, she didn't have to worry about Yuuichi constantly monitoring her every move and making her feel inferior, even though she is not cognizant of the fact that that was not his intention at all, and on a daily basis, no less. At school, Seiko was the alpha girl...before Iniki turned on her and Tomoka's time with her dwindled due to her parents taking stricter measures with her. But she also had to admit, she hadn't had shrimp scampi in a while. Yuuichi is right. She loves shrimp scampi, along with other kinds of seafood. Without realizing it, her contempt dissipated somewhat.

"Sure. I'd like that," Seiko said. She didn't even smile and not one ounce of gratitude came out of her mouth. But Yuuichi paid no heed and smiled further.

"Good! We better get home. I have some bills that need paying before then," Yuuichi said as he gently took Seiko by the hand and led her to their red PT cruiser van.

Soon, all the other kids returned to their parents as they drove them home in their cars. But while in their own car, Yun gently nudged Lucero on the arm, successful in getting his attention.

"What is it, Yun?" Lucero asked.

"I've been noticing this for a while. You don't talk in your flowery Shakespeare talk anymore," Yun told him.

"Hm. You're right. The way everyone else talks must be rubbing off on me," Lucero said, realizing that Yun is right simply by hearing himself talk.

"I kind of miss hearing you talk in Shakespeare talk. It sounds nice," Yun said.

Lucero smiled. "If thou truly misseth my manner of speaking, then I shall re-adopt it, if thou wisheth, for it is my wish to see thine radiant smile," Lucero said with his bright smile.

"Thanks," Yun said.

"Yay!" Terriermon cheered. "Yun gets to hang out with us for a whole month! We can do all sorts of fun stuff like watch anime, read manga, play video games, draw together, play outside, and lots of stuff!"

"Don't get too excited. In a couple days we're leaving for a place called Morioka," Hisako told him.

"Why?" Terriermon asked, suddenly disappointed by this sudden development.

"We're going to visit our relatives," Yun explained, also slightly disappointed but not so much so as Terriermon is right now.

"Relatives? On whose side of the family?" Lopmon asked, suddenly curious.

"Mom's! There's our grandaunt Margot, our uncles Yoshiyuki, Makoto, and John, our aunt Kurako, and her kids, Otogi and Takami, who are my cousins!" Yun explained.

"Awesome!" Cutemon piped in.

"But do you have a grandmother or grandfather?" Lopmon asked.

"No. They're both dead," Yun told her. Lopmon looked down at her paws sadly, remembering that Hisako already told her once that her mother, Yun's grandmother, died some time ago. It was, admittedly, rather easy to forget something like that since it was so long ago since Lopmon asked about it. But another thing that surprised Lopmon is Yun's bluntness. She knew that Yun wasn't being mean. She was just a bit cowed by how openly Yun said that sentence. She assumed she'd say something like they passed away or they're in Heaven. Perhaps continual bluntness is another symptom of her disability, since figurative speech is something that most autistic children aren't able to get right off.

"How far is Morioka from here?" Lucero asked.

"By car, it's four hours," Yun told him.

"Can't you use the plane, kyu?" Cutemon asked.

"We'd like to, but plane tickets are expensive, and Mom doesn't like the way airports around here handle our luggage," Yun told her.

"Actually, Yun, speaking of cousins, you actually have one more cousin," Hisako said as she parked the car into the driveway.

"Huh? Another cousin?" Yun asked, confused by this new development.

"Yes. Her name's Inori. Kurako adopted her recently, and she really wants to have you meet her," Hisako told her.

"She's adopted? From where? And what's she like?" Yun asked, surprised by this new knowledge that is entering her head like a package being put in a box and wrapped in wrapping paper. Hisako was about to answer until Ayaka suddenly came stomping right in front of Yun, her face painted a very unbecoming shade of tomato red. Her pale blue eyes looked like they were going to pop right out of her face in that cartoony way.

"Yun! What's all that junk you have packed in your room?!" Ayaka suddenly screamed angrily out of nowhere, causing Yun to cover her ears in fright.

"Will you keep it down?! You're scaring her!" Terriermon snapped, angered by Ayaka's rather audacious display of it.

"Shut up, you rag! I wasn't talking to you!" Ayaka snapped while this gave Yun an opportunity to run past her and go to her room, even though in her little heart she really wanted to yell at Ayaka for being so mean to Terriermon, though she figured that Ayaka would yell at her and get the upperhand anyway, so she refrained from doing so.

On top of Yun's bed is a white suitcase with big pink flowers printed all over it, along with big, olive green leaves. Two beige handles protruded from it which are big enough for a 12-year-old girl like Yun to carry (She turned twelve this past February). Yun remembered packing quite a few clothes, mostly essentials like pajamas, underwear, and four days worth of regular clothes, along with a few extras in case she needed to change. She also packed a new personal hygiene products like her hair dryer, her toothbrush, her toothpaste, her shampoo, her hair towel, and a towel for herself in case all the other ones get used up. Next to it is her Jekyll and Hyde bag, which has her games and game consoles in it, her CD player, her CD case, her blanket, some books (namely novels and only two manga) and some DVDs. Next to that is her purple DVD player box. As she double-checked everything, Ayaka and Hisako came in.

"Seriously, Yun! Do you really have to pack this much?! We're only staying there for FOUR days, not a freaking' eternity! You look like you're moving!" Ayaka yelled.

"It's not that much," Yun told her in a deadpan tone.

"And why the freak are you bringing all this junk with you?!" Ayaka snapped, yanking her Jekyll and Hyde bag, which Yun managed to take back. "You're not gonna play your games or watch stupid anime the whole time we're there, are you?!"

"No! These are just for the ride! It's four hours from here, and if I don't have something to keep me or the bunnies occupied for a long, boring drive, then I'll get grouchy! I know you will, too!" Yun told her.

Terriermon shrugged. "Teruki's exactly like that."

"That's true," Cutemon piped in.

Unfortunately, despite Yun's explaining things, Ayaka still wasn't satisfied and continued to berate Yun, paying absolutely no heed to what she just said despite listening to it. "Look, this isn't some stupid convention we're going to! I don't want to have to see them put up with you being a brat all the time!"

"Ayaka! That's enough!" Hisako said as she got in front of her.

"But Mom! You know how rude she acts when we do things like this! People constantly want to talk to her yet she ignores them and plays stupid games instead!" Ayaka argued.

"I am NOT rude!" Yun argued back.

"Yun! Watch it. I'll handle this," Hisako told her sternly.

Yun, not wanting to put up with more unnecessary arguing, left her room, taking the bunnies with her. They went into the backyard, which has become excessively green since the opening up of spring, and although they liked how nice and green it is, Yun paid no heed to the simple pleasures right now, as her feelings have been hurt by Ayaka yet again.

"I'm not rude. She's the rude one," Yun muttered angrily.

"Don't listen to her, Yun! She's stupid! She'll never understand what you're like!" Terriermon piped in, hoping to reassure her, but all he got was a mild scolding from Lopmon.

"Terriermon!" Lopmon scolded, which made him shrink a little.

Unfortunately, Terriermon's attempt at reassuring Yun didn't work. She left the bunnies with a confused Lucero as she ran down into the basement and found Teruki, trying to look for his black suitcase.

"I know I stashed it around here somewhere..." Teruki grumbled as he tried looking for his suitcase. Despite Yun hearing this, she felt she really needed to get his attention right now.

"Dad! Can I ask you something?" Yun asked a little loudly, not knowing that the tone of her voice went up a bit. But she did manage to successfully obtain Teruki's attention upon seeing him turn around to see his youngest daughter behind him. Admittedly, his eyes widened in size and he gasped with surprise, but upon comprehending her presence, he caught himself.

"Jeez! You scared me, Yun," Teruki said.

Yun looked down at her feet with a sad face. "Sorry..."

"It's alright, and sure. What do you want to ask me?" Teruki asked with his smile.

"Am I rude?!" Yun blurted out, her voice higher this time.

Teruki adjusted his glasses a bit and ruffled his messy black hair. "Why do you ask? Is this about going to Morioka?"

"Ayaka says that I act rude whenever we go see them! She says she doesn't want to have to see them put up with me being a brat all the time and that my playing games is rude! She acts way ruder than me!" Yun blurted out again.

"Alright alright. Calm down, Yun, and lower your voice," Teruki told her once he kneeled in front of her and put his hands on her shoulders.

Yun looked down again despondently. "Sorry..." She muttered sadly.

Teruki and Yun decided to sit down at the big couch so it'd be easier to have their conversation.

"In regards to your question...you're definitely not a rude person," Teruki told her gently.

"No, I'm not," Yun muttered, agreeing with him on that statement.

"However, some people do tend to do certain things that come off as rude to other people, but they themselves don't realize it. That's one part of your disability," Teruki explained. He had a bit of trouble coming up with the right words to explain this to Yun.

"I don't do that stuff to be rude! Not at all! Not on purpose!...do I?" Yun suddenly shouted, then lowered her voice at that last part.

"I know you don't, and lots of other people do as well, but in certain settings, it may seem that way to other people, especially if they don't know the full extent of your disability," Teruki clarified.

"Does playing video games while people are talking to you count as rude?"

"Only if you intentionally ignore them or choose not to respond. But to be honest, if they do want to talk to you, I wouldn't recommend playing your games."

"Does saying the wrong thing by accident count as rude? You know how bad I am at saying the right...words when...making a sentence."

"No. Not at all, and actually you're very good at making sentences."

"No I'm not."

"You have a very advanced vocabulary. Not many kids your age talk the way you do."

"But people always take what I say the wrong way, Ayaka especially!"

"Try not to worry about what Ayaka says. We're going to Morioka to spend time with our relatives and have a nice time. We're going to have fun. Is that alright?"

"Yeah..."

Soon, the day of departure finally arrived. Unfortunately, it didn't start off on a very happy note.

"YOU'RE BRINGING THEM ALONG TOO?!" Ayaka screamed at the top of her voice, unashamedly pointing to Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon, who sat comfortably in Yun's arms.

"Yeah. I've always planned on bringing them," Yun said.

"Yun! Leave them here!" Ayaka shouted angrily.

"No! I can't leave them here all alone!" Yun argued.

"They're gonna ruin everything!"

"No they're not!"

"Yun! Leave them here NOW! It's bad enough you're bringing a bunch of useless junk with you! They're gonna hate us forever if they find out those things are real!"

"Ayaka! Will you stop?! She does have a point. What will they do all by themselves locked in the house for four whole days?" Hisako implored, already getting irritated by Ayaka's yelling and roughhousing.

"WHAT?! Mom! Why are you taking her side?! I can't believe this! Fine! Have it your way! But don't say I didn't warn you! If grandaunt and the others freak out over them, you brought it on yourself!" Ayaka yelled upon talking to Hisako, grunted angrily, and sat on the left side of the back seat. She slammed the door quite hard, which made Teruki mad.

"Ayaka! Don't slam the door!" Teruki cried out.

Despite the squabble, the Wakamiyas managed to leave the driveway of their house and matriculate toward Morioka. They decided to leave at 11:00 AM so that they could both avoid the traffic and get there before night falls. Lucero volunteered to sit in the middle of the backseat, between Ayaka and Yun so they wouldn't have to put up with sitting next to each other. Ayaka occupied herself by listening to her I-Pod. Yun did so by listening to her CD player, playing one of her games, and telling made up stories to the rabbits. Terriermon fell asleep after about an hour, not caring about anything. Other times, Yun and Lopmon looked at the scenery while Cutemon played with Lucero. The rabbits and Lucero couldn't wait to meet the members of Yun's extended family, even though they're only from Hisako's side of the family.

Yun only got to meet her relatives once every year, so she's still shy whenever she's around them. They can't visit them often because they're so far away and because gas prices are skyrocketing to such ridiculous heights it makes Hisako want to wonder why she even bought a car in the first place. But one thing that's been itching at the back of her head the past few days has been the reveal that she has an adopted cousin. She managed to ask Hisako more about her the day before they left, and Hisako explained that Kurako, her sister and Yun's aunt, adopted her just about a year ago. Her name was Nagatsuma Inori but she changed it to her new family's surname, Ariake, because Inori didn't like the memories associated with her last name. Like Yun, Inori is also mixed race, but instead of being half Japanese and half American, she's half Ukrainian. Her father died in a house fire, and she and her mother were left homeless for just a couple months until her Ukraine-born mother, who succumbed to doing drugs as a result of losing all of her hopes for the future (the promise of a good future was why she left with the Japanese man in the first place), died from lung cancer associated with too much smoking. Kurako took her in and loves her deeply. But sometimes, depending on the situation and the circumstances associated with their upbringing, even huge amounts of love can't heal a broken person whole. She's lately heard stories about people who adopted children from foreign countries who turned out to be much more than they could handle and wound up becoming very volatile despite their efforts. Yun knew that this isn't always the case. Melody is adopted, but she's sour and moody and easily annoyed because she didn't want to open herself up to people due to what that cruel woman did to her. Yun knew that Melody is deep down a very nice person. That nice person inside her was just temporarily squashed down by the feet that belonged to that cruel woman who used her for her own gain and nothing else. Other children adjust very well to new and loving families.

Yun learned other things about Inori as well, based on what Kurako told Hisako. Inori is nine, is a bit small in stature due to her lack of nutrition from when she and her mother were homeless, has thick, shoulder-length black hair with pink tips, blue eyes, and is normally extremely quiet, but can have an extremely sharp tongue. She likes computers, candy (Hisako says that when it comes to candy, Inori is a huge candy addict and is always trying to get some no matter what. Her favorites are lollipops, especially grape flavored ones), Wii games, books, and chinchillas. Inori was always asking her adopted mother for a pet chinchilla. With the exception of Aria and Isao, Yun is not fond of children who are younger than her, namely because she's convinced that they all hate her or think she's a weird monster simply because she's around them. Yun really didn't want to meet Inori as she figured the girl would be much better off not meeting someone as stupid and retarded and uninteresting as her (as Yun thinks). Yun figured Inori wouldn't like her at all, but she doesn't know if Inori will like her yet.

Finally, after four long hours, they finally arrived in a very evergreen town full of nothing but trees, trees, trees! Morioka, as its name translates to, is full of trees and little woodsy forests full of animals, like squirrels and birds and rabbits and even deer of all kinds. The car pulled into the driveway of a very dark brown house with a reddish roof and a big red door with the top part of it being round. Yun grabbed the bag which had Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon in it and got out, but didn't go into the house or grab any more bags right away. She stopped as she closed the door. Her sensitive ears picked up the soft, placid, lofty sound of a flute echoing amongst the rustling trees. Up and down the high pitched wheeing sounds went, but unlike with other sounds, Yun didn't feel the urge to cover her ears. High pitched as it was, it didn't grate on Yun's ears, nor did it pound on her eardrums on the inside. She didn't recognize the song that was playing, but the faint melody that could be distinguished from it was beautiful.

"What's up, Yun?" Hisako asked.

"I hear a flute," Yun whispered wistfully.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Lopmon asked with a sweet smile on her face, also enjoying the pretty flute music.

"It is. Whoever's playing it is very talented," Hisako said, but then gently reminded Yun to go inside the house.

Once the quintet of people got inside, they were greeted by a rather mousy old woman whose body is literally wrinkled all over. Her long, grey hair stretched down to her shoulders, but her pale green eyes lit up with joy upon seeing the Wakamiya family walk into her humble home. She has on a bright red knitted cardigan over a pale yellow shirt, a long, dark purple skirt, and white slip on shoes.

"Oh! Hisako!"

"Margot! We're here!" Hisako announced as she hugged her aunt happily.

"Hisako-chan, it's so good to see you!" Margot exclaimed as she hugged her niece as tightly as she could muster.

"Hi Grandaunt Margot!" Yun said as she put her bag down.

"Yun-chan! How are you? I missed you so much!" Margot exclaimed as she let go of Hisako and hugged Yun tightly. Yun wrapped her own skinny little arms around her grandaunt as soon as she became enveloped in the hug.

Soon the entire family was fawning over this mousy little woman, Margot. The bunnies watched from the bag, looking very pleased.

"So this is Grandaunt Margot?" Cutemon whispered.

"She looks so sweet," Lopmon whispered.

"True that," Terriermon whispered.

Margot then took a quick glance at Lucero, who seemed a little shy upon making eye contact with her. "My! Who's this handsome young man?" Margot asked cheerfully.

Hisako put her hands on Lucero's shoulders. "Margot. I'd like you to meet Lucero. We adopted him last May," Hisako told her gently, then removed her hands from his shoulders.

Lucero smiled gently and bowed politely in front of Margot. "I am most enchanted to meet thee, Margot-dono."

"Oh my! What old-fashioned language!" Margot exclaimed, putting on a shocked face, but then let out a laugh. "Ohohoho! That's quite alright. We don't see children as polite as you anymore. It's a pleasure to meet you, Lucero-kun," Lucero blushed a bit at Margot's well-intentioned compliment.

The family got the rest of their stuff unpacked and took it into Margot's house, which is a bit more old-fashioned than most houses the kids have been to. The living room is connected to the kitchen and the dining room. The living room and dining room all have sliding glass doors leading into a very tiny but quaint patio with a tiny pond that's closed in by a big fence. All the way in the back of the house is the bathroom, the laundry room, two bedrooms (one with one bed and another with two, also with sliding doors that overlook the very end of the patio), and another room which isn't used much (which Yun took a great liking to last year). There's another bathroom right near the living room. There's also a backyard that also isn't used much, which is closed in by the fence of the neighboring house.

Once the family unpacked their stuff and got settled in, they had quite a jolly time talking to Margot about anything they could think of on both sides of the conversation. Lopmon, Terriermon, and Cutemon made sure to keep absolutely silent when they were in Margot's presence since she doesn't know about Digimon and would probably freak out if she saw three weird looking bunnies walking and talking, so they refrained from moving or talking at all, though it must be confessed that Terriermon is getting quite tired of playing doll all the time, even if it's for good intention, though he persevered anyway for Yun's sake, as usual. Although Yun tried to converse with Margot as much as possible, admittedly, she was still curious about the song on the flute she heard earlier. She wondered if the person playing it is still playing it right now. Finally, when she found an opportunity to leave, she found her way to the backyard. What she didn't know was that Margot saw her dash for there and decided to follow.

Margot's backyard isn't much to write home about. It's much like Yun's backyard, full of green grass, trees in the back, full of flowers in a little garden much like Hisako's but no tiger lilies and morning glories in sight, and closed in by neighboring fences. At first, Yun heard nothing but the placid twitters of little winged songstresses, the rustling of the myriad tree leaves, and the crunching of the grass below her shoes. But after a couple minutes of exploring and pacing around, the high but lofty flute sound came back. But this time, it's a different song. Much to Yun's surprise, it's much clearer than before. Right as she realized this, she realized something else: the flute music is coming right from the left side of the fence, right in the backyard of the house next to their own (Margot's). Not wanting to look like a stalker or predator, she stayed where she was and silently listened to the music, satisfied with it, without feeling the need to find out who's making the music. But she did have to give the flutist credit for being very talented.

"There you are, Yun," Margot's soft voice pulled Yun out of her reverie.

"Oh! Sorry, Grandaunt! I wanted to hear the flute music again. I wasn't trying to be rude," Yun told her, looking worried that Margot might get angry at her dashing to the backyard, which she didn't.

"Flute music?" Margot asked, looking confused, but within seconds she lit up. "Oh! That must be Daisy you're hearing!" Margot exclaimed with a smile as she clapped her hands together.

Yun tilted her head to one side in confusion. "Daisy?" She asked.

Margot nodded. "Yes. Her mother Violet and I have been going to church together lately. The Millers moved here about four months ago. Her father's a pilot in the Air Force, so they had to move a lot, which from what Violet has told me has been very hard on her. But they're very nice people, though their Japanese is still a bit rustic, but that's because this is their first time living in a foreign country."

"Where are they from? America?" Yun asked.

"Yes. They just moved here from the state of Oregon," Margot replied promptly.

"We're good at speaking English, so don't you talk to them in English?" Yun asked.

"Yes, mostly. My, Daisy's improved quite a lot. What beautiful music she's playing," Margot said, then became wistful upon hearing new flute music coming from the other yard.

'_Daisy...that's a flower name...'_ Yun thought as she closed her eyes and reveled in the music some more. What she didn't know was that Margot decided to leave the backyard, feeling that Yun wanted some alone time to listen to the music some more. Yun definitely stayed to listen to the music...until some strange happened.

"Pipi!"

_FWEET!_ A very high pitched whistle-like sound made the beautiful flute music stop, ending in a much higher pitched sound than the previous one. Both sounds were so high pitched that the combination scared Yun into covering her ears. But through her covered ears she could hear another sound. The sound of a girl talking to someone. But it also sounded strange.

"Yun! John, Kurako, and the kids are here! Come inside!" Hisako told her.

"Coming!" Yun called out, then promptly ran back into the house in order to recover from the mild overstimulation that those two high pitched whistling sounds threw onto her hypersensitive ears.

Standing in the living room are five new people. A man with shaggy dark brown hair and a small beard, blue eyes hidden behind some small glasses, and a big birthmark on his neck. Next to him is a rather short and plump woman with short but frizzy lighter brown hair, dark green eyes, slightly bigger glasses, and dark skin, like she had gone tanning quite a bit. Three kids are with them. The oldest is a boy of about Ayaka's age, possibly older, with shaggy dark brown hair and dark green eyes. The middle child is a girl about a couple years younger than Yun, straight brown hair, and blue eyes. The youngest is a rather pale skinned girl of about eight, with black hair that trailed down her shoulders with cotton candy pink ends, with blue eyes just like the older girl. She's wearing a yellow shirt underneath a long sleeved black and blue zip-up sweatshirt, a medium-length matching black skirt that goes to her knees, dark brown leggings, and lighter brown boots. Yun did not recognize her, but assumed right away that it was Inori, the cousin who Kurako adopted. Ayaka's talking with the man, so the woman noticed Yun and ran to hug her.

"Yun-chaaan!" The plump woman exclaimed and hugged Yun, who hugged her right back.

"Hi Aunt Kurako," Yun said.

"Hi Yun-chan!" The middle child exclaimed once Kurako let her go and hugged Yun.

"Hi Otogi-chan," Yun said to the girl that's hugging her, Otogi.

"Hi Yun. Nice to see you again," The older boy said with a smile.

"Hi Takami-kun," Yun said to the boy, Takami.

"How've you been since we last saw you?" Kurako asked excitedly.

"Fine," Yun muttered shyly. She really didn't want to tell them that everything's been really chaotic and throwing her for a loop.

"Aunt Hisako was telling us that you got on the Honor Roll again. Congrats! I wish I could get on there, but all I get are B's and C's in everything," Otogi told her excitedly.

"It's nothing to get excited about. All you get is a fancy certificate and that's it," Yun told her. Yun never did understand the concept of the Honor Roll and always questioned what its true purpose was. Yes, if she got on there, she got a certificate, which she did, along with footnotes confirming so in her report cards, but that's it. She didn't understand why people would make a big deal over a silly little certificate or a scribble on a report card. Things like that weren't going to help her make friends or fix her estranged relationship with Ayaka or give her lots and lots of money, so why make a big deal out of it? All it does is note that she's doing well in school, and even though she's doing well, Yun hates school and really wishes she wouldn't have to go and put up with teachers, tests, math, Nenji, and Seiko.

"Howdy, Yun! Great to see ya!" The big man said and hugged Yun.

"Hi Uncle John," Yun muttered as she felt herself get hugged by this sweaty man in front of her.

"Oh! Yun-chan! There's someone I want you to meet! Inori-chan! Come here please!" Kurako told Yun, then called for the black and pink haired girl, who's sitting in front of the little pond looking at the fish swimming happily inside, to come back in.

The girl didn't respond. Kurako went outside and kneeled in front of her. They exchanged some words amongst themselves, which Yun couldn't hear, and after a while, Kurako and the little girl came inside. The little girl with the blue eyes simply stared at Yun like she was sizing her up. Yun looked away, knowing that the girl is staring at her with indifference.

"Yun, this is Inori, my new adopted daughter. Inori, this is your new cousin, Yun. You know, the one I've always told you about?" Kurako said.

Inori didn't say anything. Yun didn't say anything either, even as Hisako crept up behind her.

"Say hi, Yun. Shake her hand," Hisako whispered.

"Say hi, Inorin!" Otogi exclaimed.

Yun shivered. She wasn't sure if saying hi would do anything, and she really didn't want to shake hands with her, or anyone for that matter. Strangely enough, she didn't have to, as Inori wriggled away from Kurako and went into the other hallway, much to Kurako's dismay.

"Inori! Come back!" Kurako exclaimed as she chased after her.

"Did you scare her, Yun?" Ayaka asked, her tone of voice sounding very accusatory, which Yun found to be extremely insulting, but didn't voice this out of fear of making her even more angry.

"No, it's not her. She has something doctors call Reactive Attachment Disorder. She has trouble trusting people, and is afraid to get close to people. She's only just started getting used to us," Takami explained.

'_How can fear of trusting people be a disorder? Is that even possible?'_ Lopmon thought as she watched the silent exchange between the two girls.

'_I wonder if Melody has something like that, considering what she went through?'_ Terriermon thought. If someone abused their kid, then it's likely that they'll have lots of trouble connecting with caregivers or even other people. He wondered if Aria would develop something like that had the abuse Kinzo subjected her to continued for a longer period of time, and especially if people like Yun didn't intervene when they did.

Later in the day, Margot made a big and hearty dinner for everyone while Hisako and Kurako helped out. Everyone was swept up in a tidal wave of merry and jovial conversation save for Yun and Inori, who simply ate their meals quietly but contentedly. Once she finished, Yun grabbed some bread sticks, took the rabbits in the back room that she likes, and fed them there, along with some broccoli and carrot sticks that she snuck in.

"Your relatives are very nice, kyu!" Cutemon chirped as she ate a piece of broccoli.

"Uncle John is funny!" Terriermon exclaimed as he tore off a big piece of a breadstick and scarfed it down as quickly as he tore it off.

"Try not to eat too much bread, Terriermon. You don't want to be left with no room for other food," Lopmon advised.

"Don't worry so much, Lopmon! My stomach's way bigger than yours so I'll be just fine!" Terriermon chirped as he chowed down on another piece of broccoli.

After watching her friends eat and playing with them for a short while, Yun went back to hanging out with the extended family until about 8:00 PM, when she decided to take a bath in the bathroom in the room with the two beds, where she'll be sleeping for the night. She played with the bunnies for about thirty minutes, then blow dried her hair with the hair dryer. Soon, Lucero came into the room.

"Thy relatives are very kind people, Yun. I'm surprised thou dislike socializing with them," Lucero told her, though he didn't mean for that last sentence to sound mean.

"They get kinda loud sometimes, Otogi-chan especially, even though I like her," Yun said as she played a Pokemon game on her Nintendo DS.

"Yeah, but they're still nice, so that counts," Cutemon piped in happily.

Lucero was about to say something until he looked up at the wind chimes that are hanging from the ceiling, right in front of the big glass window right next to them. "I hear it."

"The flute music?" Lopmon asked.

"Yes. It's exquisitely beautiful," Lucero muttered with a smile as he closed his eyes and listened some more.

"I hear it too. It sounds nice," Terriermon said as his long ears rose to the air.

"Grandaunt says that someone named Daisy is playing the flute. Whoever she is, she's talented," Yun told them.

"Daisy? My, what a lovely English name!" Lopmon crooned with a sweet smile on her face.

"...it sounds sad," Lucero whispered wistfully, continuing to look up at the motionless wind chimes.

"What sounds sad?" Lopmon asked.

"The music. It sounds extremely sad and melancholy, like...the music itself is a facade for hiding a deep and lingering sense of continual loneliness and sadness. The person who is playing this...I wonder if she's lonely inside? The music she's playing clearly shows how lonely she feels," Lucero explained in a low whisper that would be barely audible to normal ears, but all four hypersensitive ears listened and made out every single word he uttered, the bunnies because their ears are long, and Yun because her ears are amplified due to her disability.

"How can you tell all that just from listening?" Yun asked, confused as to how Lucero can come to such a deep and profound observation just from listening to some beautiful flute music.

"It's really not that hard to see people using hobbies to convey their feelings, the feelings they can't express just from talking to people, or they do it because nobody will listen. If people are happy, they play happy music or draw happy pictures. If they're sad, they play sad music or draw sad pictures. Whatever they produce, it conveys what they feel or have felt at the time they made it," Lucero explained, in a higher voice this time. He then turned to Yun. "Haven't thou had such moments?"

Yun turned off her game, put her Nintendo DS away, put her hand on her chin, looked up at the bare ceiling, and ruminated over Lucero's question for a bit, wondering if she ever had the moments Lucero just described. He did have a point, though. Oftentimes people who are sad but can't express it or tell people about how they feel due to certain circumstances use their hobbies as outlets for the feelings they don't want to bottle up. Or some people choose to use them to address whatever issue they're going through because there are few other outlets available.

"Oh yeah! I remember this one time when Ayaka was being mean to me and I wound up writing this little fan fic piece where my character beats up her big sister after something she says goes too far. She calls her really bad names and breaks her nose and everything. I was feeling pretty cruddy then, but I couldn't tell Ayaka all of that because she'd get mad or tell Mom and Dad about it so I wound up writing it out," Yun said.

"That's a good example," Terriermon said.

"A person's feelings have to go somewhere, right, kyu?" Cutemon asked.

"Ah! I forgot! My Before Green Gables book is in the living room! I'll be right back!" Yun exclaimed, upon suddenly realizing that one of the books she brought with her is in the living room with all the members of the Ariake family.

She didn't see anything wrong with going out to get her book in front of a bunch of people. She didn't even take the fact that she's wearing winter pajamas into account...and that would be the thing that would end up causing a problem.

She found everyone in the living room watching a football game and enjoying it. Kurako's sitting on her stomach on the floor right in front of the tiny TV. John, Otogi, Hisako, and Margot are on the couch, Takami went back home on his own by car (yes, he drives), Teruki's in the kitchen washing the dishes for Margot, and Inori's sitting on another chair, quietly reading her own book. Yun came in and saw right away that her Before Green Gables book is sitting on the other chair.

"Excuse me! Gotta get my book," Yun said as she walked right over Kurako so she wouldn't step on her back. She ran to get her book, then noticed that there are still some bread sticks in the basket.

"Oh! More bread sticks!" Yun went into the dining room and grabbed some so give to the rabbits. She didn't know it, but Ayaka's face became completely contorted with disgust as she facepalmed quite hard, and Hisako's eyes widened with surprise upon seeing Yun come in, completely in her big, green pajamas with blue and white spots on them.

"Hey Yun-chan!" John exclaimed as Yun was halfway across the living room, with book and two bread sticks in hand. "I hear ya got on the Honor Roll again. Congrats! We got some geniuses in our family! I mostly got D's and C's in everything!"

"I'm no genius, but thanks, Uncle John," Yun said as she walked over Kurako again. "Excuse me."

She was so engrossed in getting back to the room she didn't hear Ayaka saying, "Oh God!" right behind her. As soon as Yun was out of sight, Hisako got up from the couch and began following her.

"Brought some more bread sticks!" Yun said as she broke a bread stick into three and handed the pieces to each one of the bunnies. She broke another bread stick into two and handed another piece to Lucero. "Want one?"

"Yes. I thank thee," Lucero said with a smile as he took the piece of bread stick and took a bite of it.

That's when Hisako came into the room, looking rather...stern.

"Hi Mom! What's up?" Yun asked as she noticed Hisako come into the room. But she also noticed the disappointed look on her face and found it to be a bit confusing.

"Yun? Will you come here please? I need to talk to you," Hisako asked.

Without eating her piece of the bread stick, she stood up and approached Hisako as asked. Hisako crossed her arms. She didn't look angry, but rather, disappointed.

"What's...wrong?" Yun asked, a little unsettled by the slightly stern way Hisako is looking at her. The rabbits and Lucero wound up eavesdropping, but Hisako didn't care.

"Did you seriously just walk across the living room in your pajamas in front of everyone?" Hisako asked rather sternly, her voice rather low.

Yun looked at her pajamas, then back at Hisako, though she didn't look directly at her because of her normal aversion to eye contact. "...Yeah? But I only went to get my book out of the living room."

"Look, Yun, I know you don't mean anything by it, but when people are visiting, you can't be in your pajamas. It's not appropriate," Hisako said.

"Why? They're family, aren't they? Isn't that okay?" Yun asked. She thought that rule only applied to social situations not involving the family.

Hisako could feel a vein pop in her head. "Even if they're family, it's not presentable to prance around in front of other people wearing pajamas!"

"But they're not revealing," Yun muttered, surprised by Hisako's voice rising a little.

"That's _not_ the issue, Yun!" Hisako hissed, her anger simmering in response to Yun's lack of comprehension of what she's been trying to tell her. "Either stay in your pajamas and stay in the room until morning, or change your clothes if you want to come out and talk with everyone!"

"I-I-I-I'm sorry! I didn't...mean it..." Yun flinched and walked back a few steps, surprised by Hisako's hissing and looking like she's about to cry. "O-Otogi's seen me in my pajamas before. I slept over her house that one time. It's not like I'm naked or anything..."

"That's a different situation entirely!" Hisako hissed again, louder this time, and now Yun looked like she was going to cry for real. "If you're gonna stay in your pajamas, go to bed! Otherwise, put your clothes on if you want to see everyone!"

"I'm sorry! No one...told me...ugh!" Yun ran into the two bed bedroom and gently closed the door. She didn't slam it because she knew that it was Margot's guest room, not her own, so she was at least considerate enough to close the door gently and not slam it like other sad people would in their own houses.

But instead of staying in her heavy winter pajamas, she yanked them off and put her old clothes back on rather hastily. She opened the door a little bit, But instead of going into the living room, she plopped onto bed. In her clothes! She buried her face into the pillow and cried softly. How was she supposed to know going out in her pajamas was inappropriate in front of members of her extended family? Why is that so bad? It's not like the pajamas she's wearing are really tiny and revealing. She didn't understand why nobody told her that the rule to not wear pajamas in front of people outside of family applied to her relatives as well. The rabbits hopped onto the bed with her to cuddle with her, hopefully to lift her spirits. It didn't work, but they kept at it anyway since she appreciates them just being there. After about a few minutes, Lucero was about to go in there as well, but Ayaka opened the bedroom door and noticed Yun lying on the bed.

"You're so stupid, you know that? I knew you were going to do something stupid some time," Ayaka said.

"Go away!" Yun shouted into the pillow.

"Are you seriously gonna sleep in your clothes? Just get over it!" Ayaka said before leaving.

She expected to leave without having to deal with anything or anyone. But Lucero suddenly stomped in front of her, his normally pale, round canvas of a face now suddenly painted with a collage of pink and red spots all over it, his pale blue eyes so wide they looked like they were about to pop right out of his face.

"Get over it?! Yun's upset and heartbroken, and you have the sheer audacity to be so insensitive as to tell her to just get over it?! What do you think she is!? A perfect little robot programmed to know everything and act appropriately in every situation?! It's not her fault! Nobody told her!" Lucero yelled angrily, surprised at Ayaka's insensitivity.

"Don't get an attitude with me, kid!" Ayaka snapped, surprised and disgusted at both his sudden appearance and his defending of Yun, who she is convinced is the one truly at fault, but this made Lucero even more choleric, as if it wasn't already evident.

"You're the one with the attitude! Why can't you be more sensitive about Yun's plight?! She didn't know it wasn't appropriate to wear pajamas in front of extended family! She thought that rule only applied to people in social situations outside of the family! Nobody told her!"

"She's freaking twelve years old! She's supposed to know better! You don't know her like I do, kid! Don't act like you know her better than me! She always does stupid stuff in front of people, our relatives included!"

"That doesn't mean she does those things to be rude or to embarrass you! That's never her intention! But you make it sound as though she does strange things on purpose! How would you like it if you did something stupid by accident and felt bad about it and I told you to get over it?! You wouldn't like that, now would you?!"

Ayaka held her hands in the air like she's getting arrested. "I'm not listening to this any longer!"

But Lucero was NOT going to stop putting her on the spot, and he was going to make her eat every single ounce of her insensitivity, even if it meant bashing it into her thick and impenetrable cranium whether she liked it or not. "Oh, yes you are! Now I understand why Yun doesn't have any sort of relationship with you! You're stubborn, repeatedly jump to conclusions, never choose to see anyone's point of view except your own, and always believe you have to be right about everything, especially when it comes to Yun and her behavior! Hasn't it ever occured to you that she has feelings, too?! Did it ever occur to you that you can't just tell an autistic person who's having a bad day to just get over it?! To them, that's the equivalent of being told that they're making it all up and that it never happened! Do you realize how insensitive you're being?! She doesn't do things to embarrass you or spite you! Her mind hasn't developed the necessary social skills that tell her whether certain actions are appropriate or not in certain situations, so people have to tell her directly so she'll get it, and there's nothing wrong with that! Why are you so convinced she has malicious ulterior motive behind EVERYTHING she does?! Do you really believe she's that bad a person?!"

"Just shut up, you! I'm not listening to you gripe, you brat!" Ayaka snapped and stomped away. Lucero's anger still simmered upon not being able to convince Ayaka that she's being insensitive, but at least he bashed it into her head regardless. The rabbits saw the whole thing.

"Wow! Way to show her up, Lucero! You were awesome!" Terriermon exclaimed joyfully, swinging his fist to convey his glee.

"I also agree that Ayaka was very insensitive, so you were right to call her out on her own rude and inappropriate behavior," Lopmon said, with a slight touch of venom at the end of that sentence. She heard Ayaka rant and rave about how Yun supposedly acts rude and behaves inappropriately, but now she saw Ayaka doing exactly what she believes Yun is doing. Lopmon wondered if Ayaka really understood Yun's disability, or is simply not willing to understand and is more focused on her own problems rather than the problems of everyone else.

About a few minutes after that, Teruki came into the room and sat next to Yun on the bed.

"Hey Yun. Sorry about Hisako's hissy fit. I felt she was a bit too hard on you," Teruki told her gently.

"I just went to get my book out of the living room. That's all. Nobody told me the no pajamas in front of people rule applied to relatives as well. How was I supposed to know?" Yun muttered sadly through the pillow.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you. That was stupid of me," Teruki said gently as he stroke Yun's hair.

"Ayaka's right. I do ruin everything."

"No you don't. Don't worry about what she says."

"Are Aunt Kurako and the others angry?"

"No. Kurako didn't even notice, she was too absorbed in the football game. Everybody else didn't mind, so it's okay...are you gonna sleep?"

"Yes."

"In your clothes?"

"Yes."

"Don't sleep in your clothes, Yun. Only bums do that."

"I _am_ a bum."

"No you're not."

After a bit, Teruki left. Once he left, however, Yun hastily ripped off her clothes, threw her pajamas back on, and covered herself with the blanket. Despite how sad she felt just now, once she cuddled with Lopmon and felt herself slip into her dreams, all the sadness dissipated as quickly as it came. She found herself having the dream where the winged boy is singing the song, and she hadn't had that dream in a long time. It definitely soothed her and calmed her down in her sleep.

Unfortunately, the sadness returned once she woke up, but it didn't come with strong force. Once she got up, she very quietly grabbed some fresh clothes, went into the back room with the TV, and changed. She put on a short sleeved dark yellow shirt with a yellow collar, three yellow buttons, and a white stripe on the bottom of the shirt, and long blue jean pants. The relatives had long since left last night, so they weren't around, thankfully. She also put on a light blue zip-up sweatshirt with a white S embroidered on the left breast and zipped it right up, knowing it'd be rather cold. She didn't know what time it was, but the morning light is creeping up on them, so she didn't care.

"Hi Yun," Lopmon's low, sweet, dulcet whisper of a voice caught Yun's attention.

"Hi Lopmon. Did I wake you?" Yun asked.

Lopmon shook her head. "No. You look a bit sad."

"Morning..." Terriermon muttered wearily, rubbing one of his eyes with his paws. "Where are you off to?"

"The back yard. There's lots of morning glories around this time, and I wanna see them," Yun whispered.

"Morning glories? How lovely!" Lopmon whispered gleefully.

Yun, Lopmon, and Terriermon found the door to the back yard but were surprised to find Lucero up and about, dressed in his overalls along with an orange shirt and his beige hoodie with the black star embroidered on it.

"Hi Lucero," Yun said. "What are you doing up?"

"I got up early. I suppose it's the case with thee, also?" Lucero replied.

The two of them went out into the back yard. That's when they saw them. On the right side of the fence, away from the house where the Millers live according to Margot, are a huge cloud of morning glories in multifarious colors, like sky blue, cotton candy pink, deep violet purple, and snow white with specs of purple in the middle. How exquisitely delicate and beautiful they looked. Yun got her digivice out and immediately began taking pictures of them, similar to how she took the picture of the lone plum blossom at school once.

"My, how lovely they are!" Lopmon exclaimed with a sweet smile tickling her plump little face.

"The ones we have are just blue. These are much prettier," Yun said with a smile painting her own previously sad face.

"That's okay! All morning glories are beautiful in their own right," Lucero said.

Terriermon gently sniffed one of the flowers. "They smell nice, too!"

Yun smiled, her previous distress now gone again. Suddenly, Lopmon's ears suddenly perked up in alarm. "There is a Digimon nearby," she gasped.

"Where?" Yun asked, quickly gripping her digivice.

The very moment she had asked that, a small object rolled into view. At first glance, one might think it was some kind of green apple. However, on closer inspection, the small group discovered that it was a small Digimon, no bigger than an apple. Its light green skin matched the grass almost perfectly. Its eyes were large and black with white pupils, just as the eyes of Terriermon and Lopmon were when they were Zerimon and Conomon. Underneath each eye was a layer of skin that was small, pink, and in a perfect circle, looking very much like blush. Two stubby legs were barely sticking out from underneath its body. The top of its head looked like a cap made of tiny leaves with a stem at the very top.

Its little body was covered in tiny thistles, and it was trying to shake them off to no avail.

Yun immediately recognized the Digimon. She had seen it lots of times before.

"Oh, it's SO CUTE!" Yun cooed sweetly.

The little Digimon piped in shock at Yun's little squeal. "Pipi!" it cried out, sounding like a faint whistle.

"I think thou has accidentally frightened it, Yun," Lucero said calmly.

Yun felt the sadness from last night creep up on her. "As usual, just like everything else..." Yun muttered to herself tearfully.

"It looks like it's in a little bit of pain because of those thistles," Lopmon noted, pointing as the Datirimon resumed its attempt to remove the thistles.

"Well, then let's get them off of the little guy," Terriermon answered, already approaching the baby Digimon.

Datirimon, however, jumped back in fright. Its whistling became a little louder and sharper. "Pipi! Pipi!"

This left Terriermon confused. "Why is it whistling like that?"

"Probably because it's scared," Lopmon answered.

The tiny Digimon walked backwards to get away from the giant strangers. As it did, though, it tripped over a pebble and fell on its back. Now it was very frightened, waving its tiny legs in the air in an attempt to get back up, but the thistles on its back were being pushed against its soft body. "Pipi! Pipi!"

Yun and Lucero took this opportunity to approach the little Digimon. Slowly and carefully to avoid pricking himself with the thistles, Lucero picked up the Datirimon and held it gently in his hands. The baby's struggling and whistling was now quite frantic, which startled Yun a little. But the tiny Digimon was simply not strong enough to get itself free from Lucero's gentle hold.

"Be not afraid, little Datirimon," he said softly. "Thou hath nothing to fear."

The baby Digimon stopped struggling and looked at Lucero straight in the eye.

What happened next was surprising, startling, and a little amusing, all at the same time.

Datirimon's eyes became determined, and when it opened its mouth, a spray of bubbles emerged and struck Lucero in the face.

Of course, such a weak attack from a baby Digimon was not able to inflict any damage to Lucero, and it actually tickled him a little bit as each bubble popped upon contact with his skin.

Smiling sweetly, he said, "Dost thou see now? We are not here to hurt thee."

The determined expression in Datirimon's eyes disappeared, and in its place was confusion and curiosity. "Pipi?" it whistled, softer now.

"We would like to help remove the thistles from thy body. Would thou trust us?"

"Pipi…" it said again, very slowly nodding.

"Very well." Lucero then looked at Yun. "Yun, if thou can hold it, I shall remove the thistles."

"Okay," she answered as she was given the tiny Digimon. She held it gently enough to avoid hurting it even more, but firmly enough to keep it from struggling.

Lucero's fingers carefully approached the first thistle. Once he had a good grip in his pinch, he quickly pulled his hand back, taking the thistle with it.

"Pipi!" Datirimon cried out in reaction. But it was surprised to find that the pain didn't last nearly as long as it thought it would. It blinked a few times, then prepared itself as Lucero's fingers came back.

After about five minutes, all of the thistles were removed. During that time, Lopmon and Terriermon had gone into the house found some aloe vera gel on the counter, along with a box of tissue paper, both of which they decided to take outside.

"Rub some of that stuff on your hands, too, Lucero," Yun said as she started to gently rub a little of the gel on Datirimon using the tissue paper. "Looks like you got pricked a little bit, too."

"I am fine, Yun," he answered. "Thou should not worry for me."

Yun smiled, then looked at the baby Digimon. "There you go. You should start feeling better soon."

"Pipi!" Datirimon whistled happily, its eyes bright with happiness. Though its body was still a little sore, it rubbed itself gently and affectionately in Yun's hands.

"Aw, you're so cute," she replied, feeling warm from the affection that Datirimon is showing her.

"Hey, wanna play?" Terriermon asked the little Digimon.

"Pipi!" it answered with joy, jumping from Yun's hands and beginning to hop around Terriermon. He laughed and picked up the baby Digimon with his ears.

While the three watched the pair play, Lopmon wondered out loud, "It is very strange, though, that such a young Digimon would come here all by itself."

Yun was getting ready to say something similar when a voice suddenly echoed from the woods past the back gate.

"Datirimon!" the voice called out.

It wasn't a voice Yun recognized, and she also noticed right away that there was something…a little strange about the sound of the voice.

The baby Digimon suddenly stopped playing with Terriermon and happily ran towards the gate.

"Pipi!" it whistled loudly, calling back.

"Datirimon!" the voice repeated.

"Pipi, pipi!"

This time, as soon as the voices stopped carrying on the wind, someone emerged from the other side of the fence, the side that went to the Miller back yard.

It was a girl who looked a little bit older than Yun, possibly about fourteen or fifteen. She had straight, cream-blonde hair that reached her shoulders. She had bright blue-green eyes, but they were a little hard to see since they were behind a pair of small, round glasses. There were a few freckles dotting her face, but otherwise her skin looked a little pale, like she barely goes outside. She wore a green T-shirt that had a white floral pattern around the collar, a pair of blue jeans a lighter shade than Yun's, and black and white sneakers.

No one recognized this girl at all…except Datirimon.

"Pipi!" it whistled happily, jumping up as if asking the girl to pick it up. "Pipi! Pipi!"

But the girl stood still, like a deer caught in headlights. She looked at Yun, then at Datirimon, then Lucero, then Datirimon again, then at Terriermon and Lopmon, before finally looking at Yun and Lucero again. She didn't reach over the gate, even after Datirimon's continual prodding.

Yun suspected it was because she girl thought it would not be polite to enter someone else's property. She walked over to the gate. She was ready to open it when the girl suddenly opened her mouth.

"I'm…very…sorry…" the girl said in a sweet, but slow and deliberate tone…and with a distinctive accent that Yun didn't recognize.

"Excuse…me…" the girl continued. "My name…English…"

Yun and Lucero blinked in surprise and confusion.

Suddenly, the girl stopped. Her face turned bright red, and she turned to one side, looking made at herself. She suddenly began speaking again, but it was so quick and faint that Yun couldn't recognize the words despite her hypersensitive hearing.

She knew it all along. This girl wasn't Japanese. She was English, probably American, and she was mad at herself for attempting to speak in Japanese and not getting it right.

"Thou must not speak so harshly of thyself," Lucero suddenly said, directing his attention to the girl. "Thou is not a…stupid idiot."

Both girls looked at Lucero with shock. Although both girls had different native languages, it was clear that when Lucero spoke, both of them could understand him clearly.

"Eh? Lucero, you understood what she just said?" Yun asked.

A little surprised himself, he looked at Yun. "It would seem so."

But the girl said nothing more. The expression on her face told that she was afraid of saying something else wrong.

"Pipi!" Datirimon whistled loudly, now looking impatient.

Yun looked at the cute, little Digimon and gently picked it up.

"Uh…" the girl began to say, but then stopped herself. Her eyes showed clearly her fear of Yun deciding to keep the little Digimon. "Please..." she said, extending her hands.

Praying that her English lessons would pay off, Yun looked at the girl, handed Datirimon to her, and took a deep breath. _"Good morning,"_ she said in English, just as deliberately, though not as slowly, as the girl was speaking in Japanese. _"What is your name?"_

Although the girl happily took Datirimon in her hands and was getting ready to leave immediately, she stopped when Yun spoke to her in English. Very good English at that, like she's fluent. Looking at Yun, then at Lucero, then at Yun again, the girl slowly answered in Japanese, _"Good…morning. My name…is…Miller Daisy."_

Yun beamed with delight. _'Daisy? This girl is the flute playing girl? Oh wow!'_ Yun thought happily. She's actually meeting the talented flutist in person! "Daisy-chan?" she blurted out without thinking.

At this, the girl, now Daisy, blushed in embarrassment. Though it was clear that she didn't know much Japanese, she knew enough to know that the term _"chan"_ only referred to good friends, usually between girls. Yun thought her referring to her as _"chan"_ by accident might have caused it.

_"Hi. My name is Yun Wakamiya,"_ Yun said, knowing that Americans refer to themselves with their first name first and their last name last. Her shyness came back as usual, but she tried not to let it consume her, as she could see the girl in front of her is looking a bit shy as well. _"This is Lucero, and these are Terriermon and Lopmon."_


	101. Side-Story Episode 2: The Flautist

Digimon: A Seraphic Tale Side Story: Daffodils and Daisies

EPISODE 2: The Reluctant Flautist

Daisy wished this whole thing was all just a dream. But it isn't. She knew it. The one thing she seriously wanted to avoid is now happening before her. Datirimon snuck out of her sight for a second, and now someone else found out and is likely going to tell everyone about it, and of all the people she expected to find out about Datirimon, it had to be a girl who's younger than her. But upon closer inspection, the girl, Yun as introduced, is clearly fluent in English despite being Japanese, and also has pet monsters just like she does, only she has two long eared rabbits in different colors. Daisy really didn't like being put on the spot, even by younger children. Even so much as looking at her made her clam up with shyness, so much so that her words became jumbled up, like gibberish.

Thankfully, Yun was nice enough to give Datirimon back to her. However, upon receiving Datirimon, she noticed that her Digimon's body felt a bit sticky, like some gel had been put on her. Yun seemed to notice Daisy giving Datirimon the strange looks in regards to the gel they put on her, so Yun decided to explain. In English again, since that seems to be the only language in which Daisy seems to speak and understand. Not surprising, since she's American and doesn't speak any Japanese at all.

"_Datirimon...she was hurt by some bush thistles, so we...took them off and...put some aloe vera gel on her..."_ Yun explained as slowly and clearly as she could, hoping that Daisy understood what she said. Much to her joy, though, Daisy did, and smiled.

"Thank you..." Daisy muttered shyly in Japanese, but the small smile on her face that appeared right then clearly showed appreciation for Yun's kindness in taking care of Datirimon, especially when she didn't really have to since it wasn't her (Yun's) responsibility to begin with. She didn't have to take care of Datirimon, but she did anyway out of the kindness of her heart.

"You're welcome!" Yun exclaimed in Japanese.

Daisy seemed to understand what she said. _'_"Doiteshimatte."_ That means you're welcome. I know that much,'_ Daisy thought.

"Pipi!" Datirimon exclaimed.

"_Shh! Keep your voice down! People will hear you!"_ Daisy shushed her Digimon friend, who didn't seem happy about being shushed by her partner.

"_Umm...is Datirimon your partner?"_ Yun asked. Despite not feeling a need to become Daisy's friend due to not feeling it necessary to make friends in places she doesn't stay in for long, she was genuinely interested in knowing the story behind Daisy and her Digimon.

"_Yes..."_ Daisy replied sheepishly while turning away from Yun's face, looking a bit miffed at the mention of the word partner. Yun seemed to notice the change in Daisy's expression, but figured it was because she only met Datirimon fairly recently.

"_When did you first meet her?"_

"_Two days ago. An egg appeared in my backyard."_

"_What color's your digivice?"_ Yun asked as she grabbed her digivice and showed it to Daisy. _"Here's mine! Like it?"_

'_Why won't she let me leave?!'_ Daisy thought, surprised that Yun, despite her best intentions, is interrogating her with all of these weird questions. Who knew a twelve-year-old little girl would be so persistent? Despite this, she knew that the girl wasn't asking her all these questions out of malice. She was simply curious. She was a curious girl long ago, just like her, her eyes wide and bright. But despite this, she figured that if she didn't answer her question, she won't get off her back, so she reluctantly pulled out her mint green digivice. It's definitely a very light shade of green, much lighter than Shunji's. Daisy's is the color of mint. It's almost like the exact same shade of green as Terriermon's green parts. Although she was very reluctant to get acquainted with Yun, she had to admit her digivice looks exactly the same as hers, only Yun's is pale green and pale pink.

Yun's emerald eyes widened at the sight of Daisy's mint green digivice. "It's pretty!" She wound up blurting out in Japanese.

'"Kirei."_ That means pretty or beautiful'_ Daisy thought. "Thank you."

"_Oh! I've heard you play your flute a few times. You're very good!"_ Yun told her in English again, trying to keep the conversation going.

'_She heard me? Huh,'_ Daisy thought. "Thank you."

All of a sudden, Daisy felt something shaking in her arms. At first she thought it was Datirimon trying to get out and run around again like she always did, but the little green Digimon in her arms isn't shaking. She's trembling. The little green Digimon's eyes are squeezed shut and her mouth is very contorted, like she's having a nightmare. Her stubby little legs flailed up and down like she's trying to roll out of Daisy's arms. Upon seeing this, her blue green eyes grew slightly big with worry. She hadn't seen Datirimon do this before, and she looked like she was convulsing. Yun and the rabbits didn't find it to be worrying, however. They simply just watched from behind the fence.

"_Datirimon! What's wrong?"_ Daisy asked with worry tinting her low voice. Even though she didn't particularly care for this little green monster before, seeing Datirimon look like she's having an epileptic seizure really started to shake her emotionally. She had seen epileptic seizures before. There was no mistaking it.

Except in this case Datirimon isn't sick, nor is she having a convulsion. All of a sudden, a white light enveloped Datirimon completely, causing Daisy to squeeze her eyes shut.

"Datirimon, digivolve to...Budmon!"

For about a few seconds, the white light blinded the three kids and dissipated as quickly as it appeared. But upon opening her eyes, Daisy was shocked to find that the little Digimon in her arms isn't Datirimon anymore, but something else entirely! A footless, pale green thing with a big leaf for a tail, closed eyes, and three big, pink horns that certainly looked like they contained a venomous poison that could easily kill someone lest they touch one of those sharp looking horns. Many tinier pink spikes dotted her perfectly round, footless green body. Daisy grimaced in pain a little upon feeling one of the spikes poke her palm. But the sight of Datirimon changing into something else entirely...this proved to be too much for her to fully comprehend right off.

"Hey! Datirimon digivolved!" Terriermon exclaimed as he climbed onto Yun's shoulder.

"Isn't that great, Daisy?" Yun asked, obviously looking very happy with Budmon's digivolution. Unfortunately for her, she didn't quite notice Daisy's fright and shock.

'"Yokatta ne?!"_ Is this kid serious?! Why does she think this is great?! And when did Dati-Budmon start talking all of a sudden?! What the freak is going on?!'_ Daisy thought, looking very flabbergasted. Truth be told, Daisy did not know what to think of all this. It's weird enough just having Datirimon around, and now Datirimon's changed into something else entirely.

"Hi! I'm Budmon! Wanna play?" Budmon exclaimed in a slightly lower voice than Datirimon's, but still rather high pitched. Terriermon seemed to understand her.

"Sure! Come on in and play!" Terriermon tried to grab Budmon with his long ears, but Yun stopped him from doing so.

"Wait! We need to ask Daisy if it's okay," Yun told them politely but sternly.

Unfortunately, just as Yun looked away, Daisy squeezed Budmon in her arms and ran into the house like someone on the track team. Yun tried to get her to come back, but Daisy had already ran into the house by then. _'Did I do something wrong? As I usually do?'_ Yun thought as she saw Daisy literally sprint into the house.

"Awww! I wanted to make a new friend!" Terriermon complained as he hopped back into Margot's back yard, disappointed that he couldn't make friends with Budmon.

"She seems like a nice enough girl, but I don't think it'll be really possible to befriend her. We'll only be here for three more days. That, and she may not like opening herself up to people, especially if she doesn't know Japanese," Lopmon explained.

"That's true," Yun muttered.

"...It appears she has a fear of making friends," Lucero said.

Yun and the long eared rabbit siblings turned around to look at him with confused faces. "Huh?"

"How can you tell?" Lopmon asked, flummoxed as to why Lucero can come to such an unexpected conclusion from right out of nowhere. She's seen him do this before, and there's usually always a good reason behind it. But still, even she found it surprising that a kid like him can tell what a person is feeling or acting simply from watching them.

"Her eyes looked very reluctant. Her voice sounded very reluctant. Her body language implied that she wanted to leave the situation immediately. I could feel something stirring in her heart. It appears she doesn't feel very good about being Budmon's partner, nor does the idea of making friends in general," Lucero explained in a whisper.

"Seriously, you can tell all that just from looking at someone? Are you psychic or something?" Yun asked, surprised by everything Lucero just said.

"Not psychic, nay. I can just...tell," Lucero said.

"And not only that, you understood what Daisy was saying. I never knew you could understand English!" Terriermon piped in.

"Me either, and I've never even been formally taught English either...or any other language for that matter," Lucero replied, placing a hand on his chest out of confusion. _'How did I understand her so quickly? Perhaps I was bilingual before I lost my memories?'_ Lucero thought to himself, ruminating over how he's able to understand other languages. He felt weird enough posing as an Italian in school, and as far as he knew, he doesn't know any Italian whatsoever, nor does he speak the language...or maybe he secretly does but doesn't know it?

"It's not just Lucero, either. We can understand her, too. Budmon spoke to us in Japanese when she asked to play. She understood us even though her partner speaks English. I wonder if we Digimon can automatically translate spoken languages since we're digital beings?" Lopmon asked.

"That sounds possible. But when we get back, I'll have to ask Minako about it if we ever get together sometime," Yun said. "We better get inside. I don't want the others to worry or Ayaka to think I'm doing something stupid again."

With that, the two kids and long eared rabbit siblings retreated back into the Ariake house. Despite seeing that Daisy seems nice and caring, she wished that she'd treat Budmon well.

(Note: When Daisy and Budmon are talking to each other alone, their dialogue will not be in italics)

"That was rude, Daisy," Budmon piped in once she and her very confused, very surprised, and very flummoxed American partner ran back into the house and dashed into her plain, undecorated bedroom. Yes, it's exactly as it says on the tin. Daisy's bedroom consists of nothing but a bed with pale yellow pillows and a white, orange, green, and dark yellow bed sheet, a wooden night stand made from mahogany, a little lamp with a pale green lamp shade with pink and yellow flower outlines on them, a stand for her music sheets sitting in the middle of the room, a lighter brown desk with a small black laptop on it, much smaller than Minako's, and an oval shaped mirror next to the window. The walls are beige and completely bare, with nothing on them. No pictures, no wallpaper designs, nothing. There's also quite a few boxes, both big and small, scattered in front of the foot of Daisy's bed, completely unopened, still taped shut.

Daisy found a small band aid in her drawer, opened it, and gently placed it on the pricked area. Once she firmly placed it on her hand, Daisy gave Budmon, who used to be Datirimon, a rather strange look upon hearing the little horned Digimon's rather blunt statement just now. She couldn't believe that a monster with a big leaf for a tail and three poisonous looking horns on her head is calling her rude. Shouldn't Budmon be the rude one for randomly appearing in her backyard as an egg and claiming she owned the place once she hatched? Well, she was a baby after all, and she probably didn't understand that it was rude to just trespass onto someone's property. But now that Budmon can talk, Daisy was determined to get some answers here and now.

"Sorry. But...I really need to get all this out. What are you, exactly?" Daisy asked, her eyes wide with surprise.

"A Digimon. That's short for Digital Monster," Budmon replied in a deadpan tone, not seeing anything wrong with giving her the answer to her question.

'_A Digimon?! What?! They exist?! But that's just an anime! Digimon are real now?! My God, what are Mom and Dad gonna say if they found out?!'_ Daisy thought with even more surprise. She had recognized Lopmon and Terriermon from the cartoon. To think that Digimon are real now...yes, this certainly came as a surprise. But now she has a digivice and a Digimon partner! Budmon tilted her head to one side a bit, a little confused as to why Daisy looks very contorted.

"Is something wrong? You look like you're about to have an epileptic seizure," Budmon asked.

'_Epileptic seizure, my foot! You were the one looking the same before you digivolved!'_ Daisy really wanted to say this, but she decided not to, as she didn't want to hurt Budmon's feelings-if she had any, which it seems she does. Not wanting to disconcert Budmon anymore, Daisy calmed herself down a bit by taking some deep breaths. _'Calm down, Daisy. Budmon's not going to hurt you. She's sweet enough. Calm down. Try not to act like a spaz. That'll just make things worse.'_

Once she did, she decided to ask more questions. "So...question: how are you able to not just understand me, but that little Japanese girl as well?"

"I dunno. It just came naturally to me. Speaking of that little Japanese girl, why'd you freak out when she saw you? She seems nice enough, and she has Digimon, too! Maybe she wanted to be your friend," Budmon told her without any trace of irony or malice in her sweet voice.

'_Please don't talk to me about friends...'_ Daisy thought bitterly. "Sorry. I was just surprised by the fact that she had Digimon, too. I really hope she doesn't tell everyone she knows."

"She seems honest enough, so I don't think she'll tell anyone. Anyway, I promise to keep myself a secret from your parents," Budmon said.

"Thanks," Daisy muttered with a sigh of relief, thankful that Budmon is at least savvy enough to know that Digimon are the stuff of fiction in this world, and that if a human sees a strange monster hopping around and talking, they might say she's bad and send her off to the authorities. But then again, even though Budmon promised she'd keep herself a secret, that would mean Daisy would have no choice but to form some kind of connection with her.

"Oh! Sorry about pricking your hand just now. I didn't mean to do that," Budmon said, feeling a bit guilty upon seeing Daisy put the band aid on her finger.

"It's okay. It was an accident," Daisy said, smoothing out the band aid on her hand.

Budmon glanced at the boxes. "What are those boxes?"

Daisy saw the boxes for a second and then looked away. "The rest of my stuff's in them."

"You're not gonna take them out?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Why bother? As soon as Dad gets new orders, I'll have to put them back in again."

As soon as she began engaging in conversation with Budmon, Daisy felt something rise in her chest. Something warm and soft that put her at ease...and she knew why. But she didn't want to accept this. _'I don't get it. Why am I okay with talking to some alien monster from another world? I should be freaking out like a maniac by now! What if it turns into a creepy monster? Like those youmas and cardians and lemures that Sailor Moon and her friends fight all the time? This shouldn't be real! Not at all! If people see me talking to a talking animal, they'll think I'm crazy. This whole thing is crazy! And yet...'_ Daisy found it outright strange that she's talking to a strange creature that's supposed to be the stuff of fiction. She wondered why she hasn't reported it to the police or the authorities or some kind of secret government agency that specializes in studying and dissecting strange things from space. But something else disturbed her even more than that. _'...Why am I talking to her as though she's my friend? I mean...a monster for a friend...that can't be possible. I shouldn't be doing this. Why aren't I just leaving her alone? Why isn't she leaving? If I be friends with her...No. I can't. I can't...but this digivice confirms that she's my partner, doesn't it?'_ Daisy thought as she stared down at her mint green digivice. Even with all the strangeness that happened in the last couple of days, she knew right off that the digivice set the fact that Budmon is her partner is stone. There's no way she'd be able to deny that fact. She and Budmon are partners now. She wished there was some way to make it so that the digivice never appeared at all.

All of a sudden, she found herself talking again. "How come you're staying with me?"

Budmon hopped onto the pillow upon hearing the question get blurted out. "Huh?"

"Don't you have some kind of family to return to? You're from the Digital World, aren't you?"

Budmon looked down. Daisy couldn't tell if Budmon looked sad or pensive. She wondered if she hurt the little green Digimon's feelings. "...Sorry. Is that a touchy subject?"

"No. I...I want to be here. You kinda look like you need a friend," Budmon replied without any trace of irony in her voice.

Daisy cringed upon hearing the last sentence. _'I knew it...'_ Daisy thought grimly. "Sorry, but...you're in the wrong place."

"Daisy! Breakfast is ready?" A woman's voice called out.

Upon hearing the voice, Daisy immediately hopped off of her bed, opened the window to her room, and was about to go right through her door but stopped upon opening it. She looked over her shoulder right at Budmon. "You ought to leave. If my parents find you, you'll get in trouble, and I don't want that to happen. The window's open. You can leave through there."

With that, Daisy left her room, leaving Budmon alone. Daisy thought she was doing the right thing. As much as she felt appallingly guilty about treating Budmon the way she did, and even she knew the behavior she displayed isn't normally like her, she figured it was the best thing for the little green Digimon. She knew Budmon couldn't stay here. If she were to stay, she'd get in serious trouble if her mother and father discovered her. If Budmon were to leave, she'd spare herself the trouble of getting discovered, and she herself would be spared the chance to connect with her.

That was the thing she really wanted to avoid doing the most.

Little did she know, however, that Budmon didn't get the message, and fate was not going to be on her side this time.

"So Yun, I heard you've made quite a lot of friends upon starting middle school," Margot said at breakfast, which began a little later than usual because the rest of the family had to wake up. Yun opened a banana and began chomping on it like a hungry caterpillar. Hisako drank a mug of coffee that Margot made for her. Ayaka sat at the counter looking at her cell phone. "Tell me about them."

"A lot indeed. There's Otoya-chan, there's Rena-chan and Rikkun, there's Shione-chan, Iniki-chan-Oh! And Mel-chan came back! It turns out she was being thrown around in foster homes because her parents died in a fire a couple years ago-" Yun exclaimed quite cheerfully, feeling happy to talk about her friends with her grandaunt, and was about to elaborate some more until Ayaka shot a rather unsympathetic look at her.

"Keep your voice down! You're gonna wake everybody up!" Ayaka hissed.

"Now now, Ayaka. Teruki's a notoriously heavy sleeper. I don't think the sound of his daughter's voices will bother him much," Margot told her with a smile. Hisako, upon finishing a sip of coffee, wondered if Margot said that to make Ayaka get off of Yun's back.

"Oh, really? Then explain that time Yun kept yelling at me to get off the computer and Dad stomping in and yelling at us in his bathrobe? Sound familiar?" Ayaka explained in an icy voice, which made Yun flinch a little.

"Ayaka, don't start," Hisako said sternly.

"So how've you been, Ayaka? I hear your recitals have gone quite well. I wish I could be there to watch," Margot said. Thankfully, this took Ayaka off of Yun.

"My next recital isn't until another few months, and we're rehearsing like crazy. We're doing hip hop again," Ayaka replied.

"How's school been?"

"Miserable. I brought my history grade up, but kids still hate my guts and the teachers all have it in for me."

"I'm sure it'll get better in due time."

"Not if you're me."

All of a sudden, Margot's phone rang, disturbing the halcyon morning silence that Margot is normally very used to, even when her family is here.

_Blip blip blip bliiiiiiip_

The sound was so sudden that it made Yun cover her ears.

"Sorry about that. I'll get it," Margot said as she scurried over to the old fashioned phone on her counter and answered it. "Hello? Oh hi, Violet! It's been a while since we talked! Yes, my niece and her family are visiting. That's what you saw. I heard Daisy play her flute. She's very talented. Oh? You want to invite us over for tea? How lovely! But I'll have to ask them first. Would you mind hanging on for an eensy bit?" Margot sounded very enthusiastic and cheery while in the conversation with Violet.

Yun's hypersensitive ears picked up on the stream of conversation. But then again, her ears would pick it up anyway since the house is rather quiet regardless. Hisako and Ayaka aren't very noisy people except when they're yelling, so it was easy for Yun to hear Margot talking on the phone. If memory served her right, Violet is Daisy's mother's name. Violet is seriously inviting them to her house? If that's the case, then she might get to talk to Daisy, even though Yun didn't really see any reason to befriend someone she might not get to spend time with for very long, and didn't think it was worth forging a short friendship.

"Hisako. My neighbor wants to invite you all to her house for tea. Would you or Teruki be interested in coming?" Margot asked Hisako.

Hisako's light green eyes lit up gleefully. "Really? Your next door neighbor wants to have us over? How lovely! We'd love to go! But I'd have to ask Teruki first since he doesn't like it when I don't tell him about my plans."

Teruki came into the room right then, and when Margot told him about Violet's proposal, he seemed to like the idea and approved of it, so Margot immediately told Violet that they agreed to come. Violet also suggested they go to the park together also. Soon, Margot finished her conversation with Violet and hung up the phone.

"Why is this person inviting us to her home?" Ayaka asked.

"She's my best friend, and I've told her a lot about you all. She really wants to meet all of you," Margot explained.

Ayaka sighed in exasperation, not looking too keen on the idea. _'I know for a fact that Mom's gonna drag Yun along. Come on, can't she just stay here?! She's just gonna ruin everything and act like an ungrateful brat like she always does!'_ Ayaka thought as she sipped a glass of water.

"That's nice," Yun said.

"Don't get too comfortable, Yun. You're coming too," Hisako told her.

"Why?"

"Violet's particularly interested in meeting you," Margot said.

"Why? I'm nobody worth wanting to meet! Can't I stay here?" Yun asked, surprised by the fact that Hisako wants to take her to the house of someone she doesn't even know despite the fact that Margot knows this person well.

Ayaka stood up in alarm and gave Yun a very choleric look. "Yun! You're so rude, you know that?! If someone asks you to come to their house, you can't just reject them and ask to stay home! Don't you realize how ungrateful you're acting right now?!" Ayaka screamed.

"Ayaka! Don't yell in this house!" Teruki scolded.

"_You're_ always telling _me_ that I'll ruin everything whenever I go anywhere with anyone! _You're_ the rude one!" Yun snapped back and stomped out of the dining room.

Yun went into the bedroom with the two beds and slumped back onto the bed she slept in. She buried her face in the pillow, but she didn't cry. How can Ayaka be so contradictory? She has the audacity to call Yun rude, but truthfully, Ayaka's the one who acts rude not just to her family, but to everyone else as well. Ayaka's done lots of rude things, yet has the nerve to tell Yun that SHE'S the rude one. Yun could think of much ruder things than simply rejecting someone's invitation to their house. Ayaka has absolute disregard for both her parents and authority in other places, is getting really bad grades in school, chases people away with her bad attitude, constantly jumps to conclusions and flips out over the littlest things, and is always making drama out of something. Yun knew there was a word for someone who knowingly says they're going to do something good but behind peoples' backs they do bad things, but she couldn't remember what it was. Whatever. She'd rather put up with Daisy than deal with Ayaka any day.

Despite not really wanting to go, she decided to go anyway on the condition that she bring Lucero and the bunnies with her. Admittedly, it took a lot of begging to bring them along, especially since Ayaka heard about it and flipped out yet again. Yun didn't want to tell them that Daisy already knows about the Digimon and really didn't want to risk making people find out that Daisy has a Digimon. If she revealed Budmon to everyone else, Daisy might get angry and probably accuse Yun of deliberately telling them about Budmon for her own ends. If there's anything Yun hated, it's being misunderstood and accused of having malicious ulterior motive for anything and everything. Later, when Teruki had his coffee, the family went next door to the Miller house. They were greeted by Violet, who has short but shaggy light brown hair that stood up all over the place, not perfectly straight and long like Daisy's.

Yun didn't partake in any conversation amongst her family and the Millers. She was too interested in looking at everything, and Hisako and Teruki didn't mind, since she always does this whenever they go to other peoples' houses. Not to snoop around or anything. Yun's not a snooper. She just likes looking at new things in peoples' houses, like paintings or decorations or anything of the like. Since Hisako's good at English as well, she and Violet managed to converse amongst each other rather well. Teruki's English is still rusty so he had to rely on either Margot or Hisako to translate for him. After a short while, however, Violet made Daisy come down to meet everyone. As Yun could tell, Daisy did NOT look very interested in acquainting herself with all these strange new people that she's never seen before. Violet suggested that Yun and Daisy go into her room to hang out. The two girls went into her room. Daisy looked out her window and let out an exasperated sigh similar to what Ayaka did earlier. Yun figured an explanation was needed.

"_Umm...sorry about this. Grandaunt made us all come. I wanted to stay at the house, but my sister yelled at me, and Mom wouldn't let me stay,"_ Yun explained as kindly as she could.

Daisy muttered something under her breath in the hopes that Yun wouldn't hear it, but her amplified hearing helped her make out something like, _"Why do I have to deal with all this?"_ Yun could tell she looked very anxious, but it was more along the lines of angry anxious, like Teruki would get whenever he was having a bad day. Daisy brushed some of her blonde hair out of her face. _"...It's okay. I get it."_

"Hi Yun!" Budmon exclaimed.

"Hi Budmon!" Terriermon exclaimed.

"Wanna play?"

"Sure!"

"I don't think that's such a good idea..." Yun gently grabbed Terriermon's ear, keeping him from playing with Budmon. Even Yun could see that Daisy looked very antsy upon seeing the lop-eared rabbit and the little leaf Digimon try to play together.

Yun is just oblivious to the myriad of thoughts running through Daisy's apprehensive mind. _'Why?! Why me?! First this strange monster appears in my backyard, then she refuses to leave even AFTER I advised her to do so, and now Mom deliberately invited these people over! Can it get any worse?! I know this girl didn't mean for all this visit to happen and was dragged here, but still! It's bad enough we never stay in one place for very long!'_ Daisy yelled in her head. Being the collected person she is, she chose not to voice these thoughts out of fear that she may scare Yun, whom she knows isn't the cause of everything that's happening.

"_Do...do you have any brothers or sisters?"_ Yun asked, wondering if starting a conversation would break the slightly oppressive atmosphere a bit.

"_No."_

"_Be glad you're an only child, because Ayaka's NOT a sister you want to put up with. She's SUCH a drama queen! She's always flipping out over the stupidest little things! Mostly at me, even when I'm not even doing anything!"_

Daisy couldn't help but let a smile tickle her face. _"I'll bet,"_ She then caught sight of Lopmon. _"Your Digimon are cute."_

"_Thanks! They're my bestest friends! Maybe Budmon here can be your best friend too!"_

Immediately, Daisy's smile faded. _'They're her friends...she's lucky. She doesn't have to move everywhere.'_

"Hey! Daisy! Why are you so quiet? Don't you wanna talk to Yun a little?" Budmon exclaimed.

Daisy was about to say something when suddenly a white light flashed outside Daisy's window. Then, out of nowhere, a loud THUD sound could be heard despite the fact that the window is closed.

"_...What was that?"_ Daisy asked, shocked by the sudden thud, which could easily be mistaken for a small earthquake.

"_I saw a light flash beyond your backyard. Wanna go check it out?"_ Yun asked.

Daisy couldn't help but agree, shaking her head. The window goes right out to her backyard, so Daisy opened the window and allowed Yun and the rabbits to go out first. Once Daisy came out, they found the gate leading outside the backyard, opened it, and ran past it. They passed some big trees and were about to go further until Daisy stopped Yun.

"Wait! I hear voices!" Daisy told her in Japanese, putting her arm in front of Yun to keep her from running any further.

"Let's be careful. It might be dangerous," Lopmon told Budmon.

"Okay," Budmon said.

Soon, Yun heard the voices that Daisy was talking about...and the suspicion of potential danger immediately left her mind as soon as she heard them.

"Ugh! Riku! Get your foot out of my face!"

That was Hokuto's voice.

"Why are your glasses in my hair?"

That was Otoya's voice.

"Get off me, Kosuke-kun! You're squishing me and ruining my feathers!"

That was Biyomon's voice...or rather, Yokomon's.

"I know who those are..." Yun muttered out loud, walking right past Daisy and right into the trees. _'I know those voices anywhere...'_ Yun thought to herself once she and Daisy made it to the clearing where the source of the voices came from.

There, she found the Digimon Brigade and all of their Digimon in their in-training forms, lying on the grass, on top of each other like they're a little pile of humans. They all look extremely tired, emaciated, and worn out, like they had all just come out of some epic Digimon war. Otoya pulled herself out of the pile first, removed Hokuto's glasses from her hair and handed them back to him. Hokuto haphazardly put his glasses back on as Kyaromon pulled a leaf out of his frizzy hair. She turned to the rest of the brigade, with arms crossed and an expression full of disappointment. Particularly at Kosuke, who gently pulled Bukamon off of Tokomon.

"Kosuke! Why didn't you listen to me when that freaky Digimon was attacking us?!" Otoya scolded once Kosuke gently pushed Nyaromon off of his shoulder.

"You're the one who told us about its weak spot in the first place!" Kosuke argued back.

"Just because I tell you something doesn't mean you have to recklessly charge in there and attack it without thinking about what could happen afterward! You know what happens if you just dive into a situation without thinking!"

"Isao was the one doing that! I was just trying to stop him!" Kosuke exclaimed angrily, unashamedly pointing to a very guilt-ridden Isao.

"I was just trying to help!" Isao snapped sadly.

Before they could argue any further, Riku's voice pulled them out of it, his emerald eyes wide with shock and surprise, which slowly turned to eagerness and joy. "Whoa! I don't believe it! Yun!"

Riku literally leaped onto Yun, gave her a quick hug, and gripped her shoulders. He didn't seem to understand or notice that he surprised Yun with his appearance, along with the rest of the Digimon Brigade. "I never thought we'd see you here! Just the person I wanted to see! You're NEVER going to believe what happened! See, everyone and I were hanging out on the football field when Lilithmon and a bunch of other Digimon just up and took us to the Digital World! She tried to take us all to MoonMillenniummon's inner sanctum so he could destroy us or something, but the Digimon here digivolved and managed to fight her and her weird as heck army off! Right in the middle of the Net Ocean! You should have seen QueenWhamon out there! She was flippin' awesome! She totally knocked Lilithmon into the water with her gigantic tail! But on our side we got knocked up pretty good, so the Digimon are kinda weak. She had this HUGE army of undersea Digimon along with these weird little things called Phascomons. My God, they were annoying as heck to fight off! Not only that, they were too strong for a lot of us even though we managed to get the upper hand. The Digimon were awesome out there regardless, and-"

"Uhh...Riku?" Sunmon's voice pulled Riku out of his excited but generally one-sided talk with Yun.

"What?"

"Look," Rena pointed to Daisy. Everyone else turned to look at the two girls. Everyone's eyes widened with shock. They all became frozen in place as surprise freezed them like they were trapped in a freezer. Daisy looked even more surprised than they were, but it didn't change the fact that Riku unknowingly released top secret information right in front of her.

"...Oh snap," That was all that came out of Minako's mouth.

"It's okay!" Yun exclaimed as she gently clutched Daisy's arm, which made her look right toward her. "This is Daisy! She has a Digimon, too! She's American so she can't understand a thing you're saying."

"Hi!" Budmon exclaimed. All of a sudden, all of the in-training Digimon flooded in front of Budmon excitedly.

"Hi! Sorry we kinda dropped out of the sky. Some weird stuff happened," Nyaromon said.

"You're cool! Wanna play with us?" Xiaomon asked kindly. Budmon smiled brightly.

"Sure! I'd love to!" Budmon chirped.

"Cool! Let's play tag!" Tsunomon exclaimed cheerfully and invited Budmon to play with them, which the little green and pink Digimon happily accepted.

"Tag! You're it, Yokomon!" Moonmon gently tapped one of Yokomon's green leaves and hopped away.

"Hey! Who says you get to tag someone first?!" Yokomon yelled as she chased after the playful Moonmon. So did everyone else until Sunmon stopped to look at Yun and the rabbits.

"Hi guys! Nice to see you!" Sunmon chirped abruptly, then raced off to run away from Yokomon.

Bukamon then hopped in front of the rabbits. "Wanna play tag with us?"

"No thanks, but thank you for offering," Lopmon said.

"Okay," Bukamon said, then raced away from an angry Yokomon.

"So...what happens now?" Aria asked with a very flummoxed and confused look on her face.

Daisy bent down to Yun's level to get closer to her face. "Who are these kids?" She asked in Japanese.

"They're my friends. Don't worry. They're good," Yun told her. Daisy nodded in response. Yun took this as her understanding what she said.

Once the Digimon Brigade kids let the fact that Daisy saw them dawn on them, they calmed down and sat down on the grass, inviting Yun, Daisy, and the rabbits to do so as well. As ordered, they promptly did, and Otoya decided to take the liberty of telling them what they were doing before they ended up here in Morioka, from the time Lilithmon kidnapped them up to the reckless stunt that Isao tried to pull, while the Digimon played and chased each other around to their heart's content, unaware of the conversation that's going on.

"...and that's about it," Otoya finished her story, then looked around, observing the strange new surroundings around them. "What is this place anyway?"

"Morioka. My relatives live here," Yun told her swiftly.

"I'll have to make a note of this," Minako muttered as she pulled out a little notebook and began writing in it with a dark blue pen.

"Where's Shunji at?" Terriermon asked.

"He hasn't been around lately. His grandfather's in the hospital so he has to take care of him and his grandmother," Kosuke explained.

"How sad..." Yun muttered softly to herself, secretly praying for Shunji's grandfather's health and recovery.

"I kinda got greedy and took the role of the leader for you so I could try and keep everyone in line...and I really need to work on that," Otoya explained. She then shot a rather choleric glare at Isao, who noticed and looked right away. "Isao-kun here almost got us all killed because he tried to attempt a sneak attack on that Digimon we ran into!"

"I'm sorry! I was just trying to help! Really!" Isao shouted back, looking and sounding like he's about to burst into tears at any moment.

"I know you were, but you have to understand that there are times when you can act and when you can't! That thing was really dangerous! You could have made things a lot worse for us!"

"I don't like sitting around and doing nothing! Someone had to do something!"

"We get that, but when you're about to do something, you HAVE to think about how it'll affect the people around you! You're lucky Kosuke stopped you from doing anything worse!"

"She's right, y'know. You can't just charge at him without thinking, even if you're aiming for his weak spot. You have to wait until the time is right to do something so nobody will get hurt," Kosuke told him, in a less sharp tone.

Isao buried his hands in his arms and looked like he was going to cry. "I'm sorry...really I am...I wasn't trying to let everyone get hurt..." He muttered in his chubby little hands sadly. Aria ambled over to him and proceeded to rub his back with her hand, hoping that this will tell him that she accepts his apology and understands that he wasn't trying to hurt anyone. She knows for a fact that Isao is very kind and chivalrous. He just gets a bit too excited and reckless sometimes, but it doesn't mean he's trying to be mean or insensitive to the plight of the others.

"I think that's enough scolding for today, Otoya. He gets it," Melody told her not in a caustic manner, but with a soft, kind voice, matching up with an equally kind gaze in her brown eyes. Upon seeing this, Otoya finally relented. This came as yet another surprise for Yun. Normally, Melody isn't one to act like a parent or take charge when someone is getting scolded. More often than not, she's the one doing the yelling. But to actually tell someone that they've done enough scolding for one chaotic and hectic day? This is quite a first for her. But then again, Melody has been changing a lot since Biyomon digivolved into ultimate level, so maybe it isn't so surprising after all.

"Heh, it's kinda cool to see that somebody from another country has a Digimon, too!" Riku piped in, hoping to dispel the oppressive atmosphere caused by Otoya's scolding of Isao. Daisy looked away when Riku looked at her. "Hi! I'm Riku!"

'_Riku? He's named after the Kingdom Hearts character? Huh...that's interesting...'_ Daisy thought as Riku's name rang a bell in her head. But she knew that he doesn't understand English, and there was no way he'd be able to understand her. None of them would. She really didn't want to talk to them, but she knew it was rude to be invited to someone's place and not say anything while they're there. There'd be no way for her to communicate with them.

"So does she only speak English?" Minako asked.

"Yeah. No Japanese. But she and I can talk to each other since I'm good at English. And guess what! Lucero understands English too!" Yun explained, then got excited upon mentioning Lucero.

"Huh? He understands English?" Kosuke asked, tilting his head to one side in confusion.

"No way! Prove it!" Melody asked gruffly, crossing her arms similar to how Otoya did earlier.

"Yun!" Lucero's voice echoed among the trees.

"Speak of the devil," Otoya said as Lucero and Cutemon both made it to the clearing.

"Yun! There thou art! Hisako-dono and-whaaaa?!" Lucero was about to tell Yun to return to the Miller house when he yelped upon seeing every single Digimon Brigade member (except for Shunji) sitting right in front of him.

"Hi Lucero!" Tsunomon called out to him once he and the other Digimon stopped playing, exacerbating his sheer surprise.

"Wha...wha...wha...what are you all doing here?! How did you all get here?!" Lucero yelped.

"We kinda dropped in by accident," Hokuto told him without any trace of irony in his voice. He decided to spare Otoya the pain of having to explain everything over again by taking the liberty to do so himself. Once he finished, Lucero's surprise dissipated and he regained his equanimity.

"Oh. Now I see. I apologize for my fright," Lucero bowed before Hokuto, feeling guilty for being so shocked before.

"It's okay. We didn't expect all this to happen either. Sorry we scared you," Hokuto told him reassuringly.

Unbeknownst to everyone else, Daisy watched the scene going on around her, feeling like her insides are doing multiple backflips over and over again. _'Oh lord! First Yun finds out about Budmon and now her friends drop out of the sky! And THEY have Digimon too?! I think my brain is gonna explode...'_ Daisy thought with fear overtaking her. None of the children or Digimon bothered to notice Daisy's growing anxiety. Melody and Minako, however, suddenly locked Daisy in place with their combined gazes. Melody, with her arms crossed, walked right up to Daisy and stared her down.

"Alright! Spill the beans! Who are you and why are you hanging around Yun? You're not planning to attack her with your Digimon, are you?" Melody asked, her voice low, her tone cynical, and her tongue as sharp as ever, which rightfully shocked Minako and Yun.

"Mel-chan! Don't accuse her of stuff like that! She doesn't look like that kind of person!" Yun scolded, rightfully and understandably shocked by Melody's very open insinuation despite the fact that this red and black haired girl has gotten better with not jumping to conclusions about people.

"You don't know that! What if she's like Nayuki? Not all people who have Digimon are nice like you! Besides, it's not like she can understand what I'm saying anyway!" Melody argued back, then turned to Minako. "Right, Minako?"

"Minako?" All of a sudden, Daisy's eyes lit up and she suddenly stood in front of Minako with a very confused but excited look on her face. _"_Minako?! _Minako?! Like Aino Minako?! From Sailor Moon?!"_

Despite not knowing English herself despite being the smart one in the Digimon Brigade, Minako could hear the name Aino Minako and the words Sailor Moon clear as day and immediately became excited herself. "Yes! You like Sailor Moon, too?! Awesome! Who's your favorite sailor soldier?"

Despite not being fluent in Japanese, she did manage to understand what Minako said and smiled. "Lita!"

"Oh dear. Another Sailor Moon fan..." Kosuke muttered under his breath and facepalmed, which made Hokuto and Rena chuckle nervously a bit.

Minako tilted her head to one side. "...there's no character named Rita in the story..."

"_Oh,"_ Daisy said, feeling stupid for saying something no Japanese person would understand. _'That's right. Lita's just her English dubbed name. Her Japanese name is Kino Makoto. I better go with that instead,'_ Daisy thought. "...Makoto. Sailor Jupiter."

"Jupiter? Oh! I get it now! She's really cool and strong! My favorite is Venus, and my mother named me after her!" Minako said, finally understanding who she meant and went back to being jovial again, happy to meet another fellow Sailor Moon fan.

Melody's cynical demeanor finally dissipated upon seeing this jovial exchange. "Huh. If she likes Sailor Moon, then I guess she can't be a bad person after all..."

"Hey! Why are your bangs red?" Budmon suddenly appeared at Melody's feet as she asked this question. Unlike most people, however, Melody didn't get scared and yelp. Instead, she simply smiled and pulled some of her red bangs out of her face.

"I dyed them myself," Melody replied nonchalantly, feeling that talking to Budmon was no different from talking to her friends.

"You can change your hair color? Cool!" Budmon hopped a little upon hearing her response.

Hokuto was about to say something until he saw a digital portal appear right over Daisy's head. His cobalt blue eyes, despite being hidden by his big, round glasses, widened with dread as he suddenly ran toward Daisy and pushed her out of the digital portal's vicinity.

"Get down!" Hokuto yelled as he accidentally found himself lying on top of a surprised Daisy.

"Ugh! They're back again!" Rena cried out with disgust.

Daisy was about to yell at this strange, bespectacled kid for jumping on her until she laid eyes on why he did it. The thing that popped out from the digital portal is another Digimon. A furry little thing about slightly bigger than Lopmon and Terriermon, with a thick coat of dark brown fur, matching Yun's hair color, sleepy looking dark brown eyes with red scars going over them, big ears with purple insides, a huge, black, oval-shaped nose, two little curved silver horns protruding from the top of its head, little red bat wings which are much too small to support its weight, little black feet, and sharp looking black and red claws. A little light grey devil tail protruded from its behind.

One looked bad enough. But as soon as that one appeared, ten more followed.

"Careful, Yun! Those are Phascomon! They were some of the Digimon we had to fight in the Digital World, and their attacks are Evil Snore and Eucalyptus Claw!" Rena exclaimed fearfully as she grabbed Moonmon.

"The latter attack paralyzes its opponents!" Kyaromon shouted.

"Evil Snore!" One Phascomon made a black wavy substance appear from its eyes, which Lopmon saw coming quickly.

"Freezing Snow!" Thankfully, being as small and agile as she is, Lopmon acted right away and managed to freeze the strange substance before it could make contact with her.

"Hokuto, Aria, and Isao! Take the Digimon with you and hide somewhere! They're too weak to fight!" Otoya commanded. The trio nodded in response and led some of the in-training Digimon away.

Two of them, however, weren't going to take things lying down.

Sunmon and Moonmon immediately leaped out of the arms of their partners and joined Lopmon, Terriermon, Cutemon, and Budmon despite being weak and outnumbered.

"Sunmon! Get back!" Riku demanded but Sunmon didn't listen.

"Moonmon! No!" Rena tried to grab Moonmon but her prosthetic leg almost slipped off of her stump.

"Dark Burst!" Moonmon encased herself in a purple and black light which made some of the Phascomon cover their eyes.

"Starlight!" Sunmon encased himself in a pale orange and yellow light, which made the other Phascomon cover their eyes because of the intense brightness.

"I'll help out too!" Budmon edicted bravely, throwing herself into the fray, much to Daisy's horror.

"_Budmon! You can't!"_ Daisy tried to grab Budmon but a Phascomon jumped on her and made her scream.

"Daisy!" Seeing this, Yun immediately clutched both of the Phascomon's tiny little wings with her own chubby little hands and yanked on them so hard that it made the strange demon creature yelp, but it didn't let go, as it was very intent on digging its claws into Daisy's skin.

"Oh, no you don't!" Thankfully, Yun, despite never really being very physically strong, managed to pry the unruly creature off of Daisy and literally threw it against some of its friends, knocking them to the ground. She then turned to the other kids. "Everyone! Use your digilassos to round up these rabid monsters!" Yun commanded.

"Way ahead of you, sister!" Otoya winked, smiled, and gave Yun a proud thumb's up as she got her digivice out.

"_Daisy! You join in, too! Your digivice can be used as a weapon!"_ Yun told the very surprised, bespectacled American girl with confidence.

"_It...can?"_ Daisy asked once Melody managed to successfully roundup two Phascomon in one digilasso, looking very proud of her noble deed just now.

"Poison Thorns!" Budmon managed to fire the three big pink horns on her head right at three Phascomon, knocking them out instantly.

Although scared, Daisy decided to heed Yun's invitation and think of her digivice as a lasso. Then, a white light shot out of her digivice, looking like a string of spaghetti that didn't quite come out right. Just as Lucero managed to punch one Phascomon in the face, Daisy decided that this was the opportunity to try and wrap one up.

"_Okay...here goes nothing!"_ Daisy threw the lasso at Phascomon...but it missed and wound up going a few meters away from it. _"Ugh! I missed!"_

"Terrier Tornado!" Terriermon spun around swiftly and managed to ram himself against two Phascomon.

"Ultrasonic Wave!" Cutemon's amplified voice made everyone, the Phascomon included, cover their ears in fright, even though the sound vibrated in the insides of their ears regardless. Once Cutemon's attack ended, Rena and Riku found an opportunity to pin one Phascomon down on the grass.

"Lopmon! This one's yours!" Rena exclaimed.

"Freezing Snow!" Lopmon froze the Phascomon in ice but didn't kill it. No, she didn't want to kill it. Once it was encased in ice, Rena got her digivice out, opened a portal, and allowed the big chunk of ice to fall in.

"One down, a few more to go," Riku muttered.

Unfortunately for Lopmon, she was oblivious of the fact that a Phascomon snuck up on her, attempting to land one of its claws on her.

"Eucalyptus Claw!"

"NO!" Terriermon was the only one who was able to act quickly, as everyone else was too busy trying to handle the rest of the annoying Phascomon. The Phascomon's glowing red claw wrapped itself around Terriermon's neck, causing a painful, numbing sensation to encase his entire body.

"Terriermon!" Lopmon cried out sadly upon seeing her brother take the hit. Phascomon, strangely enough, let him go before attempting to hit Lucero if it weren't for him punching it in the face.

"Terriermon! Are you alright?! I'm so sorry!" Lopmon cried as she ran to her fallen brother. Terriermon tried to get up, but his body wouldn't listen.

"It's alright. Nobody messes with you. Not on my watch," Terriermon muttered.

"Don't worry, Lopmon. He's just paralyzed. We've been attacked by them before. It'll go away in an hour," Moonmon explained kindly once Yun gently cradled the weak and limp rabbit in her arms.

Daisy tried to use the digilasso again, but a Phascomon jumped on her head and yanked on her hair really hard, causing her to scream in pain. Her hands flew to the knave's fur and she tried to yank it off similar to how Yun tried to earlier.

"_GET OFF!"_ Daisy screamed, her voice going up quite a few octaves as she helplessly tried to remove the pesky little demon brat off of her hair. She was not going to let this stupid little thing eat her hair.

"Get off her, you brute!" Budmon rammed her horns into the Phascomon's rear end, causing it to roar in pain and direct its claw to her instead.

"_Budmon! No!"_ Daisy yelled, surprised at Budmon's reckless move, and tried to save her from the annoying little beast. But something else confused her even more. _'Why am I doing this? Why am I trying to save a monster that shouldn't even be real? This is crazy! None of this is my business! I have no reason to help a little monster! I should just leave her alone! I should just leave her alone! I can't afford to be attached to anyone anymore!'_ Daisy thought in the spur of the moment, not realizing that the Phascomon now has its claw wrapped around her throat.

"DAISY!" Budmon screamed before finding herself enveloped by a white light and slowly growing bigger.

"Budmon, digivolve to..."

Once she got quite big, about the size of a five year old girl, only wider and plumper, the light dissipated and out came a different creature. The creature has a light green body with only two fingerless and toeless arms and legs, with a pale pink head that looks like an upside down flower. Protruding from the top of her head is a yellow plant with two leaves. Three black dots, one smaller and closer to the bottom of her head than the other, decorated her plain, expressionless face.

"...Lalamon!"

'_She digivolved again?!'_ Daisy thought before the Phascomon released her, not feeling herself be paralyzed unlike Terriermon. Perhaps the Phascomon was too surprised by Lalamon's sudden digivolution to really care about her anymore.

"You're gonna pay for putting my partner in danger! Seed Blast!" Lalamon yelled bravely as she suddenly shot a barrage of glowing yellow seeds at not just that Phascomon, but the remaining army as well, all of which found it very hard to fight back because of how fast they came.

"Sing-A-Song," Once Lalamon finished assaulting them all with her barrage of seeds, she began singing, and as she did, glowing, multi colored musical notes floated out of her mouth and surrounded every single Phascomon, putting them all to sleep. "There ya go. You can send them back to the Digital World now," Lalamon said once she finished singing and every single Phascomon was put to sleep.

"Can I do it? Please?" Aria asked Yun, suddenly appearing from behind the trees. Yun nodded. "Yay! Thank you!" Aria hugged Yun in gratitude for a bit, then let her go. She opened her digivice, pressed the door button, and aimed her digivice at all the Phascomon, who are all now in one place. A digital portal appeared under all of them, and they all fell right in. All the kids fell to their knees in relief.

"God, I thought they'd never leave!" Kosuke complained. The in-training Digimon now found it safe to return to their partners.

"Hey Lalamon! You look really cool!" Tsunomon exclaimed with a smile.

"You were awesome out there!" Nyaromon cried out cheerfully.

"High five!" Bukamon held up one of her fins and allowed Lalamon to gently slap it.

"Thanks!" Lalamon chirped sweetly.

"So...what are you all going to do?" Yun asked the entire Digimon Brigade.

"We'll stick around for a bit longer, at least until the Digimon can digivolve so we can fly back home," Melody said.

"Be sure nobody sees you or the Digimon. Okay?" Cutemon suggested with fair warning.

"Okay," Kosuke said as he picked Tokomon up.

"You be careful, too. Who knows what Lilithmon and the others might be up to," Kyaromon advised.

"I agree. They've gotten very dangerous and bold as of late. You'd best be on your guard," Xiaomon backed Kyaromon's warning. Yun and the Digimon nodded.

"We must get back to the house. Your parents are getting worried," Lucero told Yun and Daisy, both of whom promptly said goodbye to the Digimon Brigade and headed back to the Miller house. After a while, the Wakamiyas left the Miller house, and Daisy found herself alone in her room with Lalamon.

"The Digimon Brigade are such nice people! I'd love to play with them again!" Lalamon chirped happily as she floated around the room, jubilant for her newfound freedom and digivolution.

Daisy couldn't help but smile as she watched this strange little flower fly around her room. Even though she's a bit shaken up from all the craziness that's been happening, she silently cursed herself for questioning Lalamon's intentions before, especially after that reckless stunt she pulled as Budmon. "Lalamon...thanks for saving me," Daisy muttered softly.

Lalamon turned around, which signified that she heard Daisy loud and clear. "Sure! What are friends for?"

Friends. Again, Daisy cringed slightly upon hearing that word. But upon further rumination, befriending humans and befriending animals are very different things entirely. She had long given up on making friends with people, since they never did last. She had gradually lost contact with the ones she did make in her life, figuring that they forgot about her or didn't care anymore. She remembered having a dog once, which she adored very much, but it was hit by a car. Lalamon...is a different entity entirely. Lalamon isn't human nor is she an animal, a big, talking flower to be more precise, but maybe it'll be nice to have a cute, snuggly little animal monster to be with. Lalamon would be all hers to love and care for, and she (Lalamon) would love Daisy unconditionally. Like a puppy, but much better.

But then again, just like in the shows, Lalamon would have to go away someday. Daisy cursed herself for thinking of spending her life with Lalamon. After all, she went through too many tragic partings in her life, and she didn't want to be attached, despite Lalamon's genuine openness and downright contagious cheery and sunny demeanor. She wondered how the Digimon Brigade would be able to handle the fact that they may lose their Digimon some day. How can they be so attached to their Digimon? How can they be so attached to each other? She didn't want to ponder it any longer.

"I should probably get practicing," Daisy said as she rummaged through a dark brown book bag. She pulled out some music sheets, but something else fell out. Something much smaller than the music sheets. Lalamon saw it and picked it up. Lalamon gazed upon the picture, intently taking in its contents.

In the picture is Daisy, whose hair was a bit shorter than it is now, looking very happy and jovial, her eyes bright with joy despite being hidden behind a pair of glasses. The Daisy in this picture is wearing a pale yellow shirt underneath an orange tank top, a light green skirt with darker green stripes that goes to her knees, and a pair of brown boots with slightly high heels but not too high like the ones those flashy fashion models wear. The girl next to her is in a wheelchair, with shorter black hair tied in a ponytail with a pink scrunchie and brown eyes. The girl has much darker skin than Daisy, resembling the color of chocolate. The dark skinned girl in the wheelchair is wearing a red dress, a light brown cardigan with yellow pockets, white socks, and pink and black sneakers.

"Daisy? Who's this girl?" Lalamon asked innocently as she showed Daisy the picture. Without even looking at it, Daisy yanked the picture from Lalamon's stubby little arm and stuffed it back into her book bag without so much as a second thought.

"Just an old acquaintance, that's all. I need to practice. Want to watch?" Daisy said as she put the music sheets on a stand and got her flute out.

"Sure," Lalamon said. However, Daisy taking the picture as quickly as she saw it seemed very unsettling to the plant Digimon. Who is the girl in the wheelchair? Someone she knew? A friend? Someone she loves? Someone she hates? Lalamon wished Daisy didn't act so detached. _'What is it about being near people that scares her so much?'_ Lalamon couldn't help but wonder as she found herself lost in the waves of Daisy's flute music.


	102. SSE3: Accepting One's Friendship

Digimon: A Seraphic Tale Side Story: Daffodils and Daisies

EPISODE 3: Accepting One's Friendship

Once the visit at the Miller house ended, the Wakamiyas went to the Ariake house to visit John, Kurako, and their children. Yun found herself much more comfortable there than she was at the Miller house, and got along well with her aunt, uncle, and cousins. Yun did, however, notice that Inori often watched her from afar, and whenever Yun would try to approach her Ukraine-born cousin, she would run away as quickly as she came, similar to the way Hokuto acted when she first met him. Yun found herself finding a lot of similarities between Hokuto and Inori, as they have many things in common. Both of them have gone through traumatic events involving their parents, have been forced to adjust to completely different lives and lifestyles because of the very sudden changes, and both are a bit distrusting of new people, except Hokuto has gotten much better at socializing and adapting to change since he befriended the Digimon Brigade despite his experiences being worse and much more complex than Inori's. Yun wasn't so sure about Inori, considering how recent her trauma and adoption has been. Then again, Yun started realizing that Inori and Daisy have quite a bit in common as well. Both are foreign, are living in foreign countries they're not used to, and are very reluctant to get close to people and choose to avoid social contact with others.

However, later in the day, that last part about Inori would soon change the minute Yun found herself alone with the rabbits. Yun took Lopmon and Terriermon by the pool, which is covered and not in use as of right now, and slowly gave them pieces of potato chips and apple slices that she snuck out from the dinner table, even though Kurako provided the food for everyone anyway. Lopmon ate the apple slices while Terriermon ate the potato chips. Yun had to admit, even though they're siblings, Lopmon and Terriermon are starkly different, all the way down to their preferences for food. Lopmon prefers consuming healthy food while Terriermon prefers eating junk food, though he claims he can eat just about anything and everything.

"I feel so bad dragging you out to all these new places and then keeping you quiet so people won't realize what you are. Sorry about this," Yun told them, feeling guilty about not letting them roam around freely, even though she knew this is for the best since John, Kurako, and the cousins may not take the fact that they're talking bunnies that can walk around and show off their powers very well.

"It's alright. It's not your fault. Besides, you feel a lot better if we're around so I don't mind at all!" Terriermon told her with a smile on his chubby little face as he chewed on a potato chip.

"By feel better do you mean more comfortable?" Yun asked, a little stumped as to what Terriermon meant by that statement.

"Yeah. You prefer having us around at all times, and I can tell that makes you feel safe and secure, and I live for making people I love feel safe and secure," Terriermon explained as he took an apple slice from Lopmon, who didn't really mind considering she felt full anyway.

"That, and she can't just leave us at Margot's house either. We don't know our way around, and Margot may discover us if we're not careful. So will everyone else," Lopmon told them.

"Exactly. I do hope Daisy's parents don't find out about Lalamon. They seem nice and all, but I don't think they'd take Lalamon's presence too well either," Yun told her.

"Hey Yun! Random question: do you wanna be friends with this Daisy girl?" Terriermon asked out of the blue.

"Huh?"

"You heard what I said."

"Well..." Admittedly, Yun is quite flabbergasted by not just Terriermon's question, but the sheer bluntness he displayed when asking it. She knew that he isn't doing it to be mean. He's just naturally curious, that's all, so Yun felt obliged to answer him. "As much as I'd like to, I don't think I can. I mean, we're only gonna be here for a few days, so...I don't want to risk getting attached to someone I...might not be able to see ever again."

"You can get her phone number. Maybe she has an e-mail address," Terriermon suggested.

"Yeah. But like Lucero said, Daisy doesn't look like she wants to be friends with anyone, so I'd best not annoy her like I do with everyone else. I don't want to get on her bad side, even though I tend to do that more often than not," Yun told him.

"You're not annoying, and I can tell you don't mean to be either. I'm sure Daisy is a nice person. But I can see what you're getting at," Lopmon told her.

"Yeah. I think Mel-chan went a bit too far in assuming Daisy might be like Nayuki. I don't see her (Daisy) abusing Lalamon and beating her up over stupid stuff," Yun said.

"That's true. I think Daisy and Lalamon will get along very well...if she were to open her heart, that is. But I'm sure she has her reasons," Lopmon said.

"I know Mel-chan, Hokuto-kun, and Otoya-chan had a hard time trusting people because of bad experiences that they went through, kinda like Inori-chan, but they got better because of the Digimon, so maybe Lalamon can help Daisy be less uptight," Yun said.

"Actually, it's not just the Digimon that helped Mel, Hokuto, and Otoya trust people again. You played a part in that, too," Terriermon blurted out.

"Huh? How did I help them trust people? I couldn't help people if I tried!" Yun exclaimed, a little thrown off by Terriermon's blunt but well-intentioned statement.

"Yes you have! Mel didn't think anyone could be honest or kind because one of her foster mothers abandoned her, but you reminded her of who she was and what she was supposed to be because you never turned your back on her even after she changed. Hokuto thought everyone hated him simply for existing and being Saruto's son and a victim of experiments, but you accepted him, acknowledged his humanity and didn't judge him like everyone else did. The same for Otoya, only people didn't like her because she's a preacher's kid. And it's not just them either! You helped Rena and Riku just by being friends with them, and they didn't have any friends back in Hokkaido if what I've heard them say is true!" Terriermon explained as lucidly, kindly, and bluntly as he could, hoping Yun could get the message. Terriermon definitely isn't one for hiding or sugarcoating anything he says. He says whatever comes to his mind, right out, without hiding any important details or sounding so vague that even Yun can't understand him.

"I don't think that's-" Yun was about to try and contradict her floppy eared bunny friend, not feeling that she's really done anything to help her friends, when a voice that didn't belong to either of them interrupted the conversation...which could only mean one thing.

"Talking bunnies."

Yun felt a freezing jolt run up her spine. That voice didn't belong to Lopmon and Terriermon, nor did it belong to Lucero or Cutemon. Lopmon and Terriermon immediately clammed up upon hearing it, which seemed to be a harbinger of the fact that the very thing Yun wanted to avoid has finally happened. Yun dreaded looking behind her, but she felt obligated to know who eavesdropped on their conversation, whilst finding out about the fact that Lopmon and Terriermon aren't inanimate stuffed animals, and why. Yun slowly jerked her head to look over her shoulder.

Much to her horror, the person who has now seen Lopmon and Terriermon talk is not John, Kurako, Otogi, or Takami. Instead, it's Inori. But something about Inori's expression seemed very strange...or rather, her initial lack of expression of any emotions. Inori looked rather neutral or mildly surprised, not shocked or horrified or terrified or excited or anything like that. She just continued to keep her neutral look. Yun had to wonder if pretty much anything surprised this girl. All of a sudden, Inori quickly walked right up to Yun, staring her in the face even though Yun continued to look away because of her normal aversion to eye contact.

'_Oh no! Inori found out! She's gonna tell Uncle John and Aunt Kurako and everybody else!'_ Yun screamed in her head, feeling like she has to face the music right here and now. There's no trying to hide it anymore...or so she thought. Instead of running away and blabbing to everyone, Inori just continued to stare. Not only that, she slowly raised one of her little hands and put it on Terriermon's head, gently stroking his pale yellow fur.

"Can I hold him?" Inori asked in a low but sweet voice. Now Yun knew how Daisy felt when she herself found out about Datirimon. But of all the things Inori could potentially do to Lopmon and Terriermon, she chose to ask if she could hold one of them?

"...Sure," Yun muttered without really thinking. Inori very gently lifted Terriermon out of Yun's safe, careful arms and cradled him in her own small ones.

Yun thought she was seeing things, but a very tiny smile appeared on Inori's face as she nuzzled her face against Terriermon's, which made him laugh a little, and it stayed on her face as she continued cuddling him. Terriermon, feeling that this girl is safe, decided that there's no longer any need to keep quiet anymore.

"Hi! I'm Terriermon!" He cried out happily, which made Inori smile a bit.

"I wish I had a talking bunny friend," Inori muttered shyly but sweetly before looking back at Yun. "I won't tell anyone. I promise."

'_You better, because I don't believe you!'_ Yun thought, immediately doubting Inori's promise.

"Who's the other one?" Inori asked, her blue eyes lighting up with curiosity just a bit more.

"This is...Lopmon," Yun said shyly.

"It's nice to meet you," Lopmon said once Inori put Terriermon down on the grass and began stroking her furry brown head with her little hands. Once she finished, she looked at Yun again, with the same neutral but curious look.

"Kurako talks about you alot. She says you're nice and sweet and kind and smart and can do lots of stuff," Inori said in a low whisper, but Yun's amplified hearing made out every word.

"She's exaggerating a little. I can't do everything. Plus I'm really weird. Kids pick on me a lot," Yun waved her hand in response to Inori's statement.

"Wanna play with me?" Inori asked.

Yun couldn't believe what she was hearing. From what she's heard, Inori supposedly has reactive attachment disorder and has a hard time trusting other people. She only just started to trust the people that adopted her, and she's seriously opening her heart to a total stranger? Yun wanted to reject her offer, but she figured that would exacerbate her already possibly unstable mental state (which doesn't seem all that unstable from what Yun has seen, but then again, Hokuto was like that before so perhaps people have different ways of expressing themselves), so she said yes. Inori gently led Yun to her room and they started talking about various subjects like anime, manga, books, and games. For about two hours, actually. Later, the Wakamiyas had to go back to Margot's house. True to her word, Inori didn't tell anyone about the rabbits, much to Yun's intense relief. Thank goodness being quiet has its merits.

While the Wakamiyas visited the Ariakes, the lovely sounds of soft, beautiful music wafted in the early spring air, sounding as though it were bestowed upon the earth by musical fairies, only the music came from Daisy's backyard. In the girl's hands was a beautiful, silver-colored flute. She had been playing and practicing for just over half an hour and was almost finished.

She regarded her flute playing as if it was exercise. Just as a person finishes exercising by performing slower exercises to avoid cramping the muscles, Daisy played a slow piece for about two minutes that helped get her breathing back to a normal pace.

"Daisy," Lalamon began as the girl removed the instrument from her lips and began to disassemble it. "Your playing is pretty...but it also sounds a little sad."

That comment surprised Daisy a little bit. "Really?" she asked as she picked up a cloth and a rod to start cleaning the inside of the flute. "I didn't hear anything sad about it."

"I did. I'm sure of it. Are you sad because you decided not to go to the Digimon Brigade meeting today?" Lalamon brought them up because earlier today, the Digimon Brigade sans Yun came by and invited her to come since they found a place where they wouldn't be seen, but Daisy had firmly and long since declined.

The question struck Daisy as awkward, but she thought about it carefully as she continued to clean the instrument. "No," she answered slowly. "I think it was a good decision for me not to go. I still don't understand Japanese or speak it well, and...in America, it's considered rude to be invited to someplace and then not say anything while you're there.

"But Lucero can translate for you," Lalamon pointed out, even though he wasn't there. "And besides, we're not in America."

Daisy looked at the plant Digimon. This wasn't the first time that Lalamon spoke to her like this. When she was still Budmon, she commented several times that she enjoyed being at their first Digimon Brigade meeting because of all the other Digimon that were there. Even though she had been taught to speak English, she was able to communicate her feelings to the other Digimon easily, and as a result, she had constantly asked her when they would be at the next one.

Noticing Daisy's discomfort, Lalamon answered, "Well, if you don't want to go, that's fine. But I think you should at least tell them when you are not going. Otherwise, they might worry about you."

"They don't need a new girl from America who can't communicate with them in their meetings," Daisy replied softly. "I'd only get in their way."

Lalamon disagreed with that, but she said nothing. Despite only being with her for only a few days, she knew her partner well enough to know that persuading her to think positive about the meetings would not be easy.

"Your playing really is really pretty," she finally said.

Glad for the change of subject, Daisy smiled. "Thank you. I hope that when I get older, I'll be so famous that I'll be invited to perform solos in concerts, like Jean-Pierre Rampal."

The little Digimon tilted her head to one side. "Jean-Pierre Rampal? Who is that?"

"Was, Lalamon," Daisy corrected. "He died several years ago from old age. He was a really famous flautist...that's the word to use to refer to flute players. He was famous because, before he performed, flute solos weren't really popular. You see, back then, flutes were not usually the instrument of choice for solos. Instead, they were just part of a big orchestra of different instruments, while the solos go to singers or violinists or pianists."

"I think I get it," Lalamon answered. "He did something different, and because of that, he was famous."

"Not just that he did something different. When he did it, he did it beautifully. I can only hope that one day, I would be as famous as he was."

"The way you're practicing, I'm sure you can do it. Your last song was especially pretty. What's it called?"

"It's called The Little Shepherd. It was written to be accompanied by the piano, but I like how the flute sounds by itself."

"Piano...I've heard you use that word before. You said that your mother used to play it."

"Yes. She used to play it a lot. But it's such a big and heavy instrument that it's not easy to take it with you wherever you go."

As Daisy continued talking, she had a sweet smile of remembrance on her face. "I remember, when I was a little girl, we used to live in a house where my bedroom was above the room where the piano was. Mom often sat down to play. And whenever I hear that music, it didn't matter what I was doing before, I would stop and run down the stairs and sit next to her on the piano bench so that I would listen."

She went silent for a few moments, her eyes beginning to water with tears of joyful memory.

"One day, I heard music from my bedroom, but it wasn't Mom's piano playing. I had never heard music like that before. Curious, I walked down the stairs and entered the room. And there was Mom, sitting on the piano bench and listening to a CD player on top of the piano. It was playing a reproduction of a concert that Jean-Pierre Rampal performed. I had never heard a flute before that day, and I never forgot that music."

Daisy could hear the piano music from that time again, and her eyes moistened just a bit before realizing this and trying to hide them. "When Mom turned to look at me, I was crying. I was so moved by the music that I was in tears. And I said, _'I want to play music like that.'_ Mom smiled at me, dried my tears, and answered, _'That will take many years of practice...and patience.'_ And for my next birthday, which only two months later, Mom and Dad gave me this flute as a present. I was seven years old back then, and I've playing ever since."

Although very intrigued by the story, Lalamon tilted her head again. "What's a...birthday?"

Laughing lightly, the girl answered, "Well, a birthday is a special day out of the year when a person celebrates the day they were born. Age is usually something to be proud of, because people who get older usually have more privileges. And kids usually celebrate their birthday with a big party."

The Digimon suddenly noticed the slight change of tone in Daisy's voice. "Usually?" she repeated.

Daisy's smile faded. She looked to one side and blinked, remembering again, but this memory wasn't a fond one. Strangely enough, she found herself actually telling Lalamon about every single detail.

(flashback)

_"Mom!" an eight-year-old Daisy greeted as her mother entered the house. "Did you order the balloons for my birthday party? It's only two weeks away!"_

_The mother walked over to a chair and sat down, her eyes never straying from her little girl. "Daisy, come over here. I need to talk to you. You know that Dad has been Hawaii for a month now?"_

_"Yeah. When's he coming back? I hope it'll be in time for my party."_

_"Sweetheart, Dad is not coming back for the party."_

_Confused, Daisy frowned and listened._

_"Dad has new orders. He is needed in Hawaii...and you and I need to get ready to go next week so we can be with him."_

_"Oh..." the girl answered. "Next week, huh? Okay, but then we'll be back so my friends and I will have my birthday party!"_

_"No, Daisy. When we go next week...we're not coming back. We're moving. That's why I have been putting everything in boxes."_

_The girl was shocked. They were moving? So soon? "But...but my birthday party. It's in two weeks! I'll be nine years old!"_

_"I'm sorry, Daisy. I asked the other parents if we could have the party another time, but everyone is busy. We won't have a party this year."_

_"But...but everyone who has a birthday has a party! Why can't I have a party?!"_

_"I'm sorry..."_

_"No! I'll never see my friends again, and I can't even have a party! You hate me!"_

_Brokenhearted, the girl ran off to her room, leaving her mother just as brokenhearted as she._

(end flashback)

Daisy and her mother had long since forgiven each other for that day. Her mother had made arrangements that all of the presents that were supposed to be given at that party be sent to their new address. But it wasn't about the presents, or even about the party. It was about the fact that she had to suddenly leave behind her friends, never to see them again. She tried writing letters to them and e-mailing them, which worked for a while, but moving was so typical of military families that either she or they lost touch with each other.

Since that day, she never invited any friends to a birthday party. She never invited friends to a Christmas party. She never went with friends to go egg hunting on Easter or trick-or-treating on Halloween.

Because she never made the effort to make any new friends. She didn't want to risk her heart breaking like it did that day. Especially on _THAT_ one.

Just as Daisy was about to put her flute in the case, she suddenly felt her elbow nudge her brown backpack, and it tumbled onto the floor, opening all by itself, allowing the music sheets inside to come spiraling out like a wave in the ocean.

"Aww! Not again! I swear this backpack has a grudge against me..." Daisy grumbled as she kneeled down to put the music sheets back in.

"I'll help you!" Lalamon chirped as she floated to the pile and helped Daisy put the music sheets back in. Yet again, Lalamon saw the picture featuring Daisy and the girl in the wheelchair. She grabbed it before Daisy could. "So military families move around a lot?"

"Yeah. To be perfectly honest, I wish we didn't have to move around so much. We're never in one place for very long," Daisy muttered despite her own discomfort in regards to both telling Lalamon this and seeing her carry her picture. But Lalamon just flew around with it in her hand.

"That must stink. Now I can see why you're reluctant to be friends with anyone, even the Digimon Brigade. You're afraid to be too attached to them and think you'll never see them again or that they'll forget about you."

Daisy cringed. Lalamon's words hit her right on the mark. Could this be what being friends with a Digimon, or with anyone in general, be like? "...Yeah."

"When did you first realize it?"

"I was about...eight? Yeah, eight. Before we moved," Daisy said before telling Lalamon about another memory she had when she was young.

(flashback)

_It was a week after the first day of school. It had taken a while for little Daisy to really take in the fact that she's started the third grade, but now that she's settled into her new routine, she thought it'd be a good idea to try and make some friends. At recess, she saw some girls talking amongst themselves and playing a game on the blacktop. She decided to approach them._

"_Hi! What's that you're playing?" Daisy asked as she approached the chalky looking square on the concrete._

"_Four square," One girl replied._

"_That looks like fun. I'm Daisy. What's your name?"_

"_Megan. Hey, is it true your dad's a pilot in the Air Force?"_

"_Yep. How'd you know?"_

"_My dad's in there too, and I saw your dad wearing a uniform."_

"_Cool! Hey! Wanna be friends?"_

_When she heard the question, Megan suddenly gave a small giggle._

_Daisy blinked, noticing that the laugh sounded a little...awkward. "Did I say something funny?"_

_Megan slowly forced herself to stop laughing. "You're new here, right?"_

_Daisy smiled, nodding. "Dad, Mom, and I moved in just last month."_

_"You're going to be doing a lot more of that," Megan answered. "That's what military families do. They move around, a lot."_

_This time, Daisy fell silent. She didn't understand what moving around had to do with making friends._

_The other girl shook her head. "Listen, you are nice, and I get that. I'd like to be friends with you, but sooner or later, someone will tell your mom and dad that it's time to go move somewhere else. And you lose your friends when that happens. I'm not saying that to be mean. It's just true."_

_Daisy was about to reply when the bell rang, which meant it was time to go to recess. Later, when Daisy went out once school ended, she heard a car honking gently._

_She saw Megan within her vicinity, but eager to tell her parents about her first week of school, Daisy didn't even say good-bye to the other girl as she ran to the car. Her mother had opened the passenger door shortly before Daisy arrived, allowing the girl to easily climb into the car._

_"How was your day, sweetheart?" the woman asked warmly._

_"It was good," was Daisy's immediate answer._

_"Good."_

_Although, the little girl didn't stop thinking about what she had just been told, even after they had arrived at their apartment. The living room was barely anything more than a couch and several boxes that were yet to be unpacked._

_"Mom, are we gonna move again?"_

_Surprised, her mother asked, "What gave you an idea like that?"_

_"One of the girls at school said that we will. She said that someone will tell you or Dad that it's time to move."_

_Although still surprised, her mother's expression softened. She sat down on the couch and gently patted her knee, an invitation for Daisy to come sit in her lap, which she accepted right away._

_"Well, Daisy, people who work in the military sometimes do get told that they need to go somewhere else, because they are needed there. But don't you worry. When something like that happens, we will tell you right away so that you will have plenty of time to get ready."_

_"But...I'll lose my friends when we move, right?" The little girl asked hesitantly._

_Her mother, however, smiled. "Do you remember when Grandpa had to move away from us because he was too sick for us to take care of him?"_

_Daisy nodded. "I miss him."_

_"But we haven't lost him," her mother pointed out. "Even though he's far away now, we still have him because of our letters that go to him and the letters that come from him."_

_The little girl nodded, agreeing. Then, her blue-green eyes lit up. "So, when we move, I can still have my friends if I write to them!"_

_With a smile and a hug, her mother answered, "That's right. There's also email if they have computers, so you can send them computer letters, too."_

_"Oh, I need to write to Grandpa and tell him about my first week of school!"_

_That said, Daisy hopped out of her mother's lap and ran into her room. She became determined that she was going to make friends, friends that she will never lose._

_What she didn't know was that one day, several years later, there was one friend that she was going to lose in one of the most agonizing ways possible._

(end flashback)

"...That wasn't very nice of that Megan girl," Lalamon piped in.

"Now that I look back on it, it wasn't that surprising. Kids can all be affected by society in many ways, all the way down to watching their parents talk to each other about issues that are affecting the world, like the Middle East crisis and the bad economy," Daisy told Lalamon once she closed her case and locked it tight.

"I'll bet all the moving around was tough," Lalamon said as she floated down on the case and sat on it, right next to Daisy.

"It was," Daisy muttered grimly. _'Okay. Is it just me, or am I telling this little plant Digimon about everything? Why can't I stop myself from talking to her?'_ Daisy thought, very perturbed by the fact that she's literally telling Lalamon about things she normally would never let herself tell anyone. Could she be becoming attached to this little flower creature?

No, she couldn't let that happen. Getting attached to something was the last thing she wanted to have happen...and yet, the words just kept spewing out of her mouth like vomit.

"Is this girl one of your friends?" Lalamon asked.

Again, unbeknownst to Lalamon, Daisy cringed. She knew that Lalamon wasn't asking out of malice. Just out of innocent curiosity, that's all. But she did wish Lalamon wouldn't be so persistent. She really wanted to tell Lalamon to just lay off the subject and move onto something else, but she didn't want to be rude, so she found herself answering.

"...Yes. Her name was Kathy. Kathy Winn Spencer."

"Why's her skin so dark?"

"She's African-American. Her ancestors came from a continent called Africa."

"Sounds interesting. Why's she in a wheelchair?"

"When she was a baby, she had to have heart surgery done to fix something, but someone made a mistake and she lost the use of her legs as a result. Her parents sued the doctor and he got arrested for medical malpractice. But that wasn't the only thing wrong with her. She also had brain damage when she was born, and as a result she couldn't talk or do things normal kids would do."

"How'd you two meet?"

"...It was about five years ago," Daisy began softly. "I had started the 4th grade. I was going to the music room to practice playing my flute when I passed by the special education classroom. That's a classroom for disabled kids when they're not able to be in normal classrooms because of their problems. Anyway, I was passing by the room when I saw one of the aides beating her and calling her names like stupid, retarded, and worthless. Kathy was crying really hard. It broke my heart to see her get yelled at for no reason. I knew what she was doing was wrong, and told a teacher about it. She got arrested for child abuse. I went in to comfort her and she and I...just sort of hit it off. Kids made fun of me for being friends with a retard, as they said, but I didn't care. We did everything together. We went to the mall, we hung out at each other's houses, we watched our favorite shows and anime together, we celebrated the holidays together, even our birthdays. She never talked all those years, but I didn't care. She used her IPad to talk to me, and she understood everything I and everyone else said, so I knew she was smarter than she looked. Nobody really saw past her disability and assumed she was just a brainless vegetable, but I'd always tell them that she's way smarter than any of them. But then, about two years ago, Dad got called to go Hawaii, so we had to move yet again. Kathy cried harder than she did back when the lady was beating her. But we exchanged e-mails and letters...until later."

Daisy found herself reliving the awful memory that scarred her heart forever.

(flashback two)

_The silence of the apartment (a different one than before) was shattered when the front burst open, then slammed shut a few moments later. Daisy, 13 years old, was wailing like a baby, her glasses fogged up from crying. Without a word, she ran down the hall, her golden locks waving behind her._

_Her father, who had the day off and was in the living room, looked up in alarm just in time to see her leave. "Daisy?" he asked in sudden and deep concern._

_Her mother placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping him and shaking her head. She began to whisper about what was wrong._

_But this was not noticed by Daisy, for she had stormed into her bedroom and slammed the door behind her just like she did the front door. She then fell on her bed. She didn't even bother to take off her glasses before she screamed and cried into her pillow. Let them break; she didn't care. She didn't care about anything anymore._

_It had been almost a year since she had to move away from where she and her family were stationed at previously. The hardest part was leaving behind her friend Kathy, a girl just a little older than her. Daisy had several friendships as she had moved from place to place, but there was that something special between these two that really defined them as best friends. They did everything together for the three years they were there, the longest that Daisy had ever been anywhere._

_Unfortunately, four months after they had moved away, she had misplaced her little notebook, where she kept the addresses of her friends. She was so distraught about not being able to write to Kathy._

_Then, to her joy, the notebook was found another three months later. It had been shoved somehow behind the couch in the living room, and it would have likely stayed hidden there had the family not started cleaning up. They had learned that they were going to move again, this time overseas...to Japan, so they needed to make sure they were going to sort out what they needed to take with them and what they needed to keep in storage._

_Daisy was so excited to have her notebook back that she went straight to her room and wrote a lengthy letter. She was going to tell her everything: how sorry she was for not writing earlier, how life was like currently in Hawaii, how she got first place in the school's musical contest for her flute solo, how nervous she was about moving to Japan but how excited she was about seeing her grandmother, everything._

_After she mailed the letter, every day seemed to fly by so happily, it felt almost like magic. She just couldn't wait to hear back from Kathy._

_Then, finally, after another three months, the day...today...had arrived. The day when she received a reply._

_Not from Kathy...but from her parents._

"Dear Daisy,

We're sorry it took so long to answer to your letter from Kathy, and we're very sorry to tell you that Kathy disappeared without a trace about two weeks after you moved. The police assume she was kidnapped despite the lack of evidence. About a couple weeks later, one of her shoes was found in the ocean. They've declared her to be dead, even though they haven't found a body. She hasn't been found.

Thank you for being her friend for all of this time. She listened to tapes of your flute playing while she was at the hospital. She spoke of you every day since you moved. She really missed you and wished that you didn't have to go. She was making plans of finding you once both of our families retire from the military; she wanted to go to college with you, she wanted to be a part of your wedding and you a part of hers, and she wanted the two of you to continue being best friends for the rest of your lives.

Here is a picture of her from before she disappeared. Our other daughter was getting married just shortly after you moved out, so we took lots of pictures of them; that's what made her start talking about weddings and the two of you being at both of yours.

Japan sounds very exciting. We hope that you will be able to learn the Japanese language and make some new friends."

_Daisy's heart was shattered. She had written to her other friends, some of whom wrote back, but none of them were as special to her as Kathy._

_And now...she was never going to be able to write to Kathy again. She was never going to see Kathy again. Because Kathy is missing, probably dead. Maybe even kidnapped and suffering. Maybe she's already dead and Daisy doesn't know it._

_"Never again," she cried, her voice muffled in the embrace of her pillow. "I will never make another friend again. Never."_

(end flashback)

Lalamon felt her heart sag, like something heavy had been put inside of it. She rolled off of Daisy's flute case and onto her bed. She didn't say anything, she just laid there on the bed like a mummified corpse. Daisy could feel warm tears streaming down her face and quickly wiped them away.

"Gosh, I haven't told this to anyone...I'm hopeless, aren't I?" Daisy muttered, detecting a bit of a whine in her voice as she wiped the tears away. "I still can't believe I'm telling my life story to a talking flower."

"...You've been holding it in all this time, haven't you?" Lalamon suddenly asked out of nowhere.

"Huh?"

"You yearn for friendship, yet close yourself off because you're afraid they'll disappear in thin air like Kathy did. You've waited so long for that special someone and finally got it, only to have it ripped from your arms just as quickly as it came. You're afraid to be attached to someone out of fear of losing them. You hold your feelings inside...and think you can survive by being alone forever...but nobody can get by all by themselves. Not forever. You shouldn't be afraid to make friends just because one of them is gone due to circumstances that nobody had any control of," Lalamon explained.

'_She's right. She's absolutely right,'_ Daisy thought. She couldn't believe Lalamon would say something like that. Worst of all, Lalamon instantly managed to figure out why Daisy is so reluctant to befriend the Digimon Brigade and throw in her own opinion on the matter...something Daisy knows she won't be able to avoid. Yes, Daisy figured if she didn't make friends, she could get by in life.

But the truth is, nobody can really survive without friends to support them.

"When we're visiting relatives, you can't just go off and hide in someone's room! Don't you know how rude that is?!" Upon returning to Margot's house, Yun and Ayaka suddenly found themselves alone in the living room while Margot went to the back bathroom to take a shower and Hisako and Teruki went to run some errands, taking Lucero with them. As usual, Ayaka suddenly began going on a huge tirade over Yun's so-called rude and inappropriate behavior upon their return, and despite Yun's attempts to avoid having to deal with her, Ayaka just refused to get off of her very perturbed little sister's back, completely oblivious to the fact that she's finally hit her last nerve.

"WILL YOU GET OFF MY BACK ALREADY?!" Yun shouted at the top of her lungs after finally having enough of Ayaka's incessant nagging and being a pain in the behind. "I DO NOT do stuff to be purposefully rude! Stop acting like I'm some kid who constantly throws temper tantrums and makes a big fuss over everything, and stop acting like you have to be right about everything!"

"Don't you get an attitude with me, missy!"

"You get an attitude with me and everybody else! And Inori-chan invited me to her room! I didn't hide there! Stop making up weird and untrue stuff about me!"

"Why do you always have to be so frustrating?! My God!"

"YOU'RE the frustrating one! Just go away!"

Yun tried to leave, but Ayaka suddenly grabbed her arm. "I'm not done with you yet!"

"Leave me alone!" Yun pushed her arm away and ran away.

"Don't you dare try to make yourself look good in front of Grandaunt!"

But Yun wasn't going to go into Margot's room. Margot's in the shower. Instead, she went into the backyard. She sat on a tree stump and softly cried into her hands.

'_Why does Ayaka say I'M the rude one?! She's way ruder than me considering all she's done in the past two years! Seriously! Can't she stop picking on me?! She's not even in school yet she already feels like she has to be right about everything! She's stupid stupid stupid! I hate you, Ayaka!'_ Yun thought as she cried into her hands. She was about to cry some more until someone's voice pulled her out of her sorrow.

"Hi, Yun!" It was Hokuto's voice, coming from the other side of the gate that's all the way in the back, adjacent to the side where Daisy's backyard is at. Yun uncovered her tear ridden face and turned around, spotting a very jovial-looking Hokuto behind the gate with Kudamon contentedly wrapped around his shoulders. She stood up and opened the back gate so she could join him.

"Hi, Hokuto-kun. How'd you get here? And where have you and the others been staying since yesterday?" Yun asked.

"At home, then we went through the Digital World to come back here. The flow of time between both worlds is different, so its convenient for us...huh?" Hokuto explained, then noticed Yun's face looking all puffy and wet-looking, and considering how wet it is, the late afternoon sun made the sheen on Yun's face very noticeable.

"You look sad. Is something the matter?" Kudamon asked with concern tinging his low but tender voice.

Yun wiped her tears away with her arm, not caring whether she looked weird or not. Ayaka would most certainly tell her that it's rude and inappropriate to wipe your face in front of someone with your bare arm and that telling people about her problems is just going to inconvenience them since it's none of their business. What does she know? She inconveniences people every day with her constant whining, deriding, and angsting about everything. Besides, Hokuto is Yun's friend, not Ayaka's, and he doesn't care about stupid stuff like that.

Yun told Hokuto and Kudamon about all the nagging Ayaka's been doing since they've arrived, further succumbing to tears as she did. She wound up mentioning Kiyomi and everything that happened to her, but she didn't care. "Now I know how you feel about having to put up with Kimi every day! I can't stand Ayaka anymore! She thinks she has to be right about absolutely everything! She always says that I'm stupid and retarded and rude and that I ruin everything even though she's the one who's been doing all the bad things for the past two years with all her yelling and whining and angsting about how her life is miserable! I can't take her anymore! I hate her! I absolutely positively hate hate hate hate her! She hates me, so it doesn't matter! She made that part VERY clear when I made Rapidmon fly me to her school that time! I don't care if she does get hurt by a Digimon! She deserves it! Why couldn't I have been an only child?!"

All Hokuto and Kudamon did was listen. They let everything that Yun said sink right into their hearts, drinking in every word, all the while not interrupting Yun as she talked, as she didn't like that.

"I wonder if taking control is her way of coping with her sadness," Kudamon muttered.

"Hmph! I highly doubt it!" Yun scoffed dubiously, obviously not willing to let anyone try to sympathize with Ayaka, who she feels clearly doesn't deserve any sympathy.

Hokuto was about to say something until his digivice began beeping.

"Huh?" Hokuto said as he pulled out his loudly beeping digivice. He opened it and held it to his ear. "Hello?"

"_Flymon coming your way!"_ Otoya's hysterical voice shouted over the other line.

It didn't take long for the duo to figure out what she meant, as a moderately small army of Flymon suddenly zoomed across the neighborhood. About five of them to be more precise. Two of them were wrapped in a glowing yellow lasso made by Pegasusmon and Nefertimon. Angemon, with Kosuke on his back, is leading the other three away with his staff. Seasarmon, Lekismon, and Firamon are following and keeping within close proximity.

Hokuto got his digivice out. "Flymon, champion level. Their attacks are Brown Stingers, Poison Powder, and Fly Attack!"

"Ack! No!" Angemon yelped as he tried to grab one Flymon, but it suddenly escaped and began flying towards a house.

Daisy's house.

'_Oh no! If that thing gets into their house, they'll get killed! I gotta go get Lopmon and the others!'_ Yun thought as she saw the Flymon rest on top of Daisy's roof. She then turned to Hokuto. "Kudamon! Help the others round up the Flymon! The rabbits will take care of the one on her roof while I go and warn her!"

"Be careful!" Hokuto advised with worry as Kudamon swiftly digivolved into Reppamon.

Yun ran back into the house, grabbed the rabbits, and literally dashed into Daisy's backyard through a big hole in the fence just as quickly. She put them down and began banging on her window.

"_Daisy! Daisy! You have to get out of here!"_ Yun screamed as she banged on Daisy's window hard. But as it turns out, she didn't have to tell Daisy about Flymon. She already found out, because Daisy literally pulled her window open and leaped right out in front of Yun, who managed to get away so she wouldn't get smushed, and Lalamon followed.

"_There's a giant bug on my roof!"_ Daisy screamed tearfully as she wrapped herself around Yun like a scared little girl.

"Seed Blast!" Lalamon flew to the roof and began shooting her seeds at Flymon, who became irritated upon seeing this lowly, weak-looking little plant Digimon try and take it on.

"Lalamon! No!" Daisy yelled as she saw Lalamon try to attack the Flymon on the roof.

Immediately afterward, Lopmon digivolved into Turuiemon, leaped onto the roof, and wrapped herself right around the Flymon, even though its wings are still free. Suddenly, it flew into the air and dashed right away, taking Turuiemon with it.

"Yun? We're shepherding the Flymon to a remote area so we can fight them off without any casualties or damage. Meet us there, okay?" Lekismon told her and hopped away.

After this, Terriermon digivolved to Gargomon and Cutemon digivolved into Rabbitmon.

"Man, I wish I had a fly swatter!" Gargomon said as he ran after the others.

Rabbitmon kneeled down so Yun could ride on her, but she stopped for a minute and turned around.

"_Wanna come with us, Daisy?"_ Yun asked.

"_Come on, Daisy! We oughta fight these things!"_ Lalamon implored strongly.

"_WHAT?! No! I'm staying here!"_ Daisy proclaimed boldly.

Yun was about to say something along the lines of, _"Ok then. Suit yourself,"_ but Lalamon wasn't having any of this and suddenly began pushing Daisy from behind.

"_You can't just ignore a Digimon rampage! People could get seriously hurt or even killed! Do you really want to just hide under a rock while giant bugs are destroying everything?! We could stop them!"_ Lalamon exclaimed as she tried to push Daisy onto Rabbitmon.

"_Why do I have to go?!"_

"_Someone has to stop them!"_

"_The others can handle it!"_

"_What if the Flymon are too strong?!"_

"_I don't see why I have to go!"_

"_Stop being difficult and come with us!"_

"_No! I am NOT leaving my house! I don't want to get killed by a bunch of big bugs!"_

"_But Daisy-"_

"_I said _NO_, and that is _FINAL_!"_

Daisy pushed Lalamon off of her and ran to her window, even though she didn't go in. It's around this time that Minako, Salamon, Isao, and Bearmon arrived on the scene. Yun could see that Daisy is dead set on staying in her house and not too keen on going to a place where the Flymon could attack them at any moment. She didn't find it to be too surprising, however. It's only natural for someone like Daisy to be frightened by the presence of not just one scary Digimon, but five. How can any normal person simply accept such horrifying circumstances and take them in stride? Yun decided that maybe it is best for Daisy to stay after all. Yun doesn't want her to get hurt or force her to do something against her well lest she instigate her fear even more, and she really doesn't want to make things worse for everyone. Inside her heart, however, Yun did feel that Daisy's being a bit too selfish and stubborn. Yes, she's scared, and she can understand that completely considering all that's happening, but she doesn't have to be so blunt toward Lalamon, who, as of now, is fuming.

"_Well, I'M going! You can stay here then! I'm going to fight them off! I'm not just gonna sit by and let bad stuff happen! You're a coward!"_ Lalamon spat out angrily, her pink face suddenly red with anger, and flew away.

Bearmon looked at Yun with a confused face. "So...what happens now?" Bearmon asked.

"We'll go on ahead. Minako and Isao, can you and the Digimon stay with Daisy in case the Flymon come back? I don't want her getting hurt," Yun told them.

"Leave it to us, Yun-chan!" Salamon exclaimed happily as she did a little salute.

"You can count on us!" Bearmon piped in, backing Salamon's claim.

"I know I can at least do this right!" Isao said.

"Thanks a bunch. Oh! Make sure Daisy's parents don't see you! I don't want them to think you're robbers," Yun said before telling Rabbitmon to meet the others at the remote area.

However, even though she firmly told Lalamon that she wanted nothing more than to stay in her house and not get killed by a bunch of huge, flying bug monsters, her resolve weakened upon seeing the fuming plant Digimon leave. This was all too much for her to bear. Everything was too much to bear. Moving around all the time, losing touch with her friends, Kathy's supposed kidnapping and overall disappearance, moving to a new country and not knowing how to speak the language, Lalamon's newfound presence in her life, the appearance of the Digimon Brigade, and the sudden swarm of giant flying yellow bugs. No, there was no way she could take all of this in stride. She didn't want to go out and risk getting killed. But then again, ever since Daisy came to Japan in general, she hardly ever went outside her home at all. Scratch that, she never left the house except to accompany her parents on short errands. All Daisy wanted to do was stay in her new house and just survive the fact that she's in a completely new country. That, and if she closed herself off from the world in general, perhaps she can get by without getting attached to anyone.

There's no point in making friends. They all just go away. No matter how long you wait or how hard you try, they're all going to go away someday. Daisy always told herself this. She always convinced herself that things were always going to be like that. She didn't see any point in befriending a talking flower from another world...and to think Lalamon wants to fight a bunch of monsters! No, Daisy was NOT the type to throw herself in dangerous situations like that. She'd much rather stay away at all times. The Digimon Brigade can handle it. Their Digimon are strong. Lalamon needn't interfere. If she did, she could die.

She could...die.

All of a sudden, Daisy found herself running out of her backyard, causing Minako, Isao, and their Digimon to chase her. She, too, was surprised by this. _'No! No! No! Lalamon can't die! She's a Digimon! If she dies, she won't be able to reform! She's made of data!'_ Daisy yelled desperately as she found herself running in the direction of the Digimon Brigade. She thought she saw the Flymon descend into that empty and abandoned parking lot that's just behind the old gas station.

Over the course of their appearance, the Digimon Brigade so far only managed to defeat two Flymon, mostly because they were really, really fast. Because of their superior agility, the Digimon flew and ran around so much that they ran out of energy to digivolve into ultimate. Not only that, the Digimon Brigade members forgot to bring their D-Chips, though that was because of Lilithmon kidnapping them right out of nowhere before they wound up in Morioka, so that couldn't really be helped because of how sudden it was. The only ones who had their D-Chips on them were Kosuke and Minako, and they only brought Pegasusmon and Nefertimon with them, both of whom had to be sent back to the Digital World due to the damage they sustained from the other Flymon before they got defeated. Seasarmon had also de-digivolved back into Labramon due to being two weak to continue fighting. One Flymon managed to defeat Turuiemon and change her back into Lopmon, and Syakomon can't digivolve into MarineAngemon because she doesn't have any energy to spare. She only has enough to digivolve into Dolphmon, and they're in an environment that doesn't have any water at all, so it'll make things very difficult, even though things are already very difficult.

"Gargo Laser!" Gargomon tried to shoot at one of the Flymon, but it managed to evade the attacks, letting out an evil cackle as it did.

"Hand of Fate!" Angemon tried to fry the other one, but it also evaded the attack.

"Moon Night Bomb!" Lekismon tried to soak them with her water spheres, but the Flymon used their stingers to pop them all.

"Fira Bomb!" Since there aren't many trees around this part of the area, Firamon found it safe to let out his fire balls onto the annoying bugs. Much to his dismay, along with everyone else's, the Flymon both managed to dodge the attacks.

"Black Pearl Barrage!" Syakomon, despite her small size and lack of mobility, began shooting hard black pearls out of her mouth like a cannon. Unfortunately, the Flymon evaded all of them as well, even though just one of the black pearls managed to strike one Flymon's wing, but it wasn't enough to cause any major damage or leave it so injured that it can't fly at all.

"Holy Blaze!" Biyomon encased herself in flames and tried to ram against the Flymon so she could try and set their bodies on fire, but one of them smacked her aside with one of its wings like she was the annoying fly. Biyomon's flames dissipated as she got smacked, and she was quickly caught by Kosuke.

"Ugh! These things are too fast! We can hardly land a hit on them!" Kosuke complained.

"Poison Powder!" Both Flymon flew around, spreading a purple powder all around.

"Cover your mouths! NOW!" Melody screamed to everyone before ducking onto the concrete and covering her mouth so she won't inhale the powder. Everyone else did as well. However, once the powder hit all the champion level Digimon, all of them instantly de-digivolved, and they all fell to the ground.

"I...I feel like I just got the life drained outta me!" Coronamon croaked as he tried to get up, but his limp little limbs just wouldn't obey his commands.

"Me too!" Terriermon complained.

"It must be the powder!" Cutemon piped in.

"It must have drained all of our remaining energy!" Lunamon said.

One Digimon, however, was not going to let a bunch of gigantic flies try and ruin everything.

"Seed Blast!" Lalamon continued to try and shoot her attacks at the Flymon, even after they kept on evading them.

"Lalamon! It's no use! Turn back now or you'll get killed!" Riku yelled, but she didn't listen.

Yun was about to get her digivice out until she saw someone run right into the parking lot with eyes full of zeal and willpower.

"...Daisy?!" Yun yelped with shock as she saw Daisy fly right near the Flymon.

"_Lalamon! Come back! You'll die if you keep this up!"_ Daisy screamed.

"Daisy! Get back!" Gatomon meowed desperately as she, Minako, Isao, and Grizzlymon arrived on the scene.

"Brown Stinger!" Once one of the Flymon saw Daisy within its line of sight, it shot the deep orange stringer from its abdomen.

Daisy tried to run away, but she tripped and saw that the stinger is heading right toward her. The kids tried to run in and help, but they didn't get there quickly enough, as the stinger came at them at a speed that they couldn't outrun.

...except someone took the hit.

Daisy didn't feel anything. She didn't feel the stinger hit her, nor did she feel her body go numb or burn on the inside all throughout. Believing she wasn't hit, she decided to open her eyes...but she would soon regret doing that.

"Lalamon!" Daisy shrieked with absolute horror in her now hysterical voice, running over to her partner and gently cradling her in her arms. Her blue-green eyes were beginning to sting, threatening to break the floodgates of her emotions. "Lalamon, are you alright?!"

"Daisy..." the little plant Digimon weakly answered, feeling her small body go completely numb because of the orange stinger that penetrated the external barrier of her abdomen, looking like a very gnarled tumor. "I don't have...any energy left... I think...I'm..."

But the girl shook her head. "No! Stay strong, Lalamon! You're in the real world, not the Digital World! Don't you know that if you die here, you won't get reconverted?! You won't become a DigiEgg! You'll never come back! You'll leave me and never come back!" Yun heard this and wondered if Daisy doesn't know about the fact that her digivice can save a Digimon's data and turn it into a DigiEgg if she commanded it to do so, Lalamon's included. She wanted to tell her this, but the situation was too dire for such trivialties.

Yes, if Lalamon were to die her, she would leave Daisy and never come back.

Perhaps...just like Kathy, even though her fate is technically unknown.

In spite of the desperate, heartfelt, screaming from the older girl, Lalamon's expressionless face hid a calm smile. "Even if I...don't come back...I'll never leave you. Part of me...will always live in your heart..."

"Don't leave me!" Daisy choked, her tears breaking loose. Her heart literally poured open. The locks that she placed on her heart, the ones she worked so hard to tighten to a point where she thought she could never be able to open them again, shattered completely the instant she saw Lalamon with the stinger in her. Now she understood why she came here. "Don't leave me alone! Lalamon, I never had anyone like you. You are everything I ever wanted. You are everything I had waited for. And when I met you...I just knew that my patience had paid off. You are...the best friend I could ever ask for."

Just as she said that, a bright glow emerged from her pocket. Surprised, she removed the object that was responsible for the glow. It was the same Digivice that she saw when Datirimon hatched from her DigiEgg. It was glowing a bright white light that reminded her of the light she saw when Datirimon digivolved.

At the same time, Lalamon's body was glowing the same white light. She floated out of the girl's arms, and the glow became so bright that everyone had to cover their eyes.

"Lalamon, digivolve to..."

The data of her arms and legs came apart and rearranged, appearing to grow longer and include fingers and toes. A tail also grew out and sprouted thorns along the tip. The sprout on top of her head blossomed into a flowery face, complete with a distinctive pair of eyes and a cheerful grin.

"...Sunflowmon!"

Everyone blinked in surprise. What a strange turn of events! But Daisy was just happy that her partner was alive. She neither understood what had just happened nor cared. Her friend was alive.

Yes, this Lalamon, this Sunflowmon, is her friend. Daisy thought she could never have a friend again, but perhaps God felt bad about taking Kathy with him and decided to give her Lalamon as an apology.

"Brown Stinger!" The two Flymon tried to attack Sunflowmon again, but with one of her big arms, she slapped the stingers away like they were annoying bugs, and they wound up digging into the concrete.

"You're gonna pay for terrorizing these kids and my friend, you brutes! Sunshine Beam!" Sunflowmon edicted boldly, with the flame of courage exploding in her proud heart, as her face glowed in a yellow light and shot at the Flymon, even though they evaded it just as much as they did the other attacks.

"Would you like some help?" Gatomon asked before digivolving into Angewomon.

"Thanks! I could very well need it!" Sunflowmon said before firing another Sunshine Beam. Surprisingly, this one actually managed to hit the two Flymon this time, and this is because the Flymon flew around so much that they're getting tired. The Digimon decided to use this opportunity to finally finish them off.

"Cactus Tail!" Sunflowmon swung her tail around and smacked the two Flymon with it.

"Maul Attack!" Grizzlymon rammed the two Flymon in their vital areas, preventing them from moving even a single inch.

"Heaven's Charm!" Angewomon raised her hands into the air, and a ray of light came out, enveloping the Flymon and converting them into data.

In the spur of the moment, Yun grabbed Daisy's digivice and held it out, causing it to glow, which in turn made the two Flymon's data fly into it and turn into two DigiEggs.

"_...What just happened? And how did they turn into DigiEggs? They can't turn into them in the real world!"_ Daisy exclaimed, confused by what Yun just did.

"_I heard you tell Lalamon that Digimon can't turn into DigiEggs here, and I wanted to show you that it is possible if you hold out your digivice and tell it to save a dead Digimon's data,"_ Yun explained.

"You were awesome out there, you three! You toasted them real good!" Coronamon exclaimed, feeling his strength return, along with everyone else.

"You three were just magnificent!" Lunamon cooed, clasping her little hands together.

"Awesome job out there!" Patamon cheered.

"Oh no, it was nothing, really..." Angewomon told them modestly.

"Yes. I only digivolved because Daisy finally realized that her detaching herself from other people isn't making her happy," Sunflowmon explained.

"I'm just glad we were able to help you out and make sure nothing bad happened," Grizzlymon piped in kindly.

Daisy ambled over to a very jubilant Sunflowmon with a small smile on her face, even though her eyes looked a bit sad._ "Sunflowmon...I'm sorry I've been so rude to you. I shouldn't have acted like such an immature little brat."_

"_You weren't being immature._ _I could tell you were intentionally trying to close yourself off from others in order to avoid pain, but it's not good to not communicate or interact with people. Your life will be super duper sad and lonely if you keep hiding from people and avoiding them forever,"_ Sunflowmon said.

Daisy couldn't help but agree with this gigantic sunflower creature. Ever since Kathy's disappearance and all the moves she had to go through, Daisy thought she could detach herself from everyone so she wouldn't feel sad if she were to move again. She figured it wasn't worth it to make friends only to move away from them right afterward. But perhaps that wasn't such a good idea after all. All it did was make her sad and extremely cynical to the point of almost making her cross the paranoia border.

Perhaps having Lalamon in her life will be a good thing after all.


	103. SSE4: The Pain Returns

Digimon: A Seraphic Tale Side-Story: Daffodils and Daisies

EPISODE 4: The Pain Returns

Once the brouhaha with the Flymon ended, Sunflowmon de-digivolved back into Lalamon and returned to Daisy's side, happy that the bespectacled girl finally realized that detaching herself from people forever so she could feel better about not losing anyone will actually do the opposite and make things much worse. When Lucero arrived, Melody suddenly approached Daisy with a straight look on her face.

"Wanna go for a ride in the sky with us?" Melody asked.

"Eh?" That was all Daisy could get out.

"What was that you asked?" Terriermon asked as he leaped onto Yun's shoulder.

"I wanna have Biyomon digivolve into Parrotmon and show you Tama-no-Minato," Melody explained.

"Ohhh! I'll translate it for her," Lucero said, then told Daisy in English what Melody really meant. As he did this, Yun ambled over to Minako.

"Hey Mina-chan. I'm not sure if you've noticed, but did you know that Lalamon and the other Digimon can talk to each other, even though Daisy speaks English and we speak Japanese?" Yun whispered with a hand over the side of her mouth.

"I actually have, but I haven't figured out why the language barrier doesn't apply to them. I think maybe it has to do with their physical composition and the fact that they're virtual lifeforms. Maybe, because they're data, they can automatically communicate with each other. Maybe language barriers don't exist for them," Minako explained.

"Lucero can understand what Daisy says, too, and as far as we know, we've never heard him speak English the whole time we've known him," Yun said.

"Maybe he was bilingual before he lost his memory," Minako suggested.

"_...Sure?"_ Daisy replied shyly.

"Okay then!" Melody got her digivice and her D-Heart out, which caused Biyomon to swiftly digivolve straight into Parrotmon, something that surprised Rena.

"Hey! If Biyomon can digivolve into ultimate, then why didn't you make her do so when the Flymon attacked?!" Rena asked, surprised with the fact that Biyomon didn't digivolve into ultimate when the Flymon went on their rampage, which would have made things a lot easier.

"People would freak out if they saw a giant parrot sticking around in one place," Melody replied without any trace of irony in her voice.

"Not only that, I really didn't want to deal with them. Such pesky and grotesque creatures, those stupid Flymon are!" Biyomon chided with her arms crossed.

"Yet you're suggesting we take Daisy out for a ride across Japan by way of a giant parrot anyway? You're a hypocrite, Mel!" Riku piped in.

"No I'm not! Child Protective Services practically SCREAMS hypocrisy! They talk of saving children from bad homes and homelessness when they throw them in worse homes where abuse is practically the rule and don't give a rat's hat about them!" Melody exclaimed.

"I don't know if all CPSes are like that..." Patamon muttered, a little irked by Melody's fiat just now.

"You coming on or what?" Parrotmon asked as she extended her wing.

"_Go on, Daisy! Maybe it'll be fun!"_ Lalamon gently pushed Daisy onto Parrotmon's wing. With a smile, Daisy crawled onto Parrotmon first. Everyone else followed.

Once everybody got on, Parrotmon flapped her large wings a few times and ascended into the sky. Soon, the Digimon Brigade found themselves leaving Morioka, something that began to make Yun rather anxious.

"We are gonna come back, right? My parents will get mad if I'm not around to be with Margot and everyone else," Yun asked.

"Not to worry. I just wanna show Daisy around, that's all. Plus we can get there and back in no time at all. Flying is much faster than driving, especially if you're on a giant egomaniacal parrot," Melody said.

"Hey! I'm not gonna be everyone's eternal piece of transportation, y'know!" Parrotmon squawked at the notion of flying around and then coming back.

"There's no need to take everything so personally, Parrotmon. Mel-chan's just being funny, that's all," Lunamon piped in cheerfully.

"You're one to talk!" Parrotmon snapped back.

Daisy and Lalamon couldn't believe what they were seeing. The houses, the trees, the streets, and the people running about now looked very small, like little baby ants scurrying over their homes. Daisy had seen the sight before on an airplane, but that was when she and her family moved from Oregon to Hawaii, and Daisy was still sad over the fact that she had to leave Kathy behind against her will. She never bothered to enjoy such trivial things when it came to moving around a lot. But now...Daisy couldn't help but feel completely enthralled by the majestic sight of the vast sky, her new living place becoming smaller, everything looked so fresh and brand new.

"...Beautiful..." Daisy found herself muttering in Japanese.

"Hey, Daisy! Look! Tama-no-Minato is right down there!" Hokuto gently grabbed Daisy's hand and dragged her to the other side of Parrotmon's body, showing her their little town. Parrotmon slowed down so everyone could see.

"There's my house over there," Kosuke pointed.

"My house is that one over there," Hokuto said.

"_That one's my house!"_ Yun told Daisy.

"Everything's so small," Cutemon said.

"Of course. We are ascending into the air, so with every increase in altitude, our field of vision increases, and we are able to see far more than we can when standing on the ground," Lucero explained.

"There's the construction site, there's the park we go to...oh! There's Katsura Elementary!" Rena said.

"That's the school I go to!" Aria unknowingly told Daisy, temporarily forgetting that Daisy doesn't speak Japanese. But Daisy smiled, looking like she understood.

"Me too!" Isao piped in.

"There's the football field that's right next to it, the place where we've been having our meetings lately," Bearmon explained.

"Are we done yet?" Parrotmon asked.

"Sure. We can go back," Melody said. Parrotmon immediately turned around.

"_Hey Daisy! Wanna exchange phone numbers on our digivices?"_ Yun asked as she held her digivice right to Daisy's face, which the bespectacled blonde girl found a bit intimidating.

"_Digivices work like phones?"_ Daisy asked.

"_Yeah! It can also do a bunch of other stuff, too!"_ Yun replied happily.

"But doesn't she have to be part of the Digimon Brigade to get our numbers?" Riku asked with his arms crossed.

"No, she doesn't have to," Yun said.

"By the way, what do your parents do, Miller?" Riku asked.

"_He's asking what your parents do,"_ Yun translated.

'_He's asking about my parents' jobs? Why? Why would anyone be interested in knowing that? It's not like he'll gain anything from knowing what my parents do,'_ Daisy thought, a little flummoxed by Riku's blunt but well-intentioned question. But she felt he probably wouldn't get off her back if she didn't answer, so she answered. _"My mother's a florist and my father's a pilot in the Air Force."_

"She says her mom's a florist and her dad's an Air Force pilot," Yun told him.

Riku's eyes lit up. "An Air Force pilot? Wow! Your dad's a pilot! That sounds pretty cool! I bet you get to do all sorts of cool stuff!" Riku exclaimed.

What he didn't know is that as soon as he said that last sentence, a very miffed and pinched look appeared on her face which soon turned into anger. _'_"sugoi"_?! He has the nerve to call the fact that my dad's an Air Force pilot cool?!'_ All of a sudden, without meaning to, Daisy suddenly found the urge to yell at Riku and call him out for saying that.

"_You don't know what it's _really_ like to be in the military!"_ Daisy shouted out of the blue, which made Yun cover her ears. Everyone else suddenly stared at her, looking very surprised by her sudden outburst, stunned into silence by both that and the very out of character angry look on her pale canvas of a face, which is now painted with red splotches. Even Riku kept his mouth shut, and looked like he wanted to get off of Parrotmon and run away, but he couldn't. _"None of you do! I have to move to new places all the time! I had to lose a lot of my good friends because of it! I may never even see them again! I lost one best friend already! Don't be so insensitive as to talk so highly about stuff you know absolutely nothing about!"_

"Oooh, somebody blew their fuse," Parrotmon chirped upon feeling Daisy walk a little further down Parrotmon's back and sit with her arms and legs crossed.

Riku found himself able to speak again. "...What just happened?"

"Umm...I don't mean to sound rude or mean, but...you kind of hurt her feelings with that last statement, Riku," Lalamon told him as kindly as she could, knowing that just telling him this would hurt his feelings too, but she felt it had to be done in order for him to understand what happened.

"I did?" Riku asked.

"Yes. As usual. Ugh! Why does this always have to happen?!" Rena groaned as she facepalmed, dismayed by the fact that Riku went and said something stupid yet again.

"See, being the daughter of an Air Force pilot isn't fun and games. Sometimes families have to move all over the country just so they can be close to whatever base they're stationed at. It's been really hard on her. She never got the chance to really make any friends, and she had to leave behind her one best friend ever. Not only that, that friend disappeared after she moved. People say she's been kidnapped, and that's why Daisy's scared to make friends. She doesn't want to lose them like she lost Kathy, and thinks she can get by in life by detaching herself from everyone. I hope you understand, Riku," Lalamon explained.

Right in that very instant, Riku's sunny and awestruck expression vanished and turned into one ridden with guilt. His little heart became heavy, like a pile of bricks had been thrown in a lightly made hay sack. How could he have been so insensitive? How was he supposed to know that it wasn't all fun and rainbows? Nobody told him until now. Perhaps he shouldn't have said that being an Air Force pilot's daughter is cool after all. But how did she understand what he said? She doesn't speak Japanese, and he doesn't know English, so understanding each other would have been near impossible. But maybe she's watched enough anime to know what the word _"sugoi"_ means. Feeling that he should right his wrong the minute he made it, he very slowly crawled over to the still grumpy Daisy.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that," Despite not knowing any English, he decided to wing it and apologize to her in Japanese anyway, just in case she's seen enough anime to know what he's saying right now. He said nothing after that, even after Parrotmon descended back into Morioka. But once everybody got off, Daisy approached Riku, not looking as grumpy or grouchy as before.

"Thanks...I...forgive...you," Daisy told him in Japanese, albeit rather unsure if she said those words right. Thankfully, Riku understood what she said, as he smiled at her right as he heard it. She felt bad about snapping at him and felt that they should resolve things right off and not let the whole thing go on forever. _'I shouldn't have snapped at him. It's not like I ever really told anyone about military life not being peachy keen, so it's really my fault,'_ Daisy thought.

Suddenly, Yun approached her. _"Hey Daisy? I was wondering...do you ever want to learn Japanese?"_ Yun asked out of the blue.

Daisy felt some anxiety return to her heart, but not the angry kind of anxiety. Instead, it's more of the unsure kind of anxiety. _"Well...I thought about it, since we were moving here, but...no. I don't want to learn it. I'm afraid it'll serve as a foundation for making friends. I'm still a little afraid to be close to people."_

"_Oh. I see,"_ Yun could understand what she meant. If Daisy doesn't want to learn a new language, she can't force her to do something she doesn't want, so Yun didn't want to make her angry.

Lalamon, however, had something else to say. _"I can understand why you don't want to, but since you're living in a new country, you're going to have to learn it someday regardless. Maybe not now, but soon. If you don't, people won't understand what you're saying if you need something or something happens or stuff like that. You might not want to put it off, especially now that you're living here."_

"Good point," Daisy muttered. After a while, she waved goodbye to everyone and decided to go back home, with Lalamon following suit. Unsurprisingly, Rena decided to give Riku one of his daily grillings.

"Riku! How many times have I told you not to say stuff that makes people mad?! You can't just say whatever comes to mind! People will think you're insensitive, just like how Daisy did earlier! Stop being so careless!" Rena yelled angrily, her face becoming just as red as Daisy's when she (Daisy) yelled at him on Parrotmon's back. Normally, Riku would argue with her, but this time, he didn't talk back or make excuses or anything. He just let her words sink in, continuing to keep his sad look.

Weirdly enough, it was Coronamon and Lunamon who decided to step in this time. "Rena! Don't be so mad! He realized his mistake and said he's sorry, so it's okay!"

"Only because Lalamon told him! He never knows when he makes a careless mistake unless someone tells him! He never figures it out for himself!" Rena argued back, not sounding very convinced.

"I'm sure he wasn't able to read the situation right off. Kids with ADHD have trouble focusing and processing information as quickly or accurately as others, right? It might have taken a bit of a while for him to realize it anyway," Lunamon said.

"Guys. Stop. She's right," Riku told them quietly. "I did something I shouldn't have, so I deserve to get yelled at."

"But you resolved it before it got worse, right? That's great!" Coronamon said.

"Alrighty. No more arguing! Come on, Rena-chan! You and I are gonna go for a nice little walk around Morioka so we can break this oppressive atmosphere. Come on, Labramon! You can come too!" Otoya said with a smile as she dragged Rena away.

"Way ahead of you, Otoya," Labramon said as Parrotmon de-digivolved back into Biyomon. Lunamon soon joined him, feeling a little bad about not being able to convince Rena that even though Riku did act careless, he did realize it and fixed his mistake quickly.

"Does Rena-chan always get mad when Riku does something, whether it's good or bad?" Patamon asked.

"Unfortunately, yes. She's gotten a bit better, though she still has a bit of trouble controlling herself. I don't blame her. I'd get mad too if I had to put up with a sibling who makes a lot of mistakes, but I wouldn't try to constantly hang them over their head. That's wrong," Kosuke told him.

"Well, at least its done and over with. I think I'll go do some exploring. This seems like a nice, quaint little town," Hokuto said with a smile.

"Yes, indeed. Just look at all the colorful flowers that literally consume the bushes," Kudamon said.

"I better go. Mom and Dad might be worried about me. Sorry guys. I have to run. See ya!" Yun said as she, Lucero, and the rabbits ran back to Margot's house, which, thankfully, isn't far. Strangely enough, Yun found Margot and Violet talking amongst themselves.

"Did you really tell your family that we moved here from Oregon?" Violet asked with a slightly flummoxed look on her face.

"Yes. Didn't you say that's where you just moved from recently?" Margot replied, but looking just as confused as Violet is.

Violet shook her head. "No. We just moved here from Hawaii. Oregon was where we lived before we moved to Hawaii."

"Ohhh! How did I mishear that? I'm sorry, Violet. I must have misheard it somewhere."

"That's okay. It happens to me too. I might have said Oregon by mistake and didn't know it."

After that, the Wakamiyas and Ariakes decided to go to a restaurant for dinner and spend some more time together, the cousins included (Inori especially). The Ariakes talked about a great many things, like Takami's acceptance into a college nearby, his success in winning a football game with his team, the field trip that Otogi and her classmates went to about two weeks ago, Inori's progress in regards to the therapy she's receiving both in school and outside of it, Yun's entry into the Honor Roll yet again, Ayaka's dance recital back in late January which was also a success, and everything else they could think of.

As for Daisy, after cooling down from her unprecedented (and in her view, stupid and downright careless) outburst against Riku, she returned to her house with a light heart. She felt as if a weight had been lifted off of her. She felt the need to get some flute playing done, so she decided to spend a half hour in her room playing the flute. But the song she played this time sounded upbeat and cheerful, yet mysterious and ethereal, like a soft love song inspiring hope into the hearts of all who listened to it. Lalamon listened to the entire thing and found herself liking it very much. When Daisy finished playing the song, Lalamon clapped her little stubby hands.

"That was wonderful, Daisy! Excellent! What's that song? I don't think I've heard that one before, but it's really pretty!" Lalamon chirped happily, cheerfully praising Daisy for yet another beautiful flute performance. Daisy blushed a bit as she clung to her silver flute.

"It's called _'No Need For Promises_(1)_.'_ I wanted to know what it sounded like on the flute, so I winged it this time," Daisy explained a little shyly.

"Ohh! So that's why you didn't put any sheet music out. That explains it. But I like it regardless! Do you know who composed it? Maybe Jean-Pierre Rampal?" Lalamon exclaimed enthusiastically.

Daisy couldn't help but giggle a bit at Lalamon's cheerful and innocent enthusiasm. "No. Rampal didn't make this one. A Japanese woman named Yoko Kanno(2) wrote it, and another woman named Maaya Sakamoto(3) sung it. It's actually an opening theme for an anime I like. Escaflowne, I think it was called? Yeah, that's it. I think I have my DVDs somewhere..."

"That's okay. Hey! Here's an idea! Maybe we can watch the anime together sometime!" Lalamon chirped with a smile. Daisy found herself smiling further.

"Yeah. That'll be fun," Daisy muttered.

Soon, after a hearty dinner with her mother and some more flute playing, Daisy plopped into bed, tired from the very hectic and excruciating day she had. Giant bugs flying around, Lalamon turning into a giant sunflower, flying around on a big green egomaniacal parrot, everything was just so new to her, so a good sleep would most definitely help soothe her tired body and bones.

But while the sleep she and Lalamon had proved to be good, something very strange happened.

At about 6:30 AM the next day, Daisy found herself waking up. The sky is still blue, but it's a much lighter shade than night time, so the sun must be trying to wake up and peek out over this side of the pacific as she woke. Lalamon slept right next to her, looking quite content, peaceful, and serene. But as soon as she woke up, she felt a bitter cold jerk right through her skin. She wrapped herself with her arms.

"Brrr! Why's it so cold? I should have worn a pair of my heavy winter pajamas after all," Daisy muttered quietly as to not wake Lalamon from her serene and peaceful slumber, chastising herself for wearing a short sleeved shirt instead of a long sleeved one, especially since it's still March, and the month of March can be very cold when Mother Nature wants it to be. But the low temperature felt more like thirty degrees than between fifty and sixty degrees, which is how the days in March should be.

But this wasn't even the strange part.

"...Your fault..."

A very high pitched, girly little voice squeaked in a very low whisper, one that actually caught Daisy's attention. She didn't dare move from her bed, thinking that a burglar's outside their home. But the voice continued to speak.

"...You left me behind..."

"Who's there?" Daisy asked in a low voice, not wanting to wake Lalamon despite her own feelings of outright terror and fear.

"...You abandoned me..."

Then, a strange glimpse of grey and black flashed at her window. Knowing for sure that what she saw wasn't human, Daisy slowly walked to her window and looked out of it.

What she saw truly wasn't human at all. Instead, she saw an impossibly tall, ghostly figure, with long, spindly arms with huge, feather-like fingers, glowing yellow eyes, a big black splotchy mark on its face, and three long, rabbit like ears drooping down to its rear end, if it even had one. It has no nose, no ears, no legs, no feet, no mouth, nothing else. It looked like a ghostly demon from an anime. As soon as Daisy caught sight of it, the creature's round head turned to look right at Daisy. The bespectacled girl froze in place upon being stared down by the monster.

"...It's all your fault. You left me all alone. Why?"

As soon as it asked that question, it disappeared into thin air. The temperature returned to normal as soon as it disappeared, so Daisy didn't feel like she was reliving winter.

Daisy fell to her knees. _'Okay. What the freak did I just see?! A ghost? A monster? Maybe...a Digimon? God, that thing was big! Big like that tree out front! But...why did it say all those things?'_ Daisy thought. Upon regaining her equanimity, she found that her digivice was on her desk. She remembered Yun telling her that she can use the digivice for a lot of things, texting being one of them. Despite Melody's objections, Yun and Daisy exchanged digivice numbers regardless, so Daisy is able to text Yun.

Swiftly, she got her digivice, opened it, and immediately began typing into it. "I can't leave this alone. I have to tell the others about it. Who knows what kind of trouble that thing could cause," She said as she typed up her text.

**To: Yun**

**From: Daisy**

**Subject: Strange Digimon(?)**

**Yun. It's Daisy. Can you gather up all the DB members in the parking lot as soon as you can? I saw a strange Digimon earlier and want to tell you about it in case it decides to attack.**

Click. Send.

"Wow. You're all really early," Lalamon said about half an hour later. Much to Daisy's surprise, every single Digimon Brigade member who knew about her came right away, even though many of them looked tired, like they haven't even had breakfast yet.

"You said come as soon as you can, so we came as fast as we could," Labramon said while trying to contain a yawn.

"_Sorry! I didn't think you'd take me so seriously! Anyway...here's a picture I drew of the Digimon I saw,"_ Daisy said as she showed Yun and everyone else a picture she drew of the supposed Digimon she saw. She colored it with colored pencils so the Digimon could be identified easier. _"I'm not the best artist, but it's better than nothing."_

"Hey Lunamon? Have you seen a Digimon like this before?" Rena asked Lunamon.

"Nope. Not one like this, particularly," Lunamon replied, looking confused.

"I've never seen one like this before," Coronamon said.

"Maybe it's a new one?" Patamon asked.

"Ugh! It looks so ugly!" Biyomon complained, disgusted by Daisy's drawing of said Digimon, even though she's more disgusted by how grotesque the Digimon looks rather than the drawing, which in itself looked a bit cursory and hastily done. Daisy drew it quickly before the spooky image of said monster left her mind, and if they didn't know what it looked like, then they wouldn't be able to find it or deal with it or keep it from potentially causing trouble.

"Is this thing even a Digimon at all?" Lucero asked.

"_I couldn't make this up if I tried,"_ Daisy said.

_"We believe you,"_ Cutemon said. It seems even Digimon can communicate with humans who speak foreign languages too.

"_I just wanted to tell you all in case that thing came back and tried to do something bad. I wanted to let you all know in advance,"_ Daisy explained.

"_It's a good thing you did! If we didn't know about it, then we might have been in a big bind!"_ Lopmon said.

"Hold on. We still don't know if this thing's real or not," Kosuke said, sounding a bit suspicious.

"If it wasn't real, then Daisy wouldn't have seen it, now would she?" Kudamon said.

The kids were about to talk some more until the temperature suddenly dropped to blisteringly cold levels, almost like twenty degrees.

"Ugh! How'd it get so cold all of a sudden?!" Yun yelped as she squeezed herself with her bare arms.

That's when Daisy noticed. The temperature dropped when she saw that Digimon too.

And then she saw it.

"_IT'S HERE!"_ Daisy shouted.

All of a sudden, the strange creature appeared before them, towering over them like a huge oak tree. Daisy wondered if that thing grew bigger since the last time she saw it.

"It's all your fault!" The creature shouted in its squeaky voice.

Hokuto got out his digivice, not expecting to get any data. Surprisingly enough, data did come up, but he became shocked upon receiving it. "This thing is a Digimon after all! It's Yuureimon, a...rookie level?!"

"What?! _Rookie?!_ How can that thing be a rookie?! It looks more like a mega level if you ask me!" Melody yelped, wondering if the data that the digivice is giving them is wrong.

"So scary!" Aria cried as she hid behind Yun.

"Get back! This Digimon is emitting huge amounts of negative energy!" Syakomon shouted, and all the kids stepped back. Strangely enough, the ghostly Digimon, Yuureimon, continued to pursue one person.

Daisy.

No matter how far she walked, Yuureimon followed every step of the way. Yuureimon didn't look like she wanted to attack her, but nobody wanted to jinx this situation.

_"Why is this thing following me?!"_ Daisy yelped.

"Seed Blast!" Lalamon shot some of her seeds at Yuureimon, but instead of hitting it, they went right through it. "Huh?! They didn't even leave a scratch?! Why did they go through?!"

"Maybe this thing IS a ghost after all!" Aria exclaimed.

"You left me all alone, you traitor!" Yuureimon screeched upon chasing Daisy some more.

"Everyone, digivolve!" Yun commanded. Much to everyone's horror, nobody could digivolve.

"Huh?! Why aren't they digivolving?!" Otoya yelped.

"Maybe they're too weak from yesterday's battle!" Melody said.

"That's alright! Let's try and fight it off anyway! It IS a rookie like us, after all!" Syakomon said as she stood between Daisy and Yuureimon.

"Tidal Wave!" Syakomon expected a huge torrent of water to consume the ghostly Digimon, but...nothing came. Yuureimon then proceeded to smack Syakomon and send her right into Melody like she was an annoying bug.

"Spiral Flame!" Biyomon tried to attack, but only one flicker of flame came out.

"Boom Bubble-huh?!" Patamon tried to make a huge ball of air and shoot it at Yuureimon, but all that came out was his breath.

"Holy Roar!" Salamon wanted to try and destroy that thing's ear drums even though it doesn't really have ears, but found that her voice hasn't reached an amplifying level.

"Bullet Whirlwind-Ugh!" Kudamon tried to spin around, but found himself getting dizzy the moment he spun around only twice as he sprawled onto the ground.

"Lunar Claw...eh?" Lunamon tried to scratch it, but her arm went right through Yuureimon's arm and it didn't even leave a scratch. Despite this though, Yuureimon still knocked her out of the way.

"Corona Flame!" Coronamon tried to shoot a fire ball at it, but the helmet on his head wouldn't make any flames, and he only barely managed to miss one of Yuureimon's large hands.

"Oh no! This must be because we didn't give them any breakfast! That's why their attacks aren't working! How could we be so dumb?!" Minako screamed as she facepalmed similar to how Rena did earlier.

"It's not like their attacks would work on it anyway!" Kosuke exclaimed.

"Blazing Fire!" Terriermon shot a ball of fire at Yuureimon which, surprisingly enough, managed to hit it right in the face! And it didn't even phase right through. Yuureimon could feel her face burning in pain.

"Freezing Snow!" Lopmon followed up Terriermon's attack with her own little blizzard, freezing the burned area of Yuureimon's face, encasing it in ice, even though it didn't cover her face entirely.

"Cover your ears everyone! Ultrasonic Wave!" Cutemon gave everyone an advanced warning to cover their ears before unleashing her attack, which made Yuureimon fall to her knees, even though she looks like she doesn't have any.

"I take it they got breakfast this morning?" Bearmon asked in regards to Lopmon, Cutemon, Terriermon, and Lalamon.

"Yun and the rabbits are early birds in general so they probably already had breakfast before they got her text," Melody told him.

"But how come their attacks aren't going through Yuureimon's body?" Otoya asked.

"Perhaps it's because their attacks are more elemental in nature instead of physical, unlike Lalamon's Seed Blast which is a physical attack, so even though Yuureimon is a spirit Digimon, even its transparent body is not immune to special attacks," Kudamon explained. "Plus, even spirit Digimon can make their bodies solid if they wish. How else is that thing able to smack us around like bugs?"

"If that's the case, then let's try using our digivices on it! Maybe we can lasso it!" Otoya suggested as she got her digivice out.

"It's all your fault, you fiend!" Yuureimon shouted as it tried to attack Daisy, but Lalamon quickly pushed her out of the way.

"_Stop! Why are you saying all that stuff?! What did I ever do to you?!"_ Daisy shouted.

"You left me all alone!" Yuureimon screeched angrily in her high pitched voice. "I've suffered because of you, so now I will make you suffer!"

"_I've never even met you before!" _Daisy screamed back.

"Get away from her, you bully!" Yun screamed as she managed to slash Yuureimon's lower body a bit with her digisword, causing the ghost Digimon to scream in pain, even though no blood or other associated bodily fluids came pouring out in huge torrents.

Daisy couldn't believe that this little twelve year old girl is standing up so bravely to a gigantic ghost thing that looks like it could squash her like a bug with its big hands.

"_Get out of the way, Yun! You'll get hurt!"_ Daisy persuaded, but Yun didn't listen.

"_I don't care if I _do_ get hurt! I'm not letting this thing touch you!"_ Yun yelled back, ready to take on this giant ghost even though she has absolutely no self-defense skills or sword fighting skills to even try to fight this big thing.

"Let's wrangle this ghost, cowboys!" Otoya yelped as she wrapped her digilasso around Yuureimon's lower body.

"Yeehaw!" Everyone shouted as they wrapped their lassos around Yuureimon too. Sadly, not even this worked, as Yuureimon smacked them both with her big hands, causing their digivices to fly out of their hands and the lassos to dissipate.

"Don't interfere, you useless trash!" Yuureimon shouted.

"Hey! Our friends are NOT trash!" Terriermon screamed, appalled by how bold and blunt Yuureimon is. In a way, Yuureimon reminded him of Nenji because of the fact that he often refers to Yun as trash.

"You've got some nerve picking on our partners!" Coronamon shouted.

"Freezing-" Lopmon was about to attack until Kudamon stopped her.

"Wait! Don't attack! I feel a human presence inside Yuureimon!" Kudamon shouted.

"What?!" Salamon yelped with surprised, confused by Kudamon's fiat just now. She wasn't the only one shocked by this very sudden and unprecedented announcement either.

"A..._human_ presence?!" Labramon yelped.

"Does that mean...Yuureimon ate a human?! Ew! Gross!" Syakomon cried out, disgusted at the thought of a Digimon eating a human alive.

"No! The human inside her is very much alive!" Kudamon confirmed hysterically.

But Yuureimon paid no further heed to these scrawny little Digimon. Instead, she ambled over to Daisy, who continued to hide behind Yun and Lalamon.

"Stay back, you ghost!" Lalamon yelled.

"I will...MAKE YOU SUFFER MY PAIN, DAISY ROSE MILLER!" Yuureimon screamed at the top of her lungs (if she had any) and all of a sudden, her head literally flew off of her body, even though a very tiny cable-like thing which probably served as her neck, connected them. Her neck stretched out as Yuureimon's large head flew right at Daisy. It came so fast that not even Lalamon could react, even though she did when the Flymon came. Daisy couldn't even move. But she did see a black circle form and grow bigger on Yuureimon's face as it grew closer to her. All of a sudden, everything went black on Daisy's end. On everyone else's end, however, Yuureimon's head stretched right to the spot Daisy was at.

Was. Because Yuureimon...consumed her right then and there.

"NOOO! DAISY! SPIT HER OUT RIGHT NOW YOU CANNIBAL!" Yun screamed like a feral animal, appalled by the utterly nefarious and irredeemable act this strange Digimon committed, and began recklessly slashing at the ghost Digimon. But even though she managed to land some really good hits on her, Daisy had already been consumed.

"How...how...how horrible!" Lunamon cried.

"That ghostie ate Daisy!" Aria screamed and broke into tears as she clung to Otoya. Otoya couldn't blame her for being so scared. She just saw a Digimon eat a human alive. No child can take that in stride. But admittedly, she's just as horrified as Aria and everyone else.

"I'll never forgive you, you monster!" Melody yelled as she charged at Yuureimon and tried to slash her, but the nonchalant ghost Digimon simply smacked her and sent her flying right into Kosuke, who managed to catch her and break her fall.

"NO! LET MY FRIEND GO!" Lalamon screamed as she found herself digivolving into a very enraged Sunflowmon.

"Sunshine Beam!" Sunflowmon began shooting her attack all over the place. Yuureimon dodged them all, knowing that this attack would leave a lot of damage on her.

The kids all thought that this was the end for Daisy despite their most ardent efforts...or is it?

Footnotes:

1. The song that Daisy is playing really is the opening to the anime, The Vision of Escaflowne.

2. Yoko Kanno is a famous Japanese music composer famous for her soundtracks for Escaflowne, Cowboy Bebop, Ghost in the Shell, among other anime.

3. Maaya Sakamoto is a singer and voice actress who made her debut in Escaflowne.


	104. SSE5: Good Times, Good Friends

Digimon: A Seraphic Tale Side Story: Daffodils and Daisies

EPISODE 5: Good Times, Good Friends (Final chapter of the side story!)

It came so fast she didn't have time to move. She always wondered how she would die someday. Old age, some debilitating disease like Alzheimer's, maybe something sudden like a heart attack, or maybe even in her sleep. Not once did the thought of dying by getting eaten by a strange monster from another world, one who claims to even know her even though she's never met it before, ever cross her mind. But now, perhaps her untimely death has become a reality. She figured the acids in the Digimon's abdomen would burn her from the inside out, dissolving her, and in the end, she would end up being a part of someone's fecal matter set to be flushed into the depths of the earth underground.

Strangely enough, however, that didn't happen at all. Not only that, Daisy found herself alive. She opened her eyes and didn't see bones, veins, blood, or even herself descending down a digestive system at all. Instead, all she saw were a bunch of swirling colors. Two colors to be more precise. Grey and black, all looking like someone's very badly done painting, only the swirling colors are moving around in very contorted ways, like ripples in the water when a rock would be thrown into it. Other than that, there's nothing else here. Not even any ground flooring where Daisy could place her feet on, because as of now, she's floating. She's floating, and she doesn't even have any wings or anything of the sort that could remotely keep her from falling into a deep, dark, black, perhaps even bottomless abyss that could swallow her up forever. She wondered if gravity has gone out of whack in this environment or if she's suspended in space.

"Where am I? Didn't I just get eaten by a Digimon just now? How come I'm not swimming down someone's digestive system?" Daisy asked herself. In spite of all of her fear and terror, she was surprised she still had the ability to talk and take in what just happened to her. But she knew that wondering wasn't going to do anything.

"HEY! Yuureimon! Why'd you eat me?! I'm not worth eating! I don't even taste good so you better spit me out before I give you diarrhea, or even something worse if I'm capable of something like that! And what's this about you being left alone you keep talking about?! I don't understand! Care to clarify it please?!" Daisy screamed, hoping Yuureimon could hear her from even within her stomach.

"You know what you did. Don't deny it, you stupid, heartless girl," Yuureimon's squeaky yet eerie voice chided bitterly, sounding just as cold as the air she froze whenever she appeared, just like how she made the temperature drop when she appeared before Daisy and the Digimon Brigade.

"I don't even know you! I've never met a Digimon like you before! Heck, I've never even met a Digimon until just a few days ago, so how could you and I have possibly met?!" Daisy yelled, still clinging to her claim.

"Perhaps I will show you. Prepare to face the fact that you have done more wrong than I," Yuureimon said grimly, her eerie voice echoing.

All of a sudden, everything turned black...except for something Daisy saw just a little below her. Bluish grey cords all wrapped themselves around one solitary human girl, probably the one Kudamon was talking about. The cords wrapped around the girl's wrists, arms, legs, ankles, chest, abdomen, and neck. The girl looked unconscious. Daisy floated closer so she could get a better look. But there's more to the girl than she thought. Upon closer inspection, the girl has very dark skin, like chocolate. It was as though she practically blended in with the darkness. Her hair, much darker than her skin, is tied in two pigtails with round, pink beads. She's wearing a white tank top underneath a dark orange short sleeved shirt jacket, a short dark green skirt with pink, yellow, and purple flowers embroidered along the hem, and short white socks. She only has one shoe on, a red tennis shoe.

Right as she got closer to the girl, she realized that she recognized her. Her dark skin, her pigtails, the fact that one of her shoes is missing...it all added up to one thing.

"_...Kathy?!"_

"Yes! This is me! This is the friend whom you swore loyalty to forever, then chose to abandon for your own ends!" Yuureimon's voice screamed angrily. But Daisy paid absolutely no attention to Yuureimon. Instead, she focused solely on the friend who she thought was possibly dead.

"Kathy! You're alive after all!" Daisy cried, feeling warm tears stream down her face.

All of a sudden, the cord around Kathy's neck tightened, and the unconscious girl let out a very pained yelp, which snapped Daisy out of her reverie. _'No! That cord must be choking her! I gotta get her outta here! Man, I wish I had a knife on me so I could cut her loose!'_ Daisy thought desperately as she tried to pull the cords off of Kathy, the ones that are keeping her imprisoned. Then she caught a glimpse of her digivice and saw that a light is protruding from it, making it look like a sword.

Then it hit her. Yun used her digivice as a sword. If it can really do that...there was no wasting time.

Daisy grabbed her digivice and began gently cutting at the cord that's wrapped around her neck. She decided to go behind Kathy since cutting her up front would probably do more harm than good, and Daisy really did not want to hurt her best friend. Much to her dismay, however, the cords are proving to be much harder to cut through than she thought. But she wasn't going to give up. No she wasn't. Not after she's come so far.

"You're such a hypocrite! You swore to be my friend forever, yet you betrayed me by leaving me behind! You must have thought it hilarious to befriend me and then abandon me just so you can feel good about yourself!" Yuureimon yelled.

Daisy didn't listen. She didn't want to listen. There was no way she was going to pay attention to the screechy and downright horrible Yuureimon. The only thing that was on her mind was to get Kathy out and cut the cord that's around her neck. If it goes on any longer, Kathy could very well die, just as Daisy finally found that her friend, whom she thought was missing and perhaps even dead at all, is actually alive! She lost Kathy before. She was NOT going to lose Kathy yet again, especially not at the hands of a deranged and depraved Digimon. She dredged her sword through the cord with every inch of strength she had while at the same time being careful not to accidentally cut Kathy or make things worse. She tried not to grunt. She tried not to moan. She tried not to groan. She tried not to shriek. She tried not to focus on anything else but the cord that she has to cut. Daisy's vision became nothing more than tunnel vision. She saw nothing but her digisword, Kathy, and the cord around her neck, the cord she's trying to cut off so Kathy can breathe and not choke to death. She didn't even hear Yuureimon's voice, just the soft cutting sounds of the digisword rubbing against the cord.

Her efforts are paying off, as she found that she made a rather deep cut into the digisword. If she can do this much, then maybe, just maybe, she could cut the whole thing and help Daisy breathe. But she didn't stop. She didn't want to stop. She knew that if she stopped now, Kathy could die within minutes, even seconds, if the cord got any tighter. Daisy cut through the cord as usual. She dredged, she cut, she pushed the digisword from side to side with as little sudden movement as possible, she put all her strength into it...and she could see the cut she made getting bigger and bigger.

Finally...

_RIP!_

The only sound that could be heard after that was Kathy inhaling a HUGE breath of air, with her eyes wide open, looking like they were about to pop right out of her face.

"Kathy! Kathy! It's me, Daisy! Tell me you're alright! Tell me you can breathe! Breathe! Please!" Daisy screamed hysterically as she put her digivice back and put her hands on a barely conscious Kathy's cheeks to let her know that she's here. Once she took a few long breaths, she closed her eyes and her head slumped downward. Daisy could see a big mark on her neck, but Kathy moved. She breathed. That was more than enough for her. "Thank goodness."

"Don't think saving me is going to make me forgive you. You tossed me aside like trash when I needed you the most. You were supposed to be...my friend..." Yuureimon said.

"Correction. I'm Kathy's friend. However, I am NOT YOUR friend, Yuureimon!" Daisy yelled as she looked up at the black sky above her, not caring that she can't see anything up there, with her blue green eyes exploding with the flames of courage. "I'm not stupid, you know! I know what game you're playing! You've been pretending to be Kathy so you can convince me to kill myself and believe that everything that happened to her is my fault! You're trying to manipulate me into thinking that all that you say is true!"

For the first time, Yuureimon said nothing for a bit. She didn't even come up with a counterargument. Instead, she confessed. Rather grimly, at that. "...you are perceptive, Daisy Rose Miller. You saw through my facade easily. For this, I will give you some credit. Yes, I swept Kathy away when she was alone. I looked deep into her memories, and now I am using her sadness to fuel my power and make myself stronger."

"I figured as much considering what I've seen!"

"However! What I say is true! You abandoned her upon moving to Hawaii with your family!"

"No I didn't! I didn't want to leave, but I had to go with my parents! There was nothing I could do to stay! How do you think I felt about leaving her there all by herself?! Do you know how sad I've been because of being separated from her?!"

"Don't put up the innocent act, you knave! You clearly don't know how much you meant to Kathy, so I will show you her memories..."

"Show me...her memories?" Daisy wondered how such a thing was even possible.

"I can see into people's minds and see their memories as clearly as if they had happened right then. The memories I've seen are not for the faint of heart, so feel free to cry and angst if you will," Yuureimon said.

Suddenly, glowing white ovals surrounded Daisy, looking like the static you see on a television screen if you look really close into it. None of them were bigger than her, which to Daisy proved to be a bit of a relief. Daisy was about to wonder how these could possibly show Kathy's memories until she began hearing voices and seeing images coming right from them.

Adding to her fear, the first thing she heard from one of the ovals was the sound of Kathy crying.

Images began to materialize on one oval, looking more and more like a video once it finally displayed good picture quality. But Daisy was horrified to see what was playing on there. The setting looked like a playground in a school, and Kathy, who looked to be about nine years old, was lying on the grass in a crumpled heap with her wheelchair knocked over to one side. Kathy covered her face with her hands as the evil laughs of children permeated the air. About six to seven children surrounded her and threw things at her, like dirt, discarded food, crumpled paper balls, pencils, small rocks, and pretty much any other object they could try and find. Most of them even spat on her.

"_You're a big fat retard!"_

"_You're stupid stupid stupid!"_

"_Go back to the retard room where you belong!"_

"_You're dirty! Look at you! Now you're just as dirty as the diapers you poop in!"_

"_Go on, you big baby! Cry! Cry, baby, cry! Wah wah wah!"_

"_Retard! Retard! Retard!"_

Daisy wanted to look away, horrified and downright appalled by what she's seeing. Truth be told, Kathy's parents did tell her that she was mercilessly bullied by both students and teachers alike in one school, and Kathy hardly told anyone about it because she had no means of communicating it back then as her parents didn't have enough money to buy her the signature IPad she holds so dear. But Daisy had no idea that it was this bad. Daisy knew for sure that Kathy wasn't so disabled that she couldn't properly go to the bathroom on her own. She can do that just fine. Soon, the oval stopped showing the bullying and another oval began showing something else. Something Daisy had already witnessed. Now the other oval showed what appears to be a very tiny classroom with only four children, Kathy included. A very surly-looking old woman mercilessly berated Kathy and just wouldn't stop.

"_You're a stupid, worthless, useless little brat! Why do you always have to cause me and everyone around you so much trouble?! Oh, stop looking so mad! You're the one who did this, not me! You're bringing this upon yourself! Honestly, I don't see why you think you're so much like everyone else! Just accept the fact that you're retarded and will never amount to anything! You can't even walk or talk! You're just as dumb as the rest of these retards here! Don't think you're so smart! I can't believe something like you even came into this world in the first place! Stupid, worthless retards like you should never be allowed to-"_

The woman would have gone on for much longer if it hadn't been for a younger Daisy and two other teachers appearing right at that moment.

"_Stop! Leave her alone!"_ Little Daisy yelled as she stepped in between the teacher and the tear-ridden Kathy. _"Stop bullying her! She didn't do anything wrong!"_

"_I...I was not bullying her!"_ The teacher argued, surprised that a little girl would make such a bold and ridiculous claim.

"_Liar! I saw you hitting her and yelling at her and calling her names like stupid and retarded and worthless!"_ Daisy yelled courageously, not wanting to let this stupid woman twist around her story and make it sound like she's the innocent one. Thankfully, the other two teachers agreed, and they took the teacher away.

"_You're coming with us, Mrs. Levine,"_ The one male teacher said as he dragged her away, leaving Daisy and Kathy alone with the three other kids.

"That was when Kathy and I first met..." Daisy muttered, surprised at the sheer and meticulous attention to detail in regards to what the ovals were showing her.

"Kathy told me that she always felt inferior and worthless because of how other kids and adults treated her, despite the love she received from her parents, Mandy and Spike. She had a few friends in kindergarten, but they all went to different schools, and Kathy didn't have anyone to rely on until she met you. You saw that what the teacher was doing was wrong. You could have left her to be abused forever, but you didn't. Instead, you chose to stop it. That's when Kathy realized that there really was someone out there who saw her as a person, an individual with thoughts and feelings, not some inanimate vegetable who's so backward that they don't even know they're being looked at, pitied, and picked on," Yuureimon said.

More ovals began to show the happy times Daisy and Kathy had together. They planted flowers together. They played music together, even though all Kathy did was watch Daisy play her flute. They went to school together. They watched anime together. They did homework together. They read books and some manga together. Daisy always protected her from bullies, and Kathy in turn taught Daisy things that she could never learn in any other situation, like to not judge people by their looks and to not pity them and believe that they're fully consumed by their disability and cannot amount to anything else otherwise. The two hit it off like two peas in a pod, and they were practically joined at the hips despite the protests and objections of many people who thought they looked stupid and disgusting together. Then, another oval showed the Spencer family seeing off the Miller family before they moved to Hawaii. Kathy cried harder than ever before, and Daisy looked just as sad.

"_I'm so sorry, Kathy. I don't want to leave, but I have to go with them. There's nothing I can do. I can't live on my own yet. But we'll definitely meet again. I know we will. We'll always be friends. We can write to each other. I still have your address written down, so I can write you all the letters I want. Stay strong for me, okay? I'll try to stay strong for you too,"_ Daisy said with moist eyes, obviously trying to hold back her tears despite her own yearning to cry, unlike Kathy, who is passionately wailing and crying and not keen on the idea of seeing the only true friend she ever had suddenly leave before her very eyes.

Soon, the image on that oval stopped playing and another one showed a moderately tall Yuureimon standing in Kathy's backyard, right in front of Kathy, who looked very dejected and grim, albeit surprised by this creature's appearance.

"_My name is Yuureimon. I am a Digimon. I sensed your deep and boundless loneliness, and I am here to cure you of it,"_ Yuureimon said.

Grimly, Kathy typed something into her IPad and showed it to Yuureimon. **"My best friend is gone. Daisy's in Hawaii. Now I'm all alone."**

"_It's sad, isn't it? But I figured something out that you may very well not like. This Daisy girl...she abandoned you. She threw you away like trash. Just like how my family disowned me just for not coming out right,"_ Yuureimon said.

"**Yes. That's exactly it. Everyone hates me. I thought she'd be different. But she's just the same as everyone else,"** Kathy typed.

"_I can ease your pain and loneliness...if you lend me your power,"_ Yuureimon extended one of her hands out to the wheelchair bound girl. Kathy, very slowly, extended her own.

"NO! This is all a bunch of lies!" Daisy screamed hysterically and angrily, causing the images on the oval to suddenly stop playing. "Kathy would never think that I abandoned her! You're just making this up so you can manipulate me!"

"Oh, really? If you didn't abandon her, then how come you didn't write to her for a while?"

"I lost my address book and couldn't find it until later!"

"Stop with your own lies, you whelp! Just accept the fact that you are a cruel person and that Kathy doesn't want you for a friend anymore! She came to me for help, so I am going to ease her pain, even if it means I have to kill you! She told me to kill you!"

"No she didn't! You're just making that up!"

"You better-"

Yuureimon was about to say something even more disheartening until suddenly, Kathy's eyes flew right open and the cords around her all shattered into a myriad of pieces, like meticulously painted stained glass had just been shattered by a flurry of flying bricks. Daisy heard the crashing and ran to catch her now awake friend.

"Kathy!" Daisy managed to catch her friend and stop her from falling down Yuureimon's bottomless insides.

"AAAGH!" Yuureimon shouted as the cords broke all around Kathy, like she's in excruciating pain. "What...what is this?! What's happening?!"

Neither Yuureimon or Daisy expected this to be the thing that hurt Yuureimon and freed Kathy.

"_Stop! Stop making up all those lies about me AND Daisy, Yuureimon!"_

'_Me? Wait...is that...? No! Kathy doesn't talk! She uses her IPad to talk!'_ Daisy thought, remembering that Kathy is so brain damaged that she can't talk or walk, so how can this high voice, one that sounds exactly like Yuureimon's, belong to the weak and disoriented girl that's limping in her arms right now?

"You...you dare betray me?! After everything I've done for you?!"

"_You haven't done anything for me! All you did was use me for your own ends and try to kill me and turn my friend against me! All I wanted was for you to be my friend, not to use me as part of your own stupid revenge plot!"_ The voice screamed as loudly as it could muster, outing Yuureimon right there. _"Stop showing those fake memories of how you and I met! I didn't accept your offer! You just up and spirited me away right from my backyard!"_

"You said you wanted to be my friend! That's why I swallowed you! Friends help each other be stronger!"

"_Friends don't suck the life out of their friends just to make themselves stronger! Show Daisy the REAL memory of what happened to me!"_

Daisy couldn't believe it. Kathy's thoughts are somehow being revealed for the two of them to hear. But how? Maybe Yuureimon's latent psychic powers? She didn't know. But perhaps...if Yuureimon can see people's memories, is it possible for her to read their minds and give Kathy's thoughts a voice?

"_Daisy! Don't listen to Yuureimon! She's lying about everything! I know you didn't abandon me, and you're not a selfish or cruel person at all! She's just making it up to turn us against each other so she can use us as outlets to heap her own pain and sadness on!"_

Now Kathy's talking to her somehow, even though the girl in question is in her arms and completely silent, though she's staring at the boundless abyss with just as much fire in her eyes as Daisy.

"...Fine. Have it your way, Kathy Winn Spencer."

Reluctantly, all of the ovals around them disappeared except for one, and the one remaining oval showed the memory that Kathy had of her own disappearance. But instead of just the memory of Kathy being swept away by Yuureimon, it started from the beginning, where Kathy, sitting in the backyard, alone and still crying about a few days after Daisy's departure, found a very small Yuureimon just amble into her backyard one day. At first, she was surprised, but then began to feel less lonely upon comprehending what would happen if she befriended this little creature. Since then, Kathy thought she could have another friend to call her own, not to replace Daisy. No, she didn't want that to happen. But just a little special someone to keep her company so she wouldn't feel so alone. She could have two best friends to love and cherish with all her heart, even if one of them would be a strange little monster who came from some unknown world. Even if she herself couldn't talk, she taught Yuureimon how to read English, and she was able to read whatever she typed on her IPad perfectly, so the two of them can tell each other everything they wanted to communicate and convey. Kathy could have a cute little monster friend who wouldn't judge her, stereotype her, or see her as a broken being. She could have someone other than her parents whom she could confide her innermost thoughts to, thoughts that she felt were too sacred to share with just anybody, even though she couldn't convey them to begin with since she can't talk. Yuureimon could be her sweet little monster friend who would help her every step of the way, and Kathy could help her in whatever way she could, and they would both be happy...or so Kathy thought.

Two weeks had passed since they met, and Kathy felt that she bonded with Yuureimon enough to tell her about Daisy.

"_Who's Daisy?"_ Yuureimon asked curiously. Daisy, upon seeing the images in the ovals, noticed that Yuureimon's voice sounds different than the voice being used by Kathy's thoughts. It sounds higher and nicer, like a cute little anime character mascot than a mentally challenged teenage girl. Perhaps this is Yuureimon's real voice?

"**She was my friend before you. No, she still is my friend. The best in the whole entire world! And the only person who didn't see me as some dummy,"** Kathy typed. She had told Yuureimon quite a bit about her school life before meeting Daisy, and she noticed that Yuureimon often looked quite grim since then.

"_Where is she now?"_ Yuureimon asked again.

"**She had to move to Hawaii. Her dad works in the Air Force, so he has to move around a lot. It's not her fault. She didn't want to leave, but there was nothing she could do,"** Kathy typed. **"I cried pretty hard when she left, but it was mostly because my friend, who stood by me all these years, has to leave and I have to stay with those dumb kids in school who hate me just because I'm in a wheelchair and that I can't do what they do. I miss her. I wonder how she's doing in Hawaii? I'd love to live in a tropical paradise where lots of colorful parrots fly around and palm trees and coconuts are all over the place and be able to swim all day! But I can't swim anyway because my legs don't work."**

Despite telling Yuureimon about Daisy's move and how it affected her, she noticed that the ghost Digimon she befriended began to look more and more grim the more she told her about Daisy. It seemed like she was starting to think bad thoughts. She had hoped for Yuureimon to reassure her that Daisy would most certainly come back and see her again when they're both old enough and capable of things that can make the reunion happen.

"_...Did she ever contact you?"_ Yuureimon asked.

"**She said she'd write letters to me or email me, but I haven't gotten anything back yet. Maybe she's still trying to figure out her address,"** Kathy typed.

However, what Yuureimon would say right after this would blow her mind, especially since it explained why Yuureimon looks so grim whenever she'd mention Daisy.

"_...So she abandoned you,"_ Yuureimon muttered spitefully. She didn't even say it as a question, which surprised Kathy.

"**That's not true. It's only been two weeks. That's all,"** Kathy typed, but somehow, her typing only made Yuureimon angrier.

"_...The one friend you could rely on, the one person who claimed they saw you as a person...they actually had the audacity to disown you and throw you away like trash as soon as she found a better life for herself!"_ Yuureimon suddenly shouted, with anger tinting her eyes. _"You're just like me! I was abandoned by my family as soon as they saw me! They say I didn't come out the way they wanted to, so they threw me away like trash, and the Digimon I thought liked me betrayed me as well! Now you're suffering the same cruel fate!"_

Kathy didn't know what to do. She tried to type something in her IPad to help calm her down, but Yuureimon just wouldn't listen or relent, and her tirades kept on freezing Kathy in place with sheer surprise. Yuureimon's jumping to wild conclusions and not bothering to listen to her new friend!

"_But it doesn't have to be this way! I am a Digimon, and I found that I have the ability to feed off of people's thoughts in order to grow stronger! If you assist me, we can track down this Daisy girl and do away with her for abandoning you!"_ Yuureimon shouted.

Now THIS made Kathy mad. Vigorously, she typed into her IPad and showed what she typed to Yuureimon, hoping it'll knock some sense into her.

"**No! Daisy's not a bad person! I told you, she didn't want to leave but she had to! That's different from abandoning someone! And just because someone hurt you doesn't make it right to hurt other people or jump to conclusions about them! That'll just make you miserable for life! Daisy's not the person you think she is! And I won't let you use me for your own ends! Friends don't use each other! And if you ever kill Daisy, I'll hate you forever!"**

Kathy thought this would be the end of it. But it wasn't. Her response to Yuureimon's audacious claim only made her even angrier. Soon, she was glowing.

"_No...no...no...this Daisy girl is evil and must be punished for using you and then throwing you away! You WILL do as I say! YOU WILL BE _MY_ FRIEND AND NO ONE ELSE'S!"_ All of a sudden, Yuureimon flew right toward her. She found that her IPad fell out of her hand and that she was being carried away from her wheelchair. That was all.

Once everything went black in the oval, the oval itself faded away, and all that's left inside Yuureimon are just a delirious but courageous Kathy and an appalled but determined Daisy, feeling as though she finally found some closure after seeing that.

"So that's what happened...Yuureimon took you away and used your sadness to power herself up and try to kill me because she jumped to conclusions..." Daisy whispered, shocked by what she saw. Kathy, delirious as she was, nodded sadly.

"_I didn't tell Yuureimon about you so she could set this all up. I just wanted to have something else to talk about with her. We watched the Digimon show as kids, right? I thought it'd be wonderful to have a little monster friend. I never knew she was going to freak out the way she did and use me as her fuel!"_ Kathy's thoughts proclaimed sadly.

"Wait," Daisy muttered. Something about Yuureimon and Kathy's so-called _'friendship'_ didn't seem right to her, and with one question, she could very well figure it out. "Kathy. Ever since you met Yuureimon, did you ever get one of these?" Daisy asked as she showed Kathy her minty green digivice.

Kathy shook her head. No.

"I get it now...I finally get it now...this is all just a freak thing that went way out of hand, even though you tried to stop it..." Daisy muttered sadly, her blue green eyes moistening behind her glasses. All of a sudden, the abyss began shaking like an earthquake just hit. Daisy literally squeezed Kathy as hard as she could, hoping to finally be her knight in shining armor and protect her again, just like she would when Kathy would be bullied by the other kids.

"YOU CANNOT DENY WHAT THIS BLONDE TRASH HAS DONE! IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO KILL HER, I WILL DO IT MYSELF!" Yuureimon screamed at the top of her lungs (if she had any). Daisy wished she could cover her ears, as she found Yuureimon's squeaky voice assaulting her ear drums. Suddenly, the cords that once had Kathy tied up in the past few years have returned, but with a vengeance. This time, some of them even wrapped right around Daisy. One cord wrapped right around her neck, gradually squeezing it and depriving her of much needed oxygen, if this strange abyss even had oxygen at all. Daisy tried to take a huge breath like Kathy did, but no air came into her airway.

"_NO! Let Daisy go! Stop all of this madness, Yuureimon! You're better than this!"_ Kathy's voice screamed in the abyss, even as Kathy herself tried relentlessly to break free despite the fact that her legs are practically useless.

"You think I'M better than this?! Think again, girl! You don't know how long I've been waiting to finally quence my boundless anger and finally release it all! What better way to release my anger than to find an outlet for it?! And you are the string that led me to that very outlet!" Yuureimon screamed maniacally as she attempted to suffocate Daisy with the cords while letting Kathy watch in horror as her friend, the one she finally got to reunite with, may very well die, much like how she was about to just minutes before.

Yet, even as Daisy started to suffocate, she held no fear. In fact, she was patient despite the pain of not having any air. She's waiting. Waiting for that one friend to come and save her. The one she tried to push away but wound up breaking all the tightly closed locks she worked so hard to encase her heart in.

"Sunshine Beam!" Ever since Yuureimon swallowed Daisy, Sunflowmon began literally spamming her attack all over the place while somehow taking care not to hurt anyone at the same time, strangely enough. This had been going on for quite a while. Dark, charred spots are scattered all over the concrete of the old parking lot. Some of them even emitted some smoke, but not to a dangerous extent. All the kids and their Digimon hid behind the old gas station, watching as Sunflowmon attempted to destroy Yuureimon but the ghost Digimon always evaded the attack and tried to overthrow the giant sunflower.

"Give it up, you overgrown sunflower! Your tamer is a monster, a stupid girl who used my friend and abandoned her for her own means! Why do you make yourself a slave to that bespectacled piece of trash?!" Yuureimon yelled.

"Daisy's NOT a monster or trash, and I'm NOT her slave! She was hurting because of what happened to Kathy, so I thought I'd help her out! Now I want to save her from being digested by you!" Sunflowmon screamed angrily.

All of a sudden, a mint green light glowed from within Yuureimon's abdomen, and it shone so brightly that even those not trapped in Yuureimon's stomach can see it. The light shot right out of Yuureimon and hit Sunflowmon. Instead of making her grow, it seemed to make her smaller and thinner.

"Sunflowmon, digivolve to..."

After a few minutes, the light dissipated and out came a rather dainty and beautiful young, flower-like fairy. Her arms and legs are pink and white while her body is a greenish yellow. A hat, resembling a light cotton candy pink flower, rested on her head, barely covering her shoulder length green hair, snow white face, and pretty blue green eyes. A little red flower rested on her chest, and a much bigger pink flower is stuck to her back, resembling some kind of wings. Her hands and feet look much more like flowers than actual hands and feet.

"...Lilamon!"

"Hey! Sunflowmon digivolved!" Riku exclaimed happily.

"Yay! Go Lilamon! Kick that ghostie's butt!" Coronamon cheered as he flung his fists in the air like he himself defeated Yuureimon, even though he failed spectacularly at doing so despite his best efforts.

"Show that ghost what you're made of!" Syakomon cheered.

"Be careful!" Aria advised despite being so small and young.

"Save Daisy and the other kid!" Terriermon exclaimed.

"Man! Lalamon digivolved to both champion and ultimate levels within just a couple days while it took most of us weeks, even months! How'd she do that?!" Isao complained.

"But wait! Yuureimon ate Daisy! How is Lilamon going to be able to get her out of there? And if Lilamon attacks Yuureimon, Daisy and the other kid could get hurt while they're inside Yuureimon!" Yun said.

Despite all the commotion, Lilamon seemed to hear their concerns. Yuureimon, however, not looking very pleased with Lilamon's grand and majestic appearance, scoffed grimly.

"Don't think you're so tough! I'm still stronger than you despite being a rookie!" Yuureimon chided spitefully, making no qualms about showing her unconquerable hatred for Daisy and pretty much anyone associated with her.

"I'm in no mood for your mind games, Yuureimon!" Lilamon proclaimed audaciously as she extended the petals on one of her arms, showing a little yellow core in the middle. If one were to look at them as just flowers, they'd very much see that the flowers on Lilamon's arms look exactly like the actual flower, the daisy.

"Marvel Shot!" Yellow and green iridescent energy spheres shot out from her arm, and both of them managed to actually hit Yuureimon. She roared in pain as the spheres managed to make contact with her, and she didn't understand why she didn't dodge as quickly as she did before. Upon closer inspection, Yuureimon found that her weakened state is caused by the fact that she moved around so much that she wasted a lot of her energy even though she's trying to suck the life out of Kathy and Daisy so she can have all the power she needs to look as big as she does now.

Lilamon wasn't going to stop there. No, she sure wasn't. Her ferocious streak may have died down because of her digivolution, but her determination to save her partner-her friend-and the other unknown person inside Yuureimon, still continued to explode inside her like a powerful forest fire, spreading all throughout her body. She soon opened her other arm.

"Un Deux Pollen!" A yellowish brown wave of sparkling dust appeared from Lilamon's flowers, slowly wrapping itself around Yuureimon, who tried to brush the dust away with her own large hands.

"You will not bring me down! I am invincible! I am strong! I'm not the...useless little weakling...I was...be...fore..." Yuureimon tried to fight off the pollen that's crawling into her system, but as soon as it entered her system, her head felt very light, her eyesight became blurry, the energy seeped right out of her big body, and she couldn't keep her own eyes open. Soon, her eyes closed and everything went black, and as soon as that happened, she fell onto the parking lot's concrete, looking as unconscious as a hibernating bear.

"Good. Now I won't cause any unnecessary trouble to Daisy," Lilamon mused to herself as a pure white spear of energy suddenly shot out of one of her petals. She walked over to the sleeping and emaciated Yuureimon, kneeled down to her level, and held her cloudy white energy blade in the air.

"Lilac Dagger!" With not a wasted swift motion, she very quickly sliced open Yuureimon's abdomen with only one slash. Seeing that Yuureimon's stomach is open, with her own big hands, Lilamon pried the sides of the cut open, revealing Daisy and Kathy, both trapped by the bluish grey cords. Very slowly and gently, Lilamon cut all the cords that kept Daisy coiled in place and gently pulled her out. Seeing the other girl, she slowly cut all the cords wrapped around her as well, and pulled her right out. Soon, Lilamon scooped the two girls in her arms upon seeing them take big breaths of relief and placed them with the Digimon Brigade.

As relieved as Daisy and Kathy are with being free, they were both, not surprisingly, awestruck by the appearance of this strange yet beautiful and dainty flower fairy. _"Sunflowmon...is that you?"_ Daisy asked, wondering if Sunflowmon digivolved again.

Lilamon nodded gently. _"Yes, my dear friend. Your unwavering patience and belief in my friendship helped me digivolve as quickly as I did. You didn't doubt the fact that I would come and rescue you when I had the chance, even when your own life was at risk,"_ Lilamon told them kindly, in a very pretty and ladylike voice, albeit rather high pitched.

Daisy could feel her eyes moistening again. _"Lilamon...thank you...I don't know what we'd do without you..."_

"_We?"_ Lilamon asked, a little confused by Daisy's wording of the situation. Then she saw the girl next to her. _"Do you know this girl?"_

"_Yes. This is...my best friend. Kathy Winn Spencer,"_ Daisy said in a low whisper.

"_Whaaaat?!"_ Lilamon exclaimed with shock. _"Th-Th-This is Kathy?! The one who everybody says was kidnapped?!"_

"Uhh...what's going on?" Minako asked Yun, looking very confused.

"She says the girl is her friend Kathy, and Lilamon says she's the girl who everybody says was kidnapped once," Yun translated.

"Cassie?" Riku asked, a little confused by the pronunciation of her name considering it's not a Japanese one, especially not one he's ever heard before.

"No, Kathy," Yun corrected his incorrect pronunciation of her name.

"Why's her skin so dark?" Coronamon asked.

"Coronamon! Don't ask stuff like that! You'll hurt her feelings!" Rena scolded.

"How is asking about their skin hurting their feelings?!" Coronamon yelped, surprised by Rena's very unprecedented response.

"Grrrrrr..." Unfortunately, despite Lilamon saving Daisy and Kathy from getting killed, Yuureimon managed to pull herself right back up and let out an almost deafening, high pitched roar, which made everyone cover their ears except for Lilamon. "NO! YOU CANNOT TAKE KATHY FROM ME! SHE IS MY FRIEND, NOBODY ELSE'S!"

"You cannot force someone to be your friend, especially if they don't want to!" Lilamon shouted back.

"GIVE HER BACK TO ME! Spirit Spiel!" Yuureimon shot a black beam of light at Lilamon.

"Lila Shower!" Lilamon countered with a myriad of slender pink beams coming right out of her flower like hands, which managed to cut through her attack and hit the now weak Yuureimon.

"Beauty Shock!" Again, Lilamon didn't stop there. A seven colored lightning bolt shot out of one of her hands, electrocuting Yuureimon and causing her to roar loudly, as she is in more excruciating pain than before.

"Uh...is it just me, or is Yuureimon getting smaller?" Lopmon asked.

The kids and Digimon took a closer look at Yuureimon.

Lopmon's right. Yuureimon was so big before, much bigger than even Lilamon. But now she's barely as tall as Daisy.

"I do not wish to hurt you! I only want you to calm down and listen to us!" Lilamon edicted, not wanting to hurt the still choleric and rancor-consumed Yuureimon any longer.

"Why won't you listen to me?! All people and Digimon who throw their friends away like trash and use them for their own ends are evil! Evil evil evil evil EVIL!" Yuureimon bellowed as she tried to use another attack, but found herself getting smaller.

"Not everyone is like that. And they're not the only ones, either. You used Kathy as a power source for your strength, and didn't think about how she'd feel about being nothing but fuel for your senseless grudges and insatiable thirst for power. How does that make you any better than them? You say that you hate Digimon who use others for their own ends, but...you yourself chose to use Kathy as something you can feed off of to increase your strength without taking her feelings and well-being into consideration. That doesn't make you better than them. That just makes you a hypocrite," Lilamon told Yuureimon as kindly but sternly as she could muster. "Besides, what if Kathy died while she was still inside you? If she died, then she won't be able to provide you with her negative energy anymore. If that actually happened, what would you do? Would you keep her inside you, or would you throw her away...just like how you say everyone else threw you away when they decided that you weren't worth it?"

Finally, once Yuureimon became about Lopmon's size, she stopped rampaging and just sat on the concrete, looking extremely dejected and abject, her eyes wide, sad, and pitiful, looking like they were about to burst into tears at any moment. Now, Yuureimon isn't a gigantic, nefarious, frightening, terror-inducing, towering monster anymore. Now she's just a scrawny, cute, cuddly, fluffy-looking, tiny, chubby little imp of a creature. The bitterly cold temperature she caused from before has now completely vanished, and nobody felt like they were living in the Arctic anymore. Daisy couldn't help but feel sorry for the now totally shrinked down Yuureimon upon seeing how tiny she is and the completely guilt-ridden look on her face.

"_...Daisy. I'm sorry. For taking Kathy away and trying to kill you. I let my sadness get the better of me, and I let myself be deluded to the point where I didn't bother to listen to other peoples' feelings. I'm sorry I judged you based solely on what I assumed about you,"_ Yuureimon muttered softly but sadly. Daisy and Kathy both understood what she said, since she's a Digimon. _"I'm sorry, Kathy...for making you suffer, trying to hurt your friend, and using you just to make myself happy. That's not what friends do. I'm sorry I didn't listen to you or freak out like I did."_

Lilamon smiled sweetly. "I'm glad you see the error of your ways, Yuureimon."

But that wasn't all that came from Yuureimon. "Lilamon...please kill me."

Lilamon's eyes widened to such a size that they looked like they were going to pop out of her face in that cartoony way. "What?! But you apologized! You see the error of your ways now! It's not too late to make things right!"

"Yes it is!" Yuureimon cried, feeling huge globs of tears pour out of her eyes and stream down her chubby little cheeks. "I did horrible, horrible things and instead of stopping myself when I had the chance, I only made things worse because of what I went through before I came here!"

"Lots of people do that! I do stupid stuff all the time!" Yun exclaimed.

"But you don't hurt people and try to kill them when things don't go your way! Now I see why they hate me! Because I don't listen! I only do stuff based solely on what I see and feel and don't consider the feelings and well-being of others! You all have every right to hate me forever! I deserve it! I don't deserve to live! Come on, Lilamon! Kill me already so I won't hurt anyone anymore!" Yuureimon cried further, not even bothering to wipe the huge torrents of tears away.

Daisy was about to say something until Kathy suddenly squirmed out of her arms and pointed to Yuureimon with a pleading look.

"_You want to go to Yuureimon?"_ Daisy asked.

Kathy nodded. Daisy then turned to Kosuke. _"Kosuke. Will you help me?"_

"She's asking you to help carry Kathy," Yun translated.

"Sure," Kosuke responded, albeit a little confused as to why Daisy needs help carrying Kathy.

"I'll help out too!" Patamon said as he flew over to assist them.

Daisy wrapped Kathy's right arm around herself, and her left arm around Kosuke as Patamon gently pushed from behind. They very slowly and gently carried Kathy over to the still crying Yuureimon. Once they got close enough, they gently set her down. Kathy, once she finally got close, extended her hand to gently stroke Yuureimon's tiny head. Once Yuureimon felt Kathy's hand on her head, she looked up to find Kathy with a smile on her face.

"Kathy..." That was all Yuureimon could mutter.

Very slowly, she removed her hand from Yuureimon's head and pointed at the little ghost Digimon with her index finger. Then she pointed at herself, and after that, she interlocked both of her index fingers twice.

"What's she doing?" Lopmon asked.

"_She just said, _"You. Me. Friends,"_ in sign language,"_ Daisy explained, surprised at what just transpired.

Yuureimon is just as surprised. _"No! How can you say that?! I...I did horrible stuff to you, and I shouldn't have! You tried to stop me but I didn't listen and nearly killed you and your friend because of my selfishness! I don't deserve to have friends or people to love me! Nothing I do can ever make up for what I did-"_ Yuureimon was about to go on another tirade until she found herself trapped in Kathy's skinny little arms and pulled to her chest. Kathy closed her eyes and rested her head on little Yuureimon's head. Yuureimon couldn't believe what was happening. Kathy is hugging her, and nobody ever did that for her in her whole entire life. She couldn't believe how warm she felt, how nice it felt to be wrapped in someone arms, and, most of all, she felt loved. She could feel the love coming from Kathy's arms. Before, everything inside and outside of Yuureimon was as cold as ice. But now, everything felt warm, melted, and soft, and Yuureimon found herself bawling in Kathy's chest, no longer out of sadness, but out of joy.

However, despite everything that just happened, a majority of the Digimon Brigade still felt very confused.

"Umm...what happened again?" Biyomon asked.

Daisy could tell they were very confused, so she decided to explain everything from the beginning.

"So...Kathy's your friend from when you lived in Oregon, and then after you moved to Hawaii, Yuureimon kidnapped her and you didn't know about it until you got a letter back from her parents, and that's why you stopped trying to make friends?" Yun asked, trying to simplify the story that Daisy just told while translating it to the other kids and Digimon. Daisy and Kathy both nodded in unison. Lilamon had de-digivolved back into Lalamon at this point. Daisy then decided to start explaining things to Kathy.

"_In case you're wondering, we're in Japan. My family and I just moved here some months ago from Hawaii. Your mom said you disappeared about a few weeks after you and I said goodbye to each other. Yuureimon probably wandered around looking for me once she heard your story,"_ Daisy explained. Yun made sure to translate this to the Digimon Brigade also, since they're wondering what the heck they're talking about.

"Wait! There's one thing I really really don't understand. How the heck did a Digimon who ate a human go all the way from one side of the United States all the way to Japan without flying or swimming? The US and Japan are separated by a big ocean, and it'd be impossible for Yuureimon to go that far without starving or getting sick or stuff like that!" Riku asked.

"Yuureimon's a ghost, remember?" Otoya piped in. "Ghosts don't really need to eat, and they can't get sick at all because they have no bodies."

"Ohhhhh," Riku said.

"So...what's gonna happen to Kathy?" Rena asked.

"_She's asking what's going to happen to Kathy now that we've found her,"_ Yun told Daisy as she translated what Rena said while adding in some more details.

"_I'm gonna take her to my house so she can recuperate, then we'll call her parents and tell them that she's been found. Would you like that, Kathy?"_ Daisy told Yun, then asked Kathy if that would be alright. With a bright smile, Kathy nodded. All of a sudden, a very cheerful and jubilant Lalamon suddenly floated up to Kathy, obviously looking very eager.

"_It's great that you're safe! Hi! I'm Lalamon! I'm Daisy's Digimon friend! She told me a lot about you. Wanna be friends?"_ Lalamon chirped and extended one of her stubby hands out to Kathy, who in turn shook the flying plant Digimon's hand with her own.

The Digimon Brigade wanted to stay longer, but Yun had to leave because Hisako called her and began interrogating her on where she went. Admittedly, the other kids and their Digimon decided it was time to leave too. Leave Morioka completely, so when Melody gave Biyomon some breakfast, she found she has enough energy to digivolve into Parrotmon and take everyone back to Tama-no-Minato all by herself. Daisy decided to carry Kathy on her back because her wheelchair is back in Oregon, and as far as Daisy knew, there aren't any wheelchairs she could borrow from anyone. Mostly because she both doesn't know anyone in Morioka and the fact that she doesn't know how to ask for a wheelchair in Japanese. Despite this, Daisy carried Kathy to her house and Lalamon helped out until they got there. Once Daisy's parents saw Kathy, they were quite shocked. As much as Daisy didn't want to surprise them, it was only natural that it'd happen anyway, considering Kathy's been missing, presumed kidnapped, for quite a while. Daisy didn't want to tell them the truth about Kathy and Yuureimon, who remained out of sight for the time being, so she simply told them that she found her unconscious just down the next street. Surprisingly for her, they took it well and decided to take Kathy to the nearby police station and tell them to call her parents.

As for Yun, Ayaka and Hisako both gave her a bit of a grilling for being missing this morning. However, it went by rather quickly, and they decided to go out with the Ariakes to do some shopping. In one store, Yun found one thing in particular that she really wanted. But not for herself. After their shopping trip ended, they went to Kurako's house again to play with the cousins for many hours until it was time to go back to Margot's house. Yun couldn't help but wonder if Kathy was okay. She seems like a very nice girl from what she's seen, but apparently she can't talk because she has brain damage and her legs don't work because of a mistake in a surgery. It must be pretty shocking to end up in one place and then find out you're in a foreign country with absolutely no means of communicating or getting around, especially with brain damage as severe as hers. But Kathy was lucky Daisy was there. If she wound up in a bad place, the situation might have turned out very differently. Then, the day of departure came. Yun went to the part of the fence that led to Daisy's backyard, as she texted her to meet her outside at about ten. Daisy came as promised.

"_I...I bought this for you,"_ Yun muttered shyly as she handed Daisy the thing she got at the store yesterday when she was out with the Ariakes. Much to Daisy's surprise, Yun's gift is a Japanese phrase book, apparently one that can teach her very basic Japanese, along with showing how to write the words in their associated characters, along with what they mean.

"_I know you said you don't want to learn Japanese as you think it'll only force you to make friends, and I get that...but...you're going to be living here, so...I thought you'd find this useful if you're going shopping or need some help or...stuff like that. If you don't like it, that's okay. You can use it only if you absolutely need it,"_ Yun explained a little shyly. As surprised as Daisy is, she could tell that Yun didn't get her the gift out of malice, as she sounds much too shy and worried to really convey this. Yun looked very worried, like she's deathly afraid that Daisy would hate it right off or accuse her of trying to trick her.

With a smile, Daisy gently took the book out of Yun's hands and held onto it. "Thank you, Yun. I...I'll use it whenever I can. I...I'm happy I got to meet you..." Daisy told her kindly but very slowly in Japanese.

"You're welcome. I'm happy too. _You got it right_," Yun said in Japanese at first, then in English. _"Umm...will you do me a favor, though?"_

"What's that?"

"_If you don't want to be part of the Digimon Brigade, that's ok, even though we have our numbers anyway, but...if you ever see other kids with Digimon running around, will you tell them that you'll help them fight off bad Digimon whenever possible? Because there's a bad Digimon that's been causing trouble, and since he's so powerful, he may come here too, or maybe even to other countries, so...I'm not trying to force you to make friends if that's what you're thinking. It might be possible to run into other people with Digimon, so I just want to let you know in advance and in the event that...you do find some...you can tell them that you're on their side."_

Daisy couldn't help but chuckle. "Thanks. I'll do that."

"Goodbye. Have a nice spring."

"You too, Yun."

With that, Daisy and Yun parted ways. Who knows? Maybe they'll meet again sometime. They're only four hours away from each other. At promptly noon, the Wakamiyas decided to journey home, happy to have been able to see the rest of their family members, if only for just four days. Now, Yun has the entire spring break to do whatever she wants, and so does the rest of the Digimon Brigade.

Author's Note: Okay, WHY is deleting all my asterisks and dashes and transitions?! This is so stupid!


	105. Extra Episode 3: Coping With Despair

EXTRA EPISODE 3: Coping With Despair

Unfortunately, while spring break may be fun for some kids, for others it's not something that they really want to have to deal with, especially if they're in circumstances that require them to be home at all times. Sometimes, those kids really don't want to be at home. They'd much rather go outside, play around, hang out with their friends, have fun, and make merry without a thought. However, some people don't have that beautiful privilege, and it may not come to some of them anytime soon. For some, it may not come at all, especially if they don't do something.

Such is the case for Nobara Riku, who was sitting at his computer playing an MMO online, quite happily despite being stuck in the house, when he heard his father calling for him.

"Riku! Can you come down here please?" Michitaka called out.

"Huh? Hmm. Wonder what he wants me for," Riku mused to himself before calling out, "Coming!" He promptly ran from his room whistling happily, leaving a cheerful and sunny Sunmon alone in his room.

Quickly, he arrived in the dining room, where he saw Michitaka sitting on one of the dining room chairs at the table, looking rather dejected and grim, like he has been for quite a while because of the incessant and unending legal battles between him and Takako, which have been going on for about forever.

"What's up?" Riku asked, looking a bit confused.

"We need to talk, Riku. I'm extremely sorry to say this, but...I'm afraid...we won't be able to go to the night game tonight," Michitaka told him sadly. Riku could see that his eyes looked extremely sad and disappointed as he said this, and the fresh unibrow he has didn't cease to fold in an upward fashion.

Riku found himself frozen in place, with his hand on one of the side panels of the door leading into the dining room. His emerald eyes slowly widened and widened to the point where his eyes looked huge. The night game? They can't go? The baseball game they've been looking forward to for so long? Now they all of a sudden can't go? But why?

Michitaka seemed to read his mind, even though he looked just as disappointed as his son. "Takako roped me into another hearing. I really tried to re-schedule it to some other time, but her lawyer and the judges can't change it."

"But...we made plans..." Riku muttered, his voice quivering, feeling as though this new revelation that they can't go to the baseball game like they promised hadn't quite sunk in. They couldn't cancel their plans. They just couldn't. He and Michitaka planned every detail. He saw them sign up for their seats. He saw him pay for the tickets online before they sold out. An opportunity like this doesn't come around often. Riku had always wanted to see a baseball game, and he wanted to show one to Sunmon, too. But now, all of those plans are crumbling down to nothing but dust to be carried away by the cruel hands of the spring breeze, which is normally gentle, but now...spring isn't so kind right now."We...we planned this for months! You bought tickets! We got seats!" Riku's voice became higher and more hysterical. He sounded like he was practically crying, even though no tears came out.

"I know. I know Riku. I'm so sorry. I'm so so sorry. I tried, but I couldn't fix it. They won't let me," Michitaka's voice quivered just like Riku's, only he sounds like he's going to cry any minute now. He tried to hug Riku, but he backed away.

"No! This is a lie! Mom's just threatening you, isn't she?! She's just trying to take away every bit of joy we have...and you're letting her do it!" Riku screamed angrily, then ran back to his room.

"Riku!" Michitaka wanted to go after him, but felt it wouldn't do any good and make things worse, so he refrained from going after him. He had to admit, Riku was right. He didn't know it was going to happen, but because he unknowingly allowed Takako to do what she wanted, they basically killed their chances of having even the tiniest crumb of joy amongst the tension and oppressive atmosphere that has been plaguing the Nobara family since the fall.

Riku burst into his room and slammed the door, not caring about the loud thud it made. Takako always scolded him about his bad habit of slamming the door really hard whenever he got angry or frustrated about something, but at this point, he didn't care. Let it slam! He wanted to hear that loud boom sound it made. It opened up a channel for his anger to pour out of. Once the door slammed, with a ferocious grunt, Riku kicked his computer chair down on the floor, causing Sunmon to fly into the air as he made a surprised yelp sound, shocked by the sudden influx of loud noises.

"Yeek! Rikkun! What's with all the door slamming and chair kicking? This isn't like you," Sunmon asked as he felt like his heart is going faster than a race car. Riku flopped onto his bed and began pounding his pillows with his fists, but he didn't scream or cry or howl or anything like that.

"Dad can't take us to the night game anymore!" Riku screamed into his pillows, his voice muffled.

"What?!" Sunmon yelped again, this time with shock and disappointment. "We can't go?! But we paid for the tickets and got seats! You and Michitaka have been planning this for months! We can't just up and not go!"

"That's what I said!" Riku yelled back hysterically, continuing to bury his face in his pillows as tears mixed into the soft pillow case silently, leaving dark spots on them. Sunmon could tell from the way his voice sounded that Riku is just begging to scream and cry out right this minute.

"What happened?" Sunmon asked again, calmer this time, even though the cheerful light in his heart vanished the instant Riku told him that they can no longer go to the night game despite all the planning and the talking they had done in regards to it.

"Mom's set up another court date for Dad to go to! I swear, she sets all these things up to ruin my life and Rena's on purpose, I know it!" Riku yelled again.

"Again?! Jeez, is this ever going to end?!" Sunmon exclaimed angrily upon hearing Riku explain the reason why they can't go to the night game anymore.

"I don't get it...why does she keep doing all of this? Can't all of this just end already? All I want to do is have fun! Is that really so bad?!" Riku exclaimed through his pillows.

Sunmon's anger dissipated upon seeing his sad, pitiful partner lay on his bed, lamenting the fact that he can't seem to do anything to rectify the situation. Sunmon doesn't know much about divorce courts, but he could tell from hearing Takako and Michitaka talk that they sound really really complicated, with Takako complicating things even more because she just outright refuses to sign Michitaka's divorce papers and continues to drag out this pointless brawl, not caring about the fact that her own children, children she chooses to berate and criticize and downright scorn on a daily basis without caring for their well-being and position in this whole brouhaha, are suffering in the process. That was what confused Sunmon the most. Takako has made it abundantly clear that she doesn't give a flying feather about her children, and from what he's been told, has been especially critical of them upon Riku's ADHD diagnosis and Rena's loss of her leg long ago. Instead of embracing them and caring for them like her own, she chooses to nitpick at every single little thing about them that she finds to be wrong, which is basically everything. He remembered Lunamon's very awesome tirade back at the hospital when Rena lost her leg. Lunamon basically pointed out every single flaw of Takako's and gave her a good tongue-lashing, but despite this, it didn't even seem to faze her. Nothing about her children, or even her marriage for what matter, was ever going to propitiate her. But if she hates her kids so much, then why is she so completely dead set on gaining full custody of them?

Little Sunmon floated over to his partner, his tiny, sunny little heart now sagging with melancholy, worry, and concern for his completely abject and broken partner. He wished there was something he could do to change all of this. He wished he could make Riku's life better. He wished he could have awesome time traveling powers so he could go back to as many times in Riku's life as he wants and fix things so Riku won't have to feel like he doesn't have the right to be himself, or even the right to exist for that matter. He wished he could go back to whatever time period Takako lived in and tell her right off to treat her children right regardless of how they come out so maybe she'd become a better person that way. But then again, nobody really knew much about Takako's past. What exactly DID happen to her when she was young that made her into the selfish, narcissistic, stern, uptight, intransigent, and perfectionistic person she is now? She has no right to call her own children imperfect beings and recite such calumny about them and twist things around to her own liking and prevaricate other peoples' testimonies stating otherwise? What would she gain from doing those things? Sunmon just couldn't understand, and he sure isn't the only one struggling to understand such an enigmatic and inscrutable reason either.

"Rikkun..." That was all Sunmon could spit out upon seeing his dejected partner and friend lying on his bed silently. He figured fancy words weren't going to reassure him. Sunmon cursed himself for not being able to help his own partner in his time of need. He wished he could, but how? He doesn't know how to help him, especially not in this chaotic situation. Who knew it'd be so easy for a child to be jovial, vibrant, and vivacious to dejected, abject, somber, and downright broken with just a few words and actions? Were humans always this emotionally fragile in general? Sunmon couldn't help but wonder.

Sunmon only got to ruminate about such strange thoughts for only an hour, as the terrible sound of Michitaka and Takako yelling came back in full force, right outside Riku's door. Sunmon and the others have had to deal with these for quite a while now. Even Michitaka hated arguing with Takako, especially with the fact that when they're arguing with her, Takako only sees her own point of view and feels she has to be right about everything, and just won't listen to matter what. There was no winning any argument with her, but Michitaka wouldn't give up.

"Takako! This HAS to stop! You have to stop arranging all these pointless hearings!"

"If they'll get me any closer to getting the kids away from you, then I'll arrange all the hearings I want!"

"But what about the children?! Do you know how long Riku and I have planned to go this night game?! Why did you have to have this hearing set for tonight of all times?! Do you know how sad Riku is right now?! We planned this for months yet you had to go and ruin it for us!"

"This is more important than baseball and rabid fans going crazy over who hits a ball with a bat!"

"All we wanted was to have some fun and have a nice time! Is that really so wrong?! Why'd you have to go and ruin everything we've done?!"

"_I_ didn't do anything! _You're_ the one who wasted your valuable time on a stupid and frivolous activity that doesn't do anything for anyone in the long run! How is going to a baseball game going to benefit them anyway? He needs to stop acting like a child and grow up already!"

"Riku IS a child, Takako! He and Rena! Why do you keep expecting them to be perfect?! They're just children! OUR children!"

"If you're not perfect, you can't survive in this world!"

"Why does everything always have to be about you?! Ever since Riku's diagnosis you've basically turned into a selfish dictator! You constantly criticize them, you don't attend any of their events, you don't help them when they need it, you berate them every chance you get without considering their feelings, you refuse to listen to them and twist whatever they say around to your own convenience, and you constantly prevent them from having fun! You don't even let them have a social life! Not only that, you tried to hatch a plan to send Riku off to some loony bin and have them hop him up on drugs that he doesn't need! Why bother signing for full custody of them when all you're going to do is make everything worse for them?!"

"If they don't meet society's expectations, they're never going to survive! They'll never become proper citizens of society in the direction they're going! Someone has to whip them into shape, and I know for a fact that you won't, so I will!"

It's here that Riku popped out of his bed, grabbed his digivice and some games, stuffed them in a little grey bag, and went right out the door. Sunmon wanted to ask him about this, but Riku just flew out so fast he couldn't get any words out of his mouth, so he simply followed him. Michitaka and Takako were too busy arguing to even glance at Riku passing right by them. They argue so much they don't even notice their own kids anymore. Riku didn't care if even MoonMillenniummon noticed him. He just wanted to get out of this house right now. He didn't want to deal with any more yelling. His day is ruined enough as it is.

While someone's day was just completely ruined, another child's day was simply just getting started, even though this person doesn't really have anything special planned. Otoya spent quite a good chunk of her morning playing outside in her backyard, namely in the form of playing frisbee with Labramon, who very clearly enjoyed chasing around a flying plastic disc with his partner and running around all over the place. After about a full hour, Otoya and Labramon fell onto the grass, their chests heaving up and down as they gasped for breath.

"Getting exercise over playing lots of frisbee never gets old," Otoya croaked in between breaths. Despite feeling tired, she felt like a ton of bricks got lifted off of her, so she didn't mind feeling exhausted.

"You said it, my friend," Labramon heaved.

"Want some water?" Otoya asked as she stood back up.

"Yes please. I don't think I can run another mile if I don't get myself hydrated," Labramon replied.

"Coming right up!" Otoya exclaimed happily as she ambled into the kitchen, grabbed a bottle of water that was in the refrigerator, walked back into the backyard, opened the top of the bottle, and handed it to a very grateful Labramon, who humbly began consuming the water that poured out of the bottle like a torrent as he held it high in the air while drinking from it.

"Thanks very much, Otoya," Labramon said as he stopped drinking the water for a bit to make sure he didn't gulp down too much.

"You're welcome. I have to admit, I'm kind of surprised Mom, Dad, and the others decided to let you stay here once they found out that you talk and have powers and stuff," Otoya told him with a smile.

"Me too. But everything turned out alright in the end, didn't it? Now I can stay with you and not have to worry about anything," Labramon said.

"I was really afraid that Dad would made me get rid of you right then if he found out. Everyone else as well. I'm kinda surprised I even managed to keep my cool when they were interrogating me right after we came back from the convention," Otoya said as she began to reminisce about the time Oujiro and the rest of her family found out about Labramon's true identity way back when.

(flashback)

_Once Otoya, Xiaomon, Noriko, and Oujiro came back home from the convention, Oujiro was the first to go into the house. Much to his surprise, Maiko and Seijuro are home, and normally they aren't at this time. Maiko had to study for a chemistry test and Seijuro was sick with a cold so they both couldn't make the convention. But the both of them heard about the fiasco at the convention and became surprised when Oujiro, Noriko, and Otoya all came into the house._

"_Dad! Mom! Little sis! You're all okay! Oh, thank the lord! I was so worried!" Maiko exclaimed as she hugged every single one of them as they came into the house, finally feeling the worries stream off of her like a bug shedding its skin._

"_We saw what happened on TV! Monsters were destroying everything and people were getting killed and all that stuff! They even showed some kids riding other monsters and fighting with them! You were on TV, too, Otoya! You were riding some big white three-headed dog with wings," Seijuro exclaimed, not quite sure what to make of what he saw on TV and seeing his parents and little sister back home, even though he's just as relieved as Maiko is._

"_Everyone. I'd like you all to come into the dining room. Important family meeting," Oujiro told them grimly. A very worried and terrified Otoya clung to her tired and languid Xiaomon tightly. She could tell that Oujiro is NOT happy about the prospect of having a talking dog in his home under the facade of a real dog, even though Xiaomon's been with them for a while now. Otoya felt sure that Oujiro was going to tell everyone about Xiaomon and convince them all to get rid of him, even though Noriko said she'd try to convince him to let Xiaomon stay. But she had to wonder why Oujiro is making Maiko and Seijuro come to the table as well? They don't know that Xiaomon can talk. Won't they be freaked out, too? But Otoya knew that family meetings are usually held, with EVERYONE included (this is a rule in the Jounouchi family. Everybody has to come to these mandatory family meetings), when someone's going to be punished very severely or forced to talk about things they don't want to. Otoya knew that there was no way she could escape this. She knew she had to face the music right out, because if she lied, Oujiro would flip out like crazy. It's happened before. There was no turning back. Soon, everyone sat at the dining room table._

"_Everyone. I'm sure a lot of you know that we allowed Otoya to keep a dog in this house. However, it appears that you have kept a secret from us, and there are supposed to be no secrets in this house, Otoya," Oujiro said grimly, immediately putting Otoya on the spot._

"_Uh...I...I..." Otoya wanted to talk, but she found that she couldn't. She couldn't get the words out for some reason. She knew she couldn't lie, because there are grave consequences for doing that. But she assumed that if she told him everything, he'd get even angrier. What would be the point of telling him if the result was going to be the same as lying?_

"_Wait. I'm confused. What's all this about again? I don't get it," Seijuro asked, confused by how vague everything is right now._

"_That thing Otoya has in her hands," Oujiro told him, shamelessly pointing to Xiaomon. "It is one of those Digimon we've been hearing about on the news. It's the dog named Labramon that we took in many months ago."_

"_Eh?!" Maiko and Seijuro both yelped with surprise._

_All of a sudden, Otoya suddenly found the urge to shout hysterically, "Please don't make me get rid of him! He's my friend! He'd never hurt anyone!" Otoya suddenly screamed, surprised that she even found the guts to do so._

"_We understa-" Noriko was about to say something until Oujiro cut her off._

"_Otoya! What in God's name made you want to keep a creature that we know absolutely nothing about in our home?! Have you not considered how something like this would affect the people around you?! What if it's dangerous?! It could have killed everyone in this house!" Oujiro shouted angrily._

"_Xiaomon's not like that! I raised him to not be like that! I swear!" Otoya argued back, looking very desperate. Maiko and Seijuro looked at each other with surprised yet confused faces._

"_Why did you keep him a secret from us?!"_

"_I knew you'd freak out!"_

_Oujiro, knowing that freaking out isn't going to do any good, finally calmed down. "Care to explain how he got into our house, Otoya?" He asked, still sounding like a very strict police officer interrogating a criminal._

"_I didn't know he'd come here. I just found his egg in my room. I have no idea how he got in, but...I...I sort of knew there was a little animal in there that I didn't know about, and...since I've been so lonely because nobody wanted to be friends with me, I thought it'd be great to have a cute little animal friend for myself, so...yeah. I got greedy. I'm sorry, and you're allowed to hate me for it, but...Labramon makes me so happy. He's one of the best things that ever happened to me! My dream to finally have someone who cares for me and doesn't care about my background outside of my family has finally come true!" Otoya explained, sounding like she's about to burst into tears when she finished._

_Oujiro was about to say something, but this time Noriko cut her off, not wanting to be left out. "We know how hard it's been on you, Otoya, and we can understand how lonely you've felt because of everything that's been happening, so I guess it's natural for you to cling to something that may very well be out of this world," Noriko told her kindly, with a smile on her face. Yes, she knew how Otoya felt and about the experiences she went through back in Chiba, where nobody in school wanted to be friends with her simply because of false myths about preachers and their children. Noriko couldn't blame her. Considering what she went through, Otoya would pretty much do anything to get some friends, even if it meant getting hurt in the process. It's not the first time Otoya did something silly to try and get some friends. "That's actually the reason why Oujiro and I let you keep him in the first place. I figured a pet would do you a lot of good, and I can see how much happier you've become since he came into your life, even though I could tell you mostly wanted human friends, not pets. However, now that we know that he's not of this world, you have to admit, Oujiro does have a point, sweetie. We don't know what kind of creature he is or where he comes from. He might have been dangerous. I know this isn't the case, and I understand that he's a very good little creature and I accept that, but...anything could have happened," Noriko explained._

"_Wait. I'm confused. What do you mean by not of this world?" Maiko asked, still looking very flummoxed in regards to what this supposed mandatory family meeting is all about._

"_It means I am not a normal animal," Xiaomon suddenly piped in calmly, as if telling people about the fact that he's a Digimon is the most normal thing in the world...which, to this family, is anything but normal._

"_YEEEK!" Maiko shrieked hysterically, her eyes looking like they're about to pop out of her face, as she literally leaped out of her chair and dashed into the kitchen like a scared flea. "It-It-It-It-It-It TALKED!"_

"_Don't worry, Oneechan! He's my friend. He won't hurt you," Otoya told her reassuringly, but it didn't seem to help._

"_Otoya! That's _not_ the issue here!" Oujiro exclaimed as he banged his fist onto the table, making Otoya and Seijuro recoil in fright at how sudden it was. "You went and adopted an alien from another world without considering the consequences and how its presence would affect this family and the people around you! Don't you understand how much danger that alien could potentially cause? Look at what happened at the convention just now! These monsters have probably killed thousands, even millions! You could have been killed back there, along with a million other people! And not only that, you're actually fighting those monsters with that thing by your side? How can you possibly do that without thought of what your actions might do to the people around you?! And how come you've managed to get away with fighting monsters for months on end without telling us about it?!"_

"_Dad! Will you calm down?!" Seijuro exclaimed, surprised at how loud Oujiro has gotten, and as far as he knows, his father is usually not a very loud person._

"_I _HAVE_ thought about what those Digimon might do to everyone around me! We all have! Yes, the bad Digimon have come here and killed people in the past! That's why Labramon, my friends, and I fight them, so we can prevent them from doing any more damage to the town! It's so we can prevent more lives from being lost!" Otoya retaliated._

"_It's true. Otoya has been a great companion, and she cares greatly for all life on this planet, which is why I am able to digivolve and make sure no bad Digimon takes a human life, even though that has its limits," Xiaomon said._

"_You're just a child! You don't know anything about fighting monsters and the repercussions it could cause! Let the military or the government handle it! It's too dangerous for a naive child like you to even think about being able to handle!"_

"_We _do_ know about what happens when the Digimon do bad things! We've been there! Why else do you think we've been trying our best to keep them from causing trouble all this time? And besides, only me and my friends know the true extent of why the bad Digimon are coming here. The government...they may not take the time to really understand the entire situation without thinking that all Digimon are bad."_

"_You don't know that!"_

"_Oujiro. Please don't yell. Let's be civil here," Noriko told him kindly._

_Otoya couldn't blame him for getting angry, and to be fair, she agreed with a lot of his statements. She is just a child, and perhaps there's much MUCH more to the MoonMillenniummon affair and the Digital World being destroyed than even they know, perhaps more than Wisemon is letting on, though in his case, he can't reveal every single little piece of information because MoonMillenniummon has him on lockdown and if he reveals the most crucial pieces of information, he could find out in that instant and kill him on the spot. That part was understandable. Yes, fighting other Digimon IS dangerous. Yes, people HAVE died because of their unexpected appearance in the real world. Nobody forgot the Shadramon incident, the destruction of the church because of DinoBeemon, Tsurumi High School, the Groundramon fiasco, and this more recent disaster at the convention. Yes, adopting a creature from another world definitely has its drawbacks. Otoya's not the only one to experience those drawbacks. Yes, she went for months without telling her parents about Labramon's true identity and about participating in battles with MoonMillenniummon's minions. She definitely feels guilty about that, but she wanted to protect them, along with everyone else in the neighborhood. Besides, if she told everyone that monsters were coming to destroy them all, who would believe her? They'd all think she either has a vivid and out of control imagination or is downright insane._

"_I...I only wish you had been honest with us about all of this, Otoya. Don't misunderstand. I just...feel angry that you don't trust us, and...I don't like that you've been putting your life on the line..." Oujiro said, in a lower, sadder voice this time._

"_I wanted to tell you all. I really did, but I was afraid you wouldn't believe me or that you'd make me get rid of Labramon, even though he's on our side, and...I know its none of my business to have charged into those battles as we have, but someone has to take care of the Digimon in the right way, and we happen to know a lot about how to handle them properly, even though they've been getting stronger. If someone doesn't step up and handle them, in the right way no less, then who will?" Otoya said._

_Xiaomon hopped onto the table with a courageous look on his face. "I understand your concerns, Oujiro-san, and believe me, I sympathize with your plight. What Otoya says is true. I am on your side, and agree with many of your sentiments. However, the bad Digimon that have come here aren't just random Digimon. They're the minions of a great evil, a Digimon so powerful that it destroyed our world once. Losing your daughter is just a tiny spec of dust in a sunbeam compared to the potential that their master has. He has the power to destroy an entire planet, and that is not something the military or the government can handle, and especially children. We understand that forcing very young children to shoulder the burden of saving two worlds is an especially dangerous thing to do, especially if that burden falls onto the wrong hands, but in the situation we're in now, we don't have any other choice. Otoya and her friends know a lot about what's been happening, and I don't think the military or the government would be very willing to fully understand the true situation, nor would they really be able to."_

_Oujiro ate his words after that. He fell eerily and sadly silent. Noriko just looked down at the table. Maiko came back to the table, albeit still frightened. Seijuro simply looked up at the ceiling. Otoya could tell that they're having a LOT of trouble processing this new information. She couldn't blame them._

"_Now, in regards to my residing in your residence, I am sorry for the trouble I caused, and I have no intention of causing you harm. You're more than welcome to spite me, if you will, as Digimon really don't have a place in this world. I'm not trying to force you to make decisions you do not feel comfortable with making, and I understand your feelings completely. I will, however, take the liberty to be bold as separating me from Otoya would prove to be a great travesty. Otoya is the best thing that has ever happened to me, and I in turn am the best thing that ever happened to her, considering what she's went through. She has helped me in ways you cannot even imagine, and I have done the same with her. It's because of her that I can digivolve and use my power at full strength. It's because of her that I can remain true to myself. Not only that, her integrity, faith in others, and her overall optimism has helped the Digimon Brigade greatly, and without her, we would most certainly fall apart be very bitter. You all have raised her very well. She is a good girl, and if she wasn't there to raise me, I might have come out very differently. I might have turned out to be a cold blooded killer if I fell into the wrong hands, as you said, Oujiro-san," Nobody bothered to interrupt Xiaomon as he talked. Otoya couldn't believe that they actually let him talk, Oujiro especially, as he's the one who does all the talking and the interrupting if something doesn't go his way._

_All of a sudden, Oujiro stood up from his chair and left the dining room. Noriko, worried about his demeanor, decided to follow him, leaving the children and Xiaomon alone. Considering how somber and dejected he looked, Otoya wondered if Oujiro was considering kicking Labramon out, or if he's just leaving to think about how to cope with all of this madness that's being presented before his eyes. Oujiro was never a fantasy person despite his occupation and ardent beliefs in God, so she found it understandable. But she really didn't want to be separated from the thing that's helped her so much._

_Seijuro broke the silence. "Otoya. There's something I wanna confess, too. The truth is, I already knew about your little friend here."_

_Both Otoya and Maiko both gasped with shock. "Eh?!"_

"_What?! But...But how?! How'd you find out?! And when was this?!" Otoya shouted, her green eyes wide like saucers upon hearing this new revelation, suddenly becoming very curious as to how Seijuro found out before the rest of the family. How could her big brother, the upbeat, cheerful, and normally very goofy athlete of the family find out about a talking dog and not tell anyone? He's usually the motor mouth of the family who always goes on and on about something new and strange he's seen._

"_I saw you talkin' with Labramon weeks before the convention. I heard him talking to you and figured out that he wasn't a typical dog. I gotta admit, I was really shocked. I wanted to ask you about it, but I didn't know the right way to go about it without sounding like a complete idiot. That, and...you two looked so happy when you were playing together. I hadn't seen you that happy since we moved here, and I knew that all the discrimination we had to endure was really hard on you, so I didn't say anything. I didn't tell anyone either. I didn't want to ruin everything," Seijuro explained kindly, with his casual smile to go with it._

"_Oniichan..." Otoya couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her own brother found out about Labramon without her knowing about it, yet was still considerate enough to keep his true identity a secret for her sake. He didn't want to ruin her chance at happiness, even though he might have been as shocked as Oujiro is right now. Otoya could almost feel tears trying to creep out of her eyes. She couldn't believe that her own older brother is taking this whole thing in stride when he should be just as angry and shocked as Oujiro is right now. "I...I...I never knew...I'm sorry I kept this all a secret for so long. I was afraid-"_

"_We know, sis. You had good reasons, and we get that," Seijuro said. He then pet Xiaomon like he does with everybody else in the family. "You're a good little guy, and just for that I like you. Thanks for watching over my little sister all this time."_

"_Seijuro...don't you think this is a bit weird? I mean, a talking dog?" Maiko asked, still looking a little worried._

"_Yeah, it's kinda strange, but sometimes we need weird stuff in our lives. It'd be too boring if things were the same every single day. Besides, Xiaomon's cool. I say he stays," Seijuro exclaimed happily._

_Maiko smiled a bit at his enthusiasm. "Well, I definitely agree with you on that last part," Maiko said._

_Otoya could feel a smile being painted on her canvas face. First her mother, and now her older siblings are happily accepting Xiaomon into the family despite the fact that he's a Digimon. But the biggest obstacle they need to hop over is Oujiro. He's still very shocked by everything that's been happening. It can't be very pleasant to find that monsters are trying to hurt everyone and then find that your own daughter has kept and raised one of those monsters in secret. Otoya remembered that Noriko said she'd try to convince him, but Oujiro is known for being very obstinate when it comes to certain things, especially things he greatly disapproves of, so she had to wonder if her mother is really as big a sweet talker as she makes herself out to be. After Seijuro and Maiko's welcoming Xiaomon into the family, the meeting ended, and everyone went about their own way. But since Oujiro is the man of the house, its usually he who makes the big decisions and everyone has to go along with them whether they like it or not, and he's not one to change his mind once he has it set on something. If Oujiro decided that Labramon needed to be gone forever, nobody else's opinion could change that, even if he were outnumbered in votes. Otoya expected an answer right away, but Oujiro needed some time to think, so she left him alone, despite becoming prey to the creepy and hungry monster that is anxiety, its teeth gnawing at the depths of her mind and heart._

_Oujiro didn't come out of his room until dinner time, and even then, he didn't say anything. In fact, this went on for about two weeks. Two weeks without a straight answer from him. Thankfully, two weeks was all it took for Oujiro to make a decision. When Otoya came back from school one day, she saw Oujiro sitting in the living room, waiting for her, but without the angry expression he donned back then. Instead, now it looked radiant with content._

"_Hi Dad," Otoya muttered, looking very worried._

"_Welcome back, dear. I've made my decision in regards to Labramon. You're absolutely right. He has been a very good influence on this family, you especially, and it would be wrong of me to take away a piece of happiness that you worked so hard to gain, even though I still don't approve of you going off and fighting monsters despite good reasons for doing so. I have decided that Labramon shall stay and be a true member of the Jounouchi family," Oujiro told her with the content smile plastered all over his face._

_Otoya's book bag literally slumped to the floor, and she didn't bother to pick it up. Her eyes and mouth became so wide with joy that she couldn't help but shriek happily and leap onto Oujiro like a clingy and jealous girlfriend._

"_Oh, thank you thank you thank you thank you, Dad! I'm soooo happy!" After squeezing him tighter than she would squeeze her pillows when she got sad, she spent the entire day being as jovial and joyful as she could be._

(end flashback)

"...It was like God finally began to understand that I've been through enough pain in one lifetime. I hate to sound all arrogant, but...that's just what it felt like to me," Otoya said as Labramon finished drinking the bottle of water that she gave him, fully enjoying consuming the beverage.

"You're not an arrogant person, Otoya. It's only natural for someone who's been through so much to be greedy and want some change in their life. If we didn't have greedy people, then it's likely there wouldn't be any successful companies or people who wanted to pursue their dreams. Greed may be one of the seven deadly sins, but it doesn't have to be a sin if you use your greed properly, and not let the bad parts of said qualities consume your very being. You endured a lot to finally have some friends, and God has answered your prayers," Labramon said.

Otoya chuckled and began rubbing her hair with her hand. "You're starting to sound like Dad and his sermons."

"Maybe I should take a job in typing up his sermons on the computer," Labramon piped in jokingly.

"Hey! That's a great idea! You can read Japanese, and you know how to use the computer, so it'll be perfect!" Otoya exclaimed.

"But a dog using a computer...that would look rather strange, wouldn't it?" Labramon asked with a chuckle as he closed the water bottle with his paws.

"Considering all the strange stuff that goes on in this crazy world anyway, I don't think it'd be that strange," Otoya told him happily, then burst into a louder fit of laughter at the thought of Labramon using a computer like a normal human, typing up Oujiro's sermons like a pro. Labramon began laughing too, and it felt great. The clean, spring sky definitely looked just as happy and jovial as these two merry partners right now, and with no school for an entire month, everyone was in a good mood.

But only in the Jounouchi family. There are others whose moods are so somber and downtrodden that they look like they literally have a grey cloud hovering over them and being rained on by imaginary rainwater.

Oujiro was sitting in the living room, reading his Bible when he heard a few knocks on the door.

_Knock knock knock._

"Hmm. I wonder who that could be," Oujiro wondered out loud as he closed his precious Bible, gently put it on the little table in the living room, stood up from the couch, and walked over to answer the door. With a turn of the perfectly round door knob, he opened the door to see who it is that's on their doorstep.

Much to his surprise, there is a mousy-looking, freckle-faced urchin standing on his doorstep, with a face so red that he almost mistook it for a tomato if it weren't for the boy's shaggy dark blonde hair and green eyes that almost looked a lot like Otoya's, albeit a slightly darker shade. But as Oujiro continued to fixate his flummoxed gaze upon this unknown boy, he noticed that the boy's face not only looked sickeningly red, but extremely sad as well. His green eyes looked heavy, and in the morning sunlight, he could see some traces of tears shining off of his puffy cheeks. His hair is definitely messy, like he hadn't combed it in a while. He's wearing a white shirt with yellow, orange, and red stars on it, underneath a black jean jacket, blue jean pants, sagging white socks, one of which has a huge spot of dirt on it, and very dirty black and yellow sneakers. In his hands is a little reddish orange sun with black eyes, a mouth, and a yellow flame on its head. Oujiro could see that it's a Digimon upon seeing the flame flickering like a real fire, but considering everything that's happened, he didn't want to drive the boy away if he really did have some business to do here, so the kindly pastor refrained from making a big fuss about it, and he usually never makes a fuss about anything.

"Hello there. Can I help you?" Oujiro asked.

The boy all of a sudden looked very reluctant to say anything, or even come in. Oujiro was about to say something until Maiko came to the front door to see what was up.

"Oh! Hey! You're one of Otoya's friends from school! You came to our house that one time. Hang on, I'll call her for you," Maiko said without giving him any time to say anything, then turned to the back of the house. "Otoya! One of your friends is here!"

"Coming!" Otoya called back as Maiko pulled Oujiro away from the front door. Once Otoya came to see which one of her friends came to her house, she became surprised yet again, but this time with more joy.

"Riku! Hey! Didn't expect to see you here! Come on in!" Otoya exclaimed as she literally dragged Riku into her house.

"Otoya? Who is this boy?" Oujiro asked, crossing his arms and donning an expression that just screams suspicion.

Otoya didn't want that look to intimidate her, so she kept her own jovial demeanor. "This is one of my friends from school, Nobara Riku! You weren't here so you didn't get to see them, but he and the others came over my house for a get-together once before you got released. Ask Mom or Oneechan. They were there," Otoya explained cheerfully.

"It's true," Maiko piped in.

"Oh. Is that so?" Oujiro muttered to himself.

"So, Rikkun! What are you...?" Otoya was about to cheerfully ask why Riku came to her house of all places when she suddenly looked at his face.

She couldn't believe what she saw. Instead of seeing Riku's usual overly hyper, upbeat, extroverted, and sunny expression, the expression that practically radiated cheer and joy to all who saw it (or was willing to see), she saw a completely dejected, somber, and abject expression. His face is beet red, like he had been crying. His freckles practically blended in even though she could see them. Riku donned a very deep and unsettling frown instead of his usual bright and sunny smile. This couldn't be Riku's face! And his eyes! As soon as Otoya fixated her green eyes into his, she immediately wished she hadn't. Those couldn't be his eyes! His emerald eyes, slightly darker in shade than hers, are normally wide and bright, radiating with the joy and abundant curiosity that is normally very common among children with ADHD. But now a torrent of sorrow and abject sadness swept over them. They now looked like pieces of stained glass that were about to break at any moment, or in this case burst right into tears. Riku is normally the sunshine that lit up everyone's day, but now he looks as though he has a grey cloud vomiting rain all over his very being.

"What's wrong, Riku? It's not like you to look this grim," Otoya asked with concern in her sweet voice.

As soon as she asked the question, Riku grinded his teeth, and the tears finally came out. He didn't cry out, but he did throw his skinny, spindly arms right around Otoya, buried himself in her shoulder, and cried quietly. Sunmon floated away before Riku charged at her so he wouldn't get squished. Otoya couldn't believe her eyes, even though they say seeing is believing. This is the boy who threatened to set a forest on fire just to get Nayuki off her back, and now...he's crying in her shoulder. Normally, people would wonder why he's so sad, but Otoya's heard so much about his situation that she didn't need to ask what was wrong. She already knew. Everyone knows about it, so what's the point of asking? Oujiro and Maiko gasped a bit upon seeing Riku jump on her. Otoya wondered if Oujiro is jumping to conclusions and thinking he's her secret boyfriend or something.

"Otoya...I can't take it...I just can't..." Riku croaked sadly as he continued to cling to her like a baby animal desperately trying to stay close to its mother at all times. Otoya simply wrapped her own arms around her sad, broken, downtrodden friend and stroke his back, though she wasn't sure if Riku could feel it because of the fact that he's wearing a jean jacket.

"It's okay. You can tell me what's wrong when you're ready," Otoya told him in a low but gentle whisper, not wanting to scare him.

After a few minutes of soft crying, Riku plopped right down on the couch. Sunmon floated onto his lap and stayed there. Labramon didn't react much upon seeing Riku. All it took was a glance at his face for him to just jump on the couch and gently put his chin on his lap. Otoya went into the kitchen real quick and came back into the living room. She handed Riku a plain looking cookie.

"I have some molasses cookies that Mom made. Want one?" Otoya asked gently as she handed him the cookie. Riku didn't say anything. He just took it, chomped on it like a hungry animal, and swallowed the whole thing as quickly as he received it.

"Thanks," Riku mumbled bitterly. Despite his tone of voice, Otoya could tell that he's not mad at her. He's mad at whatever's going on.

"You're welcome," Otoya said.

"We were supposed to go to a baseball game tonight, but now we have to cancel," Sunmon explained, looking very disappointed.

"I remember you were telling us about that. Why is it canceled?" Labramon asked.

"Mom roped Dad into another court hearing. Once they schedule one, they can't postpone it. It's a rule. It's not his fault. I get that. But...we've been planning for months. We got seats and tickets and everything, and now we can't even have fun because Mom loves ruining our lives! All she wants is to have me and Rena for herself so she can _'whip us into shape'_ and make us into _'proper citizens of society'_ as she says!" Riku said softly at first, then started shouting. "She only wants full custody of us so she can turn us into her pawns and do whatever she wants with us! This has been going on for months! I can't take it anymore! I just can't! Every single day, all we hear is Mom and Dad fighting over who should have us and who cares about us more and all that dumb stuff! Why can't Mom just give up already?! We don't wanna be with her! This should all be done and over with by now, yet she just keeps dragging this whole thing on and on and on so she can dig her claws into us! She says if we're not perfect, we can't survive in this world! I heard her say so myself! She thinks she can _'fix'_ us by criticizing us and nitpicking at everything about us and what we say and do! We're just tools for her performance evaluation! Heck, even BEFORE this divorce stuff started happening, we were just tools for her performance evaluation! She thinks I'm a born-to-be and forever will be criminal JUST because I have ADHD, and she thinks Rena's officially incapable of ever being able to function on her own JUST because she lost a leg! She even said right to her face that Rena has turned selfish and disobeyed her and repaid her for our care just by losing the leg, even though it wasn't even her fault! I just can't stand all this hatred, all this craziness, all this madness, and all this anger! Why can't we just be happy already?!"

Riku burst into tears this time and began howling as he flung his arms around Otoya yet again. Despite this being the second time she's been hugged by him, she still hasn't gotten quite used to his slightly sudden hug attacks. But she didn't dare stop him from crying. Riku needs an outlet for his stress. Perhaps this is why he came here, for her support. He knew that Otoya's nice, and he helped her before, so perhaps he sought her out again so she could help him this time. Despite not knowing what a divorce is like, she's heard enough from him and Rena to know what's been happening and to at least get an idea of how bad it can be for the children, who are stuck in the middle of all of this. Rena is nearly always in a bad mood when she's home, and her grades started to suffer because she can't concentrate because of the yelling, which has been going on constantly, so she tried to rectify it by spending more and more time outside of the house, whether it's in physical therapy or the park so she can study in peace. Rena found her outlet, but Riku hasn't. In fact, from what Otoya has heard, Riku is receiving the brunt of it all. Takako won't let him out of the house because she's afraid he'll start up trouble, so he has to stay at home, which he hates. Riku can't study or concentrate, he has to constantly put up with Takako saying bad things about him which makes him either hopelessly sad or ferociously angry, and worst of all, he's even gotten sick to the point of vomiting. Three times a month, if what Otoya's heard from Rena is correct. Even though the Digimon are there to offer support and comfort, there isn't much they can do about everything that's been happening, especially since they don't even know how to fix it, much less figure out what to do.

In a way, Otoya sympathized with Riku despite not going through a divorce and its after effects. She let him cry and stroke his back yet again. She squeezed him tight, hoping she could at least try to squeeze the sadness out of him, if only for a little while. She knew what it was like to deal with bad things and not be able to have an outlet for her stress and sadness. Riku's using her as an outlet right now, but she didn't mind. Otoya would have liked to use someone as an outlet and have them listen to her problems, but nobody liked her back in Chiba simply because they didn't want to be friends with a silly preacher's daughter. They couldn't see past her father's occupation and assumed she was some obeisant slave to her father's whims while extorting others to follow his beliefs, which wasn't true. Labramon, Yun, and the others saw past all of that and saw Otoya for who she really is: just a normal girl just like them, if a little overly exuberant, cheerful, and a little too optimistic for her own good, but reliable, friendly, kind, and a true friend when push comes to shove. Perhaps Riku needs someone to listen to his woes and worries right now, so she listened without judging him, and is giving him the liberty to cry into her shirt. After a while, Riku calmed down and wiped his face with his jacket sleeve.

"Sorry for making you listen to me complain, Otoya," Riku muttered.

"You're not making me do anything, Riku. Besides, you helped me before, so I figure now it's time for me to help you. Isn't that why you came here?" Otoya told him reassuringly. Riku smiled a bit and nodded.

"Yeah. I remember...trying to get Nayuki off your back by threatening to...set a forest on fire. Gosh, of all the crazy things I attempted to do, that was the craziest, though I wouldn't actually set a forest on fire. That's wrong. I just wanted her to get off your back," Riku said.

"I'm still grateful for that," Otoya said. "Besides, it's not good to keep things bottled in. All the anger and the sadness has to go somewhere, doesn't it?"

"Yeah. Sorry for using you as an outlet."

"I don't mind. I'm kinda happy to be your outlet, so it's okay."

Riku couldn't help but chuckle a bit at that statement. "Thanks."

"Hey. Wanna watch some anime with me? I found some really good ones," Otoya suggested as she stood up.

"That'd be great!" Riku said.

With permission from Oujiro and Noriko, Otoya and Riku decided to spend the day together. They watched anime, read manga, played both video games and board games, and played in the back yard with their Digimon. Seijuro even invited Riku to play catch with him, and Otoya could see that they both really enjoyed throwing that ball around. She, Labramon, and Sunmon decided to join in on the fun too. Soon, they had a hearty lunch together and went back to just talking to each other. Otoya could see right away that once Riku finished eating, his eyes and smile got their usual sunny radiance back. Soon they sat on the grass again.

"Your family's cool, Otoya. You're lucky to have parents who actually accept you and don't care about how you came out," Riku said. "Plus...I'm kinda glad I got to meet you, the Digimon, and the rest of the gang."

"Oh? Why's that?" Labramon asked before Otoya could.

"Back in Hokkaido, I didn't have any friends because I was such a bad kid, both before and after I was diagnosed with ADHD. I was so bad, kids wouldn't even be friends with Rena," Riku said.

"How were you a bad kid? I certainly can't picture you being a troublemaker," Labramon asked.

"Trust me, I was pretty bad. I'd disrupt class by yelling and complaining about everything, I'd run out and try to go outside during class, I smushed my worksheets into paper balls and threw them around, I'd keep talking even though people tell me to stop, I couldn't focus or pay attention to the lessons, I wouldn't wait my turn during games, I'd cut in line whenever the class had to go somewhere, and...well, you get the idea," Riku explained. "Teachers yelled at my parents all the time, and hardly any of my relatives wanted anything to do with me."

"Welcome to Chiba," Otoya piped in, remembering similar experiences, only she wasn't a bad kid.

"I never did understand why people kept getting mad until Dad explained everything to me when I was about...eight or something? Yeah. I was just wacky, hyper, and loud. Nobody liked me or Rena. But...that all changed, when we moved," Riku said. "I'm not sure if you know, but Yun's the first friend both Rena and I made upon moving here."

"Ha! I knew it!" Otoya exclaimed like she was a detective who just solved a case. Riku smirked a bit in response. "She's also the first friend I made, too, back when I first moved here."

"How'd you two meet?" Sunmon asked.

Riku looked up at the ceiling and began ruminating. "If memory serves me right, we were in the same homeroom in the fifth grade..."

(flashback)

_It was about two days after the first day of fifth grade. He spent only two days in this school, and already his homeroom desk is cluttered with a bunch of junk, like crumpled up worksheets, homework, pencils, and candy wrappers that he kept on forgetting to throw away. Only right now, just before the bell rang to end the school day, a teacher approached him._

"_Nobara. Show me your agenda," The male teacher told him in a stern tone. He had been assigned by the real homeroom teacher to examine everyone's agendas to make sure every student wrote down their homework assignments, as its become very common for kids to either forget, choose not to pay any attention at all when the teachers assign them homework, or just ignore the fact that they have homework outright just so they can have fun and do whatever they want, thinking that the homework they get is just going to keep them from having their fun._

_Riku trudged through his heap of junk in his desk, but couldn't find his agenda anywhere. He became very anxious and began literally ripping through his desk._

"_I can't find it! I can't find it!" Riku exclaimed hysterically as he tried to find his agenda._

"_My goodness, look at the mess you're making!" The teacher exclaimed, shocked by the huge amount of trash stuffed in Riku's desk._

_What Riku didn't know was that one thing just happened to fall right out onto the floor. He didn't even notice. Someone else, however, did and picked it right up and showed it to him._

"_Is this your agenda?" Riku turned around to find a rather sweet looking, plump faced girl in front of him, with big green eyes just like his, only much clearer and lighter in shade. Riku then looked down to find his agenda in her hands._

"_Hey! You found it!" Riku exclaimed happily as he took the agenda from her and began cheering happily._

"_Nobara! When someone does something nice for you, you have to say thank you! Please say thank you to Wakamiya!" The teacher scolded, unhappy with Riku's enthusiasm, but strangely enough, the girl didn't seem to really care about being thanked and just went back to her desk. The teacher sighed, grabbed the agenda, and looked through it. Again, he became disappointed._

"_Why isn't your English homework written on here? And what about the math homework?" The teacher asked sternly as he interrogated Riku on why he didn't write down his homework assignments. Riku looked very confused._

"_Huh? We have homework?" Riku asked. The teacher facepalmed._

"_Nobara! This is why you students are given agendas, so you can write down all the assignments that the teachers give you and know what you have to do in case you forget!" The teacher yelled again._

_The day after that, Riku found himself alone on the blacktop. Rena was sick that day, so Riku had no one to play with. He did, however, bring his red Nintendo DS with him and a Pokemon game in case he got bored, so he decided to play. However, after turning his game on, he noticed that a shadow loomed over him. He looked up to find the green eyed, plump faced girl standing over him. He stood up, not out of fear, but out of joy. Perhaps this girl wants to play with him._

"_Hey! You're the girl who found my agenda! Hi! I'm Riku! What's your name?" Riku asked. But upon seeing her face, the girl didn't look too happy._

"_I'm Yun. You shouldn't bring video games to school. You'll get in trouble," The girl, Yun, told him sternly._

"_Why?"_

"_The teachers say so. Put it away or you'll get caught."_

_Admittedly, Riku really didn't feel like dealing with a kid his own age scolding him like everyone else does, so he decided it wasn't worth the risk, and was about to turn off his game when the Nintendo DS suddenly slid out of his hand. It was about to fall onto the stone concrete and break until Yun managed to get it as swiftly as if she were a fox that just caught a rabbit with its teeth, only Yun managed to catch it with her hands._

"_Got it!" Yun exclaimed happily. She was about to turn it off herself until she suddenly felt something grip the hand holding the Nintendo DS. Yun looked up and, to her horror, it's the male teacher, the one who's always inspecting their agendas._

"_Wakamiya! Don't you know it's against the rules to bring video games to school? This is an educational facility, not a lollygagging zone!" The teacher suddenly yelled as he confiscated the Nintendo DS from her hand, even though he still kept his grip on her._

"_It's not mine!" Yun protested and tried to get out of the teacher's grip, but he didn't seem very intent on letting her go. Riku looked quite surprised. The teacher's yelling at her about something that's not even her fault._

"_If it's not yours, then why do you have it in your hands? You're coming with me!" The teacher snapped back as he tried to drag Yun away until Riku ran in front of him with a courageous look on his face._

"_She's not lying, sensei! That DS is mine! I brought it with me!" Riku yelled loudly. His voice was so loud that he actually let go of Yun. "It's not hers. She was just telling me to put it away so I won't get in trouble, and it slipped out of my hand and she caught it herself. I saw her do it!"_

_Soon, two other kids showed up to defend Yun, a brown haired boy and a blonde haired girl with a ponytail kept up with a purple ribbon. "It's true. We saw it too!" The girl piped in._

"_Alright alright, I get it. Fine. Tch! Kids these days. Come with me, Nobara," The teacher said as he took Riku by the arm and dragged him back into the school._

_The final homeroom period came soon after, and Yun approached Riku with a very grateful look on her face._

"_Thanks for helping me, Riku," Yun told him._

_Riku chuckled and scratched his freckled nose with his finger. "It's nothing. I felt bad that he was yelling at you when you didn't do anything wrong, so someone had to tell him the truth. Hey! Is it true you like Pokemon, too?"_

"_Yep! Hey! Wanna play pretend Pokemon battle with me later?" Yun said._

"_Sure!"_

_Soon, Riku and Yun found themselves playing together quite a lot. Minako and Kosuke, the kids from earlier who stood up to the teacher, seemed hesitant at first but accepted him into their little group anyway. Since that day was a Friday, they had to wait a while until they met Rena, who seemed quite flummoxed when she saw Riku playing with Yun, Minako, and Kosuke, and immediately thought he was doing something bad._

"_Riku! What are you doing?" Rena asked with her arms crossed as she donned a very suspicious look on her face._

"_We're playing pretend Pokemon!" Riku told her._

"_Liar! I saw you headlocking this girl here!" Rena exclaimed, not looking very convinced._

"_He was using Wrap attack on me. He's an Ekans, and I'm a Pikachu," Yun told her._

"_Huh?" Rena asked._

"_You're his sister, right? You two have the same last name," Kosuke asked._

"_That's right. I'm Nobara Rena," Rena told them._

"_See, Rena? This is Yun-chan! She's the girl I've been telling you about all weekend!" Riku told her happily as he pointed at Yun._

"_Riku! Don't point. It's rude," Rena whispered, but none of the kids seemed to care._

"_Wanna play with us?" Yun asked._

"_Yun. Calm down. We don't know if she likes the same stuff we do, so we shouldn't force it," Kosuke told her._

"_Awww," Yun complained._

"_I...I like Pokemon and Digimon and those things," Rena told them, albeit looking very surprised. Yun suddenly grabbed her hand and dragged her into their little circle._

"_Let's play! I'm Yun! That's Minako and Kosuke," Yun introduced Rena to everyone before getting back to their game. Although the twins were surprised by how innocent and childlike Yun is, they couldn't help but be charmed by her genuine sweetness and the fact that she didn't judge them right off like they were used to. The twins definitely found some friends back then._

(end flashback)

"Isn't it funny how kids can be friends over little things and still be friends for years and years because of it?" Otoya asked.

Riku smirked. "Yeah, but I'm glad of it."

Labramon was about to say something until he noticed Sunmon looking very dazed, like he's spacing out, which is normally very unlike him.

"Sunmon? What's wrong?" Labramon asked.

"I...I remember..." Sunmon muttered softly, but not soft enough that Otoya and Riku couldn't hear him.

"Remember what?" Otoya asked.

"Back in my home...I used to stand up to bullies who picked on weak Digimon. I used to do all of these silly things just to prove that I was brave and strong, and...apparently, I became very well known for my strong sense of justice and for helping all Digimon, both strong and weak, regardless of what everybody said about me" Sunmon explained wistfully.

"Hey! You got some of your memories back!" Riku exclaimed with a smile.

"Only bits and pieces though. I still don't remember which part of the Digital World I came from or my whole entire life," Sunmon said.

_Knock knock knock knock_

Just like earlier, a knocking sound could be heard on the door. Otoya stood up and decided to answer it herself. "Coming!" She called out as she ran to the door and opened it. She found Rena on the doorstep with Moonmon cradled in one of her arms. She's wearing a pale bluish green dress that goes to her knees underneath a pale purple jacket that's unbuttoned right now. She's also wearing white socks and black shoes.

"Hi Otoya-chan. I'm sorry to bother you but did Riku come here by any chance? I can't seem to find him anywhere," Rena asked, looking quite worried.

"He's right here," Otoya told her as she let Rena in and showed her into the living room, where Riku, Sunmon, and Labramon are.

"Riku! There you are! You've been gone for six whole hours, I was starting to get worried!" Rena exclaimed, relieved that she found Riku, though he doesn't seem to be very happy to have her here.

"Sorry," Riku muttered grimly.

"Why didn't you tell me you were going somewhere? You really shouldn't be going off on your own," Rena told him kindly, but he shot a very accusatory look at her.

"You're the one who keeps going off on her own and leaving me in the house to deal with Mom and Dad arguing all the time! You're not the only one who wants to get away from all the pain, y'know?!" Riku snapped angrily.

"Please don't fight!" Moonmon exclaimed as she hopped in between the two, which managed to successfully keep them from fighting amongst themselves, similar to how their parents are doing right now. "Let's be civil here. All the yelling we have to deal with is really starting to rub off on the both of you. Let's go somewhere nice so we can have some fresh air. Shall we?" Moonmon suggested with a smile on her face.

Thankfully, everyone agreed, and they decided to go to the gazebo in the park, the one where they had all of their Digimon Brigade meetings before moving them to Katsura Elementary School's big empty football field. The walk leading up to the park certainly helped in shrugging off the tension that had been leeching the life out of the Nobara twins like a hungry parasite using them as its host. Once they sat down, they felt that the time for the twins to get things off their chest has finally come.

"Sorry for not telling you that I went to Otoya's house. I was so sick of hearing them fight that I just wanted to get away. Far away. It was bad enough Dad had to cancel our trip to the night game because Mom roped him into another hearing. I...I just can't take their fighting anymore," Riku told her, the bitter tone in his voice earlier dissipating as soon as he opened his mouth. He could see that Rena's eyes began to develop a tint of dejection in them too.

"I hear you. Sorry I keep going off on my own without taking you with me. I shouldn't have been so selfish for the past few weeks. I know it's been especially hard on you. I wish I could fix everything. I wish I could have some kind of special Digimon magic that'll make things normal again. But we all know that's never going to happen. I don't blame you for wanting to run off. Nobody wants to hear people yell and scream at each other every single day," Rena told him sadly while keeping her normal tone of voice.

"Yeah. Especially if we're the reason they yell at each other every single freakin' day," Riku muttered bitterly. The three Digimon could definitely hear some rancor in his voice when he said that sentence.

"Thanks for looking after Rikkun, Otoya-chan. He really likes you, you know that?" Moonmon told her kindly in her sweet little girl voice with her adorable smile to go with it.

Otoya chuckled a bit. "Well, he did help me when I needed it the most, so I figured this'd be a great time to help him when he needs it. Good friends help each other in bad times, don't they?"

"Yep! And you've definitely proven yourself to be a very true friend to not just Rikkun, but to everyone, the Digimon Brigade included," Moonmon told her sweetly. Otoya couldn't help but be a little endeared by how honest and sincere Moonmon is.

"True that!" Sunmon chirped happily.

"Friendship is a wonderful thing, and you don't need to do anything big to convey that," Labramon said.

"We should hang out like this more often so we don't have to put up with Mom and Dad arguing and so that we won't have to feel all angry all the time," Rena suggested.

"Good idea," Labramon said.

"We have an entire month until school starts, so we can hang out whenever we want, however long we want!" Sunmon explained cheerfully. The kids and the other Digimon burst into laughter after hearing that. They really do say that laughter can be the best medicine, and the trio of children definitely felt the bad feelings and the tension fall right off of them as soon as they started laughing, so it's true.

But for some, laughter doesn't solve any of life's big problems, especially if they're made to be a lot more complicated than they should be. This is especially true for people who promised to be together forever in both sickness and health who in the end, wind up arguing and fighting over who should have full custody of the offspring. At about 9:00 PM, the hearing had ended, and both Takako and Michitaka sat on a bench in the main lobby, just outside the courtroom. They didn't argue, they just sat next to each other, even though they're about two feet apart. Takako looked down at her knees with a somewhat sad look on her face, which is very unlike her. Michitaka looked at her and took note of how somber she looks right now. He didn't see the wife that he married so many years ago, the lady who was very kind and loving towards him, even though she was rather uptight most of the time. However, in the years that followed and upon further rumination, Michitaka finally came to a realization: he really doesn't know anything about Takako.

He doesn't know anything about her past, her family, or anything else. Takako never really talked about her personal life, both before and after they married, and whenever he would ask about it, Takako would either ignore him or just tell him to come off the issue and that it's not very important. Michitaka didn't want to invade her privacy, so he didn't press any further. However, with everything that's been going on between them, Michitaka began wondering if something in her past made her into the person she is today: the overly uptight, dictator-like, perfectionistic education mother who only cares about shaping her children into impossibly perfect citizens of society rather than accepting them for who they are and the flaws they happen to have, giving them the love that they deserve, and caring about their well-being and individuality. No, Takako doesn't see her children as individuals. She only sees them as flawed, broken creatures who she feels she has to scorn simply because they do not meet her expectations and the fact that she can't see past their shortcomings, nor is she willing to encourage them or help them overcome said shortcomings. Michitaka wondered if Takako was abused in her childhood or grew up in a strict household. Michitaka decided in his heart that this is the time to finally press Takako about her past and why she's so intransigently uptight about everything.

"Takako...tell me. Why are you the person you are?" Michitaka, despite asking this in a soft voice, wasn't going to pull any punches, and he wasted no time. "Did something happen in your past to make you who you are today?"

Takako didn't respond. She just remained silent. This irked Michitaka.

"Takako! All these years we've been married, you never once told me about your past or your personal life!" Michitaka exclaimed.

"Telling you about my past isn't going to change anything. I've told you this countless times before, Michitaka. It won't change anything in the long run whether I tell you or not. It's better to leave the past in the past," Takako told him softly but bitterly.

"Leave the past in the past? You're contradicting yourself! How many times have you berated Riku for that shoplifting incident back in Hokkaido? You keep hanging it over his head even after he was proven innocent! You keep telling him that he's lazy and doesn't study hard enough even after he starts bringing his grades up! You keep reminding Rena about the car accident when it wasn't even her fault! You don't leave things in the past! You keep clinging to them! You have to get over all those things and move on!" Michitaka scolded.

"You don't understand, Michitaka! I'm incapable of moving on! My parents won't let me move on!" Takako exclaimed. She didn't dare look at him.

"What do you mean your parents won't let you move on?" Michitaka asked. Takako fell deathly silent again. But he wasn't going to give up. He managed to open up one lock she kept so tight, so perhaps he could open more locks in regards to her past. "Takako...I want to at least...be able to know you. I told you a lot about my past, so...don't you think it's time we finally open up to each other?"

"Even if I do, it's not going to change anything. It won't change the fact that I still want custody of the kids," Takako said.

"I know. But...I want to at least get an idea of why you're the person you are, so that maybe...just maybe...I can understand you better and maybe...try to understand how you feel," Michitaka told her softly.

He didn't expect Takako to tell him. He didn't think she would, considering how dead set she is on keeping her own past a secret. But yet, strangely enough, Takako opened up. Literally. About everything.

"I came from a strict household. My father was hardly around. He favored his work over his family. My mother became bitter and extremely strict because of it. She thought that if she were stricter in raising me and my siblings, he'd come back to her. She wanted us to be perfect. She constantly pressured us to do things not well, but perfectly. If there we got a 99 on a test instead of a 100, she would beat us or lecture us while calling us bad names at the same time. If one object was out of place in her home or if we dressed in a different colored outfit than she wanted on special occasions, she'd whip us as soon as she felt it to be convenient. She cared more about her own reputation than the welfare of her own children. She wanted complete control of our lives, just as much as she had control of her own. On the rare times that our father would come home, he wouldn't spend any times with us. Our parents always fought and argued whenever they were in the same room. I did my best every day, but I was scolded more often than thanked. Nothing my siblings and I did were good enough for her. Even after the incidents were done and over with, she never ceased to remind us of all the mistakes we made. She even made huge lists of all the mistakes we made in our lives and reminded us of them every single day, like it was routine. I tried telling people about what she did to me, but she always twisted everything I said around, claiming that I was a compulsive liar who made up stories to receive sympathy and attention. Everyone believed her. She was the star of the community. The perfect Japanese housewife. I couldn't escape her. None of us could. She controlled us even as we grew into adults. Always telling us what to do, what to say, criticizing every little insignificant thing she laid her eyes on. I terminated all contact with them years ago. About the time Riku was diagnosed with ADHD, to be more precise. I didn't want them to find out about Riku. I didn't want my mother to tell me that I'm an imperfect being who produced an imperfect grandchild. She didn't even want grandchildren unless they were perfect. I both hated her and yearned for her love at the same time. I hid you and the children from her, and yet...I figured if I could raise Rena and Riku to be the perfect kids she wanted, then maybe...she would love me," Takako told her tale in a low, monotonous voice. However, upon reaching the end, her voice began to quiver and sound somber and dejected, which even Michitaka could tell is very unlike her, as she hardly ever sounds sad.

Michitaka didn't interrupt. He didn't deny anything she said nor did he decide not to listen anymore, as most people would. He didn't twist around her story. He didn't doubt any of it. He drank it all in with a nonchalant face. But inside, he's utterly appalled. Appalled by what she's gone through as a child. How can any sane person expect their child to be absolutely positively perfect? Everybody is flawed, and nobody can expect them to be perfect and flawless. People make mistakes. Its part of life. But to be berated and deemed imperfect just because you make mistakes? Michitaka had to wonder how Takako even kept it together all this time without telling anyone. But then again, since she just told him that her previous attempts to tell someone about her situation failed, perhaps she just gave up and endured it so she could get by. However, even though he finally has the answers he's been looking for, he has to admit, none of this justifies what she's been doing to Rena and Riku. None of this justifies ruining their fun and crushing their hopes to her own convenience. But the fact that she WAS subjected to such battery clearly manifests in her behavior towards Rena and Riku, so at least the mystery of why she treats them like pawns she feels she needs to fix rather than children who need love and care has been solved. But none of what he's been told made him any less angry, and he definitely made no qualms about revealing that once she finished talking.

"So...to you, the children are just tools for your performance evaluation," Michitaka said bitterly, his tongue ever so sharp and venomous. Takako didn't even flinch. "You're really no different from your mother, Takako. I'm not saying you deserved what you went through as a child. No one does. No one deserves to go through something like that. However...repeating your mother's mistakes won't make things better for everyone, you especially."

"I don't know what else to do, Michitaka. Do you understand now, Michitaka? I'm completely incapable of love. I can't love anyone, nor can I ever receive it. Telling you all of this sure isn't going to make you or the kids love me, now is it?" Takako told him. But instead of sounding arrogant or caustic, the voice she used to say this sounded genuinely sad and broken. "I can't forget mistakes. My mother programmed me to only focus on mistakes and flaws. Nobody taught me to praise, to love, to encourage, and to help. I'm a heartless, empty shell, a broken being, just like my mother said I was 24/7. I can't love, Michitaka, and I can't give love to anyone either, not even my own children."

"It doesn't have to be this way, Takako," Michitaka said. "Perhaps it's not too late."

"It is, Michitaka. Don't think you can ever hope to fix me."

"Who said anything about fixing you?"

Takako said absolutely nothing after that. Michitaka got in his car and drove back home.


	106. Leisure

EPISODE 98: Leisure

"I got you now, Lucero!" A mischievous Yun called out as she managed to jump on Lucero, send him sprawling the grass in the football field and entrap him in a tickle attack, leaving him bursting into laughter.

"Release me at one, thou mischievous child!" Lucero cried out happily through his merry laughter, even though he really didn't need her to release him, as he managed to gain the upper hand thanks to his superior strength. He pinned her right back down on the grass and retaliated with his own tickle attack.

"Bwahaha! Lopmon, Terriermon, help me!" Yun barely managed to get the words out through her loud and merry laughter. Thankfully, Lopmon decided to step in.

"Alright. I think that's enough for today," Lopmon told them kindly. Lucero listened and released Yun from his grasp. Yun stood up, got back on her feet, and wiped some grass blades off of her pants and shirt. They didn't leave any stains, thank goodness for that.

"It's been a long time since we got to play together all by ourselves, kyu," Cutemon piped in sweetly.

"You bet. I'm kinda surprised Hisako lets the two of you walk this far on your own now," Terriermon said with his arms crossed and his head tilted to one side. He had to wonder if his big ears were getting any heavier and harder to drag around. "And you, Yun, from what I've heard you practically never went out on your own until we came into your life, right?"

"Yep. Personally I still get scared when I go out on my own, but I'm safe if you guys are with me, and I bet that's what Mom thinks too," Yun said with her usual sweet smile as she picked a grass blade off of Lucero's shirt. She had to admit, what Terriermon said is true. Unlike most kids, she never walked to school or went outside the house on her own, at least not beyond her front and back yards.

It wasn't that she physically couldn't. However, there were a lot of things that kept her from ever leaving the house on her own. Yun herself is cripplingly fearful of the drawbacks that come from walking to school on one's own: the fears of getting lost, getting kidnapped by a stranger, being attacked, etc. She's not very good with directions, doesn't always remember where she is, and can easily get lost, something that her parents acknowledge is a big problem. Yun's parents don't let her go out on her own for those exact same reasons, only Yun's reasons are more about her own fears, and her parents' reasons have more to do with Yun's autism. Yun is only twelve years old, albeit still very dependent on pretty much everything and everyone around her. There have been lots of cases where autistic children wander off when their parents aren't looking, and in worst case scenarios, they've even died because of it. Yun doesn't wander off whenever Hisako or Teruki look away. She's much too smart to do that, but since she has a hard time getting around on her own anyway and the fact that she often succumbs to fits of tears whenever she's lost and cannot function in any other way if she falls into that state, especially if she doesn't know what to do (and often forgets what to do if nobody constantly reminds her), she's strictly advised to stay with her parents at all costs...though as of now, with Lucero and the Digimon proving to be a very positive influence on her, they've been lax on said rules lately. They haven't forgotten them, just lessened the rules a bit.

"You certainly have grown a lot emotionally since we first met you," Lopmon said.

"No, that can't be true. I'm still the same weak little crybaby kid who always causes problems for everyone and can't fight and can't do anything!" Yun exclaimed as she shook her hands around to convey her uncertainty.

"Hey! Look!" Terriermon suddenly cried out as he pointed to a part of the football field that leads to the street. Everyone turned around to find Hokuto and Kudamon running toward them with jovial expressions on their faces.

"Hi Hokuto-kun! Hi Kudamon!" Yun chirped cheerfully as Hokuto and Kudamon caught up to them.

"Hi Yun! Hi Lucero! Hi rabbits!" Hokuto said as he finished gasping for breath. He came wearing a short sleeved white shirt underneath a soft, sleeveless black vest, black pants, and white and brown sneakers.

"What are you doing here?" Yun asked.

"There's an abandoned house in the woods around here. There's been rumors about some incidents going on in there, and I have a feeling that a Digimon is the one behind it, so Hokuto and I came to investigate," Kudamon told them kindly but in a serious tone of voice. Whatever it is, Yun could tell that Kudamon sounded really serious in regards to whatever's dwelling in that house he's talking about.

"Oh! Can we help?" Terriermon suddenly piped in excitedly.

"Sure. We'd love for you to help in case this Digimon turns out to be dangerous," Kudamon told them with a smile.

"Wow. Usually you never answer anything right off," Hokuto said.

"I have my moments," Kudamon said.

"Dost thou knowest where this abandoned house is?" Lucero asked.

"It's supposed to be around here somewhere," Hokuto replied as the gang decided to leave the football field and try to find this abandoned house. "But I do have a picture of it. See? I printed it out so we could try finding it easier," Hokuto told them as he pulled a picture out of his pocket and showed it to everyone. The house is a deep indigo color, with a lighter greyish purple roof and many glass windows, two of which are now broken. There's a small, rickety wooden porch below the door, which has lots of marks on it, and it's surrounded by a small, white picket fence. While it doesn't look totally decrepit or like it's about to fall over the minute someone goes inside, it definitely looks like nobody's living in it anymore. As soon as Yun saw the picture, her eyes widened a bit.

"Hey! I've seen this house before!" Yun cried out suddenly upon fixating her emerald gaze on the picture.

"You have?" Cutemon asked.

"Yeah. It's right next to the house where this one kid I knew lived. I think it's on Shinpi Avenue here," Yun said as she pointed to where she thought the street where the house is on might be.

"Who's this kid you're talking about?" Lopmon asked, her small voice and wide, green eyes brimming with curiosity.

"Mashiro Taiki. He was this kid I went to summer school with a few years ago. He was in a wheelchair. I forget why, even though his mom explained it to me once. Sometimes, when Mom or Dad had to go to work but couldn't find anyone to watch me, they'd take me to his house so he and his mom could play with me until Dad came to pick me up. I did like him, but I did get annoyed by him too, mostly because he'd make us watch Disney movies like Snow White all the time. I wonder where he is now?" Yun explained.

"Oh! Here's the house!" Lopmon exclaimed as she pointed to the indigo colored house.

Oddly enough, the house itself looked just a bit nicer than your usual abandoned house. It looked a lot nicer than the picture makes it out to be. It definitely doesn't look as decrepit as the picture makes it seem, but it's still a little rusty and dirty looking, and considering how tall the grass is on the front yard and the huge amount of weeds and dandelions protruding from the ground in voluminous numbers, then it's abundantly clear that nobody lives here anymore. Kudamon saw that there's a huge hole on the left side of the roof and that there's quite a lot of charred marks on the door, all of which look fresh like they had been made very recently, like someone had shot fire at it.

Or, perhaps, some_thing_ had shot fire at it.

Kudamon's ears flickered and stood up, facing the lucid afternoon sky. His eyes gleamed a little once he fixated his gaze on the door. "Just as I thought. I feel a Digimon's presence within that house. Let's go inside, but stay on your guard."

"Okay," Everyone said in perfect unison.

Since Yun and Hokuto are both normally very shy kids, one would expect neither of them to open the door, or even to trek on the grass, since that's considered trespassing. But strangely enough, Hokuto decided to take the liberty of turning the knob on the door and pushing the door in.

"After you," Hokuto said to Yun.

"Thank you very much, young gentleman," Yun said in a fake British accent, hoping to sound like a sophisticated socialite in a fancy dance party.

"You're welcome," Hokuto said with a smile.

The living room isn't much to write home about, though it's in strangely better condition than they expected. There's a big dark brown couch in the back, an old wooden dresser with all of its knobs in their rightful places, a green, tan, blue, purple, red, and yellow rug covering the floor and donning a strange Egyptian pattern, a lamp is sitting on said dresser without a light bulb or a lamp shade, and some doors leading to places they don't know about are open. Yun did see some cobwebs around, but there aren't very many, which is good for her since she really doesn't want to deal with any spider webs thanks to the Dokugumon incident last year. Sad to say, her fear of spiders still persists, even more so because of Dokugumon. Kudamon hopped on the couch and wound up making a small cloud of dust. He covered his mouth and coughed a bit so he wouldn't inhale it.

Terriermon covered his nose. "Ick! It's so dusty in here, and it smells all moldy!" Terriermon complained.

"Yes. There's quite a lot of moldy spots on the walls," Lopmon said, pointing to one big spot on the wall that's both green and dark green.

"Even with the windows open, it still looks pretty dismal in here, kyu," Cutemon piped in, taking note of how little sunlight is getting in the house. There aren't even any curtains covering the windows, so they're even more surprised by the overall lack of sunlight in here.

Yun approached one of the doors, turned the knob, and opened it with her hand, even though she didn't like the feeling of the dust getting on her hand. What she found behind the door is a bedroom. There's a big mattress in the corner of one room, covered by an old blanket that's purple, blue, and yellow in color, and one pillow that isn't covered by any kind of pillow casing. Yun pulled the blanket up a bit and found some dark spots on the mattress, probably mildew. She immediately put the blanket back on the mattress upon seeing those dark spots and became disgusted. On the other side of the room is a small night stand next to an open window, and on top of the night stand is a lamp with a deep yellow lampshade on it that has little prisms hanging from it. Much to Yun's surprise also, unlike the dismal living room, this room is clearly glowing with sunlight on the inside, and it's much brighter, perhaps because it is actually in the direction where the sun is shining. Yun very gently touched one of the prisms on the lampshade. She then noticed that all of them have hooks on them, which is how they're connected to the lampshade. She very slowly and gently unhooked one of them, and found that they can be removed from the lampshade. She lit up with joy.

"Everyone! Come in here for a second! Look what I found!" Yun called out, which prompted the kids and the Digimon to come inside.

"You shouldn't shout, Yun. We may end up blowing our investigation," Kudamon told her.

"Ehehe. Sorry," Yun laughed ruefully.

"What's that in thy hand, Yun? Is that thine?" Lucero asked, pointing to the prism in Yun's hand.

"Nope! These are on this lamp here," Yun pointed to the lamp that's right next to her.

"Can I see?" Hokuto asked as he approached Yun and wound up next to her. Yun handed him the prism and he examined it with his eyes.

"Hey! I wanna see!" Terriermon said as he prompted Hokuto to let him look at the prism. Hokuto smiled, kneeled in front of the curious little rabbit Digimon, and showed him the prism. Terriermon decided to look at it from Hokuto's hand, not grab it and look at it in his own hands.

"It's a prism. We've seen these before," Lopmon said.

"Here's the cool thing!" Yun said as she took the prism from Hokuto's hand. "If you hold it up to the light, it makes pretty little baby rainbows, like this! See?"

Yun held the prism up to the window where the sunlight is zooming into, and, just as she said, little fragments of rainbows appeared on the floor, wobbling around from side to side as Yun held it upright. Lucero, Hokuto, Lopmon, Cutemon, Terriermon, and Kudamon were enraptured by the beautiful sight being displayed on the creaky wooden floor. Yun couldn't help but notice some blurry colors being reflected off the prism itself, like blue and rosy red. Terriermon couldn't help but run around on the floor and try to catch the little baby rainbows with his hands.

"Wow. Simply beautiful. How delightfully enchanting!" Lopmon said, enraptured by the little rainbow fragments.

"Aren't they pretty?" Yun asked, herself delighted by the little rainbows showing up on the floor.

"They're not really rainbows. It's just a light dispersion made by the prism. Light in itself is actually made of seven colors, just like actual rainbows. When light passes through the prism, each of the colors travel at a different speed through the prism, and when they all leave it, they make these little rainbows," Kudamon explained, even though he too found the little rainbow fragments to be beautiful.

"I've never seen these before," Hokuto said with a big smile on his face.

"My! They almost look like they make this room much nicer," Lucero said.

"Hey! There's a string here! Let's try something!" Cutemon said as she noticed a long string coming from the curtain and decided to tie it to the other part of the window. "Yun-chan! Put some of those prisms on here please!"

"You got it, sister!" Yun said as she slowly unhooked a few prisms and decided to hook them onto the string. Thankfully, all of them are held up by the string nicely, and immediately the entire room became awash with rainbow spots all over the place.

"Oooooh!" Everyone cooed in unison as they are enchanted by this beautiful, exquisite, majestic sight appearing before them.

"Hey! Maybe this can be our secret hideout or something!" Yun exclaimed. "Nobody's using this, right? Maybe we can have our Digimon Brigade meetings in here instead of the football field so nobody will spot us when we have them!"

"We haven't even explored the entire house yet, Yun, and making this our hideout isn't why we're here, though you do make a good point," Kudamon said.

"Let us continue our exploration. Perhaps we will find something interesting while we're in here. We know nary a thing," Lucero said as he began putting the prisms back on the lamp shade. But just as he was about to put the last prism back on the lampshade, multiple crashing sounds echoed inside the house.

"Yeek!" Yun cried out as she covered her ears with surprise. The ears of Lopmon, Cutemon, Kudamon, and Terriermon all rose into the air upon hearing this sound, however.

"Wait! Listen!" Lopmon exclaimed as they all fell silent and tried to listen to whatever is going on.

"Evil Fire!"

"Aurora Blazer!"

"Get off me, you annoying piece of armored fluff! Don't think you're so tough against me, yo!"

"Well tough kumquats to you! This is what you get for tryin' to attack Ayaka just now!"

"Those voices...I know them!" Yun exclaimed.

"They're coming from upstairs! Let's go and check it out!" Lucero said as he pointed to the ceiling. Everyone nodded and followed him as they tried to find some stairs as the commotion continued to go on in the background. Kudamon managed to find some stairs in a back room, and they all raced into what appears to be a completely empty room, only to find...

"Spadamon! Tsukaimon!" Lopmon yelped with surprise.

Yes, the voices they heard are none other than a choleric Spadamon and a very peturbed Tsukaimon, both of whom look like they just came out of a very bloody battle in the midst of a war, considering all the bruises and the marks on their own bodies, and all the black charred marks on the walls emitting some smoke clearly showed in how serious the conflict between them got. Not only that, considering the very angry and tired expressions on the faces of these two child Digimon, it didn't look like they were willing to ameliorate the situation anytime soon. Spadamon did, however, stop his fighting, turn to face the kids and Digimon, and gave them a salutatory wave.

"Hi guys!" Spadamon chirped happily upon seeing the kids and the Digimon. Tsukaimon clearly felt the opposite, and spat at the floor in disgust.

"Ugh! Of all the stupid losers I had to run into today, it just HAD to be the incompetent little wimpy weaklings! Tattoo Boy, Four Eyes, White Weasel, the Droopy Ears Siblings, and Little Miss Big Boobs," Tsukaimon sneered irritably.

Yun found her face turning completely red with embarrassment. She could feel the blood rush to her face as soon as Tsukaimon called her that last name. She wished that all of these bad jokes about her chest would just stop already. She's had enough. Terriermon could tell that Yun is looking quite abashed by Tsukaimon's audacious name calling, especially in light of that bad memory of Nayuki putting her on the spot and mercilessly harassing her like she did, so, understandably, he became choleric.

"Hey! We're not weak, or wimpy, or incompetent! You're the weak, wimpy, and incompetent one! And stop calling Yun those bad names!" Terriermon retorted back loudly.

"Terriermon! Easy! Don't make this any worse than it is," Lopmon told him in a whisper as she grabbed his arm and tried to keep him from joining Spadamon in their brouhaha.

"Hey Yun! This stupid Digimon here's been running around and shooting its attacks at people all over the place! I saw him try to hurt Ayaka and tried to wail on him! I managed to chase him here and trap him so he won't get away. This is his secret hideout or something," Spadamon explained as clearly as he could so everyone could get a better idea of the situation at hand.

As soon as she heard Ayaka's name, Yun looked at the wall next to her with a perturbed face. As happy as she was with Spadamon trying to deal with Tsukaimon and make things right, she didn't feel Ayaka needed to be saved, considering how bad she's been treating Spadamon ever since they first met. _'You should have let Tsukaimon knock her block off! I don't care about her! She deserves it!'_ Yun thought bitterly. She didn't dare voice these thoughts, however, and remained silent.

"You got in my way, you retard! You shoulda let me fry her to a crisp! Why do you care so much about stupid people?!" Tsukaimon snapped angrily as he brushed some dust off of his left wing, clearly not happy to be in this situation right about now.

"Unlike YOU, I actually care about protecting the peace in this town, and if something bad happens, I might as well fix it with my own hands! Someone's gotta protect the citizens from punks like you!" Spadamon snapped.

'_Wow. Spadamon thinks he's some kind of superhero. That's okay with me, even though there are some people who really do deserve some good beatings,'_ Yun thought. She secretly hoped that Nenji and Seiko were some of Tsukaimon's targets. Oh, how wonderful it would be for the two of them to receive their just desserts, even though she found it highly unlikely that Tsukaimon would target them in particular. But then again, Tsukaimon isn't particular about who he decides to attack, he just outright attacks anyone anyway, so who knows?

Kudamon stepped in between Spadamon and Tsukaimon with his usual serious expression. "So you're the culprit behind those attacks and for the incident in this house. Care to confess to your crime?" Kudamon told him, sounding like a police officer interrogating a criminal.

"I don't gotta say nuttin' to you, you skinny weasel! So what if I go around showin' off my attacks! It's not like they can actually do anything about it! Besides, I love watchin' them act like a bunch of babies! It's all the more fun for me!" Tsukaimon sneered wickedly with that childish smirk of his.

"What may be fun for you isn't fun to everybody else, so stop acting like a big narcissist, Tsukaimon! It will not do you any good in the long run!" Kudamon shouted.

"Shut up! Evil Fire!" Angered by their incessant persistence, Tsukaimon shot his signature fireballs at them.

"Lop Twister!" Lopmon was the first to react by spinning around like a top, managing to successfully extinguish the flames, which in turn prevented the entire house being set on fire considering how fragile everything looks.

"By the way, now that Tattoo Boy is here, don't any of you notice he smells like a Digimon?" Tsukaimon asked, unabashedly pointing to Lucero. "He smells so much like a Digimon he might as well be one!"

"That's ridiculous! Do you have any physical proof of such an absurd claim?" Kudamon asked, surprised by Tsukaimon's fiat.

"I dun need any! Isn't smellin' like a Digimon enough proof in itself?" Tsukaimon asked back. "Man, you retards sure are stupid!"

"Has Nayuki been beating you again? Your wing looks like it's about to fall off," Yun asked, pointing to Tsukaimon's right wing, which has quite a few bruises and cuts on it.

"Why do you care?"

"I care because I'm worried! If she keeps beating you, you might end up dead!"

"You don't understand! I have to be with her! I'm all she's got! I'm stickin' by her and you ain't gonna turn me against her!"

"Why do you put up with her?! She treats you like garbage!"

"I actually got it good compared to what she went through as a kid! I don't feel like bein' here no more! Screw this! I'm outta here!" Tsukaimon yelped as he flew past Yun and Hokuto and zipped down the stairs, even though they could see that he's struggling to fly considering how bad his wing looks.

"Should we go after him?" Lucero asked.

"He doesn't want our help, and we cannot force him to change his situation, as it'll just make things worse, so let's leave him be, even though I'd love to do the opposite," Kudamon told them.

While the kids and Digimon were talking amongst themselves, Hokuto noticed something on the floor. Considering all the fighting going on in this room, he's surprised it didn't get destroyed by any of their attacks. As Hokuto crept closer, he found that it's a very thick book. The cover is made out of leather, and the pages inside are worn and yellow. He removed the dust from the book and looked at the edges of the pages. A lot of said pages have rips in them. Hokuto opened it and flipped through the pages. Each one of them is numbered meticulously, like a textbook. As he flipped through the myriad pages, he noticed that no pages seem to be missing. He also noticed that the writing is completely unreadable, like some ink had been scraped off of many of the pages. He only managed to decipher certain words here and there, and saw some pictures and mathematical equations. On the back of the book, however, are two things: the initials K.S. written in English and in a green Sharpie marker, and a cute little cartoony monkey's face with big ears, small eyes, rosy cheeks, and a little mouth shaped like the number 3 on its side.

As soon as he saw the initials and the monkey picture, it dawned on him right at that moment. This is Saruto's book. He had seen those initials and the monkey picture before. Saruto often wrote his initials and drew pictures of cute cartoony monkey faces in a green Sharpie marker on everything he owned, important documents included. That, and Saruto's Japanese name is written to mean, _"monkey person."_ There's no way Hokuto would mistake this signature anywhere. He remembered things his father told him. Saruto often told stories about his childhood to him when he was young, even about silly little things, like his name. His parents thought of giving him a name with _"saru"_ in it because he definitely looked like a baby monkey, and his father wanted it to be written as _"monkey person"_ while his mother wanted it to be _"flying monkey,"_ both ending in the character _"to"_ but written differently in both names. Since his father was the dominant parent, they had to go with the first choice, nothing else, and since then, Saruto took pride in the fact that he was named after an animal and decided to use it as his mark. Secretly, Hokuto very slowly put the book in his backpack and closed it tightly. Nobody even saw him put it away, as they were too busy talking to Spadamon.

"Where have you been all this time? We haven't seen you in a long while," Yun asked.

"Quetzalmon and I got trapped in the Digital World chasin' after some little punk. But you'll never believe what we found out! We followed him all the way into the inner sanctum! We managed to find out why Digimon have Dark Emblems on them! The Digimon who makes all the Dark Emblems is named Diaboromon, and he's a servant of MoonMillenniummon! Some of their lackeys take innocent Digimon and force them to be guinea pigs for his experiments, which is why they use them to test out their Dark Emblems, to see if they work or not," Spadamon explained enthusiastically.

"That explains why the Digimon have Dark Emblems on them at all," Lopmon said.

"Exactly! And I even know what MoonMillenniummon looks like! He's a huge ghost dragon thing trapped in a crystal in a big rock formation at the center of it all. He can't leave or use his powers, but he has a huge army of Digimon who serve him and stuff! Apparently he calls them his children, and that the Digimon he recruits have either been abandoned or cast away by their kin for varying reasons," Spadamon said.

Yun couldn't help but remember Witchmon and the battle they had at Noir Lake so long ago. Witchmon ranted about how she was cast away by her friends and how MoonMillenniummon saved her from her loneliness while he was still in an early stage of digivolution, before he came to power. Yun found herself being haunted by her final words, how she wanted to go back to the happy days she had before everyone turned their backs on her so cruelly.

"Wisemon told us about MoonMillenniummon, that part included, and he did say something about giving the tormentors what they deserve. So...was MoonMillenniummon the outcast of the Digital World before he started recruiting others like him?" Hokuto asked.

"If ostracization continues on and on for a very long time, hatred can very well be cultivated in a Digimon's heart, especially if he doesn't have anyone to rely on and tell him otherwise," Kudamon replied in his usual serious, solemn tone.

"Where's Quetzalmon, by the way?" Terriermon asked.

"He went back to the Digital World yesterday to gather some more intel. He's a cautious Digimon so I don't think he'll get caught," Spadamon said.

"Be that as it may, he's still very dangerous, and even though he's trapped underground, he may still hold great power in his wake, especially since he has an army of Digimon who can carry out all of his commands," Lucero said.

"Well, we solved the mystery! So let's go home! I'm starting to get dust in my eyes," Terriermon said as he went downstairs. Everyone else did too. After that, everyone went back home for the day.


	107. March Comes In Like A Leomon

EPISODE 99: March Comes In Like a Leomon(1)

Around the same time Yun, Lucero, Hokuto, Lopmon, Cutemon, Kudamon, and Terriermon were exploring the house that had been staked out by Tsukaimon, Rena, Lunamon, Riku, and Coronamon found themselves in their backyard, playing catch with an old football of Michitaka's. The four of them are having quite a great time just throwing a ball around and chasing it whenever it fell on the evergreen grass.

"Hey Rena-chan! Pass it here!" Coronamon called out as Riku threw the football to Rena.

"Here goes!" Rena threw the football as hard as she could muster, but it wound up falling next to Lunamon instead, and almost rolled over the little violets and periwinkles had Lunamon not managed to grab it before it could squish the sweet little flowers back into the deep dirt just as they had finally grown out of it since the beginning of spring.

"Got it!" Lunamon exclaimed.

"Nice one, Lunamon!" Riku cheered happily, exalting Lunamon for her catch.

"Thanks! Here you go, Coronamon," Lunamon said as she threw the ball to Coronamon, who managed to catch it without difficulty.

"Oh yeah! Now it's my turn! It's all yours, Rikkun! Hyah!" Coronamon threw the football at Riku, who almost caught it, but it slipped out of his hands and wound up hitting a pot of flowers, causing them to fall right out of the pot and the pot itself to shatter into pieces.

"Ack! Oh no!" Coronamon yelped as he saw the football hit the pot. "I-I-I didn't mean to do that!"

"My flowers!" It's bad enough to see a football break a pot of flowers if thrown too hard, but it's even worse to know that those flowers were Takako's, and she herself just happened to see what took place. Riku facepalmed. Normally it's Rena who facepalms when someone does something bad, but now Riku seems to have adopted his sister's habit.

"We're screwed," Riku muttered to himself as Takako, with a choleric beet red face, stomped right over to them and gave Coronamon and Lunamon a good tongue lashing.

"Look what you've done! I paid $30 for those rare flowers! Now they're completely ruined because you two hairy little monsters are out of control! I honestly don't know why Michitaka has allowed the children to keep you! You don't deserve to live in MY house! You should be sent away to some government agency who can dissect you and send you back to whatever planet you came from!" Takako screamed angrily. Riku, feeling bad about seeing them be scolded like that, decided to step in.

"Would you calm down, Mom?! It was an accident! He didn't mean it, and for your information, I tried to catch it but it slipped out of my hand," Riku told her.

"I wasn't talking to you, so know your place and shut up! It's bad enough you two are even outside at all! Don't you know that the neighbors talk about you two? How they tell me that I have an out of control son who misbehaves constantly and a daughter who's crippled and on a limp?" Takako snapped mercilessly, her tongue and tone of voice ever so venomous.

"Rena's NOT a cripple! You have no right to say such things about your daughter! And she can actually walk just fine now!" Lunamon snapped back, feeling the blood rise to her face upon seeing Takako still being obstinate and intransigent about her own beliefs and delusions.

"Don't you have work to do, Takako?" Suddenly, Michitaka came into the backyard, with his arms crossed and looking very stern.

"Michitaka! Look what those monstrous things did to my flowers! They should be held accountable for their actions! I can't believe you're not blowing a gasket over this!" Takako exclaimed, pointing to her destroyed pot.

"It's just the pot that's broken. The flowers aren't dead. Besides, we have plenty more pots, so you can still plant them, and shouldn't you be on your way to the casino?" Michitaka told her.

Takako looked at her watch and made a grunting sound. "You're right. I'd best be going. But you better discipline these brats and finally get rid of those monsters or you'll be sorry! You're the man of the house! You should be the dominant one around here, not me! That's why you're so pathetic and spineless!" Takako bellowed before stomping back into the house to get ready for work. After about an hour, Takako got into the car and drove to the casino.

As soon as she left, Coronamon walked up to Michitaka, obviously looking quite guilty and rueful. "I'm awful sorry, Michitaka-san. I really didn't mean to throw the ball too hard. Rikkun did try to catch it, but it was too fast for him to get," Coronamon told him remorsefully, his golden eyes moistening with sadness. Michitaka flashed a nice smile, kneeled to Coronamon's level, and gently stroke his big, fluffy head of red hair and fur, making the moistening in the hamster's eyes dissipate as soon as it appeared.

"It's alright. I know it was an accident, and accidents happen. I'm just happy it was only the pot that got broken instead of a window. I'm also happy that you're playing outside instead of inside the house, and a lot more things would be broken if you threw that football around in the house," Michitaka told him reassuringly, which gave Coronamon his usual cheerful and radiant expression again.

"Yeah. That would be pretty stupid and dangerous. I'll clean up the pieces," Coronamon said as he ran to the broken pot and began picking up the pieces.

"Careful. Don't cut yourself," Lunamon told him kindly as she ambled over to him and helped him out.

"I'll go get the trash can and an extra pot," Michitaka said as he went into the house to get the trash can and an extra pot to put the dirt and the flowers in. Once the broken pieces were thrown away, Michitaka gathered all the dirt and put it in the pot first, then dug a hole in the middle and gently put the flowers in. He didn't have any gardening gloves on, so his hands got quite dirty, but he didn't seem to care very much. Once the flowers got put in safely, he put them on the glass table in the back yard so it'll be further away from the area in which they played catch before. About an hour after that, Michitaka told the kids that he's going to be gone for about four hours.

"Huh? Where are you going?" Rena asked curiously.

"Some friends of mine I haven't seen in a while invited me to a get-together they're holding. We're going to watch a hockey game together. Is that ok?" Michitaka told them. Riku and Coronamon suddenly looked at each other with surprised but happy faces, clearly getting an idea of what this meant.

"Aw yeah! We get the house to ourselves!" Riku exclaimed happily as he threw his fists into the air.

"Now now. Don't get too excited. While I'm gone, you cannot leave the house for any reason. Who knows what kind of kidnappers are out there. If the phone rings, don't answer it. If someone knocks on the door, don't answer it. Keep the doors locked at all times, ok?" Michitaka told them.

"We get it, Dad. Go on and have some fun! Don't let us stop you!" Riku told him. Rena gave him a suspicious look, not very convinced that Riku genuinely wants him to have fun. She figured Riku's trying to get him out of the house.

"Alright then. I'll be home before dinner time. Bye!" Michitaka said as he went out the door and locked it tight. As soon as he left, Coronamon and Lunamon immediately came into the living room excitedly.

"Yay! We got the whole house to ourselves for four whole hours!" Coronamon cheered as he jumped around the house happily, like his favorite football team had won an epic touchdown.

"You got that right, little buddy! Come on! Let's play some XBox!" Riku exclaimed as he prompted Coronamon to play the XBox with him, to which he happily complied. Rena and Lunamon sighed.

"Boys get too excited sometimes," Rena said.

"Yes. Very true," Lunamon said, agreeing with her.

"Wanna do my hair?"

"Sure. Can I try putting it in a ponytail this time?"

With that, Rena and Lunamon both went into Rena's room so they could work on her hair and experiment with some different styles. But before Coronamon could do anything, he felt a familiar tingling sensation rage throughout his body for just a bit. It was something he really didn't want to feel right now. Riku could see the sudden change in his partner's demeanor.

"What's wrong, Coronamon? You look like you saw a ghost just now," Riku asked curiously.

"There's a bad Digimon out there!" Coronamon exclaimed.

"There? Where?" Riku asked again, surprised by this new revelation but alert as a police officer on the job.

"At the train station!" Coronamon replied.

"Aw man! Dad said not to leave the house!" Riku complained. Even though he wanted to follow the rules as Michitaka ordered, having a bad Digimon wreak havoc could bring great repercussions to the town. He hadn't forgotten the Shadramon incident, and he really didn't want to have people die at the hands of one of MoonMillenniummon's minions, so getting yelled at for simply leaving the house when nobody's home would be petty compared to what would happen if this Digimon wasn't stopped right away. Riku knew he couldn't just let this Digimon run wild. At the spur of the moment, he found a pen and a piece of paper and wrote something on it. Once he finished, he put it on the kitchen counter.

**Rena,**

**Coronamon said there's a Digimon rampaging by the train station. We're gonna go and see if we can stop it before anything bad happens. I promise we'll be back before Dad gets home!**

**Riku.**

"Do you think she'll get mad?" Coronamon asked, knowing how stern and demanding Rena can be when Riku does something stupid, and when bad things happen, she's usually the one to never let Riku forget, aside from Takako.

"Probably, but someone's gotta handle that bad Digimon! Lemme just grab my D-Chips real quick in case we need back up, and we'll be on our way!" Riku told him, then ran to his room to get his digivice, D-Heart, and D-Chips in case he needed help handling this rampaging Digimon. Soon, he and Coronamon stormed out the door. For quick transportation to make the trip quicker in case anything bad happened, Coronamon digivolved into Firamon as soon as they left the Nobara house. Riku got on his back and put in Flamedramon's D-Chip.

"Hey Flamedramon! We could use your help so come and visit!" Riku proclaimed proudly as he inserted Flamedramon's D-Chip into the hole in his digivice. An orange light shot out from his digivice into the sky, then back into it. Soon, out came a rather confused Flamedramon, who wound up sitting on Firamon's back.

"What the? Where am I...oh? Riku? Is that you?" Flamedramon asked, looking very confused at first, but felt relieved as soon as he saw Riku.

"Hey Flamedramon! Long time no see! How've ya been?" Riku greeted his friend with a smack to the shoulder, not that the blue, armored dragon minded.

"I've had better days," Flamedramon replied.

"Whoa! It looks like we came too late!" Firamon shouted as he stopped on the grass, allowing Riku and Flamedramon to hop off of his back and see what's happening.

Much to their utter surprise, two Digimon are fighting right in front of them, completely unaware of the fact that they just arrived in the human world. One of them looks like a Monzaemon, only this one has gritty black fur, ugly brown and yellow stitches covering quite a good majority of its body, red slitty eyes that look like the kinds of eyes you see in dark places in forests at night, a glowing yellow eye coming out of its tan belly via an open zipper, a slightly tattered red cape, and a furry claw on it's left hand. The other Digimon fighting it off is a lion Digimon with a very muscular physique, a golden yellow mane that shone like the sun above, black belts on its left arm, black leather pants, a red Indian necklace with a light blue jewel in the middle of it, and a sword in its hand. Riku decided to look up their data.

"So that freaky Monzaemon rip-off is WaruMonzaemon, an ultimate level. His attacks are Bear Claw and Heartbreak Attack. That cool lion Digimon there is Leomon, a champion level. His attacks are Beast Sword and Fist of the Beast King," Riku said. Once he turned off his digivice, he watched the two warriors fight like they were really going to kill each other. _'Holy smokes! A real life Leomon! One of my favorite Digimon finally coming to life! This is sooooo cool! I finally get to meet a real life Leomon! Awesome!'_ Riku thought, happy to see one of his favorite childhood Digimon face to face, even if it's not in the best circumstances.

The feisty lion Digimon and the decrepit looking teddy bear are definitely nuking it out, and neither of them seemed willing to concede defeat. Riku could see quite a few deep, hardened scratches on Leomon's body, which seemed to imply that they've been fighting well before coming here unannounced.

"You cannot have your way, WaruMonzaemon! Serving that wretched MoonMillenniummon will only bring misfortune! Already his outrageous teachings have led you astray!" Leomon snarled in a deep, heroic voice, literally booming with courage and passion. WaruMonzaemon gave him a very scathing look that made it look like Leomon was the most disgusting and horrible thing he had ever seen next to his own decrepit appearance.

"You cowardly, foolhardy lion! Master has saved my life! I was tossed away by my family like trash, simply because I didn't come out the way they wanted me to! Nobody ever stopped to help me or save me from my despair, and all because I was imperfect in their eyes, until he came and saved me! He didn't throw me away like some broken toy! He accepted me for who I was and finally treated me like a Digimon, just like everyone else he took in out of kindness! He has done wonders for me and the rest of us! A stupid, overzealous, arrogant lion like you will never understand how important he is to us!" WaruMonzaemon retorted angrily before charging at him with a mighty roar, attempting to maim the courageous lion with his only solitary claw. "Bear Claw!"

"Beast Sword!" WaruMonzaemon and Leomon clashed their claw and sword together, and did so for quite a while. Riku, Firamon, and Flamedramon watched in awe, confused over whether they should step in or not, as both seemed quite strong. WaruMonzaemon almost stabbed Leomon with his claw, managing to find an opening, but the lion Digimon quickly did some back flips to avoid the killing blow.

"I do sympathize with your plight, WaruMonzaemon. Nobody deserves to be cast away simply because they cannot help who they are and how they came out. But that doesn't mean you should go around killing every Digimon you see! It only strengthens the bad reputation you already have!" Leomon pleaded while keeping his cool. "If you keep doing this, you'll be stigmatized even further! Is that really what you want?!"

"Stop acting like you know everything, you arrogant, goody-two shoes furball! Heartbreak Attack!" WaruMonzaemon screamed, his voice deeper than even Leomon's, and let out a huge torrent of deep blue bubble hearts, similar to those of MarineAngemon's, but only bigger. Leomon managed to cut through a good majority of them thanks to his sword, but failed to notice one heading right for his face. Leomon had never been attacked by a WaruMonzaemon before, so he didn't know what would happen if the bubbly heart had enveloped him.

Thankfully, he would be deprived of the fate of ever figuring that out the hard way.

"Fire Rocket!" With a command from Flamedramon, two spheres of glowing fire managed to pop the heart bubble and make it turn into nothing but little drops of water to be absorbed by the as of now dehydrated evergreen grass below their feet.

"What?" Leomon asked, confused by what just transpired. Without saying anything, Firamon and Flamedramon immediately charged at WaruMonzaemon, managing to send him sprawling to the ground, only for the tattered teddy bear to come right back up as he smacked Flamedramon with a Bear Claw again.

"Agh!" Flamedramon shouted in pain as WaruMonzaemon's attack sent him flying. Thankfully, Leomon was within his vicinity and managed to catch him to prevent him from sustaining any more extraneous damage.

"Heartbreak Attack!" WaruMonzaemon shot out another barrage of deep blue heart bubbles.

"Fira Claw!" Scrupulously, taking care not to use his attacks recklessly lest he set the nearby trees on fire like he did the first time he digivolved, threw out some fiery spheres, managing to pop every single heart bubble, even though the attacks both dissipated in smoke as a result, probably because the heart bubbles are still technically made out of water.

"Be careful! WaruMonzaemon is very volatile and ferocious! I advise you use utmost caution when attacking him!" Leomon advised as he set Flamedramon down on the grass.

"Will do, buddy!" Riku exclaimed with a smile as he gave Leomon a thumbs up like he had known him for a long time. Leomon couldn't help but tilt his furry head a little in confusion as to why a human child who he just met would refer to him as buddy. For that matter, the boy should be afraid of both him and a bunch of monsters fighting each other like rabid animals, yet he's acting like its the most normal thing in the human world, which it most definitely isn't.

Firamon didn't want to attract any unwanted attention, so he didn't fly unless he absolutely had to dodge an attack that required him to evade it by means of flight. It's a good thing WaruMonzaemon can't fly so that proved to be an advantage, even though in terms of strength, the tattered teddy bear seems to have the upper hand, even though the battle is two (Firamon and Flamedramon) against one. But as soon as he knocked Firamon and Flamedramon away again, WaruMonzaemon charged at Leomon again with a loud howl that, if Yun were around, would make her cover her ears in fright.

"You deserve to die, you heartless, willful hypocrite! Justice will be served!" WaruMonzaemon screamed, completely happy to finally have the chance to take down Leomon, the very personification, he felt, of false kindness and hypocrisy. He couldn't wait to finally spill Leomon's blood.

Unfortunately for this ugly, tattered teddy bear, he would be bereaved of said opportunity, because as soon as he was about to impale a surprised Leomon, Riku rolled in between them like he was a stunt man, threw up his digivice, and made his digishield appear, enveloping him and Leomon and completely blocking the ferocious and volatile WaruMonzaemon's attack just in the nick of time.

"WHAT?! How dare you, you impudent little brat! Why do you save him?! He is a hypocrite! He preaches kindness and acceptance yet treats those who need it like trash!" WaruMonzaemon bellowed, angry that a small, puny little half-pint like Riku would ever take some valuable time out of his schedule to save a hypocrite like Leomon who, he feels, doesn't deserve to even breathe the same air as him. Riku didn't undo his shield. He knew that if he did, they'd be done for. As soon as WaruMonzaemon bellowed, Firamon and Flamedramon lunged on him again.

"I know how you feel. It's stupid to be treated like trash because of something you don't want. I don't get why everybody wants everyone to be perfect and acts like having one little flaw is the end of the world. But Leomon has a point, y'know? If you keep acting all angry at the world and killing everyone, they still won't accept you. It'll only make them even more inclined to hate you," Riku told the giant tattered teddy bear Digimon firmly as he stood up on his own two feet. He could feel the conviction, the passion, the ambition in his body and heart, to make WaruMonzaemon realize that his actions will only stigmatize him further. "It's not too late, though! If you really want justice for what you went through, then we can provide it for you!"

Riku held out his golden D-Heart of Justice, and both his digivice and it glowed in a yellow light, allowing Firamon to digivolve into Flaremon. Flamedramon and Leomon couldn't help but watch and gaze upon Flaremon's new digivolution in awe, surprised that something like this is actually possible. Even WaruMonzaemon was frozen with shock, confusion, and curiosity. But after snapping himself out of it, he decided to attack again.

"Heartbreak Attack!" WaruMonzaemon unleashed another barrage of blue heart bubbles. But Flaremon was not going to have any of this.

"Crimson King Beast Wave!" Flaremon opened his right hand and made a big orange sphere of energy shaped like a lion's head appear. It managed to permeate the heart bubbles and land a decent hit on the foolhardy WaruMonzaemon, who roared in pain as the attack hit him. But once he fell on the ground, he quickly got back up.

"Bear Claw!" He tried to maim the majestic red lion Digimon with his claw, but Flaremon literally grabbed him by the claw and lifted him up like he was a toy. WaruMonzaemon isn't as heavy as Flaremon assumed he'd be. But this isn't the time to be musing about a Digimon's weight. It's bad enough humans obsess over weight like it's the defining point of all of humanity. Without any hesitation, Flaremon threw WaruMonzaemon at a tree, knocking it onto the ground. Some leaves got caught in WaruMonzaemon's fur, but he couldn't care less.

"Fire Rocket!" Flamedramon swooped in and shot some spheres of fire at WaruMonzaemon. The decrepit bear tried to negate them with his claw, but the fireballs came too quickly for him to knock away, so he wound up getting hit instead.

"Fist of the Beast King!" Leomon came onto the scene and unleashed an attack similar to Flaremon's, which managed to hit WaruMonzaemon right on his face. Despite all the attacks he was just subjected to, the decrepit and tattered teddy bear tried to get back up, grunting as he did. But Flaremon wasn't going to let this enormous monster get the upper hand.

"Red Lion Dance!" With his fists and feet enveloped by brightly blazing red and yellow flames, he broke into a dance where he proceeded to pummel the already weakened bear Digimon with a flurry of flaming punches and kicks, many of which made quite a lot of burn marks on the bear's fur. Soon, WaruMonzaemon found himself on his knees, and the Digimon stopped attacking. As Riku got closer, once it was safe for him to join the Digimon at their side, he noticed that WaruMonzaemon looked like he was going to burst into a paroxysm of tears at any moment. The silence between them felt very tense and awkward, and he had a feeling that this silence wasn't out of consideration.

He managed to catch a glance of WaruMonzaemon's eyes. They didn't look angry like before. Now they looked sad, like that of a broken soul. Like someone who feels there is no hope for them in the world, no light at the end of the tunnel.

"Are you...are you satisfied now? Go on and kill me! That's what everyone wants, so you might as well get it done and over with!" WaruMonzaemon bellowed. But his roaring didn't sound choleric or reeking with rancor. Instead, it sounded extremely dejected and abject.

"We're not here to kill you," Leomon told him softly but sternly.

"Yeah? Well do it anyway! It's not like anyone will benefit from having an abomination like me around! Me, an ugly, imperfect, flawed, and with power that can't create nothin' or do anyone any good!" WaruMonzaemon bellowed, louder this time, and sounding more desperate.

"Who decided all that?" Riku asked.

"Everyone! You spoiled little idiots don't know anything, do you?! In this world, the only Digimon who have good things happen to them are the ones who are perfect and can actually meet everyone's expectations while the ones who don't even look or act the least bit like they want is tossed away like trash! That's just the way it is, and there's nothing we can do about it!"

Flaremon frowned, with a fiery glint in his eyes to convey his frustration at hearing this product of a bitter environment claim that he is a broken soul to never exist...simply because other Digimon told him so. "So you're going to listen to what other Digimon tell you instead of listening to yourself? You weren't looking for justice; you were looking for revenge!"

"I am what I am!" WaruMonzaemon screamed. "And no one in this world has accepted me because of that...except for MoonMilleniumon!"

Flamedramon's eyes narrowed somewhat. "You keep on saying _'this world'_. I don't think you have realized yet that the battle that has just transpired has actually taken place in the human world."

"What?" gasped Leomon, finally taking the time to examine his surroundings.

WaruMonzaemon was also quite stunned. Though he didn't say anything, he also looked around in awe.

"Yes, this is the human world," answered Riku. "And I understand what you're going through, WaruMonzaemon. There are humans who hate even other humans because they don't fit their definition of _'perfect'_. We got magazines, billboards, advertisements, and even movies and TV shows preaching that women should be beautiful and have small bodies and men be buff and tough and insensitive! Hey, my own mother is one of those people, and she hates me and my sister because we're anything but perfect! But guess what? Not even humans are perfect, and there are humans who understand that. I have friends who see me for who I am inside. And what's more, they encourage me to trust who I am. I don't listen to all that nonsense about anyone trying to make me what they want me to be, because I trust who I am! And just because we're not perfect doesn't mean that we're not fit to live!" He couldn't help but remember that there are others who suffered and had unnecessary hatred thrown at them right along with him in this endeavor as well, long before they met. Yun because of her autism, mixed race, and occasional quirks and eccentricities, Hokuto for being isolated and experimented on for all his life against his will, Otoya for being a preacher's daughter and growing up in a town where preachers were highly stereotyped as brainwashers and predators, Minako for her suicide attempt, Melody for trying to be who she is and not let anyone break her heart yet again...everyone gets discriminated against for something.

"The same is also true for Digimon," Flaremon said, adding to Riku's speech with one of his own. "No Digimon can be any more perfect than humans, but that doesn't make them any less precious. No Digimon can make you into anything; only you can do that. So, I know it's hard, but ignore all the nasty stuff that other Digimon tell you. Because they don't know you like you do. And you have a place in the Digital World, a place that doesn't involve killing other Digimon and looking out only for yourself. No one, Digimon or human, can be perfect...but there's also nothing wrong with making yourself better. Trust who you are inside...and accept everything about who you are, even if you don't think you're perfect."

For once, WaruMonzaemon finally stopped screaming and ranting. He listened intently and quietly, letting their kind words sink in. Nobody had ever told him any of these things before. Nobody had ever considered that he too was someone who was fit to live. But in the midst of listening, he remembered one small memory he thought he had long repressed. He remembered as a Bearmon, he passed by the Meadow of Birth and saw some baby Digimon crying for food. He had some on him and gave it to the baby Digimon, who exalted him as soon as they did this kind deed for them. But he left right afterward, thinking he shouldn't be there. WaruMonzaemon closed his eyes and ruminated. Perhaps...if he was back there, maybe he could be re-taught everything from scratch. Maybe he could make things right. He could trust himself for who he is and be who he wants to be.

Perhaps...maybe he did have a right to live, even though he's not perfect.

"I...I want to start over. I want to be reborn...into someone like you. Can you help me be reborn? I don't want to...forget what you taught me," WaruMonzaemon said as he gave Riku a pleading but eternally grateful look. Riku smiled and got his digisword out.

"Sure. We'll do that, buddy," Riku said. Then, with a flick of his digisword, he stabbed WaruMonzaemon in the chest. The tattered teddy bear didn't cry out in pain. He just accepted it. He glowed in a white light and dissipated into purple data, which soon reformed and turned into a dirty brown DigiEgg with light yellow spots all over it. Leomon approached him once the DigiEgg reformed.

"If you don't mind, I'd be more than happy to raise him," Leomon offered. Riku flashed a big smile and handed the egg to Leomon without any hint of hesitation.

"That's a great idea!" Riku cheered happily as he handed the egg to Leomon.

"So...are you really a human? I always assumed humans were just creatures of myth," Leomon asked, a little confused.

"Yep! We're as real as can be! I'm Riku, by the way, and these are my friends Flaremon and Flamedramon! Wow, I can't believe I'm meeting one of my favorite Digimon face to face! You look even cooler than on TV! That Fist of the Beast King you did back there was flippin' awesome, man! You oughta do that again someday!" Riku exclaimed happily, feeling completely giddy with the fact that he's meeting one of his favorite childhood Digimon. Admittedly, he actually wanted a Leomon for a real partner, but he liked Coronamon right off because of their similarities and fiery personalities, so Riku chose not to play favorites. He knew that was wrong. It was bad enough his mother did it, and he really didn't want to follow her ill example. Leomon couldn't help but blush.

"Well, I'm glad you hold me in such high regard, Riku-san. I'm also very grateful for your help and your partners'. If you hadn't been there, he most likely would have continued to walk the wrong path," Leomon said. "I'll be sure to raise him well."

Riku was going to talk to him some more until he saw something black and purple fly out from the sky and lunge right at them.

"Look out!"

"Red Lion Dance!" Flaremon, despite being the biggest Digimon there, acted quickly as soon as Riku saw what was about to attack them and decided to pummel whatever it is that attacked them...or rather, whoever it is that attacked them.

"Lilithmon?!" Riku and Leomon both shouted in surprise upon identifying the creature that tried to lunge at them before. Leomon got his sword ready, and Flamedramon went into a battle stance, with his armored fists high and ready. Lilithmon got right back on her feet.

"Darkness Love!" She shot a heart shaped beam of energy at them, with Flaremon proceeded to negate with another Red Lion Dance.

"What brings you here, you wicked woman?" Flaremon asked with a suspicious glint in his eyes.

"Give me that DigiEgg!" Lilithmon demanded. Leomon, like a father, clung to the egg protectively, giving Lilithmon a scathing stink eye.

"Over my dead body!" Leomon snarled.

"Darkness Love!"

"Crimson King Beast Wave!" Both attacks collided with each other, resulting in a big cloud of dust.

Leomon decided to take this chance and run away with WaruMonzaemon's DigiEgg cradled in his strong, manly arms. He knew he could not let Lilithmon take this DigiEgg. It would make their efforts to help WaruMonzaemon for the better wind up in vain, and he was sure that if Lilithmon, who he knew well was another faithful and obeisantly devoted servant of MoonMillenniummon, would surely put WaruMonzaemon back on the vile path that he, Riku, and the others finally managed to take him off of.

"Empress Emblaze!" All of a sudden, when the dust cloud dissipated, the ground began to shake, like a small earthquake had hit. A big crack appeared in the ground right in front of Leomon, and out from underneath the earth came a big, ugly, hand-shaped monstrosity which could only be described as a cross between smelly, decomposing corpses that have yet to turn completely into skeletons, broken sea shells, human bone fragments, pinkish red things that look like animal meat, and endless strips of seaweed connecting everything. It was about to grab Leomon, who really wasn't planning on running away from the horrible, noisome, and outright disgusting abomination that is about to try and consume him, but Flaremon and Flamedramon swooped onto the scene.

"Purifying Howl!"

"Fire Rocket!"

"Fist of the Beast King!"

Thankfully, the Digimon trio's combined attacks managed to defeat the hand-shaped abomination and send it back into the ground. Unfortunately, it also resulted in something else.

"Ahh! Get off me, lady!" Riku screamed from behind them.

"Riku!" Flaremon, Leomon, and Flamedramon both screamed with horror as they turned around to find a vicious looking Lilithmon right behind them, with Riku trapped in her arms. Her golden hand is pointing to Riku's neck like a knife, and they all could see an ominous looking purple light emitting from the tip.

"Release him, you wicked knave!" Flaremon bellowed angrily.

"Only if you hand the DigiEgg over to me, you foolhardy hypocrites!" Lilithmon sneered back with a nefarious and condescending smile to go with it.

"Lemme go, you witch!" Riku yelled vehemently as he struggled to break out of Lilithmon's grasp.

"Shut up, boy! Know that if my finger touches you, you will perish by my corroding hand!" Lilithmon sneered in her slithery voice.

"It is you and your Master who are hypocrites! You recruit fragile and abandoned Digimon and use them for your own ends, taking advantage of their yearning for acceptance and love and turn it into a quest for revenge against the entire Digital World!" Leomon roared.

"Us?! Hypocrites?! Don't make me laugh! You goody two-shoe Digimon are the true evil ones! Now stop stalling and hand over the DigiEgg, lest you wish for this useless and worthless child to die!" Lilithmon retorted angrily.

"I SAID GET OFF ME!" Riku, with only his bare hands, managed to punch an unsuspecting Lilithmon so hard in the face, in her left eye to be more precise, that she unknowingly released him. Riku almost fell on the grass until Flamedramon managed to catch him. Lilithmon looked like she had seen a ghost once she saw Riku free himself from her grasp. She pulled out a small compact mirror from somewhere in her purple dress and opened it. Much to her horror, her left eye is reddening. The first sign of a black eye.

A black eye is already rather unsettling for some people, but it was horrific enough for Lilithmon to let out a bloodcurdling scream in terror, like she had seen the scariest horror movie ever. She found herself on the grass and on her knees, not knowing that the green grass is staining her dress.

"MY FACE! HOW DARE YOU DAMAGE MY BEAUTIFUL FAAAAACE!" Lilithmon screamed as she covered her quickly swelling eye with both her hands, which gave Riku time to yank out his digivice and aim it at Lilithmon.

"Back to the Digital World you go, you crazy witch!" Riku yelled as he opened his digivice, pressed the door button, and wished that a digital portal would appear underneath Lilithmon and swallow her up. Much to his ecstasy, it did, and Lilithmon fell into the hole as a result, not that she was cognizant of this face. With that, Flaremon de-digivolved into Sunmon.

"Wow, Rikkun! That was awesome! You really gave her a good punch in the eye!" Sunmon cheered.

"You bet I did, little buddy! I wasn't gonna let some crazy witch lady trip me up!" Riku flashed the peace sign at Sunmon and gave a laugh as he finished his sentence.

"I'd high five you, but I have no hands," Sunmon said a little ruefully.

"If you want, you can give me a high five," Leomon said, extending his free hand. Without any hesitation, Riku smacked Leomon's free palm with force, but not enough to make Leomon feel any pain. But when he opened his eyes, he noticed that Leomon's chest is glowing in an orange light.

"Whoa! Look Leomon! You're glowing!" Sunmon exclaimed, backing Riku's claim. An orange light popped out from Leomon's chest and floated into Riku's palm, dissipating to reveal an orange stone in the shape of a lion.

"Hey! I got your D-Chip! That means you and I are pseudo-partners! Yippee!" Riku didn't question this one bit. He's far too happy and jubilant with the fact that he's friends with his favorite Digimon to care about all the craziness that just went on. He and Sunmon jumped around (or in Sunmon's case, floated around like a UFO) joyfully. Leomon couldn't help but smile a bit upon seeing those two joyously play together with glee.

"Those two make quite a pair," Leomon mused to himself.

"Yes. Their spirits shine radiantly with kindness, courage, and justice. That's why I opened my heart to them. They know what's right and will not stand for any injustice, whether in this world or the Digital World. I hope you'll see them as kind souls who do have their occasional quirks and eccentricities, Leomon. Being friends with them may do you a world of good," Flamedramon told him solemnly.

"Indeed. Everyone is flawed, but that's what makes life special," Leomon said solemnly, but with a kind smile.

"Rikuuuuuu!" As soon as he heard the voice, Riku and Sunmon stopped playing.

"Rena! Lunamon!" Riku and Sunmon both exclaimed as Rena and Lunamon came running toward them, stopping when they caught up.

"I got your note just now. Where's this bad Digimon?" Rena asked.

Riku crossed his arms and flashed a bit of a cocky smile. "Not to worry, sis! Me and my friends managed to beat him! Oh! Guess what! I made friends with a Leomon and got his D-Chip! Isn't that awesome?!" Riku bragged happily while showing Rena and Lunamon the D-Chip.

"My! How very amazing! Good job, Rikkun. I'm proud of you!" Lunamon told them, lauding them for their efforts, then looked up at Rena. "I hope you are proud of him too, Rena. Nothing's been destroyed and no civilians have died, after all."

"True. You did great, Riku, though I wish you didn't leave us out of the loop. We would have helped you," Rena said.

"Sorry. Sunmon and I wanted to try handling things ourselves without messing up this time. I wasn't doing it to be mean. Oh! Leomon, this is my sister Rena and her Digimon, Lunamon!" Riku told her, then introduced Leomon to the two of them.

Leomon bowed before them politely. "It is an honor to meet you. Your brother has been very helpful in our battle against WaruMonzaemon."

"Yeah. Same here," Rena said, a little surprised by Leomon's excessive politeness.

"So what happened here again?" Lunamon asked.

"Apparently, Leomon and this Digimon called WaruMonzaemon were fighting, and they came here by accident. We managed to help him defeat him and turn him into a DigiEgg, which is right there," Riku explained, then pointed to the yellow spotted DigiEgg in Leomon's arms.

"What are you going to do with it, Leomon?" Lunamon asked again.

"To keep him from returning to the path he was manipulated into walking before, I will raise him as my own. It is my duty to make sure no innocents fall into MoonMillenniummon's clutches, as I am well aware of what he's capable of and what he's done to the Digital World," Leomon replied.

"How very noble of you!" Lunamon replied with her sweet smile.

"Sorry I couldn't be of much help, Riku," Flamedramon said.

"What are you talking about?! You were awesome back there, and Sunmon too! I'm just sorry we can't get together for something that doesn't involve fighting bad Digimon," Riku told him and smacked him on the back, which made Flamedramon smile. "Oh! Here's an idea! How about you two come with us to our house?! Dad won't be home until another four hours, so we can have all the fun we want until then!"

Flamedramon and Leomon looked at each other with confused expressions.

"I like the idea too, Riku, but I don't know if we should do it. We don't know whether our neighbors will be home or not, and they're pretty big so anyone will notice them," Rena told him with a worried look.

"We can just keep them in the backyard so nobody sees them!" Riku said.

"I think it's a splendid idea, and we don't get to hang out very often, so we might as well use this time to do just that before we have to leave," Flamedramon said.

"Yes. I agree. We'll be careful. I promise," Leomon said.

"Aw yeah!" Riku threw his fist into the air jubilantly. "It's settled then! Come on! Let's go back home so we can hang out!"

"I'm way ahead of you, Rikkun!" Sunmon cheered as he got a head start and floated away before everyone else could walk one step.

"Hey! Wait for us, Sunmon!" Riku said as he, Rena, Lunamon, Leomon, and Flamedramon chased after the tiny, bright, energetic, sunny little sun Digimon.

What they didn't know was that Nayuki and Tsukaimon hid behind some trees and watched the entire battle! And to think nobody noticed them there before, not even Lilithmon.

"I actually agree with Lilithmon. This whole world is full of hypocrisy," Nayuki mused.

"True 'dat! Hey! Do ya wanna find this MoonMillenniummon's hideout and kill everybody in there?" Tsukaimon suggested.

"I'd like to, but the stupid portal won't open," Nayuki sneered bitterly as she pressed the door button on her digivice. Nothing happened. "Hmph! Maybe you can use this time to digivolve into mega level already. For once you can be way ahead of those stupid, hypocritical little losers."

"I'll do my best!" Tsukaimon exclaimed.

_In the Digital World..._

"They'll pay...they'll pay oh so dearly...they damaged my beautiful face-Ow!" Lilithmon sat on a bed in the DemiMeramon lit infirmary, musing over killing those brats until the ice being pressed against her face by Candlemon stung her swelling eye a bit. "Candlemon! Stop being so indecisive!" She snapped angrily.

"You're the one who keeps wiggling around! Now sit still and lemme do my work!" Candlemon snapped back and duct taped the small bag of ice to Lilithmon's swelling eye. "You really shouldn't have gone to the human world."

"I had to! WaruMonzaemon was there! I couldn't save him from those lying cheats, even though I did try to get his DigiEgg back! I would have gotten it if that brat hadn't ruined my face!" Lilithmon screamed angrily, her pale face growing beet red.

"It's your own fault for being reckless. I know for a fact that Master's really going to scold you a great deal, so you might as well zip your lips and not make things more difficult for not just you but for the rest of us," Candlemon told her unmercifully as he gave a DemiMeramon a piece of paper he wrote on with his feather and ink.

"How dare you talk that way to your elders!" Lilithmon chided as she sat up on her assigned bed.

"You do know MoonMillenniummon doesn't pick favorites or give anyone ranks, right? So what if I'm younger than you? That doesn't make you better than anyone else. I gotta go to the inner sanctum. Apparently Master wants me for something. I'll have DarkSuperStarmon make you some food later," Candlemon said as the DemiMeramon with the note floated away.

"What?! Why is he cooking?! I don't want his trash!" Lilithmon complained.

"It's not bad! You're just too picky for your own good! Jeez, for a Digimon who's been here longer than the rest of us you sure are acting like a whiny little brat today," Candlemon said as he followed the DemiMeramon out.

"YOU'RE the whiny little brat!" Lilithmon screamed angrily but stopped upon feeling her swollen eye pulsate painfully.

Candlemon really didn't want to bother with Lilithmon anymore. Yes, he's well aware that she's older than him. Yes, she's been with MoonMillenniummon longer than anyone else, save for some other Digimon. But she really didn't have to whine about her face and freak out about it like its the end of the world. She should be happy that she wasn't killed or manipulated to join the hypocrites. Candlemon let out a sigh. "Jeez. She really needs to lighten up about her face. At least be happy you didn't die at their hands. Mercy me..." Candlemon mused to himself bitterly after his sigh. Soon, he found himself in the inner sanctum with MoonMillenniummon and four other Digimon. One of them is a shiny gold plushy monkey thing with blue gloves, blue boots, a red king's crown that's bigger than his head, a red cape, and a white wrestling belt with gold plating on the middle. Another one is a big, ugly, eight legged pink bug that's bigger than the monkey plush Digimon with a mouth on its rear end and one big green eye on its head, along with a cluster of wiggling green vines underneath it. The other two are DarkSuperStarmon and Diaboromon.

"Hi KingEtemon and Parasimon. We haven't seen you two in a while," Candlemon said.

"OHHHH YEEEEAAAAHH! You bet we haven't been here in a while! We's been off sweeping away puny little Digimon towns like they're dust bunnies! I'm great, aren't I?! Bwahahahaha!" The golden monkey Digimon, KingEtemon, boasted like he was the master of the inner sanctum and not MoonMillenniummon. MoonMillenniummon, Diaboromon, and DarkSuperStarmon sighed in exasperation.

"Anyway...this is becoming quite a problem, Master. More and more Digimon are finding out about us and are likely planning to find our inner sanctum and destroy it. I think those brats are influencing them to fight our oppression," Diaboromon told the crystallized dragon.

"It's true. Digimon are talking and joining forces to fight our armies, and it's likely they're getting their memories back as well. Our original tactics of scaring them into cowardice won't work anymore," DarkSuperStarmon agreed with Diaboromon.

"I am well aware, my children. I'm still unable to accept the fact that a bunch of children who have manipulated Digimon to fight for them are able to kill so many of my precious children without any hint of remorse or consideration whatsoever. Forgive me for being so selfish, children. Considering my current state and the fact that I cannot return to my former glory for some stupid reason, I'm afraid I cannot help you all with this endeavor. To be perfectly honest, I'd very much like to use my powers to keep you all here and protect you, but even I know better than to deprive you of the right to freedom and the right to make your own decisions, even if it costs you your safety," MoonMillenniummon mused sadly.

"Yes. Especially in light of the fact that we have evidence that the Digimon that those human children domesticated are really-" DarkSuperStarmon was about to say more until KingEtemon threw his hand on his mouth. "-Mmmpff!"

"Ay! You ain't supposed to mention their names in front of the Master, mmmm'kay? He don't like 'dat," KingEtemon told him boastfully.

"Keeeeeet!" Parasimon screeched in agreement, making a very jarring and high pitched sound that made everyone cringe except for KingEtemon.

"Seriously, KingEtemon! How can you not even bat an eye to that annoying sound that the Parasimon make?! It drives us absolutely crazy, and I'm already going crazy just from being confined to this rat hole!" MoonMillenniummon asked irritably.

"True that!" Diaboromon agreed with his Master.

"That's cuz the Parasimon and I are good buds, and if you get to win them over, then their sound won't bother ya as much! Right, buddy?" KingEtemon replied.

"Ke-Ke-Ke-Ke-Keeeet!" Parasimon screeched again.

"Can he talk at all?" Candlemon asked.

"He used to, but now all he says is keet. Good thing I speak keet!" KingEtemon replied.

"Now, back to the subject at hand...based on the research that SkullSatamon did on those kids, we can conclude that humans have no powers like us whatsoever, so it should be surprisingly easy to do away with them all if we put enough effort into it," DarkSuperStarmon said.

"Keet keet keet!" Parasimon screeched while nodding at the same time.

"But they're able to help those Digimon digivolve. Maybe if we can come up with some way to separate the Digimon from the humans, then we may be able to stop them from finding out about the inner sanctum and ruining our plans for a better Digital World," Diaboromon said.

"Yes. Very true. Besides, a lot of us here are at the mega level, and their Digimon have only reached ultimate, so we may be able to destroy them all. However, I don't want you all to get killed by their hand. I've lost enough children already," MoonMillenniummon said.

"Not all your children are lost, Master," A deep voice echoed from one of the tunnels. As soon as they heard it, they all froze with surprise.

"That voice...! Could it...could it really be-?!" Candlemon stammered. Two of his DemiMeramon friends began flying in circles with surprise.

"I have returned, dearest Master," The voice said. Soon, the Digimon to which the voice belonged to finally appeared in the center of the inner sanctum.

This Digimon is a tall, strange looking beast who looks like a cross between a white furred African chimpanzee, a member of the yakuza, and an ancient warrior from long ago. His face is brown, with a gold headband on his forehead, red eyes that glinted like blood if seen under the light, and is wearing a few red scarves around his neck. He has black leather pants, gold chains hanging from them, two little brown monkey plush dolls hanging off them also, and black and silver boots on his big feet. A long, silvery white tail with a fluffy black end that resembled a dark dust bunny protruded from his rear end, with a golden ring on it. He's also wearing a long sleeved, black jacket with white shoulder pads made to resemble skeletons of some animal or mythical creature of sorts, and black gloves with silver and gold braces on both his hands and forearms, along with shorter golden chains. In his left hand is what appears to be a silver staff, much taller than he, with both ends being encased in gold slabs about 30 inches long.

"It's true! It is him! It's Gokuwmon!" DarkSuperStarmon stammered, sweating profusely.

"Yes! It is the formidable warrior, the Digimon born from Boot Volcano, the very first Digimon that Master adopted and trained under his watchful eye! The most nefarious, most powerful, and most devoted member of our clan despite being only an ultimate level!" Diaboromon exclaimed.

"Hey yeah! Gokuwmon's the man, y'all! Let's PAR-TAY!" KingEtemon exclaimed loudly as he attempted to pull out a microphone but Diaboromon stopped him from doing so.

Parasimon let out a sigh. "Keeet..."

"Why are you all so surprised? You act like he's a God or something. He's no more equal than the rest of you," MoonMillenniummon asked as the strange creature, Gokuwmon, approached him, sat on one knee, and bowed before him politely. "I have been wondering where you've been. It's wonderful that you have returned, my most fateful subject," MoonMillenniummon told Gokuwmon kindly.

"Yes, my Master. I am most happy to return from my travels. I've heard about everything that's been going on. Some of your messengers informed me, and I am only sorry that these circumstances are as dire as they are now. I would very much like to lend a hand, if you would be so kind, Master," Gokuwmon said in his low, deep, rich voice, even if he has a very heavy German accent.

"I still can't get over his heavy accent..." Candlemon mused to himself quietly. His DemiMeramon friends nodded silently in response, agreeing with his deduction.

"Ke-Ke-Keet!" Parasimon screeched again.

"You are correct, Gokuwmon. I suppose they have told you the details of our situation?" MoonMillenniummon asked.

"Yes. A group of humans and Digimon have banded together to rise against us and take the Digital World from our hands, resulting in many casualties on our end, including the top secret information that HiVisionMonitormon showed me. Is there anything I can do to help? I'd very much like to do away with those pests, if you will allow me to journey to the human world," Gokuwmon told him, then asked for permission to do what he wanted.

"Personally, I don't want any more of my children to go to that blasted human world, you included, Gokuwmon. Too many of my children have died there already, and it could break my heart to lose any more. However, even I am aware that just sitting here and doing nothing will accomplish exactly that: nothing. I cannot prohibit my children the right to make their own decisions and yearn for freedom. So, that being said, I will at least allow you to go to the human world to at least eavesdrop on the children and see what they have planned. The Monitormon and Keramon are doing that also, but we need all the confirmation we can get if we want to act. Oh, before you go, take one of the DemiMeramon with you, just in case anything happens," MoonMillenniummon told him.

"Yes, sir," Gokuwmon said as he stood back up. One of the DemiMeramon floated to his side and accompanied him out of the tunnels. But as he walked through the tunnels, he couldn't help but feel himself fall into a pensive state, even with the DemiMeramon lighting the way for him.

'Master...you have been good to me, and it breaks my heart to know that you continue to suffer the way you have been for all these years. Those humans...if they're really as weak as they're made out to be, then why hasn't anyone killed them off? No matter. I must be scrupulous and not shirk my duty. Those Digimon...they should have died...' Gokuwmon thought bitterly as he reached a light at the end of the tunnel.

_In the human world..._

"So, Riku. I've been meaning to ask this for a while," Leomon said as he, Flamedramon, Lunamon, Rena, Riku, and Sunmon all sat in their backyard together.

"Yeah? What's up?" Riku asked, curious.

"Exactly how did you and Sunmon meet and wind up as partners?" Leomon asked.

"I'm curious about that too. Did Sunmon just drop out of the sky or something when you first met him?" Flamedramon said.

"Yay! I love this story!" Sunmon chirped happily.

"I'm glad you asked! It all started when Rena and I came back from school last year in May..." Riku began enthusiastically as he decided to tell the story of how he met Sunmon.

(flashback)

_Rena and Riku both walked home from school that day. They hoped to be able to get inside the house and go to their rooms right away, but they didn't get to do so, because Takako was waiting for them in the living room, immediately giving them a look full of scorn. She walked right up to them, grabbed Riku by the arm, and thrust him against the wall._

_"Riku!" Rena cried out suddenly._

_"You got into another fight today, didn't you?" Takako yelped angrily._

_Riku got mad. "Mom! Quit being so uptight! And no, I didn't! But this kid at school was pickin' on my friend and I didn't want him to get away with it!"_

_"So you taught him a lesson, right? Why must you always cause me so much trouble? My reputation in town is going to be ruined because of-" Takako was about to tell Riku that he's the biggest disappointment she ever saw, but Rena, blazing with anger, immediately cut her off._

_"Mom! Will you stop yelling at him and accusing him of stuff every day? He didn't get into any fights today! Okay?" Rena yelled angrily, appalled by the way Takako treated Riku just now. Takako was appalled herself, but by Rena's standing up for him._

_"You were there, weren't you? He must have gotten into some kind of trouble! You're his sister! You're supposed to be setting a good example! Not condoning anything! Why are you taking his side?" Takako yelped._

_"I didn't condone anything, and we're telling the truth! He didn't get into any trouble today, so quit worrying and getting all uptight over nothing! Come on, Riku," Rena yelled at Takako, then spoke gently to Riku. Both twins left the living room and went to their bedrooms, leaving an angry Takako alone in the living room._

_"Why does nobody listen to me?" Takako screamed angrily, but Rena and Riku paid no heed._

_Their rooms are upstairs and right next to each other. But before they went inside, they decided to talk amongst themselves._

_"Sorry about that, Riku. Man, is Mom ever going to stop being so overly critical?" Rena sighed as she apologized to him. Rena never did approve of Takako's overly critical treatment of Riku._

_"It's alright, and I agree. I wish she'd shape up already. We can't even have any friends over because of her!" Riku exclaimed._

_"Yeah. I'm gonna start on my homework. Okay? You should too, or Mom'll flip out again," Rena said as she opened the door to her room. But right as she was about to go in, she saw something that made her yelp._

_"What?" Riku, being right next to her, decided to go in and see what it was that made Rena yelp in fear._

_Much to their surprise, sitting on top of Rena's opened dance bag, which is sitting on her bed, is an egg! A very large, pale lavender egg with a bluish silver crescent moon shape on it. It's the exact same size as Rena's two dancing shoes when put together, as it is sitting right on top of them! The bag is open, so Rena could see her dancing shoes underneath the egg. Rena and Riku looked at each other with shocked faces._

_"I didn't put that there, I swear!" Riku exclaimed timorously._

_"I never said you did!" Rena exclaimed, a little surprised that Riku would even think that she would suspect him of putting an egg in her dance bag. But it was understandable, really, considering that a lot of people accused Riku of lots of things that he didn't do._

_Cautiously, both Rena and Riku approached the egg. It didn't move once they got close. Rena had to admit, it looked very incongruous among her dance products. Gently, hoping that it wouldn't suddenly move, Rena touched the egg with her slender hand. It felt very warm, like fresh laundry that came out of the dryer. It felt nice, but Rena didn't quite believe that this egg was real._

_"This can't be real," Rena said._

_"I agree...oh! Wait a minute!" Riku whispered, then shouted upon getting an idea in his head._

_"My room!" Riku immediately dashed out of Rena's room and headed straight for his own room. He heard Rena cry out, "Riku! Wait!" but he didn't bother to pay attention. He dashed right into his room, and...he found himself frozen with shock._

"_Whoa! No way! There's an egg in my room too!" Riku shouted. Yes, sitting right on top of his bed is a yellow egg with a dark orange sun right in the middle of it. Cautiously, Riku hopped on his bed and examined it without touching it, looking at it from every angle he could think of, wondering what the heck this thing is._

"_How'd this thing get in here? My windows are closed so it couldn't have been from outside, and what's inside it anyway? A monster? Some animal I've never seen before?" Riku asked. He was about to get his answer right away, as the egg wiggled and began to crack._

Crack! Crack!

"_What?"_

Crack! Crack! Crack!

_Soon, the egg was covered with cracks, and right after that, it exploded in a yellow light, which made Riku cover his eyes with his arms, not wanting to be blinded by the light. Once the light dissipated, he found it same to remove his arms from his face and opened his eyes. Much to his surprise, there's a little orange droplet-like creature sitting on his bed, with a little yellow sun jewel at the tip of the protrusion on its head. It's very small, and has no arms or legs, and could easily fit right into both of Riku's palms._

_All Riku could say in response to this unexpected encounter was this:_

"_Oh my gosh! This is sooooo cool!" He couldn't help but feel absolutely elated and giddy over this little thing coming into his life. Right after he said that, the creature's eyes opened and he turned to look at Riku._

"_Hi. I'm Taiyomon," The little creature, Taiyomon, cooed in a sweet little boy voice._

"_Taiyomon? Whoa! You're a Digimon?! Whoa! I can't believe this! A cartoon show coming to life! This is a dream come true! Hi, I'm Riku! Wanna play?" Riku couldn't contain his excitement and started bouncing around the room._

"_Yep!" Taiyomon replied happily as Riku scooped the little Digimon into his hands and began playing with it._

"_Wow! I never dreamed that Digimon would ever exist in real life, but now it's finally happening! I get to have my own very special Digimon friend! Plus, you're cute as all heck! I wonder what you'll digivolve into," Riku thought as he found a leftover granola bar that he didn't finish eating and handed it to Taiyomon, who happily chomped it down like he was a hungry werewolf. Soon, Riku and Taiyomon found themselves playing with each other like no tomorrow._

_Riku couldn't believe what was happening at first. An egg just appeared in his room and hatched into a fictional anime creature he thought was only the stuff of fiction. Riku always loved Digimon and dreamed of having a super awesome Digimon friend who would help him save the world from a great evil. But Takako always told him to not waste his time on useless, idle fantasies that would only fill his head with stupid ideas and make him more incapable of ever amounting to anything, and always scolded him harshly for playing games and collecting cards over doing homework and studying for the next test. But now...fate seemed to be smiling down on him. He did go into the kitchen and grab some other food for Taiyomon, like some leftover strawberries and crackers. He figured granola bars wouldn't satisfy Taiyomon's hunger enough, so perhaps strawberries and crackers would fill his belly better, and it did. Riku even taught Taiyomon how to read. Riku and Taiyomon were already best friends, even after Taiyomon suddenly became enveloped by a yellow light._

"_Taiyomon, digivolve to...Sunmon!" Instead of Taiyomon, out came a cute little round orange thing with big, expressive black eyes, a wide, sunny smile, many pointed protrusions coming out from all sides of his body, and a yellow flame flickering on top of his head._

"_Sunmon...I've never heard of a Digimon like you before. Oh well! I love you anyway!" Riku exclaimed as he hugged his new friend._

"_I love ya too, Rikkun!" Sunmon squeaked happily._

_All of a sudden, a yellow orb of light appeared in front of them, suspended in the air. Riku released Sunmon so he could grasp it, and as soon as he did, the light dissipated to reveal a white, egg-shaped device with a squareish black screen, yellow buttons on the bottom, a hole on the side, and a sunny yellow strap coming from the top of it, with a golden ring attached to the end of it._

"_No way! I have a digivice! That means you and I are partners for life, little buddy!" Riku cheered jubilantly and enthusiastically. The flame on Sunmon's head flickered even brighter upon sharing Riku's excessive enthusiasm._

"_Partners for life! Best friends! Yay!" Sunmon circled around him happily._

"_I gotta tell Rena about this!" Riku exclaimed as he stormed out of his room to tell Rena about his becoming a Digimon tamer. Sunmon followed him like a baby chick as Riku burst through the door, unknowingly scaring Rena's Digimon into hiding as he did._

_"Rena! This is so cool! You've gotta see this!" Riku exclaimed loudly, which made Rena shush him._

_"Look what you did! You scared it, Riku!" Rena reproved harshly, but Riku paid absolutely no heed to her mild scolding, as he's much too excited to really care or feel embarrassed._

_"This is Sunmon, my Digimon partner! Is he cool or what?" Riku exclaimed, introducing the tiny sun-like animal as Sunmon._

_"Hi! I'm Sunmon! Nice to meet'cha!" Sunmon exclaimed in a cute voice, with a particularly bright and shiny smile which threw Rena off._

_"Digimon?" Rena asked, looking very confused as she cocked her head to one side. "No way! Digimon's just a cartoon!"_

_"What's a cartoon?" Sunmon asked Riku, but he didn't seem to pay attention._

_"That's what I said...until now! Is this awesome or what? Maybe we'll fight bad Digimon and save the world or something!" Riku shouted again._

_"Shhh! Keep your voice down. You'll wake Mom up and she'll find out," Rena told him in a whisper._

_Sunmon then noticed the purple animal...or Digimon, and floated up to it._

_"Hiya little sister!" Sunmon told it, or her, happily._

_"Sister? She's...your sister?" Rena asked._

_"Yep! This is Moonmon, my sister! She's real shy," Sunmon explained._

_"See, sis? You've got a Digimon too! I've already got a digivice! See?" Riku exclaimed as he rummaged through his pocket and pulled out his digivice to show it to her._

_"This can't be real," Rena said._

_"I know, right? Come on, Sunmon! Let's play!" Riku said._

_"Yeah! Time to play with Rikkun!" Sunmon exclaimed as he floated out of Rena's room, chasing Riku._

_They played together happily until dinnertime, and in that time span, Sunmon had to stay in Riku's room so Takako and Michitaka wouldn't find out, and Riku, despite normally being very loud and talkative most of the time, resolved to stay silent throughout dinner and not mention the tiniest word about Sunmon, lest his parents or Rena get angry. He finally found a special little animal friend to call his own. His dream has come true at last. The last thing he wanted to do was expose Sunmon and Moonmon and have his chances at having a good and stable friendship with his Digimon and be ripped from his hands. He didn't want to lose this little piece of happiness that he worked so hard to get. Thankfully, no one suspected a thing, and Michitaka and Takako, once dinner ended, finally went back to doing what they were doing before. As soon as they left, Riku ran right back to his room to find a happy Sunmon greeting him._

"_Hi Rikkun!"_

"_Hi Sunmon! Brought you some mashed potatoes, spinach, and meat loaf for you to eat."_

"_Ew! Looks gross."_

"_I know, I agree, but if you wanna get stronger you gotta eat healthy food. Ok?"_

"_Ok!"_

_Sunmon ate the rest of Riku's dinner, and they played together once again until all of a sudden, before Riku was about to go to bed, Sunmon suddenly began glowing again._

"_Sunmon, digivolve to...Coronamon!" Sunmon changed, and is now half Riku's height. Instead of a little sun, now he's turned into a furry little red hamster with a little yellow nose, gold eyes, red, black, and yellow bracelets on its wrists, yellow toes, a yellow tuft of fur underneath its chin and on its chest, and a red, black, and white headband with a glowing yellow and white flame on its forehead. Now it has a long tail with a glowing yellow and white flame on it. Riku was elated before, but now his elation reached sky high levels._

"_Wow! Lookit you! You've gotta be the awesomest Digimon I've ever seen!" Riku exclaimed upon seeing Sunmon digivolve._

"_You think so? Yeah!" The Digimon said._

"_So what did you say your name was again? I don't think I heard you the first time," Riku asked, a little confused about the identity of his new furry little hamster-like Digimon partner._

"_I'm Coronamon now!" The fiery, impish little red hamster Digimon, Coronamon, exclaimed happily, pumping one of his little fists in the air._

"_Coronamon...awesome! I know for a fact that you and I are gonna be best friends forever, little buddy!" Riku exclaimed happily as he hugged his new partner and spun around the room._

"_Me too!" Coronamon cheered._

(end flashback)

"...and that's how me and Rikkun became best friends!" Sunmon chirped, finishing the story.

"You two got along right off. How wonderful," Leomon said with a smile.

"I hope we can be your best friends too, Riku," Flamedramon said.

"Sure you can! I don't like picking favorites! All my friends are special to me, both human and Digimon, and nothing can change that!" Riku said as he stood up on the grass and pumped a fist in the air.

Yes. Nothing could make him change how important his friendships are with his friends, both human and Digimon, or make him start picking favorites.

Footnotes:

1. The chapter title is a pun on the title of a manga by Chika Umino, called "March Comes In Like a Lion."


	108. Hello, Agent Peacockmon

EPISODE 100: Hello, Agent Peacockmon

"Umm...Mel? Is it...really okay to have them here? I mean, I know they say they're your friends, and you know I trust you, but...you are aware that they're monsters from another world that everyone can see, right?!" Rumiko can't quite comprehend the fact that her foster daughter, Melody, is hanging out and happily chatting with three big monsters from another world who look dangerous and frightening like they're the most normal thing in the world right in their backyard. It'd be one thing if her friends from school came over. That would have made more sense and made them feel a bit more safe, but as of now, Melody and Biyomon are having a fun conversation with a gigantic armored alicorn, a fat little possum with balloons for weapons, and a big blue and yellow eagle whose wings and tail are so sharp they look like they could stab someone to death. Even Daikichi couldn't help but find their presence to be rather unsettling and out of place.

"Rumiko's right. How do you know they're not dangerous?" Daikichi asked worriedly, with some sweat on his forehead.

"They're my friends. They're not dangerous. I checked," Melody told them in a soft but deadpan voice, like she expected this kind of reaction from them, even though Rumiko and Daikichi did technically meet them before back when Boogeymon and Mephistomon were tearing the anime convention apart.

"It's very rude to judge someone by their looks and solely on what you assume about them," Biyomon told Rumiko and Daikichi innocently, not really cognizant of the fact that even though she meant for her blunt statement to be nice, it wound up making Daikichi mad.

"But these are monsters! Alien creatures from another world that we have no knowledge about! Anyone can see them from a mile away!" Daikichi exclaimed, causing Biyomon to recoil.

Maildramon started to fidget around a bit shyly. "He does have a point. Was it really a good idea to summon us all here? I know you mean well, but our overall presence seems to be frightening your parents, and I don't like scaring anyone," Maildramon said with a worried tone in her soft voice.

"If you don't like them, that's fine, but they're my friends and I swear they won't hurt anyone. If they would hurt someone, they'd all be out rampaging like Godzilla by now, and you don't see any buildings getting destroyed right now, do you?" Melody asked with some venom on the tip of her tongue.

"She's got a point!" Opossumon piped in happily.

Thunderbirmon felt irked by the fact that Rumiko and Daikichi, understandably, assume they're automatically bloodthirsty aliens out to eat them and kill the human race just because they happen to be from another world, but she didn't want to get angry and stigmatize herself even more, so she very slowly approached them while making sure her pointy wings don't poke them or anything else in their backyard. "I...I...I understand you're frightened, and I don't blame you, but we really do come in peace. We have absolutely no intention of hurting anyone nor do we have any desire to disturb the peace of your world or any such thing. We actually want to protect it considering everything that's been happening in our world. Not only that, your daughter saved me from an evil Digimon's mind control, and if she hadn't done that, I wouldn't be here today. Melody is our friend, and we care for her very much. I'm sure you do too, and I can see that you seem like good, sensible folks. If you don't like us being here, that's fine. I don't want to force you to change your minds. I just want you to understand that we're on your side, nothing else," Thunderbirmon told them as kindly and softly as she felt she could muster, hoping to ease Rumiko and Daikichi's initial fright. Soon, Daikichi put a hand on Rumiko's shoulder.

"Let's go inside, Rumiko. Don't you have to get ready for work?" Daikichi asked.

"Y-Yes. I better start getting ready or I'll be late," Rumiko replied shyly as she and Daikichi went back into the house.

Opossumon began scratching her ears with her hand. "Do you think they'll come around?" She asked.

"I think they will. They didn't call the authorities on you guys, so I think that's a start, though I wouldn't try to force them to get along with you. They need time to think about things," Melody said.

"I am at least glad that they let me stay here. I'd be sad if I were to be forcibly separated from you, Mel," Biyomon said.

"True that," Melody said with a smile as she fist bumped her pink, feathered friend.

Maildramon lifted her head up and was about to say something until she saw someone happily and contentedly walking down the street that's right behind their back yard. Someone about Melody's age with blonde hair in a ponytail supported by a purple ribbon, wearing a blue shirt underneath a short sleeved white hoodie with a zipper, tan jean pants, purple socks, and red and white sneakers. A little tan puppy with purple eyes, rosy cheeks, and a gold collar followed the girl happily.

"Mel? Isn't that one of your friends over there?" Maildramon asked. Melody heard it and hopped over to the fence. Yes, she recognized the girl and the puppy as soon as she laid her brown eyes on them.

"Minako! Salamon!" Melody called out in a loud voice.

Promptly, Minako and Salamon turned around, became elated upon seeing their friend behind the fence, and decided to meet up with them.

"Hi Melody! I didn't know your house was on this street!" Minako exclaimed cheerfully, her little ponytail bouncing up and down like a horse's tail as she ran up to her childhood friend.

"Hi Mel-chan! Hi Biyomon! Wan!" Salamon chirped sweetly.

"Actually, this is my backyard," Melody clarified.

"Good morning, Salamon! We haven't seen you in a while!" Biyomon said as she flew over the fence and high fived Salamon.

"I know, right? Wan! Hey! All your friends are here! Hi!" Salamon said, then noticed Maildramon, Opossumon, and Thunderbirmon in the backyard and waved to them happily.

"Hello," All three of them said in perfect unison.

"It's rare to see you three summoned all at once when there isn't a battle going on," Minako said, a little confused by their appearance.

"It was Mel's idea! She thought it'd be fun for us to all hang out and have a good chat since there isn't anything bad going on, though I think we freaked out her foster parents," Opossumon piped in.

Minako was about to flip out upon hearing that, but then she remembered the incident at the convention. Their parents saw all of their Digimon, the secondary ones included, so it was only natural that they'd find out sooner or later. That was the day where her own parents discovered Salamon's true identity, after all, and that wasn't her fault. She needed to protect her parents from the Bakemon, even if it meant revealing her secret, so Minako didn't blame her nor anyone else for the discoveries of their Digimon. It was only a matter of time before the secret would be out.

"I do think it was a little reckless, but the Digimon have been on the news so it's likely everyone's seen them by now. I really hope nobody tries to take our Digimon away..." Minako mused, then became a little dejected upon reaching that last sentence.

"Me too. Hey! Rumiko, Daikichi, and I are gonna go to the movies later this week to see the new Avengers movie. Do you wanna come?" Melody asked.

Minako immediately lit up. "Yes! I'd love to go see it with you!"

"I was kinda surprised to hear that you liked the Avengers. I didn't think you'd like that stuff," Melody said.

"I have my preferences. What? Did you think I was some girly girl who only liked pretty dresses, stuffed animals, princesses and Twilight?" Minako asked with her arms crossed, sounding playfully miffed.

"No. Since you're so smart I figured you'd be more into making science projects and fixing computers than dressing in flashy outfits and primping your hair," Melody said.

"I wish we could go to the movies with you," Biyomon piped in.

"Yeah. But last we checked animals aren't allowed in movie theaters," Salamon proclaimed.

"Anyway, since you're here, would you like to take a trip to the Digital World real quick?" Minako asked.

"The Digital World? Why there? I thought we couldn't access it because of the mystical veil being difficult," Maildramon asked.

"I've been doing some research on the Digital World and I want to get a sample of its water to see if its made of the same properties as our own water," Minako said.

"Didn't Link do that?" Melody asked.

"I don't know. That's why I want to go real quick myself. You can come if you want, just in case anything bad happens," Minako replied.

Melody decided to hop the fence and appear right in front of Minako. "Sure! We'd love to go!"

"Yeah! Me too!" Biyomon piped in cheerfully.

"Us too!" Maildramon, Opossumon, and Thunderbirmon proclaimed in unison again.

"You girls should get on my back just in case we land somewhere bumpy," Thunderbirmon suggested once she floated onto the street and lowered herself to the kids' height.

"That's a great idea, Thunderbirmon! Wan!" Salamon chirped as she was the first to hop onto Thunderbirmon's back. Then came Biyomon, Minako, and Melody. Once Maildramon and Opossumon hopped onto the street too, Minako and Melody pulled out their digivices, opened them, and both pressed the door buttons.

"To the Digital World!" Both girls proclaimed with valor in their voices as a digital portal appeared from underneath them and sucked them right in like a vacuum cleaner. But they weren't afraid. They've gotten so used to the electric blue ocean of ones, zeroes, rainbow streaks, and 1950s style neon lights that all of those things don't seem to bother them anymore. But then again, anyone could get used to these things if they've been traveling to the Digital World a few times. Soon, a white light appeared at the end of the tunnel, which opened up to...light blue?

_Splash!_ Much to their surprise, instead of landing on solid ground, they found themselves landing in water. Thankfully, since Maildramon's good at swimming despite her heavy armor and bulky body, she didn't drown and was able to keep her head above the surface. Thunderbirmon and Opossumon can fly, so they didn't hit the water at all. Since Melody, Minako, Salamon, and Biyomon clung to Thunderbirmon all this time, they didn't hit the water either. But since they're in the air, they were able to take a good look around. Again, surprisingly, all they see is ocean and sky. No land in sight. Not a single dollop of sand, or any sign of other artificial life whatsoever.

"Umm...did we seriously just land in the middle of the ocean?" Biyomon asked, a little confused by the situation unfolding before them.

"It would seem so. Talk about being careful about what you wish for," Minako replied. Despite this, she found this to be a good opportunity to get a water sample. What better way to get a sample of water than from the largest source of water there is: the ocean? "Thunderbirmon. Can you lower us downward? I want to get a sample of this ocean water, if you don't mind," Minako asked politely as she pulled out a test tube.

"Sure thing, Mina-chan!" Thunderbirmon replied cheerfully and slowly lowered herself horizontally and to a level where Minako could reach the water without falling in, even though if she did fall in, she'd still be able to handle herself since she can swim. Minako slowly crawled onto Thunderbirmon's outstretched wing, dipped the test tube into the water real quick, picked it back up, looking satisfied with the amount of digital water that she managed to scrape up, and quickly closed the test tube with the lid.

"Thanks, Thunderbirmon!" Minako told her gratefully.

"You're welcome. Anything for a good friend," Thunderbirmon replied kindly, a little embarrassed by Minako's gratitude.

"Seriously! Of all the places in the Digital World we had to land in, they just up and threw us in the middle of an ocean thousands of miles from any trace of land whatsoever?! Who do these guys think we are?! Christopher Columbus?!" Melody complained loudly.

"Just be happy we're not in a horrid and scorching hot desert. At least here you can keep yourself hydrated. Not only that, in the Digital World, the Net Ocean's water is made of the same compounds as lakewater or pond water, so you can drink ocean water whenever you please, unlike your world's saltwater," Biyomon told her reassuringly, though with a bit of snark in her little voice.

"That's what this ocean's called? The Net Ocean? Very fitting," Melody asked, losing the whine in her voice.

"Who's Christopher Columbus?" Salamon asked curiously.

"I'm glad you asked!" Minako exclaimed happily, pointing her index finger in the air as she did so. Salamon could see that the minute she mentioned his name, Minako's face lit up like a brand new light bulb that got installed somewhere. "Christopher Columbus, or in his native Italian Cristoforo Colombo or Spanish Cristobal Colon, was an Italian born explorer, navigator, trader, and colonizer born in the Republic of Genoa, in what is today northwestern Italy, on October 31st, 1451. He was famous for taking four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean in a time where crossing the ocean was considered a very dangerous and fatal thing to do, which left many people scared for their lives. He proposed an attempt to travel to the west Indies by sailing westward in an attempt to try and establish safer trade routes and new colonies in the name of the Spanish Empire, but he wound up discovering brand new continents in America, Venezuela, and Central America. The first one he discovered was a little piece of land in the Bahama archipelago, which he named San Salvador He claimed all of those continents for the Spanish Empire. While he wasn't the first explorer to reach the Americas, he is responsible for heavily colonizing them and reinforcing lasting European contact with the Americas, setting in motion a new era of colonization, conquest, and exploration that lasted for many centuries onward, heavily setting the roots for the historical development of the Western world-"

Minako wanted to go on and on some more until Melody crawled over to her and slapped a hand on her mouth, pulling her out of her self-induced trance. "I think that's all we need to know, Mina. No offense," Melody told her.

"Wow. That sounds interesting. Wan!" Salamon piped in cheerfully.

"I agree. It seems you humans have a much more developed and much more ancient history than us Digimon," Opossumon said. "Now I don't think it's too surprising that we Digimon exist. If you guys can rule nations and set the roots for new eras in your history, then it's really no surprise that you can create creatures like us, too!"

"Thanks, but I do think you're exaggerating a little, Opossumon. Not all humans make history with good intentions, you know," Minako told her. She then caught sight of Maildramon, who is still floating in the water like she's swam lots of times before. "You okay over there, Maildramon?"

"I'm alright, dear child. I'm good at swimming so you needn't worry about me," Maildramon told her kindly.

Minako then pulled out a D-Chip from her pocket. "Well, I'll call Tylomon just in case," Minako said. _'Finally, I get to summon him! Seriously, I haven't called him even once, ever since I first got his D-Chip! He must be thinking that I forgot about him. I hate it when you want to summon a Digimon but can't because you're in an environment that they may not be able to handle,'_ Minako thought as she put the D-Chip in her digivice. She then raised her digivice into the air.

"Come forth, my seaward friend! Disembark on your journey of a thousand waters and come to our aid!" Minako said as a blue light appeared from her digivice and shot into the spotty digital sky, avoiding the big blue green sphere with pink streaks protruding out from them like streamers.

Salamon and Melody looked at each other with confused faces. "Seaward?" Salamon asked.

"A thousand waters?" Melody asked.

Right after she said that, the blue light shot back into the ocean. At first, nothing happened until Maildramon saw some bubbles bubbling right next to her, and out came a very confused and surprised Tylomon.

"Hey! Who interrupted my lunch break?! I was just about to have some metropolitan seaweed-huh?!" Tylomon shouted angrily until he caught sight of Minako on Thunderbirmon's back. However, as soon as he laid eyes on Thunderbirmon, who isn't doing anything at all, a feral look appeared in his eyes, a look that seemed to indicate that he's about ready for battle. But as far as everyone knew, there isn't any enemy Digimon around, so why would he suddenly look so rigid and on guard like that?

"What do you think you're doing to my human friend?! I'll teach you to kidnap my friends! Hydro Wave!" Tylomon suddenly exclaimed fiercely, opened his mouth, and fired a bluish green geyser of water from its mouth. Thunderbirmon, thankfully, managed to fly away from it as soon as he attacked. Even for a heavily armored bird, she's very agile in the air.

"What the-?! Why's he attacking me?!" Thunderbirmon yelped suddenly, surprised that one of Minako's secondary Digimon would think she's an enemy and actually have the audacity to attack her without even asking whether she's an enemy or not.

"Tylomon! Don't attack Thunderbirmon! She's our friend!" Minako cried out desperately, surprised that Tylomon would attack Thunderbirmon like that. But upon further rumination, Tylomon never really met any other members of the Digimon Brigade, humans, Digimon partners, and secondary Digimon included. However, as soon as Tylomon heard her voice, he stopped in his tracks.

"That thing's...your friend?" Tylomon asked, his eyes big with confusion.

"Yeah," Minako confirmed calmly, hoping that this would be the end of this whole misunderstanding.

"Oh..." Tylomon mused, his blue armored face becoming brick red with embarrassment. He couldn't believe he just attacked one of his tamer's friends on the fly...and it could have been avoided if he didn't jump to conclusions and asked whether Thunderbirmon was a friend or foe. "I'm...sorry..." Tylomon muttered sadly and ruefully, immediately becoming overcome with a swift and large torrent of guilt. Minako smiled and hopped on his back.

"It's okay. You've never met any of my friends and I never did tell you about them, so it was really my fault, and it happens a lot, so it's fine," Minako told him reassuringly in her signature motherly voice. Melody couldn't help but smile sweetly as she watched her childhood friend calm down an armored shark with the voice she used for every conflict she resolved to fix between her friends. Even when they were young, Minako was always the mediator, the one who always tried to resolve any misunderstanding or bad situation between friends, and almost never raised her voice unless she needed to. Whenever Yun cried or Kosuke was acting out or being loud, Minako always calmed them down with her sweet voice, even back then. Now she's using her motherly voice on a digital monster from another world, and it worked like it was nothing! Melody couldn't help but envy Minako a little, for always keeping her composure even in bad situations. She wished she could be as nice and calm as her. Maybe she could work on that once the new semester of school started. Perhaps she could be like that too and start working to be a nicer, more understanding and cooperative person. That'd be easy if Seiko and Nenji weren't always making trouble or trying to ruin Yun's life with their callousness, cruelty, and their insatiable need to make her feel miserable for stupid and petty reasons.

"I gotta admit, it sure has been a long time since we've seen each other, Mina. I was worried you may have forgotten all about me," Tylomon told her, feeling calmer this time thanks to Minako's reassurance.

"It's alright. I was starting to feel that way too. But there was never an opportunity for me to call you since we're never near the ocean, and I don't know how you'll survive on land without water. Oh! I want to introduce you to my friend Melody and her partner Biyomon, along with her secondary partners Maildramon, Opossumon, and Thunderbirmon," Minako told him again, then promptly introduced him to everyone like he was already a part of their little circle. She didn't miss a beat. "Everyone, this is Tylomon, one of my secondary Digimon partners and friends."

"Hi," Melody said.

"Hello! I'm enchanted to meet you," Biyomon said in a prim manner as she struck a little pose.

"Biyomon! Should you really be putting on airs at a time like this?" Melody asked, a little irked by Biyomon's childish vanity.

"I'm only trying to make a good impression, my dearest Melody," Biyomon replied with her prim voice again. Maildramon, Opossumon, Thunderbirmon, Minako, and Salamon couldn't help but laugh merrily.

"We're sorry for startling you, Tylomon," Maildramon said.

"I'm sorry I gave you the wrong impression. I do hope we can be good friends," Thunderbirmon told him shyly.

"Glad to meet'cha, buddy!" Opossumon piped in as she flashed the peace sign at him.

"Hey! That's Mina-chan's trademark! You can't just go around doing it! It's copyrighted! Wan!" Salamon barked playfully as she saw Opossumon do the peace sign.

"What does trademark and copyrighted mean?" Opossumon asked as she scratched one of her ears, a little confused by what Salamon just said.

Melody sighed. "Here we go again."

"Well, if something's trademarked, that means it's-" Minako was about to explain the concepts of trademarking and copyrighting something to Opossumon until a very harsh, vociferous, and ear shattering screech stopped her from going on one of her long winded lectures.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!"

It came all the way from the horizon, but even so, the sound was so loud, so piercing, and so downright ear shattering that everyone covered their ears.

"Ugh! I think my ear drums exploded!" Melody yelled.

"Wait! I see a blue and green thing coming this way! Wan!" Salamon exclaimed as she pointed to whatever is coming their way.

"Let's see what it is," Minako said as she got her digivice out.

Much to her surprise, a Digimon's information came up. "It seems that blue and green thing is a Digimon called Peacockmon, an armor level. It's attacks are Rainbow Shower and Strelitzia(1)," Minako said.

"And it really is coming our way...and it's fast!" Tylomon piped in.

"Outta my way outta my way outta my way OUTTA MY WAY HEEEEEELP!" A high pitched teenaged male voice shouted from the blue armored, green winged Digimon, Peacockmon, as it literally zipped right past the other Digimon so fast that it almost looked like a blur went right by them. The kids and their Digimon couldn't help but watch as Peacockmon sprinted away like the wind.

"THAT's a Peacockmon? I thought it'd be more rainbowy," Melody said.

"It sounds like someone's chasing him," Tylomon said.

"...And I think whoever's chasing him is coming our way too!" Thunderbirmon exclaimed. "Everybody, move out of the way!"

As ordered, everyone moved away to let whatever it is pass by them. It seems the Digimon that's chasing Peacockmon is a huge sea turtle with a yellow head, spiky hot pink hair, a pink bird-like nose that looks like a bird's beak, a green shell with four big spikes protruding from it, frontal fins that look very much like blades considering they're a shiny, sleek silver and have edges that look so sharp that they could cut right through even the hardest rock. It's smaller back fins are yellow, along with its tail. It's eyes are glowing in a bloody red light, a harbinger indicating a Dark Emblem on its body. But they also noticed another Digimon riding on the big sea turtle, a Digimon they don't recognize, nor have they ever seen before.

It was Melody's turn to look up their information this time, and she did it right as the Digimon passed by them. "That big sea turtle is Archelomon, an armor level like everyone else here. His attacks are Fin Cutter and Ocean Streamer. That funny looking one is Gokuwmon, an ultimate level. His attacks...there's too many to read so I'll just leave them be," Melody said.

"Think we should save that Peacockmon?" Tylomon asked curiously.

"I think we should!" Biyomon piped in.

"Yeah. We better do it or else we'll have a stain on our souls for the rest of our lives," Melody said in a deadpan tone of voice.

"But that Digimon is really fast. It might have gone too far for us to catch up to it," Opossumon said.

"Rainbow Shower!" All of a sudden, Peacockmon came back just as fast as it had left, flying into the sky, flapping his wings desperately, unleashing a shower of beautiful glowing rainbows falling right onto Gokuwmon, but he pulled out his staff and negated them all by spinning it around, sending the rainbows in different directions. Thankfully, the other Digimon managed to dodge them all and make sure nobody got hit.

"Why can't you just leave me alone?! I don't wanna be part of your evil experiments! I'm not some weapon you can use and throw away to your own convenience!" Peacockmon pleaded desperately, sounding like he's about to break down any minute.

"Archipelago Ice!" Archelomon shot a pale blue beam of light at Peacockmon, who, in his desperation, dodged it before it could freeze him to death. Right as this happened, Salamon digivolved into Gatomon and then into Angewomon, whereas Biyomon digivolved into Birdramon and then into Parrotmon.

"Peacockmon! Get behind us! We'll help you!" Minako said as she hopped onto Parrotmon's back. Peacockmon was about to ask if they were some of Gokuwmon's lackeys but the blue armored bird, surprised, exhausted, and frightened as he is, decided to obey Minako's command and hide behind Parrotmon while everyone else decided to try and take on the branded Archelomon and Gokuwmon.

"Fin Cutter!" Archelomon sped right toward them, his fins shining like steel, ready to cut and spill some blood.

"Thunderstorm!" With precision, Thunderbirmon released waves of sparking blue and yellow thunder and electricity from her wings, managing to electrocute Archelomon, even though Gokuwmon hopped off of his steed's shell as soon as the attack hit, but then hopped right back on as soon as the electricity faded, which only took a few seconds for it to do so.

"Mad Balloon Bomb!" Opossumon threw some balloon bombs at Archelomon, but Gokuwmon jabbed them all to pieces with his staff.

"Lightning Spear!" Similar to Thunderbirmon, Maildramon attempted to electrocute them by releasing a bolt of lightning from her horn, but Gokuwmon had other ideas.

"Super-electrified Lightning Cannon!" Gokuwmon readied his staff, positioning it like a rifle, and it shot its own bolt of lightning, causing the two thunderbolts to collide and explode into a bright flash.

"Torpedo Attack!" Tylomon unleashed five torpedoes at Archelomon, who roared as they hit him.

"Celestial Arrow!" Angewomon shot one of her arrows of light at Gokuwmon, but instead of hitting him, he simply grabbed it and threw it away like it was trash.

"What the...who IS this Digimon?!" Angewomon exclaimed with shock painted all over her covered face.

"Beats me! But we'd best roast 'em both! Sonic Destroyer!" Parrotmon proclaimed as she attempted to electrocute them once more with her own attack.

"Somersault Cloud!" All of a sudden, Gokuwmon leaped into the air to avoid the attack and raised his hand into the air. Grey clouds began forming in the sky, covering everything and making everything appear more dark and dismal. As soon as they formed, he allowed the clouds to consume him.

"What the...he can summon clouds and fly into them?! No way!" Melody exclaimed with shock.

"That's Gokuwmon! He's the most formidable and nefarious of MoonMillenniummon's minions!" Peacockmon piped in.

"Say, Peacockmon. Can you do us a favor? Now that Archelomon's unconscious, do you think you can find the Dark Emblem on its body?" Melody asked. She is not cognizant of the fact that Minako is on her laptop right now, typing on it and aiming it right at the now unconscious Archelomon.

"What?! Why do I have to do it?! It'll wake up and kill me for sure! That's why Gokuwmon branded it!" Peacockmon complained.

"Don't worry. I located it with my laptop. It's on the tip of his tail," Minako told her.

"Thunderbirmon, you remove the Dark Emblem. I'll keep his tail in place so it won't wiggle around," Angewomon told her.

"I'm way ahead of you, my friend!" Thunderbirmon said as she flew over to the unconscious Archelomon's tail. Angewomon picked it up and found the very tiny Dark Emblem on the tip of his tail and held it tight so they could remove it. With utmost precision, Thunderbirmon dredged the tip of her own sharp tail into it and managed to make the Dark Emblem shatter.

"Aww. It's a shame I couldn't do much," Parrotmon said as Angewomon returned to her side and de-digivolved back into Salamon.

"You did great, Parrotmon," Melody told her reassuringly. Parrotmon was about to bask in her praise until someone decided to do the opposite.

"My oh my! That was a most atrocious battle! Honestly, I can't believe I had to have puny little amateurs come to my aid when I clearly could have handled it myself! Not only that, your battle strategy was just simply outrageous! Why couldn't you have just killed that Digimon right off? It would have saved you the trouble of having to remove that Dark Emblem, and you could have used that valuable energy on that nefarious Gokuwmon instead of Archelomon!" Peacockmon suddenly began ranting and raving out of nowhere, surprising literally everyone. Melody couldn't help but be reminded of a certain someone she hated. Parrotmon was the first to call her out on her complaining.

"Hey! What's with your attitude?! We just saved your sorry butt from those Digimon and the first thing you do to thank us is criticize our methods of dealing with them?! And why'd you call us amateurs?! You should at least be happy we were there to save your butt at all!" Parrotmon scolded angrily, appalled by Peacockmon's most inappropriate and very selfish behavior. Unfortunately, Peacockmon didn't seem to be phased by Parrotmon's scolding.

"Don't get me wrong. I am grateful that you at least saved me. I just say that you should have used you brains and attempted to handle it better. But I say! You really should show some restraint when using your attacks. You could have killed us all with your electricity. You need to show more self control when attacking, otherwise you'll cause everyone a lot of trouble," Peacockmon rambled again.

"Okay, WHAT?!" Melody yelled, surprised at the utterly vainglorious, self-absorbed and condescending attitude that this blue armored peacock is toward them, and to think she begged them to save her sorry butt earlier. Melody was NOT going to stand for this intolerable and ungrateful behavior despite Peacockmon saying that she is grateful, which she seems to suspect is just a facade to hide her true colors. "What is your problem?! If someone does something nice for you, you shouldn't nitpick at everything they do just because you don't like it! And besides, how could we possibly have handled beating the everloving heck outta some rampaging Digimon, especially if we've never seen those two particular Digimon before until now?! You seriously expected us to just beat them both like it's as easy as making pancakes?! My God, I don't know what goes on in that armor clad brain of yours, but I'm not gonna sit here and let you badmouth my friends like you're some snotty rich kid who thinks he should have everything in life!" Seiko ran through Melody's mind as she went on her tirade toward Peacockmon. Yes, that's who this blue armored Digimon reminded her of, which seriously gave her a headache.

"She's right, y'know?! Maybe we should have let them do whatever it is they planned to do to you after all!" Parrotmon exclaimed. "I can't believe we had to save an ungrateful brat like you!"

"Okay! Okay! Fine fine fine! I get it! Please, stop the yelling! It hurts my ears! I'm sorry! Thanks for saving me!" Peacockmon exclaimed, tired of having all these strange people and Digimon yell at him. Melody crossed her arms suspiciously, not convinced that the thanks she did give sounded very genuine. From Peacockmon's arrogant tone of voice, she thought that apology and expression of gratitude sounded more forced than genuine. Minako and Salamon looked at each other with surprised faces.

"Wow. That Peacockmon sure is snotty, isn't he? He reminds me of that mean girl you told me about. Seiko, that's her name," Salamon told her.

"I'm already seeing a lot of parallels between him and Seiko. Ugh! I never thought I'd ever see the day where I'd meet a Digimon version of Seiko, even if it turned out to be a heavily armor clad, gender bent peacock with a big ego, narcissistic and ungrateful attitude, and a hardcore superiority complex...and he's glowing," Minako said casually at first, but then became surprised as she sees one of Peacockmon's green metal feathers glowing in a pale green light. The light appeared from Peacockmon's wing and floated into Melody's hand. The more Melody saw the light approach her, the more her face donned an expression full of dread, even more so as the light dissipated to form a pale green feather which looks more like a down side up rectangle with a stick coming out from the bottom.

"Awwww! Are you freaking kidding me?! I got an egomaniacal, narcissistic peacock for a secondary Digimon?!" Melody complained loudly.

"What?! I'm bound to a human by mutual trust through that ugly thing?! Nooooo! Woe is me!" Peacockmon complained in a melodramatic manner, like he's an actor performing very badly in a Shakespeare play.

"Woe is me, my foot! I'M the one who should be saying woe is me, you blue in the face big-headed turkey!" Melody yelled.

"Peacockmon likes her," Tylomon muttered.

"Huh? How so? He sure doesn't act like it," Opossumon asked, flummoxed as to how Tylomon could ever come to such a strange deduction based on Peacockmon's actions and attitude.

"I'm usually able to tell them a Digimon is putting up a facade to hide their true feelings. Peacockmon is one of them. He is actually very grateful for our help, but thinks admitting it is a sign of weakness," Tylomon told them.

"You're crazy. I can't see any sign of gratitude! Not one little sliver of it!" Thunderbirmon said.

"Then how else do you explain the D-Chip?" Tylomon asked.

"Ahhh. Good point," Maildramon said.

"I think we should get back home now. I think we're all getting tired from all this craziness," Minako said.

"I agree," Salamon said.

"Wanna come back with us, everyone?" Parrotmon asked.

"Nah. We'll stick around," Thunderbirmon said.

"In the middle of the ocean?" Melody asked.

"Sure. Archelomon are likely native to this area so he'll probably know where the next piece of land is. Besides, we don't want to frighten your foster parents any more than we already have," Maildramon said.

"Alright. Suit yourself. We'll be leaving then," Melody said.

"Sometime later, if we're near our own ocean, maybe I can summon you around then, Tylomon, so we can just sit and talk and relax!" Minako called out.

"Fine idea, my friend! Have a safe trip home!" Tylomon said as he waved goodbye with his fins.

Once the kids opened the portal and zipped into it, Peacockmon felt the urge to complain again. "What?! They're leaving! How utterly deplorable! How can they possibly leave me here?! Shouldn't they be so kind as to take me back to my humble home?"

"UGH! Will you shut up already, you thick-headed numb skull?! Or do you want to be turned into yakitori?!" Thunderbirmon cried out irritably. "I swear, if I have to put up with you complaining one more time, I'm gonna roast you from the inside out, and I NEVER roast anyone!"

"I'm in the mood for some daikon(2)," Maildramon piped in.

_In the human world..._

"Oof!" Minako, Melody, Nyaromon, and Yokomon found themselves back in the middle of the street just behind Melody's backyard.

"We made it back!" Yokomon piped in.

Once Minako got back up, she brushed some dirt off of her pants. "Sorry I made you go through all that craziness, Mel-chan," She said a little apologetically, feeling rather guilty for having gotten them involved in the brouhaha just now.

"That's okay. Digimon attack us all the time, so I'm used to it by now. Besides, even though I didn't do much, I kinda like a little excitement once in a while," Melody replied, flashing a particularly bright smile, something that left Minako silent with surprise. But she smiled herself, happy that Melody's very gradually becoming a lot more pleasant, not that she ever doubted that she could be when she wanted to be. However, Melody's smile immediately faded. "But still, I can't believe that Peacockmon! He's so ungrateful, and after we took the trouble to save his sorry butt, too! Not only that, of all the Digimon I had to get a D-Chip of, I just had to get HIS!"

"But the fact that you got a D-Chip at all could mean that deep down in your hearts, maybe you do care for each other. Oh! In fact, maybe you two can be good friends!" Minako suggested teasingly.

"No way! Me being friends with Peacockmon is as likely as us finding out that we're just drawings on paper made to move with high rez, high budget technology while this whole brouhaha we went through was just a filler episode to smooth things out for the big conflict!" Melody retorted.

"Ha! Good one! Maybe we are drawings on paper or text on a book and don't even know it! Heck, maybe we're all just the random ramblings of someone who felt like she could turn a fan fic into an epic masterpiece!" Minako exclaimed with a laugh.

"What are you two talking about again?" Yokomon asked.

"You do know you guys are real, right?" Nyaromon asked, looking like she did understand some of their friendly but random banter.

"Yeah, we know," Melody said.

"Still, you have been getting friendlier since last December, Mel. I notice you don't continually shout, _"I will never forgive you!"_ anymore," Minako pointed out.

"Yep! That's very true, Mina-chan! She definitely has gotten friendlier. She's nicer to her foster parents and doesn't think everyone's out to get her anymore. Plus, just yesterday she and Rumiko went shopping for clothes, and none of them were black!" Yokomon explained.

Normally, people would feel embarrassed when others would talk of their changes in behavior and personality. But Melody didn't mind one little bit, though she definitely would have if this conversation had taken place just a couple years ago. All of a sudden, Nyaromon's ears began twitching.

"I hear some people yelling. Nyan!" Nyaromon piped in.

"Yelling?" Yokomon asked.

Nyaromon's right. Just as soon as Yokomon asked that, their ears were suddenly assailed by the strident, vociferious sound of very choleric, incensed, and vitriolic screaming and yelling. If Yun were here right now, she would cover her ears and be completely frozen in place, completely paralyzed and unable to move.

"Why can't you just cooperate with me, Mami?! Why can't you think about what's best for him?!"

"Nenji's MY son, not yours, you human trash! Get out of here before I call the police and have them arrest you for stalking!"

Nenji? Her son? Minako and Melody looked at each other with radiant revelation in both of their curious eyes, immediately recognizing whoever that second voice belonged to. Upon further rumination, they heard that the yelling seems to be coming from a little further up the street, so they decided to creep a little closer and see who's doing the yelling. One person is Nenji's mother, Mami, looking very ragged and hysterical, with her hair looking like it hadn't been done in about a month, wearing a sleeveless pale yellow shirt, a light brown skirt, and white high heels. The other person is a man who looks a bit older than her, with short but straight dark brown hair, blue eyes, a full grown beard and mustache, and wearing a periwinkle and white striped long sleeved shirt, black pants, a maroon neck tie, and black shoes. Both of them are looking very incensed right now, but Mami's eyes looked completely bloodshot, like she had seen the most disgusting, most noisome, and most downright hideous abomination alive.

"Oh yeah! Sure! Threaten me with the fact that you have the Chief of Police wrapped around your finger! You know I'm not afraid of you, Mami! I only want what's best for Nenji!"

"No you don't! You just want to drug him and throw him in a loony bin and turn him against me!"

"You're the reason he's the way he is today! He needs help, Mami, and you're not making things any better with condoning all of his transgressions!"

"_You're_ the reason he's acting out! He's only acting the way he is because you keep taking him to doctors and having him get tested for things he clearly doesn't have! I don't want my son having a label on him for the rest of his life!"

"That's not the issue here, Mami! Nenji's not acting out because of me! You're the one at fault! You're raising him into this barbarian by telling him it's okay to bully other kids and be disrespectful toward authority! I even found out that you're the one who told Nenji it was okay to smack that cub scout in the back of the head with a flashlight when he was six years old! He showed NO remorse for that! That boy could have been seriously hurt, Mami!"

"He was standing up for himself! That boy was bullying him!"

"No, that boy was just minding his own business! You're the one who keeps twisting everyone's stories around to your own convenience just so you can get your way! Aren't you even the least bit concerned about his behavior?! If you and him keep this up, you'll both go to jail!"

"Nenji didn't do anything wrong! You're the one poisoning his mind! Everyone just keeps exaggerating and putting all the blame on my boy."

"He's been smearing his own FECES on anything and anyone he comes into contact with! My God, you don't even care that Nenji's terrorizing everyone! He disrespects authority, beats up whoever he sees just for even looking at him, he throws objects at people, shows no remorse for his actions at all, he gets angry over being told to do simple tasks like brush his teeth or clean his room, he leaves holes in every wall he punches and kicks, he's been carrying lighters and screwdrivers around, and he beats up animals too! But what baffles me is that you actually ALLOW him to do all of this and condone all of it! Not only that, you constantly indulge his every whim, you tell him it's okay to do bad things instead of good, you do nothing to discipline him or teach him right, you constantly blame everyone else for everything he does, and you always give him whatever food he wants! That's why he's so obese! That's not love, Mami! That's child abuse!"

"You're no better than me, buster!"

"Unlike you, I actually want to help Nenji!"

"No you don't! You just want to put him on drugs and throw him in a loony bin!"

"Only that he gets the help that he needs! Oh, and what's this about you terrorizing this one family and berating their autistic daughter for everything that goes on in school?!"

"She's the bully, not Nenji, and she deserves whatever she gets for what she and her family have done to me!"

"You brought that lawsuit on yourself! Why can't you just let go of the past and let bygones be bygones already?! Clinging to the past and unleashing hatred at every turn isn't going to make things better for you and for Nenji! Oh! Now I get it! You're letting Nenji act the way he is just to satisfy your petty grudge! You're raising him into a weapon you can use against them!"

"This conversation is over!" Mami tried to walk away, but the man grabbed her hand.

"No it is not!" He tried to pull her back, but Mami slapped him in the face, leaving a fresh red scratch on his face.

"I refuse to listen to you, Jiroemon(3)! I can't believe I married you in the first place! Get out of here or I'll call the police!" Mami screamed.

All of a sudden, Jiroemon, apparently Mami's ex-husband, became so choleric and so beet red with anger that he gave his hysterical and overindulgent ex-wife a much stronger slap to the face than she gave to him, so hard that she actually fell to the ground.

"You're the one who should be arrested! You're the one who's human trash, Mami! You're stubborn, you jump to conclusions, you never listen to anyone's opinions but your own, you think you always have to be right about everything, you never take responsibility for your own actions and instead choose to heap unnecessary blame on innocent people, and you're ruining our child just because you can't let go of the past! Haven't you ever considered how hard all of this is for Nenji?! Can't you understand what he's going through?! A child needs parental love, care, and affection! He needs to be taught right, not be raised into a potential criminal! It's because you keep acting like that that Nenji's going to end up in jail one day! And all because you chose to berate an innocent autistic girl for something that isn't even her fault, just so you could feel powerful and superior! There's just nothing inside you. You're pathetic, sad, empty, and downright the worst of the worst!"

Despite Jiroemon's rather scathing lecture, Mami got right back up with the same feral, bloodshot look in her eyes. "You're a nuisance. I hate your goody two-shoes, know-it-all act. Stop acting like you're the good one around here."

"Just stop, Mami. Sign custody of him over to me so we can have this whole thing be put to rest. This divorce has gone on long enough."

"Why? If I do, you're just going to screw him up! I already lost everything because of that lawsuit!"

"You've ALREADY screwed him up?! Just give up, Mami!"

Melody and Minako couldn't believe everything that they've heard. Mami and Jiroemon are going through a very nasty and hate-filled divorce that's likely gone on ever since Nenji was little, Nenji's done a bunch of horrible things toward anyone and everyone, all because Mami raised him to be a bully. Mami lost everything because she lost a lawsuit that the Wakamiyas made against her because of her unruly treatment of Yun, so instead of putting it behind her and accepting her losses, she chose to get revenge by raising Nenji into a bully and condoning everything he does to Yun while making up ridiculous and inane stories about how she's the bad one instead of her own son while doing absolutely nothing to rectify his bad behavior, only standing by and letting it get worse and worse by the day, exacerbating his growth into a potential criminal by indulging his every whim at any cost, even at the cost of his own health...this explains absolutely everything! Not wanting to hear anymore, Melody, Minako, Nyaromon, and Yokomon ran back into Melody's back yard, appalled by everything they just heard.

"Wow! I don't think I've ever seen such an abusive parent in my whole entire life! I mean, really! Letting a child grow into a bully just so they can get revenge on someone over something that they brought on themselves?! It's no wonder he keeps picking on Yun-chan, because she tells him to do it while throwing off the blame! Someone needs to put her in solitary confinement once and for all!" Nyaromon growled angrily. Conflicted emotions waged at war against each other in her proud little heart, even though she has no chest or real human body.

"Indeed. And to think I thought I had it bad. This totally explains everything! Why that Nemoto woman keeps harassing Yun, why Nenji keeps picking on her, why he keeps getting away with everything...I'll never forgive them! Minako! Call the police on them!" Melody exclaimed angrily.

"But that Jiroemon guy said something about her having the Chief of Police wrapped around her finger, and Yun's told us that whenever they called the police on her, they never kept her in jail for very long and just let her go, without charging her with anything," Minako told her with a worried expression on her face.

"That's just stupid! Nenji may be horrible, but his mother is even worse! Someone's gotta give her the spanking she deserves, and I'm at least glad his dad is at least calling her out on everything. But child abusers need to be thrown away, and NOW! Yokomon, let's go back inside. I'll see you later, Mina! Tell Minagi and Tatsuha I said hi!" Melody scooped a surprised and appalled Yokomon in her arms and went back into the house, leaving Minako and Nyaromon all alone. Once Melody went inside completely, Minako and Nyaromon hopped the fence and decided to walk back home. The yelling had since finally ceased, and both Jiroemon and Mami had left right around then, so Minako and Nyaromon found it safe to walk in the direction they were in before.

Despite the yelling having ceased, Minako could still hear those voices in her head, assailing her mind like a sledgehammer pounding on a nail to drive it into the wood to no avail. She's been very shaken by everything she just heard. Mami just basically confessed to raising Nenji in the worst way possible despite fervently and vehemently denying it and her son's transgressions. If what Jiroemon said is true, then Nenji may very well spiral out of control if he isn't taken away from her. But then again, it may be too late, as Nenji may very well be past the point of no return considering all the bad behaviors that Jiroemon listed. He displays constant rebellion toward authority (this she knows is true based on seeing him back talk the teachers and even try to attack them sometimes when they tried to discipline him), throws objects at people, hurts and bullies other kids for petty and trivial reasons, flips out like a madman whenever someone tells him to do simple tasks like brush his teeth and clean his room, carries dangerous weapons like lighters and screwdrivers (he got suspended for two weeks for bringing matches to school once four years ago, which Yun thinks is the main reason why he started bullying her, as she told Minako), and has even been violent toward animals. But worst of all, from what he's said, Nenji shows absolutely no remorse for any of it! Not even when he was six years old! All the substantive evidence she witnessed of his behavior and the statements that both Jiroemon and Mami threw out definitely connected the two together to make Nenji's downward spiral very cogent. But still...she never thought that she would ever live to see the day where she'd meet a child abuser, and one who's only using her child as a weapon against someone else, and since that someone else is one of her best friends, one of the nicest, kindest, sweetest, and most innocent people she knows, then she couldn't help but think that Mami is the one who needs more psychiatric help than Nenji.

"I wonder what makes human and Digimon do what they do?" Nyaromon mused quietly but suddenly, breaking Minako out of her reverie. "What makes humans and Digimon go to great lengths just to get revenge on someone for any reason, big or small? From raising a kid into an object for their use to recruiting Digimon to destroy an entire world...how can anyone even think of even achieving these things?"

"I heard a saying once. All things truly wicked start from an innocence(4). I think it means that everyone starts out as innocent of what's good and what's bad, but it's the parents' job to raise them to be good or bad. Sometimes good people try to raise their kids to be good but they turn out bad because of outside causes, which is the most common. But...now I see kids really can be bad if the parents raise them to be that way and expect them to be that way," Minako said.

Once she got home, she called the police and told the 119 operator everything she and Minako heard Mami and Jiroemon said to each other. They didn't come to her house, but they did say they'll look into the situation with Mami and Nenji. She hung up the phone and went to her room. She tried to play her guitar, but found that all the motivation she had had been sucked right out of her like a kid sucking the milk from a cup with a straw. Yokomon could see plain as plain that Melody is very much haunted by the conversation that Mami and Jiroemon just had. But then again, Melody herself had been shuffled around from foster home to foster home since her family died in that fire and that she still has some hard feelings because of that woman Saori who took in Melody just so she could receive money from the agency and use it to move out while leaving Melody behind. Perhaps that memory resurfaced again because of their yelling earlier?

"Are you thinking about Jiroemon and Mami?" Yokomon asked.

"Sort of. Who'da thought one of my classmates is being used for his mother's convenience? Just like I was, twice," Melody muttered.

"Twice?" Yokomon asked, confused. She knew about the Saori incident, but Melody was used for someone else's convenience twice?

"Yeah. My first foster home...wasn't the best. These guys were rich people. They only cared about looking good and having parties and nothing else. They'd yell at me about everything: the way I dressed, the food I'd eat, the way I'd talk, everything. They pretty much wanted me to be a little doll they could dress up in frilly outfits and show off to their friends. They arranged my hair, they'd tell me to talk the way they did, they made me wear high heels, they threw dresses on me, they kept me from playing with other kids, yeah, that sort of thing. I didn't like being seen as a museum exhibit and told them this, but they yelled at me and punished me for, as they say, not knowing my place," Melody told her softly. Normally, when she'd talk about her past experiences, she'd be bitter. But Yokomon detected not one little mote of bitterness or rancor in her voice when she talked about her first foster home.

"That's stupid," Yokomon piped in.

"I know, right? I'm surprised I lasted as long as I did in there before they sent me to Saori's shack of a house," Melody said.

"Look on the bright side! At least you finally have a foster family who cares about you, and that you're reunited with everyone!" Yokomon chirped cheerfully, flashing a particularly bright and sunny smile.

Melody couldn't help but find her smile infectious, so she wound up cracking a smile as well. "True that...and that I have you," Melody said as she gestured Yokomon to fist bump her, which she did rather weakly with one of her stringy little legs.

"By the way, I've been meaning to ask...you say you want to be a rock star when you're older and start your own band, right?" Yokomon said.

"Yeah."

"Well...I was wondering...are you planning to play music just for yourself, or will you do it for others?"

"I kinda planned on doing both. I write my own songs, and I sing to make myself happy. But I'd be really happy if my songs ever made a difference in someone's life, and a lot of people have done that, so...why can't I do it too?"

"I think you should. You wrote that one song for Yun-chan, right?"

"Yeah. But I don't know if I wanna make that one public yet. Hey! Speaking of songs, I think I just got a new idea for one! Wanna help me with it?"

"Sure! I'd love to!"

Despite everything that's happened, Melody and Yokomon both happily worked on the new song together, hoping it'll turn out well.

Author's Note: Ding ding ding! This is officially the 100th chapter (not counting the side story)! I've never gotten 100 chapters before. It's all thanks to my devoted readers and reviewers for encouraging me to come this far, and for that I am most grateful. But this story's not over yet, so stay tuned!

Footnotes:

1. I'm using the Japanese names of Peacockmon's attacks instead of the English ones because the English names sound stupid to me.

2. Daikon, translating to white radish, is a mild flavored, very large, white East Asian radish with a variety of culinary uses. It originally came from East Asia before being associated with Japan.

3. Yes, I named Nenji's father after Jiroemon Kimura, the verified oldest man in history. He just died recently at the age of 116, which is the oldest age any man has ever lived (the singular oldest person EVER is a woman), and I think his first name is really cool, so I decided to use it.

4. Ernest Hemingway said this.


	109. Sister Strife

EPISODE 101: Sister Strife

"Alright, girls! One more time! One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight!" Mrs. Sakura exclaimed enthusiastically as loud hip-hop music blared from a nearby silver and blue boom box, and the girls of her older class danced to the rhythm and beat in preparation for their next recital. About eight girls danced on the dance floor while the other girls simply sat on the floor watching, as they weren't a part of this particular routine. Ayaka, with her hair down, wearing nothing but a peachy pink tank top, black bicycle shorts, black stockings and brown dance shoes, danced to the hip-hop song with more passion and ambition than she thought she had in her. The song blaring from the radio was vociferous, but this song was her favorite, even though it was in weird American English. _"Sing For the Moment,"_ by Eminem. Sure, she couldn't understand a word of it, as the lyrics and vocals are all in English, but she heard it once in a store and really liked it upon further listening, and managed to convince Mrs. Sakura to make it their group's song for their routine.

The dance they performed was vigorous and involved a lot of lower body movement and provocative poses. Ayaka's hair, which she left down because she felt tired of keeping her hair up, bounced up and down, swayed from side-to-side, as she jumped, spun, and did her assigned poses. She had been practicing this routine, both here and at home, for about three months now. The next recital was coming up soon, and she hoped that she finally got her part of the routine down, as this move was not an easy one. Of course, she wasn't the only one to mess up either. All the girls had their share of slip ups and occasional bumps here and there, but once the going got tough, they persevered and worked as hard as they could, hoping that practice really did make perfect. Finally, in the final part of the song, Ayaka and the rest of the girls huddled into one group and struck poses with their hands on their hips. Once the song ended, Mrs. Sakura pressed the stop button on the radio, which made the music cease. She gave them all a very bright smile.

"Great job, girls! Look at all the progress you've made in these past few months! I think we might just be able to win something in that recital in two weeks! Alright, you all get on home now," Mrs. Sakura exclaimed loudly with a single clap and a very pleased smile on her face, which made Ayaka smile too. As soon as the girls got into the tiny lobby to get their stuff and change out of their dance shoes (or anything else for that matter), one girl with curly black hair trailing down to her shoulders plopped onto one of the benches, feeling like all the energy had been sucked out of her body by some energy sucking alien. Her light blue headband looked like it was going to fall right off, and her purple dance outfit and white stockings clearly had signs of sweat on them.

"Ugh!" The curly haired girl complained. "I thought that session was never going to end! My legs feel like they've turned to vanilla pudding! If my little brother were here he'd eat them all up! He loves vanilla pudding!"

"I know how you feel, Meiko. Here you go," Ayaka said kindly as she sat down next to the girl, Meiko, and handed her a fresh white napkin, which Meiko gratefully took to wipe the sweat off her face. Ayaka put on her big blue jacket and got a napkin out to wipe her own forehead of sweat.

"Thanks, Ayaka-chan. I owe you one. Oh! Hey! Are you free sometime next week?" Meiko asked as she finished wiping her forehead with the napkin and stashed it into her bag while pulling out a bottle of water at the same time.

"No, not really. We're on spring break. Remember?" Ayaka replied as Meiko sipped some water out of the plastic bottle she opened.

"I was wondering...would you like to come to my house to hang out one of these days? My little brother's going to a psych evaluation next Wednesday so I thought it'd be great to have you and the other girls come over and just hang out for a while. Y'know, to take a break from working so hard. You in?" Meiko suggested with a smile before drinking some more water. She could already feel revitalized just from consuming all that liquid.

"I'd love to, but I'd have to ask my parents. They're clinging to me like leeches and won't get off my back. But I managed to help them with some chores around the house, so I'll ask first and see if they say yes," Ayaka replied. In her heart, she really wanted to go. She hadn't been to someone's house in a while, and Meiko's been proving to be a really good friend to her ever since they first met when she moved in from Saitama Prefecture about six months ago. She did know that Hisako could be coming to pick her up tonight, so perhaps she could ask her once she came. Hisako did meet Meiko before, and she really seemed to like her. Meiko flashed a smile.

"I know the feeling. My dad's always bugging me about doing homework and my chores before ever letting me have fun. But I learned the hard way that if you want to get what you want, you have to work for it. You can't get by just from whining all the time. You should have seen me when I was in middle school. I was just terrible, and I think my little brother's starting to act like how I was back then," Meiko explained cheerfully.

"Your brother must be a real pain in the butt," Ayaka said.

"He is! He's always pulling silly pranks and trying to act all cool and rad like those kids he hangs out with, who I think are a bad influence. I have to admit, I'm jealous that you have such a cute little sister. What was her name? Yuuko?" Meiko exclaimed with a bit of a whine to her voice at first, then went back to her normal voice when mentioning Ayaka's sister.

"Actually, it's Yun. It's really her nickname," Ayaka said. But the minute she heard Yun's name, her expression morphed into a slightly dejected one, but Meiko was oblivious to this.

"Yun! Got it! I swear, I wish my brother was as sweet as her. You're really lucky to have such a great younger sister. I wish I had a sister so we could do all sorts of sisterly things together just like the rest of my friends do, like go shopping or do our hair or do our nails! But noooo! I have to be stuck with an annoying brat of a brother who in the past few months got detention for not doing five homework assignments, failing three big tests, and for pushing an autistic kid in a muddy puddle and recording it with his cell phone! I swear, if he doesn't shape up soon, he might turn into a juvenile delinquent!" Meiko proclaimed.

Meiko didn't know it, but the more and more she talked about siblings, the more dejected Ayaka became. She made sure to hide this on the outside by keeping her smile, but in her heart, a whirlwind of sadness consumed it like a tornado, not having any intention of setting it free anytime soon. _'No, Meiko. I'm the same as you. I can't do anything with my sister. She hates me...and has good reason to,'_ Ayaka thought. The awful memory of the horrible things she did back at school when it was attacked haunted her right then, and has been haunting her ever since that dismal day. Not only that, ever since then, Yun had practically given up on both making her happy or cultivating a relationship with her. Whenever Ayaka was around, Yun would just outright ignore her and focus on her own task, refusing to talk with her or acknowledge her unless Hisako or Teruki forced her to do so, which they actually have been doing. Ayaka no longer felt any vitriolic animosity toward Yun since then, especially after seeing how Shunji, her parents, and her classmates feel about her treatment of her. Ayaka thought she was hated before, but the persecution she received since then got worse, and it definitely made her realize that she really did bring her own angst onto herself and that she's truly alone because she pushed people away with her own self-inflicted misery. Because of all of that, Yun no longer has any wish to connect with her or get along with her, and this made Ayaka more dejected than anything. She longed to turn back time and actually accept Yun's kindness back then instead of reject it like she did. But no, she could not turn back time no matter how much she wanted to. She made the situation the way it was now, and she's been dealing with it the hard way since then.

However, she did notice one thing that was missing, and she decided to shed some light on it. "Hey, Meiko-chan?"

"Hm?"

"Do you remember a girl named Nobara Rena?"

"Oh! One of the younger girls here? Sorta, but not really. Do you know her?"

"I don't, but my sister does. She's one of her best friends. I noticed that she suddenly disappeared a few months ago. Do you know what happened?"

"Yeah. Her mom pulled her out of here."

"Why?"

"Rena lost her leg in a really bad accident, and from what I've heard, her mom's a real slave driver and nutjob. She just up and took her out of class the minute she started her therapy lessons. I heard her mom never did approve of her coming here, and I think her losing the leg finally gave her an excuse to finally pull her out of this place, which makes me kinda sad, 'cause I've seen her dance and she looked like she was really into it, like it was her life, but some of the girls in her class thought she was being stuck-up and purposefully making them look bad, which I thought was stupid. It must suck to not be able to do what you want because you lost something that's needed for it and because everyone says you shouldn't do it."

"Yeah..."

"Ayaka! There you are!" Hisako exclaimed as she came into the lobby and spotted Ayaka sitting with Meiko on the bench.

"Hi, Mom," Ayaka said.

"Hi, Wakamiya-san!" Meiko exclaimed cheerfully. "Hey! I was wondering...can Ayaka come over to my house next Wednesday?"

Ayaka couldn't believe how open and quick Meiko was about the question, especially when Ayaka was the one who had planned on asking her first. Perhaps Meiko read her mind and wanted to ask her herself before she lost the opportunity. Hisako was a bit thrown off by the sudden question, considering her eyes widened a bit like she saw a ghost, but she answered anyway. "I'll think about it, sweetie. Do you parents know you're having people over?"

"Yep! I asked them and they said yes!" Meiko replied.

"Well...I do have a day off on Wednesday, so...I don't see why not," Hisako said.

As soon as she said that, Ayaka literally jumped onto Hisako and squeezed her in a tight bear hug. "Oh thank you, Mom! Thank you so much! I promise I'll do all the chores I can around the house!" Ayaka didn't seem to notice that some girls were staring at her, and normally she'd flip out of people were staring at her, since they had been doing that a lot lately, but at this point, she didn't care. She was just happy to finally be given the opportunity to spend some time with friends for once in her friendless high school life.

"Alright alright, let's get back home. It's getting late," Hisako said as she pried Ayaka off of her. Ayaka got her dance bag and proceeded to follow Hisako into the car. They immediately started talking once Hisako started driving.

"You don't know how happy I am about this, Mom," Ayaka said.

"I know. I really like your friend Meiko-chan. She's really sweet. But don't think I'm going easy on you, Ayaka. I know you've done good these past few months, and that makes me happy, but I really expect you to help out around here. I don't want you going off to places without telling me, grounded or not, or being mean to Yun. I really want you to show me that you deserve to go to her house, especially since I gave you my permission. Don't mess this up, okay?" Hisako told her softly at first, but sternly for the rest of it. Ayaka nodded vigorously.

"I promise, Mom. I won't even talk to Shunji," Ayaka said, though the minute she said that, she started wondering if that was necessary.

"What did happen to Shunji, anyway? I haven't seen him around," Hisako said.

"Isn't that because you keep me from seeing him?" Ayaka asked condescendingly.

"Oh yeah. Right," Hisako said.

But in Ayaka's heart, she knew that it wasn't just that. To be honest, they had both been purposefully avoiding each other for quite some time, not out of spite or malice or some kind of stupid romantic misunderstanding that comes up a lot in badly made romance anime that goes on and on forever without the luxury of ever getting resolved. It was something else entirely.

(flashback)

_Ayaka was in her room studying irritably until she heard some pattering sounds against her window. She ignored them at first, thinking them to be woodpeckers, but woodpeckers make a much louder sound, and it goes on for a while, instead of appearing and then disappearing. After more clacking sounds against her window, Ayaka finally conceded defeat and opened the window, but was surprised to see the source of said clacking sounds._

"_Shunji!" Ayaka exclaimed._

_Yes, standing on the grass below her window is Shunji, with his serious business face, only softer, wearing a dark purple hoodie with some black and white stripes and numbers on it, over a dark brown shirt, blue jeans, and pale brown army boots. He's also wearing his gold bracelet with his green D-Heart of Determintation dangling from it like a limp spaghetti noodle. Strangely enough, Dracomon wasn't with him. Despite Ayaka's initial hatred toward Dracomon, who she never got used to despite his friendly personality, she found his absence to be rather disconcerting, as the two are normally inseparable because of Shunji's love for dinosaurs and dragons. But Ayaka knew this was beside the point. She was still grounded, and if Shunji were here, and her parents caught them together, she'd be in big trouble._

"_Shunji! What are you doing?! Get out of here! We'll both be in big trouble!" Ayaka hissed, barely maintaining a whisper._

"_I know, but I really need to talk to you face-to-face. Can you come down please?" Shunji asked._

_Ayaka knew if she listened to him, the repercussions would be perilous if her parents found out, even though she knew Shunji would never do this to intentionally get her in trouble. He must have some kind of good reason for coming out here like this. She wanted to come down and talk to him, as she hadn't seen him since the vigil so long ago, since Hisako and Teruki banned them from being together as part of Ayaka's grounding, not that this stopped him from being his usual self and a good boyfriend. She wanted to come down, but she knew that if she did, Hisako and Teruki would find out right away, so she cultivated another option, hoping he would approve of it._

"_I'd like to come down, but it's impossible to get back in without Mom or Dad finding out, and I can't climb too good, so can you come up here instead?" Ayaka asked._

_Shunji flashed a smile, only it wasn't an impish or mischievous one. "I'd be most humbled, Rapunzel," He said and managed to climb the wall up to her window and popped right in. Once he got in, he just sat on the floor, right in front of the open window. He didn't go on her bed. Ayaka thought he was being weird at first until she figured that he did this because it'd be easier for him to get back out and not get caught should Hisako or Teruki come check on Ayaka and make a quick getaway._

"_So...what did you want to talk to me about?" Ayaka asked._

"_Ayaka...I've been thinking about a lot of things, since the whole Digimon thing began. I was wondering...I'm only asking you this as a question. Don't take it the wrong way, okay? Okay, umm...what do you say about postponing our relationship?" Shunji asked, his voice low but soft, his expression serious but kind._

_Ayaka froze. "Postpone? What do you mean?"_

"_I'm not asking to break up with you. I love you too much for that. But...with everything that's been going on...the Digimon attacking...the fate of the world being in danger...I think maybe we should put our relationship on hold until everything cools down," Shunji explained, hopefully clarifying it enough for Ayaka to understand. Ayaka was about to think he was saying something else, like the whole postponing thing was just a euphemism for break up, until she stopped to think about what he said. Yes, there had been lots of things going on. The Digimon attacks, the explosion of the school, her bad attitude, which she had steadily trying to change as of late after Shunji's talk with her at the vigil...yes, lots of things had gone out of whack, and Ayaka and Shunji's relationship was one of them._

"_Does that mean we...shouldn't see each other?" Ayaka asked, her blue eyes moistening a little._

"_I don't mean we should never see each other. I just think we should take a break from our relationship until things blow over. Besides, you're grounded and I can't interfere with that, and...to be honest, I want to see you change on your own. I see you've been trying to change your attitude for the better. That's great, and I want to watch you see it through on your own," Shunji explained._

"_Good point. Alright. I understand. Let's hold off on being together until all this craziness ends," Ayaka said with a soft smile forming on her face, which made Shunji smile as well._

"_We're still boyfriend and girlfriend. Don't forget that, and no, I'm not gonna go around prancing with other girls. I'm not like that. There are some things I gotta do on my own too. But...when times get tough, we can still help each other when we need it. Don't think you can't rely on me anymore. Just only when you feel you absolutely need to. Okay?" Shunji said._

"_Yeah. I'll work hard to be someone you can love with your whole heart," Ayaka said._

"_I still love you with my whole heart. I just want you to understand that you're not the only one who suffers and if you treat people with respect and kindness, they'll treat you the same way. Don't go around hating everybody. I wanna see you try and see things through on your own. But feel free to ask me for help if you need it," Shunji said._

"_Good idea. Thanks, Shunji. I appreciate it," Ayaka said wistfully, getting an idea of what postponing their relationship might entail, but chose not to create any drama out of it._

"_You're welcome. Hey! You remembered your manners! That's a good start. Keep it up, Ayaka. I gotta go now. I don't wanna get you in trouble, so I better make like a bug and flee," Shunji said as he leaped back out the window, hopped onto the grass, waved to her, and left. When he left, Ayaka could feel her face softening and becoming dejected even though he's made it clear that he only wants to postpone their relationship so they can do what they have to do, not break up for good. But even postponing the relationship meant that she couldn't be with him in the way she wanted. She wished she could be with him in the way she wanted, but she knew that Shunji felt a little sad about this too. He probably thought a lot about it and decided this was the right thing to do considering everything that's been happening, and the fact that their relationship problems are minor compared to the fact that the entire human race might be in danger, but perhaps he's also upset about not being with her in the way he wanted. However, they both knew that if this wasn't done, then they'd be too distracted to reach their goals for the future, so they decided to do this despite it making them suffer. But this suffering would be more than worth it._

(end flashback)

Once the car pulled into the driveway, Hisako and Ayaka exited the car and went into their house. Oh, how it felt so good to be back home after a hard, vigorous day of constant dancing. Ayaka couldn't wait to change out of her dance outfit, take a shower, and put on something comfortable. Good thing Yun had already finished taking her bath before Ayaka came. Once Ayaka grabbed some pajamas out of her drawer and brought them into the bathroom with her, which mostly consisted of a tiny, sleeveless black top and purple bicycle shorts, she spent about half an hour in the shower, shampooing and conditioning her hair like no tomorrow. Once she got herself clean, she wrapped her long, pale brown hair in a little towel, dried herself off, put her pajamas on, and plopped onto her bed.

"Oof! There's nothing like a good shower to cleanse you of your worries," Ayaka muttered. She thought she was the only one in the room, but she was wrong.

"Hi Ayaka!"

"EEEEK!" Ayaka screeched as she struggled to put on a robe, thinking that someone had broken in and peeped on her. When she threw on a pale purple robe and turned around, she calmed down a little, even though she was still perturbed even after discovering who appeared in her room.

"Spa-Spa-Spa-Spadamon?!"

"In the flesh!" Spadamon exclaimed, looking quite unfazed by Ayaka's display of horror and surprise, only both of those things dissipated and were now replaced with embarrassment and anger.

"What the freak are you doing in my room?! Are you peeping on me?!" Ayaka yelled vehemently, very outraged with the fact that a male Digimon is sitting in her room while she's dressed rather scantily.

"Nah. I was just passing by, makin' sure evil Digimon don't attack the house. Where've you been all day?" Spadamon said.

"I've been at dance class! What's it to you?! Now get outta here! I don't want a fuzzball like you seeing me dressed like this!"

"Dressed like what? I don't see anything."

Ayaka had to wonder if he was referring to the robe or just doesn't care that she's wearing a top and bicycle shorts. Or maybe that stuff just doesn't faze him. "You have absolutely no sense of decency, do you? But that's beside the point! Get out of here or you'll get me in trouble!"

"How's my being here gonna get you in trouble? You didn't ask me to come here. I just wanted to check on you."

"Yeah! Exactly! Now GET OUT!" Ayaka yelled and literally grabbed Spadamon by the tail and chucked him out the window like he was trash that had been stinking up the house for months. Thankfully, Spadamon landed on a bush so he wasn't hurt, plus his thick silver fur broke his fall too. But once he got back on his feet, all he did was wipe some leaves off of his fur and walk away, completely unfazed by what just transpired. Once he was out of her yard for good, Ayaka slumped back onto her bed.

"Jeez! Well, at least he didn't catch me in just my towel. That in itself is good. But still...I wish he'd stop stalking me already!" Ayaka grumbled. Then she both heard and felt her stomach grumble. "Ugh...I'm hungry..."

With a hand on her stomach, Ayaka left her room and went into the kitchen to find something to eat. When she opened the refrigerator, she found a big pizza box with one slice of pizza left from earlier. She normally doesn't eat pizza much, but she figured just one would be okay. She put it on a plate, put it in the microwave, and pressed the buttons to make it go for about a minute. Then, when the microwave beeped four times, Ayaka took it out and proceeded to sit at the table and eat it. But when she tried to eat another bite, a yelp pulled her out of her pepperoni filled reverie to find an outraged Yun, standing across from the dining room table, her face beet red with anger.

"AYAKA! Why'd you eat Terriermon's pizza?!" Yun screamed angrily.

"You mean he didn't have some already?" Ayaka asked nonchalantly.

"No! He said he wanted some later, and that was the last piece! Now look what you did!" Yun yelled.

"Hey! Nobody told me you were saving this, and this is everyone's pizza, not just yours."

"I NEVER SAID IT WAS MINE! It was supposed to be for Terriermon!"

"Don't yell!"

"You stupid idiot!" With that, Yun just ran back into her room. But Ayaka did manage to hear a conversation between her and the bunnies after that. "Sorry, Terriermon. Ayaka ate your pizza. I knew I should have cooked it earlier!"

"It's okay, Yun. Lucero just gave me a piece of his, so I'm good," Terriermon replied.

"But still! Why does Ayaka always have to be such an idiot?! Not everything belongs to her, y'know! She thinks she always has to own everything!"

"Hey! I heard that!" Ayaka yelled from the dining room, clearly displeased by the fact that Yun is talking about her out loud behind her back, and making no qualms about insulting her.

Being a sister is not the easiest job in the world. It's even worse when the rift between them is so strong, neither sister can properly resolve their problems, especially if one sister has absolutely no desire to communicate with the other.

The next day, however, another set of sisters quarreled, but for a different reason entirely.

"Orie! Gimme back my digivice!" Aria yelled as she chased Orie, who has her pink digivice in her hand and has no intention of letting it go, all over the house.

"If you want it back, you're gonna have to take it from me!" Orie called back as she evaded a jump from Aria, who was getting more and more perturbed by Orie's carelessness and mischief.

"Give it back! You'll break it!" Aria pleaded as she tried to grab it again, but Orie, being the older one, managed to get the upper hand both in height, strength, and agility. Mariya watched and couldn't believe the two girls were behaving as carelessly as they were.

"Girls! Stop chasing each other right now!" She was about to intervene when the doorbell rang. "Ugh! Who's that supposed to be?" She groaned as she ambled over to the door and answered it. Behind the door was a man with light blue shirt, darker blue jeans, white and red sneakers, and a tan bag full of letters, with one letter in his hand.

"Mail for the Yukinos," The man said as he handed the mail to Mariya, who took it quickly.

"Thanks, and sorry for the commotion. My girls are fighting and I have to break them up. Thank you, sir!" Mariya said as she closed the door and attempted to break the girls up, only to find one letter addressed to her from Kinzo. Vigorously, she opened it and found a handwritten letter inside.

_Dear Mariya,_

_It's been a very long while since I last wrote, hasn't it? How are you and the girls doing? I happen to be doing just fine. The doctors and fellow inmates have been very kind to me, even though I did have some bad days. My anger management classes have been going along just fine, and the therapy has been helping me cope with the problems I've been having since Kirika's death. I seem to feel less and less stressed nowadays, and I've been feeling a lot better about Kirika's death. I'm not as hateful and bitter about it was I was before. In fact, the doctors say that they're willing to let me out on good behavior._

_But I declined. I decided to stay there for another year. I don't trust myself just yet. I fear that if I come back, I may cause more problems and everything I've done may go in vain, and I'm afraid that I may end up abusing Aria and Orie again like last time, so I don't want to take any chances. I'm sorry, Mariya. I'm not doing this out of malice or spite. I just want to play it safe, that's all. They may think I've recovered, but I don't, and I don't want to be impulsive, careless, or reckless. You understand, don't you? It's very hard for me to contain my anger, and I can't make the girls endure anymore abuse. It's better to be safe than sorry, right? Again, I apologize for the awful way I treated you and the girls and how I used you to hurt Kirika when I shouldn't have. Thanks for reading this._

_Sincerely,_

_Yukino Kinzo._

_P.S. I cannot disclose any details for confidentiality reasons, but tell Aria that the DigiEgg she told me to raise is doing well._

Mariya's previous frustration instantly dissipated once she started reading the letter. Ever since Kinzo was sent to the rehabilitation center, letters coming from him were quite scarce, mostly because from what she heard, they were strict in their making sure they got better and got back on their feet. She was touched to know that Kinzo is doing okay. She hadn't quite forgiven him for the abuse he put her and the children through, but she was happy he chose to stay at the center even though the doctors think he's gotten better. That was actually the first smart decision he ever made on his part. To her, it showed that he's starting to think more and take into consideration what would happen if he ever got reckless and brash again like last time. Despite that she had full custody of the kids since he got sent away, she had to admit, perhaps Kinzo really was turning over a new leaf. That thought was interrupted by a strong thud. She turned around to find Orie on the floor, and Aria right on top of her, the latter crawling on her back and managing to snatch her digivice right out of Orie's hand.

"Yeah! I got it!" Aria exclaimed jubilantly once she took back her digivice by force and got off of Orie's back, giving her time to get back up on her feet. Mariya put the letter down and approached the girls with her stern look, not happy with the quarrel that had transpired.

"Girls! What's all this racket about?" Mariya asked sternly.

"Orie took my digivice and wouldn't give it back!" Aria exclaimed, pointing to Orie, singling her out immediately while clinging to her cotton candy pink digivice tightly in her other hand.

"Is this true, Orie?" Mariya asked as MarineAngemon floated into the room, looking a little confused and oblivious to the brouhaha that just transpired.

"Yeah, I did," Orie confessed tersely with her arms crossed. Normally, when kids are interrogated about naughty things they've done, they usually try to lie their way out and deny it completely while putting the blame on the younger sibling. Orie, however, completely confessed and didn't try to hide it, sugarcoat it, or claim that Aria was being annoying, which is very unusual in itself.

"You shouldn't have done that. It's not nice to take things from other people. You know how important that digivice is to Aria," Mariya told her calmly, making sure to keep her equanimity in check. Mariya knew that she didn't know much about the digivice, but from the way Aria kept it on her at all times, along with her D-Heart of Mercy, she could tell it was very important to her and MarineAngemon, and knew very well that it wasn't some plastic toy that a child could play with.

"That's right! You could have broken it! Why'd you take it? It's not a toy, y'know!" Aria exclaimed, actually sounding angry, and she usually never raises her voice unless she feels she absolutely has to.

"I know that. But I didn't do it just for kicks. I notice that you seem to think that being all nice and sweet will always solve problems, but it doesn't always work all the time. You gotta learn that being nice doesn't always get you what you want, and if someone's taken something from you or is being mean to you, you have to just put everything aside and take it back by force, even though you don't want to! You also gotta show that you're not gonna let them walk all over you," Orie explained tersely, her tone of voice getting a little softer this time around.

"It's true, Aria-chan. I know you're a nice girl, and that's what I like about you, but sometimes being nice doesn't always work. Sometimes people can trick you if you're not careful, and if you don't stand up for yourself or be forceful or put your foot down, you might get hurt. That's why Orie took your digivice, so she could see if you'd be able to take it back by force when all else doesn't work," MarineAngemon explained, actually looking and sounding like she was in on Orie's little scheme.

"That's all?" Mariya asked, confused by Orie's ulterior motive.

"Yep!" Orie proclaimed proudly.

"I wish you'd just told me," Aria said, feeling like she got cheated by her own sister.

"Sorry, but if I told you, our little ploy wouldn't have been convincing enough. I wanted to see if you could really show your stuff and be strong enough to know when to get angry and forceful," Orie told her.

"She's right, and yeah, I played along with it too. That's why I didn't help you. We wanted to see if you could try doing it yourself so we could find out whether you're willing to take risks and know when to be forceful," MarineAngemon said. "Sorry, Aria-chan. We weren't doing it to be mean."

Now that she knew the full extent of why Orie took her digivice, she smiled. "That's okay. I forgive you!"

"So that's what this was all about. You were teaching her to learn to put her foot down. While that is nice of you, Orie, I don't want any more rough housing. Okay?" Mariya told them after coming to the realization.

"Alright. Sorry, Mariya," Orie said, her tone of voice soft but still a little rigid.

"Wanna play frisbee in the backyard?" Aria asked.

"Sure. Haven't played that in a while. Wanna play, Mariya-san?" Orie said, then suggested that Mariya come join them too.

Mariya became quite confused. "What? Me?"

"Oooh! That's a great idea! Come play frisbee with us, Mariya-san! It'll be fun!" MarineAngemon pleaded happily as she flitted around Mariya like an annoying house fly.

"Well...I don't see why not, and I do have the day off today, so...sure! I'd love to play!" Mariya replied after mild rumination.

Aria cheered with joy and jumped up and down. "Yay! Mariya-san gets to play with us!"

"Aria! Don't jump up and down so much," Orie scolded mildly.

"She's fine," Mariya said.

"I'll go get the frisbee!" MarineAngemon said.

"But won't it be too heavy for you?" Aria asked with some concern in her sweet voice.

"It's fine! They're not heavy! I can handle it! I'll be back!" MarineAngemon said as she flitted into Aria's room and found a deep blue frisbee lying around on the floor. As she went to get the frisbee, Mariya, Orie, and Aria went into the back yard.

That's when they saw it.

An oval shaped white light is floating and flickering in mid air, in the middle of the field, with some small, pale blue sparks of electricity sparking around. "Girls, get back!" Mariya exclaimed as she kept the girls from approaching the light by gripping them both by their arms with both of her hands.

"It's a digital portal!" Aria exclaimed.

"What?" Mariya asked, confused by Aria's fiat. All of a sudden, two Digimon popped right out of the portal, as Aria confirmed, and tumbled onto the grass like they had been thrown there, right as the portal itself dissipated into thin air. One Digimon is a round, pink thing with a tan face, deep black eyes, with pink fur on his arms and legs, but his hands and the bottom of his feet are not covered with fur at all. On both of his feet are black braces. Protruding from his back are periwinkle blue wings, with some pink stitches on various parts of them like he got them from fighting a very vicious battle with some ferocious Digimon, and in one of his hands is a spear with a long, blue handle, and a tip that's shining, brandished silver, with little spikes protruding from it. The other Digimon is much bigger than the fairy Digimon, with chocolate brown fur on the top of his body and pale bluish purple fur on the rest of it. A gold and silver mask covered his face except for his ocean blue eyes, which as of now, looked like wet forget-me-nots. On one of his front legs is a gold ring, similar to the one Biyomon has. He has no back legs, as his back legs mostly consist of a white, smoky substance which could very much be mistaken for a cloud. As soon as the Digimon tumbled onto the grass, the bigger Digimon suddenly burst into a childish paroxysm of tears, which made the fairy Digimon become very perturbed.

"This is your fault, you stupid dip! If you hadn't been so stupid, we wouldn't be in this mess right now!" The fairy Digimon yelled angrily in a low voice that sounded like it didn't belong to him.

"I-I-I-I'm sorry, Piximon! I didn't mean it!" The brown furred Digimon cried, referring to the fairy Digimon as Piximon.

"Sorry isn't going to magically change our predicament, Tapirmon!" Piximon yelled again, further frightening the sad Digimon, Tapirmon. "And don't try to fool me with that fake crying! You're clearly not sorry at all!"

Aria and Orie could tell that even though they're Digimon, they're so caught up in their banter that they don't seem to realize that they're in a completely different world, not the Digital World. Aria very gently removed Mariya's hand from her arm and tried to approach them and talk to them. They certainly didn't look like bad Digimon, and they seemed friendly enough, so why not? However, as soon as she tried to amble over to them, Mariya grabbed her by her shirt and hoisted her back.

"Ack!" Aria yelped as Mariya pulled her back.

"Don't go near them! They could be dangerous!" Mariya advised worriedly.

"They don't look like bad Digimon, and I've seen bad Digimon," Aria told her.

"Just because they don't look like it doesn't mean they aren't," Mariya scolded mildly.

All of a sudden, the Tapirmon stopped crying and laid its eyes on Aria, Orie, and Mariya. He suddenly flew up to Orie and began circling around her like a ghost. But what perturbed Orie was that Tapirmon was coming a little too close to her personal space. Orie, surprised by how closely Tapirmon is examining her with his wide, expressive eyes, pushed Tapirmon away a foot or two.

"Move back a little!" Orie exclaimed as she pushed the overly curious Tapirmon away, who didn't take her gesture just now very kindly.

"Why'd you do that?! I was just seein' what kind of Digimon you are!" Tapirmon whined like a child who was put in time out and crossed his arms with a childish pout.

"For your information, I'm not a Digimon! I'm a human being!" Orie snapped back with her arms crossed this time.

"EHH?! Humans?!" Piximon shouted upon finally noticing and hearing Aria, Mariya, Orie, and MarineAngemon, shocked that he himself didn't even notice them before. But then again, since he's fought with the unruly Tapirmon so many times he gets so engrossed in his scoldings that he often doesn't notice anything around him if he gets angry enough. "Wait...then that means...whoa! We're in the human world?! But I thought humans were just an old geezer's tale! That must mean all the stuff we've been hearing in the Digital World is true!"

"Ummm...hi there! I'm Yukino Aria, and this is my sister Orie and my step-mama Mariya-san," Aria told them as politely, softly, lucidly, and kindly as she could muster, hoping her introducing herself would ease the tension a bit. Thankfully, Piximon responded and floated up to her as soon as he heard her.

"So yer name's Aria, eh? Nice to meet'cha. I'm Piximon. Sorry about droppin' in on ya like this. Sure didn't mean to though...hey!" He responded kindly to her introduction until he saw MarineAngemon next to her. "A MarineAngemon! What are you doing in the human world?!"

"I'm her partner. See?" MarineAngemon explained as she pointed to Aria's digivice, the latter whom immediately decided to show it to the big puffy pink pixie, who inspected it, only not in an overly nosey manner like Tapirmon did.

"Hmmmm...those must be one of those digivices I've been hearing about," Piximon said.

"So...how did you and Tapirmon get here?" Mariya asked. Although she was surprised, she could tell that they weren't volatile or vicious, so she found it safe to talk to them.

"Well, I myself heard about the humans and found out about how to come here, so I thought I'd try opening a portal myself just to see if all those rumors I was hearin' were true. But then that brainless, stupid, inconsiderate little dipstick Tapirmon followed me and shoved me into the portal without any thought of what would happen!" Piximon explained calmly at first, then furiously as he pointed his spear at Tapirmon, who pouted at the winged puff ball like he was the victim.

"I didn't push you in! I tagged you! You wouldn't play tag with me!" Tapirmon whined like a brat.

"Don't try to make yourself out to be the victim here when you're the reason we're in this mess in the first place, you ungrateful little brat!" Piximon yelled, then turned to the girls. "Now that Tapirmon's here, I gotta warn you: take everything you have and lock it somewhere real tight so Tapirmon can't open it. He's just gonna run in and break everything he sees, no matter how important it is. Don't be fooled by those manipulative little Salamon eyes he puts on. It's just a ruse so he can do whatever he wants!" He whispered to them.

"Why? Is he really that bad?" MarineAngemon asked curiously.

"He's not BAD, like MoonMillenniummon bad, but he's the biggest and most ungrateful little brat you'll ever meet, yet I got stuck with the job of babysitting him because his parents are busy trying to put together some army to take down some of MoonMillenniummon's minions, as last I heard they were trying to make a break for our village and raze it to smithereens! He whines whenever he doesn't get his way, he doesn't want what's best for him, he throws tantrums at the littlest thing, has absolutely no desire to understand the consequences of his actions, is completely inconsiderate and unaware of the things he does to the Digimon around him, and has the biggest attitude problem you'll ever see in a bratty little kid Digimon," Piximon explained.

"Wait...where'd he go?" Orie asked. Immediately, everyone looked around and to their surprise and shock, Tapirmon is gone!

"Did he go outside?" Aria asked.

"I didn't see which direction he went into," MarineAngemon said.

"Oh no! This is bad! If he gets out who knows what he'll do! He doesn't care if anything he does puts someone in danger or not!" Piximon exclaimed, with worry completely consuming his voice, though MarineAngemon could tell that he sounded more concerned about stopping him from causing trouble than about his well-being.

They were about to go inside and search until a vociferous crashing sound came from the house. Worried that a robber might have broken in, everyone ran inside to wind up finding the source of the crash. A vase in the house had been knocked over and fell to the ground, with shards of colored glass scattered all over the place. Some lavender purple, cherry red, and MarineAngemon pink petunias all lay scattered on the floor. Tapirmon had one flower in between his hooves but didn't seem very interested in looking at it further.

"Hmph! This flower's not pretty at all! Stupid!" Tapirmon pouted as he threw the flower he was holding behind him like it was trash, looking like he didn't notice the mess he just made, nor did it look like he even cared. Orie watched as the ghostly elephant tried to fly away and move on to something else like it was the most normal thing in the world. She couldn't believe how selfish he was acting. Angered, she grabbed Tapirmon and pulled him back to the broken vase.

"Look what you did, Tapirmon! You broke Mariya-san's new vase!" Orie exclaimed angrily in an authoritative tone and demeanor that was quite unusual to find in an eleven year old. Of course, Orie's only doing this because she's angry at Tapirmon not taking responsibility for it, and she was going to make him do so whether he liked it or not.

"I did?" Tapirmon asked. Then looked down at the shards. "Oh."

"Don't act like you don't know! Don't you feel bad?! You shouldn't break someone else's things! This isn't your house!" Orie snapped again.

"But I don't see why you gotta make a big deal out of it. It's just a useless trinket that serves no purpose other than to embellish a house and nothing else. Why bother?"

"That's not the issue here! The issue here is that you broke it and didn't bother to apologize or show any guilt! Now apologize and clean up the mess!"

Tapirmon could definitely see a stern and austere glint in her eyes that intimidated him. Not wanting to make her angry, he found a dustpan and brush and diligently cleaned up the mess, though Orie could tell he really hated doing this. Once he finished and put them in the trash can, he floated up to Orie.

"I'm sorry," Tapirmon muttered bitterly.

Orie's expression softened. "Good."

One Digimon, however, was not phased at all. "Don't fall for it! He only did it so you'd get off his back! He's just playing you for fools!"

"I cleaned up the mess, Piximon! That's good, right?" Tapirmon complained, surprised that Piximon doesn't seem to be convinced that Orie truly managed to make him take responsibility for his actions.

"You're not sorry at all, you brainless little-" Piximon was about to go on a tirade until Mariya scooped him into her arms.

"Just calm down, Piximon. I think we're all a little hungry here, so let's have lunch," Mariya suggested kindly.

"Oh! Oh! Oh! Can I make lunch?! Can I?! Can I?! Please please please please?! I'm really good at making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and I swear I won't mess up!" Tapirmon exclaimed excitedly as he zipped all around Mariya like he was high on sugar.

"No way! You're just gonna set the whole place on fire and ruin everything!" Piximon exclaimed irritably.

"No I'm not!" Tapirmon argued back with a whine in his voice.

"Quiet, you two! I'll make lunch. You two are our guests, so you sit at the table," Mariya commanded. Surprised by her commanding voice, both Tapirmon and Piximon found some chairs and sat at the table.

Aria, MarineAngemon, and Orie really couldn't believe the banter going on between Piximon and Tapirmon. It seemed like more than just banter. It sounded much more like a petty feud, only Piximon is very seriously convinced that Tapirmon is an obstinate little brat who constantly causes trouble to everyone around him, and from the caustic way he reacted as Tapirmon really did clean up the mess he made, it sounds like he's convinced that Tapirmon is not really sorry and just trying to get on their good side. Perhaps...Piximon is completely under the impression that Tapirmon is completely selfish and spoiled beyond all reasonable help. Aria was never very good at understanding complicated stuff, which is understandable since she's only eight years old, but she at least understood that Piximon is being a little too overly critical and that Tapirmon, while spoiled and selfish, is capable of knowing when he did wrong.

It became even more apparent at lunch time. Piximon ate his sandwich quickly and efficiently while Tapirmon didn't even get to eat even the tiniest little bite of it, and that was entirely Piximon's fault, as he kept on criticizing Tapirmon's lack of manners. Constantly. Even when Tapirmon wasn't even doing anything.

"Tapirmon! Don't put your elbows on the table!"

"Chew with your mouth closed! By God, you're so sloppy!"

"Don't bend while you eat! You'll just make a big mess!"

"What are you doing?! Don't you know better than to burp in front of other people?!"

"It's rude to eat with your mouth all wide open like that!"

Orie just about decided she's had enough of this overbearing and overly critical little winged puff ball. "Will you shut up already?! Let Tapirmon eat! He's not even doing anything, so can it!"

"You're actually condoning his utterly inappropriate behavior?!" Piximon yelled, thinking Orie was crazy for letting him continue with his supposedly horrendous table manners.

"I don't see how any of it is inappropriate. All he's doing is eating. It's not like we're at some fancy party held by the president or something. Seriously, take a chill pill and let him eat," Orie told him sharply, hoping he'd finally relent. Thankfully, as this was happening, Tapirmon consumed his sandwich happily.

"That was good! Thanks!" Tapirmon exclaimed contentedly as he patted his stomach with one of his front legs.

"Tapirmon! Say thank you! Don't act like an ungrateful brat!" Piximon scolded angrily, which made Tapirmon fly behind Orie, who crossed her arms again.

"He just did! Are you deaf or something?" Orie yelled, surprised that even though Tapirmon did say thank you in a slightly informal manner, something she didn't feel was worth making a big deal out of, Piximon acted like he didn't even hear it, like he really was deaf, which he definitely wasn't. Aria knew for a fact that he wasn't deaf. Mikuni was deaf. Piximon could hear and talk just fine, though, to be honest, she wished he was so she wouldn't have to hear his annoying and overly critical voice.

"Come on, Tapirmon. You can come in my room and play," Orie told him.

"Yay! Play time!" Tapirmon exclaimed as he tried to follow Orie into her room, but Piximon suddenly got in between them and, audaciously, pointed his spear at Tapirmon.

"Do you really think I'm gonna fall for a scheme like that? You're just gonna go in there and break everything!" Piximon yelled.

"Will you cut it out already?! Spray of Hearts!" MarineAngemon, having had enough of Piximon's incessant griping, shot some pink heart bubbles at Piximon. They came so fast Piximon didn't have time to poke them with his spear, and as a result, he wound up falling to the floor unconscious.

"Sheesh! I don't think I've ever met such an annoying Digimon!" MarineAngemon exclaimed.

"I agree. I know he's trying hard to discipline him, but there's a fine line between discipline and just being too critical and cynical," Mariya said.

"What does cynical mean?" Aria asked innocently, surprised by the new word.

"To be cynical means to be pessimistic, hateful, and distrustful of everybody around you. Tapirmon did clean up the mess like Orie asked him to, but Piximon thinks he only did it to get out of being punished," MarineAngemon explained. "Oh! Another example! You know how Melody-chan used to be all moody and unforgiving of everybody? That's what cynical means, though she only acted that way because she didn't want to get her feelings hurt."

"Oh..." Aria said as Tapirmon went into Orie's room to play with her. Mariya very gently scooped Piximon into her arms.

"I'll put him on the couch," Mariya said as she gently placed his unconscious, limp, puffy little body onto the couch.

"I don't like him," Aria piped in suddenly but quietly, albeit loud enough for MarineAngemon to hear.

"Me neither, and I always thought Melody was the one who had it out for everybody," MarineAngemon replied.

"Is that what you have to put up with every day, Tapirmon?" Orie asked as Tapirmon laid on her bed, happy to not have to put up with Piximon, his annoying voice, and his incessant nagging and nitpicking.

"Not every day. Only when Mom and Dad are away. He's the only one they can rely on," Tapirmon explained.

"But why? Have you told them about his constantly picking on you?"

"Yeah, but they said it's for my own good. Plus, Piximon is right. I really do cause trouble for everybody, even though I don't mean to. I always make a mess of things and ruin everything."

"Does he yell at you even if it's an accident you couldn't do anything about?"

"Yeah."

"Does he always think you do stuff on purpose and out of malice?"

"What's malice?"

"Does he always think you do stuff to only be mean and get on his nerves?"

"Yeah."

Orie sat at her desk and wound up remembering Kinzo and how abusive and cruel he'd be whenever Orie and Aria did something he didn't like, even if it was just a measly little accident that they couldn't do anything about. Orie then remembered that in a way, she was just like Piximon. She didn't think anything could be done about Kinzo's cruelty and even went as far as to make Aria not tell anyone simply because she was convinced that nobody would believe them. She thought there was no hope for them at all. She even went as far as to tell Aria that it was her fault whenever Kinzo flipped out if she didn't do what he asked, like the one incident where she wouldn't sit in the front seat of the car with him. How could she have been so selfish and so inconsiderate?

"Oh! Whazzat outside?" Tapirmon yelped upon flying toward the window and looking right out of it.

"What's wrong?" Orie asked as Tapirmon's shout yanked her out of her thoughts.

"I saw something outside! Something yellow with big wings! And it doesn't feel good!" Tapirmon exclaimed.

Orie couldn't help but be a bit flummoxed by Tapirmon's odd choice of words. It'd be one thing if he said it doesn't look good, but _feel_ good? What was that supposed to mean? But then she remembered Aria telling her that Digimon are able to sense when other Digimon are nearby. She undid the locks on her window and opened it right up. She peeked her head out of her bedroom window and looked around. She didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Just trees, other houses, and a swing set in another backyard. That was it. However, as soon as she tried to get back in, Tapirmon suddenly flew right out of the window.

"No! Tapirmon!" Orie yelled, surprised by what Tapirmon did just now. She had to admit, Tapirmon was fast, and she wished he'd just slow down a bit. She couldn't blame Piximon for dealing with him, but considering how grouchy he was, she didn't want to push his buttons, so she went out the window.

"I guess I better go after him and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid," Orie mused to herself irritably. However, as soon as she got to her front yard, she saw Aria, MarineAngemon, and Piximon standing right before her, which made her gasp in shock a little bit.

"Wha?! Jeez! You scared me!" Orie shouted.

"Sorry!" Aria said.

"Did you guys just see Tapirmon fly away?" Orie said.

"What?! He did?! Awww! He's gonna destroy stuff and not care about the consequences!" Piximon whined, which hit MarineAngemon's last nerve.

"Will you please SHUT UP AND STAY HERE?! We can handle it so just stay here so nobody sees you!" MarineAngemon shouted angrily.

"MarineAngemon feels an evil Digimon nearby. We're gonna go and stop it," Aria said.

'_What?! An evil Digimon? Is that what Tapirmon went after...and meant when he said it doesn't feel food?!'_ A horrified Orie thought upon putting the pieces together in her brain. That explains it! Tapirmon must have felt an evil Digimon nearby and went out to try and stop it from causing whatever damage it could do to the neighborhood. But if people saw Tapirmon or the evil Digimon, they might get captured or experimented on by scientists or persecuted for not being part of this world. Not only that, this is the first time Tapirmon has been in this world, and he doesn't know that his presence in the real world, at least among people who don't know anything about Digimon, might cause an uproar and make people think he's an alien about to suck their brains out through metal straws. It's bad enough Piximon treats him like garbage for just about everything, even though in some cases he did have good reason for being so strict.

But another thought left her frozen with horror. Her eight year old sister wants to track down an evil Digimon and help send it back to wherever it came from. Neither she nor Aria knew what kind of Digimon it was, how high in level it was, how big or small it was, nor how powerful it would be. Orie couldn't let her little sister put herself in danger like that, especially since she's had to endure the brunt of the abuse Kinzo put them through when he was still a woman hating misogynist. There's no way an eight year old child could even be remotely capable of handling whatever they were dealing with. But she did know that MarineAngemon herself was fairly strong despite her small size and cute appearance, and has done a lot of the work when dealing with strong Digimon. MarineAngemon had always been there for Aria, and will make sure nothing happens to her. Orie knew this when she witnessed a very choleric MarineAngemon beat the everloving daylights out of Kinzo when he tried to strangle her and tell her that Kirika died because of them. If that wasn't a true example of audacious bravery, then what was? Orie never forgot that scene.

"Let's go look for them together," Orie said.

"Okay!" Aria chirped sweetly.

"I'm going on ahead!" Piximon nearly sprinted away until MarineAngemon managed to fly in front of him and stop him from flying any further.

"I think you should stay here, Piximon. We don't know what this Digimon is or how strong it is, and I'm a mega level-" MarineAngemon tried to persuade him to stay, but he cut her off.

"I am NOT staying here! There's two Digimon running about, and it's my duty to make sure they're both on a leash, so nothing you say will make me change my mind!" Piximon snapped.

'_You care more about yelling at Tapirmon than about his welfare,'_ Orie thought. She really wanted to tell him this, but she was afraid he'd stab her with his spear if she did, so she figured it'd be wise to keep her mouth shut. All of a sudden, screams echoed in the air.

"Ewwww! This pink stuff smells like dog poo!"

"Get away from us, you filthy monster!"

"Everyone! Run! Run as fast as you can!"

"Someone call animal control!"

"What's with the baby ghost elephant?!"

"It sounds like it's coming from Rouen Avenue! I'll call for Unimon!" Aria said, thankful that she brought Unimon's D-Chip with her. She put it in her digivice and let the light shoot into the sky and back, bringing Unimon with it.

"Need a ride?" Unimon asked.

"Yes, please! Sorry to make you do this!" Orie exclaimed as Unimon galloped onto the concrete and let the girls and Digimon hop on his back. Once they were on, he galloped back into the sky, flying across the neighborhood.

"Do you see any Digimon down there?" Aria asked.

"Yes! I see two! One of them is a pretty nasty one!" Unimon said as he decided to descend to the part of the neighborhood where he saw Tapirmon and another Digimon.

Unfortunately for Aria, the Digimon Tapirmon was up against was one she had seen before, and one she had the worst memories of.

MarineAngemon was the first to shout it's name. "...PlatinumNumemon?!"

"What?! You know this Digimon?!" Piximon yelped.

"We've seen them before, so yeah! But we couldn't defeat them last time we fought them!" MarineAngemon exclaimed.

Orie saw Tapirmon trying to go up against the ugly, silver skinned, gold winged, bling wearing slug and couldn't believe that he was being so reckless. "Tapirmon! Get out of the way!" She shouted loud enough for him to hear.

"Platinum Excrement!" PlatinumNumemon shouted as it threw a barrage of silver swirly things at Tapirmon, who, surprisingly, managed to evade them all.

"Spray of Hearts!" Not wanting to take any chances, MarineAngemon shot her pink heart bubbles at the swirly things, stopping them from hitting anything and deleting them into oblivion.

"Nightmare Syndrome!" Tapirmon shot an ominous looking, black and purple wave of energy at PlatinumNumemon, hoping to do away with him. Unfortunately, the winged slug whisked the wave of energy away by flapping its large wings, blowing it away like it was dust. Shocked by this development, Tapirmon let his guard down and wound up allowing PlatinumNumemon to slap him with one of his wings, sending him sprawling across the concrete.

"Tapirmon!" Orie ran to the ghost elephant and tried to help him up. "You okay?"

"Yeah...I...I have to stop him. He's hurting everyone..." Tapirmon whimpered.

"Let the other Digimon handle it. He's too strong for you," Orie told him.

"Boiling Water!" MarineAngemon shot a rippling sphere of scalding hot water at PlatinumNumemon, whose wing wound up getting caught in the water ball. Upon making contact, its wing felt like it was being burned in a stove at 20,000 degrees fahrenheit and screamed and howled in response to the mercilessly excruciating pain.

"Aerial Attack!" Unimon shot an orange beam of energy at the howling PlatinumNumemon, who, in his pain, evaded the attack by helplessly flying and running around like a mad man.

"Pixi Bomb!" Piximon threw some metal balls with some bat wings and evil faces at the pain stricken slug, but PlatinumNumemon saw this coming and knocked them away with both his wings, even the one that had just been scalded before. The bombs exploded, but the explosions themselves were small, thankfully (Piximon knows there's people around, so he intentionally toned down the bombs' powers so they wouldn't hurt anyone within the vicinity).

"Oh no! He's too strong!" Unimon exclaimed.

Unbeknownst to everyone, Aria just fell on her knees on the sidewalk, consumed by memories of her previous encounter with a PlatinumNumemon. LadyDevimon had some as servants, and they gave her and Yun a really hard time, as they were unable to be defeated no matter what they did. It wasn't surprising, since PlatinumNumemon are mega level Digimon and are probably hard to handle anyway. However, it was what happened after the PlatinumNumemon back then got away that made Aria's knees melt like they were ice trapped in the sun for hours and hours. She remembered Kosuke's angry face, his hazel eyes consumed with flames of animosity and disappointment, and how he hit her on the head when he had no reason to do so. His words barged back into her head like a burglar barging into someone's house to steal jewelry and money.

"_You worthless little wretch! Why didn't you stop that PlatinumNumemon when you had the chance?! You had all the chances in the world to get him, yet you just lazed around doing nothing!"_

"_Yukino! You're just downright useless!"_

She knew it was long ago, and she knew Kosuke had apologized about it later on, but that memory was strong, as the act in itself made her feel like she was getting yelled at and beaten by Kinzo again, even though he's somewhere else right now. She tried to get up, but her limp legs wouldn't let her. She tried to force herself up, but she felt like she was encased in ice, like she was a popsicle in her refrigerator. She needed to get up. She needed to help MarineAngemon and the others send PlatinumNumemon back to the Digital World. She knew how important this was, and how she didn't have time to just sit around, and there's only one PlatinumNumemon here, unlike the two they fought so long ago, so they should be able to send him back to the Digital World if they work hard enough, but...her body wouldn't listen. She shook her head vigorously and tried to knock that stupid memory out of her head. It was over. It was done and over with. She couldn't let it consume her mind right now. There's a Digimon on the loose and they needed to put him on a leash.

'_Come on, Aria! Get up! Help MarineAngemon and the others! They need you! You don't have time to sit around and watch everything and cry!'_ Aria yelled at herself in her head, hoping this would stimulate her body into unfreezing itself and doing what she wanted it to do. But it didn't work. She couldn't believe her body wasn't listening to her. _'Why can't I move?! Why do I feel like pudding right now?! I have to move or PlatinumNumemon's gonna make me dirty or kill me! Why can't I move?! I have to go and help them! Why can't I get up?! I can't be scared! I have to be brave, just like the big kids!'_ Aria was getting hysterical now. All she could do was stare at the concrete and watch her trembling hands.

"Aerial Gallop!" Unimon, with great speed and gusto, tried to stab PlatinumNumemon with his horn, but the winged slug saw it coming.

"Platinum Excrement!" He threw a blob of his swirly stuff at him, and it hit Unimon right in the face, derailing him completely and causing him to nearly fall on someone's house. It's a good thing he fell in front of it and not on it, otherwise he would have completely destroyed it and unknowingly killed the people inside. This was something Unimon, and everyone else for that matter, really didn't want to have to deal with.

"I can't stand around and watch! I have to help!" Tapirmon tried to float away, but Orie pulled him back by wrapping her arms around him.

"No, Tapirmon! You'll get hurt! He's too strong!" Orie tried to persuade Tapirmon to stay back, but the stubborn little elephant just kept on wriggling and writhing in her arms.

"But I have to do something to help! They're gonna get hurt and someone's gotta help them! I'm sick and tired of causing trouble! Maybe now I can do something right!"

"It won't be worth it if you get hurt or even die! You have to know your limitations!" Orie exclaimed.

"Spray of Hearts!" MarineAngemon tried to ambush PlatinumNumemon with another barrage of heart bubbles, but PlatinumNumemon countered them with his swirly things, one of which managed to hit the scrawny little pink fairy right in the face.

"Aaaagh! I can't see!" MarineAngemon howled as she fell to the concrete, her nose and eyes being brutally assaulted by the noisome stench that's consuming her very being. It was way worse than any bad odor she had ever smelled in her whole life combined times a thousand. Who'd have thought repulsive, foul smelling stenches could be so powerful? MarineAngemon wished she could have used her Magic Water attack, but she was afraid it would flood the entire neighborhood and drown everyone considering how powerful it is.

"No, Tapirmon! You can't go! You'll get hurt!" Orie exclaimed.

"Let me go! I need to stop him from hurting everyone!" Tapirmon pleaded. "I'm begging you!"

Piximon overheard this and wound up flying toward Tapirmon with an angry look on his face, the same one Tapirmon always had to look at. "Why don't you listen for once and just do what she says?! You're always like this! You always think you're the best when you're not! All you do is just get in the way and ruin everything, so stop trying to make everything worse than it already is!"

"Piximon!" Orie screamed, appalled by Piximon's attitude just now. "Will you please save the stupid _'I hate you'_ stuff for later and beat that winged slime to a pulp?!"

MarineAngemon and Unimon were both helplessly trying to get the excrement out of their faces, and having a miserable time doing so. Everyone was so absorbed in what they were doing that they were oblivious to the fact that PlatinumNumemon is zooming in on Aria, and Tapirmon was the only one to notice. Aria didn't see anything until a shadow loomed over her. She looked up to find PlatinumNumemon, with an angry face resembling that of Kinzo's when he tried to strangle her, about to throw a huge ball of excrement at her.

"Platinum Excrement!" PlatinumNumemon yelled as he threw the big ball of dung at her.

"NO! Wait!" Orie yelled as Tapirmon finally broke out of her grip.

Aria, finally able to gain control of her little body and use it with her own free will, covered her face with her arms so the noisome, repulsive stuff wouldn't get in her eyes. But oddly enough, she didn't feel anything icky fall onto her arms. She'd be able to know if something as awful as a lump of poop was on any part of her body, especially if she wasn't wearing any sleeves. She smelled something horrible, but it didn't come from her, and she'd know if she herself smelled bad. She removed her arms and opened her eyes to find Tapirmon, lying in front of her, covered in dung.

"Tapirmon!" Both Orie and Aria screamed once they saw the dung covered baby elephant ghost lying in front of them, looking like he had just come out of a mud slide. Orie ran from where she was and kneeled in front of the dung covered, barely conscious Tapirmon.

"Tapirmon! Why'd you do that?! Look what he did to you!" Orie exclaimed. Even Piximon was frozen in shock, still suspended in the air, with his jaw hanging wide open as he saw Tapirmon's audacious act.

"Aria...was in trouble. I...I had to save her...I'm glad...I finally did something right for once..." Tapirmon muttered.

"Magic Water!" MarineAngemon, unable to take it anymore, finally decided to unleash Magic Water, and a huge waterfall poured down on everybody. She hoped it wasn't so strong that it'd flood the entire neighborhood and drown everyone, just enough to clean everybody off and maybe render PlatinumNumemon immobile. Thankfully, it worked, as Tapirmon, MarineAngemon, and Unimon were all cleaned off. The noisome odor had dissipated, finally. Everyone was getting tired of the smell. Unfortunately, even though the attack managed to weaken PlatinumNumemon considerably, he continued to go around throwing his excrement at anything and anyone he saw, without a care in the world. He didn't seem interested in Aria and the others anymore.

Once he was clean, Orie hugged Tapirmon tightly, like she was her own Digimon partner. "Thank you, Tapirmon. Thanks for saving my sister. Good job. I'm proud of you," Orie told him kindly. Aria could see that Tapirmon looked sincerely and genuinely happy to finally receive praise, something he looked like he had been hoping to finally get for a long long time.

"Good job? You're...proud of me?" Tapirmon couldn't believe what he heard. The praise and gratitude he was receiving was music to his ears, music he had been trying to hear for a long time but didn't get until now because of Piximon constantly berating him. Now, he felt light as a feather, completely warm like a fresh loaf of bread taken right out of the oven. "Oh...I...I'm so happy...finally, I really _did_ do something right...I _didn't_ ruin everything this time!" Tapirmon exclaimed tearfully yet happily, like he was about to break into tears like usual.

Unbeknownst to everyone, however, Aria's teeth clenched, her tiny fists tightened into a swollen ball, and her brown eyes made flames of courage dance up to the surface. All Tapirmon wanted was to help, and he finally got his chance. Yet Piximon kept on treating him like he was a spoiled brat who constantly caused trouble and didn't have any sense of responsibility or remorse. Piximon treated him like garbage and berated him for anything and everything, even going as far as to blame him for things he didn't intend or that weren't even his fault, just like how Kinzo abused her for looking like Kirika and because he deluded himself with the untrue thought that Aria and Orie drove Kirika to suicide. How can Piximon be so blind, so deluded, and so insensitive? Yes, Tapirmon made mistakes. Yes, Tapirmon can be spoiled, and yes, Tapirmon is unaware that what he does causes trouble for others at times, but she could tell that he was good in his own way. It seemed like nobody really taught him that his actions have consequences for both him and the people or Digimon around him. But she knew that Tapirmon was good in his own way. He's just innocent. Yes, he was selfish and did make some mistakes, but doesn't everybody do that or act like that at some point in their life?

And then there was PlatinumNumemon, who proceeded to try and scare a young couple into running away as he attempted to drown them in his excrement. How could she herself have been so stupid as to let some bad memory stop her from being able to stop PlatinumNumemon's rampage? He might have been successful in attacking her, or might have even killed her, if Tapirmon hadn't stepped in, and if she had let him do what he wanted with her. Now she understood what Orie was trying to teach her. She needed to step up, to push her own insecurities aside for the greater good, to speak up and say no, to put her foot down and not let people do bad things when they please, just like she did when she called Kinzo out on calling Yun retarded, even though it resulted in her getting beat up to the point of getting sent to the emergency room. Because she stood up for what she believed in and told her friends about what had been happening, she saved herself and her sister from further abuse. If she hadn't, then she might have died or suffered forever more. But because the memory of Kosuke berating her consumed her, Tapirmon was hurt, and other people are getting hurt or muddied by PlatinumNumemon's excrement. All kinds of questions were going through her mind. Are those things disease ridden? Will they make people sick? Will they make them die?

PlatinumNumemon had to be stopped. Aria knew that if she stays silent and lets him continue his rampage, people would get hurt or even die, just like how even bigger and more dangerous Digimon would do things like that. Clenching her fists, she stood up, grabbed her digivice, made the digisword come out, stomped on over to the oblivious PlatinumNumemon, and...sliced one of his wings right off.

"OWWWW!" PlatinumNumemon howled upon feeling his left wing get chopped off by Aria's sword.

"Stop throwing poop at people right now!" Aria screamed at the top of her voice, hoping it was loud enough for PlatinumNumemon to hear. Surprised at how loud and screechy her normally timid little voice is, PlatinumNumemon stopped what he was doing and found himself frozen in place, just like Aria was.

"Stop being mean to everybody! Why are you doing this?! Answer me!" Aria yelled as loud as she could.

PlatinumNumemon, becoming intimidated by her voice and how strongly she stood her ground, conceded defeat and answered. "I...I thought it'd be amusing."

"Amusing?!" Aria yelped. She knew what amusing meant. Mariya told her it's another word for funny. But for a Digimon to think throwing poop at people is funny... "You think it's funny to make people smell bad and probably give them diseases that might kill them?!"

PlatinumNumemon said nothing. This scrawny little girl, who he thought he could handle without a hitch, rendered him silent with the scornful look in her eyes. "Well, it's NOT funny! It's wrong! They don't look amused, now do they?!"

PlatinumNumemon looked around. The people who saw them clearly weren't amused at all. One woman was crying. Others looked at him with nothing but scorn and animosity on their faces, without any hint of ambiguity whatsoever. But it wasn't surprising to him. He had seen these looks before, and they had been ingrained in his mind for a long, long time. Aria didn't know this, however, and just kept on scolding him.

"You may think it's funny, but it's actually wrong to do what you're doing! You have to consider that what you do can hurt people! You might be making them sick and giving them diseases that can't be cured without even knowing it! Haven't you thought about that?!"

"...Why not?! Why can't I do what I want?! They deserve it for hating me!" PlatinumNumemon yelled, unable to stand for getting yelled at by an eight year old little girl anymore.

"We didn't even do anything to you, so why hurt us?! What did we ever do to you that was so bad?! You do know you're not in the Digital World, right?!" Aria exclaimed, her voice quivering a little bit, but she wasn't going to let it make her lose her cool.

"I...I...I'm sick of it..." PlatinumNumemon muttered. "I'm sick of everyone...hating me."

"Why do the Digimon hate you?" Aria asked, thinking that that's what he meant by everyone.

"Because I EXIST! Because I'm ugly! Because I look like this! I'm not clean and fancy and pretty and nice like they are, even though I want to be! I want to be pretty and nice and cool but they always say go away! They say I'm gross and ugly and a monster! Nobody even played with me because they think I'll make them smell bad just by being around them! See?! Even you hate me because I'm here!" PlatinumNumemon screamed, venting out his frustrations.

"I never said that. I never said I hated you. I'm mad at you because you're being mean to everybody here. I wish you'd decide whether you wanna be mean or be nice. Then I'd know how to feel."

"I'm mean to those Digimon because they're mean to me! And I wanna be nice and help everyone but they all think I'm all bad news without even bothering to see who I am, and the ones who are nice to me just wanna fix me because I don't look the way they want me to not be myself because so everybody else won't be uncomfortable! They won't let me be ME! They just want me to be perfect so they can destroy who I am and not care about it! And I've TRIED being nice, but that doesn't work! It never has, and it never will!"

"Maybe, the first thing you can do is stop throwing poop at people."

PlatinumNumemon looked around again. He saw their sad faces, their somber faces, their scornful faces, and the faces that pleaded for him to stop what he was doing because they were too scared to say it with words. He looked down at the concrete below him dejectedly.

"Alright. I'll stop. I'm sorry," PlatinumNumemon mused sadly. He snapped one of his stubby little hands and a digital portal appeared right below him. He fell right in, and he couldn't have flown out because Aria chopped off his wing with her digisword. Aria tried to grab him but he fell in too fast for her to land a grip on him. She couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that she couldn't put him on the right path. But she did have another bone to pick. She turned around, ambled over to Piximon, and stared daggers at him with her brown eyes, not looking like she was going to let him off the hook.

"And you, Piximon! I know you're tired, frustrated, angry, and feel like everything you do is in vain, but you shouldn't take it out on Tapirmon and think he's all bad just because of mistakes he makes. Yeah, he's selfish, a crybaby, and doesn't know when he did something wrong, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have any good in him. If he didn't, then he wouldn't have saved me," Aria told him sharply and lucidly. 

"You tell'em, Aria!" Orie cheered and swung her fist a little, happy that Aria's finally raising her voice and putting her foot down. She couldn't help but remember when she and Yun were in the hospital, and Yun called her out on not being a good big sister.

"_Forgive me for putting you on the spot, but you're not exactly setting the best example of a good big sister, y'know! Good big sisters teach their little sisters what's right and what's wrong!"_ Before then, Orie just wanted Aria to just listen to Kinzo and do what he said so they'd be spared the beatings and whippings, even though Kinzo still hurt them anyway. Orie had told people about the abuse before, but nobody believed her, so she gave up, and tried to force Aria to give up too. But Aria taught her that letting bad things happen makes things worse than they already are, and if someone doesn't tell someone, nothing will get fixed. After that, and watching Piximon berate Tapirmon for everything, Orie understood what Yun had been trying to tell her. Now, her little sister is putting her foot down and standing up for what's right. Orie couldn't help but smile and feel proud for teaching her right.

"You were awesome back there! I wanted to tell you to come back, but you talked him down like it was nothing!" MarineAngemon exclaimed happily.

"Why did you do it?" Piximon asked.

"Because...Mama felt like that," Aria said.

"What? What does your mother have to do with this?" Unimon asked.

"Mama said in her goodbye note that people hated her...for who she was, and that's why she...did what she did. She felt the world would be better off without her. PlatinumNumemon felt like that, too, and that's why he's been hurting people, so he can get back at them for what he went through. I...I hope he sees that being mean won't help him," Aria explained in a somewhat soft and sad voice.

"I'm starting to notice a pattern here..." MarineAngemon said.

All of a sudden, Tapirmon floated over to them. "Thank you. For believing in me," Tapirmon told them politely with a bow.

"No. Thank _you_ for saving _me_," Aria said.

"I'm sorry for the trouble I caused. We'll go home now so you don't have to deal with us getting on your nerves," Tapirmon said.

Silently, Piximon snapped his fingers and made a digital portal appear.

"We'll come and visit when we have the chance! Bye, girls!" Tapirmon exclaimed and waved goodbye to them as he and Piximon went into the portal, leaving two girls and two Digimon behind.


	110. No Common Sense

EPISODE 102: No Common Sense

Nayuki laid on the grass in some unexplored part of the woods, staring up at the thick, almost blooming plum blossom trees with a pensive, wistful gaze in her eyes. She could see, but she saw nothing. The plum blossom buds did not interest her one bit. Her gaze permeated the buds and saw farther than that, staring right into the grey, cloudy sky. She loved cloudy days. They weren't bright, the sun wasn't there to smack her around with its sunbeams and excessive brightness, she didn't have to squint at anything and everything, the colors of everything around her were muted and dull, and they were usually miserable kinds of days for everyone. She didn't care. She liked cloudy days. The clouds protected her from the sun, and she was forever grateful to them. Clouds did their own thing. Clouds don't lie. Clouds aren't hypocrites. Clouds aren't overly idealistic pieces of garbage who spout stupid stuff like friendship and kindness. What did friendship and kindness ever do for her? She wished she hadn't met those losers, the Digimon Brigade.

Mostly because ever since she met them, she's been thinking more and more about everything they've been trying to say to her, everything they've been trying to smack into her cranium ever since they witnessed the criminal acts she did without any mercy, guilt, or remorse. Her chest tightened at the words she's heard them say to her ever since they first met her last year, and it hadn't stopped since then. Yes, she knew none of what she did was right, but she didn't care. So what if she let her Digimon run rampant without consideration for the consequences of her actions? So what if people died? So what if people hated her for the rest of her life? She was already a pariah anyway, and she was already subject to persecution and prejudice anyway, so what's the point of preaching everything to her now. She assumed it was too late for her to be a kind, weak person. But to her, kindness made her weak. Only the strong can survive in this cold world.

However, ever since she made her proclamation to attempt to rule the Digital World, conflicting feelings ran through her chest cavity like race cars going 180 miles an hour. She only said that at the spur of the moment, to make them lower their guard so she could insult them further, to prove that she was stronger than them. But...ever since then, she hadn't accomplished anything. There were no Digimon for her and Tsukaimon to kill, so neither of them were able to hone their powers. But then again, Tsukaimon was the one who did all of the work. All Nayuki did was give orders and beat him bloody if he didn't do what she asked. She watched nonchalantly as Tsukaimon flew from tree to tree, catching bugs and squishing them with his paws, not caring for their useless, pointless, worthless lives. These two killed other Digimon mercilessly and pretty much did whatever they wanted together, no matter what.

Nayuki should be feeling satisfied. Proud. Happy. Jubilant. Triumphant. But she wasn't. Why is none of what she and Tsukaimon doing giving her any satisfaction. Why does she feel so bored, so lacking in motivation to do just about anything?

Then the thought entered her head. None of what she accomplished gave her any satisfaction. She felt empty inside. Hollow, like a hole drilled into someone's tooth to get rid of a really bad cavity. Perhaps she herself was the hypocrite. She vaingloriously boasted about getting stronger and taking over the Digital World, when in reality, Tsukaimon continued to be weaker than all of the Digimon Brigade's Digimon combined, and they made no effort to even try to find some way to rule the Digital World. She assumed their ennui and lack of motivation was all Tsukaimon's fault, as he hasn't gotten any stronger no matter what they've done or tried. But...somewhere, within whatever was left of her heart, it was thinking about the Digimon Brigade, and everything they've tried to bash into her skull. Their Digimon were strong, much stronger than her own, because they were kind to them and loved them. Was that the answer she was looking for?

Nayuki shook her head. No. It couldn't be. It just couldn't. Love and kindness only makes someone weak and vulnerable, and all of it is false and insincere. She saw a dark flash fly across the cloudy sky. It looked like it had long, outstretched wings. Nayuki sat up and stood on her feet.

"Hm. Looks like we might have a chance of actually getting something done," Nayuki mused to herself bitterly as she crossed her arms and looked up at the dismally cloudy sky. "Tsukaimon!"

"Yeah, Nayuki?" Tsukaimon hopped off of the tree branch he perched himself on and flew over to Nayuki.

"I think we might have some prey you can munch on. You up for it?" Nayuki asked.

"Aww, heck yeah! Bring it on!" Tsukaimon boasted with a cocky edge to his voice, something Nayuki was really starting to hate.

"Can you please NOT act so overconfident? Your silliness and lack of strength is a handicap you know you can't avoid," Nayuki retorted irritably.

"Yeah yeah, I know," Tsukaimon retorted back.

"Don't take that attitude with me!" 

"Come on! Let's go find our prey!"

Nayuki spat at the grass and left a huge glob of spit sitting in the grass. "Whatever."

Kosuke, riding on Pegasusmon's back, looked all over the town below them. Pegasusmon and Patamon did the same. They had gotten a message from Rena and Riku about two Digimon fighting in the park, and they happened to be free, so they decided to see what the deal is. But they never specified anything about the two Digimon that are fighting, particularly what they looked like and how high in level they both were. Lots of thoughts were going through their minds. Are they dangerous? Do they both have Dark Emblems? Are they some of MoonMillenniummon's minions? They had no time to wonder. They just had to get there and make sure these Digimon, whoever they are, don't disturb the peace or kill anyone, though it's likely civilians have already seen them.

"Do you see anything, Pegasusmon?" Kosuke asked.

"Not yet. But I sense the presence of two Digimon, so we're getting close," Pegasusmon told him.

"Oh!" Patamon suddenly exclaimed out of the blue, his brown eyes widening with surprise.

"What's up, Patamon?" Kosuke asked upon hearing Patamon's proclamation of surprise.

"Over there! I see them!" Patamon shouted as he pointed to the park.

Pegasusmon didn't need to descend in order to see the Digimon fighting. One of them is really big, like the size of a full grown rhinoceros. In fact, the big Digimon looked very much like a rhinoceros, only this one was covered in flawless, vintage, shining gold armor, like it was completely brand new. But the Digimon that was fighting it looked very much like a human being, with messy, pale blonde hair tied in a long ponytail and cherry red eyes, not the glowing red eyes on Digimon who have been branded with Dark Emblems. This Digimon is wearing a green hat with a big red feather protruding out from it, a green jacket, a white shirt, a pale green scarf with a red marble shaped jewel on it, green and tan pants, brown boots, and white gloves. He had a small knife in his hand and was using it to try and cut the golden rhinoceros, who was clearly rampaging and going crazy. Kosuke could see Riku, Rena, Lekismon, Darcmon, and Firamon at the scene. Riku and Rena looked like they were holding the humanoid Digimon back while Lekismon, Firamon, and Darcmon were dealing with the rampaging rhinoceros.

"I've never seen those Digimon before," Patamon said.

"I'll look them up," Kosuke said as he pulled up the information on both Digimon. "Okay, the human Digimon is Petermon, a champion level. His attacks are Snipe Sting, Twinkle Shoot, and Midnight Fantasia. The golden rhino is...Rhinomon. Fitting. He's an armor level whose attacks are Atomic Burst and Split Blade."

"Twinkle...Shoot? Wow, that's the stupidest name for an attack I've ever heard!" Patamon exclaimed.

"I agree," Pegasusmon said, galloping as he descended onto the grass as Lekismon, Darcmon, and Firamon launched their attacks on the rampaging and volatile Rhinomon.

"Moon Night Bomb!" Lekismon unleashed five spheres of water at the golden rhinoceros, who, unfortunately, managed to penetrate every single one of them with his horn. Lekismon did some back flips right out of his way as soon as he tried to charge at her.

"Fira Claw!" Firamon descended from above and, with flames engulfing both of his claws, managed to slice Rhinomon's helmet, though not to the point of making it fall off, making him stumble a little.

"Dancing Sword!" Darcmon mesmerized Rhinomon with some intricate sword movements and then surprised him by dredging it into one of his unarmored spots.

"Come on! Stop wiggling!" Rena complained as she tried to hold the Digimon, Petermon, back, who was clearly not enjoying being restrained by a couple of children.

"How can you be so lenient on this beast?! He attacked me, therefore I must kill him!" Petermon yelled in a voice that clearly sounded like it belonged to a teenager.

"I found a Dark Emblem! It's on his tail!" Darcmon called out. "I'll pry it out!"

"See? We told you it was a Dark Emblem!" Riku said.

"Pegasusmon, you better give them a hand," Kosuke said as he hopped off of Pegasusmon's back.

"Will do, my skyward friend!" Pegasusmon said as he flew over to the volatile Rhinomon to help the Digimon out while Kosuke ran over to the struggling Nobara twins.

"Kosuke-kun! Oh, thank God you're here!" Rena exclaimed with relief twinging her voice.

"What happened?" Kosuke asked, confused by the overall suddenness of the whole situation.

Petermon scoffed. "Just great. Another annoying little human."

"These guys just appeared out of nowhere and fought like cats and dogs. This guy here just wants to kill him, but we knew there was a Dark Emblem on him, so that's why we're holding him back...though could you maybe help us out with this, please?" Riku explained. Kosuke could tell even he was getting tired of dealing with this obstinate humanoid Digimon.

"Why don't you just let me go already and kill this wretched beast?!" Petermon screamed angrily, his anger spilling out like a broken pipe.

"Not happening, you dolt!" Kosuke said.

"Ah! Rhinomon's trying to get into town!" Lekismon shouted as Rhinomon tried to run into the neighborhood. Thankfully, being as agile as she is, she hopped in front of Rhinomon and clenched his face with both arms and her body, hoping she could at least stop him from getting into down. Darcmon and Firamon helped as well, even though he managed to push them. This did, however, give Pegasusmon the opportunity to attack the Dark Emblem on his thin little tail.

"Star Shower!" It took a few of these to fully remove the Dark Emblem, since the new ones are smaller and harder to destroy because of the enhancements that were made on them, but he managed to make it shatter, and as a result, Rhinomon finally collapsed, freeing Lekismon, Darcmon, and Firamon.

"I'm glad we made it in time," Pegasusmon said.

"Thank goodness you did. Otherwise, this entire neighborhood would be smashed to pieces," Firamon said.

Finally, Petermon broke out of the children's grasp and unsheathed his own knife. With a scornful and angry look in his cherry red eyes, he pointed his knife at the children unmercifully as though they were the ones trying to kill him. This made all the kids look at each other with both fear and confusion in their eyes.

"What have you imbeciles done?! As soon as Rhinomon wakes up he's going to go on a rampage again!" Petermon shouted. "Haven't you thought about what that could entail?!"

"Don't you think we know that?!" Kosuke yelled, surprised by how distrusting and angry this humanoid Digimon is. "Look, we'll send him back to the Digital World. Okay? Now will you just let us go over there and do it?"

"How do I know it's not some kind of trick that'll allow you to kill me?!" Petermon insinuated with a venom tipping the end of his tongue.

"We'd never do that!" Patamon reasoned. "Why would we do that? We don't even know you!"

"You don't need to know me in order to do away with me! Now reveal to me your true colors!" Petermon threatened, pointing his knife at the children.

"Hey! Don't threaten them!" Darcmon commanded as she flew in between the trio of children and the distrusting and choleric Petermon, with Lekismon, Pegasusmon, and Firamon joining her. "We are not your enemies!" She pointed her own scepter at him in retaliation, hoping he would back away, but he didn't.

"It's true. We've never even heard of you until today, so why in the wild blue yonder would we kill you? We don't even have any reason to do so!" Lekismon asked.

"Don't lie to me! You're one of MoonMillenniummon's flunkies, aren't you?! You're trying to kill me just because I found your inner sanctum!" Petermon insinuated. "Well, too bad, because I'll be the one to kill you first!"

"Please don't fight!" A very deep yet innocent sounding voice stopped Petermon in his tracks. Everybody turned around to find that Rhinomon had reawakened and got back on his feet. Slowly, he ambled over to the children. Riku, Rena, and Kosuke could tell that since the Dark Emblem had been removed, Rhinomon wasn't going to hurt them. Rena in particular noticed that Rhinomon's voice sounded quite childlike even though it sounded so deep and so rich, like an adult man.

"Why are you fighting? That's not a nice thing to do," Rhinomon said.

"You said it, my friend," Kosuke mused, happy that someone else finally has some sense, even though it's coming from a gigantic armored rhinoceros of all things.

Unfortunately, Petermon, not fazed by anything they were saying, attempted to lunge at Rhinomon with his knife, but Kosuke managed to grab his arm and smack his hand hard enough for the knife to come right out. Rena stepped on it with her prosthetic leg so Petermon wouldn't get his hands on it.

"What's your problem?! He's good now! The Dark Emblem isn't on him anymore!" Riku yelled angrily, appalled by Petermon's continual breach of decorum and the fact that he didn't listen to a thing they just said. Kosuke didn't think Rhinomon was out to kill them or anyone. He sounded nice and sweet, even though he had no real way of knowing for sure. He knew he was taking quite a risk, taking his thoughts and running with them, but Petermon keeps blowing the whole brouhaha out of proportion, even after the Dark Emblem was removed. _'Does this guy seriously think Rhinomon's all bad, Dark Emblem or not? What drugs is he on?'_ Kosuke mused as he tried to hold the obstinate green clad man off to no avail.

"That creature is a monster! A beast! He attacked me from out of nowhere! You're being lenient on him while you berate me?! How can you be so blind?!" Petermon yelled.

"I attacked you?" Rhinomon asked, turning his gold covered head in confusion until the memory dawned on him. "Oh yeah. That must have been it. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to attack you," Rhinomon bowed in front of Petermon who, again, was not pleased.

"Don't think you can trick me so easily, you beast!" Petermon yelled.

"Will you shut up already?! My God, you're so annoying! Is this how you act all the time?!" Firamon snapped.

"You know, you really need to just calm down a little. I'm sure Rhinomon didn't attack you on purpose, and I assure you, we're in no way involved with MoonMillenniummon whatsoever. We don't even know where his inner sanctum is, though we'd very much like to know ourselves," Lekismon told him in a kind, dulcet voice, which also didn't faze him.

"You be quiet, you pansy!" Petermon snapped.

"Stop calling names! It's rude!" Rhinomon scolded childishly, further cementing Kosuke's suspicion that the armored rhinoceros is really nice, not a dark hearted monster like Petermon so ardently and vehemently believes.

"You need to die right here, you monster!"

A scream came right out of Rena's mouth. "I can't take this anymore!" She screamed at the top of her lungs and ran away.

"Rena! Wait!" Lekismon, Kosuke, Patamon, and surprisingly enough, Rhinomon, chased after Rena, who was already far ahead of them even with her prosthetic leg, leaving Riku, Darcmon, Firamon, and Petermon all alone. Finally, Petermon was rendered silent, surprised by Rena's screaming and running away.

"What just happened?" Firamon asked.

"Dunno," Darcmon replied, sounding just as confused as he and everyone else.

Rena didn't get to run very far. She stopped and leaned against a big tree once she didn't feel like running anymore. Her heart felt heavy, and her face looked very swollen and contorted, like she was about to burst into tears at any given moment. Kosuke, Lekismon, Patamon, and Rhinomon finally managed to catch up to her. Kosuke ambled over to Rena with a soft look in his hazel eyes.

"What's wrong, Rena?" Kosuke asked softly.

"Did I do something wrong?" Rhinomon asked, thinking that this whole affair must be about him.

"It's not you, Rhinomon," Patamon told him reassuringly.

"When is all of this fighting going to stop?" Rena asked bitterly and sadly, her evergreen eyes shaking.

"What are you talking about?" Kosuke asked, confused as to whether she was talking about Petermon wanting to kill Rhinomon or not. But something told him it was about something else...and he was right all along.

"This whole MoonMillenniummon business! I'm so sick and tired of all this fighting and killing! Why can't everything just be back to normal already?! A bunch of people are dying because of everything that's been going on, and what have we done to stop him?! Nothing! Why can't MoonMillenniummon and his flunkies just leave us alone and just die already?! I can't take all of this fighting anymore!" Rena cried, holding nothing back when venting her frustrations.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let that Digimon put the Dark Emblem on me," Rhinomon said dejectedly, thinking Rena was talking about him. Kosuke could tell from his body language that Rhinomon was genuinely remorseful and guilty for what he had done just now.

"It's not you, Rhinomon. I...I know we have no choice but to fight him. We all have to, if we want to save both Earth and the Digital World, and I know sacrifices have to be made sometimes, but...I'm just so sick of everything. All of this hatred, all of this fighting, and all the casualties that come out of it," Rena cried softer this time. Kosuke gently put a hand on her shoulder.

"I agree with you. This whole thing sucks. All of this fighting sucks. The fact that people have died because of the Digimon sucks, and I feel worse about the fact that we can't seem to find a way to fight off Digimon and save a bunch of civilians at the same time. I know how you feel, and it's okay. But it's not like we wanted all of this stuff to happen, now did we?" Kosuke told her gently.

"No, we didn't. But other people may not think so. The Digimon have already appeared on TV, and people may think that our partners are the bad guys too! It's bad enough Riku's been demonized by everyone in Hokkaido because of his ADHD, our mom included. I don't want everyone in our neighborhood, or the world for that matter, to hate us just because of something we can't control! They might even think we did all of this on purpose!" Rena cried. Kosuke could see tears coming out of her eyes a little bit.

Kosuke didn't try to tell her to get over it, and he used to do that when he was still living with Kanako, frustrated by her persistent alcoholism and laziness. He knew that everyone had to be frustrated about this whole thing, but wondered why they didn't complain about it. Perhaps it was too important to do so. Maybe they thought someone would get mad if they complained or let out their frustration. Maybe it just wasn't worth it to complain. But doesn't everyone need to express their feelings and let their frustrations out once in a while? If they keep it locked away inside, it'll only fester, make them more frustrated, and cause them to be jerks toward everyone they love, their friends included. Kosuke learned the repercussions to that the hard way. It nearly destroyed his friendship with everyone, especially Yun, who was hurt by his frustration and arrogance the most back then.

Speaking of demonizing someone and ostracizing them, Kosuke couldn't help but remember that the Digimon Brigade all have one thing in common: everyone's been ostracized in one way or another. Kosuke was disliked by others because of his rich dad at first, then after they lost their money and home, they shunned him because his mother kept making things worse for him. Things have gotten better now, but for the rest of the Digimon Brigade, the problem still persists. Yun is continually hated by kids in school because of her disability, her strange behaviors, her large chest, and her mixed race. Kosuke's often heard kids gossip amongst themselves and say that Minako is stuck-up and thinks she's rubbing in the fact that she's smarter than everyone else, making them think she thinks she's better than them, which he knows isn't true (about her being stuck-up and rubbing in her accomplishments like she's better than them). They also derided her for her suicide attempt. Kids hated Melody because of her dark attire, rude attitude, and nonconformist outlook on life. Rena's gotten some flak because of her prosthetic leg, Riku's ADHD, occasional tactlessness, recklessness, carelessness, and hyperactivity have given people the wrong idea about him, people who know about Otoya's dad's job just can't look past it and refuse to see that she's a normal girl just like they are, Aria was abused by her father for looking like Kirika, talking about her, and _"not knowing her place,"_ kids at Isao's school will only like him if he's tough and mean, not the kind crybaby he wants to be, and Hokuto's hated for stuff that's not even his fault: he's the son of a man who committed lots of crimes against humanity for an impossible cause, resulting in a beast lurking within Hokuto's body that comes out and lashes out at people when he's too overstimulated, yet people yell at him and throw stuff at him just because he's Saruto's son and think he'll do the same things his father did. His family is faring no better. He isn't sure about Shunji, as he doesn't talk about his personal life.

Wait...

"You okay, Kosuke? You're all quiet," Rhinomon suddenly asked out of the blue, pulling Kosuke out of his reverie.

"I...I think I'm starting to notice a pattern here," Kosuke muttered.

"What do you mean?" Patamon asked curiously, wondering what was on his faithful partner's mind.

"Do you all remember the Digimon we fought up till now? Some of them mentioned why they choose to be with MoonMillenniummon. Can you remember what they told us?" Kosuke asked.

Patamon and Rena began thinking...and soon, it came to them.

"I remember seeing Yun talking to Witchmon, and the latter said something about Digimon hating her because they thought she committed a crime and banished her from their world, and that MoonMillenniummon saved her and gave her the love she wanted," Patamon said, remembering the fiasco at Noir Lake. He had to wonder why Witchmon's shrill voice still lingered in his head.

"Yeah! And Riku was telling me about when he fought a WaruMonzaemon. Apparently he was hated by everyone for how ugly he looked and didn't see past his appearance, and was demonized by everyone he met, and that MoonMillenniummon saved him. He said he was the only one who saw who he really was," Rena explained.

"I remember something else, too. Minako said that when LadyDevimon attacked us at the picnic, Salamon talked to one of the BlackGatomon and she said she and her sisters were attacked by bad Digimon when they got caught in a snowstorm. They said the Digimon who attacked them accused them of trying to steal their food or other bad stuff. I know winters in the Digital World can be really harsh. She said he saved them from freezing and starving to death," Patamon explained. "Oh! And Aria-chan said she heard MarineDevimon's voice and how he was saying his parents didn't like him and disowned him because he was ugly and not what they wanted him to be and left him to die."

"Yeah! Yeah! And remember that time we heard MoonMillenniummon's voice for the first time on LadyDevimon's walkie talkie? Otoya told me that Kudamon said something about how her master sounded like he cared about his servants like they were his children, not just objects he can nuke when they aren't of any use to him anymore. He suspected he might be a Digimon who's really misguided, but he said it was too early to tell, and that was before we found out that her master had a name," Rena said.

"I've heard some of MoonMillenniummon's minions say they're _'giving us what we deserved for leaving them in the dust like trash all their lives.'_ Maybe they thought destroying the Digital World was the best way to get their message across," Rhinomon suddenly piped in out of the blue. Kosuke couldn't help but let out a small but surprised yelp, shocked at how much this golden armored Digimon actually knows about the situation. But in his proud little heart, he was happy that the pieces are coming together to form a decent picture.

"You're right, Rhinomon. The Digital World was destroyed because these guys said they were giving their so-called tormentors what they rightfully deserve, even if it meant killing any and all Digimon they could. He even said that MoonMillenniummon recruited abandoned and forsaken Digimon just for that purpose," Kosuke said.

"So...does this mean all of the Digimon he took in have been forsaken in some way or another?" Rena asked, flummoxed by the revelation that dawned on all of them.

"Probably so. But then why go to the trouble of making Dark Emblems and controlling other Digimon when he can find the ones he really needs?" Kosuke replied.

"Maybe just having Digimon he can relate to isn't enough for him. Maybe he has grand plans to take over the Digital World but needs the right amount of Digimon to do it. He couldn't have gotten this far all on his own, especially since Wisemon says he's trapped underground now and can't get out," Patamon said.

Patamon and the kids were about to talk more when suddenly Rhinomon hopped in front of them, and then an explosion appeared out of the blue. Kosuke dragged Rena behind the tree right as it happened. Once the explosion dissipated into smoke, Kosuke and Patamon peered out from behind Rhinomon to find the source of the explosion...and it was something they hadn't seen in quite a long while.

Nayuki and Devidramon.

Patamon noticed that Rhinomon has a huge burn mark on his armor, which only meant one thing.

He saw them coming and saved them from their attack.

"Hm. Looks like we have a big one," Nayuki said grimly with her arms crossed.

"All the more fun for me," Devidramon growled.

"Rip it apart!" Nayuki proclaimed boldly, without any hint of hesitation in her voice.

With a roar, Devidramon attempted to lunge at Rhinomon, who, instead of running, continued to stand his ground and stand up to Devidramon. The black winged dragon managed to get a hold of him, but found that the golden armored rhinoceros was too heavy to move, no matter what he did. He clawed and he bit at the armored monster, only to roar in pain as parts of his teeth broke upon making contact with the shining golden armor. Rhinomon did absolutely nothing but stand there, taking the blows like a brick wall, yet there wasn't a scratch on him.

"Come on, Devidramon! You can do better than that, you stupid dragon!" Nayuki yelled, appalled by Devidramon's inability to take down a giant rhinoceros Digimon.

"Crimson Claw!" Devidramon again lunged at the golden rhinoceros, but Rhinomon saw this coming and rammed his armored head against him, sending him flying a short distance. As soon as this happened, Riku, Lekismon, Firamon, Pegasusmon, Darcmon, and oddly enough, Petermon, came onto the scene, frozen with surprise upon witnessing this new fiasco.

"Awww! Not you again! Are you ever gonna leave us alone, you witch?!" Riku complained loudly, without any fear of Nayuki suddenly getting choleric like she usually did when anyone said about anything.

"Riku! Don't! You're gonna provoke her!" Rena, however, thought differently, and definitely made this clear.

Nayuki shot a piercing, angry look at the freckled boy. "You shut it, loudmouth! This is _my_ prey, and you're the ones who should leave us alone!"

"Who is this girl?" Petermon asked.

"Her name's Ichinose Nayuki. If there's anyone you should be convinced is evil, she's pretty much evil incarnate. She abuses her Digimon, constantly berates anyone and everyone she sees, makes her Digimon fight like a machine without considering the consequences of what it would entail, and shows absolutely no remorse or guilt for the bad things she does," Firamon explained.

"It's true. We've seen her do some pretty bad things, and we're still angry about it!" Darcmon said.

"But why is Rhinomon facing off against that Devidramon?" Petermon asked, actually sounding like he's calmed down.

"Are you really so desperate to be destroyed that you actually don't want to fight me? Fine! I'll put you out of your misery!" Devidramon piped in.

"No! I gotta digivolve!" Patamon yelled and tried to fly into the scene, but Kosuke grabbed him and kept him from flying any closer.

"Patamon, don't! I think Rhinomon's doing this on purpose!" Kosuke said.

"But even though he's fine right now, he might die if Devidramon digivolves! I can't just sit here and do nothing!" Patamon pleaded, surprised that Kosuke isn't letting him digivolve like he usually would.

"He's right, Patamon. I'm doing this to save you all. Fighting is wrong, and this person and Digimon are bad. I hate bad Digimon. You saved me from the Dark Emblem, so I'll save you this time. Don't try to stop me!" Rhinomon piped in. Hearing this, Petermon couldn't help but be rendered silent by Rhinomon's altruistic act. Rhinomon didn't even seem scared of potentially dying in a place he's never been to before until now.

Petermon's only encounter with Rhinomon was his suddenly attacking him out of the blue, causing them to come to the human world unannounced and unexpectedly. Petermon, who's been so used to being chased by bad Digimon lately, assumed he was one of them and kept his guard up. But he had gotten cocky and didn't check to see if he was really one of MoonMillenniummon's minions or not. Rhinomon wasn't even afraid when Petermon attempted to kill him, and wasn't hurt when he continually insulted him. He is yet again showing no fear in front of his nefarious and ferocious black dragon, protecting those who helped remove the Dark Emblem. How could Petermon have been so blinded by hatred, blinded by his desire to survive? Could his yearning for survival have caused his manners to deteriorate? It may be so, especially now that he's met Nayuki.

Who was the evil one now?

"But you're no match for him if he digivolves!" Patamon pleaded.

"Oh, quit spouting all that useless power of friendship garbage and get eaten already! Fueling Devidramon's power is all you're good for anyway!" Nayuki yelled.

"Moon Night Bomb!" Lekismon very angrily unleashed not her usual three, four, or five spheres of water, but eight this time around! They all soaked Devidramon to the bone, rendering him limp and weak, practically unable to stand up.

Petermon decided he wasn't going to sit around and get introspective anymore. "Sniper's Dagger!" Petermon threw his dagger at one of Devidramon's wings, slicing right through it and pinning it to the concrete, rendering him unable to fly without undergoing excruciating pain.

"How can you be so heartless, to claim that we are just food that your Digimon can eat so he can digivolve?! And look at the damage Devidramon has done just now! People are gonna notice! Don't you have any common sense?!" Lekismon yelled, appalled by Nayuki's dagger sharp words just now.

"That's just the way it is. We're all part of some food chain, so what's the point of going against it? We're all gonna die anyway, so why bother defying the laws of nature? And so what if people notice and buildings get destroyed? They're just in the way. Why should I care?" Nayuki asked maliciously with her arms crossed, looking away from them like they were the most disgusting thing she ever saw.

"So you DO think of everyone as pawns you can use to feed your fearsome beast here! You're mad, woman!" Petermon yelled, finally realizing the error of his ways.

"I'm not mad. You're all just too retarded to realize that those ideals of yours are gonna get you nowhere in life. Now let me get my prey already! Devidramon! Get that useless rhino!" Nayuki said solemnly at first, then yelled when she wanted Devidramon to get back to business.

"I...I can't fly! My wing's stuck!" Devidramon growled painfully.

It'd be pointless to repeat over and over again that Nayuki was not happy about Devidramon's deficiency. "Quit making excuses and fly, you useless dragon!"

"Don't ever call your Digimon useless, you witch!" Firamon roared fiercely like a lion.

"You stop calling me a witch, you smelly, overgrown furrball!" Nayuki snapped back with gusto.

"Don't think he can break free from my dagger so easily. Once my trusted dagger hits something, it won't budge unless I command it or he de-digivolves. You seem to not care about his well-being, considering what I've seen. If you want, I'd be more than happy to dispose of him so you won't have to deal with his uselessness anymore, seeing that you care more about yourself than about him. So what's it gonna be, girl? Do you want me to deprive you of your precious outlet, or would you rather be rid of him once and for all? Choose wisely, because I won't show any mercy," Petermon told her condescendingly, obviously mocking her.

It's here that Nayuki finally stopped insulting everyone. She froze in place, and her cruel face suddenly went pale white like she had seen a ghost. Lekismon couldn't help but see something that she never saw before, especially on Nayuki. It was a look of fear, of trepidation, and it looked like she was about to start crying. Her eyes were trembling, and she lost the permanently angry look she always donned like a fancy superhero's cape. Is Nayuki actually showing fear? Nayuki, the fearless, reckless, cruel, and downright abusive human, actually showing fear and faced with a decision she may not be able to make so easily? All because Tsukaimon's life is on the line? Nobody had ever cared for Nayuki before, nor did she ever care about anything. But for just a moment, they could all see something on Nayuki right now that they never did before.

Fear.

Fear of losing Tsukaimon, the only Digimon partner she ever had, and her outlet for her frustrations, anger, and stress. Nayuki couldn't believe she was worrying about this and looking like she was about to lose everything. She couldn't believe Devidramon was so weak that he's about to die thanks to some humanoid Digimon with terrible fashion sense. She couldn't believe she was actually faced with a decision she needed to make RIGHT NOW, and fast. But what scared her the most was one thing.

She was going to lose Tsukaimon, the one thing that made her powerful.

Losing Tsukaimon...she didn't care about him, yet she feared losing him...and she was showing it with the new look on her face, a look she thought she had repressed long ago.

All of a sudden, she saw an image of herself as a slightly younger girl, lying battered, bruised, and beaten in a dirty and dusty corner, crying and sniveling continually, without any intention of stopping. One of her shoes had been ripped off, her dress was in tatters, and part of her ear was bleeding really bad, even with a hastily put together lump of all the napkins and paper towels she could find. Her hair had been hastily cut, like it was forced on her.

"_Why does this always happen to me...? Why can't I be strong? Why can't I be the strong one and beat them up? What did we do to deserve this?! Why...why can't you save me, Mom?"_

Nayuki gritted her teeth, balled her fists, and squeezed her eyes shut.

She knew what she had to do.

"Let him go. Please," Nayuki whispered sadly, without the bitterness in her voice she always had.

"As you wish," Petermon said. He snapped his fingers, and the dagger automatically yanked itself from Devidramon's wing, allowing him to de-digivolve back into Tsukaimon. The dagger then flew straight back into Petermon's hand. Nayuki scooped the unconscious and limp Tsukaimon in her arms, noticing a slit in his right wing, possibly a scar left by Petermon's dagger. She turned around and was about to leave until Kosuke said something that made her stop.

"So you DO care about your Digimon!" Kosuke exclaimed out of the blue.

"No I don't. I only need him to be strong. That's all. Just get out of my way and let us do our thing, you retards," Nayuki said bitterly.

"I just have one question. What made you into what you are now?" Kosuke asked, louder this time.

"Do you really think I'd be so stupid as to tell you my life story?!" Nayuki yelled angrily. "My God, you losers are beyond retarded! Just go the heck away and die already! Your very existence annoys the living heck outta me!"

With that and Tsukaimon sleeping in her arms, she ran away. Once that happened, Lekismon and Firamon de-digivolved back into Lunamon and Coronamon. Lunamon was not pleased, even after Nayuki angrily left.

"My goodness, she is so rude. Perhaps the rudest human being I've ever met!" Lunamon mused.

"Indeed! But...why'd she save Tsukaimon? Doesn't she hate him?" Coronamon asked.

"Maybe...she does have a shred of heart after all. If she didn't, then she wouldn't have asked Petermon to let him go," Rena replied.

"I don't know. I think she was only afraid of losing her fighting machine and outlet for her frustration," Kosuke piped in.

"No. I felt something in her. It's just a shred, but I felt something in her," Patamon said.

"You did?! Seriously?!" Kosuke asked, shocked by what Patamon just said.

"Yeah. I get the feeling maybe some really bad things happened to her to make her who she is, and that...maybe her tough personality is just a front, like Melody's. I can't say for sure, but nobody is born cruel," Patamon said.

"That may be true, but they do start out completely selfish and have to be taught by scratch to be either nice or cruel. Children aren't any more perfect than adults, right?" Lunamon piped in.

Petermon suddenly approached Rhinomon with a dejected and rueful look on his face. "I;m sorry, Rhinomon. I shouldn't have judged you so harshly."

"It's okay. Digimon hate me anyway, so it's no big deal," Rhinomon replied.

Neither of them noticed, but Coronamon did.

"Hey! You're both glowing!" Coronamon suddenly shouted out of nowhere.

It's true. Rhinomon's horn is glowing in a yellow light, and Petermon's hat is glowing in a green light. Soon, two little orbs of light danced around in the air. The yellow light floated into Kosuke's hand, dissipating and revealing a yellow jewel that resembles a rhinoceros's horn. The dark green light floated into Rena's hands, dissipating and revealing a little dark green hat similar to Petermon's.

"Awww! You two got D-Chips?! No fair!" Riku whined.

"You already got a D-Chip," Patamon piped in.

"What does this mean?" Petermon asked, confused as to what this would entail.

"Yeah. Whazzat mean?" Rhinomon asked innocently.

"That means you're our secondary partners, and we can call for you anytime," Kosuke said.

"Does it mean we're friends?" Rhinomon asked again.

"Of course it does! If we weren't friends, then Kosuke wouldn't have gotten your D-Chip!" Patamon piped in happily.

"Speaking of secondary Digimon, where did Pegasusmon go?" Darcmon asked out of nowhere.

The kids and Digimon went off to look for Pegasusmon, who was just enjoying a little soar in the sky, oblivious to the brouhaha that just occurred. What they didn't realize was that from afar, Nayuki, with Tsukaimon still lying in her arms unconscious, watched them with a sort of sad look in her eyes.

'_I can't lose Tsukaimon. I...I just can't! He's the only thing I have! If I lose him, I'll go ballistic! I already lost everything I had once because of that man my mother married! I can't go through it again!'_ Nayuki thought desperately as disturbing images went through her mind. A man beating a woman, the same man beating her, the man throwing empty cans of food at her, multiple men beating her and using her as their punching bag, her ear getting cut with a box cutter, running away from the slums.

She looked down at her unconscious Digimon dejectedly. "Tsukaimon..."

Around that time, the Wakamiyas were at home. Teruki, who didn't seem to be in very high spirits, slumped on the couch and exhaled a rather sad sigh. Hisako couldn't help but worry a little. He's normally very cheerful, vivacious, and vibrant, almost to the point of being a little bit suffocating. She found is dejected demeanor to be rather unsettling, though she knew why. She sat on the couch with him. "So how was your brother when you and Yun visited him last week?" Hisako asked.

Teruki put a hand on his head of jet black hair. "Kenji seemed fine, but his good arm is broken and with his other arm out of commission because of his stroke, he has to go into rehab. I saw the rehab center and it's nice, so he'll be happy there. But the rehab center has to call us back sometime later. They have to confirm some things with us."

Later, when Teruki didn't feel so down in the dumps, he decided to go through the monthly bills and try to pay some while he still had time. Even though the economy has been spiraling down the path of recession since 2008, the Wakamiyas were still okay and continuing to get the same amounts of income regularly. After a while, Teruki managed to successfully pay his fair share of bills online. However, one bill didn't quite make sense to him. Hisako could see the puzzled and stumped look on his face so she decided to ask him why he looked so flummoxed.

"What's wrong, Teru?" Hisako asked. It's not every day she calls him Teru. In fact, Hisako hadn't called him that since Yun had gotten out of third grade. Teruki didn't pay any heed to the affectionate nickname, however.

"I'm not understanding that these guys want from me. Can you understand this, Hisako?" Teruki asked as he showed Hisako the bill. In the background, Yun ran into the living room with Cutemon, laughing and squealing happily as they played together, oblivious to the complicated adult things that Hisako and Teruki were dealing with right now. But they do say ignorance is bliss after all. However, in Yun's case, it's even more so since she's autistic and has absolutely zero understanding of the complicated concept of paying bills and meeting deadlines for them. Good thing she didn't have to deal with it. However, someone else was not in the mood for listening to Yun laugh out loud.

"Yun, can you shut up, please?! I'm trying to concentrate!" Ayaka yelled from her room, which made Yun stop and puff her face out in a pout.

"We're just playing..." Yun mused bitterly.

"Oh! I know what this is! If you want, we can go to the bank and city hall right now. I've paid this kind of bill before, so I can help you get it done and over with," Hisako exclaimed upon understanding what this strange bill is. Teruki couldn't help but smile.

"You will? Man, Hisako, you're really saving me on this one," Teruki said, feeling like one of God's angels has decided to shine down on him and offer him her blessings.

"Don't mention it," Hisako said.

Once Teruki took a few short minutes to get himself ready, he looked over in where his two daughters were at. "Girls, we have to take care of something at the bank and city hall. We'll be back in about twenty or so minutes, okay?"

"Okay!" They both said in unison.

Afterward, Hisako and Teruki left to go to the bank and city hall. Both Yun and Hisako knew how they were going to spend twenty minutes. Yun spent it playing with Terriermon, Lopmon, and Cutemon. Lucero isn't there because he went to visit the Nishimuras across the street, which Yun noticed he has been doing a lot lately. Ayaka spent it practicing their new dance routine, albeit in solo. Like Rena, dancing helped Ayaka truly come alive, with those long kicks and fast spins and striking those provocative poses when necessary, feeling the hip hop music consume her soul as she wanted so much to perfect this one part. Finally, after a few times, Ayaka stopped and decided to take a break. She went into the kitchen, served herself a glass of Arizona iced tea, and gulped it down like a hungry wolf.

While Yun did know of Ayaka's practicing, she really didn't like it. The music was loud, even when she was upstairs, and really wondered what was so good about listening to that stupid hip-hop music. She never did like hip-hop music or rap at all, mostly because of how bad it's gotten with those violent and promiscuous sounding lyrics of theirs, and it didn't even sound like the singers were actually singing, just throwing words out there like cannon balls. None of the music she heard from Ayaka's boom box seemed to mean something nice or meaningful, just a bunch of convoluted words to influence an audience into doing what their doing, which, to Yun, immediately meant evil. Suddenly, from out of nowhere, the phone rang.

_Ring ring ring ring_

"I'll get it!" Yun cried out as she quickly answered the phone. "Hello?"

"_Hello, this is the Okano Rehab Center. Is Wakamiya Teruki in?" _Said an unfamiliar lady's voice on the other line.

"No, he's out right now. Can I take a message?"

"_No thanks. That's fine, though I wish I had his cell phone number."_

Ayaka had just come out of her room and saw Yun on the phone. She was about to ask her who it was until she heard Yun say something that made her freeze in place completely.

"I can give you his cell phone number. It's 412-"

Her pale blue eyes widened like they were about to explode. Whoever Yun was talking to, she's about to give them their phone number! Ayaka knew that nobody was supposed to give people their phone numbers. Why is Yun about to do it? Is the person on the other line someone she knows? Or a stranger? She's twelve, isn't she supposed to know better? Even though Ayaka promised Shunji she would treat him better, a tsunami of rage consumed her very being. She couldn't help it. She wanted to shake it off, but it completely drowned her in a sea of overwhelming anger. Is Yun really this stupid? Does she literally have not even the tiniest shred of common sense, even at an age where she's supposed to know better? Before she realized it, she found herself running toward the innocent Yun like she was running a marathon.

"YUN!" Ayaka screamed suddenly as she angrily yanked the phone out of Yun's hand, pressed the end button, and smushed it back onto the counter. Ayaka's choleric yelling left Yun covering her ears with fright and almost fell over because she was so shocked by her vitriolic older sister's very sudden, vociferous entrance and her wide, animosity consumed eyes. Nothing seemed to register in her brain. What's going on? Why is Ayaka angry? She would soon find her answer. "What the freak are you doing, you freakin' idiot?! You're not supposed to give out people's phone numbers!"

Not give people phone numbers? She wasn't supposed to? So that's why Ayaka is angry. But nobody told her that. She wanted to say this, but Ayaka's yelling prevented her from doing so. But what further flummoxed the already frightened girl was...why is Ayaka expecting her to know this? "I'm not?"

"NO! I can't believe you're so stupid! You should know better, you retard! Don't you know that strangers could find us if you do that?!" Ayaka couldn't stop the hurtful words from spilling out like vomit. She wanted to stop them, but she was consumed by the tsunami of anger and the feeling of wanting to discipline this brainless little rat.

"But it was from the rehab center!" Yun desperately tried to protest, but Ayaka was yelling so loudly that she completely overrided Yun's attempts to explain everything to her.

"My God, how can you be so dumb?! You can't just give people our phone numbers! What if someone comes here and kills us or something?! If that happened, it'd be all your fault!"

"But it was about Uncle Kenji! The lady said she was from the rehab center!"

"That's not the issue here! Use your freaking common sense, you retard!"

What was common sense? Unfortunately, Yun had no concept of common sense, especially not around the house. She knew it wasn't appropriate to scream in public or throw a tantrum or call people mean names in the family or things like that. But nobody told her she couldn't give out people's phone numbers. Why was Ayaka treating it like she robbed a bank? Yun could feel her eyes blurring and tears pouring out of them, everything was so inundating.

"I'm sorry! Nobody told me I wasn't supposed to!" Yun cried out.

Ayaka suddenly found herself slapping Yun in the face, something that left the rabbits aghast with their mouths wide open. Yun didn't fall on the floor, but Ayaka was still unreasonably angry. "You're supposed to know this, you freaking retard! I can't believe you don't even have this much common sense!"

"Hey! Leave her alone!" Terriermon, not wanting to see Yun get hurt like this anymore, decided he's had enough of watching and hopped in between his beloved partner and the obstinately vitriolic Ayaka, like he was a superhero trying to protect an innocent bystander from an evil doer's clutches. "Nobody told her she's not supposed to give out people's numbers! It's your own fault for not doing so! And you don't have to be all mad about it! Why can't you just tell her nicely that she's not supposed to? That way we wouldn't be fighting like this!"

Ayaka had to admit, Terriermon had a good point. She should have told her nicely, so they wouldn't be acting like this right now. But her anger persisted and would not release Ayaka from its clutches. "Why are you sticking up for her?! It's her own fault for not having any common sense like any normal kid should!"

"You can't blame her for that! People are different, you know! Some know better and some don't! That's why we teach them, so that they can! But instead of teaching her nicely and properly, you're making her all upset by yelling at her and making it sound like she bombed a building, so it's your own fault for making things worse than they really are!" Terriermon snapped.

"STOP ACTING LIKE YOU'RE THE GOOD ONE WHEN YOU'RE EVEN WORSE THAN ME, YOU STUPID IDIOT!" Yun suddenly screamed out of nowhere at the top of her lungs, which made everybody shut up and listen. But after that, Yun cried and ran into her room in a paroxysm of tears. Lopmon turned around and gasped to find that Hisako and Teruki were in the house. They heard some of the fight!

"Hey! Don't you walk away, you brat! Come back here!" Ayaka yelled at Yun, not really noticing her parents right then. She tried to run to her room and force her out, which would only make things even worse, but Hisako grabbed her arm and stopped her from doing so.

"What's going on? We could hear you both yelling from the porch," Hisako asked, confused as to what just transpired here.

"Mom! Yun almost gave someone one of your cell phone numbers!" Ayaka snapped. "She's not supposed to give anyone your phone numbers, right?! She's supposed to know better!"

"Stop making it sound like she's the bad one! Yun didn't know! Nobody told her she wasn't supposed to!" Terriermon snapped, angry at Ayaka's persistence that Yun is the one at fault, which in a way it was, but nobody had to make a mountain out of a molehill about it, which was what angered him the most.

"Terriermon, calm down," Lopmon told him quietly, then approached Hisako and Teruki. "Please listen. Yun didn't know. Please don't be mad at her."

Thankfully, Hisako knew better than to blow things even more out of proportion, and considering how Ayaka and Yun haven't been able to get along at all, she decided to take matters into her own hands. "Ayaka. I'll talk to her, but please calm down a little. You have to remember that she's autistic and we have to teach her a lot of things from scratch."

"But she's twelve, for God's sake! She should know better!" Ayaka argued.

"Oh, shut up already! We've had enough of your histrionics for today, you drama queen!" Terriermon retorted when Lopmon suddenly yanked on his ear rather hard. "Ow!"

"That's enough out of you!" Lopmon scolded.

"That's enough. I'll handle this. Go back to whatever you were doing. Okay?" Hisako told her reassuringly. Ayaka scoffed and stomped back into her room, muttering, "That stupid brat has no common sense. Even ten year olds know better than to give out people's phone numbers."

Hisako ambled into Yun's room and found her crying softly on her pillows. Not wanting to exacerbate her temper, she decided to sit down next to her and talk to her in a soft voice. As far as she knew, whenever Yun did do something, it was usually with good intentions, even though some of them did create their fair share of minor grievances for the family.

"Hi Yun. Can you tell me what happened?" Hisako asked. She figured it'd be best to let Yun explain everything and tell her side of the story, as she knew from experience that not letting her explain could only bring about a tantrum and lots of yelling. She didn't want Yun to be denied the chance to clarify things, and Yun, as usual, took it.

"The rehab center called. They walked to talk to you. I asked to take a message, I really did. The lady said she wished she had your cell number so she could call you. I knew you had your phones on you, so...I thought it was okay. It might have been about Uncle Kenji, so I...thought it was okay. Nobody told me it wasn't. Then Ayaka started yelling at me and calling me names," Yun explained tearfully, not bothering to remove her face from the pillows.

"I know you had good intentions, Yun, and thank you for telling us. But Ayaka was right. It's not safe to just give our phone numbers to strangers we don't know, as bad things could happen. It's common sense," Hisako told her as softly and kindly as she could, as Yun has a hard time comprehending things when people are screaming and angry like Ayaka was.

"Nobody told me it was wrong! But Ayaka made it sound like I destroyed the world!"

"I know. I'm sorry for not explaining all of this to you earlier."

"She's right! I am a stupid idiot and a retard!"

"No you're not. Please, stop being so negative! You're not stupid or a retard. But if someone shady calls and asks for our number, just say something like, _"I can't give out that information"_ and that's that."

"Aren't you going to ground me or hit me and tell me how stupid I am?"

Now it was Hisako's turn to be a little aggravated. "Yun, stop being so negative! It's just a misunderstanding, that's all," With that, Hisako left.

Yun was all alone with her sadness.


	111. Damsels In Distress?

EPISODE 103: Damsels In Distress?

Somewhere on the outskirts of Fionn Village, the Digimon Brigade, allied with the citizens of Fionn Village, were currently at war with incoming minions of MoonMillenniummon consisting of Digimon they recognized, like Bakemon, Gazimon, Gizamon, Pagumon, Numemon, Geremon, DarkSuperStarmon, and Roachmon, and Digimon they didn't recognize, like Fuugamon, an ugly brown version of Ogremon, Mekanorimon, a robot Digimon, and Parasimon, the ugly pink bug Digimon. Nobody knows who's spearheading this army, or whether these Digimon came on their own free will. The only thing they knew for sure was that they were NOT going to let these imbeciles take over their beloved village. The denizens fought back with all their might. Barricades surrounded all of Fionn Village, made from just about anything they could get their hands on: trash cans, tables, chairs, ladders, old beds, mattresses, bricks, boxes, big rocks, even large pianos. Some Digimon even made weapons that flung items at their enemies. Some Digimon managed to throw whatever they could at some opposing Digimon and hit them right on the first try.

"Star Shower!" Pegasusmon, galloping through the sky with valor in his eyes and sheen in his wings, flapped his wings once and made glowing light blue stars on some rogue Gazimon, managing to knock some of them out.

"Rosetta Stone!" Nefertimon, trailing behind him, made a cotton candy pink light appear from her neck, which in turn spat out a grave shaped stone, managing to defeat a good majority of the Geremon, who desperately threw their sludge at whoever was within their vicinity.

"V-Nova Blast!" Veedramon unleashed an orange ray of energy at some of the Bakemon, managing to defeat them with one hit.

"Prairie Claw!" Valiantly, Prairiemon slashed and hacked at any Gazimon that attempted to paralyze her with their Electric Stun Blast. She sure wasn't going to let these nefarious creatures take over her home village and use it for their own selfish gain.

"Let's take them down, everyone! Heart Beam!" Bucchiemon, with a bunch of other Bucchiemon behind him, both red and green, threw his fist in the air before unleashing a pink ray of energy shaped like a heart at one of the DarkSuperStarmon. All the other Bucchiemon he managed to rally followed suit, and that one DarkSuperStarmon dissipated into data.

"Magic Water!" A huge, towering tsunami of water managed to drown the majority of the smaller Digimon, taking them far, far away from the quaint little village they were struggling to preserve.

"Ice Archery!" Crescemon shot some ice arrows at the Mekanorimon, but since those Digimon are made of metal and steel, the ice arrows shattered as soon as they made contact, having no effect and leaving no scratches behind whatsoever.

"I'll handle these mindless contraptions! You go take care of those Numemon!" Flaremon exclaimed as he stepped in between Crescemon, who followed his command and went to help the others, and the Mekanorimon. "Red Lion Dance!" He elegantly laid down some hardcore flaming punches and kicks onto the Mekanorimon, managing to defeat all those that stood in his way.

"You'll never take our village, you criminals!" One FlaWizarmon cried out valiantly, aiming his staff at one of the Gazimon who stood in front of him angrily.

"Your reign of tyranny ends here!" The Gazimon yelled as he tried to assault FlaWizarmon, but a digisword suddenly shot out of his chest from behind, dissipating into data, revealing that Melody is the one who destroyed him just now. FlaWizarmon wanted to thank her, but she had already gone off to get into a brawl with some Numemon...and was already winning.

"Sonic Destroyer!" Parrotmon, flying from above so she doesn't hurt the other villagers, unleashed a shock wave that managed to defeat most of the Digimon, namely the DarkSuperStarmon and a few oblivious Roachmon, but other Digimon still remained, like the Parasimon.

"KEEEEET!" One Parasimon yelled as it tried to wrap Gatomon in its claws, but both Melody, Minako, and Yun managed to cut its tentacles and free the little cat Digimon from its grasp, causing the big pink bug to howl in pain, which in turn made Yun cover her ears in fright.

"My God, how long is this going to go on?!" Yun complained as she covered her ears. Minako and Melody couldn't blame her. Even they were annoyed by that screechy sound the Parasimon make.

"We can't back down now! Fionn Village needs us!" Melody yelled as she managed to kick a Gizamon in the face and keep him from assaulting her.

"You'll never taint our beloved village, you mongrels!" One villager shouted from afar. Others followed her lead.

"This is our village, not yours!"

"Think you can just walk all over us and trespass on our quarters?! Think again!"

"You'll regret crossing us!"

"Fist of the Beast King!" Leomon managed to defeat a Fuugamon and send him running for the hills. "These Digimon are more persistent than I thought."

"No kidding!" Flamedramon exclaimed as he hopped next to him. "The small ones are no problem, but those Parasimon sure are annoying. They're the ones that are the hardest to deal with, especially since there are hardly any mega levels here."

"Take this, you slimeball! Hyah!" Riku yelled as he smacked one Numemon over the head with a digihammer and made it run away crying. Next to him, Shunji managed to pry one Numemon off of him and throw it at a Gazimon, who did NOT look happy with having a gross slimeball sitting on him.

"Blue Flare Breath!" Coredramon, with the village behind him so he doesn't roast it and its denizens, unleashed his signature attack, swallowing the majority of the Digimon, namely the smaller ones, and turning them only into packets of data that all floated away. "Good. After this, they'll go to the Meadow of Birth and be reborn, hopefully into good Digimon," Coredramon mused once he was finished with his attack.

"Gate of Destiny," MagnaAngemon made a gold gate appear out of thin air and it swallowed up some of the Geremon and Gizamon, along with two Parasimon.

"Cyclonic Kick!" Not wanting to be left out, GrapLeomon laid some swirling kicks onto the other Parasimon. He didn't defeat them, but he did manage to lay some good hits on them, weakening them somewhat.

"Yay! We're winning! We're winning! Go get'em, GrapLeomon!" Isao cheered from the sidelines. In response, GrapLeomon looked in his direction and gave him a thumbs up.

"Treasure Axes!" Antylamon swirled around, managing to defeat one DarkSuperStarmon that attempted to ambush GrapLeomon as he was responding to Isao's encouragement. GrapLeomon noticed, completely unfazed.

"Thanks, Antylamon! You're a great friend, you know that?" GrapLeomon bowed with gratitude after she finished.

"Don't mention it, my friend, and thanks," Antylamon said.

"Hey Antylamon! Check this out! Tri-Beam!" Rapidmon boasted as he unleashed a glowing green triangle on some other DarkSuperStarmon and some Bakemon, destroying them as well. "Yeah! Who's the man? Me, that's who!"

"Don't get cocky, Rapidmon! There's still more to defeat!" Swanmon yelped as she launched her own attack on some confused Bakemon, turning them into data.

"Aria and MarineAngemon! Go to the east side of town and use Magic Water on the enemies!" Shunji commanded, acting like he was a military general leading his army. Everyone could see the radiant confidence in his sea blue eyes. "You guys over there! Help the others on the south side! Coredramon, Rabbitmon, Swanmon, Leomon, Petermon, and Piximon! Help the citizens on the north side!"

"You got it, boss! Pixi Bomb!" Piximon, the same one Aria and Orie met, launched his little bat-like bombs on some rogue Fuugamon, defeating them like it was as easy as taking candy from a little kid in a sandbox.

The battles all around Fionn Village waged on. Kosuke couldn't help but growl as he kicked a Gazimon in the face. "My God, are these guys ever gonna let up?! The Digimon might run out of energy if this keeps up!" Kosuke complained once he got that Gazimon off his tail.

"Good news! The army is letting up!" Chirinmon exclaimed with Hokuto riding on his back.

"The citizens called for reinforcements! They should be here any second now!" Hokuto said.

"What kind of reinforcements?!" Yun shouted as she pushed an annoying Pagumon off of her back. "Ow! Get off me, you rat!"

"Man! I still wish I brought AncientKazemon's D-Chip with me!" Rena complained.

"Hey Digimon Brigade! We'll handle things from here, so you can go home and save your strength! Thanks for helping us!" Bucchiemon cried out.

"But we want to keep helping you!" Yun exclaimed, surprised by Bucchiemon's fiat.

"We know that, but your partners can only expend so much energy, right? You'd best save it for the bigger battles. Reinforcements are on their way, so we'll be able to handle things here. It'd be the most sensible solution," Prairiemon said.

"I agree with her. Let's go back for now. Our Digimon might get tired, and we don't want them running ragged, now do we?" Minako said.

"I'll let everyone know," Melody said as she rode on Thunderbirmon and got her digivice out to tell everyone through text messages.

Once everyone got her message, they all scrambled to meet up and open the digital portal with all their digivices so they could all get back safely before things got bad. The only ones who came rather late were Otoya and Labramon, who were in the village making sure the baby Digimon didn't get kidnapped or hurt.

"Hurry! We have to go!" Kosuke yelled as everyone hopped into the digital portal one by one. What they didn't know was that Rena, Otoya, Crescemon, Labramon, and Dracomon were about to follow them into the digital portal, but a dark, ominous ray of light shot at the digital portal, making it disappear.

"Oh no! It closed!" Otoya yelled.

"We're trapped!" Labramon shouted.

It didn't take long for the Digimon Brigade to make it back safely. Most of the Digimon de-digivolved to their in-training forms, with the exceptions of Patamon, Salamon, Lopmon, Terriermon, Cutemon, and MarineAngemon, who instead de-digivolved into Syakomon, who, even after coming back, looked very worrisome.

"I saw some Digimon try to attack the digital portal before it closed up and went into smoke!" Syakomon exclaimed suddenly.

"You did? Does that mean we can't go back?" Aria asked curiously.

Kosuke was the one who noticed some members were missing. "Hey! Where are Rena, Otoya, Lunamon, and Labramon?!" Kosuke yelled upon noticing their absence.

"Dracomon's gone too!" Tsunomon cried out.

"WHAT?! They're gone?!" Yun yelped as she looked around desperately. Kosuke was right. Rena, Lunamon, Otoya, Labramon, and Dracomon are absent...and possibly still in the Digital World! "But...but that can't be! They were right behind me!"

"They were?!" Kosuke yelled, suddenly becoming choleric. "They were right behind you and you didn't even bother to make sure they were okay?!"

"Oh no! Rena's back at the DW!" Riku shouted upon hearing what Kosuke just said. He already began worrying like crazy. "No! No no no! I can't lose my big sister! I just can't! Otoya better protect her or they'll all get eaten alive!"

"I...I...I thought they were with us! I...I saw them behind me, I did!" Yun stammered desperately, frightened by Kosuke's sudden display of anger, practically unable to come up with the right words to explain it.

"Grrrr! Then it's your fault! Five of our friends are trapped in the Digital World because you were too stupid to protect them!" Kosuke screamed, causing Yun to cover her ears in fright, perturbed by his vociferous yelling and his sudden display of anger.

"I'm sorry!" She shouted frightfully, but Kosuke wasn't having it.

"Sorry isn't gonna magically bring them back here, now is it?!" Kosuke snapped.

"Stop it, Kosuke! It's not her fault, it just happened!" Melody yelled, stepping in between the angry Kosuke and the frightened Yun with the feral look she always donned whenever she lost her patience with someone, or everyone back in the old days.

"Yeah! Don't be so quick to blame others for something they can't control!" Patamon exclaimed, agreeing with Melody.

"But she just said they were right behind her! She should have done a better job at protecting them!" Kosuke yelled again.

"Look! We all failed to protect them so we're all at fault here! There's no need to make it sound like Yun is the only one to blame here! Besides, it's not like she left them there on purpose! It was an accident! Quit making it sound like she destroyed the world, you bonehead!" Melody snapped. She couldn't help it, but she remembered the time Kosuke turned against Yun because his hatred for his then alcoholic mother got the better of him. She knew Kosuke was somewhat right this time, but what made her angry was that he made it sound like Yun left them on purpose, like she did it deliberately. Yun would never just abandon her friends. She was just too inundated by the explosion of noise and the destruction to pay attention. Syakomon just mentioned that a Digimon shot at the digital portal, so it was likely that even if she did pay attention, she wouldn't have been able to stop that from happening.

"It's true. Besides, Rena and Otoya aren't alone. I'm sure Lunamon, Labramon, and Dracomon are strong enough to protect them," Yokomon said. She knew in her heart that Lunamon, Labramon, and Dracomon were not only strong in their own right, but would do anything for their partners. Sure, Rena has a prosthetic leg and Otoya isn't the best at fighting, but that didn't mean they couldn't take care of themselves. Not only that, they were surrounded by a bunch of bad Digimon wreaking havoc, so wouldn't it be natural for someone to make a small mistake like that? Especially if said person is sensitive to loud noise and would be unable to function if it continued long enough and if it was loud enough?

"Please. Stop," Yun's small voice made everyone turn to look at the dejected, abject autistic girl, who looked like she was going to cry at any given second. "He's right. He really is right. It's my fault. I should have done a better job at protecting them! But I couldn't even do that because I was too stupid and retarded to pay any attention! I was too focused on getting away from all the noise and all the destruction!" Yun screamed abjectly.

"You're not stupid, and you're not retarded! It's not like you wanted it to happen! It could happen to anybody if they were in a situation like that! I'm sure they'd understand!" Terriermon exclaimed. He could see that Yun was about to burst into tears, and after those unpleasant incidents with Seiko during detention, he really didn't want to see her cry.

"Calm down, Kosuke. Even if she did pay attention, Syakomon said a Digimon shot at the portal, so she wouldn't have been able to protect them anyway," Shunji told them sternly, with his arms crossed.

"Why aren't you freaking out about Dracomon?! Isn't he your friend?! Why aren't you worried about him?!" Kosuke yelled, surprised by what he thought was Shunji's lack of concern for his Digimon friend.

"Because I trust him. Dracomon's strong, and the Digimon can still digivolve even if we're not around. An army of Digimon won't take him down so easily. That, and Rena and Otoya will be just fine. They have Lunamon and Labramon, so I'm sure they'll make it through. We can't go around treating girls like little damsels in distress, y'know?" Shunji replied sharply, which made Kosuke shut up. Shunji knew in his heart that Dracomon is a very trustworthy Digimon. He could even be capable of protecting a princess with his life if someone asked him. Dracomon would never abandon his friends or let them down, no matter what. Shunji knew this to be true, and his belief in him didn't falter.

Yun, however, thought differently. Despite some of her friends standing up for her, she still took Kosuke's insinuation personally, as she does with everything else. Rena and Otoya were right behind her. She should have held their hands. She should have paid attention. She shouldn't have let herself be inundated by all the noise and the destruction going on. She should have at least stayed behind with them. But she didn't do any of those things. She went into the portal and didn't check to see if Otoya and Rena followed her from behind. In her broken heart, Kosuke was right to call her out on her transgression, even if it was an accident, even if she didn't want it to happen. It still happened, all because she didn't pay attention. _'Kosuke's right. I am stupid. I am retarded. I can't even protect my own friends, I'm so stupid and retarded!' _Yun thought somberly, unknowingly letting some tears stream down her face.

A beep sound caught Hokuto's attention. "Hey look! I just got a text from Otoya!" Hokuto exclaimed as he pulled open his digivice.

"What's it say?" Kyaromon asked.

**To: Hokuto**

**From: Otoya**

**Subject: We're okay!**

**We're okay, guys! It's kinda crazy here, but we're just fine! Wingdramon and the reinforcements are doing great here, but the mystical veil won't let us come back, so we're stuck here**.

Minako exhaled a sigh of relief. "Phew. They're okay so far," Minako mused softly.

"So does that mean we can't go back to the DW?" Isao asked innocently.

"Dunno. But time passes faster in the DW than it does here, so maybe hours and hours have passed there. Maybe the mystical veil is open now and we don't know it," Riku said, calming down a little.

"What do we do now?" Salamon asked.

"I was going to suggest we go back, just so we can at least get them back, but we have no way of knowing if the mystical veil is open," Melody said.

After a while, Sunmon noticed someone was missing.

"Um...where's Yun?"

The battles waged on at Fionn Village, and the sun began to set a little bit. The reinforcements had come, mostly in the form of other mega level Digimon that the villagers know. Otoya and Rena mostly spent their time fighting off some remaining small Digimon while their Digimon digivolved further. Wingdramon nailed some Parasimon with his Wing Blast attack, Cerberumon managed to drive the other armies out of the other parts of town, and Crescemon is assisting the villagers in holding off the remaining Parasimon. Rena and Otoya hid in one uninhabited house, tired from fighting off so many annoying Pagumon and nefarious Gazimon.

"Ugh! I can't believe we can't go back to the human world! The veil's closed up!" Rena complained.

"I agree. But we should be safe in here for now. Let's rest for a bit, then we can help the citizens fight off those minions," Otoya whispered.

"But those Parasimon give me the creeps!" Rena squealed a little.

"I know. They scare me too," Otoya mused.

"I don't know how you're able to handle all of this. I seriously want to cry right now."

"I'm only keeping my cool because I have to. I'd like to cry too, but I can't."

"Otoya...I have to wonder...how come you accepted the responsibility of saving the DW so easily? We're just kids. We shouldn't be capable of handling it. We should be worrying about our own lives, yet you and the others just accepted it without complaint. I'm not trying to sound mean or anything. I just want to know why."

"Well...to be honest, you're right. We don't look like we're capable of saving the DW. We're just a bunch of kids, and we should be worrying about ourselves. Everyone else probably has their reasons for taking up the job so easily. Me...I didn't think much about the responsibility. I was too happy about finally having a friend to call my own. I don't mind working together with Labramon to save other Digimon from being controlled by MoonMillenniummon."

"But aren't you scared?"

"Heck yeah! Why wouldn't I be? But my dad says we're only as strong as our greatest fear, so I try my best not to show any fear when we're fighting Digimon. Besides...I kinda accepted the job right off mostly because I thought it'd be the best way to remind me of who I am."

"Who you are?"

"Yeah. You know how kids in Chiba used to hate me because of my dad being a preacher, right, and how they think all preachers are bad people? I used to be sad for weeks because I didn't have any friends, especially ones who were true friends. The only _"friends" _I had were this group of girls who were using me to not get blackmailed by their queen bee. But...I don't want to let myself be sad forever and focus only on the sad things, as that won't get me any friends. But most of all, I don't want to lock myself in a room and slowly rot away. I want to stay the way I am and be me, all the way until the day I die, no matter what anyone says. So...even if we lose this war with MoonMillenniummon, I won't lose myself to despair anymore. I'm sick of being sad."

"Sick of being sad…" Rena couldn't help but agree with her. In a way, she even related to her. Rena has lost herself to both sadness and anger lots of times during her life. She also didn't have friends back in her younger days, mostly because kids hated her for being related to Riku, who back then was hyper, loud, and not very nice, though he didn't know it.

She was his older sister. She had to look after him, but sometimes she just didn't want to. Back then, all he did was make things bad for her and make people hate her because of his hyperactivity and inappropriate behavior. She always had to look after him, tell him what to do and, importantly to her younger self, what NOT to do. It was necessary back then so he wouldn't embarrass her, even though in the end he always did, and he hardly ever listened to her back then. She even remembered one day when she snapped at him once, along with the mean words she said to him back then.

"_RIKU! For once, for freaking once, stop ruining everything for me! Why do you always have to be so noisy, so stupid, so loud, so brainless, and so annoying?! Everybody hates me because you can't stop being an idiot all the time! It's your fault I don't have any friends! Why can't you be normal like everybody else?!"_

She found it very hard to believe that the same loud, reckless, hyper, annoying little brother she yelled at back then grew into a courageous, warm-hearted boy who nearly put his entire reputation on the line by threatening to set a forest on fire and blame it on Nayuki just so he could make her get off Otoya's back. If she had known he'd grow into that kind of person, maybe she wouldn't have said those things to him back when they were younger.

"You're so strong. You went through so much, yet you keep smiling. I wish I was strong, like you," Rena mused.

"No. You're wrong. I'm not THAT strong. Things would be different if people still hated me. I nearly lost it when my dad got arrested. I almost completely gave up on everything, but...Labramon and the rest of you saved me. The Digimon Brigade saved me from losing my faith in the world. You all did," Otoya told her softly.

Rena couldn't help but smile. In her mind, she remembered that the Digimon Brigade in general helped them all in some way. Yun and Biyomon helped Melody remember to forgive people again. Salamon and the others helped Minako find peace and finally let go of her guilt regarding Kiyoshi's death. Patamon and the others helped Kosuke free himself from his hatred and his anger issues that were exacerbated by his problems at home. Labramon and the others helped Otoya restore her faith in the world, fulfilling the wish she's always prayed for. Coronamon and the others helped reignite Riku's belief in justice and made him realize that not everyone is framing him for crimes he didn't commit. MarineAngemon and the others helped save Aria from her abusive father. Bearmon and the others helped Isao find his inner strength, the strength he needed to be himself, without concern for what others think of him or want him to be.

"I think the Digimon Brigade in itself has helped us all," Rena mused.

Otoya was about to say something when all of a sudden a Gazimon dropped on her from a hole in the ceiling, causing her to scream loudly.

"Otoya-chan!" Soon, they were all surrounded by Gazimon. But Rena wasn't going to let that Gazimon do whatever he wanted with Otoya, so she got her digivice out, made the digisword, and pried the annoying grey mammal off of her. Other Gazimon lunged at them, but Otoya had gotten her own digisword out by then, and they managed to not only hold them off, but defeat a few of them. When they found an opening, they took it and escaped, even though one Gazimon tried to yank on her prosthetic leg.

"You won't get away, you imbeciles!" The Gazimon yelled as he tried to yank off Rena's prosthetic leg.

"You're the imbecile!" Rena yelled as she managed to turn the tables on the ugly mammal by kicking him right in the chest with her prosthetic, causing him to let go.

"Come on! We've gotta run!" Otoya said as she held onto Rena's hand.

"Okay!" Rena exclaimed.

Yun, Lopmon, and Terriermon found themselves back in the desert, in the same spot they were in when they first came when Drimogemon attacked. Yun didn't even stop to look around. She just started walking toward the tall rows of crystals that faced the sky. Lopmon and Terriermon followed her from behind, quite aware of the discomfort that was etched onto her face.

"Yun. It's okay. You didn't know what would happen," Lopmon told her kindly, hoping to reassure her some. But Yun wasn't having it.

"That doesn't change the fact that I was stupid enough to put them in danger. You know Kosuke's right, so we're gonna go save them. Sorry to drag you here like this when you're probably tired from all that battling," Yun mused bitterly.

"That's okay! I still got some energy left! I don't think it's anything I can't handle!" Terriermon exclaimed cheerfully, but his jubilance disappeared as soon as he noticed that Yun didn't look just sad. She almost looked mad, like she was angry at Kosuke for yelling at her. "But seriously, Yun, don't be so hard on yourself just because something happened. I'm sure Otoya and Rena are okay. Lunamon, Labramon, and Dracomon are with them, and the villagers too. They'll protect them."

"But you know Kosuke's right! I should have paid more attention! I should have made sure they got into the digital portal! But noooooo! I was too retarded to even do that much! Even a baby could do that!" Yun yelled.

"You're not retarded! Don't say that!" Lopmon exclaimed, appalled that Yun would use that awful word to describe herself, especially since she calls herself that on a regular basis.

"Yes I am!" Yun yelled. Then she turned around and...slapped herself in the face four times.

"Yun!" Fearing she might do it a fifth time, Terriermon wrapped his long, flexible ears around her face and took a hit from her hand. "Don't EVER hit yourself like that!"

"Why can't I?! Nobody's slapping me or calling me a disgrace, so I might as well do it myself so I can feel the pain I cause other people! It's not like everyone believes I truly feel sorry about what I did!" Yun yelled.

"You don't know that!" Lopmon yelled.

"Come on! We've wasted too much time here! We gotta get to Fionn Village and help Otoya-chan and Rena-chan!" Yun shouted as she pried Terriermon off of her face. The two long eared rabbits didn't quite follow her at first, as they were too awestruck by the extent of how personally Yun took Kosuke calling her out.

"Does she always take stuff too personally?" Terriermon asked.

"Considering the extent of her disability and how it affects her perception of the world, it may be so," Lopmon said.

"Yun must have gone to the Digital World!" Kosuke exclaimed. "We've gotta go get her!"

"Hang on, Kosuke-kun! Don't be reckless," Minako said as she stopped him from using his digivice.

"She'll be in danger if we don't do something, especially considering her disability! Besides, how will we know she won't unknowingly make things worse?!" Kosuke exclaimed.

"She only went there because you yelled at her just now!" Minako snapped. "You know how she is with people calling her out on something. She takes stuff too personally, and needs more time to cool off than others do. But you know she'd never just abandon her friends. Look, I'll let you go to the DW, but only if you let me come. You'll need the backup if an enemy launches a surprise attack."

At first, Kosuke seemed reluctant to let Minako come. Sure, she's nice and is able to solve problems between friends and be the mediator for when things get sour and dicey, and has helped them through a lot of bad situations in the Digital World thanks to her smarts. But he didn't feel she needed to come. Sure Rena and Otoya were in danger, but they had their Digimon with them, and the villagers are nice, so they'd help them. But then again, she did have a good point. Kosuke's not one for being too resourceful in combat, and he knew he'd need someone to figure out some things he can't on his own (not that he couldn't figure some things out. He knows others can do it better than he can, Minako being one of them). After some rumination, he nodded.

"Alright. You can come. Sorry for being stupid just now," Kosuke mused.

"Come on! Let's go already!" Salamon implored cheerfully.

"Be careful," Melody said softly.

In a flash, Kosuke, Patamon, Minako, and Salamon made it back to the Digital World, only they were a bit farther away from the place where Yun landed. As soon as they landed, Minako got her laptop out of her backpack. She pulled out a cable and hooked it to the digivice and then to her laptop.

"What'cha doin'?" Patamon asked innocently, curious as to what Minako is doing.

"I'm going to try and see if I can locate Yun via my digivice. I found out some time ago that the digivices also function as tracking devices, and unlike normal ones, the digivices can function in any environment, even in areas where cell phone service is practically non-existent. Okay, here's the map of the DW so far," Minako said as she ferociously typed the buttons on her laptop like she was a professional pianist playing a piano in a recital. She pulled up the map of the Digital World on the laptop and soon, after typing in Yun's digivice information, a white light blinked on and off on the map.

"Got it! She's almost to Fionn Vilage!" Minako said.

"Where are we?" Kosuke asked.

"Ummm...here. We're farther off, but if we call one of the secondary Digimon, we can make it there in a few minutes. Good thing I still have Lynxmon and Butterflymon's D-Chips. We'd better call them, 'cause Patamon and Salamon need to save their energy," Minako explained.

"We still have some strength left to spare. That's why we didn't digivolve into ultimate, so we could save some for when we need it," Patamon said.

"Yep! The villagers were helpful so we didn't feel like digivolving further. Wan!" Salamon piped in.

But as they were talking, Minako had already put in Butterflymon's D-Chip and summoned her, and then Lynxmon soon after. Both seemed very confused as to where they were.

"Huh? Did I just suddenly teleport…? Oh...Minako? You're Minako, right? Oh! It is! I haven't seen you in such a long time, my dear!" Butterflymon exclaimed, confused at first but then became lucid upon seeing Minako, who ran to her and hugged her.

"Hey Mina! Long time no see, my friend! How ya doing?" Lynxmon asked cheerfully.

"Hi Butterflymon! Hi Lynxmon! Sorry we haven't kept in touch for so long," Minako said as she finished hugging Butterflymon and proceeded to hug Lynxmon. Even though her fur is made of fire, Minako didn't receive any third degree burns when making contact, nor did it hurt at all.

"It's alright. We figured you humans must be busy with some things," Lynxmon told them sheepishly.

"Yeah. But anyway, we're kind of in a jam right now. Two of our friends are trapped in Fionn Village, and it's being attacked by MoonMillenniummon's minions, and another friend of ours went to help, but she's in no condition to do so. Sorry to ask this of you so suddenly, but would you mind helping us catch up to her?" Minako explained kindly.

"No problem at all! We'd be honored to help you! You've helped us when we needed it, and it would be cruel of us to say no to you," Butterflymon told them.

"Hop on my back, kids!" Lynxmon said as she laid down to let Kosuke and Patamon hop on her back. Butterflymon let Minako and Salamon climb onto her. When they were settled, they dashed right off into the desert.

Thankfully for them, it didn't take long to find Yun. After a short while, they noticed a grim looking figure trotting toward Fionn Village, along with two long eared rabbits, one pale yellow one and a light brown one.

They could recognize them anywhere.

"Yun!" Minako was the first to call out. Butterflymon and Lynxmon stopped and let Kosuke, Minako, and their Digimon down. But oddly enough, Yun didn't stop walking. She just continued onward. She practically ignored them. Lopmon and Terriermon didn't ignore them, as they acknowledged them by looking at them. Kosuke, a little perturbed by Yun ignoring him, ran in front of her.

"Kosuke! Don't!" Minako did try to stop him, but he was too fast for her.

"Yun! What are you doing here?" Kosuke asked. Again, Yun didn't stop to talk to him and ignored him like he was the worst thing she ever saw. Kosuke could tell she looked more mad than sad. "Yun. If someone asks you a question, you have to answer!"

"Go away!" Yun snapped. "I don't like answering to stupid people!"

'_Stupid?! Did she just call me stupid?!' _Kosuke thought, surprised with the fact that Yun just called him a mean name just now. She only does that with people she hates. But then again, Kosuke did know it was stupid to yell at her about not paying attention to whether Rena and Otoya went with them or not. He could have been more calm about it. He figured this would be the best time to apologize.

"Yun. Listen, I'm sorry for yelling at you. That really was stupid of me," Kosuke said softly.

Yun's perturbed face didn't falter.

"Yeah. It WAS stupid! Now go away, you idiot!" Yun snapped.

"What?!" Kosuke yelped.

"Yun! It's not nice to call names!" Lopmon scolded, but Yun ignored her.

"You're here to stop me from saving Rena and Otoya, aren't you? Well, too bad! I'm saving them since I couldn't save them before!"

"We're not here to stop you. We're here to help you," Minako told her kindly.

"Yeah! Wan!" Salamon piped in.

"Well go away! I didn't ask you to help me, so just let me save Rena and Otoya since you flipped out about it!" Yun snapped again.

"Yun! I said I'm sorry!" Kosuke pleaded.

"No you're not!" Yun yelled louder this time. "You're not sorry! You're just saying that to make me get over it!"

"Why are you getting mad just because I called you out on something?!" Kosuke had no idea that he was completely missing the point to Yun's anger.

"You know what?! You're right! I AM stupid! And retarded! And a parasite! And an idiot! And a problem for everyone! I should have paid more attention! I should have made sure Rena and Otoya made it to the digital portal safely! And you're right! It IS my fault! You're more than welcome to hate me and call me all the names you want! I deserve it! I deserve to feel the pain I cause everyone every day! That's why I hit myself and bang my head against anything I see whenever I get the chance! But NONE of that is why I'm angry! I'm mad at you because even after I apologized, you made it sound like I didn't feel bad about it at all! You made it sound like I didn't feel any ounce of concern or guilt for what I did! You said, _'sorry isn't going to magically bring them back here' _and you're right! But don't put me at the same level as Nenji or Seiko or Nayuki or Ayaka or any of them! Everybody thinks I do bad stuff for bad reasons! I knock over a vase? You did that on purpose! I stand up to Nenji or Seiko? You've been bullying my kid! I accidentally say or do something I'm not supposed to? You are SO freaking rude, you know that, Julia?! Why do you have to be so inconsiderate?! You're a little brat! EVERYBODY thinks all my good intentions or accidents are bad! Everybody thinks I do bad stuff on purpose! Everybody thinks I'm some stupid kid who doesn't feel emotions like a robot! You didn't take me seriously when I said sorry, so I'm not gonna believe you're sorry either!" Yun finally vented her frustrations out. Nobody dared interrupt her, which Yun secretly found rather surprising as others would interrupt so much that she'd never be able to explain her side of the story at all, no matter what. She was always told to shut up and get over it. Someone always shot her down whenever she wanted someone to listen to her.

"You tell'em, Yun!" Terriermon cheered.

"Is something wrong?" Lynxmon asked.

"They had a bit of a scuffle earlier," Patamon whispered.

Kosuke couldn't believe what he just heard. He knew he was stupid to blow Rena and Otoya's absence out of proportion by yelling at Yun, even though he knew he had to call her out on it, so he figured she'd feel bad about it. As far as he knew, she always did feel bad whenever she did something, though she doesn't always know when she does something wrong, so people have to spell it out for her. But he knew she didn't do it to be bad. That's just how she is. She doesn't know that she sometimes makes inappropriate comments and that she occasionally makes little mistakes because of her lack of social skills and common sense. But she's just oblivious to what others consider normal behavior and can't quite figure out how the world works on her own. But...Kosuke was still extremely flabbergasted. _'She thinks I'm lumping her with the likes of Nenji, Seiko, Ayaka, and Nayuki?! Seriously?!'_ But it wasn't just that either. She said he called her a parasite and a problem for everyone.

Is she still hung up over the incident where he yelled at Yun after LadyDevimon attacked them?

"Yun...I don't think you don't feel bad. I'd never lump you with Nenji or Seiko or any of them. I was just too angry to think straight. And you're right. I should have been more...rational. I know you'd never do bad stuff for kicks," Kosuke said.

"Now will you let me go save Rena and Otoya already?!" Yun was about to turn and leave until an army of Roachmon, Gazimon, and Parasimon surrounded them.

"Well lookie here! More offerings for our beloved Master!" One Gazimon sneered wickedly.

"Get off me, you pests!" Otoya yelled as she managed to pry some very annoying and persistent Pagumon off of her.

"Ow! Stop poking me with those things!" Rena yelled as she found herself surrounded by another group of malicious Pagumon, who seemed to find great pleasure in poking and stabbing Rena with a stick. Annoyed by their general callousness and lack of shame, Rena yanked all the sticks out of their hands, threw them away in a fit of rage, whacked some Pagumon on their heads with her bare fists, and ran away from them.

"Otoya! Come on!" Rena yelled as she ran toward Otoya, who, without hesitation, grabbed Rena's hand and let her drag her away from the annoying and nefarious Pagumon. "I wonder how the Digimon are doing? They've gotta be tired by now!"

"Let's hope they're okay," Otoya said.

However, right as she said that, Cerberumon descended before them, looking very exhausted to the point where he de-digivolved into a very tired and languid Xiaomon. Otoya cradled her unconscious friend in her arms as soon as she saw him. Right after that, Lunamon and Dracomon came running toward them.

"Rena! Otoya! We're so glad you're alright! We've been looking all over for you two!" Dracomon exclaimed happily, relieved to see Lunamon and Xiaomon's partners safe and sound.

"How are things with the villagers?" Otoya asked.

"They have the upper hand thanks to the reinforcements, but the smaller Digimon have gotten very bold and broke into the village. Dracomon, Labramon, and I just had to stay and protect the baby Digimon. They're safe now thanks to Kongoumon. We de-digivolved just now to preserve what's left of our energy," Lunamon said.

"We'd better get out of here before things really get bad," Dracomon said.

"You said it-AHHH!" Rena exclaimed cheerfully before howling in pain because of her hair getting yanked so hard it felt like it was being sucked in by a vacuum cleaner. But there were no vacuum cleaners here. Only Gazimon, and one of them literally dragged Rena by the hair while the others surrounded Otoya, Dracomon, and Lunamon.

"You're all coming with us! Our Master has grand plans for you useless little weaklings!" One Gazimon sneered maliciously.

"Let go of me you furball!" Rena howled as she decided to make Gazimon feel some hardcore pain by grabbing one of his ears and biting on it really hard. Like she did before, Gazimon yelped so loud he wound up letting go of Rena's hair, allowing her to join Otoya and the Digimon.

"You'll pay for crossing us! Dragon Gas!" Dracomon yelped as he vomited a nauseous gas that was so noisome and so repulsive that every single nose that smelled it was assaulted by a smell they could not get out of their fragile noses. The Gazimon that smelled it ran away crying for MoonMillenniummon.

"Lunar Claw!" Lunamon launched a surprise attack on some other Gazimon whose nostrils didn't get assaulted by slashing some of them with her glowing black claws.

"Electric Stun Blast!" Some persistent Gazimon unleashed black gas from their mouths, similar to Dracomon's Dragon Gas attack. Otoya, Rena, Lunamon, and Dracomon all ran away as soon as they unleashed it.

"Don't touch it or it'll paralyze you completely!" Xiaomon suddenly shouted as a warning.

"I'll hold them off! Dragon Ember!" Dracomon shouted as he stopped and shot a flurry of fireballs at the Gazimon, some of whom managed to dodge the attack.

But something made the girls stop and become frozen with awe.

"Dracomon! You're...flying?!" Otoya shouted.

Yes. Their eyes weren't playing tricks on them. Dracomon is in the air as he attacked them, his orange red wings flapping vigorously. He turned around to look at them once they heard them shout. "I've always been able to fly, even though Dracomon aren't supposed to fly!"

"Electric Stun Blast!" Unfortunately, Dracomon wound up letting his guard down, and he got hit with the nauseous black gas. As soon as it made contact with him, every single muscle in his body tensed and contracted, even his wings, which made him slump onto the sand weakly, limp and completely unable to move, like someone who has been paralyzed due to a traumatic event.

"Dracomon! No!" Rena shouted as she ran to his aid.

"Sorry. I can't believe I let my guard down…" Dracomon muttered weakly, his whole body completely numb. He tried to move his limbs, but he succumbed to pain the minute he tried to move even an inch.

"How can you do this to us?! What did we ever do to you that was so bad?! What did we do to deserve this?!" Otoya yelled angrily.

"It's nothing personal. Master gave us strict orders to capture you all. That, and I can't stand it when women defy their assigned roles and try to be something they're not. Now come with us so Master can experiment on you and lock you up in the inner sanctum to be his trophies forever!" Gazimon exclaimed.

"What? So you think we should just be fragile little princesses who should be protected from the evils of the world and be your slaves? You have no right to decide what we should and shouldn't be!" Rena exclaimed boldly.

"Shut up, you pansies! Come with us quietly or we'll show you no mercy!" Another Gazimon yelled.

"You're gonna have to go through me to do it, you barbarians! Tear Shot!" Lunamon piped in and valiantly shot a ball of water at him, knocking him out.

"Ugh! How can these humans be so strong?!" Another Gazimon with a scar over his right eye sneered. He couldn't believe how versatile and bold these girls were, even though they looked like they could be easily bruised, like bananas.

"Boss! Boss! We got some news from Monitormon!" One Gazimon exclaimed as he ran to the Gazimon with the scar on his eyes.

"What is it?!"

"We managed to capture some humans just outside of Fionn Village! Three of them, and their Digimon!"

"Which ones?"

"There's a yellow haired one, a boy, and a wimpy, big boobed one, along with two twins with long floppy ears!"

'_What?! Yellow hair?! A boy? Floppy eared twins?! Oh no!'_ Rena thought as she smacked the Gazimon on the head and proceeded to whack the scarred one unconscious.

"A little food for thought: don't ever perceive girls as princesses who need to be locked up or wives who have to stay in the kitchen, AND don't EVER define people by their physical characteristics, especially if said characteristics are a sensitive subject!" Rena scolded. Otoya carried Dracomon on her back and handed Xiaomon to Rena. They both ran out of the village with Lunamon following them from behind.

Unfortunately for Minako, Kosuke, Yun, Lopmon, Terriermon, Salamon, Patamon, Butterflymon, and Lynxmon, they weren't so lucky. The Parasimon were too strong for them, and they found themselves tied up with strange, green, slimy rope, possibly from the big, pink, one eyed bugs. Not only that, they're all on a big cart being pulled by a branded Monochromon. It didn't help that they were all surrounded by Gazimon and Pagumon, who also took great pleasure in torturing them by poking and stabbing them with whatever sharp objects they had, like brandished sticks, forks, and pencils.

"Ewwww! I feel like I'm trapped in dog slobber!" Terriermon complained.

"Let us out of here you rascals!" Salamon barked fiercely.

"Why should we?" One Gazimon asked condescendingly.

"Because...you should never underestimate humans!" Yun exclaimed fiercely when the gooey slime she was wrapped in suddenly disappeared, and all because she cut through it with her digisword...or in this case, digidagger. She then fiercely managed to knock quite a few of the Gazimon off the carriage.

"Freezing Snow!" Lopmon even froze some of the Gazimon with her own attack.

"Holy ROOOOOAAAAAR!" Salamon screamed so she could make the Gazimon lose their guard and be too inundated with loud noise to continue caring about them.

"Holy Wing!" Patamon sliced himself free with his glowing wings. Minako cut herself free as with her own digidagger as well. Yun decided to use hers to cut Kosuke, Terriermon, Butterflymon, and Lynxmon free. Soon, they all jumped off the cart and hid themselves so they wouldn't be spotted.

"Ugh! That stuff sure can make your limbs feel like jelly!" Lynxmon exclaimed, happy to be free of that gooey slime.

"My wings still have the stuff on them. I'd best clean myself off when everything blows over," Butterflymon said.

"But what do we do about Rena and Otoya? Aren't they still in the village?" Yun asked sadly.

"Hey you guys!" Lunamon's voice echoed from in front of them, revealing her, Otoya, Xiaomon, Rena, and Dracomon, who is still paralyzed, running toward them happily.

"Speak of the devil! You're all okay!" Yun was about to go and hug them until she stopped herself upon seeing Dracomon on Otoya's back. Once they caught up, she very gently set him down on the sand. Then Yun hugged her.

"Yun-chan! You and the others came to save us, didn't you? Sorry, we kinda saved ourselves, but that's okay!" Otoya said happily. But her smile dissipated when she saw Yun looking extremely dejected. "What's wrong?"

"I'm so sorry, Otoya-chan! Rena-chan! It's my fault you got stuck here! I was stupid and retarded and didn't make sure you guys got in safely! Feel free to hit me with a hammer or slap me in the face or call me a disgrace to the entire Digimon Brigade!" Yun cried hysterically.

"That wasn't your fault. A Vilemon attacked us before we could get in. You had no idea that'd happen! And don't say that kind of stuff! You're not a disgrace, nor are you retarded!" Otoya said.

"We're just glad you're all okay. But how'd you get out?" Salamon asked.

"Ugh! It was a nut house in there! We were getting chased and attacked by Gazimon and Pagumon! The Digimon got too weak to continue fighting, and Dracomon here got paralyzed by their Electric Stun Blast, so we kinda had to fight them off ourselves. But we sure did it," Rena said.

"We did our best. They were awesome back there, you guys," Dracomon told them weakly.

"Not only that, we just got word that Fionn Village is safe and sound! They won the battles!" Lunamon exclaimed cheerfully.

"You're all probably tired. Let's go back home," Patamon said.

"But what about Butterflymon and Lynxmon?" Lopmon asked.

"Actually…we were going to ask you if it'd be okay if we'd accompany you to the human world," Lynxmon admitted sheepishly.

"I know it sounds silly, and I know earthlings wouldn't like us if we showed up, but I've never been there, and I'm just dying to see what it's like. I promise not to draw any unwanted attention to myself. I'm very curious to see what your world is like, Minako," Butterflymon said.

"Normally, I'd say no, but the good thing about our trip is that we can get back to the construction site where we came in, and nobody goes there anymore, so of course you can come! Just try to lay low and not get spotted by other humans, okay? I don't want anyone capturing you or calling you monsters," Minako replied.

"Oh! How wonderful! Thank you so much, Minako! I'm sorry we didn't get to do much in helping you guys out," Lynxmon exclaimed cheerfully.

"It's no big deal. The Parasimon were too strong anyway, so there wasn't much any of us could do," Patamon piped in kindly.

After that, they all returned to the human world. To be more specific, the construction site. Everyone was waiting for them, and they were all greeted with hugs and exclamations of relief on their part. As everyone was swept up in the excitement, Yun secretly left to go home. Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon followed her out, but Hokuto saw them leave and looked concerned.

"Why is Yun leaving?" Hokuto asked curiously.

"She seemed upset about something. Salamon? Is Yun frustrated about something? I can sense her conflicted emotions," Kudamon asked Salamon.

"Yun-chan and Kosuke-kun had a bit of a falling out. Kosuke called Yun out for not making sure Otoya-chan and Rena-chan made it back safely, though they said a Vilemon attacked them so that couldn't be helped. But Yun-chan thinks Kosuke-kun is accusing her of not feeling bad for what she did or not showing concern for them. Kosuke's gotten over it, but Yun-chan needs more time to cool off. We shouldn't force it. Wan!" Salamon explained as lucidly as she could.

"Oh man! I gotta run!" Kosuke exclaimed as he looked at the time on his watch(1).

"What's up?" Sunmon asked.

"Mei and Jiro are taking me to visit Mom later today!" Kosuke said as he and Patamon ran out of the construction site.

Later, once Kosuke and Patamon made it home, they immediately got ready for the visit. It was still late morning, so they had time to get what they needed done. Once he got ready, he, Patamon, Mei, and Jiro got in the car and left to go see Kanako in the rehab center she's living in. This particular rehab center comes with dorms so the managers can keep everyone within their vicinity so nothing bad happens under their watch, and to make sure nobody does anything stupid, like sneak alcohol in or escape. The actual rehab center is about an hour from where they live, and it didn't help that they were caught in traffic for a little bit, but Kosuke brought things to occupy him and Patamon during the drive, like some books and an Ipod. Finally, they made it to a white, clean-looking rehab center which looked much bigger than other hospitals he had seen.

"I thought rehab centers were only for people with physical disabilities," Kosuke said.

"Most of them are, but there are rehab centers for drug addicts and alcoholics. This particular one focuses on everything," Mei explained.

Jiro, who was driving, pulled into an empty spot in the parking lot and took them all to the reception desk. The lady gave them their badges and had someone escort them to Kanako's dorm room. Upon arrival, they encountered an unusual sight: Kanako actually looking more sober than she ever did, actually looking healthy, jovial, and not like a languid homeless person who literally had all the life energy sucked out of them.

"Kosuke!"

"Mom!" Kosuke was the first to run toward Kanako and give her a hug. As soon as Kanako happily wrapped her arms around him, he almost felt a surge of surprise. He had long forgotten what it was like to hug his own mother and the warmth it gave him. He hadn't given his mother a big hug ever since she decided to drown herself in booze. He did try to hug her during those times, but he was too disgusted by the awful odor from the alcohol and the dusty smelling clothes she wore back then. But now she looks healthier and more alive than ever before. Even Patamon couldn't help but smile at how sunny and vivacious Kanako became.

"It's been a while, hasn't it? I'm so glad you're here, Kosuke. I've missed you," Kanako said as she let go of her son and sat down on her bed. What Kosuke didn't know was that in her heart, Kanako wanted to hug Kosuke forever. Words couldn't possibly describe the mountain of joy that piled on her when she saw Kosuke's bright, radiant face as he ran to hug her. She hadn't seen that look on his face for a long time, not since he was young. That face had faded and turned into a permanent scowl of contempt as soon as she succumbed to her alcoholism, and she had since hated herself for destroying Kosuke's cheerful nature back then. But his original cheerful self has returned in full force.

"You're looking rather radiant, Kanako. How's life in rehab?" Mei asked as she sat down on a chair.

"It's going very well. I'm so happy you guys suggested that I come here. I only wish I had done it sooner, so I wouldn't have made Kosuke go through so many months of pain and suffering. I really feel bad about that," Kanako said with a smile at first, then it faded as she remembered the months in the sea of booze that she drowned herself in, taking Kosuke with her and refusing to go back to the surface until now.

"We only wish we had known the extent of your suffering earlier so we could have done something. Kosuke-kun? I've been meaning to ask. Why didn't you ever tell any authorities about what's been going on?" Jiro asked.

"Well…" Kosuke murmured, his face going a little tomato red with embarrassment. "It didn't seem bad at first, but soon, I was too strung up in my anger to tell anyone or do anything. I didn't want my friends to see how bad it was. I was afraid they'd hate me for it. That, and the phone we had didn't always work half the time because we were so tight on money we couldn't pay the phone bill. I'm kinda surprised we were still able to even use it. It didn't help that it had a different number because we were in a different house."

"That explains why we were never able to contact you," Jiro said.

"That, and I was too lazy to answer the phone most of the time," Kanako piped in shyly. "Again, I'm real sorry about everything."

"Well, better late than never, right? It's good you're getting the help you need right now," Mei said.

"Yeah. I'm gonna get back on my feet so I'll be a better mother this time around...hey, where's Patamon?" Kanako said.

"Right here!" Patamon chirped quietly from Kosuke's bag. He hid in there so the other residents wouldn't see him.

"Hey Patamon. You doing well?" Kanako asked.

"Yep. We're doing great, and you look pretty good, too," Patamon said quietly but cheerfully. Kanako flashed a smile.

"Glad to hear it. Kosuke's taken real good care of you," Kanako said.

"What do you usually do here?" Kosuke asked curiously.

"We kind of have a routine. We get up, eat in the cafe, go to whatever therapy we have to, go to our jobs, eat dinner, shower, then bed. They have us on a strict schedule here, but I like it. It leaves less time for thinking about drinking. They always have us doing something so we don't get bored," Kanako said.

"It's been proven that people often do bad things when they have nothing to do," Kosuke said.

"What about your job?" Jiro asked.

"Oh! Yeah, I've been at it for a while and it's going great. The pay's good, and I haven't spent it on booze, just so you know," Kanako replied shyly.

"They let you have jobs while in rehab?" Patamon asked, confused. Mei could see that Kosuke looked a little stupefied as well, even though he knew that she did get a job before she left.

"Only if we're physically and mentally fit to hold one down. I figured getting a job would help me focus less on booze and more on getting my life back together. I'm surprised nobody's deeming me an unfit parent," Kanako said.

"You're doing fine now, so I don't see why they would," Patamon said.

"Mei. Jiro. Thank you so much for taking care of Kosuke while I'm here. You don't know how much this means to me, and I'm sorry I put you through so much heartache," Kanako told them with a bit of a dejected and rueful look in her eyes. Kosuke really believed he saw sincerity in her eyes, unlike those other times when he saw it and just rejected it, thinking it was false.

"We're sorry that Seiichi treated you the way he did and that we didn't find out about it sooner. But you are right in that you really did cause a lot of trouble, especially to Kosuke," Jiro said, which made Mei's eyes widen.

"Jiro! Did you really have to put it like that?!" Mei scolded Jiro for his bluntness. "She does feel bad about what she's done, you know."

Patamon didn't like where this was going, so he decided to change the subject. "We wish you could come and visit sometime."

"I do too. The center doesn't allow patients to leave the grounds unless it's for holidays or emergencies. Only if we're deemed fit to go back out into society again are we officially discharged," Kanako explained. "I really do miss you and your friends, Kosuke. I wish we could go back to the fun times we had before Seiichi left."

"Yeah. Me too. But we're better off without Seiichi. We don't need him!" Kosuke said with his arms crossed.

"True that," Kanako said. Then, she and Kosuke burst into laughter. Patamon couldn't help but smile at Kanako's quick and substantial progress in the rehab center. _'I think you'll be able to be with us soon, if you really keep at it. Not many people have as much resolve and determination to change their ways for the better. It was hard for Kosuke to stop being angry at Yun that one time when LadyDevimon attacked. Then again, it's hard for everybody to have enough resolve to change for the better and fix their mistakes. I'm just glad you're not giving up and that you're fixing your relationship with Kosuke. I haven't seen him so happy in a long time,' _Patamon thought. Perhaps the rehab is freeing Kanako from her rehab and Kosuke is able to be a child again, free from responsibilities and persisting anger and hatred. Patamon couldn't help but wonder if that was why Kosuke has the D-Heart of Freedom, because he needed to be free of his anger at Kanako and Kanako needed to be free of her alcoholism, so they could both spread their wings and fly toward the skies of repentance together.

If Kanako worked hard enough, the future would be most bright for the both of them. Patamon hoped Kanako would be discharged so they can be a real, normal family.

"We're going to go look around. You two can stay and talk amongst yourselves, okay?" Mei said.

"Sure!" Kosuke piped in as Jiro and Mei decided to leave them alone in the room so they could catch up. It was around here that Kanako noticed something odd.

"Is something wrong, Kosuke? You look a little sad," Kanako asked.

"Uh...I do?" Kosuke asked back, surprised that Kanako was able to read him so easily.

"Want to talk about it? If you don't, that's okay," Kanako said.

"Nah. I'll tell you. You read me like a map, so it's not like I can deny it," Kosuke said and then began explaining. "Earlier today, we were fighting some Digimon in the DW, and Yun kinda did something stupid that put two of our friends' lives in danger. She didn't mean it, but I flipped out and yelled at her about it. I've gotten over it now, but Yun...she kinda took it the wrong way. She thought I was accusing her of not feeling bad about what she did and thinking she wasn't sorry about it, so...she doesn't think I'm sorry about yelling at her. I really blew it, didn't I?"

Kanako listened intently, without interrupting until Kosuke let her talk. "I know you're not a bad kid, but at times you do take after Seiichi, and your anger issues are something that need to be worked on. I agree that you should have handled it better, but I can see you feel bad about it, so I won't scold you. As for Yun, don't try to force her to forgive you. Give it some time. Maybe she'll come around and see that you're still the Kosuke she knows and loves. Just go with the flow for now. That's pretty much all the advice I can give for now. Sorry I'm not much help."

"It's okay. That's all the help I need. Thanks, Mom," Kosuke said with a soft smile.

After spending time with Kanako for a couple more hours, Kosuke, Patamon, Mei, and Jiro went right back home. Kosuke felt something change within him upon this visit. Patamon could see it very well.

Footnotes:

1. I don't know why, but for some reason, nearly all anime characters wear watches with the clock facing them when they look at it rather than outward. Maybe a cultural difference? But in this fan fic, anyone who wears watches wear them with the clock facing outward.

Author's Note: As of the writing of this chapter and others, a few episodes of the English dub of Digimon Xros Wars, changed to Digimon Fusion, have aired, and it's been confirmed that Monitormon's name has been changed to Monitamon, and Lilithmon's name as been changed to Laylamon, which I think is stupid and makes no sense. Since I have already established their names in this fan fic LONG before the dub even aired, I think it's pointless to change them after coming so far, so I'm sticking to them!


	112. Gokuwmon The Formidable

EPISODE 104: Gokuwmon the Formidable

Gokuwmon hopped out of a digital portal and rolled onto the roof of a rather tall building, taking care not to fall off lest his appearance be noticed by the common public. The digital portal he hopped out of disappeared in thin air, and he found himself staring at the populated streets of one particular intersection just outside of Tama-no-Minato. Cars swerved on about, going to whatever destination they were aiming for in whatever direction they went, huge clusters of people consumed the streets like a colony of little ants, doing their own thing without looking like they were thinking about anything else. Gokuwmon was surprised at how much activity went on, even in the human world despite the fact that he had been informed of everything in advance thanks to MoonMillenniummon's messengers, SkullSatamon being one of them, as he is the one with the most knowledge and intel on the Digimon Brigade.

SkullSatamon showed him footage of Tama-no-Minato, so he knew right off that he was not in the right place, so he decided it would be best to just hop from building to building like a ninja in the hopes of finding it, while taking great care not to get noticed by the public eye. If anyone were to see him, his plans would get foiled, MoonMillenniummon would scold him a great deal, and these puny humans would most likely hunt him down, capture him, and do God knows what to him. Speaking of puny, he was surprised by how small the human race looked. As far as he knew, in the Digital World, humans were always the subject of myths and folklore, referred to as the Gods who created the entire Digital World with their own hands and who gave them life and breath. He assumed they would be giants, bigger than MoonMillenniummon's true form.

Alas, this was not the case for this furry monkey, and Gokuwmon couldn't help but be disgusted with not just the humans in general, but all the allegations of their being able to tame Digimon and kill a majority of MoonMillenniummon's minions as though it were nothing. These humans were small. How could they possibly have the power equal to that of Gods when they looked as though MoonMillenniummon could zap them off the plane of existence with just one single Donner Brechen attack? Perhaps the myths and folklore were wrong?

But then again, he saw the footage that HiVisionMonitormon showed him and everyone else. The Digimon they thought they had killed had actually survived, according to LadyDevimon, Witchmon, and all the other witnesses before they died at their hand. The humans were somehow giving these Digimon the power to defeat any opponent they face off against. Perhaps...if their powers grow stronger...Gokuwmon couldn't let this happen. No. Not after they had worked so hard to kill them off, do what they wanted with the Digital World, and give those tyrants what they oh so rightfully deserved. Upon stopping on the roof of one house, Gokuwmon saw a little bird flying across his head, completely oblivious to his presence.

Gokuwmon readied his long staff and aimed it right at the bird. Then, completely out of nowhere, a strong flash of lightning shot out from the staff, and consumed the bird, electrocuting it both on the inside and out, making the poor, helpless bird look like it had been caught in a very bad forest fire and couldn't escape. When the bolt of lightning disappeared, the bird, completely black and charred like yakitori, fell helplessly into Gokuwmon's hands, utterly immobile and surely dead. Gokuwmon stared at the winged beast's charred corpse with apathy and animosity in his eyes.

"Weak. Useless. Puny beasts like these should just be erased from existence. If these tyrants really want to pluck us out like weeds and throw us away like trash, then why do they allow useless creatures like this to live and frolic? To fly under the light and laugh happily, while with us it's considered a crime worthy of the death penalty?" Gokuwmon murmured bitterly as he threw the dead bird's corpse out onto the street, where it plopped onto the unprotected head of one little girl, who cried out in pain as soon as it hit her head.

"YEOWCH! Hot hot hot hoooot!"

"What the-?! Is that a dead bird?! There's smoke coming out of it!"

"Oh God! Get away from it, children!"

The mother dragged the kids away from the dead bird as soon as she saw it fall on the concrete. Obviously the feathered corpse is still piping hot like hot tomato sauce since it was just freshly killed with lightning. After observing this scene, Gokuwmon began house hopping again, not caring whether he'd be leaving footprints on the roofs or not.

"Creatures like that can accomplish nothing. We can, yet they choose to treat us like garbage and cast us out solely because we exist, because we do not fit their idea of normal and perfection. Because they fear we will throw their so-called harmony out of balance," Gokuwmon mused to himself bitterly as he hopped from house to house like a light footed ninja.

No. He would not tolerate being treated like trash just because he existed. Nobody who MoonMillenniummon raised like his own children will, and he would make them pay ever so dearly for choosing to treat them like lepers for the pettiest and stupidest of reasons.

* * *

><p>"Wheeeeee!" Mizuki Iniki cried out happily as she rode on Sparrowmon's back. Since today is a nice day, Sparrowmon thought it would be a great idea to take Iniki out for a little ride in the sky, and he could tell she was enjoying it immensely. Flying through clouds, seeing things the naked eye normally couldn't see if on the ground, everybody looking smaller than they usually were, it was so thrilling, so exciting, it was almost like she was in a dream. But it was real. She's ridden on Sparrowmon enough times to know that this was anything but a dream, not that she cared.<p>

Soon, Sparrowmon slowed down a spell. "Whew! That's sure to get some weight off my bones!" Sparrowmon exclaimed happily with a few pants.

"Do you even have bones? Because last I checked you're a talking airplane, and airplanes don't have bones," Iniki asked, surprised that a talking airplane would talk about having bones in its body when airplanes don't normally have bones.

"Come on, Iniki-chan! Don't sweat the small stuff and just have fun with it! Besides, we're data, and that doesn't have bones, now does it?" Sparrowmon retorted cheerfully, not deterred by Iniki's well intentioned but slightly snarky question.

"Oh. Good point," Iniki said innocently.

"Exactly, my friend! So! You wanna fly some more or do you wanna go down?" Sparrowmon asked.

"Can we fly over Katsura Elementary School? We haven't gone there yet," Iniki asked.

"Sure thing! Off we go! Wheeeeeeeee!" Sparrowmon yelled happily as he flew in the direction where the elementary school would be. Iniki couldn't help but marvel at how blurry and strange the scenery looked as it flew right past her like a fast moving train. Soon, Sparrowmon stopped and they gazed down at the top of the school from above.

"This sure brings back memories…" Iniki mused wistfully.

"Did you go here once?" Sparrowmon asked curiously. Before, he didn't know about school, but once Iniki told him about it, he understood.

"Yeah. I remember that time I made a huge mess of art class by bringing unused noodles and glue when I was six, and that time when my friends and I were in that silly play about the food pyramid," Iniki said, strolling down memory lane as an image of her younger self dressed up as a rather funny looking banana made out of cardboard and styrofoam dancing around the stage with an apple, a pear, grapes, and an orange appeared in her head. She couldn't help but laugh a little at how silly she looked back then. But then again, everyone else looked silly as well, being all dressed up in smushed pieces of cardboard and styrofoam painted in the colors of the fruits they were supposed to be. "But this was before I met Seiko in the fifth grade."

"I'll bet. I'm kinda sad school starts back up in a week. I won't be able to play with you as much!" Sparrowmon said.

"Yeah. Me too. But...there is something I'd like to do once we go back to school."

"Like what?"

"I...I want to start this new school year off right. I want to forget the old me, who used to follow Seiko like a slave and ignore the bad things happening around me, and actually find friends who don't use me or take advantage of me...and make it up to Wakamiya."

"You told me about her. Is she the girl who that Seiko kid used to pick on a lot?"

"Yeah. To be honest, I've actually known her since we started at Katsura. I just never got around to getting to know her. We did go to summer school together though. Plus, to be honest, she was pretty weird back then. It was like she couldn't really tell the difference between real life and make believe. Even during the fourth and fifth grade, and that's the time when you're supposed to know what's real and what's not. And way back then, she talked kinda weird and mostly played pretend even when she wasn't supposed to, so it was hard to really understand her. She's gotten better now, but…" Iniki frowned. "I wish I hadn't been so stupid and judged her like that back then. Maybe if I had known better, maybe I wouldn't have gone with Seiko, and we could have actually been friends."

"I think you can still do it. Be friends with her, I mean."

"You think so? But her friends don't really trust me, not that they don't have good reason to do so. They'll probably never forgive me, even though I yelled at Seiko right in front of everyone."

"I'm speaking from personal experience here, so don't think it'll work right off. But I learned that if I focus too much on getting that person to forgive me and dwell on it all the time, it makes me come off as suspicious, and people will think you're not really sorry about what you did. Just try to do what you can and be yourself. Let them know that you really are sorry, but don't try to bash it into their heads like a sledgehammer. It'll take some time, maybe even longer than you want it to, but I'm sure they'll come around."

"Yeah. You're probably right. I'll do that...hm?"

"What's up?"

"I see some people down there...and it looks like it's not just people who are down there!"

Iniki was right. Sparrowmon looked down and saw some little people down on the vast and empty football field. "You're right."

"Let's go check it out," Iniki suggested.

"But we'll get spotted!" Sparrowmon exclaimed, sounding understandably shocked by his normally timid partner's suggestion.

"Not if we hide in a good spot," Iniki replied.

Sparrowmon rolled his eyes, not looking convinced. "Alright. But if we get spotted, it's your fault!"

"Hey!" Iniki exclaimed.

Reluctantly, Sparrowmon descended into the forest and allowed Iniki to slowly get off of him so she could get on the ground. The dirt was pretty wet as Iniki's old, dark brown boots sunk into them a little bit, but she didn't mind. These boots were old and dirty anyway. However, she was glad that she didn't get mud on her ruffled, crimson red skirt, her white knee length socks, black short sleeved shirt, and sleeveless black and white striped shirt with a fake yellow flower sewn on her right shoulder strap. Her father just bought these nice new clothes, and she didn't want them to get muddy or dirty, even though they had a good washing machine at their new home. Thankfully, the wet dirt wasn't as deep as she assumed, and she managed to walk while taking great care not to slip.

With Sparrowmon silently following her lead, she tiptoed to the trees that led right to the football field while making sure she hid behind one of the big trees. She's slightly small in stature and body type, so she could hide behind a tree easily. Sparrowmon was another story entirely. He's big and wide, and his armor is a very bright color that could easily be seen in a sea of black, green, and brown, if the color contrast was strong enough. Sparrowmon can't hide behind tree bark that easily, so he had to stay further behind. Strangely enough, Iniki could see the cluster of kids quite well, as they were rather close to the trees anyway, though not so close that they would be able to see Iniki easily considering how many of them there were.

However, as soon as Iniki gazed upon them, her eyes widened, like they were about to burst. It wasn't just the number of people she saw sitting on the football field, but who she saw with them.

"No way. It...it can't be!" Iniki managed to keep her voice low so they wouldn't hear her, but she barely managed to stifle it, she was that surprised.

Almost all of them were people she knew from school, Yun being one of them. She couldn't believe it! Melody, Minako, Kosuke, Otoya, Rena, Riku, Hokuto, and even Shione, the girl who always very bluntly rejected Seiko's constant invitations to join her clique. Even that guy who saved her from drowning in the river, Shunji, was there. The only two people she didn't know were two little kids, who both looked like they could be eight years old.

Another shocker was the other things that were with them.

"Whoa! There's more Digimon!" Sparrowmon suddenly exclaimed, but he kept his voice low too.

Twin rabbits with different color schemes, a yellow puppy, an orange winged creature, a pink bird, a light purple rabbit with huge ears and moon patterns, a yellow and pink dog, a red fiery looking hamster, a white weasel with yellow markings, a pink seashell with a green thing coming out of it, a black furred bear with a purple hat, a giant white and blue moose, and a pale green dragon with reddish orange horns and wings.

"They...they have them too?!" Iniki yelped quietly to herself.

Not once did she think any of the kids in her class had Digimon too. But her eyes weren't playing tricks on her. However, she had to keep quiet or else they'd find her and accuse her of spying on them or working for Seiko. She did see that the other Digimon didn't look like they were about to hurt them. They seemed nice enough, and they were very small, so she didn't feel the need to command Sparrowmon to go after them. The kids and Digimon seemed to be having a good time hanging out.

"Man! I can't believe school's gonna start back up next week!" Kosuke whined petulantly.

"Where'd our spring break go? It was so much fun, too!" Melody whined just like Kosuke did.

"Yeah. I wish it'd last for a while longer, then we'd be able to play with you some more," Bearmon said.

"Yeah! And we won't have to do homework or take tests or any of that boring stuff!" Isao complained.

"But if you don't go, you won't be able to learn new things," Minako said kindly. "It's boring, but going to school will actually really help us in life, like with jobs or what we want to be when we grow up, so don't think what we learn won't benefit us in any way when we're older."

"What does benefit mean?" Aria asked innocently, awed by the new word she just learned.

"Yeah. What DOES that mean?" Yun asked.

"If something benefits you, it means it's good for you and helps you a lot. If you study really hard for a test or practice jump rope, it helps you get better at it. It benefits you," Labramon explained kindly.

"Ohhh! So that's what that means!" Aria chirped with delight.

"So if I eat food like spinach or apples or carrots, it benefits my health?" Isao asked.

"Precisely! You're good, Isao-kun!" Lunamon piped in happily, surprised at how quickly Isao was able to catch on and use it in the right context.

Isao basked in Lunamon's praise and jumped up once. "Hey! I got it right!"

"Isn't it about time we start the meeting already? We better do it now or we won't have much time left to have another one," Dracomon suggested.

"Oh yeah! Alrighty! The meeting has begun!" Yun shouted like she was a leader.

"Is Yun-chan always that loud?" Isao whispered in Rena's ear quietly, looking a little perturbed by Yun's sudden increase in volume.

"Only when she wants to be. She doesn't mean it though," Rena whispered back.

"Why are we having this meeting again?" Coronamon asked, sounding confused.

"That's because Kosuke-san has an idea about MoonMillenniummon's modus operandi in regards to recruiting Digimon to join his cause," Lopmon explained kindly.

"What does modus operandi mean?" Yun asked just like Coronamon did earlier.

"Modus operandi is Latin for mode of operation or way of doing things," Terriermon explained.

"I didn't know you knew that kind of stuff, kyu!" Cutemon piped in.

"Just because I look dumb and lazy doesn't mean I am," Terriermon retorted.

"Where's Lucero at? I haven't seen him in a while," Bearmon asked.

"He's been visiting the Nishimuras a LOT lately," Terriermon replied. "He's been hanging out at their house for hours!"

"Can we start the meeting please?" Shunji asked. Everybody stopped talking.

Minako cleared her throat and decided to talk first. "As some of you may already be aware, MoonMillenniummon isn't alone in his endeavor to destroy the Digital World. He's recruited many Digimon, one half of them joining him voluntarily, and the other involuntarily via the Dark Emblems. However, based on the testimonies of some of our fellow Digimon Brigade members, we have come to the conclusion that MoonMillenniummon and his obeisantly devoted minions have quite a lot of common ground," Minako explained lucidly and calmly.

"What do you mean?" Syakomon asked.

"I ask you all...have you all encountered any Digimon who said they had been hated by their peers and friends for varying reasons until MoonMillenniummon rescued them from their despair?" Minako asked.

Yun didn't even have to think before answering. "I know Witchmon yelled at me about how MoonMillenniummon saved her from dying after she got kicked out of her world."

"And that WaruMonzaemon we battled said everybody hated him because of how ugly he looked," Coronamon piped in. "Right, Riku?"

"It's true. But we knocked some sense into him," Riku piped in again.

"Aria and I fought a PlatinumNumemon who said everybody hated him because he looked ugly," Syakomon told them.

"LadyDevimon and her BlackGatomon sisters said they were ostracized by other Digimon when they were caught in a blizzard. Wan!" Salamon said.

"Anyone notice a pattern?" Shunji asked, though Minako could tell that he was only asking it because he wanted to see if everyone else could figure it out, like he already figured it out himself.

Lopmon raised one of her hands high in the air. "Oh! I do! So...MoonMillenniummon recruits Digimon who have been shunned and ostracized by their kin?"

"Precisely," Shunji said. "MoonMillenniummon's a strong Digimon. We all know that. But he probably knew he couldn't carry out his plans all on his own, so he likely recruited Digimon who were miserable and suffering because they would be the most vulnerable and the most likely to rely on him. He wants them to worship him and think of him as their God, since he gives them everything they never had: food, shelter, and love. It's not that different from people who kidnap others and make them into their slaves."

"Wait, you're implying the Digimon all have Stockholm Syndrome?" Minako asked, confused about Shunji's hypothesis.

"No. That's not what I meant. That'd mean he'd have to brainwash them by any psychological means necessary, via blackmail, threats, etc. That kind of stuff, and I don't mean the kind of cliche brainwashing you'd find on most kids anime these days. We don't know what he does everyday, so it's impossible to know how he manages everything. But the Digimon we've fought don't seem to fear him in any way. They worship him like a God, and based on what we've heard, they've already lost what was important to them, so fighting us doesn't make much of a difference to them other than to prove themselves worthy to their master," Shunji explained.

"You have some good points," Dracomon piped in. "But I think there's gotta be more to it than that. A Digimon can't just up and decide he wants to recruit Digimon to destroy the Digital World. He couldn't have done it just for laughs."

"I agree. He obviously had some kind of ulterior motive other than to destroy the Digital World, since he already carried it out," Kudamon said. "Perhaps he himself has been ostracized by other Digimon when he was younger? Considering the kind of Digimon he recruits and what Wisemon has told us about his uprising, it may be the most likely explanation."

"Sounds plausible to me," Minako said. "In a way it kinda sounds like Frankenstein. The monster Frankenstein created started off as shy, gentle, and nice, but others couldn't see past his appearance and shunned him constantly, so he wound up becoming exactly what they feared him to be: a ferocious, volatile, hateful creature. It happens in real life too. Why else do you think there are so many street gangs and school shootings?"

"Can we PLEASE not talk about stuff like that, please?" Rena exclaimed fearfully. "I don't want to see a day where a school gets bullets rained on it!"

Minako shuffled in her spot with a frown. "Sorry. I'm only trying to make a point here. It's easy for someone to go from nice to mean depending on how much hatred they receive from others. We've all been there ourselves, haven't we?"

"True. People hated Otoya-chan because she was a preacher's girl, Aria-chan's dad beat her because he thought she didn't feel sad about her mother dying…" Yun started to go on about what the kids went through, and rather loudly at that, something they started to find a little unsettling.

"Uh, Yun? I don't think-" Melody tried to stop her from talking but she didn't hear her and kept going.

"...Riku's mom hates him because of his ADHD, Rena's being called pirate leg because of her prosthetic leg…"

"Yun! Can you-?!"

"And one of Mel-chan's foster mothers used her to leech money out of the adoption agency and then abandoned her in the snow-"

"JULIA!" Melody finally shouted, which frightened Yun.

"What?!" Yun yelped, confused by Melody's yelling. "What'd I do?!"

Everyone fell silent for a while until Kosuke cleared his throat. "Well, that does it for this part of the meeting. I see some of us have gotten more D-Chips. Care to summon your newly befriended Digimon so we can meet them?"

"Ugh! Trust me, you do NOT want to meet the new one I was stupid enough to get!" Melody complained.

"Alright! I can't wait to introduce you all to Leomon!" Riku shouted as he grabbed his D-Chip and immediately shoved it into his digivice.

Soon, all of their newly befriended secondary Digimon appeared. Leomon, Petermon, Rhinomon, Piximon (Aria got Piximon's D-Chip last night), and Peacockmon, the latter whom was NOT happy to suddenly be here.

"Ugh! Did you seriously have to drag me all the way here?! I was in the middle of the best manicure I ever had!" Peacockmon yelled angrily, freezing everyone with shock in response to his sudden outburst except for Melody, who has disgust written all over her face.

"But you don't even have fingers or toes! And you're a GUY!" Melody yelled back.

"So what?! Just because I don't have fingers or toes like other Digimon doesn't mean I can't go to a spa!" Peacockmon argued.

Piximon facepalmed and sighed. "Oh dear, and I thought Tapirmon was bad…"

"Eh, I've met worse," Petermon piped in.

Once Peacockmon and Melody stopped arguing, everyone introduced the new Digimon to each member of the Digimon Brigade kindly...or not so kindly in the case of Peacockmon.

"These wimpy little chaps are your friends?! Honestly, not only am I stuck with a scrawny little human being, I meet a bunch of other human beings and Digimon who are just as bland, uninteresting, and mundane as everything else!" Peacockmon complained.

This was the last straw for Melody. She stood up in alarm, almost swinging her fist at him. "Oh, well, SOOORRY!" Melody yelled sarcastically. "If you really hate being here so much, you can go and take a hike! We'll all be better off if you'd just SHUT UP AND LEAVE!"

"As much as I'd like to leave, however, I have absolutely no idea how to get back to the Digital World! Care to teach me how?"

"Figure it out yourself! You have a brain, don't you?! Put it to good use instead of complain all the time! Minako actually uses hers! You should follow her example!"

Even Iniki and Sparrowmon couldn't help but feel a little perturbed by Peacockmon's complaining and ranting. "Jeez. I sure am glad you're my Digimon and not him, Sparrowmon," Iniki mused in a low whisper.

"Yeah. He just got here and I already can't stand him," Sparrowmon said.

Those two weren't the only ones either. As everyone was swept up in Peacockmon's ranting, Yun very silently walked away from the group, feeling this was a great opportunity to leave. She didn't like how screechy Peacockmon's voice was and his annoying complaining. He reminded her too much of both Ayaka and Seiko, and it was bad enough dealing with them. She saw the deserted, fenced in playground across the street and decided to go there. Strangely enough, she didn't bother to take Lopmon, Terriermon, or Cutemon with her. She just wanted to be alone, alone with her questions. What did she do wrong? Why did Melody suddenly yell at her and use her real name? Peacockmon diverted their attention to him so she felt it was pointless to try and ask. She sat on one of the swings and decided to swing a little on it. She hadn't been on a swing in a long time, so it felt great to try something new once in a while.

What she didn't know, however, was that she was being watched.

* * *

><p>"Ugh! I can't believe Dad took me to the zoo of all places! My God, doesn't he remember that time a monkey flung its poop at me?! I swear, he does this stuff to me on purpose!" Seiko muttered irritably as she plopped onto the couch and proceeded to watch some TV. She channel surfed for a while, but found nothing interesting in particular on.<p>

"Seriously, there's NOTHING on today!" Seiko whined as she was fed up with the lack of interesting shows on TV. She angrily turned off the TV, threw the remote on the couch, and stomped into her room.

Spring break had not been kind to her. Ever since Iniki and Tomoka both cut off ties with her, involuntarily or not, Seiko spent her days alone with her father, the one person she really didn't want to spend her time with. After all, he was responsible for driving her mother away! How could she forgive that? Not only that, the places they did go weren't to her liking, like the opera, the zoo, the aquarium, and a nature trail. Seiko got some serious bug bites on that nature trail, and she blamed Yuuichi for it, and still does. There was no point in angsting about it now, so she figured it'd be fun to rummage through her old clothes.

"I wonder what happened to that orange top I liked so much? Maybe now'll be a good time to look for it," Seiko said as she rummaged through her old clothes. However, as she discovered, the orange top she liked isn't in her closet anymore.

"Uh...why isn't it here? Last I checked it was in my closet. Did I maybe wash it?" Seiko asked as she ran out of her room and went into the room where the dryer and washer were in. She looked into the washer. Empty. She looked in the dryer. It's full of her fathers white shirts, but no orange top. She looked on the counter. There were some orange shirts, but none of them were her favorite orange top. She did find Yuuichi in the room, ironing a shirt.

"Hey Seiko. What's got you in a hurry?" Yuuichi asked, confused by why Seiko is flitting around like a fly and looking serious.

"Do you know where my orange top is?" Seiko asked.

"Which one do you mean? You have a bunch of orange tops," Yuuichi replied, still confused.

"My good one! The tiny one with the ruffles on the bottom and the pink and purple flowers embroidered on the chest part! That one!" Seiko exclaimed angrily, surprised that her father would be so dumb as to not know what her favorite top looks like. _'He's supposed to know everything! How can he be so stupid?! Well, they do say boys are idiots when it comes to fashion, even grown ups,'_ Seiko thought bitterly.

"Ohhh! That one! Sorry, I donated it to a charity," Yuuichi replied.

"You WHAT?!" Seiko screamed upon hearing her father recite his reply. "You threw it away?!"

"No, I donated it to a charity along with some other clothes. It doesn't fit you anymore, and you have plenty of new shirts, so I thought I'd spare you the trouble of cleaning up a little. Your room has been pretty messy," Yuuichi replied calmly.

None of that mattered to Seiko. What mattered was that her own father got rid of her favorite shirt behind her back and doesn't feel one hint of remorse about it. For her, this was a crime worthy of the death penalty. Her face contorted and she began smacking her father with her fists weakly, screeching loudly. "How can you be so stupid?! I LOVED that shirt! Mom bought me that shirt! You did that on purpose, didn't you?!"

"Ichika's got nothing to do with it!" Yuuichi tried to calm her down, but nothing was working.

"Don't lie to me! You threw away my favorite shirt behind my back and I'll never see it again! You're the biggest idiot I've ever known! You're ruining my life!" Seiko whined and complained petulantly as she hit him. Finally, Yuuichi grabbed her fists and managed to keep her from hitting him any further.

"Stop right now, Seiko! There's to be no hitting in this house, and as I said before, I didn't throw it away! I donated it to someone who needs it more than we do. I know you loved that shirt, but it doesn't fit you anymore. I didn't do it to spite you," Yuuichi told her sternly, but she wasn't buying it.

"Yes you did! You really must love ruining my life and taking away everything that's important to me! Go away!" Seiko yelled angrily as she pried her father's hands off of her and stomped away.

"Where are you going, young lady?!" Yuuichi yelped.

"Far away from you, that's what!" Seiko yelled as she grabbed her phone off the table in the living room and stomped out of the house.

"Seiko! Come back here this instant! You can't be going out by yourself!" Yuuichi yelled as caught up to Seiko and grabbed her arm, but she pushed him off.

"I can do whatever I want! You're the reason I'm like this, you brainless idiot!" Seiko yelled and ran away, hoping to get as far away from him as possible. Yuuichi's eyes donned a dejected look, his heart crushed and ripped to pieces, all because of a flimsy orange shirt that doesn't fit her anymore. He knew she's going through a rebellious stage and she's still having trouble getting over her mother's absence, but why make a big deal about little things like a shirt? Sure, he knew it was Ichika's gift to Seiko and she loved it dearly, and he was okay with that. But it didn't fit her anymore. She has too many clothes that don't fit her anymore cluttering up her room. Seiko's known for being messy when it comes to fashion. He figured he could donate her old clothes to charity instead of just outright throwing them away. He's always one to make sure old items still get used instead of wasted. That, and Seiko really needed to stop buying new clothes left and right and leaving old ones all around her room.

But Seiko didn't see or acknowledge any of that. Once she ran far enough, she sat down, took a breath, and resumed walking. She had no particular destination. She just wanted to get away from Yuuichi, the main she thought ruined everything in her life. It's because of him everything went wrong. Her mother's gone because of him, her friends stopped coming over though that was largely the school's fault, she can't do whatever she wants much anymore, and now he threw away one of her favorite shirts! If it were a regular shirt that she didn't like, she would have been okay with it. He should have thrown those out instead. But this orange top with flower embroidery on it wasn't just any old shirt: it was one Ichika got for her. She loved that shirt, and it partly represented all the good memories they had together, going clothes shopping in the mall and looking at all the latest fashion trends. To her, this was the worst crime imaginable. How could he be so cruel not to see that?

"Ugh! First he drives Mom away, he stops me from hanging out with my friends, he takes me to all these horrid places against my will, and he throws away my best clothes behind my back! He obviously did it to spite me and make me forget about Mom! Guh, I'm sure he must be REEEEAL happy right about now! Charity?! Pfft! Donating clothes doesn't do anyone any good, and I really don't see what good doing it does for people! What a bunch of wimpy idiots! I swear, he does all this to me on purpose! Why does Wakamiya have to have it so easy?!" Seiko whined loudly as she walked, not realizing that she's heading right for the park in which Yun is sitting on the swing. "And seriously, does it HAVE to be so bright out?! My God, can't that stupid sun turn itself off?!" Seiko yelled again as she put a hand over her face to keep the sun out of it...but in the process, she noticed something else.

She saw a black silhouette standing on the roof of a house staring at the little park across from the football field. But when she got closer, she noticed it wasn't human. "Whoa! What is that thing?! I _have_ to record this!" Seiko exclaimed as she yanked out her cell phone, turned on the video recording option, and began recording his every move.

Gokuwmon, aptly standing on a blue roof of a house a little further off, looked through a pair of binoculars and watched the dejected Yun from afar. He couldn't help but be surprised that someone like her would even be remotely capable of taming a Digimon.

'_Hmmm...from what HiVisionMonitormon, his flunkies, and SkullSatamon told me, that girl over there is named Wakamiya Julia, aka Yun. Her partners are the Lopmon and Terriermon and she has the D-Heart of Harmony. Hmph! She looks so weak and worthless it's likely she won't live up to adulthood,'_ Gokuwmon thought as he stared at the dejected looking Yun through his binoculars. Then he put them away, hopped across some more houses, and landed right in front of Yun, who let out a yelp so loud it made her fall right off the swing and onto the sand. She didn't even get to run away as Gokuwmon managed to grab the back of her shirt before she could do anything at all, even so much as process what was happening around her.

"YEEEK! HELP MEEE!" Yun shouted as loud as she could, hoping someone at the park would hear her, though she figured they wouldn't be able to.

Lopmon and Terriermon were the ones to hear her, turn around, and be shocked at the sight of an unfamiliar Digimon with a staff that's sparking with blue electricity. Without any hesitation, they attacked.

"Double Typhoon!" Lopmon and Terriermon were not going to let whoever it is hurt Yun or even kill her, so they valiantly threw themselves at Gokuwmon, successful in making him release Yun. Yun, frightened by what just happened, ran toward the park, where everyone turned around to see who it was that attacked her. Yun ran into a surprised Otoya's arms crying.

"Who are you?! And why'd you hurt Yun just now?! Huh?!" Terriermon yelled angrily, like a mother trying to protect its children even though he's a boy.

All Gokuwmon did was stare down at the rabbits with an angry, disgusted look on his furry face. He didn't like the glares they were giving him, so courageous and full of warmth, the love they have for their pathetic tamer. He couldn't see why these weak little floppy eared rabbits would care for much for a weak, pathetic human like the girl he almost suffocated.

"What the-?! I-I-I know him! Mel! We saw him when we first met Peacockmon! Remember?!" Minako yelped, shocked by the revelation that the Digimon that nearly curb stomped them back in the Digital World has managed to find his way to the real world and is now threatening their friend. All Melody was doing was giving him her angry, wild animal-like look out of anger for trying to assault Yun. Oh, how she yearned to kick his butt.

From further in the woods, Iniki and Sparrowmon watched in horror as they saw Lopmon and Terriermon barely succeed in saving Yun from whoever just appeared. They froze in silence, fearing that lest they make even the littlest peep, Gokuwmon would most certainly find them, attack them, and kill them in cold blood, and Iniki still had a life to live now that she was no longer homeless. She didn't want to die without living the rest of her life.

"Just who are you, and why'd you attack Yun just now?! Look what you did! She's crying because of you!" Otoya yelled valiantly.

Every strand of Labramon's fur stood up on his back. "Careful! I sense great evil within him! He's not like any other Digimon we've fought!" Labramon barked cautiously.

Gokuwmon silently got his staff out and allowed some blue sparks of electricity to fly about, causing the kids and the Digimon to run away in panic, not wanting to be electrocuted. The parts of the grass the electricity shocked turned a disgusting shade of black, with some thin streaks of smoke coming right out of it, dangling into the clean air and polluting it a little bit.

"You wanna fight, eh?! Fine then! We'll give you a good taste of our power!" Dracomon exclaimed.

Within seconds, everyone digivolved to their ultimate forms except for MarineAngemon and Coredramon. "Be careful, everyone! Don't let him run into town and wreak havoc!" Shunji called out.

It didn't seem like Gokuwmon had any interest in leaving the football field, as he charged right at all the ultimate level Digimon. Rapidmon attempted a Rapid Fire on him, but he knocked them all out, causing the torpedoes to hit a few trees and the little playground Yun was just in! The trees fell to the ground, and the playground was now a pile of rubble, with the slide and swings looking extremely gnarled and twisted, like MoonMillenniummon chewed on them and spat them out. He then electrocuted Rapidmon by smacking him over the head with his electrified staff. Antylamon, enraged, tried to do him in with a Spiraling Smack Down, but he anticipated this and knocked her away as well.

Coredramon managed to catch her and stop her from getting hurt. MarineAngemon shot an array of heart bubbles at him in the same way she did Kinzo long ago, but Gokuwmon popped them all with his staff like they were balloons. Being as agile and small as she is, she managed to evade his attacks. Coredramon, after putting Antylamon down, tried to roast him with his Blue Flare Breath, but Gokuwmon literally threw himself through the flames like it was nothing and gave the gigantic blue dragon a major shock with his staff. Gokuwmon didn't have a scratch on him, and Coredramon's Blue Flare Breath is known for singlehandedly stripping Digimon all the way down to their DigiCores with one shot. How could a Digimon like this be able to withstand it? Now everyone was getting scared.

Chirinmon tried to ram his red horn through him, but Gokuwmon smacked him out of the way like he was an annoying housefly. Flaremon and Crescemon both tried a combined attack, but he fired a huge, electric energy ray out of his staff. Crescemon pushed her brother out of the way and took the attack. It hurt so bad she de-digivolved right back to Moonmon and fell into Rena's arms.

Angewomon and MagnaAngemon both attempted to attack him with their own attacks, but Gokuwmon singlehandedly knocked them away like they were sticks. Angewomon then attempted Heaven's Charm, but Gokuwmon bereaved her of the opportunity to even let her attack do its magic, as he somehow gathered clouds and flew through them despite not having wings, and gave her a massive blue jolt of electricity. She de-digivolved back into Nyaromon, and MagnaAngemon managed to catch her and give her back to a very shocked and appalled Minako. Moosemon tried to ram him with his horns, but Gokuwmon grabbed them and threw the poor white and blue moose at some nearby trees, knocking them down in the process. Iniki and Sparrowmon barely managed to evade it.

"Moosemon! No!" Shione yelled timorously as she watched her friend be helplessly thrown at those trees like a rag doll.

"Why you…!" Melody, too angry to give up, tried to land a punch on him, but he just grabbed her by the shirt and threw her away like she was a rag doll. She tried to get up, but the pain in her back stopped her from doing so right off. Aria and Shione ran to help her.

"He's so strong!" Aria yelped.

"This Digimon...he's too powerful! Who is he?!" GrapLeomon roared angrily, completely shocked by everything that's been happening so far.

"I don't know. We've never fought any Digimon like him before, and he's probably more powerful than any other Digimon we've managed to defeat," Cerberumon told him rather grimly.

"Hey you! Ugly monkey thing! Bet you can't catch meeeeee!" Parrotmon taunted. Sadly, she was very mistaken. As soon as she tried attacking him, he disappeared into the clouds. Then she found her entire body being consumed by electricity from the inside and out, feeling like she was being roasted like a chicken in the oven. She squawked vociferously in excruciating pain, like a helpless chicken in the slaughterhouse. It was too much for her. She got roasted and de-digivolved back into Yokomon. Melody, having regained a little bit of her strength after being thrown by Gokuwmon, managed to catch her.

Even the secondary Digimon couldn't leave even the tiniest scratch on Gokuwmon. Peacockmon made like a chicken and ran away as soon as the conflict started, so he was of absolutely no help whatsoever. But it didn't matter, as no matter what they tried, Gokuwmon curbstomped every single one of them like they were little bugs being squashed by giant feet.

"He's...too...strong…" Piximon croaked weakly from the top of a fallen tree, with a little branch going right through one of his little white wings.

Petermon stood in front of Gokuwmon with a very stern glare. "Who are you, you knave? Why do you trespass on the human world? You have no business here, so we command you leave!" Petermon commanded like he was a dominant king of a foreign land. Gokuwmon paid no heed.

"Get out of the way, Petermon! He'll kill you!" Rena pleaded tearfully.

"I don't need to say anything to someone as worthless and arrogant as you," Gokuwmon replied in a deep, rich, but malicious voice that didn't have one little mote of remorse or guilt for all of his actions.

"Carrot Bomb!" Rabbitmon attempted to give Gokuwmon a little carrot shower, but he roasted them all with his lightning staff like he was making dinner. But Gokuwmon was in no mood for eating nor having a barbecue party.

"I'm here on orders. Now out of my way, you piece of trash. I have humans to kill," Gokuwmon told him as he knocked Petermon away as he attempted a sneak attack on him.

"Treasure Axes!"

"Tri-Beam!"

Right then and there, both Antylamon and Rapidmon both attempted a surprise dual attack. Sadly, even this didn't work, as Gokuwmon knocked both attacks away, right back at Rapidmon and Antylamon, turning them back to their in-training forms. After that, he kneeled in front of them like he wanted to take a closer look at them.

"Get away from them, you monster!" Yun screamed with the loudest voice she had as she ran in between her fallen friends and the heartless Gokuwmon, who was none too pleased with a scrawny little girl getting in his way and staring at him with a weak but angry glare. However, he couldn't help but be impressed by her courage and audacity, weak as she looked.

"Why do you get in my way, puny trash?" Gokuwmon asked.

"You're not killing my friends! I won't let you!" Yun snapped angrily. Even though she trembled with fear inside, she didn't dare reveal it out of fear that Gokuwmon may exploit it for his own ends.

"Yun! Get out of there! It's dangerous!" MagnaAngemon exclaimed worriedly.

"Okay, how is it that she can stand up to a giant monkey who literally curb stomped all of our Digimon with no effort at all, yet she can't even stand up to Nenji and Seiko to save her life?!" Kosuke asked, surprised by this sudden development.

"That's kinda how she rolls. Guess she cares too much about Kokomon and Gummymon to care about her own welfare," Otoya replied.

"Yun…" Kokomon and Gummymon both murmured weakly, their bodies too limp to move even the slightest inch.

Without any hesitation, just like before, Gokuwmon grabbed Yun. Only this time, he grabbed her by the neck.

"YUN!" Everyone cried.

"NO!" Melody tried to run after her, but Shunji grabbed her and held her back.

"Stay back, Mel! It's dangerous! He's too strong!" Shunji yelled.

"You seriously want Yun to die at his hands?! You're horrible, Anjo!" Melody screamed angrily, punching him in the face. He was unfazed by the blow. Shunji wanted to make a joke about this, but the situation at hand was far too serious to crack any jokes, and even if he did crack one, Melody would probably accuse him of being insensitive.

MagnaAngemon tried to swoop in and stab him with his sword, but Gokuwmon saw it coming and knocked him out of the way. With a weak and helpless Yun in his hand, he very quickly raised his electrified staff and lowered it down, hoping to kill the girl with one shot. It'd be one less annoying human to deal with. He didn't care if she died or not. Now was his chance to do away with her forever, just as MoonMillenniummon ordered him to.

Sadly for him, he would be bereaved of the opportunity.

"Wing Edge!"

Gokuwmon felt his arm be sliced a little bit. It wasn't cut off, thank goodness for him, but whatever it was that attacked him by surprise just now, it took Yun away from him.

"Holy cow!" Kosuke yelled.

"Is that Mizuki?!" Otoya exclaimed with shock.

"You've got some nerve trying to kill a little girl, you crazy monkey!" Iniki yelled with Yun laying in front of her as she and Sparrowmon flew a safe distance from Gokuwmon, whose irritation only grew upon seeing this surprise appearance.

"You are the ones who dare to defy me. Let me carry out my task, you imbeciles!" Gokuwmon growled angrily.

"Not if we can help it! Emerald Blaze!" A huge tsunami of glowing green flames spewed out from Cerberumon's mouth.

"Blue Flare Breath!" Coredramon followed suit with his own river of fire.

"Spray of Hearts!" MarineAngemon fired more pink bubble shaped hearts.

"Random Laser!" Sparrowmon decided to help out as well with rapid firing of his little hand guns.

Unfortunately for all of them, Gokuwmon surged right through Cerberumon's Emerald Blaze to electrocute the majestic, heavenly beast, while avoiding Coredramon's Blue Flare Breath at the same time. Coredramon made sure to fire his flames in the air so as to not cause a massive forest fire that could easily kill everyone. Cerberumon de-digivolved back into Xiaomon while Gokuwmon proceeded to try and electrocute Coredramon.

"Purifying Howl!" Flaremon unleashed a vociferous, piercing roar that caused all the leaves on the trees to rustle violently and everyone to cover their ears, Gokuwmon included. Sparrowmon and Iniki flew out of the way, seeing that Yun is covering her ears for dear life.

This also provided an ample opportunity for something else.

"NOW!" Hokuto yelled boldly as he opened his digivice, aimed it at Gokuwmon, and pressed the door button. Within seconds, a white digital portal appeared right underneath Gokuwmon as he tried to land on the grass and wound up getting sucked right into the portal before he could even notice it was there. Flaremon stopped his attack as soon as Gokuwmon disappeared. As soon as the conflict was over, Melody broke away from Shunji's grasp and ran over to Yun, who got gently set down on the grass by Sparrowmon.

"Yun! Are you okay?! Tell me that guy didn't hurt you!" Melody exclaimed worriedly, like a frightened mother whose child wandered off, even though she herself took a beating.

The kids had to admit, they hardly ever saw Melody looking worried before. Iniki never saw Melody look worried at all. She knew that Melody was very close with Yun, but not to the point of showing genuine emotions. Perhaps Melody wasn't a moody, emotionless little goth girl after all.

"No! I'm NOT fine!" Yun complained angrily, the chaos of the previous scene doing quite a number on her mental state.

Melody smiled regardless. For her, Yun complaining meant that she was okay physically. _'But all that noise and craziness sure is making her cranky. I can't blame her. She can't help it,'_ Melody thought. It's here that all the surviving Digimon de-digivolved.

Otoya ran toward Hokuto, glomped him, almost knocked him over, and jumped up and down cheering like an overly happy Elvis fangirl. "You totally did it, Hokuto-kun! You tricked Gokuwmon into going back to the Digital World!"

"Yeehaw! You were awesome out there, kid!" Riku cheered jubilantly as he gave Hokuto a smack on the shoulder.

"Thanks…?" Hokuto asked, a little taken aback by their over dramatic expression of gratitude for him.

"You did the same thing once with LadyDevimon. Cool!" Sunmon piped in happily.

"Hello! People! Aren't we forgetting something?!" Rena yelled as she pointed to Iniki and Sparrowmon, who descended before them. Kosuke, with Tokomon in his hands, turned his head away to avert their gaze while Minako, with Nyaromon in her hands, smiled gently and ambled over to the shy looking Iniki and the jubilant Sparrowmon.

"So...you have a Digimon too, huh?" Minako asked.

"Yeah. I've actually had him for a while. I never knew you guys had Digimon too," Iniki replied sheepishly. She was sure they were still unsure about forgiving her for being Seiko's sidekick and everything that went along with it.

"Thanks for...saving Yun. She would have died if you hadn't stepped in," Minako told her kindly and bowed before her.

"It's no big deal. You don't have to thank me. I couldn't just stand around and watch stuff happen anymore. I figured...I might as well do something right for once," Iniki told her shyly.

"How'd you like my super awesome entrance, huh?!" Sparrowmon asked boastfully, but nobody paid him any heed.

"How long have you been in the football field?" Kosuke asked grimly. Tokomon didn't like the grimace on his face.

Iniki could tell he wasn't convinced, not that she expected him to be. "About the time you started your meeting. Listen, we didn't mean to spy on you. Honest. We were just flying around minding our own business...and then we saw you guys have Digimon too. We kinda stuck around after that. But don't worry! I won't tell anyone about it! I still haven't told anyone about Sparrowmon," Iniki explained as calmly as she could muster.

"How do we know you're not gonna double-cross us and go yapping about this to her anyway?! Isn't that how you girl posses work these days?!" Kosuke yelled angrily.

"She is sincere!" Kyaromon exclaimed. "I can tell. Do not be alarmed. She is truthful in what she's saying."

"How do you know? She's just gonna ruin everything for us!" Kosuke snapped.

Iniki didn't say a word. But Sparrowmon had other things to say. "Hey! We put our lives on the line to save your butts, and this is how you thank us?! Jeez, you guys need a major reality check!" Sparrowmon yelled.

"Please don't, Sparrowmon. You'll just make it worse," Iniki advised worriedly.

"He's got a point," Tsunomon said. "They did save us after all."

"Wow! An airplane Digimon! Cool! Your name's Sparrowmon, right? Can I ride you?!" Isao asked excitedly, happy to see their new friend.

"Hop on, kid! I'm always open for a free ride!" Sparrowmon exclaimed happily, inviting the happy little boy to hop on his shiny yellow back.

Isao jumped in the air a few times with his arms reaching out for the sky. "Yay! Come on, Tsunomon! Let's go flying!"

Sparrowmon let Isao and Tsunomon get on his back and slowly ascended into the air, knowing that if he went too fast, they'd easily fall off. "We're glad you at least saved Yun-chan, Mizuki-san. I guess you're serious about turning over a new leaf after all," Riku told her with a smile.

"You don't have to forgive me. You're right. I kinda don't deserve it. But...I am serious about not being friends with Seiko anymore. I'd like to be your friend, and I really do promise I won't tell anyone. Really," Iniki said.

"You better swear on it, because secrecy is the Digimon Brigade's number one rule!" Dracomon exclaimed.

A little ways off, Melody is still comforting a very agitated Yun, even with Kokomon, Gummymon, Cutemon, and Yokomon with them. "I wanted to save you myself, but Anjo wouldn't let me, and Gokuwmon kinda gave me a beatdown," Melody told her kindly.

"I know. It's okay. To be honest, I'd have been angry if he saved me. Ayaka yells at me if I go anywhere near him, so I would have punched him in the nose if he did," Yun replied.

"Yun-chan!" Cutemon exclaimed, appalled by what Yun just said just now. "You should never threaten to punch people in the nose, kyu! Especially if he might have gone out of his way to do something nice for you, kyu! That's very rude, kyu!" Cutemon scolded, like she was Yun's mother.

"But you know Ayaka hates it when Anjo gets anywhere near me! She thinks I'm trying to steal him away and won't listen to anything I tell her! I don't see why I can't be rude when Ayaka does it all the time and nobody yells at her about it! By the way, Mel, why did you call out my real name earlier? Did I do something wrong?" Yun retorted, then asked about earlier.

Melody realized it right there what Yun was asking about. "Oh. That. Yeah...see, you were kinda gadding on about everyone's personal lives and that's not really the best thing to do in public," Melody explained as calmly and gently as she could.

"I wasn't trying to be mean," Yun replied a little sadly, her previous irritation fading somewhat, but not completely.

"I know. You were trying to make a point. I get that. But other people won't think so. Some people don't like it when you talk about their insecurities and personal lives, and they may not know right off that you don't mean it to be rude or mean. It's called tact, where we don't identify people by how sucky their lives can be and by their personal secrets. Catch my drift?"

"I have to think before I act. Sorry…"

"It's alright. Everybody does stupid stuff."

"No it's not. Feel free to call me stupid and retarded. Ayaka always does that. She always flips out whenever I do something stupid. She makes it sound like I robbed a bank! Even when I say sorry she acts like I enjoy doing bad things and don't feel any remorse at all, like I'm some robot! She always tells me stuff like, _'You need to think a little! It's not that hard!'_ She acts like she's the good one but she's the one who does worse stuff than me! She yells at me about everything I do yet she's done worse stuff!"

"Where'd all that come from? And you're not stupid and retarded."

"Yes I am. That's why I went to the little park across the street. I figured I'd just make things worse and get in the way, so I wanted to leave you all alone."

"You make it sound like we don't want you around. You know that's not true, Yun. Do you always take stuff so personally?"

"I wanna go home…but I will admit, I'm kinda glad Lucero wasn't with us today. That Digimon might have kidnapped him or done horrible things to him."

"True that, girlfriend."

With that, everyone dispersed and went back home, at least happy that they stopped that crazy Gokuwmon from destroying the town or worse. Unfortunately, every single member of the Digimon Brigade, Iniki and Sparrowmon both included, was completely oblivious to one little thing, and it may prove to be their downfall. Hiding behind the fence of the park Yun was just in before was...Seiko, with her cell phone in her hands, with an excessively sunny and jubilant look on her devious face.

"Oh my gosh! Running away from home is SO the best thing I ever did today! Now I know their secret...and I am SO going to expose them to the entire world thanks to my trusty phone! Thank God it has a recording option. I can ruin their lives the minute school starts! This'll be so great! Those idiots can finally get what they oh so rightfully deserve!" Seiko mused to herself happily, dreaming of the Digimon Brigade's future ostracization and demise once the time was right. She carefully tucked her cell phone into her purse and skipped happily along like she was having the best day of her life.

And nobody was going to be able to stop her. Lady luck was NOT shining on the Digimon Brigade.

* * *

><p>Terriermon was right. Lucero has been hanging out with the Nishimuras a lot lately. Ever since they first met, to be exact. In fact, he ditched the chance of going to today's meeting just to hang out with Mr. Nishimura and his wife, Ritsu, yet again. Thankfully for them, he was not recorded in Seiko's cell phone. Thank goodness for that. As the craziness with Gokuwmon went on, Lucero hung out inside Mr. Nishimura's house, with him and Ritsu. But all he really did was watch Mr. Nishimura carve wood. Ritsu watched from her bed. Lucero watched quietly and intently as Mr. Nishimura stroke the wood with the knife, peeling off one piece after another.<p>

"Dost thou doeth this for a living?" Lucero asked curiously.

"I used to, but not anymore. Nowadays I just do it for fun, or maybe give them to friends and neighbors as gifts," Mr. Nishimura replied.

"When Eichi was young, he sold his wooden carvings for good money. He used it to pay off this house," Ritsu told him with a sweet smile.

"My. How very interesting."

Lucero turned to his left and saw a watercolor painting that depicted a very tall mountain. The sky was a messy mixture of orange and purple, with the mountain being a dark blue. Some messy green trees dotted the yellowish ground. "Didst you paint that?"

"Hm?" Eichi glanced at the painting. "Ah, yes, I did. That's Mt. Fuji, my boy."

Lucero raised an eyebrow. "Mt. Fuji, sayest thou?"

"You don't know what Mt. Fuji is?"

Lucero shook his head, feeling guilty. Eichi giggled a little. "That's alright, boy. I painted that after the war. She sure is a beauty, isn't she? Mt. Fuji's the tallest island in all of Japan."

Lucero smiled. "It sure is beautiful. Thou hast painted it very well."

Eichi scratched his head, putting down one of his working tools. "Thank you."

"Thou hast mentioned a war."

As soon as Lucero said that, loud coughing sounds took Eichi's attention away from him. "Oh my! Ritsu! Sorry, Lucero. Could you excuse me for a moment?" Lucero gestured for him to help Ritsu, and he ran to his ailing wife.

Lucero decided to explore the house since Eichi was occupied. It didn't have much in it. Just the basic necessities such as a fire place, a table, chairs, an old fashioned TV, some stained glass wind chimes dangling in front of the windows, and some dressers with pictures on them. One old picture in particular caught Lucero's eye. It depicted a young man doing a sailor salute. He seemed to be wearing grey military attire, but the entire picture was in grayscale, so Lucero couldn't tell whether the man's clothes were grey or not.

He was so entranced by the picture that he failed to notice that Ritsu's coughing ceased, nor did he notice Eichi standing right behind him. "That's me when I was young, Lucero."

Eichi's voice made Lucero jump a little bit in fright. "This is thou?"

It was here that the blonde boy noticed a frown on Eichi's wrinkled face. A very grim frown, like someone who wanted nothing more than to escape his crimes. "I was in high school when I was recruited for the war," Eichi picked the picture up and stared at it. Lucero could see something in Eichi's eyes that he had never seen before.

Tears. Genuine sadness.

"I don't like to talk about it. But let's just say...my cohorts and I did things we are not proud of. I still hear screams and see their bodies in my dreams. My crimes haunt me every day. Pearl Harbor. Nanking. The Philippines," Lucero could see Eichi's hand shaking, making the picture tremble with it. He just couldn't believe that such a kind, caring man such as Eichi could have committed war crimes in the past. But then again, everyone has secrets they preferred to hide, and Eichi was no different.

Eichi put a hand over his face, as if he was trying to block out the boy in the picture. The naive boy he used to be. "If I could go back...and change everything...I would…" He felt a gentle pat on his arm. He looked down and saw a smiling Lucero.

"Thou needn't dwell on thy past. No matter what, thou art still Nishimura Eichi."

A warm sensation krept into Eichi's heart. He couldn't believe it. He just told the boy about his past, yet Lucero still chose to have faith in him? The tears trickled down his cheeks, and his shoulders hunched a bit. Lucero's smile faded. "Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sadden thee."

Eichi shook his head and wiped a tear away. "No no, Lucero. I'm not sad. In fact...I'm happy. I don't like talking about my past, because the guilt still weighs on my shoulders. But…" The man's voice caught in his throat as he staggered to the desk to put the picture back down. His arthritic bones ached as he put the picture down, his arm wobbling. "I'm just happy...you see me for me, not for my crimes."

"I believe everyone deserves a second chance, no matter the crime."

"Lucero! Lucero! Where are you?"

"Ah! Teruki-dono!"

Eichi's smile returned. "I take it you need to return home, eh?"

"It would seem so. I thanketh thee for inviting me here once again."

"Not at all. Come by anytid I enjoy your company."

Lucero gave a courteous bow before waving goodbye, returning home by Teruki's side. It was a little while later that Yun, Kokomon, Cutemon, and Gummy returned. Lucero was surprised to see Yun's face contorted, her eyes squinting, and her tone of voice agitated as she plopped on the bed. "Uuuuuugh!"

"What doth bother thee, Yun?" Lucero asked.

"A new enemy tried to crash our Digimon Brigade meeting," Gummymon explained, stroking Yun's hair gently.

Kokomon filled Lucero in on the meeting and their arduous battle with Gokuwmon. "I declare! Thy new enemy was strong, was he not?"

Kokomon nodded. "He was so powerful...we could barely land a scratch on him."

"Sorry, guys," Yun murmured, her voice muffled by the pillows she buried her face in.

"Why are you sorry, kyu?" Cutemon stroke Yun's hair gently. "You were brave back there, kyu."

"I left the group because I was sad about Melody yelling at me."

Lucero sat down next to Yun. "It's alright. He could have attacked thee anyway."

Yun nodded in agreement. So did the Digimon. Just what was in store for them? New enemies, school coming up, just...what? Could they win this battle, or would they suffer at MoonMillenniummon's hand?

* * *

><p><span><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Hellooooooo everybody! It's Julia, back from oblivion! I'm soooo sorry I've been gone so long. One: I got caught up in other fandoms. Two: writer's block. Three: lack of motivation. Four: college and personal stuff. But good news! I'm back in the Digimon fandom, just in time for Digimon Adventure Tri!

Now, I'm considering this complete because I have almost 200 chapters planned out, but I figured I'd split the series into two so reading it will be less taxing on you in general. Plus I'm cutting out some extraneous characters and filler episodes in the "sequel," which will be titled _**Digimon: A Seraphic Evolution**_. Thanks so much for your kind reviews and support! You have no idea how much I appreciate your kindness! It's because of people like you that I keep writing.

I really should have come back sooner, because I joined another fandom, but it turned out to not be the place for me. It was too judgmental, toxic, and filled with drama, and some people there were just not supportive, helpful, or understanding at all, so I left. I won't stand for their negativity. I'm sorry I kept you guys waiting for so long. Don't worry! A Seraphic Tale isn't dead! I have more chapters planned! I just need to get my act together and polish some things up before I get started on the next arc. Thanks for reading my stupid little story and putting up with stupid me!


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